Chapter 19 – What Does Having the Same Bracelet Mean

The young man looked down at him, his pale face sinking into the shadows, only his eyes cold and bright. The silver-gray mirror, maintained only through extreme restraint, suddenly shattered, revealing a sharp edge, like an ancient eagle fixing its gaze on its chosen prey from an extremely close distance.

So it wasn’t just a tranquil lake after all.

Chou Bodeng thought.

Shi Wuluo watched the faint shadow cast by Chou Bodeng’s thick eyelashes, his breathing slow and deep, his thin lips pressed into a straight line.

He wanted to…

“What do you want to do?”

Chou Bodeng let out a lazy laugh. His long lashes lifted, revealing deep, dark eyes. He suddenly leaned forward, their faces brushing past each other. He pressed close to Shi Wuluo’s ear, the sharp edge of his white canine teeth dangerously grazing the man’s earlobe, his lowered voice carrying a sweet, sinister quality like ground sugar.

“I’ll bite you if you get any funny ideas, you know.”

Shi Wuluo jerked back, his ears suddenly turning completely red.

The instinct that had risen just now was completely forgotten, leaving only the faint, stinging sensation of a damp, warm line that had brushed past his ear.

Chou Bodeng hadn’t expected such a reaction. After a moment of stunned silence, he leaned back against the wall and burst out laughing, laughing so hard he was practically bent over, his shoulders trembling. “You’re… too…”

Too much fun.

The heavy rain began to fall again, the sound of wind and rain.

The dim space under the eaves was ignited by his unrestrained laughter, so much so that even the cold and darkness seemed to retreat in defeat.

Shi Wuluo remained silent, his thumb rubbing over Chou Bodeng’s wrist bone.

Even though he had backed away, he still hadn’t let go.

Chou Bodeng was laughing so hard he could barely stand. He magnanimously tolerated his embarrassment and let him pull his wrist. Two dark gold Kui Dragons slithered out from between Shi Wuluo’s fingers. The subtle rise and fall of the scales on the dragons’ bodies slid across his skin. With a series of small, dense clicks, Chou Bodeng’s wrist was locked once again.

As soon as the Kui Dragon Bracelet was back on his wrist, the lingering grogginess began to fade.

“Do you know what it means to have the same bracelet?” Chou Bodeng raised his wrist, holding the Kui Dragon Bracelet up to his eyes for a moment, then looked at Shi Wuluo strangely. “A friendly reminder, there’s only one correct answer.”

Shi Wuluo looked at him, startled.

“Think carefully before you answer.”

Chou Bodeng tucked his hand back into his sleeve.

“The bracelet…”

Shi Wuluo looked down at the Kui Dragon Bracelet on his own right wrist. A faint wisp of black qi coiled around the Kui Dragon’s fangs. The two ancient bracelets were identical in style, but the purpose for wearing them was completely different.

Intuitively, Shi Wuluo felt that the correct answer was not the purpose of the Kui Dragon Bracelet.

The rain poured down.

The Head of the Ten Shamans, enemy of gods and ghosts, hesitated for a long time before cautiously remaining silent.

Chou Bodeng let out a snort from his nose, pushed him away, and, while he was at it, unceremoniously snatched the only umbrella leaning against the wall. He opened the umbrella, picked up the wine jar, and walked out into the pouring rain on his own. His cloak billowed, revealing the brilliant red robe underneath.

Shi Wuluo stood blankly under the eaves.

The Kui Dragon Bracelets were forged as a pair from the very beginning. They only worked when the whole pair was present. Other than that, what other meaning could there be? But he was the one who had forged the Kui Dragon Bracelets… Shi Wuluo felt as if he had done something wrong. He rarely interacted with people and, for a moment, didn’t know where he had made a mistake.

The young man, carrying a jar of wine, had walked half a street away, splashing through the puddles. At the corner, he suddenly turned around, and the rainwater flew from the edge of his umbrella in diagonal lines.

“You forgot our wine appointment!”

“I…”

I didn’t forget.

Chou Bodeng didn’t give him any time to answer, disappearing around the corner with a turn.

His hair was messy again.

Shi Wuluo thought silently, his sleeve drooping as he gripped a wooden comb he hadn’t had a chance to take out.

***

“You saw that clearly just now, right?”

“I saw it clearly.”

“Young Master Chou was wearing that black cloak, right?”

“Right.”

“He went out for a bit and came back with an umbrella, right?”

“Right.”

Lu Jing slammed his hand on the table, full of righteous indignation. “There’s a problem here!”

“Wh-what problem?” Zuo Yuesheng, for once, had a hard time following Lu Jing’s train of thought.

“Think about it,” Lu Jing gestured. “That black cloak is so wide, so big, it’s not the build of that… that ‘Oracle Master’ at all.”

“So what?” Zuo Yuesheng still didn’t get it.

“You idiot,” Lu Jing was exasperated. “Isn’t it obvious that the guy surnamed Chou is two-timing? That’s so despicable!”

Eleventh Master Lu was heartbroken.

Cultivators didn’t have many hang-ups about the gender or even the race of their Dao Companions—life in the miasma was hard enough, who had the time to care whether someone was with a man, a woman, or something in between!

Eleventh Master Lu had always been a “gentleman” of the romantic scene. Despite his crying and wailing in Fu City, the moment he was in front of delicate sisters, he would immediately start fanning himself, looking every bit the dashing gentleman. These past few days, thanks to his “heroic deed of turning the tide during Fu City’s crisis,” the young ladies and girls of Fu City would always cast a few flirtatious glances his way when he passed through the streets.

—Before this, due to Lu Jing’s reputation as a profligate, any living creature of the female persuasion in Fu City would take a detour upon seeing him from afar.

But clearly, the Young Master Lu, who had been hanging around brothels since he was three, had his own set of twisted theories about “romance”:

“I am as handsome as a jade tree, and so rich. If I were to love only one woman, wouldn’t I be letting down the thousands of other women who also need to be cherished?” Young Master Lu said righteously. “What’s more, I am romantic, not lewd; sentimental, not promiscuous. The heavens can bear witness, if I am with any sister, I will definitely treat her with all my heart. Even if we part ways, I will never speak ill of her.”

“And most importantly—”

Lu Jing was deeply pained as he spread a pile of recently written manuscripts on the table.

“If he’s two-timing, I can’t finish writing this love-at-first-sight story!”

“…”

Zuo Yuesheng looked at the papers on the table and, for a moment, was filled with awe for this Lu Jing fellow.

To write a story with Young Master Chou as the protagonist, this Eleventh Master, who usually seemed so meek and unpromising, actually had such moments of great fearlessness.

As he pondered, Zuo Yuesheng pulled the papers on the table over and flipped through them, his expression gradually becoming strange.

He had no interest in storybooks or aesthetics, but he had a keen eye for making money. After a quick flip-through, Zuo Yuesheng found that this Lu Jing kid actually had a bit of literary talent. He had written a “beauty clouds the judgment” story that was poignant and full of twists and turns.

He had even given it a scholarly name, Dream Return Order.

According to Zuo Yuesheng’s intuition, if they printed a few million copies of this thing, they would definitely have no trouble selling them.

“No,” Zuo Yuesheng had a flash of inspiration and eagerly offered a bad idea. “Didn’t Lou Jiang say? That young Oracle Master is most likely a powerful figure in disguise. Maybe that black cloak is his. In that case, it’s not two-timing, it’s mutual affection. And then… uh, and then maybe because this powerful figure has a bad reputation or has some blood feud with Taiyi, he’s unwilling to reveal his identity… isn’t that another touching story?”

“You’re right,” Lu Jing said, chewing on his pen, deep in thought.

Zuo Yuesheng struck while the iron was hot. “I think you’re simply brilliant. This Dream Return Order is written with such spirit, it would be a waste not to let more people appreciate it. Look, my Mountain Sea Pavilion is quite accomplished in printing and engraving. How about you give me this manuscript, and I’ll help you print and sell it?”

Lu Jing pondered, “I just wrote this for fun… If Chou Bodeng finds out…”

“You can use a pseudonym,” Zuo Yuesheng laughed nonchalantly. “Like my grandfather. To prove that people were willing to buy his miscellaneous notes because he wrote with a masterful hand, he took the pseudonym ‘Qiu Mingzi’. If you don’t tell, and I don’t tell, how would Young Master Chou know?”

“Hmm…”

“We’ll split the silver seven to three. I get seven, you get three.”

“Five-five split.”

“No way!” Zuo Yuesheng counted on his fingers for Lu Jing. “Do you know how many formation stones it costs to start up the printing and engraving process each time? And the paper, pine ink, and the string for binding the books… and the shipping costs to the various state bookshops…”

Lu Jing’s head was spinning. “Six-four split! No less!”

“Deal!” Zuo Yuesheng was overjoyed.

“Deal on what?”

As they spoke, Chou Bodeng pushed the door open and entered.

“Young Master Chou! Aiyo, you’re finally here!” Zuo Yuesheng shot up like a spring. In the nick of time, he used his broad, imposing body to completely block the terrified Lu Jing and the things on the table behind him. “We were just about to look for you! There’s something important, something big.”

“What big thing?”

Chou Bodeng looked at Zuo Yuesheng in surprise.

“Don’t tell me you found the person who taught Ge Qing the evil art of Refining a God into a Spirit?”

“Uh… not that,” Lu Jing hurriedly stuffed all the manuscripts into his Mustard Seed Pouch and also came forward. “It’s about Miss Liu and Ye Cang.”

At Lu Jing’s mention, Chou Bodeng finally remembered that he had thrown Ye Cang and A Ren far out of the battle circle in the heat of the moment.

…He wondered how their luck was, whether they had had the misfortune of hitting their heads on a rock or a piece of wood and getting a concussion.

Probably not, he thought.

“Miss Liu is fine,” Lu Jing said. “Now, Miss Liu is the only Oracle Maiden. In a few days, she’ll be the new City Diviner. But… Lou Jiang just came looking for you, asking if you knew where the City Blessing Seal was? He couldn’t find it on the old City Diviner—pah, that old bag of bones.”

“Oh, I know about that,” Chou Bodeng said lightly. “I destroyed it along with him that day.”

“Destroyed it?!” Zuo Yuesheng’s eyes widened. “My dear grandfather, re-forging a City Blessing Seal is very expensive. How could you just destroy it?”

“It was dirty. If you don’t destroy something dirty, are you just going to leave it to stink?” Chou Bodeng retorted.

“…Anyway, it’s not your Taiyi’s money, so of course you don’t care,” Zuo Yuesheng muttered.

“What about Ye Cang?”

Chou Bodeng showed a little concern for the original book’s protagonist. After all, in Chronicles of the Gods, although this protagonist was often implicated in the messes created by Taiyi’s Little Martial Grand-Ancestor, he had at least endured hardships and shouldered great responsibilities. It wouldn’t do for him to come over and have the protagonist turned into an idiot in the first three days.

That would be a bit hard to justify.

“That kid Ye Cang was thrown silly by you!”

Zuo Yuesheng said loudly.

***

“Silly, silly, silly, mad, mad, mad, a hidden Kui Dragon, seemingly false yet true.”

“Go, go, go, rest, rest, rest, a dream yet not a dream, empty in a turn of the head!”

On the necessary path from Fu City to Ru City, a glowing head was squatting in the miasma… no, a glowing monk. He wore a tattered monk’s robe and a pair of straw sandals, sitting ramrod straight on a rock, his face kind and benevolent, singing a wild song.

The wooden fish was being struck with a thunderous sound.

He was surrounded by a group of lone souls and wild ghosts, yet he was calm and composed, fingering his Buddhist beads. The Dead Souls and Wild Ghosts didn’t approach him, only circling him from a distance, making him, with his faint golden glow, look like a Buddha statue sacrificing himself to enter a calamity.

“Empty, empty, empty! My stomach is empty, empty, empty!”

The wooden mallet came down heavily and snapped with a crack.

The monk’s ramrod straight back suddenly slumped. His two long eyebrows drooped together sorrowfully, and his stomach let out a loud “growl.” He fumbled in his bundle and took out a half-hard, half-soft cornbread bun, cherishing it as he took a bite. As he ate, he gazed eagerly in a certain direction.

He muttered to himself:

“This shouldn’t be. This humble monk clearly had the Half-Diviner divine it. This road has great financial prospects, and soon there will be noble patrons with a karmic connection to my Buddha passing by. Why have I been squatting here for days and still haven’t met this fated benefactor? Could it be that the Half-Diviner was trying to scam this humble monk again?”

The monk hastily filled his stomach, hesitating whether to continue waiting or to cut his losses.

In order to leave a good impression of a worldly master on the “noble patrons,” he had even gone to great lengths, synthesizing numerous storybooks to conclude the golden rule that “the more tattered the monk’s robe and the more worn the straw sandals, the wilder the mountain song, the more transcendent.” He had painfully transformed his own monk’s robe and straw sandals into this “unassuming” true master’s appearance.

But in the end…

“Rich benefactors, why haven’t you come yet?”

“This humble monk can’t hold on much longer!”

The monk knocked his head and the wooden fish together.

***

Thud.

Ye Cang knelt down heavily, his back straight. “I ask Elder Chou to accept me into Taiyi.”

Chou Bodeng slowly turned his head and asked the snickering Zuo Yuesheng and Lu Jing, “Do I look like a big, dumb fool who saves all sentient beings?”

“Of course,” the two said decisively. “You are beautiful and kind-hearted!”