Chapter 635: The Catkins
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Qing had desired to do this for a long, long time. He just wanted to check and find out if his Master’s handsome face was real.
He desired to lie on that bamboo chair, or pick up the Master White Ghost and rub him. But all of these desires stayed only in his mind.
Nobody even knew that he had these thoughts.
Though it seemed inappropriate to do so, Yuan Qü had done it; Zhuo Rusui had done it shamelessly; and Ping Yongjia had done it without knowing the consequence. Gu Qing was the only one who had never done it.
Because of that, he became a prudent and meticulous Big Brother on Shenmo Peak. It wasn’t until today that he demonstrated his childish side.
The reason he suddenly became brazen was because he planned to carry out an important task that day. No matter if he succeeded in his effort or not, he would die in the process.
With the long night waiting ahead, he had nothing to fear any longer, and he had no need to pretend. To say nothing of his Master’s face, he wasn’t even afraid of touching Senior Master Zhao’s dimples.
Thinking of all this, Gu Qing rearranged the quilt covering Jing Jiu and tucked it in with great care, though he knew it was meaningless to do so.
Keeping to some kind of a ritual was very important for him at the moment; it could help him cool down and then gain more courage and strength.
He walked out of the room and arrived in the quiet courtyard, standing in the spot where the begonia tree used to be and craning his head to look at the catkins drifting in the air.
Protected by the formations of the Green Mountain Sect, the Fruit Formation Temple, the Water-Moon Nunnery, and the One-Cottage House, the Jing House had become a fortress. It was mostly isolated from the world, and the irresistible catkins couldn’t even penetrate it. The thin layer of catkins attaching to the surface of the formation looked like a layer of fog, blurring the sky and the sun. However, the scene gave off a sensation of indescribable beauty. Like many things in the world, it became incomprehensible.
There were only three swords in Zhaoge City, so the complete Sword Formation of Slaying Fairies couldn’t be deployed. Gu Qing could only hope that he and Ping Yongjia could work together to maximize the effect of the three hidden moves of the Inherited Heaven Sword style.
A faint sword light suddenly appeared in the sky.
The sword light was not visible in the high sky. It didn’t exude any energy and a faint blood color until it arrived outside the Jing House, so it wasn’t noticed by anyone.
Crack!!!
The Thoughtless Sword arrived soundlessly and landed on Gu Qing’s wrist before it turned into a sword bracelet.
Looking at the sword bracelet, Gu Qing was moved, saying nothing for a long while. Zhao Layue must have guessed that he had encountered some sort of trouble so that she sent the Thoughtless Sword to Zhaoge City via sword traveling with no regard for her own injury. What trust and friendship she had shown him…But he had thought of touching her dimples. Gu Qing felt ashamed.
The Buddhist temple that had been moved here from the Net-Perception Temple on the street one hundred years ago glittered under the sunlight. The newly grown green leaves on the trees in its courtyard were swaying in the wind.
Seeing this scene and sensing the coldness on his wrist, Gu Qing suddenly felt relaxed. He folded his arms behind his head while walking toward the other end of the street, though it was a rather awkward posture.
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A door opened and then closed with a squeaking sound as Liu Shisui walked out from the backyard with a bowl in his hands.
Since he came to Zhaoge City for the first guarding duty of the One-Cottage House led by Bu Qiuxiao, Liu Shisui had never left. He had been guarding the courtyard for eighty years.
He walked to the window and looked in at Jing Jiu, finding that everything was in order. “What has happened?” he wondered loudly.
Xiao He came up behind him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Liu Shisui said, “Gu Qing has been staying in the study room for a long time over the last few days, and he has talked a bit too much. Something is obviously wrong. We wash my Young Master twice a day; I do it during the day and he does it at night. But he did it during the day today.”
Xiao He had been cautious and displeased with Gu Qing out of instinct back then. Many years had passed, and she didn’t have these sorts of emotions toward him any longer. “Is something bad going to happen to him?” she asked worriedly.
Liu Shisui handed the rice bowl to Xiao He, and said, “I’ll go have a look.”
Xiao He took the bowl and saw plenty of food remaining in the bowl, saying, “This is enough for my meal; I just eat this.”
“There is a half-bowl of meat dessert in the pot. Keep some for me,” said Liu Shisui.
“Okay,” said Xiao He.
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Ping Yongjia was not sure why Gu Qing brought him to the royal palace. What he was doing right now was to force out the sword wills from his body like what he had done one hundred years ago. He started recollecting and imitating how he had felt one hundred years ago.
In comparison to one hundred years ago, his sword wills were much more formidable now. They were not just seemingly tangible; they had an actual existence. These sword wills left countless visible marks on the ground in the square. If one looked down from the sky, the scene below would look like a huge drop of water falling on the ground and then splashing in all directions.
The guards, the servant girls and eunuchs of the royal palace were brought to the foot of the palace wall like what had been done to them one hundred years ago. It was eerily quiet in the square.
The Emperor Jing Yao was standing in front of the grand hall, looking at Ping Yongjia in the distance, feeling increasingly uneasy. “What is he going to do? Why is he going to use my sword?” he asked.
Standing by his side, the Drifter rolled up her eyes, and snapped, “He is actually your senior master; why can’t he use your sword?”
Jing Yao rubbed his nose as he thought that he actually could do nothing about it. Moreover, the First Child Sword seemed restless, and it would probably leave the sheath by itself in the next moment. “What can I do about it even if I want to?” he thought to himself.
No sooner had he thought of it than a clear sword sound rang out in front of the grand hall. The First Child Sword flew out of the sheath and arrived before Ping Yongjia, hovering quietly like an arrow that would shoot out at any moment. Feeling uneasy, Jing Yao complained, “If it’s something significant, shouldn’t he have told me first?”
The Drifter said uncomplainingly, “As emperors, all we need to do is take care of the important affairs; no need for us to worry about the trivial matters.”
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Smelling the faint aromatic scent up ahead and hearing the approaching noises, Gu Qing knew he was closer to the place. He halted his steps and pulled out the Sword of the Universe. He wrapped the sword with a cotton cloth of several feet long, and then tied it to his back, just like what he had done back then.
At one end of the street, Liu Shisui pulled up the conical hat and watched the scene at the other end. A puzzled expression showed on his dark face, as he wondered why Gu Qing came to the old plum garden.
It was then that the sword bracelet on his wrist suddenly started vibrating, making buzzing sounds.
Glancing at it, Liu Shisui couldn’t make out what message the Lone Sword tried to convey; he wondered if the sword intended to go to the old plum garden to join Gu Qing.
The sword bracelet vibrated more violently and made louder buzzing sounds. It seemed that the sword tried to remind him of not acting foolishly.
The sword intended to tell him: Don’t go there! Go back home! Your wife is waiting for you at home, and the bowl of meat dessert is waiting for you in the pot.
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The faint aromatic scent of the plum flowers could only be smelled in the distance; one couldn’t smell it when coming closer, except that the noise grew louder.
The chessboards were set up everywhere on the sides of the street. The idlers and scoundrels of Zhaoge City were standing around those chessboards, arguing loudly or complaining in whisper. Some of them cried agonizingly because they had lost all of their money.
The passing of one hundred years could change a lot of things. The chess stalls that were vanquished by Tong Yan more than one hundred years ago had been restored, and the business seemed to be more profitable than ever.
Seeing the scene, Gu Qing felt a bit sentimental while shaking his head. After refusing those scoundrels, he entered the old plum garden where not a soul could be found.
The old plum garden became more dilapidated, and fewer people could still remember that the first plum meeting took place here more than seven hundred years ago.
Passing over the small bridge on the lake and arriving in the sparse plum forest, Gu Qing saw the small nunnery ahead.
Tian Jinren stayed here when he came to Zhaoge City back then, and it was here that Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue met Jing Xin and the Royal Concubine Hu the first time.
Gu Qing didn’t enter the small nunnery immediately. Instead, he walked around the plum forest once before he climbed up the steps and knocked on the door.
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The windows in the nunnery were not clear, and the tables were not clean. It was dim inside the nunnery, with green smoke all over the place.
Gu Qing thought of the sky above the Jing House and the catkins.
Sitting behind the table was a youth in red clothing. He had a handsome face. His small smile drove the gloomy atmosphere away.
“Greetings, Senior Master,” said Gu Qing while bowing earnestly.
