Chapter 126#
Seeing that An Wuxue didn’t respond for a moment, those people simply sent one person to ring the soul bell in front of the courtyard.
As An Wuxue was speechless, a bell suddenly rang in his sea of consciousness.
Those several furnaces sent by the Xue family naturally couldn’t hear it. They all looked at the courtyard gate with apprehension yet expectation, seemingly wanting to see the person who would come out, yet also somewhat fearing them.
But after waiting for a while, no one walked out.
The leading blue-robed youth truly had no choice and looked at An Wuxue again, saying: “This young master, why are you standing here dazing instead of helping us inform them? You’re even holding a jar of wine? Could it be that you’re secretly drinking wine behind the First Disciple’s back and don’t dare to go in?”
An Wuxue: “…”
He looked down at the Winter-Harvested Hansang in his hand.
Then he looked at the plain clothes he was wearing.
He hadn’t used his divine sense to trigger Chunhua for several days, and when he rode it as a sword, he just took it out like an ordinary spiritual sword, so usually Chunhua was kept in his spiritual bag. He also hadn’t worn the dharma robes Xuan Fang had prepared for him.
He was just wearing a set of plain dharma robes, with a spiritual bag at his waist and a jar of fine wine in his hand.
He did seem quite like an ordinary disciple.
“I’m just standing here; how do you know I’m a Luoyue disciple?” An Wuxue asked unhurriedly.
Those people were stunned.
The blue-robed youth then took a closer look at An Wuxue.
Earlier, looking from a distance, he could see An Wuxue was tall and had a straight posture, like a sword cultivator. Now, looking closely…
“…You’re actually quite good-looking,” the person muttered. “You look about the same age as us and don’t seem like someone who has practiced for hundreds of years—could you also be a furnace for the First Disciple…?”
An Wuxue: “…”
“Wait, why am I talking to you? We’ve been waiting here for so long; what do you mean by standing there without moving?”
An Wuxue never argued with ordinary disciples or immortal cultivators, but not arguing didn’t mean allowing himself to be ordered around.
He chuckled.
Those people saw this “gatekeeper disciple” clearly showing a smile, yet for some reason, he no longer had the easy-going and approachable feeling as before, but rather like a famous sword that had drunk all the wind and snow and returned to its scabbard.
Before they could react, they saw An Wuxue suddenly throw that jar of Winter-Harvested Hansang over, saying: “Take it and come in.”
The blue-robed youth instinctively caught the wine jar, as if he would cause irreparable consequences if he were slightly careless.
This “gatekeeper disciple” seemed gentle in speech, but every word and action inspired fear.
The several furnaces sent by the Xue family looked at each other, their former arrogance gone. The blue-robed youth was particularly stifled as he held the Winter-Harvested Hansang and led the others into the courtyard.
The blue-robed youth thought indignantly—when the First Disciple came out, he must find a way to complain about this ill-mannered beauty.
But upon entering the courtyard, cold plum blossoms fell with the long wind, and a fluffy white ball leaped up from the snow, flying into the arms of the young man in plain clothes.
The majesty on his face softened a bit, and his peach-blossom eyes filled with tenderness. His voice was gentle as he said: “Why are you covered in snow again?”
The little beast rolled in An Wuxue’s arms.
Although these people had chosen the path of being a furnace and had low aptitude, they were after all raised by prestigious immortal families and had a fair amount of knowledge.
The blue-robed youth recognized at a glance that Kun-kun was a very rare miasma beast that ordinary people couldn’t tame.
And there still seemed to be no one else coming out of the courtyard…
The blue-robed youth’s expression shook, and he suddenly knelt, begging for mercy: “We were blind and offended the First Disciple…”
His voice trembled, “First Disciple, please forgive us—!”
The name “An Wuxue” had circulated in the cultivation world for over a thousand years. A thousand years ago, he stood at the peak of the two realms, and a thousand years later, the appearance of the Chunhua sword shook the world.
—Who would have thought that the owner of this name not only lived in a remote and lonely courtyard with only plum blossoms, but didn’t even keep a single disciple to serve him?
The blue-robed youth suddenly felt that the Winter-Harvested Hansang he was holding was no longer cool, but burning hot.
But at this moment, he didn’t dare to let go, so he held the wine jar in a ridiculous manner, kneeling in the snow with his head bowed.
The furnaces behind him also knelt and trembled, not daring to make a sound.
An Wuxue seemed unaware.
He leisurely smoothed Kun-kun’s fur, flicking the snow off the little thing, and then turned his head, the smile on his face fading instantly.
The voice that had carried warmth just now was only cold: “I heard from City Lord Pei that it was a thank-you gift from the Xue family. I didn’t expect it to be this kind of gift. Stand up.”
“First Disciple…”
An Wuxue fell silent.
Silence is what people fear most.
The blue-robed youth didn’t dare to disobey at all and stood up tremblingly with the others.
Fifteen minutes later.
The blue-robed youth was in a horse stance, with the Winter-Harvested Hansang sent by Jiang Qing on his head. His legs were shaking, and his eyes kept looking up, fearing the wine jar would fall.
An Wuxue looked him up and down, shook his head, and sighed: “Flimsy footsteps, lacking in technique training. Even if cultivation can take shortcuts through dual cultivation, can techniques also be practiced in bed? Having only unstable cultivation, where will the spells and incantations come from during a battle?”
The blue-robed youth wanted to cry but had no tears; his handsome face was wrinkled out of shape.
“First Disciple…”
How many furnaces actually practiced swordsmanship diligently!?
“I’m asking you,” An Wuxue finally got to the point, “when the Xue family sent you, how did they instruct you?”
If An Wuxue had revealed his identity and asked this question upon entering the door, these people would have used clever words. If An Wuxue had revealed his sword and threatened them with death, they would have felt it was a grave matter and wouldn’t have dared to speak plainly; their words couldn’t be fully trusted.
But at this moment, the blue-robed youth was trapped by his own stupidity and only wanted An Wuxue to let him go quickly. He had no intention of lying and cautiously confessed while balancing the wine jar on his head: “The family head said the First Disciple had returned from the dead and hadn’t appeared for a thousand years, so he might not have seen many beauties for a long time. If we could catch the First Disciple’s eye, we might have a great opportunity, even finding the method for resurrection…”
Just as I thought.
Sending dead objects was just sending dead objects, but sending living people might not be as simple as sending a gift.
He moved his eyes and glanced at the woman beside the blue-robed youth.
The woman immediately understood An Wuxue’s meaning. Her face turned pale, and with a face of sorrow and gloom, she took the wine jar from the blue-robed youth’s head and balanced it on her own head in the same way.
Before long, she also began to tremble.
Only then did An Wuxue ask: “How did Family Head Xue describe me to you?”
“He said… he said the First Disciple is decisive and holds the power of the Four Seas Myriad Sword Array, and now has a peerless long-lived immortal as a junior brother. He will surely be a sought-after person in the future, so we must find a way to stay…”
An Wuxue found it amusing.
In this world, everything revolves around profit, and the human heart never stops.
Over there, the Qi clan and other families who had a grudge with him wanted to apologize by sending gifts and making grand gestures, but they didn’t know that some offenses couldn’t be made up for.
Over here, the Xue family, who had no history with him, wanted to associate with him, but they hadn’t even found out what kind of person he used to be and sent such an inappropriate “thank-you gift.”
It was as if the past could be easily erased and the future could be easily planned for.
It was human nature.
But the Xue family’s way of sending gifts and the unclear purposes within…
What exactly were the current views on his resurrection in the two realms?
The snowy light he saw in the distance earlier, was it the Chu Han sword light? Why did Xie Zhefeng draw his sword?
Was it because of… him?
An Wuxue had talked about this with Qu Jizhi before. With a bit of thought, he could roughly guess.
He let the remaining furnaces take turns balancing the wine, asked a few more questions, and then told them: “I’ll send you back to the Xue family tomorrow. For today, you can stay in the guest room.”
The furnaces sent by the Xue family didn’t dare to speak another word, let alone have any fantasies.
The blue-robed youth felt as if he had been granted a great pardon and handed him the wine jar: “First Disciple, your wine…”
“I don’t like drinking Winter-Harvested Hansang,” An Wuxue said as he held Kun-kun and turned to go into the room. “You guys keep it.”
The door closed, blocking out the wind, flowers, and snow.
The several men and women looked at each other in silence and cautiously found a guest room furthest from the bedroom, staying there like quails.
But they couldn’t stay like quails for long.
Someone else came.
This visitor was different from the others; he didn’t seem to ring the soul bell at all and just landed in the courtyard, heading straight for the guest room where they were.
When he pushed the door open, the blue-robed youth wanted to shout, but an immortal’s pressure descended. These people were even more terrified than before, and they all knelt again: “Xian… Xianzun…”
Xie Zhefeng’s face was stiffer and colder than deep-winter frost and rain, and his eyes were deeper than the ten-thousand-fathom abyss of the Underworld Sea.
Chu Han Xianzun recognized these people’s identities at a glance and asked in a suppressed voice: “Why are you here?”
Everyone was so scared their bodies went limp, and as they knelt, they nearly collapsed.
The blue-robed youth felt that a slight delay in answering might cost him his life, so he said hurriedly: “We are a thank-you gift sent to First Disciple An by the Xue family, but An Wuxue has no interest in us, so he told us he would send us back tomorrow…”
The immortal’s pressure seemed to recede quite a bit instantly.
But Xie Zhefeng still had a cold face.
He was looking at the Winter-Harvested Hansang placed to the side.
…Another item from Jiang Qing.
“What is this again?” he asked those people.
“Replying to Xianzun, it’s—it’s the First Disciple’s wine, we don’t dare to drink it…”
“Drink it.”
“Yes… huh?”
A gentle breeze passed by.
The door was open, but Xie Zhefeng had already left.
After handling the affairs of the two realms, he had rushed back as quickly as possible, wanting to return to his senior brother’s side.
But as soon as he returned, he noticed these furnaces.
The furnaces were okay; Xie Zhefeng knew An Wuxue wasn’t someone who liked keeping a large number of furnaces. But there was actually a jar of wine sent by Jiang Qing in the courtyard…
Xie Zhefeng felt particularly uneasy.
His senior brother hadn’t mentioned Jiang Qing again earlier, and to keep his senior brother, he had indeed promised never to forcibly intervene in his senior brother’s romantic affairs.
But…
But he still found it hard to accept.
The Unfeeling Curse had just been broken. He remembered the past and even more so remembered all the responses his senior brother gave him when they were youths.
If one had never possessed it, one could endure it being out of reach.
But he had possessed it.
He had not only possessed the dual cultivation in the Underworld Sea abyss, and his senior brother’s full support at the end of the Immortal Calamity, but also many hazy moments hidden within affection.
Once possessed, he was unwilling to let go.
Xie Zhefeng looked at the closed bedroom in the courtyard. He didn’t go to find An Wuxue immediately, but sent a transmission to Xuan Fang: “Are there any Hansang flowers left from the ones the First Disciple let Pei Qian send to the various families? If not, where can I buy Hansang flowers that grew in previous years? Send someone to buy some…”
“…”
After he finished giving instructions, he flashed away and went to the kitchen prepared for immortal cultivators in the City Lord’s Mansion.
An Wuxue waited in the room all day.
After entering the room, he held Kun-kun and started reading through the books.
The spiritual bag Xie Zhefeng left for him, besides the Soul-Nurturing Tree essence and various spiritual treasures, also contained rare ancient books that Chu Han Xianzun had collected over several centuries, recording many unknown things.
He kept remembering that demon bone that unexpectedly appeared when his junior brother ascended and wanted to check if there were any related records.
But as he read, the sky turned dark.
…Where was he?
Which affairs of the two realms took so long to handle?
Doesn’t he know to come back after finishing?
He spoke so beautifully before…
An Wuxue felt a bit stifled and threw down the jade slip.
Clack—
Kun-kun was startled, its ears flying up for a moment.
At this moment, someone knocked on the door outside.
Knock, knock, knock—
“Is Senior Brother asleep?”
An Wuxue: “…”
There was a soul bell outside, and the restriction inside didn’t block Xie Zhefeng, yet this person actually learned to knock like a mortal.
He didn’t answer.
“…Senior Brother?” the person outside the door said softly. “I made ice cakes. Do you want to eat some?”
An Wuxue flicked his sleeve, deliberately putting away the fire essence.
The light went out, and the room suddenly grew dark.
The person outside seemed to understand his meaning: “I came too late. If Senior Brother wants to rest, then rest. But the flavor of these ice cakes is special. Without spiritual power, I’m afraid they’ll soon lose their texture. I want Senior Brother to taste them.”
Xie Xianzun’s low voice now carried a layer of earnestness: “I hope Senior Brother doesn’t mind me waiting outside. I’ll protect them with spiritual power. If you wake up tomorrow and want to eat, I’ll bring them in for you immediately.”
“Senior Brother, sweet dreams tonight.”
There was no more movement outside.
An Wuxue’s expression froze.
Waiting outside?
Bring them in immediately tomorrow?
What did he mean? Was this person not going to rest? Was he going to spend another night covered in frost outside?
Xie Zhefeng hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since the Northern Ming lightning tribulation. Picking snow lotuses, gathering Hansang flowers, making ice cakes, learning about flower lanterns, and breaking Nanhe’s Unfeeling Curse must have all cost him a lot of energy, all while fulfilling his duties as Xianzun…
His thoughts stalled slightly, and when he returned to his senses, he had already walked to the door and pushed it open.
What came into view was a plate of ice cakes being carefully protected by the immortal’s spiritual energy.
The ice cakes were a faint blue-purple, like the color of Hansang flowers.
His junior brother held the ice cakes, his expression lonely and his gaze empty.
As soon as he saw An Wuxue, the man’s eyes lit up, yet he asked apprehensive and cautiously: “Senior Brother isn’t asleep yet?”
Seeing him like this, An Wuxue’s heart softened for some reason.
“Come in,” he said softly, turning around and leaving the door open for the person to follow.
As he turned, the expression of the person outside didn’t change, but a hint of a smile secretly passed through his eyes.