CH 34

After saying this, Xue Wei tried to run off again. Feng Ci hastily yelled: “Get back here!”

It’s not like he and Pei QianYue were doing anything. Wasn’t this just a casual conversation? Xue Wei’s overly exaggerated reaction here, on the contrary, made it seem like they really were doing something. 

The youth instantly didn’t dare to move at all.

He stood at the entrance, head turned to the side and motionless, only occasionally casting glances towards the inside of the room.

As if he wanted to look, but didn’t dare to look.

Ignoring him completely, Feng Ci nudged Pei QianYue a few times: “Get up.” 

With Pei QianYue laying here, he couldn’t even get off the couch.

But Pei QianYue didn’t move. He said calmly: “……But you’re laying on my hair.”

Feng Ci replied with an ‘oh’ and scooted his body to the side. With this move, however, he felt a light tug on his hair.

He looked down. Their fine black hair had unknowingly gotten tangled together on the couch.

…… Probably when he was playing with Pei QianYue’s hair just now, he had also accidentally grabbed his own.

“Wait a second, don’t move yet.” Feng Ci reached over to unravel them.

Pei QianYue’s hair was soft and smooth, a bit cold. Feng Ci ran his fingers through them gently and unraveled the tangled hair little by little.

If they were ordinary people who had their hair tangled together, it can just be cut off. However, every part of a cultivator, even the hair, contained spiritual energy. Especially a powerful demon like Pei QianYue who has been cultivating for 3000 years, his hair was even more precious. 

Feng Ci moved meticulously and slowly. Pei QianYue didn’t rush him either and quietly waited, sitting on the side of the couch.

The only one rather tormented here was Xue Wei, who was waiting by the door.

As well as old Master Xue, who was still outside in the yard, waiting for Xue Wei to obtain permission from the Immortal Masters before he entered.

Previously when Xue Wei’s spirit first arrived in this world in a state of panic and helplessness, he had caused old Master Xue to think he was cursed. Later on, Pei QianYue promised him to help him find a way back to his original world— however, before that happened, he needed to play the role of Xue Wei and continue living in the world; this was how he finally managed to calm down. 

Outsiders didn’t know the hidden story here. In the eyes of old Master Xue, Pei QianYue was the savior who had helped restore Xue Wei to normal.

As soon as old Master Xue returned to the estate, he found out that their savior had arrived. Before even having a cup of tea, he hastily dragged Xue Wei over to greet the Immortal Master.

But right now…… what kind of situation was this?

Old Master Xue stood outside in the yard and waved at Xue Wei from a distance. He suppressed his voice and asked: “Little brat, what are you doing?” 

“Eating dogfood, dad.” Xue Wei sighed: “Do you want to join me?”

“Stop speaking nonsense!” Old Master Xue choked in anger. Hastily walking over, he smacked Xue Wei on the back of his head: “When did we get a dog in our home?”

As soon as he walked over, he also saw the two people inside the room interacting without any regards to others.

Old Master Xue’s expression froze. He twisted his head away to the side violently, face instantly flushing red. 

In the dead silence, Xue Wei grumbled: “Now we have two.”

After Feng Ci unraveled their tangled strands of hair, old Master Xue and young Master Xue finally concluded their duties of eating dogfood, and were permitted to enter.

Old Master Xue was truly worthy of being a businessman. In the blink of an eye, he tossed the awkwardness a second ago to the back of his head.

Walking in happily, he courteously greeted the two people. 

Pei QianYue had a cold personality. In front of outsiders, he didn’t really like to talk. Luckily, old Master Xue has been a merchant for many years, and was quite a good conversationalist. Furthermore, Feng Ci also replied from the sidelines occasionally. Thus, the occasion didn’t seem too stiff.

“May I ask why you have graced us with your esteemed presence, Immortal Master?” Old Master Xue asked.

Feng Ci answered for him: “My Shizun and I just happened to pass by this place. With no business at hand, we came to look around casually.”

“So it’s like that.” Old Master Xue nodded his head and then said: “You two are pretty lucky. Coincidentally, there’s a market fair in the city right now. Are you two interested in taking a look?” 

When they entered the city this morning, they had indeed encountered plenty of civilians who came to visit the marketplace.

However, neither Feng Ci nor Pei QianYue were mortals. They had no use for ordinary mortal items even if they bought them. Therefore, they had no plans to get involved in the commotion.

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Therefore, in the big cities of JiangNan, cultivators would occasionally appear in market fairs to peddle magic items and tools.

After many years of development, the market fairs now sold even more magic items and tools than products used in the mortal realm. Even people without any cultivation like old Master Xue would visit the bazaars to look through the merchandise for magic items that can be activated with just spirit stones.

With such a high demand, the government began hosting official bazaars for cultivators, which were separated from the ordinary fairs to make shopping more convenient for people.

The local people even gave an elegant name to this kind of fairs, calling it Wanhai Bazaar. 

“I heard that many cultivation sects have dismissed their disciples lately. Those disbanded sects definitely will come to Wanhai Bazaar to sell magic items and mystic texts. Who knows, perhaps I can even buy a lot of good stuff at low prices.” Old Master Xue ‘hehe’d and said: “Are you two really not planning to take a look?”

Hearing him describe it like this, Feng Ci actually became slightly interested.

He has seen similar bazaars before, but most of them were black markets reselling unpresentable items. Amidst 10 items, 8 were most likely fake counterfeits. Precious objects appeared, but very rarely.

He’s actually never shopped through this kind of official bazaar, which was hosted by the government of the mortal realm. 

Not to mention, for a cultivator, no matter how high their personal cultivation level reached, there were always magic items that they cannot defend against.

Just like the red string that Pei QianYue gave to Feng Ci. If it weren’t for that item, it would have been very hard for them to escape from Great Master Hui Kong’s secret realm unharmed relying solely on their own strengths.

Thinking this, Feng Ci subconsciously touched the base of his finger.

The base of his finger burned. Pei QianYue turned his head and asked him: “You want to go?” 

Feng Ci hastily let go: “……”

He really had a terrible habit. When contemplating or bored out of his mind, he liked to touch things randomly. Just like how a moment ago, he played with Pei QianYue’s hair and ended up tying their hair together; or for example right now, he didn’t actually mean to call Pei QianYue.

But the latter seemed to have misunderstood and said with a nod: “I’ll take you. No need to sajiao.”

Feng Ci: “……” 

…… he really wasn’t trying to sajiao.

Xue Wei, who was forced to both accompany them and eat dogfood, silently turned his head; he even raised a hand to cover his cheek.

Old Master Xue asked in annoyance: “What’s wrong with you now?”

Xue Wei: “Toothache.” 

“That’s what you get. Who told you to eat sweets everyday.” Old Master Xue reprimanded.

When he turned his head to face Pei QianYue and Feng Ci, however, his tone became more cordial: “I still have some things I need to do in the next few days that I can’t leave, so I can only have my disappointing brat accompany the two of you, Immortal Masters. I hope the two of you can forgive me.”

“……”

Pei QianYue frowned and was just about to say something when he heard Xue Wei say: “Dad, if I go, I’d just be a hindranc—” 

“Just do as I say!” Old Master Xue scolded: “Who lays around in the house all day like you? What’s wrong with going out and walking around for a bit?”

“……” With no other choice, Xue Wei: “Okay. I’ll go.”

After saying this, he turned to look at Feng Ci. Clapping his hands together, he gave Feng Ci an extremely apologetic and remorseful look.

Feng Ci: “……” 

Why did it always feel like he’s misunderstanding something?

Old Master Xue spoke a few more words with them and then left with Xue Wei.

Wanhai Bazaar won’t start officially until two days later at nightfall. Pei QianYue and Feng Ci decided to just remain in the city for the next few days so they can experience the full ambience of JiangNan.

However before this, Pei QianYue still needed to send a message back to the cultivation world about what he had discussed with Feng Ci. 

He sent a messenger bird to QingJing Sect and instructed Wen HuaiYu to implement the plans of disseminating the news of Hanshan Temple and publicizing the list of sect names.

However, Feng Ci felt a bit apprehensive about this: “Is he truly trustworthy?”

Previously, they were just suspecting that the murderer might have a spy within the Six Sects.

“It’s only to make an announcement. Even if he is a spy, it won’t hurt if the murderer was informed in advance.” This was how Pei QianYue explained it. 

But Feng Ci could tell that Pei QianYue just didn’t want to do it himself, so he randomly made up an excuse.

This laissez-faire style, Pei QianYue executed very magnanimously.

Wen HuaiYu was very clever and quickly understood their intentions. He sent a message back expressing that he will begin making arrangements.

By the morning of Wanhai Bazaar’s opening day, that list of cultivation sects has spread throughout the entire cultivation world. 

However, Feng Ci didn’t pay any mind to this. While the news spread rampantly and clamorously outside, he was still inside his room, having a peaceful afternoon nap.

When he woke up, it was already turning dark outside.

The golden evening sunlight traveled through the windows and illuminated the room’s interior. Feng Ci turned over in bed. When he opened his eyes, he saw a man sitting at the bedside.

Not moving at all and not saying anything, just sitting there quietly. 

Last time in LinXian Terrace, it was also like this.

Noticing that Feng Ci had woken up, Pei QianYue said: “Did Master sleep well?”

Feng Ci replied with an ‘en’ and asked with a smile: “You didn’t sit here an entire afternoon, right? Aren’t you tired? Afraid that I’d run away?”

His voice still carried a languid hoarseness from waking up recently. It sounded extremely soft. 

Pei QianYue bent down to help him sit up. His voice was very soft as well: “En, afraid that Master might run away.”

“What’s the use of standing guard?” Feng Ci yawned and said nonchalantly: “If I wanted to run, there’s no way you can catch me.”

Pei Qian Yue’s hand on Feng Ci’s arm suddenly tightened.

Feng Ci looked up from beneath his eyelashes and saw Pei QianYue’s taut expression. 

There was a moment of silence inside the room.

A little while later, Pei QianYue released his grip and calmly changed the topic: “Xue Wei brought some clothes over. You should pick one, Master.”

Right now, they were still wearing cultivation sect uniforms. The Feng Ci’s LangFeng disciple’s uniform especially, which had LangFeng City’s unique emblem on it— walking around with it on the streets was very eye-catching. It’s not that big a deal if Feng Ci were the only conspicuous one. Yet the person beside him just had to have very unique characteristics too.

—There’s no cultivation disciple in this world, who did not know that the City Master of LangFeng City wore complete black with black silk covering his eyes. 

It wasn’t terrible the last few days, but there were bound to be many cultivation disciples inside the Wanhai Bazaar. If they were recognized, how inconvenient would that be? That’s why Pei QianYue specifically instructed Xue Wei to prepare some mortal realm outfits for them.

Feng Ci picked out a set of white clothes from the choices.

The Xue family was a part of the fabric business. The clothes they delivered were naturally top-notch. This simple yet elegant, white garment was inlaid with gold edges. The collar had a faint pattern drawn on it, which flashed beautifully under the sunlight.

Feng Ci looked at the mirror for quite a while, not exactly very satisfied. 

3000 years ago, the clothes that he wore most often were also white. That’s because the sect that he was in back then used white for the disciple’s uniform. Wearing it made him seem imposing and impeccable. However, now that he has switched physical bodies, wearing it only made him seem dainty and cute, as if he were some rich young master who had snuck outside to play.

…… He really didn’t want to admit that this was himself.

Feng Ci continued to pick and choose from the pile of clothes, wanting to switch, but Pei QianYue suddenly called out to him from outside.

“Master, all done?” 

Feng Ci turned his head and looked over. Pei QianYue walked around the folding screen and entered.

This person had already changed clothes while Feng Ci was taking his afternoon nap. However, he had really simplified matters and only changed his black cultivator robes into an ordinary black brocaded set. He was still wearing black from head to toe. If Feng Ci wasn’t paying attention, he wouldn’t even have known that Pei QianYue changed clothes at all.

Pei QianYue didn’t care. He walked closer and asked: “Master, what are you wearing?”

Feng Ci paused briefly: “White.” 

Pei QianYue said softly: “Must look very beautiful.”

Feng Ci stopped what he was doing.

He thought for a moment and then put back all the other clothes he had pulled out: “I also think it’s not bad. Then this is the one.”

Feng Ci got up a little late. After he finished getting ready to go out, the sunset was practically gone from the horizon. 

By the time they slowly walked to the bazaar in the west district of the city, lanterns were already hung on the two sides of the streets. The bright-red lanterns lit up the beginning of the street to the end of the street. On the long streets, people came and went. The little river traveling through the entire city reflected the lantern light and the pedestrians on the road. The place was full of life and excitement.

“This shopping area is for the ordinary citizens. Most of them sell little gadgets from the mortal realm and some snacks.” As Xue Wei walked, he introduced to them: “We need to pass this street and cross the stone bridge to finally arrive at the real Wanhai bazaar.”

When saying this, Xue Wei maintained an appropriate distance, not too close nor too far, from Feng Ci and Pei QianYue, like he was terrified of disturbing them.

But even so, Pei QianYue still felt dissatisfied and beckoned: “Xue Wei.” 

Xue Wei: “Here!”

Pei QianYue said coolly: “Wait for us at the entrance of the Xue Estate in four hours. Your dad won’t find out. Now get lost.”

This was exactly what Xue Wei wanted. He hastily said: “Yes sir, getting lost right now.”

After saying this, he scrambled away. 

Feng Ci was speechless: “If I remembered correctly, he was really excited to come with us previously.”

How come just after interacting together for a few days, he was already treating them like avoiding the plague?

Feng Ci said seriously: “It’s definitely because you’re too scary. You should reflect on it.”

Pei QianYue actually smiled: “Okay.” 

The two people continued to walk forward.

The long street was divided in two by the stone bridge. The closer they got near the bridge, the more people there were. Within a tight crowd of people, even high cultivation levels and martial art skills were completely useless. Very quickly, Feng Ci and Pei QianYue were squeezed so tightly, it was hard to move a single step.

Feng Ci accurately found a gap in the crowd and dragged Pei QianYue to the side of the road.

“There are really too many people here.” Feng Ci said with lingering trepidations. 

The place where they stopped just happened to have a local girl selling floral garlands. Hearing Feng Ci’s words, she used a soft, Wu accented voice to say: “Today is the first day of Wanhai Bazaar. How can it not be crowded?”

The market fair of Gusu City lasted for several days. To avoid crowding, the government had separated the openings of the mortal market fair and Wanhai Bazaar to stagger the peak flow. The mortal market fair started two days ago, but this was the first day for the Wanhai Bazaar.

Everyone says that when visiting a market fair, you have to go early. Especially with magic cultivation items, most were one of a kind. If you arrive late, it might be gone.

Feng Ci already expected the opening day to be very crowded, but he never imagined it’d be this crowded. 

Feng Ci sighed: “If I knew this ahead of time, I would have stayed home sleeping.”

“Young master, from your tone, you must be out of town, right?” The girl picked out two floral garlands from the stall in front of her and handed them to Feng Ci: “A gift for you. Hope you’ll have lots of fun in Gusu.”

Feng Ci was just about to wave his hand and refuse when he heard the girl say enthusiastically: “Today’s bazaar is especially crowded. Be sure to hold onto your sweetheart carefully.”

Feng Ci: “……” 

Pei QianYue was still wearing black silk in front of his eyes. Others didn’t know his identity so naturally, they’d think he was blind and couldn’t see anything.

Feng Ci didn’t explain either and only shook his head: “We’re not……”

Before he finished his sentence, a hand reached out from the side and accurately accepted the floral garlands in the girl’s hands.

Pei QianYue said ‘thanks’ and then stuffed the floral garlands into Feng Ci’s arms. His right hand slid downwards following the path of Feng Ci’s arm and gently grabbed Feng Ci’s hand. 

Pei QianYue said: “Did you hear that? You need to hold onto me carefully.”

The author has something to say:

Xiao Hei: Can’t see, need to hold hands www