Chapter 57 – “He’s Lucky”

He didn’t know why birdsong sounded so sweet at other times, but so irritating in the morning. It was the dazzling sunlight penetrating his eyelids that slowly brought Hao Chen back to consciousness.

In a daze, he thought he was still floating in the North Sea, sleeping a long, timeless sleep.

He didn’t want to wake up, because there was no point. It was better to just sleep.

So he turned his head as if to escape, avoiding the direct sunlight.

But when he smelled an unfamiliar scent, he realized that something wasn’t right.

This scent was mixed with the unique salty aroma of seawater, prevalent in all creatures who spent a lot of time in the sea. This was a scent he liked and was familiar with, but besides that, there was an indescribable scent that differed from it.

After one sniff, he couldn’t help but sniff again. Although the indescribable scent was difficult to distinguish, it slowly entered his body through his breathing and brought with it waves of burning heat.

Hao Chen frowned at this strange feeling, his hazy consciousness growing clearer and clearer. His sense of smell wasn’t the only thing affected – he seemed to be holding something in his hands.

The feeling under his hands was a bit hard, a bit soft, and very elastic, like his thick fish belly. But it was a little firmer than his belly, more like the muscles of his human form.

In addition to the muscles directly under his palms, there was what felt like cloth, but not an expensive variety. It was very rough and tattered, exposing a lot of skin.

Ragged clothing…..no, he should say daoist robes, and ones he had ripped…..Hao Chen’s mind became perfectly clear, and he remembered exactly where he was and what had transpired. 

Last night, he had laid claim to Feng Ye’s shoulder in the name of sleeping. And Feng Ye was so good-natured that he didn’t push him away, and even let him sleep all night.

Moreover, perhaps to avoid waking him up, Feng Ye hadn’t moved around, so he was able to enjoy a deep and dreamless sleep.

At first glance, Feng Ye seemed as tranquil and harmless as a soft persimmon. But if you looked closer, you would discover the sharpness and coldness within that soft persimmon.

However, if you broke his cold shell a little, you would find that the innermost part was still soft.

When Feng Ye gently told Hao Chen to go to sleep last night, Hao Chen had been as happy as if he’d eaten a piece of candy. And when he awoke to find that Feng Ye had allowed him to cling to him all night, it was like eating another piece of candy.

One with the sweetest filling.

Hao Chen took a deep whiff of that scent, recognizing its source as soon as he regained consciousness.

He had originally been resting his head on Feng Ye’s shoulder, but when he drowsily lifted his head, his whole face was buried in Feng Ye’s neck. What he was smelling was actually the fragrance on Feng Ye’s body.

Since he had spent most of the previous day in the sea and hadn’t had time to bathe, his body was still wreathed in the salty smell of seawater. And as for the other foreign scent that made him feel hot, it was probably the man’s hormones.

He belatedly realized that his heart was pounding. A mere scent had rendered him so sensitive.

If he didn’t take advantage of this, he would lose out. He had been able to open a small crack in Feng Ye’s shell this time, but there was no telling when he would be able to do it again, so of course the more he could take, the better.

So even though he was awake, Hao Chen maintained his original posture, with his hands still clinging to Feng Ye’s chest and back, and his face buried in his neck.

It would have been fine, but this guy was greedy and refused to be satisfied with the status quo. His disobedient fingers couldn’t help but rub a few times.

A big “井” character appeared on Feng Ye’s forehead, and he finally couldn’t take it anymore.

He had already realized that the fish was pretending to be asleep, so he unhesitatingly poked Hao Chen’s forehead with a finger and pushed him away from his shoulder.

Hao Chen was unable to pretend any longer after such a significant movement. But he refused to admit that he had woken up long ago, feigning sleepiness as he asked blankly: “What’s wrong?”

Feng Ye said nothing, and simply stared at him.

This guy was taking advantage of him. And although they both knew it, Feng Ye had no evidence.

His only hope was that Hao Chen would feel guilty and slip up.

But Hao Chen wouldn’t feel guilty even if he was a thief. He was thick-skinned, and faced Feng Ye’s gaze with a calm, assured expression.

After a long period of staring at each other, Feng Ye was the first to look away. He admitted defeat.

Hao Chen smiled triumphantly. Feng Ye had already exposed this matter, but Hao Chen deliberately gave voice to it: “I slept on Fellow Daoist Feng Ye’s shoulder all night, and my sleeping posture wasn’t very elegant. I must have caused Fellow Daoist Feng Ye a lot of trouble.”

Feng Ye was unmoved by Hao Chen’s apologetic words, and instead regarded him with some caution. Something wasn’t right. This guy had already eaten the tofu, so there was no reason for him to spit it out. Since Hao Chen had said this, he must have a trick up his sleeve.

As expected, Hao Chen continued: “It would be impolite not to reciprocate. Fellow Daoist Feng Ye has been keeping watch all night. Are you tired? How about you rest on me?”

He opened his arms as he spoke, as if to say, “My arms are always open to you.” But his expression was that of an upright gentleman, as if he was really just returning the favor.

However, Feng Ye knew that was not the case. He could guess what wickedness was on this guy’s mind without even looking.

So he sat there with his arms folded and firmly refused: “No need. I’m not tired.”

Hao Chen sighed with some regret, but didn’t give up: “Even if you’re not tired, your shoulder should be sore, right? I could give you a massage?”

When he started to raise his claws to touch him, Feng Ye was forced to jump up and retreat three or four meters before stopping.

To prevent Hao Chen from making any further moves, Feng Ye immediately took action to cut the threat off at the source. He made an excuse: “I’m going to the river to wash my face.”

Having said this, he turned around and left.

Hao Chen sat there with his chin in his hand, watching with a smile on his face as Feng Ye fled.

He didn’t pursue him further. As a fish himself, he knew the art of fishing. The tighter the line was, the harder the prey struggled. This often led to the line breaking and the fisherman suffering a double loss.

Only by letting out the line properly and letting the prey unknowingly exhaust itself could it be caught in one fell swoop.

He also had no need to worry about Feng Ye disappearing like before, because…..Hao Chen turned to look at the two half-grown boys still sleeping beside the extinguished campfire.

Fang Yang’s sleeping posture was extremely unrestrained. He slept in the shape of the “大” character, occupying the largest area he could. Cao Zirui, who had been sleeping next to him, had rolled over countless times during the torturous night until he was curled up a meter away.

The big one could run away, but the small ones could not, so Hao Chen was very much at ease. He sat there and waited patiently.

Time passed, and the sun rose higher and higher.

The sunlight was so scorching that it couldn’t be ignored, and there was also no shade above his head. Fang Yang woke up.

He sat up and looked around. His familiar Useless Shixiong was nowhere to be seen, but Hao-dage was there with an inexplicable smile on his face.

Although Hao Chen usually had a smile on his face, Fang Yang felt that he seemed particularly happy today.

Rather than asking the reason for Hao Chen’s happiness, he just asked: “Where’s my shixiong?”

Hao Chen raised his mini fan and pointed it toward the river: “He went to wash his face.”

Fang Yang gave an “Oh” and rubbed his sleepy head. He glanced at the sun to see what time it was, and estimated that it was already si shi. 

There was still about an hour left before the Floating Island Secret Realm closed.

Quite a number of people had stayed awake during the night in the secret realm. They were all cultivators, so staying up all night wasn’t a big deal. The Floating Island Secret Realm was only open for one day, so they naturally couldn’t miss one minute or second.

It was pretty rare for four people to spend the whole night quietly at camp like they had.

Fang Yang had never imagined that he, who woke up at the crack of dawn, could sleep in until noon. This is clearly when Useless Shixiong usually wakes up, Fang Yang thought as he looked at the sun.

While Fang Yang was lamenting to the sun, Cao Zirui also slowly woke up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes. For some reason, he felt like he’d had a nightmare about rolling around. But in the end, after a night of rest, the power of the elixirs had slowly taken effect and his injuries were greatly improved.

His spirits were no longer as low as they’d been the day before, and he took the initiative to greet Fang Yang. He wasn’t familiar with Hao Chen, and also wasn’t very good at socializing, so he just nodded at him somewhat distantly.

Hao Chen couldn’t be bothered to waste energy on these two brats. He gave a perfunctory nod in return and then continued to gaze in the direction Feng Ye had left like a husband-waiting stone.

He only went to wash his face. Why hasn’t he come back yet? Just as Hao Chen began to mutter inwardly, he caught sight of Feng Ye’s figure from afar.

Feng Ye walked back to camp. He seemed to have washed his face as he’d claimed, because there were still droplets of water on his skin.

But his water-stained brow was now wrinkled somewhat worriedly.

Feng Ye was looking at his sleeves as he walked, which were torn beyond recognition. Although he was not a shy young woman who wouldn’t go out in ragged clothes…..it was still pretty indecent.

In a sense, Feng Ye was a bit old-fashioned and couldn’t accept walking around in public like this. So when he got back to camp, his first words were: “Do you have any spare clothes?”

His question was directed at Fang Yang. As for the other two, he wasn’t familiar with Cao Zirui, and he ignored Hao Chen.

Fang Yang considered this and said hesitantly: “I do, but…..”

In order to be more persuasive, he purposely rushed to Feng Ye’s side and stood on tiptoe to compare the height difference between them, then said uncertainly: “Shixiong, would you even be able to wear my clothes?”

Feng Ye: “……” It had actually slipped his mind. He probably wouldn’t fit them.

Since Fang Yang’s wouldn’t do, then Cao Zirui’s wouldn’t either, since they were about the same size.

Feng Ye looked around and once again ignored Hao Chen’s glittering eyes, which seemed to say, “Look at me, quick, look at me,” coming to the conclusion that he could only walk out of the Floating Island Secret Realm in these tattered robes.

But although Feng Ye wouldn’t look at him, Hao Chen refused to be left out, and took the initiative to suggest: “Fellow Daoist Feng Ye, actually…..I do have some spare clothes.”

Before Feng Ye could disagree, Fang Yang answered happily: “That’s great! Then you can get changed, Shixiong, and I’ll go to the river to wash my face.”

Cao Zirui promptly said: “I’ll go too.”

With that, the two of them went off to the river to wash their faces.

The other two people were left with a strange atmosphere.

Feng Ye intuitively felt that the clothes Hao Chen gave him would come with some problems, but since Fang Yang had already helped him fall into this trap, it was too late for him to stop it.

As soon as Fang Yang and Cao Zirui walked out of sight, Hao Chen took out a white daoist robe with golden edges – the same style as his own – from his storage bag.

He spread the robe in front of him and compared his own similar height to Feng Ye’s, sighing: “It’s practically tailor-made for Fellow Daoist Feng Ye. Let me help you put it on.”

As he spoke, he reached out to untie Feng Ye’s belt.

Feng Ye immediately took a couple of steps back and declined: “No need, I’ll do it myself.”

Hao Chen could only hand the clothes over to Feng Ye with regret. Feng Ye took them and dithered for a moment, not changing right away. He hadn’t decided whether to wear them or not.

This piece of clothing was likely not brand new. He was a little hesitant to wear clothes that had been worn by someone else, especially since the owner of the robe was Hao Chen.

Forget it, why put up a fuss? It was better than showing up in rags.

Feng Ye was just about to change clothes when he heard Hao Chen say with great emotion: “This robe is extremely close-fitting. I’ve worn it for a long time, so it must have picked up a lot of my scent. Fellow Daoist Feng Ye, once you put it on, it will be like I’m always by your side.”

Feng Ye: “……” This description was too horrifying.

He pinched the robe in his fingers and held it at a distance. In the end, he couldn’t get past this feeling.

In fact, after last night, he no longer found Hao Chen as annoying as before. But they were far from the point at which he could accept Hao Chen staying by his side at all times.

He decisively returned the clothes to Hao Chen, who finally realized that he had gone too far this time. No matter how he tried to save the situation, Feng Ye could never forget Hao Chen’s original description and refused to wear it.

As they persuaded and refused back and forth, they heard a young man’s joyful, excited voice coming from afar.

“Shixiong!” Fang Yang trotted toward the two of them, holding something in his hand as Cao Zirui followed close behind.

Hao Chen squinted his eyes to take a look, thinking that it looked like some kind of medicinal herb.

Only when Fang Yang ran closer did he see the thing’s entire appearance.

The plant was completely transparent, like ice crystals. It looked very much like one of the medicinal herbs they had heard about from administrator Zhang.

“Ice Grass!” Fang Yang said excitedly. He showed the grass to Feng Ye: “I found it by the river, growing between two rocks. Shixiong, you just went to wash your face. How come you didn’t see it?”

Feng Ye smiled and said: “I guess I didn’t notice it.”

Hao Chen tapped his arm with his mini fan and remained silent.

Cao Zirui was completely confused. He didn’t know what he had been poisoned with, nor did he know what the Blazing Sun Flower and Ice Grass were. He naturally didn’t understand how precious this herb was. 

When he and Fang Yang were washing their faces at the river, Fang Yang had discovered this herb and rushed back regardless of anything else in order to tell his Useless Shixiong the good news as soon as possible. Although Cao Zirui didn’t know why Fang Yang was so happy, he rushed back with him as well.

He was increasingly confused, and couldn’t help but tug on Fang Yang’s sleeve. Fang Yang then remembered that Cao Zirui knew nothing about the Blazing Sun Flower, so he suppressed his excitement and explained to Cao Zirui the functions of these two herbs.

The two were talking animatedly when Hao Chen followed suit and tugged on Feng Ye’s sleeve. He dragged the other man farther away from where the other two were standing and asked in a low voice: “Ice Grass has extremely high requirements for its growing environment. I remember Administrator Zhang saying that it only grows on the seabed in the Floating Island Secret Realm. How could it have been found on land by a river?”

How could it have been found on land by a river?

Feng Ye’s gaze drifted. It was because before he went to search for the underwater cave, he had taken a detour to pick the plant. And just now, he had planted it in a crevice between two rocks.

These were his thoughts, but the words on his lips were: “He’s lucky.”

Just as Administrator Zhang had said at the time: “Perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to pick it up.” Although Administrator Zhang had just been comforting him, Feng Ye had turned this seemingly impossible statement into reality.

Hao Chen fixed him with a steady look. After a moment, his lips curved into a smile and he waved his mini fan, echoing: “Really lucky.”

He turned his head to regard Fang Yang, who was excitingly regaling Cao Zirui with a story, and added to himself: “He’s really lucky to have met you.”

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Chapter 56 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 58