Chapter 11: Like a vine, clinging, entwining, lingering...
Xie Yanyu had previously sent a message to Helan Wei, saying that he would go to see him at 9:00 PM.
But it was almost noon.
It was the time when the sun was at its brightest, and the light from outside fell into the house, so bright that it was a bit dazzling.
Helan Wei sat in front of the chessboard. After a while, he asked calmly, "What time is it?"
The attendant beside him said, "It's noon."
Helan Wei nodded, but did not make any further moves.
The attendant saw that he had not made a move for a long time and asked: "Sir, are you in a bad mood?"
Helan Wei raised his eyelids and said in his usual gentle tone, "Why do you think so?"
He looked no different than usual, and the servant couldn't really tell how he'd noticed he was in a bad mood, but after so many years of service, he could sense something was amiss with his master. "I was thinking Miss Xie said she'd come at 9:00 PM, and since it's already noon, and you asked about the time, I assumed you were upset because of that."
"Nothing."
"It's my fault for being overly suspicious."
Helan Wei was a man of pure innocence, never taking anyone or anything seriously. To him, all beings were equal, a human being was no different from an ant, but equality wasn't enough to bother him. Because he wasn't concerned, he rarely got angry, including at the servants around him. In a sense, he was a tolerant and gentle master, and his servants were not afraid to speak in front of him. He would basically just smile and pass it off, listening for fun.
So at this time.
The attendant began to grumble in front of him again: "It's strange, though. Miss Xie usually says she'll come over, and she'll come even if the young master doesn't reply. Why is she different today?"
Helan Wei didn't say anything.
Suddenly, a sense of inexplicable panic swept over me, which was hard to explain, like a dragonfly skimming the water, creating a faint ripple.
He fought against this feeling, picked up a white piece with an expressionless face, and continued playing chess.
And another servant in the room took over:
"I just went out and heard from the servants of the Xie family that Miss Xie was called over by Master Xie. I don't know where Master Xie heard that Miss Xie wanted to practice cultivation, so he specially called Miss Xie to his place early this morning and he personally taught her cultivation."
As soon as these words fell.
The force of Helan Wei's move seemed to become heavier.
The jade chess pieces collided with the chessboard, making a crisp "clacking" sound.
The attendants were startled by the sound and turned to look at him: "Sir?"
Helan Wei commented indifferently: "Xie Chengjin is becoming more and more nosy."
After he finished speaking, he calmly said in a gentle voice, "Let's wrap up the chess game."
The attendant also sensed something was amiss at this point.
The young master said that he was not in a bad mood, but why did he look unhappy?
I don’t even play chess anymore.
He was unhappy, and the servants dared not say anything anymore. They came over quietly to clean up the chess game.
Helan Wei knelt down and sat,
After a while, he picked up the communication talisman next to him and flipped to the message Xie Yanyu had sent earlier. He hadn't replied, so the last sentence of the message still lingered on the one she had sent him. The tone between the lines was sincere, and it seemed that she really wanted to come to see him.
Xie Chengjin has not been reborn, but he is a law-abiding person. He cannot bear to see an unmarried woman in his family have contact with a man outside. Knowing that he is close to her, it is reasonable for him to do something to stop it.
It's not that she doesn't want to come. It's that Xie Chengjin doesn't let her come.
His thoughts settled, and his previously fluctuating emotions seemed to settle down. He lowered his eyelashes, moved his fingers lightly, and channeled his spiritual power into the talisman. He finally sent her a message back, the words revealing a sense of nonchalance.
"Unfortunately, I was sleepy last night and woke up after noon, so I missed Miss Xie's message."
"Miss Xie, why don't you come back another day?"
She contacted him first, and after such a long time, replying to him now cannot be considered as lowering himself to her.
Since she wanted to come, she would reply immediately after receiving the message and then take the initiative to negotiate with him the time to come.
*
Xie Chengjin asked Xie Yanyu to recite the Heart Sutra in the study, but he didn't intend to watch her recite it.
He practiced swordplay every morning without fail.
So he settled her down and asked a servant to keep an eye on her while he went out to practice swordplay.
However, for some reason, although the hilt of the sword was hard and cold, he could always feel the warm and delicate touch of her wrist in his palm.
After practicing a set of sword techniques, the feeling still did not dissipate, clinging and entwining like a vine.
He likes cleanliness, but he is not a mysophobia. He usually washes his hands after practicing sword, but he does not wash them over and over again. But this time, he was inexplicably compelled to wash his hands carefully many times.
Perhaps he was really not used to physical contact with others, so the feeling of touch was so vivid that it seemed to have been lingering in his palms. He washed his hands several times until his scarred palms turned red, and then soaked them in cold water for a long time until the feeling of touch dissipated, and then he dried his hands.
Then he returned to the study again.
When he reached the door of the study, he saw Xie Yanyu inside through the gap in the window frame.
She knelt upright, her neck slightly bent and her head lowered, and her gaze did not seem to be on the book of mental skills, but on a certain point in the void, as if she was distracted.
The sunlight outside came through the window and fell on her, but the colors on her body were too plain, too extreme. They were either bloodless white, such as her exposed neck and earlobes, or extremely deep and opaque black, such as her hair and eyelashes, so that the warm sunlight falling on her gave off a cold, ghostly and disharmonious feeling.
The red mark on the back of her neck had disappeared.
Xie Chengjin paused slightly, his expression indifferent. He looked at her absent-mindedly outside for a long time before walking into the study and sitting in the main seat in front of her.
Xie Yanyu came back to his senses when he heard the noise of his return.
She wasn't a very obedient person to begin with, and wouldn't just stay here and memorize the book just because Xie Chengjin asked her to. But after thinking about it, she didn't have anything else to do today, so she had originally planned to go find Helan Wei to talk about the plot, but Helan Wei hadn't replied to her at all. She didn't know if he was busy or out, and it would be pointless if she went over and found him empty-handed.
Therefore, she felt that there was no need to confront Xie Chengjin over this matter.
If Helan Wei had replied to her, she would not have sat there obediently.
However, although this method of thinking is not really necessary, sitting is still the same.
She turned her attention back to her mind.
Xie Chengjin glanced at her without saying anything, then picked up the pen and started writing.
He was a quiet and taciturn person to begin with, and Xie Yanyu didn't talk much either. Since neither of them spoke, the room was very quiet.
A while later.
Xie Yanyu had memorized half of the secret method when he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of spiritual power in the communication talisman in his sleeve.
Someone must have sent her a message.
She paused, took out the communication talisman, and prepared to see who sent her the message.
That side.
Xie Chengjin heard the noise and raised his eyelids to look at her again.
Seeing her take out the communication talisman, he paused slightly.
He shouldn't have bothered with her. Even if he had decided to teach her cultivation, he only needed to do what he needed to do. He always did things this way, not caring how others did things or why. He had no curiosity and didn't like to meddle in other people's affairs. He simply followed the rules and did what he was supposed to do.
To him, whether she studied or not was her own business, so when she was distracted just now, he didn't try to stop her. Logically, he shouldn't have stopped her from using the communication charm at this moment, and whether she was concentrating or not was none of his business. But for some unknown reason, his fingertips clenched lightly.
Unprecedented,
He thought,
Is Helan Wei sending her a message?
She was called here to prevent her from having contact with Helan Wei.
His expression remained indifferent, but he moved his fingertips slightly, silently using a bit of spiritual power to cast a barrier around the study. This barrier was invisible and would not prevent anyone from entering or leaving, but it could only intercept spiritual energy, leaving the study temporarily a spiritually barren place.
The communication talisman is driven by spiritual power. If the surrounding spiritual power is barren, the communication talisman will not work.
She cannot receive messages from others here, and can only receive them after she leaves here.
Xie Chengjin looked at her silently.
Xie Yanyu tapped the communication talisman lightly with his fingertips, but there was no change on the talisman. He had clearly sensed the fluctuation of spiritual power in the talisman just now, but now he didn't receive any new information.
She tapped the talisman again, but still nothing.
That's strange.
At this time, her attention was on the communication talisman and she did not notice Xie Chengjin's gaze.
Xie Chengjin also remained silent. When she flipped through the communication talisman several times without receiving any new information and couldn't help but frown slightly, he spoke briefly.
"Focus," he said.
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