He added two more dishes.
The waiter left and lowered the bamboo curtain.
Guān Yì asked again, “So was it love at first sight?”
Yīng Rán shook her head, her gaze turning distant.
“The first time I saw him, it was raining. He was just sitting there, not even using an umbrella, lost in thought.
“I was there feeding a dog… That dog had once helped me escape from a low-level demon. I started feeding it after that.
“I fed it for half a year, but it stayed scrawny. That day, I was still feeding it when he looked at the dog and suddenly smiled. The dog was terrified of him, and I stood in front of it and asked him what he was laughing at.
“He said, ‘If you feed it like that, it’ll starve to death.’ I said, ‘Dogs eat this kind of food.’ He said, ‘This dog’s different.’ Then he pulled out a piece of meat.
“I think he probably bought that meat for himself, but he fed it to the dog. The dog was scared of him, but it was so hungry it really liked the meat. He gave it a lot of meat. I was worried he’d go hungry, so I told him to stop feeding it. And he actually listened.”
“After that, I often saw him there when I went to feed the dog. He always brought meat and bones. Even when it rained, he didn’t bring an umbrella, just sat there spacing out.”
Yīng Rán smiled faintly.
“Then one time, I brought two umbrellas and gave one to him, told him to use it on his way home. We gradually got to know each other after that.”
Guān Yì teased with a dramatic “Ohhh~!”
Yīng Rán straightened and continued, “But I still didn’t like him back then. I just thought he was a good person.
“Later, after the dog got fat, my father started pushing me to marry again. I got frustrated and went to sit under the tree where I fed the dog. He came over. I saw him as a friend, so I told him about my father pressuring me.”
“And he said he could help me.”
Guān Yì: “And that’s when you fell for him?”
“Not yet,” Yīng Rán said, resting her cheek on her hand with a smile.
“It was after we got married. He treats me even better than my own mother. So patient, so gentle. At first, he didn’t know how to cook, didn’t know how to sew… but he learned it all for me.”
“Though…” Yīng Rán whispered, “his cooking’s only so-so.”
Both of them laughed.
Suddenly, a loud clack echoed from the storytelling stage downstairs, startling Yīng Rán.
She and Guān Yì looked down together.
The storyteller declared:
“As all know, the world is divided into three realms. The lower realm is where we mortals and cultivators reside. The middle realm belongs to the Earth Immortals. And the upper realm—to the High Immortals and the Celestial Emperor himself. Stories about the immortals of Xuandao have been told countless times.
“But today, I’ll tell you one you’ve never heard before. Because no one but me dares to speak it aloud.
“The main figure of this tale was born of noble blood, yet he slaughtered his kin and drank their blood! He massacred the Celestial City in rivers of blood! The great sects of Xuandao sent their cultivators to stop him—none returned!
“He bathed the Ninefold Peaks of Qiongyu in blood, wiped out all disciples in the Thirteen Realms of Yaoh! The celestial beasts of Qiongyu were driven to extinction, and the sects of Yaoh severed their lineage!
“He sealed off the Cloudsky Heavens, tore the realms apart! After him, no immortal ever returned to the mortal realm. No one has ascended to the Cloudsky Heavens since!
“Because of him, the immortals withdrew. Because of him, the Xuandao path declined…”
Guān Yì’s expression turned cold.
He stood up and barked, “Shut up! You dare speak his name here—do you want to die?!”
The crowd downstairs jumped, startled. Looking up to see Guān Yì in his dark-official golden robe, they scattered immediately.
The storyteller also fled in terror.
Yīng Rán was confused.
“What happened?”
Guān Yì shook his head.
“Mortals today have guts… daring to mention him.”
Yīng Rán tensed.
“Who?”
Guān Yì glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, “Don’t ask. Even saying his name can get you killed if a fanatic of his cult hears it.”
Then he added smugly, “Only after joining the Xuandao sect did I learn these things—things you ordinary folks don’t know.”
Yīng Rán was not the kind to go looking for death.
Since he said not to ask, she didn’t pursue it.
She rolled her eyes at him and teased, “Alright, alright—mighty cultivator, so impressive.”
Guān Yì laughed along with her.
“Oh right, what’s your husband’s name?”
“Xú Lí Líng. Courtesy name, Huái Zhēn.”
“Xú Lí…” Guān Yì rubbed his chin.
“Got it.”
After the meal, he walked with her through the streets.
They chatted about his life in the Confucian and Xuandao sects.
Yīng Rán bought a new bamboo-patterned hair tie for Xú Lí Líng.
As the sky darkened, Guān Yì flew her back to her mountain home on his sword.
Flying at dusk, the scenery looked entirely different.
Though a little scared standing on the sword, Yīng Rán found the view breathtaking.
She looked around at the landscape, memorized it all, then waved to Guān Yì and went home.
From a distance, she saw smoke rising from the chimney at home—it meant Xu Liling had already returned.
The dog she raised was at the courtyard gate, eating the meat he had brought back.
It had grown from a skin-and-bones creature into something as sturdy as a tiger.
Xu Liling could bring meat back almost every day.
Ying Ran had asked him once where he got the money to buy so much meat.
He said the meat was unwanted, so he brought it back for the dog.
Ying Ran asked, “Leftover livestock meat?”
Xu Liling replied, “Something like that.”
Later, when she went to the place where he worked as a bookkeeper, she saw that there was indeed a large butcher shop nearby, selling pork, beef, and lamb, so she didn’t think too much of it.
She walked to the gate and called, “Xiao Huang.”
The dog—completely black except for a tuft of yellow fur at the tip of its tail—barked twice. Blood and flesh clung to its sharp teeth, making it look rather terrifying.
Its bark wasn’t like a normal dog’s bark; it was more like the low growl of a wild beast.
But since it was her own dog, Ying Ran didn’t find it scary.
Taking advantage of the fact that her husband hadn’t come out yet, Ying Ran wanted to sneak in a couple of pats on Xiao Huang.
He didn’t like her touching Xiao Huang.
Every time he saw her do it, he seemed displeased—though he never said anything.
Ying Ran just sensed it.
She reached her hand toward Xiao Huang, but the dog whimpered and dodged away on its own.
“Xiao Huang, don’t run.”
Ying Ran laughed and tried to grab it with both hands.
Xiao Huang bolted, just as a figure stepped out of the kitchen.
It was Xu Liling.
He stood there watching her and Xiao Huang, his expression as calm as ever.
Tall, slender, and refined, he had the graceful bearing of a scholarly gentleman.
Twilight cloaked his features, casting a touch of gloom over his usual daytime appearance—cold as snow, bright as jade, dustless like an immortal.
But Ying Ran didn’t think he was a gloomy person.
Xiao Huang let out a nearly terrified howl and ran off with the half-eaten meat and bones.
Ying Ran straightened up, cleared her throat with two small coughs, then opened her arms and ran toward him.
“Huaizhen!”
He gazed at her silently and, as she ran up, pulled her into his arms.
Ying Ran looked up at him with a smile.
“Were you cooking? Want me to help?”
“I was just about to slaughter a chicken. Go rest inside—you’ve been out all day.”
Xu Liling raised a hand and gently brushed aside the loose strands of hair on her forehead.
Ying Ran said, “Okay. I’ll bring you a present later.”
She was hiding a hair ribbon, smiling sweetly as she went back inside.
Xu Liling grabbed a chicken and returned to the kitchen.
***
He stood by the kitchen window and called to Xiao Huang in the distance, “Come here.”
Xiao Huang immediately ran over with its tail tucked between its legs.
Xu Liling’s slender hand gripped the chicken’s neck.
He snapped and tore it apart with his bare hands.
Crimson blood flowed down his pale, jade-white fingertips.
He ripped open the chicken’s belly, pulled out the organs, and tossed the head and entrails to Xiao Huang.
Xiao Huang obediently ate the chicken head beneath the window, then gazed solemnly toward the sunset on the horizon.
Another peaceful day.
The lady of the house still hadn’t realized that it wasn’t a dog, but a great wild immortal beast that guarded a celestial tomb.
Nor that her husband had, once again today, fed it the flesh of a powerful Daoist cultivator.