TGM Vol.5 Chapter 18 – Searching For Him For A Thousand Miles (2)

Lan Lan almost shrieked, opened the door quickly, and saw the tall, jade young man standing outside the door. She was so happy that her heart thumped and thumped wildly, her face flushed, and she said, “Quick, come in!”

After taking two steps, Young Master Yi stopped suddenly, raised his eyes and looked at the second floor of the inn, and said softly, “Someone has killed the demon?”

Lan Lan didn’t know how many times she scolded Xuanji in her heart. She hated her for being troublesome, and said anxiously, “Yes, yes! It’s just a young girl out of town, don’t worry about it! Young Master Yi, you go and see, alright?”

Young Master Yi shook his head and said, “No need, that demon has been removed.”

Seeing him turning around to leave, Lan Lan was so anxious that she wanted to rush to stop him, but she was afraid that he would be angry. In the borderland, the young girls didn’t have the coy style of the plains, so if they liked someone they will tell them immediately, but in front of him, Lan Lan was a little bit afraid to reveal what was on her mind, perhaps because of his cold attitude, completely rejecting others.

So she just called, “Young Master Yi! That … we can’t let you go for nothing… why don’t you stay for a meal?”

Before she finishing speaking, the Proprietess asked from behind, “Who are you talking to?”

Lan Lan hurriedly turned her head, “Young Master Yi is here!”
The Proprietess looked around and frowned, “Where did Young Master Yi come from? Did you see a ghost in broad daylight?”

Lan Lan hurriedly turned around and ran out of the back door and chased him into the street. As expected, Young Master Yi was not seen. He came and left suddenly, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. She went back to the inn in extreme disappointment, and only cast a sulky look to Xuanji, without looking at her directly, the Proprietess called her several times and asked her to thank her, yet she acted as if she hadn’t heard it.

“This dead girl is getting more and more unruly!” The Proprietess cursed a few times before turning around to smile at Xuanji, “Miss, you are geenrous, don’t mind this dead girl!”

Xuanji touched her full purse and smiled for a long time, not caring about other people’s attitude. It just so happened that Téngshé had disassembled the weasel and walked out grinning, holding a bloody and dirty fur in his hand, and said, “It tastes good! Here! The fur you want!”

Seeing that it was so dirty, Xuanji frowned and said, “Why don’t you wash it! Don’t give it to me, it’s dirty!”

Téngshé glared at her: “Why don’t you wash yourself! I don’t want it!”

The Proprietress laughed and said, “This thing cannot be washed with water. I know there is a Tailor Li in the village ahead. If the girl wants to make a scarf, she will give him the fur, and he will make it in two or three days.” When she turned around and saw Lan Lan was still sulking there, knowing that she was upset about Young Master Yi’s affairs, she said again, “Lan Lan, it happens that this girl is going to the village. You can show her the way. By the way, bring Young Master Yi a jar of sweet-scented osmanthus wine. Although he didn’t do anything about it, he still came here and we couldn’t tell him to go back empty-handed.”

Lan Lan’s face suddenly glowed, and she happily agreed, and hurriedly went to the cellar to pick up a pot of sweet-scented osmanthus wine. Now Xuanji felt more pleasing to the eye. She smiled and said, “Let’s go, girl, I will show you the way!”

Seeing that she was smiling, Xuanji couldn’t help being funny, and asked, “Is that Young Master Yi very good? Why didn’t he come in just now?”

Lan Lan said, “He is naturally very powerful, and he is the most powerful person in the world! Just now he said that someone had killed a demon, so he turned away and left. Alas, he is good at everything, but he has a weird temper. He never smiles and is cold like a rock.”

“He is so weird, why do you like him?”

Lan Lan’s face was flushed, but she was not ashamed, and said openly, “Which young girl here doesn’t like him? A man should be like him, serious, capable and unsmiling. Besides, he is cold on the outside, not necessarily like this to his wife. I still like him like this.”

Xuanji asked strangely: “He has a wife?”

Lan Lan shook her head quickly: “No, no! He lives in the front village alone, and runs a small drug store to treat people with medicine.” After saying that, she hesitated and said, “I mean… well, maybe he would like me a little bit? Oh, I know you will laugh at me, but I’m not afraid. I like him and want to be his wife. It’s not like I have no chance!”

Seeing Xuanji staring at her, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed: “You…really look down on me? You girls from out of town are very reserved. Maybe you think our girls are frivolous…”

Xuanji smiled, shook her head and said, “No. I think… you are right. I envy you for being so free.”

If she could be so bold and straightforward at the time, would the result be different? However, there has never been an “if” in this world.

Lan Lan enthusiastically took Xuanji to Tailor Li and explained things to him, then she happily carried the wine jar and went out. As Tailor Li had no business that day, so he directly dealt with Xuanji’s fur and asked her to wait outside.

Xuanji waited outside for a long time, and gradually became bored, so she simply went out and walked slowly along the path to watch the rural scenery here. Although West Valley is a border land, the climate is warm, the crops are prosperous, and the folk customs are very simple. The village is surrounded by mountains, but none of them are high mountains. From a distance, the verdant cascades undulate, and the scenery is wonderful. Under the mountains are scattered houses, creating an uncontested and leisurely scene.

After walking for a long time, a large pond suddenly appeared in front of her, and inside it were croaking frogs, and Téngshé ran to catch the frogs to play. Xuanji walked for a while, and suddenly saw a circle of bamboo fences in front. Inside the fences were two large blue-tiled houses, neatly arranged. There are many phoenix trees^[1] at the back of the house. The trees are red as fire, and the scenery is extremely beautiful. Lanlan is standing in front of the fence with sweet-scented osmanthus wine and shouting something.

She walked over curiously and asked, “This is the home of Young Master Yi?”

Lan Lan was startled. When she turned around, she patted her chest and said, “Ah, why are you here?” Xuanji smiled and said, “Just walk here. You are busy, I’m leaving.” This bold girl definitely doesn’t like having one more person out when they are alone, she knowingly turned around and walked away.

She heard to Lan Lan pushing open the fence door, patted the door of the Blue Tile House, and yelled, “Young Master Yi, are you at home? I am Lan Lan from the inn. I brought you some sweet-scented osmanthus wine.”

With a creak, the door opened, and a man’s voice said something, Xuanji couldn’t hear it clearly, but the voice seemed to blow a bolt in her head. That voice! That voice! She turned around and rushed to the front of the house, abd saw the door opened. A young man wearing a navy blue robe was standing there, talking to Lan Lan. When he saw her, he was taken aback and looked at her in a daze.

That long black hair, that pale face, that handsome and proud face, those eyes, those two lips … Xuanji only felt that her whole body was trembling from top to bottom, from inside to outside. At that moment, a kind of extreme happiness grabbed her, and accompanied by an extreme panic — she had been looking for him, had been searching for more than a year, always holding in her heart the idea that he would be found. However, she really saw him today, but she couldn’t just pounce on him, hug him, and cry like she imagined.

She could only stand here blankly, looking at him in silence.

Yu Sifeng fixedly looked at her for a while, quickly recovered his calm look, and said softly, “You are here.”

Xuanji nodded unexpectedly and said, “Well, I’m here.” She didn’t understand why she was so calm, as if she hadn’t spent more than a year utterly heartbroken for such a person, searching for him in every corner of the world with great difficulty.

Her heart was cold and hot, as if ice water and boiling water were constantly pouring, and even the tips of her fingers were shaking, but she was so calm, there seemed to be something numb in her mind, and she couldn’t bear the sudden surprise. Too shocked to think.

Lan Lan looked at them suspiciously and asked, “You…you know each other?”

Yu Sifeng quickly replied, “Well, it’s… an old acquaintance. In addition – please take this wine back with you, I won’t accept without merit.”

Lan Lan said anxiously, “No … it’s … I don’t understand what merit is, but I want to give you a drink, just a little bit of heart!”

Yu Sifeng shook his head and said, “No, miss, please go back.”

Lan Lan wanted to say more, but the aura on him was so cold, full of the meaning of refusing her to stay here. She moved her lips and had to lower her head aggrievedly, and quickly ran out of the fence.

Only Xuanji and Yu Sifeng were left in front of the house, staring at each other. After a long time, Yu Sifeng opened the door and said softly, “Would you like to come in and sit? I have new tea here.”

Xuanji nodded, and walked into his house dazedly. The main hall was empty and very simple, with only one ebony wooden table and two chairs. There was a shelf in the corner of the wall with a simple earthenware vase on it, but inside it was empty and there was no grass. There are bamboo curtains hanging on the two walls next to him, which is where he lives. To her, it seems to have become a forbidden place that cannot be approached, how close they were before, but now, his intimate and private place seems to have closed the door to her, refusing her entry.

Yu Sifeng lifted the curtain and went in to boil the water. She sat down and slowly pressed her hand to her heart – it was beating violently, almost out of breath. It seemed that no other sound could be heard in her ears, only ‘boom, boom, boom,’ the sound of her heartbeat, it almost popped out of her throat.

What to do? She saw him, she saw him! What would she say? How to do it? These questions, she had carefully conceived and imagined in countless nights, but once she really saw him, all the ideas suddenly shattered to pieces, leaving her blank.

Perhaps it was his coldness that made her feel disappointed and sad, even if he turned his face and closed the door without seeing her, or said some ruthless words to hurt her like he did when he was leaving, it was better than the calm and gentle appearance now. She… what will she do? Xuanji felt so helpless for the first time, and her heart felt bitter and sweet, and she couldn’t tell what it was like.

Yu Sifeng quickly lifted a curtain and brought out a tea tray with a purple clay pot and two purple clay tea cups inside. The tea leaves in the cup are as long as needles, giving off a tangy fragrance. In a strange voice, she said, “It’s so fragrant, is it needle tea?”

Yu Sifeng smiled slightly: “You know, this is a specialty of Qingyang.”

Xuanji inexplicably said, “Yes, my father had drunk this kind of tea before. He said it was rumored to be one bundle of tea leaves is worth one or two tael of gold, and is very expensive.”

Yu Sifeng nodded and said, “Yes. But this is not the most expensive tea. I will let you taste my treasured tea later.”

Xuanji nodded obediently, but screamed in her heart, why are they talking about such a boring topic? ! Could it be that they have reached the point where they need to be polite to each other? ! However, why can’t she stop her urge to talk nonsense even though she knows this is wrong?

But if she didn’t speak, the scene would fall into an extremely awkward silence, so awkward that she fidgeted and wanted to escape the room. She picked up the teacup and hesitated for a long time before saying, “So … has your lover curse been solved? Is it better now?”

Yu Sifeng was silent for a moment before he said calmly: “No. But it’s not a problem anymore, as long as you don’t show up in front of me.”

Xuanji’s heart trembled, she lost the grip on the tea cup in her hand, and with a splash all the hot tea inside was poured on her legs. She didn’t seem to notice at all, but looked at him with a pale. Suddenly he rushed over, snatched the tea cup in her hand, and then asked sternly, “How is it? Are you burned?!”

Xuanji felt that her whole person seemed to be thrown far away in an instant, and her reaction to everything in the room was extremely slow. Seeing that she did not say anything but only trembled as if in great pain, Yu Sifeng was so anxious, he tore off her shoes and went to roll up the leg of her trousers.

Suddenly some water fell on his hands, his movements slowed down, and then he slowly raised his head. Her face was full of tears, falling endlessly, but she didn’t say a word.

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[1]: Please note that there are multiple types of trees that are referred to as Phoenix trees, such as the palm trees whose scientific name for that genus is Phoenix. However, the text is most probably referring to a species of flowering plant, Delonix regia, which is also known as ‘golden phoenix tree’.