Chapter 980 Meddling in Others' Business Again
Night gradually obscured the sunset.
Inside an elegant pavilion in Qingliang Valley.
A tall, slender young woman, her head wrapped in a headband and dressed in a sword-wielding outfit, entered the pavilion and asked in a cool tone:
"I sent you to find the old Taoist priest in the crane-cloak. You've been in the water dungeon for days. How are you doing? Why haven't I heard from you? I had to send someone to find you myself. What's wrong, Liu Aliang? Are you now the glorious servant who delivers meals to the Queen? Have you become so arrogant?"
Ouyang Rong was arranging the dishes he had brought himself on the table.
He waited in the pavilion for almost half an hour before Chen Jiaxin finally came in, but she came in with an accusatory tone.
Ouyang Rong continued setting out the dishes as if he had expected it all along.
As Chen Jiaxin said, this meeting was arranged by her, who couldn't wait any longer and sent Madam Chen to inform Ouyang Rong.
Since Ouyang Rong arrived, this is the longest Chen Jiaxin has ever been late. In the previous meetings, although she was also late, it was only for a quarter of an hour or a cup of tea, and it was obviously not intentional.
However, this time, she was half an hour late, which is a full hour. Goodness, the food was going to get cold. If she really had something to do, she could have asked Madam Chen to bring Ouyang Rong over later. There was no need for her to come so late. It was obviously not an accident.
"Please calm down, Miss. The food is getting cold. Please sit down and have your meal."
"snort."
Chen Jiaxin glanced at the taciturn young man's calm face, snorted coldly, and did not sit down.
It wasn't until Ouyang Rong spoke up first, explaining:
"Although I was imprisoned in the water dungeon and fed every day, there was no progress. Feeling guilty, I didn't come to Miss Nagging."
"Is it genuine guilt, or just a lack of seriousness?"
"I dare not delay the matters that Miss has instructed me to attend to; I keep them in mind at all times."
"Is that so? Well, it's hard to say."
Chen Jiaxin tilted her head, flicked her ponytail, gave a soft hum, and then walked over and sat down at the table.
Ouyang Rong silently served the rice and handed it over.
Chen Jiaxin didn't touch her chopsticks, seemingly lacking appetite. Her eyes were fixed on the steaming dishes, and she didn't look at Ouyang Rong, saying:
"Tell me, how do you feel guilty?"
Ouyang Rong also served himself a bowl of rice and sat down opposite Chen Jiaxin without any hesitation.
As the latter's eyelids twitched slightly, he spoke in a muffled voice:
“Reporting to Miss, these past few days, every time I went to deliver the vegetarian meals, I stopped at the room where the Fifth Goddess resides… There’s another door inside the room that leads to the depths of the water dungeon, but I haven’t had a chance to go in. The Fifth Goddess personally takes eight portions of vegetarian meals down there each time… The Fifth Goddess speaks very little, and so far I haven’t had a chance to ask much about what’s behind that door, nor have I dared to ask…”
Ouyang Rong recounted in detail his experiences delivering vegetarian meals to the water prison over the past few nights. He also described the layout and structure of the water prison to Chen Jiaxin in detail, along with some of his personal speculations, all in great detail.
As Chen Jiaxin listened, her brows gradually relaxed, and the seriousness and harshness on her face lessened.
"So there's another world hidden deep within the water dungeon. You can't even get in with the vegetarian meal? You have to trouble your master personally..."
After hearing Ouyang Rong's report, her expression softened slightly. After a moment's thought, she asked:
"Wait, you mean that every other day when you go down to deliver the vegetarian meal, Master will ask you to fetch a bucket of clean water and bring it down?"
Ouyang Rong nodded woodenly:
"Um."
He slowly revealed the patterns he had observed over the past few days:
"And... later on, the Five Goddesses made a strange request: she wanted icy water from the deep pool outside the waterfall, the colder and cooler the better... and every time I left, I saw the Five Goddesses carrying a food box and a bucket of water into that inner door..."
For some reason, Ouyang Rong omitted the details of the bloody smell and suspected dead bodies inside the door, and glossed over them.
After listening, Chen Jiaxin's brows gradually furrowed:
"Cool, cold water... Master, what are you going to do with it...?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head in agreement.
At one point, as if remembering something, he added:
"Oh, right, there's something else that's a bit strange."
"explain."
“Every night after we finish eating, the empty food boxes that are delivered have a lot of water stains on them, as if they have been rained on.”
"Getting caught in the rain?"
Chen Jiaxin frowned slightly and asked curiously:
"I remember these food containers were waterproof, because sometimes it rained heavily at night, and the food needed to be delivered while it was still warm."
"Well, it is waterproof, so it is fine if it gets wet in the rain. However, I remember that every time I sent the food boxes down at night, they were dry and clean, but when they came back, they were wet. Every single food box was like this, which is a bit strange, but I can't ask too many questions."
Chen Jiaxin then asked:
"How's the food inside?"
"It was all eaten up, there was no waste, and there were signs that it had been eaten, which is normal."
Chen Jiaxin thought for a moment and said:
"Let's continue to observe. Don't ask too many questions about this yet. It's possible that the situation inside the water prison is special and it's easy to get wet... The most urgent thing now is to come up with a plan. Have you go into the water prison in place of your master to deliver food and find that old Taoist priest in the crane-cloak."
"good."
After the question and answer, the atmosphere between the two quieted down.
Chen Jiaxin pondered for a moment, then turned her head to look at Ouyang Rong.
Their eyes met for a moment.
She suddenly said:
"Master is actually very easy to talk to."
Ouyang Rong pretended to be stunned for a moment, then belatedly nodded.
“Liu Aliang, you can try to bring it up yourself and ask your master to give you the job of delivering vegetarian meals to the door. If you are refused, we will think of another way.”
Ouyang Rong slowly nodded:
“What you say makes sense, Miss. However, on the other hand, the Five Goddesses are indeed very easy to talk to…Does Miss remember the colleague from the dining hall that I mentioned last time?”
Chen Jiaxin paused for a moment, as if she hadn't expected him to suddenly change the subject and bring up this topic.
She was curious:
"You mean that young woman named Wu Cui?"
Ouyang Rong nodded:
"Um."
"What happened to her? Does it have anything to do with us?"
Ouyang Rong nodded, then shook his head:
"We have some connection, and I would like to ask for your help, Miss."
Chen Jiaxin became increasingly puzzled:
"What kind of help?"
Ouyang Rong did not answer immediately, but spoke methodically:
"Wu Cui is young, but she stayed in the dining hall because she wanted to see the Five Goddesses again to repay their kindness and ask them questions about the sword manual she had been studying this year. Although Wu Cui's talent is not as good as yours, she has something in common with you: the desire to seek the truth."
Chen Jiaxin tilts her head:
"Then what?"
Ouyang Rong spoke earnestly, met her gaze, and continued:
"Miss, could you do me a favor and spare a moment to give Wu Cui some pointers and help her resolve her doubts about the sword manual? You are a disciple of the Five Goddesses, so teaching her personally is equivalent to being taught by the Five Goddesses. She will surely be convinced and relieved."
Chen Jiaxin's voice suddenly turned cold:
Why help her?
Ouyang Rong said with focused eyes:
“That night I slightly altered the Five Goddesses’ decree, obtaining the sole spot to deliver vegetarian meals to the water dungeon. I sidelined her, thwarting her long-cherished opportunity. I must repay this debt. Furthermore, I promised her afterwards that I would help her…”
Chen Jiaxin suddenly interrupted:
"I'm not asking you, but why I'm helping her. Give me a reason. If it's just a favor, I won't give it to you. So what if I don't give you face? You can figure it out yourself."
She gave a cold laugh, and the corner of her mouth curled up:
"Besides, I don't think you owe her any favors. The chance to go to the water dungeon depends on your own ability. She couldn't beat you in any way. This position of delivering vegetarian meals belongs to the capable. It's just like many things in this world. No one owes anyone anything. You don't need to feel indebted. Whether she appreciates it or not is another matter. Don't flatter yourself."
Ouyang Rong insisted:
“One thing at a time. Wu Cui has been sincere to me and still trusts me to this day. She doesn’t doubt that I changed the goddess’s decree. Based on this alone, I should treat her with the same respect.”
Before Chen Jiaxin could retort, Ouyang Rong spoke again in a firm and forceful tone:
“Miss, I had promised her I would mention it to the Five Goddesses, but now it seems inappropriate… You just instructed me to offer to help the Five Goddesses by bringing them food and water… Since that’s the case, it’s not good to mention Wu Cui to the Five Goddesses. It’s better to save the conversation for our business. As for Wu Cui, I humbly request your help, Miss, as compensation for her…”
At this moment, Chen Jiaxin's face tightened, her eyes fixed on the taciturn young man who dared to make demands, and she asked, word by word:
"Let's get down to business, Liu Aliang. Are you threatening me?"
Ouyang Rong glanced at the rebellious young woman before him, her eyes lowering slightly after a moment:
"I wouldn't dare."
Before Chen Jiaxin could explode, he immediately chimed in:
“Miss, I just feel that... since we’re all on the same side, Wu Cui can also become one of us. The more people there are, the more we can help you with your worries. Don’t you always value the group and the circle of friends? Who knows, Wu Cui might be able to help us a lot later. This is a great opportunity. You should accept her.”
After Ouyang Rong finished speaking quickly with his head down, he waited for a long time without receiving a reply from the young woman in front of him.
After waiting a short while, he looked up and saw that Chen Jiaxin had calmed down and was staring at him with a calm expression, and he didn't know what she was thinking.
"Miss?"
Ouyang Rong tried calling out.
"snort."
Chen Jiaxin snorted coldly, got up and left, departing from the pavilion under Ouyang Rong's gaze.
After stepping out of the pavilion and taking a few steps forward, she lightly tossed out a sentence into the evening breeze, which drifted to Ouyang Rong's ear:
"Next time you come, bring her sword manual first, don't come in person yet..."
The arrogant young woman paused, her voice growing even colder:
"Besides, as you know, I hate stupidity."
...
Ouyang Rong, stepping into the night, carrying a food box, left Qingliang Valley.
We returned to Qingliang Valley Dining Hall.
Along the way, he would occasionally turn back to look at the several waterfalls on the cliffs of Qingliang Valley.
With the small map given to him by Yutang, Ouyang Rong was somewhat familiar with the roads in Qingliang Valley. This time, when he came to meet Chen Jiaxin in private, he didn't need Madam Chen to lead the way. He said that he came alone in the evening, before the night shift in the dining hall had started.
On the way, Ouyang Rong glanced back a couple more times at a waterfall in the northeast corner.
Perhaps it's because the dry season has begun, but the water volume of this waterfall is gradually decreasing. Compared to when Ouyang Rong first entered Qingliang Valley and saw it, the width of the water flow has shrunk by half.
However, this waterfall is not the location of the water prison; the water prison is behind the largest waterfall in the Cool Valley.
So I haven't paid much attention to the recent strangeness of the waterfall in the northeast corner.
I gained a lot from this trip to see Chen Jiaxin.
The simplest takeaway is that it validated a point he's always held... Chen Jiaxin, who seems difficult to talk to, is actually very easy to talk to.
She finally agreed to the condition of being instructed in swordsmanship, albeit with a haughty and disdainful attitude.
Back in the dining hall, the other women doing odd jobs were chatting and slacking off, while Wu Cui sat by the window, resting her chin on her hand and lost in thought.
It was clear that Wu Cui was somewhat disillusioned and bored after missing the chance to deliver food to the water dungeon and meet the Five Goddesses.
Ouyang Rong walked calmly to the stove, glanced at the somewhat messy stove, which had not been tidied up.
He turned his head and looked around. Before he could speak, Wu Cui by the window got up, took a rag, walked over, and started wiping the stove.
Ouyang Rong stared at the gloomy, freckled girl for a while.
Actually, this wasn't her job.
After Wu Cui finished cleaning, Ouyang Rong suddenly said:
"Where's your sword manual? Bring it to me later."
Wu Cui thought she had misheard, and looked up at him blankly with a dazed expression.
So Ouyang Rong repeated it again.
A glimmer of light seemed to appear deep within Wu Cui's eyes.
After several days of silence, she assumed that Ouyang Rong was just making empty promises or merely mentioning it to the Five Goddesses to complete a task, with no follow-up.
She suppressed her excitement and asked earnestly:
"Where...where are you going?"
Ouyang Rong nodded and said frankly:
"I promised to give you a heads-up, but the Five Goddesses are currently in seclusion and may not be able to leave the water prison. If I were to give you guidance, I would either have someone pass on a message or send a personal disciple to handle it. Be prepared."
Wu Cui nodded quickly: "Okay, I'm satisfied. Thank you, Liu Aliang."
Ouyang Rong waved his hand.
Wu Cui took out a sword manual from her bosom and solemnly handed it over.
Ouyang Rong took the sword manual, which she had warmed from holding it, and as if remembering something, he turned to her and asked:
"By the way, I heard that what the fairies cultivate is called Qi Refining Technique, and the entry level is supposedly the ninth rank. It should be in this sword manual, right? How is your cultivation going? Have you reached the rank yet?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Cui blushed and, under Ouyang Rong's intense gaze, looked down at her toes somewhat shyly.
"There is a Qi cultivation method in the sword manual, but I... I've been practicing it for a long time, but I haven't grasped the method. I'm a bit confused, and I haven't even reached the next level yet..."
Seemingly afraid of being looked at strangely by Ouyang Rong, she quickly explained, while reaching out to flip through the sword manual in Ouyang Rong's hand, gesturing to him:
"However, I've memorized all the moves in the sword manual, including the internal energy cultivation methods. You can test me anytime. Also, I've made notes on anything I don't understand... I'm really studying diligently, not daring to waste a single moment..."
As she spoke, her voice weakened and softened, and before Ouyang Rong could speak, her face turned bright red with shame.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the uneasy, studious girl, said nothing, silently put away the sword manual, and then let out a soft chuckle:
"It's okay, I'm the same."
(End of this chapter)
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