Lian Ruxin didn't ask out loud, but the young man on the cliff turned his head, as if he had long known someone was behind him. Perhaps he didn't turn around to chat earlier for fear of missing the crucial moment of sunrise.

"Sorry for disturbing. I came up the mountain to get some cicada shells for my little Hongchen to make small lanterns to light up and play with in a few days for the Lantern Festival. Seeing that the sun was about to rise, I came to enjoy it."

The young man raised his wine flask and smiled, "I've seen it, now it's your turn."

With that said, the young man lightly tapped his toes and leaped off the hundred-zhang cliff. Only a small part of his sash fluttered in the air for a moment before completely disappearing from Lian Ruxin's sight.

It was a long time later that Lian Ruxin learned what had happened in the city.

A plague demon was wreaking havoc but was slain by a young Daoist priest. Once the source of calamity was severed, many people recovered without medicine. To celebrate, the Lantern Festival originally scheduled for mid-month was held as planned.

Everyone praised the young Daoist priest as an immortal, saying he came and went freely. If not for him, who knows how many more people in the city would have died.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, Lian Ruxin sat on the cliff, overlooking the twinkling lantern lights in the city that resembled a long starry river. His gaze lowered as he touched his chest, seeming a bit uncomfortable.

But Lian Ruxin knew that he was born from stone and had no heart to begin with.

He avoided the bustling noise, squatting alone by the stream playing with water. He thought, that immortal was a very good person - carefree and unrestrained.

But what Lian Ruxin never expected was that after that disaster, temples for the "Fu Yan" Immortal started being built in the city, with incense burning prosperously. In front of the temple, crowds came and went in an endless stream.

There were only a few thousand people in the city. If they believed in this, they would no longer believe in that.

Later on, no matter how painstakingly Lian Ruxin tried, the peace and happiness in the city was almost entirely attributed to the "Fu Yan" Immortal.

In the homes of the worshippers who had once sacrificed themselves to the mountain rocks, the young daughters in the spring of youth also went to the "Fu Yan" Immortal's temple daily to pray, hoping the immortal would bestow them a satisfactory husband.

Lian Ruxin stood behind her, flicking stones to drive away a rogue who had been following her for a long time. He looked up at the sky, his expression lost.

In the Stone God Temple, the incense offerings dwindled day by day.

Finally, at a grand sacrificial ceremony, Lian Ruxin opened the barrier and waited on the mountain path for an entire night without seeing a single worshipper coming to make offerings.

At sunrise, Lian Ruxin walked step by step to the divine stone. Imitating the manner of the sacrificers, he chanted the ancient scriptures in a low voice and bowed his head, wanting to enter the stone.

...He wanted to sacrifice himself.

However, nothing happened.

The stone had no soul, no spiritual energy. Even the divine stone would not accept him.

Lian Ruxin stroked the divine stone, kneeling before it with his forehead pressed against its body.

He didn't know what to do.

From then on, Lian Ruxin never waited for any more sacrificers.

...And the crack in the sky grew larger than before, with the celestial phenomena gradually becoming abnormal.

No one would notice this except for Lian Ruxin who kept watch here every day.

He went to the southeast cliff to observe daily, feeling a bit anxious. Looking down at the dwindling incense, he felt even more desolate.

But he could not force others to believe in gods, let alone force them to make sacrifices.

Time flew by. Lian Ruxin had lived alone on the mountain for nineteen years.

One day, an uninvited guest arrived at Mount Mizhi.

It was a demon cultivator. Lian Ruxin could tell at a glance.

However, he was not tainted with the smell of blood, clearly a young demon cultivator who had not yet killed. He did not cultivate the Blood Sect that specialized in taking lives, so Lian Ruxin did not bother him, treating him as just a passerby.

When he reached this point in his journey, he seemed tired. He picked some wild fruits and devoured them, then scooped up a handful of mountain spring water to drink.

Soon, he was curled up in a small ball under a tree, unable to move due to unceasing stomach pain.

In the end, Lian Ruxin, who was used to doing good deeds, still picked him up and brought him back to the mountain cave where he dwelled. He massaged the young man's abdomen to dispel the cold energy, quietly saying, "Those wild fruits are cold in nature and have a strange appearance. Passersby all know not to eat them carelessly. Why did you eat them?"

The young and reckless little demon cultivator stared at Lian Ruxin's flushed red face. "Who are you?"

"I am not anyone," Lian Ruxin said. "You should leave quickly."

The little demon cultivator was not afraid of him and grinned. "If you don't tell me who you are, I won't leave. Are you an immortal in this mountain?"

Lian Ruxin said, "I am not an immortal."

Aside from offerings, he rarely spoke to people. The more he talked, the redder his face became, but he himself couldn't feel it. Therefore, in the little demon cultivator's eyes, this person was truly very interesting.

The little demon cultivator mumbled, "Yeah, nowadays any Daoist priest wants to kill me. If you were an immortal, you wouldn't not kill me either."

Although Lian Ruxin guarded this corner of the city and could not go anywhere, he knew about the extermination of demons in the world. Hearing him say this, Lian Ruxin stiffly replied, "I will not kill you."

The little demon cultivator narrowed his eyes slightly, turned over, and crawled closer to Lian Ruxin on all fours. "You want me to stay?"

Lian Ruxin smelled the scent on him and realized he was from the Hehuan Sect* of the demon path. Unfortunately, he had no heart and naturally would not be confused by the charming fragrance inherent to the Hehuan Sect.

*T/N: The Hehuan Sect progresses cultivation through love, lust and affection

Lian Ruxin sat upright and said, "You can stay. It might be safer."

For him, this was just another good deed he was used to doing.

The little demon cultivator was not polite. He grinned, revealing a pointy tiger tooth. "I'm called Yi Shangchen*."

*T/N: Written as "Dust on the Robes"

Lian Ruxin said, "I'm called Lian Ruxin."

Yi Shangchen looked him up and down.

Lian Ruxin asked him, "What did you come here for?"

Yi Shangchen stretched lazily and said with a smile, "I am a person who lives up to my name. I am just a speck of dust, following the wind wherever it takes me. I like to wander around, going wherever the wind blows. I have seen Mount Hua, Mount Huang, and the Wei River. Perhaps when the next monsoon comes, I will be on my way again."

Such an enviable romantic and free lifestyle reminded Lian Ruxin of the young man waiting for the sunrise.

Wandering around freely, without having to think about the good deeds to be done upon waking up each day, was a lifelong dream that Lian Ruxin could never fulfill.

Lian Ruxin bowed in a pleading gesture and said, "Please, you must tell me what those places are like. Could you?"

Author's note:

The love-hate relationship between the Little Stone Man and Feng Er. qwq