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Chapter 3 Nightingale
“…What keeping a hidden mistress? Don’t speak nonsense!” He Lanze scolded, “Junior Brother Ye was invaded by divine fire and was seriously injured. He requires the cold jade bed to recuperate, so I only kept him here to look after him.”
Rong Ran smiled: “I’m just joking, what is Senior Brother Helan so nervous about?”
He Lanze still wanted to speak, but he caught a glimpse of something white in his peripheral vision.
It was Ye Yunlan’s feet.
Without boots, those feet were covered by the hem of his silk lower garment, only half of it exposed. Yet, it was dazzlingly white. Cyan veins faintly visible were like a dark river winding underneath his skin, depicting an unspeakable morbidity and fragility.
He Lanze frowned deeply.
Although he had set up a dust-removing formation everywhere in this room and he would not be dirtied even if he walked around barefoot, the ground was cold and Junior Brother Ye had not healed from his injuries. How can he be so unruly and not properly take care of his own body?
Rong Ran’s words were thrown to the back of his brain. He strode to Ye Yunlan’s side and knelt down on one knee. Putting his sword on the ground, he held the opposite party’s right foot.
In his hand, it felt cold and smooth, as if he was holding a piece of cold jade.
Ye Yunlan didn’t expect He Lanze’s sudden move. He frowned slightly. His fingertips bent, wanting to grab the queting sword on his bedside.
But, there was a slight pain in his chest. His face tightened. In the end he didn’t move. He only put his pale hand on the carved chair and looked down at He Lanze with an indifferent expression.
He Lanze took out a pair of snow-white cloud shoes from his storage ring. A clear aura lingered on them, showing it was a very precious high-grade spiritual weapon.
He held Ye Yunlan’s right foot and put on his boots. He said in a deep voice: “The ground is cold. It’s wrong for Junior Brother to go barefoot. Don’t do that in the future. Besides, Senior Brother has warned you yesterday that your internal injuries have not healed, so you still have to stay on the cold jade bed to recuperate. Did you forget again?”
Ye Yunlan remained silent, but Rong Ran on the side added in a word: “Senior Brother Helan, now I know how caring you are towards Ah Lan.”
He Lanze carefully sorted out the cloud shoes before getting up: “I am his Senior Brother, of course I should be concerned for my Junior Brother.”
“But this is the first time I have seen Senior Brother He Lan willing to squat down and help another put on their boots.” Rong Ran smiled lightly.
“It’s just a small matter, I did it casually. Junior Brother Ye is seriously injured, so naturally I have to take good care of him.” He Lanze answered without changing his face. He looked sideways at Rong Ran, with slightly raised eyebrows, “But I am a little confused. Junior Brother Ye was obviously born with a good appearance, so why did Junior Brother Rong always tell people that Junior Brother Ye had to wear a mask to cover his ugly appearance?”
Rongran’s smile was unchanged, “If I didn’t say that, how could I prevent Ah Lan from being coveted by those p*rverted lechers? After all, Ah Lan put on a mask at the beginning to avoid the annoyance of others and to concentrate better on cultivating the sword.”
He added an emphasis to ‘p*rverted’.
He Lanze: “… wanting to concentrate on one’s sword cultivation doesn’t require wearing a mask. Hidden truths are a scoundrel’s way of dealing with things. This will only provoke suspicion for nothing. Sky Sect disciples have always been upright.”
“Senior Brother is not unreasonable.” Rong Ran said, “But now that something happened in the secret realm, the appearance of Junior Brother has been seen by many disciples. It really doesn’t matter if he wears a mask or not.”
He Lanze asked, “Does Junior Brother Rong think it doesn’t matter?”
“Oh?” Rong Ran smiled softly, “What do you mean by this Senior Brother?”
He Lanze narrowed his eyes slightly, then said indifferently: “You should understand what I mean.”
The undercurrent between the two people’s words surged up violently, turning the atmosphere to become strange. Ye Yunlan was aware of it. He assumed that Rong Ran was probably the same as his previous life. He loved He Lanze so much that since He Lanze housed him to heal his injuries, it had aroused Rong Ran’s anger, thus leading to his aggressive words.
At this moment, Rong Ran’s heart must be thinking about how to get rid of him.
In the previous life, He Lanze hated him, yet Rong Ran still wanted to scratch his face to vent his anger. In this life, he was afraid that he would have his bones burnt to ashes and it still wouldn’t be enough to curb his anger.
Yet, he was too lazy to think about it.
Three hundred years was too long. The world had gone by like a big dream. He turned his head to look at these past people, as if separated by a thick, distant veil.
There was not much left of love and hate.
After all, love and hate were a thing of luxury. A person’s life only has a certain amount and once they were used up, there would be no more.
He just felt it was noisy.
Ye Yunlan supported his head with one hand and closed his eyes only to feel the pain in his chest become more intense.
Since the injury, the meridians in his body have been broken and his qi and blood were not smooth.
He couldn’t help but cough again, leaving blood stains on his white robe.
“Ah Lan!” Rong Ran walked over to help soothe him, “What’s wrong with you, why are you suddenly coughing up blood?”
He Lanze pursed his lips and stood aside watching Ye Yunlan. When the coughing stopped, he stepped forward and pried away Rong Ran. He forcibly picked up the person and walked over to the cold jade bed.
“Senior Brother Helan!” Rong Ran shouted after him. He Lanze ignored him.
Too light he thought. How can he be so light?
Putting the person down gently on the bed, he tried to wipe the blood from the other party’s lips, but the other party slapped his hand away.
Ye Yunlan laid sideways on the cold jade bed, his hair spread out like black algae. He lowered his eyes: “Go, I want to rest.”
His voice was hoarse, and his expression looked exhausted and fed up. After that, he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to care about those people anymore.
Rong Ran’s original concern was stuck in his throat.
He Lanze curled his eyebrows and gave a look to Rong Ran, “Junior Brother Rong, since Junior Brother Ye has stated this, let’s go out and let Junior Brother rest alone.”
Rong Ran’s five fingers were slightly clenched. He stared firmly at Ye Yunlan, his gaze staying on the red on his lips. Then he was pulled out by He Lanze next to him after a while.
The door was gently closed by He Lanze.
The rain was still falling.
Rong Ran stood outside the door holding the bamboo umbrella in his hand. He did not open it.
It’s just that before the flying rain even approached, it had already been shattered away in the air by the spiritual power escaping from his body.
“Senior Brother Helan,” he asked, “Tell me, what happened to Ah Lan’s injury?”
He Lanze explained, “Junior Brother Ye was severely injured by the divine fire and his meridians were broken…”
Rong Ran interrupted, “I know his meridians were damaged, but wasn’t the divine fire already suppressed? If he was properly being nourished, how can he continue to cough up blood——”
“Even if it’s suppressed, divine fire essence will occasionally release little bits of energy. With Junior Brother’s body, how could he bear it? Coughing up blood is normal.” He Lanze said solemnly, “That’s why I told him not to leave the cold jade bed and asked him to rest in peace to avoid agitation. He must not use his spiritual energy in order to reduce the abnormal movement of the divine fire essence. This would allow him to suffer less.”
Rong Ran grasped the handle on the bamboo umbrella more and more tightly, “But if it is as you said, if this goes on, Ah Lan’s body will only grow worse. Every time the divine fire essence energy slowly seeps out, the more his meridians will be damaged. If things go on like this, he…” He paused.
He Lanze: “If he takes in ling yao every day and lies down on the cold jade bed, he could live as an ordinary person for hundreds of years, there should be no problem.”
Rong Yan’s expression changed: “I’m going to find Master to help.”
He Lanze shook his head: “Junior Brother Rong, you don’t have to do useless work anymore. You should know that when something happened in the secret realm, it was only after the disciples and I both pleaded did the lord make an exception once. He barely saved the life of Junior Brother Ye. Even if the Sect Master can suppress the Divine Fire Essence, he cannot get rid of it. If you ask again, the result would still be the same. What’s more, the Sect Master has been cultivating the heartless path for a long time. Even if you are his only personal-disciple, I am afraid you still may not be able to invite him.”
He paused, and said in a low voice, “Nowadays, perhaps, the only way to remove the divine fire is with the help of dual cultivation…”
“I remember that Brother Helan has a fire spiritual root, it is very likely that you would be recognized by the divine fire in the future.” Rong Ran suddenly said, “Having Ah Lan stay here, if there are no alternatives, were you planning to use this method to heal Ah Lan?”
He Lanze answered without changing his face: “That’s a last resort.”
Rong Ran was silent for a while, then turned and left.
“Wait!” He Lanze shouted to Rong Ran, “Junior Brother Rong, I have thought about it, but I still feel that there is something I must remind you. Even though you are superb in formations and the restrictions I placed in the courtyard can’t stop you, next time, before you come, it’s better to tell me so that Junior Brother will not be frightened.”
“Frightened?” Rong Ran turned his head, staring straight at He Lanze. He smiled softly, “Why would Ah Lan be frightened by me?”
“That’s perfect, I also want to tell Senior Brother something.”
“I have raised a beautiful nightingale. Everyday, I feed it, raise it, and accompany it. Over time, that nightingale finally got acquainted with me and started to sing for me. It also allowed me to stroke its feathers.”
“It’s very obedient. It would only eat food from my hands, and often does things to please me. As long as it could see me, it would be full of joy and flutter over intimately.”
“So, even if one day, it was accidentally injured and caught by a hunter…”
Rong Ran smiled sweetly.
“It will fly back to me sooner or later.”