Co-translator: Luckykoi

Bai Fanlu was absolutely positive that this horse had a vendetta against him.

Because this time, when Xiao Liu rode Silver Snow, it was completely docile, poles apart from the mad, wild personality it had when carrying Bai Fanlu.

Bai Fanlu thought, ‘Was it possible that because he wasn’t the protagonist, he wasn’t even fit to ride a horse? But Xiao Liu was only an NPC!’

It would be better to just ride my own horse…Bai Fanlu only then remembered his little red-bay horse, yet realised that he couldn’t find it at all. Xiao Liu noticed his searching gaze.

“I didn’t notice it had gone either, did it take the chance to escape?”

Bai Fanlu regretted not having first tied the horse to a tree. It was only natural for it to flee when they hadn’t established a connection.

“Immortal gege, come on up. We can ride together!” Xiao Liu stretched out a hand towards him from atop Silver Snow’s back.

Bai Fanlu looked at Silver Snow. Who would have guessed that that beast would actually hold its head high, snorting unusually loudly at him, the contempt in his eyes practically brimming out.

With this look, his initial hesitance was swept away. Bai Fanlu didn’t speak a word more, only arching a brow before taking Xiao Liu’s hand.

Xiao Liu held his hand and pulled him up, letting Bai Fanlu sit in front of him.

Although Bai Fanlu was still feeling a little bit of competitiveness, it was mixed with apprehensiveness. He was on his guard against being tossed off at any time.

However, perhaps due to Xiao Liu’s influence, or a sudden change of heart, the horse merely tossed its head, raised its hooves and went into a trot, even while still looking slightly arrogant.

“Immortal gege, where are we going?” Xiao Liu asked behind him.

Bai Fanlu turned his head, but right after he unconsciously spoke, “To Ying…”, he immediately shut his mouth.

Their positions were too close together at this moment. On the small area that was the horse’s back, Xiao Liu’s two hands, holding the reins, were essentially encircling Bai Fanlu in an embrace.

As it was, with the barest turn of his head, their faces would be pressed together.

At first, he had thought that even if this youth looked tall, it was just taller than average for his age. But he didn’t expect that when they were like this, Xiao Liu was actually still several centimetres taller than him.

When Bai Fanlu spoke, his lips just happened to be level with the other’s lower jaw. For just a fleeting second, Bai Fanlu had felt the faint stubble of the youth, gently scraping his lips...

Bai Fanlu speedily turned his head back. “To Yingzhou in the east.”

And right after saying that, he regretted it.

When he heard Xiao Liu before, what Xiao Liu meant was to loan Silver Snow to him, so why was he now suddenly seated with him on the horse’s back for no rhyme or reason?

Furthermore, didn’t he not want to bring along this child on a journey with him? But after the huge fuss, Silver Snow not only didn’t submit to him, but yet also somehow kept aggravating him.

However, he was already in the saddle and the destination was already divulged. Was it too late to get off now?

He kept feeling like he had been immaculately set up by someone or other.

After a long time, he then heard Xiao Liu let out an “Oh.”

Forget it, he was probably overthinking it. With Xiao Liu’s straightforward personality, it was just a passing interest to want to be in the same sphere as him, right? What was the point of setting him up for something like that, it wasn’t as if that horse could have sold him out, right?

Giving it some thought, Bai Fanlu couldn’t be bothered to haggle over something that was no more than a few days’ journey.

On the bouncing horse, Bai Fanlu tried to find an opportunity to furtively shift forward an inch, but before he could sit properly, Silver Snow turned its head to glare at him.

Not just that, it even seemed extremely dissatisfied with Bai Fanlu’s movement, angrily snorting at him, powerfully shaking its mane and reclaiming the strands that Bai Fanlu had sat on.

And somehow, Bai Fanlu and the person behind were pressed even closer together now, so close that not even a breeze could scuttle between them. So much that he could intimately feel the curve of the person’s chest, as well as the youthfulness brimming from him and the slight warmth of his body.

Bai Fanlu didn’t dare to move anymore. After a brief spell of awkward silence, Xiao Liu spoke up, “Immortal gege, what are you going to do at Yingzhou?”

Bai Fanlu coughed lightly. “Look into something.”

“Oh.”

Bai Fanlu fumbled for a subject. “Where’s Zhizhi? Did you not bring it?” He didn’t notice it earlier, but where was that little monkey?

“He’s in my bag,” said Xiao Liu, and that little white monkey scuttled out of the cloth bag behind him, pulling itself up by his collar, calling out twice as if in response.

Xiao Liu reached over to shove it back into the bag. “We’re going to be speeding up soon, I’m afraid it’ll fall off.”

Silver Snow started to run significantly faster than before, until its four hooves were off the ground, riding the clouds and flying on mist. The ride was no longer bumpy, but its movements still had natural undulations, and so the bodies of the two people on the horse’s back inevitably rubbed against each other

Bai Fanlu was unused to it at first, but gradually did some adequate psychological reconstruction. Eventually he even found the cold wind blowing against his front and the human-shaped heater attached to his back pretty comfortable.

But even though he was feeling comfortable, he didn’t know what kind of special suffering the man behind him was enduring—to maintain the temperature of being a human-shaped heater and not directly turn into an active volcano on the verge of an eruption.

For a place as far-flung as Yingzhou, even with a divine steed as transportation, it wasn’t a destination reachable within the day.

Further, Silver Snow was a horse, not a car. It was also with its own temper and personality and needed to rest from time to time after carrying the two men. As expected, they didn’t manage to rush it within the day, and had to spend a night in the wilderness.

Ever since the last time he went up the tree to meditate, Bai Fanlu found that it was easier for him to focus his attention up a tree, so he took their rest time to go straight up a tree to sit quietly.

When he came back down, a soft furry thing suddenly landed on his head. Bai Fanlu reached up and brought it before his eyes—it was the little monkey, Zhizhi, who even acted cute in his hold, using his small tail to wind around his wrist, nuzzling him appeasingly.

“Immortal gege, you’ve come down? Come over and see what I’m doing!”

Xiao Liu excitedly called Bai Fanlu over. The land before him had been unearthed and was shaped into a tiny hillock made of soil piled together. Bai Fanlu bent down and took a look. It was a small mud stove built from the natural resources scavenged around them.

Xiao Liu was lying belly down in front of the mud stove, puffing and blowing air inside. His whole face was covered with dirt and dust, and when he spoke to Bai Fanlu he even wiped a hand over his face, causing it to turn even grimier such that his facial features couldn’t be made out.

Bai Fanlu involuntarily chuckled.

Xiao Liu was instantly unhappy, raising his head to glare at him. “If you dare laugh at me, I won’t give you second helpings later.”

What’s that? Nope, not eating.

Bai Fanlu recalled the fruit he saw in the tree earlier, and contemplated whether to climb back up to pluck a few. But on second thought, he found that he was being dumb—he could just casually flick his fingers and get a whole pile down.

With a flash of a spell, all the fruit on the tree fell down at once. Zhizhi excitedly hooted as it went to pick them, and
Xiao Liu cried out, sending a resentful, teary look towards Bai Fanlu.

Bai Fanlu sat down beside him. “Blowing will take too long, I’ll teach you a quicker method.”

“Immortal gege, are you teaching me a spell?”

Full of confidence, Bai Fanlu whipped up a spell—piece of cake, please—before his thought even completed, he snapped his fingers, and fire spat out from the small mud stove with a vengeance!

The fire dragon howled directly towards Xiao Liu’s face. Xiao Liu shouted in shock, hastily retreating, and Bai Fanlu also got a shock. By the time he recovered, small sparks were already sizzling on the clothes on Xiao Liu.

Bai Fanlu went up to catch hold of Xiao Liu and bring him to the creek. When he was tossing the man in, in a moment of inattention, he failed to let go properly and went in as well.

With a splash, the two men fell into the water.

The first thought that flashed through Bai Fanlu’s mind, ‘One, two, three times. Why do I keep falling into water at the drop of a hat?!’ Was it really time for him to learn how to swim?

Fortunately, this creek was quite shallow. Bai Fanlu struggled slightly before, with the depth of past experience, just stood up and climbed up the bank with a wooden face.

He came to dry land expressionless, but when he lifted his eyes, he saw that Xiao Liu’s limbs were still theatrically flailing in the not-very-deep water...

Bai Fanlu facepalmed, turning around and silently walking back to where he started.

A short while later, an utterly soaked Xiao Liu, with his equally teary, wet gaze came over as well. “Immortal gege, why don’t you care about me anymore?”

At first he wanted to say that he wasn’t the lad’s parent, then remembering that this child was an orphan, Bai Fanlu changed it to say, “You’re sixteen, you’re considered an adult already.”

“But you’re my Shifu. Once a Shifu, always a Shifu.”

“Since when did I agree to being your Shifu?”

“You just said that you’d teach me.”

Yo, he even knows how to talk back now? Bai Fanlu smiled, scoffing softly, “You didn’t learn it, it doesn’t count.”

“Who said that I didn’t?”

Xiao Liu puffed up his cheeks, and at the same time, a fire dragon poofed out of the small mud stove, even crackling loudly in the air, sending out brilliant sparks.

Zhizhi swiftly jumped away, scuttling up a tree in shock.

“...”

“How’s that?” Xiao Liu proudly lifted his chin. “I’ve already told you, I’m very sharp, I got this tiny spell right away, hehe!”

With that, he smacked his head. “Ah, I focused so much on this I forgot that my chicken is going to be burnt to a crisp after this long! Hurry!”

Xiao Liu used two twigs to swiftly pry apart the bonfire, fishing out a jet-black thing from under the wood ash.

Bai Fanlu looked at him with a complicated expression.

Xiao Liu seemed not to realise anything was wrong with Bai Fanlu, instead, holding that jet-black thing like a prized treasure, and ceremoniously placing it in front of Bai Fanlu.

“Ta-da, Xiao Liu’s secret recipe, 'Flower Chicken'!”

After the mud that was burnt jet-black and rock-hard was knocked open, there was still a layer of leaves around it. Xiao Liu carefully pried it open, immediately revealing chicken skin that was scorched golden-yellow. A tantalising aroma gently diffused from it in waves. When drifting up the nose, it induced an intense physiological instinct to swallow one’s saliva.

Bai Fanlu was carefully probing the surroundings at this time. While he could no longer sense the strange fluctuation from earlier, the aroma of the food captivated him.

Come to think of it, the last meal he had were those few fruits out in the wild. It had been two full days without proper food to eat. Though immortals didn’t have to eat or drink and were immune to harm, at the sight of food now, it was still easy to be tempted.

“It should’ve been wrapped in lotus leaves, but I couldn’t find any nearby. I’ll make it next time I find some, it’ll be even more delicious then.”

While explaining, Xiao Liu tore off a drumstick, handing it to Bai Fanlu. “Try it?”

Bai Fanlu stared at the drumstick dripping with the juice of its meat, before indifferently taking it. Under Xiao Liu’s expectant gaze, as well as the intense yelling of his physiological cravings, he daintily took a bite.

...It’s quite tasty...

“Is it tasty?”

“...Not bad.”

Bai Fanlu took another bite. Xiao Liu watched him take another bite, like receiving wordless encouragement, smiling even more happily. He tore the whole chicken into smaller bites.

The meatier portions were given to Bai Fanlu, whereas he left the chicken ribs, neck, feet, and whatnot for himself.

The difference in treatment was too obvious. Bai Fanlu couldn’t bear to feign ignorance even if he wanted to. “You’re still growing, eat more, I can’t finish this much.”

Xiao Liu ate slower than him. He was now leisurely gnawing on a chicken rib, and hearing Bai Fanlu say so, tilted his head, looking at him.

A certain immortal was oblivious that his lips were, by this time, already smeared with the juices from the meat. Seeing this, Xiao Liu smiled, doting faintly leaking into his bright eyes. “Watching Immortal gege enjoy the food makes me happy.”

Bai Fanlu noticed that he had forgotten his manners, but he was also unable to use his white sleeve to wipe the juices. He turned his face aside slightly, initially thinking of using a spell to deal with it, but then again, he still had to eat after he cleaned his mouth. What was the point of acting coy? In any case, his image was already lost.

Bai • True Foodie • Fanlu thus set his mind back to eating, going on until his tummy swelled into a ball. Let alone sitting in meditation, he was soon about to be unable to sit anymore.

Xiao Liu also ate and drank his fill, lying beside him, holding a green bristlegrass between his lips. He lay with his legs bent, one leg crossed over the other, like a vagabond of the Jianghu, free and unconstrained.

When he cleared up the roast chicken, dirt got onto his body again. Bai Fanlu secretly used a cleansing spell to help Xiao Liu get rid of it, and when he withdrew his hands, he looked down at his palm.

Another fluctuation, just like the unusual pulse of spiritual energy when Xiao Liu blew the fire dragon earlier.

The little monkey Zhizhi was soundly asleep on one side, its snores carrying over in the breeze.

Bai Fanlu said softly, “Come over.”

Xiao Liu flipped over, obediently going up to him. His smiling eyes were curved like two crescent moons, his face innocent, even when Bai Fanlu suddenly clasped his wrist, he only showed slight puzzlement.

“What’s wrong?”

Bai Fanlu didn’t respond. He silently tightened his grip, feeling the youth’s steady heartbeat.

Demon, immortal, or mortal…He’d know once he tried.