Eternal Night - Chapter 9
"How dare you call me by my name... Did the blue-robed monster tell you? How disrespectful to your elders! Humph!" The handsome gentleman's hand trembled as he withdrew the shawl from his grasp, his voice changing and carrying a hint of coldness.
Xinghun laughed in exasperation. The handsome gentleman's name was actually Cheng Dieyi! He jumped up and said, word by word, "I will never walk like a woman!"
"Do you have a choice?" The handsome gentleman pulled out a thick bamboo strip about three inches wide from somewhere and looked at him with a smile.
Women fighting ruins their image! "A good man doesn't fight with a woman! I'll say it again, I don't imitate a woman's walk!"
But judging from the skill with which she captured him, he was no match for her. However, Xinghun suddenly realized what she was supposed to learn from her and refused to do it even if it meant death.
A sudden gust of wind arose, and the star soul, like a floating cloud, drifted up with it.
The handsome gentleman praised, "Excellent lightness skill; the Green-Clad Monster has done a good job training you."
Xinghun sensed the change in the air, dodging the falling bamboo shards as if they were hidden weapons. However, his body was still that of a child, and his internal strength wasn't much stronger. The bamboo shards flew up, creating shadows, and the pressure followed. A bamboo shard hit his leg, slowing him down instantly, and then he was enveloped in a lush green bamboo shadow. "Ouch! Sir, spare me!" In an instant, Xinghun had taken countless blows, begging for mercy in pain.
The handsome gentleman smiled and put away the bamboo slips: "You are not allowed to call yourself 'Laozi' anymore. You have not learned anything good from following the Green-Clad Monster."
"I understand," Xinghun replied, rubbing the large bump on his head.
"Huh?" The handsome gentleman frowned. "You have to change your accent too!"
Xinghun was utterly speechless.
Seeing the little guy, who had been so loud and boisterous, suddenly back down, the handsome gentleman was clearly in a good mood. He laughed and scolded, "Alright, I won't hit you today. I'm not telling you to walk like a woman, I'm telling you to walk like... him!"
Where her slender hand pointed, Xinghun saw a boy outside the bamboo curtain.
This was a thin child, dressed in a purple robe with a silk sash around his waist, much more luxurious than the cloth robe I was wearing. The child carried a scroll in his hand and walked slowly along the path in the bamboo forest.
His walking posture wasn't strange, but there was a graceful feeling in his steps.
"Another one who practices lightness skill?"
“No, you should learn how he walks, how he plays the piano, how he writes, and his…that expression and demeanor,” Cheng Dieyi said, word by word.
Xinghun's heart skipped a beat, and he understood. He blinked, pretending not to understand, and pouted, saying, "What's there to learn? I'm way better than him."
"To die beneath the peony blossoms, even as a ghost, is still romantic... You said that, didn't you!" Cheng Dieyi covered her mouth and giggled. "If you can say something like that, you must be quite good at composing poems."
Her eyes were as gentle as spring water, but Xinghun's heart felt like it had plunged into an icy river. Was this his first mission? To become a clone? The advantage was that he could leave the valley soon. The disadvantage was that, as the saying goes, only family knows its own situation; such a cloning mission was practically a death sentence. Hmph, once I leave the valley, the world is vast, what can you do to me? Xinghun made up his mind to slip away.
"I'd rather die knowing the truth than follow his example," Xinghun asked bluntly, seeing that there was no room for discussion.
Cheng Dieyi sighed and patted his head: "Look at his face again."
Xinghun stared intently, and the child was turning from the path. Having spent over two years in the stone chamber, his eyesight was extraordinary; he could see the child's face clearly. He stared in astonishment, his eyes widening… So that's it! "He seems unwell! His face is a little pale…"
"Your skin is about the same."
"He's sickly white!" Xinghun protested, clearly displeased. "Besides, he's thin and not as healthy as me!"
"Hmm, you're very observant... Starting today, you won't have dinner until you're as thin as him." Cheng Dieyi made the decision gently yet cruelly.
Xinghun was indignant.
"Don't blame me for not warning you, if you don't study hard, your life will be in danger. This is always what happens to imposters when they're exposed!"
“I understand. Starting tomorrow, if I have something delicious, I'll give him a portion first. If I don't want to lose weight, he'll only get fatter!” Xinghun laughed. The handsome man wasn't afraid of his refusal, nor were the people in the valley, because his skills weren't strong enough; his life was in their hands. This was a blatant threat, and he had no choice but to accept.
Cheng Dieyi was taken aback, then chuckled. She picked up a scroll and placed it in front of Xinghun. "These are his past works. You know them all by heart, including... annotations. And this one, the one with the character 'Lin'."
"I've decided to forget it all, because I already have new poems, and I'm truly ashamed of my old ones, so I don't want to mention them again! As for this character... please rest assured, sir, Xinghun will do his best." In his previous life, Xinghun was a master at forging official seals and imitating seals, so what difficulty would it be for him to imitate someone's handwriting?
He stood looking at the child outside the bamboo curtain, whose face was strikingly similar to his own. What was he to him? Was it because of this face that he hadn't been dealt with when he was an idiot?
Cheng Dieyi leaned lazily against the couch, her flowing cloud-patterned robe trailing to the ground. She smoothed her hair, exuding an air of effortless elegance. Seeing Xinghun standing still, she sighed, "I'm tired now. There's a tea tray; let's learn how to make tea first!"
Making tea is a minor matter; even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. Seeing that a pot of water had already boiled on the small stove next to the tea tray, you begin to select tea and wash the cups.
"You've focused enough, but... Little Star, when you're calmly preparing tea, could you at least look up at me?" Cheng Dieyi's tone was tinged with resentment. She automatically called his name with extreme affection.
Xinghun couldn't help but look up at her.
"Hehe, but your eyes need to be a little softer, like mine." The handsome gentleman's eyes flickered.
"Ouch!" Boiling water splashed onto his hand, and Xinghun threw the kettle down, wincing in pain. "I can't take it!"
Cheng Dieyi leaned against the couch, laughing so hard she was shaking.
Xinghun glared at him, embarrassed: "Don't laugh! If you laugh again, I won't come to school tomorrow."
"Oh? You don't want to learn? I'm determined to teach you! Little Star, you're so funny, so very funny, hehe!"
"Sir, you are enough to bewitch all living beings, please spare your disciple!"
"Sigh, if you don't learn these things within six months, I won't be able to explain myself to the Valley Master."
Xinghun's heart stirred, but he calmly poured water and brewed tea again: "Dance Master said that I must learn from that boring kid?"
"It's very boring, but what can we do?"
"Yeah, what can we do?" Xinghun couldn't help but look up again at the boy who was engrossed in his book.
The aroma of tea wafted through the air, filling the room with fragrance.
Xinghun respectfully handed the first cup of tea to Cheng Dieyi: "Please enjoy, sir."
He stared, mesmerized, at the indescribable allure of her slightly parted red lips. In his past life, he had many women, all beautiful regardless of their figure. But very few possessed the femininity of Cheng Dieyi. Was this what beauty was like in ancient times?