Enemies meet on a narrow road - Part Two
The door to the private room was open, and a small round table for four was placed in the center of the room. Liu Langxian was sitting at the far end, directly opposite the door, and he saw Pei Jiangxi as soon as she entered.
On the round table were a variety of cold desserts. Even those that weren't initially cold had lost their original temperature long ago because they had been sitting there for too long. "Senior Liu!" Pei Jiangxi greeted him warmly, ignoring Liu Langxian's expression, and began to examine the desserts on the table with great interest.
The desserts were all exquisitely presented. There were white ones, pink ones, and a vibrant mix of colors. There were flowers, fruits, animals, and landscapes—a complete array. Liu Langxian didn't eat a single one. Pei Jiangxi placed her index finger on the edge of the table, took two steps around it, and sat down to the side. From there, she could see both Liu Langxian and the main entrance of the house.
"Oh my, the birch forest here is magnificent. I couldn't help but stop and take a look." Pei Jiangxi said, as if she were both exclaiming and explaining.
Pei Jiangxi looked around. A gauze curtain divided the room into three parts. In the middle was where she and Liu Langxian were. As soon as you entered through the door, you could see this exquisite round table, its edges carved with clusters of flowers. The four legs were even more ingenious, being openwork and carved with birds flying around each other.
Beyond the round table lay a large space. On the walls hung birch bark paintings in a staggered arrangement: some depicted reindeer, hunters at work, waterfalls, and women holding pipa (a Chinese lute). Below the paintings, against the wall, stood a daybed, with a small table in the center. On the table was a birch bark chess basket, unopened.
Behind Pei Jiangxi was a resting space. At the far end stood a six-poster pearwood bed, carved with floating clouds and waves. On the bed lay Liu Langxian's sword and a neatly folded quilt. A birch bark box sat on a small table beside the bed, and a large birch bark trunk was placed in the corner.
There were originally sheer curtains dividing the space, but they were all neatly tied to the wall pillars on both sides of the room. The curtains seemed to be covered in dust, so they hadn't been used.
The opposite side of Pei Jiangxi's room was similarly separated, with a gauze curtain neatly tied back. In that space, there was a table, complete with pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. Behind the deep red table and chairs was a tall, square shelf, neatly arranged with books. There were also several cylindrical birch bark boxes decorated with sunflowers, evening primroses, and other patterns that Pei Jiangxi couldn't name—mostly local auspicious symbols representing good fortune and wishes for good luck. The contents of the boxes were unknown.
"You've kept me waiting for ages," Liu Langxian said with a hint of resentment.
“When the birch branches and leaves have all unfurled, it will be a magnificent sight.” Pei Jiangxi complained instead, “It’s all because you came too early, senior. We had to come too. If we had come any later, it wouldn’t be as desolate as it is now.”
Pei Jiangxi picked up a piece of peach blossom cake and put it in her mouth. Looking out the door, she muttered, "How was the story just now? I arrived late and didn't hear a thing."
“I didn’t hear you,” Liu Langxian said coldly.
"What a pity." Pei Jiangxi showed a regretful expression: "I heard last time that the four sword god brothers had turned against each other. So much time has passed, I don't know how far things have developed."
"The young swordsman seeks true love and challenges the sword-testing platform; he avenges his brother Xuanyuan with blood and his sword pacifies Yunxia Mountain."
Pei Jiangxi beamed with delight and said, "You were listening quite attentively, weren't you?"
"I only heard about the loud and boisterous name once," Liu Langxian reiterated his stance.
"To avenge his brother?" Pei Jiangxi asked thoughtfully. "In this storybook, Prince Mei still dies."
Liu Langxian squinted. "You and this storyteller are the same kind of people."
"What do you mean?" Pei Jiangxi asked with a grin. "You haven't met the young master of the Chen family, have you? Does that mean we're the same kind of people?"
"It's just an old man's intuition," Liu Langxian said, without offering any further explanation.
Liu Langxian took a sip of tea and said, "Shenshi (3-5 PM). I've already given you plenty of face. If there's still no news by Shenshi, I'll be heading up the mountain."
Pei Jiangxi looked at Liu Langxian, carefully chewing the high point in her mouth, without saying anything.
After a short while, two footsteps, one light and one heavy, approached each other on the floor. Han Yizhi and Wang Boyu went inside and sat down with their backs to the door.
Han Yizhi stretched out her arm and placed "Avalanche" above the center of the round table. A thin layer of white frost covered her fingernails. "This sword has been unclaimed for too long, and now it is extremely violent. Young Hero Liu, be careful."
There was no fear in Liu Langxian's eyes, only joy. He reached out and grasped the other end of the sword, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Miss Han. Let go now."
The moment their hands met, an unusual chill, even for this season, enveloped Pei Jiangxi. But it was only for that brief instant. Han Yizhi's gaze towards Liu Langxian shifted from worry to surprise in an instant.
There wasn't a trace of coolness in the room, and the frost on Han Yizhi's hands instantly turned into water droplets.
“Then I’ll have my servants serve the dishes.” Pei Jiangxi stood up.
"No need," Liu Langxian said, his joy evident. "I'm going to find the next sword."
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I've already wasted enough time here." Even though he had finally obtained the Demon Sword, Liu Langxian's words still carried a hint of reproach.
“I really can’t do anything with you.” Pei Jiangxi rubbed her forehead and took out a letter she had prepared beforehand from her bosom. “The ‘tsunami’ is in a bald cypress forest in the southwest. I’ve already marked it on the map for you.”
"That's more like it."
"But that sword already has an owner."
"That's not important to me."
"She's a woman too," Pei Jiangxi said meaningfully, "a woman with extraordinary swordsmanship. Can you handle her?"
Liu Langxian packed his luggage and sword, and just before leaving, he replied, "Not every woman is like her."
"Then I wish you the best of luck in winning this time."
"One day I will definitely kill you too," Liu Langxian said fiercely without turning his head.
Once the footsteps had faded into the distance, Han Yizhi frowned and said, "The three swords he was carrying were all malevolent weapons."
"Yes, to be precise, including the one you just gave him, there are four malevolent swords in total. Do you want to ask me anything?"
"I don't want to have too much to do with this person." Han Yizhi shook her head. "His appearance, demeanor, martial arts skills, and way of doing things are all too strange."
"Is he collecting the treacherous sword?" Wang Boyu asked.
Pei Jiangxi nodded.
"Are you really sure it's okay to hand your sword over to someone like this?"
"Are you worried about me?" Pei Jiangxi asked with a grin, seemingly not taking Liu Langxian's words to heart at all.
Han Yizhi neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
Pei Jiangxi said again, "Then why don't you help me, and we'll kill him together."
Both Han Yizhi and Wang Boyu's expressions turned serious.
"Don't be so serious, I was just joking." Pei Jiangxi laughed again and said, "You all sit down first, I'll go and get the waiter to bring the dishes."
Han Yizhi and Wang Boyu both breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other and said, "We won't eat either."
"You're not eating either? Is the food at Xihelou so unappetizing?" Pei Jiangxi stared in disbelief. "Or am I the one who's unappetizing?"
"You shouldn't eat either." Wang Boyu stood up. "I've discussed it with my master, and we'll take you to that place."
Which place?
Han Yizhi also got up from the round stool.
“You’ll see when you get there,” Wang Boyu said cheerfully.
*
It was an even more old and ordinary house than she had imagined. After leaving Xihe Building, Pei Jiangxi followed in the footsteps of the master and apprentice. The road became narrower and narrower, and the ground under their feet changed from neatly cut stone bricks to uneven stones, and finally to a mixture of mud and sand. Even a few inexperienced children running by would kick up dust.
In the cramped space, Pei Jiangxi squeezed past passersby. After turning through several winding alleys, Wang Boyu awkwardly pulled out a key from his belt and unlocked an inconspicuous door. Behind the door was a small courtyard.
At the entrance to the courtyard, a broom lay on the ground, its broom head, woven from sorghum stalks, covered with trash; perhaps the owner had left halfway through sweeping. Inside the house directly opposite the gate, firewood was piled up, presumably the family's kitchen. To Pei Jiangxi's left was a longer house, the owner's quarters. That was all.
"Isn't it different from what you imagined?" Han Yizhi smiled as she looked at Pei Jiangxi.
"It's all your fault for being so secretive."
Behind them, Wang Boyu naturally closed the door. Han Yizhi also saw the fallen broom, bent down to pick it up, and called out to the house, "Changji, come out and clean up."
There was a sound immediately in the room.
Hearing her call, Pei Jiangxi looked at the entrance to the house and felt a strange sense of disorientation. "Changji?"
Han Yizhi smiled. "It's not the Changji you're thinking of."
A child ran out of the house. A slight blush rose on his chubby cheeks: "Sister Yizhi, Brother Boyu, it's you!"
Han Yizhi gently tapped Changji on the head and scolded him softly, "Why did you leave the broom lying around?"
Changji scratched his head: "I'm so sleepy, I was thinking of sleeping and continuing later."
"This is not a good habit."
"I know I was wrong." Chokichi sincerely admitted his mistake, and then said very happily, "I thought it was fairies coming."
"Then who would you prefer?" Wang Boyu also came up.
“I like you all.” Changji said after thinking seriously, “but I haven’t seen Sister Yizhi and Brother Yizhi for a long time. I really miss you so much.”
"You little rascal, you're quite the smooth talker." Wang Boyu ruffled Changji's hair. "We came to see you today with this lady, so just call her..."
“I know!” Changji said proudly, “I’ve seen her, she is the goddess sister.”
This conversation left Pei Jiangxi both amused and exasperated.
“You don’t care about these things, so you probably don’t know.” Han Yizhi turned her head and said, “There is a portrait of a woman in Ping’an Courtyard that looks very much like you. Changji may have seen the portrait.”
Wang Boyu rolled up his sleeves, tossed his head toward the kitchen, and said, "Kid, come with me to cook."
Without a moment's hesitation, Changji happily skipped and hopped along with Wang Boyu toward the kitchen.
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