Chapter 28 Peach Blossom Spring Layout
In the depths of the clouds, towering mountains stand tall and thousand-foot waterfalls cascade down.
At the bottom of the waterfall, Yiran stood on a rock beside the stream, holding a bottle of osmanthus wine in his arms.
The impact of the water was powerful, hitting the rocks on the shore, splashing up layer after layer of snow-white foam.
His long white hair hung on the wine altar. He brushed away the ends of his hair and used water and ice to fill a small wine glass. He looked at the steam rising from the glass and poured himself a glass leisurely.
After finishing the cup of osmanthus wine, he put the wine pot back on the ground, raised his fingers, and controlled the flow of water in the stream.
As Yiran's fingers pushed upward, the water was lifted up according to his instructions and then hit the mountain wall behind the waterfall.
The soft liquid was like a series of bullets breaking through the air, cutting off the falling water curtain, causing a huge explosion on the rocks and forming a distinct groove.
Yiran looked at the gap and continued to attack the stone wall according to his preference, making it look more like a fairy cave hidden by a waterfall.
In fact, the cave had already been built by himself. In a space he made by himself, peach trees grew one after another in it, and birds and squirrels ran around in it, forming its own ecosystem.
There is also a not-so-small bamboo house in it, which is used for cooking, resting and reading. In short, it is a paradise on earth.
And now he is building an entrance to this paradise.
When there was a long and narrow passage that was almost wide enough for one person to pass through, Yiran stopped and connected the space behind it, then applied a simple seal and pasted talismans on it.
The net has been set, and the next step is to wait for the fish to bite.
He sat back down on the stone beside the wine, his long legs draped over the water's edge, staring at the waves that kept hitting him while twirling the slender bamboo flute in his hand.
The waves were rolling non-stop, and Yiran finally picked up the flute in his hand, pressed the holes with his fingers, and started to blow softly.
The sound of the flute resounds throughout the valley, clear and melodious, accompanied by the splashing of the waterfall, making the flute sound resonate with the breeze and the flowing water.
Above the waterfall, on another mountain top, Lishui Dieshan patted Xueyue Zhuyang's back with its wings.
“This music is wonderful.”
"Yes, ever since Gechenlang City left this place and lived in the mortal world for a long time, we haven't heard the music of Jueyunjian for a long time."
Cutting the Moon and Building the Sun: "The method of changing the terrain, cutting the mountain and diverting water to create the waterfall is truly a work of art. Although it is not a naturally formed waterfall, it has no traces of processing and is almost perfectly integrated into the environment."
"Doesn't this look a bit like your immortal name? Why don't you build a nice-looking cave for yourself? Just stick a talisman on the wall and hang a few signs and be done with it?"
Lishui Dieshan glared at the deer beside him with his red bird eyes, "That's where I live, not a tourist attraction for people to see. Why make it so complicated!"
"But this... this little fairy can change the terrain to such a detailed level, transport water from the air in a place without water, and use fairy magic to make the water flow circulate up and down. His ability is indeed amazing."
Xie Yue Zhu Yang: "That's not the case."
"I don't know where this immortal came from."
Lishui Dieshan: "It's hard to say. A few days ago, when we were drinking in the mountains, we accidentally ran into a snow deer. I saw that it was full of fairy spirit. This person gave me the same feeling. It is very likely that he is its incarnation."
"After all, I am a fairy from the same family as you. Why don't you care more about me?"
Xueyue Zhuyang was puzzled: "There are so many deer in this mountain. How can I care which one has awakened to spirituality?"
"But you, you and Liuyun Jiefeng are both immortal cranes, but I haven't seen you go to her immortal palace every day to show your concern for her."
Lishui Dieshan: "What are you talking about? That bird of hers has been fiddling with her machinery in the cave all day long..."
Tsukiyo suddenly froze for a second, took two steps to the side, glanced at Tsuru who couldn't stop talking, and reminded him forcefully:
“Cough cough cough!”
Lishui Dieshan was completely unaware: "...I sent her a message saying that a new immortal deer had come to Jueyunjian, but she was indifferent and insisted on studying the mechanism before leaving. Really, that thing is not as interesting as finding out about a new immortal."
"Are you trying to say that my creations are boring?"
Liu Yun used the wind to transform into a human form, stood not far behind the fairy bird, and asked quietly.
"That's not the case..."
Lishui Dieshan suddenly realized something.
“?!!”
"Ahem, Liuyun, when did you come? We were just talking about the new fairy deer. Look, it's the long-haired man under the waterfall."
Considering that Lishui Dieshan didn't really think that the mechanism she made was boring, Liuyun Jiefeng temporarily ignored his complaints about her and turned her attention to the bottom of the waterfall.
The sound of the flute had gradually subsided. The long-haired man put away his bamboo flute, picked up the wine pot and walked towards a stone table not far away. There seemed to be chess squares painted on the table. He poured the wine, sat on a stone bench beside him, supported his chin with one hand, and played chess with himself while pouring wine.
And the chess pieces did not seem to be controlled by any magic. Before a game began, the black and white chess pieces slid along the chessboard and fell into two types of chess boxes after being classified.
Liu Yun became interested and said to the remaining two people:
"I'm going to go down and say hello, do you want to come with me?"
"It's not necessarily a good idea." The bird and the deer echoed.
With the social expert Liu Yun around, they shouldn't have to worry about leaving a bad impression on people the first time they meet, or being embarrassed by having no topics to talk about.
Accompanied by the breeze, Liuyun transformed into a big bird and landed under the waterfall, approaching the stone table step by step, followed closely by Lishui Dieshan and Xueyue Zhuyang.
He raised his eyes and looked at the immortals with a smile:
"It's a rare occasion that we have guests today. It looks like this jar of sweet-scented osmanthus wine is not enough."
Liu Yun held the scene and spoke first:
"…I am here with two friends, so I don't need any hospitality. We live together in this place, so it's impossible for us to stay away from each other forever. There's no need to be so polite."
Lishui Dieshan added:
"We have passed by this place several times, but have never seen such a spectacular waterfall. We originally just wanted to stay and enjoy the scenery, but we were attracted by your flute playing, so we decided to come and visit to learn more about it."
Xie Yue Zhu Yang nodded at the deer head and introduced it:
"I am True Lord Cutting the Moon and Building the Sun, and this one is True Lord Lishui Dieshan and True Lord Liuyun Jiefeng, both of whom are Three-Eyed and Five-Manifested Immortals in Jueyunjian."
"May I ask what your immortal name is..."
"Immortal name?" Yiran looked a little confused.
"Ah... I guess the immortals must have misunderstood me. Even though I can cut mountains and control water, and know some techniques for changing my form, I am still not an immortal. I am just an ordinary person. The immortals should just call me "Yes."
He stood up, smiled and bowed to the three immortals to show his respect.
"but……"
It seemed that Xueyue Zhuyang wanted to ask a question, is that level of power...really something that ordinary people can achieve?
But Liu Yun stretched out her wings and stopped talking. She also didn't believe that humans could transform.
She guessed that the other party was probably a newly intelligent body that had lived in human society for a long time after its transformation. He knew very little about immortals, so he felt more of a human sense of belonging and spoke in a humble and gentle manner.
In that case, now is not a good time to ask questions or refute them.
When it comes to chatting, it’s up to you.
She raised her head slightly:
"Whether you are immortal or mortal, we have come to visit you on our own initiative, so why would we care about such trivial details? Putting aside these, I have noticed that the chess pieces on your chessboard can be automatically classified. Are you using some sophisticated mechanism or technique?"
Cut the moon and build the sun: "..."
"Ha ha."
Yiran smiled as expected and explained:
"It can indeed be classified as a mechanical magic. I'm sure Master Liuyunjiefeng didn't see any trace of magic in it."
He thought for a moment and invited:
“Although there is no wine, I just brought a few boxes of good tea from Liyue Harbor today.
If you don't mind, can you invite all the immortals to gather in my cave? There are not only this kind of chessboard, but also some phonographs for playing tunes, and mechanical devices for automatic dust removal and watering..."
"Since Yiran has invited us so warmly, we naturally cannot refuse your kindness. Let's go."
Liu Yun Jie Feng spoke in a reserved manner, not noticing at all whether he was answering a little too quickly.
The peach blossom garden behind the waterfall is indeed uniquely arranged, just like the cave dwellings of immortals, forming a small world of its own.
But inside, there is more of the breath of secluded human life, fields, peach blossoms, pots and pans, and libraries.
Although there aren't so many auspicious clouds floating around, it's still breathtakingly beautiful.
On the wooden table indoors, Yiran poured three-tenths of the tea with graceful movements, serving the three guests before finally filling the cup for herself.
The three transformed immortals were in a trance, as if they saw the Emperor appear before them, performing every step meticulously and skillfully.
"How is it? Does this tea suit Master Liuyunjiefeng's taste?"
Liu Yun came back to his senses, took a sip slowly, and exclaimed:
"Of course it is excellent. The tea we drank with the Emperor back then also had a similar long-lasting fragrance."
Lishui Dieshan: "If I could introduce Yiran to the Emperor one day, I'm sure he would also be willing to sit and drink tea with you, young friend."
Yiran smiled faintly and nodded, "That really couldn't be better."
“Emperor…”
Yiran lowered his head and looked at the teacup tenderly.
The topic jumps a little and says:
"The God of the Covenant who has blessed the people of Liyue for thousands of years... Even if someone told me now that the Emperor would be murdered, it would be an impossible and absurd rumor."
Liu Yun concentrated his attention, his sight sharpened by two points:
"The Emperor is going to be harmed by someone?"
理水疊山和削月築陽也放下了手裏的茶盞。
一然慢慢解釋道：“璃月港內傳來的小道謠言罷了，雖然大家都不信，但也擾得人不得安寧，不過……想必也有人鎮壓了這些風聲，近來的一切都很安逸平穩。”
他笑了笑，溫和地說：“無論如何，就算有一天大家都在說帝君遇害，我也不會去相信這個事實，他可是我們永遠深謀遠慮，聖神文武的帝君。”
留雲冷哼了一聲，應和道：“确實如此，那些凡人豈知帝君是一個什麽樣的人物，是他們說帝君遇害就能遇害的？”
一然認真點頭。
留雲借風看一然乖巧又知禮數，對帝君心懷信任與敬佩，長得好看，還懂得研究機關之術，頓時對這位小仙好感提了一大截。
在石桌上左說說又問問，關鍵一然全程都無比配合，問一句回一句，還時不時提提自己的想法。
比如那機關造物雖然不是他原創，但他從各地網羅來後也基本研究明白了原理。
比如他在璃月港裏從商，但沒有興趣向七星那個方向努力，說如今的璃月在七星的治理下已經算欣欣向榮，從商也只是單純因為想過自己想要的生活。
再比如七星的甘雨秘書，他們沒有打過交道，但也總聽合作夥伴們說起她工作認真又高效，有她輔佐七星，怎麽也出不了什麽什麽大亂子……
簡直每幾句就能找到話題說到留雲愛聽的點子上，留雲深覺自己找到了極好的聊天搭子，拍着一然的肩膀就把他拉入了似至交好友又似順心小輩的地位上。
一然從善如流，已經仗着年齡不大（仙齡不大）的份上叫上了留雲姨，全程笑得溫和有禮，任誰都看不出來他有什麽謀劃和心計。
直到最後散場，三位仙人也一人拿着兩盒茶葉，約好下次再在這個桃花盛開之地相聚。
等下一次來，他會額外準備上好的桂花釀與竹笛，說不定還能請來帝君，和大家一同伴着笛音，飲酒作賦。
……
下午時分，璃月港的古董店，帝青閣外。
一然在朝這個方向慢慢走來，一步一步，慢到腳步已經幾乎快要停滞。
他感受着那間屋子裏的能量波動……
很好，估計已經打起來了。
他嘆了口氣，給屋外也加了一層封印，讓裏面的能量不會溢散太遠，動靜至少不會驚動到整個街道。
半刻鐘之後，伴随着一大片瓶瓶罐罐清脆的破裂聲，裏面終于恢複了死一般的寧靜。
一然意料之中地扯了扯嘴角，甚至擡手敲了敲門，示意裏面的人他要進來了。
吱——
門打開，映入眼簾的便是帶着半分憤怒半分恐慌的芬裏垩，他站在一地破碎的瓷片附近，兇狠地盯着對面亢奮到根本不會在意這些小事的達達利亞。
兩人同時朝一然看了過來。
芬裏垩的眼睛亮了亮，馬上又充滿了委屈與愧疚，而達達利亞則只是有些意外。
但在一然沒有任何笑容，冷若冰霜的視線中，男人到底還是反應了過來，臉上浮現出淡淡的心虛。
他先開口了：“嗨，夥伴，那個……你的古董我會賠錢的。”
芬裏垩也馬上開始告狀：
“白，對不起，我沒能保護好藏品……他交朋友根本不分場合！”
他雖然很樂意和這顆橘子交朋友，一起玩游戲，但是白把今天的店拜托給他，這件事應該先于交朋友之上……
達達利亞确實是會把立場不對立的戰鬥當作交朋友的人，這簡直和深淵生物原本的認知異曲同工。
而芬裏垩的認知雖然已經被掰到了正常水平，但不妨礙他的朋友觀已經被帶歪了。
……
站在達達利亞的視角上，昨天沖突結束後他們還沒來得及互相介紹，他原本只是打算今天找一然打個招呼，為這間店鋪貢獻點營業額，順帶再觀察觀察那只深淵獸犬。
結果……事情的發展還真是給了他一個大驚喜。
最開始他只是察覺出這個看店的少年似乎不同于常人，身上隐藏着一股強者的氣息。
但那種熟悉的發色，熟悉的瞳孔，還有看自己時明顯剛見過，認識自己的眼神……
達達利亞福至心靈，在少年背對着自己時，叫了一聲昨天聽一然叫過的名字：芬裏垩。
少年下意識就回頭并且答應了，很明顯，這個名字與他有極為深刻的聯系。
後面的事情便順理成章，深淵魔獸居然還能變成人？前所未聞！！
為了驗證這個重要情報，他決定不顧一切和這個少年當即打一場。
況且這裏的主人當時也不在，豈不正是動手的好時機。
最後……情報雖然驗證出來了，但打的不算很爽，少年明顯在克制自己的動作不破壞店裏的東西，于是他便有些上頭，直接打碎一排瓷器吸引仇恨……就在風暴醞釀的過程中，一然敲門進來了。
“咳。”
冷靜下來的達達利亞确實有些心虛，有時候總是打架打着打着就會不小心忘記一些事，比如驗證過情報後，他不應該繼續鬧事，以免七星找上門來，妨礙之後的計劃。
“然先生覺得如何？”從愚人衆的情報網，達達利亞至少在來前就已經查明了男人商會會長的身份。
一然依舊沒什麽情緒，他反問：“你說賠錢？”
“抱歉，我不缺錢。”
“這已經是第二次了，不僅傷害我的朋友，還肆意毀壞店裏的古董……這些瓷器，比起它們的經濟價值，我想更重要的是它們所承載的歷史信息與文化內涵，對我來說，它們是無價的。
愚人衆第十一席“公子”閣下，請問你想怎麽賠。”
一然這次的語氣已經越來越重，甚至直接點明了達達利亞沒有掩飾過的屬于愚人衆的身份，來表達自己的不滿。
畢竟愚人衆的名聲在六國本來就不怎麽樣，一然指責的心安理得，好像自己不是那個愚人衆似的。
這次他還帶上了一絲冷冷的笑意：
“或者說，還是直接上報總務司比較好。”
達達利亞沉默了一秒。
不能讓這些小事影響自己在璃月的自由行動……
他想：果然商人就是商人，一眼就能看破自己現在在乎什麽。
尤其還是這種大型商會的會長，性格再怎麽溫和，都不可能絲毫沒有手段與脾氣。
“然先生覺得，我現在應該怎麽賠償。”
本來只想着戰鬥的人這次終于隐約扣到了一然的意圖。
一然臉上的冷色暫緩了一些，他冷靜提出了交易內容：
“兩個要求，一個是暫且欠我一個人情，需要你在之後答應我一件事，會在你的可接受範圍內。
另一個更簡單，希望你可以幫我教會芬裏垩一些人類的常識和提瓦特通用語言文字……并且我可以讓它用出全部力量找時間和你戰鬥幾場。”
達達利亞挑了挑眉，這個賠償……或者說交易聽起來異常合理，除了要像帶小孩一樣教一個深淵魔物識字有些怪，但給的籌碼也很讓人心動。
倒不如說他有些不太明白，一然為什麽非要讓自己來教這只魔獸……嗯，或許是因為它化形後的不和諧之處有些多，不想被別人察覺出異樣？
達達利亞說服了自己，并且答應了這兩個條件。
事實上，一然只是在給芬裏垩的深淵魔獸身份找一個鋪墊，起碼它屬于魔獸的這一部分以後只能出現在愚人衆執行官【隐狼】面前。
那在這之前，讓他跟着同樣是執行官的【公子】在空面前晃一晃也很合理吧。
一然的表情總算徹底軟了下來。
“達達利亞先生，那芬裏垩就暫且拜托你了，教學的任務也可以在店裏進行，只要不破壞這裏的東西，帝青閣随時歡迎你。”
他帶着淺淺的微笑，伸手叫來已經恢複了精神的少年，看着芬裏垩聽從指示變回了原型，趴在自己肩膀一側，繼續補充道：
“如果想要現在戰鬥的話，芬裏垩也可以開辟一處屬于它的戰場，那裏不僅有完整形态的它，還有不少由它指揮的魔獸……”
“那真是更讓人期待了！”
達達利亞叉着腰，打斷了一然有些猶豫的話。
“身為戰士，就是要把挑戰心系于刀尖之上，如果它能讓我感覺到危險，那可真是再好不過了。”
芬裏垩感受到了橘子頭朋友的戰意，又得到了白的肯定，立馬撕裂開一道極長的空間裂隙，供達達利亞通過。
水弓已經被握在手上，男人帶着肆意的笑向空間內走去，芬裏垩的瞳孔泛過一絲危險的氣息，也緊随其後。
……
看來，這兩人交朋友的進程已經基本上要接近尾聲了，一然有些累人地重新看向了一地的碎渣。
古董店牆角的角落裏，觀賞魚們依舊在無憂無慮的游來游去，似乎完全沒有意識到這片空間內發生了一場什麽樣的沖突。
一然擡起手，凝聚出一個陣法，又用少量藍色的規則力量把它解開。
店裏似乎瞬間發生了什麽，破碎的瓷器重新恢複完好，擱置木架之上。
魚缸的表層也似有淡淡的光點消失，充斥在店內的最後一點深淵能量和水元素力迅速被魚兒們感知到，開始向下沉了沉，随後随着一然的揮手驅散而重新恢複活力。
與時間倒流無關，他只不過是在一開始便給整個房間內部的古物設置了一層障眼法的保護而已。
一然滿意的笑了笑，既然早就知道事情可能會發生，那他怎麽也不會讓屬于他的東西有任何閃失。
總之，一個普普通通的交朋友事件被一然從頭到尾下了八百步棋，空手套來了可靠的同僚一份心甘情願的承諾與對芬裏垩辛辛苦苦的教學指導。