CH 66

anslator: baumkuchen

Jiang Buhuan had been staying in Lu Qingjiu’s home for close to a month now. From the very beginning, his manager had been madly calling him and urging him to come back. Later on, he started trying to ask questions to figure out his location and come and get him himself. In the end, he finally gave up. His mental journey to get to that point, too was correspondingly complex. If not for him repeatedly emphasizing that he was fine, his manager might have chosen to call the police long ago. 

“If I leave, I’ll die!” Jiang Buhuan told his manager this, but he thought that Jiang Buhuan was being threatened by someone, and promised that he would find more security for Jiang Buhuan to ensure his safety.

“I already said, the one who wants to kill me isn’t human. Ah, forget it, even if I tell you you wouldn’t understand.” Jiang Buhuan knew that his matter really sounded far too absurd. If not for himself having personally experienced it, even he might have felt like he had a mental problem.

“If it’s not a human who wants to kill you, what is it?” His manager was about to be driven crazy by Jiang Buhuan. His star had disappeared for so many days now, delaying his entire itinerary. He could still cover it up now, but if this were to continue for another few days, he wouldn’t be able to. Letting the fans know that Jiang Buhuan disappeared, how big of a fuss would that stir up?

“I don’t know what it is either,” Jiang Buhuan said, “I can’t talk any longer, I have to go cook now.” 

Hearing this, his manager’s mouth twitched. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Jiang Buhuan decisively hang up the phone. Looking at the phone, he let out a long sigh. To tell the truth, if not for him having been able to confirm that Jiang Buhuan was in alright condition through the video call, he would have started to doubt if Jiang Buhuan had been kidnapped and imprisoned by his fans.

After hanging up, Jiang Buhuan went to the kitchen to help Lu Qingjiu with his cooking. He’d been here for more than a few days already, and the longer he stayed here, the longer he felt like these people weren’t ordinary.

Even though Lu Qingjiu had told him to not go to the inner courtyard, Jiang Buhuan had been unable to hold back his curiosity, and had snuck off to the inner courtyard to take a look around, but he only saw a well so deep he couldn’t see its bottom and several beehives, which had the sound of buzzing coming from inside. Jiang Buhuan hadn’t dared to get too close, only peeking over from the side, but who knew that as soon as he stretched his neck over, something that looked a little like a bee popped out from inside, shouting, “What are you looking at? Are you a pervert, watching us so furtively?”

Jiang Buhuan was shouted at into a stupor. He stood in place, dazed for a few seconds, before trying to explain, “No…… I’m not, I was just curious……”

“What what what? What are you curious about?” The bee said huffily, “I’m sleeping here with my wife, and you’re peeking around, aren’t you afraid of growing a sty, huh?”  

Jiang Buhuan, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

Ktf yff rjlv, “Leggs eq jcv ifjnf, vbc’a ifa wf rff sbe jujlc!”

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Even though Jiang Buhuan, who had been standing next to him, saw all of this, he could only pretend to not have seen anything, deathly afraid that if he exposed him Yin Xun’s next chop of his knife would be aimed at him—— He was an ordinary person, after all.

Although living here was very safe, he couldn’t stay here for a long time. Jiang Buhuan had no intentions of retiring from the entertainment industry, and besides, this was still someone else’s home, he still had some self-consciousness…… 

So after Lu Qingjiu sent off Zhu Miaomiao, who was leaving to go back to work, Jiang Buhuan found Lu Qingjiu and expressed his gratitude towards him, and handed Lu Qingjiu a cheque for a sum of money that was seven digits, euphemistically asking when he would be able to safely leave.

Even though Jiang Buhuan was a celebrity, in this house, he’d been very diligent, accompanying Yin Xun to clean the courtyard and wash and cut vegetables everyday, and had very little presence. Lu Qingjiu had almost forgotten about him. Now, seeing his pitiful appearance, Lu Qingjiu actually found it a little funny. He politely refused Jiang Buhuan’s cheque and said that he would help him ask. 

“Ge, you should just take this money,” Jiang Buhuan painstakingly persuaded, “If you don’t take it, I won’t feel at ease.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “No need, we’re not lacking money right now.”

Jiang Buhuan, “You can use it to buy the boss more meat…… “

Lu Qingjiu said, “He can’t eat that much meat, there’s really no need. Besides, I’m just helping you ask, whether it can be resolved is another story.” If he took the money, this situation would change in tone. 

Jiang Buhuan was still very uneasy, but seeing that Lu Qingjiu was refusing to take the money, there was nothing he could do. He could only pray in his heart that this situation would be able to be resolved sooner, and that he would be able to leave Shuifu village. Even though life in this old house was very warm, the atmosphere of the village was incredibly strange, making him feel like he had entered the set of a horror film.

The next day, Lu Qingjiu found an opportunity to bring up Jiang Buhuan’s matter with Bai Yuehu. Of course, he said it rather skillfully, just saying, “Yuehu, Jiang Buhuan’s been bumming meals off us in our house for so long now, when can he leave?”

Bai Yuehu had originally been eating the green dates Lu Qingjiu had bought back from town, his mouth loudly chewing the crunchy dates, but when he heard these words, he instantly stopped. Even his expression darkened. He asked, “How much has he eaten already?”

Lu Qingjiu held back a smile. “Hasn’t he been eating every meal together with us?” 

Bai Yuehu frowned. He said, “Someone wants to kill him in Shuifu village.”

“Why?” Lu Qingjiu was taken aback. This was his first time hearing Bai Yuehu say something like this. “Why do they have to kill Jiang Buhuan in Shuifu village?”

Bai Yuehu said, “Shuifu village is a boundary. In the words of you humans, it’s the boundary between myths and reality. There were originally a lot of boundaries like this, but as the separation between the two words stretched on, the boundaries gradually started merging. Now, only in Shuifu village can you pass between the two worlds.”

Lu Qingjiu instantly understood. “Is there a problem with Jiang Buhuan’s bloodline?” 

“En,” Bai Yuehu said, “His family were also once guardians of the boundary, but now, they’ve already completely integrated into the human world. This kind of bloodline will become thinner and thinner, until it disappears completely. Jiang Buhuan is probably the last remaining offspring of his family.”

Thinking about it, Lu Qingjiu and Jiang Buhuan had similar backgrounds. He was the last of the Lu family, and Jiang Buhuan was the last of the Jiang family. It was just that Jiang Buhuan seemed to have no knowledge of such matters whatsoever, having completely left this circle.

“Why do they have to have Jiang Buhuan die in Shuifu village?” Lu Qingjiu found this matter a little scary.

“If a guardian dies in Shuifu village, it’ll corrupt the boundary,” Bai Yuehu said, “This kind of corruption has minimal impacts on humans, but it has a huge impact on us.” 

This was already Lu Qingjiu’s second time hearing this term. “Corruption?”

Bai Yuehu, “Yes, corruption.”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “What do you mean?”

Bai Yuehu’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. After deliberating for a moment, he explained it like this, “It’s an impact on the spirit.” Even though this kind of explanation was still a little vague, but Lu Qingjiu pretty much understood what it meant. He said, “So it’s like how if a kid sees too many bad things, it’s easy for them to be led astray into becoming bad kids, right?” 

Bai Yuehu, “……You can think about it that way.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “Then what can we do about Jiang Buhuan? Are we going to let him live with us like this forever?”

Bai Yuehu said, unhesitating, “That can’t happen.”

Clearly, he already deeply hated the little celebrity who was living in his home and eating and drinking for free. But he couldn’t chase Jiang Buhuan out, for once he left this place, Jiang Buhuan could be expected to be immediately killed on the path out of Shuifu village. 

“I’ll get this dealt with as soon as possible.” Bai Yuehu picked up a green date, placed the entire thing in his mouth, and chewed it into several pieces in loud crunches before swallowing it down cleanly.

Lu Qingjiu nodded. “Be careful, don’t get hurt.”

Bai Yuehu said, “I will.”

Only then did Lu Qingjiu’s heart settle, knowing that they had a plan. 

For the next few days, the house was very calm. The spring sun was truly too comfortable. Lu Qingjiu chopped up all the remaining sweet potatoes they’d eaten for the winter, spread out a bamboo mat in the courtyard, then sun-dried the sweet potatoes. Dried sweet potatoes like this were translucent and extremely chewy, and were more moist than those baked in a fire. Anyways, since they wouldn’t have been able to finish all those sweet potatoes, cooking them like this to serve as snacks was a good option.

Lu Qingjiu then used the surplus honey to make a lot of desserts. Now, the oven was getting a lot of use, and he had a better command of the heat control, so the appearance of the bread he baked was practically the same as the store-bought ones, and the taste was even a level above that. After all, the milk and honey in his home were both very special, and couldn’t be bought on the outside.

That night, Lu Qingjiu chopped up a bunch of leeks, bought a few pieces of fresh pork, and wrapped up a tableful of dumplings. Each and every one of the dumplings had thin skin and generous stuffing. Even before they were cooked, they already looked very appealing. Yin Xun, who loved eating dumplings, said happily, “Is it the new year? Why are you making so many dumplings?”

Lu Qingjiu shot him a look. He remained silent. 

“What’s with your expression?” Yin Xun asked, uncomprehending, “Why do you look like after we eat this meal of dumplings we’re going to be sent to our deaths…… Mmph.” Before he could finish speaking, Lu Qingjiu covered his mouth.

“Shut up and eat your dumplings,” Lu Qingjiu said in a low voice.

A frightened expression appeared on Yin Xun’s face. In a small voice, he asked, “Who in this house is going to die?” He pointed at himself. “It isn’t me, is it?” Was he finally about to lose his status as food reserves and become the food on the table??

Lu Qingjiu, “Who fucking wants to eat you, whoever does would probably get diarrhea.”

Yin Xun, “……”

Lu Qingjiu, “We’re eating Jiang Buhuan…… No no no, who said that we’re going to eat someone?”

Yin Xun, “Then what are you going to do?”

Lu Qingjiu said, “What are you asking so many questions for, isn’t it good enough to eat dumplings?” 

Yin Xun felt like this was rather reasonable. Since the one being eaten wasn’t him, what was he asking so many questions for, wasn’t just eating his dumplings better?

Jiang Buhuan still didn’t know about his impending death. As he stared at the dumplings in the pot, drool leaked out of his mouth, to tell the truth, he’d eaten a lot of good things, but Lu Qingjiu’s food was always delicious. Take those those dumplings in front of him that looked absolutely unordinary, for example. He’d just tasted one, and it tasted incomparably fresh, and it wasn’t like that kind of freshness that came from MSG, it was the taste of the ingredients themselves. The perfect combination of leeks and pork was delicious, and dabbed in a bit of garlic and vinegar, it hit him right in the soul.

Just, other than the dumplings, he found the gaze of Yin Xun, who was standing next to him, a little strange. Jiang Buhuan was very sensitive to other people’s gazes. He turned, confused, “What are you staring at me for?”

Yin Xun inwardly thought, isn’t this the pity of a fellow food source, but he didn’t dare to say it out loud, simply saying, “Isn’t it because you’re good looking?” 

Ktlr kjr Aljcu Detejc’r olgra alwf yflcu qgjlrfv lc remt j kjs ys j cbc-tewjc. Lf kjr jmaejiis j ilaaif fwyjggjrrfv. “Yt, atjcx sbe.”

“Rb cffv ab atjcx wf,” Tlc Wec rjlv, “P’w nfgs tjqqs atja P kjr jyif ab wffa sbe.”

Aljcu Detejc, “……” Qtja’r klat sbeg abcf atja rbecvr ilxf P’w jybea ab vlf.

However, with the delicious dumplings before him, Jiang Buhuan didn’t think any more of it. After the dumplings were brought out to the table, Lu Qingjiu first served Jiang Buhuan a big bowl of them, then, with a kindly smile, said, “Child, eat, you should eat a little more.” 

Jiang Buhuan, “Uh…… Okay.” He took a bite, and a radiant smile appeared on his face. “Delicious.” These dumplings were completely full of stuffing. With a small bite, meat juices would spurt out. Even though they were still a little hot, they were so delicious they made one smile from ear to ear. He popped them into his mouth one after another, simply unable to stop.

Lu Qingjiu had made a lot, and some were even stuffed with shrimp and leek stuffing. Jiang Buhuan ate to his heart’s content, even causing his stomach to bulge. During this period of time, he hadn’t held back his eating at all, and gained a layer of fat all over his body. To a normal person, this wouldn’t have any impact, but the cameras saw all. God knows what kind of inhuman torture he would be getting from his manager after he went back.

Thinking about the life he was going to have to live after this, Jiang Buhuan forcefully stuffed his stomach that had risen up into his throat back down.

Lu Qingjiu didn’t stop him, just letting him eat as he wished. He would even help serve him dumplings from time to time. He had a gentle expression on his face, but seeing it, Yin Xun, who was sitting next to them, shivered. Inwardly, he told himself that he should be careful around a Lu Qingjiu with such an expression on his face—— A gentle person suddenly turning dark on the inside, was simply the most terrifying thing. 

Jiang Buhuan had stuffed himself too full. As he sat on the chair, digesting his meal, Lu Qingjiu asked, “Do you want to take a walk around outside to help yourself digest?”

Jiang Buhuan originally wanted to refuse, but under Lu Qingjiu’s sincere gaze, he couldn’t bear to say no in the end, saying, “Alright, I’ll go out for a walk.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “En, go then.”

Jiang Buhuan slowly went out the door. He was actually really afraid of this village, so usually, even if he went out to take a walk around, he would stay in the vicinity of Lu Qingjiu’s home, and wouldn’t go too far, just wandering around nearby. Right now, spring had sprung, and the days were getting longer. At this time, the gorgeous sunset was still hanging on the horizon. This was also the reason why Jiang Buhuan dared to go out and take a walk around. If it had been dark out, he wouldn’t have dared to leave Lu Qingjiu’s home even if he was being beaten to death. 

There weren’t many homes with residents in them around Lu Qingjiu’s house. There was basically only Li Xiaoyu’s family. Jiang Buhuan had met that child before. He was very cute, but because of his bias against Shuifu village, Jiang Buhuan hadn’t dared to talk to him.

After walking to the place where Lu Qingjiu had parked the pickup truck and walking a few rounds around that area, Jiang Buhuan’s stomach was feeling better, and he planned to go back.

However, when he started on his way back, he felt like something was wrong. After thinking about it, he realised the sky above him, which had been still bright, had suddenly turned dark at some unknown time. Jiang Buhuan looked up and saw a patch of dark clouds over Shuifu village, covering the remaining glow of the sunset. In a matter of moments, his surroundings became so dark that he couldn’t see his hands in front of him.

Jiang Buhan’s heart skipped a beat. His bad feeling was getting stronger and stronger. Knowing that something wasn’t right, he pulled out his phone and tried to light the path ahead of him as he started to sprint wildly back towards Lu Qingjiu’s courtyard. 

However, the courtyard which he had originally been right next to, was impossible to find no matter how he looked. Jiang Buhuan ran until he was struggling for breath, but he still didn’t see a hint of the courtyard. He tried to use his phone to light up his surroundings, and look for the path back, but found that his surroundings had become incredibly foreign, as if he was somewhere he’d never been before.

“Is anyone here?? Is there anyone around here?? Help me, help me please——” Jiang Buhuan began to call out in terror. Even though he was panting for breath, he still didn’t dare to stop moving, continuing to stagger forward. However, the darkness hindered his running. After running another few steps, Jiang Buhuan tripped on a rock, falling onto the ground.

After falling, he originally wanted to quickly get up, but when he looked up, he was shaken by the scene above his head. Above him, a whirlpool of dark clouds had formed. Like water, they rolled and surged in the sky above his head. In the centre of the dark clouds, was a giant eye. That eye was yellow, and it had a slit pupil like a cold blooded creature, currently staring coldly at Jiang Buhuan.

“Ah——” Jiang Buhuan was pinned in place by that gaze. His entire body was frozen in place as he watched the clouds shift unceasingly, before they finally formed into a giant dragon claw. After that, that yellow eye blinked, and the giant claw lunged straight at Jiang Buhuan. Against this overwhelming strength, Jiang Buhuan didn’t even have the courage to struggle. He sat there, dazed, like a rabbit that had been scared witless. Faced with a ferocious predator of a strength he had no way of competing with, he could only stretch out his neck and wait to be slaughtered. 

But at that moment, the Buddha pendant around his neck suddenly glowed with a brilliant light, which enveloped his entire body. The dragon claw bore downwards with a rush of whistling wind, looking like it was about to press down on Jiang Buhuan. In his terror, Jiang Buhuan forgot to even close his eyes. Then, Jiang Buhuan heard a dragon’s cry. As that cry sounded, the dragon claw seemed to encounter some kind of obstacle, stopping in mid-air.

Following that, a black fog rose up from the ground, a low cry sounding from within. With that cry, the dragon claw made of clouds slowly dissipated in front of Jiang Buhuan.

However, this was just the beginning. The owner of that pair of yellow eyes seemed to have become enraged. The clouds began to roll violently. Then a dark black claw reached out from behind the clouds, tearing a huge hole in the sky, revealing the sunset behind it. The black fog on the ground began to rise. When it reached mid-air and dissipated, Jiang Buhuan finally got a good look at the beast hiding within.

It was an extremely beautiful black dragon, with an incredibly long body. Its giant white horns and majestic head took up half the sky. Under the waning sunlight, its dark scales gleamed with a dazzling light. Every inch of its body was utterly perfect, like an incomparably exquisite sculpture made from the hands of an artist, but no artist could have carved such a perfect creature. It could only be a gift from the heavens, so beautiful it touched his soul and stole his breath away. 

Jiang Buhuan fell into a stupor looking at it. All his attention was taken up by that giant dragon. Following that, the beast in the clouds appeared before Jiang Buhuan as well. It was rather similar to the giant dragon in appearance, just that it seemed to be holding a black iron sword in its mouth. Also, its horns weren’t a beautiful white, rather pitch black. Upon seeing the giant dragon, it let out a low roar.

As the clouds rolled and stirred, the two giant dragons slammed into each other. Their teeth, bodies and claws were all sharp weapons. They didn’t make any empty moves. This was the most primitive collision of power. Jiang Buhuan couldn’t continue watching, already unable to take it any longer. Affected by the giant dragons, his nose and mouth began to overflow with blood, and his eyes began to blur.

If not for the barrier around him, he might have been dead long ago, but right now, he wasn’t feeling very well either. In order to preserve his own little life, he didn’t dare to watch any longer, even reaching out and covering his ears.

Even though he could no longer see, the sounds of the fight above him continued to fill his ears without end, even accompanied by the pattering of light rain and the sound of falling debris. From his prior experience, Jiang Buhuan knew that this was the dragons’ blood and broken scales. Even as he felt fear, he was also a little worried, worried that the black dragon in the dark fog would be at a disadvantage. 

Jiang Buhuan curled up into a ball. As he listened and listened, he actually fell asleep. When he woke up once more, everything had become quiet. The sky had returned to its calm, and the light surrounding him was gone. There was no blood or scales on the ground either. If not for the dried blood still around his nose and mouth, he might have thought it all an absurd dream.

But his surroundings had indeed returned to their familiar state. Jiang Buhuan climbed up from the ground and felt a surge of pain in his chest. He coughed a few times, coughing up a burst of blood from his throat.

Fortunately, after coughing it out, the pain mostly subsided. Jiang Buhuan headed back in the direction of the Lu home with staggered steps. When he reached the entrance, he heard Lu Qingjiu’s panicked voice, “Yuehu, Yuehu are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Bai Yuehu’s voice was light and airy, like clouds in the wind which would scatter in a short while. He said, “I need rest, don’t disturb me.” 

“Alright, go rest.” Lu Qingjiu knew that Bai Yuehu had been through a harsh battle. He was extremely worried, but he could do very little. “I’ll make you something to eat.”

This time, Bai Yuehu didn’t go to the courtyard, rather walking into his room and immediately falling onto his bed, not even changing out of his bloodstained clothes. Before, no matter what, he would at least change out of this bloodied black robe before going to sleep.

Jiang Buhuan slowly walked into the house, giving Lu Qingjiu a good look at his blood-covered face. Lu Qingjiu hurriedly asked, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine……” Jiang Buhuan forced out, “Are Bai Yuehu’s wounds, serious?” 

Lu Qingjiu let out a bitter smile. “I don’t know either, I hope it’s nothing too bad.”

Jiang Buhuan said, “I saw him fighting the other dragon.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “The other dragon?”

Jiang Buhuan said, “Mn, what?” 

Lu Qingjiu was a little confused. “Then you saw Bai Yuehu’s original form?”

Jiang Buhuan, “Yeah, I saw it, what?” He was in a dze.

Lu Qingjiu, “What did he look like?”

Jiang Buhan, “Like a dragon……?” He couldn’t quite understand why Lu Qingjiu was asking. 

Lu Qingjiu started to speak, then stopped. In the end, he didn’t say anything, turning to go and make Bai Yuehu something to eat. His family’s fox spirit was still hurt. Even though he was very curious, he decided to wait till later to investigate what exactly Bai Yuehu was.