Chapter 218: The Hustle and Bustle of the Mortal World

A summer night, early Hai hour.

It was the busiest time in the South Market of Central Heaven. Ding Suian and Xu Jiuxi walked through the dilapidated streets, and the noise rushed toward them.

Under patched felt tents sat laborers and porters, bare-chested and shirtless.

The boiling white steam from iron pots carried the peculiar, gamey smell of offal, mixing with the charred aroma of baked sesame cakes from next door to create a strange scent.

An old woman carried a bamboo basket, hawking steamed cakes, while a child held a bamboo stick skewered with fried cicada nymphs, pushing them on customers at each table.

Xu Jiuxi’s rouge-colored skirt hem brushed past a puddle of dirty water. Looking at the swirling smoke and fire, though she didn’t show any sign of disgust, she said in surprise, “I thought you were going to take me for some delicacy. To think it’s a place like this~”

“Heh, when I was a kid, to come to this South Market, I often had to take two beatings just to earn a good meal.”

“What kind of logic is that?”

Xu Jiuxi didn’t seem to understand the logic. Ding Suian smiled silently. “First, I’d make my father angry. After he finished beating me, it wouldn’t take long for him to regret it. To coax me, he’d bring me to the South Market. But this depended on his mood; sometimes, even after getting beaten, I wouldn’t get a good meal—the beating was for nothing. Generally speaking, the harder the beating, the higher the chance of coming to the South Market~”

“Pfft~ You really risked your life for a bite to eat.”

As they spoke, Ding Suian brought Xu Jiuxi to a cramped shop front. The owner was a middle-aged man wearing an apron that had lost its original color. “Customers, what can I get you~”

Noticing people standing at his stall, the man, who had been busy looking down, looked up to greet them. The moment he saw who it was, the formulaic smile on his face instantly became much warmer. “Yo! Brother An is here!”

“Hey, Uncle Fusheng, two bowls of wontons and two oil cakes~”

“Coming right up. Sitting inside or outside?”

“Outside. We’ll find a place ourselves, you just keep busy~”

Ding Suian found an empty table. Seeing that the two low stools were uneven, he naturally bent down, picked up a piece of broken brick, and wedged it under the shortest leg. He shook it with his hand to make sure it was steady before looking up at Xu Jiuxi. “Sit.”

Xu Jiuxi was slightly surprised. She had seen Ding Suian’s sharp and imposing side, and his cunning and annoying side, but this was the first time she had seen him so attentive and considerate.

Her gaze lingered on the worn, smooth stool for only a moment before she lifted her skirt and sat down calmly.

Ding Suian, having just sat down opposite her, saw her lifting her skirt and couldn’t help but recall how she liked to take shortcuts and go out without undergarments. Although her long skirt wouldn’t expose anything, he still leaned in and whispered, “Tuck your skirt in, don’t expose yourself.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Jiuxi pursed her lips and smiled, then imitated his posture, leaning her upper body forward and whispering, “What’s wrong? If I’m seen by others, does Young Master get jealous?”

“Heh~ Not a chance. You, a teacher from the Law Academy, walking the streets without undergarments—if people found out, it would be the State Religion losing face.”

A man and a woman, one handsome and one beautiful, arriving together in this poor, narrow alley, were incredibly eye-catching.

At the neighboring stall, several bare-chested men kept glancing their way. They whispered to each other, occasionally giggling, looking eager to come over and strike up a conversation.

Ding Suian and Xu Jiuxi both saw it, but neither took it to heart.

Without bragging, if the two of them joined forces, there weren’t many people in the entire Central Heaven city worth fearing, let alone a few idlers.

But Uncle Fusheng, standing behind the wonton stall, grew nervous. He quickly called out loudly, “Brother An, at the beginning of the year, I heard from Head Ding that you were transferred back to our Central Heaven and promoted to Dutou of the Vermilion Bird Army?”

“Mm, yes, just transferred back.”

Ding Suian turned back and replied with a chuckle.

The idlers at the next table heard this and quickly averted their wandering eyes.

Just then, a young girl carrying a large bamboo basket came running back from a distance, the empty bowls in the basket clattering.

She was about twelve or thirteen, as thin as a bean sprout, sweat dampening the hair on her forehead.

“Dad, I’ve collected the bowls from the watchman Liu’s family in Zhimao Lane!”

She called out crisply. Her gaze shifted, and she froze, her eyes instantly lighting up. “Brother An!”

She took two steps forward involuntarily, but her joyful expression froze again when she saw Xu Jiuxi, and her bright, sparkling eyes instantly dimmed.

“Stinky Girl, Stinky Girl~ Come over and take Brother An’s wontons over.”

“Oh~”

Stinky Girl pouted as she replied, turned around, and walked back to the stall. Her muttering was faintly audible, “Dad! How many times have I told you, don’t call me by my childhood nickname, call me by my full name, Zhao Roujia!”

A few seconds later, Stinky Girl carefully walked over, carrying the brimming wontons with both hands.

Xu Jiuxi was rarely so helpful, but she reached out, wanting to take them from her early to avoid her getting burned.

Unexpectedly, Stinky Girl gave her an unhappy look and muttered, “Since when does a woman eat before a man~”

After saying this, she placed the bowl steadily in front of Ding Suian, her expression already changed. “Brother An, I added extra coriander and seaweed, just the way you like it.”

Before Ding Suian could thank her, she fluttered back behind the stall like a little butterfly and brought a clay jar from in front of Uncle Fusheng. “I’ll add extra sesame oil for you, it’s fragrant.”

Stinky Girl scooped a spoonful, felt it wasn’t enough, scooped another, still felt it wasn’t enough, and scooped again.

A jin of small-mill sesame oil cost nearly a tael of silver. Usually, Uncle Fusheng measured it by the drop. Seeing his daughter being so wasteful, he felt a pang of pain and shouted, “Hey, hey! That’s enough, that’s enough! Too much, it’ll be too greasy~”

“Enough, really enough.”

Only when Ding Suian spoke did Stinky Girl stop. She then shot a provocative glance at Xu Jiuxi and walked back, holding the jar with satisfaction.

Xu Jiuxi was almost amused to the point of laughter. She couldn’t help but glance sideways at Ding Suian, her tone teasing, “Young Master of the Ding Family, you are quite popular with the young girls~”

As soon as she finished speaking, Stinky Girl returned with her bowl. With a soft ‘thump’, she dropped it directly onto the table, splashing some soup out. It was a stark contrast to the gentleness she showed Ding Suian.

“…”

Now, Xu Jiuxi was really getting annoyed.

“Sister Jiuxi, I only realized tonight, you are actually this beautiful!”

Ding Suian’s gaze was burning, his expression sincere.

Xu Jiuxi was stunned, bewildered by his sudden compliment.

Immediately after, she realized. This brat was afraid she would be annoyed by that little girl’s hostility and cause trouble for the father and daughter later, so he used this tactic to divert her attention.

Thinking of this, her slight anger dissipated. She said haughtily, “I am a dignified Sect Leader, why would I lower myself to the level of a wet-behind-the-ears little girl?”

Seeing she wasn’t angry, Ding Suian immediately returned to his lazy demeanor. “You still remember you’re a Sect Leader? Going out without undergarments~”

“Get lost! I want to~”

Xu Jiuxi cursed, then looked around and said with feeling, “In the past, I was single-mindedly cultivating to become a Dragon. Looking at all these living beings, I always felt their faces were blurred, like ants bustling about, only struggling and fighting for a bite to eat, knowing neither joy nor anger, sorrow nor happiness, let alone pursuing a personality.”

Her gaze landed for a moment on Stinky Girl, who was secretly watching her. “Now it seems, I was the shallow one. The marketplace is very vibrant, not lacking in wisdom, and even more so in clear likes and dislikes~”

The ‘wisdom’ she spoke of was likely Uncle Fusheng’s seemingly casual greeting about ‘transferring back to Central Heaven’, which had erased a potential conflict into nothingness.

The clear likes and dislikes naturally referred to the skinny little girl, Stinky Girl, who dared to show her affection for Ding Suian without reservation, as well as her displeasure toward her ‘love rival’ Xu Jiuxi.

Ding Suian held a spoon, scooped up a wonton, blew on it, and said lazily, “Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are not the exclusive privileges of nobles and cultivators. Sect Leader Xu, you’ve become detached from the masses~”

Xu Jiuxi thought about it and actually nodded in agreement. “This human world is actually quite interesting~”

“Right! Even if you asked me to achieve Immortal Ascension, I wouldn’t go. It’s more comfortable rolling around in the Mortal World~” Ding Suian took a bite of the oil cake and said vaguely, “I just don’t understand, why does Sect Leader Xu keep thinking about becoming a Dragon and flying to the sky? If you become a Dragon, can you still eat such delicious wontons and oil cakes?”

Xu Jiuxi glanced at him sideways, a haughty expression appearing on her bewitching face. “How can the swallows and sparrows understand the ambitions of the swan? What I seek is to transcend this world, to obtain great freedom and great liberation. How could I be like you, wallowing in this mere human fireworks, content to be a frog in a well!”

You’re a monster, what are you acting so haughty for?

“Tch~ Even if you become a Dragon, even if you obtain freedom and liberation, you’ll still be a free and liberated Dragon without undergarments~”

“Get lost!”