NEBM Chapter 27.4: Traveling Together

The place that bought and sold mounts was very lively. There were all kinds of mounts, with fairy cranes and civet cats being the most common. There were also docile spiritual rabbits and flying horses, spiritual tigers and snakes, and even turtles and flying fishes.

Shen Zhixian fancied a flying fish. The flying fish, as its name suggested, was a fish that could fly in the air. It had a thick and broad back with a normal sized surface perfect for seating two or three people.

The man selling mounts vigorously called, “Come, come, buy these! They’re super fast, super stable, and can fly. On your journey, you can look at the scenery below and see how lively it is…The most important thing is that they’re safe! I’ve sold many flying fishes for so many years, and I haven’t heard of a fall yet!”

Shen Zhixian’s heartbeat picked up. “Can ordinary people sit?”

Having his words interrupted, the seller froze. He looked at Shen Zhixian up and down, seizing him up, before he realized. “Ah, I thought you were a disciple from a big sect who came out to gain experience. You look very handsome… You can, you can! My flying fishes are very well-behaved and obedient. Ordinary people definitely can sit! ”

Flying fishes will grow bigger when needed. Normally, they would remain shrank down to a fist sized mini-fish inside a water orb. The seller groped about and retrieved a water orb with a sea blue flying fish inside. He said “Hey!” and tossed the water orb up, shouting, “Come out!”

The flying fish broke through the water orb and suddenly inflated, becoming large. It floated neatly beside Shen Zhixian, and the two big eyes on it’s flat face turned slowly, looking…rather cute.

Shen Zhixian touched its head and the flying fish spit out a bunch of small bubbles at him, which popped against his hand. The two long whiskers on the sides of its face curled up quietly to touch Shen Zhixian’s hand before retracting shyly.

Shen Zhixian watched it happily and felt for his bag of spirit stones, boldly declaring, “I’ll buy it!”

The boss made a big business transaction as soon as it opened today and couldn’t stop laughing, unable to conceal his happiness. After all, the price of flying fish was not low! He looked at this straightforward customer and repeatedly said, “Good, good. Magnanimous guest, I’ll throw in a plush blanket! The sky is high and it can get windy. What else does the customer need?”

Shen Zhixian looked at Yan Jin, knowing that he probably had little money. He said, “What do you want to buy? Just choose it.”

The boss looked at Yan Jin enthusiastically, but Yan Jin shook his head and calmly said, “It’s not safe for you to sit alone on the flying fish. I’ll sit with you.”

The boss’s expression quickly became crestfallen.

Shen Zhixian thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he didn’t force it. He was fairly confident that he wouldn’t meet with any trouble. However, he knew that he couldn’t use spiritual power so he’d brought a lot of things for protection, just in case.

Half an hour later, the two of them were sitting on the flying fish and heading south.

The reason why Shen Zhixian chose the flying fish was because he wanted to experience what an aircraft would be like in an immortal cultivating world. After all, when flying on a modern airplane and looking at the clouds through the window, there was always a sense of surrealism.

Half a quarter of an hour after climbing on to the flying fish, the originally spirited and enthusiastic Shen Zhixian whole-heartedly regretted it.

Flying–too–high–wind–very–strong–ah!

Shen Zhixian looked down and his long-hidden fear of heights suddenly reared it’s ugly head. In truth, his fear of heights was not very serious and would be fine so long as he was flying in an airplane or climbing a mountain with railing, and so on. As long as he knew there was something in place to prevent his fall, he wouldn’t be afraid.

But now…

He was terrified of the empty open space all around. There was nothing to hold on to should he fall.

Shen Zhixian was scared and a little regretful. He inched closer to Yan Jin, eyes affixed to the distance, pretending to be perfectly calm.

Yan Jin was keenly aware of the changes in his state of mind and, after thinking about it, he snapped his fingers. A faint pop sounded and suddenly, a dome-like barrier covered the fish from corner to corner.

The cold wind immediately disappeared. Shen Zhixian was surprised for a moment, then he subconsciously turned to look at Yan Jin and found that, at some point in time, Yan Jin had moved closer to his side, sitting in a protective posture next to him, within easy reach.

As long as he turned his head and raised his hand, he would be able to touch him.

They were too close, making Shen Zhixian felt a little uncomfortable. He coughed slightly, and when Yan Jin looked at him, his piercing gaze seemed to be acutely aware of Shen Zhixian’s fear. Yan Jin said, “Don’t be afraid”

The words came out in a gentle, soothing tone.

Shen Zhixian suddenly felt that his lofty image of a elder—well, an elder cousin—had completely shattered.

He coughed again and decided to create the image of a good older cousin who cares for his junior cousin. He asked with a smile, “How have you been in recent years?”

Yan Jin looked at him silently for a moment, unable to understand what he was doing. But, since Master asked, he also truthfully said, “Very good. Master treats me very well. Just that…”

Shen Zhixian’s smile grew stiff. He suddenly didn’t want to listen to the second half of Yan Jin’s statement. However, Yan Jin didn’t give him an opportunity to interrupt and smoothly went on with the rest of his words.

“It’s just that Master is not well. But, he doesn’t like to drink medicine. He always adds a lot of sugar when drinking elixir. Fourth Elder said that this is not good and that it would destroy the medicine. But, Master always adds it secretly. I also tried to advise against it but…”

Shen Zhixian: “………”

Shen Zhixian: “???? ”

Just talk about yourself. Who permitted you to secretly roast your Master instead?!!!

Those elixirs were so unpleasant to drink and yet, they still wouldn’t allow him to even add sugar in secrecy!!!

Shen Zhixian tried his best to control his hand so it wouldn’t inadvertently knock on the villain’s head. He turned angrily to look at the scenery, unwilling to talk to Yan Jin anymore.

There was now a barrier all around him so he felt safe, and his fear of heights completely retreated.

Yan Jin looked at Shen Zhixian’s dark head, pursed his lips, and a slight smile flickered across his eyes.

………………..

They flew south the whole day and didn’t see many people, only mountain after mountain.

Fortunately, this morning, Shen Zhixian deliberately bought two storage bags, one for Yan Jin and one for himself.

The one for Yan Jin was, of course, a special immortal cultivator’s storage bag, which could hold many things and store food for a short period of time. The one he bought for himself was a storage bag for ordinary people. Although it wasn’t able to store much, at least it could be opened without using spiritual power.

He originally had a high-quality storage bag filled with all kinds of things that ordinary people wouldn’t have. However, now that Yan Jin was traveling with him, he was not willing to use it.

He could only buy an ordinary one for himself.

Yan Jin took out a pastry they’d bought in the morning, dipped it in a little bit of water, and warmed it with a touch of spiritual power before handing it over to Shen Zhixian.

Shen Zhixian took two bites and stopped eating.

Yan Jin held the snack and asked in a low voice, “Eat a bit more?”

Shen Zhixian shook his head and refused. The pastry was not very delicate. After taking two bites, he’d grown tired of it. He preferred to eat the candied fruits, which were quite delicious .

Yan Jin pursed his lips and put the pastry away.

After eating delicious food, Shen Zhixuan was in a good mood. Since the road was long, it was not troublesome that they were both sitting next to each other. He once again began to talk.

This time, he deliberately avoided any topics regarding their identity and instead, idly talked about funny things he’d heard or witnessed in the past. Anyway, before he’d transmigrated into this book, he used to travel a lot, filling his stomach with the sights and sounds of the world. As a result, Yan Jin’s attention was transfixed as he listened.

Probably without the constraint of his identity within Qingyun Sect, without his fear of the high altitudes, and with his eyes opened to the clear sky, his mind also widened. It caused Shen Zhixian to revert back into his old profession. He clapped and sang:

“A young man drunkenly singing on a horse, outside where the clouds and rivers and mountains met. A scattering of aged, elegant letters upon a platform desk, accompanied by wine and the sinking moon. The deep, tranquil moonlight radiantly overlooked the childe lazily resting his head on a calm night boat, like ash-gray smoke spilling out into the stars and trailing along a vast river.”

He sang for a while, comfortable and relaxed. Finally, he squinted his eyes and turned back to smile at Yan Jin. He said, “This scenery is infinitely good. I can’t help it so don’t mind it.”

Yan Jin shook his head. There was a gleam in his eyes, which flickered like the brightest stars against the backdrop of a night sky.

They flew all the way like this into the late evening. Finally, the flying fish descended and took them to a small town.

The small town looked tiny and wasn’t as lively as the few towns near Qingyun Sect. Because it was getting dark, everyone was sitting at home for dinner and there were very few people still lingering on the streets.

Shen Zhixian held the flying fish, which had become smaller, while Yan Jin carried Xiao Caoya on his shoulder. The two of them walked together, planning to rest here for the night.

But who knew that when they just walked into the long street, a childish “daddy” suddenly rang out. Out of nowhere, a four to five year old child rushed over, his voluminous body full of strength.

He hugged Shen Zhixian’s leg, raised his head, and shouted, “Daddy.”

Shen Zhixian froze for a moment, unable to respond. But, Yan Jin looked unexpectedly calm as he softly said, “So it turns out that Sui Xian already has a child?”

——————
Xixi: The lyrics that SZX was singing was from an ancient-style song that, if translated literally, is called “Hearsay” by HITA and Audio Monster, both of whom were supposedly pretty well known in the Chinese ancient style circle. I probably butchered the poetic lyrics, so my apologies for any inaccuracy. Between researching and figuratively scratching my head in confusion as I tried to make sense of the seemingly jumbled, descriptive phrases, this tiny paragraph almost took me an hour to translate. (ʘᗩʘ’) In hindsight, it probably wasn’t worth it, but I wanted to put in my best effort. Here’s the < link > to the song if you want to listen to it… ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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Anonymous

5 years ago

Yan Jin taking the opportunity to get closer to Shen Zhixian and roast him at the same time was both unexpected and hilarious to me. I predict he's going to try his best to get as close to his gege as he can (while learning about all the sides to Shen Zhixian that he doesn't already know) and eat as much tofu as possible before Shen Zhixian figures out that he's been found out.
– XF