Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 71: She Yizhi

Lin Rufei also couldn’t say how long the two of them had been fighting in the sky, but gradually, the two days of rain finally stopped. The people, who had been worried about this matter, finally were able to sigh in relief. The fight above also gradually came to an end and Lin Rufei saw a huge cat-shaped demon, holding something in his mouth, flying towards his side. The closer he got to him, the smaller the demon’s figure became. Lin Rufei fixed his eyes on it and confirmed the identity of the demon—it was the one he had thrown out with his sword. The most striking thing was that he was holding a man in green clothes in his mouth. The man seemed to have been beaten up by Chi Yu since his face was swollen and his mouth was still chanting about something. Chi Yu was so irritated by his chants that he raised his hand and gave him a claw, almost knocking him out completely.

When Chi Yu returned to the inn, he had almost become the size of a normal cat, so the person he was carrying in his mouth, soon became out of place. With a “bah”, he threw the man onto the ground like garbage and then stomped on him, cursing at Lin Rufei: “Shameless! Do it again[1]!”

He was still bothered about the fact that Lin Rufei had pulled him by the tail.

Lin Rufei quickly waved his hand and said, “No more, no more.”

“Why not? You were so excited about it just now!” The Ye Mo ground his teeth and said hatefully, “The tail of a Ye Mo is a man’s waist and a woman’s hand! You actually dare reach out and touch it, you are really looking for death——”

Lin Rufei muttered, “But didn’t my maid also touch it just now?”

Ye Mo frowned: “How is that the same?”

Lin Rufei stared, “How is it different?”

Ye Mo replied as a matter of fact, “Your maid is a lovely and cute girl! What are you? You’re a disgusting man——”

Lin Rufei mumbled in his heart, “Can you not say the words ‘disgusting man’ so cutely?” but since the Ye Mo was still angry, he didn’t dare to say it out loud. In the end, he could only laugh dryly twice, barely easing the atmosphere.

The man, who had been thrown to the ground by the Ye Mo, woke up in a daze while they had been talking, attracting Ye Mo’s attention. As soon as the man woke up, he heard the conversation between Lin Rufei and the Ye Mo and immediately got up from the ground. Pointing at Lin Rufei, he accused in shock: “You, you, you are actually having an affair with a demon!”

Lin Rufei ignored him and pointed to the newly cleared sky outside, “Did you make the rain come down?”

“It was me.” This person had actually admitted it with a pat on his chest, not feeling anything wrong with his actions at all.

Lin Rufei stated, “If it had continued to rain, the whole city would be flooded. Do you know how many people would have died?”

The man said indifferently: “Life, old age, sickness, and death are things that people must go through. As for drowning, it’s just a different choice, what’s so strange about it?”

Lin Rufei answered, “Your reasoning is very strange.”

“Not strange, not strange.” This man was young in appearance, if he only looked at his face, he would most likely have thought that he was just a teenager. But judging from his cultivation level, those who dare to set up a formation in the sky, could not be a teenager. Faced with Lin Rufei’s question, he shook his head, “I am eliminating harm for the people. Perish a city of people to ensure a side of peace.”

Lin Rufei paused: “Peace?”

He said, “You probably don’t know, recently a jiao has entered the Ruo River. That jiao has got a human’s seal of approval and as long as it heads into the sea, it will turn into an evil dragon. Then, when the time comes, it will be more trouble.” He continued with a serious face, “That’s why I will set up a formation on his way in order to stop it. At most, the rain will continue for half a month and half a month later, this jiao will be trapped here by me.”

After he finished, he seemed to remember something and then glanced at the Ye Mo’s unpleasant eyes. He immediately sat up straight and whispered: “It seems I have said this all in vain. You and this demon also have a relationship and it looks like a pretty good one……”

Ye Mo angrily retorted: “Who has a good relationship with him! What nonsense are you talking about!”

Lin Rufei ignored the big angry cat and asked, “Half a month of rain? How many people are you trying to kill here?”

The surrounding areas were all plains. If it really rained for half a month, most likely there wouldn’t be many people left in this area.

This person spread his hands and shook his head, making an “I do not know what you are talking about expression.” When Lin Rufei saw this, he was angered and amused: “Since you did things this way, did no one say anything?” 

“They dare?” The man puffed up his chest, “None of them are as good as me, so why should they say anything about me.”

Lin Rufei asked, “If they are better than you, then they can say something about you?”

The person responded, “Of course.”

Lin Rufei pointed at the Ye Mo, “Look, you were captured by him, so he is naturally more powerful than you. According to you, shouldn’t you listen to him?”

Ye Mo smiled and snorted cooperatively from the side. He twisted and jumped onto the table, licking his front paws and growling disdainfully, “Who wants this kind of waste to be my little brother.”

“Who are you to call me a waste?” The man was irritated by the word “waste” and jumped eight feet high.

Ye Mo said, “Just to kill a simple jiao and you need so many people to die as well. If you’re not a waste then what are you?” He laughed coldly.

The man’s jaw dropped and he was momentarily choked to death by the Ye Mo’s words.

“Besides, what is an evil jiao? If it eats people then it’s an evil jiao?” Ye Mo continued, “People eat pork and beef, demons eat people, it’s just a cycle of the divine principle. There’s nothing wrong with humans killing jiao, so why do you need to add the word ‘evil’ to the word jiao?” He stood up and came up to the man: “In terms of pork and cattle, then aren’t you also an evil person?”

The man said, “How am I an evil person——”

Ye Mo asked, “Have you ever eaten pork?”

The man was speechless.

Lin Rufei listened with great interest as the two of them fought. He realized that the Ye Mo’s eloquence was not bad at all and that he was able to block this man from saying another word. In this Jianghu, many people had strange reasoning and only those with a stronger fist could tell others the ideals they wanted them to say. 

“What you say seems to be somewhat reasonable.” This person stroked his chin and also took in the Ye Mo’s words, “So it is reasonable if the pig or cow came to me for revenge and it is also reasonable for me to kill the jiao.” He was also a smart one and was able to actually rationalize Ye Mo’s logic in such a short amount of time, “Since we all have a point, what did you bring me back for?”

The Ye Mo grinned and extended his sharp claws, “I am a demon, what do you think I brought you back for?”

When the man saw Ye Mo’s claws, he looked at Lin Rufei with a frightened expression, as if he wanted to ask Lin Rufei for help.

However, Lin Rufei simply smiled and added for the Ye Mo: “Naturally he brought you back to eat.”

This person: “……”

Ye Mo said, “It makes sense for you to kill demons and it makes sense for me to eat people. Since everyone has a point, what are you waiting for? Unless you’re going to drill yourself into my mouth?”  As he said this, he opened his mouth, revealing rows of snow-white teeth. 

The man let out a long sigh: “You’re right.” After saying this, he actually tried to drill himself into the Ye Mo’s mouth.

This rash action cause both the Ye Mo and Lin Rufei to freeze in their position. The Ye Mo, whose teeth had been pressed down, instantly jumped far away. He spat out bah, bah, bah, several times, “What are you doing touching my mouth, stinky man——”

This person: “Weren’t you going to eat me?”

Ye Mo: “……”

The man added: “I’ll drill myself into it.”

The Ye Mo’s face distorted and his voice became vicious: “Who wants to eat a man? If I want to eat, I will definitely eat a cute little girl.” After saying this, he didn’t know what he had remembered, but he let out an uneasy “hmph.”

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This person’s actions made Lin Rufei not know whether he should cry or laugh. He didn’t know whether to say that the person was simple-minded or say that he was stubborn so in the end, he simply waved his hand, “If you want to catch the jiao, you can. But using a professional formation is not allowed. Otherwise, the people who died in your hands will perhaps be more than the people who died in the hands of the jiao.” 

The man sighed: “Your words have some truth.”

Lin Rufei asked, “Where exactly are you from and what is your name?”

“My name is She Yizhi.” He said, “From the She family.”

When Lin Rufei heard this, he thought that this matter was very coincidental. He didn’t expect to meet the She family here and he had a good name, a snake[2]. He had long heard that the She family was very good at formations but he did not expect it to be so powerful that it would rain for half a month.

“And who are you? Why are you hanging out[3] with this powerful demon?” She Yizhi asked.

“Who’s hanging out with him!” Before Lin Rufei could answer, Chi Yu sat up first and growled angrily, “If you say any more nonsense, I will really swallow you in one bite!”

She Yizhi stated: “Then swallow, ah, didn’t I agree to it just now?” 

Chi Yu replied coldly, “Do you think anyone would rush to eat sh*t.”

She Yizhi, who had been compared to sh*t, glared. He almost rolled up his sleeve and discussed with Chi Yu his taste but Lin Rufei hurriedly stopped him, saying that he should calm down. Sometimes it was good to taste bad, if the taste was too good, he may not see the sun tomorrow.

She Yizhi barely took in Lin Rufei’s words and thought, “What you said seems to make sense.”

Only then did Lin Rufei breathe a sigh of relief.

This She Yizhi was really a rash young man. If he really pissed off the already bad-tempered Chi Yu and was really eaten, Lin Rufei would not be able to explain properly to the She family.

Lin Rufei asked about the jiao again and She Yizhi started to talk very slowly. 

He said that the jiao had been found in the Ruo River and was very powerful. The first to find that jiao was actually his elder brother. However, his elder brother was somehow bewitched by the jiao and did not tell others until recently, when he was suddenly injured by the jiao and almost lost his life. Only then, did the public know the existence of the jiao. Him being the younger brother, naturally, he could not just sit idly. Thus, he searched for the jiao’s traces for a long while and also set up a formation in the clouds so that it would rain. He wanted to kill the jiao in this place, but who knew that only after two days, a big cat suddenly appeared in the sky and then, he was plucked down by it. 

Speaking of demons, She Yizhi was very indignant. He said that they were completely free of human moral restraints and more than that, they were not reputable. They become hostile in just a blink of an eye and were simply not trustworthy. Only, when he said this, he forgot that he was sitting next to an unkind demon until he heard the sound of Chi Yu’s tail whirring in the air. Soon, he realized that he seemed to have said too much and laughed embarrassingly: “Of course, we can’t generalize either. There are still some……credible demons.”

“Hmph, what good are you humans again?” Chi Yu sneered, “If someone hadn’t stolen my egg and tried to rob my son, you think I would be here?”

She Yizhi was shocked, “There was someone who was able to steal your egg?” 

Chi Yu: “……”

She Yizhi pondered for a moment: “It seems you are not as powerful as I thought.”

Chi Yu pounced towards She Yizhi once again and by the time he had gotten up again, She Yizhi’s face had a few more bloodstains. Although She Yizhi’s formation was powerful, his combat ability seemed very bad. He was trampled on by Chi Yu without the ability to fight back and could only lie on the ground screaming in pain.

Lin Rufei was very impressed with him; he admired his ability to poke at Chi Yu’s pain points with every word.

Lin Rufei pondered over this matter and in the end, he decided to introduce himself. She Yizhi also knew of the Lin family but was a bit surprised to hear that the person in front of him was Lin Rufei: “I have long heard of Lin gongzi’s name. My father has been waiting at home, why did Lin gongzi stay here for so long?”

In his heart, Lin Rufei thought to himself: How dare you ask, it’s all because of you. He reached out and pointed out the window, “I haven’t bought the boat I want to row with yet.”

She Yizhi didn’t understand so he asked, “Why do you want to row a boat?”

Lin Rufei replied, “Look outside.”

Although the rain had stopped, the water outside still had not yet receded and the whole street was filled with cloudy rainwater. She Yizhi took a glance at it, laughed embarrassingly, and said, ‘so that’s how it is. But it does not matter, after the formation stops, the rain will also stop. Soon the water will recede. It’s only a pity that the jiao will run away again. I don’t know when I can find its trail again.’

Chi Yu was not a nosy demon, if Lin Rufei had not thrown him out, he would not have been interested in She Yizhi, so She Yizhi did not say anything else and the atmosphere in the room gradually melted down.

Lin Rufei originally had thought to send She Yizhi back after the water had receded so that he would not cause further harm to others, however, Gu Xuandu suddenly appeared out of thin air and came up to Lin Rufei’s ear, asking him if he wanted to be happy.

“Happy?” Lin Rufei asked curiously.

Gu Xuandu raised his chin towards Chi Yu’s tail.

Lin Rufei’s hands instantly itched, but there was still some hesitation laced in his tone: “It doesn’t seem good to just take action……like this, right?”

Gu Xuandu answered, “If you don’t take action now, then there will be no one to take the blame for you later.”

Lin Rufei: “……”

“Come on, come on.” Gu Xuandu was instructing his own family’s little gongzi to do bad things, “Reach out and grab it, leave the rest to She Yizhi.”

Although Lin Rufei was a little hesitant, under Gu Xuandu’s best efforts of compulsion, he still slowly walked behind Chi Yu, who was now looking out the window with his back to them with a lazy look. His tail wagged from time to time, looking very languid. 

She Yizhi was behind Chi Yu, sitting in a very obedient posture. When he noticed Lin Rufei, he didn’t understand why he was coming over and cast a confused look at him.

Lin Rufei returned his glance with an apologetic smile.

Before She Yizhi could react to what Lin Rufei’s smile meant, he saw the handsome, noble little gongzi extend his white, slender hands and, with a swift movement, he gently pinch the tail that was slowly wagging in front of him.

“OW!!!” The owner of the tail immediately jumped eight feet high. When he turned around and saw She Yizhi sitting behind him, he almost immediately locked onto his target, “Damn you! Who let you pull my tail——” After he finished growling, he immediately lunged at him. She Yizhi had no time to explain before he was pinned to the ground, letting out a miserable scream.

Lin Rufei had his hands tucked behind his back, looking innocent, and he even said in a warm voice: “Chi Yu, be gentle, don’t hurt the person.”

She Yizhi: “……????” What’s wrong with you, Lin gongzi??

By the time She Yizhi got back up from the ground, he had a few more bruises on his face. He looked at Lin Rufei with incredulous eyes and pointed at Lin Rufei in a trembling voice: “Lin gongzi……you……you……”

Lin Rufei grieved and lamented: “She gongzi, ah. He even said that the tail could not be touched. Why couldn’t you resist the urge?”

She Yizhi was so angry with Lin Rufei that his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. 

Chi Yu was now considered to be pissed off. He no longer had his back turned to them and narrowed his eyes at the both of them. Lin Rufei’s hand, that was currently behind his back, was rubbing with satisfaction, thinking that no wonder Gu Xuandu had touched it twice, the tail felt too good. It was soft, slippery, and fluffy. When he grasped it, it was like he was touching a soft cloud and it really made it hard for someone to stop. He could not help but envy Fu Hua who could stroke the cat casually. 

I hate not being a daughter, ah, Lin Rufei secretly let out a sigh.

She Yizhi began to doubt the whole world after seeing Lin Rufei’s ugly side. He stared at Lin Rufei’s gentle and innocent expression and if it weren’t for the wounds on his face that were still aching in pain, he probably would have thought that everything that had just happened was just his imagination.

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However, She Yizhi’s strong desire for survival still made him silently move away from Chi Yu and coincidentally, he noticed the little kitten sleeping on the bed. He had just suffered a lot from Chi Yu and now when he saw such a cute kitten, most of his heart softened and he reached out to pet it: “Where did the kitten come from?—”

Lin Rufei had no time to stop him when She Yizhi took action.

As for the result of this touch, Lin Rufei could not bear to continue describing it. He could only say that Chi Yu’s methods were extremely cruel and She Yizhi, who was unable to fight back, shed crystal tears.

When Fu Hua entered through the door, she saw a strange young man sitting by her gongzi’s bed crying and the big cat, the one that she had touched before, was screaming viciously at the strange man. The man’s face was full of claw scratches, although not too serious, it still looked very miserable.

Lin Rufei was standing by the window sighing, saying: ‘humans, once they become unlucky, even cold water would get stuck between their teeth.’ 

“Gongzi?” Fu Hua did not know what had happened and took a few steps towards the bed. With natural movements, she picked up the big cat and tenderly stroked its head, “Who is this. ah?”

Lin Rufei replied, “She family’s She gongzi.”

Fu Hua asked, “She gongzi? How come he is here?”

Lin Rufei answered, “That’s a long story.”

Fu Hua said, “I saw that the rain outside has stopped and it seems that the water will recede tomorrow.” She looked at She gongzi but noticed him staring at her with a stunned expression. She was suddenly bewildered, “She gongzi, why are you looking at me like this?”

She Yizhi was actually not looking at Fu Hua, instead, he was looking at a certain demon, who was now nestling in Fu Hua’s arms, tenderly squinting his eyes with a face of enjoyment. He almost wanted to sob and accuse the demon of differential treatment, but due to the wound that had just fallen on his face, he finally closed his mouth, hung his head, and said sadly, “Maybe it’s because you look good.”

Fu Hua didn’t understand.

Lin Rufei smiled and then proceeded to ask Fu Hua to book another room, saying that tomorrow She gongzi would leave with them. Fu Hua let out an “oh,” and reluctantly let the big cat down before heading out.

When Chi Yu saw that Fu Hua had left, he slowly jumped onto the bed and then kicked She Yizhi to keep him away from him.

She Yizhi was also considered to have his temper bullied out of him. He silently changed his position and continued to look at Lin Rufei with sorrow.

Lin Rufei could only pretend not to see. In his heart, he thought to himself that he really shouldn’t do any more bad things otherwise, he would always feel guilty. 

Gu Xuandu was very indifferent and was full of bright smiles. If he hadn’t been worried that She Yizhi’s face would be scratched into a fleshy mess, he would have made a move on Chi Yu’s tail again. 

After a difficult day, when they were about to depart the next day, She Yizhi was dying in the corner. Lin Rufei sat next to him, holding the kitten in his arms while Chi Yu was being held in Yu Rui’s arms. One moment he was being fed a piece of corn candy and the next, he was being fed a piece of plum cake, in the end, he became the most dashing one out of all of them. 

She Yizhi let out a long sigh and the sorrow in his eyes almost turned concrete. He didn’t know whether he was envious of Fu Hua, who could pet Chi Yu’s hair, or envious of Chi Yu, who could lie in the arms of a beautiful maid, or even both.

Lin Rufei had his head bowed and still donned a harmless and gentle look. If not for yesterday, where She Yizhi was set up by him, he probably would have believed in his harmlessness. 

After the water receded, there was still a lot of mud on the road and the carriage did not dare to travel too fast on it. 

But halfway through their travels, Gu Xuandu, who had been relaxed, suddenly straightened up as if listening to some sound. When Lin Rufei saw this, he asked in a low voice: “What’s wrong?”

Gu Xuandu replied, “Something is following us.”

Lin Rufei asked, “What is it?”

However, Gu Xuandu did not answer. Instead, he glanced at She Yizhi, who was currently dozing off, and slowly relaxed his posture again, “I guess it’s coming for this guy.”

Lin Rufei, “Hmm?”

Gu Xuandu answered, “Nothing hostile, don’t mind it.”

Lin Rufei gave an “oh.”

Chi Yu, who had been taking a nap with his eyes closed, also seemed to sense something. He opened his eyes halfway and glanced in Lin Rufei’s direction, but very quickly, he withdrew his gaze and gave a lazy meow. Lin Rufei also seemed to have noticed something strange. He seemed to have smelled a strong scent of water. Logically speaking, the rain had just stopped not too long ago so it was very normal if there was a strong scent of water. However, this scent seemed to be a little different from the ordinary smell of water and it was right now circling around them. It was only faintly discernible and made it impossible for people to ignore. 

She Yizhi, whose eyes were closed, also woke up and he seemed to notice something. Sitting upright, he asked, “Do you guys smell anything?”

Chi Yu lifted his eyelids and gave him a look.

She Yizhi wondered: “Why did it suddenly decide to come to me? Is it not afraid of death? Strange, strange, before, it desperately tried to avoid me, did it eat some kind of wrong medicine today?……”

Lin Rufei asked: “Is it the jiao you wanted to kill before?”

“Mnn.” She Yizhi took a deep breath and savored the watery smell that permeated throughout the air. His voice was a bit cold as he spoke, “This disgusting fishy smell, I can’t forget it in my life.” As he spoke, he pulled out an orange-yellow talisman from his pocket. The symbols on that talisman were actually a rare ice-blue color and before it was even used, a surging spiritual aura came through.

“Since it has come to my door.” She Yizhi grinned, “Then I will not be polite.”

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[1] It’s like saying, “I dare you to do it again!” 

[2] Not sure if this was on purpose or a typo, but She Yizhi’s name is 佘一之: and the word for “a snake” is 蛇一只, sounds similar to She Yizhi just different tonations on the zhi. So maybe LRF heard it wrong or it’s the author’s typo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[3] This is more derogatory, it’s like “mixing in with the wrong crowd.”