Chapter 6 Stand still. What is your relationship with the Emperor?
After a moment, Qiao Xi removed her arm.
She trembled, her mind filled with only one thought—she had embarrassed herself in front of Morax again, how embarrassing.
She coughed lightly, feigning composure as she met Morax's gaze and smiled, "Thank you."
"Um."
Morax agreed, draping the cloak over Qiao Xi's shoulders, and calmly reminded her, "Stand still."
"……oh."
Qiao Xi slowly straightened up. This was the second time she had been this close to Morax since he brought her here five months ago.
The cloak was warm and had a faint woody scent.
Qiao Xi couldn't help but wonder what kind of laundry detergent it was made with, as the fragrance was quite long-lasting.
While she was lost in thought, Morax tied the rope for her, his fingers occasionally brushing against Qiao Xi's chin, not too lightly, not too heavily, and soon, a neat slipknot was tied.
"Can you go back by yourself?" Morax asked, putting a little distance between himself and Qiao Xi.
"Yes, thank you, Morax."
Morax stood ramrod straight, nodded slightly, and said calmly, "That's good then."
Before parting, Qiao Xi hesitated for a moment. She clutched a corner of the cloak and asked Morax, "Aren't you cold if you give me this?"
“It’s not cold,” Morax said, looking at her.
“…Oh, okay then, um, thank you so much.”
Hearing her say "thank you" several times, Morax couldn't help but chuckle at her polite formality.
He sighed softly, said no more, and lowered his eyes, only to see snow falling on Qiao Xi's hair.
So he took two steps closer to her, raised his hand, and naturally brushed the snow off her hair.
But the heavy snow continued, and soon new snowflakes began to fall.
Morax looked at the newly fallen snowflakes that had covered the spot where his fingers had brushed, and only then did he realize how childish his actions had been, and he smiled helplessly.
Qiao Xi just stared blankly up at him.
The wind blew the fur on her cloak.
Snow fell on Morax's shoulders.
Morax noticed that she was looking at him and met her gaze.
His gaze was slightly lowered, calm as still water, but it earned him another slightly distant and polite smile from Qiao Xi.
Morax then asked her, "How old are you this year?"
"I just turned eighteen," Qiao Xi replied. She had just celebrated her birthday on the day of the college entrance examination.
Morax's fingers were damp with melted snow. He nodded. "I understand. You can go back now."
He paused for a moment, then said, "I have other matters to attend to and cannot stay with you for long."
Qiao Xi nodded. She knew the man in front of her was busy, and besides, she had only seen him twice, so she couldn't say that he needed someone to accompany him.
But after Morax left last time, she didn't see him for five months. This time, after hearing Morax say that he was leaving, she asked, almost without thinking, "Will you come back?"
Morax looked at her, as if he didn't understand.
Qiao Xi looked at the other person intently and continued to ask, "You're not coming back again this time?"
Morax laughed upon hearing this: "We won't go far."
“Okay, um,” Qiao Xi hesitated for a moment, took a breath, and asked cautiously, “If you’re going to be gone for a long time, could you let me know?”
The snow wind in the mountains rustled the verdant pine trees, and the bamboo in the distant bamboo garden remained evergreen all year round. In a place beyond the reach of sight, the roar of the mountains and the tsunami that had been quelled not long ago still lingered.
Qiao Xi found herself to be quite inexplicable at times. For example, right now, whether someone comes or leaves is none of her business. Why should she tell them?
And why would she care about Morax leaving without saying goodbye?
Morax looked at her and softly replied, "Mmm."
That's considered an agreement.
*
In high school Chinese textbooks, there is a module on poetry appreciation.
The teacher said that to appreciate a story, one must first understand the poet's current environment and the background of the poem's creation.
After Morax left, Qiao Xi watched his retreating figure, and a line of poetry she had once read suddenly came to mind:
"Like clouds in a dream, snow beyond the clouds, spring in the snow."
She was talking to herself, lost in thought, when suddenly the wind picked up and snow began to fall.
Morax disappeared into the swirling snow.
A gust of wind swept by, carrying snowflakes and filling the air with the scent of withered winter vegetation. Qiao Xi snapped out of her reverie, wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, and jogged towards the bamboo garden, lifting the hem of her coat.
At the same time, Morax, who had walked deep into the snow, stopped and turned around, with snowflakes flying wildly behind him.
He heard Qiao Xi recite the poem.
*
Although Morax has no intention of vying for supremacy, there will always be monsters or demon gods who come to provoke him. When border disputes arise, Morax will crush them with absolute power.
From the Yaksha Lord who wreaks havoc on the people of Liyue through dreams, to the ferocious beast called Chi in the north, and the battle Qiao Xi witnessed against the sea monster that night.
The situation is now stable, so Morax can stay here for a while.
Besides the battlefield, understanding and caring for the mortal world is also part of his contract with the people of Liyue as the Emperor.
After giving the cloak to Qiao Xi, he transformed and descended the mountain.
When immortals take human form, they are difficult for mortals to distinguish.
But the Yakshas who followed Morax in his campaigns could recognize him at a glance.
When they reached the halfway point of the mountain, General Fire Rat Yingda and General Snail Roll Fanan came towards them together.
The two men spotted an old man in a straw raincoat in the distance. They looked at each other, smiled, and waved together, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
The old man in the straw raincoat nodded, and as he approached, he asked, "Where are the others?"
His words and demeanor exuded an air of authority that belied his gentle appearance.
Yingyi and Fanan seemed to have remembered something funny and were laughing so hard they couldn't speak.
While laughing, Fanan said, "Mi Nu made new clothes and wanted Jin Peng to try them on. Jin Peng hid, so Mi Nu went to let Brother Fu She try them on. When Brother Fu She saw the pattern, he was so scared that he said he was going to find Jin Peng."
Morax nodded.
Fanan then asked, "Where is Your Majesty going? Is there anything we can do to help?"
Morax said, "I heard that wild boars are rampant in the snowy mountains, so I'm going to take a look."
Fanan and Yingda looked at each other and said in unison, "Your Majesty, let's go too."
“No need,” Morax said. “You’ve just returned from the battlefield and should be resting. Besides, the Thousand Rock Army is already handling things down the mountain; more men would only cause trouble.”
After agreeing to the terms, Fanan and Yingda bid farewell to Morax.
Morax continued down the mountain road.
at the same time.
Qiao Xi had returned to the Bamboo Garden. As she walked to the courtyard gate and prepared to push open the wooden door, she suddenly heard the sound of someone moving inside the courtyard, which was hidden in the rustling sound of falling snow.
Qiao Xi paused, her wrist on the doorknob hesitating. Could a thief have broken in?
She was timid, but still quite rational.
It shouldn't be a thief. This is the realm of immortals, and it's difficult for mortals without immortal power to enter. But, could those magical beasts that the masters mentioned earlier have managed to slip through the cracks and get in?
This kind of plot is common in fantasy novels.
Such plots often either create a crisis or an emotional bond.
In other words, according to the plot, the people she is about to meet are either those who want to kill her or those who want to date her.
Qiao Xi paused, realizing that after being here for so long, she had almost forgotten that her initial goal was to become a bride for a sea monster.
It couldn't possibly be her unfortunate husband, whom she's never even met, coming to see her.
A sea creature, who lives in the water year-round, crawled from the seabed to the land and then up the mountain in order to find her, changing its altitude directly from negative to positive, running from the third quadrant to the first quadrant.
This is too much of a romantic thing... no, this sea monster is a pervert!
If that's the case, then what kind of Tang Sanzang physique does she have?
Morax said he had other things to take care of and might not be able to come. Right now, Master Yixiao was in seclusion in his cave, Master Liuyun had gone to Guiliyuan, and Jinlan and the others had gone down the mountain to catch wild boars.
She was probably the only mortal in the immortal's cave.
Isn't this the legendary ghost town?
She's all alone, facing a monster; she doesn't have the ability to pull off a ruse like the Empty City Stratagem!
Qiao Xi's mind was in a mess.
A faint woody scent lingered around her.
She remembered that she was still wearing a cloak that Morax had worn, and she wondered if the sea monster could sense Morax's aura on her. Terrified, she immediately abandoned her armor and weapons.
Just like how having the scent of a tiger on you can scare cats and dogs.
Qiao Xi bit her nails. She didn't plan to go in. She planned to abandon the city and run down the mountain to a farmer's house to find Jin Lan.
Thinking this, Qiao Xi picked up her cloak, swept the snow onto the hem, turned around, and prepared to slip away.
Just as I stepped out with my front foot, before I could even lift my back foot, I suddenly heard the sound of a door opening behind me.
Then came the sound of approaching footsteps, which stopped.
Qiao Xi's back stiffened instantly, as if countless electric currents were crawling through her body, and she couldn't move her legs anymore.
"Damn it, run!" Qiao Xi muttered under her breath.
"Who are you?" A clear, crisp voice suddenly came from behind.
"I...I don't know." Qiao Xi had her back to him, thinking that the sea beast's voice sounded quite young.
"You don't know?" The voice behind me sounded puzzled. "Where did you get these clothes from?"
Qiao Xi looked down at the cloak draped over her body and thought that the sea beast must have seen Morax wear this garment before and was afraid of Morax, which was why it asked the question.
Qiao Xi suddenly felt a bit more confident. She decided to take advantage of the situation, cleared her throat, and pretended to be strong: "Since you asked, I won't hide it anymore. This dress is from Morax. Hmph, so guess who I am?"
There was no sound from behind for a long time.
Qiao Xi thought that she had indeed had a deterrent effect.
She slowly turned around and saw the person behind her.
He was a boy with green hair and golden eyes.
It doesn't look like a sea creature.
The young man looked at Qiao Xi with a cold expression: "Are you on good terms with the Emperor?"
"The Emperor?" Qiao Xi blinked.
"Um."
"You call him Emperor, so aren't you a sea beast?"
Sea creatures don't call out to the Emperor.
"My name is Xiao, not a sea monster." Xiao calmly crossed his arms, looked at her, and answered her question.
Qiao Xi took a moment to process it, and suddenly, she had a look of sudden realization. Among the five Yakshas that Master Liu Yun had mentioned, there was a Golden Roc General named Xiao.
At that time, Liu Yun also casually gave her a question to calculate the maximum total damage value that could be achieved by combining the diffusion reaction and the falling attack.
That problem requires analyzing the axis of symmetry and the value of 'a', and also using derivatives!
She doesn't know how at all!
“My name is Qiao Xi. Morax brought me back.”
Xiao looked at the large black cloak that Qiao Xi was wearing. Most of the Emperor's clothes were made by Mi Nu, but this one was made by the Emperor himself a hundred years ago when he had a rare moment of leisure.
The original product wasn't as exquisite as it is now; it was gradually improved over time to achieve its current appearance.
Therefore, it was a personal item that had been with the Emperor for a long time.
It actually landed on the girl in front of him who had no magical powers.
Moreover, the girl addressed the Emperor by his name, and her words seemed to imply that her relationship with the Emperor was unusual.
On his way here today, he heard some ridiculous rumors from the common people that the emperor had kidnapped a bride.
Xiao suddenly remembered that about half a year ago, when they were fighting with the Emperor and the monsters on the beach, the Emperor had left for a period of time on a night after the war had subsided.
Surely those rumors about "bride kidnapping" can't be true?
Xiao hesitated for a moment, "What is your relationship with the Emperor, um?"
A note from the author:
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"Like clouds in a dream, snow beyond the clouds, spring within the snow." This line comes from Liu Chenweng's "Xingxiangzi: Snow Footprints Without a Trace" from the Southern Song Dynasty.
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