Two Old Monsters

Chapter 5

Translator: Aafkee

Proofreader: ChaiTea

Xie Chang’an picked up his trousers and was about to put them on when he suddenly remembered something. His eyes reddened as he held back tears, "I slept in the brothel for three days, but I was too much of a pussy to do anything!" The more Fu Wangzhi listened, the more his heart ached. He held Xie Chang’an in his arms, kissed away the tears one by one, kissed the trembling eyelashes, and said, "Xie Chang'an, I'm sorry." Fu Wangzhi clasped Xie Chang’an's waist and rubbed the distinctly muscular waist, inch by inch, burying his face in Xie Chang’an's hair and said, "I like you.” It never occurred to him that Xie Chang'an, who appeared seemingly unconcerned, had been stubbornly waiting for him to say this. Xie Chang’an buried himself in Fu Wangzhi's embrace and hesitated momentarily before taking off the trousers he had just put on. After the lovers' quarrel, it was as if nothing had happened. As lovers, that was how it should be; if they had something to argue about, they should have just done it. If that didn't work, they could even fight it out. And they would get on with their lives when they got over it. The most important thing is not to hold it in. Sooner or later, it would just suffocate both of them if they did not talk about it. Xie Chang’an happened to be someone who couldn't hold his tongue. First, he realised that it wouldn't be too bad for him to spend the rest of his life with another man, so he decided to go straight to Fu Wangzhi. Even if Fu Wangzhi hadn't come looking for him this time, Xie Chang’an would still have gone home and told Fu Wangzhi how he felt. ... The hens had been getting fatter lately, and Xie Chang'an spent his days staring at them, his mouth watering, his fox tail almost wagging. Fu Wangzhi stood beside Xie Chang'an and looked at the hen's belly... Well, it's about to lay an egg... Just as Fu Wangzhi thought, the hens laid a clutch of eggs two days later. Fu Wangzhi and Xie Chang’an were very satisfied with their meal and refreshed. It was the middle of winter before they noticed. The winter wind was brutal, and the herbs were no longer easy to pick. Since the two of them did not particularly need money, they decided to settle down and rest. It's just that Xie Chang’an hadn't expected Fu Wangzhi to sleep for more than two days at a time, doing everything lazily and looking at people with blank stares. His life consisted of eating, sleeping, and making love. He could even fall asleep in the middle of sex. Xie Chang’an thought Fu Wangzhi was ill and was worried. He had heard that mortals were physically fragile and could not withstand the slightest calamity or illness. So Xie Chang’an secretly went behind Fu Wangzhi's back to see the doctor. The doctor said it was the poor blood circulation and the accumulation of heat in his body and gave Xie Chang’an a bunch of tonics. Xie Chang’an listened intently, fearing Fu Wangzhi's health was jeopardised. Fu Wangzhi tried to control himself recently, but snakes naturally hibernate during the winter, making it difficult to go against their nature. When he looked up and saw Xie Chang’an returning with a pile of medicine, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. One day a Taoist priest came to town. He pointed to the west of the town and said that the demonic energy was intense. Xie Chang’an was sitting in his shop, one leg over the other, snacking on melon seeds, when he heard the crowd talking about the arrival of a Taoist priest. He became nervous and accidentally chewed the whole melon seed, filling his mouth with crumbs. He immediately tried to spit it out. As luck would have it, that night, when the moon was high in the sky, the Taoist priest came and told the neighbours, "The night has become cloudy, and the demonic energy is at its strongest now." Xie Chang’an's fox ears were extremely sharp. He knew something was wrong when he heard the various conversations among the people. He had the vague impression that someone had set up a formation to catch demons.
Xie Chang’an thought, "How dare a mere mortal like you insult your Fox Boss? If you were in the wild, I would make you run home to your mother crying!" The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and he even stomped his foot in indignation, waking Fu Wangzhi in the process. The talk died down after a while, but Xie Chang’an knew that was not the end of it. Xie Chang’an was not in the least afraid of the Taoist priests and their tricks. He was only afraid of the look on Fu Wangzhi's face when the Taoist priest pointed at him and called him an evil monster. The Taoist priest decided to visit them the next day to find out what was going on, but it so happened that neither of them was at home all day. Fu Wangzhi had noticed the Taoist priest's energy from the moment he entered their city, and it had been particularly intense last night. He was already aware of it. The Taoist priest was greeted by a locked door when he arrived. After asking around, he knew that two men lived in the house and that there had been no strange incidents or deaths over the years, so he had a vague idea. Xie Chang’an wandered around the city a few times. He wanted to find a place to rest, but he remembered how thick his demonic energy was. He was afraid it would cause him unnecessary trouble. So he decided that it would be best if he stopped wandering around and ran into Fu Wangzhi, who was also doing the same thing as he was doing. The two men exchanged pleasantries and went back to their separate ways without saying much or asking each other any questions. That day, Xie Chang’an thought long and hard and decided that this could not go on, so he took the initiative to seek out the Taoist priest instead. He found a small tea shop and looked around. Seeing no one, he whispered to the person, "I'm a spirit demon." The Taoist priest took a sip of tea and nodded calmly, "I know." Xie Chang’an continued, "I've never hurt a mortal." The Taoist priest took another sip and nodded again, "I know." Xie Chang’an thought for a moment. In a rare moment of seriousness, he said, "I have my own reasons for remaining in the mortal realm. My lover is a mortal, and I only wish to accompany him until the end of this life." It was the Taoist priest's turn to be surprised this time. He raised his brow and questioned, "Mortal?" Xie Chang’an nodded, "Yes. It seems his body has been weak lately, and he is always feeling sleepy. I need to take care of him." "That's because he's a snake. Of course, he has to hibernate," the Taoist priest thought. The Taoist priest had heard almost the same thing from two different people on the same day. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. "I don't have a penchant for splitting up lovebirds. I won't do anything unnecessary so long as you live your life doing good," the Taoist priest did not reveal the truth in the end. The fate between these two seemed interesting, and he thought he would let them be interesting and see how it would turn out.
Xie Chang’an clasped his hands together to express his gratitude, "I'm grateful." And without realising it, dozens of years had passed. Dawns and dusks passed slowly, and all was peaceful. One day, someone greeted Xie Chang’an on the street, but he didn't recognise the person. Only after they had talked for a long time did he remember that it was the chef who had cooked for his wedding banquet. Xie Chang’an was surprised that the chef was so old. "Brother, how did you turn white?" Xie Chang’an asked, pointing to the chef's hair. "Mister, it has been more than 30 years. I have to admit that I'm old," the chef touched his beard. It was white, like his hair. "It's been over 30 years?" Xie Chang’an felt as if his heart had been struck by lightning. More than 30 years? No wonder he saw a few white hairs on Fu Wangzhi. Xie Chang’an was suddenly lost in thought. He started thinking about all sorts of things, and for a while, he couldn't help but feel depressed. "You, on the other hand, are wonderful. You don't seem to have changed at all, even after all these years," the chef lifted his eyes and looked kindly at the tall and slender Xie Chang’an. "Babyface really exists," he thought. "Cough, cough, cough... No, not at all... Cough. My health hasn't been as good as it used to be either," Xie Chang’an immediately looked down and coughed out his lungs as he tried to mentally calculate how old he should be. "Mister, you— Your cough seems pretty severe. I hope it's not lung disease." "No, no, I'm just old." Xie Chang’an's excuses were full of loopholes. With his usual street smarts, he would never have done such a thing. However, he was so shocked that it had been over 30 years that he couldn't digest the fact right away. Xie Chang’an walked home sullenly, mentally calculating that he must be around 50 years old, which meant that Fu Wangzhi must also be around 50 years old. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. Xie Chang’an kicked open the door to his house, pointed to the stool and ordered Fu Wangzhi to sit down. Fu Wangzhi was confused. He lifted his robe and sat down on the mahogany stool, only to see Xie Chang’an reach out and ruffle Fu Wangzhi's long hair as he took a closer look. Fu Wangzhi's heart pounded, and he quickly used his powers to create a few more strands of white hair. His mind was unsettled. After a while, Xie Chang’an couldn't look at Fu Wangzhi any more and sat down opposite him, burying his face in his arms and lying down on the table. Fu Wangzhi silently and carefully examined Xie Changan with mixed feelings in his heart. "Fu Wangzhi, why do people have to live, grow old, get sick and die?" Xie Chang’an raised his head to meet Fu Wangzhi's eyes and saw the same pair of eyes that had always been cold and dark, but now there were fine lines at the corners of those eyes. Fu Wangzhi didn't answer. It was the last thing he wanted to talk about. He knew that if Xie Chang’an left him one day, he would have to accompany him to the other side and reincarnate with him into the next life. Xie Chang’an was worried about Fu Wangzhi's life, but he still carried a small stool to sit on in front of his house and watch the old people pass by, taking them as a reference and making himself look old by adding some grey hair and wrinkles.
Before anyone knew it, another 30 years had passed. The two of them sat in the courtyard in the sun as the autumn breeze blew through, blowing away the fallen leaves on the ground and blowing away thousands of years. Fu Wangzhi was very old and could no longer accompany Xie Chang’an into the mountains to gather herbs, nor could he often play the zither with him. Xie Chang’an was also old. He no longer looked after the chickens and was no longer as active as he used to be. Apart from those bright eyes, it was hard to see the beauty behind all the signs of age. Xie Chang’an sat on a rocking chair, rocking and looking at the vast blue sky, thinking that if his cultivation was stronger and he became a fox immortal, could he prolong Fu Wangzhi's life? There was nothing else he wanted. All he needed was one life. After a long time, Fu Wangzhi suddenly caught Xie Chang’an's fingertips with his own, and the two wrinkled hands clasped tightly together. It was what they called having the other to hold from the day they were married, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, till death do them part. That night, a sudden cry could be heard from next door. Old Man Fu and Old Man Xie, wrapped in woollen jackets, came out to see what was going on, only to find that Old Chef Zhang had died. He had died quietly, and his body was carried out covered with a white cloth. Old Zhang's wife cried uncontrollably, her white hair dishevelled as she hugged Old Zhang's corpse, almost fainting from crying so hard. This sad scene deeply shook the hearts of the two old monsters. Xie Chang’an could not sleep after that. He got up quietly, put on his shoes, went out and sat down on the green stone slab in the courtyard and stared at the ground. No one knew what was in his mind. Large drops of tears suddenly fell from his eyes. Xie Chang’an wiped them away, but another one fell on the back of his hand. Then it became uncontrollable as he burst into tears. Xie Chang’an didn't dare cry out. He bit his lips to hold back his sobs as he wiped his tears with his hands and sleeves, so much so that his face hurt.