Chapter 8: A Little Bird*
Rong Zhao was momentarily stunned by this unexpected gesture. He lowered his eyes to look at Meng Zhifan's outstretched hand, the fierce, murderous aura between his brows faltered for an instant.
But soon, his focus snapped back to Shan Yin again.
With a sharp “snap”, the still-bloodied Rao Zhi Rou was transformed into a long sword, the undried blood splattered as he moved. A few drops accidentally landed on the corner of his eye, making Rong Zhao's eyes, making his gaze, already pitch-black, appear as still and lifeless as stagnant water.
Shan Yin felt a chill run down his spine under that stare.
Rong Zhao was a Venerable One on the verge of attaining the Dao and ascending to immortality, while Shan Yin only possessed 20% of his immortal essence. Even a slight hit would force him to pack his bags and crawl back to Fang Jiuhe.
"I just saw injustice... I meant no harm toward this... uh... Fellow Daoist Meng."
This explanation was utterly weak.
Rong Zhao didn't even blink. He joined two fingers together and slightly hooked them.
Countless strong, fine threads appeared out of thin air with a "whoosh," crisscrossing haphazardly, instantly sealing off all of Shan Yin's escape routes.
He slowly approached, carrying the blood-stained sword.
"I didn't..." Shan Yin tried to make one last desperate attempt to save himself.
In a flash, a hand reached out from the side and gently grasped Rong Zhao's wrist.
Shan Yin: "!?"
"He just saved me." Meng Zhifan, seemingly unaware that he was provoking a tiger, spoke gently, "Rong Zhao, can you let him go?"
This wasn't entirely untrue.
Initially, only a few people had been there, discussing how to split the spoils before the chaos erupted. If Shan Yin hadn't arrived in time, Meng Zhifan would have lost at least one arm.
Rong Zhao had never imagined that someone would dare to interrupt him while he was about to kill someone.
He slowly looked at the hand that was gripping his wrist, and after a long while, coldly said, "Are you telling me, the Venerable One, how to do things?"
"I am merely discussing the matter."
"I never discuss things with anyone."
Meng Zhifan still held his wrist tightly, and continued to ask unhurriedly, "Why must you take his life?"
Rong Zhao frowned.
He didn't need a reason to kill.
This was the first time someone had insisted on demanding an explanation from him.
Rong Zhao felt a surge of irritation, he pursed his lips as he recalled the scene of Meng Zhifan holding Shan Yin just now, intensifying the murderous intent in his heart.
"He touched what belongs to me." Rong Zhao felt that this reason was perfectly valid and reasonable, "Move aside."
Shan Yin squatted at the base of the wall, blinking innocently.
"Touched your things?" Meng Zhifan mused briefly before grabbing Rong Zhao's wrist and pulled him forward. "Like this?"
Venerable Rong was utterly dazed as he found himself pulled into an embrace.
He had just killed someone, and there was still blood on him.
He was the kind of person that everyone used to avoid and that would make people look at him with disdain.
The sword in his hand drooped listlessly, a few thin strands hanging lifelessly from his fingers. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be trembling slightly.
Meng Zhifan asked again, his voice soft, "like this?"
"...Yes." Rong Zhao finally recovered and tried to push him away, but somehow his hand slipped, instead of breaking free, he found his shoulder being firmly held
"You are my Dao companion. He touched you, so he deserves to die."
Although he spoke harshly, he lacked any real force.
The situation took a sudden turn, leaving Shan Yin stunned.
Was this really the infamous Lone Star of Calamity, that tyrannical, ruthless figure that killed without blinkig an eye? He looked so thin and frail, the way a mere mortal had just yanked him into an embrace made him truly weak.
Meng Zhifan thought so too.
He didn't find Rong Zhao particularly terrifying; at most, he just had a bad temper and wasn't very good at controlling his strength.
But then again, it was normal for cultivators to have a temper.
"Hmm, he deserved it." He stroked Rong Zhao's hair, soft and pleasent to touch, like the downy fur of a small animal. "So, Venerable One, are you jealous?"
Rong Zhao nodded.
He remembered that jealousy was something that Dao Companion should do, it could enhance their relationship.
"But he was just trying to save people, it was unintentional." Meng Zhifan lowered his head slightly and kissed his cheek. "If you stop killing people today, I'll teach you something that real Dao Companion should do, how about it?"
"I already know how."
"No, you don't." Meng Zhifan wiped the blood from the corner of his eye with his fingertip, then kissed the tip of his nose, his voice was soft and gentle, his breath warm and wet on his face. "You've never kissed me like this before, you only ever stick close to me."
Rong Zhao: "..."
Rong Zhao felt a little ticklish from the kiss. He pushed him away, and rubbed the ground with the tip of his blood-stained boot, and cast a resentful glance at Shan Yin.
"I'll let him go, but what if you are lying to me?
Meng Zhifan's eyes curved into a smile, a glimmer of light shimmering within them.
"I'm just a mortal, powerless to even kill a chicken. If I'm lying, Your Excellency can simply take me back to Cuiyu Mountain, imprison me, and then come back to finish the job."
It made perfect sense.
Rong Zhao was somewhat swayed.
"But I don't know who he is. If he escapes, finding him will be a huge hassle."
Meng Zhifan glanced at Shan Yin and said, "He introduced himself; I know who he is."
The Venerable Rong was skeptical: "You're willing to tell me?"
"There's no food on the mountain. If Your Excellency just starves me for a few days, I'll tell you everything."
In that case, everything was under control.
Rong Zhao pondered for a moment, finally abandoning his plan to kill, instead, he happily took Meng Zhifan's hand: "Then let's go. I've rented a boat by the lake; I'll take you out for a boat ride."
Shan Yin watched the scene unfold, speechless.
He clutched the wild goose jade pendant hidden in his sleeve, unsure how to describe the current complicated situation to Fang Jiuhe.
Ming Chen's avatar not only became a flesh-bodied spirit mushroom, but was also forced to become Rong Zhao's Dao Companion. Sometimes he was imprisoned on the mountain, and even starved…
Inhuman, utterly inhuman!
But he couldn't defeat Rong Zhao, nor could he summon the frail and sickly Fang Jiuhe down to the mortal realm.
Just as he was mulling this over, he suddenly saw Meng Zhifan secretly give him a wink, and he snapped out of his daze, realizing his life was in someone else's hands. He was barely able to protect himself, let alone worry about anything else.
So he quickly left.
Meng Zhifan withdrew his gaze, took Rong Zhao's hand, and left this place of trouble, walking straight ahead.
"Where are you going?" Rong Zhao reminded him. "This isn't the way to the lake."
"No rush to go boating." Meng Zhifan stepped over the gravel, walked through two alleys, found a well. He skillfully rolled up his sleeves and drew a bucket of water. "Wash yourself."
Rong Zhao didn't react immediately: "Wash what?"
Meng Zhifan bent down to scoop up some water and quickly washed his face, then took out a cotton handkerchief from his pocket, wet it, wrung it out, and went to wipe Rong Zhao's hands.
Rong Zhao quickly withdrew his hand and put it behind his back.
Meng Zhifan paused, looked up and asked, "Aren't you going to wipe them?"
"You..." Rong Zhao frowned, "Do you think I look scary with blood on me?"
"No."
Meng Zhifan was telling the truth.
A little blood was nothing, how could that possibly compare to those terrifying cultivators who wanted to dismember Flesh-bodied Spirit Mushroom and use it to refine pills.
Although he hadn't yet figured out why Rong Zhao wanted a Dao Companion, he was indeed being properly protected from being coveted and skinned alive.
Therefore, he didn't dislike Rong Zhao.
Rong Zhao wasn't satisfied with this answer and said, "You made me wipe my hands, isn't because you think this Venerable One is terrifying when he kills people... um."
Meng Zhifan simply wiped the man's face with a cotton handkerchief, cutting off the rest of his words.
"What nonsense are you thinking?" he laughed. "Is being clean a heinous crime in your eyes?"
Rong Zhao: "..."
His mortal seemed to be growing increasingly bold, yet he himself had indulged it, so he couldn't exactly kill him for it.
Rong Zhao was a little unhappy.
He lowered his eyelids listlessly, once Meng Zhifan had finished wiping his hands clean, he suddenly asked, "What about my clothes?"
"What clothes?" Meng Zhifan emptied the bucket of bloody water. "Did you bring a change of clothes?"
"No, but my clothes are dirty too."
"You can change when we get back." Meng Zhifan folded the handkerchief and tucked it away, casually brushing away a drop of water clinging to Rong Zhao's eyelashes with his fingertip. "It's quite far from Cuiyu Mountain, isn't it? It'll delay our lake tour. If you have any magic to cover it up, just use that so you don't scare the others."
"Okay."
Venerable Rong's spirit instantly lifted.
So it really was just washing his hands and face after the fight.
It made sense. Of course, how could those mortals who faint at the slightest sight of gore ever be worthy of being his Dao Companion? Only a mortal like Meng Zhifan was qualified to be kept on Cuiyu Mountain.
Rong Zhao once again felt that his eye for choosing a mortal was excellent.
Excellent.
-
As the saying goes, a fall into a pit is a gain in your wit.
After losing his mortal once, Rong Zhao learned his lesson and no longer let his mortal wander around behind him. Instead, he held his hand and walked together.
"Rong Zhao."
The mortal suddenly called out to him.
Rong Zhao was puzzled and stopped, turning to look at him.
"Walk slower." Meng Zhifan took half a step forward to stand beside him and whispered, "Look at all the couples walking on the street, they're all walking side by side, so affectionate. You... look like you're walking a dog."
Rong Zhao observed the scene.
It did seem that way.
So imitating the affectionate behavior of a couple who had just passed by, he took Meng Zhifan's arm, pulled him over, and said, "Lean on my shoulder."
Meng Zhifan: "..."
Meng Zhifan subtly hinted, "I'm a little taller than you, it's not easy for me to lean on you."
A little was an understatement.
That kind of delicate posture, like a little bird was really hard to imitate.
"But you can lean on my shoulder." Meng Zhifan offered a suggestion, and even demonstrated, pulling him a little, "Like this."
Caught of guard, Rong Zhao stumbled, looking every bit like the delicate, helpless little bird, right into Meng Zifan's arms.
TL notes:
The tittle 小鳥依人 is an idiom that literally means (as cute and helpless as) a little bird that must rely on human in order to survive. It means to describe the appearance of someone who is cute, delicate and dependant upon others.
