translator: baumkuchen

Back to Lu Qingjiu, after sending Pang Ziqi and Meng Shuiyi off, Lu Qingjiu was planning to go do something when he suddenly noticed a red stain on a corner of his s.h.i.+rt. In the beginning, he thought accidentally come into contact with paint somewhere, but after smelling it carefully, he found that the red stain was actually blood.

Where did the blood come from? Lu Qingjiu was stunned in place. He inspected his body and the area around the table, and confirmed that other than the corner of his clothes, no other area had a trace of blood.

"Strange." Lu Qingjiu pulled at the corner of his clothes, his brows furrowing. "Where did it come from…"

"Don't bother looking anymore." Bai Yuehu, finished eating the corn cakes, slowly came out of the kitchen. He was still holding one in his hand, slowly munching on it as he spoke, "That Meng Shuiyi isn't human."

"Not human?" Lu Qingjiu replied, "Then what is he?"

"He's a Mengtu," Bai Yuehu replied.

Lu Qingjiu, who'd already become familiar with the Cla.s.sic of Mountains and Seas, instantly understood what had happened upon hearing the two words "Mengtu". Mengtu were a type of deity in the Cla.s.sic of Mountains and Seas. It was said that when people in ancient times wanted to lodge a complaint, they would have to go before a Mengtu and explain their circ.u.mstances. The one who lied would have blood appear on their clothes, which was what the Mengtu used to judge the case, and would avoid a situation where someone was wronged.

Without a doubt, the blood on Lu Qingjiu's clothes was the proof that he'd lied. Thinking back to his conversation with Pang Ziqi from just now, he felt like it didn't matter that his lies had been exposed, and relaxed. "Can it be washed off?"

Bai Yuehu looked at the blood on Lu Qingjiu's clothes. "It can't be washed off."

"Ah, it can't?" Lu Qingjiu was a little surprised. The s.h.i.+rt he was wearing was his favourite. No longer being able to wear it just like that was truly a bit of a pity.

Hearing Lu Qingjiu's words, Bai Yuehu said an "it's okay", then didn't speak again.

Lu Qingjiu thought that he was comforting him, and hence didn't think more about it. After taking off his clothes, he tried to wash it. Sure enough, like Bai Yuehu had said, the blood on his clothes didn't move a single jot. Even though there wasn't much, these clothes could be considered destroyed.

Even though he found it a bit of a pity, Lu Qingjiu didn't bother himself about it for too long. If he really couldn't wear it, he could still cut the clothes shorter for the little fox to wear. It was going to be winter soon, preparing a few more clothes for the little fox was also good.

Lu Qingjiu had never been one to dwell, and he soon forgot about this matter. But just a few days later, there was once again people at their doorstep. This time, the visitors were Meng Shuiyi and an old man who looked to be getting on in age.

The moment the two entered the house, their att.i.tudes were incredibly deferential. The old man even addressed Bai Yuehu as Mister Bai several times in a row.

Bai Yuehu glanced at the old man, then looked back down and continued to eat his chestnuts, no intention of speaking.

"Mister Bai, I'm truly very sorry, this child is young and not very thoughtful," The old man said respectfully, "I specifically brought him over here today to apologise to you."

Meng Shuiyi, next to him, said, "Mister Bai, I'm truly sorry." He then looked towards Lu Qingjiu and said, "Mister Lu, the matter from before is really my bad. I specially brought you new clothes, I hope that you'll take them." As he spoke, he actually pulled out several s.h.i.+rts from the backpack behind him and carefully placed them on the table before him. These s.h.i.+rts were exactly identical to the one that had been stained by blood. They clearly had been bought specially.

Lu Qingjiu actually had never expected to see a scene like this. After a moment of surprise, he was about to reject them, but seeing the pleading gaze the old man gave him… He was asking Lu Qingjiu to accept this gift.

Lu Qingjiu glanced at Bai Yuehu. Vaguely understanding something, he said, "That… Thank you."

The moment these words left his mouth, Meng Shuiyi and the old man's expressions finally relaxed slightly.

"Shuiyi, you go out for a while, I have some things I want to talk to Mister Bai about alone," the old man said.

Meng Shuiyi nodded, then turned and left the house. Lu Qingjiu also made an excuse, saying that he was going to feed the chickens, and left together with Meng Shuiyi, leaving the house to Bai Yuehu and the old man.

Meng Shuiyi stood in the courtyard, watching Lu Qingjiu feed the chickens rice and corn. He asked, "Mind if I smoke?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Please."

Meng Shuiyi lit up a cigarette and took a breath. "Mister Lu, I've offended greatly." When Pang Ziqi had spoken to him, he'd thought that Lu Qingjiu was just an ordinary human who'd been tangled up with a fierce beast, so he hadn't thought too much about it, but only when he went to Lu Qingjiu's home, and saw Bai Yuehu, did he realise just how wrong he had been.

Lu Qingjiu was indeed an ordinary human, but what he was tangled up with absolutely wasn't a fierce beast, it was someone Meng Shuiyi couldn't afford to provoke—— No, to put it more accurately, it was someone the entire Mengtu race couldn't afford to provoke.

Sure enough, just a few days later, his grandfather called him back home. After a round of scolding, he asked him how he'd managed to provoke Bai Yuehu. Only when he thought about it, did he realise that he seemed to have offended Lu Qingjiu.

After that, the situation had become what it was now. His grandfather shakingly brought him here to make amends, deathly afraid that he'd really managed to p.i.s.s Bai Yuehu off.

Meng Shuiyi looked at Lu Qingjiu. Lu Qingjiu looked at his family's chickens. Neither of them said a word.

Just as the atmosphere was turning stiff, Yin Xun, here to b.u.m a meal, walking in, yawning. Seeing Meng Shuiyi, he froze for a moment. "Jiu-er ah, who's this?"

"This is Meng Shuiyi," Lu Qingjiu said, "Pang Ziqi's colleague, he's also a police officer."

"Oh," Yin Xun replied, not very interested. He said, "Is there anything to eat? I'm really hungry."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Don't go in first, Bai Yuehu's talking to someone. Just bear it a little while more. Zhu Miaomiao sent over another few crabs, I'll steam them in a bit for you guys to eat." One ate female crabs in September, and male crabs in October, these things were very dependent on the season. Once a certain time pa.s.sed, the crab roe wouldn't be as luxuriant anymore.

"Alright." Yin Xun rubbed his nose, and casually found a place to sit.

Meng Shuiyi wasn't a talkative person. He stood to the side and smoked quietly as he listened to the two talk.

Lu Qingjiu gave Meng Shuiyi a look. Seeing that he had no plans on talking, he began casually chatting with Yin Xun.

Lu Qingjiu asked, "Do you like crabs?"

Yin Xun smiled and said, "I do. Crabs are really delicious. Before you came, I'd never eaten them before."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Before I came, how were you doing on your own in Shuifu village?"

Yin Xun said blankly, "What how were you doing? I think it was very good." He smiled just like usual. "Aiya, don't worry about me. I'm an adult too, alright? People on their own also have their own ways of getting along on their own. When you weren't here, I was always able to find my own fun, I was also really happy then."

Lu Qingjiu looked at Yin Xun, silent. He saw, after Yin Xun said that, a patch of blood bloom on the corner of his clothes.

But Yin Xun didn't notice, still smiling happily.

Lu Qingjiu's voice lowered slightly. "Then what if one day, I go back to the city?"

Yin Xun scratched his head. "As long as it makes you happy, you can go anywhere."

Lu Qingjiu asked, "Then what about you?"

Yin Xun said, "Me? I'll continue to stay in Shuifu village. I really like it here."

The bloodstain on the corner of his clothes was growing bigger. Paired with Yin Xun's smile, it looked particularly ironic.

Lu Qingjiu looked at his good friend. He sighed. "I won't be going anywhere. There are two mouths to feed at home, after all. Besides… I really think of you as my son." After he said that, his clothes were still clean as ever, without a single bloodstain.

Yin Xun raged, "You're f.u.c.king taking advantage of me again!!"

Yin Xun didn't know what had happened, but Meng Shuiyi understood the meaning behind the bloodstain on Yin Xun's shoes. He glanced at Lu Qingjiu, and realised that this person didn't seem to be as harmless as acted. Lu Qingjiu, was more interesting than he'd thought.

The two had talked for a while. On that end, Meng Shuiyiand Bai Yuehu were also about done with their conversation. The old man soon came out. After bidding Lu QIngjiu goodbye, he left, bringing Meng Shuiyi with him.

"That, I'm sorry." Lu Qingjiu stopped Meng Shuiyi. "Could you leave me your contact information?"

Meng Shuiyi was stunned. He then nodded his head, and left his phone number with Lu Qingjiu. Even though he didn't know what Lu Qingjiu wanted to do, getting on good terms with him obviously wasn't a bad thing.

After the two left, Lu Qingjiu went into the house, picked up a s.h.i.+rt, and pa.s.sed it to Yin Xun to change into.

Yin Xun was puzzled. "Why do you want me to change clothes?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "If I tell you to change, you change. What are you asking all these questions for?"

Yin Xun could only take off his s.h.i.+rt. After he took it off, Lu Qingjiu casually took it from him and scrunched it into a ball, covering the corner that had been stained by blood.

Seeing Lu Qingjiu's movements, the corner of Bai Yuehu's lips rose slightly. He and Lu Qingjiu met gazes for a moment, each understanding the meaning in the other's gazes.

Yin Xun's figure was pretty much the same as Lu Qingjiu's. The s.h.i.+rt fit him perfectly. He looked left and right, then asked, "What did you buy so many identical s.h.i.+rts for?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "What do you know, these are parent-child sets."

Yin Xun, "…f.u.c.k."

Lu Qingjiu burst into loud laughter. He didn't have any plans of wearing these clothes again. Rather, he gave all the s.h.i.+rts to Yin Xun, getting him to first wash them before wearing them. Even though he was confused, under Lu Qingjiu's insistence, Yin Xun accepted this gift, taking back all the clothes Meng Shuiyi had given him back with him.

"I'll give this s.h.i.+rt to the little fox." Lu Qingjiu took the s.h.i.+rt Yin Xun had changed out of away. Yin Xun didn't mind, he was just confused as to why Lu Qingjiu had bought so many clothes, and all of them even looked the same…

Bai Yuehu quietly watched the two's interaction. He didn't speak at all, until that night, after Yin Xun left after dinner, only then did he finally let out a sentence, "You're not going to keep one for yourself?"

"No," Lu Qingjiu said, "It seems like I didn't actually like that s.h.i.+rt that much."

"What lie did he tell?" Bai Yuehu perceived that Lu Qingjiu didn't seem to be in very high spirits. He knew that it must have something to do with Yin Xun's lie.

"He said that he was very happy staying in Shuifu village before," Lu Qingjiu said.

Bai Yuehu was silent.

"What about you? Are you happy here?" Lu Qingjiu looked at his beautiful yet mysterious tenant. After this period of interaction, he could tell that Bai Yuehu's status in the supernatural world was very special. He could originally have lived even more freely, sp why did he have to confine himself to this little, remote, mountain village?

Bai Yuehu said indifferently, "Meng Shuiyi isn't here." The meaning behind his words was that even if he lied, Lu Qingjiu would have no way to tell.

Lu Qingjiu let out an involuntary laugh, "Do you have the need to lie?"

Bai Yuehu asked, "Why wouldn't I?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I thought that you thought lying was beneath you."

Bai Yuehu said, "I've lived for so many years, I've seen people who didn't lie. But their lives aren't as good as you might imagine."

Lu Qingjiu sighed. He didn't say anything else. The truth was like this, sometimes, a white lie could actually make people happier than a cruel truth. He said, "So you actually don't like this place?"

Hearing this, however, Bai Yuehu smiled, the corners of his mouth drawing upwards into an alluring curve. "No, I like this place."

Lu Qingjiu frowned at him.

"You see, I'm telling the truth, but you don't believe me," Bai Yuehu said, "But I'm serious. At least now, I like it here."

Lu QIngjiu gave up on continuing to debate with Bai Yuehu on this. He shrugged. "Alright, it looks like there's no point in asking this question. Let's talk about something more meaningful, then."

Bai Yuehu raised his eyebrow, indicating for Lu Qingjiu to speak.

Lu Qingjiu said, "Like what you want to eat for lunch tomorrow. It's starting to get colder, so I want to store up some goat meat, but there's not enough s.p.a.ce in the fridge at home… I guess I should just go buy a fridge tomorrow…" The broken fragments of speech were filled with the smoke and fire of the human world.

Bai Yuehu said, "There's no need to h.o.a.rd goat meat, when it's coldest, that's also the time when the Conglong's meat is at its plumpest. I can just catch a few and bring them back."

Lu Qingjiu, "…So what we ate before was also a Conglong, right?" Conglong were a type of animal in the Cla.s.sic of Mountains and Seas. They looked like goats, but its fur was red. It was said that eating it could even cure deafness—— Lu Qingjiu sighed. With his familiarity with the Cla.s.sic of Mountains and Seas, he could already communicate seamlessly with Bai Yuehu, there was no need for him to try and popularise science again.

Bai Yuehu blinked. "Did it taste good?"

Lu Qingjiu heartlessly threw away his conscience. "Delicious."

Bai Yuehu's face broke into a big smile.

The author has something to say:

Lu Qingjiu: This animal is really precious, aren't we being too cruel by doing this?

Bai Yuehu: Then what are we supposed to do for it to not be cruel?

Lu Qingjiu: Put in some more star anise to reduce the gaminess

Bai Yuehu: …

baum: fun fact, the word for goat and sheep is the same in chinese orz

time to go edit that past chapter sigh

Merry Christmas~