Dao Of The Salted Fish (Salted Fish Cultivator)

Wen Zhihao led the way. Rather than returning to the sect, they landed on a large mostly clear clifftop that overlooked the forest and the sect in the distance. Wen Zhihao took out some bedding and placed it on the ground. He activated a warming talisman and sat down, patting the bedding next to him.

Sun Fuyu sat down, quiet as a mouse.

Wen Zhihao knew basic things about raising “kids”, but he didn’t know how to comfort Sun Fuyu. After a moment, he reached out and rubbed Sun Fuyu’s back. Sun Fuyu leaned against Wen Zhihao’s shoulder, which meant he was doing something right.

“We can report your father to the local authorities,” Wen Zhihao started.

“Did you see the look on his face when he realised we were cultivators?” Sun Fuyu asked, a dark tone in his voice. “It was the first time he was scared of me, instead of the other way around.”

Wen Zhihao smiled lightly. “En.” He continued patting Sun Fuyu’s back.

“Wen-ge must be curious…”

“Curiousity does not mean I have to know. Your past is yours, Xiao Yu. The person you are now is very good. I wouldn’t wonder if Aunty Liu wants to adopt you instead. I know that I would like to have you in my family.”

—Wen Zhihao realised a moment later that it could be taken ambiguously, but...it was the truth. He pressed his lips together, hoping that Sun Fuyu wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

Sun Fuyu’s eyes grew a bit sour and his chest tight. The feeling was like a little glowing pink flower bursting out of the darkness, protected by warm hands. He was glad that they weren’t sitting face-to-face, but rather side-by-side. Leaning more against Wen-ge, he decided to speak. He wanted to clear up some of the things his father had spat out, to make sure that Wen-ge was on Sun Fuyu’s side.

“When I was young, a fortune teller said that I would die before my nineteenth birthday and that I would kill everyone around me. So while my siblings got everything, I had to work like a cow and horse. The first time I ate jian dui and tanghulu was with Wen-ge. My parents had enough money, but they wouldn’t even give me a little. But they were my parents. Maybe I was cursed...maybe how they treated me was my fault…Sometimes, I even thought that it was the fortune teller who cursed me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Wen Zhihao said softly. He also wondered as a child, that if maybe he was more obedient and cute, maybe his parents wouldn’t have divorced.

Sun Fuyu’s breath shuddered a little. “Um…” he said noncommittally in reply. “And then...when I was twelve, my parents came in contact with some people who said that an old master from another town was looking for concubines and that they would pay twenty taels as so-called bride price.” Sun Fuyu scoffed lightly. “Who doesn’t know what that means? Out of me and my brothers and sisters, who would they sacrifice? Filial piety for what? So I ran away. I lived in the forests and laboured in the fields for some money when I could...and then one day, a cultivator saw me and took me to the Golden Sun Sect.”

Wen Zhihao thought silently: And then, when you came to the Golden Sun Sect, you were bullied by the other students, had your spiritual stones stolen, and no one helped.

Wen Zhihao’s chest pricked with pain. The hand that was patting Sun Fuyu reached out, pulling Sun Fuyu into a side hug.

“Your parents were wrong. That fortune-teller was wrong. Don’t die on me, Xiao Yu. We have a long, good life ahead of us.” After all, cultivators lived a long time.

Sun Fuyu swallowed. A long, good life together with Wen-ge. His throat got stuck, not knowing what to say. Having aired all his grievances, he felt raw and pained, but he also felt like a big burden was lifted from his shoulders. His past and family background did not disgust Wen Zhihao. Sun Fuyu turned slightly, burying his face in Wen-ge’s shoulder.

Wen Zhihao rubbed Sun Fuyu’s arms, suppressing his urge to jump up and scold Sun Fuyu’s blood family. He now understood Sun Fuyu’s aggressive action from before. Unfortunately though, here, filial piety was the law, so his prior suggestion of reporting Xiao Yu’s father would lead to nothing unless they wanted to bribe the law officials or abuse their status as cultivators.

“Forget them,” Wen Zhihao said. “You living well will make them wallow in their own regret. In the future, if you want, we can stroll in that town so that the townsfolk know that you are now a great cultivator and mock your parents for being contemptuous and blinded for missing out on such a good son. All the townsfolk will deride them, and they’ll be laughed and spat at on the streets...And we won’t have to do anything. Or, if that’s not enough, you can capture a demon and pull it along with you down the street so that everyone can take a good look, and you can accidentally almost lose control of it just as you pass a certain house...”

Sun Fuyu huffed out a light laugh. Wen-ge’s ideas of revenge were so weird. The laughter relaxed him, and Wen Zhihao was also relieved.

The two lapsed into silence, Wen Zhihao staring over the moonlit landscape, and Sun Fuyu gazing at Wen Zhihao’s shoulder and chest.

Wen Zhihao wondered if he should tell Sun Fuyu about his transmigration status. But he didn’t want to overshadow Sun Fuyu, and he had no idea how Sun Fuyu would react. One big emotional revelation per night was more than enough. 

Eventually, Wen Zhihao yawned. “Sleep time, Xiao Yu.”

Sun Fuyu nodded, his head brushing against Wen Zhihao’s shoulder. “Wen-ge…” he said in a small voice when Wen Zhihao was about to get up.

“Hm?”

“Stay...close…” Sun Fuyu’s cheeks went red. “It’s a bit cold, can we sleep together?”

Wen Zhihao froze slightly. He thought that Sun Fuyu meant it casually, that he wanted reassurance after tonight’s emotional upheaval. However, now Wen Zhihao was aware of his feelings, he had a sneaking suspicion that it might not be quite right for him to take advantage of Sun Fuyu like that.

But since Sun Fuyu asked, Wen Zhihao did not have the heart to refuse. It was just lying down as two good friends, right?

“En,” he finally agreed.

Sun Fuyu’s lips curled up happily.

That night, the two of them laid side-by-side. They each had their own blankets, and they were not physically touching. But Sun Fuyu could feel the soothing gentleness of Wen-ge’s aura. An aura that felt this soft to him meant that Wen-ge greatly liked him.

Sun Fuyu drifted off to sweet dreams.

On the other hand, Wen Zhihao did not have a peaceful night. Although he breathed steadily and his qi flowed through his meridians, it was as though one part of his brain was peaceful, and another part was whirring with confusion.

Now that he liked Sun Fuyu, what should he do about it? Should he pretend that nothing had changed? Should he try and probe whether Sun Fuyu liked him? Should he simply secretly date Sun Fuyu? He felt like he was trying to romantically abduct a pure young man, nevermind that Sun Fuyu had clearly seen darker sides of life and society than Wen Zhihao ever had.

It was a little uncomfortable since Wen Zhihao had previously liked to think of himself as an elder like Aunty Liu...Did that make him a pig interested in cabbage?

Well, at least he was self-aware, ba.

—No, no, he wasn’t a beast! He was also a young man! Compared to cultivators aged a couple of hundred years, he was nothing!

Wen Zhihao: …How the hell did I get to thinking about that?

It did nothing to help his current conundrum. It had been a long time since so many thoughts raced around his head. A hundred and one dogblood romance plots swirled in Wen Zhihao’s brain. Romance was so complicated and so much hard work!!

The only resolution he found was: whatever he did, he did not want to wrong Sun Fuyu.

Wen Zhihao: Aunty Liu, we can make our own family!

Aunty Liu Jing: *thinking: you mean, I adopt Sun Fuyu and you marry into the family?* 

Sun Fuyu: *thinking: Wen-ge wants to marry me! Aunty Liu becomes "blood-related" aunty?*

If Wen Zhihao knew what they were thinking:  (⊙_⊙) , then (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄