Chapter 53 Unrest, Time Changes, Stars Shift, Autumns Pass

Xi Ling's mood was far from good at this moment.

He had originally intended to kick Zhou Ziheng when he heard him arguing with Huo Qin, but he was turned away instead.

Zhou Ziheng didn't give him a friendly look, so he tried to start with Huo Qin to sow discord between the two. Unexpectedly, he encountered another hot-blooded brute.

They truly are a pair of good brothers; they really made him furious!

Late at night, Yao Guang walked beside him and told him in detail what had happened that day.

Xi Ling's tone was cold, and she didn't even glance at Yao Guang before saying, "You and Yu Xijun, go and receive your punishment yourselves."

The night wind under the eaves swirled withered leaves, brushing against the stone steps with a soft rustling sound.

Yao Guang was not surprised. She stopped and silently bowed her head, saying yes.

She didn't even look up at Xi Ling's back, but just stared quietly at the slightly moving shadow under her skirt, as if watching a play that had nothing to do with her.

Xi Ling sensed that things were getting out of control.

To bring Mei Zhiying back to life, Zhou Ziheng's soul, Yun Ni's scissors, and Mei Zhiying's intact body are all indispensable.

But now, the most important "cut" tool has disappeared!

He frowned, feeling a surge of frustration.

To ensure that the matter remained completely secret and that no word of it reached the martial arts world, Xi Ling specially dismissed all his servants, leaving only his trusted confidants Yu Xijun and Yao Guang.

But right now, there's a shortage of manpower to find the Cloud and Rainbow Scissors, and we can't even make a big fuss about it...

Xi Ling had no choice but to remove Yu Xijun and one of the people in Yao Guang.

He frowned, thinking of Yao Guang, who was always difficult to control.

Yu Xijun and Mei Zhiying grew up together and had a deep friendship. Naturally, Yu Xijun hoped that Mei Zhiying could be "resurrected." However, Yaoguang and Mei Zhiying rarely saw each other, so their relationship was more like that of master and retainer than friends.

To ensure everything went smoothly, Xi Ling decided to send Yao Guang out to find the whereabouts of Yun Ni Jian, while keeping Yu Xi Jun by her side would give her peace of mind.

Now……

Xi Ling's gaze pierced through the dim night, quietly looking towards the room where Zhou Ziheng was resting.

He couldn't let things get any more out of control; he had to keep Zhou Ziheng under control, just as he had controlled Huo Yunfeng.

He wanted to personally witness the blossoming and fruition of the laurel tree!

The loss of the Cloud Rainbow Scissors made him feel threatened, and Mei Zhiying's body was in an ice coffin underground, where no one was allowed to touch it.

Only Zhou Ziheng's tenacious vitality and indomitable will to survive made him difficult to grasp and control.

Tonight, no matter what method he uses, he must make Zhou Ziheng fall into a deep sleep, as lifeless as a tree branch!

Fortunately, I always kept my plans to myself, and no one knew...

Inside the room, Xi Ling looked at the unconscious Zhou Ziheng with a maniacal smile on her lips.

Huo Qin hadn't even lowered his rolled-up sleeves before leaving. He stared intently at the vibrant laurel tree, making no move himself, while the crazed phantom exaggeratedly worshipped the laurel tree.

"Look! What a vibrant laurel wreath, what a powerful soul!! Look, look, my Zhiying is coming back!"

"Hahaha--"

Xi Ling let the illusion laugh wildly.

He pulled a small knife from his pocket, picked up the medicine bowl, and slowly cut open Zhou Ziheng's skin along the meridians and the branches of the cassia tree, collecting the winding stream of blood.

"Ahhh, it tastes so sweet." The illusion chuckled, feigning a blissful expression.

Xi Ling remained expressionless. Perhaps the loss of the Cloud Rainbow Scissors reminded him of some past times. As he looked at Zhou Ziheng's blood-soaked arm, the image of Ning Hanshuang's pale face came to mind.

The hallucination was still screaming in her ears. Xi Ling had been accompanied by this hallucination for years, and this was the first time she found it somewhat jarring.

However, he remained focused on the bowl of blood that Zhou Ziheng had shed, showing no intention of stopping the hallucinations.

There's no need to stop them; they've always been one.

As long as the only ripe Vermilion Fruit is placed into Zhou Ziheng's body, as long as it takes root and sprouts, as long as...

Xi Ling's eyes were bloodshot as she took out the Zhu Zhu fruit she had been keeping for a long time from her bosom.

Small and vibrant, yet with a fiery flower blooming at its tip, as large as the sun, it represents his hope for love.

...

Meanwhile, Xi Bingyi, standing before the ice coffin, was in a daze. She took one last deep look at her beloved mother before continuing forward through the tunnel in a daze.

She didn't know what unknowns awaited her, or rather, Xi Bingyi's thoughts had completely stopped, her mind was blank, and she didn't know what to do, so she could only move forward by instinct.

After an unknown amount of time, the tunnel gradually ascended in the darkness, and the biting cold gradually receded. The nightmarish truth was left behind, and Xi Bingyi reached the end.

She reached out and touched it, finding a door by touch.

Xi Bingyi took a deep breath and barely managed to gather her thoughts. She suspected that something even more astonishing awaited her behind this door, so she had no choice but to prepare herself mentally.

She gently pushed open the door, and to her surprise, behind it was an exceptionally warm and bright room.

This is actually the East Garden!

Whether it was the bright luminous pearl, the warm bed, or the huge bookshelves on both sides, everything familiar in front of her reminded Xi Bingyi that this was indeed the East Garden.

The hidden door was concealed in the bookshelf behind the bed. Xi Bingyi marveled at Xi Ling's ingenious ideas while simultaneously wryly laughing at his madness.

Fortunately, tonight's "adventure" wouldn't be any more devastating. Xi Bingyi tried to find some humor in her predicament, dragging her tired body and dejectedly opening the outer gate of the East Garden.

How are you feeling?

Suddenly, Yao Guang's voice reached her ears. Xi Bingyi looked up and saw that Yao Guang was still as confident as ever.

She leaned against the swing with her arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at Xi Bingyi.

Xi Bingyi felt somewhat helpless: "How did you know all this?"

Yao Guang offered no comfort to Xi Bingyi. Instead, she spoke with surprise and reproach for the other's foolishness: "I've done so many things for your father. Isn't it normal for me to know all this?"

Xi Bingyi: "Then why did you tell me? Why did you go to such lengths to guide me to discover the truth?"

Yao Guang chuckled, "I've done things for your father, but I'm not one of his people. I've said before that Mei Zhiying saved me, and I've been working for her ever since."

Xi Bingyi remained silent.

Yao Guang continued, "Your mother had long been aware of the madness of the man beside her. In the last moments of her life, she entrusted me to ensure that Xi Ling was not led astray."

Xi Bingyi said bitterly, "But it's all too late..."

Yao Guang nodded and then shook her head. She continued, "I was entrusted by your father to go to the Zhang family in Zhuanglan to encourage the ripening of laurels. It was so that Zhou Ziheng could see through this grand drama of human nature..."

I deliberately delayed, thinking that at least I could let him see less love and hate. But I didn't expect that after he learned about Xu Yi's tragic past, he would have to witness Zhang Yuanhan's stupidity and incompetence while he was exhausted.

Xi Ling had set up "interest" for "Broken Goose" in his early years, and he used this as an excuse to ask us to meet Zhou Ziheng.

It's a pity that Aunt Yu is so impulsive, I really couldn't stop her, otherwise the curse of winning the laurel wreath wouldn't have matured so early.

Later, outside the post station, I discovered that Huo Qin was actually Xiang Jun, and I decided to save his life…

As Yao Guang spoke, her voice gradually faded, and she gazed into the distance, slowly looking at the gradually brightening sky.

"I feel I have done enough to offer help in the difficult circumstances and to live up to Mei Zhiying's expectations."

Xi Bingyi closed her eyes in anguish: "But now it's too late for anything..."

Yao Guang smiled and said, "Mei Zhiying never gave up until her death. Are you going to give up now?"

Xi Bingyi didn't speak for a long, long time before she finally said, "I don't want to give up."

"Whether it's for my senior brother or for my father."

Yao Guang then pressed further: "Your father wanted Xiao Zhou's life, yet you wanted to save him. How could it be that you were doing it for both Xiao Zhou and your father?"

Xi Bingyi gritted her teeth, glaring at Yao Guang as if accusing her of asking a question she already knew the answer to.

So Yao Guang raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and submission, begging for mercy.

"Alright, alright." Yao Guang continued to laugh, "If you're going to help someone, help them all the way. Your mother asked me to find the whereabouts of the Heavenly Snow Lotus before, and now that Huo Yunfeng has passed away, it's just right to give it to Xiao Zhou."

Xi Bingyi's eyes widened. She asked T first, "Wait, why are you calling me 'Senior Brother' so affectionately?"

Yao Guang: "..."

Seeing that Yao Guang remained silent, Xi Bingyi guessed that the other party might have some unspeakable secret, so she patted her shoulder in a pretentious manner:

"It's alright, I know. The number of people pursuing my senior brother could stretch from the Holy Mountain to the far north."

"Regardless of age or gender, everyone is captivated by my senior brother's heroic bearing!"

Shaking his bald head, he stammered, "Xi! Bing! Yi!"

Xi Bingyi quickly begged for forgiveness: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong!"

Seeing that Yao Guang's expression had improved, she carefully returned to the main topic and continued, "Where is Xue Lian now? Is there any news?"

Yao Guang sneered: "No."

Xi Bingyi: "..."

She didn't believe it: "Auntie, you must be saying the opposite of what you mean, right? I'm sorry, please tell me where it is, sob sob sob..."

Yao Guang deliberately watched her feigned crying for a while before coldly saying, "I'm not lying to you, I really don't know."

What a twisted sense of humor!

Xi Bingyi was resentful, but Yao Guang's interruption made her feel a little better.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, the cold night was almost over, and golden sunlight broke through the clouds, gently sprinkling the earth like a mother's kiss.

"In any case, there's still a chance, right?"

Yao Guang pursed her lips, not reminding her that even if she found the Heavenly Snow Lotus, it would be far from enough to cure the Curse of the Osmanthus Blossom.

She thought to herself that if it weren't for Mei Zhiying's dying wish, she wouldn't be willing to take care of a child, especially someone like Xi Bingyi who likes to pry into things.

Yao Guang remained silent, which Xi Bingyi took as a tacit agreement. She finally showed the only genuine smile she had shown in the past two days and relaxed slightly.

As dawn broke, Yao Guang could not linger any longer, and the two parted ways.

Not long after Yao Guang left, she ran into Yu Xijun, who was out early in the morning going to the city for breakfast.

Yu Xijun yawned: "It's rare to see you up so early."

Yao Guang felt awkward; he couldn't very well say that he hadn't slept all night.

Yu Xijun was used to Yao Guang's silence, so she didn't mind at all. Instead, she extended an invitation: "Want to go get breakfast with me? There's a place that has really good tofu pudding..."

Yao Guang nodded, and the two of them strolled leisurely towards Zhuo Xian Town, the sunlight shining behind them, casting a golden glow on the ground.

Yu Xijun: "What happened last night? I saw you rushing out the door."

Yao Guang hesitated for a moment, then chose to tell only half the truth: "The Cloud Rainbow Scissors are lost."

Yu Xijun woke up with a start, her eyes wide: "Was it that...that...that thief..."

Yao Guang, without changing his expression, shifted the blame: "Yes. Xi Ling is already thinking of a solution, so don't worry."

"He will probably send me to look for it, and I will be back as soon as possible."

Yeah, right.

Yu Xijun exclaimed "Ah!" and asked, "How did you know it was you who was going to find the Cloud Rainbow Scissors?"

Yao Guang couldn't very well say that it was because Xi Ling had most likely guessed that she harbored ulterior motives, so she changed the subject: "Shouldn't you be concerned about when we can find the Cloud Rainbow Scissors and not delay Xi Ling's important business?"

Yu Xijun frowned, nodded, and murmured, "You're right... It's best not to cause any unnecessary trouble and delay Zhiying's resurrection..."

Yao Guang glanced at Yu Xijun's profile and then fell silent.

Sometimes she wondered if her feelings for Mei Zhiying were not deep enough, otherwise why would both Xi Ling and Yu Xijun be so eager to see Mei Zhiying again?

When a person dies, dust returns to dust, ashes to ashes, isn't that good?

Moreover, Mei Zhiying herself did not wish to "come back to life." In the end, she left so resolutely and without any regrets.

As the two figures gradually disappeared into the distance, Shiburg returned to its tranquility, a calm that seemed to precede a storm.

On a new day, when the gates of Zhuoxian City opened again, Zhang Ming, who was guarding the gates, saw a carriage that looked very familiar.

He looked at the character "席" on the carriage and remembered that it was the carriage a lady had ridden in when she left Zhuo Xian.

The carriage rumbled in, and Zhang Ming yawned wearily.

Alas, I wonder why that lady returned so quickly.

It was another peaceful day.

-----------------------

Author's Note: JX3 and JJ have teamed up for a writing contest, so I'm quietly giving my entry a shout-out [pity].

"Great Hero, We Don't Allow Parrots Here" is still a male-only martial arts story, a short 5000-word tale.

There's only the synopsis right now; I'll write the full story tonight. [cat paw emoji]