Chapter 44 Yin Yang Dream "Tonight, don't sleep."...
Lin Feiran never imagined in his life that he would be chased by a metal-eating beast that was half a head taller than a person.
Perhaps it was because Ru Xian had given prior instructions, or perhaps it was just his nature, but Ping An burst into laughter after recognizing her and immediately poured out a black and white glutinous rice ball from the gourd.
Before anyone could soften their stance, the small iron-eating beast suddenly grew larger, smashing a giant sword with its two paws as it landed, startling several teenagers who leaped onto the roof beams.
It wasn't intentional; it was simply due to its innate superhuman strength.
The next moment, it pounced on Lin Feiran. Just as she was about to dodge, Ping An grabbed her by the neck and sealed her spiritual meridians.
"The first principle of practicing magic is to let go of spiritual power. There is no law in the world, yet the world is law."
The words were profound, but unfortunately, Lin Feiran was not given a chance to comprehend them. She was relentlessly pursued by the Iron-Eating Beasts and forced to become the most dazzling sight in the Demon Capital that day, only finally stopping when the moon rose.
"How are you feeling?" Ping An jumped down from the gourd and bent down to look at her.
Lin Feiran propped himself up on his knees, and it took him a long time to find his voice: "I'm fine."
Ping An couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this. Young people always have a certain inexplicable pride, so she didn't expose her. Instead, she patted her shoulder and encouraged her, "It's clear that you've always been diligent and self-reflective, and you have a good foundation. With more guidance, you're sure to have a bright future."
Lin Feiran looked at her and finally asked the question that had been on her mind: "Sister Ping, is it the Lord's will that you be the one to guide me in learning magic?"
"Yes and no." Ping An untied the gourd, took a sip, and then bent down to pick up the glutinous rice ball back into his arms. "If we were to learn magic, his skill would be no less than mine. This time, I volunteered to teach him after he mentioned it once."
Lin Feiran asked doubtfully, "Can I ask why?"
Ping An took a deep breath and smiled, "As fellow envoys, we are one of our own. Do we need a reason to teach one of our own?"
As Lin Feiran got closer, he noticed something unusual about her eyes: her left pupil was covered with a light layer of whitish film, while her right pupil was pure black.
Noticing her gaze, Ping An turned his head slightly and explained more clearly: "Several Skywalkers were among my ancestors. They were born with appearances different from ordinary people, so I also inherited some of their skills, but I am not as powerful as they are."
She turned to look at the sky, stretched, and said, "It's been a long time since I've been out of Jingchuan. Tonight I'll have a good stroll around!"
Remembering something, Lin Feiran took out an eight-pointed star lamp from her mustard seed bag, smiled and said, "In that case, I will give this star lamp to Sister Ping as a gift for our first meeting."
Ping An curiously took it and examined it closely. A faint warm color was reflected in her pale pupils. She then realized that the lamp contained neither candlelight nor a pearl, but a firefly sheath. It would gather when there was light and disperse like fireflies when there was no light, like scattered stars.
"This is exactly what I want, so I'll take it!" She held up the glutinous rice ball in her hand and ran off, shouting, "Rice ball, let's go, a night tour of the demon city!"
Seeing her leave, Lin Feiran leaped onto the roof and looked into Xingzhi Palace. She had many plans for the day, but there was still one last thing to complete. She found a spot and then used her magic to leave.
*
With a rustling sound, the branches and leaves of the paulownia tree swayed, and the ginseng boy sweeping the courtyard immediately became alert and focused his attention.
Atop the tree stood a dark figure, tall and straight, almost blending into the night. If it weren't for the Ginseng Child's exceptional eyesight, he probably would have already attacked her.
"It's the envoy! You've chosen the right person again. The Lord is staying here today." The visitor was Lin Feiran, so the boy was not surprised.
The Xingzhi Palace has many residences, and Ru Xian can stay wherever he pleases each day. If his subordinates want to find him, they usually have to ask the attendant boy. But Lin Feiran is different.
Whether it's day or night, she can always find the place accurately.
"Thank you." Lin Feiran nodded slightly and walked towards the inner courtyard.
Unsurprisingly, she saw the same person sitting alone by the window again, leaning back, his long hair flying in the wind, swaying like a weeping begonia in the breeze. The good-for-nothing she hadn't seen all day was squatting beside him, engrossed in eating gold flakes, his face full of joy.
"Since we're already here, what are we doing standing there?" He closed his eyes, feigning sleep, but his voice showed no sign of fatigue.
Lin Feiran had asked him many times why he only slept soundly during the day and was awake at night, but he never received a definite answer. Either he liked to admire the moon, or he slept too much during the day and had difficulty falling asleep at night. In short, the answer changed every day.
Reaching the window, she didn't speak, but Ru Xian opened her eyes first: "You came here tonight to ask about the Yin-Yang fish? To answer you first, I don't know the specific reason."
"Yin-Yang symbol?"
Lin Feiran paused as she reached into her mustard seed bag, a moment of confusion flashing in her eyes. She immediately raised her hand and made a hand seal, and a plump black fish instantly leaped out from the etched lines in her eyes.
With its head drooping and expressionless, its tail, resembling a dry brushstroke, occasionally twitches, making it seem as if it's only a step away from turning belly up.
Lin Feiran slightly opened her eyes, a ripple appearing in her usually calm gaze. She raised her hand to hold the small fish and asked, "What's wrong with it?"
"I don't know the specific reason." Ru Xian looked down at her, her snow-white eyelashes lowered in dissatisfaction, and she said in a cold voice, "You're only finding out now?"
Lin Feiran looked at him blankly: "Yes, we usually just let it play around in our eyes. If there's nothing to do, who would call it out all the time... Should we call it out to take a look all the time?"
Ru Xian stared at her for a moment: "Yes, I only just realized who it is that can be summoned all the time."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and summoned the white fish. The fish looked similar to the white fish, both listless and only occasionally blowing bubbles.
Ru Xian scrutinized him for a long time before speaking: "There are two possibilities. Either the day you entered the Sword Realm, when the saint in the arena dismissed everyone else and forcibly severed the spiritual bond between us, he injured the Taiji Yin-Yang Fish, or the two fish have been separated for too long, causing an imbalance of Yin and Yang, which is why they are weak."
He suspended the two fish in the air and slowly swirled them together.
"Let's try getting closer."
Lin Feiran looked at the two slowly rotating fish and, for some reason, had a feeling that he would soon see them on the dinner table.
Her gaze shifted slightly, only to meet Ru Xian's eyes again. He didn't look away, but simply asked, "What good deed have you done today?"
Hearing this description, Lin Feiran felt something was off. She explained, "I just went to deliver some things."
"Sending gifts." Ru Xian raised an eyebrow slightly. "Yesterday, after returning to Xingzhi Palace, you first sent Xun Feifei a bottle of pills, then strung a few bowstrings for Bi Qing, and gifted Xuan Zhen a book of thunder magic. What did you send today?"
She recalled, "They gave me the Golden Fire Pill, the captured weapons, and also gifted Sister Ping a star lamp."
At this point, Lin Feiran, without looking at Ru Xian's expression, lowered his head and gently took something out of his mustard seed bag.
They were two crystal-blue dandelions with soil still clinging to their roots, their color pure and elegant, bright yet not gaudy, radiating a faint glow in the night.
“I heard you mention before that you like to collect treasures. These dandelions only grow in Little Sage Land, so they must be quite rare. I dug up a few.”
Ru Xian lowered her eyes to look at the flower plant, her scattered snow-white hair obscuring the moonlight, making it even more difficult to see her expression. Suddenly, her eyes flickered, and her gaze fell on Lin Feiran, following her as she turned into the courtyard.
She held the flower stalk, searching around for something. The moonlight fell on her face, making her look peaceful and clear.
She seemed to have finally found it, her expression relaxed slightly, and she squatted down to pull out a flowerpot and planted two dandelions.
"All done." She finished tidying everything up, placed the flowers on the windowsill, and cast a simple windproof spell.
Two fluffy, crystal-blue flower balls swayed within, their tops gleaming with a clear, sky-blue hue under the bright moonlight. Suddenly, I wondered, could this be considered a blue sky at night?
He raised a finger and touched one of the flower balls, asking, "Why did you decide to send me something?"
Lin Feiran looked at him seriously and said, "Staying in one place all the time will make you feel bored. Besides, the Lord often traveled in the human realm when he was young, so he must enjoy traveling around. If you really can't leave the Demon Capital, I think I can help you bring some things back."
Ru Xian smiled silently. He looked at her, his emerald eyes shimmering, and said loudly, "Who says I can't leave the Demon Capital? It's just that the climate here is so pleasant that I'm very happy."
Lin Feiran nodded noncommittally, then asked, "So, the Venerable One can also leave Xingzhi Palace?"
He raised his eyebrows: "Of course."
Lin Feiran continued, "So, we have a welcome-back banquet tomorrow, and the Venerable One can attend as promised?"
Ru Hai's eyes narrowed slightly, and she changed her address back: "When did I make an appointment with you?"
Lin Feiran looked at him: "It can be now. Biqing and the others said you never go out to banquets. I think that not going out might be a way to attend banquets."
He glanced at the two listless fish that were still circling around and chuckled softly, "Then keep thinking about it."
The yin-yang symbol stayed together for a long time, but there was not much improvement. It was still listless and even looked somewhat faded.
The white fish's tail was stained with a bit of gray-black, while small patches of gray-white spread out on the black fish's tail.
He frowned slightly, fiddled with his fingers a few times, and said, "It seems it's not the second reason, so he must have been injured during the severing a few days ago."
Lin Feiran peeked over and asked, "How should it be treated?"
Ru Xian wanted to move her head away, and subconsciously raised his finger to touch her forehead. It wasn't until a little warmth came through his fingertip that he realized what he had done.
He subtly withdrew his hand, rubbed it for a moment, and continued speaking.
"I have studied medicine, but I don't know how to control beasts. However, I have a friend who is an expert in this field. I will write to him in the next couple of days. If it's truly beyond saving..."
He looked up at Lin Feiran: "We'll have to issue another edict to command demons."
Lin Feiran focused on another key point: "Friends?"
"What, is it strange that I have a friend?" He picked up one of the small black fish. "Take it back and take good care of it."
Lin Feiran clasped his hands together to accept the gift, and was about to turn and leave when he remembered something: "By the way, Your Majesty, a swordsmith asked me to ask you if you would be willing to accept him as an envoy, and where he obtained the goods."
Ru Xian pondered for a moment, and the image of a withered old man appeared in her mind: "You mean Zhang Siwo? Too old, no thanks. Besides, there's only one of his kind in the world."
The burly creature swallowed the gold leaf, barked a response, and swung its tail rapidly.
"Alright then."
Lin Feiran stopped worrying about it. After giving away the dandelion and finishing the last thing for the day, she told Ru Xian the time and place of the welcome-home banquet, then turned and left with the fish in her arms.
That night, Lin Feiran quickly fell asleep, while Ru Xian leaped onto the roof and quietly watched the moon hanging in the sky.
He knows the night in the city of Yaodu all too well.
At first, the market was brightly lit and bustling with people. Night walkers roamed the city, sometimes staying in restaurants and sometimes wandering the streets.
As night falls, the northwest area will be the first to go out, where the tribes who have come to the Demon Capital seeking refuge live. Next will be the East Market, where the old cultivators live in seclusion. Gradually, the South Ward and North Street will also quiet down, and finally the central area will come to a stop.
If the lights in the middle go out, it means that dawn is not far away.
Ru Xian never slept at night, so he would sit alone like this every night until dawn.
But today seemed different; before he even saw the lights on North Street go out, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Because he hadn't been sleeping well, he hadn't had a dream in a long time, and he had never seen such heavy rain.
Each drop, like a pearl, weighed more than a thousand pounds when it fell onto the leaves, knocking down many flowers and leaves along the roadside. The scattered flowers and leaves flowed down the bluestone slabs and eventually piled up on the riverbank.
"It's raining so hard, quickly hide in my arms!"
A clear male voice entered his ears. He turned around and saw three people huddled under the white wall, like a family of three. The man in the middle was wearing a cloak, holding a tung oil umbrella, with one arm around his wife and the other holding his young daughter.
"Qingqing, is the rain in Jinling always this heavy? Won't it make Manman stupid?"
The woman smiled and said, "We have even bigger ones than this. But you, you fool, have you forgotten that I am a cultivator? Can I take shelter from the rain?"
The man suddenly realized: "That's right, you don't often use magic, so I always forget it. But I'm just a mortal, can I avoid it?"
The woman took out a jade talisman from her mustard seed bag and made a hand seal. A green light array slowly rose from it, and after a few breaths, it covered the three people's heads, as if it were a real object that sheltered them from the wind and rain.
Ru Xian, standing to the side, couldn't help but take a few more glances. Even though it was just a rain-avoidance formation, its intricate and exquisite nature was truly astonishing.
Who is this woman?
He then turned to look at the three people, momentarily puzzled as to why he was having such a dream.
It wasn't until the little girl in the man's arms looked up that he suddenly realized that the little girl who was opening her mouth in amazement was none other than Lin Feiran.
He entered Lin Feiran's dream.
The moment this thought crossed his mind, he remembered the two yin-yang fish that were mutually influencing each other. His mind jolted, and without hesitation, he made a hand seal to break the dream and woke up.
He was still on the roof ridge, but in the next instant, his figure vanished like mist and then reappeared beside Lin Feiran's bed.
She slept in a very upright posture, with her hands folded over and pressed down on the corners of the blanket, resting on her abdomen, peaceful and serene.
Ru Xian looked for a moment, then woke her up without hesitation: "Lin Feiran."
"Lin Feiran, Lin Feiran?"
The voice was cool and clear, like pearls and jade, and as clear as a babbling brook. The more Lin Feiran listened, the more familiar it sounded. So she got up and woke up. She looked at Ru Xian standing by the bed, stared blankly for a few moments, and then looked around to make sure that she was in her own house.
"My Lord, what brings you here?"
Ru Xian pursed her lips and looked at her, saying, "Let me see if you're dreaming."
Lin Feiran was confused: "I think I'm dreaming right now."
"What did you dream about just now?" Ru Xian leaned over to look at her.
Lin Feiran stepped back half an inch, the slightly cool fragrance of plum blossoms wafting over her, dispelling her sleepiness by a third: "I didn't dream of anything, what should I dream of?"
Ru Xian straightened up, his face hidden in the night. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Don't sleep tonight."
Lin Feiran: "Huh?"
Author's Note: Lin Feiran: Who watches fish every day...?
Like sleet: I watch it eight hundred times a day.
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Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 21:15:46 and 21:26:20 on August 14, 2024!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Peach Bubble (20 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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