Chapter 38 Get Out

Chu Xuyun felt himself wrapped in layer upon layer of thick cocoon. Initially, he had woven it himself with his own hands, and later, it was layered upon by the trusting gazes of the sect members. It wasn’t that he felt it was bad; it was just sometimes too heavy.

The cocoon had accumulated over the years, thick, heavy, and solid. It was not something that could be broken through overnight.

Apart from the sect master, no one really knew what Chu Xuyun was like. Even his closest disciples who saw him every day only had a partial understanding of him.

The disciples of the sect respected him, almost worshipping him like a deity in the temple.

Except for one person: Yu Xiao.

Perhaps because he grew up in the Demon Realm since childhood, Yu Xiao was very different from the disciples in the sect in many ways.

He didn’t worship Chu Xuyun. It wasn’t specifically against Chu Xuyun, but rather he seemed to look down on everyone in the sect, including Chu Xuyun, unsure if anyone met his standards.

Yu Xiao had extraordinary talent. What others might take two or three years to learn, he could master in three days. Apart from his cultivation talent, he excelled in everything from laundry and cooking to music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He even knew how to play the daily game of pitch-pot that the disciples enjoyed.

Chu Xuyun often wondered, if there were no distinctions in cultivation levels or between humans and demons, Yu Xiao would surely be the most popular person around.

After all, he knew everything and was excellent at everything.

Since the day Yu Xiao had caught him shedding tears in secret, Chu Xuyun had thought Yu Xiao would ask him why he was upset.

But Yu Xiao didn’t ask a single word, as if he had forgotten all about that day, simply practicing swordsmanship as usual.

Chu Xuyun felt very uncomfortable about it.

Yu Xiao was the first person to tell him it was okay to cry.

He thought, if Yu Xiao asked him why he cried that day, he would tell Yu Xiao everything.

Before the effects of the antidote fully wore off, he wanted to tear down all the cocoons he had wrapped himself in over the years.

Maybe Yu Xiao would understand him after hearing it, and they could become good friends. Besides, Yu Xiao had even praised his voice before, so Yu Xiao would surely want to hear him speak.

If they couldn’t be master and disciple, being good friends would be fine too.

However, that day passed, and in the end, Yu Xiao didn’t bring up that matter.

Chu Xuyun watched him leave, walking away until he disappeared, sighing deeply with his hands behind his back.

He really wanted to talk to Yu Xiao.

Why did this child have no curiosity?

*

Inside the Demon Palace.

Chu Xuyun looked at the table full of delicious dishes in front of him, hearing the voice of his demon disciple underneath,

“These were personally prepared by the Lord, please enjoy, Immortal Lord.”

The disciple listed a bunch of dishes that Chu Xuyun loved.

He swallowed his saliva, already eager to pick up his chopsticks.

He knew Yu Yu’s cooking skills best; they were even better than those of the chef at Songling Inn!

With Yu Xiao around, it was like having the chef from Songling Inn!

He felt so happy as if he were living the life of an emperor.

Chu Xuyun ate happily, while Yu Xiao stood by, chin resting on his hand, smiling as he watched him eat.

As Chu Xuyun’s gaze swept over a dish on the table, it suddenly paused. Yu Xiao stared at it for a while before finally asking, “Why aren’t you eating the celery?”

Wasn’t that your favorite dish, Ah Xu? Why aren’t you touching it?

Without lifting his head, Chu Xuyun firmly refused, “I don’t want it.”

“Don’t you like it?”

Yu Xiao was momentarily puzzled. Seeing Chu Xuyun nod, he sucked in a breath of cold air.

So that’s how it is…

Before, when he saw Ah Xu putting celery in his bowl, he thought it was Ah Xu’s way of showing love to him, but it turns out Ah Xu was giving away the vegetables he didn’t like.

Yu Xiao chuckled, asked someone to take away the celery dish, and replaced it with a premium dish — dragon liver from a certain person.

It was rumored that dragon liver and phoenix marrow were the most delicious things in the world. He tried making it, unsure if it would suit Ah Xu’s taste.

“It’s delicious!”

Chu Xuyun praised after just one bite, whispering, “I didn’t know Yin Xuzhao was so tasty.”

That day, Yu Xiao didn’t kill Yin Xuzhao; he only cut off half of the dragon liver to punish him. He probably wouldn’t dare to provoke Yu Xiao again in the future.

“It’s delicious. I’ll make it for you again next time.” Yu Xiao waved away the demon disciple beside him, his eyes slightly deeper. “Ah Xu, consider this meal a reward for me making it. Can you tell me now?”

He really wanted to know when Ah Xu started liking him.

Chu Xuyun hesitated for a moment, his face burning again.

Chewing on the bun in his mouth, he lowered his head and whispered, “I don’t know either.”

How could he explain?

He’s not very smart.

He just liked him.

“If you don’t tell me, I won’t feel secure.” Yu Xiao gently held his hand, coaxing softly, “Ah Xu is a true immortal with boundless abilities, and I’m about to become an ordinary person. Be kind to me, tell me.”

At these words, Chu Xuyun felt an inexplicable weight lift off his shoulders.

Yes, Yu Xiao was about to become an ordinary person. He had to make Yu Xiao feel secure.

After thinking about it, Chu Xuyun finally spoke, “It’s just… it’s just… when I used to secretly write letters to you, I started liking you.”

Chu Xuyun blushed deeply, almost burying his head in his bowl.

Yu Xiao:?

Chu Xuyun knew that Yu Xiao liked to eat mulberry fruit sugar. Every time he went to the disciples’ dormitory, he would often see Yu Xiao frowning while reading, with mulberry fruit sugar placed next to him on a crumpled yellow paper. Yu Xiao would eat one candy after flipping through a few pages—crispy, fragrant, translucent like an amber bead, making Chu Xuyun’s mouth water.

He was very curious about the translucent purple candy and why Yu Xiao liked it so much.

So, he went down the mountain to buy a pack himself. As soon as he got it, he couldn’t wait to open it and taste one.

It was very sweet, too sweet.

So sweet that it seemed to soften his teeth a bit.

After eating one, he couldn’t help but spit it out.

Not tasty at all.

Why did Yu Xiao like eating this kind of thing?

The disciples of the sect received a monthly salary of thirty taels, and they didn’t need to spend money on meals, so Yu Xiao’s money should be more than enough to spend.

Why would someone buy the cheapest but least tasty candy?

Chu Xuyun couldn’t understand it. The Sect Master often said his head was filled with water, so there was no need to dwell on things he couldn’t understand.

But this was the one thing he really wanted to know—what if Yu Xiao wasn’t doing well in the sect?

That night, Chu Xuyun lit a candle, took out his writing materials, and wrote a letter to Yu Xiao.

The letter roughly asked why mulberry fruit sugar was so bad, and why Yu Xiao kept buying it.

Chu Xuyun didn’t want Yu Xiao to know he was asking such a silly question out of curiosity, so he didn’t sign the letter.

The last time he wrote so seriously under candlelight was when his parents wanted him to take the imperial examination.

After finishing the letter, he satisfactorily dried the ink on the paper and discreetly placed it inside an ancient book on Yu Xiao’s desk the next day.

Days passed without receiving a reply.

He assumed Yu Xiao must not have seen it, so he wrote another letter.

Yu Xiao still didn’t respond, but Chu Xuyun stubbornly continued to write.

Until one day,

Yu Xiao replied.

Chu Xuyun eagerly unfolded the letter, not even realizing why receiving a reply from Yu Xiao made him feel so uplifted, as if he could fly.

But as he read the letter, Chu Xuyun’s smile faded.

Yu Xiao’s reply only had one large word: “Go.”

Heartbroken, Chu Xuyun picked up his pen and paper and wrote one final letter, obediently writing “Go.”

[ Yu Xiao, I will go out to eradicate demons tomorrow, and I won’t disturb you again in the future. ]

Little did he expect that the next day, while out with two disciples to eradicate demons, they encountered unexpected events. His disciples all perished at the hands of demonic cultivators, leaving only him to return. Chu Xuyun was immersed in grief and sorrow, and from then on, he never wrote another letter to Yu Xiao.

*

During his time at the Taiqing Sect, Yu Xiao had no close friends and hardly spoke to anyone. His days were filled with monotonous cultivation, with only occasional correspondence that could be considered somewhat connected.

However, he thought that person had long since died. He heard that person went to eradicate demons, but the next day, only Chu Xuyun returned.

“You mean…” Yu Xiao cautiously looked at Chu Xuyun and asked tentatively, “The person who asked me if mulberry fruit sugar tasted good was you?”

Chu Xuyun nodded.

Yu Xiao’s heart skipped a beat as everything suddenly clicked together.

No wonder Ah Xuyun knew he liked mulberry fruit sugar.

That year at the Taiqing Sect,

The food at Taiqing Sect was indeed not very good, and he had a sweet tooth that didn’t suit his taste.

Occasionally, Yu Xiao would secretly go down the mountain to buy some pills for cultivation and weapons, bringing back some edible things as well.

The monthly allowance from the sect wasn’t much. After buying pills and weapons, there wasn’t much money left. Standing in front of the dried fruit shop, Yu Xiao picked and chose, finally settling on mulberry fruit sugar.

It was cheap and sickeningly sweet.

When facing a difficult stage in cultivation, he would take out a piece from the paper bag to eat—whether he was in a good mood or not.

Until one day, he received a letter.

There was only one line in the letter:

[ The mulberry fruit sugar I bought isn’t tasty. Why? ]

No signature, no beginning or end. Yu Xiao didn’t even know when this person appeared at his desk, but he knew one thing: this person must be nearby, observing him every day. Otherwise, how would they know he liked eating candy?

He furrowed his brow and crumpled the paper into a ball, tossing it aside.

The next day, that person sent another letter,

[ I bought it again, and it’s still so bad. Where did you buy it from? ]

Nuts.

Yu Xiao tore the paper into shreds and threw it away, not bothering with it at all.

The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day…

This person seemed crazy, sending letters every day to harass him.

Not only did the letters complain about how bad mulberry fruit sugar was, they also strongly recommended other delicious candies like pine nut sugar and malt sugar…

Didn’t he just not want to eat it?

With so much free time, why not just give him some silver or spirit stones, or just buy it for him?

Yu Xiao was annoyed beyond measure and resolved to find out who this idiot was and give him a good beating.

But this person was like a ghost, appearing and disappearing without a trace. Yu Xiao waited for several days, but each time he turned his head, there was already a piece of paper on his desk.

It was eerie.

Yu Xiao didn’t believe in ghosts or gods; he was sure someone was secretly mocking him. There were too many people in Taiqing Sect who disliked him, like Li Yanhe, who, relying on being Chu Xuyun’s top disciple, came to annoy him from time to time, pulling him to compare notes. Each time, he was beaten up and returned with a swollen nose and a swollen face, still whining to Chu Xuyun in tears, making Yu Xiao sick to his stomach.

Don’t let him catch you.

Otherwise, he would beat you to death.

When Yu Xiao failed to keep watch again, he saw that the contents of the letter were no longer about mulberry fruit sugar.

[ Will you reply to me? I want to be friends with you. ]

Yu Xiao threw the letter directly out the window, out of sight and out of mind.

Did he really look like he was in need of company?

He came to Taiqing Sect to practice magic, not to play around.

Why were there so many weirdos in Taiqing Sect?

Li Yanhe was one, and so was Chu Xuyun.

Especially Chu Xuyun, who shed tears secretly that day; he had good intentions to comfort him, but he didn’t even look at him, turned and left, so cold.

He originally thought he could talk to Chu Xuyun before the antidote took effect, and Chu Xuyun might need him to console him, but the result was being treated like a donkey’s liver and lungs.

Yu Xiao didn’t plan to do good deeds anymore in the future.

Upon further thought, Yu Xiao suddenly realized that perhaps he never replied to the letters, which was why the other party kept harassing him.

Thinking of this, Yu Xiao picked up his pen and wrote a big “Go” on the paper.

Go.

Go far away, the farther the better.