Chapter 76: A Bamboo House

Chapter 76: A Bamboo House

Translated by: iris.knight

I didn't get any rest at all...

Gu Qingyu stood up and stretched. She got dressed and walked out of her room. Dawn had always been chilly, but when she looked out the window, everything was covered in snow. Snowflakes fell from the sky and landed on the branches of the tree in the yard.

It's snowing. The snow drew her out of the house. She held out her hand, a snowflake fell gently on the palm of her hand, then slowly turned into a puddle of water, and ran down her palm. The melting snow in her hand was disappointing.

They are so fragile, everything would be melted away as soon as the rays of the morning sun hit them.

Jia Qizhe walked over from a distance. "What are you looking at, Xiao Yu'er? You're all dazed."

She looked up at the sound of his voice. Jia Qizhe walked through the snowy field, his blue robe swished and swayed with each step. Strangely, there was not a single snowflake on him.

Enchanting as a devil, yet beautiful. Enough to bring down kingdoms. She chuckled to herself at the choice of vocabulary, her eyes returned to Jia Qizhe and she shook her head. Jia Qizhe stopped in front of her, he slowly lifted his hand, and plucked a single snowflake from her black hair. Gu Qingyu blushed and looked at Jia Qizhe curiously. "Did you spend the night outside with Mo Bai again?"

"No, not 'again', and not with him." Jia Qizhe smiled slightly, "Xiao Yu'er, did you sleep well last night?"

Her mind went to the devilish training she had last night and nodded. "It was better than usual!"

"Really, then I'm relieved." Jia Qizhe gently stroked her head, his smile was teasing but also satisfied.

"I have a good night's sleep, what do you have to be relieved about?" Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes, only to see Mo Bai walk towards them from the other direction. His white clothes did not blend in with the colour of the snow. Instead, it showed his elegance and fineness so quietly. The pure white snow seemed to be used to complement his silent gentleness. He held the jade flute gently in his hand and his white robe swished and swayed behind, but his black hair remained in place.

Their eyes met, Mo Bai smiled softly as he walked towards her. "Good morning, Yu'er." Gu Qingyu swallowed her saliva, and before she responded, something hit her on the head.

"It hurts! Jia Qizhe, what did you hit me suddenly!" Gu Qingyu massaged that spot on her head and secretly vowed that she would make him pay for this. I will have my revenge!

Jia Qizhe flicked her forehead. "Idiot, stupid."

Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes: "You might as well use the full thesaurus for stupid on me."

"But those are not enough to describe you." Jia Qizhe nodded.

Gu Qingyu's face was going to turn white from anger. This bastard!

"I guess you are cursing me in your heart." Jia Qizhe smiled calmly.

"You know me so well." Gu Qingyu pouted.

Mo Bai turned to the house. "Yu'er, it's time for breakfast."

"Okay!" Gu Qingyu nodded immediately.

Jia Qizhe followed her with a disdainful expression. "Hmph, this pretty face..."

"Ah? What did you say?" She really didn't hear him and turned around when they got to the door.

Jia Qizhe smiled. "It's nothing. Go in."

After breakfast, Gu Qingyu and others said goodbye to Wukong and his wife.

"Come back and visit us again!" Sha Wukong waved.

"Yes, certainly!"

Horseshoe prints were etched in the soft snow as several people rode through the snowy field. Snowflakes continued to drift down from above, Gu Qingyu looked at the sky and said with some melancholy. "The new year will probably be here soon..."

I can't believe I've been here for so long.

Qi Wan looked at the sky with her. "Yeah."

"Ah!" Gu Qingyu sighed, "It's so fast!"

"Yeah!" Qi Wan nodded and sighed too, "It's so fast!"

The others looked at them with an inexplicable look. Isn't it just a new year? Do they have to be so emotional about it?

Gu Qingyu shook her head and looked at Qi Yichen. "Qi Yichen, is this the right way to your old home?" Today, Xie Zang was in the lead. What Xie Zang described that day was very similar to Qi Yichen's old home, the one that he shared with his master.

Qi Yichen paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No, why do you ask?"

"Nothing..." Gu Qingyu pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds from her sleeve and handed it to Qi Yichen. She then pulled out another handful for herself. "You want some?"

"Yes!" Qi Yichen took it with lightning speed.

Qi Wan sped up to keep up with Gu Qingyu, trotting side by side with her. "I want some too!"

"Split it with him." Gu Qingyu pointed at Qi Yichen.

Qi Yichen froze for a moment, then hid the seeds in his sleeve, and shouted at Qi Wan. "Don't even think about it! Let me tell you, these are all mine. All mine!"

Qi Wan resisted the impulse to curse and looked pitifully at Gu Qingyu. "My dear, he will not share!"

Gu Qingyu sighed, picked out a single sunflower seed from her own handful, and gave it to him. "Take it! Don't thank me too much!"

"No, I must thank you." Qi Wan stared at that sunflower seed and suddenly felt that life was truly difficult. She was the first person who made him feel that...

Gu Qingyu nodded. "Since you are so sincere, then I can't refuse it politely, if you want to thank me, then show your gratitude well!" Qi Wan was speechless.

When Qi Wan didn't reply, Gu Qingyu's face darkened. "Why, do you not want to thank me?" Qi Wan could not find the right words to say.

"You!" Gu Qingyu pointed to him, her finger shook as she told him off. "You want to thank me when I don't want it. It took me so much to agree to let you thank me and this is what you do with it! You're such a pain sometimes!"

Who's the real pain here? Qi Wan rolled his eyes and slumped over as if he had fainted, but it was clear that he was pretending.

"It's no use fainting! Remember to thank me!" Gu Qingyu sped up and left Qi Wan behind.

Qi Wan could almost see the herd of snow white horses that dashed across him, they raced through the snowy field, and the name of those horses were-

Grass mud horse!

Qi Yichen looked at Qi Wan with sympathetic eyes, popped a sunflower seed into his mouth, and spat out the husk. After much hesitation, he too picked out a single sunflower seed from his handful and gave it to him. Qi Wan grabbed the seed and swallowed it whole. Qi Yichen's eyes widened, and he handed out all the seeds in his hand. "Try again with this much!"

Qi Wan rolled his eyes and sped up, leaving Qi Yichen behind him. Qi Yichen withdrew his sunflower seeds innocently and muttered, "Fine. You can just say that you don't want it. Why do you have to be so fierce...?”

Dusk

They were currently in a barren forest along the border between Dongxuan and Xiqian. Gu Qingyu looked at the barren land before them and asked Xie Zang incredulously, "This is the place you mentioned? In the middle of bloody nowhere?"

Xie Zang nodded. "Yeah."

Gu Qingyu could feel the despair in her stomach. "The bamboo cottage in a quaint bamboo forest, with clear streams and moonlight?"

"Yeah, yeah." Xie Zang nodded again. "Do you like it?"

Gu Qingyu nodded reluctantly. "Well, I like it very much."

There are a few bamboo scattered around. The moon was not out yet, but with the density of this "bamboo forest", it would be very bright. She noticed that there was a stream within ten meters of herself. The stream was indeed clear, but...

"Why is it so thin!" Gu Qingyu commented as her gaze shifted to the "bamboo house" in the distance.

The roof was made of grass, held up by mere bamboo poles. It looked rickety and unstable.

"We are staying here...tonight?" Gu Qingyu swallowed and squeezed out those words.

"Yeah, yeah." Xie Zang repeated as he walked towards the "bamboo house".

When a gust of wind blew, the "bamboo house" finally fell to the ground. Inside was a shabby table and several wooden chairs that had been cobwebbed and corroded by insects. The table was still squeaking in the wind, which made people worry about whether they would fall apart in the next second. It was soon proved that this table is a little stronger than the "bamboo house". It shook for a few times before it too collapsed like the house.

Gu Qingyu wiped a tear sadly. "Come on, where else are we going to stay tonight?"

No, we don't have a choice.

Xie Zang glanced apologetically at Gu Qingyu. "Kitten, I didn't expect this to happen, I haven't been here in a long time.”

"Eh, hehehe, I haven't been here in a long time..." Gu Qingyu wiped her forehead free of sweat. "Come on, let's just make do with what we have." Qi Wan nodded with much difficulty. The sun was slowly setting, they were all more than disappointed with their circumstances, except for Xie Zang. Suddenly, the howling of wolves came from the distance. Some of the horses panicked and pulled against the reins.

"Xie Zang," Gu Qingyu gritted her teeth and spat out the foxtail she had found somewhere, got up from the tree that she had originally leaned on, and got onto her horse. "I can't stay at a place like this!"

"So you don't want wolf barbecue?" Xie Zang blinked calmly, got up, and got onto his horse. "Then let's go."

"What?" Gu Qingyu was stunned for a moment as XIe Zang rode away.

Gu Qingyu tugged on the reins and followed.

The others got onto their horses as well. Qi Wan whined as they followed Gu Qingyu and Xie Zang. "God!"

Qi Yichen closed his eyes. "Heavens!"

"Stop whinging, shut up." Jia Qizhe passed between them impatiently. His blue robe swept through the air as he rushed to Gu Qingyu's side. His voice picked up next to her, with an added tinge of teasing. "That's why I said we should not have come here, Xiao Yu'er."

Gu Qingyu's lips twitched and twisted. "Did you ever say that? Even if you did, I regret not listening."

"Kitten, save that line for later, if you can." Xie Zang smiled. He looked enchanting in the night, like a blooming, blood red spider lily. Beautiful and charming, but with a deadly poison.

Mo Bai followed slowly behind them, his white robe danced in the wind.