Chapter 96: The Love Affair of the Hairpin, Divine Interpretation
It's strange, really. They used a compass to find their way, and after traveling for a very long time, they finally entered the Fenggu Desert. But then, the divine deer led them back—
It seems like only a day and a night have passed?
...
"The 20th of the first lunar month?!"
Zhang Xuan's eyes widened in shock as he asked the owner of the Gale Inn in Jinsha City, "You're saying today is the twentieth day of the first lunar month?"
One month!
They've been traveling for almost a month?
Has it jumped directly to the 20th day of the first month of the 17th year of Tianchen?
Qin Tianshu patted him, telling him to calm down, and the scholar went forward to book a room for three days.
There's nothing else to it, they're just really tired. They haven't rested at all on this journey. Who cares what year or month it is? Sleep is the most important thing in life!
Qingyu leaned against Wenchuan, and the girl said softly, "No wonder we were so dizzy on the way back."
It was truly a blend of illusion and reality. The divine deer had only traveled for a day and a night, but the people riding camels always felt dizzy and disoriented. They were so shaken around that they couldn't even speak along the way, until they finally returned to Jinsha City—it had been a month already.
Qin Tianshu paid the room fee and turned to nod to them—
It was completely empty.
Where are they?
He looked up and saw a line of heads on the stairs, slowly but incredibly quickly drifting towards their respective rooms, like ghosts…
Qin Tianshu: "..."
You guys are really something... Wait for me!
...
The following day, in the afternoon.
Qingyu slowly opened her eyes. After sleeping for a whole day, she finally felt that the entire demon had come back to life.
Cai Cai: "Coo coo coo coo coo coo!"
Oh, it's Cai Cai. Qing Yu blinked. She wanted to speak, but she was a little drowsy from sleeping so long, and she was hungry and thirsty. She'd talk to her later.
Wen Chuan woke up an hour earlier than her, but when he went out, he found that almost everyone was still asleep. After thinking for a moment, he tidied up quickly and went to the city lord's mansion to pick up Cai Cai.
"woke up?"
A familiar voice came from the bed. Qingyu didn't speak, but smiled and nodded. Wen Chuan sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at her. He reached out and ran his hand through her hair, put his arm around her shoulder, and helped her up little by little.
Qingyu rubbed her eyes, and with Wen Chuan's help, she stretched and said, "Hmm... I'm hungry."
Wen Chuan smiled and said, "You go wash up first. I'll go downstairs now to order some food and bring it up for us."
Qingyu nodded in satisfaction, and Wen Chuan smiled, ruffled her hair, and turned to leave the room.
The girl took a deep breath, threw off the blanket, and jumped.
"Cai Cai!"
"Do you miss me? Ah! Our Cai Cai!"
"Hmm? Do you miss me? Say something!"
Cai Cai: "Coo coo coo".
"Hahaha,"
Qingyu was still wearing her pajamas. She hugged Cai Cai and rubbed her arms and legs. "I need to change my clothes. I'll leave you outside and play with you after I wash up!"
Cai Cai: "Coo coo coo! Coo coo coo!"
...
When Wen Chuan returned, Qing Yu had already changed her clothes and was sitting in front of the dressing table doing her makeup.
Her everyday hair is actually quite simple. If she's feeling particular, she'll use several hairpins to style it; if she's feeling casual, she'll just wear a side braid. She'll always decorate it with flower hairpins or hairbands. The style depends on her mood each day; she does whatever she likes.
Today, she's had a rare good night's sleep and feels refreshed and energetic. Let her think it over carefully—
Wen Chuan put down the food box and leaned gently against the table. The young man had a gentle face and a refined temperament. He watched his wife do her makeup in front of the mirror, his slender fingers unconsciously tapping the edge of the table.
Seemingly sensing his gaze, Qingyu turned around and smiled at him, "What's wrong?"
Wen Chuan smiled and stepped behind Qing Yu. The young man put his hand on her shoulder and leaned down slightly.
In the mirror, they looked at each other.
Qingyu unconsciously smiled and leaned against him, saying to her reflection in the mirror, "I see him, Wen Guyueheng."
“I saw it too,” Wen Chuan said, lightly kissing her ear before turning to her reflection in the mirror, “Little Fairy of Qishan, Little Flower.”
No one expected that the God of the Ancient Desert would ultimately grant their past wish.
What is this? Is it fate?
Qingyu laughed, "Guess how old I was when you met me."
Wen Chuan frowned slightly. He thought carefully for a moment and said, "Ten years old?"
"She's eight years old,"
Qingyu turned to look at him; the girl's beautiful eyes seemed to speak volumes.
"I don't know my birthday, so I treat every New Year as if I'm a year older. At that time, I was just eight years old."
"So that's how it is,"
The young man chuckled softly, "Looks like it was me who bullied the child."
He stood behind Qingyu, and before she knew it, he had taken up a comb and was slowly arranging her hair.
"The lady has always had a kind heart since she was young, which I find quite puzzling,"
Qingyu: "Hmm? What's the problem?"
"I'm puzzled. I've traveled all over the land and never seen such a simple, noisy, yet arrogant and powerful little demon... and moreover,"
He picked up a gold hairpin from the dressing table and gently tied it around her hair, his voice tinged with amusement as he met her gaze.
"She also has such beautiful eyes—"
Their eyes met, like the interplay of fiery water and icy fire; they were born different, yet shared something similar with each other—
Therefore, they longed for each other so much.
A tinkling sound rang out as Qingyu, leaning against the mirror, was half-lifted up by Wen Chuan and kissed while resting on the dressing table.
Qingyu was on top of him, the girl cupped his cheeks in her hands, kissing him gently yet deeply, somewhat entranced, and somewhat aroused...
In the end, she couldn't help but laugh, unable to control her laughter. Wen Chuan was extremely helpless, closed his eyes, and finally laughed too.
Qingyu buried her face in his neck, the girl's laughter trembling slightly, her body temperature touching his, her heartbeats pounding, secretly harmonizing with each other.
"No, I just changed my clothes,"
Wen Chuan pursed his lips and nodded, looking very serious, "And my hair, which I just combed."
"Don't even mention it, everything's a mess."
She stepped back, put one arm around him, and gently raised the other hand to tap the tip of his nose. "Really, I'm punishing you by making you comb your hair again."
To be honest, Wen Chuan was never good at dressing up. He hadn't even owned a sword in his half-life since his return, let alone such things.
It was Qingyu's special request. The storybooks say that a good husband should be able to style his wife's hair and draw her eyebrows; this is a must.
Besides, combing hair is something anyone can learn if they study hard. It's not like she needs any complicated styles. She was able to learn it back then, so Wen Chuan can definitely do it too.
Wen Chuan told him to think about it carefully, and he specifically asked Qin Tianshu if he had any books on the subject.
Qin Tianshu: "?"
Later, the two of them chattered away, attracting Zhang Xuan's attention. In the end, the three of them carried a large book, a comprehensive study of women's clothing and hairpins written by female officials from the previous dynasty.
According to reliable rumors, they practiced their skills using Zhang Xuan's hair, which almost caused a rift between the brothers, leading to them drawing swords, knives, and fans.
...
Wen Chuan hugged and kissed her one last time, then put her on the stool. The young man took a comb and combed her hair and put on a hairpin.
His movements were quite skilled, but he was still a bit clumsy in some details. Every time this happened, he would helplessly say to Qingyu,
"Please don't dislike me, madam."
Qingyu pursed her lips, but her eyes were full of smiles, and her eyes and brows revealed a charming allure.
"It's better combed than mine, and it suits my taste and looks good."
Today, he styled her hair in a "fallen horse" style, with her hair pulled back and her dark hair falling lightly, giving her a languid and charming look. It also matched her royal blue and vermilion dress perfectly, making her look elegant and beautiful.
"I only used rigid techniques; the truly beautiful one is you."
She is vibrant and beautiful, and people like that are beautiful no matter what.
Qingyu smiled, stood up, tiptoed, and kissed his lips, her voice rising with a lively and beautiful tone.
"That's right."
Before Wen Chuan could even finish speaking, the woman in his arms had already run off impatiently, first to the outer room to pick up Cai Cai and play with the chickens, then a moment later opened the food box—
She hadn't eaten all day and was hungry.
...
Evening, in the upper room of the inn.
"Taishan?"
"Destroy a planet?"
"ah?"
Zhang Xuan put down his chopsticks, somewhat dazed, trying to organize his thoughts on what they had just said—
Sister Qingyu said that the Taishan Lord in Fengdu could help them.
Brother Tianshu said that the power of stars is strange and not a good thing. They must be destroyed after they are gathered together, otherwise the world will perish if they are not destroyed...
Wen Chuan said... he didn't say anything.
Fan Xiang said, "It's better to rely on yourself than on Heaven."
As for Zhang Xuan himself, he said, "Sigh!"
Cai Cai: "Coo coo coo".
Qin Tianshu, holding the vegetables, smiled and said to Zhang Xuan, "Well done."
"Oh, I see,"
Qingyu pondered, “That means we can’t put stars in the human world, but we can in the ghost land. If we take the nine stars to Fengdu, Lord Taishan will help us destroy them.”
The scholar spoke the most this time, explaining that these stars were relics from ancient times, fallen from the sky at some unknown year and month, and landed on some inconspicuous object on Earth.
These are strange objects from the heavens, which will cause great chaos on earth, but ironically, earth cannot truly destroy them.
Therefore, Fengdu is the place most likely to destroy these stars.
Why did God tell you so much?
Qingyu looked at Qin Tianshu with a puzzled expression. Qin Tianshu sighed twice and said with great "shame,"
"There's nothing we can do, the chosen one has surprised everyone."
"Perhaps it is because I have read extensively and am naturally intelligent, and God also favors me."
"Oh dear, how can such things be explained?"
Everyone: "..."
His expression was really irritating, especially to Zhang Xuan, who only received a sigh in return, who was very dissatisfied with it, "Why, why didn't God tell me anything?"
"It's already good enough that you're reunited with your family during the Lunar New Year. Maybe God is just being kind to you and doesn't want you to have any worries."
Wen Chuan sat down next to Zhang Xuan and said with a sincere tone of reassurance, "Who knows, maybe God just thinks he's silly and naive, so He simply doesn't say anything to keep him from worrying."
"Yes, God's words are often cryptic and require people to ponder them for a long time."
Qingyu chimed in, "I was troubled by this for a while, I don't know what he was talking about."
"And then?"
Lin Fanxiang pursed her lips and looked at her, the girl's cool demeanor tinged with gentleness.
"I stopped thinking about it later," Qingyu replied.
"Just focus on your own business. After all, our goal now is to gather all the stars, go to Fengdu, and find the legendary Lord Taishan!"
She spoke with a smile and even made gestures, which made Lin Fanxiang smile involuntarily. A moment later, she looked somewhat embarrassed.
"But... Fengdu is inaccessible except for ghost cultivators and the dead, isn't it?"
Having said all that, Fengdu in Taishan is just a place that everyone knows about, a necessary passage for the reincarnation of souls, but in reality, no living person has ever been there...
There are such cases, but they are people entangled in karma and eventually become possessed by ghosts, essentially destined to die—similar to the protagonists of ghost stories.
Zhang Xuan chuckled, recalling the collection of ghost stories Qin Tianshu had given him to pass the time back then. The young man murmured, "..."
"It's alright, something will come to pick us up when we get there..."
"Gugu—Gougouga!"
"Hey, Cai Cai, why are you pecking me! You!"
Qin Tianshu watched the man and the chicken playing happily and laughed, "You're already possessed by a ghost before we even reach Fengdu. Don't cry if you really encounter a ghost."
"Oh, you were pretending to be a ghost just now, I was wondering..."
Qingyu suddenly realized why Zhang Xuan's words had sounded so mysterious. She even thought about what they might be.
Zhang Xuan: "...Cai Cai, if you peck me again, I won't feed you vegetables next time."
Cai Cai: "Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle."
Suddenly, Cai Cai pecked at Zhang Xuan's Frost Moon Blade hilt—
"Giggle, giggle—"
Cai Cai's cries were intense, so Wen Chuan kidnapped her and glanced at Zhang Xuan's Frost Moon Blade as well.
"Your Frost Moon Blade... I remember Yunzhou said back then that it could communicate with the yin and yang?"
Indeed, the two swords are quite similar. Both Blood Moon and Frost Moon have black jade and red hilts. However, upon closer inspection, Blood Moon leans more towards red, while Frost Moon leans more towards black. The blades are long and slender, and when swung, their cold light is dazzling, bloodthirsty and soul-wrenching. Especially under the moonlight, the blood aura spreads, and the clear light is eerie and cold. They truly live up to their name as demons and ghosts.
"You can communicate with the Yin and Yang realms, huh? I almost forgot. In that case, we might actually be able to get into Fengdu with your knife."
The scholar smiled and said, "If Cai Cai hadn't pecked at it, they would have really forgotten about Zhang Xuan's auction description for the Frost Moon Blade."
"Yeah,"
Zhang Xuan read aloud, then looked at his knife with great interest.
"What's the rush? I remember the next star is in the Miao village of Yizhou. Yizhou, I want to go back to Qishan to take a look!"
Qingyu said with a smile, "The flower sea in Qishan is most beautiful in spring."
In the southwestern Yizhou region, there are the most monsters, especially in the Qishan area, where you can find all sorts of creatures.
Ultimately, Qishan isn't a single large demon mountain; it's a collection of many interconnected mountains and forests, collectively known as Qishan. There, most of the creatures that fly, run, jump, leap, or swim are minor demons, along with a few major demons with fixed abodes, such as the Mountain Lord of the Tiger Clan, the Elephant King of the Elephant Clan, the Phoenix Butterfly Lord of the Butterfly Clan, the Fox Lord of Qingqiu, and her most familiar grandfather, the Locust Tree—
She's come so far, it's time for her to go back and see them.
...
On the 25th day of the first lunar month, outside Jinsha City.
Zhang Xuan, sitting by the car door, waved to Qingyu not far away, "Over here."
Qingyu strolled over leisurely, smiling, "Is it your turn to drive today?"
Yeah... what were you doing just now?
"I went to the city lord's mansion to deliver a letter... I owed someone a favor, and now I'm paying it back."
The girl got into the car, opened the door, and the wind chimes jingled as she stepped inside.
Cai Cai greeted her happily as soon as she saw her, and the little chicks clucked as they followed Qing Yu on the wooden planks.
Fan Xiang was still setting out various medicinal herbs and other items on the medicine table. Qin Tianshu was sitting in a recliner reading a book when he looked up and saw Qing Yu. The scholar said leisurely, "So, you still wrote the letter in the end?"
Qingyu smiled and said, "That's right, and there are two letters."
Just then, Wen Chuan emerged from the depths of the carriage. He saw Qing Yu and they exchanged a smile.
Amidst the wind and sand, Zhang Xuan cracked his whip, the sound of his horse's hooves echoing endlessly.
The boy laughed loudly.
"Let's go!"
-----------------------
Author's Note: The Mad Sands arc is now complete. A brief explanation follows:
Xiao Enci doesn't have a younger sister. She has two separate personalities, reality and fantasy intertwined, creating the character of her younger sister. Or rather, she is both the older and younger sister (this is the key point; Xiao Enci really does have a bit of a split personality).
Qingyu eventually learned about this matter because she went to the Qin Dynasty's Heavenly Book in the Ancient Desert to inquire about things with the Huangshi caravan, and in the process, she learned about Xiao Enci's past in Liangzhou City.
The scholar didn't tell anyone else, but later he heard that Qingyu was going to write a letter to Xiao Enci's "sister," so he told her.
Qingyu concluded by saying that if that was the case, she would pretend she didn't know anything about it and write a letter to both her older and younger sisters.
(Although it's unlikely, Xiao Enci is already a logically consistent madwoman. If you encounter a similar mentally ill person in real life, please, please do not use this method to avoid aggravating the condition and triggering a battle for personality.)
Regarding the two chapters of the confession:
The chapter on "Madness" is completely off-topic, but you can still read it. Originally, it was supposed to be about a pair of high-and-mighty gay men who tricked their way into marriage, then a pitiful girl who lacked love became strong and independent, and finally, the mistress ended up lying there smelling like a corpse. The wicked couple were torn between love and hate, and went mad fighting each other—it's gone completely off-topic.
There's no need to sympathize with Wei Nian. The price of being a mistress is that even after death, you still have to watch the original spouses perform performance art. It doesn't matter if you're male or female, once you're dead, that's it.
Wei Xun definitely possesses Heavenly-level or higher strength, otherwise he couldn't have become the young master of Liujin. However, every time he was poisoned by incense, it was immediately neutralized by the incense in Xiao Enci's room, so he naturally didn't feel anything. As for the alchemist Cheng family, you can think that Xiao Enci sabotaged their absence, or you can understand that they genuinely had something to do, but I feel that this matter is irrelevant to this story and shouldn't be brought up here, so I'll leave it ambiguous. (Mainly because I'm too lazy to write about their clan, hehe [cat paw])
You can actually look at the chapter "Sand" in a different way. Imagine your father's words as an angry and disdainful male voice, and your mother's voice as a guilty female voice that is in a hurry to leave. [Chin resting on hand]
If I had to put it in perspective, the part about the younger sister in Jiaozhou is based on Xiao Enci's actual experience, while the part about the older sister in Jiaozhou can be understood as the choices Xiao Enci would make if she could do it all over again and stand on that bridge once more.
Everything else is fake, including the father who doted on his younger sister and the mother who raised his older sister—it's all fake.
Summarize:
Xiao Enci: Abandoned by her mother, hated by her father, she eventually left alone, was tricked into marriage by a gay man, and finally rose up in anger. A beautiful and crazy woman [sunglasses].
It's a bit strange to use this writing style to tell a story for the first time, but it's also a kind of experiment (those who have read this far should know that Xiaohe has tried to use different methods and angles in each of the monologues, hehe [shrug]).
In fact, those two chapters are worth reading if you're interested, because I deliberately blurred and metaphorized some things when I wrote them... Hmm, they might still be a bit difficult to understand, so I've explained them a bit more here: the madness is genuine, and the sand is just pretending to be stupid [okay].
...
Ding ding ding, Jinsha Station has arrived. Passengers who need to get off or transfer, please take note. Thank you for your support and cooperation. We wish you a safe journey.
Springtime fields, wedding banquet chaos
New passengers and those who haven't yet reached their destination, please be patient. When eating mushrooms, make sure they're thoroughly cooked.
Next stop, Cloud Land.
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