Chapter 17#

Chapter 17: An Excuse#

“What’s all the chatter about?” Feng Qianqiu, walking at the front with his hands behind his back, turned and asked with a smile, appearing to be in a good mood.

Feng Xianyu scurried up to him: “We were saying how hungry I am. Hungry enough to roll on the ground.”

“You’ve already achieved dietary abstinence, yet you still crave food. You’re something else.” Feng Qianqiu scolded, though his tone held no displeasure. “What do you want to eat?”

Feng Xianyu nearly bounced as he walked, his voice taking on a soft, nasal tone: “I want to eat lotus seeds and water chestnuts.”

“It’s already autumn. Where would I find lotus seeds and water chestnuts? Be reasonable, my little ancestor,” Feng Qianqiu said with a mock scolding laugh. After thinking for a moment, he added, “I’ll have someone go to the creek at the back mountain and catch a few crabs for you. That work?”

“Yes, yes, absolutely!” It was rare for Feng Qianqiu to permit them to catch wild game from the back mountain. Feng Xianyu was overjoyed and, in a fit of excitement, rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll go catch them myself. Kong Yan, are you coming?”

Kong Yan, who was also fond of causing a ruckus, had no objections. But just then, they heard Zhuo Yu suddenly speak up: “Master.”

The moment Feng Xianyu heard Zhuo Yu open his mouth, alarm bells rang in his head. Knowing something was wrong, he urgently stomped on Zhuo Yu’s foot. But the other showed no reaction, as if he didn’t feel any pain. He merely gave Feng Xianyu a cool glance, allowing himself to be stepped on. His tone was as flat and monotonous as ever, speaking methodically: “That demon cultivator had a flute that could influence time.”

“A demon cultivator?” Feng Qianqiu was about to explode before Zhuo Yu even finished speaking. “What demon cultivator?! Feng Xianyu, get over here right now!”

—I knew he couldn’t say anything good, Feng Xianyu thought, glaring at Zhuo Yu through gritted teeth. If his gaze could turn into arrows, Zhuo Yu would have been riddled with holes by now. But the other remained as calm and indifferent as ever, as if Feng Xianyu’s glare was just a tickle.

“What’s there to get over for!” Feng Qianqiu reached out and accurately grabbed Feng Xianyu by the wrist. His spiritual energy swiftly circulated through Feng Xianyu’s meridians. Only after confirming there was nothing wrong did he slightly relax his brow. Then he grabbed Feng Xianyu by the back of his collar. “First, explain this matter to me clearly! What kind of demon cultivator? Where did this demon cultivator come from? As for the crabs… Xiang Wan, you go.”

Xiang Wan, who had been following from a distance, happily shouted an acknowledgment and immediately turned and ran off. Elder Xu also took his leave.

Feng Xianyu had no choice but to rein in his excitement. He cast a wistful glance at Xiang Wan’s retreating back, but in the end, he was dragged backwards by Feng Qianqiu toward the main hall. All the way there, he stared at Zhuo Yu’s extremely indifferent face, practically grinding his teeth in anger.

Kong Yan clicked his tongue. However, his own father was far fiercer than Feng Qianqiu, so he didn’t think much of it.

As soon as they stepped into the hall, Feng Qianqiu let go. He took a sip of the tea presented to him, flipped the hem of his robe, and sat down. “Speak. What exactly happened?”

“It’s really not a big deal.” Feng Xianyu straightened his thoroughly rumpled collar and briefly recounted the matter from start to finish. He concluded, “We just ran into a demon cultivator troubled by love.”

“Troubled by love?” Feng Qianqiu laughed coldly, his face expressionless. “Only you would think demon cultivators are capable of that.”

Feng Xianyu: “…”

“It really seemed that way, anyway.” Feng Xianyu resorted to being stubborn.

Zhuo Yu placed the fragments of the bone flute on the low table in front of Feng Qianqiu. The pile of fragments still shimmered with faint spiritual energy. Feng Qianqiu glanced at them. “Is this the flute you mentioned?”

Feng Xianyu: “Yes. Once the flute shattered, the illusion collapsed, and the corpse immediately started decaying faster.”

“That’s novel. Never seen it before.” Feng Qianqiu pondered for a moment, then repacked the fragments and put them into his qiankun pouch. “I’ll need to look into this. Leave it with me for now.”

Feng Xianyu naturally had no objection. Feng Qianqiu then carefully questioned the entire sequence of events in detail, especially the eerie black water that appeared at the end. Even after scouring his memory, he had no recollection of any similar incident. Just then, someone came to report that Xiang Wan had arrived.

As if he could already smell the crabs, Feng Xianyu’s appetite was instantly stimulated. “Come in, come in!”

Xiang Wan came in with a big smile, leading several young disciples who were carrying trays of steamed crabs. Feng Xianyu had already beckoned for two, handing two to Kong Yan. Feng Qianqiu also picked one. Just as he was about to offer one to Zhuo Yu, Zhuo Yu waved his hand. Feng Xianyu, who had already washed his hands and started breaking apart his crab, said to Xiang Wan, “Never mind him. Let him be.”

Xiang Wan dropped the matter and heard Feng Xianyu laugh and say, “Is that enough for you? Oh, right, give some to those people from Mount Xuanji too.”

“Enough, enough.” Xiang Wan nodded like a pecking chicken. “We caught several large baskets this time. We can’t even finish them all. Don’t worry about us, Junior Brother.”

Feng Xianyu told them to keep a few aside and let Xiang Wan and the others go off to have fun on their own. Before leaving, Xiang Wan also left behind a few jugs of warm yellow wine. Feng Xianyu ate with great relish. Remembering his poor tolerance for alcohol, he was about to pour some tea, but both hands were occupied. He hesitated, wondering whether to wash his hands first, but couldn’t bear to part with the half-eaten crab in front of him. Suddenly, a shadow fell before him, and a bowl of tea was pushed over.

—It was Zhuo Yu.

Seeing him not moving for a while, Zhuo Yu simply picked up the bowl and held it to Feng Xianyu’s lips. Feng Xianyu, somewhat dumbfounded, took a big gulp. Only then did Zhuo Yu put it down. When Feng Xianyu got tired of eating again, the tea bowl was conveniently lifted to his lips once more. After this happened a few times, Feng Xianyu got used to it. Figuring it wasn’t a big deal, he began to enjoy this kind of care with a clear conscience.

Kong Yan’s expression turned strange. The more he watched Zhuo Yu and Feng Xianyu, the more awkward he felt.

Halfway through the meal, Feng Qianqiu had already eaten his fill and was slowly sipping his wine. Suddenly, he spoke. “Yu’er.”

Feng Xianyu, his mouth full of crab meat, mumbled an indistinct, “Mm.”

Feng Qianqiu pointed to an area on the side of the hall and said, “Don’t you think that space looks a bit empty? How about we build a room there.”

—Which area?

Feng Xianyu had just taken a big mouthful of clear tea from Zhuo Yu. Completely off guard, he turned his head. After clearly seeing the spot Feng Qianqiu was pointing at, he immediately: “Pfft—”

That was clearly the location of the Wutong Hall from the bridal chamber in his past life!

Feng Xianyu coughed continuously, almost coughing up his lungs.

Feng Qianqiu: “???”

Kong Yan: “???”

Kong Yan: “Did you see a ghost or something?”

Feng Xianyu waved his hand weakly, thinking to himself: It’s Feng Qianqiu who’s seeing ghosts. Why is he suddenly thinking about building a new hall?

He then guiltily glanced at Zhuo Yu. Fortunately, the other acted as if he hadn’t heard anything, as usual, and was even about to pat him on the back to help ease his breathing. Feng Xianyu hastily refused, and Zhuo Yu didn’t insist.

An hour later, the meal was finally finished. Zhuo Yu had only drunk a few cups of light wine. Without saying goodbye, he left the hall and headed straight back to his bedroom.

Kong Yan squinted at his retreating figure and muttered, “This senior brother of yours sure has a temper.”

Feng Xianyu let out a big yawn. “He’s not that bad. He doesn’t shout, curse, or hit people. I’d say his temper is pretty good.”

Kong Yan was shocked. “Is that how you judge whether someone has a good temper?”

“What else is there?” Feng Xianyu met his gaze with righteous confidence. Then he asked, “How many days are you staying this time?”

“I’m heading back tomorrow.” Kong Yan knitted his brows and let out a long sigh. “There’s a big competition at the sect. I ran out here before even getting properly prepared, and now there’s a pile of things waiting for me. Oh, and in three months, my cousin is getting married.”

Feng Xianyu said in surprise, “Oh? You’re that busy?”

“Get lost!” Kong Yan gave Feng Xianyu’s shoulder a not-too-heavy shove. “Stop making fun of me.”

The next morning, Kong Yan left with the people from the Greenfinch Sect. A bleary-eyed Feng Xianyu saw his friend off at the mountain gate, yawning and rubbing his eyes as he planned to go back and sleep for a while. He hadn’t slept well last night, plagued by a jumble of messy dreams.

He hadn’t walked far before his peripheral vision caught sight of Zhuo Yu also present, standing at a fork in the road just a few steps away.

Huh? Since when did Zhuo Yu have such impeccable manners that he would also come to see off Kong Yan? How strange.

Feng Xianyu grumbled a few things to himself but didn’t dwell on it. He drifted toward his sleeping quarters like a lost soul. He hadn’t drifted far when another person appeared in front of him.

“Daoist Feng.” The young cultivator said formally, cupping his hands in salute.

“Brother Ye, it’s you.” Feng Xianyu couldn’t help covering his mouth to stifle another small yawn.

Ye Shu, graceful and charming, said, “I wonder if I might have the opportunity to invite Brother Feng for a meal?”

A meal! Feng Xianyu thought, I’m practically dying of sleepiness right now. Forcing himself to stay alert, he smiled at Ye Shu. “To receive an invitation from someone of Brother Ye’s caliber, I absolutely should not refuse. But unfortunately, my father just called me over to test my studies. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten up so early just to see off a friend.”

Ye Shu’s expression dimmed slightly. “Oh, is that so…”

“Once I finish the examination, I’ll treat everyone from Mount Xuanji to a nice, hearty meal.” Feng Xianyu said with a spring-like smile. He gave Ye Shu a light, reassuring pat on the shoulder before sidestepping him and continuing on his way with unsteady steps.

Ye Shu touched the spot where Feng Xianyu had patted him, staring blankly in the direction he had gone. He stood there in a daze for a long time.

Until a pair of boots landed in front of him. Ye Shu snapped out of it and saw that it was Feng Xianyu’s senior brother!

Zhuo Yu looked down at him from a height. His gaze was distant and indifferent. Dressed in a pure white dharma robe with silver spiritual patterns embroidered on the collar, holding a jade-carved-looking sword, he radiated the chilling killing intent unique to sword cultivators.

If Feng Xianyu gave people the warm, translucent feeling of jade, then Zhuo Yu brought only pure coldness.

Ye Shu’s mind went blank, forgetting this sword cultivator’s name. Awkwardly, he could only say, “Daoist.”

Zhuo Yu didn’t speak for a long time. He moved his thumb, pushing the sword out of its sheath a little, then clicked it back in. He repeated this several times.

Ye Shu had no idea what he was here for. Standing there, he felt extremely uncomfortable. Just as he was about to take his leave and turn around, the sword cultivator’s cold, calm voice finally rang out. “That way is over there.”

What?

Ye Shu didn’t understand what Zhuo Yu meant. He turned his head in confusion, looking at him.

“That way is where Sect Leader Feng resides,” Zhuo Yu said, his fingers stroking the sword’s hilt. He pushed it back into its sheath one last time and walked away with a swagger.

A deep groove was carved into the bluestone ground by Zhuo Yu’s sword energy. Ye Shu stared at the mark. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him. He whipped his head around—

At the end of that path, there seemed to be a lingering trace of a red shadow.

Feng Xianyu had clearly taken a road that did not lead to Feng Qianqiu. That talk of testing his studies was just a pure excuse!

Realizing this, Ye Shu’s face turned stark white.

Feng Xianyu returned to his room, ordered that he would see no one, and slept with undivided focus. He had no idea how long he slept, but when he woke up, he learned two pieces of news. First, the people from Mount Xuanji had also taken their leave to return to their sect. Second, Zhuo Yu was going into seclusion again, again, again!

Way too diligent, Feng Xianyu thought, feeling inferior. He crashed back onto the bed with a thud, comfortably rolling over twice.