Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 43: Pre-Wedding Gift

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Liu Rugong was just in front of him so Lin Rufei naturally couldn’t say that it was him that wanted to slip away. As a result, he made a few casual remarks and passed them off. Luckily, Liu Rugong also did not look deeper into it, he just took out a big red invitation in his hand and handed it to Lin Rufei.

The invitation was like a hot potato but Lin Rufei could only helplessly accept it.

Seeing that Lin Rufei had accepted the invitation, Liu Rugong knew he was going to get this gift. For a while, he was a little eager and the hand holding Luo Shen could not keep still. His hand looked very itchy and his expression was one that couldn’t wait to immediately pull Lin Rufei out to compete. 

“I am going to get married soon, I am afraid I will be busy for some days. I don’t know when Lin gongzi will be free so why don’t we set the date in advance.” Liu Rugong sat in front of Lin Rufei and asked for the wedding gift with a natural look.

Lin Rufei thought for a moment and said frankly: “To be frank, Liu gongzi, I have not practiced swordplay before because I have been weak since young.”

Liu Rugong’s smile faded instantly and he looked at Lin Rufei with a blank expression, “What do you mean by that, Lin gongzi? Are you saying that someone like Wang Teng lost to someone who has never practiced with the sword?” He said coldly, “If you don’t consider me, Liu Rugong, as your friend then just say so, why do you need to make such excuses?” With a clang, he pulled out his Luo Shen and stared at Lin Rufei with cold eyes, “Since Lin gongzi doesn’t consider me as a friend, if I want to fight with Lin gongzi, then I don’t have to pick a date.”

It seemed that this fight had to be fought so Lin Rufei sighed and said, “Since Liu gongzi insists on this, then let’s set it for three days later.”

Liu Rugong’s gloomy look instantly faded. Smiling, he fished out a delicate paper bag from his pocket and placed it on the table, “Lin gongzi, don’t be angry with me, my personality is like this. If no one competes with me in a sword fight, I would rather die. This is my third sister’s dragon’s beard pastry[1], which is one of the best in Gusu City. Today, I have specially brought it for Lin gongzi to try, it will be considered as my apology to you.”

Liu Rugong had always acted openly and unscrupulously and it wasn’t easy for him to say soft words.

Lin Rufei didn’t touch the things on the table and called out to Fu Hua to send the guest away.

Fu Hua, who was outside the room, heard the call and pushed the door in. She saw that the atmosphere in the room was a bit strange and her heart suddenly thumped. Liu Rugong waved his hand indifferently, said goodbye, and turned around to leave. He was very delighted. After Fu Hua sent him off, Lin Rufei was the only one left in the room.

Gu Xuandu asked him, “Not happy?”

Lin Rufei shook his head: “Not unhappy, just a little envious.”

Gu Xuandu said, “Envious? Envious of Liu Rugong?”

Lin Rufei laughed, “If I had his talent, I probably would have developed this kind of uninhibited nature as well.” He picked up the paper bag on the table, opened it, and saw the dragon’s beard pastry inside. It must have just been made since it was still warm. He took out a piece and placed it in his mouth. The texture was soft and melted in his mouth and the rich aroma of soybean spread across his taste buds.

Lin Rufei thought it tasted good and handed one to Gu Xuandu.

Gu Xuandu was not polite and took a big bite, then asked, “Really not angry?”

Lin Rufei shook his head: “Indeed, I’m not angry, but I don’t want to look too good-tempered in front of Liu Rugong, so as not to ruin the name of the Lin family.” His siblings were all so proud. If they had met Liu Rugong’s approach, they would have fought with him on the spot—no, maybe they would have gladly agreed to the competition with Liu Rugong without him forcing them to.

It was a pity that the person Liu Rugong wanted to compete with was him.

“You can try it now too.” Gu Xuandu seemed to be very interested in this dragon’s beard pastry, one bite after another, he ate with great pleasure, “Anyway, this Liu Rugong is durable, even if your power is not well controlled, it is not so bad that it will kill him.”

Lin Rufei frowned: “But Gusu City has so many people if I don’t control my power, one swing……” Then it wouldn’t be as simple as splitting the north peak since the city had so many people. 

Gu Xuandu lazily said: “Then choose a place far from Gusu.”

Lin Rufei thought about it and felt that this was the only way to go.

There were still three days left before the sword competition. Lin Rufei had a temporary feeling of hugging the Buddha’s feet[2], but this kind of thing was not something that could be practiced in a short time. Although he could barely attach sword Qi to Gu Yu, he didn’t dare to do it again after a few attempts. Either there was no reaction after swinging or after a light swing, the wall in front would develop an exaggerated crack. Fortunately, there was no one in the room, else he would cost a human’s life. Even the suffering innkeeper didn’t dare to cause trouble for Lin Rufei. Finally, Lin Rufei let Fu Hua send more silver as compensation.

So for three days, he continued to try. Tomorrow was just around the corner and it was the day of the competition with Liu Rugong. Lin Rufei thought that this was really unreliable. If he really went on, either he was going to get cleave by Liu Rugong or he was going to cleave Liu Rugong, there was no third possibility.

Gu Xuandu had nothing to do, so he gave Lin Rufei a bad idea. He said that when the sword fight started, first, talk to Liu Rugong and before he could react, make the first move, then this matter would end right there. Liu Rugong was the one who asked for it anyway and even if it killed him, it wouldn’t be easy for the Liu family to cause trouble for him. 

Lin Rufei made a gesture of admiration to Gu Xuandu: “When senior competed with others, do you do this often?”

Gu Xuandu thought for a moment and said frankly that he really did. However, at that time he was still young, so he didn’t care about shame. For the sake of his small life, he didn’t have the time to think about the extras. Unlike later, when his reputation grew, even though he thought of it in his heart, he didn’t have the nerve to do it. 

Lin Rufei immediately admired Gu Xuandu to the point of adulation.

“Alas, Xiao Jiu, you are just too soft-hearted.” Gu Xuandu said, “This matter of the sword competition is originally a matter of life and death. However, you can rest assured. As long as I am here, I will ensure that you can swing the sword.” Anyway, the one who was going to die was not Lin Rufei, so he didn’t have to worry in the slightest.

Lin Rufei didn’t continue bothering with him. He yawned and then got onto the bed to sleep.

The sword practice during the daytime made him tired so this sleep made Lin Rufei feel very steady. When he got up in the morning, he accidentally saw Fu Hua and Yu Rui’s faces full of worry. Because he was afraid of making his maids worry, Lin Rufei also did not say that he was going to a sword competition with Liu Rugong. Seeing the two of them like this, he felt quite strange in his heart. 

“What are the two of them worried about?” Lin Rufei asked Gu Xuandu.

Gu Xuandu’s eyes contained a deep smile: “They’re most likely thinking that their gongzi’s self-talking hysteria has become more serious.”

Lin Rufei: “……”

Gu Xuandu said: “Probably already sent a few letters to Wan Yao urging him to prescribe medicine?”

Lin Rufei sighed quietly for a long time before saying, “Let them be.”

The agreed place for the sword fight with Liu Rugong was originally inside the Liu residence. However, Lin Rufei was really worried that he couldn’t control the sword Qi and would hurt innocent people, so he let Liu Rugong change the place to the outskirts of the city so it wouldn’t be easy to hurt people.

Liu Rugong didn’t care where they fought, he just needed Lin Rufei to be willing to fight with him and that was enough.

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Today, the weather was very clear. The hot sun roasted the earth and the hot Summer heat was transpiring as it baked out the noisy cicadas.

Lin Rufei had a low body temperature, but he quite liked Summer. Seeing that his and Liu Rugong’s appointment time was almost here, he went to the street and bought a mung bean soup[3] to cool off from the Summer heat. While drinking, he slowly wandered out of Gusu City.

The time they agreed on was in the late afternoon when the weather was at its hottest. Lin Rufei also did not have an umbrella so when he arrived outside the city in the hot sun, his forehead surfaced with a layer of thin sweat.

Of course, compared to him, Liu Rugong appeared to be more wretched. He was obviously hot and had picked up a lotus leaf to use as a hat out of nowhere. He was squatting under the shade of a tree and his hand continuously fanned himself. His sleeves were also pulled up to the arm, like a farmer just out of the field, and there was no longer that dashing appearance. 

Liu Rugong saw Lin Rufei coming from afar and he showed a look of impatience. He stood up and called out to Lin gongzi, but his eyes soon fell onto the mung bean soup in Lin Rufei’s hand.

This mung bean soup was placed in a lotus leaves sewn bowl and chilled with well water, giving off a refreshing smell. Lin Rufei also noticed Liu Rugong’s eager eyes, but he was not moved. He relentlessly drank the mung bean soup then smiled and called out Liu gongzi.

Liu Rugong gritted his teeth and reached out to draw his sword. Luo Shen was unsheathed, its blade was like a silver light as it emitted a cold killing intent: “Lin gongzi, draw your sword.”

Lin Rufei said yes with a serious face. He then reached his hand into his dimensional ring and a moment later, he pulled out a black wooden shield from it—this was the perfect method he had thought about all night yesterday.

For a moment, Liu Rugong even thought he was hallucinating. He stared at the wooden shield for a long time to make sure he was not mistaken; that he didn’t mistake a sword blade as a shield before he hissed, “Lin gongzi, what is that thing you’re holding?”

Lin Rufei introduced, “A wooden shield.”

Liu Rugong: “What’s so special about this shield? Oh, I know, is it because it has a sword blade inserted inside?!”

He had seen such a weapon before, it was a bit special but it did exist.

But who knew that the little gongzi of the Lin family standing opposite him would shake his head very frankly: “No blade inserted.”

Liu Rugong: “……”

Lin Rufei said, “I just bought it off the street. It was the kind that costs one tael of silver, oh. The shopkeeper also gave it to me for ten copper coins cheaper.”

Liu Rugong’s hot and sweaty handsome face instantly distorted. He stared fiercely at Lin Rufei. After making sure he wasn’t joking, all his anger turned into heavy killing intent: “Lin gongzi, are you looking down on me, Liu Rugong?”

Lin Rufei said, “Of course not.”

Liu Rugong said, “Then why won’t you draw your sword?!”

Lin Rufei said in his heart that it was because he wasn’t very skilled, but his face was still calm and he said, “I’ll draw my sword when you break my shield.”

Liu Rugong was furious, he had never receive such an insult. He became famous when he was a teenager and was also the second son of the Liu family. None of the times when he was in a sword fight, did he see his opponent pull out a wooden shield or deliberately reiterated that it was one that cost one tael of silver—

Exactly how much did he(LRF) look down on him(LRG)?!

Although in Lin Rufei’s heart, he didn’t have this intention, it seemed that Liu Rugong would not listen to his explanation. Under the helplessness, he gently smashed his mouth together and quietly recalled the delicious mung bean soup just now. He was thinking that he should’ve saved a sip for Liu Rugong, at least to let him take some heat off ……

Liu Rugong was already angry to the point of being red-eyed. The Luo Shen in his hand also surfaced a layer of green sword intent, like a single flame attached to the snow-white sword blade. He held the blade diagonally, stepped forward, and swung his first move at Lin Rufei.

The sword Qi was majestic and it was mixed with a strong killing intent as it aimed at his face. The soil under his feet was split into dust as a shocking crack formed. Liu Rugong’s figure began to become distorted and he didn’t know if it was because of the scorching heat or the green flame-like sword Qi on Luo Shen.

Lin Rufei raised the plain wooden shield in his hand.

Luo Shen and the wooden shield collided, creating a strong wind that shook Lin Rufei’s sleeves. However, his feet were as steady as a mountain and he resisted the blow without retreating half a step. The wooden shield in his hand actually scattered off the sword Qi like a perfect white barrier, blocking Luo Shen on the other side along with the green flame.

Liu Rugong revealed a stunned look, but soon, this stunned look turned into one of excitement, like he had finally met his rival. He hissed and Luo Shen carried him into mid-air. Then like a falling star, he headed towards Lin Rufei for his second move.

Lin Rufei still did not move.

The second move struck against the wooden shield, but it still did not break it. The white sword intent formed into a barrier as if it had become an unbreakable armor and Liu Rugong’s strike was just like scratching an itch. 

Liu Rugong didn’t mind at all. One strike, two strikes, three strikes, four strikes—his speed was getting faster and faster and his body was gradually turning into a shadow. Originally, Luo Shen only had one handle, but now he was able to wield the appearance of a sword rain in the sky. 

The trees around Lin Rufei were like waves of wheat blown down by the gale as it toppled over and even the city gate in the distance was not spared.

The white sword Qi on top of the wooden shield was gradually fading with the continuous consumption from Liu Rugong. Seeing this scene, Luo Shen’s green flame grew bigger. Liu Rugong’s red eyes had an excitement that was about to become concrete—he didn’t believe that there was a shield that couldn’t be broken by Luo Shen, especially this mediocre shield in front of him that only cost one tael of silver. 

The white sword Qi was finally about to dissipate and Liu Rugong called out Lin Rufei’s name.

Lin Rufei held the wooden shield while standing in place. His expression held no sadness or joy. He was like another person compared to his ordinary self. He felt the green flame in front of him, that kept eroding the sword intent inside him, had a trace of familiarity …… as if he had encountered such a severe sword intent before, only that sword intent was a hundred times more ferocious than this one.

Liu Rugong saw Lin Rufei’s expression and his face showed hatred. He found out that Lin Rufei, under his own fierce attack, was actually lost in thought and that his(LRF) gaze seemed to have passed through his(LRG) body, looking into the distant nothingness.

“Lin Rufei!” Liu Rugong felt an unprecedented insult and roared, “What are you looking at?! The one who is competing with you is me!”

Another blow and the white sword blade finally made a crisp sound. However, before Liu Rugong could show his joy, he saw Lin Rufei, who was standing still, raise his hand and waved the wooden shield he was holding.

A huge force came abruptly and before Liu Rugong could react, it smashed heavily upon his body. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and then he flew out like a kite with a broken string. Before he flew out, in his trance, he saw countless sharp sword blades hanging around Lin Rufei. And Lin Rufei was standing indifferently amid the sword rain with eyes as cold as frost, not like a mortal.

Dealing with him, it turned out that Lin Rufei didn’t even need to draw his sword……. Before fainting, that was the only thought that remained on Liu Rugong’s mind.

When Liu Rugong fainted, the manic green flame sword Qi on Luo Shen also subsided. Not much was worn during the Summer. Lin Rufei didn’t understand how to use sword Qi to protect, so his clothes were all tattered from the fight. Not only were the sleeves gone, but he also revealed a pale waistline. The long hair that had been neatly tied up was also messily scattered over his shoulders. With that pale face, if one only looked at their appearance, one might think that the person who lost the competition was Lin Rufei.

“It’s over?” Lin Rufei looked at Gu Xuandu. He did not expect it to go so well.

Gu Xuandu nodded his head.

“Where is Liu Rugong?” Lin Rufei asked.

“He’s lying over there, he was knocked out by you.” Gu Xuandu looked at Lin Rufei’s eyes which held a little helplessness. Others swordsmen were using the sword, but the one in his family, who relied on the natural sword Qi in his body, was able to use the shield more and more smoothly. 

Lin Rufei let out an “oh.” After a sigh of relief, the wooden shield went back into his ring. He walked forward some distance before seeing Liu Rugong, who had fainted, lying on the ground.  But even though he had fainted, he did not let go of the Luo Shen in his hand. 

Lin Rufei said, “Is he okay?”

Gu Xuandu said, “It should only be a superficial injury, nothing serious.” Those that were too hard, were easily broken. Liu Rugong attacked so fiercely and he also suffered the loss. If he took his time, Lin Rufei might not be the one to win in the end. But Liu Rugong’s nature was obviously not the kind of person who worked slowly and carefully.

Lin Rufei squatted down halfway and probed his nostrils to make sure he was okay before breathing a sigh of relief. He looked at the tattered clothes on his body and said in distress: “I forgot to bring clothes out. If I walk back like this, will Fu Hua and Yu Rui misunderstand anything?”

Gu Xuandu thought of Lin Rufei’s two maids, who were already too worried to sleep, and said, “I guess you won’t be sleeping tonight either.”

(t/n: I think this means that his maids will scold him all night long and not something inappropriate /////^/////) 

Lin Rufei thought for a moment and silently moved his gaze to the unconscious Liu Rugong.

Gu Xuandu had a feeling and said, “What are you going to do?”

Lin Rufei said, “Liu Rugong said that we are friends, right?”

Gu Xuandu raised his eyebrows.

Lin Rufei spoke forcefully with conviction, “Since we are friends, it’s only right to help out a little. Besides, he also accepted my gift money——”

Gu Xuandu understood Lin Rufei’s meaning as he laughed and cried: “You ……”

Lin Rufei was already happily reaching out towards Liu Rugong. He intended to strip off his clothes and make do with it. After all, if he walked back to the inn in tattered clothes and bumped into Fu Hua and Yu Rui, the already anxious and sleepless maids would probably become more anxious. 

Lin Rufei immersed himself into seriously unbuttoning Liu Rugong outfit, but Luo Shen, that was held in Liu Rugong’s hand, suddenly emitted a puff of green smoke and it was soon followed by a woman’s stern rebuke: “Lin gongzi, what are you trying to do to Rugong?!”

Lin Rufei was startled. He looked up and noticed that it was the woman in green, who had stood behind Liu Rugong on the roof that day. She was extremely beautiful. With her bright eyes and white teeth, she was as pretty as the Autumn moon. However, at this moment, she looked at Lin Rufei with cold eyebrows and her eyes were full of condemnation.

“Luo Shen?” Lin Rufei stared in surprise, “You are Luo Shen’s sword spirit?!”

The woman disdained: “What does it matter to you!”

Lin Rufei sized her up and sighed, “I thought this Liu Rugong was a sword fool, but it turns out that he was so willful because he had a beauty with him.”

The woman’s cheeks reddened slightly and she “hmphed” lightly, “Even if you praise me so much, I won’t allow you to misbehave with him!”

Lin Rufei said, “Misbehave with him? How is this misbehaving?” He pulled on his own clothes aggressively and said, “He was the one who wanted to find me to compete. He even turned my clothes to tatters so I can’t return in this one, right?”

Luo Shen was at a loss for words.

As Lin Rufei continued to speak, his tone grew with righteousness: “Besides, I treated him as a friend, would he even refuse to help me with this?!”

Luo Shen was speechless. She could only stare at the pair of round almond eyes[4] and bite her lower lip. Finally, she squeezed out a sentence: “Then …… then you can’t take off the pants.”

Lin Rufei waved his hand: “No worries, my pants are fine.”

So under the watchful eyes of Luo Shen and Gu Xuandu, Lin Rufei happily stripped Liu Rugong’s upper body naked and replaced it with his clothes. This Liu Rugong was a bit more muscular than Lin Rufei so the clothes were also slightly larger. But he was just making do with it anyway. However, Gu Xuandu sighed quietly on the side and said he would remember to prepare a new outfit for him before Lin Rufei fought.

The weather was too hot, Lin Rufei pulled Liu Rugong into the shade and slipped away first. He didn’t want to wait for Liu Rugong to wake up and ask him for his clothes back.

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Luo Shen felt a bit dazed after Lin Rufei’s actions. She was most likely thinking that this Jianghu was scary. Losing a fight wasn’t enough, even clothes weren’t allowed to stay. 

Lin Rufei happily went back to Gusu City and bought another bowl of mung bean soup. He talked to Gu Xuandu about Luo Shen and Liu Rugong. Now that he had seen such a beautiful Luo Shen, Liu Rugong’s marriage became logical and natural. However, Gu Xuandu’s expression was strange even when they arrived at the inn. When Lin Rufei asked about it, he then said, “Logically speaking, ordinary people can’t see the sword spirit.”

Lin Rufei: “Ah? What do you mean?”

Gu Xuandu said, “I mean that Liu Rugong shouldn’t be able to see Luo Shen.”

Lin Rufei said, “Then how was I able to see?” 

Gu Xuandu said, “You are different, you …… have a raging sword intent within yourself. You are not an ordinary person.”

Lin Rufei said, “What kind of person is that?”

Gu Xuandu thought about it and squeezed out two words: “Sword person[5]?”

Lin Rufei: “……” He always felt that something didn’t seem right.

Gu Xuandu also noticed that this word sounded strange. The two of them looked at each other silently for a long time before he whispered: “No, I did not curse at you.”

Lin Rufei said quietly, “I believed it.”

Gu Xuandu’s expression was helpless.

After a while, Lin Rufei asked again, “But aren’t you also able to see?”

Gu Xuandu said, “I’m not a human being either.”

Lin Rufei: “……” The conversation between the two of them felt like it was getting stranger and stranger.

“Do you remember that night? Liu Rugong wasn’t able to see Luo Shen.” Even Gu Xuandu felt that this did not make sense, “But if he couldn’t see Luo Shen, then why did he stubbornly want to marry it?”

Lin Rufei sipped his mung bean soup and shook his head lazily, “I don’t know.” He wasn’t able to make sense of it anyway. 

What was logical, became illogical again when Gu Xuandu said so, so Lin Rufei guessed that maybe Liu Rugong had his own method to see Luo Shen.

But Gu Xuandu couldn’t stop shaking his head: “Such methods are too few. Even I only know one or two, how would Liu Rugong know?”

The two of them discussed their doubts for a long time until the night fell. Lin Rufei, who was ready to go to bed, heard a gentle knock on the window. Gu Xuandu helped him open the window and saw Luo Shen floating outside, looking at him with a nervous face.

Before Lin Rufei could ask, Luo Shen said with difficulty, “Lin gongzi, can you please do me a favor?”

********

The author has something to say:

Gu Xuandu: I really didn’t intend on cursing at you.

Lin Rufei: Really?

Gu Xuandu: We call people who are united with swords, sword people[5] for short.

Lin Rufei: You didn’t get beaten up for calling people that?

Gu Xuandu: They can’t beat me anyway.

Lin Rufei: …… Fine.