Li Xiangyi rode his white horse to the foot of Yunyin Mountain, where he spotted Lord Sesshomaru standing in a tree clad in white from afar. As he drew closer, however, he was startled to see that the Great Yokai had taken on a human form, with hair like a cascading waterfall, dressed in only an outer robe, barefoot, and bearing a cold expression that radiated a keep-away-from-me aura...
Seeing Li Xiangyi approach on horseback, the Great Yokai, who had arrived not long ago, lowered his gaze and glared down at the human with a frosty face.
Looking up at Lord Sesshomaru's attire, Li Xiangyi—though somewhat immune to this face after seeing it over the past few years—was still struck with awe for a brief second. Coming to his senses, he felt a flicker of confusion. Just as he was about to ask, he caught a sharp, sideways glance from the Great Yokai, accompanied by a heavily guarded warning: "Cease your chatter!"
Fine then... Li Xiangyi rubbed his nose. Sensing the rapidly chilling aura of Brother Sha, he wisely chose not to press the matter. Instead, he gently nudged his horse's flanks, smiled, and waved at Lord Sesshomaru in the tree. "Let's go, Brother Sha! Let's explore this world together!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the young man in white and silver crown spurred his horse forward. The warm spring sun shone upon his handsome, spirited smile, gradually melting away the chill enveloping Lord Sesshomaru...
As Li Xiangyi rode ahead, Lord Sesshomaru leaped agilely through the branches to keep right behind him. Watching Brother Sha bound past faster than he could ride his horse, the handsome youth's competitive spirit flared. With a push of his legs, he vaulted up from the saddle and instantly appeared by Lord Sesshomaru's side...
Li Xiangyi's lightness skill, which gathered the essence of various tracking techniques to tread the empty air without leaving a trace upon the snow, had already reached perfection under Brother Sha's sparring. He called it the "Samsara Pace".
Lord Sesshomaru glanced slightly to the side and caught sight of the human keeping pace with him. He was the first person able to keep up with his speed relying solely on human martial arts rather than spiritual power...
For the supremely arrogant Great Yokai, this was the first time he acknowledged the strength of a human. Li Xiangyi's talent was indeed extraordinary. Over the past seven years, Lord Sesshomaru had occasionally sparred with him, witnessing Li Xiangyi go from being completely vulnerable at the start to dodging his attacks time and again with agile footwork and increasingly refined swordsmanship, even seizing the chance to counterattack. Though he always ended up knocked to the ground in the end, this human seemed utterly incapable of knowing discouragement...
Lord Sesshomaru's mindset had shifted from merely playing with a human child at the beginning to genuinely recognizing Li Xiangyi's strength.
He grew stronger time and again; he transcended himself time and again. Li Xiangyi was a powerhouse...
After running among the trees for about a quarter of an hour—since the "Samsara Pace" was not suited for long-distance travel—Li Xiangyi laughed heartily and came to a halt. Seeing this, Lord Sesshomaru curved the corners of his lips, paused his momentum, and leaped onto a nearby branch to sit down...
The youth bounded over, squatted down beside Lord Sesshomaru, and told him about their upcoming itinerary. "Brother Sha, we need to travel for about five days to reach Qingfeng Town. My senior brother is waiting for me there."
Thinking of that human piece of trash, Lord Sesshomaru frowned slightly, but knowing this was the human's own trial, he merely gave a soft "hmph" of acknowledgment.
Li Xiangyi peeked at him and finally couldn't suppress his curiosity. "Brother Sha, why are you dressed like this today?"
At the mere thought of his current appearance, the air pressure around Lord Sesshomaru plummeted. Without a word, he stood up and vanished into the distance with a few swift bounds.
Li Xiangyi rubbed his temple, spotted their galloping white horse "Zhuifeng", jumped down from the tree, and gave chase on horseback.
On the first day, the two camped out in the wild. But spring weather is always fickle, and by the afternoon of the second day, a light, persistent drizzle began to fall. Li Xiangyi had bought neither rain gear nor straw rain capes; instead, he channeled his inner energy outward to shield himself from the curtain of rain, riding through the downpour with an even greater sense of unrestrained flair!
Just as Li Xiangyi was galloping gracefully on horseback, he noticed that Lord Sesshomaru had stopped in a tree ahead...
Having his fur and body soaked by rainwater was the single thing the White Dog Clan hated most—without exception!
Suppressing the instinct to shake the rain off his body, Lord Sesshomaru raised his right hand to gather his Demonic Power, only to disperse it the very next instant...
Li Xiangyi flew up and landed beside Lord Sesshomaru. He could clearly sense that although Brother Sha's face remained expressionless, a faint aura of irritation pervaded his entire body...
Looking at Lord Sesshomaru's slightly damp long hair and eyelashes, as well as the fine robes clinging to his body from the rain, Li Xiangyi instantly connected all of his abnormal behavior over the past few days and understood everything.
Having figured out the Great Yokai's temperament, Li Xiangyi's mind raced as he cheerfully grabbed Lord Sesshomaru's hand. "It's raining, Brother Sha. Let me show you how we humans use inner energy."
As he spoke, he projected his inner energy outward, and Lord Sesshomaru felt the curtain of rain sealed off from his body. At the same time, a wave of warmth surged through their clasped hands, instantly drying his clothes and smoothing out the slight frown on his brow.
Li Xiangyi was now fully capable of reading Lord Sesshomaru's mood from his subtle expressions. Seeing this, he gave the hand he was holding another tug and said in a brisk tone, "Brother Sha, why don't you ride with me? Since you've taken on a human form now, we might as well wander the pugilistic world together, and you can experience how we humans live!"
Lord Sesshomaru looked at him. Knowing how clever Li Xiangyi was, he must have figured out something was amiss. He couldn't help turning his head away slightly, but recalling that their very first meeting had been at his most vulnerable moment, he simply stopped refusing. With a flicker of motion, he prepared to mount "Zhuifeng's" back, only to be grabbed firmly by the sleeve by Li Xiangyi's quick hands.
Rubbing the side of his nose in helplessness, Li Xiangyi looked at his outfit and asked, "Brother Sha, is your Demonic Realm inaccessible right now?"
With a cold and arrogant expression on his handsome face, Lord Sesshomaru replied, "It can be opened!" With that, he gathered Demonic Power in his right hand, and the Demonic Realm slowly began to unfold. As he did so, terrifying peals of thunder suddenly rumbled across the sky, and lightning crackled all around the two of them...
Li Xiangyi grabbed Lord Sesshomaru's hand once more. The fifteen-year-old took a long, deep breath and squeezed out a smile. "Brother Sha, let's leave the things inside your Demonic Realm alone for now. Stop right there!"
Lord Sesshomaru glanced at the lightning crackling around them and let out a cold snort, but nevertheless obediently dispersed the Demonic Power gathering in his palm. The surrounding bolts of lightning vanished in an instant.
Li Xiangyi let out a sigh of relief, suddenly empathizing with the helplessness his master sometimes felt when watching him cause trouble. Still, he knew how to exercise restraint—he certainly didn't possess Brother Sha's destructive power...
Shaking his head to banish the thought, Li Xiangyi motioned for Lord Sesshomaru to wait a moment in the tree. He retrieved a clean cloth towel from the luggage carried by "Zhuifeng", took out a set of undergarments and a pair of shoes and socks, and walked over to Lord Sesshomaru.
Seeing the items in his hands, Lord Sesshomaru couldn't help but sigh at how troublesome humans were, and raised his hand to take them...
Looking at the outer robe—which was hanging loosely without his magic and held together only by a single sash—Li Xiangyi dodged the hand reaching out to take the items and simply said, "It's inconvenient for you, Brother Sha. Let me help you change!"The severed arm had been lost in a fair and honorable fight. Winner takes all and loser is the vanquished—Lord Sesshomaru felt no shame in it. Therefore, in his usual interactions with Li Xiangyi, he never avoided the fact that Li Xiangyi was missing an arm, nor did he offer any retort upon hearing him say this now.
As the heir to the Western Country, Lord Sesshomaru, whose daily life was always attended to by servants, simply nodded and skillfully stood up.
At fifteen, Li Xiangyi had not yet reached his full height. He was about half a head shorter than Sesshomaru and not nearly as solidly built. Sesshomaru could barely squeeze into Li Xiangyi's undergarment, and it stretched tightly across his frame...
For some reason, seeing the Great Yokai looking like this made Li Xiangyi's ears burn slightly. He hurriedly helped him put on his outer robe and tied the sash tight.
Only after the clothes were on did Sesshomaru sit down on the tree branch. He picked up a cloth hanging nearby to wipe his feet clean, then put on his shoes and socks. The shoes had been made by Qin Po with an extra half-inch of room specifically for him, and when Sesshomaru put them on, they fit just right.
Li Xiangyi rummaged through the bundle and pulled out a white hair ribbon. He held it up to signal to Sesshomaru. Upon seeing this, Sesshomaru turned around, presenting his back. Li Xiangyi scooped up his mass of black hair, using his fingers as a comb to gather it together, and tied it at the back of his head.
Once everything was in order, Sesshomaru leapt down from the tree branch and seated himself on the back of "Zhuifeng," leaving the space in front empty. Seeing this, Li Xiangyi tapped his toes against the ground and seated himself in front of Sesshomaru.
Li Xiangyi felt a slight sense of awkwardness. Sesshomaru was taller than he currently was, and sitting this way gave him the constant sensation of being half-embraced by him. However, thinking back on their seven years together, he knew that in his heart the two of them were more than just friends; this Great Yokai had long since become like family and a brother to him. With a shake of his head, he cast aside that trace of strange feeling, turned his head slightly, and said in a clear, ringing voice, "Brother Sha, hold on tight, we're off!"
The journey for the two of them toward Qingfeng Town was not entirely peaceful. Bandits gathered in the wild woods and even alongside the official roads, victimizing traveling commoners and merchants in droves. Whenever Li Xiangyi saw them, he left none unmanaged; along the way, he captured a total of forty-one bandits and handed them all over to the authorities.
Among these bandits were quite a few martial artists who had entrenched themselves for some time and harmed many people. Seeing them all captured single-handedly by Li Xiangyi, the surrounding townspeople stepped forward one after another to shower them with profuse thanks. Amidst these chorus of gratitude, Li Xiangyi for the first time felt the hardship of the common people's lives and the chaos of this Jianghu.
Because of these chivalrous acts along the way, the two of them did not arrive at Qingfeng Town until the sixth day. As soon as they entered the town, Li Xiangyi led Sesshomaru straight to the Peace Inn, the place his senior brother had arranged for them to meet via a carrier pigeon message.
Upon stepping inside and asking the innkeeper, he discovered that his senior brother had not yet arrived. Li Xiangyi booked two premium rooms, instructed the innkeeper to quickly prepare bathwater, and added instructions that if a martial artist surnamed Shan came by, he should be told that Li Xiangyi had already arrived.
Both of them were lovers of cleanliness. After several days of sleeping in the open air—even with Li Xiangyi channeling his inner energy outward to keep the dust at bay—both felt rather grimy. Hearing the human's arrangements, Sesshomaru's brows and eyes, which had been tightly drawn the whole way, finally relaxed...
Li Xiangyi pulled Brother Sha into one of the premium rooms. Sesshomaru was uncharacteristically stunned for a moment, looking at the human as he casually untied his wrist guards.
Seeing the Great Yokai standing there in a daze, Li Xiangyi rolled up his sleeves and beckoned to him, "Brother Sha, come over here, let me untie your hair ribbon and wash your hair for you first!"
It was Sesshomaru's first time experiencing the feeling of being cared for. It felt very wondrous, but he didn't dislike it at all...
After washing Brother Sha's hair, using his inner energy to help dry it, and wrapping it in a clean cloth, Li Xiangyi felt as though Brother Sha had possessed a sort of... well-behaved obedience throughout the entire process today.Shaking his head to once again banish the "disrespectful" thoughts about the Great Yokai that had kept popping up over the past few days, Li Xiangyi stood up and said, "Brother Sha, I'm going to bathe first. I'll come get you for dinner in a moment."
Lord Sesshomaru nodded. After watching him leave, he reached up to touch his hair wrapped in a cloth towel, stripped off his clothes, and stepped into the wooden tub...
Li Xiangyi finished his bath quickly, changed into clean clothes, and went to call Brother Sha for dinner. Pushing open the door, he saw Lord Sesshomaru sitting at the table, wearing the newly purchased white silk robe. His hair was undone, flowing smoothly down his back. Seeing this, Li Xiangyi naturally picked up the newly bought hair ribbon to tie it up for him.
Shan Gudao arrived at the Ping'an Inn by noon the next day. Upon seeing his junior brother, he found him sharing a table with a man in white—cold, noble, and breathtakingly handsome. Not a single diner around them could take their eyes off the two, yet they sat in calm composure, completely at ease.
Shan Gudao froze in a daze for a long time. His junior brother was already handsome, but the person beside him surpassed even that, possessing a uniquely noble bearing that instantly marked him as no ordinary man. Dusty, travel-worn, and haggard, Shan Gudao looked at the pair, a complicated mix of emotions washing over him, making him momentarily hesitant to step forward.
The moment that familiar, petty-trash scent drifted over, Lord Sesshomaru knew that Li Xiangyi's senior brother, the human named Shan Gudao, had arrived. Yet he acted as if he hadn't noticed a thing, leisurely eating the food that Li Xiangyi had placed in his bowl.
Every region had its own local specialties—sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy flavors of all kinds. The cuisine of the humans in this realm was simply too rich; Lord Sesshomaru's mood was always uplifted whenever it was time to eat.
Hearing the waiter's voice, Li Xiangyi turned his head and saw his senior brother had arrived. He hurriedly waved to signal where he was sitting.
Recovering his senses, Shan Gudao put on his familiar, affectionate smile and strode over. Lord Sesshomaru didn't even raise an eye as he approached, focusing entirely on his meal.
Shan Gudao smiled as he walked up and sat down, looking at Li Xiangyi. "Junior brother, who is this gentleman?"
Lord Sesshomaru acted as though he hadn't heard a word, calmly picking up another steamed soup dumpling. Seeing how impolite the man was, a flash of resentment crossed Shan Gudao's heart. However, because he couldn't gauge the stranger's depth, his expression remained unchanged. He turned his head slightly and asked with a smile, "Master's message only mentioned that you were coming down the mountain; I had no idea you were traveling with a companion."
Seeing this, Li Xiangyi rubbed his nose and gave an embarrassed smile. "Senior brother, this is Lord Sesshomaru, Brother Sha, a few years older than me. We met when I was young, but he and his master have lived in seclusion away from the world for years, which is why I never mentioned it to you all. This time, after coming down the mountain, I happened to run into Brother Sha out gathering experience, so we've been traveling together. It wasn't an intentional deception."
Hearing this, Shan Gudao fell into deep thought. The name Lord Sesshomaru didn't sound like anyone from Daxi at all; he wondered if it belonged to some foreign tribe or was merely an alias.
After introducing Brother Sha to Shan Gudao, Li Xiangyi looked at Lord Sesshomaru beside him, whose expression hadn't shifted in the slightest. Knowing that this Great Yokai remained as indifferent to humans as ever, Li Xiangyi didn't force the issue. Instead, he pulled on his senior brother and said, "Senior brother, Brother Sha knows you are my senior brother, but he has rarely interacted with people in the past and has had nothing to do with the mortal world. That's just his personality; he isn't being rude to you."
At these words, Shan Gudao smiled, looking thoroughly carefree. "Brother Sha clearly isn't an ordinary person. Men of the pugilistic world don't stand on ceremony—how could I possibly mind? We'll just have to spend more time together in the future, and we'll all become great brothers!"