Love & Redemption
Chapter 213 - 5 Phoenix Flowers Bloom 20 - s Searching for Him in Crowds of 1000 Degrees (4)

Chapter 213: 5 Phoenix Flowers Bloom 20 Chapters Searching for Him in Crowds of 1000 Degrees (4)

Second update.

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During dinner, Tengshe wouldn’t stop nagging about wanting to use Sui Wood’s berries to make rice. He didn’t do anything else all afternoon, just busied himself picking berries under the tree, and collected two small cloth bags full. Yu Sifeng couldn’t outtalk him and had to put the old rice aside to cook the Sui Wood berries.

The two of them were making such a fuss in the kitchen that Xuanji was in the bedroom changing her dressing. Yu Sifeng had gathered some new herbs to add to the original burn medicine, and when applied, it truly didn’t hurt. There was even a faint feeling of coolness. Only those two burn marks were truly too ghastly to look at, having burst open to form new blisters that were swollen quite high, and most crucially, the burns were on her thighs, the tenderest spots. She broke out in a cold sweat from the pain when applying the medicine.

She really was like a fool today. Xuanji mocked herself inwardly. All that waiting and searching, and, when finally seeing him, this was the situation; truly, the greater the hope, the bigger the disappointment.

Yu Sifeng had carried her down the mountain and hadn’t spoken since. At the time, she was only focused on her sorrow and crying her eyes out. But however it was, she finally saw him, held him tightly. He seemed to have grown much taller and more solid, no longer the slender boy he once was. She thought that in his eyes she must also have changed a lot, after all, it had been nearly two years since they last saw each other.

What to do from now on? She didn’t know. It might be better to take it one step at a time, to heal her wounds here first. The Chase Phoenix mission wasn’t over just by finding him. Chu Xuanji, you need to work harder, Linglong and Sixth Brother have already exchanged engagement tokens and are about to wed. You’re still dawdling here; you’ll definitely be laughed at by Linglong later.

No matter what, the main thing now is to shamelessly stick around here and not leave!

Xuanji tidied up the discarded bandages, when suddenly she heard someone outside calling for Young Master Yi. She hobbled out to see and saw a girl with a long braid standing outside the fence—it was Lanlan. This girl had not been fond of her previously, and now seeing her staying in Young Master Yi’s house as if they were old acquaintances made Lanlan even more annoyed. She bluntly asked her, "How can you just walk into his house like that! He lives alone!"

Xuanji was taken aback for a moment, seemingly slow to realize who Young Master Yi was, when a sudden flash of insight made her understand she was referring to Yu Sifeng. Ha, how did he think of such a strange name, though it was indeed very fitting for his status. He was the Twelve Feathered Golden Winged Bird, and the name Young Master Yi couldn’t be more suitable. She hadn’t noticed it earlier.

She said, "I and Young Master Yi... um, are old friends from years back. I didn’t expect he would be living here. I haven’t seen him for a while, so I’m staying for a few days. Do you have some business with him, Miss Lanlan? He’s cooking right now."

Lanlan stamped her foot and said, "How can you let someone like him cook! You... you really are!" She bent down to place what was in her hand on the ground; it turned out to be a basket of eggs. She added, "These are freshly laid by the chickens at my house; my mother sent me to let Young Master Yi try them. You... you’re staying here for a few days?"

Xuanji remembered that this young girl had a good impression of Yu Sifeng, no wonder she was so aggressive. She smiled and said, "Thanks a lot. I don’t know how many days I will stay, but for the time being, I won’t be leaving."

Lanlan bit her lip and after a long pause, she quietly said, "I really didn’t expect that you and he were old friends... Could you tell me about his past..." As she said this, she suddenly shook her head vehemently, "No, no, let it be! Don’t tell me. Someone like him, having such a formidable and beautiful female hero as a friend, must have an extraordinary identity, maybe even part of the royal family. No wonder he doesn’t fancy ordinary folk’s daughters..."

Xuanji was still hesitating whether to tell her about Yu Sifeng’s past as a pathetic youth, since all that talk about the royal family was just wild guessing, when suddenly behind her Tengshe shouted, "Who is mumbling out there?" As he spoke, he emerged from the kitchen. Lanlan, seeing his full head of silver hair and menacing appearance, was almost petrified. Tengshe’s gaze lingered only momentarily on her before landing on the eggs on the ground. He quickly picked them up and grinned, "Ah, the egg-delivery girl! Thank you very much!" With that said, he turned and ran into the kitchen again, calling out, "Si Feng! Add a stir-fried egg to the dinner menu tonight!"

Someone in the kitchen said a few words, and Yu Sifeng came out. Seeing Lanlan, he was slightly startled and then nodded, "So it’s this young lady. I appreciate your eggs."

Lanlan’s face immediately turned so red it seemed it might start burning as she quietly said, "No, no... it’s nothing. Young Master Yi has a guest... it was rude of me..."

Yu Sifeng nodded again, went up to gently support Xuanji, and softly said, "You shouldn’t walk around with a burn injury, come inside, let’s eat soon." Xuanji nodded, and they walked side by side toward the inside. Lanlan, seeing their intimate and natural smiles, viewing them as a couple deeply in love, felt overwhelming sadness.

Suddenly, she shouted from behind, "Young Master Yi, after accepting the eggs, it’s not like accepting some great reward or favor! I’ll come back tomorrow!" After saying that, she turned and ran off quickly.

Xuanji watched her back, softly saying, "That girl really likes you, Young Master Yi."

Hearing her deliberately use that name, Yu Sifeng couldn’t help but lightly tap on her head and said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, "Don’t talk nonsense."

Xuanji laughed, "It’s not nonsense. Today, at the inn, people told me directly. They said you’re of good character and formidable, and that families here with daughters all wish to marry them off to you. Young Master Yi, so formidable, so charming."

He offered a light smile without explaining, and after a while, he suddenly asked, "Was it you who exorcised the demon at the inn today?"

"Yes, it was me. Actually, that wasn’t a very powerful demon, just a weasel about to become a spirit seeking revenge... Ah! That’s right! My scarf!" Xuanji exclaimed as she suddenly remembered giving the fur to Tailor Li. It was already dark and she had not retrieved it, if she delayed until the next day, she would have to pay an extra day’s wages.

After Yu Sifeng found out the reason, he quickly helped her retrieve the scarf. Seeing that the once dirty fur had been cleaned very nicely and that the style of the scarf was quite generous, Xuanji held it in her hand and looked at it for a while, then suddenly beckoned to Yu Sifeng, "Si Feng, come here."

Yu Sifeng walked over not knowing what to expect, only to find her suddenly raising her hand and tying the scarf around his neck. She inspected it from the left and from the right, and, satisfied, she laughed, "That’s right, it suits men better. I’ll give it to you." He silently lowered his head, touched the smooth fur, then showed a smile, "Then, thank you."

After dinner, Yu Sifeng cleaned up some of his belongings in the bedroom and moved to sleep in another tile-roofed house. In the mountains, the nights were particularly chilly, the heat of the day cleansed by the moonlight. Xuanji tossed and turned in bed, unable to find sleep. Firstly, the bed was truly uncomfortable, secondly, thinking that this was the place where Si Feng had lived for over a year made her heartbeat inadvertently quicken, feeling that her nose was filled with his scent, and thirdly, she recalled those days she had spent with him.

They had once been so close, sharing the same bed, wrapped in a blanket talking about all sorts of nonsense, and eventually when she got sleepy, she would curl up in his embrace and fall asleep. The next day, their long hair would be tangled together, and it would take a while to separate it, which was both annoying and amusing. Xuanji once believed that even after ten or twenty years, there would not be any change between them, let alone after just a little over a year.

But she was wrong.

Indeed, some things once past are past, and they would never be able to return to the carefree sixteen or seventeen-year old boys and girls they once were. She would no longer pester him to accompany her to sleep, nor would she cry and say things that hurt him. Some things were changing quietly, whether that was good or bad, Xuanji didn’t know.

The gap of two years required them both to adjust to the changes in each other.

Looking for him in the crowd, she had searched for a long time, thinking she had finally found him. But he was no longer the "he" she knew, and she was not the "she" from his memory. Strangely, she didn’t feel discouraged by this transformation; she was even curious, wanting to know more about his life in those two years, wanting to understand more about him, as if she was getting to know someone anew, starting everything from scratch.

Would he think the same way too? Did he still not trust her? Did he not want to see her?

No, no, let’s leave these annoying questions for later. For now, she only needed stay here, just to stay here... Drifting off into exhaustion, Xuanji gradually fell asleep, faintly hearing the lingering sound of a zither in her dreams, distant yet seeming so near, someone was gently playing a seven-stringed zither.

The sound of the zither was like whispering in her ear, cradling her, coaxing her, against every inch of her skin, everything was warm and soft.

****

Xuanji soon experienced the enthusiastic and unrestrained passion of the girls from West Valley, like Lanlan, who was not discouraged by Xuanji’s presence and came over every day come rain or shine, always finding an excuse. Initially, when Yu Sifeng lived alone, he rejected everything, like an impenetrable barrier. But ever since Tengshe, the glutton, came along, the barrier’s effectiveness completely disappeared.

Any food brought to him was accepted without reserve. This bad habit was quickly picked up by the villagers, and soon enough, other girls started bringing delicious food over, Tengshe not understanding the psychology of these young women, just happy to have something to eat. But, as the saying goes, the donor is at the receiver’s mercy, and after accepting so many gifts, Yu Sifeng found it difficult to continue turning people away with a cold face. Thus, Lanlan stopped using food as an excuse and started coming over daily to help dry the herbs and tidy up the messy pharmacy, becoming a regular visitor.

This girl had an incredible tenacity, like a steel cable, unperturbed by Yu Sifeng’s cold demeanor, even going as far as to diligently study the medicinal herbs to please him, using her confusion as a pretext to speak with him more. Yu Sifeng was not stingy in this respect, answering any question, fully embodying the role of a good teacher.

One day, Xuanji followed Yu Sifeng up the mountain to tend to the herbs; her burn was almost healed, and these days she felt itchy, but did not dare to scratch it, so he said he would mix a few new medicines to help relieve the itch. The two of them got up early and had just shouldered their baskets when Lanlan arrived. Hearing they were heading to the mountain, she said she wanted to see the medicinal herbs she had never seen before.

Honestly, Xuanji didn’t dislike this girl and in some ways, found her quite amusing. Besides, Si Feng being popular was something for her to be proud of. Perhaps because she was always certain that Yu Sifeng would never show interest in any other woman, she could remain so relaxed and natural.

However, today’s situation was quite different. Along the way, Lanlan asked countless questions, and Yu Sifeng answered each one. When picking herbs, she earnestly inquired about the uses of each plant, and Yu Sifeng, caught up in his enthusiasm, took the opportunity to point out each herb and explain in detail. Xuanji stood to the side for a while, being ignored and knowing nothing about medicinal herbs, she couldn’t contribute to the conversation, and suddenly felt like an extra.

This feeling was not unfamiliar to her; she had always experienced this sense of alienation. Everyone was laughing, talking, but no one noticed or cared about her. She stood on her own, like an awkward stroke of color out of place in a painting. She had been searching for her place in the world, but no one was willing to give it to her.

This feeling was terribly unpleasant, and Xuanji had no desire to revisit it in such moments. She silently watched Yu Sifeng, who was eagerly discussing with Lanlan in the field how one herb could stop bleeding, and another could relieve itching. Just as she was planning to find a spot to sit down and scratch the itch, which was unbearable, suddenly, a crisp cry rang out from the woods, followed by the rustling of leaves and branches, and a snow-white large bird broke through the treetops and soared high into the sky. (To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com, where there are more Chapters and you can support the author and read the official version!)