Chapter 21: Upon seeing the beauty, it was an old friend; hearing the news stirred my heart...

Shi Wenzhe's heart stirred, and he secretly glanced at Qin Wenxue. Finding that the man's gaze was not on him, he boldly looked him over, trying to find the very nice silver chain hidden in his hair.

“What’s so great about him?” Linglong said discontentedly. “I’m very beautiful too, and I’m so close to you. If you’re going to look at someone, you should look at me.”

Shi Wenzhe hurriedly looked away, glancing left and right, looking at the sky and the ground, but refusing to look at the faces of others.

Linglong watched the show: "Hmph, coward."

Shi Wenzhe quickly shrank back to a quail, and in her heart she screamed frantically, "Stop talking, dear brother! Stop talking!"

"This is boring." Linglong picked a blade of grass and put it in her mouth, then looked at Qin Wenxue and asked, "What's your name?"

"Asking about the snow while wearing a quilt."

“It sounds alright. My name is Linglong,” he said.

“I know,” Qin asked Xue.

“Well, what are you doing here?” he asked.

Qin Wenxue's gaze gently fell on the feathers behind Linglong's ear, and then swept over Linglong's carefree expression.

Shi Wenzhe sensed something was amiss from the sudden silence. She observed them closely and felt as if an invisible force was enveloping them, isolating her from it. Shi Wenzhe felt a tightness in her chest, wondering if there was something they knew that she couldn't.

Qin Wenxue's expression was not good. He lowered his eyes, his throat bobbing slightly, as if a thousand words were stuck in his throat, and he didn't know where to begin.

He thought, "What am I doing here? I must be here to answer an invitation from an old friend." That old friend had long since died, turned into white bones, but now the person was vividly alive right in front of him. That person's consciousness was still there, only incomplete and without any memories.

Moreover, looking at Linglong who was making Shi Wenzhe laugh heartily, he thought, "Is this him? Is he really such a lively and vivid person? It turns out that the arrogant and all-powerful Linglong, the Flower-Holding Venerable, is actually as innocent as a child."

He recalled Linglong when they first met. She was lonely, surrounded by a deep-seated sorrow, and looked lifeless. Even though her hands were covered in blood, she would wipe them clean before gently taking his hand.

Qin Wenxue thought, "Perhaps he has always been like this."

"Why? Peach Blossom Valley has long been destroyed, but a trace of its past remains in the world. The person before me has also died, but his spirit remains and is still alive in the world."

Qin Wenxue also wanted to know: the valley was full of life, the creatures were real, the streams and vegetation were real, everything was real, yet it was all fake, including the person in front of her.

My thoughts wandered back and forth. The memory was actually quite distant. If I didn't think about it carefully, it might have been buried deep in my memory, never causing any trouble. But now that I've seen it again, the storm might just rise up and disturb my peace.

The exhaustion was intense, as if it had seeped into his very soul. He let out a deep sigh, as if releasing all the pent-up unhappiness in his heart.

Shi Wenxue looked over and saw Qin Wenxue standing on the bluestone slab, looking exceptionally lonely and cold. Her heart pounded heavily for a moment, and she panicked. Regardless of Linglong's playful antics, she ran straight to her and grabbed the person's hand.

She then realized that Qin Wenxue's palms were icy cold, like snow in the dead of winter, making her head numb. She involuntarily rubbed her palms, trying to warm Qin Wenxue's hands, but they were slowly pulled away.

"What are you touching? Don't you know that men and women shouldn't touch each other?" Linglong suddenly spoke up.

Shi Wenzhe suddenly came to her senses and felt somewhat embarrassed. She let go of his hand and bowed her head, saying, "I'm sorry, I was being presumptuous."

Qin Wenxue turned the wooden ring on her finger and lowered her head in thought.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Linglong said with amusement, "Not all humans are as well-mannered and knowledgeable as he claims."

"Hey, don't keep it all inside, it's creepy to look at." He took things out of the old man's cloth bag one by one, and Shi Wenzhe saw all kinds of food: meat patties, dried fish, and a piece of misshapen tofu... Most of them were not rare foods in farmhouses, and they looked like meals that adults would give to children playing in the valley.

"Are you an old person's child?" Shi Wenzhe asked.

"No." Linglong buried herself in her work, and after taking out the items, she pulled out all sorts of wild fruits, wildflowers, and some wild vegetables from her bosom... There was even a dead rabbit. All of these things were native to the mountains, and the cloth bag was bulging and full.

Linglong hung the cloth bag back on the old man's shoulder, patted him on the shoulder, and the old man began to walk down the mountain like a puppet.

"He...he..." Shi Wenzhe's mind was filled with doubt. Pointing at the old man walking mechanically, he asked Linglong, "What are you doing?"

Linglong dusted off her hands, hugged all the food to her chest, and said casually, "Can't you tell? I'm making a deal with him."

"What deal? He wasn't even conscious. You've taken control of his mind, haven't you?"

"Hmm." Linglong looked up at Shi Wenzhe, her face full of "So what? What can you do about it?" She muttered unhappily, "If it weren't for someone insisting that I be polite, I wouldn't care what he does... I used to just snatch things directly."

"What? What are you muttering about?" Shi Wenzhe's sense of justice burned brightly, and she meddlesomely said, "You can't do that, little friend. We should treat the elderly kindly..."

Before he could finish speaking, Linglong interrupted, "Shut up..." He looked up at Shi Wenzhe, who looked as if he had suffered a great blow, and thought to himself, why bother arguing with an idiot? Anyway, this person is just like that person, always meddling in other people's business. He's tired of hearing the same few sentences every day, so why should he care about what this idiot says?

"Never mind." He sighed and tossed something to Shi Wen: "Eat this, that's all, we don't have any more." He then hugged the thing tightly, as if he was very reluctant to part with it.

Shi Wenzhe took the pancake into her arms and smelled the fresh aroma of vegetables. She glanced at the dry pancake and remembered that the old man was dressed in rags and was as thin as a rake, probably from a poor family. So she held the pancake in her arms until it burned her hands, feeling a little reluctant.

"Give it back to the old man," she said.

"Do you have to look at me like that?" Linglong said, dissatisfied.

Shi Wenzhe wondered what kind of look she had given him—anger? Displeasure? Or pity? She knew her request was presumptuous; Linglong had no connection with her, so why should she listen to her annoying words? But she had followed the old woman around all day.

The old man traversed so many high mountains, walking from the outside of the valley to its depths, carrying only a pitiful amount of food, to come here simply because he was being controlled by Linglong—that was too cruel.

Linglong rolled her eyes and stared straight at Qin Wenxue, saying, "You should control her, she's annoying."

Shi Wenzhe felt a little ashamed and lowered her head to apologize, "I'm sorry." She quickly added, "If you really want to eat these things, I can make them for you, but the old man seems to be having some difficulties. Let's return the things to him."

"It's alright." Qin Wenxue suddenly spoke up, patting Shi Wenzhe's hair to comfort him: "The things Linglong gave him were all naturally occurring spiritual objects from Peach Blossom Valley, full of spiritual energy. They would actually be beneficial to mortals if they ate them. He didn't lose out."

"Is that so?" She looked up blankly, then gave Linglong an embarrassed look: "I'm sorry."

"Hmph." Linglong didn't bother arguing with the little fool. He actually felt a strange closeness to Shi Wenzhe, perhaps because she, like that person, was a kind person, so she was always more patient. He didn't mind and comforted Shi Wenzhe, saying, "It's alright, I'm a magnanimous person. But there's only one pancake, no more. If you're hungry, over there." He pointed to the right, where there were shady trees, somewhat eerie: "There are many fruit trees there, find your own food."

"Also, you can stay in this cave. It's cool at night, and there are wild animals in the valley, so be careful. However, this cave has my presence, so most wild animals won't dare to approach it easily."

His arms were full of things, and Shi Wenzhe glanced at them occasionally. Besides the food he had traded with the old man, there were also fruits from the mountains. His belt was also stuffed with all sorts of flowers, so bulging that it could hardly hold any more, and some of the petals and leaves peeked out from under his clothes, swaying as he walked.

Shi Wenzhe thought the child was quite adorable, being at that mischievous age. She looked at Linglong walking down the mountain and asked, "What about you? Aren't you coming with us?"

Linglong asked, puzzled, "What are you doing with me? I'm going home, of course." He took a few steps and then turned back, handing Shiwen a piece of blue feather: "Keep this safe. Don't lose it. I'll find you by following the scent tomorrow."

"This...you're gone already?" Shi Wenzhe looked at Qin Wenxue, clearly still in a daze. Linglong had long since disappeared, appearing and disappearing without a trace.

"Yes, the sun has set," he said, and then walked into the cave first. Shi Wenzhe followed obediently behind him. The wild grass outside the cave was tall and dense, and she could not see the path. She could only hold tightly to the back of Qin Wenxue's robe. Shi Wenzhe felt a faint gaze, but the owner of that gaze did not say anything, but only slowed down his pace.

"Crack!" A sudden spark rang out, startling Shi Wenzhe in the silent night. She patted her frightened heart and moved closer to Qin Wenxue.

Only when you get close can you smell it. Qin Wenxue's cool fragrance is so obvious in the dark. Shi Wenzhe buried his head and quietly sniffed it, like a cat smelling catnip.

The fresh scent of firewood wafted out, and Shi Wenzhe vaguely felt that, in addition to these two scents, she also smelled an indescribable, strange fragrance. That fragrance was sweet and extremely strong. Shi Wenzhe clutched her heart, her face flushed, her eyes were like ripples on autumn water, and her ears were ringing.

Her head was spinning and she couldn't think straight. Shi Wenzhe pinched herself hard, and her thigh immediately turned blue. The pain lasted for a moment, and she was only clear-headed for a short while, but it still couldn't calm her wildly beating heart.

"Hmph—" she groaned, realizing something was wrong: "Why do I have this urge to bloom?"

"Is it appropriate for a lone man and woman to be out in the middle of nowhere like this?" Shi Wenzhe closed his eyes, feeling a sense of despair, and wished he could slap himself.

The cave was too small, and it was a bit crowded to accommodate two people. Shi Wenzhe felt uncomfortable ever since he entered the cave because Qin Wenxue's presence was too strong, not only because of her cold and beautiful aura, but also because of her stunning appearance.

Is she a decent person?

"Yes."

"Is she a sucker for good looks?"

"That's true."

A note from the author:

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