Chapter 53 Uncertainty Can Never Find Him
Kissing in this position was a little uncomfortable, so Qiao Xi bit Morax. The other person paused slightly, then leaned back to look at her.
Morax's thumb glove glistened with water, his lower lip was red from being bitten by Qiao Xi, and he frowned slightly.
Qiao Xi met his gaze, then suddenly frowned, her gaze gradually shifting downwards to the point where their legs touched, before looking at Morax with some surprise.
Morax was also stunned. He quickly put Qiao Xi off him and coughed lightly, "Okay, I'm leaving now."
Before Qiao Xi could recover from the shock, she instinctively stepped forward and grabbed Morax's sleeve after hearing him say he was leaving. The thin summer sleeve snapped straight up in that instant, and Morax turned to look at her.
Qiao Xi: "It's pretty... pretty late now, why don't you stay?"
She glanced cautiously at Morax.
Morax showed no expression.
The lights inside the house were dazzling at night, intertwined with the hazy chirping of cicadas in summer. The deserted mountaintop was exceptionally quiet, the starlight was noisy, and the light it cast disturbed the birds that were keeping watch at night.
Morax's expression softened. He took Qiao Xi's hand from his sleeve, then gently stroked her cheek, saying to her without saying a word, "Wait until your styling is finished."
Qiao Xi understood the meaning behind Morax's words. She nodded, hugged his waist, and after a moment, pulled away, saying, "Goodnight."
"Okay, goodnight."
*
The next morning, while Qiao Xi was practicing her sword in the courtyard, Jin Lan passed by on his patrol. He walked into the courtyard, took out a sugar cake from his pocket, and handed it to Qiao Xi: "I saved this for you."
Qiao Xi took the sugar cake, then sat down with Jin Lan in front of the door. She ate the sugar cake, put the sword aside, and cleared her mind to rest.
"Jinlan," Qiao Xi asked him, looking at the clouds on the horizon, "what do you think Tianheng Mountain will look like eighty years from now?"
Jinlan rested his chin on his hand and shook his head: "I probably won't live to see that day."
Qiao Xi clicked her tongue and nudged Jin Lan: "That's why we need to imagine things, just like one of the classic essay topics, 'My Imagined Future Life'."
Jin Lan frowned. He couldn't understand what Qiao Xi was saying again, but if it was eighty years from now...
Jinlan said, "People live and work in peace and contentment."
Qiao Xi nodded.
Jinlan asked her, "And you, what do you think?"
Qiao Xi: "There will be harvesters that can complete harvesting and threshing at the same time, as well as water sprinklers and compound fertilizers."
Qiao Xi's eyes lit up as she spoke.
Jinlan blinked, not understanding: "Huh?"
Qiao Xi stuffed the sugar cake into her mouth and said, "Then we'll each take a driving test."
Jinlan didn't understand, but he thought it was pretty cool, so he said, "Okay!"
Qiao Xi smiled.
In early summer, after resting enough, Qiao Xi and Jin Lan went down the mountain to help the farmers plant rice. Rice is one of the important sources of food. Qiao Xi had never done farm work before. During her time in Tianheng Mountain, she learned a lot of new knowledge from the local villagers and Jin Lan and other members of the Qianyan Army.
At the foot of Tianheng Mountain, in the rice paddies, after Qiao Xi changed her clothes, Jin Lan gave her a straw hat.
Holding the seedlings, she followed Jinlan and neatly planted the emerald green seedlings in the ground. The morning temperature had not yet reached its peak, but after planting one batch, she was covered in sweat.
Qiao Xi wiped the sweat from her face, the mud still sticking to it. Jin Lan waded over and said to Qiao Xi, "Are you alright? Go and rest for a while, you'll be done soon."
Qiao Xi shook her head: "I'm fine."
Jinlan then handed her the water she had with her: "It's still warm, have a couple of sips."
After the rice seedlings were planted, the village elders treated the two of them to a meal: thick noodles with eggs and a small dish of pickled carrots. Qiao Xi ate two large bowls of food, not even leaving a drop of soup, and was very full.
Seeing her like this, Jinlan and her mother-in-law couldn't help but laugh.
Qiao Xi smiled and said, "Thank you, Grandma."
The mother-in-law said, "It is I who should thank you."
After finishing their meal, Jinlan had to lead her team to help the villagers with other tasks, so Qiaoxi went back by herself.
On the way, Qiao Xi stopped when she passed the osmanthus tree. The tree had grown quite a bit taller, but it still looked small compared to the other trees around it.
The villagers in this area seem to know that these are Qiao Xi's trees, and when they occasionally pass by, they will help her prune or fertilize them.
The old, hard green leaves clustered around the new leaves, layer upon layer. Qiao Xi bent down to smell them, but there was no fragrance of osmanthus.
She really looks forward to the arrival of autumn, when the trees will be filled with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms.
Qiao Xi did not return to the bamboo garden immediately; instead, she went to the lake next to the strawberry bushes.
In winter, the lake is covered with a thick layer of ice that people can walk on. In summer, the lake sparkles in the sunlight, and occasionally a few fish leap out. Water droplets fall from the fish, reflecting the sunlight and sparkling.
Qiao Xi placed the sword on the ground and stepped on it. She planned to challenge herself to fly across the river on her sword. Although she could only fly 10 centimeters off the ground on her sword now, as long as she could maintain that distance, she could easily cross the river even if she was only 5 centimeters above the water. Moreover, she had a full 10 centimeters!
Thinking this, Qiao Xi closed her eyes, made a hand seal, and the sword indeed rose, not too high and not too low, just ten centimeters off the ground.
Qiao Xi gave a smug smile and steered the boat toward the water.
As soon as the sword reached the water's surface, Qiao Xi suddenly sensed something was wrong. Before she could react, the sword sank to the bottom in the next second.
Qiao Xi fell into the water instantly, and she thrashed about on the surface with the fish. What exactly happened?
She hadn't learned to swim well yet, and after splashing around for a while, she choked on a body of water. Her chest burned with pain, and then she felt her limbs lose strength and began to sink to the bottom of the river. Then she saw an unexpected scene: her sword was stopped ten centimeters from the bottom of the river.
Qiao Xi: ? ? !
If it's ten centimeters off the ground, then it's really five centimeters off the "ground," not counting the water surface? Isn't this sword a bit too principled?
But right now, worrying about this principled sword isn't the most important thing. She's going to drown. Qiao Xi squinted with difficulty, picked up the sword, and tried to calm herself down. Her chest was getting more and more uncomfortable, and bubbles kept coming out of her mouth and nose.
Qiao Xi picked up the sword, shook it in the water, and silently said to the sword: If you continue to be so principled, we'll be stuck here forever!
Suddenly, the sword trembled. It seemed unwilling to stay here with Qiao Xi forever. A force spread, and Qiao Xi could feel the sword struggling upwards. However, this struggling force was beyond Qiao Xi's control, and she could hardly control it. So, Qiao Xi mustered all her strength, wrapped the sword around her clothes, gritted her teeth, and gripped it tightly with both hands. The next second, the sword carried her out of the lake.
*
A hundred meters above the ground, Qiao Xi was dripping with water, her clothes pierced by the sword, and she was hanging on the sword with a speechless expression, letting out a deep sigh.
Qiao Xi: "Sister, you can fly again now?"
The sword trembled, as if in response to Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi chuckled helplessly and said, "Then just put it down for me."
The sword flew upwards again.
Qiao Xi: "......"
Qiao Xi: "Please, I need to go back and change my clothes."
The sword remained stationary at its height.
Qiao Xi had no choice but to think it over and then began to praise it: "To be honest, you are the most beautiful sword I have ever seen."
The sword paused, hovering in the air, and after a moment, slowly descended with Qiao Xi in its arms.
Qiao Xi smiled and said, "You're so kind."
The sword wobbled and swung in the air, throwing Qiao Xi away. Qiao Xi thought the sword was going to throw her again, but the next second, the sword caught her steadily.
As Qiao Xi stepped onto the sword, she suddenly realized that the sword had accepted her.
Qiao Xi smiled. She flew through the air on her sword towards the forest near the cave. Liu Yun and Yi Xiao were looking at a food processor with a troubled expression. Qiao Xi waved from afar and called out, "Masters! Look at me!"
Liu Yun and Yi Xiao looked up and smiled with delight: "Xiao Xi, you've learned it?"
Qiao Xi: "Mm!"
She then rode her sword down the mountain, flew behind Jinlan, and startled her.
Jinlan turned around, but there was no one behind her.
Qiao Xi called out to him from the air: "Look up!"
Jinlan looked up in surprise: "Be careful, pay attention to your safety!"
Qiao Xi smiled and waved, then flew towards the cave.
She stopped in front of the cave, wanting to go in and show Morax, but since she was not yet in her final form, she couldn't go in. Not wanting to disturb the other immortals, she hesitated for a moment, then picked up her sword and prepared to leave.
Just then, she encountered Yingda, who asked her, "Are you going to find the Emperor?"
Qiao Xi: "You figured it out?"
Ying Da laughed: "I guessed."
Qiao Xi: "Do you have a way to break this seal?"
Yingda: "Of course!"
Under Qiao Xi's watchful gaze, she flicked her hand, and the seal opened. Qiao Xi thanked her repeatedly and ran inside with her sword in her arms.
Watching Qiao Xi's retreating figure, Ying Da recalled the Emperor's instructions to them: "If Qiao Xi asks you to help her break the seal, just agree."
At that time, the Yakshas didn't have much contact with Qiao Xi. Ying Da even asked the Emperor, "Is she that little girl without any immortal power?"
Yingda remembered that after she asked that question, the Emperor nodded with a slight smile.
*
After Qiao Xi ran into the cave, she first went to the pavilion in the middle of the lake, but did not see Morax. She then went to his residence, climbed over the wall, and found that Morax was not there either.
Thus, Morax was no longer in the cave.
Qiao Xi frowned, feeling a little sad. She was originally very happy to have learned to fly on a sword and wanted to share it with everyone, but at this moment, she realized something she had realized long ago: as long as Morax didn't look for her, she wouldn't be able to find Morax.
This feeling was both elusive and painful, just like his previous abrupt departures. All the pain stemmed from a sense of uncertainty, even though he said he liked her.
But she couldn't find him.
Qiao Xi sighed, picked up her sword, walked out of the cave, and returned to the bamboo garden.
At midday in summer, the sunlight shone brightly on the courtyard. Qiao Xi took a shower, changed her clothes, and came out.
A hot breeze blew across her trousers as Qiao Xi reached her hand into the air, attempting to summon her sword.
Qiao Xi waited for a long time, but the sword was still in the same place.
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Author's Note: It's almost finished (about ten chapters left). I might take a day off tomorrow to work on the outline. There are six little surprises in the comments section. Thank you for your support!
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