Chapter 134 - Flowing Flowers Intentionally
TL-Checked by: Sassystrawberry; Edited by: Animeart
Note on title.The Great Wizard said, Finally caught you.
Why did he say that?
Caught him, what did he catch?
The phantom body of the Great Wizard had dissipated, the crisis at Jubei Pass was completely resolved, and Lin Shu fell back to the ground.
Ling Fengxiao fell down next to him.
Lin Shu smelled the coppery tang of blood. Ling Fengxiao’s injuries were fairly serious.
However, instead of immediately dressing the wounds, this person asked : “Endless Yearning?”
Lin Shu nodded.
There is nothing particularly special about him, neither did he possess anything that others would covet. If one had to find something that could inspire covetous intent, then it could only be the Sword Pavillion’s secret manual “Endless Yearning”.
Since the Great Wizard wanted to obtain the four ultimate martial arts manuals that were in Southern Xia’s possession, how could he not also cast his avariciousness towards “Endless Yearning”?
In addition, the “Endless Yearning” bore the symbolism of the Sword Pavilion. Taking possession of this manual would be significant to Northern Xia.
That time that they infiltrated the black market and witnessed the ultimate martial arts manuals being auctioned on the black market. It was only because Xiao Xuan thought that the manual being auctioned was “Endless Yearning”, that he spent 4 million gold to win it. Unexpectedly, it was actually the Dreamlike Hall’s “Universe Within Me” ——which triggered another series of events that happened later.
As for the Great Wizard——
A thought suddenly came to Lin Shu.
At the Sorcerer’s Gathering, Ling Fengxiao and he had killed the two right and left Guardians of the Great Wizard and had already partially exposed their martial arts skills. Although he did not utilize the skills from “Endless Yearning” and Ling Fengxiao did not use the moves from “Solitude”, but the intrinsic nature of their swordsmanship could not be concealed, and it was possible that others would be able to discern its traces.
As if the Great Wizard had been keeping a close watch on them——
The Great Wizard used the lives of all the residents of Jubei City as a threat, and his malicious intent was evident. If he committed all these in order to lead him and Ling Fengxiao to demonstrate their true skills, thus affirming Lin Shu’s identity as a disciple of the Sword pavilion, who is able to wield the skills of “Endless Yearning”, his intentions are even more sinister than expected.
Ling Fengxiao’s expression changed immediately after hearing that sentence, as she quickly grasped the crux of the issue.
“Let’s not start worrying right now,” Ling Fengxiao said, “If he was after the “Endless Yearning”, he would have already taken action.”
Lin Shu nodded his head.
Although he knew that this might be Ling Fengxiao’s attempt at comfort, the Great Wizard’s behavior was indeed strange.
For example, if he had suspected that he was the heir of Endless Yearning, why would he not kidnap him whilst travelling and extract the information under torture, instead of waiting for him to restore his cultivation level and become more difficult to control?
This matter needed more consideration.
Ling Fengxiao coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Lin Shu: “Let’s see to your wounds.”
Ling Fengxiao acquiesced with a nod.
Nearly half an hour before Lin Shu had recovered his cultivation level, Ling Fengxiao was blocking and engaged in battle with the Great Wizard. Her injuries were much more severe than Lin Shu’s. Even after being injured, she continued to fight with the Great Wizard. The wounds were torn open anew and blood gushed rapidly, but was not too discernible against her originally blood red garb.
Lin Shu was about to take out the wound medicine and the spiritual pills, when a group of people rushed out from the city gates.
The General of Jubei Pass spoke to them: “Two noble immortals, who have rescued our city’s soldiers from the dire predicament. We are immensely grateful!”
Ling Fengxiao said, “There is no need for this”.
The next person who came over was Elder Cang, who was also seriously injured. He was helped to walk over by a child and kept looking them over. He sighed admiringly: “The both of you have such accomplishments in cultivation. The old saying that heroes make extraordinary achievements when they are young, indeed rings true.”
After that, he said: “I have long heard of Phoenix Mountain Villa’s eldest Young Mistress, but who is this young hero next to you?”
Ling Fengxiao said: “He is this junior’s respected husband.”
“Husband?” The old man said kindly: “You both are a beautiful couple .”
The general standing by the side was quick of mind and alert. From the hints in their conversation, he immediately understood that Ling Fengxiao was the Eldest Young Mistress of Phoenix Mountain Villa, and the Eldest Young Mistress of Phoenix mountain villa was the Eldest Princess of the dynasty. The party immediately knelt down and paid their respects to the Princess.
Ling Fengxiao’s voice was fatigued when asking them to get up, and then requested for the general to arrange a peaceful place to rest.
The general immediately ordered the arrangements to be made, and they were led back to the city to recuperate from their wounds.
How noble was Ling Fengxiao’s status that in spite of her serious injuries, whether it was a cultivator or a soldier of the dynasty, no one dared to come forward to assist or take care of her, for fear of overstepping the boundaries.
Lin Shu supported her.
Ling Fengxiao leant against him, and whispered: “Aren’t you going to carry me?”
Lin Shu picked up Ling Fengxiao in a princess carry.
With his cultivation restored, he was no longer restricted by physical limitations of his mortal body. Previously, when the Big Miss fainted, he was not able to carry her no matter how hard he tried, but now it was effortless.
Ling Fengxiao held on to his arm, leaned against his chest and closed her eyes.
The scarlet palace attire was made of red silk and sewn with gold thread. The intricate patterns, complimented her incomparably gorgeous face.
Upon reaching the lodge, he placed Ling Fengxiao onto the bed and began formulating the wound medicine.
Ling Fengxiao gazed at him.
That pair of ink black pupils was beautiful.
Even if they were unhappy.
After Lin Shu formulated the medicine and dealt with the biggest and most serious wound on her back, Ling Fengxiao said, “I’ll take care of the rest myself.”
The rest of the injuries, either in the chest region or in the shoulder and arm, were not difficult to manage.
Lin Shu then passed her the medicine and stood by her side, handing her the bandages when required.
After applying the medicine, he fed her a few pills to treat her internal injuries.
The room was quiet for a time.
When Lin Shu took the nourishing soup brought by a servant and wanted to feed it to Ling Fengxiao, he suddenly saw Ling Fengxiao’s eyes redden.
It was not very red, just more flushed under the eyes.
He asked: “Are you in pain?”
Ling Fengxiao shook her head, took the bowl and spoon in her hand, and drank very slowly, seemingly having difficulty in swallowing.
When it was the fifth sip, she finally put the bowl and spoon on the table and did not drink anymore.
Lin Shu asked: “Does it taste bad?”
Ling Fengxiao shook her head and looked out the window.
She seemed to be looking out of the window, and also gazing into the void, her expression tinged with loss and emptiness.
Lin Shu had never seen this kind of expression on Ling Fengxiao. In his cognition, although Xiao Shao had many faces, he was always calm and sober.
Ling Fengxiao suddenly said: “In the future, you will stop liking me.”
Lin Shu looked at her.
This was a question that he was presently unable to answer.
Even the word ‘like’ had no meaning for him at this moment.
He tried to recall every aspect of the times that he had spent with Ling Fengxiao or Xiao Shao in the past, calling to mind the mood and thoughts of the time, but it was like gazing at flowers through the mist, separated from the past by a thick white film, and he was unable to grasp even a bit of this precious treasure, it was all like a dream.
In just one day, it already seemed like it had become a different era.
He opened his mouth and tried to say something comforting, but only one sentence came out in the end.
“I will not leave you.”
He didn’t know how to solve the problem of the “Heartless Path” , or how they would get along in the future, but as long as Ling Fengxiao is willing, he would stay.
One year, two years, ten years, even longer than that.
Ling Fengxiao’s eyes revealed a slight smile, but then she shook her head, and the trace of a smile in her eyes gave way to unbounded melancholy.
He reached for her hand.
Lin Shu put his hand over hers.
Ling Fengxiao held his hand, lifted it up, gently kissed the back of his hand, and stopped.
Her hair slid down onto Lin Shu’s hands, bringing with it a cool touch, just like her lips.
Lin Shu said, “Don’t cry.”
“I didn’t cry.” Ling Fengxiao put down his hand, and the color around her eyes seemed to be more red.
She said, “Will you let me hug you?”
Lin Shu said, “Yes.”
He sat down by the bed and was embraced by Ling Fengxiao.
Such familiar movements and breath.
Ling Fengxiao hugged him from behind, burying her face in his neck.
Ling Fengxiao spoke in an unhappy tone, “How are you feeling now?”
After some thought Lin Shu found that he was unable to express his feelings. He put careful thought into his wording, and said, “I only know what I should do.”
There was no impetus to do anything, no scenery that he would like to see, no person that he wanted to be close to, just like his past existence in his previous life.
Ling Fengxiao asked, “So what should you do?”
Lin Shu realized that he did not really have anything in particular that he needed to do, save one.
“Whatever you want me to do, is what I should do,” he said.
Typically, only when a person had an identity then would he have things that he needed to do. For example, the General should be stationed in Jubei Pass, and Yue Ruohe should get back the secret manual for the Dreamlike Hall.
He had no relatives or friends. Both his Masters have passed on, and he had no friends worth mentioning. He had only one identity that was still connected with the earthly world.
He was the Big Miss’s fiance.
He also has an actual physical relationship with Xiao Shao.
Ling Fengxiao laughed and said, “In fact, in the past you were also like this.”
Was I like this in the past?
Perhaps.
“My feelings towards you are unchanged. You have recovered your cultivation and are an Immortal Cultivator who will suffer Tribulations and soar to Immortality in the future. It’s fortunate. I should be happy for you.” Ling Fengxiao hugged him and said, “It’s just that the Heartless Path can be cold and silent, and I’m afraid you’ll suffer.”
Lin Shu said, “It’s alright.”
After all, I have lived like this for more than ten years during my last life.
After a pause, he said, “I’m also afraid that you will suffer. ”
Ling Fengxiao pulled him backwards, Lin Shu had been leaning entirely on her, and they both fell together onto the bed.
Ling Fengxiao leaned on him and said, “The falling flowers are yearning for love, but the heartless brook ripples on. Unrequited love is not uncommon. I’m not suffering, after all, I can still hug you.”
Lin Shu looked at her.
Truly, Xiao Shao was a man through and through.
But Ling Fengxiao, the outer shell, was the most beautiful woman in the world.
And the world’s number one beauty was leaning against his chest, speaking softly and warmly of how the falling flowers yearn for love.
It’s really a flowerlike charming wife.
Lin Shu thought, his life is indeed epic.
He not only cultivated the Heartless Path, but also had a girlfriend.
A girlfriend who was also a boyfriend.
One who was extremely beautiful.
He reached out and hugged Ling Fengxiao.
Ling Fengxiao played with his fingers.
Their days together seemed really no different from before.
After three days, their injuries were mostly recovered, and they could set off and return to the school.
Although Ling Fengxiao said that there was no need to send them off, the General said that Her Highness was of an incomparably noble status, and if she went back to the Academy without an escort, he would be punished. He insisted on sending an escort of Light Cavalry.
Southern Xia seemed to be more desolate than when they first arrived. Even the towns were withered and desolate. You could not even find a shop selling snacks along the entire street.
The advent of Spring generally was the period of the most severe food shortages, which was compounded by the poor harvest last autumn.
In the evening, when they arrived in the wilderness, a team of soldiers found a Taoist temple to put up for the night.
Soldiers casually set up camp and rested outside. Lin Shu and Ling Fengxiao were inside the temple.
There was an old Taoist priest who was about eighty years old. He was very old and did not have much spiritual ability left. He also tended to be somewhat confused. His words are jumbled, the sentences are not linked and his thoughts are disconnected. He was however, delighted to meet these two young people, who also happened to be cultivators, saying that it was cold and he would warm up the two children by cooking porridge.
A fire was lit in front of the statue of the Heavenly Master in the temple, a shelf was placed over it, and a clay pot of porridge was hung over to cook.
The porridge was made of coarse rice, and when the water was boiled, it emitted a sweet fragrance. The warmth of the flame seemed to cast a rosy glow on the face of the Heavenly Master statue.
The old Taoist priest sat cross-legged on the grass mat and spoke to them. He said, “My disciple died early, when I saw you, I was reminded of him.”
He then said, “My disciple, your temper is not very good. Today, your teacher met two children, I wanted to take them in as my disciples. However I am afraid that you will be jealous, so I resisted and will not accept them.”
Ling Fengxiao listened quietly, and occasionally replied with a few words or cajoled him with some flattery. The old Taoist was so delighted that he couldn’t stop smiling.
Speaking of interests, he said, “I raised two beautiful fish, and I will show them to you.”
When he was about to get up, he seemed to remember something, and said, “Oh, the water is cold in winter, and I was afraid that the water in the tank would freeze, so I put them back into the big river, and I’m afraid that you won’t be able to see them.”
Ling Fengxiao leaned against Lin Shu and coaxed the old Taoist priest, saying, “When the spring begins, the two fish will return to visit you.”
The old Taoist priest said, “Nonsense.”
He stirred the porridge and sighed, and said, “This world is the big river. I put the fish in, and the fish left me, and parted from the other fish, and will never return. My apprentice left me, and like a fish released into the big river, never to return. When you two leave tomorrow, you will also enter the big river. This old man will never see you two again in his life.”
As he was talking, there was a commotion at the gate, and it seemed like a weasel had passed by.
Weasels are not good animals, and Ling Fengxiao raised her hand to kill it.
The old Taoist priest hurriedly said, “Don’t hit the fox. Don’t hit the fox!”
His eyesight may have been poor, and mistook the weasel for a fox.
But his action had bought the weasel time to escape, and it was soon far far away.
Seeing that the weasel had not been beaten, the old Taoist squinted his eyes comfortably, and said, “When Ah Cui was young, she looked like a pretty little fox.”
Ling Fengxiao asked, “Is Ah Cui your disciple?”
The old Taoist priest said, “Ah Cui isn’t my disciple. Ah Cui was a young maiden from when I was a teenager. After that, Ah Cui married someone else. I’m a Taoist priest of Quanzhen School, not a Taoist priest of Zhengyi School. Zhengyi school allows marriage, but Quanzhen school does not. Ah Cui told me to forget her and cultivate well. I said I couldn’t forget. Ah Cui said that it was what the Taoist books taught.”
As he said this, the old Taoist took out his “Nanhua Sutra” and found the specific passage written on it by the light of the fire, showing it to them.
Fish will struggle towards water, man will struggle to find their “Dao”.
Fish makes water, man makes Tao. Those who build water together will be fed through the pool, while those who build Tao together will be born without anything.
Therefore–
Ling Fengxiao murmured: “So, the fish is forgotten in the world, and the man... is forgotten in... Taoism.”
He read slowly, it seemed difficult and jerky, and the hand holding Lin Shu, slightly tightened its grip.
The voice fell, and in silence, the old Taoist priest sighed: “I really wish that I had been a Taoist priest of the Zhengyi School ah.”
After he said that, his slightly cloudy eyes looked at Lin Shu and Ling Fengxiao for a long time. He said, “How fortunate.”
Then he looked at Lin Shu: “You, young man, what’s wrong with you? Why don’t you smile at your lady?”
A person’s life was full of ups and downs. At the Peach Blossom Land, Xiao Shao was censured by the aunt, and now it’s Lin Shu’s turn.
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The author has something to say:
The sentence comes from “Zhuangzi·The Great Master”, “Zhuangzi” is also known as “Nanhua Classic”. (South China Classic)
Zaki~ thank you so much Sassystrawberry for the awesome checking 🙂
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