Chapter 106 A Person Who Should Not Exist in This World
The pancake, wrapped in oil paper and handed to him, still carried the aroma of freshly baked bread, its steaming fragrance rising to the young man's delicate nose.
The aroma of oil and sugar instantly filled her nostrils. Shuangmu glanced at the tall, elegant young man beside her, grasped both ends of the cake with both hands, and gently broke it open. A crack appeared in the middle of the cake, which resembled a full moon, revealing the candied fruit inside.
The orange-red dried fruit stuck together, but gradually separated as Shuang Mu's hands moved, pulling out transparent threads.
He lifted one half, and the last thread connecting it to the full moon snapped with a snap:
"Father, here you go."
Xie Zhu put away his purse and looked down at the mooncake with its amber-like interior, which was visible in the center of the oiled paper. He inevitably saw the face he was thinking of behind the half-mooncake.
He calmly withdrew his gaze, leaving behind a single, understated sentence:
"I'm not hungry, you eat it yourself."
The streets gradually became bustling as time went on.
Shuangmu's outstretched hand froze on the spot, experiencing helplessness for the first time. A blank expression appeared on his face until he watched the young man's back disappear into the crowd. Only then did he seem to wake up from a dream and hurriedly catch up.
The two walked down the street, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too distant.
The way he held half a pancake in both hands was too ridiculous. Shuangmu put away the half he was going to give to Xie Zhuo, while keeping an eye on the young man's whereabouts and taking small bites of the pancake. The dried fruit that should have been sweet tasted like wax in his mouth. He could only taste the flaky crust and the slightly sticky soft texture of the dried fruit.
"Is it tasty?"
Suddenly, a young man's gentle voice rang in her ears. Shuangmu abruptly raised her face, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes.
Ignoring the strange taste in his mouth, he smiled and nodded at Xie Zhuo.
But Xie Zhuo glanced thoughtfully at the half-eaten pancake in his hand before looking away and refusing to look at him again.
Having had a less than pleasant experience with the food the first time, Shuangmu originally intended to put the mooncake away, but Xie Zhuo's words made him want to try another bite.
Yu Guang noticed Xie Zhuo's stopped walking and immediately abandoned the idea, turning his gaze to the red gate in front of the young man.
"arrive."
The moment Xie Zhuo's voice fell, the vermilion gate swung open, and a young boy stepped out.
"My master said that guests would be visiting and asked me to wait here. Please follow me."
After passing the screen wall and the front hall, the boy led the two to a quiet courtyard. He stopped at the courtyard gate, stepped aside, and gestured for them to enter.
"I can't go in from here. You two can go in and follow the path to see the master."
"Thank you for your trouble."
Xie Zhuo followed the gate opened by the child and entered the courtyard, then walked inside with practiced ease.
Shuangmu fell behind by one step.
When he entered the courtyard, a still lush green bamboo grove came into view first, but he could not find the pale blue figure.
His brow furrowed slightly, a sense of unease creeping in. But then he considered Xie Zhuo's indifferent attitude towards him; it wasn't impossible that Xie Zhuo would abandon him and leave first, especially given that the boy who had led the way had just said there was only one road here.
Shuangmu glanced at the stone path winding into the depths of the bamboo forest and stepped onto it.
—
Outside the bamboo grove, a figure sat before a chessboard, his eyes covered by a white silk scarf, his fingertips holding a black chess piece, giving the impression that his "gaze" was completely focused on the chessboard.
"You've arrived."
Lin Zhechun suddenly threw the chess piece in his hand back into the chess jar.
"It's been a long time since I've been here, yet nothing here has changed."
Xie Zhuo walked out of the bamboo forest alone and sat down opposite Lin Zhechun.
He noticed a teacup beside him that was only half full of liquid, and said in a calm voice:
"It seems I've arrived at the wrong time, disturbing your hospitality."
“No, just right.” Lin Zhechun’s fingertips twitched slightly, and the teacup vanished in an instant, replaced by a fresh cup of hot tea.
"If you had come any earlier, I'm afraid I would have made a scene again."
He left you with a lot of messes, didn't he?
Xie Zhuo knew perfectly well who Lin Zhechun was referring to as "him" or "the previous guest," since not many people would specifically replace the tea in their teacups with alcohol.
After hearing Lin Zhechun's question, Xie Zhuo's temples throbbed, but he still maintained a calm demeanor and spoke:
"He's always like this; I must have owed him something in my past life."
He took a sip of tea, just as he was suppressing his anger, but his heart was once again stirred by the rustling sound of the bamboo grove swaying gently.
In fact, on the very first day Shuangmu arrived at the manor, he had already met Lin Zhechun, who had come uninvited, just like when Xiaobao had just returned to the manor.
"Keep him here for now. Bring him to visit me in a few days, and I will tell you where you came from."
Lin Zhechun's expression became much more serious at that moment, clearly indicating that he had sensed something amiss. He left a message and prepared to depart.
It was he who spoke up and kept this immortal who came and went as he pleased.
Not for any other reason than to verify what happened back then.
From Xiao Bao's words, he could roughly piece together the situation from back then. In addition, Xiao Bao had been getting into trouble frequently during this period. Even if the traces were wiped clean, as long as he kept pressing on, he could always find the missing clues.
At a price, he obtained traces of the mortals who were chasing Xiao Bao in Sishui Mountain. The location of those people also made Xie Zhuo realize someone he had completely overlooked in the events of that year...
But when he spoke, he did not directly name the person. Just as Lin Zhechun did not respond to his request when he prayed to the immortals for divine power, Lin Zhechun would not give him an answer now.
Then he opened his mouth, and the sound that came out, across thirteen years, was a calm that suppressed resentment:
"Why didn't you save her?" You watched her grow up...
Xie Zhuo knew perfectly well that taking his anger out on others was useless, and whether or not Lin Zhechun saved people was his own choice.
But he still asked.
The flames of resentment and hatred burned for over a decade, enough to involve everything, even if it meant burning himself to ashes.
Lin Zhechun's departing figure reappeared, overlapping with Xie Zhuo's like the shadow of a banished immortal. His face, mostly obscured by white silk, revealed no emotion.
"When I arrived, she was already dead."
A single sentence choked Xie Zhuo, like a fishbone stuck in his throat, impossible to remove, yet incredibly painful to swallow.
He took a deep breath, as if trying to ease the pain:
"...Then why didn't you say so back then?" This has kept me indulging in wishful thinking for many years.
However, the figure standing backlit at the doorway was like a jade statue on an altar, aloof and detached from the world, untouched by worldly affairs.
"I only do what I'm supposed to do."
...
"Which child in the bamboo forest are you worried about?"
The voice that echoed in his memory pulled Xie Zhuo back to reality, and he shook his head without replying.
The rustling sound of bamboo clashing incessantly seemed to grow more rapid, utterly incongruous with Lin Zhechun's steady voice.
"Don't worry, we're just keeping him inside for now."
He answered his own question, his cheeks slightly lowered, a few strands of his long hair, simply bound with a ribbon, falling on either side of the white silk covering his eyes:
"It seems he's getting anxious because he can't find you, but it's not time for him to come out yet." As soon as he finished speaking, the chess pieces on the board moved out of thin air.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the bamboo forest, scattering a few withered leaves to their feet.
In the lush forest, Shuangmu looked at the bamboo stalks that had suddenly moved in front of him and blocked his way with an expression of "I knew it." No wonder he hadn't seen the other person for so long.
His eyes flickered slightly, and he continued to walk along the stone path that had turned around. But the moment his toes touched the ground, he pushed off with his toes, leaped into the air, stepped on the bamboo poles by the roadside for leverage, and headed straight for the bamboo trees blocking his way.
A fleeting afterimage flashed past those bamboo stalks.
The moment my toes touched the ground, I heard a faint sound all around me.
Before Shuangmu could react, several bamboo stalks the size of bowls sprouted from the ground and surrounded him.
...
Who exactly is Shuangmu?
Xie Zhuo briefly explained his purpose in returning to this land.
The bamboo forest had quieted down, leaving only the sound of chess pieces moving. Xie Zhuo's sudden voice sounded abrupt.
Lin Zhechun placed his new piece, and the situation on the chessboard became tense and unable to move for a moment. Only then did he calmly speak:
"Didn't you have any suspicions about how you spent time with him these past few days?"
Xie Zhuo pursed his lips, giving an irrelevant answer:
“He said he was my and Ajin’s child.”
Do you think he is?
Lin Zhechun raised his head, his eyes, which were covered by a white silk ribbon, met those gradually maturing eyes precisely. He used his spiritual power to manipulate the teapot and add another cup of tea.
The water flowing down the spout spread ripples across the rising surface of the cup, the spreading waves reflected in Xie Zhuo's pupils like ripples on a smooth mirror, creating the illusion of movement.
"I can't have the same feelings for him as I do for Xiaobao."
Lin Zhechun put down the teapot and echoed, "Xiao Bao is indeed a lovable child, as for..." His face turned towards the endless green cage:
“He didn’t lie to you; he can be said to be your and Xiao Jin’s child.”
Xie Zhuo's pupils dilated slightly, and the ripples that should have been reflected were now truly floating in those eyes that Shuang Mu considered ruthless. The teacup in his hand, which had been at a comfortable temperature, became scalding hot.
But after a moment, he regained his composure, noticing the three words that Lin Zhechun had deliberately added to his words:
What do you mean by "can be said"?
A few bamboo stalks were intertwined, and a figure was trapped in the middle. It was Shuangmu, who had come with Xie Zhuo.
Xie Zhuo, sitting opposite, frowned slightly, focusing his gaze on the two illusory wooden figures that were constantly attacking the bamboo.
"He did indeed carry on your and Xiao Jin's bloodline, but..."
Lin Zhechun paused subtly for a moment:
"He is dead; he should not exist in this world."
The bamboo was left with only a few shallow marks under the attack of the twin trees. The twin trees were resting against one of the bamboos because of the continuous consumption of spiritual power, but their eyes were still fixed on the bamboo in front of them that was gradually repairing the marks.
Although Shuangmu wasn't usually very lively, Xie Zhuo found it hard to believe, no matter how he looked at the scenes in the phantom, that Shuangmu was... a dead person.
But the image of Shuangmu's icy touch when she grabbed his hand and her empty, hollow eyes kept replaying in his mind, reminding him of Shuangmu's strangeness.
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