Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 78: Witch Tribe

However, in the end, it was still the love affair between two young people and Lin Rufei didn’t feel quite appropriate to continue asking questions.  

After using Lin Rufei’s formation, Shen Wucui’s injury was finally gradually healing and his body no longer emitted that uncomfortable scent of death. The only downside was that if he wanted the wound to heal completely, it would still take some days, the same went for Lin Weirui. Luckily, Lin Rufei was finally able to send out this invitation. He had been in Jianghu for so many days and at almost every destination, the invitation in his hand was like a hot potato and it was impossible not to have something happen. Although Lin Rufei felt helpless, there was no other way. Who would have thought that before he arrived, Shen Wucui would get stabbed first? 

The Summer, which was even longer than previous years, finally passed. After the first day of Autumn, it had rained a few times and the weather finally turned cooler.

Lin Rufei stayed with the Shen family for some days before he planned on leaving after he saw that Lin Weirui’s injury was almost healed.

Lin Weirui told Lin Rufei a thousand times not to tell their elder brother about what had happened at the Shen residence. She said that if he found out about this matter, she would have to suffer a flesh wound.

Lin Rufei smiled, “You haven’t returned in so long and the Shen family’s matter also became very serious, how could elder brother not know?” 

“Then what can be done?” Lin Weirui was most afraid of Lin Minzhi and asked with a worried face.

“It’s not a big deal.” Lin Rufei teased his sister, “At most, you’ll just get a whipping. You know elder brother has a sharp mouth but is soft-hearted, he won’t hit you too hard.” 

Lin Weirui stared straight at him and said, ‘Xiao Jiu, you’ve turned bad.’ 

“Actually, if you don’t want to get whipped then that’s fine too.” Lin Rufei said, “When the time comes, just show elder brother the wound on your waist and abdomen. I can guarantee that elder brother would be too heartbroken to beat you.” 

Lin Weirui muttered, “No, no, big brother will definitely be more angry when he sees it. Although he can’t bear to beat me anymore, he probably won’t say a word to me for ten days to a half month……”

Lin Rufei spread his hands and made a helpless look: “Then I don’t know.”

Lin Weirui let out a long sigh then scratched her head with an extraordinarily distressed look. Lin Rufei watched from the side, smiling, and said that he would leave the Shen family in a few days. If sister’s injury was better, remember to go back earlier and not let their brothers worry again. 

“You’re gonna leave just like this?” Lin Weirui was still a little reluctant, “I haven’t seen Xiao Jiu for some days, quickly, let sister give a kiss or two.” As she said this, she reached out her arms.

Lin Rufei ruthlessly refused Lin Weirui’s request, saying she’d better go kiss her Shen gongzi.

Lin Weirui shook her head and sighed: “You’ve grown up and won’t kiss your sister anymore.”  

Lin Rufei simply pretended not to hear.

He didn’t know what was going on these days, but Chi Yu, who had always been calm, was a bit agitated now. He was no longer leisure anymore and every time he brought the little one over, he stood at the window and couldn’t stop pacing back and forth. Lin Rufei asked him what was wrong and he looked at Lin Rufei before replying in a deep voice: “It’s almost a month.”

“A month?” Lin Rufei still hadn’t reacted yet.

Chi Yu pointed to the kitten in Lin Rufei’s arms, which was happily sucking on Lin Rufei’s finger, and Lin Rufei finally let out an “oh” before saying, “So fast.”

The kitten was growing fast. Not only had his body become fat, but the teeth in his mouth have also emerged. However, he had been smart since childhood. Although he liked to suck on Lin Rufei’s finger, he never bit through Lin Rufei’s skin, so Lin Rufei also allowed him do as he pleased.

Chi Yu narrowed his eyes and said, “Hopefully, he’ll be smarter.” 

And to stop recognizing Lin Rufei as his father. A month-old Ye Mo would have a clear mind and could also take on human form.

Take on a human form? Hearing this, Lin Rufei was a bit curious.

But Chi Yu obviously did not want him to see it. After he finished feeding, he quickly carried the cub away and Lin Rufei showed a regretful look.

After deciding to leave, Fu Hua packed their bags and planned their departure in a few days. The weather was getting cooler so Lin Rufei changed into his Autumn clothes early and the talismans in the carriage were also changed.

Lin Rufei thought he and Chi Yu would never meet again. But who knew that within a few days, Chi Yu reappeared at Lin Rufei’s doorstep with a livid look on his face, only this time in human form and with a small little doll in his arms that was making faint crying sounds. The little doll had a chubby little face with a pair of big eyes that surfaced with thick vapor. In Chi Yu’s bosom, he became a small crying person until he saw Lin Rufei, and only then did he cry out: “Dada……”

Lin Rufei was shocked when he heard it calling him “daddy.” Chi Yu took a few steps to Lin Rufei’s side and threw the little Ye Mo into Lin Rufei’s arm, like he was throwing garbage, just short of spitting on him.  

When the little dumpling got into Lin Rufei’s arms, it immediately laughed happily and the Ye Mo complained gloomily, “Laugh my ass, laugh again and I’ll cut your tongue off.”

The little dumpling seemed to understand his own father’s words and immediately shut his mouth before looking at Lin Rufei with an aggrieved look.

Lin Rufei said: “This……”

“Continue to nurse it.” Chi Yu crossed his hands against his chest and muttered coldly, “How could I have given birth to such a stupid thing.”

Lin Rufei lost his smile. After asking a few more questions, he learned that the little Ye Mo had indeed successfully transformed. However, after the transformation, he was still not a fan of Chi Yu, this old father. Under the threat of the Ye Mo, it barely endured a few days before finally breaking down and at the risk of annoying his own father then being swallowed in one bite, it cried, wanting to see Lin Rufei.

As a result, when Chi Yu saw Lin Rufei now, he secretly ground his teeth and even seriously thought about whether he should simply eat Lin Rufei and be done with it.

Lin Rufei just pretended that he didn’t see Chi Yu’s threatening eyes and warmly summoned Fu Hua to bring the little Ye Mo’s favorite food. He then asked in passing if the little Ye Mo had a name.

“It’s called Stupid.” Ye Mo replied.

Lin Rufei said: “……” You are really a demon scum.

After feeding the child, Lin Rufei handed it back into Chi Yu’s arms. And when Chi Yu was ready to leave, he turned his head to look at Lin Rufei, “You should be more careful these days.”

“Hm?” Lin Rufei faintly froze, “What?”

“The person who hurt Shen Wucui before seems to have returned.” Chi Yu answered, “The scent on him is too faint, I can’t be sure, so I’m warning you in advance.”

Lin Rufei’s expression tightened, “Thanks for the reminder.”

Then Chi Yu left with the child in his arms.

“That person came back? Came back for what?” Lin Rufei got anxious, “Should we catch that person first……Besides, isn’t Mo Changshan already dead, how on earth did he manage to bring the dead back to life?”

Gu Xuandu said, “There is no method in the world to bring the dead back to life.”

Lin Rufei asked, “What about Mo Changshan?”

Gu Xuandu questioned him back, “Do you think he’s alive?”

Lin Rufei remembered that night when he saw Mo Changsan’s appearance. Indeed, rather than saying that that man was Mo Changshan, it would be better to say that he was a weapon that held Mo Changshan’s head. He didn’t know what kind of mastermind was behind it that could do such a desecration of the dead.

“If I just leave, will he turn against the Shen family again?” Lin Rufei thought about it and felt that this matter should not be left like this, “Senior, can we still find him?”

Who knew that after hearing Lin Rufei’s words, Gu Xuandu’s expression looked a bit strange, “Xiao Jiu wants to see him?”

Lin Rufei nodded his head.

Gu Xuandu replied, “Then there is no need for us to look.” He leaned on the edge of the bed, looking at the waves outside the window, and continued lightly, “He will come to us himself.”

Lin Rufei was stunned, “You mean Mo Changshan? Why would he want to find us? Is he here to avenge his dog?” But that seemed to make no sense, “But it wasn’t us who killed Mo Zhaocai……”

Gu Xuandu smiled, but kept quiet. It seemed that he had no means of explaining the meaning behind his words. 

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Although Chi Yu had warned Lin Rufei, the next few days were calm and quiet and there were no accidents at all. Lin Rufei’s luggage was almost ready and the day before he left, Lin Rufei, who had finished his bath and was planning to sleep, saw an unexpected guest at the door.

The man’s face was wrapped in a thick white cloth, revealing only a pair of gloomy black eyes and the most striking thing was the long black snake wrapped around his arm. The long snake hissed and spat out its tongue. Before approaching, it emitted an overly obvious dangerous aura.

Lin Rufei was still leaning against the side of the bed looking at miscellaneous books and only when he was tapped by Gu Xuandu on the back of his hand, did he realize that at some point, such a person stood at the doorway of his room. He appeared silently, as if he was a ghost, and startled Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei immediately sat up straight and looked at the man warily: “Who are you?”

The man slowly walked up to Lin Rufei. And with an extremely uncomfortable gaze, he looked Lin Rufei up and down.

Lin Rufei pressed on the sword at the side of his waist and asked in a cold voice: “Isn’t it inappropriate for you to come here uninvited?”

The man suddenly smiled. Although the lower half of his face was covered, the curved corners of his eyes still revealed his very good mood. He didn’t know if it was Lin his imagination, but when this man smiled, Lin Rufei felt that the gloomy aura surrounding this man’s body had mostly dispersed and on the contrary, there was a little bit more innocence.

This person took a few steps towards Lin Rufei and before Lin Rufei could react, his next action was actually to bend down halfway and kneel in front of Lin Rufei. 

Lin Rufei originally thought he was here to pick a fight but was instead frozen by his action. He stared: “You……”

“Lin gongzi.” His voice was hoarse and very unpleasant to listen to.

“What are you doing?” Lin Rufei was taken aback.

“I’ve been searching for you for a long time.” His eyes were almost greedy, as if he was a traveler in the desert who had been walking for a long time and finally saw a clear spring. Just like that, he reached out his hand towards Lin Rufei. Lin Rufei, however, naturally refused to be grabbed by him. He reflexively stepped back a bit and used Gu Yu to restrain his hand that had wanted to reach over.

“What do you mean by this?” Lin Rufei frowned. He felt that this person’s brain wasn’t quite functioning properly. 

The man, who had been ruthlessly rejected by Lin Rufei, showed an aggrieved look. He gritted his teeth and said, “Lin gongzi, don’t trust Gu Xuandu.”

Lin Rufei was dumbfounded. He never thought that he would hear the name Gu Xuandu coming from this man’s mouth.

“He’s a deceitful liar!” He hissed. Because of these intense emotions, his black eyes also flushed crimson and the black snake in his hand also began to twist and turn with his intense emotions. For a while, the situation looked particularly gruesome. He continued in a fierce voice, “Lin gongzi, if you believe him, you will definitely be harmed extremely badly——”

Lin Rufei glanced at the culprit that came out from this person’s mouth, only to see Gu Xuandu indifferently leaning against the window table. He slightly tilted his head and looked at the man kneeling in front of Lin Rufei like a fool. He seemed to have noticed Lin Rufei’s gaze and smiled charmingly before he made a helpless show of hands to Lin Rufei. However, he did not take this person’s words to heart in the slightest.

Lin Rufei asked, “You know Gu Xuandu?”

The man answered, “I naturally know——”

Lin Rufei continued, “Then do you know……”

“I know. I know everything.” His emotions seemed to be very unstable and his fingers dug harshly into the ground. Because he dug too hard, the nails on his hands were actually chipped open one by one and his voice was also like crying blood. Lin Rufei felt some discomfort after listening as he continued, “I know, but what kind of Heavenly Ruler is he? He does not deserve to be called the Heavenly Ruler——” 

Lin Rufei knitted his brows.

Probably because he noticed that Lin Rufei’s expression was a bit unpretentious, he then stopped and mumbled in a low voice: “Lin gongzi, believe me once, I have never lied to you……”

Whether it was his words or the manner of speaking, there was a strong sense of incongruity floating on this person. Lin Rufei asked, “You and I just met for the first time, so where did the ‘I have never lied to you’ come from? That Mo Changshan was made by you, right? Why did you do that——and why did you hurt Shen Wucui?!”

But the man responded indifferently, “It’s just some minor things, if Lin gongzi doesn’t like it, I won’t do it again in the future.” His face showed a kind of ingratiation and his kneeling foot moved forward. It was like he was itching to come towards Lin Rufei’s side, “Lin gongzi, where are you going next?”

Lin Rufei, naturally, could not trust a person he had only met once so he shook his head.

“It’s okay. It’s okay if you don’t say anything.” He was not annoyed when he saw Lin Rufei’s refusal.

“Of course he won’t tell you.” Gu Xuandu, who had been standing to the side, suddenly opened his mouth. Lin Rufei originally thought that his voice would be inaudible to the person in front of him, but who knew that this person would actually turned his head back. When he noticed Gu Xuandu standing by the window, a light of hatred shot out of both eyes.

“He only listens to my words.” Gu Xuandu raised his head slightly and stepped towards Lin Rufei’s side. He bent down, picked up Lin Rufei’s hand, and with a provocative look, he dropped a soft kiss on the back of Lin Rufei’s hand. His action was so abrupt that before Lin Rufei could react, he heard the man kneeling beneath the bed let out a hissing roar, and then, he rushed towards Gu Xuandu. Gu Xuandu lifted his foot and kicked the man far away. He landed heavily on the table sitting at the side and caused a loud noise.

“It was like this hundreds of years ago and it will be like this hundreds of years later.” Gu Xuandu slowly walked to the man’s side, stepped on the chair next to him, and looked at the man from above. His body was filled with a dense killing aura that Lin Rufei had never seen before. His words, word for word, sounded very gentle at first, but one could feel the gnashing teeth behind them, “Waste is waste.”

The man sat on the ground and stared at Gu Xuandu with resentment. Although he was insulted like this, he laughed with a smile and replied in a strained voice: “Gu Xuandu, what allows you to be so arrogant? Do you really think that you are still the omnipotent Lord Heavenly Ruler from a hundred years ago? Hehe……you can’t even stay solid for long. You’re just a pathetic ghost and still have the nerve to call me waste?”

Gu Xuandu raised an eyebrow: “The ghost can kiss him, can you?”

The man was shaking with anger.

“Can’t, right?” Gu Xuandu mocked him mercilessly, “I told you a long time ago, no matter how much time has passed, the ending of things will not change.”

The man still wanted to say something, but Fu Hua called out from outside the room. She must have heard the noise that had resounded inside the room and came to check on the situation.

Gu Xuandu narrowed his eyes, gave a low laugh, and said lazily: “Fu Hua can’t see me, but she can see you. If she sees you in Lin gongzi’s room, I don’t know how much trouble you will cause him.” After he said this, the man hurriedly got up from the ground and went out directly through the window.

Just as he left, Fu Hua pushed open the door and saw the room in a mess. She revealed a stunned expression and asked, “Gongzi, what happened?”

“Nothing.” Lin Rufei replied perfunctorily, “It’s just that my practice has gone astray just now.” 

“Really?” However, Fu Hua was a bit unconvinced. When she was outside the room, she clearly heard the sound of talking in the room. But when she came in, there was only Lin Rufei.

“There’s really nothing going on.” Lin Rufei waved his hand, yawned, and revealed a sleepy expression, “You can come back tomorrow to clean up, I’m a little sleepy so I’ll sleep first.”

Fu Hua froze, but still responded, “Then……okay.” But she was still a little uneasy. So she said a few more words, saying that if gongzi encountered something, he should not carry the burden alone and that he must tell them. 

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What else could Lin Rufei say? He could only nod and say yes.

Only then did Fu Hua turn around and leave. Only when she left, she still looked a bit worried. She probably thought that her young master’s hysteria was getting worse. 

After sending away his maid, Lin Rufei let out a long breath. He looked at Gu Xuandu and saw him standing by the bed with a smile on his face, “Senior, who is that person?”

Gu Xuandu replied, “An……old acquaintance.”

Lin Rufei asked, “A friend?”

Gu Xuandu sighed, “Do you think a relationship like ours is worthy of the word ‘friend?’”

That was true, Lin Rufei thought to himself. Just a few words from Gu Xuandu made that person angry as hell. Although Gu Xuandu was smiling from the beginning to the end, Lin Rufei was still able to keenly perceive that the few words said by that person also made Gu Xuandu a little upset. It seemed that the two of them were not only old acquaintances, but they were also old acquaintances who knew each other very well.

“What exactly happened a few hundred years ago?” Lin Rufei was getting more and more curious. When the Heavenly Ruler suddenly disappeared, most of the people thought that he had stepped through the void and soared away. However, now he was clearly standing in front of him, still alive and quarreling with others. So such an argument, then, was clearly untenable.

The Heavenly Ruler’s cultivation was extremely high. That year, he had been unmatched so who injured him and made him lose his physical body, leaving only the appearance of his spiritual one? 

Lin Rufei could not understand.

“When I can condense into an entity, I’ll tell Xiao Jiu what he wants to know.” Gu Xuandu stretched out his hand and gently stroked Lin Rufei’s hair, his expression was gentle to the extreme.

Lin Rufei asked, “How long before senior can condense into an entity?”

“Just a little longer.” Gu Xuandu answered, “When my heart is found.” He continued, “I will be able to reconstruct a physical body and by then, I will be able to stay by Xiao Jiu’s side all the time.”

Lin Rufei asked, “Heart? Does senior know where his heart is?”

Gu Xuandu answered, “Hundreds of years ago, I handed my heart to a person and if that person is still alive, he will certainly safeguard it for me.”

Lin Rufei questioned, “Who?”

Gu Xuandu responded, “Wu Min.”

When Lin Rufei heard the words Wu Min, he froze slightly. He had some impression of this name, as if he had heard it somewhere before. After thinking carefully, he sucked in a breath of cold air: “But senior, Wu Min had already died in the Witch Rebellion a hundred years ago……” He then remembered that he had seen the name Wu Min in several history books. It seemed that Wu Min was a Great Witch of the witch tribe with the ability to pass through the sky. Only, a hundred years ago, he died in an accident during the Witch Rebellion. Later, after the Witch Rebellion subsided, the name Wu Min was passed down for a long time.

“Dead? Really dead?” Gu Xuandu was a little unconvinced.

“Really.” Lin Rufei replied. “I’ve seen it several times in books. It seems to say that he died at the hands of his own younger brother……The exact circumstances, I can’t remember very well.”

Gu Xuandu frowned, “How can he be so careless.”

Lin Rufei also did not know what to say. He contemplated for a while before saying that the Shen family was not too far from the witch tribe so why don’t they head over there and help Gu Xuandu find his heart? Since it was such an important thing, even if Wu Min died, he would definitely hand it over to his descendants for safekeeping.

Gu Xuandu sighed and said he could only do so.

Lin Rufei chatted with Gu Xuandu for another while before he developed a strong sense of sleepiness. He let out a yawn, crawled into bed, and fell asleep in a daze.

The next day, Fu Hua came in and cleaned up the messy room before preparing the carriage, asking Lin Rufei if they would leave today.

Lin Rufei nodded and said, “No more delays. I’ll go greet my sister and then we’ll leave.”

Fu Hua nodded.

Lin Weirui’s injury was almost healed. Even at breakfast time, she did not forget to show affection with Shen Wucui. But the way they showed love was a bit strange. Most of the time it was Lin Weirui who fed Shen Wucui with an evil smile and Shen Wucui with a bitter look on his face. However, he still had to open his mouth no matter what as he vaguely complained: “Weirui……..feed less, I……can’t eat anymore……”

Lin Weirui said: “Look at you, you’re so thin. Your injury also just healed, if you don’t eat more how can you get well faster?”  

If it were not for the fact that Lin Rufei knew the nature of his third sister like the back of his hand, he probably would have really thought that she was concerned about Shen Wucui.

“Sister, I’m leaving.” Lin Rufei knocked on the door to get the two people’s attention.

“You’re leaving now?” Lin Weirui hurriedly put down the things in her hands, “Didn’t you say you were leaving this afternoon?”

Lin Rufei answered, “It’s better to leave in the morning, it’s cooler.”

Lin Weirui stated, “Then I’ll see you off.”

“I’ll also come along.” Shen Wucui swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty and stood up after Lin Weirui.

Lin Rufei smiled, nodded, and didn’t say anything else. The three of them walked towards the carriage and Lin Weirui watched as Lin Rufei got into it. Fu Hua raised the whip in her hand, cracked it, and the carriage sped away, raising a cloud of dust before gradually disappearing from the view of the two.

“Xiao Jiu seems to have grown up a lot.” Lin Weirui hesitated to withdraw her eyes. She continued looking in the direction where Lin Rufei disappeared, looking despondent, “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

Shen Wucui answered with a smile, “Naturally it’s a good thing.”

Lin Weirui smiled bitterly, “You’re right.” She pulled up a strand of hair hanging down from her ear and whispered, “Just watching him grow up always makes me feel a bit sad for some reason.”

Shen Wucui replied, “Let’s go back.” Although a bit stiff, he still made an effort to hold Lin Weirui’s hand.

“Okay.” Lin Weirui curved the corners of her eyes, “Let’s go back.”

********

The author has something to say:

Gu Xuandu: This is not my friend.

Lin Rufei: He’s……

Gu Xuandu: He’s my love rival. 

Lin Rufei: Eh?