Henceforth, the duo turned into a trio. Dong Ting was one of Zhou Zishu’s destinations regardless, so he had no objections.
There was a type of people who lived their life in such normality, it would only cause headaches for them to be forced to think outside of the box – an example of this would be Cao Weining. Additionally, there was another type who couldn’t help but look deeper into everything and anything, confusing themselves with many possibilities before they could even realize it – an example of this would be Zhou Zishu.
Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing went back to their usual routine of trading quips and insults back and forth with unending enthusiasm, trying to probe the other incessantly.
Cao Weining, after listening to them confusedly, gave the final conclusion: “You two have such an admirable camaderie.”
Zhou Zishu shut up, glancing at Cao Weining in complete silence. He knew the Patriarch of Qing Feng Sword Sect was an old sly fox, how on earth did that man manage to raise an innocent rabbit like this one?
Wen Kexing unabashedly took advantage of that to wrap his arms around Zhou Zishu’s shoulders, smiling at Cao Weining, “Thank you, Young Master Cao. In fact, I have made up my mind that in this lifetime I will marry no one else but Brother Zhou.”
Cao Weining’s mouth was as wide open as his eyes.
Zhou Zishu shot back, being used to it already, “I’m afraid I have to let Brother Wen down. With my incurable illness, I won’t live on for much longer; what good will it do to bind yourself to this slowly dying soul?”
Wen Kexing replied seriously, “If you’re gone, I will remain solitary ‘till the end of my life.”
Zhou Zishu’s words carried daggers. “For a great mind to suffer loneliness is often destiny, who am I to tamper with it?”
Wen Kexing was undaunted, “Come on, don’t be too humble Ah-Xu, that’s way too polite of you.”
Zhou Zishu quickly waved his hands, “Not at all, why would I be.”
Cao Weining’s gaze went back and forth between the two of them. When he came back to his senses, he blurted out a question. “…Is it Brother Zhou’s illness that is obstructing your feelings for each other?”
After a short moment of silence, Wen Kexing burst out laughing, feeling very fond of Cao Weining.
Zhou Zishu coughed after a good while, removing Wen Kexing’s arms that were around his neck and replying with a solemn face. “Brother Cao need not think too much into it, the closest that I and Brother Wen can become is an estranged pair.”
Cao Weining frowned, thinking the other was trying to delude himself. “A person like Brother Zhou should not suffer like this,” he said in sorrow.
Zhou Zishu smiled back bitterly, “Thank you Brother Cao, but I don’t feel the slightest…”
“My master is acquainted with some peculiar figures in jianghu, fortunately a few of them are from Shaman Medicine Valley. It’d be wonderful if Brother Zhou can come with me back home after dealing with matters concerning the unorthodox sects, my master definitely possesses means that can help you.”
Zhou Zishu was “moved to tears”, so he kept his mouth shut.
Unexpectedly, Cao Weining was a true man of action, so he immediately made a fist-palm salute, “Wait for me at the inn, I will go send a message to my Uncle.”
He turned around and left right after. Wen Kexing praised, “How enthusiastic, truly a man who can be my match.”
He turned his head to Zhou Zishu studying him somewhat pensively. Wen Kexing paused, then asked, “What is it? Did my passionate words earlier manage to reach Ah-Xu’s heart after all? Are you planning to reciprocate with your body?”
Zhou Zishu smiled coldly, “Forgive me, but I feel like… Brother Wen’s motives behind going to Dong Ting are quite puzzling.”
Wen Kexing turned serious, “Helping people in need and being generous are only small virtues, do you what bigger virtues are?”
Zhou Zishu narrowed his eyes, staring at the other man without a word.
Wen Kexing replied slowly. “A day with an empty Hell is a day further from ascending; good and evil has always been impossible to coexist ever since ancient time, don’t you think?” When he said this, his calm gaze was directed at somewhere far away, revealing his handsome side profile. His usual playful demeanor was gone without a trace, and he looked like an expressionless Buddha stone statue.
“This is the mortal world,” he continued, “and in the mortal world, monsters shouldn’t exist. That… respectable and virtuous Sir Gao Chong wants to extinguish evils for the sake of everyone, if I don’t lend him a hand, all the years of reading holy books will go to waste. It’s said that only after years and years of cultivation is one able to land in this realm, it will be for nothing if they don’t make a mark for themselves.”
Zhou Zishu still stayed silent. Wen Kexing looked back at him. “What do you think, Ah-Xu?”
After a long while, Zhou Zishu laughed softly. “Brother Wen speaks as if you are a true gentleman.”
Wen Kexing didn’t answer straight to the point. “There are three types of people in this world: The ones who can eat meat, ones who don’t mind it, and ones who can’t stand it; this is how they are born to be, but isn’t it hilarious if the first type is born into poverty and the third type is born into luxury?”
Zhou Zishu, after a bout of stillness, spoke leisurely and carefully, “Brother Wen talks about such mysteries that I’m unable to understand; however, I do know one thing.”
“And what is it?”
“One won’t stay unchanged once thrust into a different situation.”
Wen Kexing was startled at that for a few seconds. Then he laughed out loud, unconstrained, to the point of tearing up. Zhou Zishu watched him, expressions remaining the same, his sickly skin not betraying any emotions. His eyelids lowered, and he looked like he wanted to search deep inside Wen Kexing’s soul.
After an unknown amount of time, Wen Kexing stood upright again, breathing hard, hands wiping the tears at the corner of his eyes. “Ah-Xu, I’ve found out that you are the first person in my entire lifetime that suits my taste the most… You know, I am actually a little knowledgeable in the art of disguise too.”
He looked at Zhou Zishu without blinking, to the point that even the fake layer of skin on his face felt uncomfortable. He answered without thinking, “Are you really?”
Wen Kexing said with absolute sincerity, “Therefore maybe I will transform myself into Gu Xiang.”
Zhou Zishu stood there in a daze. When he saw that Wen Kexing was looking at him up and down crudely, he immediately recomposed himself, turning to head towards the inn without a word.
Wen Kexing stared after his back, his gaze drawn to the shoulder blades hidden under clothes. To him, even when the other man was dressing in rags and looked dejected in his own misery, there was always an indescribable aura that he exuded. It took him back to that afternoon with the brilliant sun, when Zhou Zishu closed his eyes and leaned onto the wall by the main street, his beggar-like demeanor looking more relaxed than anyone else in this world.
But Wen Kexing knew that he was only sunbathing.
How can such a man not be a stunning beauty? Wen Kexing thought smugly. During the near thirty years he had lived, he had never been wrong about that.
Seeing that Zhou Zishu was now far away, Wen Kexing hurried after him, mumbling under his breath, “How can one ever know if they will change? And whether one is averse to meat or not, won’t it be miserable anyway if they’re thrown into a desolate place with nothing else to devour?”
At night fall, Cao Weining caught up to them. He felt the atmosphere between the other two had become strange, so he asked cautiously, “Did Brother Zhou and Brother Wen… have a quarrel?”
“Don’t think too much into it, Brother Cao.” They replied at the same time—again.
Wen Kexing narrowed his eyes at Zhou Zishu, his gaze sharp and full of tease. Zhou Zishu feigned ignorance.
Cao Weining scratched his head. “Actually… I don’t know how to word this, but yes, I have heard of such a thing before, but never in my life have I seen it with real men…”
Wen Kexing looked at him silently, so he continued hurriedly, “Please don’t be mistaken, Brother Wen, I don’t mean anything else, although it is a little difficult to take in, but you are both very chivalrous individuals… It’s a little strange, but…” he coughed, “please don’t take my words seriously, we always have to act and speak proper…”
Zhou Zishu poured a cup of wine for himself leisurely and took a few sips. Silly boy is getting his words tangled up, he thought.
Cao Weining then lowered his head and only looked up after a good while, his face red and his voice small, “So… do you two want separate rooms or just one room?”
Zhou Zishu choked on his wine.
Even Wen Kexing had to stare at Cao Weining and thought, We’ve found a treasure of a boy, haven’t we.
The atmosphere among the three turned weird; no one spoke, only Zhou Zishu was making coughing sounds. But suddenly, there was a piercing scream from the upper floor, making the few guests downstairs raise their heads. They saw the waiter stumbled down like he had just seen a ghost, his voice quivering, “A mur… mur… murder!”
Cao Weining’s face was all serious as he grabbed his sword and head upstairs. There was a pair of man and woman who did this at the same time; they dressed neatly and looked like brother and sister. There were always people who couldn’t stop themselves from worrying about others’ business. Wen Kexing kicked at Zhou Zishu with his foot. “Ah-Xu, won’t you go check it out?”
Zhou Zishu stood up and lowered his upper body, “You first.”
Wen Kexing rushed upstairs. When he was passing by Zhou Zishu, he suddenly slowed down and got closer, his voice low, “If you spend the night with me, I will turn into Gu Xiang as you wish.”
“I’m really honored, but I’d rather sleep in the stable.”
Wen Kexing clicked his tongue, glancing at the other, “You’re no fun.” Zhou Zishu followed close behind him.
The moment they reached the second floor, the smell of blood was right in their face. The door to the room was wide open. Cao Weining stood there with a grave expression, turning to beckon the two forward once he saw them. “You should come look at this person.”
Zhou Zishu walked toward him and saw a man propped up by the bedpost, his clothes in a state of sloppiness, revealing his chest—on it was a black mark in the shape of a hand. His arms were cut off and thrown into a corner, blood splattering everywhere. The corpse’s head lolled to one side, eyes unfocused, face pale. It was evident that he had been dead for a while.
Wen Kexing was ooh-ing and aah-ing. “This one looks like… the thief who crashed into me the other day.”
Cao Weining also let out an “Ah!” and looked closer at the dead body, his expression complicated, “He… he also looks like the one who crashed into me!”
The two men who shared the same fate and had to rely on Zhou Zishu for help stared at each other, feeling a deep sense of solidarity.
Then they heard the girl beside them spoke, “I know this person, he’s Fang Buzhi, the Nine-Claw Spirit Fox!”
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