BB | Chapter 37

Good News: He and Li Yaochen Were Famous…

Everyone took Huangfu Lengshang to the front desk to settle the bill.

It was close to closing time, and the shopkeeper had come over as well. A group of workers were gathered around her, talking. Hearing the commotion here, the shopkeeper looked back, hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Are you Shen Canglan and Li Yaochen?”

Shen Canglan first froze, then lit up with delight.

He braced himself on Li Yaochen’s shoulder and pushed himself upright. “Boss, you’ve heard of us?”

He was already this famous?!!

He was a little embarrassed.

The shopkeeper smiled at him. “Yes, of course I’ve heard of you.”

Shen Canglan scratched his cheek and asked, “What have you heard?”

The shopkeeper said, “Just the things everyone says. They say the two of you have a brain disease called cultivation, and it’s contagious. You usually stick together and infect each other, and when it acts up, you shout brother this, brother that, while roaming the world in search of demonic creatures.”

Shen Canglan: “…………”

Good news: he and Li Yaochen were famous.

Bad news: the two of them were infamous as mental patients.

Shen Canglan felt wronged, Shen Canglan felt powerless, Shen Canglan felt stifled.

In his frustration, he used his hand like a rake and fiercely snagged at the clothes on Li Yaochen’s shoulder.

Li Yaochen said, “New! New! Brother, let go.”

Carefully, Shen Canglan smoothed the fabric back down for him. “So it’s a new robe? I said it looked so good. And Chen-ge, you even said you just threw it on casually.”

Li Yaochen coughed lightly.

–

All the way back, Shen Canglan kept thinking about who exactly had spread such unreliable rumors about him and Li Yaochen.

He mentally made a list, only to be surprised that every person he had ever met seemed suspicious, and the ranking did not matter.

Forget it.

If they wanted to call it a brain disease, so be it.

Being misunderstood was also one of the fates of the strong. Besides, he couldn’t go chasing after every single person and shouting, “My brother and I aren’t sick!” could he?

Back at their lodging, Shen Canglan continued regulating his breathing.

He realized that lately he had been regulating his breathing, regulating it, and regulating it some more.

Fortunately, after each session, both his dantian and sea of consciousness became sturdier. It was just like exercise. After every workout, the body grew stronger too.

What he couldn’t figure out was why the others were all in his room whenever he regulated his breathing.

Shen Guanqi was still cracking open the sunflower seeds that had grown on that flower plate, chatting with Ning Dong as he ate. Sui Qing, meanwhile, was talking to Li Yaochen, calling him father-in-law every other word.

When Shen Canglan opened his eyes, Sui Qing pounced toward him.

Shen Canglan could roughly guess what Sui Qing wanted to say. It was probably something like, “Little Shen-shidi, I’m so bored. No matter how I beg your father-in-law, he still won’t let little bird out.”

But Sui Qing probably couldn’t be bothered to say so much. He just said, “Shen, Shen, Shen! Father-in-law! Bird, bird, bird!”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Just as Sui Qing’s hands were about to land on Shen Canglan’s shoulders, Li Yaochen suddenly called out to him, “Daoist Sui.”

Sui Qing turned to look at Li Yaochen.

Li Yaochen asked, “Do you really like that paper crane that much?”

The question came so abruptly that Sui Qing immediately sat up straight, clutching his sleeves. “Yes. Little bird is the cutest girl I’ve ever seen.”

Ning Dong curled his lip. “Uncle, you really make us from Qing Lang Sect look bad…”

Li Yaochen said, “This paper crane was something I obtained by chance. It can search for secret realms. Though it is sometimes inaccurate, over these fifty years or so, it has still helped me quite a bit.”

As he spoke, he turned his wrist, and the paper crane appeared in his palm.

“I’m not a stingy person. It is perfectly normal for cultivators to exchange magic treasures. If Daoist Sui needs its ability, I would hand it over without another word. But you’ve taken a fancy to it, so I need to think it over carefully.”

The paper crane flapped its wings twice in Li Yaochen’s palm and stared straight at Sui Qing. Sui Qing stared back without blinking.

Li Yaochen asked, “Sign a pledge with me, saying you’ll treat it well.”

Sui Qing trembled all over and nodded.

Li Yaochen always had all sorts of strange things. After rummaging through his storage pouch, he took out a small golden disc. He had Sui Qing press his handprint on it and sign his name. Then, with a gentle lift of his hand, he sent the paper crane flying toward Sui Qing.

Sui Qing reached out joyfully to catch it.

The instant his fingers touched the paper crane, a few hairs suddenly sprouted on its head, a few feathers suddenly appeared on the tips of its wings, and a few more suddenly grew on its lower belly–

Li Yaochen reacted quickly and clapped a hand over Shen Canglan’s eyes.

Shen Canglan asked, “What’s wrong?”

Li Yaochen said briefly, “The paper crane turned out to be male.”

Shen Canglan was stunned under his brother’s palm. “Huh?”

Even Li Yaochen’s voice sounded shaken. “…I didn’t know either.”

The system in his mind, however, was lively and excited: [Ah, the power of love is truly amazing.]

Li Yaochen: “…………”

The power of love, indeed.

In Li Yaochen’s palm, Shen Canglan blinked, his eyelashes brushing against his skin again and again. For some reason, Li Yaochen felt his palm growing hot and itchy. He looked back at Shen Canglan, lowered his hand, and his thoughts drifted back to what the system had just said.

Before he could think further, Sui Qing interrupted him.

Sui Qing did not care about the paper crane’s sex at all. He pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve, wrapped the paper crane up, and left happily under Ning Dong’s disdainful gaze.

Shen Guanqi had already finished another plate of sunflower seeds. He shook the shells off his body, reached into the flower plate again, and more fresh seeds immediately grew out.

Watching him, Shen Canglan suddenly asked, “Brother, do you want to cultivate too? Ascend too?”

“No real thoughts about it,” Shen Guanqi said.

Shen Canglan said, “Cultivation can make you stronger. Think about it. If you become stronger, your medical skills will improve too. Then you can cure more patients, and even if you work more overtime, you won’t get tired.”

Shen Guanqi: “…”

He had finished listing the drawbacks. What about the benefits?

He wanted to laugh, but whenever Shen Canglan spoke about cultivation, those clear black-and-white eyes of his would light up, and Shen Guanqi very kindly chose not to say anything more.

Right then, Shen Canglan’s waist token flickered.

He picked it up and saw that Ye Xuezhu had left him a message.

[Ye Xuezhu]: Are you near Anhai? Are you free these days?

Shen Canglan replied, “Shifu, what exactly do you mean by free? I have to cultivate and practice swordsmanship every day. Strictly speaking, I don’t really have any free time. But if Shifu needs me to help with something, I can make time.”

[Ye Xuezhu]: …

[Ye Xuezhu]: There are a batch of new disciples near Anhai. Originally someone was supposed to go pick them up, but on the way they met their true love and ran off to roam the world together. Now the whole group of disciples is left in the small courtyard with no one looking after them. You and Guanqi are nearby, so go bring them back.

Shen Canglan immediately straightened his chest with great responsibility.

He replied, “All right! Caring for the younger generation is everyone’s duty! Shifu, send me their current location!”

Ye Xuezhu sent the address over.

The place really wasn’t far from where Shen Canglan was staying. Shen Canglan replied with an okay, and Ye Xuezhu said again, “Rebellious disciple, help your master look and see if there are any handsome ones.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

He asked, “Shifu, when I went back last time, weren’t you still locked up?”

[Ye Xuezhu]: Don’t mention it.

[Ye Xuezhu]: He was the one on the bottom too. Luckily your master asked one extra question. Otherwise the two of them would really have wasted their effort for nothing.

Shen Canglan: “…”

Shifu, isn’t this topic a little too private?

Shen Canglan comforted Ye Xuezhu, “Haha, just take it as a trial on the road of life.”

Ye Xuezhu did not reply again. Perhaps Shen Canglan’s comfort had worked.

Shen Canglan relayed Ye Xuezhu’s mission to the others.

Shen Guanqi was quite happy. “Perfect. I was just going back to the sect to drop off the medicine. That way I can also get some reimbursement from Shishu.”

Li Yaochen thought about it and said, “I won’t go back with you then. I’ll wander around this area a bit more. I still haven’t found the place that squirrel mentioned, and I don’t think I can let it go.”

Hearing this, a wave of disappointment rose in Shen Canglan’s heart.

But on second thought, parting and reunion were the norm on the Great Dao. He ought to look at it with grace. Besides, he could always send the junior disciples up the mountain and then come back down. The round trip would take at most ten days. Ten days without seeing his brother, he could endure.

Then something occurred to him, and he asked Li Yaochen, “Then do you want to spar tonight? With the sword you just forged, Chen-ge?”

Li Yaochen drew Huangfu Lengshang and flicked the blade with a bent finger.

The sword rang with a clear hum, its cold light flashing. Shen Canglan only glanced at it once and felt fighting spirit flare through him.

But Li Yaochen said, “I haven’t adjusted to it yet. I don’t dare spar rashly. Next time.”

Shen Canglan let out a regretful sigh. “All right.”

–

Early the next morning, Shen Canglan and Shen Guanqi packed up and went together to welcome the new disciples.

Sui Qing had a bird and no longer recognized people. He grinned foolishly at the paper crane flying around in the sky, and Ning Dong said helplessly, “We have to go back to the sect first too. When Shixiong gets married, we’ll send you an invitation.”

Shen Canglan nodded, then remembered something. “Daoist Sui, don’t forget what you promised, to have Qin Chun’s story booklet printed into a volume.”

Sui Qing let out a very wise-sounding laugh. “Hehehehehe little bird.”

Shen Canglan: “…………”

Ning Dong said on Sui Qing’s behalf, “Don’t worry. I remember.”

Only then did Shen Canglan breathe a sigh of relief.

He turned reluctantly to Li Yaochen. “Chen-ge–”

Li Yaochen looked at him and said nothing. Shen Canglan said, “Take care! Brother!”

Li Yaochen arched a brow and smiled, then reached out and patted Shen Canglan’s shoulder. “You too, brother.”

–

The Ailü Sect had no fixed schedule and no fixed location for recruiting disciples.

Sometimes a shishu would on a whim take in a few disciples. Sometimes the sect master would suddenly think some direction or other looked promising and that there ought to be good children there.

This time, a shishu gathered up all the children with spiritual roots from a certain village, only to run off himself. More than ten boys and girls were squeezed into the small courtyard, living on the gold bars left behind by the shishu. They were terribly pitiful.

When Shen Canglan went to bring them back, quite a few of them had actually heard his name before.

Delighted, Shen Canglan asked, “You know me?”

One of the boys bit his finger and said, “Mm-hmm. My mom said if I don’t sleep properly, she’ll have you and Daoist Li come catch me.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

He was furious.

He wanted to tug on his brother’s clothes again.

But aside from these children’s mistaken impression of Shen Canglan, they were still pretty obedient. By day, Shen Canglan and Shen Guanqi led them on the road. By night, they sat in meditation and cultivated, chatting with Li Yaochen through the jade pendant, or reading Qin Chun’s story booklet.

As an aside, Qin Chun’s story booklet was becoming more and more enjoyable.

The two protagonists roamed the world with swords in hand, spirited and full of vigor, only to come out of one tiger’s den and straight into another. Shen Canglan read until his heart was in his throat.

But the comments below left him a little confused–

Not there yet

Hurry up and do that

I want that

What did “that” mean?

Following the crowd, Shen Canglan left Qin Chun a comment to encourage him: “I like this one, and that one too.”

Qin Chun specially replied to his comment: No matter what you think you understood, don’t understand it yet! Delete it!