Болезненный юноша, путешествующий во времена династии Сун

Глава 21

As soon as the water entered the copper basin, everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and Mo Xibei had already rushed over, scooping up water and frantically washing his face.

Afterwards, Honglu recalled that she had never seen Mo Xibei so disheveled in all these years. His once snow-white face, which he used to maintain with face masks every day, was now covered in black marks. Only a few white streaks remained after his tears washed them away. Later, when she subconsciously wiped them with her hand, a few more black marks were left, making him look like a burnt potato. Of course, she didn't dare to say the last part aloud.

Chu Junfeng had been standing by the basin of water. Seeing Mo Xibei rubbing his cheeks vigorously, which had turned large areas of skin red, he quickly grabbed Mo Xibei's hand and said, "It's alright, it's clean enough. If you wash it any more, your skin will break." At the same time, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and gently pressed it to Mo Xibei's face, saying, "Wipe it off."

Mo Xibei didn't stand on ceremony and quickly wiped the water off her face. When she took it off, she realized that what she was holding was actually a man's handkerchief. She wanted to hand it back, but she met Chu Junfeng's eyes. His eyes were dark and bright, and his gaze was gently falling on her face.

"Thank you!" Mo Xibei felt a heat rising on his cheeks. He didn't know if it was because he had rubbed his face too hard and hurt his skin, or because Chu Junfeng's gaze was too intense. He was stunned for a moment. Seeing that Chu Junfeng was still staring at him, he felt a little embarrassed. He threw the handkerchief into Chu Junfeng's arms and quickly turned away.

"What should I thank you for?" Chu Junfeng came back to his senses, chuckled softly, and asked gently.

"Oh! All of that." The door was closed by someone. Mo Xibei glanced around and realized that his actions of speaking to others were too pretentious, so he quickly turned back around.

"You and Miss Honglu probably have a lot to talk about. You two chat first, and I'll call you when it's time to eat." Chu Junfeng didn't say anything more, but simply pushed open the door and went out. A moment later, Honglu came into the room.

"What happened at the Murong residence while we were all at the martial arts arena? How did you meet Tian Xin and the others, and how did you get out?" The door closed again, and Mo Xibei pulled Honglu aside to ask in detail.

“I don’t know what happened at the Murong residence.” Honglu said with lingering fear. “This morning I was worried that no one would take care of you, so I told Miss Murong that I would come back to help you tidy up your room. Um—I ran into Tianxin in your room. He was also there to help his young master tidy up his room. We chatted for a bit, and then Miss Murong came over. She said she wanted to sew you a new outfit, but she didn’t know the size, so she wanted to secretly find one of your old clothes to measure.”

"Then, what about Lianyun? Did she come out with you too?" Hearing Honglu mention Murong Lianyun, Mo Xibei felt anxious again.

“You’re always so impatient. Just listen to me and you’ll understand. I’m about to get to the point.” Honglu pouted, expressing her dissatisfaction with Mo Xibei’s concern for Lianyun. “Later, I looked for your clothes for her. This Miss Murong probably doesn’t know how to make clothes at all. She measured and compared again and again, but still couldn’t figure out your size. By this time, Tianxin and I had finished cleaning the house and were feeling bored, so we decided to go out for a stroll. Miss Murong asked us to accompany her to buy fabric. Tianxin was initially unwilling to go, but Miss Murong insisted that a boy should come along so she could refer to the colors of the fabric. Tianxin couldn’t refuse, so we dragged her out.”

"So that means you had already left the Murong residence when the fire started?" Mo Xibei frowned. "What about Lian Yun?"

“Don’t worry, we had already left the Murong residence when the fire started. We were looking at fabrics in a silk shop on East Street when we heard the chaos on the street and ran out to see what was going on. You know how temperamental Miss Murong is. Once she heard that something had happened in her residence, no one could stop her. She disappeared in the blink of an eye,” Honglu sighed. “Although I don’t like her arrogance, I also felt that something was unusual, so Tianxin and I went back to look for her. However, when we got to the street next to the Murong residence, we couldn’t go any further. Many imperial guards blocked the road. A little while later, we heard shouts of killing coming from inside. Tianxin grabbed me and ran. I couldn’t break free, so he dragged me here. Later, Young Master Chu also arrived here. I was worried that you wanted to go back to look for me, but Young Master Chu said that you are highly skilled in martial arts and the imperial guards can’t do anything to you. He was afraid that you were looking for me in the fire, so he asked Tianxin to secretly go to a secluded place outside the residence to look for you. He said that if you couldn’t find me, you would definitely come out from a secluded place in the chaos.”

——————————————

We've taken feedback into account and given each chapter a title to make it easier to distinguish whether an update has been released or not.

Haha, updating so early in the morning! Call me a hardworking little bee!!!

Volume One: Ten Years in the Jianghu, Chapter Forty-Two: Parting and Reunion

For dinner, Li Qingchen prepared eight dishes, four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes. Her place was always lively in the evening, so she didn't keep them company, leaving only Chu Junfeng, Mo Xibei, and their servant sitting opposite each other.

"Who won and who lost in your contest with that Young Master Mu?" Mo Xibei picked up a piece of stir-fried bamboo shoots. She had many questions in her mind, but she didn't know how much difference it would make whether she asked Chu Junfeng or not.

"Oh! I don't know either." Chu Junfeng followed Mo Xibei's chopsticks and picked up the dried bamboo shoots.

"How could I not know? You guys even shook the arena to the ground." A strange look appeared between Mo Xibei's brows.

"The arena collapsed, and the dust was too thick. To avoid getting dust in my eyes, I left for a while. When I came back, that Young Master Mu was long gone. He probably hid away, so the outcome is still undecided," Chu Junfeng said nonchalantly.

"This kind of fighting style in the arena is unique in history. I admire you, I truly admire you." Mo Xibei nodded, thinking to himself, no wonder the two fighters disappeared when the arena collapsed. But Chu Junfeng always has his reasons for everything he does. Could it be that Young Master Mu is one of them?

"These days, nothing is new. This kind of competition is really nothing to brag about," Chu Junfeng remarked meaningfully, then stopped looking at Mo Xibei and focused entirely on eating and drinking.

Across the small garden, the soft singing of a woman from the front yard and the unrestrained laughter of the drinkers drifted over. Suddenly, Honglu said, "Young Master Mo, things here are settled now. I miss home. Why don't we go back to Jiangnan soon?"

Mo Xibei hesitated slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Chu Junfeng seemed to be deep in thought, and actually poured the wine outside the glass.

"Young Master Mo, don't you always say that matters of the martial world should be settled within the martial world? We are not martial arts people, so why should we get mired in this mess?" Honglu was a little anxious. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but her intuition told her that if she didn't persuade Mo Xibei to go back now, it would be difficult for him to return to the home they had worked so hard to build for him in Jiangnan.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going back, Sister Honglu, why are you in such a hurry?” Seeing Honglu’s anxiety, Mo Xibei simply smiled calmly. “We’ve been neglecting our business in Jiangnan for quite some time now, so it’s time for us to go back. Brother Chu, although our trip north to meet you was full of troubles, thankfully we escaped unscathed each time. This cup is a toast to you. We part ways today, but may our friendship remain unchanged forever. If you ever visit Jiangnan again, I will certainly do my best to be a good host and treat you well.” After saying this, he drank the wine in his cup in one gulp, stopped eating, gently put down his chopsticks, and stood up.

The small building has six rooms. Li Qingchen had already made arrangements, with each of the four people occupying a room. Mo Xibei walked into his room, lay down on the soft bed, and replayed the events of his trip to Henan Prefecture in his mind. He felt as if it were all a dream, and all the people and events seemed unreal when he thought about them again.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the sounds of piano, singing, and laughter outside the window gradually faded away. Mo Xibei, however, was still wide awake. He tossed and turned a few times, and finally sat up feeling suffocated. Just then, there was a soft knock on the door, and someone knocked twice.

"Who?" Mo Xibei asked.

"Are you asleep? It's me." Chu Junfeng's voice came from outside the door, low and somewhat hoarse, as if he were drunk.

"What is it?" Mo Xibei wanted to reply that he was asleep, but the words that came out were something else. After thinking for a moment, he opened the door. Outside the door, Chu Junfeng was leaning against the wall and standing at the door. The smell of osmanthus wine was strong, and there was a hint of drunkenness in his eyes and brows.

"You're leaving tomorrow, and I wanted to say a few words to you." Chu Junfeng smiled, his drunkenness subsiding, revealing a slightly unruly demeanor.

"Oh, go ahead, just a couple of sentences." Mo Xibei stepped aside from the doorway and let him into the house.

"Hehe..." Chu Junfeng chuckled, hesitated for a long time before saying, "The first sentence is an unbearably vulgar question: Do you have any sisters in your family?"

"So what if I have sisters, so what if I don't?" Mo Xibei turned around and smiled at him. "You're not trying to say that if I had sisters, you would go and propose to them, are you? That's so unoriginal. It's been said too many times in plays. I'm tired of seeing it and hearing it."

"The more vulgar something is, the more it has survived, which proves it's the most reasonable thing," Chu Junfeng said. "I..."

"Stop!" Mo Xibei said, "You've already said two sentences, so go back to sleep."

"Northwest!" Chu Junfeng suddenly leaned closer, grabbing Mo Northwest's hand. His palm was burning hot, and Mo Northwest almost turned around to push him away. However, Chu Junfeng seemed to be truly drunk, his body sticky, letting Mo Northwest push him, but refusing to let go. Of course, he didn't get any closer, only half an arm's length away, his voice like a whisper, deep and hot, "If this matter is over and I'm still alive, I will definitely go to Jiangnan to find you. You—are you willing to wait for me?"

"What are you waiting for?" Mo Xibei couldn't push him away, and seeing that he wasn't overstepping his bounds, he simply stopped moving. But he never expected that he would say such a thing.

"Wait until I accompany you, travel the world, taste all the delicacies of the world, and we'll become a pair of cunning merchants, swindling everyone's money into our own pockets." Chu Junfeng said, his gaze clear and gentle, looking only into Mo Xibei's eyes.

"How can two people earn money as honestly as one? You know I love money more than anything. This business is so unprofitable, how could I possibly do it?" Mo Xibei turned his head and looked at the window. The wind blew the shadows of the trees, casting dappled patterns on the gauze window.

"How could I forget that? Okay, then I'll go along with you. You be the shrewd businessman, and I'll be the bodyguard. You get the money, and I'll just make a living. Now, this deal should work, right?" Chu Junfeng chuckled twice and proposed again.

"You said my kung fu is on par with yours, which means that if I can't deal with the bandits, you can't deal with them either. In that case, why should I waste my time eating? I can just focus on taking care of myself." Mo Xibei shook his head again.

"My God! I only just realized what a miser looks like. He's got a ton of tricks up his sleeve. Are you waiting for me to say, 'I don't want wages, and I don't want you to feed me.' No, I should bring my own food, and ideally, I should even prepare three meals a day for you. Then I'll follow you wherever you go." Chu Junfeng gently released Mo Xibei's hand and took a small step back.

"Okay, okay, I'll think about it. You're really willing to do something so unfair?" Mo Xibei's heart sank slightly, but her face was beaming with a bright smile. Not only was her smile bright, but she also tried hard to express it through her eyes: "I don't trust you. I don't need your company."

"I'm willing." Chu Junfeng nodded seriously, his gaze lingering on Mo Xibei's face. When he met her gaze again, a look of attachment and reluctance flashed across his face. Finally, he laughed heartily, "I definitely need to think about it too. This deal is too unprofitable. How could someone as shrewd as me fall for such a big trick?"

So Mo Xibei also laughed, and the two of them tried their best to smile at each other, as if at this moment, they didn't know what else to say besides laughing.