Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 63: Yunan He Family

Dajing was done and it was time for them to leave.

Early the next morning, Xuan Qing came to say goodbye to Lin Rufei. Lin Rufei had asked him where he was going and he replied that there was no specific place he wanted to go. He would probably just travel around, after all, the Yaoguang continent was so vast, there were many landscapes that he had yet to see.

Although he quite liked this monk, there was no banquet in the world that did not end. Lin Rufei did not keep insisting, just, when Xuan Qing was about to leave, he took out a gold ingot from his pocket and handed it to Xuan Qing.

When Xuan Qing saw the gold, he reflexively took a step back, as if he had seen a beast, “What does this mean, Lin gongzi?”

Lin Rufei laughed: “I remember on the Xiliang Mountains, the monk gave me a bead, so……this gold is also considered what I owe the monk, right?”

Xuan Qing was about to say something.

However, Lin Rufei waved his hand and interrupted what he was about to say: “If the monk does not accept, I will not force you. However, this kind of courtesy makes it seem that we are not as familiar. If the monk really treats me as a friend, then please graciously accept it.”

Since the words have been said, if Xuan Qing refused again, then he would be the one to seem unfriendly. In the end, he let out a heavy sigh and reached out to accept the gold. Only when Lin Rufei saw this scene, did he feel slightly relieved. No matter how powerful Xuan Qing was, he was still a person. A person needed food, clothing, and expenses—people’s basic needs. Although he lived in the temple and could beg to make a living, there would always be a place where money was necessary. Lin Rufei hoped that at least the monk could occasionally have spare money to buy a candy person to eat.

Speaking of the candy person, Lin Rufei remembered the situation last night, and his expression couldn’t help but turn uncomfortable. Xuan Qing did not understand what Lin Rufei’s expression meant and only thought it was an emotion that showed he was sad to leave. Thus, he folded his hands and bowed to Lin Rufei, saying that if they had fate, the two would meet again.

Lin Rufei had sent Xuan Qing to the entrance of the inn and had wanted to send him out of the city, but Xuan Qing refused his proposal. Thus, Lin Rufei stood in place and watched as Xuan Qing turned and walked far, far away. His back was just like when Lin Rufei saw him for the first time, free and easy-going. 

What an interesting monk, Lin Rufei thought.

As for Lin Rufei, after asking Fu Hua, he decided to eat lunch before heading off. Fu Hua took advantage of this time to prepare the carriage for their travel. 

The usual lunch had a vegetarian meal belonging to Xuan Qing, however, today there wasn’t any. In the end, Lin Rufei wasn’t used to it yet. He picked up a piece of tofu and just as he was about to put it in his mouth, the sound of rushed horse hooves came from the outside the door, followed by a panicked figure bursting in through the door.

“Where is Monk Xuan Qing?” The visitor was breathless and a layer of sweat surfaced on his forehead. This was none other than the other protagonist Lin Rufei had seen in the alley yesterday, Prince Bai Tianrui of Dajing.

“Left.” Lin Rufei replied, “Left in the morning.”

“Left?” Bai Tianrui was a bit incredulous, “He didn’t go to the palace to ask my brother for a resignation?”

“I don’t know.” Lin Rufei simply shook his head.

Bai Tianrui cursed loudly and then turned around to leave. Lin Rufei could clearly see some wretchedness on his back as he moved further and further away. Yu Rui and the others did not know about the situation between these two people and asked in a whisper if this Prince had enmity with Monk Xuan Qing, otherwise, why would he have this hideous appearance.

“Probably there is an enmity.” Lin Rufei said perfunctorily.

“That monk should be more careful.” Yu Rui said, “This Prince looks so fierce……”

Lin Rufei also let out a smile. After Bai Tianrui, who was referred to as a “smiling tiger,” met with Xuan Qing, he became like an entirely different person. But looking at it this way was also quite interesting.

After eating lunch, Lin Rufei got onto the carriage and followed the official road all the way forward, towards the south.

The further south they went, the closer they got to the core geography of the Yaoguang Continent and the more developed the economy was. Even the official road underneath them became much more spacious. Not long after, they could see rich merchants carrying goods and travelers on horses everywhere.

Lin Rufei also wanted to ride a horse, but when he lifted the curtain to look at the blinding sun overhead, he surreptitiously shrank back into the carriage. Fu Hua thought that her young master’s grumpy look was very amusing, so she handed Lin Rufei a bowl of chilled plum soup to coax him, “Young master, don’t be anxious. In a few months, the weather will be cooler. When that time comes, young master can put on a cloak and then go horseback riding, it would be just as stylish.” 

Lin Rufei continued drinking plum soup intermittently and then asked her how many more days it would take to get to Yunan.

Fu Hua calculated the days and said that if they traveled day and night, they would probably arrive in seven or eight days. However, if they took breaks during their travels, it would take more than ten days.

Lin Rufei let out an “oh,” and said that there was no hurry. Since they were also out for travel, if it takes more days then just let it take more days. They could take this time to also enjoy the surrounding scenery.

So unhurriedly, they traveled for a few days. The surrounding customs and traditions had gradually started to change. The people of Yunan were not as open as the people of Dajing, but the agriculture was very well developed and they favorited food made from wheat flour. Lin Rufei had been eating rice on the entirety of his trip here, but when he arrived in Yunan, he found that noodles had become the staple food in many inns. Most of them were pancakes or other wheat flour meals. Fortunately, they all tasted good, so Lin Rufei was quite happy when he ate them with relish.

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However, Yu Rui was the one who was not so used to it. She kept muttering that she always felt empty in her stomach when she didn’t eat rice. Fu Hua smiled and tapped her forehead, chastising, ‘Are you here to take care of gongzi or to enjoy yourself?’ Yu Rui grunted at her words and said that gongzi must also want to eat rice and she even turned to ask Lin Rufei after saying those words.  

“Yes, yes, yes.” Lin Rufei coaxed his own maid and said, “Then let’s find an inn with rice tonight.”

“Alright.” Fu Hua agreed.

After entering the city and asking the people around some questions, they finally found an inn with rice, so the three of them went in and ordered some food, planning to spend the night here.

When Lin Rufei was sitting in the inn waiting, he heard a vendor outside yelling ‘watermelon for sale.’ Pondering, he then asked Yu Rui to go out and buy one. At night, they would eat this fruit to relieve the Summer heat. 

Yu Rui happily went out but after quite some time, they still did not see a trace of her figure returning. However, it did become increasingly noisy outside, as if someone had some kind of argument. Fu Hua felt that the situation wasn’t quite right. She decided to get up and go take a look, but Lin Rufei also stood up after her, saying, “Let’s go together.”

Fu Hua nodded.

The two went outside and saw that it was indeed Yu Rui in dispute with someone. She was currently raising her head and arguing with another person. She probably got extremely anxious from arguing since her pale face had turned into a bright shade of red and her hand was already clenching tightly onto the hilt of the sword at her waist—it looked like she was going to draw her sword any time soon. And the person arguing with Yu Rui was a tall man. This man had sword eyebrows and eagle eyes[1]. He was tall and powerful and carried a large sword on his back. At this time, his muscular arms were folded against his chest, and he was looking down at the angry Yu Rui who was stomping her foot in frustration and anger. Yu Rui was just a teenage girl and her figure was petite. Now that she was standing in front of a man, she was almost like a little doll. 

“Why are you so unreasonable?” Yu Rui gritted her teeth, “You bought them all, what will others eat?!”

“I was here first.” The man said.

“Can’t you just share one with me?!” Yu Rui yelled back.

“I was here first.” The man said again.

“You——” Yu Rui was furious.

Seeing this, Fu Hua called out, “Yu Rui, what’s wrong?”

“Sister Fu Hua.” As soon as Yu Rui saw that Fu Hua and her young master had come together, she immediately ran to Fu Hua’s side with small steps and said with a huff, “Just now young master said he wanted to eat watermelon, so I came out immediately. Who knew that this man was one step ahead of me……and said he wanted to buy all the watermelons. I wanted to ask him to save one for me and he refused.” The vendor had pushed a cart of watermelons that were about hundreds of pounds onto the streets and Yu Rui just wanted only one, but no matter what she said, he was unwilling to even give one up. As they kept talking and haggling, Yu Rui started to argue with him. The man did not say anything else and just said four words: “I was here first.”

He almost made Yu Rui faint from anger. 

Lin Rufei listened to the entire situation as his maid complained, however, he simply felt indifferent. He waved his hand and said: “It’s okay. If he wants to buy them, then let him buy them. After we finish eating, we can go shopping on the street to see if there are other places that sell them.”

Yu Rui bit her lower lip: “So many watermelons, can he even finish it all? The weather is hot and the watermelons can be left for two days at most.” 

The man on the side heard Yu Rui’s words and responded, “Of course I can finish it all.” 

Yu Rui asked, “How many people are eating?”

The man pointed to himself.

Yu Rui stared blankly: “You’re eating it yourself? This much for one person? I don’t believe it——”

The man stretched his hands, making a gesture that showed, ‘I can’t help it if you don’t believe me.’

Yu Rui clenched her teeth and churned out: “I knew you were deliberately screwing with me. Hmph. So many watermelons, if you can eat them all, I’ll pay for you!”

The man replied, “For real?”

Yu Rui stated, “Naturally!”

After the man heard this, he rolled up his sleeves and really planned on eating. The melon vendor was smiling. He also had a good eye and could tell that these people were dressed extraordinarily. They even had swords hanging on their waist and he knew for certain that they would not renege on the bill. Thus, he simply helped the man cut up the watermelon, and shouted: “How about it, guest, isn’t my watermelon sweet!”

The man said: “Not bad. Sweet.”

The watermelon’s bright green skin broke open and it revealed the water-red flesh of the melon. The inside was glistening with crystalline specks and it looked very crisp and sweet. Yu Rui sniffed the air that was gradually filled with the sweet aroma and she couldn’t help but gulp. Her eyes were stuck glued to the watermelon. This man’s mouth was big. A few mouthfuls and half the melon were gone. But this eating appearance did not look unsightly at all. Instead, it revealed a hint of wildness.  

Fu Hua frowned. She always felt that this man was teasing Yu Rui. As she was frowning, she was about to go forward to say something but was stopped by Lin Rufei. Lin Rufei smiled and shook his head: “It doesn’t hurt to watch him eat.”

Fu Hua could only nod in response. 

The man was extremely fast at eating the melons. Soon, there was a pile of watermelon rinds on the side. Those watery watermelons that entered his stomach seemed as if they were entering a black hole without an abyss, they couldn’t see the slightest trace of it on him. The man’s speed had not changed from beginning to end and the surrounding people were all dumbfounded by this scene. In a short time, this watermelon stall had gathered a lot of people who came to watch the drama unfold. When the man finished eating one, the crowd would be loudly cheering. It was simply very lively to witness.

Fu Hua almost became silly from looking, she had never seen a person with such a big appetite. The hundreds of pounds of watermelon that went into his mouth were like a large and sumptuous snack. One after another, he didn’t even take the time to breathe and in the blink of an eye, they could see the bottom of the watermelon stand, and only a few were left.

Was he really going to finish eating? Yu Rui stared at the pile of melon rinds on the ground and then looked up at the man like he was a monster. 

When Lin Rufei noticed Yu Rui’s shocked appearance, he very unkindly thought that this matter was really funny.

“You……How are you so powerful, ah?” Yu Rui looked at the man in a daze, “So many melons, are you not bloated?” She was usually full after two slices. Together with Fu Hua and her young master, the three of them could barely finish half……. 

The man seemed amused by Yu Rui’s question and some laughter surfaced in his eyes as he shook his head.

“Oh, alright then.” Yu Rui gave up. Depressed, she hung her head, “It’s my short-sightedness. There really is someone who can eat so well……I thought you were deliberately looking for trouble with me.” She had given up and had intended to pull out silver from her pouch to buy all of the stall’s watermelons.

But who knew that when the man reached the last one, he patted his stomach and said seriously: “I’m full. Can’t eat anymore.”

The crowd of people, that were watching, started to get rowdy at his words but the man did not care. He turned to ask the vendor how much was the total of the watermelons he ate. 

The vendor smiled and said a price. The man began to heartily shell out the silver.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Yu Rui said, “There is only one left, you can’t finish it?”

The man said, “I can’t finish it.”

Yu Rui obviously did not believe him. She bit her lower lips and was at a loss: “You……you really can’t finish it all?”

The man laughed: “I can’t finish it.”

Although Yu Rui was young, she wasn’t stupid. How could she not tell that the man left one on purpose? For a moment, she was a little confused and felt very embarrassed. After all, just a while ago, she gauged the heart of the gentleman with her own means and thought that the man was a shrew who was deliberately looking for trouble.  

The man paid, turned around, and left. Yu Rui looked at the last remaining watermelon and the pile of melon rinds on the ground in a daze for quite a while. Finally, Lin Rufei smiled and patted her head, and told her to take the watermelon back. 

This incident really had a great impact on Yu Rui. The little girl had sulked all night and when she was eating the watermelon, she would remember the man’s appearance. Sighing, she muttered that there were really a lot of strange people in this world.

“Yes.” Lin Rufei laughed, “People tease you like a child.”

Yu Rui responded, “I’m not a child! I’m already fifteen!”

In normal families, a fifteen-year-old girl should have already been married, but Yu Rui was a sword cultivator at the fifth level, so there was no rush in getting married.

“Yes, fifteen years old.” Fu Hua sighed, “You also know you are fifteen, so can you do things more steadily in the future? If you had met someone who didn’t give you face today, wouldn’t you have lost young master’s face altogether?”

Yu Rui bowed her head and admitted to her mistake, admitting that she was indeed too reckless.

Lin Rufei didn’t care. He smiled and said, “It’s okay, they don’t know me anyway. Losing some face occasionally isn’t going to kill me. Besides, who would have thought that this man could eat hundreds of pounds of watermelon in one sitting?”

Fu Hua shook her head. She said that the man was probably not going to be a simple person and that the huge sword he was carrying behind him was not an ordinary object. Such a heavy sword was rarely found in the world and the only one that they had been seen so far was Gu Feiyu’s Zhongfeng. 

“Oh?” Lin Rufei was interested, “He is also a powerful swordsman?”

“I think so.” Fu Hua said, “I can’t see the depth of his cultivation, so his cultivation is probably at least at the seventh level or he is carrying a foreign treasure……In short, he’s not a figure we should be messing with.”

Lin Rufei revealed a thoughtful look.

That night, back in the room, Lin Rufei casually conversed with Gu Xuandu about this matter. Gu Xuandu listened to Lin Rufei while eating the freshly cut watermelon and said with a smile, “This watermelon is so sweet.”

“Is that so.” Lin Rufei said, “Let me try it too.” As he said this, he then went over and took a small bite of the watermelon in Gu Xuandu’s hand. He chewed and nodded in agreement, “It’s really good.”

Gu Xuandu lowered his head and looked at the tooth marks made by him on his watermelon. With an unknown expression, he let out a hum.

“Say, what do you think is that person’s origins?” Lin Rufei questioned.

Gu Xuandu pondered for a moment: “Although I don’t recognize that person, I do have some impression of his sword.” 

“Oh? You know his sword?” Lin Rufei became interested.

“Mnn.” Gu Xuandu said, “That sword’s name should be Qianjun[2] and it has several hundred years of history. I have also met the swordsman who forged the sword. He was a lustful old man. However, although the sword’s name is Qianjun, it wasn’t in the style of a heavy sword.” 

Lin Rufei asked: “It’s not a heavy sword?”

Gu Xuandu shook his head: “Qianjun has another special feature.”

After Lin Rufei asked about it carefully, he learned that although this Qianjun was only a heavy sword in the hands of an ordinary swordsman, if it was in the hands of a swordsman it recognized, it would turn into thousands of tiny blades and would transform into a sword formation that would strangle the enemy. According to Gu Xuandu, Qianjun was a smart sword and it was very different from its bulky appearance.

Listening to Gu Xuandu’s description of Qianjun, Lin Rufei felt that Qianjun and the man he saw during the daytime, were somewhat similar deep down. They both look rough, but in fact, they were actually as fine as dust[3].

As they chatted, Lin Rufei fell sound asleep in the company of Gu Xuandu. He slept until the next day before he was woken up in a daze by Fu Hua and Yu Rui for breakfast.

Today, they also had to hurry on their journey and after eating, Lin Rufei got on the carriage once again.

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Fu Hua cracked the whip and continued on out of the small town. The carriage traveled for a while, but then they heard the sound of hoofbeats coming from the side. Lin Rufei thought it was someone passing by them and did not take it seriously. But who knew that the sound of hoofbeats would continue to follow them.

“Who is following us?” Yu Rui wondered, “I’ll go and see.” She lifted the curtain of the carriage and went out for a moment. Soon she came back with a puzzled look on her face.

“Who is it?” Lin Rufei asked.

“It’s the man we met yesterday, the one who was eating watermelons.” Yu Rui said, “……He’s right behind us, should we stop and ask him what he’s up to?”

Lin Rufei thought about it and said, “It’s good to ask.”

So Fu Hua then stopped the horse, and as expected, once their carriage stopped, the man also stopped.

Fu Hua came up to the unknown man and asked him what he meant by this and the man simply smiled, “You may not believe me, but I just happened to be going the same way as you guys.” 

“Just happened to be going the same way?” Of course, Fu Hua did not believe his words at all. There was no such coincidence in the world, “You’re riding a single horse, so you should be going faster.”

The man shook his head: “Although it is true that under normal circumstances a single horse is faster, but the sword I am carrying is too heavy for the horse to run fast.”

Fu Hua was at a loss for words and didn’t know what to do so she cast a pleading glance towards Lin Rufei. Lin Rufei, who had heard their conversation, waved at Fu Hua, signaling for her to come back.

“In that case, he can follow if he wants to.” Lin Rufei said, “What if he really is going the same way.”

Fu Hua sighed, “That’s too far-fetched.”

Lin Rufei replied, “It’s okay, he should have no ill will towards us.”

In the end, Fu Hua could only stop caring about him.

So the journey continued on. Both sides were peaceful and nothing happened. In no time, they were getting closer and closer to Yunan. After passing through a very desolate section of the official road, they were finally close to their destination. As a result, Lin Rufei planned to rest for half a day before continuing forwards with their journey.

But after they entered the city, the man who had been following them was now nowhere to be seen.

Lin Rufei arrived at a resting inn and casually asked for a pot of herbal tea. He intended to cool off a bit and in passing, inquired about the He family from the Xiao Er’s mouth.

When the Xiao Er heard that they came from the north, he showed an expression of surprise, “Guests, you came from that official road in the north?”

“Yes, why?” Lin Rufei felt that there was something different in the Xiao Er’s expression.

The Xiao Er said: “Ssss[4]……on the way, did you not encounter anything?” 

When Lin Rufei and his maids heard these words, they were all at a loss. They didn’t know what the Xiao Er’s words meant. 

The Xiao Er noticed that they didn’t understand his words so he had to explain. He said that the official road in the north recently had some powerful demons inexplicably emerge. They ate a lot of businessmen, and strangely enough, they were not interested in other places and only decided to rampage on that official road. Because of this reason, the local people do not dare take that road and only the outsiders, who don’t know anything about it, would go and take the risk. 

“Guests, your luck is really good.” The Xiao Er was still sighing, “Just a few days ago, I also heard that some foreigners were eaten by those demons and they couldn’t even find their bones.”  

Fu Hua wondered: “Such things, are none of the locals taking charge?” 

The Xiao Er said with a bitter smile: “There should have been, but those demons seem to be particularly powerful. The He family sent a few disciples over but they were seriously injured.”

Lin Rufei muttered out, “So that’s how it is.”

“Yes.” The Xiao Er shook his head and sighed, “The world is not peaceful. Guests, since you are walking in Jianghu, you must also be more careful.”

“Thank you.” Lin Rufei handed a piece of broken silver to the Xiao Er. The Xiao Er gladly accepted it and turned around to leave.

After listening to the Xiao Er’s words, Lin Rufei suddenly remembered the man who had insisted on following their carriage for the past few days. It seemed that his thoughts were indeed meticulous even towards strangers whom he had only met once.

They were almost done resting. Lin Rufei told Fu Hua and Yu Rui a few words before he headed out for a stroll alone. This small city was not large, but the street was quite lively and he could see a lot of rare gadgets that he had never seen before. Soon, Lin Rufei’s footsteps halted in front of a stall selling deep-fried pancakes. The deep-fried pancakes looked very delicious. The dough was wrapped full of onion and meat filling and once it was fried in the frying pan, they swelled up, giving off a very strong aroma. After that, fish them out with chopsticks, strain the oil, and they were ready to be eaten. 

Lin Rufei bought one and just as he was about to put it in his mouth, he noticed a familiar figure. It was the same man who had been following them for a few days.

The man was still carrying that heavy sword and was looking at the scallion pancake[5] in his hand……with great interest.

“Want some?” The stare he gave Lin Rufei made him reflexively ask out.

“That’s not quite appropriate. Plus, you also just bought it.” Having said that, the man still stepped forward towards Lin Rufei and the intense gaze he had on the fried pancake became even more burning. 

Lin Rufei smiled: “It’s okay, I’ll buy another one.” He handed the fried pancake to the man, who did not mind taking it, and opened his mouth for a big bite. The fried pancake, which was big, was swallowed by him in only just two bites. After he finished eating it, he rushed to the boss and said, “Boss, wrap them all up for me.” After saying this, he seemed to feel that something was wrong. He pondered on his words for a moment before he remembered Lin Rufei, who was standing next to him, and pointed to him, “Save one for him.”

This situation was so familiar that Lin Rufei could not help but laugh, “Thank you.” He still remembered to save one for him.

“Please don’t mind, that’s how I eat.” The man said, “I have to fulfill myself in one bite, otherwise my heart wouldn’t feel at rest making it unbearable.”

Lin Rufei started, “By the way, may I ask for your name?”

The man replied, “He Wanxiang.”

Lin Rufei’s eyes lit up when he heard this name: “This gentleman is a member of the He family?”

He Wanxiang said, “Sort of? What does gongzi want from the He family?”

Lin Rufei balled his hands and gave a salute, “I am Lin Rufei of the Kunlun Sword Sect’s Lin family.”

He Wanxiang faintly froze, seemingly not expecting Lin Rufei to be a member of the Lin family and his tone instantly took on some hesitation, “Lin gongzi……is here to deliver the invitation to the Kunlun sword competition?”

“That’s right.” Lin Rufei smiled.

“That’s quite a coincidence.” He Wanxiang muttered, “It seems that we are going the same way. Why don’t we go together?” 

Lin Rufei replied, “Of course.”

From here to the He family there was about another day or two left of travel. Being able to travel with the He family was naturally a good thing.

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[1] Sword eyebrows and eagle eyes: “appearance of windy and valiant, full of righteousness, very heroic.” 

[2] Qianjun means thousand pounds. 

[3] It is used to describe a person who has a very delicate mind, like dust. 

[4] Onomatopoeia? It’s like the sound you make when you are hesitating/thinking.  

[5] Scallion pancakes.