章節 34: Surprisingly He Doesn’t Want Me Dead
"What, what did you just say?"
"There's somewhere I want to take you?" Wu Zhitian repeated.
"After that."
"Yu Xuelan?"
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. The soup in her mouth all spilt out as she stumbled back. No words were able to leave her mouth, almost knocking over her cup of water.
Wu Zhitian blinked confusedly and walked closer yet Yu Xuelan kept stepping back.
He walked closer and whispered, "Yu Xuelan."
"AH!" Yu Xuelan yelled and covered his mouth with her palms, causing him to flinch by the sudden contact.
She laughed in shock, "Who are you calling Yu Xuelan?? Me??"
Wu Zhitian lowered the hand that covered his mouth and responded, "Then... Young Madam Yu."
She laughed loudly and immediately covered his mouth again, whispering, "Don't say it out loud??"
Wu Zhitian's mind was in a complete daze. Yu Xuelan realised his lips were softly pressed against her palms and she immediately drew them away, her heart beating restlessly.
"But you told me to call your name..." Wu Zhitian said.
"Wa, wait a minute," Yu Xuelan stammered and took another step back, trying to comprehend this entire situation.
"When did you find out?" She whispered, hovering her palm over her mouth.
Yu Xuelan glanced around and noticed people in the restaurant began to look in their direction to see what the commotion was. She grabbed ahold of Wu Zhitian's wrist and dragged him out of the restaurant.
"Let's talk somewhere else."
…
She pulled him further away from the restaurant near a lake.
"Did you know this whole time?" Yu Xuelan asked.
He nodded.
If Yu Xuelan could cough out blood on command, she would. Her mind was completely empty and no proper words were able to leave her mouth. Even the crickets and ants probably made more noise than her. After taking a few breaths, she tried to calm her heart down.
"How did you find out?"
"I..." He said softly and stared at the black-robed girl.
"You?" Yu Xuelan looked at him with curiosity.
"I..."
"You...??" She repeated again, leaning even closer with her eyes filled with anticipation.
"I..."
"You??" She said louder and stepped closer to Wu Zhitian.
He pondered and said softly. "Nothing."
Disappointment smeared across Yu Xuelan's face. She had never wanted to punch a wall so much than now. Luckily there weren't any buildings around them or else she would've actually run into it to knock herself out.
Yu Xuelan sighed, "It's alright, I'll find out sooner or later. But I'm curious, why didn't you expose me when you knew? You know that the cultivation world wants me dead. And all the things I've done..."
Her expression grew dark upon remembering the fragmented parts of her memory. Of her blood-stained sword. Of her laughing, while she tried to kill someone. Of her crawling through dirt. Everything.
Wu Zhitian stared at the girl who went solemn in silence before responding:
"But I don't want you dead."
Yu Xuelan was taken aback by his answer. She didn't know why, but she felt time had stopped and all she could see was the white-clad cultivator in front of her.
"I... don't want you dead," he repeated, stepping even closer to Yu Xuelan while she felt her heart tighten once again.
"Alright, alright, I got it the first time," she dismissed with a laugh and waved her palm in embarrassment.
She reflected for a while and asked, "Then, do you know why the note that I desperately wanted back then is important to me?"
He nodded slowly.
"You should've told me if you knew. It was so hard trying to hide who I was," Xuelan groaned and mumbled, "Although I didn't really try that hard."
Wu Zhitian shook his head aggressively, but no matter what he said or did to comfort the poor maiden she was still extremely embarrassed.
As she was trying to remember everything she had done after her soul came back, from causing that ruckus at Xiao village to the incident with Liu Bu, a realization sparked in her mind.
Yu Xuelan widened her mouth in shock, "Eight years of being dead has made me more stubborn than I thought!"
After trying to process everything that was happening right now, a smile gradually appeared on her face in relief.
"Thank goodness only you found out and not some other cultivator from another prominent sect," Yu Xuelan smiled. "If someone else found out, I would've been in so much trouble!"
Upon seeing her smile so brightly, Wu Zhitian's body and facial expression stiffened. Even if his body was cold like he was submerged in snow, a fire gradually lit inside of him and he tried extremely hard to not move a single facial muscle.
"Hehe, but to think I became the sect master of ShenMing Wu's personal disciple in this life," Yu Xuelan chuckled, "And I even had a meal with Long Wen out of all people! Life is sure full of wonders!"
"Long Wen?" He mumbled.
"Mn, Long Wen treated me to a meal back there," Yu Xuelan smiled.
His body slowly relaxed and the corners of his lips raised but he instantly straightened them before a smile formed on his lips. Upon realising she just said Long Wen, a bitterness stung his heart.
"I'm so glad that I don't need to keep being so cautious anymore. Oh, but don't call me by my name, just call me Lin Yuhe and it will be fine. I don't want you to get in trouble for hiding me."
He nodded.
"Anyways, where did Lin Changying go?"
"At the teahouse bar."
"Alright, I need to head back to a store before going to the bar, I kind of need to buy something."
He gazed at her with eyes filled with curiosity.
"Um, I kind of, broke a lantern and ran away..." Yu Xuelan laughed guilty, darting her eyes back and forth.
To be honest, Wu Zhitian was not even surprised at this point and just waited for the girl to give her explanation.
He watched the girl who was failing to make eye contact with him while trying to explain the whole situation. The corners of his lips slightly curled up and he found that his gaze never left Yu Xuelan even once. Because if he did, he was afraid she would scatter away.
Just like last time.
When all he did was watch. And watch. And watch.
Minutes had passed and the two musical performances from the festival had already finished yet the girl was still explaining her reasoning for damaging the lantern.
After a while of Xuelan trying to justify herself, she had finally finished and looked at Wu Zhitian with innocent eyes.
"I promise I'll pay back all the coins I owe you! I'll owe you my life!"
Wu Zhitian turned back around and started walking back towards the crowded street, leaving the girl standing idly in sadness.
He glanced back at Yu Xuelan who stood still, "What's wrong? Aren't we going to go buy the lantern back?"
Yu Xuelan's eyes immediately lit up as a smile formed on her face.
She ran up to the boy excitedly but realized this wasn't a time to be all cheerful since she was borrowing his money once again.
…
"You're back to buy the lantern you destroyed?" The store owner asked. "Well, here you go. I doubt this lantern will be able to fly anymore anyways. You can write your wishes on the lantern over there if you want."
"Sect Master Wu, do you want to write something on this?" Yu Xuelan asked.
He walked closer to look at the lantern's state until he was within the woman's range of vision. The lady peered at the tall, white-clothed figure beside Yu Xuelan and flinched.
The store owner immediately bowed and greeted, "Greetings Sect Master Wu."
Wu Zhitian stared at the lady who was still looking astonished.
"Is this lady with you?"
He nodded.
"No! Please don't apologize! I'll give you as many lanterns as you want! Take back the coins! I'll give you a new one!" She exclaimed, handing and piling a ton of lanterns within Yu Xuelan's arms.
"Apologise? He just nodded his head??" She thought.
"If I had known you were with Sect Master Wu, I would've just given it to you for free!"
Even with the compliments and praise, a sour look had riddled over Wu Zhitian's expression, though it was so subtle that the lady did not notice.
"It's alright madam, we'll just take the one I damaged," Yu Xuelan smiled, putting the other lantern back onto the hook.
Yu Xuelan noticed Wu Zhitian's strange behaviour. She held onto his sleeve which snapped him back from his thoughts, glancing at the girl in surprise.
"Are you sure? I don't think it'll fly!" The lady worried.
"It's fine, I think it will," Yu Xuelan responded.
She hurriedly dragged Wu Zhitian away from the crowd, "I apologise for what happened before, but we'll just take this one."
…
The two walked towards the bridge where the scattering of red stars floated in the sky. Some had already flown off to the distance, never to return, while some were still making their way up to the clouds.
"What should we write on it?" Yu Xuelan asked, but she noticed the boy had already begun writing something on the other side.
She laughed, thinking, "Ah, he's probably writing stuff like 'good health' or 'peaceful life'"
She stared at the empty spot on her lantern's side before a thought sparked in her mind and hurriedly wrote it on.
Wu Zhitian glanced at the girl who was smiling happily as she was writing. Though his subtle movements were noticed by Yu Xuelan when she perked her head up, who offered him an even brighter smile and a laugh.
He immediately hid his face back behind the red lantern, trying to cover his face.
"Hey, Wu Zhitian!" Yu Xuelan called and grinned mischievously, "Have you ever sent memorial lanterns to me? Hm? Hm? Probably not. Honestly people probably spit on the place I died."
Wu Zhitian remained silent, his face still hidden behind the lantern and didn't respond.
Yu Xuelan sighed and pretended to sulk, "How sad, maybe that's why when I died all I saw was darkness. Darkness everywhere. And spit."
He pulled down the lantern and asked, "Are you ready?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm done writing," she said.
They walked closer to the edge of the bridge and lifted the damaged lantern towards the sky. As the wind blew, the lantern that they held onto lifted itself up towards the others, glistening amongst the glowing stars.
Yu Xuelan was amused, that even something as damaged as the lantern they released, could still soar high into the sky.
Although it continued to fall and rise inconsistently, it tried its best to make it to the others.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票