The Curious Case of the Notebook and the Eggs

“What are you doing?” Chen Gui asked, having just climbed back into the courtyard over the wall. He felt it was his duty to supervise Dan Fusheng.

As soon as he entered, he found Dan Fusheng writing in a notebook. The notebook resembled Chen Gui’s own, and it was also a magical artifact.

Dan Fusheng offered no reply. He merely glanced up, appraised Chen Gui, then lowered his gaze and resumed writing.

“Meng Lei’s eggs are temporarily with me. How do you plan to hatch them?” Chen Gui placed the basket on the stone table.

Dan Fusheng nodded. “Good, thank you.” He then scrutinized Chen Gui from head to toe once more before burying his head in the notebook, scribbling away.

Chen Gui pursed his lips. “You… what are you writing?”

“Learning from you to keep records,” Dan Fusheng replied. “You record me, so I record you.”

Chen Gui hummed in acknowledgment, finding this arrangement rather fair. Still, he pressed, “But what exactly have you written?”

At this, a smile suddenly bloomed on Dan Fusheng’s face. “I’m writing about your… Never mind.” He stopped himself.

Before Chen Gui could inquire further, Dan Fusheng set down his notebook and rose to inspect the eggs. He initiated a conversation about them. “I actually wanted Meng Lei to bring me a hen, but I can’t control when a hen sits on its eggs. So, I thought I’d hatch them myself using magic.”

Chen Gui gazed at the notebook on the table. “Mm.”

“Do you think I could just hand Si Fenglang over to the authorities and have them lock him up directly?” Dan Fusheng asked Chen Gui.

“You should send all three of them—him and his two Masters—in together, otherwise, problems might arise,” Chen Gui replied, still fixated on the notebook. “However, the authorities have already started tracking Sikong Fang.”

“Arresting him?”

“They won’t allow Sikong Fang to cause trouble,” Chen Gui stated. After his words, Dan Fusheng vanished from the spot.

He had entered the barrier, but Chen Gui could still sense his presence. ‘Had he gone to chat with Si Fenglang again?’

‘And without taking his notebook?’

Chen Gui stared intently at the notebook’s cover. ‘What exactly had Dan Fusheng written?’

Chen Gui’s expression grew increasingly serious.

Jade Mastiff pushed open the door and trotted in, daintily holding his leash in his mouth. Upon seeing Chen Gui, he transformed into his human form and hurried to his side.

“What are you looking at?” Jade Mastiff inquired.

“This notebook records his thoughts about me,” Chen Gui said, having stared at the book for over an hour.

“Really? What did he write?” Jade Mastiff reached out to take it.

Chen Gui stopped him. “You can’t do that,” he frowned. “This is his privacy.”

“Aren’t you curious?” Jade Mastiff understood Dan Fusheng well enough to know he wouldn’t get angry over such a trivial matter.

“I am curious.” Chen Gui also knew Dan Fusheng wouldn’t be angered. He was aware that Dan Fusheng had deliberately left the notebook there, yet he couldn’t bring himself to touch it. It was a matter of principle.

When Dan Fusheng reappeared, Chen Gui’s face was nearly pressed against the notebook’s cover. Dan Fusheng smiled subtly, confirming his profound understanding of his junior brother.

Chen Gui’s nose twitched slightly. “The scent of blood. Are you injured?”

“He kept wanting me to kill him, so I just made a move against him,” Dan Fusheng said casually.

“He’s dead?!” Jade Mastiff rushed to Dan Fusheng’s side, sniffing him vigorously. Yet, he detected no scent of blood. ‘How could Chen Gui’s nose be more sensitive than his?’

“Not dead. But he now has demon bones in his body. The demon bones and his Master’s bones have fused to become his current self,” Dan Fusheng explained, taking a seat on a stool.

“Are the demon bones in his body the ‘Demon Suppressing Lock’?” Chen Gui asked.

“A replica of the Demon Suppressing Lock. I’ll message Bai Yu to see if they can identify which demons possess the bloodline of a demon god,” Dan Fusheng said, raising a hand to his forehead.

“What exactly is a demon god?” Chen Gui didn’t understand. The term didn’t sound benevolent, yet Dan Fusheng, a supposed descendant of a pure-blood demon god, merely possessed high talent and swift cultivation.

“Who knows? I’ve never seen one myself.” Perhaps it was a story from an even earlier era. Dan Fusheng had asked True Monarch You Qing, but even he knew little about the deeds of ‘demon gods.’

Dan Fusheng was in the middle of typing a message to Bai Yu when a hand suddenly reached out to his chest and pressed down on his sternum.

He silently looked up, meeting the eyes of the hand’s owner.

Chen Gui said, “You’re injured here. You could have let me handle it; that thing can suppress demons, but it can’t suppress me.”

Dan Fusheng blinked. “I just wanted to see how powerful that replica Demon Suppressing Lock was.”

Chen Gui hummed in response, nodding gravely. Then, he began to press repeatedly on Dan Fusheng’s injured spot.

Dan Fusheng’s message remained half-typed.

“You’re recovering very quickly,” Chen Gui observed.

“Uh… ah, yes,” Dan Fusheng nodded. “My cultivation is decent, after all.”

Chen Gui continued to touch the spot.

Dan Fusheng: “…”

Chen Gui retrieved a healing elixir from his storage artifact. With one hand supporting Dan Fusheng’s head, he brought the pill to his lips.

Dan Fusheng’s hand trembled. He silently opened his mouth.

After offering the medicine, Chen Gui also handed him a cup of warm water. “Drink this.”

Dan Fusheng accepted the water with a look of surprise and uncertainty, taking two sips. After drinking, he asked earnestly, “Did you read it?”

Chen Gui nodded.

Dan Fusheng asked again, “You really read it?”

Chen Gui continued to nod.

Dan Fusheng looked at the inexplicably attentive Chen Gui and understood: ‘He must want to read what’s in my notebook.’

Chen Gui did not beat around the bush. “May I?”

“Alright, seeing as you’re being so well-behaved, how about this: I read three pages of your notebook, so I’ll let you read three pages of mine,” Dan Fusheng said, directly handing the notebook to Chen Gui. “Go ahead.”

Chen Gui thanked him, finally able to open the cover. However, the first page wasn’t about him; Dan Fusheng had written about their Master.

“Master picked me up,” Dan Fusheng explained. “Although his personality is quite eccentric, he holds a significant place in my life.”

Chen Gui nodded. Dan Fusheng had written hundreds of thousands of characters about Master, sixty percent of which were negative remarks. Unlike Chen Gui’s, his records were exceedingly subjective. This subjectivity made Chen Gui frown, yet it also made him desperately eager to know how Dan Fusheng described him.

The records about their Master concluded midway through the second page. Following that was their Senior Sister, which was also reasonable, as she had raised Dan Fusheng.

Chen Gui felt a premonition of dread. ‘Could it be that these three pages won’t feature me at all?’

Fortunately, Dan Fusheng wasn’t that cruel. After the section on their Senior Sister ended, Chen Gui finally saw his own name.

[Chen Gui became my junior brother when he was seven years old. At first glance, I thought this child was—]

‘Hm? It stopped? No punctuation? Oh, I need to turn the page.’

Chen Gui’s hand paused. Dan Fusheng was smiling. “Are you trying to be a little rogue?”

Chen Gui silently closed the notebook. “No.”

Dan Fusheng reminded him, “You know, even if you wanted to be a rogue, your Senior Brother wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

“I know.” Chen Gui returned the notebook to Dan Fusheng. He then inquired, “Could you let me see the next few pages?”

‘Did he want permission from him?’

Dan Fusheng let out a drawn-out, reluctant “Mmm.”

Chen Gui stared intently into Dan Fusheng’s eyes, awaiting his next words.

Dan Fusheng burst into laughter. “I really don’t want you to see it, actually.”

Chen Gui: “…”

Dan Fusheng, who had been somewhat displeased, now found his mood restored. “Ah~ I should go check on the vegetables I planted.”

Chen Gui remained silent.

Jade Mastiff, from the side, said helplessly, “Just read it. Why be so particular?”

Chen Gui did not approve of such behavior. “That’s not good,” he said, standing still, lost in thought.

“Then you deserve to be bullied by Dan Fusheng,” Jade Mastiff declared, convinced Chen Gui was beyond help.

That night, Dan Fusheng had a dream. He dreamt of old friends.

In the dream, Si Fenglang, for a rare change, sat drinking with him. At that time, demons and humans had not yet completely fallen out, and Dan Fusheng believed his plan was feasible.

“My talent isn’t high,” Si Fenglang said, sensing Dan Fusheng’s progress. “Before long, your cultivation will catch up to mine.”

“Forget it. It’s hard to say if I’ll even live that long. There are plenty of demons who dislike me right now,” Dan Fusheng had replied.

“Do you care about life and death?” Si Fenglang asked. “Seeing the absurd things you did before, I thought you were indifferent to it.”

“I didn’t care before because I had nothing in my hands. Now, I care very much. There are too many people behind me; I can’t abandon them.”

“People?” Si Fenglang raised an eyebrow.

“Demons and humans are one and the same,” Dan Fusheng nodded. “They are all people.”

Si Fenglang smiled and shook his head. “You still don’t understand.”

“How much do you understand?” Dan Fusheng scoffed. “One day, I will prove this point.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Si Fenglang changed the subject. “I’ve met your junior brother. I think he dislikes me.”

Dan Fusheng hummed. “Your feeling isn’t wrong.”

“I hope you won’t be angry when I say this,” Si Fenglang said after a moment. “Do you remember our first meeting? After I accidentally injured you, someone beat me up. I didn’t get a clear look at the attacker’s face. Was it your junior brother?”

“How could it be?! He wasn’t even an adult then.”

“Then who was it?”

“My Master.”

“You’re joking again.” Si Fenglang didn’t believe it at all. “I still suspect your junior brother.”

Dan Fusheng turned over, feeling someone touching his face. He groggily opened his eyes, meeting Chen Gui’s gaze. Chen Gui was pressed close, staring intently at him.

Dan Fusheng: “…”

“Did you have a nightmare?” Chen Gui asked.

Dan Fusheng shook his head; he had simply been startled awake. Chen Gui put down the towel he was holding.

“What were you doing just now?” Dan Fusheng asked.

“Helping you wash your face and wipe your body,” Chen Gui explained.

Dan Fusheng was astonished. “How many years have I been unconscious?!”

“You’ve only been asleep for three hours,” Chen Gui replied.

“Then am I paralyzed?” Dan Fusheng genuinely couldn’t understand why Chen Gui would clean his body.

“No, you were asleep,” Chen Gui said, putting the towel away. “You can’t wash your face while asleep, so I helped you.”

“I washed up before I slept.”

“Mhm.” Chen Gui climbed onto the bed. “But you might have wanted to wash again, only you fell asleep and couldn’t, so I helped you.”

‘That sounds surprisingly thoughtful, but…’ “Why are you on my bed?”

Chen Gui untied the cloth pouch fastened to his body. Inside were eggs. “Hatching eggs. I need you to supervise.”

Dan Fusheng exclaimed, “Ah? But I was going to use magic…”

“This way shows more sincerity.” Chen Gui gently patted the eggs.

Dan Fusheng felt he wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore. Yet, Chen Gui was still cautiously watching him.

“Do you want to read one more page?” Dan Fusheng asked.

Chen Gui: “Mm.”

Dan Fusheng squeezed his eyes shut tightly, pressing his fingers against his temples. “No.” He hadn’t finished making up the rest of the text.

He then reopened his eyes to find Chen Gui lying on his side, watching him. “Then you should sleep,” Chen Gui instructed.

Dan Fusheng: “And wake up to find you washing me again?”

Chen Gui assumed this was a joke. Although he didn’t understand it, he played along with two hearty laughs. Then, he composed his expression and continued to stare at Dan Fusheng.

Dan Fusheng: “…”