CH 13

Good wine, delicious food.

“Yes! Xiao Wu, don’t prepare the private room, go to the cellar and bring up the wine!”

Feng Long and Bai Shaoqing sat down.

The food and wine was quickly delivered to the table. Bai Shaoqing picked up the wine pot and poured out a cup for himself and Feng Long.

“Shaoqing, do you remember…….”

“What if I remember?” Bai Shaoqing sneered: “Of course I remember, you made a detour on purpose to Luoyang, is it because you want me to go up Yuzhi Mountain to see the butterflies again?”

Feng Long stared at him in silence, he raised his head to down the cup of wine and poured another.

Bai Shaoqing said: “I just don’t know what reason you have to use your old methods on me once again.” He also raised the cup of wine in his hand and threw it back without leaving one drop.

The two of them drank the wine in silence, one cup after the other, the pot of wine was very quickly emptied. Feng Long hadn’t said a word, when Director Li had already come over to deliver a fresh pot.

“I still remember….” He drank half a cup and then Bai Shaoqing cocked his head and stared at Feng Long and suddenly smiled in a sly manner: “Last time when I met that guy surnamed Song, you were in the next room.”

Feng Long said in a deep voice: “Shaoqing, aggression brings you no benefit.”

Bai Shaoqing downed a few more cups, his face already reddened from the alcohol. “Wait till I’m actually aggressive and I burn down this Tan Xiao Pavilion.”

Feng Long looked deeply at him and then sighed ever so slightly and silently downed another cup of wine.

Their table fell silent, the two of them ate their food in silence and continued to drink the wine.

In the great hall of the Tan Xiao Pavilion, if you are quiet enough and you have good hearing, you’d be able to find out quite a lot just by listening. Bai Shaoqing was not only quiet, but under the instruction of Feng Long, his martial arts had improved greatly, his hearing was also better than the average person.

There were two guests by the window who were drinking together.

“What’s been going on in Wulin lately?”

“The sun setting isn’t exactly news, but Wulin can never be separated from bloodshed. Lately, it’s the turn of one of Wulin’s great families, the Bai family.”

“The person you’re talking about, is it the woman who was once the number one beauty in Wulin, but then had her face destroyed to save her husband, Bai fu-ren?”

The man who was wearing blue robes shook his head, “Sun da-ge’s news is not too up to date, it’s not just Bai fu-ren, haven’t you heard? The entire Bai family is gone, Bai Manor was completely burnt down overnight, Bai laoye and his two sons were killed. Ah, a great family like the Bai clan unexpectedly went down just like that.”

The figure sitting not far away seemed to move but not move.

Bai Shaoqing listened calmly, his lips turned into a moving smile. His eyes slightly wavered, which made Feng Long notice an ephemeral hint of grief and sorrow.

“Aside from what happened to the Bai family, there is also something else. The man in blue seemed to be very much in the know. “Sun da-ge are you familiar with the Sect Leader Fang of the Huashan sect?”

“Sect Leader Fang of Huashan Sect? Hehe, you’re making fun of me. Although I don’t often go out, I still know all those old leaders of the main sects. The one you’re talking about, I met him twice before, his martial arts ability isn’t bad, and he is also of moral character.”

“That’s correct, Sun da-ge is skilled in martial arts, naturally you are respected by all of the great sect leaders.” After praising him a few words, the man in blue continued: “Have you seen the daughter of Sect Leader Fang before?”

“Well…… ha, she’s just a young maiden, nothing more.”

“The latest news is about Sect Leader Fang’s daughter. Apparently, Maiden Fang is young and beautiful, and was well-matched with Huashan Sect’s eldest disciple Zhou Rouwen since they were children. Sect Leader Fang had long decided to entrust his daughter to him.”

“But Zhou Rouwen, I heard…. Wasn’t he supposedly killed by the Bat?”

“That’s right! When Zhou Rouwen died, Maiden Fang was heartbroken and aggrieved. Sect Leader Fang seeing his daughter had come of age, he knew that he couldn’t let her not marry just because his eldest disciple had passed so she was matchmade with Kongtong Sect’s Nian Ming.

“Not bad! Nian Ming is also a worthy son in Jianghu, his father doesn’t have the best martial arts ability but their reputation has always been good.”

The man in blue sighed: “But who knew that Maiden Fang was still so infatuated with her old love and rejected the marriage. Sect Leader Fang was impatient with his daughter and forced her too hard, so Maiden Fang took a knife and disfigured her own face.”

Sun da-ge was shocked: “Maiden Fang was way too impulsive. Oh gosh! With a disfigured face, how is she going to marry anyone now?”

The two of them were both sighing and shaking their heads when they suddenly heard a touching low voice.

“Excuse me…….”

“No.”

Bai Shaoqing gritted his teeth, “But you have so much of it.”

“But to some people, it is incredibly rare.” Feng Long smiled leisurely.

“I’ll exchange something with you for it.”

“Exchange?” Feng Long looked at him playfully, “with what?”

Bai Shaoqing stared back at him, and suddenly smiled. His smile had the ability to move people’s hearts, and made people want to fall over themselves to get to him.

It was a mesmerising smile.

He said: “Don’t you want me? Although, you have restrained yourself, but I know that you do.”

“You’re using your body in exchange?”

“That’s right.”

Feng Long’s face suddenly turned dark. When he smiled, he looked amiable and kind, but when his face was dark it was enough to make even a child too scared to cry.

But Bai Shaoqing was smiling, and his smile was even more beautiful, even more charming, as if seeing Feng Long’s dark face was something that he enjoyed.

“I don’t want much, just one bottle of the countenance of a flower, face like the moon dew.” Bai Shaoqing laughed and said: “I know you must have one on you, I can smell it’s sweetness.” He sniffed the air.

Feng Long finally answered.

His answer was to strike.

He sealed three of Bai Shaoqing’s major acupoints, and before the latter fell over, he swept him up in his arms. He leapt up and left the street, jumping onto the rooftops and headed towards the outside of the city.

The sound of the wind was whistling in his ears, Bai Shaoqing was lying in Feng Long’s arms but unexpectedly he was still smiling.

“You don’t need to seal acupoints, whatever you want, I’ll be obedient.” Bai Shaoqing said: “When I’m obedient, there isn’t any need to seal my acupoints.”

Feng Long lowered his head.

Using his exceptional qinggong to glide, the feeling was like standing on a flat surface, without a single trace of movement.

“Using your body as the exchanging asset?”

“Having my body as an exchanging asset is a rare opportunity. How many people would covet this opportunity?”

The landscape continued to roll and fly by.

Feng Long soared with him in his arms into the foggy mist, gliding freely.

“Despising yourself, betraying yourself, how could you not be upset?”

“Upset?” Bai Shaoqing blinked, not caring at all, and instead a sweet smile appeared on his face. “I discovered that the more I despise myself, betray myself, the more someone else will feel uncomfortable. Haha, who knew that under the heavens, there could be such a way to enact revenge.”

Feng Long seemed to have had enough and ruthlessly dropped Bai Shaoqing from his arms to the floor.

“En…….” Bai Shaoqing who still had his acupoints sealed frowned, he lifted his head from the grass with much difficulty, showing a shocked expression on his face.

The surroundings were marvellous, just like a déjà vu.

Fresh blood dripped into the pool, and in a blink of an eye it was engulfed in the water, dying it a deep red.

“After that day, Bai Moran no longer came to see mother.” He said in daze: “Sigh in the name of a beauty destroyed, just like a bleak and desolate tomb, the purple jade melts into the depths4.”

He suddenly felt Feng Long’s warm hand on his shoulder.

Bai Shaoqing slowly cocked his head, his eyes already becoming moist.

“Mother’s face is actually a human skin mask.” Bai Shaoqing said: “She doesn’t want me to know so I pretend like I don’t know.”

“I can see that.” Feng Long sighed. The first time he caught sight of Bai Shaoqing’s mother, he already knew that her face was covered by a human skin mask.

“Mother actually….. Really loved Bai Moran.”

“But all these years, mother has not said one word to me about it.”

“The more deeply one loves, the more penetratingly painful, it’s better not to talk about it.”

“If she finds out that I killed Bai Moran, she will definitely be very sad.”

Feng Long lifted Bai Shaoqing’s chin and enunciated each word: “Shaoqing, you didn’t do anything wrong. From beginning to end, you did nothing wrong.”

Bai Shaoqing looked at him profoundly, something seemed to boil up in his cold eyes, emitting layer after layer of helpless splendour.

“I was wrong, really wrong, do you think I don’t know?” He laughed and cried, “But I’ve already gone down the wrong path. Pity, shame, and punishment, I unexpectedly wasn’t able to flee from even one. In this world, there is nowhere for me, Bai Shaoqing, to go.”

Feng Long calmly looked at Bai Shaoqing.

He had never looked at Bai Shaoqing in this way, using such a tolerant and lovely gaze to look at Bai Shaoqing. Because he had never seen anyone in such despair, and he had seen such a devastating beauty.

At that moment, it was like time had halted.

They forgot about the waterfall, about the sound of the water, about Zhengyi Sect and Jianghu, about the secret treasure and the Heaven and Earth-shattering pill, the warmth of Bilu sword and about the hurt and betrayal that they had done to each other.

It turned out that there was a split second in this world where they could forget it all.

This moment had already become eternal.

“If she knew that Bai Moran had died, mother probably won’t live for much longer either.”

“That’s right.”

“By killing Bai Moran, I have personally sent my mother to her grave.”

“Perhaps.”

“But I….. I really hated him, hated to death, I had to kill him.”

“Shaoqing,” Feng Long said: “Just let it out and cry!”

Bai Shaoqing threw himself into Feng Long’s arms, crying loudly.

He cried until the world had turned upside down, until his throat was hoarse, until Feng Long’s lapel was soaked.

She thought that she was strong enough and that she would never regret it. When she had taken the knife and cut across her face, at that moment, she had done it in the name of loyalty and devotion.

But at this moment when she was sitting in front of the mirror, she was afraid that she was actually not as strong as she had imagined.

Fang Nihong sighed out loud.

One cut of the knife had destroyed her love and her future.

She thought about Bai Shaoqing, thought about her father and her fiance. At the time, why had she been so determined to cut herself? She hoped herself to be unwavering but now she was starting to slightly regret it.

Appearance for a young woman could sometimes be more important than her life, and sometimes it could also be more important than affection. In the middle of the night, she was still unable to sleep. This cut had decided her fate, at that moment, she was starting to wonder whether it was worth it or not.

Perhaps, Bai Shaoqing was as loving as his father, and she would have the same luck as Song Xiangli.

This was pretty much her last shred of hope.

She had no idea that Bai Manor as well as the man that she dreamt about had already been reduced to ash.

A low sigh flowed into the house, just like the loneliness that had spread everywhere.

The sound of the wind suddenly picked up and entered.

It was a summer’s night, how could there be such a strong gust of wind?

“Who is it?” Fang Nihong turned around, looking everywhere, she’d already gone a little madd.

A handsome man stood at the doorway, it was him.

Her heartbeat suddenly picked up.

“You……” She said with a hoarse voice and then suddenly paused. Fang Nihong’s red lips trembled, she covered her face in terror, leaning over her dressing table.

Bai Shaoqing’s voice was just like before – deep, elegant and warm. “Fang gu-niang.”

“Don’t come over here!” Just by hearing these words was enough to make anyone’s heart ache. Fang Nihong said extremely flustered: “Don’t come over here, I… I’m really ugly….”

“Silly girl.” He said softly, but his tone was unquestionably resolute, Bai Shaoqing picked up her chin and looked at the scar on her face, and then gave her his most moving and warm smile.

He laughed, “how is it ugly?”

“I……..” She wanted to hide but Bai Shaoqing was blocking her. 　　

She was unable to move Bai Shaoqing’s hand, Fang Nihong gritted her teeth and said: “Why have you come? I’m already so ugly, why would you come now?”

“Such a pretty face, why did you cut it?” Bai Shaoqing shook his head, “unless you knew that I had the countenance of a flower, face like the moon dew and you did it on purpose to make me come here?”

“Countenance of a flower, face like the moon dew?”

Bai Shaoqing took out the agate bottle from his bosom, “where there is countenance of a flower, face like the moon dew, naturally there is countenance of a flower, face like the moon5.”

“What is it for?”

“Put this onto your scar and you’ll know.” Bai Shaoqing paused, “it will hurt a lot, you need to endure it and not touch it. Once the pain subsides, the skin will grow back slowly, and you will be even more beautiful than before?”

Fang Nihong stared at Bai Shaoqing with her big pitch-black eyes, “really?”, her slender hand gripping the agate bottle.

“Of course it’s true.”

A pleasant surprise came over her. Even though she could be ruthless for a moment and destroy herself, how could she be ruthless for a lifetime and not regret it?

“Fang gu-niang.” 　　

“You’re still addressing me as Fang gu-niang even now?”

Bai Shaoqing smiled, this time it was a forced smile. She watched this young girl who was looking back at him stupidly, and he couldn’t help stroking on the head.

“Nihong, I have something to ask of you.”

“Tell me.” Fang Nihong gritted her teeth. “I will do anything for you.”

Bai Shaoqing sighed, “If you have someone that you like, you should marry him.”

Fang Nihong was taken back and nearly dropped the agate bottle. She opened her eyes widely and asked: “Why? Unless it’s because…..”

Bai Shaoqing shook his head: “It’s not that.”

“It’s because you’re a good maiden.”

“It’s because I really do like you.”

“It’s because you’ve already made this mistake, I hope that you won’t continue down this path.”

“It’s because one day you will have a husband and a child.”

“It’s because….. I can’t marry you.”

Fang Nihong curled up her hand into a fist: “Why?”

Bai Shaoqing easily came up with a reason. “Because Bai manor has been destroyed, the Bai family are now destitute. I need to seek revenge and cannot think about the matters of love.” 　　

“I can wait.”

“If you wait, you will make my heart ache for you.” Bai Shaoqing’s face turned cold, “If I ache for you, I will be distracted.”

“But……”

“If I am distracted, I will lose.” Bai Shaoqing looked at her and said quietly: “If I lose then I will die.”

Fang Nihong trembled. Naturally she didn’t want Bai Shaoqing to die, she was a little moved, she didn’t expect that she was so important to Bai Shaoqing.

She remembered the love stories that had been passed down through the ages in Wulin. At this moment, nothing was as touching as their story.

So, she forcefully nodded her head.

“Okay, I promise you.” She thought about the beauties of ancient times who had endured silent humiliation for their lovers.

“Thank you.”

Bai Shaoqing stood up, looking like he was deep in thought, he stooped over and left a light kiss on her forehead.

“Use the countenance of a flower, face like the moon dew, only in three days’ time. If anyone asks you where you got it from just say that it was a vagrant martial expert who gave it to you. Bai Shaoqing said: “Remember, you must only use it in three days’ time.” 　　

“Okay.” She didn’t even ask why and had already agreed.

It was the dead of night, Bai Shaoqing waited until Fang Nihong had fallen into a deep sleep before he stealthily departed.

Fang Nihong’s destiny had been restored, she would recover her beauty and she would find herself a husband and a new life. She was young, when one is young, one has hope and one must change. She will find one day someone who is worth loving and will fall in love with him.

She had a first love that she could hide forever in the depths of her memories, a hazy incomplete love, which would make her life complete.

Bai Shaoqing was tired, all the blood in his body seemed to have coagulated due to hurrying on his way here. He had put his utmost effort in to travel as quickly as possible from Yuzhi Mountain to Huashan, and did not even take a break. But he was confident that he had got rid of all the spies of Zhengyi Sect and he had bought himself three precious days.

Feng Long would estimate that it would take him another three days to arrive at Huashan.

So he could use these three days well.

“Mother, I’m back.” Bai Shaoqing suppressed down his surging qi and blood and then hurried on his way.

This time his destination was Yangzhou, to see the person living by the lake.