Chapter 48: Binding Hair
Once Fan Yue left, the Great Hall became much quieter.
Small flames poked their heads out from the ghost fire lamps, looking a bit eager to try something.
Bai Xuci sat on the bed, still in a daze. It wasn’t until a circle of ghost fires gathered around his hand that he finally pulled his wandering thoughts back.
“How come even you guys are sentient?”
His tone was very gentle, tinged with a hint of curiosity.
Bai Xuci leaned down, curling a finger to touch one lightly, then quickly pulled back.
So hot.
The little ghost fire seemed to realize its “problem,” so it hurriedly spun around, and the outer flame instantly vanished.
Whoosh! It flew over.
Bai Xuci reflexively retreated a bit, but was surprised to find that the ghost fire was no longer hot.
Now, it was obediently “standing” on his palm.
“Why are you so spiritual?” Bai Xuci’s eyes widened slightly as he leaned closer.
Lin Mountain really was a spiritual mountain; anything could become a spirit here.
Ooh, so cute.
Hearing this, the little ghost fire looked somewhat triumphant, even sliding down his finger like a slide.
Bai Xuci felt his mood improve a little.
But just then, a wisp of black mist ran over and flew slowly onto Bai Xuci’s hand.
“Eh, you’re here too!” A tone of pleasant surprise.
They can play together, Bai Xuci thought sincerely.
Then, one second later.
A ball of black mist and a ball of ghost fire were wrestling together, mixing into a mass of unidentifiable substance.
Like a gray, dusty ball.
Bai Xuci was completely shocked. His hands flailed in a panic, wanting to break up the fight.
But he didn’t know where to start.
“…”
In the end, he barely managed to “split” the ball apart, leaving behind a dying ember of ghost fire and a wilted little black mist.
“Why are you fighting?” Bai Xuci frowned, muttering to himself.
Had these two little things met before?
What deep grudge was this?
A wisp of smoke rose from the little black mist; it looked quite charred.
But it wouldn’t give up. It flew slowly onto Bai Xuci’s clothes and rubbed against them, acting very innocent and pitiful.
The little ghost fire saw this and instantly perked up.
It flew over aggressively, full of vigor—
“Aiya, I still have things to do, stop messing around.” Bai Xuci reached out and brushed both of them away, looking a bit helpless.
But he still “heartlessly” walked away.
Neither of them managed to grab onto that white sleeve.
Sob sob!
Following his memory of the path Fu Ling had taken him on, Bai Xuci walked alone along the trail.
He was still quite concerned about the matters in the town…
Fan Yue wouldn’t tell him, so he could only go find Ah Shan.
“Where is it?” Bai Xuci mumbled to himself, looking around.
He used to live in a cave and never had the chance to come to this Great Hall, so he was still a bit disoriented.
Especially without anyone to guide him.
“Eh!” A cry of surprise came from below.
Bai Xuci was startled and nearly tripped over this “thing.”
Turning his head in a daze, he realized the other party was that—
“Oh, it’s this friend!” The chipmunk spoke up, its tone containing a hint of surprise.
Bai Xuci first politely replied, “Ah, long time no see,” then his gaze unconsciously drifted to the top of the other’s head.
The brown fur up there seemed to have grown back a bit; it wasn’t as bald anymore.
“I listened to your advice, friend, and took care of my fur every day. It seems to have improved now!” The chipmunk demon bowed with great sincerity, actually looking quite gentlemanly.
Bai Xuci instantly felt a bit embarrassed and replied:
“That’s good. I’m really sorry for accidentally bumping into you just now…”
The chipmunk didn’t mind at all and even asked familiarly, “Is my friend going somewhere?”
It had been a long time since he’d seen this little demon, and his aura seemed to have changed completely.
Presumably, he had also found a position in this Great Hall?
The chipmunk suddenly adopted a somewhat elder-like posture, waving a paw to signal Bai Xuci to follow—talking as they walked.
Although Bai Xuci felt this scene was a bit strange, he still said sincerely:
“I want to go to the guest hall from before to find my friend.”
Hearing this, the chipmunk instantly understood and said confidently, “There, I know it. It’s just nearby.”
With that, he led Bai Xuci down a different path, acting very much like a guide.
Along the way, Bai Xuci watched as this little mouse greeted a lizard spirit and a frog spirit one by one, and very naturally introduced him to them.
“Oh, long time no see! This is my friend, please look after him!”
“He just arrived and doesn’t know the way yet, so I’m showing him around.”
“See you later, see you later!”
Bai Xuci felt a bit dazed, feeling like an intern being taken around for introductions by the boss, even bowing unconsciously.
“Ah, hello, hello.”
Like a repeating machine.
When they finally reached the guest hall, Bai Xuci let out a sigh of relief.
Finally done meeting all the demons.
“Alright, we’re here.” The chipmunk was still in high spirits. He turned to look at Bai Xuci, tucking his two paws into his sleeves as if he felt a bit cold.
“Thank you so much, otherwise I don’t know when I would have found the way.”
Bai Xuci nodded, truly grateful to this little mouse from the bottom of his heart. He had actually been a little afraid of the strange demons on the road just now.
Being pulled along and introduced like this actually helped him adapt a lot.
“No need to be polite. I am on duty in the Council Hall. Are you also holding a post here?” the chipmunk mused to himself.
Bai Xuci was just about to explain…
“I have matters to attend to now, so I won’t chat with you anymore, friend. If you have difficulties in the future, just come to the Council Hall to find me. Remember to ask for my great name, ‘Shu Shu’.”
After speaking, he turned and left directly, his posture full of grace.
Like bidding farewell to a subordinate.
“…”
Bai Xuci watched the retreating figure of the little mouse, feeling like he was watching the curtain call of a movie.
That walk… it was simply too imposing.
“Shu Shu? Sounds quite nice.” He muttered to himself.
There was still a pond in the courtyard, with two tall cedar trees rooted beside it, looking harmonious.
If only one didn’t notice the two eyes on the tree trunk.
“Xiao Bai!” An excited voice.
Ah Shan jumped straight out of the soil, shook the dirt off his “feet,” and ran over with a clack-clack-clack.
Bai Xuci was almost scared away, stammering:
“Ah Shan, y-you… fix your leaves first.”
He pointed a finger behind him.
Ah Shan twisted his trunk to look back, only then realizing he had dropped some leaves again.
So, he waved a branch and reattached all the fallen leaves from the ground.
He also shrank his physique, turning into a smaller version of a cedar, the same size Bai Xuci had seen before.
“Phew, this is more suitable…” Bai Xuci patted his chest to calm down.
Entering the door and having a giant tree run clack-clack-clack towards you was still a bit too much of a shock.
Also, aren’t cedars evergreen trees?
Why does he always lose leaves?
Feeling a bit sorry for him, Bai Xuci picked up a few leaves he had missed from the ground and manually attached them to the branch.
Sure enough, a burst of green light wrapped around them, and the leaves grew back on.
It looked quite sturdy.
“Long time no see! You were summoned away that time, and I didn’t see you. I was really worried!” Ah Shan extended a branch and led Bai Xuci to sit at the stone table.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Bai Xuci hadn’t forgotten his main business here, so he asked directly, “By the way, the cedars at the foot of Lin Mountain…”
Hearing this topic, Ah Shan instantly got excited and said enthusiastically:
“All the brothers and sisters have returned! The area that was originally logged has disappeared. Everyone is very happy!”
Bai Xuci was shocked. Only a few days had passed, and t-they had all grown back into trees?
“But wasn’t the hunting ground already built? How did you handle it?” His tone was very puzzled. Bai Xuci couldn’t figure it out.
Given the temperament of the magistrate of Yunde Town, he surely cared about the land of Lin Mountain.
Would he give up so easily?
“Oh, about that, I’m not too sure, but Zun Shang must have stepped in! Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been resolved so quickly!”
“I knew it, Zun Shang still has us in his heart!”
For some reason, Bai Xuci felt he could see star shapes in the tree’s eyes.
Another fanboy.
“What about the wedding procession? Did your ‘brothers and sisters’ see anything?” Bai Xuci hadn’t forgotten about this. At the time, he had been scooped away by Fan Yue, so he hadn’t seen anything.
Ah Shan replied very casually, “Oh that, they were probably eaten.”
Bai Xuci went completely stiff.
“After all, the spirits at the foot of the mountain were already very dissatisfied. Because they kept seizing territory, leaving them with no place to live. This time, that group of people came deliberately to provoke, so surely…”
Bai Xuci felt a lump in his throat, and his mind was in chaos.
“They all died?” he asked slowly, not even lifting his eyes.
Ah Shan was completely oblivious to the other’s strangeness and said cheerfully, “I’m not sure about that either. It seems a few ran away. Anyway, they shouldn’t come back again. This is just great; we can finally return to a peaceful life!”
“Besides, we just live on the mountain. Why do humans always have to disturb us?” A branch bent, supporting the trunk in a gesture that looked like resting a chin on a hand.
“Clearly the place they live in is the biggest, and we only have one mountain peak. Why are they still not satisfied?”
“Too bad.”
Bai Xuci rested his arms on the stone table, covering half his face with his palm, falling into a momentary silence.
Pain.jpg
“What’s wrong?” Ah Shan leaned over, a bit curious, and casually pulled off one of his leaves, handing it over.
Bai Xuci looked up, suddenly remembering the soap locust spirit who had given him a free gift at the Spirit Pond.
Why were they all so simple…
Bai Xuci reached out and took it, rubbing it with his fingers.
“I just—” His tone was conflicted.
Ah Shan’s brown eyes rolled, looking like he was listening very seriously.
“I mean, do you think… is it possible that there are good humans too?” After holding it in for a long time, he finally said it.
“Are you defending them?” Ah Shan asked slowly.
Bai Xuci’s heart instantly went cold halfway. Feeling it wasn’t appropriate to say this, he started to explain:
“I was just thinking nonsense, pretend I didn’t—”
“There should be,” Ah Shan said very seriously. “But I haven’t met any.”
“They always chop our bodies. I don’t like it very much.
“But other spirits say there are people who help heal injuries… and they like humans very much.” Ah Shan fell into confusion, seeming unable to figure it out himself. “But I haven’t met any. The ones I met all wanted to chop us.”
Bai Xuci suddenly understood and held onto the branch.
“Eh?” Ah Shan looked up, a bit confused.
“Yes, you’re right. Humans can be good or bad,” Bai Xuci said, his gaze gentle.
“If the bad ones die, only the good ones are left. Is it better to think of it that way?”
Ah Shan was stunned for a moment, then the branch curved slightly, as if shaking hands back.
“Then can I meet a ‘good person’?”
“You can, you can.”
…
Bai Xuci finally understood that there was no need for him to agonize over whether demons ate humans, because their standpoints were inherently different.
There are good people, and there are bad people.
If there are good demons, presumably there are bad demons too.
Why must one fixate on the species first? Are demons born bad? Yet humans can be born evil too.
Bai Xuci lay on the stone table, thinking very seriously, and didn’t notice a “thing” crawling out of the pond.
“You little demon, why is your hair loose like that? What a disgrace!” A slightly aged voice rang out.
Ah Shan looked over there, instantly pleasantly surprised: “Grandpa Turtle, why are you out for a stroll today?”
Bai Xuci’s attention was pulled back. He turned his head curiously, and his pupils dilated instantly.
“You, you are that turtle?!”
Grandpa Turtle in front of him heard Bai Xuci’s words, and his small mustache immediately twitched in displeasure.
“No manners. This old man’s name is Shi Yao!”
Carrying his shell, he walked over slowly.
Bai Xuci blinked and called out very obediently, “Grandpa Shi.”
“That’s more like it!” Shi Yao threw his cane aside very nimbly, then reached out and picked up Bai Xuci’s hair.
“Why not bind your hair? What does it look like hanging down like this?”
Bai Xuci inexplicably felt like he was being lectured by an elder. Feeling a sense of shame, he replied:
“I… I don’t know how…”
Ah Shan sat nearby, propping himself up with a branch, watching with interest.
“It’s okay, Grandpa Turtle will help you tie it up. The old man used to help braid the little fox’s fur and such; he’s very skilled!”
“But the smelly fox ran away, and now there aren’t many furry demons on Lin Mountain.”
Hearing this, Bai Xuci fell silent. So the Pig Demon Lord wasn’t lying to him last time; there really weren’t many furry things on the mountain.
Even the chipmunk’s fur was balding…
While he was spacing out, Bai Xuci found that his hair had indeed been gently lifted.
“Let this old man bind your hair for you, little demon.”
Bai Xuci immediately sat up straight, his back as stiff as a ruler, very nervous.
“T-Thank you.”
The silver hair was skillfully wound back and forth, and his red eyes were lowered obediently.
A breeze blew past, causing stray strands to fly.
It was quite a beautiful scene.
If not for the dark-robed figure outside the door.
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