BB | Chapter 13

Are You Even a Man?

By the time Shen Canglan came out from Yun Fang’s place, the sun was already nearing the horizon.

Shen Canglan asked Shen Guanqi, “Going with us?”

Shen Guanqi asked, “What?”

Shen Canglan: “Going with us?”

Shen Guanqi: “Going with you where?”

Shen Canglan: “?”

What was wrong with him?

Could it be he had gotten so hungry in the middle of the night that he’d eaten some animal medicine and damaged his ears?

He looked at Shen Guanqi with mild concern and asked again, clearly and distinctly: “Brother, do you want to come with us to the underground palace to look for the Yun family’s youngest son?”

Shen Guanqi tucked his hands into his sleeves. “You mean I should give up a perfectly good sect and not go back, stop eating the good stuff and drinking the good stuff every day, and instead travel with you lot, exposed to wind and dew, to fight demonic creatures?”

Shen Canglan said firmly, “Exactly!”

Li Yaochen also nodded.

Shen Guanqi: “…”

These two solid wooden blocks had not even heard that he was speaking sarcastically.

He had wanted to tease Shen Canglan, but instead he nearly choked himself to death. After staring at Shen Canglan for a long while, he finally waved a hand and said flatly, “I’m not going.”

“Really not going?”

Shen Canglan tried to persuade him. “Driving out evil and defending the Dao is, after all, the duty of us cultivators.”

Shen Guanqi waved a hand again.

Shen Canglan sighed. “Alright then.”

Shen Canglan usually did not show much expression and kept a stern face. Yet strangely enough, this face that never rippled with emotion was easy to read. When he was happy, his eyes would shine. When he was down, it almost looked as if he had a pair of drooping ears on his head.

Shen Guanqi nearly could not bear to refuse him.

But after weighing the options…

He still chose to stay in his own cave abode, pet cats and dogs, tease crickets, listen to little tunes, and eat delicious food.

Shen Canglan nodded and turned back to glance at Li Yaochen.

It was only a reflexive action, one even he himself had not noticed. Shen Guanqi’s reaction, however, was huge. “Again and again and again.”

Shen Canglan: “?”

He asked, “What are you looking at?”

Shen Guanqi: “At Daoist Li, of course. Back at Yun Fang’s place, you kept looking at him too. What exactly are you looking at?”

Shen Canglan’s eyes widened slightly. “I was using my eyes to discuss things with him.”

Shen Guanqi asked, “How do you discuss things with your eyes?”

Shen Canglan said, “Like when Yun Fang said she would give us a token of thanks. I was worried we might not get the reward, so I used my eyes to ask Chen-ge whether we should take the reward first. Chen-ge used his eyes to tell me to decide as I saw fit.”

Li Yaochen gave a soft “Hm?”

“So when you were looking at me then, that was what you meant?” Li Yaochen said. “I only thought you were asking whether I wanted to agree. I never even considered the reward.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Never, even, considered, the reward?

…He really still had a lot to learn from his brother’s wisdom.

And he had thought he and Li Yaochen were in perfect harmony. So after staring at each other for so long, neither of them had understood what the other meant?

Shen Canglan decided to test it.

He looked at Li Yaochen with his eyes.

Li Yaochen met his gaze for a while. “What is it, brother?”

Shen Canglan asked in a solemn tone, “Can you understand what I’m trying to say right now?”

Li Yaochen became interested and stared unblinkingly into Shen Canglan’s eyes.

Compared with Shen Canglan’s eyes, Li Yaochen’s irises were a little lighter. His brows were swordlike and his eyes bright, with light hidden in the depths of them, upright and candid.

He touched his chin. “Mm. Right now, you’re thinking that you want to run a kilometer first, then go cultivate while holding an umbrella, and ideally let that squirrel with the ugly cub sit in your lap.”

Shen Canglan: “…Huh?”

He looked at Li Yaochen in blank shock, even reaching up to scratch his ear, thinking he had misheard.

Humbly seeking guidance, he asked, “Are my eyes that chaotic and poetic?”

Li Yaochen could no longer suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth. “Just teasing you.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Li Yaochen: “Again?”

Shen Canglan then changed his thoughts.

Li Yaochen met his gaze.

Shen Canglan’s eyes were black and white in clear contrast, bright and pure, fearless and open.

In truth, what Li Yaochen noticed most was Shen Canglan with his eyes closed. The two of them lived in the same room, on opposite beds. Li Yaochen was already diligent enough in cultivation, but Shen Canglan was even more obsessed than he was. Often, just when he was preparing to sleep, Shen Canglan was still meditating.

Or when he woke in the middle of the night and saw Shen Canglan sleeping, face turned toward him, even the expression in his dreams was stern.

For some reason, Li Yaochen suddenly felt the urge to avert his eyes.

Perhaps because he had remained silent for too long, Shen Canglan even blinked at him.

Li Yaochen lifted a hand to the back of his head.

The two of them stared at each other for a long while until Shen Guanqi could not take it anymore. “Are you two competing?”

Shen Canglan: “…”

How could this be?

What happened to the brotherly bond where hearts were one?

But after only a blink of hesitation, Shen Canglan let it go.

He patted Li Yaochen’s shoulder. “I almost forgot we can also speak with our mouths.”

Li Yaochen paused, then laughed brightly. “Indeed. Brother, you are free and easy.”

Shen Canglan laughed twice up at the sky.

The brothers’ hearty laughter rose and fell, echoing through heaven and earth. Shen Guanqi wore an expression as if he had swallowed an egg. “…Take your time laughing. I’m heading back first.”

Before leaving, he did not forget to stuff some money into Shen Canglan’s hand. “If anything comes up, don’t carry it all by yourself. Remember to contact the sect.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Contact the sect, indeed.

Ye Xuezhu had been missing for several days already, and no one knew how things were progressing now.

He in turn reminded Shen Guanqi, “After you go back, remember to check on my shifu. If his wrists are tied too tight, loosen them for him. If he’s hungry, get him some food. And if they’re going to turn him into some sort of intersex person, help stop it too. My shifu said before that he doesn’t want to bear cubs.”

Li Yaochen: “…”

Just what exactly had this master and disciple pair experienced to be this practiced?

Shen Guanqi replied with practiced ease, “Got it, got it.”

He waved and left.

Shen Canglan unfolded the map Yun Fang had given him.

If the map was accurate, that underground palace was actually easy to find. They only had to follow the main road through two or three more cities, and in at most a few days they would arrive.

Neither Shen Canglan nor Li Yaochen wanted to waste time, so they returned to the inn, packed their things, and prepared to leave.

When the shop attendant saw them leaving, he was rather reluctant. “Two guests, free water today, hot bathwater.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Li Yaochen already had experience refusing him. “No.”

The shop attendant sighed in disappointment.

By the time the two formally set out on the main road, it was already evening. After walking a while longer, night fully fell.

There were no inns nearby, and it was already very late, so the two simply sat down to meditate and cultivate in a nearby forest.

Once he found the right method, Shen Canglan’s cultivation progress was so fast that even he was a little astonished.

He had clearly only just reached Foundation Establishment less than half a month ago, yet he felt the spiritual energy in his dantian was nearly full. If he were a water bottle, then even the slightest movement might shake spiritual energy right out of him.

According to Li Yaochen, each stage of cultivation was further divided into three smaller stages.

Shen Canglan had thought he was about to break through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, but after Li Yaochen took his wrist and checked, he told him that Shen Canglan was already nearly at Body Tempering.

Shen Canglan had to admit that he really was a genius.

He asked Li Yaochen about his progress in turn, and Li Yaochen said, “As of yesterday, I’ve already broken through.”

Shen Canglan had to admit that Li Yaochen really was a genius too.

He gripped Li Yaochen’s hands tightly. “Congratulations, congratulations. You’re one step closer to ascension. I’ll definitely catch up to you as soon as possible.”

Li Yaochen raised a brow and smiled. “I’ll be waiting, brother.”

–

What Shen Canglan had to admit was that Li Yaochen’s breakthrough had stirred something in him.

He knew he could not rush for success, but whenever he cultivated, he would keep thinking he should sit a little longer, or else it would feel like he was losing out.

But today he got sleepy very early, his eyes hard to keep open.

He and Li Yaochen had set up a very simple tent that leaked on three sides. Still, with the weather pleasantly warm and the insect-repelling powder Shen Guanqi had given them sprinkled nearby, it was not too hard to endure.

Inside the tent there was only a blanket laid out as a bed, and even the pillow was just one. When Li Yaochen slept, Shen Canglan had told him to use it and not leave it for him. But when he looked back now, he realized the pillow was placed right behind him.

Tch!

Shen Canglan moved the pillow over to Li Yaochen’s side, rested on his own arm, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the ground.

Half-awake and half-asleep, he felt a hand lift the back of his head, and while his head was hanging in the air, something soft was tucked under it.

It was the pillow.

Li Yaochen had given the pillow back to him again?

He was so moved. His brother was truly loyal. It made his heart turn soft…

Even if his brothers ended up reduced to begging in the future, he would never abandon Li Yaochen.

If he had one louse, then Li Yaochen would have one flea.

Wait, something seemed off…

Shen Canglan was truly very sleepy and dizzy. He mumbled a barely intelligible “thank you” and kept sleeping.

Li Yaochen took a moment to react before realizing Shen Canglan had said, “Many thanks.”

He smiled and continued meditating.

By the time he was ready to rest, Shen Canglan was already sleeping very deeply and very relaxed, which was to say his limbs were sprawled out. The temporary tent was already narrow to begin with, and although Shen Canglan was thin, his arms and legs were long. Unless Li Yaochen twisted himself into the shape of a twisted dough stick, he could not even lie down.

He patted Shen Canglan. “Brother, brother. Move a little to the side.”

Shen Canglan gave an oh, and then there was no movement for a long time.

Li Yaochen wanted to laugh, and was thinking that perhaps he simply would not sleep tonight, when Shen Canglan suddenly rolled over, cleared out some space, and even patted it with his hand. “Come.”

Li Yaochen lay down fully clothed.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Shen Canglan rolled back over again, one hand lifting and one leg raising, pinning him in the middle like he was riding on bedding.

Sleeping this badly?

Suppressing a laugh, Li Yaochen reached out to push Shen Canglan back, but before long Shen Canglan pulled the same trick a second time and rolled back over again.

In the end, Li Yaochen simply let him hold him like that.

[Are you even a man?]

In the quiet night, the system’s faint voice seemed ethereal, yet for some reason it also carried a hint of shrillness: [Are you even a man? He’s already like this! And you’re like this! He’s done this to you like this! And you’ve done this to him like this!! Are you still even a man!!!!]