When Xuanji returned to the guest room, Yu Sifeng had already packed his bag and was sitting by the window drinking tea. She smiled and pounced on him, saying happily, “Listen to me, Sifeng! Téngshé said he is willing to help me! The method you taught me really works!”
Yu Sifeng hummed and laughed maliciously, “It’s true that a beast is a beast and can’t be treated in a human way.”
He saw that Xuanji’s head was dusted grey after getting out from under the table, he said, “Clean up. After the four constables are done cleaning up, let’s set off.”
She complied and washed her face, took a look in the bronze mirror and saw the terrible face, two eyebrows were burned in a mess, the left side is gone and the right side only a small cut is left, unsightly. Immediately her collapsed face, crying, “So ugly …… will the eyebrows grow again?”
Yu Sifeng leaned over to take a look and couldn’t help but laugh but seeing her bleak eyes, he forced himself to hold back, patted her head and said, “Don’t worry, I will paint them for you.”
Xuanji’s eyes lit up immediately and said with joy, “Sifeng can draw eyebrows? I can’t!”
He replied vaguely, remembering that when he was a child, Liu Yihuan talked about women’s classics in front of him every day. Not to mention the eyebrows, even the hair bun, hairpins, clothing, etc, he talked about with gusto. Later, when Si Feng couldn’t understand, he pestered him for a pen and ink and drew it for him personally. He was such an innocent young man and he was taught a lot of boring stuff for no reason.
Seeing Xuanji’s look of expectation, he smiled lightly, took the water and soaked the powder[1]. Now, it seems he should be thankful to Brother Liu’s previous indoctrination, which actually came in handy. He carefully dipped the pen into some of the colour, lifting her chin with one hand and examining it carefully.
She has a melon face, short thick eyebrows do not suit her. Her eyebrows are wide and her forehead is full, which is a symbol of a broad-minded person. Then, the curved crescent moon eyebrows are most suitable. He couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as he practiced on a woman for the first time, and his wrist trembled slightly as the tip of the pen gently traced a beautiful arc across her bare eyebrows.
“It’s so itchy, Sifeng.” Xuanji didn’t dare to move, but the tip of the pen on her face was so itchy that she couldn’t help but look up and grin.
“Shh, it’s almost done, don’t move.” He contrasted left and right for a long time, and added a few more strokes.
Xuanji suddenly thought of something and laughed: “Once I went to see my father and mother early in the morning, I saw my father helping my mother to draw her eyebrows! But he’s not as skilled as you are.”
It turns out that painting eyebrows is a boudoir pleasure for husband and wife, not for outsiders. Xuanji is naive and did not understand these details.
Yu Sifeng’s face blushed and said anxiously, “! … I’m just – I’m just helping out, but next time you’ll have to do it yourself!” He was so anxious his wrist shook and suddenly he drew a picture on her face. He quickly wiped the weird long line with a cotton cloth dipped in water.
“You know how to draw, why do I have to do it myself?” Xuanji touched his face and smiled, “It’s hot, are you shy?”
Yu Sifeng gently slapped her hand down and re-drew her eyebrows, this time symmetrical on both sides, and the curved crescent moon eyebrows were flawless. After looking around for a while, he finally put the pen down in satisfaction and said with a smile, “Let’s see how it looks.”
Xuanji looked into the bronze mirror and he really painted it seamlessly, almost exactly the same shape as her previous eyebrows. She was so happy that she hugged his arm and kept saying, “You are so amazing! It’s much better than what Daddy drew for Mother! Mother always said daddy was clumsy!”
“I mean …… stop talking about this ……” Yu Sifeng blushed like he was about to explode and was about to say something else to change the subject when he heard someone knock twice on the door. The two of them turned around and saw Téngshé leaning against the door with a evil smile on his face. “Had enough intimacy? Those few constables are waiting very anxiously. If you haven’t had enough, remember to close the door. Have you never heard of ‘Don’t look at me unless I’m polite’?”
The two of them hurriedly got up with red faces and carried their bags downstairs.
Although Xuanji and Yu Sifeng had solved the strange fire, there was no concrete evidence to prove it, so they couldn’t just push Téngshé in front of the chief constable and tell him that this was the culprit of the arson, right? Even if the chief constable is willing to believe, it is not good for Téngshé to expose his identity in the mortal world.
It seems that the 600 taels of silver reward is gone, along with the 50 taels of deposit also have to be returned to others.
The idea of being penniless again soon made Xuanji’s face collapse. Seeing that the two of them are not happy, the constable knew it is because of the reward money, so they said, “This girl and the gentleman do not worry, we are willing to testify for the two of you, it is the two of you who put the strange fire incident to rest, not to mention this gentleman ……,” he glanced fearfully at Téngshé squatting next to him, “This gentleman is also a witness, who witnessed the two of you that night. The chief constable is not an insensitive person, even if he does not believe it, we still try to ensure that the deposit belongs to the two of you.”
Yu Sifeng smiled and said, “Thank you elder brothers, that would be a lot of trouble.”
The constables had long admired their ability to move through the clouds and fog, and when they saw how kind and elegant Yu Sifeng was, they couldn’t help but get close to him and talk to him. Xuanji pulled Téngshé’s silver hair and ignoring his annoyed counterattack, she whispered, “Can you somehow get evidence to prove that we have resolved the serpent’s fire?”
Téngshé rolled his eyes at her and said angrily, “No! Don’t ask Lao Zi for such a frivolous thing!”
Xuanji frowned and said, “Well, the we’ll return all the silver in our hands to him, we don’t have any money, so we can’t afford to buy delicious food.”
Téngshé stared at her with a headache. The delicious food in the mortal world is the biggest reason for him to follow Xuanji. Now that reason no longer exists, what is he doing with her?
“Aren’t you a General God of War?” He began to smile maliciously again, “Summoning some wind and rain to moisturise the scorched land, shouldn’t it be easy?”
Xuanji said strangely, “How do I know how to summon these? Besides, …… seems to be the business of a cloud and rainmaker, how can I do that?”
“Aren’t you a general? You don’t even know how to do this little thing?”
“You have to call me for this little thing, so the gods are just freeloaders?”
“Yuck! You are the freeloaders! I’ll show you the power of the snake today! Get out of the way!”
Téngshé’s hot temper was immediately ignited, and he jumped up and turned around, saying coldly, “Hold your chin so it doesn’t fall off later!”
“Eh? This gentleman?” The few constables were amazed to see Téngshé leaving quickly and disappearing in a moment.
“Don’t pay any attention to him, he’s just making a scene.” Xuanji said, coughed twice and walking over to them, acting like “I’m a true great immortal” and saying, “Although the strange fire has subsided, the land in this area is scorched and the damage is not small. So, I will summon some rain and dew to moisturise it later. In the coming year, trees and grass can be planted, so that it will not become a barren mountain.”
When the constables heard that she had such ability, they admired her so much that they wanted to throw themselves on the ground and said, “This is a great kindness! Do you want to cast a spell? Do you need a dog’s blood scented candle?”
Xuanji shook her head, “Dog’s blood is just a folk spell, I don’t need it. When my heart moves, the summons will come naturally, just wait.”
Yu Sifeng knew that she didn’t have that ability at all, so he quietly pulled her aside and whispered, “Who can summon the wind and rain? Be careful not to blow your cover.”
Xuanji smiled and said, “It’s not me it’s Téngshé. He wants us to hold our jaws and see how he calls the wind and rain.”
Yu Sifeng was skeptical. The serpent’s nature is fire. Summoning the wind and rain is incompatible with him. Even if he had connections in the heavenly realm, it would not be a trivial matter to summon the master of wind and rain. In case the Emperor is disturbed, the snake will be taken back, which would be very bad.
While thinking about it, he saw a huge cloud rising from the Huangniao Slope, gradually flying higher and higher, covering the entire sky and the surrounding area was suddenly darkened, and the sound of thunder was faintly heard. The few constables saw such a miracle and were so excited that they almost knelt down and kowtowed. Even Yu Sifeng and Xuanji were surprised, not expecting that he could really do it.
The rain came in a few moments, a hundred miles around was covered with a dense curtain of rain, everyone was drenched, only to feel the summer heat disappear and an extreme coolness rose up from their toes. Xuanji was giggling with joy. Suddenly remembering something, she raised her hand to wipe her face, and it was covered in ink. She cried and said, “Ah, my eyebrows …” Yu Sifeng helped her draw her eyebrows, all of a sudden it was washed away by the rain.
When he saw her funny face without eyebrows, Yu Sifeng finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud and said softly, “It’s okay, I’ll help you draw them later when the rain stops.”
It rained heavily for more than an hour before it gradually stopped. The clouds and the rain opened up, and a clear sky gradually appeared. Xuanji wiped her face with her sleeve but it was useless. There was more water on her sleeve than on her face. Téngshé swayed down from Huangniao Slope with an expression of carelessness. When he walked to the front, he sneered and said, “Well? Did you support your chin?”
Seeing his incredible ability, Xuanji couldn’t help but change a little and said sincerely, “Téngshé, you are really amazing. How did you summon the heavy rain?”
His face darkened and he gritted his teeth and said, “I … I have a lot of skills, I can’t help but … it’s just … having a helper ……”
“You hired a wind and rain master?” Yu Sifeng was a little surprised.
Téngshé looked away in disgust, “Who would call them! They’re just a bunch of flatterers! I called one of my former brothers! Why do you ask so many questions?”
Yu Sifeng, who had a good mind and could see right through it, laughed and said, “You called Ying Long, right?”
Ying Long belongs to water, so it’s only a matter of time before the wind and rain come. Téngshé said that he had invited a brother, so it should be a friend of the same generation, so it was probably Ying Long[2].
Téngshé stared at him as if he had seen a ghost, and mumbled something in his mouth. This kid is like a mind reader, he can’t hide anything from him, really depressing. With a dark face, he thought of calling Ying Long to help him, but he was ridiculed for being a mortal’s spirit beast, so he was even more depressed.
“But, you’re blessed. That girl used to be a God of War! The Heavenly Emperor and the Emperor Hou’tu are very tolerant of her. The fact that she was unharmed after committing such a heinous crime, which would have wiped out her soul, shows how seriously she is taken by those at the top. When her reincarnation is over and she returns to heaven, you, a spirit beast, will also be honoured.”
Ying Long’s compassionate tone still remained in his ears. Although he had always used this tone, it sounded unpleasant.
“By the way, the upper realm is not going to blame you for going down to the mortal world this time in private. The White Emperor asked me to give you a message, since you want to go to the netherworld so much, then the matter of checking the Dinghai Iron Chain will be left to you. You have to fight with Zhuque[3] in everything, this time its not clear that you can go down to the world to investigate the iron chain, you actually sneaked out, if not for Zhuque being too lazy to fight with you, the people above spoil you, even a few heads are not enough for you to fall. Well, now the task is yours, but you have become some kind of spirit beast, I will see how long your good luck can last.”
Although Ying Long’s words are a bit sour they are not without reason. Although he is angry with Zhuque’s ability to come down to play in the lower realms, so this time he stole his task, but the deeper reason he did not tell anyone.
The demon that was imprisoned in the netherworld, he has not seen him for a long time, this time, should be able to see again, right? These two little kids seem to have some connection with Buzhou Mountain, so why not follow them and finally get what you want?
“Téngshé! Come on, don’t be dull!” Xuanji called out to him in front, while she carefully put on her cloak to protect her eyebrows that Yu Sifeng had just painted for her, so that she wouldn’t be exposed to the wind and rain.
No matter how you look at it, you can’t tell that she is the mighty and murderous God of War. Such a charming little girl can really make him? Téngshé rolled his eyes in his stomach and denied the idea.
“I know what good food there is in Lutai town, if you don’t come again, I won’t invite you to eat.”
This statement immediately touched his cold heart, his eyes shone brightly and he quickly went after them.
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[1]: Eyebrow painting began in the Warring States period, but the tools for eyebrow painting did not appear at that time. The beauty-loving women used burnt willow branches as eyebrow pens. Later, “Dai (黛)” appeared. It is a kind of mineral with a dark blue color. Before use, Dai must be put on the stone inkstone and ground into powder shape. Then, add water to mix.
[2]: 應龍 (Ying Long) – In Chinese mythology, Yinglong, a winged dragon which is said to have assisted Yu the Great to control the prehistoric flood, using its tail to shape rivers to guide floodwater to the ocean.
A god of weather which is able to produce clouds and rain.
[3]: The Vermilion Bird (Chinese: 朱雀 Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire-element, the direction south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South (Chinese: 南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què). It is known as Zhuque in Chinese, Suzaku in Japanese, Jujak in Korean and Chu Tước in Vietnamese.
It is described as a red bird that resembles a pheasant with a five-colored plumage and is perpetually covered in flames. It is often mistaken for the Fenghuang due to similarities in appearance, but the two are different creatures. The Fenghuang is a legendary ruler of birds who is associated with the Chinese Empress in the same way the dragon is associated with the Emperor, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations.
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