Glimpse into a Hundred Faces (20)
Yun Yanqiu froze on the spot, her fingers clenching tightly, her knuckles cracking with a sharp "crack." Zhao Huai'ren instinctively took a half step back, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead, his voice weak: "Let's talk this out! My feelings for your sister are genuine, I..."
Before he could finish speaking, Yun Yanqiu snatched the wedding invitation from his hand, his gaze fixed on the three gilded characters "Yunyuxi," and his eyes twitched violently.
Damn it, what do they see in each other? Yun Yanqiu clicked his tongue in annoyance, his fingers tightening so hard he almost crumpled the glaringly red invitation.
Seeing that although his face was gloomy, he showed no intention of making a move, Zhao Huai Ren breathed a slight sigh of relief and tentatively asked, "You... will come, right?"
Yun Yanqiu slowly raised his eyes, his brows furrowed, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if he wouldn't be satisfied until he had gouged a hole in his forehead.
Zhao Huai-ren felt a chill run down his spine under his gaze. He swallowed hard, his voice growing even weaker: "Brother Yan, A-Yu wants you to come back. She arranged a banquet for you, and you're the first one there..."
Upon hearing this, Yun Yanqiu's gaze flickered slightly, then he suddenly glanced to the side, remaining silent.
Zhao Huai-ren wanted to say something, but before he could speak, a loud "boom" suddenly came from the distant mountains. Yun Yanqiu turned his head sharply, and his pupils shrank the instant he realized the direction: "It's Master."
The two rushed to where Li Zhoubai was in seclusion, only to find the stone door wide open. Li Zhoubai had his arm around Qin Wenshuang's shoulder, his plain white robe covered in dust and grime, with several tears in the cuffs, looking somewhat disheveled. He noticed the commotion and turned to look at them: "You two..."
Qin Wenshuang also looked up in this direction and saw that it was Yun Yanqiu and the other person. She took a half step back without making a sound, broke free from Li Zhoubai's arm, and said indifferently, "Xiao Yan, your friend?"
"Yes..." Yanqiu was momentarily speechless, realizing he had come at the wrong time. He quickly grabbed Zhao Huai Ren's arm, "Master and Mistress, we heard the commotion and came to check. Since everything is alright, we'll take our leave..."
Zhao Huai-ren reacted quickly, nodding repeatedly and saying, "Yes, yes, it's good that you two are safe and sound! We'll be right there—"
"No need." Qin Wenshuang interrupted coldly, her gaze lowered, avoiding eye contact with anyone. "You all have things to discuss first. I'm tired after guarding this place for so many days. I'll go and rest first."
"Master's wife..." Yun Yanqiu hesitated, but upon seeing her eyes, he swallowed the rest of his words.
"Excuse me." Qin Wenshuang turned around hastily, her steps unsteady, almost as if she were fleeing.
After her figure disappeared, Li Zhoubai's eyes darkened: "What did Wu Shao say to your master's wife during my seclusion?"
Yun Yanqiu's throat tightened, unsure of where to begin: "She asked my master's wife to come and ask you... she seemed to have mentioned a name, something like... Lu Jiuzhong?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhoubai's expression changed drastically. He frowned, pondered for a moment, and then sighed heavily: "We shouldn't have let her stay here."
"Your master's wife has been waiting for you at the door ever since she returned."
"Is that so..." Li Zhoubai murmured, turning his gaze to Zhao Huai Ren, his tone softening slightly, "Why are you here?"
Zhao Huai-ren clasped his hands in a respectful bow and said solemnly, "Senior, it's been a long time. I will never forget your life-saving grace back then. I have come today to deliver your wedding invitation and would like to invite you to my wedding banquet." As he spoke, he took out a red invitation from his bosom and respectfully handed it to Li Zhou-bai: "You have given me a second chance at life. If you could attend this wedding banquet in person..." His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice became more and more earnest, "it would be the greatest fortune of my life."
Li Zhoubai unfolded the document and saw the bride's name immediately catch his eye. He looked up abruptly, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Yun Yanqiu and Zhao Huai Ren: "This is..."
“Yes, my wife is Brother Yan’s sister!” Zhao Huai-ren answered quickly, his face beaming with smiles. “Isn’t it a coincidence? You are my benefactor, Brother Yan is your esteemed disciple, and we are as close as brothers…”
Yun Yanqiu snorted coldly, turned her face away, and looked very unhappy.
Li Zhoubai took in the expressions of the two people. After a moment of contemplation, he put the wedding invitation into his sleeve and said, "In that case, let Xiaoyan go in my place."
"Um, senior..."
"As you just saw, my partner and I have some misunderstandings, which I doubt will be resolved anytime soon." Li Zhoubai's tone was calm but firm. "When I have some free time in the future, I will bring her to visit and offer my congratulations."
Although Zhao Huai-ren was unwilling, he dared not say anything and could only agree. The three of them went down the mountain together, and from afar they saw Wu Shao leaning against the stone table in the courtyard. Seeing them return, Wu Shao lazily raised his hand and pointed to the bamboo forest behind him: "Qin Wen-shuang is over there."
These words were clearly directed at Li Zhoubai. He lowered his brows, his face suddenly darkened, and he took three steps in two to stand in front of Wu Shao, casting a shadow that completely enveloped Wu Shao.
"What did you and Shuang say?" He asked in a very low voice, each word sounding as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth.
"What can I say? I'll just put in a good word for you, that's all." Wu Shaotou tilted his head casually upon hearing this. "Our deal isn't finalized yet. Do you think I'd be stupid enough to sabotage your efforts at this crucial moment?"
Li Zhoubai frowned, his gaze sweeping across her face like a knife.
Wu Shao naturally knew this guy's temperament, so she simply spoke frankly: "Instead of interrogating me, you should ask Lu Jiuzhong what he told her." As she spoke, she couldn't help but sneer, "That madwoman is now willing to spill anything."
Upon hearing the name "Lu Jiuzhong," the surrounding air seemed to freeze instantly. A cold glint flashed in Li Zhoubai's eyes, and with a flick of his wide sleeves, he turned and strode quickly towards the bamboo forest.
After the figure in white disappeared into the bamboo path, Zhao Huai-ren finally couldn't contain himself any longer. He crept up to Yun Yanqiu and whispered, "What are your master and your mistress doing...?"
"What's it to you?" Yun Yanqiu glared at him irritably.
"Oh dear, little apprentice, are you this rude to your friends too?" Wu Shao interjected, twirling a strand of hair behind her ear with her fingertips, her smile meaningful. "Just ask me if you want to know~"
Zhao Huai Ren's eyes lit up, and he was about to speak when he immediately felt Yun Yan Qiu's unfriendly gaze. He clicked his tongue, hesitated for a moment, and finally waved his hand awkwardly, forcing a dry laugh, "No, I was just asking casually, I'm not interested..."
Seeing this, Wu Shao burst into laughter, but Zhao Huai Ren felt inexplicably uneasy. She laughed for a while before finally stopping, then suddenly tapped the table with a finger, saying in a deep voice, "Some things are better said aloud. If you keep them bottled up for too long, you might go mad..."
Thick clouds pressed down on the sky, and the mountain wind howled as it swept across the cliff, making Qin Wenshuang's clothes flutter wildly. She sat cross-legged on a blue stone at the edge of the cliff, her eyes tightly closed, a look of sorrow furrowed between her brows. The humiliation of her hasty escape just moments before was still vivid in her mind—she had waited for so long, imagining a thousand ways to question him, but the moment she saw Li Zhoubai, her heart crumbled.
Suddenly, she heard a noise behind her, and familiar footsteps approached her, crunching over gravel. Qin Wenshuang's back stiffened instantly. The person's scent, mixed with the smell of pine and blood, made her neck burn even from a distance. Feeling like she was being pricked by needles, she clenched her fists tightly, feeling the pain of her nails digging into her flesh to maintain a semblance of composure.
"Ask Shuang..."
The call was like a dull knife, slowly chipping away at the icy shell she had built. Qin Wenshuang bit her tongue, the taste of rust spreading in her mouth. The mountain wind suddenly picked up, whipping up sand and gravel that lashed against her, as if urging her on, or perhaps warning her.
"You knew all along?"
Li Zhoubai's voice carried a bitterness she had never heard before; his breathing was unusually heavy, sending shivers down her spine. Qin Wenshuang finally opened her eyes, but her mind remained a complete blank.
She still didn't turn around. Li Zhoubai slightly curled his fingertips, his throat tightened, he wanted to go forward but was afraid of displeasing Qin Wenshuang, as if there was an invisible chasm between the two of them, and no matter how strong his thoughts were, they could not be conveyed to the other side.
“Back in the Netherworld, you were the one who saved me first…” Li Zhoubai suddenly took a half step forward, inadvertently crushing a piece of withered branch. “Perhaps you don’t remember, but I was in that blood pool, just like everyone else, corroded beyond recognition.”
His voice was mellow and warm, like caressing some fragile treasure: "I know you didn't save me on purpose, but the moment you grabbed my arm, you were all I could think about."
Suddenly, a gap opened in the sea of clouds, and sunlight streamed in, gilding Qin Wenshuang's trembling eyelashes with golden light.
"I know you are the daughter of the Yanqing Sect Master, born a phoenix from the heavens, while I am nothing, how could I be worthy of you?"
"Later, when you left the sect for me, I was overjoyed. It turns out that someone like me, a mayfly in the mud, could actually meet a phoenix in the sky..." He confessed to his beloved, "You were my only wish in this life, and I never thought that one day, this wish would actually come true."
Qin Wenshuang seemed to be touched; her trembling shoulders silently told the story.
Li Zhoubai, seeing this, added, "Wen Shuang, I do have some less-than-honorable past. But since I met you, I haven't had any contact with them. This time, I only did it out of necessity so I could go out and find you..."
"Li Zhoubai!"
The shout startled the birds in the forest. Qin Wenshuang whirled around, her clothes fluttering as she stirred up a biting mountain wind. She looked at the man who had once plucked stars and the moon for her, her eyes churning with a tidal wave of emotions—a mixture of grief and confusion, sorrow and guilt. She was still struggling, her hands trembling uncontrollably, but now there was no turning back.
"Li Zhoubai, tell me the truth." A broken voice squeezed out from her throat, as if it were being torn out from the depths of her chest.
Her fingertips dug deep into her palms, and bright red blood trickled down her pale knuckles, splashing into a dazzling blood flower on the bluish-gray mountain rocks.
"Just how many people did you kill for Lu Jiuzhong?"
The mountain wind suddenly stopped. The gentleness on Li Zhoubai's face cracked inch by inch, revealing the grim bones hidden beneath. He raised his hand to touch his beloved, but the moment he saw his reflection in her pupils, he froze like a cliff.
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