I subtly withdrew my hand and covered my wrist with my sleeve.
"you!"
"Alright, you've never won an argument with me. You were so much better when you were obedient, you were such a cute little thing. How did you grow up to be like this?"
Her pale pink cheeks gradually turned red, and it looked like you could pinch them until they bled.
I stood up with a grin, walked over and patted his very soft face.
"You actually came when I told you to come see me..." How could you be so easily fooled? "But I won't let you come all this way for nothing. I'll start teaching you after the third move, but before that, shouldn't you find me a place to stay?"
He remained silent for a moment, scrutinizing my credibility with an extremely skeptical look.
"If you miss this opportunity, you won't have another chance. You need to think about it carefully."
"...Where would you like to stay?"
Good child, all the love I had for you in the past was worth it.
Do you have any manor houses that are a bit remote and generally hard to find?
Why is it that no matter what I do, or whoever it is, they always look at me with that kind of gaze before making a decision?
"There's a house behind Mount Muming, where the disciples of Peach Blossom Valley are punished and reflect on their mistakes. It's in a remote location, and unless you know it beforehand, it's very difficult for anyone to find it. However, the conditions aren't very good; it's practically a dilapidated house for you. Even so, do you still want to go?"
When a person is down on their luck, what right do they have to be picky? You all understand this better than I do, but only I have truly experienced what it's like.
Chapter 54
Because the distance from Luoyang to Muming Mountain is quite far, it takes a considerable amount of time to get there.
When I passed through Anqing City, I accidentally ran into the twins An. I found it strange. We were taking a side road and staying at a small inn. How could we meet like this? What kind of fate is this?
"What are you looking at! Are you deliberately following me to see me make a fool of myself?!"
He struck first, his eyes wide open, his fierceness palpable.
"You yourself are a joke, what's there to watch?"
When I blocked his mouth, he couldn't make a sound, and his face turned red and his neck bulged from holding it in.
Seeing that he couldn't catch his breath, he turned to Yan Guhong, his eyes widened again, and he finally managed to speak.
"What's this little kid doing here?"
Yan Guhong's face flushed red upon hearing this, not out of shyness or embarrassment, but because he was so angry that his brain was about to explode.
“I’ve kept my hair tied up for two years!” he spat out each word through gritted teeth.
"Oh, so that's just a greenhorn... Pshaw, why am I messing around with you!" Gemini Ann stomped his foot, immediately turned around and grabbed me, "You've come at the right time! How can you not help your brother when he's in trouble?"
Who did you offend?
"The legendary little demon of Baishan!"
"..."
Not only were Yan Guhong and I speechless, but even the shopkeeper, who had been fiddling with the abacus, fell silent.
"...Why are you running off to Xiaohe City for no reason?"
Even a fool knows how much Zhao Hequan, the city lord of Xiaohe City, cherishes his little demon, even though it is just an extremely rare poisonous snake. Because it is pure white and often appears near the small mountains outside Xiaohe City, it is also known as the White Mountain Little Demon.
"Isn't it said that the little thing's blood gall can cure all poisons? I wanted to try it on my little master to see if it could cure the poison given by the Medicine King, but who knew..."
"Who knew you'd run right into Zhao Hequan, and since you couldn't beat him, you had no choice but to tuck your tail between your legs and run away, right?"
He chuckled twice without saying anything, which was taken as tacit agreement.
So another inexplicable burden was added to the journey.
A few days after passing Anqing, it suddenly rained, and the weather turned cold almost overnight.
Because I am sensitive to the cold and cannot stand the chill, they had to change course and take the main road to get me some extra clothes. But as soon as they saw Yan Guhong, they immediately had the carriage turn back.
"What's wrong?"
"Are there people in the Moon Palace?"
I was stunned for a moment, and only after a blank moment did I lift a corner of the curtain to look outside.
The people of the Moonless Palace often wear light blue and moon-white robes, with gold thread trimming the edges and hems, and large clusters of water lilies outlined in red thread—exquisite, beautiful, and yet dignified and elegant. Only by observing the crescent-shaped snow jade pendants hanging from each person's waist can one confirm that they are from the Moonless Palace.
Gemini An looked outside and then back at me several times before suddenly realizing what was going on.
"You've fallen out with the Grand Palace Master?"
I couldn't hide the twitch in my eye; a certain word felt like a needle piercing straight into my heart, so painful that I couldn't speak for a moment.
Perhaps because my expression was extremely unpleasant, Gemini Ann, unusually, quieted down and didn't ask any more questions.
"...Let's just follow the original route; it shouldn't be too cold to catch a chill."
"Are you sure?" Yan Guhong frowned, looking at me suspiciously.
"I have divine protection, what's there to be afraid of? Let's go!"
I don't want to stay here, not even for a moment. I don't want to see or hear anything related to that person.
They were both stunned for a moment, clearly not yet accepting my loss of composure. I closed my eyes, buried my face in my knees, and covered my ears with my hands.
It would be fine if it were all dark. That would be enough. I can't cry, at least not in front of people or here.
After a long while, the carriage began to sway, finally moving away from that person step by step.
The coldness at my fingertips spread little by little from my ears to my heart, sinking deeper and deeper, sealed beneath the ice, so that the pain would subside...
Chapter 55
As we approached Peach Blossom Valley, the road ahead became increasingly difficult; to be precise, the path left for us to take was becoming shorter and shorter.
Gemini An turned back from the front, her expression more serious than I had ever seen before.
"What exactly happened? Even the branch hall master has come out. What problem is so serious?"
Seeing that I was not speaking and only staring at the flowers and plants outside, he lost his patience and grabbed me, forcing me to face him.
"What are you sulking about now? Don't you even know where you are? You're acting like the whole world has wronged you. Do you think anyone will listen to you now?" He said, his brows furrowed tightly. "You can't even tell friend from foe. Who are you trying to impress with your high and mighty attitude?"
Rong Lian is now worse than a rat crossing the street. What do you mean by a sparrow climbing a high branch being no match for a phoenix falling from a branch? To hell with your Jun Guan! It's all bullshit and lies. A fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken! So you don't need to care about me anymore. Let me fend for myself. It'll save you the trouble of seeing me. If I get in your way, it'll all be my fault.
"Oh... I apologize, I'm so sorry. How much longer until we reach Mount Muming?"
Anyway, I'm never going to join in any more commotion. I'll just stay in that house for the rest of my life and no one should bother me.
He was completely startled by what I said and didn't even realize he had let go of my hand.
"We can only go around through the woods behind Peach Blossom Valley. It will take some time, probably two more days if we hurry."
Yan Guhong patted the frozen Gemini An, his gaze filled with disbelief, but he was at least not as formidable as Gemini An.
I turned my head away expressionlessly and continued to look at the flowers and trees.
Just when I finally softened my stubbornness and slowly accepted it, I suddenly discovered that it was all a deception woven by that person. Didn't they just want to see me suffer? Nangong Ling, you hate me so much? It's really unfair to ask you to be nice to me. Very well, I was stupid this time, stupid enough to believe you!
For the next two days, neither of them dared to speak to me. When we got off the bus at Muming Mountain, I told them to stop and not to follow me any further.
"Is that house behind the mountain?"
Yan Guhong nodded.
"Okay, then that's settled. I can find it myself." I took out a few thin sheets of paper from my sleeve. "The Rong Style Nine Swords are all on here. You can practice them according to these instructions when you get back. Also, don't tell anyone I'm here, otherwise I can't guarantee what I might do. You guys decide what to do."
Gemini Ann moved her lips as if to speak, but I silenced her with a single look.
Let me have some peace and quiet for a while.
The room was even more desolate than I had imagined. When I saw it, I didn't know how to react. After a moment, I could only sigh.
Sometimes no one comes here anymore. Inside the room, there is only a square table, a long bench, and a wooden bed, all of which have badly peeled paint, are covered with several layers of thick dust, and have cobwebs everywhere.
It seems I'll have to clean it myself and be self-reliant. I never thought I'd end up like this. I smiled bitterly as I rolled up my long sleeves, only to be met with a shocking sight. My entire left wrist was red and swollen, bulging like a bun, but touching it didn't hurt; it was so infected that even the pain was numb.
Having never encountered such a situation before, I couldn't help but feel flustered, my mind went blank. Even retribution shouldn't come one after another without stopping.
I don't know if there are any medicinal herbs in this remote place. The house is safe to stay in, so I need to solve the problem at hand first.
Fortunately, there was dragon snake grass and a large patch of calamus behind the house.
After living alone for a while, I got really bored and started taking care of the flowers and plants behind the house. Due to limited resources, the swelling on my wrist had subsided, but it wasn't completely cleaned up. My left hand would hurt if I used it too much, so it took me quite a while to turn the flower and plant area behind the house into a yard.
I've lost count of how long I've been living like this; I just take it one day at a time.
When I was finally alone and quiet, I realized that the scene I witnessed when I left was already etched deep in my mind, haunting me like a nightmare, no matter how far I ran. That night, I lost count of how many times I woke up drenched in sweat after having that dream, feeling incredibly cold despite being covered in sweat. I knew Yan Guhong would definitely send someone to bring me clothes and food, but I didn't want to see anyone, so I set up a trap outside on the first day. Generally, no one could get into this room. In autumn, the only people who would be wearing summer clothes were me and beggars.
I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't. At this time of year, even the coldest weather wouldn't feel as bone-chilling as winter, but this chill was even more unbearable than the winter solstice night. No, it was different; it wasn't just a simple feeling of cold... I groped my way outside, picked a few chili peppers, and stuffed them into my mouth. Even after chewing until my mouth was numb, it didn't alleviate the icy chill that kept creeping up my body.
It turns out it was poisoning. Someone fed me a slow-acting poison without my knowledge, in a place I didn't know.