Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 154 - Making a Wish (2)

Thus it was decided.

Tian Fangfang felt a bit embarrassed and took the opportunity when Xu Fu and Douniang went outside to quietly ask Gu Baiying, “Senior Uncle, how can we snatch Xiao Douzi’s bed?”

“You really want to sleep?” Gu Baiying looked at him as if he were foolish. “Don’t sleep tonight, and besides,” he glanced outside, his lazy demeanor vanishing from his face, “I also want to figure out what exactly is going on here.”

After Xu Fu and Douniang brought in the bedding and left, only Zanxing and a few others remained in the room.

The room was small, even smaller than the thatched hut in the depths of Li’er Country’s secret realm. Against the wall was a clay bed, its thin bedding not providing much warmth. There were no windows in the inner room, hence no stove, making it quite cold inside. On the red clay walls hung some tassels woven with coarse threads, clearly Douniang’s handiwork, adding a bit of liveliness to this simple room. There was also a somewhat old wooden cabinet in the inner room, apparently Douniang’s ‘dressing table.’

This Xu Fu, he seemed to treat Douniang well, although the household was poor, his consideration was quite thorough.

Tian Fangfang shouted from the other end, “Senior Uncle, how are we going to sleep?”

Earlier, Xu Fu had spoken so solemnly that everyone thought this bed could indeed accommodate six people. Now it seemed that not only six people, but even two slightly fat people would find it cramped.

Before Gu Baiying could say anything, Mu Cengxiao spoke first, saying, “Senior Sister Meng, Junior Sister Yang, and Men Dong should sleep on the bed. Tonight, Senior Brother and I won’t sleep, we’ll stay in the room to guard against any unforeseen events.’

Zanxing glanced at the narrow bed. Normally, it was only Douniang who slept there alone, and now they could barely squeeze three people onto it. However, Zanxing suggested, “Since we’ve lost our qi and are no different from ordinary people, we can’t stay awake all night on guard duty. How about we take shifts? One person per hour. Men Dong, you’re exempt.”

“I agree,” Meng Ying added.

After coming out of the secret realm, their group had no time to rest. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but now that they were all ‘ordinary people,’ they couldn’t ignore the issue of stamina.

“Alright.” Gu Baiying said calmly, sitting down on the ground next to the bed with Xiu Gu in his arms.

There were no spare fabrics around, but fortunately, the ground had been cleaned spotlessly by Douniang, without a speck of dust. Zanxing glanced at the pallets. Sure enough, Douniang’s household was very poor; they only had two sets of bedding—one with red base and green floral patterns, and the other with green base and red floral patterns, likely stuffed with cotton, providing some warmth.

In the desert, the days were scorching hot, but at night, the cold seeped right into their feet. Zanxing handed the green base and red floral patterned bedding to Gu Baiying. “Senior Uncle, use this to cover yourself during your night watch to stay warm.”

The green base with red flowers bedding looked rough in pattern, and the quilt was quite old, exuding a rural simplicity. Gu Baiying glanced at it and pushed it away disdainfully. “Who would use this?” He sneezed immediately after his words.

Everyone stared at him in unison.

Gu Baiying, embarrassed and angry, said, “What are you all looking at?”

“Senior Uncle, you should cover yourself with this quilt.” Men Dong climbed out of bed in one go, wrapping the green quilt entirely around Gu Baiying. “It’s crucial to stay warm at this juncture, otherwise, we might not be able to proceed.”

Gu Baiying wanted to refuse, but Tian Fangfang had already lifted his robe. This action startled Mu Cengxiao, who immediately stood in front of Meng Ying, shielding her from the view.

“This is…” Men Dong looked a bit puzzled.

“This is something my Junior Sister taught me.” Tian Fangfang proudly slapped his thigh. Under his ethereal chiffon robe, his cotton pants looked particularly thick. “When it’s cold, you can wear extra pants under the robe. No one can see from the outside anyway. During our journey into the secret realm, it was cold at night, so I took a pair from my Qiankun Bag to wear inside. It’s come in handy now.” He nodded respectfully to Zanxing. “Thanks to my Junior Sister’s wisdom!”

Zanxing: “… Such wisdom shouldn’t be used in this manner.”

“In any case,” Tian Fangfang lowered the corner of his robe again, “I have cotton pants, and Junior Brother Mu is wearing a small jacket made by Miss Liu. We’re both warm. Senior Uncle, your clothes are beautiful but not very windproof. It’s cold at night, wrap yourself in this quilt to avoid falling ill before we even confront the Demonic Spirit.”

He spoke openly, completely ignoring Gu Baiying’s suddenly displeased expression, convinced of the reasonableness of his words. Zanxing couldn’t help but burst into laughter at Gu Baiying, wrapped in the distinctly rustic quilt.

“What are you laughing at?” Gu Baiying glared at her.

“Nothing,” Zanxing chuckled uncontrollably. “I just remembered when I first entered the sect, I said the Taiyan faction was too focused on celestial airs and neglected warmth. It seems my words were prophetic.” She shrugged. “See, it’s all coming true now.”

Gu Baiying grew even more furious at her words. Just as he was about to remove the quilt, Men Dong leaned close to his ear and swiftly whispered, “Senior Uncle, spiritual veins, be alert!”

His motion to lift the quilt abruptly halted.

Meng Ying, mindful of maintaining Senior Uncle’s fragile pride, interjected, “Let’s do it this way then: Men Dong sleeps inside, and Sister and I will take turns keeping watch outside every hour.”

Zanxing asked, “What if someone oversleeps? We don’t have a morning rooster here. Once our eyes close, who knows when we’ll wake up?”

“Who do you think you are, assuming everyone’s like you?” Gu Baiying retorted impatiently. “I’ll take the first watch.”

Since he had spoken, no one objected, and the arrangement was settled.

Here’s the revised translation with the requested change:

Men Dong slept closest to the wall, Meng Ying in the middle, and Zanxing at the outer edge of the bed. Tian Fangfang and Mu Cengxiao had already laid down on the ground, while Gu Baiying sat leaning against the bed with Xiu Gu beside him.

The oil lamp in the room had a short wick, its flame weak as if it might extinguish at any moment.

From the next room came faint snoring from Xu Fu, and occasionally a goose honked in the courtyard outside. The bedding gradually warmed up.

Zanxing turned over, and the lamp on the table cast a soft glow on the wall, highlighting the young man’s upright silhouette. Like that night in the Li’er Country, when she had been startled by the monster’s late-night intrusion and Gu Baiying had reluctantly stayed behind that day.

It inexplicably brought a sense of reassurance.

She quietly propped herself up and asked in a low voice, “Senior Uncle, are you asleep?”

It was quiet all around, and the others either seemed asleep or pretending. No one spoke. Gu Baiying paid no attention, lost in thought as he stared at the flame in the oil lamp.

Zanxing scooted a bit closer to him again. From this angle, his crimson headband shone vividly in the lamplight, reminding Zanxing inexplicably of the flowers the girls almost drowned him in at the Ji She Gathering.

“Senior Uncle,” she whispered softly, “I still think something’s off about Douniang’s father.”

“Even fools know something’s off about him.” Gu Baiying finally spoke, lowering his voice slightly, probably to avoid waking their sleeping companions.

Zanxing chuckled at the back of his head. “You’re starting to show some humanity.”

When they first arrived at Gufeng Mountain, she had found this young man arrogant and overbearing. Now, after their journey through the Li’er Country’s secret realm and sharing hardships together, although he still seemed aloof, she occasionally glimpsed his clumsy concern hidden beneath his cold exterior.

“In fact, it wasn’t just him who felt this way. She herself was no different. At first entering this unfamiliar world, everything seemed unreal, and she constantly thought about going back. Those senior brothers, junior brothers, senior sisters, and junior sisters were nothing more than unfamiliar paper figures to her. Yet, unconsciously, through daily interactions and journeys together, she had long considered herself one of them.

For instance, on this night, in this eerie city, with the others in this house, she surprisingly felt little fear.

“If you don’t want to sleep, you can start keeping watch now,” Gu Baiying said coldly, clutching the floral quilt.

Upon hearing this, Zanxing immediately lay down, slipped into the bed with red base and green floral patterns, and closed her eyes. “I’ll sleep now.”

The room fell silent again.

Before long, Tian Fangfang’s snoring gradually filled the air, while Mimi curled up at the foot of the bed, sleeping soundly.

The faint light in the room flickered, casting warm shadows, with only the silhouette of the young man projected on the wall.

*

She slept deeply.

Without the cock’s crow to wake her, without anyone to urge her, in the middle of the night, Zanxing was jolted awake by the cold.

The quilt that had been warm with cotton now felt like a piece of cold iron, pressing heavily on her, enveloping her whole body in cold. She opened her eyes in the darkness, first stunned for a moment, then realizing: how did the lamp on the table go out?

The room was pitch black. Zanxing hesitated for a moment, suddenly sensing that something was wrong.

The silence in the room was unnerving.

Before she fell asleep, Xu Fu next door was still snoring, Tian Fangfang’s snoring was gradually getting louder, and there were geese flapping their wings in the courtyard. But now, there was nothing, just an eerie silence all around. It was as if in this thick, impenetrable darkness, there was no living thing left.

Where was Gu Baiying? Where were the others? Weren’t they supposed to be on watch?

Countless speculations flashed through Zanxing’s mind in an instant. The plot had unexpectedly taken on a hint of horror. She reached out cautiously towards where Panhua Staff was placed at the head of the bed.

Next moment, a low voice sounded, “Don’t move!”

Zanxing exclaimed in surprise, “Senior Uncle? You’re still here!”

“Something’s wrong here, Junior Sister. Be careful,” Meng Ying whispered beside her.

Zanxing paused, “Are you all here?”

“Of course, we’re all here,” Gu Baiying scoffed, “Even your cat woke up from the cold. I can’t believe you managed to continue sleeping so soundly without noticing anything, Yang Zanxing. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe anyone could be so fearless.”

Zanxing was about to retort when she heard a loud bang from the roof.

Immediately after, a strong wind flashed by in front of her.

Next moment, Gu Baiying chased after it.