Xie Bai first heard several chirps of birds, as if through something, distant and blurry. As his awareness grew clearer, the chirping gradually brightened, as if right outside the window...

Birds chirping? Outside the window?

He squinted to adapt to the long-lost light, feeling momentarily puzzled—his room, because of the presence of the Thousand souls spirit tree, emitted a demon spirit energy invisible to ordinary people, and because of his own reasons, it was also mixed with a bit of Yin corpse energy. Usually, not to mention birds, even mosquitoes would hate to be less than eight yards away from his window, which also benefitted the households above and below.

So there shouldn't be such close bird calls, just like standing on the windowsill separated only by a layer of glass...

Xie Bai's eyes suddenly opened wide, and he instinctively tried to sit up, but as soon as he moved, he felt his muscles and joints seething with an indescribable soreness.

He had experienced this soreness before, but this time it was particularly severe. It was the fatigue and cold backlash and the sequelae from his muscles and bones being tense for too long and suddenly relaxing.

Xie Bai frowned, forcibly ignoring whether this feeling was comfortable or uncomfortable, and propped himself up to sit on the bed.

He looked down at the blanket on his body and the bed that was just the right firmness, then swept a glance around the room's black and white decor, momentarily unable to react to where he was.

The curtain was half-drawn, letting the outside sunlight shine in, casting two bright diagonal patches on the bed, the edges just stopping in front of Xie Bai's chest, without dazzling his eyes.

The warmth of the sun penetrated the blanket, enveloping Xie Bai completely, a gentleness more effective than any man-made heat. Xie Bai sat on the bed, stunned for a while, before he realized that the bone-chilling coldness had eased a bit and was no longer so unbearable.

It was also because of this that his numb muscles regained some sensation and could feel the soreness.

"Xiao Bai, you're awake?!"

Xie Bai, who had slept for too long, was somewhat dazed when Lou Xianyue's crisp voice suddenly sounded.

Xie Bai grunted in acknowledgment, turning his head towards the source of the voice. He saw Lou Xianyue standing outside the door, leaning against the wall and peeking in, looking like she wanted to check on Xie Bai but was too embarrassed to enter.

"What? You're awake?! Let me see!" Another voice came along, and a head appeared very reservedly above Lou Xianyue, also leaning against the wall, wanting to look but too shy to enter, a gesture that seemed much sillier than Lou Xianyue's.

It was that... merman.

Xie Bai suddenly understood where he was—Guyang Street, Tai Xuan Dao.

"Why don't you come in?" he said as he was about to lift the blanket and get off the bed.

Lou Xianyue complained indignantly, "Yin Wushu won't allow it, you know. He's a clean freak, no one is allowed to step into the room, not even to lean on the door. We have to be very careful, he says even a speck of dust gets us kicked out."

The merman nodded angrily as well.

Xie Bai: "…"

Lou Xianyue continued to complain, "He's a total jerk! Previously in Tianshan, he just disappeared without a word after knocking you out with a flick of his finger, leaving us—no, not us! Leaving me, a powerless female demon, and a silly fish staring at each other, nearly unable to make it back."

The merman looked down at her with wide eyes: "Powerless? Weren't you carrying me by the collar, covering thousands of miles and dragging me all the way back?"

Xie Bai: "......"

Lou Xianyue rolled her eyes at him: "Apart from being good at divination and running fast, I can't perform any other spells. Isn't that the definition of being powerless? You're too weak, it doesn't count."

Merman: "......"

With their comments, Xie Bai finally remembered the events before he passed out and how he had suddenly fainted.

He paused while lifting the blanket, squinted his eyes expressionlessly for a moment, then got out of bed and asked, "Where is Yin Wushu?"

He had barely taken a step away from the bed when he felt something sharply tug at his hands and feet, catching him off guard and causing him to step back and sit down on the bed again.

Xie Bai frowned: "What's going on?"

He looked down at his hands and feet carefully. He had not noticed before, but now he saw that there were several coils of faint golden threads wrapped around his wrists and ankles. The threads were very thin and pale, almost merging with the sunlight entering the room, making them hard to see. The other ends of the threads seemed to originate from the bed. When Xie Bai tried to touch them, his fingers passed right through as if they weren't materially present but just illusions. He couldn't even think about untying them or breaking them.

Xie Bai: "......"

Of course Lou Xianyue and the merman, peering through the door, couldn't see the golden threads and were confused about why he would step forward only to sit back down. They blinked in unison and asked, "Aren't you coming out?"

Xie Bai wanted to say "I've been locked to the bed by some bastard," but the words felt strange and a bit embarrassing to say aloud, so he swallowed them back down and after a pause, said indifferently, "Aunt Lou, do me a favor."

Lou Xianyue nodded: "Say it! Whether you're hungry or thirsty, want to eat or drink, I'll take care of it for you."

Xie Bai said with a forced smile: "Call Yin Wushu up here."

Seeing his expression, Lou Xianyue's spine tingled with dread, feeling that his tone meant "Tell Yin Wushu to get up here."

She said "Oh," and hurried downstairs.

The merman didn't follow her. To be accurate, he was a bit afraid of someone like Yin Wushu and didn't dare to directly ask him to come up, so he awkwardly made small talk with Xie Bai: "You were really scary in Tianshan, in so much pain that I was afraid you'd rip open your chest and throw out your heart."

Xie Bai said: "I'm not Yin Wushu."

Merman: "...... Eh?"

"How are you feeling now? Your cat is almost rebelling, always following Lord Yin... Wushu around." The merman muttered darkly from the doorway.

Just as he finished speaking, he felt something step on his head. A black, round little bundle zoomed over his head and rushed into the room, tumbling onto the bed and pouncing on Xie Bai.

Merman: "......"

He watched the little kitten scrambling over Xie Bai and thought, thankfully it's just a kitten. If it were a lion or a tiger, with that kind of impact, it could have pressed Xie Bai's internal organs out.

"Leaning on someone's bedroom doorframe isn't a very dignified act, is it shady or not?" Yin Wushu commented as he came upstairs and saw the merman‘s silly posture, sticking out his butt. He thought to himself, if you were a harmonious young man, it might be a bit better, but unfortunately, your muscles developed before your face, making this act even more inappropriate.

Xie Bai felt it inappropriate to discuss being locked to the bed in front of others, so he gave Yin Wushu a look as he came in and said to the merman, "Could you close the door when you go downstairs?"

The merman, who hadn't planned on going downstairs: "......"

He straightened up and with a few flicks of his huge fishtail, he closed the door for them.

After the door was shut and the sound of the big fishtail receding, Xie Bai finally looked up at Yin Wushu standing by the bed. He rotated his wrists, took a moment, and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

Yin Wushu casually pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down, saying, "Three days and nights. Did you dream? I saw you frowning and then relaxing repeatedly. You didn't seem to sleep very peacefully."

Xie Bai murmured, "Yes, quite a lot."

"What did you dream about?" Yin Wushu asked with interest.

 

Xie Bai looked at him and said, "Too many. All those nonsense stories you've told me since I was little, I dreamed them all, without missing a word."

Yin Wushu: "......"

Xie Bai scoffed coldly and raised his hand, "When do you plan to untie these things wrapped around my hands and feet?"

Yin Wushu coughed and uttered, "It might be temporarily—"

He was only halfway through his sentence when Xie Bai swiftly moved his hand, took advantage of Yin Wushu's momentary lapse in vigilance, and entwined Yin Wushu's hands and feet with a wisp of black mist in the blink of an eye.

Xie Bai said coldly, "Now, neither of us can run. Explain things clearly to me. I don't believe a word you said under Mount Tianshan."

Yin Wushu: "......"

He helplessly looked down at his own hands and feet, realizing that just as his golden threads were difficult to deal with, Xie Bai's black mist was equally tough to escape from. He probably found it somewhat amusing that both of them were tied up like this and quirked his lips, saying, "How can you not believe a single word? At least some of it is true. What do you want to ask?"

Xie Bai said, "Who is the person frozen below, what will be the consequences if he escapes, what do you plan to do, and what will be the consequences after it's done... Explain everything from start to finish, clearly. When I find it credible, that's when I'll let you go."

Yin Wushu clicked his tongue, "Really not believing a single word, asking everything all over again, huh?"

Xie Bai, with a stern face, simply leaned against the headboard, with an attitude of "either we both stay here until death, or you clarify things to me."

"Alright, alright, you're tough," Yin Wushu watched him for a while and waved his hands in annoyance, "Come on, I'll explain everything clearly to you."

 

Translator : DarNan