Xiao Man was taken aback for a moment, then smiled apologetically, "Sorry... I wasn't paying attention. I wasn't listening carefully just now. Could you play it again?"
He nodded, then played another piece, "Spring Dawn's Lament." This time, he stopped halfway through and turned to look at her.
Xiaoman immediately clapped her hands: "You played so well, it sounded so beautiful, you're really amazing."
Tianquan said calmly, "I haven't finished playing."
She gave another awkward laugh, touching her face. She whispered, "I...I don't really understand these things..."
Tianquan slowly stood up, walked to her, and said, "You're not that you don't understand. You just didn't hear the music at all, did you?"
Xiao Man turned her head away. He was right. For some reason, her world had become deathly silent. Apart from the sound of voices, she couldn't hear anything. The whole world seemed dead, terrifyingly empty.
“Your ears seem to have some problems, let me take a look.” Without waiting for a reply, he pulled her up, grabbed her chin, and turned her head around.
Xiao Man exclaimed urgently, "No! No! My hearing is perfectly fine!"
Tianquan pulled out a silver needle and said calmly, "Don't be afraid, it will only hurt a little."
Xiao Man was shocked. Seeing him pinch her ear and about to prick it with a needle, she screamed in fright, "Don't prick me! Don't prick me! My ear is fine!"
Before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his earlobe; he had actually stabbed him!
It hurt terribly, like it was being bitten and scratched awake from her slumber. Xiaoman felt a chill run down her spine, as if the pain had suddenly jolted her awake, tearing away her numbness and shattering her protective shell.
She covered her face and started crying.
Tianquan withdrew the silver needles, used a silk cloth to absorb the blood droplets on her ear, and said softly, "Does it hurt? I should have been gentler."
All the sounds returned: the hissing of incense smoke from the incense burner, the rustling of wind and snow outside the window, his soft breathing, and the distant sounds of Sanxi and Qifu laughing and talking.
Xiaoman wiped away her tears, but they wouldn't stop. She could only cry and smile bitterly, "You must have stabbed my ear raw... You must have missed the mark... It hurts so much..."
Is it really an earache? That's all she could say...
How can life be so torturous, constantly knocking you down, only to get back up again and stand even higher? She always felt she could go much further, and this time she stood up, stood very high, and thought she had finally found something important. But no matter how high she climbed, she was knocked back just as far as she could go.
She was tossed around like a ball by fate, bounced around and never able to stop.
The essence of life can be summed up in one word: exhausting.
Tianquan tore off the earring from her left ear, pinched the newly pierced hole in her ear, stuffed the earring back in, and twisted it into a tight knot behind her ear, making it impossible for anyone to remove. After completing this action, he seemed very satisfied, raised his hand and hugged her tightly in his arms, lowered his head and gently kissed her left ear, whispering, "From now on, I will take care of you, and no one will be able to hurt you again."
Xiaoman gasped, looking up at him in disbelief. After a long while, she whispered, "I don't need your pity or your feeling that I'm pathetic."
He shook his head: "Don't say that. You're putting yourself in a lowly position from the start, thinking that others are just pitying you. You shouldn't be that kind of person."
Xiao Man struggled slightly, and he immediately released her. She lowered her head, touching the new earring on her ear, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
"I'm sorry... I... I don't know..."
She murmured to herself.
Tianquan said gently, "You don't need to worry about anything, and you don't need to be afraid. Come, sit down, I'll play the zither."
Xiaoman wiped away her tears, nodded, and sat down beside him, listening to him play "Phoenix Seeking Its Mate." The lingering and melodious tune flowed like water, gentle yet bringing tears to one's eyes.
Xiaoman unconsciously placed her hand lightly on the strings, and the tone immediately became disordered. She quickly pulled her hand back: "Sorry... I just thought the tone was really beautiful."
He grabbed her hand, gently pinched her index finger, and pressed it against a string, chuckling, "Come, I'll teach you. There are five notes and twelve tones on the zither; this is the Gong mode."
He held her hand and slowly, bit by bit, played the entire "Phoenix Seeking Its Mate" piece. The incense in the room was intoxicating, and the faint musk scent emanating from his arms made her even more mesmerized.
Is this okay? Should we just continue like this? With this person?
The evil voice in your heart started to peek out again: Why not? He's such a good person, so gentle, so powerful, what more could you want? That dead man Zexiu, as proud as a peacock, doesn't want you anymore, and you're all alone, slinking around like a stray dog, while this man treats you like a treasure, why not go with him?
Xiao Man's mind went blank, and her playing faltered. She abruptly stood up and whispered, "I...I need to go for a walk."
Tianquan was about to put on his coat and accompany her downstairs, but she shook her head: "No, I want to walk alone."
Without waiting for a reply, she dashed downstairs by herself. Tianquan sat back down, and after a while, pulled out several letters from a hidden compartment under the table. They were all from his subordinates guarding Mount No Return, reporting that those trapped on Mount No Return had attempted to escape by climbing the cliff, but so far no one had succeeded.
After reading the letter, he burned it to ashes in the brazier.
The provisions in the high-rise on Mount Bugui were enough to last these people for about two months, which was already quite a long time. There were also Liao soldiers stationed at the foot of the mountain, presumably brought by Yelü. He had forgotten about this troublesome situation; he should have brought him out first, otherwise, the Liao soldiers would have been involved, causing even more trouble.
Another problem is Zexiu. Letting him escape is definitely not a good thing.
He pulled out two sheets of paper, picked up a pen and wrote a few words, then suddenly whispered, "Uncle Zhao."
A dark figure immediately landed on the windowsill, waiting for instructions. He stuffed the letter in his hand and handed it to him: "Deliver this to the 'Tian' room on the third floor of the Guixiang Inn in Zhenzhou City. Go quickly and return quickly."
Uncle Zhao agreed and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It was getting dark and a bit cold. Tianquan tightened his collar, crossed his arms, and looked downstairs. The girl was holding a twig, drawing randomly in the snowdrifts, running and jumping, going up and down without stopping for a moment. Her face was flushed from running, and her eyes seemed to brighten as well.
Finally, she built a snowman, but it couldn't really be called a snowman; it was just two piles stacked together. She opened her arms, jumped on top of it, and crushed the snowman, making it incredibly lively and energetic.
Xiao Man is Xiao Man; she can never come up with any profound truths by sitting still. Only when she moves does she truly live her own life. Qi Fu called to her from afar, and Xiao Man jumped up from the snowdrift and waved to him cheerfully. Qi Fu said, "Dinner's ready! Go and call the young master too."
Xiao Man turned to go upstairs, but when she looked up, she saw Tian Quan standing in front of the railing looking down. She waved and called out, "Tian Quan! Dinner's ready!"
He really wanted to laugh, and he actually did.
This graceful, ethereal beauty, delicate yet resilient, seems capable of being destroyed by anyone, yet no one can truly destroy it. This beauty will belong to him.
This is good, this is wonderful.
The Slaughter of Crows, Chapter Sixteen: Let's Set Off (Part 1)
Updated: 2008-10-15 0:14:49 Word Count: 4053
Second update
Hardworking children are good children and should be rewarded.
Uncle Zhao quickly brought back a reply.
Rumors are spreading throughout the martial arts world that the attempt by Mount Bugui to control the young master has been exposed. To this end, they have resorted to their ultimate move, trapping the heroes in the high-rise building of Mount Bugui while they themselves escaped through another shortcut.
Tianquan closed the letter and smiled slightly: "Well done. Notify everyone guarding Mount No Return to evacuate completely, leave no one behind. Also, open up one of the sealed secret passages. Don't worry about who goes to rescue people."
Uncle Zhao agreed and then disappeared out the window.
Tianquan tossed the reply into the brazier, and just as it started to burn, he heard someone softly calling his name outside the window. The voice was gentle and clear, and his heart softened. He couldn't help but peek out and saw Xiaoman waving at him from below. Her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "I just saw Uncle Zhao suddenly disappear like a ghost!"
He smiled and said, "Come on up, it's cold down here."
Xiao Man nodded, then suddenly tilted her head and asked, "Will this bother you?"
He shook his head.
He really wanted to say that she would never bother him, no matter what it was, even if it was just talking nonsense, as long as she was willing, he wouldn't care at all.
The door was pushed open, and Xiaoman rushed out with a burst of cold air, her face red from the cold.
Tianquan immediately turned back and stirred the brazier; the letter had already burned to ashes, which danced up and down with the flames.
"It's so much warmer here. My room is so cold at night, I've woken up from the cold several times." Xiaoman took off her cloak and sat in front of the brazier to warm her hands.
“Then you can move in here,” Tianquan said casually.
Xiao Man didn't speak for a while. She noticed he was holding a book, and there was paper and pen on the table; he seemed to be writing. She immediately leaned closer to look. She carefully deciphered the words: "A gentleman cherishes virtue, a petty person cherishes land; a gentleman cherishes… um… cherishes…"
"A gentleman upholds the law, a petty person seeks personal gain." Tianquan read it aloud for her, then smiled, picked up a pen, and wrote two more characters. Xiaoman looked at them for a while, then hesitated, "It seems... to be my name?"
He nodded: "And this one?" He quickly wrote four or five characters, and Xiaoman recognized "qian" (money) and "yu" (jade). Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she smiled: "This is your name, Qian... um, Qian Mingxi, the courtesy name is Jianyu, right?"
Tianquan laughed and said, "You know a lot of words. That's impressive."
Xiao Man laughed and said, "I definitely know Qian and Yu."
He laughed and was both amused and annoyed, and handed her the brush: "You write something."
Xiao Man held the pen, stunned for a long time, then looked up somewhat embarrassed and said softly, "I recognize some characters. But writing them is really too difficult for me. I can't write."
Tianquan grasped her hand. 1. He straightened her fingers. He slowly wrote the character "米" (mǐ, meaning rice) on the paper.
"Strokes should be straight and even, with free and easy strokes. Use the strength of your wrist, don't move your fingers. Writing isn't difficult." He held her slender body, speaking softly, almost in his ear. There was a faint fragrance in his arms, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her delicate nose looked so pitiful and adorable. He longed to kiss her gently.
Xiao Man picked up a brush and wrote the character "米" (mi, meaning rice). Although it wasn't very pretty, the strokes were straight and the lines were neat. She turned to him with a smile and asked, "Is it still legible?"
He nodded.
Xiao Man scribbled the character "米" (rice) on the paper. After a while, she suddenly whispered, "Tianquan, why didn't you give Lianyi and the others the antidote? They've been poisoned; will they die?"
He seemed to have anticipated her question and said calmly, "That's not poison, just a sleeping potion. It won't kill anyone. There's only one bottle of the antidote, so I can't share it. It's just for you."
Xiao Man remained silent.
After a while, she asked again, "Then...they'll all wake up and be alright?"
Tianquan smiled and said, "Of course. In order not to arouse suspicion, I had to use a sleeping potion. When they wake up, they will naturally come to No Return Mountain to settle scores, and your knot in your heart can be untied."
She nodded: "Thank you, you've helped me a lot."
"You're welcome. I don't need your thanks."
Xiao Man looked at him for a while before slowly lowering her head.
"Tianquan, I'm leaving," she said softly.
He was somewhat surprised: "Go? Where to?"
Xiao Man laughed and said, "Yes, I just want to travel around and see the world. The world is so big, and there are many places I haven't been to. I want to see more of the world while I'm young, so I won't be too old to travel when I'm old."
"I can go with you. There are always many inconveniences for single women when they're out and about..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiaoman shook her head and interrupted him. She grabbed his sleeve and said softly, "You're very good to me, really very good. But this time I want to go out and clear my head by myself. I don't like always relying on someone to protect me. I think I can do it myself. So please don't come with me."
Tianquan remained silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Are you going to find Zexiu?"
The question was abrupt and didn't quite fit his usual gentle and composed demeanor, but Xiaoman wasn't angry. She shook her head: "No, as people often say, you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I can't just stay home like a turtle all day just because there's Zexiu outside. I have my own things to think about, and areas I want to improve..."