Proofread by Zhu Yuan
This was the first time for me to see the prosperity of the mortal world. Cities there were prosperous, where elegant buildings could be found everywhere, and on the streets, there was an incessant stream of horses and carriages. People came and went, all intoxicated with the bustles of the world.
I marveled at such a lively scene, which I had never seen before in Green Mound and Qiyun Mountain. Different from the solemn atmosphere of the Qiyun Mountain, this world was beautiful and neatly arranged. Bai Xiaoshan had visited the world many times, so he was not surprised at all. When we walked on the street, he was full of pride, and I bet he had forgotten that he was a pheasant. He also despised me, an old goblin who had never seen the world before. He thought that I lost the face of the demonic group.
"Xiaoshan, you see! There are all kinds of delicious food and interesting gadgets over there. Let"s go and have a look!" All of a sudden, I saw a group of people gathering nearby. It seemed that an acrobatics show was going on. On the street, there were many stalls with lots of snacks and toys. I was overwhelmed by the dazzling array of things.
"How dare you say that you didn"t like this world since you haven"t been there before! Your lie is nailed to the counter so easily!" Bai Xiaoshan looked askance at me with a mocking look.
"Are you going or not?" I winked at him and pretended that I was innocent.
"No! What are the wonderful things about acrobatics? I"m hungry, and I want to eat." Bai Xiaoshan refused to go with me and went directly to a restaurant nearby.
I stamped my feet and said bitterly, "I can go alone without you!"
"Don"t get lost!" Bai Xiaoshan said to me suddenly and then went into the restaurant without looking back.
I twitched my mouth and knew that Bai Xiaoshan was a heartless and ruthless person. I didn"t want to argue with him. I walked slowly toward the acrobatics show and picked up a pear to eat when pa.s.sing a pear stall.
"Hey! Young lady, you haven"t paid me yet!" the owner of the stall followed me hurriedly and shouted.
I froze for a moment, and then recalled that Bai Xiaoshan once told me that food in the mortal world must be paid. The problem was that I had no money with me, so I pointed at the restaurant behind me and said: "Go inside the restaurant and find Bai Xiaoshan for money!"
Having said that, I continued to move forward. The owner of the pear stand was stunned. It took him some time to realize that he didn"t know who Bai Xiaoshan was at all. Then he caught up with me hastily, grabbed my sleeve and didn"t let me go. He looked at me anxiously as if I had robbed him of all the pears. "Young lady, I don"t know Bai Xiaoshan, and you should pay me by yourself. It"s not expensive! It"s only two pence!"
I felt a little helpless. I didn"t have any money with me, let alone two pence. I looked around and found several bystanders rubbernecking. As a fox demon I had never been humiliated like that in the past two thousand years. Well, I used to lose my face as a demon. And this time, I felt a little embarra.s.sed.
"I really don"t have any money, and I ask you to find Bai Xiaoshan." I thought about it for a long time and felt that I should be calm, so I chose to tell the truth.
"Hey, since you don"t have any money, why did you take my pear? How dare you lie to me and ask me to find someone else? You onlookers should come and comment on this. Who can take other"s pear without paying any money?" Hearing what I said, the owner was suddenly irritated and shouted loudly.
More and more people gathered around us and pointed at me, saying something that made me unhappy.
I felt somehow depressed, because I hated being surrounded by so many people. They looked at me and treated me like a monster. This made me very uncomfortable.
"I"ll pay for her." As I was about to get angry, I suddenly heard a voice that sounded just like heavenly music.
I looked up subconsciously, and this glance almost robbed me of my breath. I saw a tall man standing upright in black clothes. With his hair tied by a jade crown, the handsome face was clearly presented to me. He stood there and brought forth a dazzling radiance with him. The calmness and serenity served as the essence of his impressive temperament. He was like the moon or the lotus, transcendent from vulgarity, and somehow showed out the majestic demeanor. It seemed that he was the fairy fallen from the heaven, gentle and nonchalant. Especially his eyes, they were too clear to be the eyes of ordinary people.
I lowered my eyes slightly and found that for a moment I didn"t dare to look at his face, as if to take a second look was blasphemy to the G.o.d. However, I soon calmed down. Although the onlookers were as surprised as me, I still deeply despised myself and thought that I, a fox demon who had lived for two thousand years, shouldn"t have any sense of inferiority towards a human being.
So I calmed down, pulled out my sleeve from the hands of the stunned vendor, turned around and walked slowly to the man in black clothes. I held his arm with a shy but sweet smile, and said to the vendor: "Who didn"t pay for your pear? My husband gave you the money, didn"t he?"
"This is indeed a misunderstanding. I hope you can forgive my blindness, Madam." The owner finally regained his presence, looked at the silver ingot in his hands, smiled and bowed respectfully.
At this moment, I deeply understood the importance of money. Alas, I just forgot to bring money with me and was unexpectedly despised by a group of mortal people! That was my mistake!
"It"s really a misunderstanding. My wife always forgets to bring money with her when she goes out." The man explained to the vendor, and what he said was actually a public humiliation for me.
Seeing that there was no more fun, the onlookers soon went on their own journey. The vendor also finally realized that he was very unwise to leave the whole stand behind only for two pence, so he rushed back to his pears.
I looked at the man beside me and thought, either in the human world or the celestial world, there was no such a handsome person. Resisting the desire to take him with me, I slowly took my hand back and glanced at his face, which was even more delicate than that of Bai Xiaoshan. I expressed my grat.i.tude to him: "Thank you for your help. I am very grateful."
I didn"t hear any response, but I didn"t care about him either. I continued to walk forward cheerfully. A pear wouldn"t affect my good mood. Soon I forgot what happened just now, and of course, forgot the teaching of Bai Xiaoshan to pay for the food. I continued to pick up what I liked. By the time I realized that I made mistakes, I had tasted almost all the foods on the street.
I looked at the small clay figurine in my hand and swallowed secretly. I turned back guiltily and wondered whether all the vendors on the street were waiting for me to be attacked.
However, to my surprise, it was the man in black clothes that stood behind me. He stood there quietly, and his eyes were still pure and clear. He looked at me without any words, and it seemed that all the other things in the world were irrelevant to him.
Finding myself almost bewitched by him again, I immediately lowered my eyes and pretended to cough. Without any thinking, I piped up: "Was that you, my husband, who paid for me? Thank you so much!"
He didn"t expect that I would suddenly speak like that. He was dazed for a while and then smiled. His smile was as captivating as the stars twinkling in the night sky.
"You are welcome, my lady!"
Hearing his words with a bit of ridicule, I instantly realized that I had called him "my husband" again. I despised myself and smiled, "I will let Bai Xiaoshan return the money I owe you."
I didn"t know if it was my illusion that he suddenly showed a kind of dismay, and then said in a low voice, "Li, why do you treat me like this…"
His voice was too low. I seemed to hear him say my name "Li" as if in a trance, but I was not sure about it. I just looked up at him and asked doubtfully "What did you say? Do we know each other?"
"What do you think? Do you think we know each other?" He asked, eager to know my answer.
I tilted my head and tried to recall something about him. I was sure that I had never seen a man with such a powerful aura before. I shook my head with certainty and said innocently: "I"m sorry, but I don"t know you."
His eyes dimmed at once, but immediately they regained the purity. He smiled faintly and whispered, "You really forget all about it ..."
I found that this guy was not talking to me at all; otherwise I would be able to catch his words easily. So I went straight to the point: "Why are you following me?"
However, when I looked up, there was no one in front of me. I couldn"t help but blink. Was him a demon? No wonder he looked so handsome. But I didn"t perceive any demonic smell. I thought for a moment, it seemed that I was lucky and ran into a fairy as soon as I came to the mortal world. Well, I was indeed a demon who had affinity with fairies.