Anti-Bone Scarlet Song

Chapitre 29

The young master laughed, a genuine laugh, and couldn't help but comment, "You'll need to call me that a few more times before you get used to it."

Someone coughed softly behind her, and Chu Xia quickly took a step back. She saw Bai Xue standing there with a half-smile, and she didn't know how long she had been watching.

She blushed slightly, hurriedly greeted him, and turned to leave. The young master didn't stop her, but looked at the Vermilion Bird Envoy dressed in short clothes: "Ready?"

Bai Xue nodded, then smiled sweetly, "Young Master, would you like Qinglong to come with me?"

The young master raised an eyebrow slightly: "What? You're unwilling?"

"I would be happy to take good care of him." The smile in Bai Xue's eyes slowly faded. "But young master, will you and Chu Xia encounter any problems on the journey?"

The young master seemed to find the question rather absurd and didn't know how to answer it for a moment.

"Young master, the difference between having feelings and not having feelings is just one word... but the implications are worlds apart. Before, you roamed the martial world alone, naturally without any ties or fear. Now, there is someone in your heart—Young master, ask yourself, now that you and Chu Xia are mutually in love, are you still willing to use her as bait to throw at Tian Gang, just like before?"

The young master remained silent, so Bai Xue sighed softly: "In any case, young master, please be careful in everything you do."

Su Xiucai's injuries were healing day by day, and his energy was much better. This scholar was rather stubborn; besides recuperating and reading, he spent his days holding the account book, flipping through it from beginning to end. If he encountered something he didn't understand, he would pull someone aside to ask. Chu Xia sometimes felt that he was working too hard and couldn't help but offer a few words of advice, but Su Xiucai shook his head and said, "A gentleman does not eat food offered with contempt. Since I agreed to be the accountant, I naturally have to do it well."

Chu Xia saw him clumsily fiddling with the abacus, making a chaotic clattering sound, and the beads were all mixed up again. She stood up speechlessly: "I'll go get you some more books. I have to go out of the manor tomorrow and won't be back for ten days or half a month."

The scholar was taken aback: "Where are you going?"

Chu Xia didn't answer, but looked at the sky and said, "It looks like it's going to rain heavily today."

Su Xiucai struggled to sit up: "Since you are going on a trip, let me cast a divination for you to predict your fortune."

Chu Xia stopped in her tracks, a hint of curiosity in her voice, and asked, "You can tell fortunes?"

Su Fenghua said smugly, "That's for sure."

"Then how come you didn't foresee your family's decline and being hunted down?" Chu Xia asked sincerely, her clear eyes fixed on Su Xiucai.

“This…” Su Fenghua coughed awkwardly, “The fortune teller does not calculate for himself.”

"Alright, then you can calculate it for me."

That afternoon, thick clouds pressed down like a heavy blanket, making it difficult to sit or stand still. Opening the window in early summer, the air was so humid it seemed to drip water, yet there wasn't a breath of wind. Su Xiucai fiddled with things for a long time, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his face grave.

A bolt of lightning tore through the clouds in the distance, a startling sight, followed by rolling thunder, like endless mountains, layer upon layer approaching.

Chu Xia frowned: "What does the divination mean?"

"The hexagram is Dui, which indicates easy trouble with gossip and setbacks," Su Fenghua murmured. "Very ominous...very ominous."

Chapter Twenty-Seven (Part Two)

A few days later, the young master and Chu Xia set off under the starry night, leaving Cangzhou City and heading south.

It was already early summer, and the heat was unbearable. Fortunately, it was much cooler to travel at night. The two horses galloped along the official road, their hooves flying and making a crisp sound.

Chu Xia rode for a while with her head down, slightly out of breath. She reined in her horse and slowed down, saying, "Where...where are we going? We seem to be going the wrong way."

The young master reined in his horse, looked up to check the direction, and then said, "That's right."

"Isn't this trip to Dongting Lake?" Chu Xia asked, somewhat confused.

"Let's go to Mount Song first."

Chu Xia slightly raised her eyebrows, glanced at him, pursed her lips, and said lightly, "Okay."

She gave a sharp rebuke and was about to urge her horse forward when the young master reached out and gently pulled on her reins.

Chu Xia looked at him with some surprise: "What?"

The young master smiled helplessly: "Aren't you happy?"

Early summer is silent.

"You think I'm lying to you again?" The young master looked at her with a smile, as if he could see through her thoughts, and sighed slightly, "Going to Mount Song is to visit my elders, and it was a last-minute decision before I left. Don't take it to heart."

Chu Xia's expression was slightly strange. She turned her head to look at the young master for a while before saying, "I didn't mean any harm."

The young master smiled and said, "It's good that you didn't think too much." He looked up at the sky and then reached out his hand to her, saying, "Are you tired from traveling at night? Why don't you sit down in front of me and take a nap on the horse?"

Chu Xia smiled sweetly at him: "No need. We should be able to reach a town by dawn, then we can rest."

When they arrived at Zhendian at the foot of Mount Song, it was already early morning two days later.

It was early morning market time, and the first rays of dawn were just breaking. Looking towards the summit of Shaoshi Mountain, the mist and clouds swirled, creating a magnificent Buddhist scene. It seemed to calm the mind, and even the small town at the foot of the mountain was much cooler than usual.

In early summer, leading her horse, she carefully weaved through the crowd until she stopped in front of a small inn. The waiter greeted her warmly, "Would you two like to have a meal?"

The young master ordered two guest rooms and instructed the waiter to bring hot water and food to the rooms. Chu Xia opened the window and heard the young master say, "After you have eaten, rest well for a while. We will go up Mount Song in the evening."

Chu Xia obediently responded, finished her meal, took a shower, and, feeling extremely tired, went to sleep.

When she awoke again, the sky was ablaze with rosy dawn. Beside the bed lay a set of light blue silk men's clothing, presumably a gift from the young master. Chu Xia put it on, tied her long hair up, bound it with a cloth, and then went out to find the young master.

The young master had changed into a dark blue long robe and was fiddling with a set of chess pieces under the windowsill. Chu Xia knew his habit of not liking to be disturbed when he was pondering a chess game, so she quietly sat down beside him.

The black and white pieces on the chessboard were evenly matched and locked in a stalemate. The young master held a black piece in his hand, pondering for a long time.

As dusk settled, Chu Xia got up, lit a lamp, and returned to the chessboard, quietly pointing to something: "Here?"

The young master pondered for a moment, then placed the black piece in that position, clapped his hands and laughed, "Although it has trapped me in a small area, it has freed me from the burden behind me, and I don't need to look ahead or behind—a good move! Putting myself in a desperate situation to survive."

He looked up slightly at Chu Xia: "Why did you never tell me you could play chess?"

Chu Xia shook her head and said, "I don't know how. I just flipped through a chess manual in your study once and memorized one of the games."

The lamplight flickered slightly, and although the young master's expression was indifferent, the smile on his lips was very gentle: "I haven't even finished reading all the chess manuals in the study. It's rare that you remember so many."

Chu Xia smiled smugly: "Who knows, maybe in the future you won't be my match."

The young master nodded and said in a serious tone, "The younger generation is truly formidable." He casually glanced at the sky outside the window, pushed the chessboard aside, stood up, and said, "Let's go, let's go up the mountain and take a look."

Chu Xia took the horse from the waiter, only to find him staring at her curiously for a few moments. Feeling a little awkward, she moved slightly closer to the young man, when she heard the young waiter chuckle with a hint of malice: "You two...are you going up the mountain to pray for a marriage?"

Chu Xia was taken aback and looked at the young master.

The young master smiled and asked, "Can one pray for marriage on this mountain?"

Seeing that the two seemed completely unaware of the situation, the waiter said somewhat awkwardly, "I saw that this young lady had changed into men's clothing... I thought, I thought you were—"

Chu Xia blushed slightly and blurted out, "What did you think? We didn't elope!"

Perhaps startled by these words, the waiter began to stammer, "No...no...that's not what I meant."

The young man's smile deepened, and he said gently, "Young man, are there many people going to Mount Song to seek marriage?"

"Isn't that right? If you go up the mountain path ahead and get halfway up, you'll see an old cypress tree covered with love locks. It's said that if you tie a lock there, the Old Man Under the Moon will bless you. But the senior monks on Shaoshi Mountain aren't happy about it and often drive people down. Now, many people sneak up at night when no one is watching."

The young master nodded and said, "Thank you for informing me, sir."

Mount Song is divided into Mount Taishi and Mount Shaoshi. At this moment, twilight had fallen, and even Chuxia couldn't discern the path. The young master tethered the two horses at the foot of the mountain, and only then did Chuxia ask, "Is this Mount Shaoshi?"

“Shaolin Temple is on Shaoshi Mountain, and Songshan Sect is on Taishi Mountain, so we are naturally going to Shaoshi Mountain.” The young master said patiently, “Shaolin Temple does not allow female guests to go up the mountain, which is why I asked you to change into women’s clothing.”

Chu Xia said "Oh," and couldn't help but ask, "Are you going to see a high-ranking monk from Shaolin Temple?"

The young master smiled but did not answer: "You'll know when you see me."

Chu Xia didn't know martial arts, so walking at night was quite difficult for her. The young master, who was holding her hand, suddenly stopped and said, "Let me carry you up."

Chu Xia didn't immediately agree, so the young master laughed and said, "Didn't you say I walk more steadily than a horse?"

Thinking back to what happened a few months ago, it truly felt like a lifetime ago. Chu Xia obediently nestled on his back and murmured, "How do you remember so well?"

The young master did not answer, but whispered, "Wrap your arms around my neck." Because he was walking on a little-noticed path, with misty streams and dangerous cliffs along the way, if he hadn't walked so smoothly, Chu Xia would have really felt a little scared if she were alone.

After an unknown amount of time, when the moon was high in the sky, they finally arrived at the back of Shaoshi Mountain.

The young master put Chu Xia down, looked around, and then, after determining the direction, whispered, "This should be it."

In early summer, I took out a tinderbox, lit it, and then discovered that I was in a dense forest. The moon was bright and the stars were few, and little light could penetrate the forest. Only the chirping of summer insects and the rustling of some wild beast darting past my feet could be heard.

Chu Xia asked in confusion, "Is anyone here?"

The young master pursed his thin lips tightly, one hand behind his back, the other hand caressing the Yuyang sword hanging at his waist.

The air seemed to be getting more humid, with dew falling lightly, just enough to touch the tip of my nose in early summer, feeling slightly cool.

"You really came."

Like a longsword that had been rusted in its scabbard, being pulled out again; or like the sound of rotten yellow wood being crushed—a strange and aged voice came from the jungle.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The voice was unfamiliar and aged. As early summer lingered in her ears, a strange feeling stirred within her—it was indeed a human voice, yet it didn't sound like one. It was like an old tree speaking in this dense forest, or the chirping of a bird. The voice blended seamlessly with nature, its exact location indescribable, yet omnipresent.

The young master lowered his hand from the Yuyang sword, gently grasped Chuxia's hand, and squeezed it tightly as if to comfort her, before saying in a deep voice, "Senior, please show yourself."

"Formless and formless, appearance and non-appearance, all is emptiness. That's how it should be said," the voice said. "Young Master, how is your father?"

“My father has long since passed away. I have come here in the dead of night for this very reason. I have some questions and would appreciate your guidance, Master.”

The sound fell silent, but the wind howled even louder.

Chu Xia shivered and tugged at the young master's sleeve, asking, "Is it... a ghost?"

The young master smiled at her reassuringly and gently shook his head.

"I haven't seen you for over a decade, and you've even forgotten how to speak." The voice sighed softly. "Today we have a female guest, which is quite inconvenient. Young Master, let me speak with you as before."

The young master pursed his lips and said respectfully, "It would be presumptuous of me to ask the master to show himself."

Before the voice could speak, Chu Xia whispered, "So it's a big monk! So sneaky and creepy..."

The young master originally wanted to stop her, but seeing that her slightly reproachful expression was quite adorable, he didn't say anything and just smiled.

Seeing that the young master remained silent, Chu Xia grew bolder and continued, "Great monk, I feel that what you just said is somewhat inappropriate—what about female guests? You yourself said that everything, whether tangible or intangible, is ultimately empty. The separation between men and women is for ordinary people, but in the eyes of an enlightened monk, aren't all living beings equal?"

The wind softened, its low murmur like a lament.

After a long silence, the aged voice spoke again: "Yes, it was this old monk who was stubborn."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sound of mud and grass being shaken off came from the southwest.

The young master took a half step forward, blocking Chu Xia's path.