Chapter 52 Chapter 52 Go down the mountain together?
The brocade curtain embroidered with mandala patterns was suddenly lifted up, and Li Xuanbai walked in with his head lowered. "Master!"
Behind the beaded curtain, a frail figure struggled and fell down, bright red blood flowing from the tip of the chin into the collar, pulling down into several red columns, brightly wetting the snow-white dress.
Li Xuanbai rushed over, a string of coral beads lashing out from his head. He took two steps forward, squatted down, and supported the collapsed man, holding him in his arms. "Master, what are you doing?"
Huide sat opposite with a normal expression. Behind him, through the carved window, a few white pigeons raised by the servants suddenly fluttered by.
"This matter has nothing to do with me." Huide took a sip of tea and scraped the edge of the cup with the lid, making a rustling sound. "Didn't you go out to practice? You're back so early. Did you practice seriously?"
"Practice?! Master is still here talking to me about practicing?!"
Huide glanced at him coldly.
Li Xuanbai's eyes were almost bloodshot. "Master, why is he making things difficult for her?! What mistake has she made?!"
Huide blew away the tea foam with his eyelids drooping, but did not answer.
Nan Qiongshuang swallowed the new blood foam with difficulty, looked up at him, a tear rolled down her face, and patted his hand that was hugging her.
Li Xuanbai lowered his head. She had tears in her eyes, but her expression was calm and unpredictable. She looked at him and slowly shook her head.
He understood immediately, raised his head and gave the person sitting in the upper seat a stern look, then hugged her, stood up, and walked to the door in a few steps.
Huide sat in front of the window, looking so old that his body was almost tangled. The sunlight from behind him made the wrinkles on his face appear even deeper, but his eyes were the only thing that was so bright that it was piercing.
He said, "Xuan Bai, are you blaming Master now?"
Li Xuanbai's foot, which was about to cross the threshold, suddenly stopped.
After a moment, he retracted his foot and stood firmly inside the door.
Huide was sitting behind the beaded curtain. Looking from the doorway, he was leaning sideways, so his expression couldn't be seen clearly.
Li Xuanbai scoffed, his tone light and lazy: "...Old Huide."
Huide was sitting upright on the Arhat bed. He didn't move at all when he heard the words. His hands were clenched into fists and placed on his knees. Only his eyes were wide open, staring at him darkly and ominously.
Li Xuanbai chuckled and tightened his slightly loosened cuffs. The pale golden sunlight made his arrogant expression look unstoppable. "I respect you. You really think you are nothing."
He sighed again, "Ah, I see. Gu Qingyao is probably the only one who knows everything about me." He shrugged lazily, "Then, wait for Gu Qingyao to come out and ask him. I only have one piece of advice for you -"
He was furious: "Old man, be careful."
After saying this, without even looking at Huide, he picked up the man who couldn't walk a step by the waist and walked out of the Bodhi Pavilion.
*
Inside Lingjue Pavilion.
Nan Qiongshuang lay on the edge of the couch, and Chang Geng brought her a copper basin, in which she vomited violently.
It was covered in blood, and he almost vomited a basin of blood. The entire Lingjue Pavilion was filled with the fishy smell of blood.
After an unknown amount of time, she covered her chest with her hands. Chang Geng handed her a cup of warm tea. She quickly rinsed her mouth to get rid of the fishy smell and spit it into the copper basin.
Finally, he breathed slowly, his face as pale as paper, slightly panting, and he leaned on the soft pillow at the head of the bed.
Li Xuanbai sat beside her couch and handed her a handkerchief. "Have you vomited everything?"
Her forehead was covered with sweat, and her eyes were still filled with darkness. She didn't even have the strength to hold up the handkerchief, and nodded in a daze.
Chang Geng carried the copper basin out of the pavilion. Li Xuanbai sat closer to her and wiped the sweat from her forehead and nose with a handkerchief.
"What kind of dirty tricks did you use to hurt yourself like this?"
She was still dizzy and unable to speak, her dark purple lips trembling.
Suddenly, something pressed against her lips, and her two lips were pushed apart, and something was stuffed in.
It's lychee.
Li Xuanbai sat beside her, with a small porcelain plate on the couch. He peeled the lychees one by one with his bony hands and put them into her mouth.
She chewed hard twice, and the sugar water diluted the remaining blood and energy. She let out a sigh and opened her eyes.
"I knew there was something wrong with the tea. But Huide forced me to drink it, so I chose the lesser of two evils and put some medicine in it myself."
"…Some medicine? What medicine?"
"Broken Green, a very fast-acting poison that causes constant vomiting of blood. I originally had it prepared for other uses."
"So? You gave yourself some Duanqing, and the effect was faster than the poison in the tea, so you vomited the tea in your stomach by vomiting blood?"
She coughed again, covering her lips, her face as pale as paper. She nodded, "I have the antidote for Duan Qing with me, so it's okay."
"'It's okay.'" Li Xuanbai repeated with a cold smile, crossing his shoulders. "You're quite open-minded."
He lowered his eyes, peeled another lychee, and tossed it into his mouth. "You're smart. You knew to ask Chang Geng to notify me to come and rescue you before you left. Otherwise, the person might have been buried by Hui De. If I want to find you, I'll have to borrow a dog."
She laughed angrily. What was that? She shook her head, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "Let me ask you, what did you do today?"
"Didn't I tell you? Of course it's training."
As expected, she sneered and looked out the window.
It was now dusk. Looking out from the window of Lingjue Pavilion, the sky was clear and vast, with sparkling clouds covering the entire sky. The golden sun was hidden behind a few wisps of clouds, shining brightly across the vast expanse of water.
She let out a long sigh, looked at the setting sun and said, "He told me that you were arrested. He said that you went to Xingchen Pavilion and stole the Tianshan Heart Sutra."
"Bullshit." Li Xuanbai scoffed, peeling another lychee and placing it next to her lips. "What's so rare about that thing? I wouldn't even want it if you gave it to me. And you went all the way to steal it? You're really cherishing it. Let the Tianshan Sect keep it for themselves."
She remained silent and looked at him for a long time.
"What's wrong?" He was very impatient.
This person is definitely not just a simple spy.
He wasn't even a spy. While the headmaster was in seclusion, Huide was the most influential person on the mountain. He knew everything that was known, and he knew everything that was not. No one would use the bluffing trick on Huide.
Li Xuanbai has always been so domineering, probably not just because he is favored.
Nan Qiong Shuang felt a chill even on her fingertips, and she nervously clenched her fingers together.
At that time, I provoked Li Xuanbai on a whim. Was it right or wrong?
"What's wrong?" he asked again, beginning to get irritated.
She sighed. "He told me you stole the Heart Sutra, got caught red-handed, and are already on Lianleitai. But he also said he'd checked me out and said I wasn't a suspect because someone saw me go to Liangyi Pavilion."
He lowered his eyes, looked at his hands, and listened quietly, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Liangyi Pavilion, what is that place?"
He laughed and raised his eyes meaningfully, "He said you went to Liangyi Pavilion, what did you say?"
"Am I stupid?" Nan Qiong Shuang scoffed. "The people on the mountain are just hoping I'm a suspect. Even if I'm not, they'll say I am. How could they possibly pick me out? It's such an obvious trap, who would fall into it?"
Li Xuanbai laughed heartily, feeling somewhat helpless yet deeply impressed. He shook his head and clapped his hands, "You're quite clever, too. No wonder I like you. Do you know what he meant by asking that?"
Nan Qiongshuang listened attentively.
"You've heard of the Star Pavilion on the mountain, right? There are three ways to open the Star Pavilion."
He held up three fingers:
"The first one is the key to the Xingchen Pavilion hidden beneath the underground palace of Hualongtan."
"The second type is the mountain-guarding jade tablet that can unlock all the mechanisms on the mountain."
"The third type is the Yin-Yang Key, which Huide personally keeps."
"The gate to the underground palace of Hualongtan is currently under repair, and the water in the pond has not yet been diverted back, so the key cannot be kept. The key to the bottom of the pond is currently locked in the Xingchen Pavilion."
"The mountain-guarding jade token was originally supposed to be kept by that man named Gu. But he left the mountain, and it wasn't convenient to carry such a valuable item down the mountain. It's said that before leaving, he personally locked the jade token in the Xingchen Pavilion."
"Right now, the only thing left outside the Star Pavilion that can open it is the Yin-Yang Key. As is customary on the mountain, the key to the Star Pavilion is kept solely by the Gu family. However, now that Huide has temporarily assumed control of the entire mountain, a key has been specially crafted for him. However, fearing Huide might harbor ill intentions, the Gu family split the key in two. Only by putting the two halves together can the secret pavilion be opened. This is the 'Yin-Yang Key'."
"So?" she continued with a smile, "The Yin-Yang Key is kept in the Liangyi Pavilion?"
Li Xuanbai snapped his fingers.
She continued, "Don't tell me that the Yin-Yang Key is lost and I'm searching the mountain for anyone who has been to Liangyi Pavilion."
Li Xuanbai smiled for a moment and snapped his fingers again, "So smart, so easy to talk to. That's why I like smart people."
"So," she said, "Huide insisted that I had been to the Liangyi Pavilion. If I had agreed, then this crime, even if it wasn't mine, would have been pinned on me."
Li Xuanbai nodded, "Correct."
She then asked, "Since the Yin-Yang Key is a pair of keys, is it one key that is lost, or the whole pair?"
Li Xuanbai spat out the lychee pit and dropped it into the porcelain plate with a clang. "Then I don't know. But looking at that old man's attitude..." He smiled. "It's not good."
"And, there's one more thing, do you know?" he said, "The two Yin-Yang keys, when put together, can open the Star Pavilion; one alone can open the Nine-Light Reverse Wheel I showed you that day. That old man is going crazy with worry now."
She laughed and said, "You don't mind at all if such an important key is lost?"
"What does it have to do with me? I wish the whole mountain would burn down." He spread out his hands.
Nan Qiong Shuang laughed coldly, still feeling a bit frightened.
"Huide really doesn't intend to tolerate me anymore," she said, smoothing her long hair over her right chest to lean back more comfortably. "I'm afraid my days in the mountains will be even more miserable."
"What are you afraid of?" Li Xuanbai peeled another lychee and placed it against her lips. "You only have a month or so left in the mountains at most."
She became even more silent.
"I said, where are you going to go in a month?"
Li Xuanbai rested his elbows on his knees, sitting in front of her bed, his chin resting lazily.
The setting sun outside the window sank deeper into the sea of clouds, and the afterglow became even brighter, shining into the pavilion and filling the room with light.
She pondered and could not give an answer.
Where to go? It would be fine if she had an identity that allowed her to come and go freely.
In the thin golden sunlight, Li Xuanbai's hair tips, collar, neatly tailored disciple's clothes and sword were all embroidered with a circle of fine gold threads.
The mountain breeze blew through the hall, sweet and refreshing, lifting his hair slightly. The red earring sparkled and swayed in the wind.
He acted as if it had nothing to do with him, propping up his cheek and saying, "Chu Jiaojiao, I like you."
She tilted her head and looked straight into his eyes.
The man opposite had a pair of fox eyes that were dazzling and shocking, but he himself seemed unaware of it and just blinked lazily.
He said:
"I say, come down the mountain with me."
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