Chapter 163 Qingyun Peak
Chapter 163 Qingyun Peak
With paper and pen brought out, Wang Sumo began to lie on the table and write and draw earnestly.
Bai Cen watched her from the side. He usually saw her chopping and cooking in Bazhenlou, looking like a master chef with smooth and effortless skills. Apart from job postings, he rarely saw her quietly and attentively focused on the table.
"What I'm about to say might seem unbelievable to you, but you have to trust me first. If you believe me, and if anything is wrong, we can start over."
Wang Sumo looked at him: "My mother taught me. Counting rods are all about constant calculation. In the process of calculation, you eliminate all impossibilities, and the last one, even if it seems the most impossible, is actually the most possible!"
Bai Cen nodded; he believed him.
Wang Sumo blinked.
Bai Cen crossed his arms: "When have I ever not believed what the boss said?"
Too.
Wang Sumo remembered when she made him gnaw on wood, and when he actually did it...
Bai Cen clearly saw the fleeting smile in her eyes, but Wang Sumo obviously didn't want him to see it and had already lowered her head.
He then pretended not to see it and didn't expose it.
"Where do we begin?" True to his word, he was genuinely prepared to listen attentively.
Wang Sumo handed him another pen: "From the moment we met."
Bai Cen coughed lightly twice, clenching his fist. "Here? Of course, it's fine..."
Bai Cen was inexplicably in a good mood: "You saw me help an old man take a whip, which was quite controversial, and then we met on a merchant ship, and you made me a spinach and egg pancake."
Wang Sumo: "..."
Wang Sumo wasn't going to speak, but Bai Cen leaned closer and asked, "Isn't that right?"
Wang Sumo sighed softly and said truthfully, "I saw you have a pancake snatched away by Dahuang. You were about to chase after it, but Dahuang ran too fast and you couldn't catch up. Dahuang had already eaten it all. That's why I made spinach and egg pancakes on the merchant ship..."
The core of the story has completely changed.
Bai Cen hissed softly, "Is that so?"
Wang Sumo: "Isn't that how it is?"
Bai Cen sighed softly, then blinked: "Different paths, same destination."
Wang Sumo found it both amusing and exasperating.
*
Qingyun Mountain Villa.
He Huai'an sat leisurely by the fish pond in Shuguang Garden, feeding the fish with a detached gaze.
As soon as he threw the fish food in his hand, the koi in the pond rushed towards where he was.
"Brother, you're back?" He Lingyun greeted him with delight.
He Huai'an shifted his gaze from the koi fish and smiled faintly.
It's still the same as when we were kids, except when we were kids we would run towards him.
Time flies, and suddenly I've grown up.
I've reached this age...
"Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival." He Huai'an said gently, "Didn't we agree that I would come back to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with you?"
"I heard something happened in Bewitching Town. Are you alright?" He Lingyun asked worriedly.
He Huai'an shook his head: "I'm fine, it's He Lin who suffered. He hasn't woken up yet, so I brought him back to the villa."
He Lingyun was filled with righteous indignation: "Who on earth is so ruthless!"
"Fortunately, you're alright." He Lingyun changed the subject.
He Huai'an smiled faintly.
"Then, what about He Ping?" He Lingyun suddenly asked.
He Huai'an sighed softly: "They were knocked off a cliff, and we still haven't found them..."
He Lingyun was surprised.
Although the fellow apprentice he hated the most in the past was He Ping.
He Ping was like a lapdog by Huo Lianchi's side; he would do whatever Huo Lianchi told him to do!
Every time he sneaked out of Qingyun Manor, He Ping would catch him and bring him back.
He was furious, but he couldn't beat them!
At that time, he was gritting his teeth and speaking to He Ping!
But when he suddenly heard that He Lin had been ambushed and knocked unconscious in Bewitching Town, and that He Ping had been knocked off a cliff while investigating the men in black in Bewitching Town, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion...
The idea that brothers may quarrel within the walls but unite against external threats is probably the same principle.
Or perhaps, over the past few months, practicing swordsmanship with Huo Lianchi on the top of Qingyun Mountain, he has gradually become less bothered by Huo Lianchi and the people around him.
"Young Master, Second Young Master," came the disciple beside Huo Lianchi. "The Master invites you both to join us for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet."
With neither his great-uncle nor Huo Ling present, the three of them were alone at Qingyun Manor. Although it was rather quiet, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was a family feast arranged by his great-uncle, and they had to follow it whether he was there or not.
"Tell Uncle Sheng we'll be there right away," He Huai'an said gently.
The disciple bowed.
In the past, He Lingyun would vehemently resist whenever the idea of going to Huo Lianchi's place was mentioned, but this time she didn't.
He Huai'an could sense that something was subtly changing.
Sure enough, He Lingyun herself felt a little uncomfortable and awkwardly said, "I'll leave after eating a mooncake."
He Huai'an smiled and said, "Let's go."
On the way, He Huai'an asked, "I heard that your uncle asked you to go down the mountain to the martial arts tournament to be held in Meizhou in two months?"
“Hmm.” He Lingyun said softly, “I don’t want to go, but Huo Lianchi said that after this martial arts tournament, he will leave me alone, so I can go wherever I want in the future.”
Despite this, He Huai'an did not detect the same expectation in anyone's words as before.
"When are you leaving?" He Huai'an didn't press the issue.
He Lingyun sighed softly, "Let me leave tomorrow. Although this martial arts tournament was initiated by the Four Heroes of Meizhou, Qingyun Manor is one of the top sects in the martial arts world, so we should lend a hand. Originally, He Ping was supposed to go, but He Ping had an accident, so I'm going instead."
He Huai'an's eyes softened: "It's good to go. Go and see what the martial arts tournament is like. You haven't really shown your face in the past. Your great-uncle is giving you the Qingyun Sword. You must carry it forward."
At this point, guilt welled up in He Lingyun's eyes: "Brother..."
He Huai'an smiled and said, "Huo Ling has been in poor health since childhood, and I have no way to learn martial arts. You are the future of Qingyun Manor, so don't let your great-uncle down."
He Lingyun looked at him: "Brother, I..."
He Huai'an habitually pulled his cloak tighter around himself, and He Lingyun immediately took off her own cloak and gave it to him: "You're afraid of the cold."
He Huai'an accepted it.
The two continued walking, and He Lingyun sighed, "I always think back to my childhood."
"What happened when you were a child?" He Huai'an asked.
He Lingyun laughed: "When I was little, my brother always called me by my childhood nickname, but he stopped doing so when I grew up."
He Huai'an seemed to remember something, and his eyes briefly went blank.
He Lingyun sighed, "But I clearly remember that when my parents were still alive, they and my brother all called me A-Guan."
He Huai'an smiled.
He Lingyun continued, "It seems that he came to see his great-uncle later, and my brother never called me that again."
He Huai'an said gently, "Since it's a nickname, it's natural that we won't call you that when you grow up."
"That's true," He Lingyun smiled.
He Huai'an hesitated slightly before withdrawing his hand, which was about to pat his shoulder.
*
At the Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner, He Lingyun still felt awkward with Huo Lianchi.
But each of the three people at this table sensed the change.
Even though my great-uncle is gone, they are still family.
This was the first time He Lingyun had such a thought...
During the family dinner, everyone ate a mooncake.
He Huai'an poured wine for Huo Lianchi and He Lingyun, as if to ease tensions between them.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is full, we drink wine and admire the moon in the garden.
Huo Lianchi and He Lingyun practiced swordsmanship in the garden under the influence of alcohol, while He Huai'an watched with a smile as he drank, his thoughts drifting back to a long time ago.
That year, a heavy rain washed away the city wall, and I heard that many beggars were crushed to death.
The little beggar, in particular, was trapped under the collapsed wall and, being too weak, couldn't push the pile of dirt away.
He was also agitated by the cries and screams all around him.
Although I know that I can't control the marrow cleansing process and I have no idea what it will turn into, this time, it is supposed to be a complete file without any fragments. There will be no more red, easily burned face, and no more unhealable wrist wounds.
This was a complete marrow cleansing, transforming him into a different person.
Body, bones, tendons, appearance...
He no longer needed the disguise technique of the Worry-Free Sect to cover his previous face, and the Marrow Cleansing Technique had merged with him, becoming more and more perfect with each iteration.
But he didn't expect that this marrow cleansing would transform his body and bones, including his skin and appearance, into the look of an eight or nine-year-old child.
At first, he thought something had gone wrong.
But gradually, he realized that the best way to cleanse one's marrow is to start from childhood and have a long enough rebirth, more successful than any previous one.
During that heavy rain, amidst cries and shouts, he held up an umbrella, his palm outstretched towards the border region.
Large raindrops fell into my palm, a truly realistic tactile sensation.
He spent so many years and countless efforts, and finally this day has come.
It also tramples on countless corpses and blood...
From then on, every twenty years, he could reshape his body and appearance. He had enough time to read all the martial arts classics, medical books, and pathology books in the world.
He has come this far with only half a scroll of the "Marrow Washing Classic," as if from another world.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky, and the cries and pleas for help seemed to be swallowed up by the torrential rain.
From the mud not far from him, a faint voice cried out repeatedly, "Brother, A-Guan is here. Brother, where are you? A-Guan is here..."
In the storm, he slowly turned his head.
— Didn't you know it was fake alcohol? You'd buy something that's just a bait and switch?
— I know! But what can I do when all I have at the foot of Kunlun Mountain is fake wine made from apricot blossoms? And what can I do when my junior uncle likes it? Kunlun Mountain is too boring. If there's no fake wine to drink, it'll get moldy... But I still have you here, my junior uncle!
— If I hadn't come to Kunlun, how would I have met Junior Uncle! It would have been such a pity if I hadn't met Junior Uncle.
He suddenly remembered that torrential rain a long time ago, when he had been crying and had dug a grave little by little with his bare hands, until his hands were raw and bleeding.
— Junior Uncle!
He furrowed his brow slightly, a fleeting moment of emotion on his face.
He put down his umbrella and dug out the blood-covered, dying, and feverish child from the pile of collapsed ruins: "Brother, A-Guan is here."
He clenched his fists.
The other person reached out and grabbed his hand, gripping it tightly and refusing to let go.
He frowned as he looked at him, and noticed a chain around his neck with a tag that read "He Lingyun".
He had seen this handwriting before. A long time ago, when Qu Guan solemnly wrote a letter to He Wenxue, the letter Qu Guan showed him was a letter that He Wenxue had written on Qu Guan's behalf when they parted ways. In the end, Qu Guan joined the Kunlun Sect without ever using it.
He recognized the character "贺" inside.
He Wenxue of Qingyun Mountain Villa?
They are descendants of the He family...
He Lingyun, standing to the side, gave up and put his thoughts aside.
Compared to a few months ago, He Lingyun's martial arts skills are now vastly different.
Huo Lianchi tossed the Qingyun Sword back to He Lingyun: "I have things to do tomorrow, so I won't see you off. When you get to the Four Heroes of Meizhou, listen to He Huan."
"Understood." He Lingyun sheathed his sword.
*
The following day, after seeing He Lingyun off at the dock, Huo Lianchi and He Huai'an strolled back to Qingyun Manor.
"The martial arts tournament invited Uncle, but Uncle isn't going. Instead, he's sending Lingyun?" He Huai'an asked.
Huo Lianchi said gently, "It's good that he's going. It wasn't a big deal to begin with. I have other things to do while I stay."
He Huai'an understood: "That's right, Lingyun is all grown up now, and he can help his uncle with some things."
Huo Lianchi looked at him; he was gentle and refined, with impeccable manners.
"Huai'an, come with me to Qingyun Peak, I have something to tell you," Huo Lianchi said gently.
"Okay." He Huai'an smiled. "I'll go change my clothes and come right away."
Huo Lianchi nodded.
Watching his retreating figure disappear into the distance, Huo Lianchi frowned.
*
At the summit of Qingyun Peak, Huo Lianchi stood with his sword in hand.
The footsteps behind me indicated that He Huai'an had reached the top of Qingyun Peak.
There were only the two of them at the top of Qingyun Peak.
He Huai'an asked calmly, "Didn't Uncle bring anyone else?"
Huo Lianchi didn't turn around, her voice heavy with the last glimmer of hope: "Huai'an, are you hiding something from me?"
He Huai'an asked calmly and gently, "Which one are you referring to, Uncle?"
[Author's Note]
Keywords: changing clothes
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