Chapter 124 Friends Bid Farewell to the Wei River.
When Xia Zhu returned to the courtyard, Ying Huo was nowhere to be seen. The windows were dark and there were no lights on.
Feng Feng came up from behind, chattering away, and naturally put his hand on her shoulder.
“Since the three-headed bird wants you to go to Nanhuo Mountain, let’s pack up and set off tomorrow.” She leaned closer and winked at Xia Zhu. “There’s no time to lose.”
But Xia Zhu didn't look at her. She lowered her head slightly and rubbed the hem of her clothes with her fingers.
“It wasn’t us,” she said sullenly. “It was me.”
Feng Feng didn't understand what she meant. He still had a smile on his face, tilted his head, and looked at her with big eyes.
Xia Zhu stared at her toes. She had thought about this for a long time. If she didn't see the three-headed bird tonight, she would need to think it over for a while before speaking.
Regardless, going to Nanhuo Mountain to find out about her origins is her personal matter, and she can no longer drag everyone else into this adventure.
So she turned and looked into Feng Feng's eyes, not avoiding his direct gaze.
"I'll pack my things and take Yunjiu back tomorrow morning. Xiaofeng, you can go with the others, or maybe look at the surrounding mission maps, or perhaps you've been away from the Feng family for so long, it's time to..."
Before she could finish speaking, Feng Feng interrupted her.
"What do you mean?" She withdrew her hand, stood up straight, and her eyes shone brightly in the night.
“I mean, I’ll go to Nanhuo Mountain by myself.”
"Why?" she asked quickly.
Xia Zhu patted Yun Jiu beside her, telling her to go back to her room and sleep. Only after watching the girl enter her room and close the door did she turn to Feng Feng.
“I didn’t have a clear goal before, and I never deliberately looked into my background. But now that I have a guide, I still have to go and take a look.”
Feng Feng didn't seem to understand her meaning, and his brows furrowed.
"But what does that have to do with you going yourself?"
"I'm afraid the journey to Nanhuo Mountain will be very dangerous..."
“Dangerous?” Feng Feng retorted. “But which one wasn’t dangerous before? We’ve been through so many dreams together, wasn’t there one that wasn’t dangerous?”
"This is different..."
"How is it different!" Feng Feng became excited. "When I brought you home, I already told you that we would walk the road ahead together, and I would help you find out about your past! Danger? It's precisely because of the danger that we have to stay together!"
"But this is my own business."
As soon as she said those words, Xia Zhu froze. She immediately regretted it, thinking that she could have been more tactful instead of drawing a clear, hard line between them.
So she looked up somewhat guiltily and saw Feng Feng standing there silently, only his lips tightly pursed.
She wanted to say something to make up for her directness, but before she could find the right words, Feng Feng turned around and went back to his room.
With a loud bang.
The wooden doors and windows trembled precariously, just like her heart.
Xia Zhu nervously tugged at the hem of her clothes, watching as the window in Feng Feng's room lit up and then went out again.
"A-Zhu." Feng Mian's voice came from behind.
He had been standing there since earlier, and Xia Zhu didn't notice when the rest of the people left, but Feng Mian seemed to be waiting for her.
“Xiao Feng’s temper flares up and fades quickly, so don’t worry. Maybe she’ll come to call you for breakfast with a smile tomorrow morning.” He smiled and walked to Xia Zhu’s side, his gaze gradually shifting from the completely silent window to her.
"I shouldn't have said that." She admitted her mistake directly, turning the apology she hadn't had a chance to give to Feng Feng to her brother.
Unexpectedly, Feng Mian chuckled and said, "You're not wrong. Where you go and who you go with is indeed your own business."
Xia Zhu looked at Feng Mian, waiting for his next turn of events.
"However, I just want to ask you something." His expression remained unchanged, still smiling, the night breeze gently blowing through his hair. "When you go to Nanhuo Mountain, will you take Ying Huo with you?"
Xia Zhu was stunned. She had thought a lot about when, where, and how to tell Feng Feng and the others that she had decided to part ways, but no matter how many ways and scenarios she thought of, Ying Huo was never the intended recipient.
I see.
Subconsciously, she still stubbornly adhered to that promise, taking in a homeless person with nowhere to go.
Even though she had no one to rely on but herself.
Perhaps that's why she made that choice, bringing Ying Huohuo along instead of Feng Feng.
After thinking it through, she nodded and honestly told Fengmian that she would.
She will bring Ying Huo with her.
That's it.
Feng Mian glanced at Feng Feng's room.
"Perhaps Xiaofeng also thought of this, that you would only prevent her from coming, but would bring Ying Huo along." As he spoke, he looked back at Xia Zhu, "What is your reason for bringing Ying Huo along? Is it because you like him? Or is it because, in your eyes, you are both people without any ties?"
Xia Zhu didn't answer him immediately, so Feng Mian continued, "Whatever it is, I believe you have your own considerations. But Xiao Feng isn't you, and she would make different choices in the same situation. In my opinion, the reason she reacted so strongly is because she is simultaneously pondering her and Ying Huo's place in your heart. Her way of thinking is different from yours. She hopes to do anything for her friends and hopes that they can need her."
“Azhu, Xiaofeng cares about you a lot. Although she is always carefree and cheerful, because of her identity, her friends can almost only be people of her own clan. You are her first friend who is so special. Special, and extremely important.”
"So you might as well tell her all your concerns and let her make her own choice, including all the unexpected events that may occur during the journey, including the possibility of life or death."
“I believe she will accept whatever outcome she chooses.”
Xia Zhu stared blankly at Feng Mian; his words soothed her troubled heart more than the summer night breeze. All the problems seemed to be solved, and things didn't seem so bad after all.
Feng Mian yawned and waved his hand.
"Alright, I need to go back to sleep. It's been a long night, but thankfully everyone has made some progress."
Xia Zhu watched him enter the room before going to Feng Feng's window.
She pondered how to begin, worried that the woman might have already fallen asleep. The next second, the window was pushed open from the inside, and Feng Feng, with disheveled hair and a stubborn expression, appeared before her.
Xia Zhu hadn't reacted yet, so she could only force a smile at her.
"Do you two have to stand in the yard and talk? I heard everything."
"I'm sorry."
"Yes, yes, no need to apologize. Go back to sleep now, or I won't wait for you if you oversleep tomorrow morning!" With that, he closed the window.
Xia Zhu was in a daze. She dragged herself back to her room and plopped down on a stool. Before she could even turn on the light, someone knocked on the window again.
She got up and pushed the door open, only to see Ji Yinxiu standing in the courtyard.
Having just caused a scene, she hadn't noticed when Ji Yinxiu and Ying Ya left. When she suddenly saw him again, she didn't know how to react, so she raised her hand and inexplicably greeted him.
Ji Yinxiu was taken aback and replied as well.
"What's wrong?" Xia Zhu asked him.
The boy by the window had white hair, even his eyelashes and eyebrows were white. Standing in the night, he looked like a jade statue covered in frost and snow. In the past, he regarded these things as worldly matters, but now Xia Zhu felt that they were the exhaustion of his years and the unfulfilled desires of his childhood.
Ji Yinxiu lowered her eyes, her hand unconsciously touching the sword at her waist.
"Now I know why my mother let me leave home."
Xia Zhu had already guessed what he wanted to say, but she didn't expect him to bring up Ji Buzhao. So she moved closer to the window and heard him say, "Most of the reasons are probably as the teacher said: Mother didn't want to see the precious sword covered in dust. I used to think so too, that all her reasons were because of the Xuanyuan Sword."
Ji Yinxiu paused for a moment, then looked up at Xia Zhu.
"But now I suddenly realize that maybe she did this in the hope that I could find my own way."
"Not as the owner of the Xuanyuan Sword, but a crippled member of the Ji family, nor as the son to whom she could not give any love."
"It's just me, nothing more."
Ji Yinxiu's voice, like his appearance, was androgynous, gentle like moonlight, yet at this moment it was incredibly firm.
He said, "So, I want to go to Nanhuo Mountain with you, no matter what happens in the end."
"If you need it."
Xia Zhu looked behind him; the crescent moon still hung in the west, and a corner of the rooftop was already bathed in the blue-white light of dawn. She pointed towards the dim light and then said to him, "If you can get up on time before we leave tomorrow."
Ji Yinxiu pursed her lips and smiled at her.
Over the next few hours, the rosy dawn gradually filled the entire sky, and the eerie fires flickered.
After a night of commotion, everyone still managed to gather in the main room of the courtyard before noon.
The conflict from last night was over, except for Ying Huo, who remained silent in the corner. Xia Zhu sighed, not quite understanding why he had suddenly become angry.
She asked Yu and Zhifeng to tell Jiang Xiaqing to thank her for taking them in these past few days, and to say that they were about to leave Weishui immediately.
The two children huddled together, whispering secrets, and left the empty courtyard with sly expressions. Before long, Jiang Xiaqing appeared in the main room.
She remained the same, her expression unchanged. She nodded as a greeting, and seeing that they had already packed their luggage, she didn't ask anything else.
"Let's go, I'll take you back to the top of Qingwu Peak."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Feng Feng jumped out at the right moment and told her what he had seen underground last night.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Xiaqing looked puzzled after hearing this.
"Auntie?"
She heard children laughing outside the courtyard and immediately understood why.
“I instructed Yu and Zhifeng to tell you that there is another person living in the basement of this empty courtyard. It seems that these two not only did not listen to me, but also exaggerated the story.”
After saying that, she looked at Feng Feng again.
“That person was indeed my great-aunt, an elder in the Ministry of Electricity.”
"Does your family have to move underground once they reach a certain age?" Feng Feng had barely finished speaking when Feng Mian shot him a glare. She shrugged. "The living conditions down there are so bad, how can anyone live there, especially an elderly and frail person like me?"
"Old and frail?" Jiang Xiaqing chuckled, but her face remained expressionless. "The reason my aunt lives underground is because the Jiang family won't give her a place to stay."
"Why?" Feng Feng asked. "Did she do something wrong?"
“They did something wrong…” Jiang Xiaqing’s gaze became somewhat unfocused, then she refocused on a point in the air, her tone returning to normal, “Not having children is indeed a huge mistake for them.”
Xia Zhu was taken aback and subconsciously looked in Ji Yinxiu's direction.
"When my great-aunt was young, she was also a candidate for the Purple Lightning Whip, but for some reason, it didn't fall to her. Later, because she was unwilling to get married and have children hastily when she reached the right age, she was despised by her clan as selfish. Even so, my great-aunt was stubborn and unwilling to compromise. As a result, her family deprived her of her family's residence, and because of the rules of the Divine Blood World, they were unwilling to let her leave."
Xia Zhu thought of something and asked Jiang Xiaqing.
"So she still has the power of divination?"
“That’s right.” Jiang Xiaqing nodded. “Yu Zhifeng should have told you that the Jiang family wouldn’t keep someone who only eats and does nothing. In addition, Auntie’s physiognomy talent is high, so she is of value to them. Let her guard the entrance for the Di Jun clan until the day she dies of old age.”
Sure enough, the bear and animal skin that Xia Zhu saw outside the wooden gate was actually Aunt Jiang Xiaqing's disguise.
"You went to the underground cave?" Jiang Xiaqing asked Xia Zhu this time.
Xia Zhu nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't inform you beforehand..."
"It's nothing," Jiang Xiaqing interrupted her. "How's that place? Maybe it'll be my place to live in the future."
She asked a question, but didn't seem to be expecting an answer.
"Any other questions? If not, let's set off."
Just like when they arrived, Jiang Xiaqing walked at the front. When they passed through the wooden gate, Xia Zhu glanced at the corner on the left. The aunt wearing a bear skin was still huddled in the shadows of the corner, with only a pair of gray and lifeless eyes occasionally flashing into the sunlight.
Childbirth brings women divine power, but in a sense, it also imprisons them.
In a world where women are in charge, a family's survival still depends on the uterus in the womb—just one organ.
Therefore, they need to be decisive, resilient, and tough, to climb to the highest position and never go down again.
But it's all because of one organ. This is their uniquely endowed weapon, their one and only scepter of power, a symbol of life and death. It remains to be seen how a family ruled by such a woman will make decisions and maintain balance.
The Wind Chasing Path on Mount Li is different from the day I arrived. Today the sky is clear and the clouds are light, and the distant mountains are clearly visible.
Ji Yinxiu thanked Jiang Xiaqing again, but the latter only nodded faintly.
Feng Feng pulled two Divine Strategies from his small cloth bag and handed them to Xia Zhu and Yun Jiu. Then, he left first. Ying Huo stood on the edge of the cliff, glanced at Xia Zhu, and then disappeared into the wind.
"Goodbye." She turned back to say goodbye to Jiang Xiaqing. Her seemingly frail body stood under the shade of the tree, and her expression was not visible. Before, she had Jiang Yuran by her side, so she was not as lonely as a lone bamboo. Now, no matter how indifferent she seemed or how emotionless she appeared, it was as if she was forcing herself to stay alive. A lone bamboo has no support. There are still so many years and months left. She can only grow in the desolate garden, relying on memories that will one day fade away, repeatedly and meticulously depicting them, pretending that person is still by her side.
Xia Zhu knew she was bad with words, so she didn't say anything more.
She held the Divine Strategy between her fingertips, but before she could raise it, she was stopped by someone behind her.
Jiang Xiaqing emerged from under the shade of the tree, the midday sun shining on her pale face.
"Did you get the answer you wanted?" she asked Xia Zhu.
Xia Zhu nodded.
"I guess so."
"I see. It seems she won again."
Xia Zhu didn't understand her meaning, but a gust of wind suddenly rose around her, blowing the divine strategy out of her hand. The next second, she was lifted up by the wind, and Jiang Xiaqing's voice tore in her ears. Her pale face gradually blurred in the wind.
Qingwu Peak has returned to tranquility.
After the Wind Chaser disappeared, the view beyond the cliff opened up again.
Jiang Xiaqing gazed at the distant mountains and unconsciously walked to the edge of the cliff. On a clear day, one could see the beacon towers on the western ridge of Mount Li from here. In their childhood, Jiang Yuran would always take her to the watchtower of the beacon tower, to see the mountains stretching like dragons, and to hear her vividly recount, with gestures and vivid descriptions, every relic left here millions of years ago, or every event that had occurred here.
She always said that all the things of the past have been incorporated into the long river of history. Many years later, when people revisit the place, it's like water vapor rising, forming clouds, and then a long-awaited rain falls.
Jiang Xiaqing stretched out her hand, feeling the wind and clouds pass by, and the warmth of the sunlight rising at her fingertips.
She was a little annoyed that the weather had been sunny all the time, so she didn't know when it would finally rain.
During the Nine Heavens Tournament, while waiting for the competition, Jiang Yuran lay on her lap, twirling her loose hair with his fingers, and on a whim, made a bet with her.
Jiang Yuran said that she would see that strange girl from the Feng family again someday, and smiled brightly with her eyes narrowed, "Maybe we'll meet again at your house?"
Jiang Xiaqing quickly understood what she meant, "You mean the three-headed bird."
The person beneath him blinked.
"Impossible," she immediately retorted. Throughout history, only the Divine Emperor Jun of the Jiang family had ever seen the divine bird. That seemingly ordinary girl, even if her identity was questionable, could not possibly have obtained such an opportunity.
"Alright, alright, shall we make a bet?" Jiang Yuran stretched out her slender fingers and bent them slightly. "I bet she'll appear in the Jiang family, and I bet she'll get an opportunity."
Jiang Xiaqing didn't speak, but just lowered her head and saw the sunlight outside the window being cut into mottled shadows and shining on Jiang Yuran's face.
Seeing that she didn't react, she smiled and gently hooked her hand with her bent fingers.
"Alright, the bet is settled. The loser has to grant the other person a wish."
The pressure on his hands increased, and their warm skin pressed tightly together.
Jiang Xiaqing stared at the long line of the beacon tower walls along the mountain ridge.
I wonder what her wish is.
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