Wuxian couldn't fall asleep again, though, for a different reason to before.

In his mind, the scene from a couple hours prior played on repeat. Even when he tried to think about other things, his mind eventually meandered back to the same thing.

'I can't sleep… I suppose I should cultivate, then.'

He checked up on his previous progress that day. Of the 30 collateral meridians, he had refined 10. Of the pericardium meridian itself, he had refined about 1/5.

It took no time at all for Wuxian to get back into the cultivation mindset. It was somewhat relaxing; continually repeating the same set of actions within, making a small amount of permanent progress each circulation.

'As expected, cultivation is the best.' He mused, before returning his full concentration to his meridian network.

And soon, the night turned back to day.

Wuxian, despite not having slept, felt well rested regardless. The entire time, his eyes had been shut and he'd been continuously refining his meridians. By the time breakfast came, he had already refined 4 more collateral meridians.

His progress on the pericardium was too little to quantify, however. But with about three more days of uninterrupted cultivation, he was certain he could finish refining his second meridian and properly become a Minor Yellow Foundation Builder.

In the morning, neither Shui Qianyue nor Jiang Manyou came. Though it was the weekend, Nightwatchers were often called up in emergencies, and with the severe shortage of manpower due to the war, the remaining two golden badges were likely being overworked.

And it was not like Wuxian's day hinged on seeing Shui Qianyue either. He had met her once, made little conversation and small talk and that was that.

It would be a lie to say that Wuxian wasn't slightly disappointed, but he was perfectly content to cultivate as well.

After all, between pursuing a potential romance and keeping himself alive, he definitely preferred the latter.

Wuxian and Qiushou sat opposite one another, each taking their time to finish the morning congee.

Wuxian was not certain of Qiushou's upbringing, but he felt a sense of comfort upon observing how similar their eating etiquette was. He remembered how when he was young, his mother would hit him if he did not sit still and eat in silence.

Elbows on the table, chewing with an open mouth, making any sounds while eating, the list went on. Despite a few thousand years of difference between him and Qiushou, it seemed that parents never changed.

After they finished their congee and handed the bowls over to the two attendants, they coincidentally met eyes.

"You seem quite close to Jiang Manyou." Wuxian remarked.

Wan Qiushou nodded slowly, his sky-blue eyes bobbing up and down as he did so.

"He is older than me by about ten years." Qiushou replied. "I have known him for a long time. He has looked after me a lot."

Wuxian felt surprised, seeing Wan Qiushou being so talkative all of a sudden.

'Perhaps I just need to find the right topic.'

Wuxian waited for Qiushou to continue, but the man seemed to lack social skills, merely staring at Wuxian, waiting for him to start a new conversation.

"How old are you, exactly?" Wuxian asked.

"Twenty one." Qiushou replied dully.

"What about Shui Qianyue? You made a bet with her, right?"

Wan Qiushou adopted a somewhat pained expression.

"She is the same age as me. Sister Shui likes to bully me often. Despite her kind appearance, she is petty. Putting pork inside the steamed buns was definitely her doing."

He paused, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"She doesn't care about winning the money from me, but she knows that I am overly competitive and do not like to lose. She is merely trying to teach me a lesson."

Wuxian was properly surprised. He'd never properly spoken to Qiushou before. Though unfair, he had felt a little condescendingly about him before- especially during the fight with the white robed man. His perspective began to change the more he spoke with Qiushou, however.

"You're more self-aware than I imagined." He blurted out loud, instantly regretting his words the moment he said them.

Wan Qiushou's neutral expression shifted slightly. He smiled, albeit stiffly, upon hearing Wuxian's words.

"Like you, I am a human being. Though I have lots of problems, I have just as many virtues. I cannot help the way that I am, whether it is distasteful to others or not is beyond my control."

His head tilted to the left for a moment, before he returned to a more natural position.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"The same way as you cannot help but be attracted to sister Shui." He jibed, though his pattern of speech was ponderous, so the sentences he spoke always felt flat and dull.

Wuxian was not upset. Wan Qiushou had spoken the truth and Wuxian did not disagree with his words.

"We did not get off to a good start. Now seems like a decent time to reintroduce myself- I am Sihai Wuxian. I suppose I owe you an apology; I hope that you and I can forget whatever differences we've accrued over the last few days and start afresh."

At the same time, he cupped his fists and tipped his head forward in a half-nod.

Wan Qiushou had a strange expression on his face. Usually, he came across as dull or cynical, nothing else, no in-between. This expression, however, looked quite ugly.

It took Wuxian a few moments to realise that Qiushou was genuinely smiling.

Wan Qiushou cupped his fists and also bowed his head for a few seconds.

"I gave you trouble from the get-go because I misalleged your motives and your identity. I have had trouble communicating since young. I hope you will not hold anything I say in poor taste against me. Not only have I maligned you, but you risked your safety to save me. You need not apologise to me, instead, I you. Let's start anew."

Wuxian returned the ugly smile.

"If you won't accept an apology, then how about this. Once you and I recover, what say you and me go out for some fun?"

Wan Qiushou's smile faded, returning to his usual cynical appearance. He wore what Wuxian assumed to be an apprehensive expression.

"What kind of fun?"

Wuxian chuckled roguishly in response, answering with a look all men understood.

"Cang'An's got to have a red light district, right?"

Wan Qiushou shifted his body slightly, finding a more comfortable resting position.

"I am not sure. We should ask brother Jiang, I think he is more familiar with these things than I am."

They chatted a little longer, before both shutting their eyes and returning to their own devices.

Wuxian continued to refine meridians, continuing on until lunch, where he was woken again.

Jiang Manyou had come alone this time, carrying two parcels of bamboo-wrapped rice with meat and veggies mixed within.

He handed one to Qiushou, who accepted it silently, and then strolled over to Wuxian's bed.

Jiang Manyou placed the food on the bedside counter before taking a seat, letting out a sigh as he sat.

"I've heard a little about you from the chief. I'm sure you know at least my name by now, but I'll reintroduce myself for the sake of formality. Jiang Manyou, 'Man' for slow, 'You' for roaming.

Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said, cupping his hands casually.

Wuxian nodded in response, sitting up slightly.

"Then I hope chief Li wasn't too negative when he mentioned my name." He joked, earning a slight nod from Jiang Manyou in response.

"My name is Sihai Wuxian. Contrary to what you might believe, my greatest desire right now is to leave Cang'An and never come back."

Jiang Manyou chuckled for a moment before speaking up.

"Then you and I have something in common."

Wuxian raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"I have spent the majority of my life living here in Cang'An. The chief practically raised me. Look at how valiant my name is, 'slowly-wandering river'.

When you see my appearance and hear my name, you expect a grizzled knight-errant with many-a-tale to tell, but in the end, I'm just a city dweller who's not once stepped foot in jianghu."

Wuxian grinned uncontrollably.

"Indeed, the only 'four seas' that I have visited are each of the cardinal wells in this city." He laughed, slapping his leg, only to regret the action a second after.

Jiang Manyou grinned too, his white teeth glistening in the light. He shook his head, wiping away a tear as he did so.

He then looked down at the unfinished parcel on Wuxian's lap.

"You gonna finish that?"

Wuxian pushed the food over.

"Be my guest."

Jiang Manyou slapped Wuxian on the shoulder heartily, nodding at the same time.

"Good! Listen up, girls like compassionate and kind men. Only a gentleman can successfully woo a lady and hold on to her after the initial period of infatuation!"

As he took a bite out of the parcel, he gave Wuxian a cheeky wink.

"My friend, you have the signs of becoming a real lady-killer."

Wuxian was caught up in Jiang Manyou's energy, a silly grin on his face. Who knew that sharing food could make someone so happy?

But the moment was ruthlessly torn down by Wan Qiushou who had just finished eating.

"Brother Jiang, your last relationship, which was five years ago, ended because you were unfaithful. You promised to stop visiting the red light district after getting together with that woman, only to break your oath the next day.

After being broken up with, you visit the same whorehouse on a weekly; sometimes daily basis. You're unable to commit your heart to any one person, needing to feel like a casanova instead, yet your only mistresses are filthy prostitutes who were holding another man's jewels mere moments ago."

Jiang Manyou, who seemed to always be relatively casual and laid-back, turned red. But he had no retort for the sharp-tongued Wan Qiushou.

"I'm the one who dumped her. Not the other way around." He muttered.

Qiushou stared piercingly.

"You're lying." He stated, matter-of-factly.

Feeling the atmosphere rapidly turn ice-cold, Wuxian cleared his throat with a cough.

"Ahem, now that we're on the right topic, I feel I should ask you something, brother Jiang."

Jiang Manyou's head turned. "Ask away, brother Sihai."

"I was thinking that maybe after myself and Wan Qiushou recover, you might be able to tell us about the nicer places to visit within the red light district…"

Hearing this, Jiang Manyou wore a dirty expression.

"Well, you've asked the right person, brother Sihai, hehehe."

Wuxian, seeing this senior act so thuggishly, couldn't help but glance away.

'They're weird. Everyone here is weird. Get used to it, Wuxian.'

Jiang Manyou began describing the different establishments, ones he'd frequented often, ones he was less familiar with, hostesses he'd enjoyed often, and the ones he couldn't afford but wished to spend the night with…

It was about one hour later, in the midst of a story about one of Jiang Manyou's sexual escapades that Wuxian realised that what he'd experienced previously in any red light district was nothing more than child's play.

Near the beginning, he had commented on the different things Jiang Manyou had said here and there, but this became sparser and sparser the longer the man talked.

Wuxian was exposed to so many different degenerate activities within such a short time span that he'd become completely numb. In the end, he felt that perhaps going to a teahouse might be a better choice.

But it was too late. Jiang Manyou had worked up a vigorous 'appetite' after reliving some of his memories, deciding to invite himself along, or rather, induct the two new rookies into the adult world once they recovered.

When the sky turned dark and Jiang Manyou's throat was hoarse from talking for so long, Wuxian heaved a quiet sigh of relief as the man left.

Glancing over, he noticed that Wan Qiushou had long since fallen asleep, seemingly oblivious.

'Must be nice.' He thought to himself, closing his eyes and returning to cultivate.

But the moment of respite was brief, being broken again mere minutes after Jiang Manyou left.

Wuxian opened his eyes to the stimulating sight of Shui Qianyue wearing a floral dress. He could see now that her figure was something a little peasant like him had never witnessed before.

But despite that, his thoughts remained relatively clean. He was taken more by the swaying of her hair as she walked, the rustling of her clothes and the box she held in front of her.

Tracing his gaze, Shui Qianyue passed over the box.

"Homemade sweets. Want to try some?"