BB | Chapter 23

All Things Are But Worldly Possessions, All of Them…

Li Yaochen put on his clothes, but he had not forgotten the important business he had been carrying in mind all the way.

He motioned for Shen Canglan to step farther away, then took the things out of the storage sack and arranged them one by one on the ground.

Shen Canglan crouched nearby and acted as the atmosphere group.

“Whoa–”

“Wow, this one!”

“What is this? So pretty!”

“Chen-ge, how do you have so many things? You’re practically a master collector!”

Li Yaochen: “…”

He really had it good now, even getting a little side act as straight man.

The moment Shen Canglan spoke, he wanted to laugh. Though he had deliberately wanted Shen Canglan to see these things of his.

It was not really to show off. Rather, he wanted his own brother to see what real good stuff looked like, so that he would not be lured away in the future by some random cat or dog.

As for an explanation, he truly had no way to explain where these things came from to Shen Canglan. First, three sentences would not be enough to cover it. Second, if he accidentally let slip something he should not, the system would again accuse him of breaking the rules and fry him until he was fragrant and crisp.

Fortunately, he did not need to answer. He only had to lay out a few glittering magic treasures on the ground, and Shen Canglan’s attention would naturally be drawn away.

He had only moved the items he used often, and the ones that had to conceal his identity, into the grayish storage sack Yun Lian had given him. The rest he simply hung on Shen Canglan’s waist.

The black leather storage sack was embroidered with dark red patterns, and at the drawstring opening hung two round red beads.

It was pretty enough, but it did not quite match the pale yellow robes commonly worn by Shen Canglan’s sect.

Still, after this journey down the mountain, Shen Canglan had grown a great deal. He knew he should no longer care so much about appearances, and that practicality was what truly mattered.

Would anyone in this world dislike silver notes just because they were ashen gray and hard to match with clothes?

Shen Canglan pinched the storage sack at his waist happily and asked Li Yaochen, “How do I open this?”

Li Yaochen said, “Send your divine sense inside.”

Divine sense was still something Shen Canglan could not fully control with ease. Its existence was like the ring finger on one’s hand, the most familiar of unfamiliar fingers.

Shen Canglan was also deliberately training it, but making divine sense nimble was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

He cautiously sent his divine sense in along the drawstring and could even feel a trace of Li Yaochen’s divine sense lingering there. The thunder-attribute divine sense was different from his, a rich purple color, and when it touched him there was even a feeling of being shocked by electricity, numb and tingling.

When he finally saw clearly what was inside the storage sack, Shen Canglan was utterly stunned.

So many glittering magic treasures!

Shen Canglan went in with his eyes open and came out covering them: “Too, too dazzling…”

In the morning he had already felt very rich, walking down the road as if he were floating. Now just standing here made him feel like he could float up, and he could not help imagining the happy life ahead.

He would buy two swords in the future, one inlaid with gold and jade, one wrapped in gold and silver, then hire two little attendants whose only job would be to carry his sword sheaths.

Even cups could be bought by the case as backup. In the future, when he drank spiritual tea with Li Yaochen, if he got happy and tossed the cup away, that too would be bold and unrestrained. Who else could afford such extravagance?

And there was more…

Shen Canglan suddenly lunged at Li Yaochen: “Brother, that was close, I almost went mad!”

Li Yaochen caught his elbows with both hands, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Yet he also felt he ought to shoulder the task of guiding Shen Canglan, so he clenched one fist and held it to his mouth, imitating the elder in his memory who had once lectured the junior disciples, and said, “Ahem. Everyone has desires, this is normal. Otherwise, who would still like gold and silver jewels, beauties and fine wine? Right?”

Seeing Shen Canglan nod, Li Yaochen arched a brow and smiled, then continued, “External things are still only external things. Do not cling to them. Relax your mind. Only the Great Dao is real.”

Shen Canglan nodded again and felt that the burning heat in his heart had subsided quite a bit.

He grabbed Li Yaochen’s right hand, which was just a little larger than his own, and shook it hard twice. “Brother! I know now!”

Li Yaochen said with satisfaction, “Good brother.”

As soon as he finished speaking, footsteps and voices came from the corridor outside. Shen Canglan thought Qin Chun had returned, but after waiting a bit, those people merely passed by the door.

Qin Chun walked slowly, yes, but not so slowly that he still would not be back by now, right?

Could it be that, like the others, he had walked and then fallen into someone else’s arms?

Then what about Shen Guanqi? Had he fallen into someone else’s arms too?

Ew.

Shen Canglan was a little worried. “I’ll go take a look.”

With that, he walked toward the door.

After he went out, Li Yaochen lowered his head and looked at his own palm.

It seemed there was still a trace of sensation left there.

The feel of Shen Canglan’s belly and the feel of his abdomen were truly very different. Soft, like brocade, and also like cloud. Li Yaochen unexpectedly thought of something from nearly a hundred years ago. That was the first time he had touched a puppy’s belly, soft and warm.

“Worldly things,” Li Yaochen said.

The system did not know what Li Yaochen was thinking, but it hated hearing him say that phrase very much. As if some curse had been triggered, it let out a painfully heavy-metal screech in Li Yaochen’s mind.

–

The people who had passed outside were fellow disciples from the room next door.

When they saw Shen Canglan, the three of them greeted him warmly. “Long time no see, Canglan.”

Shen Canglan asked, “Where are you coming back from?”

The one at the front was short, lively, fond of smiling, and fond of talking.

At Shen Canglan’s question, he lifted his head and explained carefully, “His shifu wanted to chat with him to pass the time. As for him, he wanted to pick some flowers from the rear mountain and bring them back to decorate things, but he didn’t manage to pick any. He ran into a senior brother lying there sunbathing and tripped, and even his first kiss was gone. As for me, I came back from my Brother Wu from my family. The two of us took a bath together and tried the essential oils we brought back from India. Brother Wu was terribly naughty. Look, there are still marks on my hand.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

When he was little, the first time he heard such explosive gossip, he would cover his ears with his hands and make noisy singing sounds to try to keep it from getting in.

Later on it was better. He could barely keep calm.

Now, perhaps because he had spent too long with Li Yaochen, his brother’s philosophy that “all things are external possessions, all things are empty” had successfully spread to him, and Shen Canglan only felt utterly serene.

He did not even look at the short man’s hand and asked, “Did you see Qin Chun?”

Asking was asking, but Shen Canglan did not hold out much hope. Unexpectedly, the short man said, “Qin Chun? Yeah, we saw him. He’s in our room right now.”

Shen Canglan froze. “He’s in your room?”

The short man said, “Yep. Qin Chun said to let you stay with the brother you met at the foot of the mountain, and that he’d live with us for the time being.”

Shen Canglan only became more confused.

In the underground palace, Qin Chun had clearly gotten along very happily with Li Yaochen, with no conflict at all. Why must Qin Chun insist on staying with someone else?

Besides, the four beds in the short man’s dorm were already full. There would be nowhere for Qin Chun to sleep if he went there. Why not stay in his own dorm?

Shen Canglan, full of questions, followed the three of them next door and indeed saw Qin Chun.

He was sitting on the bed by the window, holding a waist token in his hands and busily doing something. There was even a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

When he saw Shen Canglan, he abruptly slapped the waist token down on the table and blinked. “Canglan, why are you here?”

Shen Canglan asked, “Qin Chun, aren’t you coming back to live there?”

“No,” Qin Chun said. “I’m afraid if I’m there, you and Daoist Li will be too at ease.”

Shen Canglan: “?”

Too at ease?

Did he mean too awkward?

Shen Canglan did not mind this detail, trying to play the role of a reliable man mediating a conflict.

He lowered his voice. “Could it be that you don’t like Chen-ge?”

Qin Chun said, “How could that be? I really like you and Daoist Li. Hee hee.”

When Qin Chun said this, his eyes were bright and moist, the corners of his mouth lifting in an irresistible smile. He was very sincere, very open.

Shen Canglan asked a couple more times, and Qin Chun only said that it was fine for him to sleep here, and that Shen Canglan absolutely must not mind him.

Shen Canglan: “…”

Well then.

Moved, he patted Qin Chun on the shoulder and stood up, ready to leave.

But as he turned, the edge of his robe accidentally brushed against the waist token Qin Chun had set upside down on the table.

Shen Canglan crouched to pick it up, and at the same time Qin Chun let out a cry and reached out to stop him. “Don’t look–”

But it was already far too late for that.

Shen Canglan had now undergone body tempering, and both his reflexes and eyesight were far better than before.

By the time Qin Chun reached out, he had already completed all the steps of crouching down, reaching out to pick up the waist token, standing up, turning over the upside-down token, and reading the words on it clearly.

Qin Chun slowly closed his eyes. Shen Canglan slowly widened his own.

He asked in shock, “You… you… you are Human Feelings Truly Exist?”

“You actually know? You never even look at waist tokens, do you?” Qin Chun still kept his eyes closed. “It’s me. I really couldn’t help myself… I’m sorry…”

Shen Canglan almost did not know what language to use to describe how he felt.

He asked Qin Chun, “How did you do it? Writing so much, so fast, and so well? I’ve been reading the story booklet you write all along.”

Qin Chun paused, then slowly opened his eyes.

He and Shen Canglan looked at each other for a moment.

Shen Canglan looked at him with unabashed admiration.

Qin Chun asked, “You like reading it?”

Shen Canglan nodded.

Qin Chun asked again, “What do you think?”

Shen Canglan said, “The story rises and falls with every twist! It’s thrilling! The brotherhood between the two leads is deeply moving!”

Qin Chun: “…”

He said, “I know who you are now.”

After a few more words, Qin Chun relaxed again from his slightly tense and stiff posture.

He scratched his face. “Since you like it, Canglan, I’ll write more next time.”

Shen Canglan nodded vigorously again.

He had not expected that their Ailü Sect would not only produce a great literary master, but that this great literary master would be his best friend, the brother sleeping in the upper bunk above him.

Heavens!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. “I wish your story booklet would leave the sect and sweep across Lanchuan Continent! Let sales break ten thousand, break ten million!”

A blissful flush rose across Qin Chun’s fair cheeks. “I’ll borrow your good words, Canglan.”

–

Back from Qin Chun’s place, Shen Canglan noticed Li Yaochen was staring absentmindedly at his own palm.

He asked, “What’s wrong with your hand?”

Li Yaochen lowered his hand. “Nothing.”

Then he asked, “Did you find Daoist Qin?”

Shen Canglan nodded. “He said he was afraid we’d be uncomfortable, so he’ll sleep next door these few days.”

Then he said, “Chen-ge, do you know? That story booklet I’ve been reading all this time was actually written by Qin Chun.”

Li Yaochen lifted a brow, clearly a little surprised. “Oh?”

Shen Canglan wanted to show Li Yaochen what Qin Chun had written, but the sky was already dark, and now was the best time for sitting in meditation and cultivating.

He and Li Yaochen each ate a bite of fasting pill, then sat separately on the bed, calmed their hearts and quieted their minds, and began cultivating.

But today Shen Canglan did not enter his state as quickly as usual.

A friend coming to his sect to play, staying in his room. For Shen Canglan, this was a very novel experience.

Although Ailü Sect was not large, it was not without interesting places. For example, the small waterfall in the rear mountain, the sea of flowers known as a dating paradise that bloomed with pink flowers all year round, and the lake behind the residence of the third elder that was always covered in a layer of ice… he could take Li Yaochen to visit them all.

Over the next few days, right up until the Hundred-Year Grand Ceremony began, Shen Canglan took Li Yaochen around sightseeing during the day, from the east of the sect to the west, from north to south. Even the animals in Shen Guanqi’s clinic were all petted by him once.

He also saw again the squirrel he had met when he went down the mountain.

The squirrel was still very cute, while the five cubs were still very ugly. The moment Shen Canglan stepped through the door, he was frightened five times in a row. The squirrel climbed up his trouser leg all the way to his shoulder. “Rongrong, I am now called Rongrong, oh.”

It also asked after Shen Canglan with concern, “Did you find the demonic creatures? Were you injured?”

Shen Canglan patted his chest hard twice. “Of course. Not only did I find them, I also beat them down hard!”

The squirrel rubbed its face and blinked.

At night, Shen Canglan and Li Yaochen would cultivate in the room.

The spiritual energy of Lanchuan Continent was already abundant, and Ailü Sect was even more a place where spiritual energy gathered. Even just sitting in meditation, Shen Canglan could feel himself making progress.

His bones were now all covered with a pale golden layer, gleaming beautifully. He tried it out curiously and could split ten roof tiles barehanded without feeling any pain at all.

Apart from cultivating, he and Li Yaochen would also spar with each other. Shen Canglan even specially went to Ye Xuezhu to borrow some other weapons.

It was just that some of these weapons looked a bit strange… like that golden braid. Shen Canglan studied it for a long time and still did not understand why the tail of that whip had a fluffy little ball attached to it.

Aside from that, Shen Canglan and Li Yaochen really had endless things to talk about every day.

Even topics as boring as whether he preferred to be called Chen-ge or brother, or whether he liked dogs or cats more, or whether he preferred black or green, the two of them could chat excitedly for half a day.

The room was often filled with the brothers’ resonant laughter.

By the way, Li Yaochen’s answer was always the former.

One day before the Hundred-Year Grand Ceremony, the young shishu opened his medicinal garden.

The medicinal garden was full of spiritual herbs and plants he had collected from all over, and they were very precious. But every year, when most of the herbs were ripe, it would be open for two days, allowing the sect disciples to go in and pick them.

They were not afraid of everything being picked at once.

The medicinal garden had a human-shaped magic treasure as a gatekeeper, a married couple. It was said they had died for love, and later were made into magic treasures so they could remain together for eternity.

This couple would give every person entering the garden a question. Not all of them were about prescriptions, and there were also many difficult miscellaneous riddles. Shen Canglan had been there a few times. Once he was asked to identify the most vibrant herb in the garden, once what to do if a friend had gone mad. In any case, he had never answered correctly once.

Still, it was quite fun, with lush greenery everywhere and the smell of herbs in the air. Just taking a breath made one feel able to prolong one’s life.

As one of Ailü Sect’s famous sights, and with the mindset of going if only to join in the fun, Shen Canglan took Li Yaochen there as well.

Qin Chun and Shen Guanqi came too, and the four of them gathered together and lined up at the entrance to the medicinal garden.

Today what hung at Shen Guanqi’s waist was not those turtles, but a plump fat frog.

Shen Canglan asked Shen Guanqi, “What illness does it have?”

Shen Guanqi yawned, the area beneath his eyes faintly dark with blue-black circles. “Nothing serious. It’s just too disgusting to leave it alone. This little fat one loves eating, and after eating it throws itself up, then the other patients go eat what it vomited…”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Ew!

He poked the fat frog. “How immoral of you.”

The fat frog actually glared at him.

After a while, it was their turn to enter the medicinal garden.

Today’s gatekeeper was that man, his face stern and hard. He gave each of the four a medicine basket and posed each of them a question.

Shen Canglan’s question was this: if your beloved had been struck by a love gu, what medicine should you use?

Shen Canglan scratched the back of his head in confusion.

Looking back, Qin Chun and Shen Guanqi both wore relaxed smiles. Li Yaochen, meanwhile, had about the same posture as him, brow slightly furrowed, wearing an expression of concentrated thought.

Just as he was about to go in, something light and quick suddenly climbed all the way up along Shen Canglan’s calf, then landed lightly on his shoulder.

Shen Canglan turned back and saw the squirrel Rongrong.

Rongrong stretch out a paw, pinching a lock of hair by Shen Canglan’s temple to keep balance, and said, “Rongrong, together.”