Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 66: Xuyu, Xuyu

He Xieyi, with that big eye-catching bump on his head, conversed with Lin Rufei for a while; from what kind of wine Lin Rufei liked to what kind of food Lin Rufei liked to eat. The more they talk, the more they got to know each other and as the two of them continued to talk more and more about each other, He Xieyi really wanted to get up from the bed and have a drink with Lin Rufei when they got excited.

Fortunately, although this brother, He Xieyi, wasn’t very reliable, the younger brother, He Wanxiang, was still very calm. When he saw that his brother wanted to jump up, he grabbed his brother’s shoulders and pressed him back down: “Lin gongzi’s head also hurts, just let him off the hook.”

Lin Rufei hurriedly agreed and said that his head also ached from last night.

“Oh, forget it then.” He Xieyi said with a regretful look that carried an unfulfilled desire, “I thought you were a good drinker, it’s been a long time since I had such a good time.”

When Lin Rufei heard him praise him for his good drinking capacity, he said arduously: “How can He gongzi tell……that I am a good drinker?”

He Xieyi scratched his head: “I’ve hardly ever been drunk to the point of unconsciousness, since Lin gongzi was able to knock me out, he must be a good drinker.”

When these words came out, Lin Rufei and He Wanxiang both stared at the bump on He Xieyi’s head for a moment in silence. But the two of them tacitly agreed not to say anything and changed the subject. Lin Rufei looked at the hot sunshine outside and said it was a good day to sleep. Since He gongzi had a headache, he should take a good rest first and he would not continue to bother him. Not waiting for He Xieyi to offer a deterrent, Lin Rufei and He Wanxiang slipped out.

When they left the room, they stared at each other and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

He Wanxiang shook his head, “My brother, ah……hahahahaha.”

Lin Rufei also laughed, saying that He Xieyi was an interesting person, no, to be precise, the whole He family was very interesting.

As the two were chatting and heading out, they suddenly heard a clattering sound of horse hooves coming. Lin Rufei looked for the sound and saw a man galloping past, heading for the residence of the He family head. This person had entered the He family fortress but did not slow down in the slightest and did not intend to dismount. The He family members on the roadside moved out of the way and showed dissatisfaction with that person. Lin Rufei also noticed that He Wanxiang’s expression changed slightly after seeing that man, like a coldness carrying a hint of displeasure.

In all the days he spent with He Wanxiang, Lin Rufei had never seen such a negative expression on his face. But He Wanxiang did not mention it so he also did not feel appropriate to ask.

Lin Rufei turned his head and saw that the man, who had just sped off, was stopped by a servant of the He family. He was now looking very angry: “Why won’t he see me?! Does your He family just sit and watch someone die without helping?!” 

“The family head has something to do.” The servant reached out to stop him, “Sir, please go back.”

“Something to do? How can there be something to do every time!” The man said angrily, “I think he just doesn’t want to see me!”

The servant didn’t say anything in response and continued looking at him coldly.

When the man saw that the servant was not going to let him pass, he looked around and landed his eyes on Lin Rufei and He Wanxiang. Lin Rufei secretly muttered a “bad,” and indeed, the man rushed in front of them in a few steps: “I recognize you. You are He Jitian’s son, He Wanxiang, right?!!” 

However, He Wanxiang did not answer. His hands were crossed against his chest and he simply gave him a cold look.  

Being stared at by He Wanxiang, the man cowered for a moment. However, he quickly gathered enough courage again and questioned loudly: “What is going on in your He family?! There are demons eating people on the road, are you guys going to do something or not?!” 

He Wanxiang replied, “This matter is out of my hands, go look for my father.”

“If I could find him, I would have done so already, but your father refuses to see me!” The man was indignant, “That demon has eaten so many people!”

He Wanxiang crooked his head and said, “I didn’t eat them so what are you yelling at me for?”

The man was choked to death by He Wanxiang’s words. He had wanted to say something else in retaliation, but He Wanxiang already waved his hand and stated impatiently, “If you have anything else, go look for my father, I can’t control that much.” After saying that, he turned around and left, not giving this person another chance to speak.

Lin Rufei followed behind He Wanxiang and also walked away. He noticed that before walking away, the man had twisted around again and continued to argue with the servant. It seemed as if he was going to see the He family head today no matter what. 

Only after walking to a place out of sight did He Wanxiang sigh and say, “Lin gongzi, please don’t misunderstand. It’s not that our He family doesn’t want to take care of this matter, but it’s really a bit complicated.”

Lin Rufei asked, “You mean the demons on the official road?”

“That’s right.” He Wanxiang said, “We got the news that there were some demons, at the third level, on the official road and the He family sent someone there. Who knew that the demon’s cultivation level was not actually at the third level and it beat up the He family disciple.” His tone when he said this, was a bit gloomy.

From time to time, demons from the Bu’e Continent roam to Yaoguang and it was common for cultivators to subdue demons and remove them. However, demons were physically strong and even ones with a cultivation at the third level could already match that of human cultivators at the fifth level. Fortunately, it wasn’t easy for demons to cultivate so the number was still very small. Otherwise, the humans probably would have long been wiped out.

“Not actually at the third level? Then what level is that?” Lin Rufei was a little surprised.

“I don’t know, my father didn’t say.” He Wanxiang touched his nose and said hesitantly, “But my father told us not to get involved in this matter, saying he would take care of it, so I’m not too sure about the details.”

Lin Rufei showed a thoughtful look.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this matter anymore.” He Wanxiang sighed, “Lin gongzi, I see you don’t look too well, do you want to go back and rest first?”

Lin Rufei nodded and said yes. His head was still hurting so it would be best if he could rest a little longer.

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Thus, He Wanxiang took him back to the place he was staying at and told him to take a good rest before leaving.

Lin Rufei casually ate something to pad his stomach, then laid back down on the bed. He occasionally chatted with Gu Xuandu and unknowingly, he fell asleep.

Gu Xuandu gazed at Lin Rufei’s sleeping face for a long time and only after confirming that he was asleep did he slowly get up and fly out of the window.

He had slept for a long time. Lin Rufei woke up in a haziness, he thought that it should have been dark, but when he saw that it was still bright outside, he called out to Fu Hua in a daze and asked her what time it was.

“Gongzi, it’s already midnight.” Fu Hua answered, “Is gongzi hungry, do you want to get up and eat something?”

Lin Rufei questioned, “It’s midnight?” He sat up from the bed and looked out the bright window. He even thought he was being delusional, “How come it’s not dark even at midnight?”

“I don’t know, it seems like something is glowing.” Fu Hua responded, “It’s been bright since the evening. We thought it was the He family’s bonfire at first, but when we took a closer look, we thought that even a bonfire wouldn’t look like this either.”

Lin Rufei went to the window and looked carefully, only to find that the golden light was coming from the room of the He family’s ancestral hall. This light was a pure golden color and it was completely different from the general firelight, reminding Lin Rufei of the color of the sun. It was already midnight, but because of this light, the whole sky was illuminated, just like daylight.

Lin Rufei stated, “I’ll go out and take a look.”

He changed his clothes and headed over towards the light. The light was really coming from the ancestral hall and many He family members had gathered outside the ancestral hall. However, their faces were not scared, instead, it was full of excitement as they discussed something in a passionate and heated tone. Lin Rufei listened to a few sentences before he vaguely understood what was happening. It turned out that the Xuyu tree, in the ancestral hall, had bore fruit and had produced hundreds of iron-gold walnuts in one breath. The golden light emitted from the iron-gold walnuts illuminated the whole He family, as if it were daylight, and it had also attracted everyone’s attention.

“Why is Lin gongzi here?” Being tapped on the shoulder, Lin Rufei turned his head and noticed He Xieyi.

He Xieyi still had that huge red bump on his head and he was standing next to him watching the liveliness.

Lin Rufei replied, “Oh, I woke up and saw this bright light, so I thought I’d come and take a look.”

“It’s the walnut tree that’s bearing fruit.” He Xieyi explained, “Wanxiang took you in to see the Xuyu tree, right?”

“Seen it.” Lin Rufei nodded.

“That’s good.” He Xieyi said with a smile, “One more look is one more look, right?”

“How so?” Lin Rufei felt that He Xieyi was implying something from his words. 

“Hmm……” He Xieyi muttered, “When things reach an extreme, they will decline?” He reached out again and put his arm around Lin Rufei’s shoulders. He asked if he wanted to go in to take a look. Not many people could see this Xuyu tree that was filled with walnuts, but since Lin Rufei just happened to be a guest at their house, then it must be his fate.

Lin Rufei asked, “Is it convenient?” He always felt that this was a private matter of the He family, and in the end, he was an outsider.

“What’s there to worry about?” He Xieyi chattered without worry, “Anyway, it’s not like you can pick them off. Showing it to you a few more times is good too, so you can be envious.” 

Lin Rufei couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s true.”

He Xieyi then led Lin Rufei towards the ancestral hall. Although the guards didn’t know Lin Rufei, they still knew of him (HXY), so no one stopped them. The two of them entered the backyard of the ancestral hall unhindered and Lin Rufei saw many members of He’s family, as well as He Jitian, standing in the center of the crowd.

Compared to He Xieyi’s calm expression, most of the He family members were excited and eager to try. He Jitian was saying something to them, but Lin Rufei was too far away to hear it clearly.

He Xieyi said, “Don’t mind them, let’s go see the walnut tree.” And he pulled Lin Rufei into the backyard.

Once in the yard, Lin Rufei’s eyes took in the striking Xuyu tree. At this time, the tree was covered with dense iron-gold walnuts. Before, the dense golden dark lines that were only on the tree trunk were now at this time, spread onto every leaf. These dark lines allowed the tree to emit a beautiful golden light. And at first glance, it didn’t even look like a living thing, rather, it was more like a delicate sculpture, beautiful to the extreme. The most amazing thing was that this golden light was not blinding. It was very soft and it made people unable to tear their gazes away.

He Xieyi looked at the tree with great interest. He said that being able to see this appearance of the Xuyu tree in his life was really worth it.

Lin Rufei murmured: “Why is it suddenly bearing walnuts?”

He Xieyi looked at Lin Rufei: “Maybe……it met someone it likes?”

Lin Rufei laughed, “Then it must especially like them.”

“Mm-hmm.” He Xieyi nodded.

The two of them were looking at the walnuts and on the other end, the He family members were eager to try. He Wanxiang appeared out of nowhere and pat Lin Rufei on the shoulder, “Lin gongzi, why are you and my brother here?”

Lin Rufei was startled by his pat and only after hearing his voice, did he show a helpless look, “Da gongzi said he would lead me in to see the walnuts.” He found that the He family all like to greet each other like this. They don’t call out to people and would always pat their shoulders first before talking. If their relationship was better, then they would directly put their arms around the neck.

“Oh.” He joked and said, “Looks good, right?”

“Good looking, good looking.” He Xieyi nodded.

The two brothers then looked at the walnuts with fascination. They looked at them with great interest and from time to time, they also commented that if some of the walnuts were bigger, then they must also taste very good.

“I’ve never eaten such delicious walnuts in my life.” As the only one in this generation of the He family who had eaten iron-gold walnuts, he was now passing on his experience to his brother, “When you pick them later, remember to choose a big one with more meat.”

He Wanxiang said, “Okay!”

“The one in the upper left corner looks especially big.” He Xieyi smacked his mouth, “Quickly, go and find a spot in the front, don’t let the others get ahead of you.”

He Wanxiang nodded his head. After greeting Lin Rufei, he turned around and left. 

Lin Rufei said, “You’re not going?”

“Me? I’m not going.” He Xieyi said, “I already had three of them, that’s enough.”

He said it so calmly that Lin Rufei was a little impressed with him. Everyone knew the usefulness of the walnuts and naturally, more was better. With He Xieyi’s current status in the He family, even if he was the first to pick, most likely no one would dare to comment. But he showed little interest and became a spectator together with Lin Rufei.

While Lin Rufei and He Xieyi were talking, the He family had already lined up to pick walnuts.

It was indeed a bit comical to see such a group of big men, excited and cautiously lining up at the same time. Lin Rufei also saw He Jitian, who was standing outside the crowd to maintain order. However, what surprised him was that He Jitian’s expression wasn’t too happy. It was more bland, and from his expression, it was a bit similar to He Xieyi.

Finally, the first He family member walked up to the Xuyu tree and stretched out his hand to touch the first iron-gold walnut.

Everyone watched with bated breath. Lin Rufei was also driven by the atmosphere and slightly tensed up. But when the man’s hand took hold of the walnut, the iron-gold walnut, that originally seemed to be shaky and was about to bend the branches, did not move at all. No matter how hard he pulled, he could not pluck it off.

The crowd let out a regretful cacophony. The man raised his hand and tried two more, but the results still did not change. So with a long sigh, he turned away with his head hanging.

“Pity.” Lin Rufei also felt very sorry and sighed.

He Xieyi, however, shook his head, “Nothing can be forced.” He was actually quite open-minded.

One by one, the He family members went towards the Xuyu tree, and unless they could pick the walnuts, each of them could only try three times. The tree full of golden, shaking walnuts simply made people unable to resist the temptation. If it was last year, where there were only two or three, then they could blame their bad luck. If these hundreds of iron-gold walnuts could not be picked, then it would really make people feel regretful. 

“The year that I picked, I had good luck.” Seeing his family members return one by one with a lost expression, He Xieyi casually talked about that year, “I was the eldest, so I was the first one to pick. That year, there were three walnuts so I picked them three times, and they all came off for me.” He paused for a moment and continued, “The rest of the people did not even have the opportunity to touch a walnut. You should understand, this kind of thing, although no one says it, their hearts will carry a grudge..….” 

After all, even the opportunity to try was deprived so having some resentment surface was also normal. Lin Rufei could understand their feelings.

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“But luckily, the Xuyu tree soon bore six more walnuts.” He Xieyi said, “This is actually a very strange thing. Under normal circumstances, it would have taken at least a few decades for the Xuyu tree to bear fruit again. But this time, it hasn’t even been ten years when six were born just this spring. Everyone in the clan was rejoicing, only my father felt something wrong. I didn’t understand at first, but today I think I understand.”

“Understood what?” Lin Rufei looked at him.

“There must be a demon when things go wrong.” He Xieyi said, “The He family has prospered for a hundred years with this tree. However, it seems that in the coming days, we will have to find another.”

He had said these words so plainly, but it also carried a hint of regret. Lin Rufei heard the meaning behind his words and showed some surprise.

“There is no need to worry so much.” He Xieyi once again put his arm around Lin Rufei’s shoulders and said with a big grin, “Would the people actually die from holding in their urine[1]?” 

“That’s true.” Lin Rufei also laughed.

Unknowingly, half of the people had already gone to pick walnuts, but none of the walnuts were picked, and Lin Rufei finally saw He Wanxiang. He Wanxiang looked serious and he could tell that he was extremely nervous. He took a deep breath and slowly walked towards the Xuyu tree. He slowly reached out his hand and held onto the first walnut. Everyone’s eyes fell onto He Wanxiang’s body. They watched as he slightly pulled; batah[2] and the walnut actually fell off in response and landed easily into his hand.

“Oh!!!!” The people present let out a violent cheer, seeing that someone finally picked a walnut, everyone was about to jump up with joy.

“Nice job kiddo!” He Xieyi watched as his brother was the first one to successfully pick a walnut and revealed a wildly joyful look, “You have good taste, you really picked the one with the most meat!”

Lin Rufei was crying and laughing, thinking that the He family members were too honest.

He Wanxiang looked at the walnut in his hand and was overjoyed. He carefully put it into his pocket, took a deep breath, and then reached for the second walnut. This time, he was still able to pluck it off without a hitch. Soon, it was followed by the third, the fourth, and when he picked the fifth, there was no other sound in the room. Everyone held their breath and looked at He Wanxiang nervously.

However, his luck ended when he picked the sixth. No matter how hard He Wanxiang pulled, the sixth walnut did not budge. Even when He Wanxiang used excessive force to the point that blue tendons could be seen on his forehead, the walnut still did not move. It was as if it was cast in iron.

Seeing this scene, He Wanxiang could only choose to give up. However, his bulging pockets told everyone that his harvest had been enough.

“Hoo……didn’t think that this kid hid his true colors!” He Xieyi’s eyes were glowing as he stared at He Wanxiang, “Perhaps their words were right, I did block their chance.”

Lin Rufei laughed: “You don’t have to think of it like that. After all, in case he also picked the walnuts back then, then he wouldn’t have the chance today.” Good fortune followed upon disaster and disaster lurked within good fortune. Fortune and misfortune, who could say it clearly? 

After picking the walnuts, He Wanxiang seemed to be calm as he left the crowd. He walked to their side and said in a deep voice: “Brother, I picked five!”

“I saw! That’s my good brother!” He Xieyi patted He Wanxiang’s shoulder.

He Wanxiang said, “Brother, I picked five!!”

He Xieyi said again, “I saw……”

He Wanxiang looped, “Brother, I picked five!!”

He Xieyi was suspicious. Finally, he felt that there was something wrong with his brother so he reached out his hand and waved it in front of He Wanxiang. However, He Wanxiang did not blink and with the same tone of voice, he continued: “Brother……”

But before he could finish his words, he received a knifehand strike from He Xieyi and directly fainted.

Lin Rufei was stunned by this development: “This……”

“It’s okay.” He Xieyi was calm and simply waved his hand, “He was too excited. He’ll be fine after a nap.” After saying that, he threw He Wanxiang’s body directly to his feet and his other foot was placed on top of He Wanxiang’s pocket. He explained, “To prevent others from stealing his walnuts.”

Lin Rufei: “……” The way you two brothers care for each other is really a bit refreshing, ah.

He Wanxiang was struck unconscious by He Xieyi in full view of everyone, but no one was surprised. Everyone’s attention was focused on the Xuyu tree in front of them. With He Wanxiang’s start, the crowd’s lost confidence was picked up once again and they continued to burn their gaze at the Xuyu tree with hungry wolf-like eyes. It was like they were desperately trying to stare down a few walnuts with their passionate gaze.

But some things couldn’t be achieved just by thinking. For the rest of the He family, only one other person had been able to pick another one. Even until the last person finished trying, there was not another who was able to harvest any. It was as if these more than a hundred walnuts were not born for the He family.

Seeing this scene, the people present showed their regret.

However, at this time, He Jitian, who had been standing silently on the side, suddenly appeared. He was staring at a shovel and slowly and leisurely walked towards the Xuyu tree’s side. Probably because his movements looked too natural, the crowd did not react. It wasn’t until he used a shovel and directly dug to the root of the tree, did he begin to shovel the soil with force.

“Family head, what are you doing!!!”

“Father, what are you doing!!”

After seeing He Jitian’s action, all of his family members showed a look of panic. But probably because of He Jitian’s accumulated authority, no one dared to go forward and stop him.

He Jitian raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead and explained, “Actually, there is something that I have never told you.” While shoveling the soil, he explained to the people, “Every generation of the He family head will inherit an ancestral teaching about the Xuyu tree.”

“What ancestral teaching?” The crowd watched his movements and had a bad feeling in their hearts.

“It’s the agreement between our ancestors and the Heavenly Ruler.” He Jitian answered, “Back then, when the Heavenly Ruler gifted the He family with the Xuyu tree, he preserved the He family’s prosperity for a hundred years and also set a rule with the He family.” His voice was not loud, but everyone present could hear it clearly, “That is, when a certain day, the Xuyu tree gives birth to a hundred iron-gold walnuts, we must break its roots and then take out what is under the tree.”

The crowd was dumbfounded. Some people still refused to believe and tried to persuade He Jitian not to do so. After all, so many iron-gold walnuts, if the He family could get it, how many experts would come out from it, ah?

Faced with this person’s question, He Jitian only asked one question, “Can you pick it?”

The crowd had nothing to say.

“Just tried it, right?” He Jitian said, “I’ve made an exception for you guys and let you try it one by one first, and what happened?” He said indifferently, “Didn’t we still only pick the six pieces originally belonging to the He family?”

At this moment, the fruit was still abundant on the Xuyu tree, and the iron-gold walnuts were as brilliant as the stars.

There was silence in the field.

He Jitian said: “I know your thoughts, but there are some things that people with a shallow fortune can not take up. A hundred iron-gold walnuts, our He family is not yet blessed to take them, if you want to take them by force, I’m afraid the loss will not be worth the gain.” His appearance might be rough but his mind was meticulous.

Lin Rufei did not expect such a scene. He watched with widened eyes as He Jitian slowly dug out the tree and soon following that, the Xuyu tree fell. Lin Rufei felt his shoulder being gently pressed down by someone. He originally thought it was He Xieyi, but when he turned his head to look, he found out that it was Gu Xuandu.

Gu Xuandu was standing behind him, looking weary. He hung his head and rested his chin on his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Rufei asked.

“I’m a little tired.” Gu Xuandu said, “But it’s okay. If I lean on Xiao Jiu for a while……I’ll be fine.”

When Lin Rufei took in his appearance, he also felt some heartache, so he stood up straight and let Gu Xuandu’s chest pressed against his back.

********

The author has something to say:

Gu Xuandu: I’m a bit tired.

Lin Rufei: Eat six walnuts[3] …… to supplement the brain?

Gu Xuandu: Then it is better to replace the walnuts with Xiao Jiu, after all, Xiao Jiu[4] strengthens the yang[5].

Lin Rufei: …………..

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[1] Unable to solve a problem due to the inflexibility of one’s thinking; in this context it means that they shouldn’t sit and do nothing, like holding in their pee. And to find another solution (i.e. using the bathroom). 

[2] Just an onomatopoeia. 

[3] I think it’s an ad for a drink. Will not link any pictures though.  

[4] In case people forgot, Xiao Jiu can mean little leeks. 

[5] Uh, the translation here was “aphrodisiac,” but that didn’t really make sense in this context so I stuck with the direct translation which was strengthening the yang.