ITOTIABSAM | The Immortal on Liuyun Mountain | 151
Tears could be scalding, Gu Cong realized. Just one drop shattered on his hand, causing a pang in his heart.
Yet, when Gu Cong looked up, Xie Ye appeared unchanged, his dazzling yet aloof gaze as if nothing had happened. Only the deep abyss-like darkness in his eyes seemed softer, as if soaked in spring water, revealing a hint of moisture rarely seen, reminding Gu Cong that Xie Ye was trying to be strong.
Suddenly, Gu Cong felt the urge to hug Xie Ye.
In fact, that's exactly what he did.
Summoning courage from who knows where, Gu Cong stood up, bent over, and gave the young man a big bear hug, gently and briefly, saying, "You should rest first. I'll go check the situation outside."
—He appears calm and reliable, but in fact the roots of his ears turned red.
Walking towards the door, Gu Cong found himself taking steps that were a bit too coordinated, causing Xie Ye to couldn't help but smile through his tears.
Originally, Gu Cong thought that with Xiao Shitou's loud voice, it wouldn't be long before the villagers came with hoes and sickles to drive them away. However, until the sun completely set, there was no major commotion in the village. Later in the evening, the village chief even came to bring them an oil lamp and two pieces of coarse bread.
While spiritual stones were precious in the cultivation world, they were like a hot potato for ordinary people. Just as Gu Cong was struggling with how to thank the village chief, the puppet threads moved, and suddenly he found a small object in his hand, hard and prickly.
Sneaking a glance under the moonlight, Gu Cong discovered that it was a piece of broken silver. It was of average quality but just enough to cover the meal expenses.
"Alchemy?" After reluctantly sending away the village chief who insisted on leaving several times, Gu Cong carefully placed the oil lamp on the table farthest from white bird, curious.
Without confirming or denying, Xie Ye raised an eyebrow. "Interested in learning?"
Although he didn't have a strong desire for money at the moment, since Xie Ye asked, Gu Cong pretended to be very interested and nodded along. Remembering the previous setting about their identities, he couldn't help but add, "Master."
"Master."
Xie Ye's playful demeanor was stifled by these two words. Gu Cong's earnest and serious tone made him feel a bit guilty.
"I was kidding you, there's no such spell." Most of the stories circulating in the mundane world were just illusions that would be exposed in a few days.
As for the piece of silver he gave to Gu Cong, he exchanged it at the system's store, and it was genuine.
Alone in the sea of consciousness feeling frustrated, 1101 muttered to itself: "I feel like I and the system's store are utterly useless. Every item the host exchanges is just some trivial knick-knack. The only life-saving pill I bought myself was also given away in the end. Utterly defeated."
"It turns out that cultivators' storage bags can also hold silver." Gu Cong automatically understood Xie Ye's little treasure trove as spoils of war captured by the vines of Liuyun Mountain. He wasn't disappointed at all. On the contrary, he felt somewhat fortunate. Luckily, the silver contained no spiritual energy; otherwise, they would have been ground into powder by the vines. Then, they would truly have experienced the saying "A penny saved is a penny earned."
There was only one bed in the room, simple but spacious enough. Gu Cong first took off his outer robe and laid it out as a makeshift mattress before gently helping Xie Ye lie down.
With the loss of vital energy, it was necessary for Xie Ye to rest quietly. He sat by the bedside the whole night, not daring to close his eyes, fearing that the protagonist might use him again to harm Xie Ye.
Unexpectedly, the formation that the youth had forcibly cast on his forehead turned out to be more effective than anticipated.
For several days in a row, Gu Cong received no further contact from Shen Qingshu. The feeling of being subtly watched also disappeared with it. Due to this unexpected turn of events, Xie Ye spent most of his time sleeping heavily each day. Gu Cong, who was awake, made the decision to wait until Xie Ye recovered from his illness before setting out again.
Seeing a small bundle of herbs picked from the mountains for the third time at the door, Gu Cong, who had just finished fetching water, looked towards the corner of the low wall:
"Shitou."
A small piece of untidy cloth moved slightly, dusty and patched.
The first two times, Gu Cong was afraid of frightening the child, so he pretended not to notice. But third time's the charm. Overcoming his fear with pure goodwill, he felt he should thank the child in person.
"I've seen you," Gu Cong bent down to pick up the herbs, his tone gentle as he said, "Come out, or you'll squat too long and stumble again."
Slowly, a slender figure moved out from behind the low wall.
It was indeed Ma Shitou.
Seeing the tall and handsome young man put down the wooden barrel and approach him, Ma Shitou reflexively looked at the other's long and powerful right hand. What floated in his mind, however, was the image of a rugged and uneven deadwood.
He felt like running away a bit, but his body wouldn't obey. Stiffening in place, he could only allow that strange hand to lift him gently...
Then, it lightly touched his head.
Very warm, clean, with a hint of soap scent. For a moment, Ma Shitou almost felt like he had panicked and misunderstood the other person.
But Gu Cong said, "You didn't see it wrong."
"Thank you for protecting me and my master."
"I didn't," a blush spread under his dark skin, Ma Shitou cleared his throat, speaking softly, "I just felt you were in so much pain at the time, maybe you would have died."
When the village elder went to deliver the oil lamp, he was there too, hiding quietly, holding onto the neighbor's big yellow dog. If something happened, he would release the dog to bite.
But in the end, nothing happened at all.
If these two were really monsters, they were definitely the dumbest of them all.
Being a bit thin-skinned himself, Gu Cong didn't argue with the other person. He simply handed two wild fruits he had picked on the way to the boy.
"How is your master?" Ma Shitou took the fruits, feeling like laughing a bit but keeping his lips tight. "I heard from the village elder that he's sick."
That's why he went to the mountains to gather some commonly used herbs.
It was rare for someone to care about Xie Ye as much as he did. Gu Cong knelt down, meeting the other's gaze. "He should rest for a few more days."
After hesitating for two seconds, Ma Shitou squeezed the fruits and voiced his guess, "Was it to save you?"
Gu Cong lowered his gaze, "It was to save me."
Indeed, they were two foolish monsters.
"Then you must be very important to him," Ma Shitou relaxed his shoulders, trying to comfort despite his young age. "My mother also fell ill for my sake."
Gu Cong didn't even hesitate, "That's different."
"Different? Isn't he your master?" Ma Shitou blinked, puzzled. "Don't you monsters learn 'a day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father'?"
Gu Cong: ...
Father.
In a certain sense, he was indeed created by Xie Ye. But deep down, he felt uncomfortable, not wanting Xie Ye to care for him just because of that.
"Anyway, it's different," completely forgetting to deny the term 'monster' the boy used, Gu Cong didn't know why he was even arguing with a kid. He corrected seriously, "But I am indeed important to him."
"Oh."
The adult world was too hard to understand. Ma Shitou nodded absentmindedly, then asked, "Will he get better?"
"Of course, when he wakes up, I'll take you to see him, okay?" Gu Cong ruffled the boy's hair again, smiling. "Knowing that you care about him so much, he'll surely be very happy."
Ma Shitou pursed his lips and vigorously shook his little head.
Unlike the elder brother in front of him, he always felt a bit scared of that handsome young man in white. But upon careful consideration, it seemed that the other had never harmed him. He just had a harsh tone and a cold demeanor. Now, he couldn't even get out of bed because he was saving someone.
So, without waiting for Gu Cong to say anything else, Ma Shitou hesitantly changed his mind, "If I have time."
Gu Cong immediately smiled, "Then we'll wait for when you're free."
With the sky still early, the two of them gathered together and chatted for a long while. Only then did Ma Shitou, with the wild fruits and biscuits given by Gu Cong, go to his usual spot to keep watch at the village entrance.
This year, something seemed to have gone awry. As the end of the month approached, the Taoist priests from the Qingfeng Sect had yet to arrive, and the number of children willing to wait at the village entrance had decreased.
However, for small sects like this, they probably hadn't yet received invitations from the Limitless Sword Sect, influenced by the main storyline.
Lost in his thoughts, Gu Cong absentmindedly brushed non-existent dust off his clothes, picked up the water bucket, and as he entered the courtyard, he saw the young man in white leaning against the door, his sleeves folded, smiling ambiguously at him.
He didn't know how much of the conversation between him and the little Shitou he had overheard.
But looking at the other's complexion, although it was still far from rosy, it was at least better than a blank sheet of paper. Shaking the wooden bucket in his hand, Gu Cong smiled, "Do you want to wash your face?"
The question was casual, full of homely warmth, without a hint of the self-awareness of a cultivator.
But Xie Ye changed the handkerchief, and handed it over, he asked, "Why aren't you calling me ‘Master’ now?"
"Or are you worried about having an extra 'father' for no reason?"
*Cough!* With a splash, Gu Cong suddenly choked as he poured water into the wooden basin.
Raising his eyes, he was about to explain, but he saw the young man's phoenix eyes slightly curved, his smile playful, clearly teasing him. Helplessly sighing, Gu Cong soaked the plain cloth, cleaned his face, and then offered it with both hands, saying, "Understood."
"Master."
"Mm." Xie Ye leisurely wiped his face. After a while, he suddenly said, "Don't worry, I've never thought about being your elder."
Gu Cong's heart skipped a beat.
But before he could ponder further, the young man raised his hand and presented his palm to him.
Gu Cong: ?
Xie Ye said, "My fruits."
How come everyone else had something like that, and he didn't?
*Cough.* Clearing his throat, Gu Cong chuckled softly.
It was strange how he could find a man adorable, especially when Xie Ye's temperament and appearance were far from being soft and cute. He was cold, sharp, and assertive.
...Using wild fruits to pacify a child, and using them to pacify his master wasn't much different.
He washed all the wild fruits he had picked and presented them to Xie Ye. However, the young man only extended his fingertip and picked the topmost one.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side. The seemingly ripe red fruit turned out to be so sour that it could almost make one's teeth fall out.
"Squeak." Seeing that the young man hadn't taken another bite for a while, the white bird nearby poked its head out and cautiously approached, fluttering its wings in an attempt to sneak a bite.
But Xie Ye pinned it down with a single glance: Mine.
Gu Cong suppressed a smile. "Should we switch..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the other half of the same fruit was pinched by Xie Ye's slender white fingertips and brought to his lips in a feeding gesture. He pressed it gently against Gu Cong's mouth. "You're my white bird."
"Eat it."
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