119: Chapter 119: Old Affairs Should Not Be Sought 119: Chapter 119: Old Affairs Should Not Be Sought Baili An nodded slightly, then instructed Chen Xiaolan, who had sohow ended up standing next to him, to go down and explain the situation to the villagers.
He himself stayed at the stall, continuing to make small talk with ng Zifei.
Though their conversation seed casual, Baili An already had a plan in mind.
This ng Zifei, of unknown origin, radiated an aura that was hard to grasp.
Although he was warm and approachable, he sohow gave off a sense of flawless perfection.
Despite several conversations, he had not managed to extract the information he wanted.
However, he had planted the useful seed of Qi Yang; should ng Zifei truly prove troubleso, it would not be difficult to catch him.
“Brother Si Chen, don’t you plan to have dinner here before you leave?”
Chen Xiaolan’s eyes seed glued to Baili An.
As soon as she saw him preparing to leave, she sprinted from the end of the street to the front, her face flushed as she spoke hurriedly.
Baili An smiled and patted her head, “I won’t be eating here.”
Human food, after all, was indigestible to him.
But speaking of dinner, Baili An couldn’t help but think of Lin Yuan.
These past few days, nearly every so often, she had drawn a bowl of fresh blood for him.
Even though she ca from rfolk, such bloodletting was not without strain, especially now as the season neared winter solstice; the fruits in the Mountain Realm were especially astringent, making them a rather miserable food option.
And not to ntion there was a Miss Fang Da in the mountains who always had her als handed to her.
Since entering the mountains, he had heard her daily complaints about the grapes being too sour, the fruits causing indigestion, and more.
Thinking this over, he felt he had indeed shortchanged those under him.
With no choice, before returning, Baili An asked Chen Xiaolan to purchase so vegetables and poultry from the wilderness, planning to give everyone a feast upon his return.
As the sun set behind the West Mountain, darkness from the distant mountains soon began to spread to this side.
Chen Xiaolan watched the young man holding an umbrella disappear into the distance, waving goodbye with a sad expression, and couldn’t help murmuring, “Having parted this ti, who knows if we will ever et again.”
ng Zifei, who was packing up the stall, shook his head and smiled, “Brother Si Chen has asked you to procure those things, indicating that there will be plenty of use for them in the future.
He will naturally co often to the village to buy supplies.
Of course, you can et.”
Her gloomy expression cleared instantly, revealing a radiant smile.
After a mont of thought, she quickly made a decision, trotting up to ng Zifei and timidly tugging at the corner of his robe, she softly asked, “Young Master ng, Young Master ng, could you teach cultivation?”
Confronted by the hopeful gaze of the plain girl, ng Zifei was taken aback.
Looking at her face, his thoughts beca slightly disordered; mories overlapped as he rembered a child who also tugged at the sleeve of a taller figure clad in red, pleading incessantly, “Sister, will you teach Cultivation, please, pretty please?”
In distant mories, the face of the woman dressed in a red Daoist robe had blurred in his mind.
He vaguely rembered the woman reaching out to the child, patting his head with her palm, her voice echoing in ng Zifei’s mind, sounding resigned and bitter, “Cultivation is arduous, isn’t it better if your sister protects you?”
“Eh?
Young Master ng, why are you crying?” Chen Xiaolan beca flustered, clumsily wiping away the tear stains on his face with her sleeve.
She busily said, “If you don’t want to, then don’t, there’s no need for a grown man to bully a woman by crying.”
ng Zifei regained his composure, his face slightly embarrassed as he spoke, “My apologies, I was just reminded of a past event.”
Chen Xiaolan responded with an “Oh,” her wide eyes still fixed on him, “Then, would you be willing to take as your disciple?”
How could ng Zifei not see that this young girl was troubled by affection?
Her so-called desire to enter Cultivation was rely a wish to be closer to the man in her heart.
In this aspect, he didn’t resemble her at all.
With a helpless smile, ng Zifei looked at her, “It’s not that I don’t want to accept you.
Unfortunately, Cultivation requires innate talent.
Only those with a Spirit Root can cultivate and introduce energy into their body.
Miss Xiaolan, you…
do not possess a Spirit Root.”
“Ah…” Chen Xiaolan’s expression faltered, seeming sowhat disheartened.
But the image of Baili An quickly revitalized her.
Unwilling to give up, she clenched her fists and said, “I don’t know what Spirit Root is, but I believe diligence can compensate for lack of talent.
With a thousandfold more effort, I refuse to believe I can’t achieve the sa success as others.”
ng Zifei replied with a bitter smile, “If sothing exists in your dreams, it may indeed find its way, but if it doesn’t exist in dreams…”
His words trailed off as an unexplained pain suddenly gripped his chest, preventing him from finishing his phrase.
With a smile frozen on his face, he unconsciously caressed his chest, eventually letting his arms fall despondently.
ng Zifei looked at the girl, his eyes not as clear as before but clouded with gray.
He said, “You’re right; natural ability has its own purpose.
A gentleman should respect what lies within himself and not covet what the heavens hold; it implies daily improvent.”
Under the increasingly bright and excited gaze of the girl, ng Zifei picked up his sword, kissed the hilt, and with an inscrutable gleam in his eyes, said, “I will take you.”
Baili An walked ho under the moonlight, with Ancient Vine lamps hanging on either side of the Mountain Realm path.
These Ancient Vine lamps contained no oil nor fire; their material was quite unique, the real light source coming from a natural luminescence within the vine.
They did not catch the eye in daylight, but at night, their light suffused the darkness enough to brighten it, preventing anyone from losing their way.
Although the light held no warmth, it inadvertently dispelled a bit of the lancholy in the woods.
Baili An’s face revealed a gentle smile.
He thought that walking on this howard path felt genuinely wonderful.
Because in front of the path, soone was waiting for him.
Tis of peace, an ordinary mortal life.
Thirteen Swords Jin Sheng had slept from day into night, and if one didn’t know that there was no wine in the mountains, one might truly believe that the young man spent his days in an aimless, inebriated existence.
Leaning against the tree house, Fang Geyu, always sowhat lazy, was learning how to make Ancient Vine lamps from Lin Yuan in earnest.
Although life in the mountains was Spartan and dull, her impatience to leave was nowhere to be seen.
“Hmm…
So the lamps along the mountain path were made by you?” Baili An was sowhat surprised, not expecting Fang Geyu to also be involved in making the lamps.
Fang Geyu characteristically displayed a proud expression, snorting, “It’s Young Lin who insists on making these damned lamps.
I only help because I can’t bear to see her struggle alone.”
Baili An smiled and approached them, his gaze falling on Lin Yuan’s creamy hands.
He slightly furrowed his brows and asked, “Have the injuries you got in the Mountain Realm last ti not yet healed?”
The days of consecutive exposure had caused the rfolk thin webs between Lin Yuan’s fingers to crack and they seed to have not healed since.
Yet Baili An rembered that Lin Yuan’s rmaid tail, which ford when she touched water, had regrown the scale armor that had peeled off, but only the webs hadn’t healed.
User Comments
0 comments from readers