Chapter 272: Drunkenness

Chapter 272: Intoxication

As the sun set, Xiao Wu flew atop a peach branch up to the Hundred-Step Pavilion and landed on the back of a carp.

He stowed the branch and turned back, intending to return to his own courtyard, only to find the entrance blocked by a dense crowd. The leading demonic cultivator, spotting him from afar, suddenly buckled at the knees and knelt down.

Baffled, Xiao Wu passed by him and saw the demonic cultivator being supported by his subordinates, staring at the sky, tears in his eyes, and muttering, "Heavens, we’re spared! Envoy Xue's head is saved too! Quick, go find Envoy Xue and tell him there’s no need to notify the Palace Lord!"

Xiao Wu: "..."

He wondered if Palace Lord Xie’s subordinates had gone mad in his absence for just a day. Stepping inside, he soon noticed a streak of light in the distance—someone was approaching via sword flight.

Before Xiao Wu could even assume a defensive stance, Xue Sui stumbled off his flying sword in excitement, exclaiming, "Immortal Lord!"

Xiao Wu: "..."

It sounded less like "Immortal Lord" and more like a long-lost dear mother.

Lord Pingwu took a barely noticeable step back, maintaining distance, and frowned. "What is it, Envoy Xue?"

Xue Sui’s forehead was still damp with sweat. "Earlier, I came to relay the Palace Lord’s message but found you absent. Where did you go, Immortal Lord?"

Xiao Wu: "I took a walk. Must I report my strolls to Envoy Xue?"

A walk that took him beyond Wuwang Palace, far enough that he’d vanished so thoroughly, not even digging three feet deep would find him—quite the stroll indeed.

Xue Sui grumbled inwardly but dared not show it. "Of course not, Immortal Lord, you’re free to walk as you like. It’s just... the Palace Lord..."

Xiao Wu paused. "What about the Palace Lord?"

Xue Sui: "The Palace Lord wished to invite you to enjoy flowers and wine together, but we couldn’t find you, hence the urgency."

Of course, Xie Chunshan would never "invite" Xiao Wu for such an occasion—that wasn’t like him. By Xie Chunshan’s temperament, he’d only say, "Bring Lord Pingwu here to amuse me."

But with Lord Pingwu, whose restored cultivation level was unknown, standing right before him, Xue Sui wisely omitted the Palace Lord’s blunt words. He gestured ahead. "Immortal Lord, please follow me. Earlier, when we couldn’t find you, the Palace Lord drank alone in the back garden. If you’d arrived any later, he might’ve been drunk."

Xiao Wu: "Alone?"

His words were too brief. Xue Sui: "Huh?"

Xiao Wu turned to look at him. "He drank alone?"

Rumors claimed Lord Wuwang was a libertine who adored beauty and wine, hosting endless banquets in his palace, with ceaseless song and dance, feasting and revelry through the night. He would never drink alone in melancholy.

Xue Sui replied, "Who else would there be? The Palace Lord is beneath the wisteria trellis in the back garden. Immortal Lord, please hurry."

Had this been Xiao Wu from days past, he might’ve said, "Why should I go if he’s drinking alone?" But today, a peculiar emotion stirred in his chest. His fingers twitched, and against his instincts, he followed Xue Sui to the garden’s entrance.

Xue Sui pushed open the wooden gate and stepped aside. "Immortal Lord, please."

Xiao Wu stepped inside.

It was early spring, and the wisteria buds had just begun to bloom, bathed in soft lavender light. Xie Chunshan sat alone beneath the trellis, propping his head up with one hand in a light doze. His eyes were closed, his cheeks faintly flushed, and the swaying vines cast dappled shadows across his face. Clad in flowing black robes embroidered with gold, he radiated casual elegance.

Xiao Wu slowed his steps and approached the table.

He reached for the wine jar—Peach Blossom Wine was already half-empty.

"Xie Chunshan." Xiao Wu heard his own voice, soft, yet oddly melodic, as the name rolled off his tongue, his lips lingering over the name with a quiet fondness. "Why are you drinking alone here?"

Immortal-brewed wines are all heady, and the Peach Blossom Wine is no exception—mild and sweet on the palate, but packs a strong punch. Xiao Wu assumed Xie Chunshan was too drunk to reply, but then the man slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of amber irises.

Glowing and crystalline, like glass, his gaze fixed on Xiao Wu, lingering without a word.

He seemed both sober and utterly drunk.

Xiao Wu flicked his robe and sat down opposite him, repeating the question: “Xie Chunshan, why are you drinking alone here?”

As if the answer mattered deeply.

Xie Shu was disoriented, lost between worlds—one second in a corporate office, the next in a hospital ICU. His vision blurred, lingering for a while before finally settling on Xiao Wu.

...Oh right—the beta server’s tutorial quest.

When a player first enters the game, the first character they interact with is Xiao Wu.

Xie Shu blurred the lines between dream and reality. Hazily, he wondered, *Did I write this dialogue?*

Obviously not—but dreams don’t follow logic. Xie Shu chuckled. “No one worth drinking with.”

Xie Shu was a businessman, all about profit. He had never bared his heart to anyone—his friends were all surface-level allies from the business world, where even dining demanded caution. Otherwise, one might be tricked into signing a shady deal with disastrous fallout.

Only around Xiao Wu would he dare to drink himself under.

Knowing Lord Pingwu’s character, he wouldn’t harm him in secret.

Rather than saying Xiao Wu was the most important NPC in his game, it was more accurate to say Xie Shu was trying to craft an ideal version of something absent in reality.

Xiao Wu paused. “You have three thousand dancing girls.”

Xie Shu: “Not interested.”

Xiao Wu lowered his gaze. “You could summon Xue Sui or Wu Buke.”

Xie Shu half-closed his eyes. “They’d cheer at my funeral.”

“...”

Xiao Wu studied him. Xie Chunshan wore a faint smile, yet it didn’t reach his eyes, laced with self-mockery. Paired with the biting chill of early spring, it felt bleak beyond words.

For some reason, Xiao Wu suddenly picked up a wine cup, filled his cup with Peach Blossom Wine, and drank it down in silence.

Lord Pingwu wasn’t much of a drinker and choked on the burn, coughing. Xie Shu watched him, a trace of amusement in his brows, then tapped his chopsticks against the dishes. “If it’s too strong, don’t push it. Try these dishes instead—I guessed you’d like them and ordered them specially for you.”

Xiao Wu froze again.

Xie Chunshan was truly drunk. Sober, he would never say such things.

Xie Shu had deliberately avoided the dishes the Pharmacist would choose, opting instead for sweet-and-sour fish and honey-glazed yam—all sugary flavors. The glaze clung to his chopsticks, trailing sticky golden threads.

Xiao Wu picked up his chopsticks but didn’t eat, abruptly stating, “My cultivation has recovered sixty percent.”

Xie Chunshan showed no surprise. “Congratulations.”

Genuine and direct.

Xiao Wu: “Today, I left Wuwang Palace and even returned to Shangling Sect for a look.”

Xie Chunshan: “That’s good.”

Xiao Wu frowned, "I can come and go as I please. You can’t hold me anymore."

Xie Chunshan paused, "I never meant to lock you up."

Xiao Wu, "You're drunk here today, completely unguarded. Do you know I could kill you right now?"

Xie Chunshan smiled, "Try me."

"..."

Xiao Wu remained silent, his chopsticks unconsciously poking at the fish, shredding the fish to bits.

Xie Shu sighed, "Immortal Lord, quit torturing the fish. Spare it, won't you?"

Xiao Wu suddenly snapped back to reality and made to set down his chopsticks. That would’ve been a huge breach of etiquette in the Shangling Sect—normally, it’d earn you a trip to the discipline hall.

Knowing his master’s temperament, a few lashes were standard, a dozen likely, and even more wouldn’t be a stretch.

After spending so much time in Wuwang Palace, he’d let his old formal manners slip considerably.

But Xie Chunshan, of course, wouldn’t punish him.

He just slid the fish over to Xiao Wu, "Immortal Lord, try it."

Xiao Wu lowered his gaze and took a bite. The sourness exploded in his mouth, but he couldn’t discern much else. He prodded at the fish, "You said you never meant to lock me up. Then why did you take me from the Shangling Sect?"

Half-dead, he’d suffered through the brutal trip, bounced around in a prison wagon all the way to Wuwang Palace, nearly losing his life in the process.

Xie Shu, playing it all off like a game and facing the ever-gentlemanly Xiao Wu, didn’t hold back, "The Shangling Sect’s techniques are messed up. If you hadn’t come, how else would your broken meridians heal?"

"..."

Xiao Wu’s chopsticks mangled the fish before moving to the yam, mashing the yam into paste. His voice was hoarse, "You actually knew?"

Xie Shu’s voice was light, carrying a faint nasal tone, "Mhm."

"..."

Xie Chunshan got talkative when drunk, answering whatever was asked, but Xiao Wu found himself unable to press further.

Xie Shu watched as he mashed the yam and suddenly asked, "Don’t you like it?"

Xiao Wu hadn’t even tasted it properly, "...It’s fine."

Xie Shu, "Then what do you like? Next time, I’ll order what you prefer."

He sounded like he was humoring him.

"..."

Strange.

All his life, Xiao Wu had been told how he should be—as an immortal disciple, he should live off air and sunlight; as the Mystic Leader of the Daoist sect, he should be as untouchable as the moon and wind. Nobody ever bothered asking what he wanted, let alone offer to get him anything.

He couldn’t recall the last time he’d said what he wanted.

Only "Song Xiaoyu" had once brought him a Luban lock, and the "Pharmacist" had brought him sweet-and-sour mandarin fish. Now Xie Chunshan... was offering the same?

Xiao Wu suddenly said, "This fish doesn’t compare to sweet-and-sour mandarin fish."

Xie Chunshan smiled. "Then I'll bring you squirrel-shaped mandarin fish next time."

Xiao Wu: "And 'sugar-roasted chestnuts'."

Xie Chunshan: "I'll buy you 'sugar-roasted chestnuts'."

Xiao Wu: "Also..."

His fingers twitched slightly, but in the end, he didn’t reach for Xie Chunshan, instead tapping the wine pot. Xie Chunshan happened to have his fingers resting on the handle, and the pot became a bridge connecting their fingertips.

Xiao Wu: "On the fifteenth of next month, there’s a mountain village temple fair. I want you to go with me."

Xiao Wu had observed temple fairs from afar before. He knew that in the mortal world, temple fairs were always meant to be enjoyed by two people together.

He stared unblinkingly at Xie Chunshan, every muscle taut, as if a single "no" from Xie Chunshan would send him fleeing into the mountains of Wuwang Palace.

Xie Chunshan chuckled. "Alright, I’ll go with you."

"..."

Even though it was his own request, now that Xie Chunshan had agreed, Xiao Wu felt even more uneasy. A weird feeling twisted in his chest, his heart tingling with a dull ache. He sat rigidly in place, gazing at the figure in dark robes across from him. Lord Wuwang was devastatingly handsome—even in loose robes, one could vaguely make out his broad shoulders and narrow waist, a killer physique. For some reason, Xiao Wu suddenly recalled the times he had been swept into Xie Chunshan’s arms.

He had been held by Xie Chunshan more than once.

In the Silent Thoughts Pavilion, in the hot springs of the back mountain, in the main hall of Wuwang Palace, under the gaze of the Demon Palace crowd.

His body remembered the sensation of touch before his mind did. Though no one was touching him now, the sensitive skin at his waist began to burn.

Opposite him, Xie Shu was three sheets to the wind, perhaps subconsciously trusting in Xiao Wu’s character. Earlier, he had still been somewhat lucid, but now he was about to faceplant, his head lolling as he started to slump onto the table.

Xiao Wu hurriedly reached out to steady him.

Lord Wuwang was thoroughly drunk, unable to even stand, his weight pressing heavily against Xiao Wu as if he had become nothing more than a human crutch.

"..."

He had wanted physical contact—but not this kind.

The "cane" dragged him out of the garden, sighing deeply before grumbling at the drunk, "Let’s go. I’ll take you back to your bedroom to sleep."

Author’s Note:

Let’s check on Double Six—oh, Double Six is sleeping.