The fine teeth of the comb brushed through the fine strands of white hair, Yue Ran's hand dividing those thick hairs into workable sections as he combed through the stubborn nest.
Making sure that the knots came loose without hurting the child.
While Yue Ran worked with his hair
Xue Hua's eyes were wandering around the room and he soon began swinging his feet that couldn't quite reach the floor as he sat on the bed waiting for Yue Ran to finish.
His heart was still thumping pretty loudly, but that was how every morning went.
He couldn't drop those curved lips, which seemed to tremble every time he tried, rebelling on their own. It was weird how he couldn't even control his expressions still.
But after living through this routine for so long, he started wanting more, something different,
He wanted to see the immortal who was working on his hair.
He wanted to know the faces he wore as his fingers brushed against his scalp while collecting his hair.
So, he kept trying to turn back without any success other than managing to annoy Yue Ran till he clicked his tongue, and well that cue was enough for Xue Hua to finally fix his head straight once more, so unfortunately he was unable to make any changes in their routine.
Yue Ran, like usual, didn't say anything, however, he still felt a little restless from earlier excitement.
Scratching his thumb, he picked and pulled the pieces of skin that started to come off.
Taking a deep breath discreetly,
"Where did you go?" He praised himself in his mind for coming up with a question,
"The chief called for me"
Yue Ran answered without a beat wasted.
...
That was how his attempt to start a conversation ended...
He wished that Yue Ran had at least taken a bit longer to finish his sentence, maybe said some unnecessary words.
Why'd he have to speak so fast?
He grumbled in his heart,
Yue Ran surely could grasp that kid's open emotions that were louder than any drums
but he simply turned himself blind.
The fine strands of hair glided through his fingers and palms with every brush,
The small bristles despite his smooth hair felt like stray brushes on his palm.
It was quite ticklish.
Twisting the sections of hair, placing it on top of each pleat he gently worked with his hair, leaving a fairly short tail he tied his hair.
After he was done, he finally turned his attention to the kid, who was now finally quiet and still.
"Are you hungry?"
Yue Ran asked, but he didn't immediately receive a reply so he wondered if the kid had fallen back to sleep, however, when he tried to look from the side all he could see was the slight bulge on Xue Hua's face,
?
Was he already eating something?
Before he even thought about asking, the kid answered with a heavy breath.
"Yes..."
He didn't want to admit it, but he really was getting hungry, he had just forgotten about it till now.
He still remembered the time his stomach beat him to answering the same question,
he didn't want it again this time
Especially not when he was still mulling over his miseries in front of the immortal,
who was the source of it.
The stingy immortal, who was a man of few words.
He hoped dearly that Yun Buizha's talkative nature could rub a little bit on him, it was not like talking more could expend his spiritual energy nor stamina.
And Yun Buizha too could at least make himself of use too, this way if not any other.
Not like placing himself intentionally between them and leaving him to fend himself from the folks alone, all while not being able to get a glimpse of Yue Ran.
Then soon he recalled something,
How could he forget this? Wasn't this why he stayed awake last night waiting for Yue Ran to return? Didn't he imagine various scenarios trying to come up with the greatest explanation that could shame poets?
So,
Why didn't Yue Ran ask him of last night?
They still had time,
So, why wouldn't he ask him?
Did he do something without knowing?
His chest felt compressed,
"Gege"
He called slowly, as his hands reached out and tugged the corner of Yue Ran's sleeves.
"About last night--"
He paused, closing his eyes he gripped the clothes tight
"--the glass"
His words seemed choked, the various practices he did had all gone through the window.
Still he pushed himself, if he remained quiet now, he would not be able to continue.
"Its--"
"From the river right?"
Xue Hua's sentence was completed by the immortal with so much ease, that Xue Hua was taken aback
Looking at his face Yue Ran placed his hand on the bed, he didn't move it, he didn't shake off the boy's trembling grasp,
Even the boy hadn't noticed himself that his hands were trembling,
But when he saw that Yue Ran looked straight into him, his gaze so soft, his nerves calmed down.
There wasn't even the slightest hint of urgency or annoyance in those eyes, which were the same pairs that often wore an indifferent look.
Still...
It was reassuring
"It's alright"
Yue Ran said once more,
"How did you know?"
Those words immediately flowed out after the lump in his throat had dissolved.
Yue Ran scoff softly,
This really wasn't about how he knew the source of the water, but rather how he didn't notice it sooner.
He knew something was wrong when he saw the river but had merely decided to leave it be after its dead trail.
Who would've known that it would resurface again in this small village? Well it wasn't exactly surprising but now he could finally piece together that the river was certainly related to those storms and these strange events.
However, he wouldn't say all that to Xue Hua,
"Because of your timely rescue of course"
He simply spoke,
Well it wasn't false since if Xue Hua didn't intercept he would've ended up drinking it while distracted by that drunk
And it was impressive honestly, to be able to manipulate his thirst, making it stronger while he was still disturbed by that drunk villager it was as if--
*Stomach growl*
Yue Ran's brows twitched slightly,
Turning towards the kid he found that Xue hua who was already clutching his stomach, his entire face flushed up, while the tip of his ears were hit the worst, trying his best to suppress the sound, or perhaps undo it.
It was ridiculous
Just ridiculous
Ridiculous how red he could turn instantly and how he completely ended his train of thoughts.
Where did he even store those colours when he wasn't expressing them?
How could he be more expressive than a performer?
He paused, breathing in and immediately suggested,
"Let's eat first"
He got up tidying his clothes,
And briskly he walked towards the door
Xue Hua was so embarrassed that he couldn't even look up, much less immediately follow the immortal.
But when he heard the fading footsteps he immediately stood up, his hair swaying with his sudden movements, and he rushed towards the door.
But Yue Ran was already a few steps away,
And the servant who was waiting at the door for Xue Hua, suddenly glanced towards the flustered boy
Who walked past her without a single glance,
After all, what was there to look at?
When his immortal was already walking forward steadily, leaving him behind.
For the first time the thought that maybe the immortal was a bit mean flashed through his mind.
Perhaps, if he had caught up to him a bit earlier, maybe he would've seen a slight change in Yue Ran's face for the first time.
.
.
.
The breakfast was far more comfortable than when they had that dinner the previous night for various reasons, the chief had a very warm expression throughout the entire meal,
The sunlight lit the entire room,
The hall was cozy yet spacious and there were only a handful of servants around them unlike when they had the meal with the entire village
If Xue Hua was asked to describe the chief, his first word would surely be
"warmth"
The chief wore light fabrics that were neat and soft on the eyes, despite their plain look,
Then he'd also add that the chief slightly looked like a dumpling, mostly because of his chubby appearance, but his smile complementing that image didn't help.
And because of this, Xue Hua ended up staring slightly longer than he intended.
There was a lot of food placed on the table, despite using almost the same ingredients to cook, there was quite some variety, and unlike yesterday, the glasses of water didn't give off the strange surge of feeling.
Even so, Xue Hua was still skeptical and observed the changes in the environment carefully.
Yue Ran had finished his meal certain moments back and was already on his second cup of tea while waiting for Xue Hua to finish eating at his own pace.
Xue Hua sneaked a glance at Yue Ran, who was sipping tea with his eyes closed, while the chief had called over a servant and was saying something,
There was something in his mind as well, it was pretty troubling, and it of course was related to Yue Ran.
He really couldn't understand how Yue Ran considered his portion a meal, merely a single serving possibly couldn't be enough? Well, it wasn't simply Yue Ran who would stop after a single serving but he wasn't concerned about others eating habits.
He compared himself to him, after all he often felt hungry even after the third.
Maybe it was because he was an immortal?
That was the only possible answer he could come up with.
Then he began to wonder,
would he also start eating less once he was grown?
That was a strange thought.
Just looking at his face, Yue Ran could gauge that he was probably filled with silly thoughts once more.
He only shook his head slightly,
"Did you two sleep well?"
The chief spoke, breaking the silence as he looked at the two guests.
"All thanks to you"
Yue Ran replied politely,
The chief nodded, satisfied, then soon a servant returned with a book in his hand.
Noticing Xue Hua's gaze, he softly chuckled and continued,
"Hearing how you came to study our home, I couldn't contain my desire to help you"
He said, gently touching the cover of the book.
"Although I don't know what exactly you are studying about, if there's any need please inform us" saying this sincerely he placed the book in front of Yue Ran,
"This is...?"
The chief, smiled
"being a humble lord in this small village we do not have many books in our study,
this catalogue contains a record of all the books we keep in our study"
He explained slowly,
"if any title catches your eye please tell a servant to fetch it for you, or you could merely ask them to lead you to the study"
He seemed enthusiastic while trying to offer his help,
Yue Ran slightly raised his eyebrows, it wasn't very noticeable,
Well, it did certainly make things pretty convenient despite it not necessarily something he needed,
But he wouldn't refuse it.
"Thank you"
Said yue ran softly,
"Please tell me how to repay you"
Yue Ran fully embraced the scholar image,
seeming moved.
He expressed gratitude sincerely.
There was a momentary shift in the chief's expression when he saw that face but it passed by so soon that it could've just been an illusion.
"Please, please, it's our greatest joy to welcome travelers and visitors from every place and our greatest pride is being able to help them in any way we can"
He smiled warmly while waving his hand in the air.
.
.
.
"Are you certain you wouldn't need someone to guide you around the village?" He asked once again,
"I could tell one of the servants to guide you, although the village is fairly small I wouldn't wanna have my guests inconvenienced"
"It's fine" Yue Ran shook his head, refusing any escort
Placing his hand on Xue hua's shoulder gently he spoke,
"Me and my brother have this habit of wandering around new places by ourselves so much that it has become one of our little hobby, so just us is plenty sufficient"
The chief couldn't say more when he looked at Xue Hua, and merely sighed before smiling faintly and saw them off at the gate.
And soon Yue Ran and Xue Hua found themselves wandering the streets of Siquan,
The sun was now shining bright, still not at its peak, yet it embraced the snow covered roofs with its warm rays.
Painting a wholesome scenery
The people were chattering with each other, full of life, some even waving to the two, making them wave back.
As they walked, Xue Hua saw those same women from yesterday circling each other by the corner of an inn seeming to be immensely engaged in their conversation.
Xue Hua couldn't help but feel shivers once again down his spine when one of the women's eyes turned towards their direction, making him immediately turn his head away.
He didn't want to know what they were talking about and unintentionally walked faster.
Despite very few people wandering the streets it didn't exactly feel empty
However there was this uncanny loneliness that they both noticed.
There were truly only old people in Siquan, there weren't even dogs or any sort of animal for that fact on the streets. Now that they tried to listen carefully they truly didn't hear anything other than the usual chatter of mortals.
The village was completely silent once the people stopped talking. Maybe it was a unique quirk of the north?
There were many small stalls at the corner of the streets, all closed down because of the blocked path as the business slowed with lack of customers.
Now they were merely collecting snow, but some still had people who were most probably the owners sitting close, or on the corners,
Either being lost in thoughts or doing something.
As they continued walking Xue Hua suddenly paused
*Sniff*
His face scrunched up,
As he whipped his head towards the corner, after seemingly reaching a dead end.
"Gege, I smell something"
He said quietly, staring at the narrow path besides the two houses.
"It's like...a mix of rotting wood and burnt fish"
His face was full of disgust as he explained it.
The immortal listened quietly, however, he couldn't smell anything.
But what he did notice was a small thread of spiritual energy at the direction he pointed.
Both knew,
surely there was something
After a while, they finally walked out the alley,
Xue Hua immediately covered his face,
While
Yue Ran frowned.
He could understand how it would release such a stench that Xue Hua described merely from its state, he could almost smell it.
He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and gave it to Xue hua,
Approaching the dead tree Xue Hua covered his nose with the handkerchief,
Upon closer look,
it was completely shriveled up--
to the point that it looked like a used candle wick.
Yet, it was still showing signs of being rotting,
It looked wet and slimy, even after probably having been in this state for so long, it was still in the process of rotting,
As if it was in the process of eternal rot.
Yet the roots still stood firm rooted deeply within the snow, probably deep through the ground underneath as well.
Since when has this been here?
"Gege" xue hua called,
His expression showing bewilderness
"The stench is gone"
Soon they felt the presence of another,
It seems that the cause of this sudden change was none other than--
Yun Buizha approached with a smile.
"How's your stomach?"
He smiled at Xue Hua
--the appearance of the woodcutter.