Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 856 Shameless

It's really cold in the mountains in autumn, Xu Xuan can attest to that.

Especially spending the night with a comatose snake demon in one's arms.

The biting cold made him almost doubt whether he had arrived in Antarctica.

I lost consciousness just before dawn, and I don't know if I fell asleep or passed out.

He even had a bizarre dream: he turned into an ice pop and was being licked by Xiaobai.
It's not a particularly sinister image; it's just a regular popsicle, specifically a chocolate-flavored Chocliz.

"Sigh~~"

As morning light streamed through the dilapidated tower windows, Xu Xuan was jolted awake. The empty feeling in his arms made him sit up with a start.

Ok?
"Where's my thigh?!"

I instantly snapped to attention and almost called the police.

He instinctively reached into his pocket for his phone, then realized—oh, he'd traveled through time. There were only yamen runners here, no police.

"Wang!"

The dog in the bellyband walked over sadly, barked twice at the top of the tower, and then scurried away with its tail between its legs.

Upstairs, it's alright now.

Xu Xuan rushed up the rickety wooden ladder in three quick steps and pushed open the window on the top floor.

"Fuck."

What a beautiful city of Yongzhou! What an outrageous city of Yongzhou!

It just happened so suddenly and unexpectedly.

This is clearly a super-plus version of Chang'an with a fantasy filter added!
The entire city was built along the Xiaoshui River, its scale ridiculously large. Layer upon layer of vermilion buildings with upturned eaves stretched all the way to the foot of the distant mountains. Nine streets and eighteen alleys crisscrossed the area, and the morning smoke from cooking fires wove a gentle net through the market streets.

"How much did it cost to create these special effects?"

Every frame is as beautiful as a dream.

"Therefore, it is absolutely a fictional world."

Xu Xuan gazed at the magnificent city in the distance, comparable to Chang'an, and finally realized his predicament. This was not any dynasty in history, but a strange and wondrous world where immortals and demons roamed, a dangerous world where historical experience was hardly applicable.

He shook his head to clear his mind and quickly found the familiar white figure at the eaves of the tower.

Xiao Bai sat on the eaves with her knees drawn up to her chest, her clothes swaying gently in the morning breeze, radiating a palpable sense of low pressure.

"Have you fallen into a state of self-isolation again?" Xu Xuan sighed. "That's the downside of being too gentle. You need to constantly muster some emotional strength."

He gracefully flipped over the railing, about to make a dashing entrance, when he suddenly noticed the rickety tiles at his feet and silently flipped back over.

Ahem, safety first.
Through the mottled railing, Xu Xuan smiled brightly: "Good morning! Isn't Yongzhou City a beautiful sight?"

Xiao Bai didn't turn around: "That tail... I really am a monster." Her voice was so soft that it seemed like it might disappear into the wind at any moment.

Unexpectedly, instead of the familiar comfort, there was only a burst of suppressed laughter.

"Little White, you're the White Snake! Why are you so upset about something so good?"

"Ok?"

Xiao Bai tilted its head slightly, its profile glowing softly in the morning light.

She really couldn't understand why this man, upon seeing her true self, wasn't afraid at all, but instead had an expression of having found a treasure.

"Aren't you afraid?" she couldn't help but ask, her voice filled with confusion. "But I'm a monster."

To be honest, Xu Xuan had long guessed that Xiao Bai might be a snake demon, but he was still quite excited when he actually saw the white snake tail.

For Chinese men, seeing the White Snake Spirit would make them lower their guard a bit, and then their heads would start playing songs like crazy.

"Aren't you scared?" Of course, Xiaobai didn't understand.

This man's attitude is so strange.

"Afraid?" Xu Xuan pondered for a moment, realizing that he actually had quite a few things he was afraid of.

Afraid of the cold, afraid of the heat, afraid of death, afraid of boredom. It's just a monster. What's there to be afraid of?

Monsters are just stronger than ordinary people, but they can still die.

Seeing that Xiaobai still looked blank, he simply leaned against the mottled railing and looked at the Yongzhou City shrouded in mist in the distance: "In my eyes, there is no difference between humans and demons."

His eyes were calm and open.

"Those who harm others should be punished, whether they are human or demon; but what does it matter if those with kind hearts are human or demon?"

What wasn't said was: all good people and good demons should unite around me and then fight the Grand Tutor and your master together.

Although he doesn't have the "you are the only one" view of love, he still appreciates the feeling of treating everyone equally.

It seems I won't lose this friend.

"However, upon closer inspection, there are still differences. Your tail is so beautiful, but it feels a bit cold to the touch."

These lewd words came out of nowhere, and before Xiaobai could react, he heard him continue to praise:
"It's not that rigid pure white; the edges of the scales even have a bluish sheen, like a work of art," Xu Xuan said, gesturing with his hand.

Out of respect for beauty, I'm telling the truth.

Xiao Bai's face flushed red to the roots of her ears.

For snakes, the tail is just like a human's foot!
He showered people with compliments about their feet, even saying he'd touched them, which suggests he might have a foot fetish.

And this lecherous man not only slept with her "feet" all night, but now he's even criticizing her to her face?!

According to human etiquette, this is simply...
"Shameless!" Xu Xuan was initially bewildered, then looked down at his feet and then at Xiaobai.

The air was suddenly quiet.

"Woof!" The bellyband broke the silence at just the right moment.

Actually, there were two dogs present.

Xiao Bai turned her face away in shame and indignation, unconsciously curling up and falling into a different kind of emotion.

"Um," Xu Xuan tried to salvage the situation, "where I'm from, it's perfectly normal to compliment someone's beautiful tail! Really!"

Xiao Bai gave him a knowing look: "Do people from your area often have tails?"

The time traveler's heart was shattered by the local snake's sarcastic remarks.

"Ahem, so, are you rested now?" Xu Xuan coughed twice, abruptly changing the subject. "We should get going."

In the morning light, the two people and the dog hurriedly left the ancient pagoda and headed towards Yongzhou City.

The scene inside the city surprised them all.

"It's more prosperous than I imagined," Xu Xuan said, squinting his eyes.

Shops lined both sides of the street, with colorful brocades hanging outside silk stores and fragrant aromas wafting from teahouses. Peddlers carrying loads, vendors hawking their wares, and constables patrolling the streets created a vibrant scene of everyday life.

But as soon as you turn onto the main street, a completely different scene comes into view: beggars huddled in alley corners, women selling their children on the street, and prisoners dragging heavy shackles along.
Xiao Bai unconsciously stopped in his tracks.

She also has compassion for humans. Sometimes it really feels like she's just wearing a snakeskin, while those who do evil just happen to be wearing human skin.

"Don't look." Xu Xuan gently pulled her wrist. "Now is not the time."

His voice was calm, but his eyes were sharper than ever.

These scenarios were expected.

These descriptions appear in snake-catching villages, in every town along the way, and even in history books from my previous life. Although they are only mentioned in a few words, one can still feel the sorrow of the times.

This is not a problem that can be solved by giving a few coins.

"Let's find Baoqingfang first," he said in a low voice. "After we've settled things in the village, we can help Yongzhou City make some progress."

The last three words were emphasized heavily, and Xiao Bai was surprised to find that the man's expression when he said "progress" was even more dangerous than when he was facing the snake demon.

As he passed through Yongzhou City, Xu Xuan deliberately lingered in teahouses and taverns for a while, listening intently to gather intelligence.

"I heard there's another drought in Hedong."

"The military governor has taken a seventh concubine."

"The Imperial Advisor will be coming to Yongzhou next month to collect medicinal herbs."

From these fragmented words, he pieced together a rough outline: this seemed to be the scene at the end of the Tang Dynasty, with the imperial court's control over the local areas gradually weakening, and various military governors holding their own armies and becoming increasingly powerful. Natural disasters were frequent, demons roamed freely, and the people's lives were becoming more and more unbearable.

"Relying on the government is hopeless," Xu Xuan thought to himself, shaking his head. Human forces were too busy taking care of themselves to concern themselves with the snake demon conflict.

The two men and their dog hurried through the bustling streets, killing several lecherous scoundrels along the way and burying them in the ginkgo forest in the west of the city.

"The scenery is nice, they got a good deal."

Golden leaves covered the ground, as if the earth had been coated with copper foil.

If he had just arrived in this world, Xu Xuan would have been amazed by the dreamlike scenery, but now he only glanced at it before urging:
"Little White, fly me there."

A silvery-white snake tail wrapped around his waist, and the two of them were lifted into the air.

Looking down from the high vantage point, one could indeed see a delicate pavilion hidden deep within the dense forest, with a bronze fox-head statue perched atop its upturned eaves.

"Tsk, this aesthetic sense," Xu Xuan was about to complain when he suddenly noticed that the "lanterns" had a translucent texture in the sunlight, and the green flames dancing inside could be vaguely seen.

"Not bad."

He straightened his back and straightened his clothes: "Let's go and meet this brothel owner."

The moment she took a step, the vermilion gate creaked open automatically. A clear, melodious bell rang from the deep doorway, accompanied by a sweet, girlish voice:

"Distinguished guests have arrived!"

The moment Xu Xuan stepped into Baoqingfang, he was stunned by the sight before him—

Hundreds of wooden drawers, engraved with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, moved automatically along the wall, the clicking of gears like some ancient code. A bronze astrolabe floated in mid-air, the positions of the Twenty-Eight Mansions adjusting automatically with the light of day. This was no workshop; it was a fantastical museum where mechanics and metaphysics were perfectly blended!
"Make way, make way, make way!"

The sudden sound of children's voices made Xu Xuan turn sharply to the side. He saw two shiny bald boys driving a wooden ox and flowing horse, crashing around wildly, the wooden wheels sparking as they scraped against the blue brick floor.

Even more outrageous was that a "little girl" wearing a red bellyband was sitting on the cow's back.

With her jade-like feet crossed and legs swaying, and a jade pipe emitting wisps of smoke, this scene has a touch of Chinese animation.

"This is our second meeting, little white snake." The shopkeeper exhaled a smoke ring, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and gracefully landed in front of the counter. "Is there a problem with the magic weapon?"

Xu Xuan was an upright person.

He told Xiaobai to be quiet, and then spoke righteously and solemnly:

"That's right, there's something wrong with the magic weapon."

"Since the boss is such an open person, I'll be frank. This thing can cause amnesia if not operated properly, so I'm contacting customer service to resolve the issue."

Shameless humans, shy monsters.

The shop owner gracefully leaped off the wooden ox's back, her red lips slightly parted as she exhaled a wisp of smoke.

(End of this chapter)