Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 72: Sea and Sky

Sitting in the carriage, She Yizhi was about to fling out the talisman, however, a cold wind suddenly blew up in mid-air causing the entire carriage to shake. Accompanying this strange wind, was a strong fishy smell. When She Yizhi noticed this, his expression suddenly changed. He shouted a “bad” and intended to get up and leave the carriage. However, who knew that Chi Yu, who had been sitting on the side, would suddenly lift up his claws and make a move on She Yizhi, whose back was currently facing him. She Yizhi was directly scratched into confusion. He staggered a few steps and fell back down into the carriage.

Just as he was stunned, the wind outside stopped and the fishy smell, which made people feel uncomfortable, quickly faded away.

“What did you swipe at me for?” She Yizhi twisted his head and looked at Chi Yu with grievance.

Chi Yu licked his paws without a single concern and lazily replied: “If I want to swipe, then I will swipe.” 

She Yizhi: “……”

Chi Yu asked: “What, you got a problem with it?”

She Yizhi didn’t dare to have a problem with it since he couldn’t win against Chi Yu. After feeling that the thing outside was gone, he shrunk his neck and continued sitting in the corner sighing. Chi Yu narrowed his eyes and glared at him causing She Yizhi to not even dare to breathe out. 

His little daughter-in-law’s appearance really made Lin Rufei want to laugh. 

The next few days, the sky did not rain again and Lin Rufei no longer felt the aura of the jiao. It seemed that since that time, the jiao had completely disappeared.

Although She Yizhi still wanted to catch the jiao, he still did not dare to offend Chi Yu. Even though he was proficient in formations, he was really powerless against face-to-face combat and just a single attack from Chi Yu’s claws could take half of his life. 

Helplessly frightened, She Yizhi chose to endure in a very sensible manner. 

It wasn’t until the carriage had traveled for about six or seven days and had finally entered the She family’s territory that he rose up and laughed at Chi Yu, “Hahahahahaha, once we enter this city gate, it will be my She family’s territory!!”

Chi Yu was, at the moment, enjoying a gentle caress in Fu Hua’s arms and when he heard She Yizhi’s words, he lifted his eyes indifferently, “So what do you want to do?”

She Yizhi loudly announced, “I want to touch you! I also want to touch your son! I want to touch your whole family——”

It must be said that if Chi Yu wasn’t in his original form, She Yizhi’s words would have sounded immoral, but even if Chi Yu was in his Ye Mo form, he still had a bad temper as usual. So in broad daylight, in full view of everyone, She Yizhi, who was attempting to be immoral, was beaten up and finally entered his house with a few more blood marks on his face, looking very messy.

Lin Rufei followed the downcast man and entered the She family’s compound.

The She family wasn’t too big, but he could clearly feel the difference it had with other sword-cultivating families. Whether it was the walls or the beams, almost every place he could see was covered with all kinds of talismans. Some of these talismans Lin Rufei knew and some of them he had never seen before, so it was quite clear that the family did attach great importance to these. The invitation in Lin Rufei’s hand was for She Yizhi’s elder brother, the one he said that had been injured by the jiao.

The She family was a bit surprised by Lin Rufei’s arrival, but their attitude was quite eager, except that She Yizhi’s mother was surprised when she saw the various bruises on her son’s face. She said, ‘Son, ah. This time you went out, which girl did you molest for you to be scratched into this messy state?’

After hearing his mother’s question, She Yizhi howled and cried, “Mother, you do not know, I messed with a powerful little wild cat and he almost scratched me to death……”

When Mother She heard the word “wild cat,” her expression looked slightly strange: “Little wild cat? Is it pretty?”

“It is pretty.” She Yizhi rubbed his nose, “Shiny and smooth, it just won’t let me touch it. Even if it doesn’t let me touch it, it wouldn’t let me touch its son either…….” 

Mother She froze, “It already has a son?”  

“Yes.” She Yizhi replied, “The son is as beautiful as he is.”

The two of them were like chickens speaking to ducks[1]. He didn’t know what Mother She had misunderstood, but her eyes soon turned from pity to condemnation, ‘Son, we are a decent family, how can we just touch others? And besides, they already have a son. You deserved to be scratched into this messy state!’ She Yizhi was bewildered: “Then what should I do to be able to touch it?”

Mother She answered, “You have to at least welcome people into the door[2].”

Hearing this, She Yizhi shivered and shook his head like a rattle-drum[3], “No, no, I must be crazy if I was to welcome him in.”

Lin Rufei, who had been standing on the side and listening in on the conversation between mother and son, found it funny. He didn’t know what kind of picture Mother She had conjured up in her mind to look at She Yizhi with such a reproachful look, but little did she know, her son had met not some charming young woman, but a real wild cat.

The wild cat did not follow She Yizhi in and instead, he went to someplace else with his son in his mouth. Only after Lin Rufei was settled in, did he emerge from the window with a crooked head, casually throwing his son onto Lin Rufei’s bed. Then he lay down by the window, tidying up his fur slowly and methodically, “I don’t like it here.”

Lin Rufei asked, “What’s wrong?”

The Ye Mo narrowed its eyes, “There are quite a few talismans in this residence that can inhibit demonic power, which is annoying.”

Lin Rufei questioned, “Does it have an effect on you?”

“Yes, but not much.” Ye Mo replied, “But for many small demons, it’s something very deadly.”

Lin Rufei wondered, “Is the jiao considered a small demon?”

The Ye Mo answered, “All demons that live on Yaoguang are small demons.” His crimson eyes revealed a disdainful look, “Only those who can survive on Bu’e are big demons.”

Lin Rufei showed a thoughtful look.

When She Yizhi came to find Lin Rufei, he didn’t dare to come in directly. He first looked left and right with his head, and only after seeing the Ye Mo on the bed did he cautiously enter the room, standing far away from the Ye Mo, “Lin gongzi, my elder brother knows you are here and has set up a banquet to invite you over for a little chat.”

Lin Rufei laughed, “Why do you have this expression?”

She Yizhi said honestly, “I’m afraid he will beat me up.”

Lin Rufei laughed, “Why would he beat you up if you don’t provoke him?”

She Yizhi muttered, “I’m afraid that Lin gongzi will provoke him.”

It seemed that he still remembered the time when Lin Rufei pulled the Ye Mo’s tail and made him take the blame for it. Lin Rufei laughed out loud while the Ye Mo threw a blank stare at She Yizhi and said, ‘You think Lin Rufei is as disgusting as you are. Wait, Lin Rufei, didn’t you also grab my tail twice? So both you and that She Yizhi are not anything good——’

In the end, the room became a scene where She Yizhi looked at Lin Rufei with resentment and Lin Rufei looked at Gu Xuandu with condemnation.

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After traveling to many places, Lin Rufei had finally gotten used to going to banquets and had even learned to say a few dignified-sounding polite greetings compared to when he first came down from the mountain. He thought that the banquet set up by She Yizhi’s elder brother was no different from the previous one. However, when he went there, he saw that She Yizhi’s elder brother was still lying in bed, looking like he was not able to recover from his serious injuries, despite there still being a sumptuous banquet in the room. When he noticed Lin Rufei arriving, he got up from bed with difficulty and greeted Lin Rufei to sit.

Lin Rufei was frightened by the situation and quickly said, ‘if you have injuries you should recuperate first. Eating isn’t urgent.’ 

She Yizhi’s elder brother was named She Jingxian and he had a cultivation at the seventh level. Although he was born into a formation family, he had pretty good sword skills. However, now that his body was wrapped tightly all over, at first glance, his figure didn’t look human and it was very terrifying to see. 

Lin Rufei muttered in his heart that didn’t know how he got into this state. 

“Nothing, nothing, I’m not really hurt, it’s just that my mother is too nervous.” She Jingxian waved his hand indifferently, “My father passed away early and I am in charge of the family, so if there is any poor hospitality, Lin gongzi is not to blame.”

Lin Rufei smiled, “That’s not true.” He simply took out the invitation and handed it over to She Jingxian.

She Jingxian took it with his hand and thanked Lin Rufei, and casually asked how Lin Rufei came back with She Yizhi.

Lin Rufei then casually retold the situation of how he was passing through a small town and suddenly it started raining heavily, only to find that She Yizhi was setting up a formation to catch demons. Who knew that after listening to Lin Rufei’s description, his expression became more and more ugly, and finally he slapped the table in anger, pointing at She Yizhi’s nose and scolding: “Who told you to catch it!?”

She Yizhi was still holding his chopsticks and eating his food, so when he heard She Jingxian’s voice, he was at a loss, “Big brother was hurt by the demon, isn’t it natural to kill the demon?”

She Jingxian yelled, “Even if you want to kill the demon, you shouldn’t dare to hurt the innocent like that!”

She Yizhi had wanted to say something else as well but was soon interrupted by She Jingxian, who angrily told She Yizhi to go to the ancestral hall to reflect on himself. She Jingxian then apologized to Lin Rufei, saying that his younger brother had been spoiled by the family since he was young and had little contact with outsiders, so it was difficult for him to distinguish right from wrong in certain matters, and that he was grateful to Lin Rufei for stopping him and not letting him create a big disaster.

This She Jingxian, although wrapped tightly in a messy white cloth, his eyes that were peeking out from behind the white banadages were still very good-looking. His appearance should have been very handsome and when he reprimanded She Yizhi, he was even more imposing and stern so that people could not refute.

In the end, this was the She family’s business so Lin Rufei didn’t feel appropriate to comment. He nodded his head and said that there was no need to punish so heavily, after all, nothing big ended up happening. 

She Jingxian smiled bitterly: “If something really had happened, then it would be too late.” Then as if nothing had happened, he asked Lin Rufei about the jiao. He probably wanted to know if the jiao had suffered at the hands of his brother. 

Lin Rufei laughed: “It definitely suffered some loss.” 

She Jingxian went rigid. 

“But it should be nothing major, just some minor injuries.” Lin Rufei remembered the man he met in the alley wearing a bamboo hat and a woven coat, “What is the relationship between She gongzi and the jiao?”

“There is no relationship.” She Jingxian muttered, “I just happened to meet him when I went to control the flooding.” When the jiao entered the sea, it would be followed by a flood. The She family was next to the Ruo River, so it was only natural to have floods. But looking at She Jingxian’s words and attitude, Lin Rufei did not believe that he had nothing to do with the jiao at all.

However, She Jingxian did not want to admit to it so Lin Rufei also could not say anything more about it. After the wine and food, he then got up and said goodbye in order to let She Jingxian have a good rest.

The weather was not as hot as it had been a few days ago. Lin Rufei had nothing to do so he and Gu Xuandu took a stroll together towards the Ruo River. The terrain here was wide and flat and the river was also endless. It was vast and mighty, a very spectacular sight to see. If he followed the Ruo River a little further, it would be the sea that Lin Rufei had never seen before. He had begun to look forward to the seaside scenery and was very eager to try.

At this time, it was exactly evening and the beautiful sunset dyed the everlasting clouds red and the area where the sky and the sea met became blurred, as if the ground and the sky had become one. The wind at the river was a bit strong and there were many willows planted by the roadside. Furthermore, there were plenty of children playing on the river bank, seeking the coolness it provided.

Lin Rufei simply took off his shoes and socks and also walked along on the river bank. He felt the cold river water over his ankles, bringing a comfortable coolness.

“Don’t be greedy for the cold, be careful of getting sick.” Gu Xuandu said at the side, although he had said this, he also did not want to stop Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei answered, “I think I am not that weak now.” After saying this, he patted his not-so-sturdy chest. He didn’t know if it was because he used too much force, but he started coughing violently and almost passed out directly.

Gu Xuan was crying and laughing: “You can’t be a little lighter on yourself?”

Lin Rufei: “Cough cough cough cough——”

After finally recovering from the cough, Lin Rufei headed to the river to find a stone large enough for him to sit down and rest. Because it was Summer, the sky turned dark relatively late. After the sun went down, it became the best time for people to move around and the Ruo River was soon bustling with activity. In addition to children, there were many patient anglers.

Lin Rufei looked for a while, then intended to leave. But who knew that the touch beneath his feet would suddenly feel somewhat wrong and the originally clear water seemed to have become swampy, grasping his feet with a death grip. 

Just as Lin Rufei was thinking about what this was, a familiar figure showed up not too far away. Although the sky was still sunny, that person was still wearing a straw coat and bamboo hat and in the crowd, he looked very out of place. However, the smell of water on his body told Lin Rufei his identity. His steps stopped in front of Lin Rufei and through the bamboo hat, Lin Rufei saw a touch of gold. Lin Rufei was immediately on alert and his hand went to the Gu Yu that was hanging on his waist. The man slowly approached Lin Rufei and just as Lin Rufei was about to draw his sword, he heard a faint: “Lin gongzi.”

This voice was something Lin Rufei had never heard before, but for some reason, Lin Rufei somehow felt that it was also familiar. As he was thinking so, the man parted his veil, revealing a handsome face. On this face, there was a pair of beautiful golden eyes and it was very different compared to the pupils of a normal person. His pupils were as vertical as a snake’s and in the area of his left eye, there was a very obvious scar. This scar ran from his forehead to the corner of his eye and was particularly eye-catching.

“You know me?” Lin Rufei asked curiously, “Have we met somewhere before?” He had already confirmed the identity of the person in front of him and after thinking over it, he finally remembered something, “You……are the evil jiao in the Canglan River?!”

The man nodded his head.

“Why are you still here?” Lin Rufei was puzzled, “I remember that you already got the title, have you already gone to the sea?” 

The evil jiao shook his head, he didn’t seem to be able to speak well and the words he spat out were very difficult to understand at times. Lin Rufei listened for quite a while before he finally understood what he meant. It turned out that heading to the sea was not something easy, especially if it was an evil jiao that wanted a title and was also being targeted. But the cycle of divine principle was the way it was. Even drinks all had a fixed number[4].

“Why did you want to find me?” Lin Rufei asked him.

“Go……to see him……” Muttered the evil jiao.

Lin Rufei questioned: “Who?”

The evil jiao replied: “She Jingxian.”

Lin Rufei was curious, “What are you going to see him for? You injured him and now the She family is itching to skin you.”

The evil Jiao pursed his lips slightly and whispered, “It’s all my fault.”

Lin Rufei became even more and more curious. He simply sat down on the ground and asked the evil jiao exactly what was going on between him and She Jingxian. The evil jiao began to intermittently talked about him and She Jingxian and after Lin Rufei listened thoughtfully, he said, “So you are actually very close friends?”

The evil jiao nodded and continued slowly: “That’s right, but then something happened and I inadvertently hurt him.”

Lin Rufei let out an “oh,” then continued: “So you want to go see him, right?”

“Mnn.” The evil jiao said, “That’s right.”

Lin Rufei asked, “Can’t you get into She residence?”

“There are formations, so I can’t get in.” The evil jiao replied, “It will make my original form appear.”

It seemed that the evil jiao was indeed not as powerful as the Ye Mo. The Ye Mo was not afraid of the formation in the She residence in the slightest and even the kitten wasn’t affected, but it seemed that the evil jiao was not like them.

Lin Rufei asked, “Then how am I going to help you?”

The evil jiao replied, “Bring him……out.”

Lin Rufei frowned: “I’m afraid that won’t work.”

“Why?” The evil jiao asked.

“He seems to be badly injured.” After all, when Lin Rufei had took in She Jingxian’s appearance, he was very tightly wrapped up all over his body.

When the evil jiao heard this, he revealed a look of anxiety, “But, I, I clearly didn’t exert any force.”

Lin Rufei doubted, “Exactly what is going on between you two?”

The evil jiao refused to say. He only shook his head and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.

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Lin Rufei immediately sensed something but he did not continue to press on this matter. He just said that he would try, but he couldn’t necessarily guarantee success. He also asked the evil jiao when it would continue its journey towards the sea. The evil jiao said that when the next rain comes, he would leave this place and that if Lin Rufei could, he hoped that he would be able to bring out She Jingxian before then.

Lin Rufei nodded and said okay.

Only then did the evil jiao turn around and leave.

Looking at his back, Lin Rufei pondered, “Are the evil jiao and She Jingxian really friends?”

Gu Xuandu asked, “Otherwise?”

Lin Rufei said, “Why do I feel that the two of them are strange?”

Gu Xuandu looked at Lin Rufei and laughed: “Xiao Jiu is finally starting to understand things properly.”

Lin Rufei: “Understand what properly?”

Gu Xuandu, however, didn’t say anything in response. In his heart, he thought that if it had been a few months ago, Lin Rufei would have never have thought about the things between men and men in that way, but fortunately, after experiencing a lot of things, Lin Rufei had obviously understood the possibility of men and men, which was convenient for him.

“Ah-choo!” Lin Rufei suddenly let out a sneeze. He rubbed his nose and muttered, “Who is thinking of me[5]……?”

After meeting with the evil jiao, Lin Rufei returned to the She residence. The punished She Yizhi had just come out of the ancestral hall when he bumped into Lin Rufei in a listless manner. When Lin Rufei noticed his appearance, he found it amusing and asked, ‘She little gongzi, what’s wrong? Why are you so downhearted?’ 

She Yizhi responded, “Lin gongzi, what exactly do you think my brother is thinking about?”

Lin Rufei asked, “What do you mean?”

She Yizhi continued, “Obviously, it was his intention to catch the jiao, but when it came to me, it became a reason to be punished.”

Lin Rufei hummed, “Hmm?”

“Strange, strange.” She Yizhi stated, “I can’t understand what he is thinking.” After saying these words, he sniffled and muttered out two sentences, “But if the evil jiao becomes a big cat, I guess I would be reluctant too.”

Lin Rufei repeated, “Reluctant?”

She Yizhi nodded.

In fact, the whole She family was quite strange. Logically speaking, if She Yizhi hated the jiao so much, he should have naturally dislike the demon known as the Ye Mo. But there was never an excessive disgust from him. Especially if he could, then he would prefer to take the Ye Mo into his arms and love it properly. But if it was to say that the She family had no prejudice against demons, then why would the entire courtyard be arranged to prevent the demons from entering the formation? No matter how he looked at this situation, it was quite contradictory. 

But She Jingxian definitely had history with the evil jiao. Exactly what was going on between this person and this jiao, Lin Rufei also could not say. If he couldn’t say it, then he won’t bother to say it. He simply found She Jingxian and relayed the evil jiao’s message from this morning to him.

Originally, She Jingxian had still been lying on his bed, but as soon as he heard Lin Rufei’s words, he sat up and said he would go out with Lin Rufei immediately after changing his clothes.

Lin Rufei was dumbfounded at his lively appearance, “She gongzi, aren’t you injured?”

Only then did She Jingxian remember what happened and let out another “ouch,” deliberately limping. He said that as long as he could see his old friends, this injury did not matter.

As he said this, he went to the back of the screen to change his clothes and came out in high spirits, dragging Lin Rufei and heading out.

When he left through the door, he happened to meet his brother, She Yizhi, who looked at his brother’s appearance and was dumbfounded, ‘Brother, when did your injury heal? Weren’t you still lying in bed half-dead yesterday?’ 

She Jingxian responded, ‘What do you know, you little brat? If I wasn’t half-dead, then I would be driven out to work again.’ 

She Yizhi was completely speechless at this and simply watched as She Jingxian and Lin Rufei headed out.

Lin Rufei and the evil jiao had agreed to meet at the riverside. She Jingxian walked as fast as he could that he almost had wanted to use the sword instead of walking. In the end, Lin Rufei stopped him and said politely, ‘yesterday you were still at home wrapped like a dumpling, it wouldn’t be good if you act so high-profiled today.’

She Jingxian pondered over those words and realized that he was right so he endured the urge. 

The two soon arrived at the river and summoned the jiao under the blistering sun. Only then did Lin Rufei learn that the jiao’s name was Tian Shui, it was rather quite elegant.

After calling for a while, they did not see the shadow of the jiao. Just as Lin Rufei wondered if there was an accident, he suddenly noticed that in the middle of the Ruo River, a column of water had appeared and then the column of water condensed into the shape of a man. It was the jiao who had come to ask Lin Rufei for help yesterday.

“Tian Shui!!!” She Jingxian shouted surprisedly.

Tian Shui walked up to She Jingxian and before he could react, She Jingxian reached out and hugged him heavily. He looked a little uncomfortable but still didn’t reject She Jingxian, “She Jingxian, I heard that you are very badly injured.”

She Jingxian mumbled: “Mnn……it is quite bad.”

Tian Shui asked, “Really?”

She Jingxian continued, “How about I show you?”

Before Tian Shui could finish, he happily unbuckled his trouser belt and Tian Shui chided angrily, “What are you doing?”

She Jingxian asked, “Isn’t this what you wanted to see?”

Tian Shui responded, “I wanted to see your wounds, why did you unbuckle your belt?”

Thus, Lin Rufei heard this decent-looking She family member spit out, “But what I hurt is my butt.”

Tian Shui: “……”

Lin Rufei: “……”

After a long silence, Lin Rufei finally got up and said farewell, saying, ‘You guys should talk first. I still have something to do so I’ll leave first.’

(t/n): D-Did what I think happened? Σ(っ °Д °;)っ

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The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei: It’s good being friends with Senior, but there is one disadvantage. 

Gu Xuandu: What disadvantage?

Lin Rufei: My butt hurts.

Gu Xuandu: ……….

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[1] People not understanding each other. 

[2] Welcome into the family; i.e. marriage. 

[3] Rattle-drum. 

[4] Even a mouthful of water and a mouthful of food is determined by heavenly numbers: everything is determined by heavenly numbers; everything is according to fate. 

[5] It is believed that if you sneeze, someone is talking about you or thinking about you.