Chapter 208 Awakening (Supplement) I was wondering how you always have so much energy...
As the wedding procession passed through the streets, the sound of gongs and drums would start, and people would open their doors and windows to look out. Those who knew the inside story would even throw some money as a congratulatory gift.
The copper coins jingled as they fell, leaving a few on Wei Changzai's hair and shoulders. He picked them up, glanced at the spot, and felt a rare sense of emotion welling up inside him.
Even though he had traveled to many cities across continents, he had rarely seen a place with such a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
But he didn't linger for long. Instead, he mingled with the crowd of onlookers and made his way to the Wei residence.
Dongpingchang has many guard residences, but this one is more exquisite and luxurious. The plaque is gilded, and the two stone lions in front of the gate are made of fine marble, smooth and delicate. At this moment, they are draped with red silk and hold pearls in their mouths.
Several servants stood in front of the door, along with a middle-aged man dressed in blue brocade. He had a happy expression on his face and was exchanging pleasantries with the neighbors who had come to offer their congratulations.
Wei Changzai stared at the figure from afar for several breaths, a faint mist inexplicably settling over her heart, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She then looked away and climbed up through the alleyway beside her, wanting to catch a glimpse of the true face of the other "Wei Changzai".
Even though it was just an engagement banquet, the pomp and circumstance in this courtyard were by no means inferior. There were delicacies from the mountains, servants to attend to them, and everyone was polite. It seemed that the Wei family was extremely wealthy.
He looked up for a long time but didn't see the main character's face. Instead, he saw a woman in a pink shirt and white skirt being escorted out by a group of people. She had a slender figure, but her appearance was very ordinary, which was strangely inconsistent with her figure.
"A lot of people have arrived?" The voice was soft, yet it reached Wei Changzai's ears very clearly. "The time is almost here. In that case, please invite the two of them out to burn incense and exchange gifts. Then the marriage will be settled."
Wei Changzai's gaze remained fixed on her face, scrutinizing her closely. She was still just an ordinary woman, but the smile that appeared at the corner of her eyes made it impossible for him to look away.
Have he seen him before?
Amidst the good-natured banter and laughter of the group, two people finally emerged from the main room.
The man was tall and slender, adorned with jade hairpins and a crown, dressed in a calm, deep blue-green outfit, with a slightly naive and shy smile on his face. The woman beside him wore a willow-green dress, with bright eyes and a more graceful and poised demeanor than he was.
That must be "Wei Changzai".
But when he looked at the man from the left and right, he found that he did not resemble him at all. He looked more like the woman and the man who was greeting guests at the door.
Wei Changzai stood on the roof ridge and looked around, his phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, somewhat puzzled. At this moment, a couple in love in the courtyard had already offered incense and paid their respects. Their parents were all smiles, and they exchanged name cards, thus the marriage was considered settled.
The middle-aged man stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "My son is engaged today. Thank you all for coming to congratulate me. The kitchen has specially prepared lily cakes; please accept them!"
The visiting guests naturally agreed, which must be a local custom.
Just as everyone was sharing the cakes, someone caught sight of Wei Changzai. After the fright of the past few days, they had long been used to his unpredictable appearances and said with a smile, "Little Immortal Master, what are you doing standing so far away? Come and share in the joy, we don't mind!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the parents and the newlyweds turned to look, their eyes filled with curiosity.
They had been busy with the engagement these past few days and were therefore unaware of Wei Changzai's presence. After hearing a few explanations from others, they smiled and said, "So that's how it is. Little Immortal Master, since you've traveled here, why not come and have a drink of wedding wine?"
The boy with the same name as him immediately stepped forward and said shyly, "Dad, this isn't considered a wedding feast yet."
The middle-aged man shook his head and chuckled a few times, then pointed at him vaguely: "Are you trying to renege on your debt?"
A few light coughs came from behind. "Wei Changzai" immediately shook his head and said to the person standing on the roof ridge, "Little Immortal Master, come down quickly!"
Wei Changzai looked at the crowd, feeling a sense of unfamiliarity with their familiarity. He didn't understand why they would treat a stranger like this, but he still found himself drawn to the courtyard.
The young man, adorned with plum blossoms and carrying a sword, possessed a cool and aloof demeanor. The crowd instinctively stepped aside to make way for him.
This young immortal was clearly handsome and accomplished, and everyone praised the Wei family for having two happy events.
Everyone was congratulating him, everyone was laughing, but Wei Changzai became indifferent amidst this heart-warming joy. He finally felt that familiar sense of incongruity, and his heart suddenly calmed down.
Lin Feiran once said that joy should not be suppressed. Just as he was about to take the wine cup, he felt a focused gaze. So he turned around and happened to meet the pair of eyes that were staring at him.
She was the woman in the pink shirt, and also the mother of "Wei Changzai".
She looked him over, a hint of admiration in her eyes: "Child, you are so pleasing to the eye. How old are you this year?"
Wei Changzai looked back at her: "Nineteen."
The man beside him laughed loudly: "What a remarkable young man! He's the same age as Ah-Jun!"
The woman did not look away, but continued to scrutinize him, even taking a half step forward: "Young Immortal Master, have we met before?"
Wei Changzai also had this question in his mind, but unfortunately, "This is my first time in Dongpingcang."
The woman said with a mix of realization and regret, "So, my husband and I returned to our hometown to settle down twenty years ago. It's impossible for us to have met again."
The boy standing on the other side sighed slightly and stepped forward, saying, "I'm sorry, Little Immortal Master is so well-behaved. My mother likes children like that. There was no offense intended."
Wei Changzai turned to look at him and asked directly, "Your name is Wei Changzai?"
The man exclaimed in surprise and stepped forward, saying, "Young Immortal Master, did you calculate this?"
Wei Changzai paused, then said, "I asked him about it. The name sounds a bit strange, like a Taoist name."
The woman smiled gently, patted the boy's hand beside her, and explained, "This is his courtesy name. His family practices Taoism, so they chose a similar one. He has a given name, a single name, Wei Jun."
The man added, "This child always says that Changzai is strange and doesn't sound nice, so he doesn't want us to call him that. We usually call him by his real name, and we don't mention Changzai often anymore. However, we still follow Taoism in our family and don't mean any disrespect."
The man spoke tactfully, both covering up the shortcomings of his wife and children and preventing Wei Chang from harboring any resentment.
Having asked all the necessary questions, Wei Changzai didn't speak again. He simply stepped forward, took the cup of wine, and drank it down.
"Wishing you both a long and happy marriage."
For ordinary people, receiving blessings from a virtuous and upright immortal is already the icing on the cake, and everyone offered their congratulations again, to which the newlyweds responded shyly.
Wei Changzai glanced at it again and then turned to leave. Since he was leaving, no one dared to stop him. They could only say a few words to see him off. Just as he was about to leave the mansion, a voice suddenly called out to him.
"child."
Wei Changyu stopped in front of the mansion gate and turned around to look at the woman standing on the stone steps, looking down at him.
She stepped down, lifting her skirt gracefully, and her kind gaze slowly fell on his face: "I still feel that you look familiar. Although I have never met you before, I think it is because we are kindred spirits. I made this lily cake. Since you are here, you may take one with you."
Now that the surrounding disturbances were gone and they were closer, the woman's appearance was fully revealed. On that ordinary face were a pair of extraordinary eyes, bright as mirrors, with eyelashes that drooped down like phoenix tails.
She resembles him.
In that instant, something seemed to flash through my heart.
"Child?" Seeing his prolonged silence, the woman was somewhat surprised, thinking that her address had been offensive, so she changed her words, "Little Immortal Master? This cake isn't particularly refined; if you have any dietary restrictions, then..."
Before she finished speaking, Wei Changzai took the oil paper package, nodded his thanks to her, and turned to leave without saying a word.
He wandered through the streets and alleys, passing a noodle stall at the city gate. Just as the owner was about to call him over, he saw him walk past with his eyes fixed on the road, carrying a paper package in his hand. His slender figure disappeared into the crowd, and then he suddenly leaped up and stepped onto a long sword.
I came alone, and I will leave alone.
Wei Changzai remained silent, the packet of pastries still dangling from his fingertips. The Kunwu Sword Spirit was finally released from its storage pouch and sat on the sword's hilt, looking on with its chin in hand, not understanding why he was in such a hurry.
It would take him almost four hours to travel from Luoyang to Dongpingcang by sword, but he only took three hours to return to the mountain. As soon as he landed, before the sword spirit could even speak, he had already taken it back into his possession.
Wei Changyu pushed open the door in the darkness of night. The mirror inside swayed slightly, reflecting his gentle body.
He placed the pastry on the table and went straight to the wardrobe. Instead of a light blue Taoist robe, it was filled with dresses of various colors. He stepped inside, buried his head in the side of the dress, and smelled the almost dissipated scent. He finally let out a slight sigh of relief.
The cabinet door was not completely closed, leaving a small gap through which the light shone, illuminating his slightly trembling eyelashes.
...
As the moon sets and the sun rises, birds begin to sing in the demon capital, and withered leaves fall, only to be cleaved apart by a sword aura that comes from the side.
Lin Feiran practiced the Dingfengbo Sword Technique given to her by the sword spirit as usual. Although it only had four moves, its meaning was boundless. However, she still wanted to complete it in her practice, but unfortunately, she had no idea how.
After practicing, she sheathed her sword and then leaped onto the rooftop to practice breathing exercises.
"Grandmaster, have you figured out where the spiritual vein is going?" she asked during the break.
Beside him, the iron-clad Khitan book was wide open, and his master lay stiffly on the last page, his hands clasped around his stomach, unwilling to move, and looked extremely tired.
"I really don't know where you get your energy. If the disciples back then had been even a fraction as hardworking as you, Daohe Palace might have lasted for several more decades."
The spiritual veins that are naturally formed and nurtured by nature cannot be returned to the world, nor can they be destroyed. They can either be hidden away, or... I thought about it for several days, but I couldn't find a foolproof hiding place.
I'm so old, and I still have to work so hard. Sometimes I think it would be better if we were all dead.
Lin Feiran looked up at the sky: "...Grandmaster, you're just too tired. I'll pretend I didn't hear what you said."
The grandmaster turned his back to her, looking extremely vulnerable.
Lin Feiran thought for a moment, then decided to change the subject: "Grandmaster, I've always remembered something. You said before that to open this Iron Khitan Book, three things are needed..."
"We didn't do anything!" Lin Feiran, who had been sitting with his hands clasped behind his back, breathing in spiritual energy, suddenly choked upon hearing this and immediately jumped to his feet. "No, Master, why were you peeking!"
Although Ruxian has been sleeping in her room these past few days, it's because he said he was in pain and needed someone to massage him to help him fall asleep!
"Don't make a fuss. We're all cultivators; there are no taboos." Seeing this, the Grandmaster turned back. "But I wasn't peeping. I just happened to see you in the room with him. He was pressing his fingers against your spiritual meridians while chanting a prayer..."
At this point, the grandmaster paused, then glanced at her again: "He was chanting incantations, and spiritual light was flying around him, as if he was healing you, treating your spiritual meridians?"
Lin Feiran paused, but did not deny it: "Yes."
The grandmaster looked at her, propping his head up: "What exactly is wrong with your spiritual veins that requires this kind of treatment?"
If someone else had asked, Lin Feiran might have had to think carefully before answering, but since it was her grandmaster, she told him everything about the incantation.
"A curse cast by the Human Emperor?" Grandmaster suddenly realized. "In that case, no wonder he used this method to heal you."
The grandmaster didn't seem surprised. It wasn't surprising that people of their level would know how to break the curse.
The grandmaster turned over again, and the Iron Khitan Book flipped and closed, forming an ancient and weathered stone book, which meant that he was in seclusion again for contemplation.
Lin Feiran did not disturb her; she simply stroked the iron Khitan book with her fingers and pondered in her heart.
Qiu Tong had told her before that she went to Daohe Palace because she heard from Prince Qingping that she wanted to find a copy of the "Immortal True Man's Scripture". However, after reading it several times, she found that it was still just a travelogue, containing her master's insights that were beneficial to cultivation.
If she guessed correctly, it must be that Prince Qingping and the people behind him had misjudged the situation; what they were originally looking for should be in this long-sealed alchemical book.
In the past, she might have just been curious, but wouldn't have paid much attention.
But now that she knows her mother's death is related to esoteric Buddhism, her desire to unravel this sacred text has become even stronger.
The original master said that to open this book, one needs the essence of a person with boundless fortune, the marrow from a stone that is rare even once in a hundred years, and a fire without roots.
She already possessed the marrow from the stone; it was this that Ru Xian used to mend her broken disciple's sword.
As for the essence and blood of those with extraordinary fortune, apart from Wei Changzai, who possesses unparalleled fortune, there is no one else here…
But she had researched this rootless fire before. It was also a naturally formed spiritual object that required an extremely rare opportunity to create. It was rare to see one every few hundred years, and the timing was very coincidental, disappearing in an instant.
Even if it appears, you might not be able to encounter it. Before it receives nourishment from spiritual energy, a single rain shower can extinguish it.
All she can do now is keep an eye out and hope that someone in the world might just stumble upon such an opportunity.
Silently organizing and sorting out recent events in her mind, and after meditating for another hour, she finally got up, wiping the thin layer of sweat from her forehead as she walked into the room.
This is her little shabby house.
It wasn't exactly dilapidated, but compared to the sparsely populated dwellings, it was truly destitute.
There was another undulating figure on the bed, with a butterfly cut from willow branches placed at the head of the bed, its shadow covering the quilt.
Lin Feiran changed her clothes very quickly, washed up briefly, and then walked to the bedside while tying her wristband.
Ru Xian was already half awake, but he did not get up. Instead, he glanced at her sideways.
Lin Feiran felt that his gaze wasn't directed at her, so she awkwardly relented and licked her lips.
"What's wrong?"
Ru Xian's gaze shifted, and she said in a cool voice, "I was wondering how you always have so much energy."
For the past few days, she had been listening to him talk about the twelve immortal mountains and his past anecdotes. Perhaps he added some plots from stories he had read before, but Lin Feiran listened with rapt attention, and she would not go to sleep until midnight every time he talked.
She has the energy to stay up late and get up early, but he doesn't.
"Actually, thanks to your encouragement lately, I've been sleeping a lot more. And I've been eating breakfast every day, so you should eat more too. What would you like to eat?"
After tightening the wristband, Lin Feiran leaned forward to ask questions, but kept a certain distance. Water droplets from her hair fell onto her face like sleet.
He closed his eyes slightly and stared at her again. Lin Feiran gasped and immediately reached out to wipe it, but her hands were also wet, so she wiped a small patch.
"..."
Seeing Lin Feiran raise her hand, Ru Xian chuckled lightly, tapped her head with her finger, and said, "You're not going to eat anything? This bed is really hard; I can't get used to sleeping on it no matter how long I sleep in it."
Lin Feiran was speechless: "They've already laid down three layers of fleece, I'm practically sinking into it!"
Ru Xian shook her head slightly: "Judging from your posture, what are you planning to do today?"
Lin Feiran replied matter-of-factly, "Patrolling the city. My leave from Xun Feifei is up, and it's my turn to patrol the city today."
Ru Xian had completely forgotten that she had taken leave after so many things had happened. No wonder Xun Feifei wrote a letter to award her a gold medal.
"Then what?"
"After patrolling the city all day, I don't know if there will be any accidents in the city today. Go to Zhang Siwo this afternoon. I made an appointment to meet with him. We should talk until night. I will come back tonight to help you unblock your meridians and relieve your pain."
"Aren't you tired?" Even though she knew her answer, Ru Xian still asked this question.
"fine."
He sighed softly and looked up at the tent ceiling: "If there aren't so many things to do in the future, how will we keep you occupied?"
Lin Feiran: "..."
Don't be so genuinely distressed!
She got up and stood back by the bed: "Let's eat something, it's on the table. I'm going to patrol the city."
Lin Feiran left with the golden umbrella on her back. Just before she stepped out of the room, she heard the sound of hail again. She turned around and saw him sitting up, looking at her in the sunlight.
"In a few days, I will go to the secret realm recorded by the Mad Taoist to search for spiritual treasures. Wait for me to return."
She paused, shifted slightly, and then moved closer to him again: "Shall I go with you?"
Ru Shan lowered his eyes, brushed away the stray hairs on her cheek, but unlike before, he didn't agree: "No need, you stay here, I will quietly go to the human world. The other 'me' is in the city, the situation hasn't changed, so there won't be any problems for the time being."
Lin Feiran asked in surprise, "You have a clone?"
As he raised an eyebrow, he leaned down and gently kissed the corner of her lips, but did not answer: "You'll find out when the time comes, you'll be late."
Lin Feiran didn't have time to ask any questions, so he said goodbye and left quickly. Ru Xian responded and pulled out the corner of her robe that she had tucked behind her waist, then lay back down on the bed.
He couldn't help but click his tongue again, and it really did require adding two more layers of fleece. It wasn't that he really couldn't stand it, but rather that he was now more sensitive.
He raised his hand, his sleeves slid down, and the shadows of butterflies were reflected on his long arms. Suddenly, strange patterns appeared and then quickly disappeared.
A soft sigh escaped from the tent.
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