I Failed to Fake My Death After Scumming the Demon Lord [Transmigration] - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Qin Gu felt a lump in his throat, unsure whether to pretend not to notice or point it out directly.

Fortunately, the girl and her mother approached from the side. The little girl had sharp eyes and saw the wound on Ji Yun’s arm, and she shouted: “Big brother, you’re hurt! Ayun will put medicine on you!”

Qin Gu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed key plot points would correct themselves automatically.

Who would have thought Ji Yun would say stiffly: “I am not hurt.”

Qin Gu felt an urge to pinch his pressure points. Is now really the time to be trying to look tough? He said immediately: “Stop acting strong. I saw it.”

So, the girl named Ayun grabbed the reluctant Ji Yun and carefully applied medicine to him. The girl’s braided pigtails bobbed up and down: “Big brother, thank you for saving my daddy, mommy, and the uncles and aunts of the merchant caravan. You are so amazing, just like the one Ayun read about in the little storybooks!”

Qin Gu stood to the side, chatting with the caravan leader about this and that. Upon hearing this, he looked at Ji Yun with a smile.

Ji Yun noticed his gaze, then looked at his own bandage, which was quite conspicuous, and pursed his lips.

He felt a deep sense of shame that he could have been injured by lowly mountain bandits.

Qin Gu didn’t know what he was thinking, only that Ji Yun suddenly looked despondent, which left him very confused.

But soon, Ayun’s cheerful voice made him smile again. The little girl’s words were naive, filled with worship and longing. Even Qin Gu felt quite inspired after hearing them.

Common people, common people—so lovely.

He retracted his gaze, and the caravan leader happened to say: “Immortal Lord, your great kindness cannot be repaid. I have a tavern in the city. If you don’t mind, Immortal Lord, please come and sit for a while, and let me treat you to a glass of wine.”

Hospitality was hard to refuse. Qin Gu saw they had a lot of goods, but the horses pulling the cart had been killed by the bandits, making the group even more unable to move. Since he could give them a helping hand, he agreed.

The caravan leader happily ordered his men to pack up. On the other side, Ayun had finished bandaging Ji Yun, so he hoisted his daughter onto his shoulder and gestured to the two of them: “Immortal Lords, please this way!”

He led the way at the front.

Qin Gu used his sword to lift two loads of goods and carried them. In a few strides, he approached Ji Yun, who was staring blankly at the bandage, and asked the question he cared about most: “Junior Brother, what do you think of these commoners?”

Ji Yun thought for a moment: “Very good.”

Qin Gu was overjoyed and followed up: “Then do you have any special feelings?”

Like a feeling of body and mind at ease, clear meridians, or a surge in spiritual power?

Ji Yun was silent for a moment, his long eyelashes drooping, concealing the emotions in his eyes.

“Senior Brother,” he wrinkled his nose, “I am too weak.”

Qin Gu was utterly bewildered: “Yes, that is… what?”

By the time they walked into the tavern and were invited to the seat of honor by the caravan leader, Qin Gu still hadn’t reconciled his collapsing inner state.

What happened to feeling the warmth of human kindness from the little girl?

When he died in the real world, he was only a few months shy of twenty-five. Thus, counting it up, he was ten years older than Ji Yun. He couldn’t help but treat the other as a child, and at this moment, he couldn’t help but think:

What is this silly child struggling with himself for?

“Immortal Lord!” The caravan leader’s surname was Wang. Boss Wang stood up and poured wine for Qin Gu: “Immortal Lord, I will toast you both. Thank you for saving my whole family from disaster!”

Clear wine was poured into the cups, the fragrance of the wine hitting their noses;

Boss Wang filled a cup and directed the wine flagon toward Ji Yun, pouring enthusiastically.

A hand lightly pressed against the side of the flagon, stopping it after half a cup. Qin Gu swirled his wine cup: “My Junior Brother is still young, Boss Wang, why don’t you spare him?”

Boss Wang was stunned, then burst into hearty laughter: “You two little Immortal Lords are truly outstanding people. I accidentally treated you as elders, haha! Actually, I’m old enough to be your father—oops!”

He was kicked by his wife, who was sitting to the side, and he chuckled sheepishly.

Boss Wang was a straightforward man. Qin Gu didn’t feel he had been taken advantage of and couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

The group clinked glasses. The mellow, fragrant liquid went down their throats, burning all the way to their stomachs—it was truly excellent wine.

The wine was good. Qin Gu secretly rejoiced that he hadn’t let Boss Wang fill Ji Yun’s cup.

He was a person with a high tolerance for alcohol, but having not drunk for many years, he also found this wine quite呛 (choking);

Ji Yun had led a hard life in his family when he was young, and later focused entirely on cultivation, almost never going down the mountain, so he was likely a complete teetotaler.

Qin Gu coughed twice from the choking sensation, his face flushed for a moment: “Good wine! Boss Wang, you’ve gone to great expense.”

Looking at Ji Yun, a cup of wine had gone down, but nothing could be seen on his face, other than him frowning slightly, looking as if he’d been burned by the spice.

Amidst the laughter, dishes were served one after another. Qing County was wealthy and coastal; just sea fish alone, they served three types, not to mention the chicken, duck, and pork, and even stir-fried sea crabs, piling the table high.

Boss Wang implemented the “make the guests feel at home” policy thoroughly, dropping food into their bowls as soon as new dishes were served.

Qin Gu didn’t stand on ceremony. Cultivators in this world did not merely drink morning dew and sever human desires; as the saying goes, “Food is the bedrock of the people.” Qin Gu had never been one to shortchange himself in terms of appetite.

He ate elegantly, without getting a single drop of oil on his clothes or lips, yet his chopsticks moved as fast as lightning, leaving Ji Yun stunned.

Ji Yun involuntarily thought of Qin Gu before the amnesia—dressed in his high-and-mighty appearance in front of others, as if the smoke and fire of the human world would stain his pristine robes. There was never a time he was this grounded.

Noticing his gaze, Qin Gu turned his head, looked at the empty bowl in front of him first, and then, without further ado, placed a large piece of red-braised pork into Ji Yun’s bowl, calling it: “You’re growing, eat more.”

Ji Yun ate it with his head down, and Qin Gu withdrew his gaze, satisfied.

He felt that Ji Yun had relaxed a bit when facing him. This was a good thing, but according to the original story, Ji Yun was supposed to break through his realm tonight. If he couldn’t achieve it…

Would it affect the subsequent plot?

But letting Ji Yun experience the warmth of human kindness—it sounded simple, but when he tried to execute it, he found it truly too difficult. Even the little girl in the original story couldn’t do it, and he really couldn’t think of what to do.

Qin Gu rubbed his temples, feeling quite distressed.

Boss Wang had traveled all over the country for many years and always had an endless supply of fresh stories, and Qin Gu could always pick up on the conversation perfectly. After three rounds of drinks, they had progressed from “Immortal Lord” and “Boss Wang” to “Brother Qin” and “Brother Wang.”

Boss Wang was slightly drunk, his tongue heavy as he said: “I… feel like we’ve known each other for a lifetime! Your life-saving grace is… never to be forgotten… I don’t have other skills, but I have friends in merchant guilds everywhere. If there’s any place you need me in the future, just speak up. I, I will—break my head…”

Qin Gu looked at him gesticulating wildly and couldn’t help but laugh: “Breaking your head isn’t necessary. Thank you for your kind intentions, Brother Wang.”

“That won’t do! Must break! Must break!” Boss Wang stood up unsteadily and clinked glasses with him, “Brother Qin, when wine meets a soulmate, a thousand cups are too few. Let’s not go home until we’re drunk tonight!”

When Qin Gu heard that, that wouldn’t do at all. He shook his head hurriedly: “Brother Wang! My Junior Brother and I are in a rush to head back tonight. If we get drunk, we’ll be punished. How about this…”

Being in a rush to head back was, of course, nonsense. Qin Gu thought it over and felt it wouldn’t be right to dampen the man’s spirits: “I’ll accompany you for three more cups, how about that?”

Boss Wang wanted to struggle a bit more, but was pinched hard by his wife, and immediately nodded: “My wife is right to pinch me; I didn’t consider it carefully. Come, come, Brother Qin…”

Qin Gu reached out and pressed Ji Yun, who wanted to get up, back into his seat, and drank three full cups with a beaming smile. By the third cup, Boss Wang “thumped” onto his chair and fell into a deep sleep;

Qin Gu remained unmoved: “Hurry, help Brother Wang back to rest.”

The caravan members were all drunk and staggering. Boss Wang’s wife bowed to the two of them and dragged her snoring husband back to his room.

Ji Yun watched them leave, and Ayun waved at him with reluctance;

He turned his head back: “Senior Brother…”

But he saw Qin Gu, who had looked calm and composed just a second ago, stumbling while clutching his head the next second, scaring Ji Yun into reaching out to support him.

Looking closely, Qin Gu’s cheeks were flushed, his eyes moist, and even the tiny mole on his earlobe was a shade of pink—he was clearly drunk;

Ji Yun stared at that mole for a long time and said: “Senior Brother, you’re drunk. I’ll help you back.”

Fortunately, Qin Gu was very cooperative. Although he mumbled “I’m not drunk,” he was honestly led back to the room by him.

After helping him onto the bed and lying him down, Ji Yun intended to go out and ask for a bowl of hangover soup. He had seen fellow disciples get drunk, run around, and make a fool of themselves competing in doing somersaults on the training stage, and felt fortunate that Qin Gu wasn’t one of them.

Who would have thought that in the next second, a cold cry would come from behind him: “Ji Yun!”

Ji Yun’s steps halted. He looked back to see Qin Gu had sat up at some point, frowning and glaring at him: “Come here.”

Ji Yun was inexplicably nervous. He had heard about the idea that “drunk words are true words.” Although he believed that learning that Qin Gu’s previous actions were all a facade wouldn’t shake him, he still felt flustered.

He realized that he did not hope the Senior Brother before him was just a fake mask worn by the harsh and stern Qin Gu.

He walked to Qin Gu. Before he could even stand still, Qin Gu “sprang” up from the bed: “That day, on the training stage—how dare you?!”

That day on the training stage, when he had pleaded for Qin Gu, some people said they were deep in brotherhood, while busybodies had commented that Ji Yun was taking the opportunity to show off.

Rumors and gossip—it was impossible that Qin Gu hadn’t heard them.

Ji Yun felt a chill run through his whole body. Repressing his unease, he asked in return: “What?”

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