baiyuyi 24: A Wild Expert Appears

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Chapter 24: A Wild Expert Appears

“Huaaah…”

Yuan Chenglei heaved a large sigh into the cool autumn air as he left the university.

He still had a few hours until he had to man the register at Baiyuyi Bookstore (technically), and his bad habits had kicked up, so Yuan Chenglei decided to walk around the city.

He had been preoccupied this morning and hadn’t been paying attention to the atmosphere in J City, but if even his unobservant bros noticed strange things in the city, then there had to be something, right?

Yuan Chenglei frowned a bit.

Even though it was autumn, the chill in the air seems to be too cool for the season.

Maybe he should buy Jing-mei a winter coat before it got too cold…

Let’s see, how much did he have in his bank account?

Even though they aren’t rich, his parents send a small allowance every month, and he was being properly paid for the work he does in the bookstore … sure the pay wasn’t high, but his cost of living has also dropped to nothing but the bus pass and cellphone bill, so if he was calculating it right, then his bank account should have…

Come to think of it, now that he’s a cultivator, was it really necessary to save up for a motorbike?

If he dipped a bit into his savings, he should be able to buy Jing-mei a fairly nice coat as a present for starting school.

If they could find something on sale, he might even be able to get her something brand name.

When things in J City calm down a little, maybe he could bring Jing-mei to shop for one.

Even though Yuan Chenglei was an only child, his whole extended family had a tradition of spoiling the youngest cousins.

Respect the elders and dote on the children; that was the Yuan family way!

It can’t be helped that he naturally assumed that he should buy Zhao Jinjing something for her first day of school.

While idly thinking like that, Yuan Chenglei wasn’t just daydreaming as he walked about.

Using all of his senses, he was observing his surroundings, looking for the anomalies in J City… h-he was seriously looking, okay?

By no means is he getting distracted by that sweet smell of sweet batter being fried, with heaps of red bean paste tucked within.

Speaking of hong dou bing, should he bring one for Jing-mei and Laoban?

But they don’t taste as good cold so maybe he should buy cake instead.

Actually, Jing-mei probably hasn’t had many western sweets, so he should definitely buy cake instead.

While waiting for the hong dou bing stall owner to fry a new batch, Yuan Chenglei was startled when a young man appeared right next to him and leaned over to watch the stall owner frying the sweets.

This young man … even if Yuan Chenglei was not quite yet a cultivator, he had some confidence in the increase of his abilities to sense presences.

Geez, now that confidence is completely shattered.

“It smells quite good.”

The young man sniffed the aroma of the sweet batter frying with a somewhat happy expression.

“Yes, it lured me in,” Yuan Chenglei replied honestly.

“Hahaha! It’s no surprise the aroma alone called you over. We make the best hong dou bing in all of J City!”

The stall owner had a triumphant look on his face as he carefully watched the bings, making sure they wouldn’t burn before he could flip them onto the other half.

“Laoban, you are an artisan!”

Yuan Chenglei clapped his hands as the stall owner deftly flipped the bings without spilling any of the mountain of filling, one right after the owner.

He didn’t dislike people who took pride in what they did.

“Although they’re hong dou (read bean) bing, there were fillings that didn’t look like red bean.”

The young man looked at Yuan Chenglei with a bit of a perplexed look.

This young man… he had a youthful look, but his aura felt more mature. If Yuan Chenglei had to guess his age, perhaps this man was a little older than himself, but it was hard to tell.

With a pretty, clean face like a woman’s and silky, shoulder-length hair tied back into a low ponytail, most people would have to do a double-take to see if he was a man or a woman.

Furthermore, the deep, charismatic look in the young man’s eyes and the impish, knowing smile on his lips, together with the faint scent of osmanthus blossoms that wafted about when he had appeared next to Yuan Chenglei…

At this point, Yuan Chenglei was wondering what kind of movie some company was shooting.

This guy was definitely worthy of being a model.

For goodness sake, women were stopping to take a second look at the young man and appreciate his good looks.

If it was a week earlier, Yuan Chenglei would have definitely suspected the young man of being a celebrity, but right now…

It seems like he’s masking his qi, but … if you’re going to disguise yourself, then shouldn’t you try to avoid being so conspicuous?

Well, the average beauty of cultivators was a bit higher than mortals, so maybe it couldn’t be helped that this man didn’t think to disguise his appearance.

Thinking like that, Yuan Chenglei politely answered the young man’s question.

“The common filling is red bean paste, but this stall also has custard and peanut paste fillings.”

“Oh, I see…”

“Haha, that’s right. Would the Mister over there like one too? They’re all nice and fresh!”

The stall laoban handed Yuan Chenglei his hong dou bing before flipping the others onto a waiting plate.

“Well… Then the custard…”

As he spoke, the pretty young man opened up his wallet, then made a bit of a grimace.

“I forgot to withdraw money. Laoban, you wouldn’t take credit cards, would you?”

“Aah… as you might expect, cards are a little…”

The stall owner made an embarrassed expression.

He hadn’t gotten around to figuring out those portable credit card readers yet.

“Such a shame. Then, I’ll come back a little bit later, after I’ve been to the bank.”

The stall owner made a guts-pose and said, “Ou-! I’ll fry you up a fresh batch when you do-”

“Um, if you don’t mind, I could buy you one.”

Yuan Chenglei cut into their discussion.

He might not be rich, but it’s just 7rmb for one sweet bing, and Yuan Chenglei himself had also been lured in by the smell of the frying batter and was feeling very sympathetic.

Plus, if the webnovels told him anything, it was better to be nice to eccentric people with mysterious auras.

“No, that’s not, what – wait!”

Before the young man could finish protesting, Yuan Chenglei and the stall owner had already exchanged money and sweet.

“Hm, hm, I don’t think I can eat two… if Mister doesn’t want it, then what should I do…”

“Hm, hm, what can we do… I can’t really take it back, hygiene reasons and all… If Mister doesn’t want it, I’d have to throw it away…”

Despite not having discussed it beforehand, Yuan Chenglei and the stall owner acted in perfect sync before turning to the young man with matching grins.

After a moment, the young man laughed and surrendered.

“Ahaha! I’m defeated. Thank you … ”

After taking leave from the stall and saying goodbye to the stall owner, the young man suddenly lifted his right wrist and whistled quietly.

Eh? Did the jade charm on his bracelet just flash?

While Yuan Chenglei stared at it in curiosity, the young man looked over and smiled.

“It’s just a charm to guard against other people eavesdropping.”

“Oh… …”

Mister, are you even trying to hide that you’re a cultivator now?

Although you answered vaguely, it’s still a weird thing to say, you know?

Wait… why are you using something like that, all of a sudden?

Yuan Chenglei had a bit of a … not a bad premonition, but he suddenly had a premonition that …

“Now then, Little Daoist, what can I do for you?”

The young man’s eyes glinted a bit dangerously as he looked Yuan Chenglei over.

“Ah, you found out, huh?”

Yuan Chenglei wasn’t terribly surprised this person, who was most likely a cultivator, had realized that he had been suspecting him.

Yuan Chenglei knew he was a terrible liar and a worse actor, after all.

He also didn’t know a dang thing about hiding qi or whatever.

As Yuan Chenglei rubbed his head sheepishly, the young man looked like he was trying to maintain a serious expression, but couldn’t help finding Yuan Chenglei’s silly expression amusing.

The young man chuckled and said, “If you were hoping that I’d give you some information, I don’t mind answering one question for you.”

As he waited for Yuan Chenglei to ask a question, the young man turned his attention to the custard bing with some interest.

Well, Yuan Chenglei DID harbor some hopes that this cultivator would be kind enough to tell him some more things about the cultivation world… even if he was now cultivating under Laoban, cultivation and techniques were the only things that he was learning.

Yuan Chenglei was understandably curious about the state of things that were separate from the mundane world.

Thinking for a moment, Yuan Chenglei finally thought of something he could ask.

“Then… is egg custard sweets something common in the cultivation world? When I think of cultivators I can only think of traditional food, so it seems a bit of a mismatch.”

Despite his high cultivation, the young man almost choked on his custard bing before he started laughing uncontrollably.

Pretty soon, he was almost doubled over in laughter.

Even if his charm was masking the things they were saying, it seems that it didn’t disguise their actions as people walking by on the road looked over at them curiously.

“Ahahaha…haa…haha… goodness, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

Was he… crying? The cultivator wiped tears from his eyes as he tried to catch his breath.

“A-are you alright? Senior?” Yuan Chenglei asked anxiously.

“Yes, I’m alright. I was just so shocked – how long has it been since someone just innocently offered me something without any ulterior motives … haa… I’m so used to people trying to scam me out of important information, but … custard, huh…? Fufufu…”

The cultivator still found it funny, and although he tried to stifle his laughter, it still came out.

Yuan Chenglei was a little speechless. It wasn’t THAT funny, was it?

He couldn’t help saying, “Just what kind of information do they try to get out of you?”

“Hm… what kind of treasures I have, or secretive information about hidden realms… various things like that.”

“… Senior, I only bought you a 7rmb pastry. I don’t think it’s worth the value of information about treasures or hidden realms.”

Seriously. Just what kind of thing did this cultivator think he would ask for just 7rmb? If he asked for anything serious, it would be like trying to trade a common pebble for gold bars.

The cultivator had finally overcome his laughter and he sighed as he said, “If only more people would think like you.”

Yuan Chenglei wondered if it was his imagination that the cultivator’s eyes looked a bit sad, but it was just for a split second before the cultivator glanced over, with a somewhat mischievous look.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?”

“Uh…”

Yuan Chenglei had sweatdrops on his temple. W-would this Senior get mad at him if he admitted that he didn’t have a clue?

The cultivator just laughed. He sure likes to laugh…

“It’s fine. Rather, I’m glad to meet a little cultivator who doesn’t know me immediately by my Daoist name and reputation. See, even though I’m not fond of it, my Daoist name is Treasure Finder.”

… Oooh. Someone with a name like Treasure Finder would definitely meet a lot of people who tried to exploit him. That kind of thing just comes with a name like that.

“… Seems tough, but I think it’s a cool name, although it feels a bit unorthodox” Yuan Chenglei responded honestly.

Daoist Treasure Finder – It felt a little too straightforward for a Daoist name, but at least it wasn’t something ridiculous, like being named after fruit or something.

Rather, didn’t it have a good ring to it? Even if you didn’t know this man, just from his name you could tell he was someone you would want to make friends with!

“Hahaha… it’s a troublesome name. I didn’t mind it so much when people were just calling me that as they wished, but for my master to adopt it as my Daoist name is a bit…”

Whoa! That did feel kind of unpleasant! Master of Senior Treasure Finder, please put a little more effort into your disciple’s name!

Even if it wasn’t a bad name, it feels completely unpleasant to be named after what you’re called and not the other way around!

“Then… what should I call Senior? By the way, I’m Yuan Chenglei, no Daoist name,” Yuan Chenglei said.

Oops, they hadn’t introduced themselves yet!

“Fufufu, my name is Fa Jiayi. I’m not quite a Senior yet, so I’d rather you call me Expert Jiayi.”

“Oh.” Yuan Chenglei thought for a moment before saying, “Expert Jiayi, although you said I could only ask one question, can I ask what divides a Senior from an Expert? I’m a bit inexperienced…”

Expert Jiayi laughed.

“I don’t mind answering these types of questions. It seems like I was being too self-conscious earlier when I told you that you could only ask one question, since you won’t attempt to dig up things that should remain secret. Once you surpass the Third Stage and become a Fourth Stage cultivator you can be considered an Expert. Seniors are those who have made their way to Sixth Stage. However… I’m surprised you haven’t been told this. You’re already a cultivator of the 2nd … …”

Expert Jiayi suddenly fell silent as his eyes probed Yuan Chenglei’s cultivation level.

“… … Friend Chenglei, how is it that you’ve accumulated so much qi and refined your body to such a degree, and yet managed not to open a single acupoint?”

Yuan Chenglei’s shoulders slumped.

That’s what he would like to know.

“I don’t really know. For some reason, it seems like I’ve been just storing qi in my dantian. My master doesn’t understand it either. I wonder if I’m not cut out for cultivation after all.”

Even if his qi accumulation and body tempering could be considered superior to a First Stage cultivator, to the point that most people think he’s a Second Stage cultivator, it wasn’t going to matter if he couldn’t even climb up to the very First Stage!

At this point, he was just going to be a very strong mortal forever!

It was very disappointing.

However, Expert Jiayi shook his head.

“No, if you weren’t cut out for cultivation, you wouldn’t have been able to accumulate qi at all, let alone being able to refine some qi into vitality to strengthen your body. If anything, your adaptability to qi means you’re very well-suited to being a cultivator. However, storing qi and being unable to open the first acupoint… … … … it would have to be a unique constitution, after all.”

“My master also said that, but it seems no one has any idea about what kind of constitution it could be.”

Yuan Chenglei felt like complaining a little.

Actually, Yuan Chenglei had been feeling very anxious about this, but he hadn’t been willing to complain in front of Laoban or Zhao Jinjing.

One was kind enough to be the master of a hopeless case like him, and the other had problems that made his issues feel very trivial.

But just because he didn’t feel like he could complain to them didn’t mean his anxiousness went away.

“That’s … true. I’ve never heard of any cultivators that would encounter a bottleneck before the First Stage … But that’s not the case for spirit beasts. Although they are extremely rare, there are some powerful types of snake beasts that spend each of their stages accumulating enough qi to shed their skin, triggering massive breakthroughs once they shed. Well, that kind of thing is very rare even among spirit beasts, and it’s practically unheard of among cultivators, so it can’t be helped that your situation is a little baffling.”

At Expert Jiayi’s words, Yuan Chenglei felt a sense of relief – as well as more anxiety!

That was one of things he was worried about!

“Expert Jiayi… I’m… human, right? I’m not some spirit beast pretending to be human, or a hybrid or something, right?”

Expert Jiayi laughed at Yuan Chenglei’s nervous question.

“You’re human, you’re completely human. Your situation wouldn’t be so confusing if you weren’t.”

That’s… good? Yuan Chenglei didn’t know if he should feel reassured or not.

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<a/n: (1/2) So… yeah, I don’t know if hongdou bing is a common streetfood in China, or if it’s just Taiwan. All I can remember is walking down a street in Taipei a long time ago and getting sidetracked with the sweet smell of pancake-like batter smothering red bean paste.
Also, the sweets are commonly called hongdou (red bean) bing, but there are often other flavored fillings, like custard, cream, peanut, green tea, etc.
It’s basically the same thing as obanyaki. >