CH 2

Gu Feng had intended for Su Mujin to undress, but when he heard those words, he stopped and said: “I’ll be right outside. If you need help, just call for me.”

Su Mujin instantly relaxed. He was not at all used to depending so much on a stranger. Even though he understood that this person held no malice, he was still extremely uneasy. 

He slowly removed his clothing, but when Su Mujin got to his right ankle, it became difficult. It had been dislocated, and merely touching it was painful. He stood silently for a moment, but finally steeled himself — putting one hand on his foot, and one hand on his ankle, he twisted and reset the joint with one swift movement.

“Hssssss!” The stabbing pain made Su Mujin unable to hold back his cry, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

“Are you okay?” Gu Feng was guarding the door, but as soon as he heard the commotion, he turned to come in.

“. . . I’m fine.” Su Mujin held up a piece of clothing to cover himself. 

“We’re both men, what is there to hide? It’s really inconvenient for you, let me come help.”

Gu Feng took Su Mujin’s clothing. This body was his previous incarnation and he’d seen it thousands of times, but it was important to avoid arousing suspicion.

Su Mujin’s jaw dropped, but he couldn’t refuse. He really wasn’t shy, rather he simply thought that his body’s current condition was too unsightly, and was worried it would scare the other person.

Now that he could clearly see the true state of Su Mujin’s body, Gu Feng stood in silence.

Thin! So extremely thin! Su Mujin’s body had barely any meat on it, and in one glance it could be seen that he’d been malnourished for a long time. The surface of his skin was dense with bruises, and not one spot was unblemished. The beating had been really severe. Gu Feng vowed to find an opportunity to teach those people a lesson.

“It really only looks frightening. Tomorrow it’ll be fine. No need to worry.” Su Mujin explained awkwardly. Towards his benefactor, he couldn’t help but act nonchalant.

“Okay.”

Gu Feng gently wiped the other person’s body clean. He was meticulous, and didn’t leave a single speck of dirt. 

It was Su Mujin’s first time relying on someone, not to mention while he was still undressed, and he was extremely uneasy. His counterpart’s movements were gentle, and bore a hint of reverence; he was at a loss as to what to do, and his ears secretly reddened.

“Okay, go to sleep now. The next few days, you should stay here and recuperate. My place is safe.”

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Su Mujin got off the bed in a fluster, saying: “Offering to shelter me for a few days is already enough, why do you have to sleep on the floor? Sleep on the bed. I’ll be fine sleeping on the floor.”

“The floor is too cold and will interfere with your injured hip. Do you want to slow down your healing to prolong your reliance on me?”

Gu Feng knew that inconveniencing others was what Su Mujin feared most; hearing those words, Su Mujin said nothing more.

After running around all day, Gu Feng was exhausted and quickly fell into a dream. The gentle rise and fall of breathing filled the room — it made one feel at ease. 

But Su Mujin couldn’t relax, and lay awake for a long time. This was the first time in his 13 years of life that he’d slept in a bed. It was soft, and the quilt was warm — so warm that he never wanted to leave — but he couldn’t stay for too long. In the end it was unrealistic to expect such a good thing to last.

When Gu Feng woke, it was already noon. He’d slept well and felt refreshed. The days of being imprisoned were already dim and distant memories, and it was wonderful to freely breathe the fresh air. But he hadn’t forgotten those evil two: Gu Yunxi and Mo Ran. So long as those two people remained, it was as though there was a fishbone stuck in his throat, and he was unable to feel at ease.

Su Mujin had already risen from bed, and there wasn’t a shadow to be seen of him, nor was there a trace of the bedding left. According to Gu Feng’s calculations, his counterpart had probably . . .

Pushing open the door, sure enough he saw Su Mujin airing out the quilt. The quilt and mattress had already been washed. Su Mujin’s back was facing him, still wearing yesterday’s tattered clothing. Only, the clothes had also been washed, and were still dripping with water. 

“You’re awake. I’ve already washed the bedding, and my injury has nearly healed. I’ll leave now. Thank you for yesterday.”

Su Mujin turned to leave. His external injuries had mostly healed, and he had a just bit of a limp — Phoenix blood was truly incredible.

Looking at that face once again, Gu Feng was distracted. Thirteen years old? It had truly been a long time since he looked like that. 

Even wearing tattered clothing, Su Mujin’s eyes were deep black and shone as brilliantly as stars, his eyelashes were long and curled. Below the outer corner of his right eye, there was a teardrop shaped birthmark, and his pale skin looked transparent in the sunlight. Though he lacked a smile, the overall effect was still enough to fill one’s heart with tenderness. If he were a girl, I’m afraid that even a number one beauty like Gu Yunxi couldn’t compare. What a pity he was a boy . . . 

Gu Feng felt aggrieved, but whether for himself or for Su Mujin, he was unsure.

‘Gurgle,’ a sound interrupted Gu Feng’s self-pitying reverie. He looked in the direction of the sound, and suddenly recalled a serious problem.

Shit! He had forgotten that Su Mujin had yet to begin fasting. He needed to eat, and probably hadn’t eaten since noon yesterday. In fact, Gu Feng hadn’t begun fasting either, but in the last few days he consumed a fasting pellet, so he had forgotten about this problem. For a moment, his heart was filled with remorse.

“You’re hungry, so how about I treat you to eat something?” Gu Feng didn’t want to let his counterpart go off alone. In case he ran into Gu Yunxi and was deceived again, it was better to deal with it himself. 

“I’m not . . .”

Su Mujin didn’t have the chance to say “hungry” before his stomach betrayed him and gurgled once more. He felt embarrassed, but abandoned his protest.

“Hold on tight.” Gu Feng wanted to laugh, but seeing that his counterpart was already embarrassed, he could only force down the smile. The force of holding it in almost caused an internal injury.

Gu Feng reached out and his arm encircled Su Mujin’s waist. Heading down the mountain, they flew in the direction of the market. Luckily, the skills of the qi refining period included the ability to manipulate wind, or else a trip down the mountain would have exhausted him to the bone. At first, Su Mujin was stiff as a board, but he slowly relaxed, and reached out his hand to grab onto Gu Feng’s sleeve. 

Arriving at the market, Gu Feng led Su Mujin straight to the largest restaurant Zuixianglou — ah no, to the street stall right next to Zuixianglou, and ordered a bowl of noodles. He was a little regretful, but there was nothing to be done about it as he was too poor.

Last night, he had examined the storage ring of his shell’s original owner, and discovered there were only fifty middle grade spirit stones, one hundred low grade spirit stones, one piece of an unknown black mineral artifact, and many small cases of makeup.

At the time, he was stunned; as the son of the sect leader, how useless could he be? And why did he have all those cases of makeup? At Zuixianglou, they used yaoshou meat. If you wanted to eat there, you needed a lot of middle grade spirit stones. Right now, he couldn’t afford it.

“Sigh, it’s not much, but just bear with it for now. When we return tonight, I’ll cook you something delicious.” Gu Feng felt a little guilty, but conveniently made up another reason to make Su Mujin stick around so he would eat. After dinner, he could take the opportunity to suggest his counterpart stay another night. Wasn’t this a clever plan? 

“No, it’s plenty. This tastes far better than stale mantou.” Su Mujin was clearly appreciative. He was extremely hungry, and began to gulp it down while standing. Soon he finished eating, and gave a satisfied burp which was surprisingly adorable.

Gu Feng was overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling in his heart. Why did none of his three lifetimes (counting the present Su Mujin) ever have a good life? The heavens were truly unjust!

Su Mujin finished eating and caught Gu Feng staring at him, lost in thought. Su Mujin didn’t know why, but he felt this person before his eyes seemed to care about his hardships. Still, they had only met just yesterday, could he be mistaken? He gazed doubtfully at Gu Feng . . .

If not for a passerby dropping a coin in front of Su Mujin, I’m afraid these two would have kept staring distractedly at each other until the end of time. 

Su Mujin and Gu Feng simultaneously turned toward the sound of the dropped change. The scene was incredibly awkward . . .

Gu Feng was furious. Do we look like beggars? Fuck off! Angrily, Gu Feng dragged Su Mujin along with him and charged into a clothing shop.

The shopkeeper was a young married woman, and when she saw Gu Feng rush in with a murderous expression on his face, she jumped with fright. Thinking he was going to smash up her shop, she got ready to shout for help, but just then she heard a low voice say: “Shopkeeper, give my companion five sets of clothing.”

“Which . . . which color does this little brother prefer?” The shopkeeper who was originally ready to shout ‘help’ immediately changed tack, unobtrusively glancing at Gu Feng. 

“Give him five black sets.” Without waiting for Su Mujin to reply, Gu Feng promptly decided for him. His previous incarnation was ridiculed for his beautiful appearance. Naturally he should wear clothing with an assertive and masculine air, and Gu Feng considered black to be perfect in this regard.

When Su Mujin saw Gu Feng spend a lot of money for his sake, he felt somewhat suspicious, but his heart also felt a bit warm.

The shopkeeper grabbed five sets of clothing and hurried over. After paying, Gu Feng chose a set and handed it to Su Mujin, indicating he should enter the changing room and put it on. As for his old clothes, they were to be thrown out.

Su Mujin quickly changed into the new clothes, only to reveal that not only did wearing entirely black not make him more imposing, it actually made his already pale skin look even whiter. He seemed a little flustered, and a slight blush colored his cheeks, adding to his ethereal appearance. He looked exceedingly captivating. 

For a second, Gu Feng’s expression was gloomier than a thunderstorm in June.

When Su Mujin saw Gu Feng staring at him in gloomy silence, he felt even more uneasy. This was the first time in his life he’d worn a new set of clothing, and he was at a bit of a loss. He hesitated a moment, but still asked: “If these clothes don’t look good on me, why don’t I wear my old clothes?”

Gu Feng solemnly looked at Su Mujin. It was apparent that he was shy and felt inferior — after all, they were the same person, right?

With a sigh, he composed his expression, and slowly looked over Su Mujin once again, finally deciding to tell him the truth: “No, on the contrary, you look really good . . .” 

You look good, but not at all like a boy, Gu Feng thought to himself.

Su Mujin was clearly happy to receive this first bit of praise in his life. His eyes were gleaming as he asked: “Really? Then I’ll wear all black from now on.”

Gu Feng felt he’d taken an arrow to the knee. He grit his teeth and said: “. . . Great . . .”

After buying the clothes, Gu Fen took Su Mujin to buy some essential medicines and foodstuffs before returning home. Today he took a special shortcut on the return, but halfway along, seeing two furtive figures, he quickly grabbed Su Mujin and ducked behind a tree to hide.