Hibiscus as a Painting - Chapter 71
After a long while, Dugu Xihui still hadn't received a reply from Zi Jin. His hand froze on his face, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes: "Isn't...it good-looking?"
The unease was fleeting, but it didn't escape Zi Jin's notice. She tilted her head and smiled, "Beautiful, very beautiful."
Dugu Xihui lowered his hand and looked at the lotus leaves covering the lake: "Do you think she would like it?"
"meeting."
Dugu Xihui seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, slowly lying down on the grass by the lake, gazing up at the bright starry sky.
Zi Jin moved a little further away, and lay down three steps away from Dugu Xi Hui, completely relaxed, gazing at the sky.
Although Dugu Xihui didn't look at Zi Jin, she knew she had moved away, and a strange anger welled up in her heart. The two lay under the silent, starry sky, each lost in their own thoughts, and the spring night breeze didn't seem so cold anymore.
"See that jade belt? That's the Milky Way, that one is Altair, this one is Vega, and the two brightest ones next to it are their children." After some time, Zi Jin suddenly pointed to the distant starry sky and said.
Dugu Xihui followed her gaze and asked, "The Cowherd? The Weaver Girl?"
“There’s a story from my hometown that’s been passed down through the ages. Would you like to hear it?” Zi Jin turned her head to look at Dugu Xi Hui.
"Um."
"The Cowherd, orphaned at a young age, was left with only a thatched hut and an old ox… One day, by the Jade Lotus Lake, he fell in love at first sight with the Weaver Girl, who had secretly descended to earth… After their marriage, they lived a loving life, the husband tilling the fields and the wife weaving… However, the Queen Mother of the West discovered their affair and flew into a rage, sending heavenly soldiers to take the Weaver Girl back to Heaven. The Cowherd, seeing his beloved wife abducted, was filled with shock and anger. Holding his two children and the Weaver Girl's hairpin, he chased after her. Just then, the Queen Mother arrived on a cloud. She removed the hairpin from her hair and gently drew a line between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Instantly, a mighty Milky Way appeared between them, its waves surging, forever separating them."
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, along with their children, wept day and night, until their voices were hoarse and their hearts were broken, until they finally moved the Queen Mother of the West. But heavenly rules are hard to break, so she only agreed to let the Cowherd and their children stay in heaven, allowing them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
From then on, the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd were separated by the rolling waves of the Milky Way, gazing at each other from afar. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, countless flocks of magpies fly to form a bridge for them. On the magpie bridge, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl reunite, a reunion known to the world as the Magpie Bridge Meeting.
Legend has it that on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month each year, if people listen attentively under the grapevines, they can faintly hear celestial music and the whispered words of the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd.
Dugu Xihui turned her head to gaze at Zi Jin's longing face, a strange sadness rising in her heart: "You... want to go back? Actually... you don't need to do this, at most three days..." Dugu Xihui couldn't bring herself to say the words of leaving for some reason.
Zi Jin looked up at the sky, tilted her head, and suddenly burst out laughing: "You're overthinking it. I didn't say or do these things to please you... I didn't do them to please you. I know... Xi Le will take me back no matter what... I just... I just feel... Never mind, I won't say anymore." Perhaps she wasn't laughing enough, Zi Jin simply lay down on the grass and started rolling around in her stomach.
Zi Jin's smile was insincere, nonsensical, and so deliberate. A hint of worry flashed in Dugu Xihui's amber eyes. He sat up and tried to pull Zi Jin up.
Zi Jin realized his intention, scrambled to her feet, and stumbled away into the distance.
Dugu Xihui stared at Zi Jin's retreating figure, a nameless panic rising in his heart. Only after Zi Jin disappeared into the night did he slowly turn his face back and lie down as before, only this time the warm smile was gone from his face.
"Hey! What's the name of this lousy lake?" Zi Jin returned and stood at a distance, hands on her hips, shouting.
Dugu Xihui lay in the same spot with her eyes closed, the corners of her mouth turned up, and her dimples appeared and disappeared.
Zi Jin, not receiving a reply, turned away angrily, cursing inwardly: Stingy!
"Nian Jin!" Dugu Xihui replied loudly, followed by a burst of hearty laughter.
Instantly, Zi Jin froze on the spot, the dim moonlight illuminating her face, revealing a deathly pale complexion devoid of any color...
The next morning, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Lou Shuo had his servants serve the two of their meals in Zi Jin's garden. Dugu Xi Hui, upon learning of this, did not reprimand him.
At mealtime, Zi Jin sat down at the table with a frown. There was a noticeable dark spot under her eyes. When she looked up, she saw Dugu Xihui walking in with a smile on his lips. She hurriedly lowered her eyes and pretended not to see him.
Seeing Zi Jin's reaction, Dugu Xihui's smiling face slowly darkened. When the food was served, Zi Jin immediately piled a lot of food into her bowl and began to wolf it down without even looking up.
Dugu Xihui didn't touch the food on the table, eating the white rice in her bowl very slowly, occasionally glancing at Zi Jin, as if waiting for something.
Zi Jin finished her food in the bowl in almost the fastest time, then threw down the bowl and ran out of the room as if fleeing, not daring to look at Dugu Xihui even once.
Seeing Zi Jin eating so quickly, Dugu Xihui paused slightly, then continued eating the white rice in his bowl. After Zi Jin fled the room as if her life depended on it, Dugu Xihui raised his eyes, his face already icy cold. He stood there stunned for a moment, then suddenly smashed the bowl in his hand and stormed off.
Zi Jin's obvious avoidance made Dugu Xihui feel strangely agitated. He didn't know what was wrong with him, nor what he should do. Feeling frustrated, he left the manor with Lou Shuo.
A lifetime of love and hate, hard to understand; reincarnation begins again. The bamboo-wielder, unintentional, faces many trials and tribulations upon first entering the world of martial arts (Part 5).
Entering the Jianghu with many twists and turns (5) Night falls, and the "Jin Yu Man Lou" and "Luan Feng He Ming" are still there.
Dugu Xihui leaned casually against the carved ancient wooden couch, holding a white jade goblet filled with wine of extremely low alcohol content. Even so, he drank very slowly, sipping it little by little. He had held the wine in his hand for quite some time, yet more than half the goblet remained, and Dugu Xihui's face had already turned slightly flushed.
Zi Jin kept her eyes down after entering the room and casually found a seat far away from Dugu Xihui. After lunch that day, Dugu Xihui never appeared again, and Zi Jin started counting down the days until Xi Le would come to pick her up.
Today is the third day. From the moment she opened her eyes this morning, Zi Jin had been secretly calculating when west Le would arrive, but neither Xi Le nor Dugu Xi Hui appeared until evening. Zi Jin felt an indescribable disappointment and panic, fearing that Xi Le had abandoned her here. Unexpectedly, after dinner, Lou Shuo, who had disappeared for two days along with Dugu Xi Hui, actually appeared and brought Zi Jin here.
Silence, suffocating silence.
"The person you're waiting for will arrive shortly," Dugu Xihui finally spoke.
"Um."
"That person... came to take you away."
"Um."
"Don't you have anything to say?"
"Um."
Dugu Xihui's amber eyes were icy cold. The white jade cup in his hand was crushed to pieces in an instant, and dark red liquid mixed with blood flowed down his palm.
The fiery blood dripped onto the ground, blooming into dazzling, vibrant flowers.
Zi Jin seemed to sigh, raised her eyes, walked towards Dugu Xihui, and sat on the wooden couch next to him.
Dugu Xihui coldly turned her face away, refusing to look at Zi Jin, but she did not become even angrier at Zi Jin's approach.
Zi Jin lowered her eyes, carefully took Dugu Xihui's injured hand, and slowly removed the jade fragments stuck in the wound. Dugu Xihui flinched in pain, but did not turn her face.