life irreverent; yandere lord x reincarnater male reader

3

The shack didn't sell, too run down and forsaken to be of any interest to anyone, much less investors. The old lady didn't mind, however.

"Had a feelin' that heap of rotten wood didn't have much value anyway," she playfully groused, nudging her elbow into (Y/n)'s ribs. It hadn't taken the two long to pack their things at all. How long should it take someone to pack only three outfits and some soaps? What did take a while was trying to figure out where to go first. Poring over an old map of the land and debating pros and cons of where to go and when made (Y/n) feel like they were delinquents. It was a bit fun, the old lady saying as much.

After much deliberation, the old lady agreed with (Y/n) that they should head southwest - winter was coming and going somewhere warmer would be a great help if they needed to sleep outside. They would've gone southeast, but monsoon season was coming and the old lady wasn't built to withstand large storms anymore. They started their journey a week and a half after Zhou Xin had visited the Red Light District, (Y/n) itching to leave now more than ever. He couldn't tell when that mad dog would be back, and he didn't want to be there to suffer through his deliberations a second time.

With their belongings tied with a cloth onto their back in a makeshift bag, (Y/n) and the old lady started their adventure, leaving the District under the guise of early morning. Making their way through the village, the old lady spoke idly about what the Red Light District had been like when she was (Y/n)'s age, a novel place bustling with pretty girls and handsome men. Nothing like the old lushes that mostly dominated the services. (Y/n) listened attentively, letting her do all the talking while the young man sank back into his silent normalcy. He was happy walking beside the old lady, stopping by a couple street vendors to buy buns and fruit for the trip.

"Ah," the old lady mused. "I haven't traveled in ages." (Y/n) looked over, hoping the old lady would continue as he set some boats onto the vendor's stall counter. However, she didn't, so (Y/n) left it at that. The two walked and ate their snacks, occasionally stopping so the old lady could peel a mandarin or rambutan for (Y/n). Once they left the village, the scenery stretched on forever, and it made (Y/n) wish he lived between the petals of flowers that peppered the grass. The old lady laughed goodheartedly when he voiced that wish quietly, rubbing (Y/n)'s back soothingly.

"Aiyah, but if you lived in the flowers, who would be my traveling buddy? This old grandma would be all alone~"

"You'd live with me too," he'd offered as a sheepish counterargument, and the old lady just laughed some more.

The first night they slept in an old temple on the side of the road, (Y/n) curled up in a little ball in the old lady's side, tummy full of tasty congee and using his knapsack as a pillow. (Y/n) couldn't figure out what god the temple was supposed to be for, but he was too tired to figure it out, and the old lady couldn't read at all, so they just left it at that and went to sleep. When the sun rose, the two set off again, leaving hardly any trace behind. That's how the two made their way to the city they'd call their home for the next couple of months.

The second night, the old lady was certain they'd taken a wrong turn somewhere.

The 'city' was little more than a podunk town, much bigger than the village they came from but not much better off. Other urchins in the streets stopped to stare at the two before going about their business, never having seen someone of (Y/n)'s caliber amongst them before. Stopping outside the inn, the old lady pulled out the crude map and squinted, grimacing as if her displeasure would make the characters readable.

"This can't be it ... A - (Y/n), what's this say?" (Y/n) blinked, mind going a bit blank. He couldn't read either, at least, not the characters the way they were written on the map, and he hadn't seen another map of the region before in his life. Taking the pout as a confirmed 'I dont know', the old lady sighed, itching the side of her skull.