Love & Redemption
Chapter 218: Volume 5 Phoenix Flower Blooms - 25 Blooming Panorama (5)

Chapter 218: Volume 5 Phoenix Flower Blooms Chapter 25 Blooming Panorama (5)

As a result, Xuanji still didn’t know why Yu Sifeng had left Li Ze Palace; he clearly didn’t want to discuss this issue. Everyone has a wound in their heart, which even the closest person would not want to expose. Since he didn’t want to talk about it, Xuanji didn’t ask any further.

Lately, she had been counting the days since Tengshe had left, hoping he was just speaking out of anger and would return after a few days.

Under the unbroken contract, he could only leave her for three days, after which he had to return. Xuanji didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t come back, but Tengshe had never left her on his own. Although he always complained, he was actually a very dedicated spiritual beast.

The first three days passed, and Xuanji waited at the entrance of the village for a day, but Tengshe didn’t return.

The second set of three days passed, and Xuanji went to wait at the village entrance again, and still, Tengshe didn’t return.

The third, the fourth...

Until the twentieth set of three days had passed, Tengshe still showed no sign of returning, and Xuanji finally gave up hope, realizing he would never come back.

Up to now, she still didn’t understand what she had done to offend him, why he left abruptly, and why he had said such hurtful things before leaving. She had reflected more than once on the conversation he had with Yu Sifeng that afternoon, but she still couldn’t understand its meaning.

However, since things were already this way, it was pointless to dwell on them. Yu Sifeng was right, Tengshe had his own thoughts. Perhaps he wanted his own life. Even as a spiritual beast, he couldn’t possibly be the same type as Little Silver Flower.

Speaking of Little Silver Flower, since Tengshe had left, it had been sullen and listless every day, not even wanting to eat its favorite Rice Cakes, spending all its time sleeping in Yu Sifeng’s sleeve. Xuanji had tried to play with it a few times; it would courteously stick out its tongue as a greeting, but after a short while, it would curl back up and no amount of coaxing could lure it out again.

According to Yu Sifeng, it was suffering from lovesickness. Who had ever heard of a snake with lovesickness? But regarding its condition, both were at a loss and could only pretend not to see it.

After that night, Yu Sifeng moved his bedding back to his original bedroom, and the two of them truly started living together, leading a life like a young married couple. Xuanji’s arrival took the girls of West Valley from anger to jealousy, then from jealousy to silent resignation, and finally, everyone accepted her and Young Master Yi as a couple. After all, within a hundred miles, no other girl could match Xuanji’s outstanding qualities: beautiful, skillful, and even-tempered.

Lanlan still came every day to bring things, but this time, she specifically came to learn medicine. This girl had great foresight, not wanting to spend her life running a small inn. So she studied medicine with Yu Sifeng, planning to become a female doctor in the future. Unfortunately, she didn’t recognize many characters, so she often spent mornings with Xuanji learning to read and afternoons with Yu Sifeng studying medical texts. Fortunately, she was smart and quick to learn, and she was also passionate about medicine.

Yu Sifeng had said that no matter how intelligent a person is, having interest in learning something is more important. Lanlan had only studied with him for three to four months but had already begun to show the mannerisms of a doctor. Occasionally, when guests at the inn fell ill, she would be able to roughly diagnose and cure them.

Although life in the remote village was very peaceful, it was also quite monotonous. Xuanji and Yu Sifeng, being young, eventually grew tired of it. The reason Yu Sifeng had been able to live there as calm as still water for over a year was solely due to the sense of loss in his heart. Now that Xuanji was by his side, he could no longer find even the slightest bit of melancholy. He had been a special identity in Lize Palace since his childhood. While other young disciples were not allowed to leave freely, he alone could leave the palace at any time without announcing it—a liberty stemming from the oath set by Liu Yihuan and the Great Palace Master. This fueled his love for roaming around.

Originally, Xuanji had caught that Fire Rat and, after selling its fur, had made quite a bit of silver, which was intended to expand their tile-roofed house. However, both of them were thinking of leaving, so they instead used the silver as travel expenses to go on an overseas journey. But as daily chores accumulated, their departure was delayed for half a year.

As autumn turned to winter, in West Valley, where summer arrived early, so did winter, surprisingly. By the beginning of November, a heavy snow had fallen, covering the mountains and wilderness in white, presenting a refined scene. Lanlan had sent a message the previous night through someone, asking for three days off because the innkeeper’s wife had caught dysentery. Xuanji and Yu Sifeng planned to use this break to visit Liu Yihuan in Qingyang.

"He won’t run away again this time when I go, will he?" Xuanji suddenly remembered that Liu Yihuan had always run away before her previous visits to Qingyang and couldn’t help but ask irritably.

Yu Sifeng smiled and said, "He shouldn’t... unless you get angry with him and decide to hack him with Bengyu."

Ever since that night, "hack with Bengyu" had become Yu Sifeng’s catchphrase, most likely because hearing those fierce words from a drunken Xuanji was especially amusing. Xuanji moved to step on him, but he laughed, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and pushed the door open to step outside.

The snow on the ground was deep, crunching beneath their feet, with cold winds whooshing around, and occasional flurries touching their faces. Passersby seemed to want nothing more than to tuck their heads into their necks, whereas these two young ones, dressed thinly, seemed utterly fearless of the severe cold, chatting and laughing as they headed towards the village entrance. Yu Sifeng wore a fur scarf around his neck, a gift from Xuanji. Truthfully, no one had ever used weasel fur for a scarf, and its color looked extremely foolish. If it weren’t for Yu Sifeng’s distinguished and elegant appearance, anyone else wearing it would probably be laughed at. He didn’t mind at all, joking that even if Xuanji gave him a hat made from a turtle shell, he would still wear it happily on his head.

As they left the village entrance and were about to head up the adjacent mountain trail, a delightful trill suddenly came from the sky. Xuanji’s heart stirred, and she quickly looked up, only to see a flash of red lightning streak across the sky. It seemed to have spotted them and immediately swooped down. Xuanji raised her arm, and it landed steadily on her— it was the Red Bird!

"How did you find your way here?" Xuanji was both shocked and delighted. "You must have traveled a long way. It must have been very hard." She stroked Red Bird’s head and pulled a letter from its ankle to read. The Red Bird chirped proudly, flapped its wings, and then flew toward Yu Sifeng, landing on his shoulder. It rubbed against his sleeve, chirping eagerly, expecting to play with Little Silver Flower.

Little Silver Flower had long since disappeared. Yu Sifeng took out some rice cakes from his sleeve to feed the Red Bird. It pecked at them twice then rubbed its head affectionately against him.

Suddenly, Xuanji shouted, startling Yu Sifeng, who quickly asked, "What’s wrong? Has something happened with the Shaoyang Sect?" Xuanji’s face flushed with excitement as she clutched his sleeve, laughing, "Linglong is getting married in two days! Dad is calling us back!" Yu Sifeng relaxed and laughed, "That’s great news. Is it with Min Yan?"

"It has to be Sixth Brother!" she pointed at the new groom Zhong Minyan’s name on the letter, unable to contain her laughter.

Yu Sifeng spoke softly, "Let’s go, first we’ll pick up Brother Liu in Qingyang, then head back to the Shaoyang Sect together."

Xuanji suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Wait a moment, Si Feng... do you, do you want to go? Won’t you..." His identity as a demon was known throughout the Shaoyang Sect, and she didn’t believe that her father and mother would be open-minded enough to allow her to be with a demon. If they went to Shaoyang Sect and it ended up making Si Feng unhappy, she would rather stay with him than return.

Yu Sifeng shook his head and said indifferently, "No, I’ll go." He curved his lips into a smile, "I’m going to ask your father for your hand in marriage."

Xuanji’s face flushed instantly, she lowered her head and fumbled with the corner of her dress, murmuring, "Actually... this is... also fine. I... I don’t mind anymore."

He gently patted her head and said softly, "I care."

****

Just as Yu Sifeng had said, when the two of them visited Qingyang again, Liu Yihuan was perfectly fine, sitting in a brothel drinking his wine, not a hair out of place. When they found him, he was misbehaving with two prostitutes. Lifting his eyes and seeing Xuanji’s pale face, he exclaimed, "Oh, are you truly husband and wife now? Looking good! Little Phoenix must be very nurturing!"

Xuanji stepped forward, feeling the impulse to pull out her Bengyu and hack at his detestable face a few times, but unfortunately, it did not scare the man himself; instead, it frightened the two prostitutes into screaming and fleeing.

Liu Yihuan, still holding his wine cup, chuckled and waved at them, "Sit. I kept saying that I hadn’t seen Little Phoenix around for half a year; she must have been found by Little Xuanji. You’re the first to think of visiting me; I’m not wronged being your half-father."

Yu Sifeng pulled Xuanji to sit beside a low table, poured some wine, and the three chatted casually about trivial matters, deliberately not mentioning the joy of the young lovers’ reunion. In Liu Yihuan’s eyes, they were bound to be together, so the process didn’t need to be spelled out.

Towards the end, when the wedding of Linglong and Zhong Minyan was mentioned, Yu Sifeng suggested they all go to Shaoyang Sect together. Liu Yihuan, however, laughed and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, I won’t go. I can’t stand all that joyous excitement. It makes me drink, and drinking makes me cause trouble. Causing trouble on such a festive occasion would look bad for everyone. You two go."

Yu Sifeng was stunned, not expecting him to refuse. Xuanji, still annoyed by his earlier teases, said, "We’ll be there if you get drunk! Why is Brother Liu suddenly acting so distant?"

Liu Yihuan only shook his head, and despite their pleas, he remained unyielding. Finally, touching his forehead, he said, "Don’t persuade me anymore, I won’t go. It should be time soon, and I have my own matters to attend to, gathering strength and storing energy for it."

Yu Sifeng, knowing that he possessed the Heavenly Eye and saw things far beyond ordinary people, asked, "What matter? Is it related to your stealing the Heavenly Eye?"

Liu Yihuan scoffed, "I’ve had the Heavenly Eye for over a decade. If Heaven wanted to settle accounts with me, I’d have been dead and gone long ago; how could I still be alive! No, it’s not!"

After saying this, he glanced at Xuanji with narrow eyes and said lightly, "What about that irritable silver-haired boy? Why didn’t he come with you?"

As soon as Tengshe was mentioned, Xuanji’s face fell. Liu Yihuan, instead of consoling, burst into loud laughter, clapping his hands, "Has he left? Haha! It turns out he’s a man of flesh and blood after all! Good that he left! Splendid!"

Xuanji’s expression was grim as he coldly said, "Is Brother Liu drunk?"

Liu Yihuan chuckled, sweeping his wide sleeves across the low table, smashing the wine jug, cups, and crystal plates to the ground, creating a loud clamor. He lay on the table, his eyes blurry from drink, and slurred, "Ha... Indeed, I’ve drunk too much... Drunk indeed... It’s rare to be so drunk in life... and in the future, I won’t be able to get drunk anymore."

Xuanji and Yu Sifeng exchanged glances, both stunned and puzzled by his strange behavior today. Suddenly, they heard him chant softly, "...the world as the furnace, the Creator as the craftsman; Yin and Yang as the charcoal, all things as the copper." That tune was very familiar; when they first met Tengshe, he had also sung this song.

After singing a few lines, Liu Yihuan fell into a deep drunken sleep. Xuanji and Yu Sifeng had no choice but to carry him back to his pigsty-like home. As Yu Sifeng was about to fetch some water to wipe his face, his sleeve was suddenly grabbed. Looking down, Liu Yihuan’s eyes were as deep as pools, staring intently at him, showing no sign of drunkenness. Startled, he heard Liu Yihuan whisper, "Si Feng, Brother likes the place three miles outside Qingyang City, Niu Bozi Mountain. There’s an unnamed little tomb there; if one day Brother can’t make it anymore, remember to bury Brother next to that tomb."

This shock was no small matter for Yu Sifeng, who urgently asked the reason. However, Liu Yihuan closed his eyes and fell asleep, playing dead no matter how much Yu Sifeng pushed, refusing to speak again.

Seeing the eerie situation at Liu Yihuan’s place and his refusal to go to Shaoyang Sect together, Xuanji had no choice but to ask Red Bird to stay with Liu Yihuan. In case of an emergency, Red Bird, being fast, could return in time to bring news.

Upon leaving, Xuanji asked, "What is the unnamed tomb at Niu Bozi Mountain?"

Yu Sifeng, with a solemn face, shook his head, and after a long pause, said, "Perhaps it’s his daughter’s tomb. I heard that Brother Liu was captured by the Old Palace Master in Qingyang City years ago."

Xuanji fell silent. (To be continued. For further events, please log in to www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available there; support the author, support genuine reading!)