“Luckily, I have a cool head and a warm heart, not moved by lust or beauty. Senior sister, oh senior sister, you always slumber so peacefully in front of me, you trust me so much.” Su Baiyi laid Nangong Xi’er on the bed, stood up, and whispered, “Feng Zuojun was right… senior sister is really beautiful, and she has it all…”
Nangong Xi’er’s legs suddenly twitched.
“Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.” Su Baiyi immediately shook his head, “I am a scholar, how could I think of such filthy things! What does it matter to me what senior sister looks like! Is she not my senior sister if she is not beautiful!”
Nangong Xi’er’s eyelashes fluttered slightly.
Su Baiyi turned around and walked to the side of the long bench; after hesitating for a moment, he made up his mind and moved a small stool to the bedside. Then he sat down with a thud and muttered to himself, “There’s no harm in taking a peek…”
And then Nangong Xi’er turned over.
Su Baiyi snapped out of it, sighed lightly, and stood up. He draped the quilt over Nangong Xi’er, then returned to the side of the long bench. After blowing out the candle, he sat cross-legged on the bench and began to circulate his qi and meditate. He had developed this strange problem after practicing the Book of Immortals given by Xie Kanhua for half a year: as soon as he fell asleep, he would lose his consciousness, but gain far more strength than usual. He had almost smashed the courtyard several times, so Xie Kanhua taught him this martial art, which could allow him to enter a state of false sleep while meditating. This barely ensured that he would not be exhausted to death, but it was not as comfortable as sleeping soundly. So the last time Su Baiyi was poisoned and fell asleep, he felt very relaxed.
“I wonder how senior brother Feng and senior brother Xie are doing now…”
On the official road, Xie Yuling was holding the horsewhip and whipping it hard, “Giddy up! Giddy up!”
“Slow down, slow down, my bones are falling apart.” Feng Zuojun lay in the carriage and screamed, his whole body wrapped in white bandages, as if he had suffered a very serious injury, “Tell me, Xie Yuling, did you do this to me on purpose?”
“You are the one who said we have to hurry on the road, and now you are saying that your bones are falling apart, why don’t you just fly over there if you are so awesome?” Xie Yuling’s face was pale, and he looked very exhausted.
“Senior sister must have taken the water route, the Mu family’s Golden Wind is the fastest way to go to Yunmeng Prefecture, if we don’t spur our horses, I’m afraid we’ll be half a month later than them. Senior sister arrives, but I, the young master of the Feng family, don’t, wouldn’t that be a mess? But you have to take care of me too, if it wasn’t for saving you, I wouldn’t have been beaten up like this.” Feng Zuojun said helplessly.
That day, the assassin from the Clear Sky Courtyard dealt a vicious blow to Xie Yuling before leaving, and it was all thanks to Feng Zuojun’s desperate block that Xie Yuling didn’t suffer a serious injury. He was still defiant in his mouth, but he felt guilty in his heart, so he didn’t talk back, and just whipped the horse harder.
“Slow… down.” Feng Zuojun was jolted by the carriage, grimacing in pain. “Is there no way to travel faster and less bumpy?”
“No.” Xie Yuling coughed lightly, and replied coldly.
Feng Zuojun furrowed his brows slightly, and after a moment of thought, he said, “We should reach a town by tomorrow morning. We can hire two drivers there, and take turns driving day and night. And every time we pass a town, we can change a few horses. This way, we shouldn’t be later than our senior sister.”
“Fine, you, the young master of the Feng family, have money. I have no objections.” Xie Yuling replied indifferently, then gently pulled the reins, slowing down the carriage. After another half an hour, Xie Yuling felt his mind drifting more and more. Although his external injuries were not as serious as Feng Zuojun’s, he still suffered a lot of internal injuries from the decisive battle that day. After days of traveling, he was already exhausted. He tried to keep his eyes open, and passed another intersection. He saw a large lake in front of him, with the surface calm as a mirror, reflecting the full moon in the sky. And by the lake, there stood a slender figure.
In the dead of night, by the lake in this desolate and rugged place, how could there be someone standing alone and admiring the scenery?
Could it be another assassin from the Shanglin Heavenly Palace?
Xie Yuling gripped the reins tightly with his right hand, and held his sword at his waist with his left hand. He attempted to gather a burst of energy, but it went haywire in his body as soon as he did. His vision went dark and he passed out. Feng Zuojun in the carriage was sound asleep, oblivious to the commotion outside. The three horses, without the reins to guide them, started to run amok, heading towards the lake. But the carriage only swayed slightly, and then quickly stabilized. A hand as white as jade took hold of the reins again. There was no one by the lake, only a scholar sitting on the carriage, holding the reins with one hand, and embracing Xie Yuling with the other. He murmured, “On this serene and moonlit night, we meet by chance on the water, what a fate this is.”
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly. The carriage was parked by the lake, and a few horses were grazing on the grass. Xie Yuling slowly opened his eyes, and was startled by the scene before him. He immediately grabbed his sword, and shouted, “Feng Zuojun! Wake up!”
Feng Zuojun trembled all over when he heard his low shout, and immediately jumped up, causing his wounds to ache. “What’s wrong, what’s wrong!”
“Something’s wrong.” Xie Yuling looked at the lake, where a scholar in a green robe stood with his back to them, drinking a mouthful of wine. Xie Yuling looked more closely, and realized that this lake was not the large one they had seen last night, but a small pond.
“What’s wrong?” The scholar turned around, and hung the wine gourd on his waist. “If it weren’t for me last night, your carriage would have gone into the lake. You two handsome young men would have been a treat for the female ghost in the lake.”
Xie Yuling and Feng Zuojun both gawked, not because of the scholar’s words, but because of his looks – he was too handsome. They were both born in noble families, and had handsome features. Feng Zuojun had a sturdy build and a proud personality, and called himself “a man with a bit of wildness”. Xie Yuling was thinner and quieter, and was the type of delicate beauty that the women of Jiangnan loved. And there was Su Baiyi, who had just joined them, and was different from them. He was gentle and friendly, and always had a smile in his eyes. He was a cheerful scholar. They might have their differences, but they were all young men who attracted women.
But the scholar in front of them was different. He might attract all the women in the world, or he might make them all jealous.
Because he was truly too beautiful.
He stood there, bathed in the morning sun, like a piece of exquisite jade.
“Who are you?” Xie Yuling asked in a deep voice.
“A fated one.” The scholar smiled, his bright eyes and white teeth shining.
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