CH extra 3

Extra 3: Dajing’s Old Affairs (III)

A cold Spring day.

Before Xuan Qing had left Dajing, Bai Jinglun invited him out to have a drink. Xuan Qing drank tea instead of wine, watching as Bai Jinglun downed cup after cup, drinking away his sorrow.

Xuan Qing did not try to comfort him. Looking down at the table in front of him, he noticed a slow crawling insect. With the point of his finger, he blocked its way. The little insect was so frightened that it started crawling around in panic. The corner of Xuan Qing’s lip hooked up as he gently pressed on its wings, letting it crawl along his fingertips to his finger. And then with a wave of his hand, the little insect started its wings up and headed off somewhere else.

He played with such interest, as if he did not notice Bai Tianrui, who had been sitting on Bai Jinglun’s side, casting a deep and meaningful gaze towards him.

“I thought if I didn’t join in on the fight, everything would be fine.” Bai Jinglun had drunk too much and became more talkative than usual. He narrowed his eyes and the aura that came through inexplicably had a few similarities to the current emperor, “Really annoying.”

The emperor was affectionate, the more children he had, naturally the better it was. After Bai Jinglun, there were about six or seven of them being just sisters alone. Adding on his brothers, there were more than two dozen people. Some of the imperial princes and princesses were from palace maids and he couldn’t even remember all their names.

Many sons and daughters, for the emperor, it should be a good thing, but the children were quite pitiful.

Bai Jinglun talked and Xuan Qing also listened. His eyes were smiling, but no words came out from his mouth. It was as if he was just a Buddha statue, listening to his believers’ daily woes.

But how could the Buddha comfort his believers?

“When will Master Xuan Qing leave?” Bai Tianrui suddenly asked.

“I’ll be leaving in a few days.” Xuan Qing replied, “I’m waiting until the rain calms down a little.”

Bai Tianrui looked outside. This Spring rain was continuous. Even after a few days, he didn’t see the sun. He would usually complain a few times but, today, listening to Xuan Qing’s answer, he actually hoped that the Spring rain continued to fall.

The three of them drank and chatted but the atmosphere wasn’t considered lively. Xuan Qing always spoke very little and Bai Tianrui had something on his mind, so only Bai Jinglun was left to talk quietly occasionally. It should have been a lively banquet, but they ended up tasting a hint of loneliness.

When the sun finally appeared in the west, Bai Jinglun fell down onto the table from drinking. Xuan Qing got up to say goodbye, saying he intended to head back to rest.

“Master Xuan Qing.” Bai Tianrui called out to him.

Xuan Qing turned back.

“Have you ever had a very good friend before?” Bai Tianrui asked.

“Of course I have.” Xuan Qing replied with a smile.

Bai Tianrui asked, “What kind of person were they?”

Xuan Qing thought for a moment, “What kind of person……if I must say, they are probably the heart of the world.”

Bai Tianrui continued, “What about you?”

Xuan Qing inquired, “Me?”

Bai Tianrui asked him, “Do you also have a heart for the world?”

Xuan Qing blinked. He then shook his head and replied seriously, “The world is so big, how can I, a monk, be able to care for it all?”

Bai Tianrui said, “Then what is in your heart?” As he spoke, his eyes were dead set on Xuan Qing’s body.

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Xuan Qing faintly froze but then smiled again and answered in a warm voice: “In the heart of this monk, naturally, it is filled with the Lord Buddha.” He then turned around and did not turn back.

Bai Tianrui drank the wine in the cup and took a glance at his drunken brother on the side. Suddenly, he felt his body become a little cold.

This Spring, it seemed to be a little colder…….than in previous years.

He didn’t know if the thoughts in Bai Tianrui’s heart played a role, but this Spring rain lasted for a full three or four days before it finally stopped.

The maid complained that if this rain continued, the people were going to grow mold. Bai Tianrui listened to her words as his fingers hooked the teacup, taking a sip of hot tea.

“You’re not going to go over and check?” Bai Jinglun happened to come in from outside and took noticed of his bored brother, “He’s leaving.”

Bai Tianrui replied, “If he leaves then he leaves, it’s none of my business.” Having said that, he still got up anyway and took the oil paper umbrella he had placed next to him, and hurried out.

When Bai Jinglun saw this, he helplessly sighed.

Xuan Qing had already put on his bamboo hat and was walking towards the outside of the imperial residence. When he reached the door, he noticed Bai Tianrui holding the umbrella.

Bai Tianrui gasped and questioned him, “Didn’t you say that you would leave when it stopped raining?”

Xuan Qing replied, “I don’t know when this rain will stop.”

Bai Tianrui frowned.

Xuan Qing continued, “I still have some things to do, if I continue to delay, I’m afraid it won’t be good.”

Bai Tianrui looked a little agitated. He held the umbrella handle with a death grip and muttered through clenched teeth, “Then you should leave.”

Xuan Qing folded his hands, bowed to him, and strolled out of the door of the palace, heading off towards the distance. A soft sound faintly came from behind him, as if the bad-tempered teenager had thrown the oil paper umbrella in his hand onto the ground and stomped hard on it a few times.

Sigh, in the end, he was still a child, Xuan Qing thought, as his body was once again soaked by the rain.

In the end, exactly how high was Xuan Qing’s cultivation, even Bai Tianrui, who later reached the eighth level cultivation, found it difficult to tell. Just from the conversation he had with Xuan Qing, he perceived that this monk was not from the same dynasty as him at all since Xuan Qing even knew a lot of things regarding the Heavenly Ruler.

But as with his cultivation, Xuan Qing came without a trace and only Bai Jinglun could find him. In essence, the origin of Xuan Qing and their Bai family was only because of that ingot of gold stuffed in his arms. However, the gold was stuffed into his arms by Bai Jinglun and had nothing to do with him, Bai Tianrui.

Although Bai Tianrui was jealous to the extreme, he couldn’t do anything about it.

During these ten years, the time Xuan Qing came to Dajing time could be counted with one hand. However, every time he came, he donned the same old expression. No matter how much Bai Tianrui provoked him, he would not get angry. Later on, Bai Tianrui also grew tired of this and he finally realized that Xuan Qing’s heart really only had the Lord Buddha.

If Xuan Qing treated everyone like this, then Bai Tianrui also resigned to his fate. But at this time, he suddenly found that someone, in Xuan Qing’s eyes……was special.

Lin Rufei. This name was unfamiliar to Bai Tianrui. Although the Kunlun Lin family was very famous in Jianghu, he had never heard of Lin Rufei, this name.

But such a person was able to enter Xuan Qing’s eyes.

The fourth son of the Lin family, Lin Rufei, had been weak and sickly since childhood and he had never even been down from Kunlun before. Now, assigned by the Lin family, he came to deliver the invitation to the sword competition—Bai Tianrui processed this information over and over again and could not find anything special from it.

Now, he had seen Lin Rufei. He was a handsome and frail gongzi, just, his cultivation wasn’t even as powerful as him. So exactly how did such a person enter Xuan Qing’s eyes? Bai Tianrui could not understand. Annoyed, he crumbled and smashed all the wine cups and papers in front of him onto the ground.

“Xuan Qing, you monk, you really know how to cheat people.” Bai Tianrui laughed coldly, “In your heart, do you really only have Lord Buddha?” He reached out with his hand, took his outerwear, and headed out the door with a gloomy expression.

The maids on the side didn’t dare to come out when they saw this scene. Now, Bai Tianrui was no longer a young prince, he was now the Prince. Along with the growth of his sword intent and hostile nature, it could be said that in the whole of Dajing, those that dared to provoke him were just a handful of people. Not to mention his powerful sword skills, just the fact that Bai Tianrui became the brother of His Majesty, was enough to block everyone’s mouth.

In the past few days, there were some accidents in Dajing. The princes and princesses were nearly killed, and for a time, the people of Dajing were in panic. It was only until Master Xuan Qing came to catch the murderer that the curfew in the Imperial City was finally lifted. By definition, this should have been a good thing, but looking at the murderous expression on Bai Tianrui’s face, it was as if he had seen an enemy that had killed his father……

At this time, the sky was dark and when the curfew was finally lifted, the Imperial City once again became bustling.

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Bai Tianrui saw the person he was looking for in the crowd. Xuan Qing had a smile on his face and was saying something to the gongzi beside him. The two of them looked harmonious with the tenderness he had never seen between the corners of his eyebrows.

Bai Tianrui was watching from afar and it seemed like he was gnashing his teeth.

Xuan Qing was looking sideways at Lin Rufei as he(LRF) was looking down and picking out small objects. Suddenly, his(XQ) wrist was grabbed by someone and before he could react, he was dragged out of the crowd and into an alley on the side.

“Bai gongzi?” Xuan Qing was surprised.

Bai Tianrui stared at him with hatred.

Xuan Qing looked puzzled, “Bai gongzi, you’ve been drinking?” He smelled the strong scent of alcohol on Bai Tianrui’s body.

“So what if I drank?” Bai Tianrui asked, “It’s not like I’m going to get drunk!”

Xuan Qing sighed, “This wine……it’s better if you drink less of it.”

“Shut up!” Bai Tianrui yelled, “Who is he? Why are you so good to him? Didn’t you say you only have Lord Buddha in your heart? This pretty little gongzi has only been here for how long? What makes you like him so much?”

With an innocent face, Xuan Qing questioned, “Bai gongzi? What do you mean by that?”

Bai Tianrui gritted his teeth, “Stop pretending——”

Xuan Qing only thought he was drunk and was so helpless that he had to stuff the candy person he had just bought into his mouth. As if coaxing a child, he said that once he ate the candy, he should stop making a scene.

Bai Tianrui bit into the sugar and with a bitter smile, he said: “Xuan Qing is actually sweet, I thought……you would be bitter.”

Xuan Qing replied, “Monks are indeed bitter.”

Bai Tianrui said, “Yes, there won’t be a more bitter monk than you in the world.”

Xuan Qing smiled bitterly.

However, the next moment, before he could say anything else, Bai Tianrui swallowed the sugar in his mouth, leaned down, and viciously covered his lips.

This action came so abruptly that even Xuan Qing did not react in time. He felt that Bai Tianrui’s lips, which were cold and soft and stained with wine, carried a childlike persistence.

Xuan Qing reached out and pushed him away. Bai Tianrui took a few steps back as he stared greedily at Xuan Qing, “Monk, does the wine taste good?”

Xuan Qing frowned at him, like looking at a child who was fooling around.

Bai Tianrui yelled angrily, “Don’t look at me with such eyes, I’m not a child!!!”

Xuan Qing sighed: “You’re drunk.” He slowly took a few steps back and whispered, “Bai gongzi, in my eyes, you’ve always been just a child.” Although Bai Tianrui’s actions were too offensive, he was not going to be angry with a child so his expression was tinged with pity. However, he also did not want this pity to sting Bai Tianrui’s heart viciously.

Xuan Qing sidled out of the alley, leaving Bai Tianrui wretchedly standing in place. The corner of his lips was still stained with crystal sugar crumbs.

A hundred years of time; the Heavenly Ruler was no longer the Heavenly Ruler, but Xuan Qing was still Xuan Qing. The vicissitudes of the world, whether it was Bai Jinglun or Bai Tianrui, in his eyes, were just newborn offspring.

Xuan Qing naturally would not take it seriously and he also hoped that he(BTR) would not take it seriously as well.

But now it seemed that this hope was destined to not come true.

Xuan Qing headed back to the inn and wiped away the traces on his lips with his fingers a little by little; the wine, sugar, and the heat left by Bai Tianrui.

The heat was unfamiliar, but it wasn’t annoying. Xuan Qing lowered his eyes, folded his hands together, and looked out the window lights with no sadness, no joy as he simply muttered an Amitabha Buddha.