CH 97

Chapter 97: Some sweetness (IV)

Xue Xian had just wanted to mess with Xuanmin. Xuanmin could never win against him in an argument, so he'd planned to make Xuanmin pause and think for a bit –– Xue Xian had it planned out. Once it became clear Xuanmin had no answer, he would then start making all sorts of unreasonable demands, and see how far Xuanmin would try to fulfil them.

He just liked seeing the way Xuanmin looked when he made him speechless with frustration.

But it seemed that he and God just weren't on the same page. As soon as he'd begun to tease Xuanmin, before he could begin putting on airs, he suddenly heard a very inconvenient grumbling noise.

Xue Xian fell silent and faltered. Then he wanted to pretend like nothing had happened and continue needling Xuanmin, but immediately heard yet another grumbling sound.

Xue Xian paused; even his evil smile froze awkwardly. He suddenly pulled himself together and faced Xuanmin, expressionless: "Please tell me that you heard nothing."

Xuanmin had no qualms about exposing him. Calmly, he said, "You're hungry."

Irritated, Xue Xian said, "Bald donkey, let me be perfectly honest with you. If you keep talking like this, you're going to end up alone."

"No, I've got you," Xuanmin replied breezily. Then he patted Xue Xian on the shoulder and said, "Let me get out of bed. What do you want to eat?"

Indeed, the bamboo building belonged to Xuanmin, and he was the one familiar with what was edible in the surroundings. 

"I want to eat humans," Xue Xian deadpanned. But his stomach growled yet again.

"The only thing this mountain lacks is people," Xuanmin said, standing up. But as soon as he got up from the bed, he stumbled, and had to sit back down on the bedside.

Earlier, he'd behaved completely normally, as though he'd recovered as soon as he'd gone back into his fleshly body; and Xue Xian was used to seeing him as someone indestructible, and really had believed that he'd already fully healed. But now, he realised that Xuanmin was still far from a full recovery.

After all, Xuanmin hadn't been on the bed for a quick shuteye; he'd just come back from the dead.

But Xuanmin himself did not seem to mind. He found a talisman in his robe and brusquely slapped it on himself; immediately, his face looked healthier. He did not seem intent on staying idle for even another moment. He stood up again and looked down at Xue Xian, still sitting by the bed. "Do you really want to eat humans?"

Xue Xian rolled his eyes. Xuanmin's tone was so serious that he really couldn't tell if the monk was joking.

"Forget eating. I need you to stay in bed and heal." Xue Xian's hand shot out and grabbed Xuanmin by the wrist, then pulled him back onto the bed.

It was only now that Xue Xian truly realised how weak Xuanmin was. He hadn't put any strength into pulling Xuanmin back.

"Let me find you some food first. I can heal anytime," Xuanmin said.

"Stop talking," Xue Xian interrupted. He retrieved a copper coin pendant from his sleeve, which seemed to glimmer in the candlelight as his fingers ran across it. "Your pet bird brought me this."

Swinging the pendant lightly in front of Xuanmin's face, he added, "I figured this is a pendant you've used before. A few days ago, I borrowed it to help digest the last of my dragon bone, so it has some latent magical power in it that's been reactivate it. You use this, and once you're healed, we can go get food."

The copper coin pendant that Xuanmin had been using in this life had been a gift from Zuhong –– this was an unwritten rule of the Great Priest's succession. He'd used that pendant since the age of six, and had never used any other. But that pendant, he'd buried beneath the yellow earth by the river, to use to complete that final spell.

So this pendant clearly hadn't been his in this life. He took the pendant and examined it closely, sensing its energy. The most dominant magical aura within the pendant was his own, and there was also some of Xue Xian's, as well as a tiny sliver of latent, hidden energy, perhaps a leftover from a very long time ago.

Normally, this third magical aura would be completely unfamiliar to him, but these days he had gotten used to it and could recognise it –– it was Tongdeng's.

"This must have been gifted to me by Tongdeng in my past life," Xuanmin said.

Xue Xian raised an eyebrow. "Your past-past life. This life began just now, when you opened your eyes..." Xue Xian said, grinning at him playfully and with an air of insolence. "From the beginning to the end, it all belongs to me."

Xuanmin turned to gaze at him warmly, his black eyes illuminated by the dim flame. "Okay. It's all yours."

It was impossible to truly repay the debt of one's life being saved.

"So, no matter what I say, you'll listen?" Xue Xian asked.

"Yes," Xuanmin said.

"Well, right now I want you to hold those copper coins and heal yourself," Xue Xian said solemnly, pointing at the bed.

In that moment, Xuanmin's magical bird came tumbling in through the window, flapping its wings manically as it struggled to hold a cloth pouch aloft in its beak.

It landed in front of Xue Xian and opened its beak, letting the pouch fall onto the bed and unravel, revealing something inside.

Xue Xian had to admit that this bird was a good bird, one that was clearly attuned to the needs of its master –– the pouch was full of food.

Except...

Xue Xian glanced inside and rolled his eyes. All fruits.

Obviously, the bird had gone by its own preferences. Still, this was something to fill his stomach. In order to stop Xuanmin from worrying about him and focus on healing, Xue Xian decided not to complain.

He sneered and flicked his finger against the bird's forehead. "Guess I was right to keep you alive."

Then, he reached his hand into the pouch and began rifling through the goods. He picked out a bright, shiny persimmon and rolled it around between his palms, saying to Xuanmin, "I'll eat, and you'll heal. Finding food in the mountains sounds hard, and I'm too lazy to bother with that. In the morning, let's go into town and have a good, full meal."

Xuanmin finally agreed. He sat cross-legged on the bed and began to meditate.

The copper coin pendant had been used by him in his entire previous life, and had been recently reactivated by Xue Xian –– it was so powerful that it significantly amplified his healing process. Although his body was covered in the wounds that had killed him, he only needed one night to feel like new again.

The whole night, Xuanmin could hear all sorts of small sounds around him.

Sometimes it was the soft crunching noise of Xue Xian munching on some fresh fruit. Other times, he could hear Xue Xian get up, the swish of his robes, his extremely light footsteps making their way out of this room and into another, where, having found a book from some shelf in the library, he then returned.

Before, Xue Xian had been sitting by a desk next to the window. Now, he moved to sit on the bed.

So when Xuanmin opened his eyes again, this is what he saw––

Xue Xian sitting by his side, his back leaning against the wall, his two slender legs crossed in front of him, his body leaning diagonally backwards, looking highly relaxed.

Outside, the sky was already light, and a bright, fresh shaft of sunlight streamed in and fell upon Xue Xian's body. Xue Xian idly looked up and said in a drawn-out, lazy tone, "Just like that? I'm not even done reading this book yet."

"Yes," Xuanmin said.

"You've been working hard all night. Are you hungry?" Xue Xian asked, then muttered, "How could a mortal like you be better at staving off hunger than me?" He reached into the pouch and rummaged around. "These persimmons taste pretty good. They're sweet. Wanna try?" All night long, Xue Xian had been nibbling away at the food in the pouch, and now there were only two fruits left: one of them hadn't been well-picked by the crow, and seemed to have a worm in it.

So there was just one edible persimmon left. As Xue Xian offered it to Xuanmin, he made himself sound generous, as though he'd left it to Xuanmin on purpose, instead of just having not gotten around to eating it yet.

He pushed the rotten persimmon away and retrieved the sweet-looking persimmon from the pouch, and as he looked up to give it to Xuanmin, he noticed the monk gazing at him.

"What are you looking at me for? Do I have something on my face?" Xue Xian asked, absent-mindedly touching his chin.

It was all so natural, so matter-of-fact; as though they'd already spent countless such mornings together.

It suddenly occurred to Xuanmin that the reason why he'd loved living in this remote little bamboo building had been precisely because of peaceful, tranquil days like this.    

Ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years, even ten thousand years –– he'd never get tired of it.

And maybe it was because he'd technically begun a new life as of last night, a life that was tied to Xue Xian's from the beginning all the way to the end; or maybe his experience crossing the border between life and death had changed him somehow, but he no longer wanted to repress his emotions so rigidly anymore...

Xuanmin gazed profoundly at Xue Xian some more, then reach out to hold Xue Xian's wrist, prying it away from his face. Then, with his thumb, he wiped away a small stain on Xue Xian's chin from the fruit he'd been eating.

Xue Xian felt Xuanmin's thumb brush past his chin, then stop.

Where their skin touched, it was warm. Xue Xian felt something surge within him; he let Xuanmin pinch his chin and squinted, saying in a singsong voice, "If I'm not wrong, that day on Heishi Shore, you did something bad behind my back––"

Xuanmin looked up into his eyes and said, "What did I do?"

Xue Xian tossed the book aside and grabbed onto Xuanmin's wrist, using it to pull himself up. He shuffled over to Xuanmin and swiftly planted a kiss by his lips, then fell back against the wall and began to read the book again. Raising an eyebrow, he muttered, "Never mind. We're even now."

As he spoke, he swung one of his idle legs, as though what he'd done had been the most natural thing in the world.

Xuanmin looked down in silence for some time, then suddenly said, "No."

Xue Xian stopped swinging his legs and asked, "Huh? Did I get it wrong?"

"You forgot to cover the eyes..."

Before Xue Xian could react, Xuanmin was already lifting his hand and pressing lightly against Xue Xian's eyes.

Xue Xian's breath quickened; his vision turned dark; he couldn't see anything.

Next, he felt Xuanmin's lips against his...