"That's why I realized that Brother Mu Yuan is a good person."
Mu Yuan looked up at Xue Zhi. Her long hair was spread out like silk on the bed, and from here, her small chin was pointing rather unladylike at the bed curtains. Sure enough, she wouldn't change, no matter how ladylike she appeared in public. Mu Yuan smiled and simply hummed in agreement.
Xuezhi sat up: "Huh? Aren't you going to ask me why I think you're so good to me?"
Mu Yuan shook his head.
"Why?"
"If you think it's good, then that's fine." Mu Yuan sat under the lamp flipping through a book, and said no more.
Xuezhi propped her chin up and stared at him intently for a long time. When she found that he was still reading his book in such an uninteresting way and was very focused, she finally gave up, jumped off the bed out of boredom, and wandered around aimlessly, which annoyed her.
Mu Yuan actually flipped through many pages of the book, but couldn't absorb a single word. He felt something was wrong and tried several times to concentrate, but to no avail. After thinking for a long time, he finally realized the reason—she was still in the room, and occasionally rolling around on the bed.
He originally did this just to make Xuezhi feel bored and go back to her room to sleep. But Xuezhi refused to leave, instead going around behind him, glancing at his books, clicking her tongue twice, and continuing to wander around.
Nevertheless, everyone in Chonghuo Palace knows that Mu Yuan is patient. Everyone in the world knows that Xue Zhi is not patient.
Therefore, it was Xuezhi who was the first to lose her composure.
"Brother Mu Yuan, when will you finish reading the book?"
"I don't know either." Mu Yuan put down his book, looked up, and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"No, I just wanted to talk to you."
"What do you want to talk about?"
Xuezhi regretted it. If she had known that Mu Yuan would still be like this after so long apart, she would have preferred to force Lin Fengzi to stay—Mu Yuan was cold and aloof, while Sister Zhaojun was so much more fun than him. Although sometimes she was too much of a joke.
She snatched Mu Yuan's book away with one hand, rested her chin on her hand, and asked, "How old is Brother Mu Yuan this year?"
"Twenty-two years old (by Chinese reckoning)."
Have you ever considered getting married?
"No."
"So straightforward? Then, is there any girl you think is particularly pretty?"
Why are you asking this?
"I was just asking. Over thirty years ago, there were two great beauties in the martial arts world: the musician Shangguan Yayu and the courtesan Ban Sisi. Over ten years ago, they became three great beauties: Lou Pinke, the daughter of the former master of Lingjian Manor; Xuan Wan'er, the courtesan; and our great Sister Haitang. These days, there doesn't seem to be a saying about 'a few great beauties,' but there was one girl born into a prestigious family, as beautiful as a fairy, and every man in the world wanted to marry her—that's what you call stunningly beautiful. The key point is, she's not married yet, her martial arts skills aren't that high, and she doesn't have the tragic fate of other beauties. Brother Mu Yuan, do you know who I'm talking about?"
"Was it yourself?"
"So, in your mind, my martial arts skills aren't that great."
"So, are you talking about Lin Fengzi?"
"Smart!" Xuezhi smiled mischievously. "What do you think of Feng Zi?"
"not bad."
"Mmm, and then what?"
"Then?"
Xuezhi remained silent for a long time before giving up. She could tell that Lin Fengzi had feelings for Mu Yuan, but Mu Yuan was an ice sculpture and a block of wood. Xuezhi stood up and said, "Never mind, we'll talk about it later. I just remembered that I found a scroll at Hongling Temple. I'll go get it now, and we can study it."
"good."
Xuezhi dragged her weary body back to her room. But when she opened the package, the scroll was gone.
The window was wide open, as if someone had been there.
109
A fierce wind howled, violently shaking the large trees outside the window. Amidst the wailing and lamentation, darkness formed a cage, imprisoning the entire city of Suzhou.
That night, her room underwent a huge change, without her and Mu Yuan being aware of it at all.
In her backpack were the "Water Ripple Sword Manual" sword manual, a pile of healing elixirs brewed by Chonghuo Palace and Radiant Jade Dew, and a fine dagger...
The man took nothing with him except the scroll.
Who on earth was able to take that scroll without them even knowing?
That scroll was just a half-torn biography about Yuwen Yuqing, a disciple of Chonghuo Palace who had died many years ago.
There's no time to overthink it.
Back in Mu Yuan's room, Xue Zhi immediately told him what had happened. Without a word, Mu Yuan grabbed his Purple Phoenix Sword, smashed through the window, and gave chase. Seeing this, Xue Zhi also went back to her room to get her weapon.
But just as she stood in front of the door, a sword pierced through it and lunged at her. Xuezhi was startled and quickly dodged. The sword thrust repeatedly with astonishing speed, yet without making a sound. The swordsmanship was unpredictable, piercing hundreds of holes in the door. Even after Xuezhi retreated behind the wall, the sword would still break through, leaving only holes, not gaps, in the wall.
Xuezhi had never seen such martial arts before, and it was the first time she had ever felt so insecure that she dared not go in and fight that person.
She soon discovered that even when she moved further away from the wall, the sword continued to pierce the wall haphazardly, as if the person wielding the sword had gone mad and had no desire to fight.
After there are many holes, the face will be revealed.
She stayed by the wall to observe.
At the same time, Mu Yuan had already caught up with the thief who stole the scroll on the roof.
The dark figure darted swiftly through the shadows, sometimes close, sometimes far from Mu Yuan, yet he could never catch it.
After an incense stick had burned, the man's movements gradually slowed down. He was somewhat hunched over, suggesting he was quite old. The fact that he was slowing down now was probably due to exhaustion, and his hands were no longer moving smoothly.
Finally, Mu Yuan used his sword to rip open the black cloth covering his face.
He had expected the man to hide, but instead he stopped abruptly, turning his back to Mu Yuan.
"Good lad, your lightness skill is getting better and better."
Upon hearing the voice, Mu Yuan was stunned: "It's... an elder?"
The person in front of me turned around, their aged eyes shrouded in darkness, unfocused.
"It's me."
"Greetings, Elder Yuwen." Mu Yuan immediately bowed to him. "Is that scroll in your possession?"
"yes."
"That……"
Mu Yuan was somewhat at a loss. Few wouldn't be at a loss when encountering a young man like Yuwen. Although the old man's eyes were aged, they were not blurry. Despite being over seventy, he always looked at people with a sharp and keen gaze.
Elder Yuwen held up the scroll.
"Logically speaking, there's no point in giving you this half of the scroll. Everyone knows what's recorded in the first half." At this point, he held up another scroll of the same size. "The important content is all on this."
"Please forgive my ignorance."
"The reason I took it is because it's my son's last handwriting, and I need it. Do you have a problem with that?"