But to this day, there had been no news of Xi Jin. He was never seen again after the incident in the ice room—he had completely disappeared.
On August 29th, Feng Tianlan got up early as usual and asked the guards if there was any news about Xi Jin, but the answer was still no.
After a meal, Feng Tianlan changed into comfortable clothes and went out. Based on her childhood memories, she wanted to check the places Xi Jin might go. But when she arrived at the gate of the house, she saw a familiar graceful man with a pair of snake eyes from yesterday walk towards her. She stopped.
“Miss Feng.” Weng Yue waved at Feng Tianlan. “I’m Weng Yue, Deng Hu’s chief disciple.”
Feng Tianlan glanced at him aloofly, then retracted her gaze from him. “Is something wrong?”
When this man looked at others, he looked like a cold poisonous snake staring at its prey. It felt very uncomfortable. No one wanted to be considered another person’s prey.
“I’m here to guide Miss Feng on pill-making at the order of my master.” Weng Yue put down his hand and looked up at Feng Tianlan. Even though he had seen her yesterday, he still felt mesmerized when he saw her.
However, the more beautiful a woman was, the more pretentious she was as well, so it was better to stay away.
“Not now. I have something to do, so let’s talk another day.” Feng Tianlan refused him in a cold voice and passed by Weng Yue.
Weng Yue calmly followed her. “My teacher is afraid that Miss Feng will lose too badly, so I have to teach Miss Feng pill-making in preparation for the competition, lest people say that I bully Miss Feng at that time.”
“No need, Master Weng himself needs to practice more so as to not get slapped in the face by his own self-confidence.” Feng Tianlan did not stop walking. Her voice was still cold. She didn’t like Weng Yue.
Upon hearing her words, Weng Yue stopped, frowned, and stared at Feng Tianlan’s retreating back. She did not turn back to look and did not stop for even a moment. She was really resolute.
She was really self-confident after all. She looked down on him and didn’t take him as a worthy opponent. This made him angry. A woman like her who was too arrogant was not cute at all. As expected, the more beautiful a woman was, the uglier her personality was.
…
Xi Jin was still wearing the same clothes he wore on the day he left. With his hair disheveled, he sat in a corner of the room just like that. Because he hadn’t tidied himself up for two or three days, he looked very ragged—like a beggar on the street.
He stared at the pictures in the room blankly. They were of a woman with a sweet smile in a red dress. She was so beautiful, but in the end, she only experienced deep despair. In the end, she was wrapped in the arms of a bloodied man. She closed her eyes tightly and stopped moving. He could feel the sadness of that man just looking at the painting. Was she really dead?
He turned his head and saw a picture on another wall, but this one was of Feng Tianlan whom he knew now. She had domineering eyes and wore white clothes in this portrait of her and Si Mobai. They appeared blissful. They were such a good match.
But after the picture of bliss, he saw Si Mobai put on the red attire of the bridegroom while Feng Tianlan wore a phoenix crown. Standing in front of Si Mobai, there was tolerance and stubbornness in her lively eyes…
In this red portrait, the white orchid hosta was broken in half on the ground. She and Si Mobai were back to back, facing opposite directions. Their pose was so decisive and sad that even though the painting was red, it was so mournful, it gave off the feeling of a grey world.
