RIIDMDR chapter 137

 

After scolding his younger brother, Zhuang Si went to Nan Xu’s courtyard and bought two little sow piglets to take home. Stimulated by the piglets, Zhuang Wu gave up on teaching his pigs to cultivate and went up the mountain to chop bamboo for a pigpen.

Although Nan Xu had sold Zhuang Wu the piglets just to tease him, he told Zhuang Si that they could exchange one of the boars for a sow if they wanted — meat pigs were meat pigs; he didn’t mind whether they were male or female. Castrating a pig once or twice made no difference to him.

Besides, raising four pigs between the two brothers was already a heavy burden.

However, Zhuang Si said there was no need to exchange. Zhuang Wu usually dealt with Nan Xu; Zhuang Si was much quieter in front of him. He briefly explained what he and his brother were planning.

“You plan to raise them as breeding pigs?” Nan Xu was a little surprised.

Zhuang Si nodded. “Such high-quality pigs are rare in the demon realm. My brother and I thought we’d raise them for breeding. Selling piglets should be more profitable than selling cabbages in the future.”

Nan Xu nodded thoughtfully, but still felt that four pigs were too many. “You only grow cabbages. How will the pigs eat enough? You’d better reclaim some land to grow sweet potatoes and corn.”

Zhuang Si nodded again. “Yes, we thought the same. We’ll need to buy some seeds from you again.”

“There are sweet potatoes and corn in the cellar. You two can each take two baskets. I’ll give you some radish and pumpkin seeds, too.” Nan Xu readily agreed to share.

Zhuang Si hadn’t expected him to be so easy to talk to. The brothers were penniless, so on the way there, Zhuang Si had thought of various things they could offer in trade and had expected a long round of bargaining. The smoothness of it all left him rather stunned.

The former shopkeeper had also been generous, but Zhuang Si had always sensed a guardedness about him. Considering how they met, he couldn’t blame the man for that. This time, however, the owner clearly spoke with more confidence. Zhuang Si still couldn’t discern his true cultivation level, but perhaps the breakthrough his brother had mentioned was real.

After Zhuang Si left, Nan Xu thought again of the two wild boar brothers and found Zhuang Wu even cuter. But, remembering the look on Zhuang Wu’s face when he received the piglets, Nan Xu couldn’t help but laugh.

At that moment, Zhixing came out of his room. His lips were pressed together, and his eyes were lowered slightly. He looked irritated, so much so that Nan Xu was momentarily stunned. He strode quickly toward the courtyard gate, his robe sleeves fluttering.

Just as Nan Xu was about to ask what had happened, Dan Yin ran out of Zhixing’s room, his clothes in disarray. While tying his belt, he hurried after Zhixing. Hearing the noise behind him, Zhixing quickened his pace and disappeared in a few moments.

Nan Xu looked at Dan Yin, his eyes wide, clearly realizing that he had stumbled upon some great gossip. Nan Xu grabbed Dan Yin but immediately released him, pinching his nose as he caught a terrible smell. “You…you…you! Were you harassing Zhixing in his room? What have you been pestering him about lately? Speak honestly!”

Dan Yin stopped and glanced toward the courtyard gate. Zhixing was long gone. Then, he tied his belt properly and said dejectedly, “I wasn’t doing anything indecent. I only wanted Physician Zhixing to make me a hair growth ointment.”

Nan Xu eyed him skeptically from head to toe, finally choosing to believe him. “Well, your hair loss is quite serious. If Zhixing could help, he would, wouldn’t he?”

“But the ointment he’s developing doesn’t work on plant-type demons. So I asked him to make one specially for me,” Dan Yin explained.

Nan Xu frowned. “Was he too busy to make it?”

“That’s not it.” Dan Yin sighed. “He actually made one after half a month of research and told me to try it. But it smelled so awful that even after sealing my sense of smell, I couldn’t stand it. Just thinking about it made me vomit in his room, and I accidentally knocked over the medicine, too.”

Nan Xu: “…”

So that’s where the stench came from. Now that he thought about it, didn’t a plant demon wanting thicker hair mean that he needed fertilizer?

“Go get rid of that smell,” Nan Xu said in disgust.

With nothing more to gossip about, he stopped talking to Dan Yin. He picked up his basket and hoe and decided to head to the bamboo mountain before sunset to dig up some spring bamboo shoots.

Last winter had few sunny days, and the snow on the mountain lingered for a long time. Nan Xu had only dug bamboo shoots twice before, using them to make salted pork and bamboo stew or stir-fried winter shoots with cured meat. Both dishes were big hits with the guests at the inn.

The spring rains would soon arrive. If he didn’t hurry, the shoots would grow too tall to eat.

Dan Yin recited a spell to clean off the spilled ointment, then followed Nan Xu with his own hoe.

“Why are you following me?” Nan Xu asked.

Dan Yin, carrying the hoe on his shoulder, pulled a folding fan from his belt, snapped it open with a “swish,” and fanned himself a few times, looking quite pleased with himself. “I’m helping the owner with some work. You know how diligent I am.”

Nan Xu gave two polite “heh-hehs.”

Seeing that his excuse didn’t work, Dan Yin grinned awkwardly and confessed, “Zhixing only made one batch of that ointment. Since I made him angry, I’m afraid he won’t make another for me. So, I came to help you, hoping you’d put in a good word for me.”

Without waiting for Nan Xu to react, he quickly added, “Next time, I’ll be fully prepared. I’ll cover my mouth and nose tightly before testing it. I promise nothing like this will happen again.”

Nan Xu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The untouched bamboo grove stretched endlessly, making it easy to find spots rich with shoots. Thinking it looked easy, Dan Yin tried digging for himself, but after several attempts, he found nothing. He muttered that the shoots must have run away at the sound of his steps.

He kept rambling nonsense, annoying Nan Xu even more than Yao Lin. Irritated, Nan Xu snapped, “Bamboo shoots don’t have legs! How could they run away?”

Dan Yin thumped his chest confidently. “We ginseng roots don’t have legs either, yet I can run, can’t I?”

Nan Xu was so choked up that he couldn’t get a word out. All he could do was think to himself: The plants that had been cultivated into demons with him really had nothing in common with him after all.

Wait…what kind of demon was he again?

Nan Xu suddenly fell into deep thought. After merging with his spiritual space for so long, he had never asked himself this question. Whenever he met another demon, he would instinctively wonder what species it was, yet he had never done the same for himself.

Seeing him suddenly grow quiet, Dan Yin remembered how cheerful he’d been during their last meal before collapsing afterward. Worried, he called softly, “Owner?”

Nan Xu came back to himself and said, “I’m fine.”

Dan Yin breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. You know, about the South Sea last time—”

Nan Xu froze. “Jingyuan hasn’t come?”

Dan Yin shook his head. “When I heard the news, I went to visit, but the sea realm doesn’t allow outsiders. I only got in because Senior Tingchuan led me. Once I was on the island, though, I never saw Senior Jingyuan. I suppose he’s too weak to receive guests.”

Nan Xu’s heart clenched. He remembered the farewell lunch and how he had gone to Jingyuan’s courtyard before fainting. He saw Jingyuan lying peacefully on the bed. The room had been tidied up, clearly prepared to remain unoccupied for a long time.

Even when Nan Xu got lost, Jingyuan would come and lead him back. If he hadn’t come while Nan Xu was unconscious, that could only mean that he couldn’t come.

“He didn’t appear when we left either?” Nan Xu asked quietly.

Dan Yin nodded. “No, and when I left the sea realm, I learned that it had been sealed. You can leave, but you can’t enter. With my level of cultivation, I doubt I’ll ever return.”

Nan Xu almost thought Jingyuan must have…

But then he realized that if something that serious had happened, word would have spread through the demon realm. Tingchuan wouldn’t have been able to hide it from him. Seeing that Dan Yin knew nothing more, Nan Xu dropped the subject.

Later, he found another mound with bamboo shoots and showed Dan Yin how to dig properly. When Nan Xu returned some time later, Dan Yin was still carefully scraping at a small shoot the size of a palm, like an archaeologist excavating an artifact.

By late afternoon, Nan Xu returned to the courtyard with a basket full of bamboo shoots. He washed a few damaged ones for dinner and planned to slice and dry the rest in the morning to preserve them longer.

…

After dinner, Nan Xu walked behind the house with Tingchuan to aid digestion and asked about Jingyuan’s condition. Under the moonlight, Tingchuan remained silent for a long time before saying, “He won’t live more than two days. No medicine can save him now. I went to the serpent clan for a pill — one made long ago by Tingshu.

There was once a serpent demon who was suffering from a rare illness, and the necessary ingredients for the medicine were difficult to cultivate. To buy time, Tingshu gave the demon a pill that would put him into a deep sleep until the medicine was ready. However, before the demon could decide whether to take it, he died, so no one knows exactly what the pill does. I gave it to Jingyuan, letting him decide for himself.”

Tingchuan paused. “There’s not much to decide, really. Without the pill, he’d die within half a month. If he takes it and the demon realm’s spiritual energy returns to what it once was, then maybe — just maybe — he’ll have a sliver of hope.”

Nan Xu didn’t feel joy; only a deep heaviness. Such uncertain hope—who could guarantee that he would ever wake up again?

“Why was he so badly injured?” Nan Xu asked quietly.

Tingchuan didn’t hide the truth from him because he would learn it sooner or later. “Back then, to protect the sea demons from being swallowed by the Heaven Abyss, he took on too much alone. Later, he was gravely wounded and disappeared. When I found him, he was barely alive. If not for his strong will, he would have perished like Yun Yi.

After I brought him back to the South Sea, Tingshu used what little spiritual energy he’d recovered to treat him, keeping Jingyuan alive by a thread. If not for that, he wouldn’t have lasted this long.”

“But Tingshu returned to Xishan and never came out again. Jingyuan, that arrogant demon, always felt that if I hadn’t gone to find him, the little demon would have been left unprotected and wouldn’t have died. Tingshu met such an end because of his treatment of Jingyuan. Bearing the weight of two dear friends’ lives, he has been depressed for so many years.”

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