Ch45 - Delay tactics

Mu He’s mouth made a slight noise before he cupped his cheek—he had accidentally bit himself. The stall owner was still busy making more candies, but his shoulders were shaking with suppressed mirth. Xie Zhiwei glanced at Mu He and thought, Aren’t you surprised? Aren’t you pleased? Master can only help you so far.

Qiu Chongyun gently stroked Mu He’s head while rebuking Xie Zhiwei. “Annoying. This is nujia’s nephew. Daoist shouldn’t corrupt little children, oh.”

Mu He cooperatively nodded under Qiu Chongyun’s administrations. Although their gazes met, there were no ripples or even an extra bit of affection. Mu He even said seriously, “Shizun, Aunt Yun is my elder.”

Xie Zhiwei cleared his throat. “What are you two thinking about? This poor daoist wants to find someone around my disciple’s age. He’s not the only youth around sixteen to seventeen.”

“Tch,” Qiu Chongyun replied. “Sixteen, ah…ignorant brats who don’t understand anything. What’s so fun about that?”

Mu He “ignorantly” lowered his head while his lips hooked up in fleeting disdain. Xie Zhiwei only disparaged her in his heart. When the hero was that age in the original novel, he still made you cry “No, stop!” on the bed, okay! He glanced at the sky and saw that the sun was just about overhead. The Buddhist-Daoist Conference should have finished its opening ceremony, so the Daoists and Buddhists were probably playing lip service to each other now with their debates.

Quietly he said, “Miss, can we step aside to talk? This poor daoist would like to hear your secret advice on the so-called survival of the righteous sects.” She claimed to come for that but now she’s just talking nonsense here. What a generous-minded lady.

“Oh, that ah…” Qiu Chongyun seemed to have just remembered. “That’s fine. But nujia is so hungry I can’t even stand. Where can I find the strength to talk…”

My leftover coins can only afford two bowls of boiled noodles with no flavorings. Girl, what can you eat?

Xie Zhiwei could only cast aside his image and said sincerely, “This poor daoist doesn’t have that much money.” For a lofty figure like myself, money is dirt. What we want is style and bearing.

Mu He only just noticed that the hems of Xie Zhiwei’s robes were even starting to fray. He looked at Xie Zhiwei with a halo on most days, but realized that his master was in dire straits. Still, he had bought him a sugar figurine and even got one for Qiu Chongyun on his behalf.

“Oh?” Qiu Chongyun wasn’t disappointed and smiled magnanimously. “That’s all right, ah. Nujia can treat this daoist instead. It’ll be repayment for raising my nephew, so this daoist shouldn’t refuse.”

“Then many thanks,” Xie Zhiwei nodded.

He experienced the feeling of his heart’s desire come true when Qiu Chongyun really did take them to a restaurant in the center of Flying Flowers Township and ordered a full table of dishes. But she wasn’t doing this because she was interested in Mu He, which made Xie Zhiwei feel strange. “Courtesy with no motive is either rape or robbery,” so this free meal out of the blue was odd. Their restaurant was located in an excellent location as well, with a street of shops right downstairs. Although it was noisy, they were high up enough for the din not to matter.

After Qiu Chongyun finished rattling off her orders, she claimed to be too dizzy from hunger and leaned back against the mahogany couch to rest her eyes and ignore them. Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help but slander, Your Demonic Sect doesn’t practice inedia, so starving is like death for you, huh?

He sat on the far end of the table opposite to her while slowly sipping tea. There was still plenty of time. As long as they made it to the finale of the Buddhist-Daoist Conference to astound the crowd, then all would be well. Even the hero was willing to accompany him, so what couldn’t he give up?

Next to Xie Zhiwei, Mu He sat well-behaved while burying his face in his tea. He was very satisfied right now. In the past few days, Xie Zhiwei had been constantly chasing him off to cultivate with heavier and heavier assignments, so there was no chance to get close to him. He never expected Qiu Chongyun to give him such a fine opportunity. Mu He couldn’t resist moving closer to Xie Zhiwei and finding topics to talk about.

“Shizun, Ascension City must be lively today.”

Xie Zhiwei smiled and asked, “What, you want to go back and see?”

Mu He shook his head. “No no, disciple hates noise and hustle the most.”

How are you supposed to steal any scenes without getting involved in them? Where’s your sense of self-awareness as a protagonist? Xie Zhiwei smiled again and didn’t speak. He suddenly wondered what was going on. They had been waiting for the length of time it took to burn two incense sticks, but not a single dish had arrived. Was the service in this restaurant that shoddy?

He purposely stood up and saw Mu He hasten to do the same. Gently he said, “Take a seat. Master is only getting on in years and wanted to move around a bit.”

Though his body had lived for centuries, his appearance was forever youthful. His usual temperament might be calm and old-fashioned, but the words still sounded incongruous from his lips. Xie Zhiwei walked to the window and actually starting stretching his arms and moving his waist. A light breeze blew in from outdoors, making his robes flutter. His back looked extra thin in them.

Mu He’s gaze shifted as he picked up his tea cup to gulp down two mouthfuls. Only then did he murmur, “Shizun isn’t old at all.”

Qiu Chongyun made a noise and rose from her seat, her eyes hazy as if she’d just woken up. Rubbing them, she looked at Xie Zhiwei and remarked, “Why did this daoist stand up? Tsk, what’s wrong with this restaurant? After waiting all this time, we haven’t even gotten a single dish!”

Her eyebrows knitted as she walked over to refill Xie Zhiwei’s teacup. “Daoist, don’t fret. I’ll go urge them, so drink some tea first.”

Seeing the tea delivered to him, Xie Zhiwei waved a hand. “No need.” If I drink any more I’ll be too full to eat those dishes…

Qiu Chongyun just smiled. “Daoist is just being polite.” She insisted on giving Xie Zhiwei the drink, but he dodged to the side. Somehow in the scuffle the cup fell and splashed upon him, drenching his robes from collar to waist.

There was a crisp cracking sound as the porcelain hit the ground.

“Aish,”  Qiu Chongyun bit the handkerchief in her hand and quickly went up to inspect him. “Nujia is so clumsy, is this daoist all right?”

“Fine,” Xie Zhiwei instinctively retreated while looking at the tea staining his clothes. He couldn’t help but think—she definitely did this on purpose.

“Stop dodging, daoist ah. Let nujia wipe it clean, quick,” Qiu Chongyun resentfully pulled him over and wanted to dab at him with a handkerchief, but was squeezed aside by Mu He. In a flash, his immature body seemed to block her like a mountain, knocking Qiu Chongyun straight to the other side of the couch. Still lightheaded, she sat up just as Mu He’s gaze swept over her body.

“Aunt Yun, it’s more fitting to leave tasks like serving shizun to me, his disciple.”

Qiu Chongyun’s heart flinched before she lazily laid back with a new grin. “Nephew is so filial. Then I’ll leave things to you.”

Only then did Mu He retract his gaze and carefully wiped Xie Zhiwei’s clothes with the silk handkerchief. Xie Zhiwei was too busy to see the exchange between them because his gaze was focused on a far point beyond the window. Today the sky was clear for miles, so he could even see Ascension City poking up through the cloud-wreathed mountaintops. This township wasn’t far from there. Typically speaking, Ascension City’s giant bell would ring after each round of debates was over. With his level of cultivation, it was easy enough to hear the sound from here.

But there was nothing but silence today.

Mu He saw Xie Zhiwei looking outside and grew bold. He had finished wiping off the front lapels but simply did it again. Lifting one of the corners, he carefully cleaned up the tea stains while peeking in through the seams. It was hot so Xie Zhiwei was only wearing a single thin layer of robes. Mu He clearly saw his collarbone through the cracks. Since Xie Zhiwei was very slim, the outline of the bone was quite clear. However, it looked exquisite rather than jagged.

It’s not much different from my dreams. Actually, it looks even better, Mu He thought. What about lower down? And even lower than that? What does that look like?

His throat bobbed before he turned towards Xie Zhiwei’s waist, picking off the tea leaves one by one as slowly as a snail. Xie Zhiwei’s waist was even thinner than his estimations. It was hard to imagine that the same person who had taken him swordflying could sport such a slender body. If he was lucky enough to hold him in his arms, would this be a soft, boneless body or a rigid and upright one? He finally couldn’t resist and placed a hand on Xie Zhiwei’s waist.

Xie Zhiwei was ticklish and instantly stiffened. Mu He’s hand trembled in fear and almost dropped the handkerchief. He looked up and met Xie Zhiwei’s questioning gaze.

“Is it wet here too?” his master asked.

“No, just splashed with tea leaves,” Mu He folded the handkerchief and straightened up. “I’ve already finished cleaning up shizun, so disciple will go wash up.”

Xie Zhiwei nodded. “Go on, don’t run about.”

“Yes, shizun,” Mu He lowered his head and left the elegant room, not forgetting to shoot Qiu Chongyun a warning look when he left. She cleared her throat and looked down to play with a ring on her hand.

Mu He had just shut the door and found a waiter to inquire about the location of their well to wash the cloth. He happened to spot a few bamboo planted in the courtyard and went to touch them subconsciously. They were thin and weak, shaking beneath the slight contact. Immediately, Mu He thought of Xie Zhiwei’s reaction when he touched his waist. His gaze intensified before he called out to the waiter in a hoarse voice, “Excuse me, where is the restroom?”

—

When Xie Zhiwei was sure that Mu He was far away, he asked Qiu Chongyun, “Maiden chose to meet this day on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Ah?” Qiu Chongyun looked up and quickly replied, “Why does this daoist say that? Oh…I think I heard you have some sort of big conference today? What a coincidence?”

Xie Zhiwei looked at the empty table and sighed. “Today this maiden got this poor daoist away and even used all sorts of tactics to stall for time. You’ve truly worked hard.”

Qiu Chongyun sat up from the couch and blinked, before teasing, “Does this daoist think nujia is delaying things on purpose just because the service is slow and nujia spilled tea on you?”

“Aren’t you?”

Qiu Chongyun grinned. “Right, ah. Of course I have to buy time. Daoist is so graceful, who wouldn’t want to stay longer by your side?”

Xie Zhiwei met her gaze as his expression chilled. “Stalling for the sake of this poor daoist is a lie. But it’s true that this maiden is delaying things so the Demonic Sect has less trouble slaughtering its way to Ascension City.”

—

The author has something to say: With Aunt Yun here, the plot moves ahead~

Translator’s Note: *chanting* “Who’s the best for progressing the plot? Demonic Sect saintess, Auntie Yun!”