Ointment to Prevent Mosquito Bites?

Gu Feidi went back to the Tengyun Pavilion, while Su Yang was in the carriage prepared by the head ornament shop and on his way to the inn on Seventh Street.

Perhaps it was due to the effective communication between the shadow guards, but the inn had already prepared their most luxurious upper room suite, and heated a whole tub of hot water inside of the suite, for the convenience of bathing. 

Su Yang was extremely relieved to be able to finally take off his disguise. After his bath, he changed back into men’s clothes before someone suddenly knocked on his door.

Two young men standing outside the door were dressed in robes embroidered with flying bird patterns, the Tengyun Pavilion’s signature style. They saluted to Su Yang, “Subordinates Que Shou and Que ZhiThe Evil Sect’s subordinates have flower names, while the Tengyun Pavilion have bird names. Que in their name means small bird or sparrow, the second letter for both of them were related to guarding. Que = Sparrow. Que Shou = Sparrow that guards, Que Zhi = Sparrow that stops (like prohibit)., have come to guard you under the Young Lord’s command.”

These two looked familiar to Su Yang. They were among the guards that accompanied Gu Feidi during his journey to the wasteland. They must have a close relationship. He chuckled internally at their names, like sparrows protecting their nests.

Que Zhi saluted, and handed a brocade box to Su Yang, “These are the clothes prepared by the Young Lord for you, saying it’s inconvenient to wear the form-fitting garment, so he arranged you a set of regular clothes.”

Que Shou added, “The Young Lord instructed that if you want to sightsee around the city, you must wear a straw hat. However, with two of us escorting you, no one will come forward to check your identity.”

Su Yang accepted the clothes, thanked the two and signed for them to enter the room.

Yet the two replied simultaneously, “This subordinate can keep watch outside.”

Su Yang asked Mei Shisan to go outside of the room and chat with them in the corridor.

This afternoon, Su Yang was shut inside the room. He sat in meditation, then switched to practicing his swordsmanship once he was bored. When he started to feel restless, he decided to venture out for a stroll. 

Before that, the only civilized place he had been to was the House of Jade and the Sanctuary. Outside of that, he spent most of his time in the wilderness. This was his first time in this kind of crowded area in a major city of the ancient period. If he didn’t go out for a walk, this trip would be in vain—the next trip would definitely be spent in the snowy mountains and most likely in the wilderness again, then back to the House of Jade like what he and Gu Feidi had planned.

He changed into the Tengyun Pavilion’s casual uniform and put on the straw hat with a semi-transparent veil. He ordered Mei Shisan to stay at the inn while he went downstairs and out of the inn accompanied by Que Shou and Que Zhi.

Lanyang City has a river of nine meters in width through the centre of the city, along with fourteen streets. 

The main building of the Tengyun Pavilion was on the north bank of the upper reaches of the river, and scattered courtyards were built across the river. From a distance, one could see a great number of pavilions, and a few buildings as high as a small skyscraper. The designs were elaborate and refined, absolutely a magnificent sight.

The government office was built near the water. The office was the boundary that separated the upstream and downstream cities. Each of them had seven streets, counting from one to fourteen from west to east.

The inn where Su Yang was staying was on Seventh StreetThis is the final draft of the map based on the descriptions from the author.
14 streets
A river cross in center
Main building at up stream, north bank, close to 1st street
Government office close to river boundary of up/ down streams
7 streets per up and down stream
Streets go down the number from west to east
Drawing maps from descriptions is so hard! , so he went up the river, and once he was near the gate of the main pavilion building on First Street, he turned back and spent his leisure time wandering around each street down the river. 

Dressed in clothes from Gu Feidi’s pavilion and with the two little sparrows keeping him company, no one really approached him. Even the shop and stall owners were very polite to him. Before he could put his bargaining skill to the test, they offered a generous discount of their own accord.

He didn’t buy any little trinkets or gimmicks, only enjoyed some local snacks along the street and strolled all the way to Eleventh Street. 

As the sun was slanting to the west, a string of coloured paper lanterns was lit on Eleventh Street, which made this section of the street both colourful and charming. There was also a group playing instruments, and soon women’s graceful singing joined the music.

Noticing more and more onlookers circling the performance to enjoy the show, Su Yang curiously moved closer.

Que Shou and Que Zhi exchanged a look and made a signal with their eyes, Que Shou got the short end of the stick as he helplessly came beside Su Yang and whispered, “Young Hero, the Young Lord specifically told this subordinate to not bring you to this street, this…”

“Oh, it’s a brothel, right?” Su Yang was enjoying this. “Why did he specifically inform you to not bring me here?”

The two subordinates awkwardly stood in place. 

Su Yang reassured, “Don’t worry, I won’t go in. I’m just going to watch from outside.”

After that, he really just stopped outside the building for a moment to listen to their song, then went to the other end of Eleventh Street.

Near to the brothel, there was a little shop with coloured lights outside its door. It was just that this place had smaller and less frequent customers. The single door was semi-transparent. If it wasn’t for the faint music and laughter from inside of the store, Su Yang would have thought this place was closed.

Su Yang stopped and lifted his head up to read the plaque above the door.

“Green Bamboo Pavilion?” He read curiously. “What do they sell here?”

Que Shou and Que Zhi looked at each other in dismay, too timid to answer.

Su Yang stepped forward to knock on the door.

The two guards immediately called out, “Young Hero, wait!”

Then, a peddler carrying a load of merchandise came forward and asked, smiling, “This young customer, are you in need of balsam flower oil? Our products are cheaper than the ones inside this building and have a wider variety of fragrances. Why don’t you pick a few to take home?” After his advertisement, he pulled out a small round iron jar from his inventory and passed it to Su Yang.

The two sparrows immediately cautioned, “You dare! How bold of you to approach us and still have the audacity to not scram?” 

The peddler shivered and quickly nodded to leave.

Su Yang stopped him. “Wait! I want to see what you’ve got there.”

The two guards: “...”

Su Yang picked up the rounded iron jar from the peddler’s hand, twisted it open, and immediately smelled a delightful fragrance. He stared at it for a long time under the light and dipped his fingers in the ointment.

“What’s this used for?” He closed the jar. Although he had a guess already, it was still better for him to ask.

The peddler, who was frightened by his escorts, didn't dare to go into too much detail in answer to Su Yang’s question. So he hesitated, “This balsam flower oil…when you are entangled with a man, you can, er, make things more pleasurable…yes, more pleasurable…” He laughed awkwardly. 

Su Yang with a blank expression. “...Oh.”

Then he tossed the iron jar with the other jars in the peddler's frame shop, turned around, and walked away with stiff legs.

When he arrived back at the riverside along Eleventh Street, he suddenly came to his senses. He turned his head to cast sidelong glances at Que Shou and Que Zhi. He said with a smile, “I suddenly realised that your Young Lord has a very mature mind. I always thought of him as a gentleman, but I would never expect him to frequent this street…”

This time, Que Shou responded quickly, “The Young Lord only inspected the shops for safety. Please rest assured, he has never entered them.”

Su Yang curled his lips. “This doesn’t bother me. We are arch-rivals, what is there for me to be anxious about?” He chuckled maliciously.

Que Shou and Que Zhi exchanged a look that said ‘It seems that the Young Lord is in big trouble…’

Su Yang continued his stroll down the river with an unhappy face.

Inside: That sultry man! Two-faced pervert! He has that kind of intention toward me! He clearly knew what that jar was for, and he told me it was an ointment for mosquito bites?

Er, that wasn’t right, wasn’t it he himself who guessed that it was mosquito repellent...

...But it was undeniable that Gu Feidi was a hypocrite with an impure mind! 

No, wait.

What was Lian Jiu thinking?!

What he asked for was internal and external medicine. That, he was sure. But why did his servant mix this kind of perverted item among the medicines?

Did he miss something?

Before Su Yang could figure out a logical reason, a series of shouts suddenly interrupted his train of thought.

“Older brotherFan Qi called Fan Xi ‘second brother’, the middle child for the family. But from experience, we don’t really call siblings by placement unless they are the oldest or youngest. It just doesn’t sound as pleasing to the ear so I changed it to older brother.! You can’t do that. Please come to your senses!”

“Stop drinking! You’re already so drunk, if…Ah! Be careful!”

“Older brother, from what I see, if you really want to pursue her, you’re not even in the proper state to do that!”

Then, a strong scent of alcohol travelled in the air, and a green figure came stumbling toward Su Yang, and was stopped by his sparrow guards.

Su Yang had a clear look at the man and blurted in surprise, “...Fan Xi?”

Fan Xi was so drunk and oblivious that he didn’t reply even after getting a glimpse of Su Yang.

The round-faced boy behind him was startled and asked cautiously, “You know my brother?”

Su Yang recognised the young man right away. He was the one who helped him handle the bearded man. He gushed while laughing, “Oh, so you’re Fan Xi’s younger brother?”

Fan Qi was bewildered. “Yes, I’m. You know who I am?”

“Somewhat,” Su Yang replied. “What’s the matter with your brother?”

Fan Qi sighed exaggeratedly, “Trapped by love! I haven’t asked for all the details yet. I only heard that Pu Lingyun was ordered into seclusion by the Wulin Alliance Leader as soon as she returned to the Tengyun Pavilion. The Wulin Alliance Leader refused to see my brother as well…People are saying that the Tengyun Pavilion won’t ever marry their disciple to the Qinglian Sect. And now…he has been acting like this…that’s all.”

Seeing how drunk Fan Xi was, the man couldn’t stand steadily. Su Yang suggested, “Where are both of you staying? I’ll help you carry him back.”

Fan Qi mumbled, “I just arrived today. I haven’t had time to find a place to stay. My brother is this drunk…I haven’t asked where he is staying. Oh right, do you know where an inn around here is?”

Su Yang thought for a moment and proposed, “How about you come with me. Where I’m staying is very spacious. Plus, I happen to know your brother, and I want to talk with him once he is more level-headed tomorrow.”

Fan Qi was very surprised at first and accepted with a smile. “Oh! That’s great! Thank you so much then!!”

Su Yang: “...”

Gu Feidi was right. This young man was really easy to trick. He completely let his guard down and trusted a stranger he met on the street.

With a drunkard as luggage, it was not convenient for Su Yang to continue shopping, so he went straight back to Seventh Street.

Once he got back to the suite, it was already dark. Mei Shisan already lit the candles. When he saw who Su Yang brought along, he immediately arranged for servants to clean up the man’s face and prepare soup to chase away a hangover.

Fan Qi inspected the suite and chirped, “Wow, this friend is really rich…Eh?”

Su Yang put his straw hat on the table and asked with a smile, “What’s the matter?”

Fan Qi came forward to have a closer inspection of Su Yang. He frowned and questioned, “Do you happen to have an older sister? Or younger sister…Who was married? I think I saw her before! You two looked so much alike! So you’re from the Tengyun Pavilion? No wonder you two were raised into an immortal jade figure!”

Su Yang’s smile became brighter, and as he was about to answer, Fan Xi’s groaning interrupted him. 

Fan Qi must have had a good relationship with Fan Xi because he immediately went to check on his older brother, helped the man up and got a bucket for any content ejected from the drunkard’s stomach. When the servant brought in the soup, he fed it to Fan Xi spoonful by spoonful. 

“You must be tired. Rest, I’ll take care of my brother.” Fan Qi murmured. “You already allowed us to stay here for the night. I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.”

Su Yang was indeed a bit tired. So he nodded and went into his room.

* * *

When Gu Feidi entered the Tengyun Pavilion’s main building, he went straight to his father.

Seeing that his son came home safe and sound, no emotion was visible on Gu Ruohai’s face, but the concern in his eyes was decreased by a sizeable amount. 

“When Lingyun returned, she said you were determined to go to the Evil Sect. Yunzhan also voiced an assumption on how you might be injured…” He seized Gu Feidi and look him up and down. “Are you all better?”

“Actually…” Gu Feidi was silent for a moment. He lowered his head. “I wasn’t hurt, but…during my time on the wasteland, I was hit by the E’Luo Gui Faction’s Blood Gu.”

Gu Ruohai’s whole body trembled, as he walked two steps forward unknowingly to grasp Gu Feidi’s wrist. “Blood Gu?”

“Father, don’t worry.” Gu Feidi comforted him. “It’s been over a month. I’m fine. There is nothing for Father to be concerned about.”

Gu Ruohai was obviously relieved.

“If it wasn’t for Su Yang…” Gu Feidi said as he observed his father’s face. “If it wasn’t for him, taking me back to the Evil Sect and to extract the Poisonous Gu…I fear that I wouldn’t be standing in front of you today.”

Gu Ruohai stayed quiet.

After a moment’s silence, he sighed and asked, “The reason you went to the Evil Sect with him was to detoxify the Poisonous Gu?”

Gu Feidi immediately nodded, “That’s correct.”

Then he added, “At the beginning, Yunzhan and Lingyun wanted to rescue me…but I didn’t have faith in detoxification at that time, and I didn’t want everyone to worry for nothing, so I didn’t inform them of the details. After all, it’s easy to cause panic with the unknown. The fewer people who knew, the better.”

Seeing that his father was just nodding his head in silence, and seemed unwilling to ask more questions, Gu Feidi gritted his teeth and confessed, “Su Yang helped me lead the Poisonous Gu out. Now it’s in his body and only being suppressed by his mental skill. It needs to be completely removed to ensure his safety.”

His father frowned slightly at Gu Feidi. He stared into his son’s eyes, yet still not saying a word.

“Father,” Gu Feidi had nothing to hide. “He saved my life. I want to…It’s my duty to accompany him to the snowy mountain in the southwest to find the miracle doctor.”

When the ‘snowy mountain in the southwest’ was brought up, Gu Ruohai’s expression suddenly changed, but he regained his composure instantly. 

He thought for a moment. “I’ll send Feng Lin to accompany him to the snowy mountain.”

Feng Lin was Gu Ruohai’s personal head guard with excellent martial arts skills. With him on the journey, it would guarantee a smooth trip. 

Gu Feidi’s eyes brightened and as he was about to thank his father, his father added another sentence.

“...As for you, there is no need for you to go.”