chapter 54

“Who is she?” This ‘she’ referred to Murong Yunshu.

“She’s…” Chu Changge suddenly stopped. He thought about it for a moment, and then said with a waned enthusiasm, “Forget it, she’ll be fine. I haven’t seen you for a long time. Let’s have a good chat.”

“Okay.” The Princess smiled sweetly and suggested, “Let’s spar…” Her smiling face abruptly broke down, which was immediately replaced with her hanging her head down dispiritedly[1]Chinese idiom : feeling dejected. “How could I forget that this body can’t do martial arts.”

Chu Changge stroked her head and dotingly said, “You can still learn them again if you can’t, and I can teach you myself.”

“No way! If you teach me, I will become your disciple, who is one level below you? I’m not going to let you take advantage of me for nothing.” The Princess snorted with her nose pointed towards the sky in a spirited manner.

“Fine, I won’t teach you. I’ll let my subordinates who I always defeat to teach you when we go back.” Chu Changge smiled, then he gazed at the empty road in the distance, as he pulled her into the room with him to catch up on old times.

Chu Changge had imagined many possibilities if his sister was still alive, as well as countless feelings of a reunion, but not the one feeling that he was currently experiencing right now — absent-mindedness.

He knew he shouldn’t be thinking about anything else while Xi-er was pouring out her words in a steady flow[2]Chinese idiom : talking non-stop, but his brain was uncontrollably just thinking about another person — Murong Yunshu. He wasn’t worried about her safety, but he was disturbed by her leaving without a word. She wasn’t a person who could understand people’s views[3]Chinese idiom; fair and considerate, especially when the object was him, so her sudden departure was by no mean as simple as ‘not wanting to bother’.

Dragging a chair to the side, making a pot of tea with the mindset of watching a crowd, drinking while watching, listening silently, and laughing quietly, this was the normal reaction that the unperturbed and unlikeable Eldest Young Lady of Murong Mansion should have. At least in his impression, she was like this when she faced matters that were none of her business.T/NErm… she was jealous, Chu Changge.

The more he thought about it, the more Chu Changge sensed an inexplicable feeling of too agitated to sit or stand[4]Chinese idiom : uneasiness. If he didn’t know her too well, knowing that since she left without a word, she certainly did not want to be disturbed. Otherwise, he would have chased after her a long time ago.

*

At the same time, Murong Yunshu was wandering aimlessly along a small path paved with green stone slabs which lined with shades of trees, along with mixed feelings in her heart. It was obviously none of her business, but her heart was somehow feeling sad. This made her suddenly want to scream. She wanted to scream out the stuffy irritation that had stuck in her chest. However, in the end, she just sighed softly, because she was Murong Yunshu, the Eldest Young Lady of the Murong Mansion, who had to be calm no matter what she faced.

After Murong Yunshu raised her hand to put the hair that had been blown by the wind behind her ears, she looked ahead at the endless grasslands and with a deep long sigh once again, she continued her steps forward.

It was unknown how long her walk took, when suddenly an unfamiliar voice could be heard behind her, “If you keep going on, you won’t be able to find your way back.”

Murong Yunshu stopped at the sound and followed the direction of the voice, only to see a middle-aged man around forty years old, in a blue cloth linen suit, standing about three meters away from her. There was someone else wearing an upper outer garment here besides Chu Changge? She started to talk while feeling puzzled, “You are…”

“Huberg.”

Murong Yunshu was slightly stunned by his words. “Huberg, the primary sorcerer of the Li Clan?”

“That’s me,” Huberg responded with an indifferent look on his face.

Murong Yunshu looked askance at him with a lukewarm glance and asked, “When did you come here?”

“At that time when you arrived here, was precisely the time that I came here.”

Murong Yunshu knitted her brows slightly as she unhappily asked, “You’re stalking me?”

“Yes.” Huberg looked at her with an unfathomable expression as he nodded in acknowledgment.

This answer took Murong Yunshu by surprise. All people liked to make excuses, thus she didn’t expect him to have the same principle with her, which was not being afraid of admitting one’s behaviour. “Have something happened?” She inquired in brief and to the point.

Huberg replied, “I want you and your friend to leave the Li Clan.”

Murong Yunshu raised her dark eyebrows slightly and lightly said, “Condition.”

“The antidote to Soul Snatcher.”

“Deal.”

Murong Yunshu’s frankness surprised Huberg, who then asked in bewilderment, “Without asking why I want you to leave?”

“Are you willing to explain?” Murong Yushu gave out a rhetorical question.

“Of course.” In fact, he had to make his reasons clear so that they wouldn’t have any hard feelings towards him. He really didn’t want to make an enemy with either one of the pair.

Murong Yunshu smilingly said, “Save it for my friend later.” After that, she lifted her leg and then started to walk away. When she passed by him, she suddenly remembered a very important question, “Is there any other way out of the mountain?”

“There is. I’ll send someone to escort you out.”

“Thank you.” Murong Yunshu slightly nodded toward him, as she shook her sleeve and left[5]Chinese idiom : to turn and leave abruptly.

“Why don’t you want to hear the reason?” Huberg stared at the view of her back while asking the question after raising his voice.

Murong Yunshu’s footsteps paused for a moment, but then she continued to walk forward as she answered, “Because it’s not necessary for me.” Her only reason for coming here was the antidote for the Soul Snatcher, and now that he was willing to take out the antidote, there was naturally no reason for her to stay.

Huberg stood motionless, staring in stunned silence at the fading delicate view of her back, when suddenly, two people appeared before his eyes, that had made a fateful intersection. He had a hunch that this woman will play an important role in his life from now on.

After seeing the Clan Elder yesterday, he went back to calculate the fate of the Li Clan, and it gave the most ominous fortune telling result ever since he started divination. It was precisely because of their sudden visit that he exchanged the antidote with her in private, in hope that they could leave as soon as possible and save the Li Clan from this disaster.

*

“Ah Chang, you are not listening to me seriously!”

The sound of complaints caused Chu Changge to immediately returned from his mind wandering and he couldn’t confidently defend himself as he said, “I was listening.”

“You still try to trick me! Even though I’m in a different body now, but, we’re after all twins. How could I not know when your heart and mind aren’t peaceful[6]feel unease?” The Li Clan Princess, Chu Xiyue, had been given birth as a dragon and a phoenix[7]twin with different gender with Chu Changge, just born three minutes later than him. The two of them had connected through their thoughts since childhood, and apart from the difference in gender, they were simply like one same person. “Is it because of that lady who came with you?”

Chu Changge slightly sighed and nodded his head slowly.

Chu Xiyue smiled mischievously and then she laughingly asked, “Is she…your sweetheart?”

“Fiancée.”

“What?!”

“Xi-er, don’t get excited…”

“Don’t get excited?! You’ve pledged to be married without saying a word but I can’t get excited? We’re twins. Twins! I can’t believe you didn’t even tell me…”

“At that time I didn’t know you were still alive…wait, that’s not the point.” Chu Changge placed his hands on his forehead to sort out his mind and then he asked, “You don’t blame me?”

“Blame you for what?”

“We have made a promise to grow old together since we were young. If you don’t marry, then I won’t marry…”

Chu Xiyue blinked and wondered, “Did I? How come I don’t remember?”

Chu Changge was sweating heavily, and as he was feeling too guilty because he didn’t follow their agreement, to his surprise, she didn’t even remember about their promise at all…

However, this was normal. As far as her memory was concerned, especially when they happened at the time she was a child, so it would be a miracle if she could even remember.

“Ah Chang, you’re not going to use the promise you made when you were a kid to get in the way of you marrying someone, are you?”

“It’s her who is unwilling to marry…no…between me and her…it’s complicated. You won’t understand.”

When Chu Xiyue saw him fidgeting, and to see his face actually a little red, she covered her stomach and started to laugh, “Ah Chang, you’re so lame!”

Chu Changge looked slightly embarrassed and feigned anger, “You laugh again and I’ll use Qinglong[8]Green Dragon — his sword, just in case you forgot to deal with you!”