Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Lin Bianyu rarely got angry, especially when the object of his anger was his most beloved brother, Lin Rufei.

Now that Lin Rufei was sick to the bed, he also hardened his heart and did not come to visit. Even after a few days, when Lin Rufei recovered from his illness, he still did not see his second brother’s shadow.

Lin Rufei was a little worried.

It was a good thing Fu Hua had a plan. She said that the pagoda trees[1] in town have just blossomed. The second young master loves dumplings flavored with the blossom, so why not take advantage of the good weather these days and go to town to pick some fresh pagoda tree flowers.

Lin Rufei thought it made sense, so he agreed to Fu Hua’s proposal.

This was the time when Spring was in full swing and everything was coming to life. The trees had lost their flower petals and were drawing out their bright green branches. The green grasses were long and birds were flying. It was wonderful.

Today the sun was just right. Lin Rufei finally changed out of the heavy fox fur and put on a single thin Spring outfit. The Spring outfit had a white base with gold patterns, and the cuffs were embroidered with a circle of fluffy white fur. The belt on his waist was a special turquoise jade sent by big brother, which was said to have the effect of calming the mind. As for the incense bag hanging on the side of his waist, it was hand-embroidered by his sister. Although the patterns were some strange shapes, Lin Weirui’s handmade pouches were a rarity.

Before leaving home, Fu Hua noticed that the wind was a bit strong so she gave Lin Rufei a black cloak to keep the wind out. Lin Rufei did not refuse, he was clear about his own physical condition. Even the smallest wind could make Lin Rufei catch a cold.

After a long walk through the mountains, they finally arrived at the town.

But today’s town seemed different from the previous days. A group of people were around the bridge, seemingly praying to something.

Lin Rufei wondered, “What are these people doing?”

Fu Hua said, “I haven’t been to town for a few days. Young master, please wait, I’ll go over and ask.”

Lin Rufei nodded his head.

Fu Hua turned around and went into the crowd. Lin Rufei wandered around alone, but before he walked two steps, he found something strange. The placement of this town allows people to see the northern peaks of Kunlun Mountain. However, when he looked up, he saw that the original neat and lofty northern peak seemed to have been flattened by something, exposing □□ rocks, which were abrupt and ridiculous. It was just like a handsome man in his prime, who had his hair cut for no reason.

Speaking of hair, Lin Rufei inexplicably remembered the golden-hair Monkey King in the cherry blossom forest. A little bit of guilty conscience brewed in his heart. But the good thing was that this northern peak incident certainly had nothing to do with him, so when he thought about it, Lin Rufei’s heart calmed down a lot.

Fu Hua finished inquiring about the news and returned to Lin Rufei’s side. She had a weird expression on her face and he didn’t know what she had heard. 

Lin Rufei asked: “What have you heard?”

“Well …… some days ago, the northern peak of Kunlun Mountain was suddenly cut down by a sword, many residents of the town saw the power of that sword and thought that only the gods could wield such a sword.” Fu Hua whispered, “As a result, they started worshipping.”

“Oh?” Lin Rufei was interested, “It seems that at this year’s sword competition, there were indeed some powerful people. Do you know the person who swung this sword?”

Fu Hua: “…… know.”

Lin Rufei said, “Who is it?” He was very curious about this, “But it’s strange, casually cutting down a peak of our Kunlun mountain and second brother is not angry.”

Fu Hua’s face showed a difficult expression.

Lin Rufei questioned: “What’s wrong?”

Fu Hua saw that Lin Rufei didn’t notice anything wrong. His face was longing for the truth so she sighed and said, “Young master, do you remember the time when second young master and Gu Feiyu had a sword fight?”

Lin Rufei smiled and said, “I do remember.”

Fu Hua said, “On that day, young master held Zhongfeng and swung from the top of the loft……”

Lin Rufei froze for a moment: “Indeed, but what does this have to do with me?”

Fu Hua looked at her young master who still had an innocent expression. For a long time, she did not say anything. She was thinking; if she was straightforward in telling Lin Rufei the truth—that he personally cut this peak into an unsightly flat head, would it not be too much of a stimulation for him? Good thing Lin Rufei also noticed some clues from her subtle silence. He looked at Fu Hua suspiciously, and even more suspiciously at the distant mountains. He raised his finger and pointed at himself: “Me?”

Fu Hua nodded.

Lin Rufei: “I splitted it?”

Fu Hua hummed in agreement.

Lin Rufei was shocked.

Fu Hua couldn’t help but want to laugh a little at Lin Rufei’s amazing expression. She stifled her laughter and said: “That day many people saw young master flying into the loft. And some people with really good eyesight also saw young master swing that sword….it’s just that not many people know young master so they began to spread rumors that there is an exiled immortal living on Kunlun.”

“Also a few days ago when Wang Teng and young master had a sword competition, it attracted heavenly thunder. And with young master’s swing, the thunder cloud was split into pieces.” Fu Hua softly whispered, “Although no one was present to watch the competition, that image was also seen by the people in town so….” As she said this she could not help but chuckle. “I just went to ask, the one they are worshipping is you.”

Lin Rufei stood for a moment, then took a few steps towards the back of the crowd. He saw that those people really were worshipping a clay statue, but the statue’s posture was formidable. It had a fierce face. The most terrifying thing was that the statue had two heads and four arms. The four arms all held a sword blade, almost like an Asura[2].

Two words emerged in Lin Rufei’s heart: who’s this?

Fu Hua was laughing back and forth, wiping her tears she said: “Few people in Kunlun have seen young master’s appearance. The chaos of the rumors are really amazing. People say that someone who can use such a powerful sword must be gifted, unique even!”

Lin Rufei said sullenly, “Unique?”

Fu Hua chuckled and said, “There must be four hands to be enough, and two heads to be good!”

Lin Rufei thought about it and finally said, “That’s fine.”

Fu Hua covered her mouth and laughed to the point of trembling.

Lin Rufei looked despondently at the statue that did not match his figure. He thought for a while before turning around and took out a few copper coins from his pouch. He bought three incense from the old man hawking next to him. He bent down and devoutly worshipped, his mouth chanting: “Next time never swing at a mountain.” Although there were many mountains, only a few were particularly beautiful. With this one swing, he was afraid big brother would be heartbroken for half a year.  

After worshipping the legendary four hands and two heads exiled immortal, Lin Rufei sat on his white horse and followed Fu Hua to pick pagoda tree blossoms.

This year’s Spring had little rainfall. The pagoda trees that bloomed were exceptionally good. They were densely clustered on the branch, looking very lively.

Fu Hua took out a cloth pouch and in a few steps, she climbed the tree and started picking. Lin Rufei was standing at the bottom looking up at her, greeting the flowers at this end and the flowers at that end.

The two of them were still picking flowers when Lin Rufei heard horse hooves galloping on the green stone paved street. He turned around and saw a young girl dressed in black riding a horse the color of red dates[3] through the town. The girl looked beautiful, but her face was cold. The large blood-red gourd[4] on her back was particularly eye-catching.

When people saw the young girl riding on the horse, they all shied away to the sides to give way.

Lin Rufei, however, brightened up and called out with a smile: “Third sister…”

The young girl turned around and when she saw Lin Rufei, the coldness on her face instantly faded away and she smiled sweetly: “Xiao Jiu!!” The horse’s hooves immediately stopped. She hopped off, turned, and ran wildly to hug her brother, whom she had not seen for several years. “Xiao Jiu! Why are you here? Did you know I was coming back, but I didn’t tell you guys in advance, how did you know? Are you picking pagoda tree blossoms? Look at you, have you not been eating properly, how did you lose weight again …… ” Lin Weirui, who never likes to talk much, was at this time like an uranium record with high-frequency mode unsealed and 5 sassafras[5].  

One question after another made it very hard for Lin Rufei to answer. In the end, he decided to stop interrupting. He just let Lin Weirui continue on until she was tired. She wept: “Xiao Jiu why aren’t you saying anything? Big sister has been gone for only three years, and now you’ve distanced yourself?” 

Lin Rufei said: “Sister, you ask too many questions, how can I answer them. Ask slowly, ask slowly—”

Only then did Lin Weirui stop making a fuss.

Fu Hua had picked a good amount of pagoda tree blossoms, so the three of them plan to go back. But as they passed through town again, Lin Weirui thought that the people who were devoutly kneeling were very strange. They said that they were worshipping and how that person also had four hands. Could there really be new powerful gods in this world…… 

Lin Rufei looked helpless and he didn’t really want to explain, so he signaled for Fu Hua to speak. 

Fu Hua tried to hold in her laughter as she explained in detail to Lin Weirui. Lin Weirui, who was listening, burst into laughter. She slapped Lin Rufei’s shoulder saying that their brother has finally grown to be outstanding. They should just announce to the public that the fourth son of the Lin family has four arms, and is an exiled immortal from the nine Heavens. 

Lin Rufei sat on the white horse, listening to Lin Weirui joking about himself. It gave him the feeling that he was back in his youth. 

At that time, he was weak and small and couldn’t even step on the stirrup. Sister Lin Weirui held him in her arms. While walking, she talked about all the trivialities of sword practice. Lin Minzhi walked ahead with his horse, not saying a word. Lin Bianyu stood guard at his side, with a gentle smile at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.

Lin Rufei was unfortunate. On Kunlun, which was famous for its sword, he didn’t even have a sword of his own. But he was also fortunate, because from the moment he was born, his brothers and sister have protected him like a treasure.

Now, he actually split a north peak with a sword and he still didn’t know how he did it. But the future days were like a cold pool being stirred up, seemingly a bit angry. 

Let everything get better, Lin Rufei thought. This was probably the happiness of mortals.