Chapter 5 Is it cold? He held her arm.
"Wear something warm, come down for dinner." Yi Xiao tossed the paper onto the desk.
"What do you want to eat?" Qiao Xi asked, busy looking for a cloak.
"You're quite enthusiastic about the meal. There's stewed pigeon soup, stir-fried lotus root slices, shredded pork with bamboo shoots, and rice."
"If you're not enthusiastic about eating, there's something wrong with your thinking!" Qiao Xi put on the hood of her cloak and wrapped a fluffy white scarf around her neck, revealing only her two big eyes. She smiled and said, "I love pigeon soup, but Master, you said last time you'd have shrimp in it. Are you not making it?"
“The Emperor does not like aquatic products,” Yi Xiao replied.
"Huh?" Qiao Xi paused. "He's coming to eat too?"
Yi Xiao frowned: "You little brat, do you want the Emperor to go hungry?"
“…I didn’t,” Qiao Xi pursed her lips, “I thought he was going to leave like last time.”
Her voice was already very soft, but Yi Xiao still heard it. He picked up a piece of paper from the table, rolled it into a tube, and tapped it on Qiao Xi's head.
“Everyone needs to eat! You have no respect for your elders and no sense of law. I can let it go on ordinary days, but you must remember the rules in front of the Emperor.”
"Yes, sir." Qiao Xi lowered her head listlessly.
This answer angered Yi Xiao again, and he tapped Qiao Xi on the head once more.
*
The people of Liyue live at the foot of Mount Tianheng, while the mountain is the abode of immortals.
Liu Yun and Yi Tian, along with other three-eyed, five-manifested immortals, originally lived in seclusion in Jueyun. However, due to frequent wars, they needed to follow Morax to quell the conflict and protect their people, so they also established cave dwellings in other mountains.
This project was not difficult for the immortals, and traveling back and forth between Jueyun was also not difficult.
Therefore, a hermit's abode was built on the steep and inaccessible summit of Tianheng Mountain.
This high place was originally a bamboo forest planted by Liu Yun. After Qiao Xi arrived, Liu Yun used his magic to turn it into a bamboo garden for Qiao Xi to live in.
Walking down from the Bamboo Garden leads to the residences of immortals like Liuyun and Yixiao. The entrance is a natural cave, which has been modified using immortal magic. From the outside, the interior space appears small, but inside it is a hidden paradise.
Every time Qiao Xi entered, she felt as if a cave had been opened up, and her vision would instantly broaden to the blue sky and the babbling water. They walked on the long covered bridge, with lotus flowers covering the water on both sides. Even though it was snowing heavily outside and the snow was deep, the scenery inside remained unchanged throughout the four seasons, and the climate was always warm.
Qiao Xi was so hot that she took off her cloak and hung it to one side, but she was still hot, so she took off her outer garment, leaving her only wearing a white long dress underneath.
The skirt was made of gauze, thin but not see-through, and swayed lightly with each step.
After walking to the end, a few lotus leaves that had been moving back and forth came to a stop in front of me.
Qiao Xi stepped on it, and the lotus leaves began to move, carrying her to her destination—the pavilion in the middle of the lake.
Half a year has passed, and Qiao Xi still can't maintain her balance on it. Yi Xiao, who is walking calmly and gracefully beside her, looks at Qiao Xi swaying back and forth and covers his forehead. He really can't bear to watch his disciple.
Qiao Xi gave Yi Xiao an awkward laugh. It wasn't her fault; the lotus leaf was soft to step on when it was flat on the water, and there was only one leaf, with no handrails. Maintaining balance on her own was really difficult.
Qiao Xi, who had no magical powers whatsoever, felt that she was already incredibly talented and promising, as long as she hadn't drowned.
Qiao Xi was focused on maintaining her balance and didn't notice Morax, who was sitting at the square table in the lakeside pavilion, looking at her.
He gently held the teacup, his amber eyes gazing leisurely at the lake, watching Qiao Xi's every move.
Liu Yun sat next to Morax and noticed that the Emperor was observing Qiao Xi. Fearing that the Emperor would dislike Qiao Xi's unruly behavior, she spoke up for her:
"Your Majesty, Xiaoxi has no immortal power, yet she can ride a celestial artifact across the lake. She is truly gifted."
"Hmm." Morax took a sip of tea, offering no further comment. He then turned his gaze back to Liu Yun and began discussing official business.
When talking about the residents at the foot of the mountain, Liu Yun remembered something she told Morax as a joke:
"Two months ago, after I transformed into human form, I took Xiaoxi down the mountain to check on the farmland this year. We encountered five wild boars attacking a farmer's house. Xiaoxi is usually timid, and she was so frightened by the slightest thing that her legs went weak and she couldn't walk."
But that day, she actually beat me to it, picked up a stick and ran towards those wild boars. I secretly helped her from behind, and after chasing away the wild boars, I saw the wheat scattered all over the ground.
Xiaoxi said these were seeds left by the farmers, and they were counting on them for next year; they couldn't let wild boars eat them. Only afterward did I notice her legs were shaking.
After hearing this, Morax looked at Qiao Xi again, knowing that she was timid and prone to weakness in the legs.
Morax recalled the night he first met her, when several loud bangs and a light as bright as day frightened her so much that she couldn't move.
Overcoming fear requires courage, and behind courage lies a foundation of kindness. He casually imagined Qiao Xi chasing wild boars with a stick and couldn't help but frown. Just as he was about to put down his teacup, Yi Xiao and Qiao Xi arrived.
When Qiao Xi stepped off the lotus leaf, she stumbled and almost fell into the water.
Morax paused in his act of setting down the teacup, raised his eyebrows slightly, and gave Qiao Xi a calm look.
Qiao Xi stood on the ground, waved to Morax, and smiled somewhat awkwardly. She was wearing light clothing, unlike her wedding dress from that night which jingled.
Morax nodded in response and then set down his cup.
Everyone's here, time to eat.
*
The square table in the pavilion in the middle of the lake was made of stone. Qiao Xi felt that its material was like jade or emerald. She couldn't tell, but she felt that it was very expensive.
The bowl and chopsticks were made of the same material; they looked nice, but they were slippery. Qiao Xi couldn't pick up any food with the chopsticks, so she used them to skewer the food.
The four of them were seated with Morax in the main seat, Liu Yun and Yi Xiao on either side of him, and Qiao Xi sitting opposite him.
This meant that Morax could clearly see Qiao Xi's clumsy attempts to poke at the food with her chopsticks.
Although there were no prawns in today's dishes, the pigeon soup was stewed until tender and flavorful, and the stir-fried lotus root slices were crisp and refreshing. Qiao Xi ate with great interest and quickly forgot about the series of embarrassing incidents. After she finished a bowl of rice, she even naturally forgot about Morax because it was so delicious.
"I'll have another bowl." Qiao Xi swallowed the last grain of rice in her bowl and prepared to get up and walk towards the stone pot.
She had just stood up when she suddenly saw Morax across from her, and then she came to her senses. She usually ate with Master Liuyun or Master Yixiao, and she was used to not being respectful to them.
He was so engrossed in the meal that he forgot about Morax and naturally started talking in a disrespectful tone again.
Now, Qiao Xi looked at Morax, pursed her lips, and felt that the rice grains on her lips hadn't been wiped off yet.
She glanced silently at Yi Xiao, who covered his forehead, not wanting to look at her.
She looked at Liu Yun again, but Liu Yun didn't seem to mind and helped Qiao Xi add a bowl of rice.
Qiao Xi looked around, but finally turned her gaze to Morax. She noticed that Morax had just finished eating half a bowl of rice.
Would that be impolite...?
Just then, Morax slowly raised his eyelids and looked at Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi held the rice that Liu Yun had just filled for her, wiped the rice grains from the corner of her mouth, and blurted out in a moment of madness, "I'm not full."
Yi Xiao, who was standing to the side, almost spat out his food.
Morax didn't speak, his face revealing no emotion. He was just thinking about how Yi Xiao had angrily complained to him about Qiao Xi, saying, "She's useless at everything except eating."
Morax didn't eat much; after finishing one bowl of rice, he left first.
Qiao Xi watched Morax's retreating figure and finished her third bowl of rice with a poor appetite.
She wasn't afraid of Morax at first, but after not seeing him for half a year, she felt a bit estranged. In addition, with the influence of the people around her, as Morax's image gradually took shape in her mind, she didn't know how to face him correctly.
After the meal, Liu Yun was going to Gui Li Yuan and Jue Yun for a few days, while Yi Xiao was staying to cultivate.
Qiao Xi then returned to the Bamboo Garden by herself. As she left the cave, the cold wind instantly transported her from spring to winter.
Qiao Xi had forgotten her outer garment and cloak inside. She was freezing cold and instinctively went back to get them. But when her hand touched the seal at the entrance of the cave and was burned, she realized that she was a mortal and could not enter without the guidance of an immortal.
"This will freeze to death," Qiao Xi thought, and started running up the bamboo grove on the mountain, wanting to get home as soon as possible.
The mountain roads were already difficult to travel on snowy days, and she was also cold.
Qiao Xi was numb from the cold. She hoped that her body temperature regulation would work, that the cold receptors would quickly transmit the excitement to the hypothalamus thermoregulation center, that the skin blood vessels would constrict, that the blood flow to the skin would decrease, that thyroid hormones and adrenaline would be released quickly, and that the arrector pili muscles would tremble!
Qiao Xi chuckled twice. Who's this good kid who just finished the college entrance exam and is now memorizing the biology memorization list?
As if things weren't going to go wrong, it started snowing again. She missed her big cloak so much. She had two cloaks, but this one, made by Master Liuyun, was especially warm because it contained magical magic.
The wind and snow felt like knives on her face. Qiao Xi was wearing a thin gauze dress. After a while, a strange yet familiar voice sounded behind her.
"Qiao Xi".
Qiao Xi turned around.
Morax, draped in a black cloak, stood a short distance behind her and called her name.
He stood in the wind and snow, tall and solitary like a graceful plum blossom, very beautiful.
She ran over, trembling.
"What's up?"
"Are you cold?" Morax looked down at her.
A gust of wind swept by, carrying snowflakes. Qiao Xi nodded, shivered, and said, "It's cold. My fluid and nerve regulation isn't working very well."
Morax had no idea what the child was talking about.
He looked down at her fairly well-behaved hair. Suddenly he remembered that this child had not yet learned immortal arts and was still a mortal. Without clothes to protect her body, she would indeed be unable to ward off the cold.
Morax then took off his cloak, intending to drape it over Qiao Xi's shoulders.
Faced with Morax's approach, Qiao Xi instinctively backed away. The road was slippery, and she almost fell, but luckily Morax caught her arm just in time.
It pressed warmly against her soft skin beneath the thin veil.
A note from the author:
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