A Wandering Youth

Chapter 8

The thick mockery had barely subsided when the slightly trembling person fell completely still. Strands of light streamed into the forest, clearly revealing the boy's face in the tree, while large patches of shadow remained on the ground.

Daylight broke.

When Chu Yi and his group appeared on the road, the corpses of Zhao Qian and the others were still lying on the messy ground.

"Why aren't you leaving? Damn it!" Old Master Zhao shouted again.

Just as Ruan Si was about to turn over Zhao Qian's body, Chu Yi stopped him, saying, "No."

Ruan Si watched the approaching youth, rolled up his sleeves, bent down, carefully examined the corpse, and turned back to say softly, "Poisoned."

With a calm expression, Ruan Si raised his voice and said, "Master, the road is blocked."

"Go around it!" Master Zhao had already started cursing.

Ruan Si and Chu Yi exchanged a glance, then silently returned to the carriage and sat down. Ruan Si pulled on the reins, and the horse's hooves clattered as it carefully turned its head and headed into the depths of the woods.

Chu Yi sat down next to Ruan Si and closed his eyes. His body swayed slightly with the bumps of the carriage, and his head leaned towards Ruan Si little by little.

"Listen to me, don't speak, everything is normal." Chu Yi's very soft voice came from beside him. He leaned on Ruan Si's shoulder, his lips not moving.

Ruan Si pursed her lips slightly and responded to him using the same "telepathic transmission" method: "You are indeed cautious."

"There's nothing we can do, the young master is behind us. He's in charge of monitoring us."

"What is it?"

"The poison on Zhao Qian's body is unusual. It's not a poison from the Tang Clan or the martial arts world, because his whole body is normal and the poison hasn't been released into his blood. It must be a secret Gu poison from the Miao region."

"Um."

"If I'm not mistaken, the pills we swallowed for exorcism are like this."

The carriage swayed slightly, and the young master inside coughed softly.

"Ruan Si, no matter what, we can't escape now." Chu Yi seemed to sigh deeply beside me.

"I'm not running away," Ruan Si said calmly. "If you want to leave, then leave."

Chu Yi was silent for a while, then said, "I don't want others to control my destiny. It seems like I've never lived freely."

The road was lined with gently passing scenic trees, and the two boys in front of the carriage remained silent. Chu Yi seemed to be asleep, while Ruan Si drove the carriage steadily, with only the occasional snort from the horse.

“I have a disabled younger sister, and I have a request to make of the young master Bixie.”

After a long while, Ruan Si finally spoke these two sentences using telepathy.

“Young Master Bixie may not keep his promise.”

"No, you don't know this, he always keeps his promises, as long as you're alive to get them."

Chu Yi remained silent, recalling the intelligence report that the Ruan family had been without support for a century and was in a state of decline. He also understood that everyone who came here was risking their lives, and had no other desire than him.

A jade-like hand reached out from behind and gently lifted Chu Yi into the carriage.

Chu Yi did not resist; he simply lowered his eyes, placed his hands properly on his lap, and sat against the car wall.

Nie Wuyou looked at him and smiled slightly, like a gentle evening breeze stirring the heavy twilight, serene and approachable. "Didn't you sleep well last night, Chu Yi?"

Chu Yi ignored his smile and kept looking at her own hands: "Hmm."

Nie Wuyou's smile was like a blooming flower: "But I took up a bed in the first year of junior high?"

"I wouldn't dare, it's just that I didn't do well enough in the first year of junior high."

Nie Wuyou was probably overjoyed, but before he could even smile, he coughed lightly. While coughing, he kept a close eye on Chu Yi and said gently, "Chu Yi, after you've succeeded, come back to the manor with me!"

Chu Yi raised his eyes and stared directly into Nie Wuyou's eyes, into those deep, dark eyes that gleamed with a light that was hard to discern as genuine or feigned. He said calmly, "I'm not going."

"Wouldn't that be a real shame?" Nie Wuyou said softly. "How boring life would be if such an interesting person didn't keep me company?"

9. A fleeting glimpse

Youzhou is located in the lower part of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. It is characterized by high and steep mountains. The east-west mountain range is hidden in the white clouds that rise halfway up the mountain, forming a natural barrier for the three prefectures of Wu, Ru, and Shun with the appearance of a crouching tiger and a hidden dragon.

When Chu Yi and his group arrived in Youzhou, it had been more than a month since the day they left to start their journey. After passing the capital, the continuous war and banditry caused the merchant caravan to gradually break apart after several attacks. In the end, only Chu Yi, Ruan Si, Nie Wuyou, Ma Liancheng, Master Zhao and his wife and daughter remained.

Chu Yi remained silent and taciturn every day, his eyelids lowered and his expression unchanged, but he understood the ins and outs of the matter: after Yu Xue kidnapped Qing Yu, the people of Qinglong Town disappeared the next day; Leng Qi, who was hiding in the shadows, watched the number of daily task boys decrease without taking any action; those who were truly left behind were the ones who were useful for the task.

Master Zhao ordered everyone to abandon the car and walk up the mountain, but Ma Liancheng took the lead and walked lightly up the mountain. In the middle were the frail lady and young lady, Nie Wuyou and others, and Chu Yi and Ruan Si naturally brought up the rear.

Looking up at the dark, sunless forest, Chu Yi was filled with awe at the wonders of nature. The winters in Youzhou were dry and cold, but this was nowhere to be seen in this dense, intertwined forest; all that remained were ancient, sturdy trees reaching for the sky, their sharp, pointed leaves pointing straight to the resounding heavens.

It took them most of the day to walk and stop before they finally crossed the first small hill. Master Zhao wasn't in a hurry, and neither were the others behind him.

As they reached the top of the second hill, Chu Yi noticed that Ma Liancheng had returned with his horse. His purple robe stood out vividly in the dark forest. He held the reins firmly with one hand and leaned slightly forward as he told Master Zhao, "Ahead is a precipice, about twenty feet high, with an endless abyss below."

After saying that, he stood aside and said nothing more.

The grumbling Master Zhao straightened up, stared straight ahead into the deep forest, and said calmly, "Both sides are sheer cliffs with no way to climb over them. No one can cross this road. I'll leave you here."

Strangely, no one was surprised or made a sound after hearing his words; everyone remained calm. Master Zhao clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you for your help earlier, Master Ma. We'll meet again another day. I have other matters to attend to."

He strode confidently past the crowd, creating a gust of wind. When his eyes caught sight of Chu Yi, he grinned at him.

Chu Yi's eyes twitched, and she silently thought to herself, "Zhao Yong..."

Miss Zhao in blue, who was resting against a tree trunk, suddenly straightened up limply, took out a firework, and sent it into the sky with a "whoosh".

On the first day of the lunar new year, I looked up and chased the trailing smoke of the fireworks, which shone as a tiny blue dot against a clear blue sky.

A gentle breeze swept through the tall, cloud-piercing trees, shifting slightly. Chu Yi realized it was coming from the west. He looked up at the motionless white clouds and suddenly thought, "No, that's not the wind."

A snow-white figure, like a startled swan on water, ethereal and aloof, swept forward from west to east. He seemed to be a white crane gracefully flying over a vast expanse of misty waves, his arms outstretched as he rode the wind, leaving only a faint glimpse of the underside of his robe visible in the corner of his eye. Two or three servants disappeared into the distance, leaving only the faint tips of the wind flowing through the treetops.

When I glanced at him intently, I saw a flawless profile.

Her silky black hair was tied back, highlighting her fair complexion, which was even more delicate than jade. Her eyes were cold and fixed straight ahead, indifferent as frost and sharp as a blade.

That intense, cold, and dazzling white aura stirred the deep, ancient sky, its imposing presence surpassing even the emperor's, leaving all living beings unable to look away or forget it.

The swiftly moving figure swept over the crowd and vanished in an instant.

Ruan Si turned his face and saw that Chu Yi's eyes were fixed and his face was pale: "It is the young master of Bixie." He seemed unaware that his eyes were lifeless and dull, and added: "A bottomless abyss, a sheer cliff, a dead place that even birds cannot fly over."

Chu Yi remained calm on the surface, but in his heart he greatly agreed with Ruan Si's point of view: this young master of Bixie was far beyond his expectations, and his martial arts were so powerful that they could be described as unbelievable.

Chu Yi stood quietly behind Ruan Si, and no one spoke.

Master Zhao has left, so what should we do next? But this question doesn't seem to be a question at all, as everyone remains so silent.

A soft cooing sound reached my ears. Listening to the calls of these unknown little birds in this ancient and secluded forest, Chu Yi couldn't help but smile.

The girl in the blue shirt raised her head and made a long, drawn-out moaning sound that echoed through the forest.

A flock of small yellow birds fluttered their wings and flew toward her.

The girl in blue clapped her hands lightly, and the flock of birds seemed to fly forward in perfect unison. She turned around and smiled slightly at everyone. Although her smile wasn't exactly breathtaking, the beauty of her face shone brightly in the dim, dark forest for a fleeting moment.

"I have long heard that the people of Dongting Lake are skilled in bird-catching. When I first came to the borderlands, I only played with birds as a child. But seeing it today, I am deeply impressed." Ma Liancheng bowed slightly on his mount, but remained still.

"Everyone, follow the Water Maiden, watch your step, and don't lose her," Nie Wuyou, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up.

A flock of small birds flew low towards the side of the mountain forest, not the path that had just crossed the cliff.

Nie Wuyou followed closely behind the two women, followed by Ruan Si, with Chu Yi behind Ruan Si, while Ma Liancheng remained still.

Ruan Si Chao glanced at her for the first time and said softly, "You've been so quiet and desolate all this way, but now you're so happy."

Chu Yi couldn't suppress her smile, her eyes bright and cheerful. She smiled faintly at Ruan Si and said, "This is the first time I've ever seen something so sensitive and clean since the beginning of time." As she spoke, she looked up at the flock of birds leading the way.

Nie Wuyou, who was walking briskly with his head down, coughed slightly. Ruan Si didn't say anything after hearing it; his eyebrows were indifferent, his lips were cold, and he stopped talking.

Walking behind the girl in the blue dress was Madam Zhao. She was tall and slender, her exquisite curves rising and falling with her slight panting.

Nie Wuyou looked up and said to her, "Madam, would you like to rest for a while?"

"I wouldn't dare," the woman addressed as "Madam" immediately said cautiously.

Chu Yi and Ruan Si were unfazed and continued on their way. After walking along the somewhat winding mountain path for a while, the view gradually opened up, and the tall, towering trees that had once stood before them were gradually left behind, replaced by damp, short fir trees.

The young woman leading the group turned around, her delicate and pretty face accentuated by the misty blue light. She parted her cherry lips and told everyone, "Next, we'll reach the entrance to Yingyun Town. The young master traveled three hundred li a day to get here, and the three gentlemen, Song, Zhu, and Lan, will arrive shortly after."

Her voice was soft and faint, but to everyone present it was like a thunderclap, resounding deep within their hearts. Several expressions quickly shifted across their faces before settling into calm. Only Chu Yi, being new to this place, was unfamiliar with many of the names used in the martial arts world. He remained calmly by their side, seemingly a quiet and easygoing young man.

Nie Wuyou glanced back at Chu Yi's serene face, pondered for a moment, and finally turned his face away, slightly parting his lips. The girl in blue looked at his face and silently tried to decipher the shape of his lips: "Tell Leng Qi that Chu Yi is preparing to run away."

The girl in blue remained expressionless as she continued, still panting, to finish recounting what she had learned: "King Ma led his men out of Youzhou, and Leng Qi is waiting for you all at the Yunhu Inn in the town."

After saying that, she changed her tone and suddenly pouted her red lips and said in a coquettish voice, "Brother Nie, I'm exhausted from this journey. I don't care, when we get to Yingyun you have to take me home in a carriage." After saying that, she didn't care whether Nie Wuyou agreed or not, and directly pulled Nie Wuyou's arm and clung tightly to it.

Nie Wuyou glanced at Shui Qianmie's face, where glistening beads of sweat streamed down like a small waterfall. Her eyes shone brightly as she discerned the direction of the little bird leading the way. Her heart softened, and she didn't push away her arm.

"Madam, please go first."

Madam nodded lightly, then twirled and walked ahead.

"Who is that wooden boy?" Shui Qianmie asked curiously using lip reading.

"It's the first year of junior high."

"And who is Chu Yi?"

Nie Wuyou stared straight ahead, his lips moving slightly: "Unknown origins, but highly skilled in martial arts."

Shui Qianmie's eyes sparkled, then flashed brightly: "How did you know he was going to run away?"

"Imagine how such a cautious and humble young man would reveal his true thoughts. His description of the sparrow's agility is a yearning for freedom and unrestraint," Nie Wuyou said calmly.

Shui Qianmie bit her lip nervously upon hearing this, and after a long while asked, "If he escapes, can you stop him?"

"Did you see that cliff just now?" Nie Wuyou turned his face, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"What's wrong?"

"You think only the god-like Young Master Bixie can fly over?" Nie Wuyou curled his lips in mockery: "If I'm not mistaken, there's another person in this world who can pretend to be deaf and dumb and get over, and that's Chu Yi."

Shui Qianmie lowered her pale yellow eyelashes, like clusters of tender yellow willow catkins trembling slightly in the wind. When she looked up, she took out a firework and tossed it into the sky.

Nie Wuyou looked at her and smiled faintly: "It seems that Sister Shui is not only good at riding sparrows to deliver messages, but also skilled at using fireworks to send messages."