CH 46

Xiao Yuan thought Meng Chi’s question was very interesting indeed. During the past few days, he had been planning for a way to escape from Xingtian Sect once and for all. Of course, he thought of Xiao Du the most. Unexpectedly, Mu Yingyang appeared halfway through, and he had to focus on his silly Shidi as well. As for Gu Louyin, he only remembered that there was such a person when others mentioned him. But the strange thing was that every time he thought of Gu Louyin, his mood was very subtle.

Gu Louyin won’t live long? Indeed… It was a pity.

When Xiao Du learned of Li Yanzhi’s injury, he summoned him and Meng Chi to come to him.

Li Yanzhi didn’t dare to conceal it and told the truth about his defeat to Gu Louyin’s sword. At the end, he said: “My lord, Gu Louyin has reached the stage of nascent soul after he got demonized. I heard that he was slaughtering in all four directions in Yunjian Pavilion before and Gu Hang personally went out to stop him, but in the end he still had to let him go with the corpse. I thought it was because the people from Yunjian Pavilion were trash, but now it seems that Gu Louyin, once demonized, is actually terrifying. If he returns to Yunjian Pavilion to help them when we besiege Yunjian Pavilion, our chances of winning will be reduced.”

Meng Chi said, “I don’t think he’ll return, hasn’t he already rebelled against Yunjian Pavilion?”

“They say he’s rebelled, but Yunjian Pavilion is his shimen anyway and Gu Hang is his father. When Xingtian Sect and Yunjian Pavilion fight, will he really sit idly by? I don’t believe it.”

Xiao Du coughed lightly and said, “He will.”

Li Yanzhi: “Lord?”

“Those who are demonized have an obsession in their hearts. If the obsession is not eliminated, they won’t be distracted by anything else.”

Li Yanzhi asked, “What if his obsession is eliminated?”

Meng Chi glanced at Xiao Du and said, “It probably won’t.” Gu Louyin’s obsession was firmly held in the palm of their lord, how could it possibly be eliminated?

Xiao Du wanted to capture Gu Louyin and make him accompany the Sword Seeker Lord and the others, but reason told him that he should leave Gu Louyin alone for now and wait until Yunjian Pavilion was destroyed. After some contemplation, Xiao Du, as he had done countless times in the past, decided to focus on the overall situation. “At present, don’t take the initiative to provoke Gu Louyin, don’t waste time and energy on him and put all your thoughts on Yunjian Pavilion.”

Li Yanzhi and Meng Chi nodded. Seeing that Xiao Du’s face didn’t look good, Meng Chi said, “Since I have come anyways, Your Lordship, let me see your injury?”

“Okay.” Xiao Du took off his shirt in front of his two subordinates, revealing the two wounds on his left shoulder and back.

Li Yanzhi was surprised when he saw his wounds, “My Lord, your injuries…”

Meng Chi bit her lower lip, anxious and puzzled. “How could it be that after taking the medicine for a few days, it is still the same as when you were just injured. It shouldn’t be so.”

Xiao Du said carelessly: “It may be Mu Yingyang’s poison.”

Mu Yingyang’s Duya was soaked with a mixture of poisons and there was no antidote to it. Since he was poisoned, only his own body could detoxify it.

“His poison is tricky but it shouldn’t be like this.” Meng Chi looked solemn, “Lord, how do you feel?”

“Acceptable.”

“It is because Your Lordship is protected by his true qi cultivation. If it were anyone else, I’m afraid his corpse would have been cold by now.” After Meng Chi finished speaking, she realized that her words were inauspicious and regretted saying them. “This subordinate is useless, I beg my Lord for a punishment.”

Xiao Du raised his hand and looked at his palm as if in a daze. Meng Chi and Li Yanzhi looked at each other and there was a trace of worry in their eyes.

Meng Chi tentatively said, “Lord?”

Xiao Du recovered, slowly closed his palm and said, “I am not afraid of injury and poisoning, I am afraid…” Just afraid that Xiao Yuan won’t stay by his side.

Xiao Du was arrogant, cold and ruthless, valuing his interests above anything else. This was the first time Li Yanzhi saw his weakness that he shouldn’t have shown.

Soon, he put this insignificant weakness away and said to Meng Chi, “I will go out for a trip in the near future, so you continue to think of ways to detoxify the poison.”

Meng Chi disagreed: “Your Lordship must rest at this time, can’t you send someone else to do it?”

Xiao Du didn’t comment on it and said, “You guys go withdraw.”

The two had to withdraw but after taking two steps, they heard Xiao Du say, “Wait.”

Meng Chi said, “Have you changed your mind, Your Lordship?”

Xiao Du said slowly: “If something really happens to me, you take care of Ah Yu.”

Li Yanzhi opened his mouth wide, unable to speak for a long time. Meng Chi was also stunned, but she controlled herself better than Li Yanzhi and could still speak. She reluctantly smiled and said, “Your Lordship, why bother to say this kind of thing, haven’t you just said that this injury is nothing to you.”

“It’s nothing,” Xiao Du said, “but it doesn’t contradict with what I said to you.”

Meng Chi said, “But he doesn’t know about his origin yet.”

“He will know.” His Ah Yu was so smart, since he had already asked about Xiao Rong, he must have guessed something. Instead of waiting for him to find out, it was better to tell him in advance – he promised him that he would not lie to him.

Meng Chi thought for a while and said, “Ah Yu’s memory is likely to have been manipulated. I know that Xuanle Sect has a unique secret method that can awaken lost memories. Don’t you want to catch a person from Xuanle Sect to try?”

Xiao Du said, “No, I will tell him myself.”

The memories of his childhood were far more painful than happy for Xiao Yuan. If possible, he hoped that Xiao Yuan would never recall them. This was also the reason why he had not told Xiao Yuan about his origin when he had first found him and learned that he did not remember anything.

Two days later, Xiao Du took Xiao Yuan and set off to leave Xingtian Sect.

Xiao Yuan didn’t know the purpose of the trip, so he asked, “Where are we going?”

Xiao Du said, “Ah Yu will know when he gets there.”

At this time, it was already midsummer, but there were no seasons in the north. Every season felt like winter. The two stood on the riverbank in front of a decorated boat; the wind was bitterly cold and a thick layer of ice had formed on the surface of the river.

Xiao Yuan’s eyes narrowed against the gust of the wind, and he said, “Are we going by boat?”

Xiao Du said, “Ah Yu, come here.” He put the hood of Xiao Yuan’s cloak on Xiao Yuan’s head. Looking at Xiao Yuan’s long eyelashes and delicate eyebrows, he couldn’t help but lower his head and kiss Xiao Yuan’s forehead.

Xiao Yuan froze and took a step back as if facing an enemy.

Xiao Du was stabbed by the defensiveness and indifference in his eyes, and the memory of Xiao Yuan licking Mu Yingyang’s palm that night appeared uncontrollably in his mind. His hostility rose and he suddenly embraced Xiao Yuan’s waist, hugging him tighter in his arms and saying reluctantly: “I can’t even kiss your forehead, is that it?”

Xiao Yuan clenched Xiao Du’s left shoulder hard and asked rhetorically, “Didn’t you kiss it?”

There was a burst of pain from the healing wound but Xiao Du stared at Xiao Yuan without changing his expression and suddenly smiled: “It’s not enough.”

He said so, but let go of Xiao Yuan and added, “Let’s go.”

The two got on the boat. The secret of this boat was that it could travel on ice, fast and steady. The cabin was dry and warm, and the cold wind outside couldn’t be felt inside at all, which was much more comfortable than flying in the sky would be.

As they traveled to the south, it got warmer and warmer, and the ice on the river melted. Xiao Yuan changed into light clothes and fanned himself with Bihao Chaosheng. The boat was moored at the ferry crossing of a small town in the Lower Immortal Realm. Xiao Du went ashore, turned to Xiao Yuan who was still on the boat and stretched out his hand. Xiao Yuan said obediently: “My Lord, I can go down by myself.”

Xiao Du raised his eyebrows, “I know, but I just want to help you.”

Xiao Yuan took a deep breath and put his hand in Xiao Du’s palm. Xiao Du’s hands were bigger than his and they still felt a little cold under the scorching sun. Xiao Yuan was led down by him like this, feeling that the scene was familiar to him.

When he stepped on the shore, Xiao Yuan let go of Xiao Du’s hand, looked at the crowd around him and asked, “What is this place?”

“Jiangxia.”

“Jiangxia…” Xiao Yuan meditated on these two words for a while, “What did Your Lordship bring me to Jiangxia for?”

Xiao Du said, “Do you remember Liang Ci?”

Xiao Yuan nodded, “I remember, the only tomb of a man in the Burial Garden of Baihua Palace was Liang Ci’s tomb.”

Xiao Du’s eyes looked somewhere far away, “Jiangxia is Liang Ci’s hometown.”

“Did you know Liang Ci?”

“I didn’t know him,” Xiao Du said, “but I know something about him.”

Xiao Yuan was deep in thought. It seemed that the purpose of their trip was related to the man called Liang Ci.

Xiao Du took Xiao Yuan along the river. The appearance of the two of them was so outstanding that they made many passers-by look back at them along the way. Since learning the face-changing technique, Xiao Yuan had rarely been looked at like this, no wonder he was not used to it. A man with a big belly, dressed up in rich clothes, saw him and his eyes glazed to the point that he couldn’t even walk. Then he was stabbed by Xiao Du’s casual glance and was scared to death. Xiao Du’s aura was too fierce, how could ordinary people stand it?

After walking for an hour, Xiao Du stopped in front of a teahouse. The teahouse was built next to the river and had two floors. Sitting on the second floor, one could enjoy tea while feeling the river breeze in relaxation.

When the two entered the tea room, Xiao Du asked for a pot of good tea, threw an ingot of silver to the waiter and said, “Call the owner of your teahouse over.”

The man in front of the waiter was exuding an indescribable sense of oppression just sitting there, as if he was born superior. The waiter didn’t dare to ask more and hurriedly invited the owner of the teahouse over.

The owner was about fifty years old, with white sideburns and looked like he had a good temper. He personally made two cups of tea for Xiao Du and Xiao Yuan and said respectfully: “Can I dare ask why the distinguished guests wanted me to come over? What can I do for you?”

Xiao Yuan put away the jade fan and took a sip of tea, but there was nothing particularly good or bad about it. Xiao Du said, “How long has your teahouse been open?”

“Answering the distinguished guest, it has been sixteen years since it was opened.”

Xiao Du looked around and asked, “Before your teahouse, what was here?”

“It was a clinic,” the owner said, “a clinic opened by a doctor surnamed Liang.”

Xiao Yuan understood; it turned out that Liang Ci was a doctor who opened a clinic.

Xiao Du said, “How much do you remember about Doctor Liang?”

The owner came back to his senses, “I remember him quite clearly. More than ten years ago, I had a problem with my leg and it hurt when it rained. I often went to Doctor Liang’s clinic to get medicine. Doctor Liang was very handsome. Although he was not as good as the two of the distinguished guests, he was also a superbly beautiful man in Jiangxia. The young lady of Jiangxia’s governor’s family had been interested in him for a long time.”

“He married that lady?”

The owner waved his hand again and again, “No, no, no, he married a better, fairy-like girl. Not to mention me, even my father who had lived a long time, had never seen a more beautiful lady than Doctor Liang’s wife. If she smiled at you, your heart would melt. I heard that the girl was an immortal cultivator, the kind that can ascend to the clouds and dispel the fog. In the second year after the two got married, she gave birth to a big fat boy. That family of three was enough for everyone to envy.”

Xiao Du hooked his lips and asked, “Really fat?”

“Fat,” the owner said seriously, “white and fat. He would smile whenever he saw someone. He was so cute. It’s a pity that the Heavens were cruel to them. The child was a little more than one year old when both he and Doctor Liang contracted a strange disease. They used all the possible medicines but didn’t get better. No matter how good Mrs. Liang’s medical skills were, everything was useless. Later, Mrs. Liang sold the clinic to me and took her husband and son away for medical treatment. After that, I have never seen their family again, and I don’t know if Doctor Liang and his son ever got cured of their illness.”

Xiao Du nodded lightly: “You can withdraw.”

The owner was immersed in his memories, and after spending a while in a daze, he said, “Then if the distinguished guest needs me, call me again.”

After the owner left, Xiao Yuan said, “That Mrs. Liang was a medical practitioner in Baihua Palace? She took her husband and son to Baihua Palace?”

“Yes, she thought her master could save them.”

Xiao Yuan said simply: “But Liang Ci died.”

Xiao Du said: “Mrs. Liang was once the best among the young disciples of Baihua Palace. If she hadn’t married an ordinary person, Lu Liluan would not be sitting in the position of the head of Baihua Palace. She insisted on marrying Liang Ci, was expelled from Baihua Palace and then took her husband and child back to Baihua Palace to seek medical treatment. Does Ah Yu think they got help?”

Xiao Yuan stayed in Baihua Palace for a while. Giving a fair evaluation, the girls in Baihua Palace were not bad. Besides, healers were benevolent, they wouldn’t be able to see death and refuse to help.

Xiao Du added half a cup of tea for Xiao Yuan and said, “Mrs. Liang begged hard. At that time, the master of Baihua Palace finally relented, but there was one condition.”

“What condition?”

“She wanted Mrs. Liang to remarry after Liang Ci was gone.”

Xiao Yuan was taken aback; he was vaguely aware of something and he felt a little fidgety.

“No one knows what Mrs. Liang thought at the time. Not long after, Liang Ci died of illness. Mrs. Liang agreed to the condition of the master of Baihua Palace, and their child survived. Within the next six months, Mrs. Liang took her two-year-old child, obeyed the order of her master and remarried to a family of cultivators, turning from Mrs. Liang to Mrs. Xiao.”

Xiao Yuan took a deep breath, “Mrs. Liang is your stepmother, and her child is the younger brother you have been looking for.”

Xiao Du chuckled lightly, “Yes. She once told my brother and I that Liang Ci’s ashes had been scattered by the Luoshui river by her. I thought I couldn’t find my younger brother through the blood ban spell, that I could only rely on memories and tokens. Who knew that…”

“She secretly buried her husband in Baihua Palace.“ Xiao Yuan put together a series of events, “Someone deliberately led you to find Liang Ci’s bones. You must have taken something of Liang Ci.”

Xiao Du took out a brocade box from his sleeve and said, “The bone inside has a blood ban spell cast by me. Xiao Rong couldn’t trigger the blood ban, he was not the one I was looking for.”

Xiao Yuan smiled briefly, “My Lord, my condolences.”

Xiao Du pushed the brocade box towards Xiao Yuan, his eyes burning, “Do you want to try it, Ah Yu?”

Xiao Yuan opened the brocade box, and there was really a small bone inside. He lowered his eyes and looked at the white bone for a long time, silent, and the river breeze blew across his face.

Xiao Du did not urge him, waiting patiently for his answer.

It wasn’t until the tea was cold that Xiao Yuan said, “I don’t really want to.”

Xiao Du looked at him, “Ah Yu, you clearly know what I mean, what are you running away from?”

Yes, he knew, he knew it clearly. Why Xiao Rong was locked up in Suaxian Prison, why Xiao Du was willing to exchange hearts with him and why he brought him to Jiangxia to listen to such a long story.

Xiao Yuan stretched out his hand to pick up the white bone and looked at the red blood stains that gradually appeared, with a coy smile twisting the corner of his mouth. “I am the younger brother you were looking for. So what? I don’t even remember my father and my mother. It doesn’t make much difference to me if there is a brother who is not related to me by blood. Rather, Your Lordship, isn’t this matter weighing too much on your mind? Why bother?”