The afternoon when Mu Ruoyan and Shan Chengling would meet again was one with heavy downpour, raging winds and surging rivers.
It was exactly the next afternoon after I had brought back the fox and the mountain kitten to the inn with me.
I happened to be eating lunch with Heng Wen at the hall downstairs when there came a series of loud thumps from the tightly closed doors of the inn. A servant opened the door a tiny crack and the strong winds sprayed rainwater into the hall. A few drops of the water landed on the stir-fried dishes in front of me.
The man at the door was wearing a conical bamboo hat and dripping wet from the storm outside. He made a move to enter just as the sky outside lit up with a clap of loud thunder.
The brother took off his conical bamboo hat, making the fox raise his hackles.
The changed was swiftly noticed by me and I restrained the fox with one quick move. My eyes moved back to Shan Chengling who stood uprightly in the middle of the hall and was surveying the surroundings with his clear bright eyes. His roaming eyes landed on this table and immediately his focus locked onto Heng Wen.
His eyes narrowed immediately. His high brows moved a little but the rest of his face didn't change, which might be because he has never shown emotions on his face.
Heng Wen courteously gave him a half-smile. Nan Ming Dijun returned a smile to Heng Wen, then his eyes, sharp as thunder, swept over to this immortal lord's face. As expected from the main character.
This immortal meant to give him a monk's greeting but had no way to do so since both of my hands can't let go of the hold on the struggling fox, I could only nod my head to him. Shan Chengling's eyes then moved onto the fox without much care. When the innkeeper rushed over with a slight bow, "Lord Chen, you're back at last. We will immediately prepare hot water and a change of clothes for you. Do you want a pot of wine first to warm up, lord?"
I thought that the innkeeper was not a very keen man. He was concerned about a hot bath and a pot of wine to warm up, but what other thoughts can the lord have other than of his lover, the weak scholar upstairs? Which was precisely the one matter he didn't bring up.
Sure enough, Shan Chengling said, "Young lord yan staying upstairs, how was he these past few days?"
The innkeeper looked as if he had suddenly comprehended the Dao Treatise, he said yes, he's good, while having the servants lead the way. He apologised to Shan Chengling for the inn's unsatisfactory care to young lord Yan, and where they might have been lacking in service, they hope that Lord Chen can forgive them.
Shan Chengling strode upstairs but his pace suddenly died down when he reached the middle of the stairs. His eyes gazed straight ahead. Mu Ruoyan clutched the handrails tightly at the other end of the stairs. The two's eyes locked onto one another.
The emotions and the scene it created was infinitely touching and infinitely face-numbing.
Even the fox was affected by it. I felt him twitching under my hands and then he didn't move anymore.
After a moment of silently watching the other man, Shan Chengling asked him, "Do you feel any better these days?"
And Mu Ruoyan answered with, "All better now."
Shan Chengling only replied with an 'oh' and continued to scale up the distance with large steps. They both entered the guestroom, making the rest of their words unable to be heard.
When we finished our meals and entered our room, the little mountain cat ran up directly to us, "King! King..! I, I just saw the man you captured before, that man, he—"
The fox turned into a human and cut the mountain cat's words short, "I've seen him." His tone cold and his fists clenched tightly, a murderous glint appeared in his eyes. The enmity from the capture of the demons in his caves was as deep as the ocean, he must be itching to rush to the next room and skin Shan Chengling alive.
This immortal lord had to advise furball to be calmer and not be hot-tempered, Shan Chengling returned to the inn alone and right now the ident.i.ty of the cultivator who captured his subordinates was still wholly unknown. Nan Ming has a considerable amount of friends in heaven, could there be someone daring enough to disobey Jade Emperor's orders and descend the world to help him? Therefore I said to the fox, "You still don't know where they are being kept, if you rashly hurt Nan Ming, your little friends might even lose their lives. At least for now, you shouldn't make a rash move."
Furball clenched his fists so hard they started to make a cracking noise, but he stood still and didn't move from the tableside.
I peeked my head outside the door to call a servant, asking for a fried crucian carp for the cat's lunch. The servant licked his lips as if savouring the dish, "Daoist really has a good appet.i.te, you just finished eating your lunch and now you're ordering more to eat."
I laughed at that, "I'm eating it idly, only to help to digest my lunch."
In the afternoon, Shan Chengling came knocking at my door. He already bathed and changed into fresh clean clothes, he had lost some weight from the days he spent in captive, but he was still radiating with vigour. He cupped his hands as he entered the room, "Daoist, this one had heard of your miraculous cure that saved Yan Zimu. Given that Yan Zimu is this lowly one's sworn brother, I have come to express my thanks."
Eyes sharp as a blade sized me up without a hint of its owner's emotions on his face or voice. Shan Chengling's handed over a red envelope with both hands, "This is a little token of thanks, please do not reject it, Daoist."
This immortal lord clasped my hands, "Benefactor, you are overly good, it was just a herbal prescription. This poor cleric had chosen a life in Daoism and shouldn't be receiving material wealth, but it is a sign of your sincere heart. This poor cleric will regard this as benefactor sending money to the temple of Daoism and accept it for now." I took the proffered envelope in an honest and blunt manner. I felt the inside from the outer paper layer… it's quite heavy, seemed like gold bar.
"Daoist and the gentlemen residing next door… seem to be travelling together?"
My mouth blurted out an ad-lib, "That's right. The young lord is very taken by Daoism and was looking for a quiet place to cultivate well. By chance, he is travelling with this small Daoist, and we often study medicine and pill concoction."
"So it turns out Daoist is proficient in pill-concoction."
"Not quite. Actually this poor cleric is more proficient in estimating one's future prospects and feng shui. This poor cleric sees that the benefactor's Heaven's Court is plump and your bone is distinct. Therefore you have an appearance that belongs to people with comfortable, ill.u.s.trious life. Your Ancestor's Blessing is profound, which denotes a person being happy, peaceful and carefree. Does benefactor want poor cleric to have a look and divine your luck in recent days?"
Shan Chengling withdrew his eyes and said, "This lowly one is rather tired today, maybe another day." He turned to leave.
I caught up to him with one big step, "Benefactor really won't? This poor cleric's divination art is directly handed down from Lao-tzu in a dream, one telling is a mere ten coins. Since poor cleric is familiar with benefactor like one's own brother, eight coins will do. Can even have an extra telling, what do you say?"
Shan Chengling said, 'another day for sure' and strode out of the room.
I let out a long sigh and closed the door.
"Daoist, I'll put out twenty coins, please divine my fortune." A voice came from behind me.
Editor: Mims
t/n: aaa the mountain cat is so cute,, I know it's only been 2 chapters but aahhh
Mountain cat uses 大王～ ending in his speech which I heard to mean speech ending more draggy and softly~