Chapter 28 - The peerlessly talented demon ba snake (11): A Little Change Is Better…Right?

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Translated by: Niladri

Edited by: celes

This Chapter is sponsored by Mangarosario.

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“Bai?” Lu Heng called out.

The man heard Lu Heng’s voice, got up, and went into the cave. Only then did Lu Heng discover that this man was tall and strong and obviously not the scrawny Bai. That familiar atmosphere let Lu Heng put his heart at ease, even more than when he was with Bai.

It was Shi Kong.

“What’s wrong with you?” Shi Kong sat down beside Lu Heng and inserted his spiritual energy inside Lu Heng for a long time. “How did you manage to make yourself so wretched when this poor monk left for hardly a month?”

Lu Heng scratched his head with some embarrassment and sat down while realizing the length of his hair. Speaking of which, he wondered that since his appearance changed so much, how could Shi Kong recognize him?

“Appearance is only skin-deep; this poor monk does not judge people by appearances.” Shi Kong explained.

Only then did Lu Heng discover that he unconsciously revealed his doubts. It was no wonder since Lu Heng always put his guard down when Shi Kong was by his side. So Lu Heng took advantage of this line of conversation and carefully recounted the recent events to Shi Kong.

From meeting Bai, to accidentally absorbing the cultivation from Min’s demon core, and so on. Finally, Lu Heng was concerned about Bai’s whereabouts.

After listening to Lu Heng’s words, Shi Kong moved his hands and took out a photograph bead: “This is what your friend left when I found this place.”

In the beads left by Bai, he explained his whereabouts.

Bai said that when he entered the forest, he was seen by the human cultivators. Now he was afraid that the news of the birth of a heavenly treasure in this mountain forest had already spread. In order to not implicate Lu Heng, he left with the Qianye Lotus first. He would find a way to lead all the nearby hunters away so Lu Heng could rest and recuperate from his wounds. In the end, Bai also kindly informed Lu Heng about the location of the demon race and asked him to meet there.

After seeing the beads left behind by Bai, Lu Heng had some mixed feelings. He and Bai met by chance, but Bai took so much care of him just because of the demon race’s tradition of taking care of their young. This demon race, it seemed to be very friendly. Lu Heng could not help but have very high expectations of his trip to the demon race’s territory.

“Come on, I’ll comb your hair for you.” Shi Kong, who couldn’t keep his eyes away from Lu Heng’s hair, opened his mouth and said.

The month-long separation did not create a rift between the two.

Lu Heng naturally sat down in front of Shi Kong and after taking out his comb, handed it back to Shi Kong. Feeling the sensation of Shi Kong’s cool fingers touching his scalp through his hair, Lu Heng, despite having experienced it hundreds of times, felt a little uncomfortable now. Maybe it’s because I used to be a child, but now I’m almost an adult.

In order to alleviate this discomfiting feeling, Lu Heng asked, “How do you know how to comb hair when you are a monk?”

The comb at the back of his head instantly paused and remained motionless for a while. Lu Heng wanted to turn around and see what was going on, but he was gently pinched in the back of his neck by Shi Kong and was forbidden from turning his head.

After a while.

“For things like combing buns, one can just refer to one or two books.”

Lu Heng imagined Shi Kong reading a book like ‘How to Comb a Perfect Hair Bun’ carefully and finally couldn’t help bursting out in laughter.

Lu Heng felt his hair hurting a bit, and then he listened to Shi Kong saying, “Be quiet, don’t move.”

This reaction of Shi Kong, embarrassment? Lu Heng immediately sat in an upright position, afraid that Shi Kong would not comb his hair when he was angry, so he would have to put it in a ponytail like he had done for the past month. While a seven or eight-year-old boy with a ponytail was still lively and cute, now he’s in such a shape that it’s not appropriate to sport a ponytail.

“All right,” Shi Kong approved in a low voice.

Later, Lu Heng felt as if something had been inserted into his combed bun.

Very curious Lu Heng, summoned a water mirror for reflection and indeed saw an ebony hairpin on his bun.

“This is an artifact created by this poor monk recently. It is made of ten thousand holy woods, which can calm down and dispel evil spirits.” Seeing Lu Heng’s doubts, he explained.

Him being in Shi Kong’s mind regardless of their locations made Lu Heng feel touched. He decided that he should also get a good thing for Shi Kong. However, at this stage, he was completely dependent on Shi Kong, and so, he could only think about it.

After Lu Heng recovered, they set off for the demon race’s territory. One was to fulfill the entrustment of Min’s body, the other was to confirm the Bai’s safety.

The southern end of the mainland. Zhicheng. [Zhi= stopping/prohibiting, cheng=city]

Zhicheng got its name from the huge monolith outside the city, which had the word ‘zhi’ written on it.

This monolith pointed towards the south, which was the territory of the demon race. Once, there were people who did not believe in demons and crossed the monolith, but were trapped by miasma, got lost, and finally were later found unconscious.

In recent years, Zhicheng has been very busy. Located in a remote town, there were many cultivators. They had wide gowns with flowing sleeves like fairies, or mountain-like bulging muscles, or faces full of unusual determination. The arrival of these cultivators had led to many disputes in the calm city of Zhicheng.

Many large urban households had migrated to the countryside to avoid one or two, and the rest of the ordinary people could only shut their doors tightly and avoid stirring up any trouble.

Only a few restaurants and teahouses in the city still kept their doors open in the midst of wind and waves [T/N: tumultuous times]. After all, the cultivators did not attach much importance to material things like gold or silver, and they were very generous. How could a profitable businessman let go of such a great opportunity, even with considerable risks?

The Yingke Lou [T/N: Guest reception building] was the largest inn in Zhicheng.

Li Erhei was the second-year owner of the reception building. He was smart and knowledgeable. Many frequent visitors come to the greeting building and asked for him to serve them.

On this day, Li Erhei received two guests that made him feel that he would collect enough to feed himself till next year. Because these two people were really impressive and eye catching, Li Erhei, despite secretly being a clever and eloquent person, was stunned for a long time with his jaws dropping.

The white-clothed monk had a beautiful face and a cold demeanor, totally unlike a person of society. On the other side, the one wearing a black robe, was a youth reminding one of spring flowers, especially those eyes, with delicate outlines as if a fine brushwork, polar opposite to the other person. It seemed that only this young man, in front of the white monk, could not be obscured by the latter’s demeanor.

“A fine pot of tea.” Lu Heng asked, “What brand of liquor do you serve here?”

Lu Heng was still very interested in wine of ancient times. He had been cultivating in the mountains and forests before and had no chance to try it. Now he didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

After that, Lu Heng looked at Shi Kong again with an eager expression on his face.

“Just a taste,” Shi Kong spoke.

Lu Heng, after being allowed to do so, looked expectantly at the owner of the store.

Li Erhei, being stared at by that scorching gaze, felt his whole body burning up. He had to politely turn aside his head and avoid the guest’s eyes. Then he said, “This distinguished guest, Five Immortals Wine is the specialty of our southern mainland, which can’t be drunk anywhere else.”

“Five Immortals Wine?”

“Yes, Five Immortals Wine is brewed with snakes, toads, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, and local medicines. It has a rich taste and the effect of strengthening the body. Would distinguished guest like to taste a pot? As soon as his voice fell, he saw the black-robed teenager staring at him with a strange look, which made him wonder whether he had offended the distinguished guest by saying the wrong thing.

“How can you make wine with snakes!?” Lu Heng almost completely accepted the fact that he was a snake. Although the Ba Snake was very different from the ordinary snake, he couldn’t accept snakes as food either!

“We also have this year’s newly brewed Pear Blossom White Wine; the taste is very clear.” It seems that this teenager cannot accept poison being used to brew wine. The clever Li Erhei quickly recommended another kind of wine.

Lu Heng nodded and asked casually, “What has happened in this city recently?”

Hearing this, Li Erhei became energetic: “This distinguished guest, you asked this question to the right person. In this city, there is no matter unknown to this Li Erhei!”

Li Erhei also wanted to maintain the suspense, but he saw the teenager glance at him lightly. The teenager’s eyes were very beautiful, but they made Li Erhei shiver with fright.

He dared not pretend to be clever any more, and honestly said, “It is said that a heavenly treasure was born, and it was obtained by a demon. But cultivators can’t find the demon race, so they have been coming to stop at the city and wait for the rabbit. After all, this city is the only place to enter the demon territory.”

Lu Heng nodded satisfactorily and signaled him to bring the drinks upstairs. Li Erhei did not ask if he wanted to eat food to go with wine, because he knew that cultivators did not eat ordinary food.

The Pear Blossoms White Wine in this shop was really good. The flow was smooth, and the aftertaste was also fragrant with a hint of pear blossoms. Lu Heng took a sip of wine and looked at the Shi Kong, nodding his head proudly. Good wine with a beauty, wonderful. Of course, Lu Heng could only think about it in his heart, and he was absolutely afraid to voice it out.

That small pot of wine was soon emptied. Lu Heng felt that his craving was not satisfied. He raised his hand to beckon the owner of the store but was gently pressed down by Shi Kong opposite to him.

Only then did Lu Heng find himself to be somewhat complacent and forgetful. He could not help but look at Shi Kong with remorse. Shi Kong’s face remained impassive while Lu Heng just lifted his hand and poured a cup of tea.

Lu Heng held the cup and lazily leaned against the window, forming a stark contrast to Shi Kong opposite in the proper sitting posture.

The climate of Zhicheng was warm, the city was full of flowers, and the air was lush with all kinds of floral fragrances. Lu Heng’s nose was itchy and he couldn’t but help sneeze. His cup shook and fell down from the second floor.

Lu Heng had no time to reach for the cup before he saw it landing squarely on the head of an innocent pedestrian passing by downstairs. The man, dressed in gaudy clothes, raised his head and glared at Lu Heng angrily. At first glance, he was not a good person to bother.

“Wait for me, boy!” Then the man went into the Yingke Lou.

It was really unfortunate. Lu Heng had to wait for the angry person to come to him and apologize. Seeing the man coming up in a fierce manner, Shi Kong grabbed Lu Heng’s arm.

“This grandfather’s clothes are expensive. Can you afford to pay for them?”

Before Lu Heng could speak, he saw Shi Kong tightly grasp his arm and flick his sleeve. “It was wrong for us to destroy your clothes, benefactor. I’ll compensate for the clothes.”

The man was not polite: “You come with me to the garment store, and buy a new suit like this!”

NILADRI:

Nope, this isn’t a typical face slapping drama. It will be clear next chapter so don’t give up.