Chapter 187 Rain Bell (Part 5) Unfortunately, this was a wrong one…
The two sides faced off, but there was no unusual menacing aura, only a gentle one. Bai Lu's words did not sound threatening, but rather like casual conversation.
But the calmer things were, the more Lin Feiran felt something was wrong.
She looked at the figure on Jade Mountain, her mind filled with too many complicated questions, and for a moment she didn't know where to begin.
Looking at Bai Lu's current appearance, and recalling that painting, only a sense of regret arose in my heart.
"There is no ambush here." Lin Feiran finally spoke, saying with certainty, "You did not tell the Human Emperor that I had broken the seal."
“If I told him, you wouldn’t have made it here today.”
Bai Lu stood up, her gauze skirt fluttering in the night, the snow-white satin reflecting the starlight, like a goddess from the heavens.
She looked down and raised her hand, and saw streams of light forming a magic array. They quickly unfolded beneath Lin Feiran. She tried to move away, but felt as if a thousand pounds were pressing down on her feet, making it impossible for her to move an inch!
Wei Changzai immediately pointed his fingers as if he were a sword and slashed, but the flash of inspiration only lasted for a moment before returning to silence.
Not only that, but even he and Shen Qi were frozen in place, unable to move.
“In this inescapable place, I think I should still be in charge.”
Bai Lu was stunningly beautiful, elegant and graceful, unforgettable at first sight. However, her voice did not quite match her appearance; instead, it was somewhat cold and a little hoarse, like the patter of rain in the afternoon.
"Don't worry, I just want her to help me with something."
Surrounded by spiritual light, Lin Feiran was lifted up like a gentle breeze and sent to sit opposite Bai Lu on Jade Mountain.
As soon as she landed, she subconsciously looked around, her calm demeanor tinged with a hint of wariness, her gaze sweeping around before settling on the person in front of her.
A stack of manuscripts lay on the lacquered wooden table, slightly messy. Beside it were several wads of colorful silk thread and a thick needle for threading books. A cover was placed over the stack of manuscripts, and the title of the book was familiar.
The Great Sound is Silent - Final Volume
Her gaze paused slightly, then she turned to look at the corner of the table, where a peony lamp stood, but instead of a wick and oil, there was a sky-blue pill in the center.
It's just placed there openly, without any attempt to conceal it.
Lin Feiran's eyes flickered slightly, but she quickly looked away.
At this moment, apart from her eyes and mouth, she was unable to move the rest of her body, like a puppet, and could only sit upright on the futon.
"If we're talking about my relationship with your mother, you should call me Aunt Bai, but I'm not presumptuous enough to do that. Just call me by my name."
Bai Lu crouched down and pushed the messy drafts in front of Lin Feiran.
"You've already read through the first three volumes of 'The Great Sound is Silent' several times, so you must know them by heart. Please bind them into a book according to the order of those three volumes and complete this last volume for me."
During this time, I can answer any questions you may have.
Lin Feiran's hand rose unnaturally and landed on the paper. Only then did she look up and meet Bai Lu's eyes.
Only when you get closer do you realize that her complexion is not as radiant as it appears from afar.
His eyes and brows showed signs of weariness, his lips were slightly pale, and his hands trembled slightly when placed on the table.
It wasn't fear, but rather a deficiency in her body that made her unable to control it properly.
Lin Feiran never imagined that her first meeting with Bai Lu would be such a peaceful scene.
She could sense the impending storm, but she still lowered her eyes, turned over the paper, and slowly began to organize it, though her words were anything but polite.
"When I was six years old, my mother was ambushed and killed outside Luoyang. Among those killed were cultivators sent by the Emperor. Did you know about this?"
Beneath Jade Mountain, the Milky Way ripples, and the rolling waves continuously lap against the peonies on both banks, making a soft, pattering sound.
Bai Lu did not deny it: "...I know."
She leaned back in her chair, looking somewhat weak, but her eyes were scrutinizing the expression of the girl in front of her.
Upon hearing her answer, she paused slightly, her lowered eyelashes obscuring her gaze. Although a hint of anger could be seen from her pursed lips, she remained generally calm.
In this respect, she is not very similar to her mother.
"If your mother had heard my answer, she would have already picked up her jade ruler and been so angry that she would have fought with me for three days and three nights."
Bai Lu raised her hand, and another streak of light flew out from the Milky Way, settling at her fingertips.
"That's her angry look, and I've kept it in my mind until now."
Lin Feiran stopped what she was doing and looked at her intently: "I am angry because you disrespected my mother. I am not angry with you enough because I don't care what you are thinking."
You shouldn't treat someone who cares about you like that.
Bai Lu paused slightly, then stared at the light at her fingertips. After a long silence, she finally put the light back into the Milky Way.
"You came here because you want to know about my past with your mother, is that right? I'm probably the only one in the world who still remembers her."
"You should know that I am a member of the demon race."
My understanding is limited and my comprehension is poor. Besides reading, all I do is sit and daydream.
The territory of the Linghua clan is near the Jihai Sea. That day, I was sitting on the shore when an elderly human with a beard braided into a pigtail emerged from the sea and asked me if this was the demon realm.
He was dressed in a very comical way, wearing a straw hat and carrying a bamboo basket full of steamed buns soaked in seawater while in the sea.
I was terrified of humans at the time. I sat there for a long time before I finally came to my senses. I let out a scream, turned around and tried to run away, afraid that he would capture me and force me into a demon contract.
But he told me he meant no harm; he just wanted to find a stone or gem that could store spiritual energy.
Bai Lu looked at Lin Feiran with a nostalgic expression, saying, "You should know that you went to see my sister after all. This old man is the Gengan Saint, my master."
At that time, she was ignorant and never imagined that this unremarkable old man with five braids would be a saint.
After confirming that this was the demon realm, he settled down near the Jihai Sea. Bailu was curious, as she had never seen a human before, so she would often sit nearby and observe, sometimes for a whole day at a time.
At first they sat far away, then they went to his courtyard to eat steamed buns together, and later they became master and apprentice.
At that time, there were no cultivators in the demon realm who practiced array formations. This was a method that humans were proficient in, and they neither looked down on it nor understood it. However, Bai Lu, who was always clumsy and dull, was very interested in it.
Setting up an array requires calculation, consideration of timing and location, and the intertwining of spiritual threads is dazzling. However, under the guidance of Genqian, she spent almost every day immersed in the array, showing a certain obsession.
“My master stayed in the demon realm for many years, searching all over the south, but to no avail. One day, I asked him why he was looking for stones that could store spiritual energy, since we could breathe and absorb spiritual energy ourselves.”
He said there are many people in the world who are different from us, and he is searching for them.
At this point, Bai Lu finally couldn't hold back and coughed, her voice becoming increasingly hoarse, but she didn't stop. It was as if she had finally found someone to confide in, and she couldn't help but bring up the buried things of the past, not letting them be covered in dust.
"At that time, I didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, because there are no mortals in the demon realm."
Later, someone sent word requesting a meeting with him. After consulting with me, my master took me with him on a journey back to the human realm, temporarily settling in Jinling Ferry, Nanping Continent. It was there that I met your mother.
Lin Feiran's gaze shifted slightly, and she stopped tidying up the paper, only to look up at him.
Bai Lu looked at her, as if searching for the shadow of her mother through her.
"You have eyes that look a lot like hers."
"You probably don't know this, but she was an orphan who wandered around Jinling Ferry since childhood. In order to make a living, she entered the Lotus Fragrance Pavilion and became a dancer. But when I met her, she was already a cultivator who had achieved some success."
"Your mother is the smartest person I have ever met. She learned the method of entering the Dao and guiding spirits by picking it up from a tattered bookstore. No matter what kind of Daoist book it is, as long as she reads it a few times, she can memorize it and, after a period of time, she can understand it thoroughly."
She secretly learned from many of the minor sects in Jinling Ferry.
She is a completely different person from me.
She said she cultivated Taoism to create things, to be able to create anything she wanted with her own hands—that was the omnipotent state in her eyes. But I didn't know why I cultivated Taoism; I just enjoyed setting up and breaking formations.
"Later, my master and I left Jinling Ferry and wandered the human world, still in search of that stone."
I still maintain contact with your mother. Three years after we left, she also left Jinlingdu to embark entirely on the path of creation.
During the search, the emperor heard about this and sent someone to invite the Genqian Sage to the palace to discuss the feasibility of this method with him. However, at that time, the one who was most shocked was actually Ding Yi.
He sat and discussed with the sage of Gengan for three days and three nights.
With no one around, Bailu became silent again, spending her days reading on the swing in the palace or sitting in the flower bushes in a daze.
One day, a tall, adorable child walked into the flower hall, looked curiously at the woman who sat there all day, and spoke the first words to her.
Bai Lu remained silent for a moment, unsure how to respond, and then asked him dryly what his name was.
The child, with a bright and clever expression, a beautiful face and dark eyes, said in a clear voice, "Sister, my name is Shentu Heng, you can call me Aheng."
From then on, the child clung to her, and even after Bailu left the palace with the Gengan Saint, he still tried every means to contact her. This continued for ten years until he grew up.
This is the only mortal who has any connection with Bailu.
At that time, she and the Saint of Gengan were in the western part of the demon realm when they unexpectedly found a precious jade that could temporarily contain spiritual power. Upon further inquiry, they learned that the white jade came from Luoyu City.
Before they set off for Luoyu City, for some reason, Bailu felt a slight stirring in her heart. She took the jade to Shentu Heng's fiefdom, woke him up from his sleep, and had him try out a small spell.
Seeing Shen Tu Heng's incredulous expression after using his magic, and the light in his eyes, she seemed to understand her master's feelings at that moment.
Such a piece of jade can ignite hope in a person's eyes and allow them to see a different world.
"Later, nothing special happened. Over the next ten years, my interactions with Aheng increased. Like a storybook, we fell in love. My master also found a perfect way to store spiritual energy in Luoyu City."
Later, after I married Aheng, I wrote to your mother hoping she could attend the banquet, but I didn't receive a reply until three months later.
The letter was very vague; she only said that she had discovered something unusual and was still investigating, and that she would definitely come back in a few months to congratulate me.
At this point, Bai Lu closed her eyes slightly, seemingly very sleepy.
"There's not much to say about what happened next."
It was simply that the Human Emperor's clan died at the age of forty. Aheng was unwilling to accept this, so she searched everywhere for a solution. It was at that time that Ding Yi knocked on our mansion door.
He said he was also looking for a way to save the world, and asked Ah Heng if she would be willing to be a test subject for his medicine…
Bai Lu sighed softly: "Back then, my master talked with him for three days, but then quickly took me away. He told me that Ding Yi had lost his mind and was insane, and that I should not get too close to him. He told me to stay away from him if I met him in the future."
But Ah Heng was very happy at the time, so I agreed anyway.
Lin Feiran had already sorted out the manuscript and was picking up the needle and thread on the table, gathering them together between the book covers, and beginning to thread the needle.
She asked, "You like him a lot?"
"Does it seem strange?"
The White Dew gave such an answer.
“I always have a sense of pity for him… just like how that demon lord felt for you. If you tell him that you want immortality, that you want to cultivate, or even that you don’t need to tell him, just by looking at him, he can’t say a word of refusal.”
Bai Lu stood up, looked down at the Milky Way, remained silent for a long time, and then spoke again.
"However, I have found in recent years that this is not the case."
Master's long-cherished wish was that ordinary people could also cultivate themselves and that all people were equal. This coincided with Ding Yi's wish, but Master passed away before he could see such a world, which became his life's regret.
Perhaps, when I first agreed, it was simply because I wanted to show him this kind of world.
Unfortunately, this was the wrong path.
Bai Lu had her back to Lin Feiran, her voice drifting in the whistling wind of the swords.
“In recent years, I have often dreamed of him, of that basket of steamed buns, and of his long beard braided into a plait.”
I miss him.
I apologize for saying too much that I shouldn't have, but I think someone should know this story. Someone should know what Master did.
She turned around and looked at Lin Feiran, who had already bound the scroll into a book.
"After hearing such a ridiculous story, what do you want to ask me?"
The restrictions on Lin Feiran were finally lifted. She rubbed her wrists and stood up. The wind from the sword swept past, lifting her bright eyes.
"I want to know what my mother's name is."
Bai Lu was somewhat surprised, then asked, "Didn't she ever tell you?"
Lin Feiran stood quietly atop Jade Mountain, gazing at the flowing Milky Way, and shook his head.
"She had no father or mother, and she chose her own name."
She said she was born in Jinlingdu, so she took Jin as her surname. She grew up in Panni, just like the mud that can be seen everywhere, so she took Lan as her name.
She said, "Golden waves are like splashes of mud, everywhere you look, scattered across the land, yet brimming with life."
The wind from the sword whistled past his ears, and Lin Feiran's mind trembled slightly. His hands, hanging by his sides, slowly clenched, but he grasped nothing.
"Her name is Jin Lan."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
