Bad Luck, Your New Friend

After Xu Feixian finished speaking, she reached back and poked the daydreaming girl behind her. He Zhuoming snapped back to attention and stepped forward to greet Lin Qingyun.

Lin Qingyun looked surprised. "You're still alive."

He Zhuoming: "...Huh?"

Lin Qingyun explained seriously, "Because your cultivation isn't high, and you're always running around everywhere. When the Corrupted Deity caused chaos the day before yesterday, I thought you might have already met an unfortunate end..."

Before he could finish, Xu Feixian pulled out a money pouch and pressed it into Lin Qingyun's palm, cutting him off. "Here's your money back. Count it."

Lin Qingyun took the pouch and weighed it in his hand, but didn't count it. Instead, he asked, "Are you well-off right now? If you're short on cash, you can pay me back later."

Xu Feixian: "It's fine. I'm not lacking."

Lin Qingyun nodded and kept walking out as he spoke. Xu Feixian followed him, lowering her voice slightly. "What's the deal with that colleague of yours who came back from the dead? Didn't they say everyone who was killed by the Corrupted Deity this time received the Earth Immortal's blessing and was reborn?"

Hearing a topic she was interested in, He Zhuoming immediately perked up her ears, leaned closer to Xu Feixian, and craned her head over to listen carefully.

Since it wasn't something that required strict secrecy, Lin Qingyun didn't hide anything and told the truth. "Not everyone was blessed... there were a few who weren't... it's just that no one wants to make a big deal of it—and everyone saw what happened to those who were blessed. Whether being blessed is actually a good thing under these circumstances is still up for debate..."

Although it wasn't a secret, it involved the Earth Immortal, and they were inside the Earth Immortal's Divine Palace, so Lin Qingyun spoke especially quietly, and wherever he needed to mention names, he glossed over them vaguely.

The three of them were positioned with Xu Feixian in the middle, He Zhuoming and Lin Qingyun each on either side. He Zhuoming stood farthest from Lin Qingyun; no matter how much she crowded against Xu Feixian, she was still a considerable distance away from him.

Moreover, Lin Qingyun's voice grew quieter as he spoke, and He Zhuoming's hearing became increasingly muffled—she grew anxious, then simply squeezed in between Xu Feixian and Lin Qingyun, continuing to perk up her ears and listen to him talk.

Lin Qingyun was startled by the squeeze, and his words paused briefly.

He Zhuoming urged him. "Keep going. What about that blessing—"

Lin Qingyun: "Ah, this... ugh!"

Before he could finish his sentence, his head suddenly smacked into a branch of crabapple tree that stretched out at an angle, and he couldn't help but cry out.

Of the three in a row, Lin Qingyun was the tallest, and his head just happened to be at the level of the tree trunk. He Zhuoming and Xu Feixian passed underneath without a problem.

That branch was covered in a cluster of thin, intertwining, extremely hard twigs, which scraped across Lin Qingyun's face, leaving a burning sting. He covered his eyes and instinctively stepped back two paces—only to step on a loose paving stone.

The stone was hollow and sank under his foot, causing Lin Qingyun to stumble. Beside him was a slope, and his tumble turned into a roll. He tumbled down the slope and landed with a splash in the river.

The river's surface was covered with crabapple petals, dense as a brocade, and his impact sent a tall spray of water flying.

All of this happened in an instant. In just the blink of an eye, the river surface was already calm again, not even a bubble in sight.

Xu Feixian's expression changed slightly. She ran to the riverbank and shouted Lin Qingyun's name several times—when there was no response, she simply jumped in, sending up a modest splash.

He Zhuoming was about to run over as well, when suddenly her collar tightened. She was yanked and stumbled a few steps, the back of her head knocking into someone's chest.

She tilted her head back and looked up, catching a very awkward angle of Tang Shuyu's face—Tang Shuyu was still beaming. He asked, "What are you going to do? Perform a river dive too?"

He Zhuoming: "But Feixian—"

Tang Shuyu: "They've already come up."

He Zhuoming looked down, and sure enough, she saw Xu Feixian dragging Lin Qingyun with one hand while paddling with the other, struggling to make her way from the middle of the river toward the shore.

She hastily tugged at Tang Shuyu's sleeve. "Quick, quick, quick! Let's go help!"

Tang Shuyu didn't refuse this time. He and He Zhuoming ran down the slope together—the slope was indeed very steep, and He Zhuoming picked up speed from momentum. When she reached the riverbank and tried to brake, she simply couldn't stop no matter what, so she had no choice but to drag Tang Shuyu along with her into the river!

Because there were two of them, the splash they made was even bigger than when Lin Qingyun had fallen in alone.

The river water smelled cold and fishy, and it was deep—it completely submerged He Zhuoming's head in a single breath.

She flailed around helplessly in the water, blowing out a long string of bubbles.

Surprisingly, she could still vaguely see through the waterlogged vision, and He Zhuoming saw many crabapple petals swirling in the river. Below was a stretch of dark, deep green waterweed that looked soft and lush as it drifted in the water, gentle and harmless.

Then Tang Shuyu pulled her out of the water—she coughed out two mouthfuls of water, reached up to wipe the wetness from her face, and scooped off a big handful of waterlogged petals.

Over on the other side, Xu Feixian was dragging Lin Qingyun with one hand and paddling with the other, struggling to reach the riverbank, when she turned her head and saw He Zhuoming pulling someone else into the river as well.

She took a deep breath, feeling like she wanted to die—but still, she pushed Lin Qingyun up onto the shore first.

However, that side didn't need her help either. Tang Shuyu quickly swam to shore with He Zhuoming in tow. He moved fast, and his swimming looked even better than Xu Feixian's.

He Zhuoming knelt on the ground, coughing violently, retching out a few petals, and feeling like her nasal cavity was filled with the cold, fishy smell of the river.

Tang Shuyu crouched beside her, patting her back, and said with a smile, "Take your time spitting it out. If you can't spit it out, you can just swallow it down!"

He Zhuoming replied in a weak voice, "No way... that's disgusting... ugh—"

Tang Shuyu: "That's why I told you not to run down here~"

He Zhuoming: "This slope is so steep..."

Tang Shuyu picked up the thread unhurriedly. "And the river is really deep too, right?"

He Zhuoming nodded hurriedly like a pecking chicken and looked up at Tang Shuyu. His hair was all wet, hanging down and sticking to his forehead and cheeks, and it was covered in wet petals as well.

His hair, obediently plastered against his face, made him look well-behaved, and the petals on his face gave him a certain stylized look—even when falling into the water, Tang Shuyu managed to look graceful in his disheveled state.

She stared at Tang Shuyu's face, her gaze obviously and lingeringly fixed on him. Tang Shuyu raised a brow slightly, reached out, and snapped his fingers in front of her. "Snap out of it, snap out of it. Scared stupid?"

He Zhuoming was dazed for a long moment before blurting out, "Why are you here?"

Tang Shuyu: "Just passing by."

He Zhuoming was puzzled. "Can a musician just pass through the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

Tang Shuyu smiled, his tone light. "Of course I can. I'm a musician, after all. Within the bounds of the Divine Palace, I can pass through wherever I want. But speaking of which, Xiao He, your new friend over there seems a bit dead, doesn't he?"

Only then did He Zhuoming remember why she'd run down here in the first place, and she hurriedly looked over at Xu Feixian and Lin Qingyun's situation.

Xu Feixian wasn't badly off—just drenched all over—but Lin Qingyun looked terrible.

Though he was still conscious, something had gashed his forehead, and blood was smeared over half his face. His trousers were torn below the knees, and his exposed legs were covered in welts and cuts.

Xu Feixian frowned. "How did it get this bad?"

Lin Qingyun held a hand over the wound on his forehead. "When I fell just now... my head hit a rock at the bottom of the river. As soon as the waterweed down there got a whiff of blood, it went crazy and wrapped around me... Luckily, Feixian arrived in time and cut the weeds with her blade. Otherwise, I'd have become a water ghost today..."

He then looked at He Zhuoming and remarked, "I thought I'd at least outlive you."

He Zhuoming said, "No way! You're so much older than me. No matter how you look at it, you'll die before I do."

Both of them were perfectly sincere and honest from the bottom of their hearts—Xu Feixian fell silent listening to them, and Tang Shuyu burst out laughing, laughing so hard he collapsed onto He Zhuoming's shoulder.

His clothes were wet, but when he leaned against her, it wasn't cold at all. His waterlogged clothes seemed to amplify Tang Shuyu's body heat, and the tremor of his laughter pressed close against He Zhuoming's shoulder blade, traveling through that thin layer of flesh and muscle all the way down to the bone.

Bones seemed more sensitive to sound; his laughter made that patch of bone tingle.

She suddenly felt awkward, and when that was mixed together with the awkwardness from last night, He Zhuoming felt extremely uneasy. She instinctively dodged to the side—Tang Shuyu, left with nothing to lean on, fell face-first to the ground.

He Zhuoming froze. She hadn't expected Tang Shuyu to fall like that—she'd thought he'd just stumble a step or two.

Tang Shuyu lay motionless after falling face-down, his chest pressing against He Zhuoming's thigh, and she couldn't feel his chest rising or falling with breath.

Lin Qingyun, holding his forehead, came over to look. Blood loss had made him a bit dizzy, and the first thing he said was, "He didn't die from that fall, did he?"

He Zhuoming: "Impossible!"

Xu Feixian was speechless and wanted to roll her eyes.

Just then, Tang Shuyu, who'd been lying on the ground playing dead, suddenly sat up—scaring both He Zhuoming and Lin Qingyun into shouting.

He Zhuoming was fine; she'd just been startled. But Lin Qingyun fainted on the spot, collapsing to the ground.

Tang Shuyu smiled. "I'm not really that easy to kill."

Xu Feixian gave a cold laugh. "But you nearly scared my friend to death."

Tang Shuyu reached out and touched He Zhuoming's face, saying with pity, "Poor little Xiao He, her face really did go all cold from fright."

Xu Feixian: "...I meant Lin Qingyun almost got scared to death."

Tang Shuyu turned his head and glanced at the young man whose face was as pale as paper—but truly, he only glanced at him for a second before losing interest and looking away. "Find a clerk from the Demon Suppression Bureau to carry him to the clinic outside the Divine Palace for treatment."

"He's this unlucky. It seems the Earth Immortal really doesn't like him. If he keeps staying in the Divine Palace, he's bound to die in the next 'accident.'"

As he spoke, Tang Shuyu didn't move his hand from He Zhuoming's face—he gently stroked her cheek with his fingertips, and then the excess water on her clothes and in her hair was automatically separated and drawn away.

Xu Feixian quickly called two clerks over, and together they lifted Lin Qingyun up.

Lin Qingyun was still unconscious at the moment, so Xu Feixian couldn't very well leave him and go on ahead. After saying goodbye to He Zhuoming, she followed the clerks carrying him toward the teleportation array.

The two clerks didn't even ask a single question about Tang Shuyu suddenly appearing in the Demon Suppression Bureau. Their manner was so natural that it was as if the Bureau were his own backyard, and it was perfectly normal for him to be wandering around there.

In the corridor in front of the Demon Suppression Bureau, it was once again just He Zhuoming and Tang Shuyu.

Tang Shuyu hugged his own arms, his already dry hair clean and fluffy, and watched the rapidly disappearing Lin Qingyun with smiling eyes. After many days of overcast skies, his mood had finally found a moment of clear weather.

He Zhuoming was doubtful. "Once he leaves the Divine Palace, will he stop being so unlucky?"

Tang Shuyu answered with confidence. "Of course!"

He glanced at He Zhuoming and noticed that she was standing a bit far away from him—she was practically hugging the wall.

Tang Shuyu approached without a sound, closing the distance between them in two or three steps.

He Zhuoming noticed, but with her back against the wall, she had no room to retreat. She lowered her head, pretended nothing was wrong, and walked around Tang Shuyu to the other empty side, continuing to put distance between them.

She didn't speak, and Tang Shuyu didn't speak either. He just kept following He Zhuoming as she moved.

To keep her distance from him without bumping into the wall, He Zhuoming began walking in a zigzag pattern in the corridor, weaving from one wall to the other.

Tang Shuyu followed slowly behind her. Whatever way she twisted, he followed along. After walking like that for a while, he dragged his words out. "Xi—ao—He—"

He Zhuoming didn't turn around. "What?"

Tang Shuyu: "I saved you today, you know!"

He Zhuoming: "Oh, thanks."

Tang Shuyu: "I also dried your hair and clothes for you."

He Zhuoming: "Thanks especially for that."

Tang Shuyu: "And I found a clue related to you going home—"

He Zhuoming's frantic footsteps came to a sudden halt, and Tang Shuyu poked his head over her shoulder, asking with a grin, "Oh? Why aren't you walking anymore? Tired?"

He Zhuoming: "...No I'm not!"

A girl had to hold her ground. He Zhuoming resumed her brisk pace, now nearly a jog, but that didn't stop her from talking. "Tell me the clue first."

Tang Shuyu said, "You're walking too fast. I'm so tired following you that I don't have the energy to talk."

He Zhuoming put her hands on her hips and turned around to glare at him. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

Tang Shuyu blinked and raised both hands. "Absolutely not. The moment I got the news, I came to find Xiao He!"

He Zhuoming stared at him without blinking—Tang Shuyu curved his eyes into a smile, face full of innocence.

He Zhuoming kept her face stern. "Don't you grin at me."

Tang Shuyu covered his mouth with his hand, hiding even the dimples at the corners of his mouth, leaving only his curved eyes showing. "Is this okay?"

He Zhuoming reached out and used her fingers to push Tang Shuyu's eyelids up, making his eyes go wide open.

He Zhuoming: "Your eyes aren't allowed to smile either!"

Tang Shuyu sighed. "Not allowed to smile however I try."

He Zhuoming put on a cold expression and replied, "Not allowed means not allowed. Why do you have so many questions!"

Right after saying this, He Zhuoming immediately regretted it. Because she herself thought the demand was too unreasonable and fussy—why was she being so unreasonable with Tang Shuyu?

Even between good friends, you couldn't act like that.

He Zhuoming pressed her lips together, let go of his eyelids, and said, "If you want to laugh, go ahead."

Tang Shuyu rubbed his eyelids, which had been stretched until they were sore, and asked, "So should I laugh or not?"

He Zhuoming deliberately didn't look at him. "Up to you. I'm not in charge of you."

As she spoke, she stopped walking quickly and instead shoved both hands into her jacket pockets, leaning obliquely against the wall.

But Tang Shuyu didn't speak either—he lowered his eyes with a smile, watching He Zhuoming, and had decided that he absolutely wouldn't say a word to her until she looked at him first.

He Zhuoming's gaze drifted aimlessly for a while, then finally wandered back to Tang Shuyu's face.

The moment their eyes met, she clearly saw Tang Shuyu's smile grow even brighter.

Tang Shuyu: "Remember last night..."

Before he could finish, He Zhuoming straightened up immediately, her fists clenched. She swallowed nervously, determined that if Tang Shuyu dared to bring up her presumptuous guess, she'd punch him right then and there.

Tang Shuyu noticed the change in her, but continued as if nothing were wrong. "...the tall tower that Qing Yang took you to."

He Zhuoming: "Mm... I remember."

Tang Shuyu said, "There might be clues to going home at the top of the tower."

He Zhuoming was taken aback. "Huh?"

Tang Shuyu smiled. "I happen to be free right now. Want me to accompany you to take a look inside?"

Her desire to go home temporarily outweighed the awkwardness, so He Zhuoming obediently followed Tang Shuyu to the tall tower.

From the outside, this tower looked absurdly tall—He Zhuoming couldn't even see where its top was.