Chapter 19: Blind Diviner (2)
Xuan Min was rather tall, so the little thief’s head barely passed his waist. He was like a scrawny monkey, only around 8 or 9 years of age. After being seized by the back of his collar, he instantly started struggling, baring fangs and brandishing claws. He could not seem to reach Xuan Min and agitatedly wailed, “Help—! Robbery—! Ahhhhhhhh—! Let go—!”
“A thief calling ‘stop thief’ and causing such a scene. This youngster’s smart,” thought Xue Xian, impressed.
It was a pity that the Baldy had a different set of sensibilities. Men, women, the young, and the old were all equal in his eyes, completely unlike the usual monks. Xuan Min seemed as undisturbed as a still lake, holding onto the little thief by his collar with one hand and pulling a talisman out from between his own lapels with the other. He pressed it onto the crown of the little thief’s head with a force neither light nor strong and said, “Prohibit speech.”
Little Thief, “…”
The unrestrained wailing squawked to a sudden stop, choking the petty thief nearly to his death, with his face turning a vivid shade of red.
Xue Xian discreetly touched his mouth with a damp claw, feeling that the scene was strangely relatable. However, because he was soaked through and had become flimsy, his claw accidentally stuck to his mouth. If he carelessly forced them apart, either his claw would break or his mouth would get ripped. It was an absolutely awful situation.
Xuan Min coincidently glanced at him just then and was treated to the sight of that vile spawn frozen in a foolish position.
Xue Xian expressionlessly closed his eyes. “…” A lifetime’s reputation, ruined within seconds. Someone give me a rope to hang this Baldy with so that no one will ever know of my humiliation.
Xuan Min lowered his gaze to the little thief, lightly saying, “Extend your hands.”
With a slight twitch from the yellow talisman on his forehead, the little thief complied, straightening both his hands in front of him like a puppet on strings with the expression of someone who had lost all will to live.
When Xuan Min took the golden orb from him, one could not tell if the little thief was embarrassed or furious. He was flushed red from the top of his head down to the base of his neck, even the rims of his eyes were red. He looked rather surly with an expression that said “if you have the guts, then come and beat me to death”. He really was picking a fight.
Having met his objective, Xuan Min stopped suppressing him and lifted his hand to remove the talisman from his forehead. He refolded it nicely and neatly and put it away.
Xue Xian anxiously stared at the golden orb in Xuan Min’s hand, waiting for the Baldy to give it back to him.
He admittingly never expected the Baldy to help him like this and it dug out the minuscule speck of conscience from under his belly. So, he thought, “All right. Once he returns the orb, I’ll take on the insurmountable task of being slightly more well-behaved for a few days. I’ll act as if it is to give the Baldy some face. I really can’t give him another dragon scale, even though there are a few pieces left.”
However, after Xuan Min examined the golden orb between his fingers, his brows furrowed.
For a split second, a sliver of an indescribably strange expression crossed his face. It seemed somewhere between being lost in thought and absolute confusion.
After staring at the orb for a moment, he stroked it once with his thumb and furrowed his brows as he brought the golden orb a bit closer and sniffed it.
Xue Xian, “………………”
He rolled his eyes, feeling indescribably uncomfortable.
Fortunately, his current body had not recovered fully yet and he had not established a connection with the golden orb, melding his body and spirit. Otherwise…with this stroking and sniffing, Xue Xian would have lost control ages ago and stomped his claw on his face.
His heart uttered 800 sentences of extreme hatred for the Baldy but with his claw stuck to his mouth, he was unable to open his mouth no matter what, thus he was helpless and could only swallow it all back down. It was amazing that he did not choke.
Good thing that the Baldy’s sickness did not last long. He only took a sniff before returning to that bland expression again and lifted his head.
He briefly considered it before asking Xue Xian, “I can temporarily hold onto the golden orb for you. Any objections?”
Yes! I’m not giving it! In your dreams!
Xue Xian internally shouted but was still unable to utter a single word.
“Okay.” Taking his silence as agreement, Xuan Min put the golden orb in the hidden pouch at his waist. As it was placed close to his body, there would be a constant pressure whenever he moved and so it would also be hard to lose.
Xue Xian slumped over listlessly, his head hung low and droopy, not in the mood to do anything at all. To be frank, he was not truly scared of Xuan Min coveting his orb. It was just that he had lost his true body for more than half a year and only recently found it so he was unwilling to let go of it again.
He trembled faintly in place and only then did Xuan Min realise that his posture was strange. He had kept a hand over his mouth for ages and did not even switch hands. Xuan Min stared blankly for a moment before finally realising the reason why the vile spawn was behaving and remaining silent. He turned to the little thief. “May I borrow a fire basin?”
Though the little thief had the guts to snatch Xue Xian’s golden orb, he was still a half-grown child. After being dealt with by Xuan Min, he could not help but feel guilty and fearful.
It was Xuan Min who had requested this and so he did not dare to ignore. Therefore, the little thief glanced over with an air of discontent, then begrudgingly turned on his heels to enter the sole building within the courtyard that could house a person. After a bit of noisy clattering from within, he dragged out a heavily dented copper basin and tossed it in front of Xuan Min with a crash.
“Thank you.” As always, Xuan Min responded indifferently with a word of gratitude.
In the corner under the eaves where it was comparatively drier were two bundles of firewood. Compared to regular households, these two bundles were too thin. The majority were twisted twigs, not at all good firewood. Xuan Min easily snapped a few dry sticks, lit them with a match, and tossed them into the basin. It took some time for the dried sticks to burn up but they still ended up with a ball of fire and the chicken-coop of a courtyard filled with warm air.
At first, the little thief stubbornly ignored Xuan Min, but after a while he gave in to the toasty fire’s warmth, silently shifting over to the fire basin and sneakily rubbing his hands.
Xue Xian and Jiang Shining were placed by Xuan Min to dry on a branch of a winter jasmine plant at the perfect distance away from the fire basin; any closer and the tongues of fire would scorch his crotch, any farther and it would not be warm enough.
To remedy a soaked paper, baking by the fire still helped no matter how little. At least Xue Xian could feel himself slowly drying up.
Hanging from the branch, he saw Xuan Min withdraw a piece of thin, folded paper from another hidden pouch between his lapels. From his angle, he could only see that the page had a multitude of characters, some were linked with lines, others were separated by paragraphs and there were even…pictures?
Xuan Min swept his eyes across the paper to a particular place, then refolded the page properly and stowed it away.
Turning towards the 8- or 9-year-old little thief, he asked, “Is your surname Lu?”
Both Xue Xian and the little thief were dumbfounded.
The little thief stared at him with alarm. “What do you want?”
“It seems so.” Upon seeing his reaction, Xuan Min immediately understood. He asked another question, “Do you have a blind older brother?”
The little thief surnamed Lu saw red and exploded, “Who are you?! Looking for Lu, what do you want from him?!”
Xue Xian looked at Xuan Min weirdly and thought, “It turns out that the Baldy isn’t here just to catch him but is here to find someone? How coincidental?”
In the midst of contemplation, his damp mouth and claws had already become half-dry. His claw plopped off his mouth and finally stopped obstructing his speech.
“Where’s Lu Shijiu?” Xue Xian could no longer resist and asked the little thief. “I’m looking to borrow something and find someone.”
He had been here twice before where the Lu brothers lived but they were not close and he only had a rough understanding of them—for instance, their parents and seniors were all already gone for reasons unknown. He had heard that one brother had become blind due to his innate cultivation of yin and yang while the other suffered an injury to the ear, causing some hearing issues. The two relied on each other to survive over the years though their relationship was not the best. Because they neither had elders nor had established themselves through marriage or career, the brothers did not even have formal names; only casual nicknames based on their birthdays. The older brother was called Lu Shijiu and this 8- or 9-year-old younger brother was called Lu Nianqi.
This Lu Nianqi was fairly young but he did not have the foolish air of a child. He immediately reacted after hearing Xue Xian speak. “I remember you. I’ve heard your voice. You’ve come looking for Shijiu before.”
Being around Lu Shijiu caused him to often encounter strange and chaotic things. Seeing a piece of paper speak did not frighten him speechless. Instead, he was rather unperturbed.
“I’ve been here twice but this is the first time I’ve been welcomed with a large gift.” Xue Xian thought of that face drenched in water and could not help but laugh. “Anyway, don’t get off topic. Where’s Lu Shijiu? Where did he go and when is he coming back? Also, what’s up with you randomly stealing from people?”
Who would have known that as soon as he spoke, tears the size of beans would roll down from Lu Nianqi’s eyes without warning. “I’m also looking for him. I’ve been looking for him for over half a month. He, he’s in the river.”
Xue Xian, “…”
No, what does ‘he’s in the river’ mean?
Chapter 19: Blind Diviner (2)
Xuan Min was rather tall, so the little thief’s head barely passed his waist. He was like a scrawny monkey, only around 8 or 9 years of age. After being seized by the back of his collar, he instantly started struggling, baring fangs and brandishing claws. He could not seem to reach Xuan Min and agitatedly wailed, “Help—! Robbery—! Ahhhhhhhh—! Let go—!”
“A thief calling ‘stop thief’ and causing such a scene. This youngster’s smart,” thought Xue Xian, impressed.
It was a pity that the Baldy had a different set of sensibilities. Men, women, the young, and the old were all equal in his eyes, completely unlike the usual monks. Xuan Min seemed as undisturbed as a still lake, holding onto the little thief by his collar with one hand and pulling a talisman out from between his own lapels with the other. He pressed it onto the crown of the little thief’s head with a force neither light nor strong and said, “Prohibit speech.”
Little Thief, “…”
The unrestrained wailing squawked to a sudden stop, choking the petty thief nearly to his death, with his face turning a vivid shade of red.
Xue Xian discreetly touched his mouth with a damp claw, feeling that the scene was strangely relatable. However, because he was soaked through and had become flimsy, his claw accidentally stuck to his mouth. If he carelessly forced them apart, either his claw would break or his mouth would get ripped. It was an absolutely awful situation.
Xuan Min coincidently glanced at him just then and was treated to the sight of that vile spawn frozen in a foolish position.
Xue Xian expressionlessly closed his eyes. “…” A lifetime’s reputation, ruined within seconds. Someone give me a rope to hang this Baldy with so that no one will ever know of my humiliation.
Xuan Min lowered his gaze to the little thief, lightly saying, “Extend your hands.”
With a slight twitch from the yellow talisman on his forehead, the little thief complied, straightening both his hands in front of him like a puppet on strings with the expression of someone who had lost all will to live.
When Xuan Min took the golden orb from him, one could not tell if the little thief was embarrassed or furious. He was flushed red from the top of his head down to the base of his neck, even the rims of his eyes were red. He looked rather surly with an expression that said “if you have the guts, then come and beat me to death”. He really was picking a fight.
Having met his objective, Xuan Min stopped suppressing him and lifted his hand to remove the talisman from his forehead. He refolded it nicely and neatly and put it away.
Xue Xian anxiously stared at the golden orb in Xuan Min’s hand, waiting for the Baldy to give it back to him.
He admittingly never expected the Baldy to help him like this and it dug out the minuscule speck of conscience from under his belly. So, he thought, “All right. Once he returns the orb, I’ll take on the insurmountable task of being slightly more well-behaved for a few days. I’ll act as if it is to give the Baldy some face. I really can’t give him another dragon scale, even though there are a few pieces left.”
However, after Xuan Min examined the golden orb between his fingers, his brows furrowed.
For a split second, a sliver of an indescribably strange expression crossed his face. It seemed somewhere between being lost in thought and absolute confusion.
After staring at the orb for a moment, he stroked it once with his thumb and furrowed his brows as he brought the golden orb a bit closer and sniffed it.
Xue Xian, “………………”
He rolled his eyes, feeling indescribably uncomfortable.
Fortunately, his current body had not recovered fully yet and he had not established a connection with the golden orb, melding his body and spirit. Otherwise…with this stroking and sniffing, Xue Xian would have lost control ages ago and stomped his claw on his face.
His heart uttered 800 sentences of extreme hatred for the Baldy but with his claw stuck to his mouth, he was unable to open his mouth no matter what, thus he was helpless and could only swallow it all back down. It was amazing that he did not choke.
Good thing that the Baldy’s sickness did not last long. He only took a sniff before returning to that bland expression again and lifted his head.
He briefly considered it before asking Xue Xian, “I can temporarily hold onto the golden orb for you. Any objections?”
Yes! I’m not giving it! In your dreams!
Xue Xian internally shouted but was still unable to utter a single word.
“Okay.” Taking his silence as agreement, Xuan Min put the golden orb in the hidden pouch at his waist. As it was placed close to his body, there would be a constant pressure whenever he moved and so it would also be hard to lose.
Xue Xian slumped over listlessly, his head hung low and droopy, not in the mood to do anything at all. To be frank, he was not truly scared of Xuan Min coveting his orb. It was just that he had lost his true body for more than half a year and only recently found it so he was unwilling to let go of it again.
He trembled faintly in place and only then did Xuan Min realise that his posture was strange. He had kept a hand over his mouth for ages and did not even switch hands. Xuan Min stared blankly for a moment before finally realising the reason why the vile spawn was behaving and remaining silent. He turned to the little thief. “May I borrow a fire basin?”
Though the little thief had the guts to snatch Xue Xian’s golden orb, he was still a half-grown child. After being dealt with by Xuan Min, he could not help but feel guilty and fearful.
It was Xuan Min who had requested this and so he did not dare to ignore. Therefore, the little thief glanced over with an air of discontent, then begrudgingly turned on his heels to enter the sole building within the courtyard that could house a person. After a bit of noisy clattering from within, he dragged out a heavily dented copper basin and tossed it in front of Xuan Min with a crash.
“Thank you.” As always, Xuan Min responded indifferently with a word of gratitude.
In the corner under the eaves where it was comparatively drier were two bundles of firewood. Compared to regular households, these two bundles were too thin. The majority were twisted twigs, not at all good firewood. Xuan Min easily snapped a few dry sticks, lit them with a match, and tossed them into the basin. It took some time for the dried sticks to burn up but they still ended up with a ball of fire and the chicken-coop of a courtyard filled with warm air.
At first, the little thief stubbornly ignored Xuan Min, but after a while he gave in to the toasty fire’s warmth, silently shifting over to the fire basin and sneakily rubbing his hands.
Xue Xian and Jiang Shining were placed by Xuan Min to dry on a branch of a winter jasmine plant at the perfect distance away from the fire basin; any closer and the tongues of fire would scorch his crotch, any farther and it would not be warm enough.
To remedy a soaked paper, baking by the fire still helped no matter how little. At least Xue Xian could feel himself slowly drying up.
Hanging from the branch, he saw Xuan Min withdraw a piece of thin, folded paper from another hidden pouch between his lapels. From his angle, he could only see that the page had a multitude of characters, some were linked with lines, others were separated by paragraphs and there were even…pictures?
Xuan Min swept his eyes across the paper to a particular place, then refolded the page properly and stowed it away.
Turning towards the 8- or 9-year-old little thief, he asked, “Is your surname Lu?”
Both Xue Xian and the little thief were dumbfounded.
The little thief stared at him with alarm. “What do you want?”
“It seems so.” Upon seeing his reaction, Xuan Min immediately understood. He asked another question, “Do you have a blind older brother?”
The little thief surnamed Lu saw red and exploded, “Who are you?! Looking for Lu, what do you want from him?!”
Xue Xian looked at Xuan Min weirdly and thought, “It turns out that the Baldy isn’t here just to catch him but is here to find someone? How coincidental?”
In the midst of contemplation, his damp mouth and claws had already become half-dry. His claw plopped off his mouth and finally stopped obstructing his speech.
“Where’s Lu Shijiu?” Xue Xian could no longer resist and asked the little thief. “I’m looking to borrow something and find someone.”
He had been here twice before where the Lu brothers lived but they were not close and he only had a rough understanding of them—for instance, their parents and seniors were all already gone for reasons unknown. He had heard that one brother had become blind due to his innate cultivation of yin and yang while the other suffered an injury to the ear, causing some hearing issues. The two relied on each other to survive over the years though their relationship was not the best. Because they neither had elders nor had established themselves through marriage or career, the brothers did not even have formal names; only casual nicknames based on their birthdays. The older brother was called Lu Shijiu and this 8- or 9-year-old younger brother was called Lu Nianqi.
This Lu Nianqi was fairly young but he did not have the foolish air of a child. He immediately reacted after hearing Xue Xian speak. “I remember you. I’ve heard your voice. You’ve come looking for Shijiu before.”
Being around Lu Shijiu caused him to often encounter strange and chaotic things. Seeing a piece of paper speak did not frighten him speechless. Instead, he was rather unperturbed.
“I’ve been here twice but this is the first time I’ve been welcomed with a large gift.” Xue Xian thought of that face drenched in water and could not help but laugh. “Anyway, don’t get off topic. Where’s Lu Shijiu? Where did he go and when is he coming back? Also, what’s up with you randomly stealing from people?”
Who would have known that as soon as he spoke, tears the size of beans would roll down from Lu Nianqi’s eyes without warning. “I’m also looking for him. I’ve been looking for him for over half a month. He, he’s in the river.”
Xue Xian, “…”
No, what does ‘he’s in the river’ mean?
