Chapter 34: Pear City Part 3

“Of course,” Chaosheng’s voice said.

“Can I go too?” Hulü Guang asked. “Kunlun is where Immortals live, right?”

“Mortals can’t go,” Wu Yingzong said. “The White Jade Palace is the final Immortal Realm, the world’s sacred ground. Only those with ties to Kunlun or Yao Clan members can enter.”

“Oh.” Hulü Guang sounded disappointed.

Wu Yingzong said flatly, “You want immortality too?”

Hulü Guang thought for a moment. “Not really. Just curious.”

Chaosheng noticed Wu Yingzong’s enthusiasm for Kunlun seemed diminished from before. He confirmed, “You’ll come to my home, right? We agreed at the start, didn’t we?”

Wu Yingzong: “You remember?”

Chaosheng: “Of course! Did you think I was joking?”

Xiang Xian stopped listening and recalled the Echoing Voice Insect. Xiao Kun mounted his horse again. “I’ll test the range.”

Xiang Xian gripped the Echoing Voice Insect and stood. Xiao Kun spurred his horse and galloped a li away in moments.

Xiao Kun said, “Old Wu seems much more normal now.”

“Hulü Guang doesn’t like Chaosheng,” Xiang Xian said. “Don’t worry. He just likes Chaosheng—Old Wu must have noticed. Stop fretting over nothing.”

“You’re talking nonsense… Xiang Xian?” Xiao Kun grew farther away.

“Hm?” Xiang Xian replied. “I can hear you.”

Xiao Kun’s voice came through: “I’m now three li away.”

“You’re underestimating my Magic Treasure?” Xiang Xian laughed.

“Say something else,” Xiao Kun said.

Xiao Kun stopped his horse at the end of a high ground, now five li from the temporary camp. Under the sunset’s glow, the dragonfly fell silent. He looked back toward distant Xiang Xian, but could no longer see him.

Had he left the Magical Power range of the Echoing Voice Insect?

As Xiao Kun prepared to turn back, under the stars and the last rays of sunset, Xiang Xian walked out of the camp, singing as he went.

“Time and youth are ever fleeting, partings come all too easily and shatter the soul—”

Xiang Xian’s voice rang clear and bright, accompanied by the planet Venus rising gently from the west, stirring a unique poignancy in the vast world.

Hulü Guang untied his Five-Stringed Pipa and swept the strings. His five fingers danced toward the pipa’s heart, sending music like scattered stars toward the lakeside.

“At feasts and songs, do not refuse to join often.” Wu Yingzong, holding Chaosheng, sat under a tree by the lake and sang along with Xiang Xian.

Distant Xiao Kun halted atop the slope, gazing at the twinkling stars and the emerging gentle Milky Way.

“Mountains and rivers fill the eyes, yet thoughts turn far away,” Xiao Kun’s voice came from the Phoenix Butterfly. “Fallen blossoms and rainy winds wound the spring even more. Better to cherish the one before you…”

As he turned to return to camp, Xiao Kun suddenly spotted a faint wisp of black qi streak across the night sky toward the southwest.

“Xiang Xian?” Xiao Kun asked. “Did you see that?”

“What?” Xiang Xian looked up blankly. Xiao Kun said, “West! Direction of the Xuanyuan Star.”

Xiang Xian hadn’t noticed the starry sky at all. Xiao Kun rode back to camp and said, “A strand of Demonic Qi.”

That night, as darkness fell and everyone else slept, only Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian sat outside the tent examining the Map.

“Can you make one more Magic Treasure?” Xiao Kun pondered, then asked.

“Will it ever end?!” Xiang Xian wailed.

“Fine.” Xiao Kun raised his hands in surrender. “Think of a way when you’re in the mood.”

Xiang Xian: “What now?”

Xiao Kun: “A cage to imprison ‘demons.’ I want to capture one for questioning.”

Xiang Xian was speechless. Xiao Kun said, “For you, it shouldn’t be hard. Magic Array or Magic Treasure—there must be ways to trap them.”

Xiang Xian: “So you want to catch a demon, torture it, and force it to reveal the Demon King’s whereabouts?”

Xiao Kun: “Mm, not feasible? I don’t know much about Magic Treasures.”

“Go to sleep,” Xiang Xian said. “In dreams, anything is possible.”

Xiao Kun laughed and lay down with Xiang Xian in the camp. Hulü Guang slept behind the tent.

Wu Yingzong kept watch in front of the tent. Over these past few days, his mind swirled with chaotic thoughts. Since meeting Chaosheng, the joys and frustrations of mere months outweighed the seven or eight years by Xiang Xian’s side. Before, he had never pondered his future much—his sole thought was to serve his lifesaver well. Nothing more.

Nowadays, he had many things to face, and with thoughts piling up, he inevitably pondered over them.

A Huang stopped in front of the campfire and played with the sparks using his wings.

“Don’t play with fire, or you’ll wet the bed,” Wu Yingzong said as he used a scarf to make a simple nest for it on the ground.

A Huang glanced at Wu Yingzong and said, “The Master plays with fire every day, so why don’t you tell him he’ll wet the bed?”

Wu Yingzong sighed again and said, “Fine, play as you like. If you wet it, it’s not hard to clean up.”

A Huang: “You’re becoming less and less like a demon.”

Wu Yingzong: “What is a demon like?”

A Huang was Xiang Xian’s bird, and Wu Yingzong was also Xiang Xian’s ape. In terms of status, they were both like pets, and on ordinary days, A Huang often chatted idly with Wu Yingzong.

A Huang: “If you have something to say, just say it. Is it that hard?”

Wu Yingzong naturally understood what A Huang meant. He cared deeply about Chaosheng, and everyone had noticed. Ever since Hulü Guang joined them, he had been sulking in silence, eating vinegar without a word, unlike his usual self.

“I’m different from you,” Wu Yingzong said. “You just stand there, and pretty birds flock over. You’ve always teased them as you pleased and left whenever you wanted.”

As they spoke, another Chrysanthemum Bird sneaked closer to the camp. This bird was entirely chick-yellow and plump, utterly adorable. It was clearly attracted by A Huang and watched from afar, not daring to get too close.

A Huang gave it a profound glance and shook his feathers. The Chrysanthemum Bird then hopped over, brought its beak close, and touched beaks with A Huang. With permission granted, it drew even nearer and affectionately rubbed against A Huang.