Chapter 41: Beauty of Plants and Trees
He started bleeding before he could even see the sword move.
The Chief Secretary smiled faintly, "This is the first time I'm meeting Master Mu Jin, so of course I have to give him a gift."
Mu Jin narrowed her eyes slightly and wiped the blood off her hands nonchalantly.
At this moment, his wrist was grabbed by the chief secretary.
Mu Jin was intimidating without being angry, "How dare you!"
He sighed deeply, held his hand and dripped a drop of blood on the withered flowers and plants.
Just one drop, and in the blink of an eye, the withered flower will come back to life.
The yellow leaves fade away, and green emerges from the dead leaves.
Mu Jin has grown up, but his mind is sometimes still like that of a child. No one has ever told him how this happened, and how the ability to bring flowers and plants back to life is hidden in his blood.
He only felt his heart sinking, as if he was falling into an abyss. He was tied up tightly and thrown into a bottomless pit. He shouted, but no sound came out.
It only took him half an incense stick of time for him to understand why his uncle didn't kill him, but instead took his blood at intervals.
It's a pity that he thought he was not stupid and never thought about the use of his blood for so many years.
It seems that in the Fool's Garden, there is indeed a fool living there.
His hopes of escape were dashed.
He had wanted to escape since he was ten years old, but he was caught again and again, three times in total, and failed every time. He fantasized that one day he would walk out of this endless darkness, but now he knew that as long as he lived, his uncle would not let him leave.
"How do you know?"
The Chief Secretary smiled and said, "Not only do I know this, I also know the hatred hidden deep in your heart."
His smile was stiff, but in order not to appear timid in front of him, he still smiled and said, "You are wrong. I don't hate anything."
The Chief Secretary pointed at his jade ring and said, "I heard that this is a relic left by your biological mother. You wear it every day to remember your mother."
He pretended to be sympathetic, raised his ring and placed it against his cheek. "I lost my mother and father when I was young, and was raised entirely by my uncle. Even though I'm an adult now, I still miss my mother from time to time, which makes the chief historian laugh."
The Chief Secretary looked at him without exposing him. The little animal pretending to be so cute.
Mu Jin stared back at him. He had worn this jade ring for so many years. Whenever hatred reached its peak, he would lift it to his lips. To others, he looked helpless and helpless, only able to pray to the dead, pitiful and pathetic. In reality, every time he approached the ring, he whispered only hatred. He swore, "One day, I will kill you all."
"Sir, you are a smart man. I will get straight to the point and not dwell on it any longer. This mansion is full of eyes. I can make them sleep for a while, but I can't make more eyes close."
"What do you want?" Mu Jin knew that he must have something to ask for.
"As the leader of the Zongxun Sect, I only want to take away Gao Shan Shou this time."
"What is that?"
He didn't even know what Gao Shan Shou was, so it was even simpler. "It's just a secret manual from our sect's past. I want to keep it as the sect's treasure."
It's a pity that Mu Jin has gradually lost his childishness. "It must be a profound secret book, enough for Changshi to benefit from for the rest of his life."
He saw that he was determined to get "Takayama Shou".
"What can you give me?" Mu Jin asked again.
"I will help you escape from this place and gain freedom, so that the Chai family will never find you. And you, help me get the "Takayama Shou"."
This business deal is not only reasonable, but also exactly what Mu Jin wants. Logically, he would not refuse it.
But Mu Jin smiled and said, "I know nothing about trading."
He did not get angry, but said gently, "When you meet the man who can replace you and offer endless blood to the governor, you will understand that this deal is very cost-effective for you."
He didn't believe it. "Not everyone's blood can have such an effect, right?"
The Chief Secretary had to admit that the young master was a smart man who didn't like to talk nonsense. "Of course, your blood is the rare Qilin blood in the world. According to legend, this blood can prolong life and even restore the dying to life."
"You believe it too?"
"Didn't you see the flowers and plants come back to life just now, sir?"
"If that were true, I wouldn't be so weak."
The Chief Secretary was silent. "I don't know if Qilin blood is only useful to other people, but whether those who possess it can achieve immortality."
Mu Jin sighed, "Do I look like I can live a hundred years?"
"No matter what, I look forward to concluding this deal with you, sir. If you are unwilling, I will find a way to leave the Governor's Mansion as soon as possible and never show up again."
Mu Jin asked, "What does 'Gao Shan Shou' mean to my uncle?"
The moon was hidden by dark clouds.
The room grew darker.
He moved closer to Mu Jin, and Mu Jin felt her whole body was cold and stiff. After a moment, her whole body felt as if it was burning in flames.
"Since this secret book is so important to my uncle, I will do this business with you. However, you'd better succeed. Otherwise, I may not die, but my uncle will definitely kill you."
He was confident, "I know, don't worry, sir. This will never fail. Even if it doesn't, you won't be implicated."
When he thought about his uncle losing this evil book nourished by his blood, and how he would be so miserable from now on, an indescribable pleasure rushed into his throat, and his eyes were red with excitement.
Regardless of whether what this person said was true or false, he had to give it a try. He could gain freedom and avenge his years of humiliation. What's not to like?
He didn't expect that the matter would get so out of control.
The night Jiaoran arrived, he was like an ant on the hot pan in Siyuyuan.
The weather had just turned cold, and the wind was beating against the paper-pasted windows. He listened to every gust of wind, thinking about the woman who was about to come.
The Chief Secretary said that her blood was as magical as his, but although they both had Qilin blood, for some reason, she could not bring spring back to the dead trees.
However, the instruments used to draw blood in the secret passage could not distinguish the difference between the two. When they took away the secret book and covered the totem with her blood, it had the same effect as his blood. The martial arts that Chai Yu practiced required such blood to prolong his life and replenish his energy.
By then, even if Chai Yu found out that he had escaped, he would not bother him any more with this replacement. Even if he sent someone else, he would have already left Xiu Tu by then, and they would never see each other again.
The night in the Governor's Mansion was truly dark. He turned off the lights and hid in the darkness, peeping at her.
Ordinary people's vision would be obstructed at night, but for him, it was not much different from daytime. Mu Jin had long adapted to life in the dark. If he were asked to live under daylight all day, he would find it difficult to accept for a while.
She was an ordinary woman, with only a pair of eyes that were bright, like stars in the sky. Her lips were tightly pursed, and she was vigilantly observing her surroundings, looking around.
Mu Jin was a little disappointed, a disappointment that he couldn't describe.
He thought—
At least she is not such an ordinary girl with no special features.
The day before, he tossed and turned, imagining that her appearance might be gorgeous, pretty, or graceful.
She has charming manners and is not an ordinary woman.
But looking at it now, it seems a bit... wooden.
It's like a tree, neither sad nor happy, not overly lively nor timid or pitiful.
Did this woman, who looked like grass and trees, know that someone was secretly watching her every move? Thinking of this, a smile unconsciously curled up at the corner of his mouth. His life was too boring, and now someone was finally playing a game with him.
Early in the morning, Xiaoju brought her to see him.
He was bored and teased Jiaoran.
"Your name is Jiaoran, right?"
She kept lowering her head to answer his questions, first saying "I" and then changing it to "maid". It seemed that she had learned too few etiquette.
This little spy is bound to make mistakes in front of my uncle.
As soon as he spoke, she wanted to look up at him, which was not right. As a maid, she should not want to look her master directly in the eye.
I don’t know how the Chief Secretary taught her, or maybe her understanding was too slow, and she never learned the rules of the deep house.
When it came to dressing, Jiaoran was clumsy and couldn't even tie his jade belt. The belt hung to one side, and his collar was half open, which made him look unhappy.
Mu Jin had no choice but to tie it himself. It had been a long time since he had dressed himself, probably several years. After moving to Siyuyuan, the people who served him no longer let him do it.
He wanted to get dressed, but this silly girl also wanted to get it over with quickly, so it was the first time he had ever coordinated with someone to get dressed.
Suddenly, he touched something warm and soft.
Looking down, I saw it was the back of her hand.
Mu Jin quickly withdrew his hand, as if he had touched something unclean.
From childhood to adulthood, he rarely had direct physical contact with others. Even when his uncle punished him, he used torture instruments, as if he were some unclean thing and his uncle was too lazy to touch him.
To ease her tension, Mu Jin walked to the desk and wrote a line of poetry.
The result was like throwing a wink at a blind man. Jiaoran couldn't read at all. To be precise, she only knew a few words and couldn't even read most of them.
He couldn't help but laugh at her. There was no one in the yard who was illiterate. Even the old lady who lit the fire in the kitchen knew more words than she did.
Mu Jin deliberately embarrassed her and asked her to write a few words she knew.
Seeing her racking her brains to think of the words that could only be pronounced with her fingers, he took great effort to restrain himself from laughing.
Jiaoran almost bowed her head to the ground before he let her go and explained that he was not making fun of her. In fact, he was making fun of her, and he was laughing at her loudly, but she was so dull that she couldn't notice it.
He told her that she could learn slowly later.
Anyway, he has never taught anyone to write, so life is meaningless. If he teaches her to write, it will be much more convenient for her to pass on messages to the outside world. I heard from the Chief Secretary that she also came to steal "Gao Shan Shou". They are all thieves. Go ahead and steal it. If she has the ability, steal her uncle's treasure and make him heartbroken.
It's time to paint.
It was difficult for Mu Jin to calm down and paint today. He worked on a winter fishing picture for half an hour but made no progress.
After he left Siyu Garden, what had that foolish girl been doing? Had she started sneaking around to gather information and find the secret book she wanted to steal?
She is so stupid. If she is discovered by the Chai family, she might even implicate him. However, this person was recommended by the Chief Secretary, and her uncle trusts the Chief Secretary. At that time, he might direct his anger at him.
If the Chief Secretary had run away, and he hadn't, the rage would have burned him to ashes.
Being a walking corpse or being a pile of ashes, in short, there is no difference, and Mu Jin doesn't care too much.
Mu Jin's distraction made his uncle realize that his mind was not here.
His uncle beckoned, and he skillfully stretched out his hand on the table. After a dull sound of beads colliding, he clenched his teeth to prevent the pain from flowing out of his mouth.
But his knuckles still began to swell red, and after a while they inevitably turned bruises. Over the years, his uncle's favorite birthday gift for him was ointment, an ointment that worked wonders, healing bruises quickly so he could hit harder next time.
Only after being beaten could he calm down. After another half an hour, he finished the painting.
Just as I was about to ask my uncle to come over and take a look, I looked up and saw that my uncle was no longer upstairs.
Mu Jin felt something was wrong and hurried down the stairs.
Sure enough, Jiaoran had already knelt down in front of his uncle.
He was afraid that his uncle would ruin the Chief Secretary and his plan. If Jiaoran died now, his wings would be broken before they could even spread. How could he fly out of the high walls of the Governor's Mansion?
I have to plead for her again.
After a terrifying conversation, his uncle let them go, but he always felt that his uncle would not be so kind. Maybe more eyes would appear in Siyuyuan and stare at him in the future.
He walked quickly, secretly hating the girl's stupidity. He had known she was stupid, but he had never thought she would be so stupid as to break in and seek death in front of her uncle.
Jiaoran asked him from behind, straight to the point, asking if he was angry.
Mu Jin was obviously furious, but he still forced a smile, comforted her and said it was okay, and told her where he would pick him up later.
As soon as he finished saying this, he thought that someone was trying to trip up Jiaoran. Xiaoju didn't take her there personally, so how could the other maids not tell Jiaoran where to wait? No matter how stupid she was, she wouldn't have walked through the courtyard and went straight to the library to find him.
Seeing Jiaoran staring at her cuffs, he quickly put his fingers into his sleeves, making the excuse that it was frostbite from the cold weather.
Jiaoran believed it and told him that snake oil and safflower ointment could cure frostbite.
Alas, she was so gullible that she would believe whatever he said without any doubt.
Mu Jin thought, if it weren't for her special blood, those people in the martial arts world probably wouldn't have sent such a fool like her to carry out this operation.
The two of them were walking one after the other. He heard Jiaoran calling him and paused, "What's wrong?"
Jiaoran ran up to him, stroked his neck with her warm fingers, closed his cloak which was a little open, and tied it up again. His neck froze in place and he couldn't turn his head. Fortunately, it was cold, so she didn't have to find an excuse to cover up his suddenly red ears.
Following the cloak, Jiaoran adjusted the clothes around his shoulders and waist, trying to prevent the cold wind from entering. It was such a simple thing.
She was so skilled in taking care of people, as if she treated him like a child. Even Xiaoju would not have such close contact with him. She respected him, feared him, and honored him. In Xiaoju's eyes, he was the master, or maybe even a monster.
In that instant, he actually wanted to cry. For the first time, he wanted to ask this woman to hug him, just like before, sincerely, without disgust, without any grudges, and without fear or desire.
It can be imagined that he had been trapped for too long, so he was too easily attracted to her.
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