Chapter 22022 I Miss You So Much
…
Before dusk the next day, Zhuang Rong'er and A Huai shortened the distance to an inch and arrived at Zhaixing Town.
This is the border area of the Xingluo Kingdom that was submerged under the sea a hundred years ago. It has now become the nearest prosperous town to the Xingluo Sea.
Outside the jurisdiction of the town is a steep cliff caused by the geopolitical collapse of the past. If they want to go to the Xingluo Sea, this is the only way they can pass through.
A white snake as thick as a finger was coiled on Zhuang Rong'er's wrist. She did not let the little snake show up in human form because although there was the wealthy and powerful Yingyue Palace, a righteous sect, here, most of the residents of the town were mortals. Unlike the cultivators who were knowledgeable and experienced, their acceptance of a demon cultivator with slightly obvious physical signs like the little snake would probably be limited.
But even though she had tried to keep a low profile, passers-by still seemed quite curious about the pair, and everyone was staring at them, some openly while others were peeping secretly.
There are also people who try to talk to them——
"Tomb robbers! You are tomb robbers! I won't make a mistake. This is the sword forged by my ancestor! It's even engraved with the official seal of my Liao family." A middle-aged man rushed over with a look of shock and anger, his eyes fixed on the Yinyue Piercing Cloud Sword pinned behind Ah Huai, and shouted, "You are the ones who came from the Xingluo Sea?! To plunder weapons and disturb the peace of my ancestors?!"
He seemed to have some reputation in this town. Seeing him act like this, most people stopped and gathered behind him. Someone hurriedly asked, "Boss Liao, what happened?"
The middle-aged man called Boss Liao ignored them and just walked forward, as if trying to pull Ah Huai's sleeve and stop them from leaving.
Zhuang Rong'er glanced over nonchalantly, and the middle-aged man had already stopped his tendency to rush forward stiffly.
"...Even if you are powerful monks, you cannot dig up people's graves!" He was angry, but also felt oppressed and afraid. He could only stand still with red eyes, and his beard trembled as he spoke.
The others behind him gasped when they heard his "grave-digging theory." Someone weakly suggested, "Why not ask the adults from Yingyue Palace to come over?"
Zhuang Rong'er already understood what this person was arguing about.
He is the surviving descendant of the weapon refining master Liao Shiquan.
She replied calmly, "The Hidden Moon Piercing Cloud Blade was the first prize I won at the Full Moon Night Banquet. Liao Shiquan gave it to me personally."
In fact, when Ah Huai set out today, he was carrying the Demon-Breaking and Iron-Slashing Sword.
He changed the subtle resistance he had that day in the pavilion, and his movements of holding the sword became natural, not at all showing that he was obsessed with practicing swordsmanship.
But Zhuang Rong'er couldn't help but care.
She said, "Why don't you take out the knife? Just throw the sword into the Qiankun bag."
Ah Huai readily followed suit.
So they had this troublesome experience when they arrived at Zhaixing Town.
"The Full Moon Night Banquet..." The middle-aged man was stunned. He mumbled twice and repeated absentmindedly, "The Full Moon Night Banquet a hundred years ago..."
That was the old tradition of Xingluo Kingdom.
During the three days before and after the full moon of Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole country celebrates and holds banquets every night. Everyone from the royal family to the common people will participate.
During the full moon night, lanterns are hung high in the streets and alleys, and everyone goes out to guess riddles, perform, and compete.
The palace and local areas would hold various art competitions, and the prizes were always rare treasures. There had been gifts from Yingyue Palace, as well as weapons forged by Liao Shiquan, the world-famous weapon-making master of Xingluo Kingdom.
——These are the information that the descendants of this group of survivors learned from the oral accounts of the elderly.
Many people in Zhaixing Town are the remnants of Xingluo Country. They are very clear about this and for a moment they all show an expression of inquiry and confusion.
"...Yes, I'm sorry for being rude." Seeing the crowd growing, the middle-aged man began to sweat. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve, a look of shame on his face. "My name is Liao Sanda, the great-grandson of Liao Shiquan... Could you two, my distinguished guests, please come into my small building for a chat?"
"No."
Zhuang Rong'er refused.
She didn't feel there was anything more to say; she had already said everything she needed to say.
She had already sent her little paper man ahead of time to book a room at the most luxurious restaurant in Zhaixing Town.
They will stay there in the few days before the rainy season officially arrives.
Liao Sanda nodded hesitantly, feeling regretful, but not daring to say anything more.
…
But Zhuang Rong'er found that he didn't seem to have given up, because he kept following them and his expression became more and more excited.
The little snake coiled around her wrist alertly reared up and spit out its tongue. Zhuang Rong'er clapped her hands and slapped it back. She stopped in front of the restaurant and asked unhappily, "Why are you still following us?"
Liao Sanda was now certain, and hurriedly put on a smile and said, "My dear guest, you have misunderstood. This restaurant was originally an asset of my Liao family..."
“…”
"Waiter, go get the drinks ready." He shouted towards the door, carefully bending down to show the way, "Dear guest, please come in!"
“…”
"It's a shame to say that we, the uneducated and unskilled children, haven't been able to inherit our ancestors' weapon-making skills. After more than a hundred years in this corrupt world, we are nothing more than merchants covered in the smell of money..."
"What are you talking about, Boss Liao? You are the richest man in our town!" Someone who passed by and heard it interrupted.
Liao Sanda shook his head indifferently and said earnestly, "The young lady and the young master look too young. I can't recall any record in the clan precepts that our ancestors did indeed give a sword as a reward for the Full Moon Night Banquet over a hundred years ago. That sword was surrounded by a green glow and was called Hidden Moon Piercing the Clouds. It's the same sword you have... Since the young lady was able to take first place, she must be an amazing master..."
His words went on and on, but Zhuang Rong'er listened to them with one ear and out the other. Seeing the restaurant was packed with people, she couldn't help but frown and interrupt, "Why are there so many people?"
Liao Sanda sighed and said, "A few days ago, there were rumors that our Liao family's ancestor forged a peerless divine weapon before his death... Cultivators from all over the world rushed to Zhaixing Town, hoping to retrieve the divine weapon from the Starry Sea..."
Zhuang Rong'er had not heard of this news. She glanced at the guests in the building with an expressionless face, thinking that it might not be a bad idea to change her residence.
Ah Huai asked softly, "Why do you call it a rumor?"
"To be honest, this incident is not recorded in the artifact catalog of my Liao family's ancestral motto." Liao Sanda apologized again, "I am sorry to both of you. It was precisely because of this rumor that I misunderstood you the moment I saw this Hidden Moon Piercing Cloud Blade, before I had time to think deeply..."
"But there are not only monks in your building, but also many ordinary people."
"Well, that's true." Liao Sanda smiled slightly. "You two distinguished guests are both cultivators. You must have known that the goddess of Yingyue Palace will be marrying the young master of Tianque Sect. When the time comes, the goddess's procession will pass through Zhaixing Town... These are the people waiting to pay their respects."
Ah Huai glanced at Zhuang Rong'er calmly.
When we set off yesterday, the men who had talked about Zhuang Rong'er in the next room had all been sent out of the valley.
He still remembered those people mentioning this title - "Young Master of Tianque Sect". The man's name was Yu Huansheng, and he seemed to have some connection with Zhuang Rong'er...
But after hearing the news of the marriage, Zhuang Rong'er did not look strange, as if she had not heard anything. She just nodded and asked Liao Sanda to take them to the upper room.
"In an hour, the restaurant will have a performance of Qiongtai Opera. This is a type of opera originally from Xingluo Country. Outside of Zhaixing Town, you will never hear the same kind of it anywhere else. Guests, please come and see it."
After Liao Sanda left these last words, he still felt a little unsatisfied and wanted to talk about the full moon night banquet a hundred years ago, but Zhuang Rong'er had already closed the door mercilessly.
…
The candlelight is soft and the gauze curtains are draped.
A woman in gorgeous costume stood in the center, a look of sorrow on her face, softly singing: "You are like the bright moon and I am like the mist. The mist disappears with the moon, leaving dew in the sky."
She spun lightly, and her soft robe fluttered open with the movement of her sleeves, looking both graceful and beautiful.
"You are good at playing the piano and I am good at dancing, but when the music ends, we are all heartbroken."
The guests in the audience were all watching her performance with moved expressions. Only Zhuang Rong'er, who was sitting at the farthest seat, had her head lowered, staring at the pot of flower wine on the table.
She poured a glass into the wine cup. It was bright red in color and had a rich sweet smell. She drank it all in one gulp, but it tasted sour at first, but there was a delicious aftertaste when she tasted it carefully.
"Just because you looked back at me, I miss you day and night..."
The actor was still singing sadly, and Zhuang Rong'er was drinking cup after cup.
After drinking the entire wine jug, she raised her head and looked closely at the woman on the stage.
Her costume was very special, with gold embroidery gleaming on the blue brocade.
"My soul will follow you without regrets, and my endless longing for you will cause me pain..."
Zhuang Rong'er suddenly spoke and slowly said to Ah Huai, "I've heard this song before."
Her speech was slower than usual. Ah Huai looked at the traces of alcohol on her lips and the tears in her eyes. He paused and whispered, "Are you drunk? I'll take you back to your room to rest."
"...I am immune to all poisons, so how could I get drunk?" Zhuang Rong'er smiled.
Not to mention wine, even if she drank a bottle of poison, it would not affect her at all.
She answered with such confidence that Ah Huai could only ignore her somewhat abnormal state.
But Zhuang Rong'er was still smiling at him.
She almost never showed such an expression. Ah Huai's eyes narrowed slightly and he subconsciously looked away.
"Do you know where I've heard that song before?" she asked slowly.
“…I don’t know.”
"Do you want to know?"
"...Are you willing to tell me?" Ah Huai answered in cooperation.
He probably understood that Zhuang Rong'er was really drunk, and not "immune to all poisons" as she said.
But even after getting drunk, she still had her own will. Now the only thing to do was to go along with her and lead her back to rest.
"I am willing." Zhuang Rong'er nodded and sat down next to Ah Huai. She held Ah Huai's hand and gently leaned her head on his shoulder, muttering softly, "To whom can I tell my longing for you? I don't know where you are from so far away."
“…” Ah Huai was frozen in place.
"I stand by the door, thinking of your instructions; I stand on the heights, gazing at the endless road to the horizon..." The actor on the stage sang the last sentence.
Zhuang Rong'er raised her head, stared at Ah Huai, and said, "Do you know what this song means?"
"...Would you tell me?"
Ah Huai continued to ask questions as she wished, even though she had not answered the previous question.
Zhuang Rong'er stopped talking.
"If you don't want to, why don't we go back to our room and rest? The singing is over." Ah Huai lowered his voice, sounding like a whisper beside the pillow.
Zhuang Rong'er felt that her ears and half of her body seemed to be itchy.
She stared at Ah Huai's face without blinking, gradually becoming stunned. When she spoke again, the smile on her face was gone, replaced only by a kind of infatuated bewilderment. "...I secretly followed you at the full moon banquet."
“…”
Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her expression was indescribably focused. "Always, always, I followed him all the way to the stage."
“…”
"Your fellow disciples were teasing you and wanted to remove the silk ribbon covering your face. I was so angry that I released a small snake to scare them..." She spoke each word slowly, as if squeezed out from memories. It sounded bittersweet, similar to the bitterness of Hua Niang. "You turned your head to look at me, but I had already hidden myself... Have you seen me? Do you remember me?"
What she said was incoherent, but Ah Huai already understood.
A hundred years ago, Zhuang Rong'er followed Jing Huai to attend the full moon night banquet and listened to the same Qiongtai opera.
When her fellow disciples were teasing Jing Huai, she used a trick to stop them, but she did not dare to show up. She could only hide in panic, but secretly hoped that the other party would notice her.
...This is her girlish concern.
Ah Huai felt his fingers become cold again, and something light and fluttering hit his heart coldly, but he was silent for a moment, still responding in a low voice: "...I saw it, and I remember you."
His voice remained steady, and he even managed to raise his eyes, giving Zhuang Rong'er a reassuring smile.
The tears in Zhuang Rong'er's eyes grew brighter. She leaned in closer, almost touching his nose, and murmured, "This song means that I miss you very much, every moment...Jing Huai..."
Before the bitterness could even fill his heart, Ah Huai completely melted away in his trance, because Zhuang Rong'er didn't stop there. She continued to cross the almost irreducible distance until he was completely enveloped by her own fragrance. The unfamiliar, soft touch pressed against his lips, his pupils dilated involuntarily, and a buzzing sound like an explosion flashed in his ears -
Zhuang Rong'er kissed the corner of his mouth.
Even if...you mistook him for someone else.
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The lyrics are quoted from "Ancient Love Song" in "Yuefu Poetry Collection·Miscellaneous Songs and Lyrics".
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