No demons in all realms

Chapter 26 Old Friends

It took more than half a month to travel that route.

For more than half a month, Su Yang and Ye Qing traveled north, crossing one mountain after another and passing through one town after another.

Ye Qing still talked as much as ever, and Su Yang still talked as little as ever, but the awkwardness between the two gradually faded.

On the fifteenth day, Su Yang suddenly stopped. He tapped his bamboo cane on the open ground in front of him and then remained still.

Ye Qing was eating dry rations behind him and almost bumped into his back.

"What are you doing? Why did you suddenly stop?"

Su Yang did not answer. He stood there, facing forward, motionless.

Ye Qing looked in the direction he was looking, and there was a wide river in front of him. The river was wide and the current was gentle. The setting sun shone on the water, making it look like a layer of broken gold.

"This is the Canglan River." Su Yang's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself.

Ye Qing glanced at him. His expression remained the same, calm and indifferent, but she sensed something was different.

"Have you been here before?" Ye Qing asked.

"No!"

Actually, he came here before, many years ago.

He wasn't blind yet at that time. He was accompanied by a group of people, including his senior brother Yun Feng, Chen Luoluo, and other senior brothers and sisters. The group walked along the riverbank, laughing and joking. Some people flew in the sky on swords, some ran on the water, and some squatted on the bank to pick up stones and skip them.

He couldn't quite remember which year it was, but he remembered that the weather was fine that day, and a breeze was blowing across the river, carrying the fishy smell of the water and the fragrance of wildflowers on the bank. That smell was still so familiar.

"Little blind boy?" Ye Qing waved her hand in front of him. "What are you thinking about?"

Su Yang snapped out of his daze and shook his head.

"It's nothing," he said. "There's a town by the river; let's stay there tonight."

"How do you know there's a town by the river? Haven't you never been here before?"

Su Yang did not answer, but walked along the riverbank, leaning on his bamboo cane.

Ye Qing pursed her lips and followed.

There is indeed a town on the banks of the Canglan River. It is not a big town, but it is more lively than the ones we passed through before. The streets are paved with stone slabs, and there are all kinds of shops on both sides, selling food, cloth and sundries, one after another.

Before it was completely dark, the lanterns were already lit, a string of red and yellow lanterns, illuminating the whole street.

Su Yang walked down the street with a bamboo cane, while Ye Qing followed beside him, looking around so much that she could hardly take it all in.

"Little blind boy, little blind boy, look at that candied hawthorn seller over there!"

"I can't see."

"Oh right, I almost forgot." Ye Qing stuck out her tongue, "That candied hawthorn looked so delicious, all red and sprinkled with sesame seeds..."

Su Yang took out a few copper coins from his bundle and handed them over, "Go buy two strings."

Ye Qing paused for a moment, then took the candied hawthorns, ran over excitedly, and ran back excitedly, stuffing the two strings of candied hawthorns into Su Yang's hands.

"Here you go! One for you, one for me."

Su Yang took a bite of the candied hawthorn skewer; it was sweet and sour, just like the original.

"What's the name of this town?" Ye Qing asked while eating.

"Canglan Town," Su Yang said.

How did you know?

Su Yang still didn't answer. Ye Qing glanced at him but didn't press the matter.

In the past two weeks, she has learned that if Su Yang doesn't want to talk, you can't pry him out even with a stick. Instead of wasting that effort, it's better to wait until he wants to talk on his own.

The two walked for a short while before Su Yang used his bamboo cane to find an inn. The inn had a fairly large storefront, with two large lanterns hanging at the entrance bearing the words "Yuelai Inn".

"Let's go with this one," Su Yang said.

Ye Qing looked at the storefront, then at Su Yang, "This place doesn't look cheap."

"Didn't you say you had money on you?"

"I am rich, but not so rich that I can spend money recklessly."

"Then let's stay at the cheaper one."

Ye Qing bit her lip, looked around the inn, then at Su Yang's tattered clothes and his bandaged eyes, and suddenly said, "Okay, stay here. I'll treat you to a nice place."

Su Yang's lips twitched slightly. "You're treating me?"

"Yeah, I told you I'd treat you to the best of everything." Ye Qing patted her chest. "Today it's all on me, you just need to find a place to stay."

Su Yang did not refuse. Although he did not like owing favors, he had indeed owed Ye Qing quite a few favors in the past half month.

This girl may have a sharp tongue, but she's very thoughtful. She knew he didn't have much money, and she had paid for most of his food and lodging along the way. When he said he wanted to pay her back, she said, "Sure, just help me find a fiancé when we get to Wanjian Manor, and we'll be even."

Su Yang felt that no matter how you looked at it, he was losing out in this deal.

The two entered the inn. Ye Qing went to the counter to book a room. The innkeeper was a fat man in his forties, who was all smiles and spoke very politely.

"Gentlemen, would you like to have a meal or stay the night?"

"Check in, two superior rooms."

The innkeeper glanced at her, then at Su Yang leaning on his bamboo cane behind her, his smile unchanged. "Miss, we do have upper-class rooms, but the price..."

"How much?"

"One tael of silver per room."

Ye Qing's eyebrows twitched. One tael of silver per room, two rooms would be two taels. She calculated in her mind, gritted her teeth, and said, "Fine, two rooms."

Su Yang, listening from behind, frowned and said to Ye Qing, "One room will do. I'll sleep on the floor."

"It's not like I'm short of money. I'll treat you to two rooms."

"Alright! Numbers three and four, on the second floor, left side." The shopkeeper took the money and handed over the keys.

Ye Qing took the key, turned around and walked back, pulling Su Yang's sleeve as they went upstairs.

"Come on, little blind girl, I'll show you what the best inn is all about."

After settling in, the two found a corner in the lobby downstairs to sit down and eat.

The food at the inn was pretty good, with four dishes and a soup, including fish and meat, which was much better than the dry rations we ate on the road.

Ye Qing ate with her eyes squinted, saying "Delicious, delicious" even with her mouth full.

Su Yang ate slowly, one bite at a time, at a leisurely pace.

There were seven or eight tables of people sitting in the lobby, chatting and laughing, making a lot of noise. Su Yang ate while listening, which was his habit. Since he couldn't see, he had to use his ears even more.

"Senior sister, if we get caught drinking here by Master, won't we be severely punished?"

Su Yang paused for a moment with his chopsticks.

This voice... sounds familiar.

"It's okay, I'll take responsibility if anything happens."

A second voice came from behind; it was a woman's voice, not loud, but with an indescribable air of firmness.

Su Yang's hand, holding the bowl, froze in mid-air; he understood!

"I heard that Senior Sister Luo Luo often drinks here too."

"Don't mention that guy to me!"

Su Yang's chopsticks fell onto the table with a clatter.

Ye Qing was looking up from eating a chicken leg when she heard the sound. "What's wrong?"

Su Yang did not answer.

He sat there, motionless, as if frozen in place.

That voice...

He knew that voice all too well.

Some things never change: the tone of voice, that indomitable spirit, and that innate pride that comes from the bone.

"Xiao Yao?!" Su Yang's mind exploded, and he murmured to himself.

"If she hadn't insisted on seeking repayment from that venomous Medicine King Valley Saint, Junior Brother wouldn't still be missing!"

Immediately afterwards, he heard crying.

It wasn't a loud, wailing cry; it was the kind of crying where you cover your face and try to suppress your sobs.

He had heard that kind of crying before. In Qingniu Village, those children who had lost their parents would cry like that in the middle of the night, afraid to make a sound, afraid to be heard, afraid to be seen as weak.

Su Yang felt as if something was blocking his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Xia Lang, Jiang Liyan, and Xia Xiaoyao. During the years he spent at Wanjian Manor, this family treated him very well. Although Xia Lang was strict, he would always bring him delicious treats whenever he came back from outside. Those snacks and candies were things that couldn't be bought anywhere else. He couldn't bear to eat them and hid them under his pillow, only to have them snatched away by mice. He was heartbroken for days.

Jiang Liyan goes without saying. She has always taken meticulous care of him since he was a child.

As for Xia Xiaoyao... she was only five or six years old at the time, and didn't understand anything. She followed him around all day, calling him "little junior brother" all the time.

Later, he got into trouble and left Wanjian Manor. So many years have passed, and he thought that family had long forgotten him.

But they didn't; they kept looking for him.

"Fellow Daoist." Su Yang stood up.

Ye Qing was still chewing something when she looked up at him, her face blank.

Su Yang, leaning on his bamboo cane, walked towards the table, and the hall fell silent for a moment.

There were five people sitting at that table: four men and one woman, all around twenty years old.

The woman sat in the main seat, dressed in a light blue dress. She had a beautiful face, but her eyes were red and brimming with tears. On the table in front of her were a row of wine bowls, several of which were empty.

Su Yang walked to the table and stood still.

"Are you looking for someone?" Su Yang asked tentatively.

Xia Xiaoyao looked up at him and frowned when she saw that he was blind.

"It's none of your business."

Su Yang didn't pay attention to her tone.

"If you can't find it, why keep looking?" His voice was flat, as if he were talking about something very ordinary. "Perhaps our fate has run its course."

Xia Xiaoyao's eyes suddenly reddened.

It wasn't the red from crying, it was from anger.

"Who do you think you are?" She jumped up, shoving her chair back with a loud bang. "You're blind, what do you know? What gives you the right to spout nonsense?"

Several junior brothers nearby quickly pulled her back, "Senior sister, senior sister, don't be impulsive."

Xia Xiaoyao shook off their hands, stared at Su Yang, and tears began to well up in her eyes again.

"I've been searching for my junior brother for ten years!" Her voice trembled, it was hard to tell if it was from anger or tears. "Ten years! Do you know what ten years means? Do you know how my parents have endured these ten years?"

Su Yang did not speak.

"My junior brother is a genius!" Xia Xiaoyao's voice grew louder and louder, startling the guests at the other tables in the hall. "He could understand human speech when he was only two or three months old, and he reached the eighth level of the Bone Building Realm at the age of two or three. Everyone in the entire Ten Thousand Swords Manor praises him. He's so smart, so sensible, so obedient..."

Her voice suddenly choked, she covered her mouth with her hand, and her shoulders trembled.

"He's just gone like that." Her voice escaped through her fingers, hoarse and barely audible. "He was poisoned, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Can you understand how that feels?"

Su Yang stood there, leaning on his bamboo cane, motionless. His face was expressionless, but his hands were trembling.

"My mother's eyes are almost blind from crying." Xia Xiaoyao wiped away her tears, looked up at Su Yang, her eyes filled with hatred. She wasn't cursing Su Yang, but hating the person she couldn't find. "My father's hair has all turned white. He's only in his forties, and his hair is completely white."

Su Yang felt as if something was choking him. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.

"You're blind, you don't know anything." Xia Xiaoyao's voice turned cold. "Don't tell me that our fate has run its course. Let me tell you, as long as I live, I will keep searching."

Su Yang remained silent for a long time.

The lobby was quiet; everyone was watching the blind man and the girl with red, tear-filled eyes.

Ye Qing stood not far behind Su Yang, still holding half a chicken leg in her hand, but she wasn't eating it. She looked at Su Yang's back and his slightly trembling shoulders, and her heart suddenly ached.

"Perhaps," Su Yang finally spoke, his voice hoarse, "that person has said goodbye to the past and started a new life."

Xia Xiaoyao was stunned for a moment.

She looked at Su Yang for a long time.

"What did you say?"

"I'll say it," Su Yang's voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something, "Perhaps he's no longer the junior brother he used to be. He has his own path to walk, his own life to live. You... don't need to look for him anymore."

The lobby was deathly silent.

Xia Xiaoyao stared at Su Yang, at his eyes covered with gauze, at his young yet excessively weathered face, and at his calloused hands.

Her lips were trembling.

"you……"

Su Yang didn't wait for her to finish speaking.

He turned around, leaning on his bamboo cane, and walked step by step toward the door.

"Hey!" Xia Xiaoyao called out from behind.

Su Yang did not stop.

"Stop right there!"

Su Yang still didn't stop.

He walked to the door, pushed it open, and stepped out. Ye Qing was stunned for a moment, then dropped the chicken leg in her hand and quickly followed.

In the lobby, Xia Xiaoyao stood there, trembling all over. She didn't know why she was trembling. Was it because what the blind man said was too infuriating?

Or was it because...the blind man's silhouette reminded her of someone?

She couldn't explain it clearly.

"Senior sister, are you alright?" the junior brother next to her asked cautiously.

Xia Xiaoyao did not answer.

She stared at the closed door for a long time.

"That blind man..." she murmured, "the way he spoke...it sounded like someone..."