Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 38: Wish

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The giant pupil swept its cold gaze around the crowd. It didn’t seem to be able to find the target it wanted and its color began to fade as if it was about to re-hide back into the darkness.

However, at this time, two figures flew through the sky. Lin Rufei raised his eyes to look and unexpectedly saw Fu Hua and Yu Rui. The two maids had gone through a fierce fight and their white clothes were covered with scarlet blood. They were holding their long swords with a ferocious look and after noticing the bandits not far away, they raised their swords and slashed. The next moment, there were bandits’ heads that fell directly to the ground.

When their companions were suddenly killed, the bandits did not look angry at all, instead, they laughed maniacally.

“Are these people crazy?” Yu Rui was confused and said annoyingly, “Someone died and they’re still laughing?”

Fu Hua coldly said, “Then kill them all.” Dead people couldn’t laugh anymore.

As the two people were talking, they didn’t seem to see the giant pupil floating in the sky. Lin Rufei had a sense of foreboding and wanted to stand up to call out to the two people, but he felt something sharp being held against his back. He turned his head and looked at Mo Zhaocai, who was holding a dagger in his hand. His face did not look surprised at all and he only sighed slightly.

“Lin gongzi, apologies.” Mo Zhaocai said.

“Why are you making your move now?” Lin Rufei slowly said, “I thought you had to wait a little longer.”

Mo Zhaocai was confused, “You saw through it?”

Lin Rufei said, “Your luck was a little too good.”

Mo Zhaocai smiled, but unfortunately, there was not much sincerity in the smile, “Lin gongzi, don’t blame me, I had no choice.”

Lin Rufei spread his hands and made a helpless expression. Mo Zhaocai saw this and thought that this sign meant that he was giving up. However, who knew that the next moment, Lin Rufei’s body erupted with an ear-piercing sharp sound. The sound directly shook Mo Zhaocai into dizziness and he involuntarily backed up a few steps. At the same time, he also attracted the attention of Fu Hua and Yu Rui, who were still in mid-air.

“Young master!” Yu Rui was surprised.

Mo Zhaocai soon recovered. He grabbed the dagger in his hand and rushed at Lin Rufei. Lin Rufei reacted very quickly. He pulled out the wooden shield from his ring and raised his hand to block. When Mo Zhaocai saw the wooden shield, a smile immediately appeared on his face, as if he thought he had a sure victory. However, when the dagger in his hand heavily pierced the wooden shield, he heard the crisp sound of gold ringing and jade breaking. The special dagger in his hand actually broke into several pieces.

“How, how is that possible!” Mo Zhaocai stared with a pair of big round eyes. It was as if he had seen a ghost as he dazedly looked at the wooden shield in Lin Rufei’s hand. He was stunned, “This wooden shield ……”

“It works really well.” Lin Rufei praised, “One spirit stone, you definitely sold it for really cheap.” 

Mo Zhaocai’s face instantly turned red and he gritted his teeth in anger.

“Young master!” At that moment, Fu Hua and Yu Rui both noticed where Lin Rufei was and came towards his side with a happy call. However, just as their swords flew halfway there, the giant blood-colored pupil had landed its sight on their bodies.

“Ah!” In the middle of the air, Yu Rui let out a miserable scream. She was like a bird with broken wings as she fell straight down from the sky. Fu Hua wanted to go catch her, but also suddenly screamed in pain. She then fell at the same time with Yu Rui from mid-air.

Lin Rufei immediately pulled out a rainbow ribbon from his dimensional ring and threw it in the direction of Fu Hua and Yu Rui. The rainbow ribbon flew out and wrapped around the bodies of Fu Hua and Yu Rui and then blossomed into an exaggerated silk flower as it carried the two slowly down to the ground.

Both of them covered their faces with their hands and moaned uncontrollably. He saw traces of blood flowing from their closed eyes as it slowly slid down their cheeks and towards their chins. 

Lin Rufei drew his legs and ran towards the two.

At the same time, the giant pupil that was suspended in mid-air slowly moved and turned its gaze to Fu Hua and Yu Rui, who were lying on the ground and gradually losing consciousness. Lin Rufei also felt the giant pupil’s gaze. He could hardly describe this gaze in words. There was no trace of warmth when it looked at them, like it was looking at lifeless objects. Even the soft hairs on his skin could not help but stand upside down.

“Young master …… young master …… run.” Fu Hua felt Lin Rufei’s approach and her voice faintly called out, “Run. This thing …… can’t be messed with ……”

Lin Rufei clenched his teeth and did not speak. He turned to stare at the giant blood-colored pupil.

Compared to his nervousness, the bandits were extraordinarily excited. They looked at the giant pupil that finally responded and even began to cheer excitedly. Mo Zhaocai was carrying his only backpack as he stood next to the boulder. He sometimes looked at Lin Rufei and sometimes looked at the huge eye. His already thin figure appeared lowly compared to the giant pupil. 

“Finally it’s open, finally it’s open—” Someone cheered.

“It really did need the eyes of an exiled immortal.” Someone screamed, “Quick, quick get in there and see what’s in there—”

“Go, go!” Someone had already pulled out the knife on their back. 

It was like a drunken revelry.

Everyone’s sanity seemed to have been taken away. Their faces also turned red under the illumination of the red light emitted by the giant pupil and there was not a trace of sanity left in their expressions that a normal person should have. Following the gaze of the giant pupil, all their thinking ability was slowly being swallowed.

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The middle of the giant pupil cracked. A black slit formed and black smoke came pouring out of it. This scene was treacherous and horrific, but the bandits who had gone mad were oblivious. They continued to run towards the giant pupil, fearing that they were running too slow.

Mo Zhaocai stood still, his face showing a mixture of hesitation and confusion. He seemed to be thinking whether he should continue to stand or to run with the mountain bandits together towards the giant pupil. 

Finally, someone ran up to the bloody giant pupil and couldn’t wait to stick his hand into the dark crack. He opened his mouth and laughed: “Found it—found it—” His laughter stopped abruptly and then a tooth-aching chewing sound followed.

Crunch, Crunch. The giant pupil seemed to have grown teeth as it directly chewed the hand that reached into the crack.

“Ahhhhh!!!!!” The man let out a miserable cry and turned to flee, but the giant pupil opened even wider and directly swallowed his entire body inside.

The chewing sound was getting louder and louder making anyone who was listening to it feel like their scalp was about to explode.  

But the bandits who heard this horrific sound remained oblivious. They were neither scared nor intimidated and continued to swarm towards the giant pupil, just like moths that flew towards the fire.

The moth’s fragile wings were quickly ignited, turning into a moment of brilliant flame, and then finally, became a dark gray.

Lin Rufei watched this scene and stood silently in place.

One—two—dozens of mountain bandits were all gradually swallowed by the giant pupil.

Mo Zhaocai, who was standing behind the stone, suddenly let out a cry. He still seemed to have some sanity left. However, he still hesitantly moved his legs and slowly went towards the giant pupil.

Lin Rufei couldn’t hold back his voice: “Don’t go over, you will die!”

Mo Zhaocai looked back and smiled reluctantly. He shook his head and then nodded again, “Lin gongzi, I’m really sorry.”

Lin Rufei said, “What are you going to do? That thing will kill you!”

So many people died in front of them, and besides, Mo Zhaocai obviously still had the ability to think, so how could he want to follow the bandits over?

Mo Zhaocai said, “I, I can’t help it.” He sighed heavily, “I really can’t help it.”

“Of course you can’t help it, who told you to be just a Mo family dog?” A laughing voice came out from behind Lin Rufei, carrying a nasty tone, “A dog guarding the house has already reached its pinnacle, what else do you want to do?”

Lin Rufei turned around and saw the bandit leader, who should have been killed by Mo Zhaocai’s knife, now squatting on top of the boulder that was behind him—intact. He was looking at everything in front of him with interest, “Don’t you think so, Zhaocai?”

Mo Zhaocai’s lips twitched and for a long time, he remained silent.  

“I know what you want, isn’t it to resurrect that dead bastard, Mo Changshan.” The bandit leader looked at Mo Zhaocai with a tilt of his head and snorted, “But he died so tragically that he didn’t even get his head back. You still want to resurrect him just like that?”

Mo Zhaocai said lividly, “Mo Changlan, you shut up!”

Once this name came out, the identity of the bandit leader was finally revealed. Not only was he a member of the Mo family, but he also seemed to have a deep connection with the dead Mo Changshan.

Mo Changlan laughed.

Mo Zhaocai looked at him with hatred and Mo Changlan waved his hand indifferently: “Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t do anything to you. Besides, I also promised that as long as you can get that thing in your hand, you will be allowed to make a wish first.”

Mo Zhaocai said, “Really?”

“Although I have become a bandit, I will still keep my promise.” Mo Changlan said, “But you saw what happened before. If you also want to go to your death, I naturally will not stop you.”

The devoured bandits did not even have bones left and all seemed to be pointing towards disaster if Mo Zhaocai decided to go. However, he still went forward. Facing the huge blood pupil, he gritted his teeth and continued on. As he got closer and closer to the giant pupil, his ears were actually flooded with a thin whisper. The whispering voice was familiar and Mo Zhaocai’s eyes widened in shock: “Young …… young master?”

“Is it young master?” Mo Zhaocai said, “Is it young master talking?”

No one knew what he heard but his emotions instantly rose, “Young master, I’m here, I’m here to save you! You don’t have to suffer anymore!” After he said these words, a happy smile hung on his face and his steps grew a little faster.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a pity.” Mo Changlan stood by Lin Rufei’s side. He didn’t have the intention to make a move on him and simply sigh. Only this sigh contained no trace of emotion, it was indifferent like a passing spectator.

In the end, Lin Rufei didn’t know what the relationship between Mo Changlan and Mo Zhaocai was, and how he appeared in the bandit fortress on the Xiliang Mountains. He only knew that it must have been Mo Zhaocai who played some tricks to kill Mo Changlan in front of himself under false pretenses.

Seeing Lin Rufei look over, Mo Changlan laughed: “Beautiful, if you look at me with such eyes, I will not be able to control myself.”

Lin Rufei said, “Control?”

Mo Changlan said, “Appetite and lust are only natural.[1]“

Lin Rufei said, “Your right hand doesn’t hurt anymore?” That hand was smashed to pieces by his shield. Don’t be fooled by this Mo Changlan’s dashing looks, in fact, this whole time his right hand did not move. It was probably a heavy injury. 

Mo Changlan clenched his teeth, “…… it doesn’t hurt anymore!”

Lin Rufei waved the wooden shield in his hand: “Then should I help you review it again?”

Mo Changlan couldn’t help but take a step back. This Lin gongzi, although he was born with a soft and weak look and looked like he was easily bullied, only those who have been smashed by him knew how much it hurts. He was someone that used to be a sword cultivator and this smack from Lin Rufei’s shield had shattered his whole hand into pieces. He didn’t know how long it would take to heal. 

Seeing that Mo Changlan did not say anything, Lin Rufei returned his attention to Mo Zhaocai. Mo Zhaocai moved forward step by step and was almost at the giant pupil.

The giant pupil had swallowed dozens of people and the black crack seemed to have vaguely expanded. The rich smell of blood, that was being emitted from inside, could even vaguely be detected by Lin Rufei.

The fear on Mo Zhaocai’s face gradually faded and it had begun to turn into the madness and obsession seen on the mountain bandits a while ago. He stared at the giant pupil in front of him with a gentle look as if he was looking at his long-lost old friend.

Mo Zhaocai’s footsteps finally stopped before the giant pupil. As long as he raised his hand, he would be able to reach into the gap.

Lin Rufei frowned, he seemed to have seen how Mo Zhaocai would end up. Mo Changlan also sighed slightly. The two did not speak and their expressions were slightly gloomy. 

However, when Mo Zhaocai slowly raised his hand to reach into it, it seemed like he was pulled by something. His feet stumbled and he failed to stand properly as he fell to the ground. Because of his posture, his whole body fell onto the backpack behind him. The backpack made a crunching sound and it seemed that something broke inside. When Mo Zhaocai heard the noise, his face changed dramatically. He panicked, dragged over the backpack, and hurriedly opened it. 

Lin Rufei had always been curious about what was inside that backpack. Now that Mo Zhaocai unpacked the backpack, he was able to see.

It was a black wooden box wrapped extraordinarily tight. Its length and width were about two feet and it was wrapped in layers of soft cloth, so most likely the inside was filled with fragile goods.

Mo Zhaocai took out the box. After finding that the wooden box had a broken corner because of his fall, his expression became extremely ugly.  

He carefully opened a corner of the box. After making sure that the contents inside were not broken, he released a long breath and muttered, “Luckily, luckily …… luckily it’s okay.” As he said these words, he gently stroked the wooden box in front of him. A thin layer of moisture gathered in his eyes, “That scared……me to death.”

Mo Changlan saw Mo Zhaocai’s action and his face sank. He coldly said: “I didn’t expect him to actually find it.” 

He didn’t know exactly what Mo Zhaocai found in the end, but it actually made Mo Changlan’s body release a strong killing aura. As Lin Rufei was wondering, he saw Mo Zhaocai gently take out the thing from the wooden box.

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It was surprisingly a human head. The head was still in the shape of a teenager and was no different from the shape of a normal person. Its eyes were closed as if it had just fallen into a deep sleep.

“F**k.” Mo Changlan cursed, “How could Mo Changshan raise such an obedient dog.”

These words made people feel very uncomfortable. Lin Rufei frowned after hearing this and glared at him.

Mo Changlan felt a little guilty from Lin Rufei’s glare and his momentum instantly weakened by a few points. He explained, “I didn’t curse at anyone. This Mo Zhaocai is one of Mo Changshan’s dogs!”

Lin Rufei was expressionless: “Saying that people are dogs is not considered cursing?”

Mo Changlan said, “Naturally it is…… but Mo Zhaocai is different, he was originally a dog!”

Lin Rufei said unhappily, “And you still say you’re not cursing.”

Mo Changlan was dumbfounded and wasn’t able to say anything for a long time. Finally, he helplessly waved his left hand: “Forget it, forget it. I’m too lazy to explain to you.” Logically speaking, if they were to say that Lin Rufei did not have sword Qi on his body, he shouldn’t be afraid of him. However, he didn’t know if it was because of the shield incident, but Mo Changlan looked at the little gongzi, who was gentle as jade, with some fear. 

There was no doubt that the head held in Mo Zhaocai’s hand at this time, was the Mo family’s eldest son, Mo Changshan, who had died. Even though he had been dead for some years, his reputation was still widespread. As long as the Mo family was mentioned, they would know his name and then sigh in pity.

Lin Rufei had also heard of the name Mo Changshan.

More than ten years ago, this name usually appeared together with Lin Bianyu. The people knew that above the western mountains, there were two stars; one star for Jade (yu) and the second star for Mountain (shan). This referred to Lin Bianyu and Mo Changshan. Mo Changshan was about the same age as Lin Bianyu and had the same outstanding talent.

Unfortunately, God was jealous of his talent[2] and he did not live past his sixteenth birthday.

That year, the Kunlun Sword Sect sent out invitations to the world’s most powerful people to come to the sword competition. Mo Changshan was invited to go, but he was cut off halfway. After the Mo family learned of the incident, they immediately sent people to search for him. They searched for more than twenty days when they finally found Mo Changshan’s body in a stream a hundred miles away from Kunlun. 

He was still holding a sword and was half kneeling on the edge of the stream. The blood on his body had dried and it was empty above his neck—someone had killed Mo Changshan and cut off his head cleanly.

The Mo family was outraged and put out a heavy reward for the murderer.

However, ten years have passed and the murderer was still missing.

It should be expected. After all, this person was able to quietly take away Mo Changshan and kill the genius unsuspectingly so his life probably couldn’t be bought by money. The Mo family gradually declined and the murder case that shocked Jianghu at the time, also gradually faded away. People were forgetful. With the passage of time, people began to gradually forget the name Mo Changshan as well as the bloodshed that year. Plus, with the fall of the Mo family, no one asked about the matter again.

These were Yu Rui and Lin Rufei’s private talk. The maids on the mountains have nothing to do so they always love to hear some interesting stories. Mo Changshan’s story, for others, may also be called interesting, but this interest was mixed with a little sigh. People couldn’t help but fantasize that if Mo Changshan was still alive, would he have become a powerful swordsman like the second son of the Lin family, Lin Bianyu? 

Unfortunately, the deceased eventually turned to earth and the past became untraceable.

Mo Zhaocai held Mo Changshan’s head in his arms and slowly helped him tidy up his hair, which was a bit messy.

When Mo Changlan saw this, he averted his gaze and cursed lowly.

Lin Rufei’s mood was also very complicated. He looked at Mo Zhaocai and a sigh surfaced in his heart. The Mo family spent so much effort that year but also did not find Mo Changshan’s head. No one knew how much work it took, or how many methods were used for this servant in front of him, called Mo Zhaocai, to find his master’s head. Looking at his age, it seems that he wasn’t too old. He was most likely still a child when Mo Changshan died. Even though he did something against him, Lin Rufei still wanted to praise his perseverance and courage.

“Young master, Zhaocai will try, don’t you worry.” Mo Zhaocai straightened his master’s hair and whispered, “Zhaocai is of little use, this is the only way.”

He was too weak, weak to the point of humility. He didn’t know the art of the sword, nor was he able to find magic treasures. If he continued like this, he would never be able to resurrect Mo Changshan. The blood pupil in front of him was his only chance.

That year, the Heavenly Ruler arrived in the west on his sword, from the Xiliang Mountains along the Canglan River all the way to Kunlun. Since then no one knew where he went. Rumor has it that he passed by the Xiliang Mountains and dropped a blood-colored object, which could fulfill a wish of a mortal.

Every legend had a basis, Mo Zhaocai firmly believed so.

“Mo Zhaocai, don’t go there! You’ll die!” Lin Rufei saw him regain his stance as he put the head back into the wooden box so he shouted, “That man-eating thing, how can it be a treasure?!!!”

Mo Zhaocai turned back to Lin Rufei. His face showed some embarrassment as he scratched his head and smiled guiltily, “Lin gongzi, in fact, that shield is a fake. I just found a random piece of wood on the roadside that had yet to be pierced by a sword. The materials also included raw iron……the particularly brittle kind.”  

Lin Rufei said: “It’s really fake?”

Mo Zhaocai said: “Naturally—”

Lin Rufei said, “Then why did this Mo Changlan’s hand get shattered?”

Mo Zhaocai froze and only after a long time did he say, “Maybe because he’s a straw bag waste.”

(t/n: refresher, straw bag = idiot)

Mo Changlan glared in anger and the murderous aura on his body swept out in layers, yet neither Lin Rufei nor Mo Zhaocai seemed to feel it. Finally, he also ran out of steam, sighed, and touched his still broken right arm.

“Anyway…… anyway…… that shield is really fake.” Mo Zhaocai said and then remembered his dagger that was just broken by Lin Rufei. He was suddenly confused and muttered, “It’s fake, right? It’s fake, right? Damn, could it be that old Wang actually used the real thing to fool me…….”

A smile surfaced in Lin Rufei’s eyes but he quickly suppressed it, “I don’t care whether it’s real or fake. As long as it works.” He didn’t know what Gu Xuandu would think if he knew that he still couldn’t use his sword well, but was already able to use the shield so skillfully. 

Mo Zhaocai showed a helpless expression: “Okay. But, I just wanted to remind you. Just don’t meet a tough nut to crack.” He put the backpack down and said seriously, “Lin gongzi, if I die, can you please do me a favor?”

Lin Rufei said, “No.”

Mo Zhaocai stared at him, “Why?”

Lin Rufei said, “I never help dead people, it’s bad luck. If you want to do something, do it yourself.”

Mo Zhaocai said, “I just want to trouble you to bury me and gongzi together ……”

Lin Rufei said, “That eye eats people without spitting out bones, what do I bury?”

Mo Zhaocai thought about it and found it quite reasonable. In the end, he fished out his bone knife, cut off a lock of his own hair, and placed it next to Mo Changshan’s head, laughing, “It’s OK now, right?”

Lin Rufei couldn’t understand why he chose to die: “Why are you so stubborn—”

Mo Zhaocai laughed: “Lin gongzi, you don’t understand. I am just a dog of the Mo family. I have a lowly life. To be able to live until now, I owe it all to Da Gongzi. So as long as Da Gongzi can come back to life, I am willing to try any method.” 

After he finished speaking, he knelt down and made a big salute to Lin Rufei, “Thank you in advance, Lin gongzi.”

After saying that, he reached his hand into the blood pupil’s black slit.

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The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei: You didn’t come online today either. 

Gu Xuandu: If I said I did, would you believe me? 

Lin Rufei: Where?

Gu Xuandu: Guess~

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[1] “By nature we desire food and sex,” he is saying that eating and sex is the same thing and that it is natural to crave for it. 

[2] those whom the Gods love die young; heaven is jealous of the heroic genius; the great have great hardship to contend with.