Estranged Chapter 4

Published at 1st of August 2021 09:25:27 AM

Chapter 4. Someone screamed!

“Have you eaten yet?”

Changming looked at the baked sweet potato in the boy’s hand.

No one knows how long it has been since this sweet potato was cooked, but it didn’t seem to be very fresh.

The boy silently put his hand behind his back.

Changming took out a plate of fresh bamboo shoots and fish fillets from the kitchen, scooped up some leftovers, and put them on the table.

The food was cold, but in order to warm it, he would have had to light the fire again. Changming didn’t feel like going through such a troublesome task.

If you want to embark on the cultivation road, you will have to go through all kinds of hardships and obstacles. Besides, it is better to eat leftovers than roasted sweet potatoes that have been left for a long time.

As expected, the young boy stared at the food, stuffed the roasted sweet potato into his pocket, and rushed to the table. Not even using chopsticks, he reached for the food with his hands and wolfed down the food. It is unknown how long has he been hungry.

When he raised his head after he finished eating, he realized that Changming was already gone.

The boy wiped his mouth with his sleeve, hesitated for a moment, got up, took the dishes and chopsticks away and cleaned them. He opened the door to leave, but couldn’t help staying for a while.

Under the moonlight, two little paper men were taking turns chopping and collecting firewood, moving very quickly; another one, with his back turned to him, was squatting on the ground peeling peanuts.

But Changming, who was supposed to be working, sat near the table, drinking tea and looking at the moon, languid and careless, satisfied with everything.

The boy was dumbfounded.

He has also heard that there was a newcomer under Chef He who was diligent and handy, and could do anything quickly and well. Chef He liked that person and intended to accept him as an apprentice. The boy did not expect him to be such a character.

Anyone who has others work for him can be fast and capable, ah!

“What’s your name?”

Changming suddenly spoke, distracting the boy from staring at the puppets.

The boy whispered: “Xiao Yun.”

Changming: “Which ‘yun’?”

Boy: “Yun from ‘blue sky, white cloud’.”

Cloud: Yun – ‘cloud’, Weisi – ‘not thinking’.

Not only did they look alike, but he also had a ‘cloud’ in his name.

Changming really started to suspect that this boy was Yun Weisi’s illegitimate child.

“Who are your father and mother? Your father’s surname is Yun?”

The boy: “My parents were hunters in the mountains, but they both died. The steward of the outer sect is my distant cousin. Seeing that I am poor, he is letting me come here and run some errands.”

Changming frowned: “Then have you ever heard about Yun Weisi?”

The young man shook his head without hesitation, and he didn’t seem to be lying.

He helplessly stood there for a long time. Seeing that Changming didn’t intend to ask anything else, he couldn’t help but look at him quietly, only to feel that no matter what the other person did, even if he held his forehead while thinking, he was still the most beautiful person Xiao Yun has ever seen.

But the young man didn’t dare to stay for too long for fear of disgusting the other. He paused for a while and irresolutely said in a low voice.

“If the senior has nothing to order, I will go back first. Tha… thank you for helping me today…”

“Where do you live?” Changming got himself together.

“Halfway up the back of the mountain.”

It was not far away.

Changming: “I remember the forest halfway up the mountain, the mushrooms there are delicious.”

The boy: “There are some, but you have to get up early to pick them. There grows a ‘morning dew’ mushroom, which only appears before sunrise and will always disappear right after it.”

Changming: “I heard old He mentioning mushrooms that are hard to pick but delicious. It’s late, go and take a rest.”

Hearing his words, the boy left.

He walked far away and couldn’t help but look back.

Covered with leaves, the other’s figure under the moonlight was a little vague, but he could see Changming clearly nevertheless.

The boy himself didn’t understand why he was so obsessed with Changming.

Maybe deep in his heart he felt as if he met someone after a long separation.

Or maybe he was the mysterious figure that kept lingering in his dream.

That night was destined to change his boring life and start an adventure.

Early the next morning, as soon as Changming opened the door, he saw a basket full of ‘morning dew’ mushrooms on the table in the yard.

The dew on the mushroom caps had not yet evaporated, they were still fragrant. It was obvious that it hadn’t been long since they were picked.

There was only one person who could bring this basket of mushrooms.

There was no one outside the yard, which showed that the other party had no intention of waiting to ask for compensation.

Changming snapped his fingers and instructed the two paper puppets to stay and clean up the room, while he carried the basket to Chef He.

This kind of mushroom is common but difficult to gather. Chef He mentioned he wanted it for cooking several times, so he would definitely be pleased to see this basket.

As for the two puppets, as long as someone gets close, they will automatically return to their original shape, so he wouldn’t be discovered.

It’s not wrong to say that this Art of transforming appearances is not difficult, but there were not many who could really master this technique, and those who could were all great masters, sects’ founders. Unless a person saw it with his own eyes like Xiao Yun, he could not guess such a brilliant Art of transforming appearances was actually performed by a cook’s helper.

When he approached Chef He’s residence, Changming heard important news that made the whole Qixian Sect worried—

A subordinate of the Jianxue Sect’s head, lord of the Lingbo Peak Xu Jingxian came to congratulate Liu Xiyu on his wedding, and asked for a person of the Qixian Sect.

“We are a poor humble sect, who do they want?”

Changming heard Chef He’s question when he came close enough.

“I heard that they want shishu Liu himself!”

The other person lowered his voice, but didn’t pay attention to Changming beside them.

Chef He jumped for surprise.

“What? It’s rare for our Qixian Sect to receive such a talented disciple, and they dare to ask for shishu Liu?! Wha, what do they want from shishu Liu?”

“Are you really stupid or just pretending? The Jianxue Sect’s head, this devil, eats both men and women, who of those he wanted have actually returned back? Either they were used as cultivation furnaces and lost their skills completely, or they became pets under his feet! Do you think something good will happen if our shishu Liu goes there?”

“But, but shishu Liu is the best candidate for taking over the sect in the future! Also, he is about to get married, how could they… Is the Jianxue Sect’s head really devoid of all humanity?!”

“We can only blame shishu Liu’s ‘jade gentleman’ reputation, which attracted the attention of this devil, ai! I heard that some time ago, there was a horrible scandal because of his ‘next Sect Master’ title.”

“Why don’t I know about it?”

“Is that something you should know? I also heard it from the close maid of the Sect Master’s wife. She said that Hua Qingming, the worry-free shidi of shishu Liu, was dissatisfied with shishu Liu being appointed as the next head. He ran to the Sect Master, made a big scene in front of him, and left the sect right after that incident. On departure he said something about shishu Liu’s good looks. I think he ran to the Jianxue Clan and said something, otherwise how could such a coincidence happen? Hua Qingming just left the sect, and now people from the Jianxue Clan are coming!”

“Then what about shishu Liu’s marriage?”

“The people from the Jianxue Clan said that he should get married first, and then take his new wife to the Jianxue Clan as a guest. The people of the Xiao family were so terrified when they heard about it that they wanted to break off the engagement. Right now, they are arguing with the Sect Master and shishu Liu in the main hall!”

“Then tomorrow’s wedding…”

“Everything is messed up. I’m afraid the wedding will not be held. If it’s the Jianxue Clan, who would dare to give his daughter?”

Even when the man saw Changming, he didn’t bother to lower his voice. Sooner or later, everyone in the sect would know what happened.

If the Jianxue Clan’s messenger insisted on having the man, then the leader would have to face a dilemma.

If he doesn’t surrender the man, he will offend the Jianxue Clan’s head.

With the strength and style of the Jianxue Clan, it was an easy task for them to massacre the whole Qixian Sect.

But if they give up on Liu Xiyu, the Qixian Sect will completely lose its face, and will have no hope of rising to power.

Changming didn’t interrupt from beginning to end and just listened silently.

He was thinking about his foolish disciples, who were all living so well, scaring everyone, and only he was in a tight corner, lodging under someone else’s roof.

He thought again about how eccentric and unreasonable Zhou Keyi was during those years, tending to extremes at the slightest pretext. It’s been so many years, but, indeed, one’s nature can hardly be altered—he has made a lot of “progress”.

The person who was gossiping with Chef He quickly left. Chef He sighed.

“Have you heard that too?”

He glanced at Changming.

“Even though it looks like this sect has a lot of disciples, it really is worth close to nothing in the eyes of others. Unless the Sect Master can change the Jianxue Clan envoy’s mind… Ai, say, if he really sends the man there, can we still hold our heads high outside the Qixian Sect in the future?”

Chef He didn’t expect Changming to come up with any ideas, he was just looking for someone to talk to.

Changming said: “Can Liu Xiyu win the fight against the Jianxue Clan’s envoy?”

Just as Chef He wanted to say he doesn’t know either, they heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the main peak.

The two followed the sound, and saw the dazzling and clear sky above the Sanqing hall of the main peak, bright as the rising sun.

A sword broke through the sky with a loud noise, and at the same time bells rang, crisply and clear, like small colluding jades; but these two sounds mixed at the moment, becoming a grating noise. It made their eardrums hurt, and they couldn’t help covering their ears.

Chef He gasped. It was obvious he felt uneasy.

The two figures fighting in the air were faintly discernible, they vaguely saw a man and a woman.

The man was holding the sword, and the woman was using a thin silk.

“It’s shishu Liu!”

Not waiting for Changming to question, Chef He revealed the man’s identity.

“The other one seems to be the Jianxue Clan’s demonic cultivator. Did they hand him over?”

From a large distance the whole picture can be seen more clearly.

Although Changming was in poor health and his cultivation had not yet recovered, his eyesight was still sharp.

Very quickly he concluded that Liu Xiyu was about to lose.

Just as expected, in a time enough to burn an incense stick, the light of the sword became dimmer, and the thin silk took advantage of the sword’s weakness to grip it firmly. The true qi seized the opportunity to turn the sword into dust.

Liu Xiyu shrank back and fell to the ground, disappearing from their sight. In all likelihood, he was badly injured.

Chef He let out a sigh, obviously losing all hope.

But this outcome came as no surprise to Changming.

Among the Qixian Sect disciples, he was a genius, but only among them.

What’s more, this envoy of the Jianxue Clan was not ordinary indeed.

Changming didn’t care whether Liu Xiyu would succeed or fail in this battle, but it is crucial for the Qixian Sect.

Not only Chef He sighed in despair, almost everyone Changming saw was upset and frowned.

They all knew very well that Liu Xiyu might not have been able to avoid the fate of entering the Jianxue Clan.

When outsiders would see that even the Qixian Sect’s head disciple was thrown away, perhaps the Qixain Sect would lose all its prospects.

Seeing that Chef He was not in the mood to check whether the ‘morning dew’ mushrooms were fresh, Changming put down the basket, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. Knowing that his old wound was about to cause troubles, he quickly found an excuse to leave and returned to his residence.

At that moment, his body was like a candle flickering in the wind. He was suffering heavily even from taking a single breath. Although his health has improved slightly, and he looked like an ordinary person on the surface, the pain was still excruciatingly sharp, and sometimes he couldn’t control himself.

He endured it all the way until he opened the door, and only then Changming staggered, and fell to the floor, losing consciousness.

If it was another place, he would definitely not dare to faint like this, he would have struggled to the last to keep his soul sober. But residing in the Qixian Sect had an advantage. This place was hidden from the world, deserted and quiet; normally even Chef He rarely came over. It was an excellent place to recuperate, much safer than elsewhere.

Some time passed.

Changming felt that as if there was someone beating a drum, causing pain in his heart and ears. He suddenly woke up because of a fierce violent commotion nearby.

Someone was screaming!

This voice was so familiar!

It sounded not far away!

Changming opened his eyes abruptly. His face was pale, and his body hadn’t recovered from the twinge of pain just now.

But he already remembered who it was.

It was Xiao Yun, that boy!

The author has something to say:

Xiao Yun and Yun Weisi have a very, very, very, very close relationship.

But it is neither son-father nor rejuvenation.

Guess hahahaha~~

Chapter end