“Dear guest, are you opening one or two rooms?”

Gu Changshou tripped at the question. He typically had a room to himself whenever he went out. But it was Xiao Han’s first time in a city or inn, and he needed to make sure nothing would happen. Maybe they should have started at a smaller town, but it was too late now.

“…one room.”

The innkeeper’s face was deceptively calm, hiding his expression as he handed over the key, but the strange light in his eyes gave him away. Ignoring the quiet, assessing gaze the innkeeper leveled at them, he grabbed the key and walked up the stairs with a cloaked Xiao Han following mutely behind.

Studying the room in silence, Gu Changshou watched from the corner of his eyes as Xiao Han explored the space. He did not dare touch anything, but there was an expression of open curiosity as he tried to make sense of things.

Grabbing a teacup from the table, he quickly appraised it before putting it back on the table. Raising his hand, he sliced his wrist in a practiced motion, waiting for the cup to fill up completely before pressing down and sealing the cut with his qi.

“Here, drink. It’s dangerous if it leaks out.” Gu Changshou wasn’t sure how long they would be out. There were a few things they had to do, such as selling the medicinal materials they gathered and purchasing some appropriately sized clothes. The rest depended on Xiao Han’s mood. But if the yin qi leaked out in the middle of the city… He wasn’t sure he wanted to imagine what consequences could be.

Nodding, Xiao Han took the cup and swallowed the contents without hesitation; a thin layer of crimson brightened his lips as he put the cup down.

“Wipe your mouth.” He pointed as his own, and let out a small breath seeing the reddish hue vanish.

He had guessed he had good features, but seeing Xiao Han with his hair combed back and tied with a string revealing a graceful neck and delicate build… Even with his usual hair color – something Gu Changshou intended to remedy – ignoring the yin qi lines on his skin, it would be easy to mistake him as a delicate scholar. Or a fairy…

 

“Do you want anything?”

“…that.” The answer was so low, he almost missed it, but the small hand pointing at the tanghulu gave it away.

“Sure, wait here for me to buy it.”

Patting Xiao Han on the shoulder, he was stunned when a hand reached out and grabbed his sleeve. Turning his head and seeing his discomfort at their surroundings, Gu Changshou gently freed his sleeve, and held Xiao Han’s hand instead. The smaller hand fit perfectly in his palm, and he could feel the tension relax slightly as he squeezed.

“Let’s go together? It’ll be good to learn how to buy things as well.”

“…en.”

The stick of tanghulu was only a few copper pennies. After selling off the medicinal ingredients from the mountains before they left, and buying the necessary items, such as fitting robes and dye to Xiao Han’s hair, they still had quite a bit of silver.

“Here, try it.” Handing it to Xiao Han, the corners of his lips curled up at Xiao Han’s cautious movement.

Cautiously, holding it in his hand, Xiao Han took a sniff of the sweet scent. It was his first time seeing something like this. In the mountains, he had never seen something so red and shiny before. He didn’t know if it tasted good, but he saw many other people buy it, so it must be good…

Watching a young girl – at least that’s what Gu Changshou said those little humans dressed like that were – bite one of the red balls with her teeth, he copied her motion and popped it into his mouth. A burst of honey-like sweetness hit, followed by a sudden burst of sour on his tongue, the combination of which made him want to take a second bite.

“How does it taste?” Gu Changshou looked down at Xiao Han, watching as he swallowed.

The mask was a rare find, covering everything above the mouth, and hiding most of Xiao Han’s face. The one or two stray yin lines on his chin were unnoticeable in darker lighting. And even if someone saw it, it merely looked like a few strands of hair from eating too messily.

“Taste…hard to say…”

“Tastes sweet? Like the wild fruits but better?” He never liked sweet things, and the only sweets Xiao Han must have had were wild fruits on the mountain. The taste of sugar must be new to him.

When Xiao Han first took care of him, all he had was roasted meat or raw mountain fruits and leaves. There was no salt, pepper, or aromatics. Gu Changshou thought back at how widely Xiao Han’s eyes had been the first time he cooked. It wasn’t anything fancy, simply making a soup with some meat and herbs, but Xiao Han had been amazed. Now that they were in town, he intended to buy some delicacies and spoil him.

“…en.”

Seeing Xiao Han’s little tongue slip out to lick his lips, he swallowed, suddenly feeling the tanghulu must taste pretty good. As a nascent soul cultivator, he didn’t need food the same way non-cultivators did. But that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy trying new things.

“Let me have a taste.”

Covering Xiao Han’s hands with his free hand, he brought it up, bending forward, to bite and pull one off.

It was only when he saw someone else on the street staring at him, and then hurriedly walk away with a flushed expression, that he realized what he had done. He treated Xiao Han as a naïve child, but any one on the street would see two men holding hands and sharing food. Pulling back as he chewed, Gu Changshou thickened his skin and realized he didn’t really care if others saw him behaving like this.

“Chang-ge… like?”

“En, it’s okay.” The sour from the haw offset some of the sweetness, but it was a bit too sugary for his palate. “Xiao Han should finish it.”

“…en.”

Xiao Han nodded, taking another bite of sugary sweetness and sour haw as they strolled. He never imagined those red balls on sticks could taste so good.

The tanghulu, the inn, and streets were magical places he could never imagine. He had seen a few scattered farms and houses at the foot of the mountains, but never dared go inside. The first and only time he did, someone ran after him fiercely yelling with a broom raised, and he had avoided such places ever since.

He didn’t like all the loud noises and smells when they first came. It was hard to know what to listen to, because there were so many people talking at the same time. But watching what the other people did, Xiao Han realized they weren’t all talking to him. Some were talking to each other, and some were yelling on the streets for no reason.

Raising his head as a tantalizing, meaty aroma wafted by, he sniffed it in, mouth salivating at what it would taste like…

Gu Changshou’s doting smile grew larger as they strolled leisurely along the busy streets. A couple of flirty glances were thrown his way before they saw the youth next to him wearing a rabbit mask and holding onto his hand.

Masks were not uncommon on the streets. While it was mostly children running around with them, they saw youths wearing them as well.

Xiao Han looked even better than imagined once they dyed his hair black and found him a matching robe. His slender and pale figure from years running around the mountain was revealed. That youthful face paired with innocent naiveté would be a fatal combination if not for the yin qi lines. The reminder soured his mood as he stared at Xiao Han with a complicated gaze.

After exploring the streets for a while, Xiao Han stopped clinging onto him and instead began dragging him along in excitement. It was a novel experience for Gu Changshou. A few junior disciples and cousins had brought him around to shop before, but they always want to buy things for him or have him spend money. Xiao Han only asked about the most innocuous things, like what an umbrella was or what a storyteller was saying. When he saw a pagoda for the first time, his eyes almost burst of the mask in surprise.

Most importantly, he never asked him to purchase anything; it was all sightseeing and pure delight at learning something new. Of course, if there was something he thought Xiao Han would enjoy, such as cumin lamb skewers, he bought it anyways.

“Chang-ge, many people going inside… why?”

Wrinkling his nose at the overbearing scents, Xiao Han pointed at a tall building adorned with bright-red lanterns and equally red flowers adorning the entrance. The scent of sweat and flowery musk, and the sounds of feminine giggles came from the building. There was too much red, too many high-pitched voices, and too many unpleasant smells, but there were many people going in, so maybe it was just him who wasn’t used to it?

“…”

Gu Changshou’s head hurt.

How was he supposed to answer such a question? He had only gone to those places before because others wanted to. The strong scent of perfume and powder was off-putting and he hated the fawning tones they used, so he tended to stay away.

And then there were services such shops provided…

“Chang-ge?”

Gu Changshou coughed, feeling even guiltier when he saw Xiao Han’s trusting eyes looking up at him through the mask, curious and guileless.

Before he could answer, a female voice called out. “Aiyo, this handsome brother, why don’t you come in with your cute companion?”

Xiao Han frowned as a perfumed hand descended, dragging the sleeve of her thin, peach robe over Chang-ge and leaning her chest forward. Why was she touching him like that? Were all people like that?

Thinking back, other people didn’t behave like that. No one else came so physically close apart from handing food or changing money. Looking around to be sure, he saw a few other women doing the same thing and felt that maybe it was somewhat normal? But he still didn’t like it…

And why did they call Chang-ge ‘handsome brother’? Was it one of those small names things?

“I’m not interested.” Xiao Han’s heart calmed down inexplicably upon seeing Gu Changshou calmly refuse and take a step back.

“Because of your little friend here?” She winked invitingly, trying to hint at something more. “That’s okay. We don’t mind if you want to open a private room.”

“No. We’re just passing–”

“Changshou? Are you not Gu Changshou?”

“Lin Zijun…” Of all the people to meet on the streets, they had to bump into the one person he wanted to meet the least.

Lin Zijun was a rich second generation who spent his parents’ money on women and wine, enjoying life at its fullest. They had grown up in the same city, making mischief on the streets, but Gu Changshou never expected his childhood friend to become such a degenerate when they met again. The more annoying part was that despite his ways, he was talented at cultivation, establishing his foundation at thirty-five and more recently forming his core.

“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. Why don’t we go in together? Admire some flowers and drink some wine while we catch up.” He wrapped a waist around the lady who was soliciting them, tilting her chin up with a finger as his spoke. “Little beauty, what’s your name?”

“Sorry, I’m not alone.”

Gu Changshou ignored the flirting in front of him, gesturing at Xiao Han who was next to him. He did not want to admire ‘flowers’ with Lin Zijun, let alone bringing Xiao Han in with them. That man had no bottom line, as long as he wanted to, he would sleep with them – man or woman alike.

The thought of Xiao Han asking him what or how to interact in such a place sent shivers up his spine.

“Ah? Who’s this?” Lin Zijun raised his head up and studied the mask-wearing Xiao Han.

“My younger brother.”

“Your brother? I thought you only had an older brother.” Their families had grown up together, and he knew the two brothers from the main family and a few from the branch families. There was even talk of arranging a marriage between the Lin and Gu families, but fell through when the younger generation showed no interest.

“Ah, a cousin?”

“Yes.”

“Why is he wearing a mask?”

Frightened by the gaudily dressed man suddenly leaning forward near his face, Xiao Han jumped back, hiding behind Gu Changshou.

He didn’t like this Lin person. The way he acted made him recall another human he encountered on the mountain, who was chasing after someone else. He hadn’t planned to interfere, only to watch and try to learn more about humans, but her screams and cries for help persuaded him otherwise. Of course, after being saved, she saw her rescuer and fled as well.

In short, a nasty person.

“Chang-ge, let’s go? I don’t like him…” He tugged on Gu Changshou’s robes, completely oblivious at how coquettishly his actions were perceived by everyone else.

“…”

“…”

Gu Changshou had to remind himself that Xiao Han wasn’t flirting with him. His actions were because of true nervousness. When they first came here, those small tugs on his robe or pulls at his hand were all too common that he almost forgot Xiao Han was not used the things around them or being around so many people.

Lin Zijun was taken aback at the soft, kittenish plea, his heart itching to see what was hidden behind the mask. After having seen so many beauties, he could tell from his voice that this one would be a top beauty, if not in appearance, than in temperament, which was more important than looks in the long run.

“Why don’t you introduce us, Changshou?”

“No,” he pushed away the stray hand that reached out. Lin Zijun definitely had the wrong idea about Xiao Han. “Hanqing and I were just about to head back to the inn.”

“That’s a shame.” Hearing the continued rejection, he changed his approach. “Then, why don’t I invite you two to a meal tomorrow?”

Before he could come up with an excuse, another voice cut in.

“Senior brother Gu!”