"This is Square Village, ahh..." Wei Wuxian gawked.
There were many children, parents, and teenagers who roamed the streets. They all wore their winter attires, and laughed cheerfully as they played with the snow.
"It's very peaceful." Shen Qingqiu analyzed. "It doesn't look like there's any phenomenal activity here."
The cat in Xie Lian's arms had let out a soft meow. It nuzzled in the crooks of Xie Lian's arms, clearly trying to seek for warmth. Meanwhile, the gaze that Hua Cheng used to look at the cat had increasingly darkened. Yet, the cat remained unscathed to the deadly aura roaming around.
"I wonder why there's a wild cat here." Luo Binghe was curious. His instincts were similar to a dog, which made him incredibly fond of cats.
The black and white cat shot a disdained look at him. It slapped its tail across Luo Binghe's face.
The latter cupped his cheek, which was slapped. Luo Binghe turned to complain to Shen Qingqiu, "Shizun! That... that cat just hurt me!"
Shen Qingqiu fondled his lover's face. "It's okay... it's okay... there's no bruise. You'll be okay..."
Luo Binghe could only reluctantly lower his head.
"...let's enter?" Wei Wuxian suggested.
The remaining three couples nodded to agree. They then all entered and bypassed the gates of Square Town. There were guards who patrolled the sidelines, trying to keep all villagers safe and sound. As Shen Qingqiu stepped a foot inside, he noticed how they were attracting a lot of attention.
"...Mom." A little boy pulled on his mother's dress, "Why are they wearing so little? Aren't they cold?"
The mother looked at him with a sweet smile. "Don't think too much."
She pulled her son away, "Now come on. Tell Mother what you want to buy. Mother will try to buy all the candy you want."
The son was glad. "Yay! Mom is the best!"
The pair of mother and son had walked away, leaving the three couples stumped. What were they supposed to say? Oh, we're cultivators who've come to visit your village because we are trying to exorcise some ghosts, demons, and slay demonic cultivators... even though we have a demonic cultivator on our side... what? That's not logical?
No, of course it is logical! What are you talking about?
"We can ask around." Xie Lian suggested. "See if there's any phenomenal activity that matches the rumours..."
"Gege is right." Hua Cheng always listened to his lover.
Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan, Shen Qingqiu, and Luo Binghe agreed. There were several stall owners, each trying to sell their products.
"I have candles perfect for house lighting! A package of ten are only 25 yuan!"
"I have candles too! Its fragrance is so soothing, it can shut the mouths of any loud teary-eyed kid! Especially that kid from last night, whose child did he belong to!?! I swear... if I hear his cries again tonight, I'll personally host an investigation to sue the parents!"
"Oi! Don't even try to sue me because of my child!"
"Huh!?! That was your child!?! Here here, take these candles and get out of here!"
"Don't diss my child! My candles are more than enough to soothe him to sleep!"
"No wonder that your child keeps on crying at night! It's all because of your GODDAMN candles, ain't it?"
"Ahem ahem, ignore those two idiots arguing on the sidelines and pay attention to my products! Although I don't sell any candles, I do sell lights! They're made from the finest pearls mined from the underground mines! Only 50 yuan!"
"We are not idiots! You're the idiot here!"
The three couples bypassed the commotion of 'candles', and continued walking around Square Town, until they stopped at the centre.
At the centre of Square Town, there was a large pillar. The stone pillar had been whitewashed of snowflakes, while the materials were made of aligned grey cobblestone. On the bottom surface of the stone pillar, there were a few carvings. The carvings were written "Immortal" messily, for nobody knows who decided to carve that word onto that pillar.
Below the stone pillar, a few villagers passed by. Upon seeing the stone pillar, they immediately collapsed onto their knees.
The three couples were greatly alarmed.
They thought that the villagers were cold and collapsed from hypothermia. However, at a closer inspection, the villagers... collapsed on their own will.
The villagers went on their knees, then... kowtowed.
"Oh great Immortal! Please grant my family good luck, good health, good harvest, and good prosperity for the rest of the winter season!" A villager cried out.
The other villagers cried out alongside with him.
Meanwhile, the three couples who wanted to help the villagers up, "..." So, this was why there was such a suspicious carving on the stone pillar...
It turned out that the stone pillar was the statue of the "Immortal".
"...what are they doing?" Shen Qingqiu stopped a passerby, asking them.
The passerby coughed, understanding that the villagers might've appeared quite silly to outsiders. "You guys are new here, aren't you? We often pray and kowtow to the statue of the Immortal. The Immortal didn't give out their name, so we can only call them Immortal. Anyways, it was said that if we kowtow and pray to the Immortal, we will have good luck."
"How come?" Xie Lian couldn't believe that the villagers would believe such random nonsense. The Immortal wasn't a God from the Heavenly Realm.
Why would the villagers pray to a statue of... an Immortal, but not a God?
An Immortal wouldn't be able to receive the merits of their statue, but a God can.
"You guys haven't heard about this, but the Immortal is a great man." The passerby explained. "Our village was built on top of the lands of a burned village. The ghosts of the burned village decided to curse our Square Town, and won't stop trying to burn our village down at night."
Their eyes brightened. "However, the Immortal visited our village and wanted to help. He stood up to the powerful ghosts, and protected Square Town from the fire."
"Because of the Immortal, we are safe from the ghosts. Since then, we worship him for his kindness and righteousness. We built this stone pillar and carved his name on there. Every single day, all villagers must pray and kowtow to this statue. This shows the Immortal our faith and gratitude to him."
The three couples understood. It turned out that the Immortal meant a lot to the villagers.
"Since you guys are outsiders, I suppose you don't need to do the same customs." The passerby sighed. "But who knows if the Immortal would save you guys or not... you fellow cultivators or daoists don't look strong enough."
The three couples, "..." How were they not strong enough? They had a Martial God, a Ghost King, a Demon Lord, a demonic cultivator, a Peak Master, and another Immortal!
Wei Wuxian felt like he'd been greatly offended. He didn't want to talk with the passerby anymore.
The black cat in Xie Lian's arms had snickered. It was like as if it could understand their thoughts.
"Forget it." The passerby waved. "Next is my turn to worship the stone pillar. I should get going now. I wish you fellow daoists good luck."
The passerby then left with no hesitation.
The three couples all stared at one another, each with complicated and conflicted thoughts. It wasn't that they wanted to show off, but they also wanted to refute just how wrong that villager was.
"Let's go explore more." Shen Qingqiu offered.
*****
The three couples walked around Square Town. They've decided that the Immortal was a suspicious person. After all, a person who wields great power and yet, their appearance is unknown...
If that wasn't suspicious, then nothing else was.
A bunch of snowflakes began piling up on the ground, making it difficult for the three couples to navigate. "If only we could get rid of all these snow..." Luo Binghe sighed. Even though he had a demon subordinate able to control snow (MoBei-Jun), Luo Binghe could never get used to the cold.
After all, as an infant, he'd been abandoned onto the icy cold rivers; which gained him the name of Binghe[1].
[1] Binghe (冰河) = Ice river (something along the likes of that)
"Yeah. The snow is really difficult for onwards navigation." Shen Qingqiu speculated. He fumbled and fiddled around with the snowflakes, crouching at the knee-length snow.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. He remembered what children back in his original world would do... "Hey." Shen Qingqiu smiled. "We should build a snowman."
"...a snowman?" Lan Zhan was earnestly confused.
Despite his current expressionless face, the puzzlement etched in his eyes was visible to Wei Wuxian. The latter chirped, "It's basically building a person but with snow, amirite?"
Shen Qingqiu applauded for Wei Wuxian, a person from the ancient and not modern world. "Yes. Doing that should use up majority of the snow."
"...how many snowmen are you planning to build?" Hua Cheng deadpanned.
To be able to use up majority of Square Town's snow... that would be at least over a hundred snowmen...
"It's fine." Xie Lian smiled. "It'll be fun, right? Shen-xiong has a good idea. It'd be a waste to not give it a try."
Hearing that, Luo Binghe nodded. Once the subject is ever about his Shizun, then he will behave like a well-tamed puppy, with his tail wagging and ears pricked up.
Meow? The cat tilted its head. It had no idea what these three dumb couples were planning.
"See, Binghe." Shen Qingqiu gestured to Luo Binghe. He held a small snowball in his palms, shaping it into a well-rounded sphere. "We can roll this in the snow. The snow will naturally stick to one another. Give it a try, alright?"
He handed the snowball over.
Luo Binghe took ahold of the snowball. However, he accidentally exerted too much force, and the snowball broke apart. Immediately, his ears sunk like a pitiful puppy. "Shizun... I..." Tears gathered in his eyes, "I'm sorry..."
"Binghe..." Shen Qingqiu wanted to scold this disciple again. How many times did he have to tell him? There was no need to act so scared! It wasn't like he will eat him! Shen Qingqiu swore that he never took a liking to barbecuing dog meat...
"Make a new one." Shen Qingqiu taught him step by step.
Their hands brushed upon one another, making Luo Binghe perk up at contact. A new snowball was made, and this time, Luo Binghe fondled over it with care. He made sure to not break it.
"See?" Shen Qingqiu smiled. "You've got it this time."
Luo Binghe's sturdy figure stilled. His gaze lingered at his Shizun's free and relaxed smile, then he reciprocated the smile. Luo Binghe's eyes watered even more.
Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian was lifting heavy snowballs one after another. These snowballs amounted up to the size of Fairy's head (the dog)! "Come on, Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian smiled proudly. "Help me shape the torso!"
Lan Zhan nodded. He obediently plopped a similar-sized snowball on top of another snowball. This made two snowballs on top of one another, looking similar to a snowman's torso.
"Lan Zhan is so strong!" Wei Wuxian fondled.
He praised Lan Zhan, as the latter continued working like a slave. In merely minutes, Lan Zhan made countless snowmen, making them surround Wei Wuxian as the centre. "...Wei Ying do you like them?" Lan Zhan shyly asked. The tips of his ears were red. If Wei Ying wanted... he was willing to create snowmen for the rest of his life... even if there weren't snow. And this was as long as Wei Ying gave him the command...
"Mhm!" Wei Wuxian gullibly patted Lan Zhan's head. "I like whatever Lan Zhan makes!"
This cheered Lan Zhan up. It turned out that Wei Ying liked whatever he made... well, it seemed that Wei Ying might enjoy a new play involving snowmen...
"Lan Zhan." Suddenly, Wei Wuxian's voice went monotone.
He rigidly pointed at the couple in front of them, "L-Look at them!"
Xie Lian was posing naturally, appearing like he was a beautiful young man strolling on the snow-filled streets. Meanwhile, Hua Cheng had seriously created a snow statue. This snow statue was on par with his ten thousand stone statues of His Highness. The facial features were clearly defined, and the posture was completely carved to appear realistic!
This was snow... but it was created into such a godly existence! The snow was created to look like Xie Lian! It had the same soft expression and caring motions.
To add the finishing touch, Hua Cheng tucked a flower into the snow statue's hand.
This way, it looked like his Gege was holding onto a flower. "I'm done, Gege!" Hua Cheng stated proudly. Xie Lian went over, examining the snow statue with great interest.
"As expected, San Lang!" Xie Lian heftily praised him. "You really excel at the arts!" Other than calligraphy, but nobody else needed to know that.
"Wow!" Wei Wuxian pouted. "Hua Chengzhu should be a sculptor! I would like to request of this mighty Ghost King to carve me a few stone statues!"
Hua Cheng arched an eyebrow. "Say it."
Wei Wuxian blurted shamelessly, "Just some carvings of Lan Zhan and my first time-"
A snowball was thrown at his face.
Author's Little Theatre:
Wei Wuxian, who wanted Hua Cheng to make NSFW statues of him and Lan Zhan: Hey! Who threw that snowball at me!
Luo Binghe, who also wanted Hua Cheng to make NSFW statues of him and his Shizun: Get to the back of the line! He's taking my order first!
Hua Cheng, who is being requested to make NSFW statues: ..... ahh... this is the talent of a Ghost King
Meanwhile, the black cat: 😺 What the fuck are these brats up to?
The Author Has Something to Say:
Um... Is it strange that I was listening to war music while writing fluff? 😂