Chapter 490: Xiao Mo, When Are You Going to Wake Up?
“Hm? Sister Liu Shui is leaving?”
Tushan Jingci asked in surprise.
“Mhm.”
Liu Shui nodded lightly, a trace of helplessness in her expression.
“My second uncle has built up quite a large business over in Iron Eagle City in Liang. He’s short on trustworthy relatives lately, so he sent a letter asking for help. My mother insisted on going to see him and said she had to lend a hand no matter what, so in the end, I had no choice but to go with her.”
It was true enough that Liu Shui’s second uncle had made something of himself.
But Liu Shui knew perfectly well that the real reason her mother was so determined to go rely on him was not simply to live a better life. More importantly, her uncle had written in his letter that there were several good families there, and that he wanted to arrange marriage talks for her.
The moment her mother heard that, her heart was set on it. No matter what, she was going to bring her daughter along to have a look.
Liu Shui could not win against her mother.
Still, she had already made up her mind in secret. Once she personally turned down those young masters this time, if her mother still insisted on marrying her off, then she would have no choice but to tell her the truth about being a cultivator.
She had kept it from her until now because she did not want her mother to grow distant from her.
Because in the hearts of most mortals, once a person stepped onto the path of cultivation, that person ceased to be an ordinary son or daughter and became some lofty immortal above the clouds, as though nothing could remain the same.
She was afraid her mother would feel that way too.
“Then... Sister Liu Shui... about when will you be back?” Tushan Jingci asked softly, her eyes full of reluctance.
“I don’t know how long it will take.” Liu Shui smiled faintly, her voice gentle. “Once everything over there is settled, I’ll come back to see you, Young Lady.”
“All right...”
Tushan Jingci lowered her eyes, unable to hide the disappointment in them.
She fell silent for a moment, then drew a sachet from her sleeve and held it out gently to Liu Shui.
“Sister Liu Shui, there are some spirit stones and pills inside. It should be enough for your cultivation.”
“No, no, I can’t!” Liu Shui hurriedly waved her hands and tried to refuse, looking flustered. “You and Young Master Xiao have already shown me a kindness as great as remaking my life. How could I dare take anything more from you?”
“It’s fine, Sister Liu Shui. Just take it. It really isn’t worth much.” Tushan Jingci did not give her a chance to refuse, stuffing the sachet into Liu Shui’s arms, her tone carrying a touch of that stubborn sweetness unique to a young girl. “If you won’t take it, then I really will get angry. And after that, I’ll never see Sister Liu Shui again.”
“This...” Looking at the stubborn look on Tushan Jingci’s face, Liu Shui swallowed the words of refusal that had risen to her lips in the end and could only accept the sachet. “Someday, I will repay you properly, Young Lady.”
“What are you saying, Sister Liu Shui?” Tushan Jingci’s lips curved into a light smile. “We’re friends. What is there to repay? But you must be careful on the road.”
“Yes, Young Lady.”
After exchanging a few final pleasantries with Tushan Jingci, Liu Shui bent in farewell and turned to leave.
Tushan Jingci stood where she was, quietly watching Liu Shui’s figure recede into the distance.
Even after that figure had completely vanished from the edge of her sight, she still did not look away.
The young girl bit softly at her lower lip, one small hand unconsciously pressing against her chest.
“Why...”
Her voice was very, very soft, almost like she was talking to herself.
“Why is it that I’m clearly so unwilling to let Sister Liu Shui go... I don’t want her to leave... but... but at the same time, deep down, I keep worrying that if she stays here, she’ll take away the most important thing I have?”
Her head lowered, and for the first time, such a complicated and tangled expression appeared on that innocent little face.
“Why is that...?”
“I really do feel... so strange...”
...
The burning summer passed, and autumn arrived.
The leaves in the bamboo grove gradually turned withered yellow, drifting down one by one on the breeze like countless golden butterflies dancing through the air before settling quietly at Xiao Mo’s side.
Before anyone realized it, Xiao Mo had already been in seclusion for half a year.
As usual, Tushan Jingci came to the bamboo courtyard and helped clear away the fallen leaves that had gathered inside.
Bent at the waist, she swept the yellowed bamboo leaves together one by one into a pile in the corner.
Then, as though some playful idea had suddenly occurred to her, she crouched down, picked out a few especially pretty leaves, and with a flicker of nimble fingers wove them into a small little leaf circlet.
Suppressing a smile, she crept softly over to Xiao Mo and gently set the circlet on his head.
Seeing the way she had dressed him up—this motionless, utterly oblivious Xiao Mo with a crooked little leaf crown on his head—the girl could not help letting out a soft laugh.
But as she laughed, her gaze gradually fell, and a faint sadness crept into her expression.
“Xiao Mo, when are you going to wake up?”
Tushan Jingci sat down beside him, propping up her chin with both hands as she gazed at his quiet face, blinking slowly.
Even though being able to look at Xiao Mo like this every day already made her feel very content...
...she still wanted to talk to him more.
Even if it was only to hear him call her “Young Lady.”
Even if it was only to see that faint little smile of his.
That would be nice too...
...
A few more months passed, and winter arrived without a sound.
This year’s first snow came earlier than it had in previous years.
White snow drifted down in steady flurries from the gray sky above. In less than half a day, the entire bamboo grove had been dyed into a pure, spotless white.
A thin layer gathered on the bamboo leaves, and whenever the wind passed through, the bamboo tips bowed slightly and the snow slid down in soft bursts, scattering into pale white mist that melted soundlessly into the air.
The path through the grove was no longer visible. One could only vaguely make out a few shallow depressions winding deeper inside. From time to time, a few spirit birds fluttered up, shaking loose sprays of icy pellets that sifted down onto the surrounding stalks with the faintest rustling sound, so light it felt like winter whispering at one’s ear.
The whole bamboo grove looked as though a goddess who ruled over winter had lifted her brush and spilled a flawless, breathtaking painting across Heaven and Earth.
Inside the courtyard, thick snow like goose feathers had piled over Xiao Mo.
He sat there without moving, snow covering him from head to toe. Seen from afar, he looked like a snow figure standing quietly in place.
And Xian Xichun was still sitting on that slab of green stone.
He had set a small rack beside him, warming a pot of wine on it and roasting two plump wild rabbits. A book rested in his hands, and he was reading with complete absorption, looking relaxed and perfectly at ease. The fragrance of the wine and roasted rabbit drifted outside the courtyard.
Just as Xian Xichun was reading The Unity of Knowledge and Action with great enjoyment, a set of light footsteps came from deep within the bamboo grove.
The young woman came running over, fresh from lessons at the hall.
She wore a red padded jacket, an old-fashioned muted vermilion rather than anything gaudy. It fit her beautifully. The satin surface caught the light with a faint sheen, while a ring of black trim hugged the line of her snowy throat.
The jacket narrowed slightly at the waist, outlining a slender softness one could nearly encircle with a hand.
Even that broad winter jacket seemed unable to fully hide the striking curves of the young woman’s figure.
Under it she wore a dark green quilted skirt that fell straight downward, and only when she moved could one vaguely glimpse the length of her legs beneath it.
Her small feet left a string of footprints, deep and shallow, across the snow. The hem of her skirt brushed lightly over the white ground, stirring a faint, delicate fragrance into the air.
She ran into the courtyard, not even pausing to catch her breath before stretching out those little hands, pink with cold, and beginning to brush the snow from Xiao Mo over and over, carefully dusting every bit of it away.
“Honestly, Master, too. Xiao Mo’s practically turned into a snow figure, and you still won’t help at all.” As Tushan Jingci brushed the snow from Xiao Mo, she turned her head and complained, “All you do is sit outside the courtyard and watch...”
Xian Xichun smiled and took an unhurried sip of warmed wine. “He’s not my man. I’m responsible for his safety, not for taking care of him.”
“Hmph.”
Tushan Jingci turned her head away and stopped paying attention to him.
She quickly unwound the scarf from around her neck and carefully wrapped it around Xiao Mo, covering most of his cheeks, which had gone pale from the cold.
She wanted to light a fire near him and warm him up a little, but the thought had barely crossed her mind before Xian Xichun stopped her.
The reason was that lighting a fire would affect Xiao Mo’s cultivation.
But seeing him frozen there like an ice sculpture, Tushan Jingci simply could not bear it.
In the end, she stretched out her pair of white, soft hands and gently took hold of Xiao Mo’s large hand, red and icy with cold. She wrapped his hand inside both of hers, lowered her head, and breathed warm air over it again and again, trying to give him at least a little warmth with her own body heat.
“These two young people...” Outside the courtyard, Xian Xichun could not help shaking his head with a smile when he saw the scene. “I really wonder whether those old fools in the Tushan clan would drop dead on the spot if they saw this.”
But as he smiled, he suddenly realized something—
That fellow Xiao Mo was in seclusion, yet someone was here to stay with him, keep watch over him, and dote on him like this.
Meanwhile, he, a living breathing man who was guarding the way for him, could only sit outside the courtyard by himself, drinking alone.
Xian Xichun lowered his eyes to the wine jug in his hand.
And all at once, he felt—
This wine did not seem to have much taste anymore.