Chapter 62: From the Flower Reflects a Picture – Part 18

 

 

The roots of Ming ChangYan’s ears turned red, and he immediately laughed it off, “Alright alright, Baili, just tell that story to me again.”

Baili Deng immediately retold the story from before again to Ming ChangYan, after he finished he said, “Why does Madame want to hear this story?”

Ming ChangYan said, “Just curious! Your story is so detailed like you experienced it yourself, where did you hear it from? Tell me the truth, are you the person who survived in the story?”

Baili promptly said, “It’s merely hearsay I heard when traveling outside the capital.”

“Where exactly? Who told you?”

“It, it was simply a chance meeting, I really don’t know.”

Seeing how the other was nervous, Ming ChangYan hooked him by the shoulders and walked to the side, “Ey, I won’t tell anyone else! There were only a handful of sects that were wiped out these past few years, you should at least know which sect was wiped out in the story.”

Baili hesitated for a bit as if thinking before finally saying, “It….it was LingYun.”

After receiving an answer, Ming ChangYan was satisfied and let Baili Deng go, “Baili thank you very much for telling me.” Just as Baili let out a sigh of relief and was about to leave, he suddenly felt a strong murderous intent. At the same time, his subconscious was already starting to react, his sword hilt directly blocking a hand that was close to taking his life.

Ming ChangYan retracted his ominous semblance, smiling at Baili Deng, “Just joking around, Baili wouldn’t mind right.”

Baili Deng had been scared to death, but still cupped his hands and said, “If nothing else, then I’ll take my leave.”

Ming ChangYan waved his hand, signifying there was nothing else.

After waiting for Baili to leave, he turned around and said, “Huai Yu, I’ll go back to the inn first.”

Huai Yu nodded and followed him, Zhao XiaoLan too followed behind them.

After walking for a while, he suddenly asked, “What do you think?”

Ming ChangYan was still thinking when he smugly said, “Eight to nine out of ten.”

Zhao XiaoLan suddenly said, “This guard Baili is too old-fashioned! Too timid! Once, I invited him to come experience the dangers of Jianghu with me but he refused, he even told me to stay away from Zhu-xiong! He said that those Jianghu people were vicious at heart, that you can know a person for a long time without understanding their true nature! Then he told me to go back to the palace and study properly!”

Zhao XiaoLan didn’t believe Baili Deng’s warning at all, to put it into simpler terms, he believed too much in Zhu Rong, and so all of Baili’s words went in one ear and came out the other.

Hearing this, Ming ChangYan began thinking again. While Zhao XiaoLan was still chattering away beside them, he secretly said to Huai Yu, “Zhu Rong, this person, is very well disguised, he’s nearly impermeable. I have no real evidence to actually identify him as Zhuang Xiao.”

Huai Yu, “You’ve had doubts about him for a long time.”

Ming ChangYan nodded, “That’s right, I’ve sensed there was a problem with him for a while now, but it’s not because of his high cultivation or weird behavior, it’s instead the sound his bells make.”

“I noticed the sound of that bell the moment I heard it. The noise was indeed pleasant to the ear, people would go into a tranquil state of mind upon hearing it as if you could forget about all your troubles. It made people feel quite relaxed and carefree.”

Ming ChangYan rubbed his nose. He had just recalled Yi Yue’s death not long before meeting Zhu Rong for the first time. Although Ming ChangYan himself appeared low-spirited for two days before leaping and frisking about again, his heart wasn’t at all what he showed on the surface.

In truth, it was tormenting.

Naturally, he didn’t like people finding out about this state of mind.

He paused for a bit before continuing, “My mother was proficient at the Four Arts and could’ve been called a master, likewise I grew up with music in my childhood. It’s true that music could move people’s emotions, but never anything like Zhu Rong’s.”

“That is to say, what I felt at that time wasn’t my mood slowly changing, but as if that sound was forcibly controlling my emotions.”

His heart that was full of dysphoria back then was suddenly calmed down and forced into a peaceful state. The feeling was so unfamiliar, if he wasn’t so agitated back then, he wouldn’t even have noticed anything strange about Zhu Rong.

“Anyway, that feeling wasn’t normal, that I’m sure.” Upon hearing this, Huai Yu’s expression slightly sank.

Huai Yu said, “How could you feel it?” Ming ChangYan was afraid that Huai Yu would notice this and tactfully said, “Maybe….maybe I’m more sensitive?”

He then quickly summed up, “After making this point clear, a problem arises. It’s evident that the tranquilizing effect wasn’t caused by the bell, but the person using it. They’re the ones who could produce this calming sound, and there’s an 80 percent chance that they could make other sounds as well.”

“So then why would he want to constantly use the bell sound for calming purposes? For other people to hear? For XiaoLan? Impossible, would XiaoLan need him controlling his mood to be happy? For me to hear? For you? For others? This doesn’t make sense.”

Huai Yu concluded, “For himself.”

“Yes, it could only be for himself. I’m guessing he’s actually completely different from the persona we’ve been seeing. He may be completely ruthless, cold-blooded, and monstrous. His personality and behavioral logic are different from ordinary people, or he’s experienced something that was extremely painful for him to endure, to the point where he can’t control himself, so it makes sense for him to use other means to try and control it.”

Him, “Too bad Zhu Rong ran away. Otherwise, we could’ve caught him and questioned him about the whole sequence of events. These people who’ve done a lot of bad in their life would be keener when it comes to crutch situations.”

At this time, Zhao XiaoLan had already walked ahead of them, glancing around looking very happy.

Huai Yu said, “What did you want to ask?”

Ming ChangYan gave him a faint smile, “For example, if there was something working with him behind the scenes, if he wanted to hurt me, if he and I had any sort of animosity, if he knew the person who’d been imitating me. Ever since my death two years ago, that person has never given up on shifting the blame on me. It’s just that, I don’t know. They’ve already killed me, why do they keep attacking me? Do they hate me so much that they’d torment me even after my death?”

Huai Yu, “Why do they want you dead.”

Ming ChangYan, “Probably for their benefit.”

Huai Yu said, “How many people know you’re still alive?”

Ming ChangYan, “Not many. But the needle sect exterminations never stopped, it didn’t just start after I came back to life.”

Huai Yu said, “But they came to the palace right after you woke up. This signifies that they knew you were alive, and knew ahead of anyone else.”

There was a slight pause in Ming ChangYan’s steps.

He thought for a moment, “There is no such person.”

Huai Yu looked as he wanted to say something, but seeing how confident Ming ChangYan was, he decided not to say.

Ming ChangYan said, “I have to restore all of my cultivation before the Great FengShan Feast. Huai Yu, how much more of that medicine do you have? I might as well just drink all of it at once!”

Huai Yu said coldly, “Do you think drinking all of it at once will make you better.”

Ming ChangYan began, “I can’t wait any longer. The Great FengShan Feast….”

There was a brief pause, “In short, there’s going to be people there that I really don’t want to meet.”

Huai Yu abruptly changed the subject, “Ming ChangYan, have you never doubted the people around you?”

Ming ChangYan, “What?”

Huai Yu, “Since someone knows you’re alive and arranged all of this, then why don’t you think, who’s known you were alive since the very beginning.”

Ming ChangYan questioned, “Are you talking about Lady Hua?”

Huai Yu didn’t say anything, only continuing to walking forward.

Ming ChangYan laughed, “How could it have been her! Even if I cast my doubts on everyone in this world, I still wouldn’t cast doubts on her.”

With that, Huai Yu asked, “What about me?”

Ming ChangYan felt rather strange, “What’s wrong with you? Why would I doubt you again?”

He chased after the other, “Ay, ay, ay! Huai Yu, Young Prime Minister! I’ll stop talking, why are you angry again? Can’t you give me notice in advance next time?”

“Fine fine fine, I’ll doubt you, I’ll doubt you immediately! Young Prime Minister, tell me, were you secretly planning all of this because you were jealous that this shaoxia’s cultivation was higher than yours? You bore a grudge, ganged up with XiaoHan Temple, and together decided to send me to eternal damnation!”

Huai Yu stopped and gave him an icy glare.

Ming ChangYan quickly held up both of his hands, “I’ll stop talking, I was wrong!”

Huai Yu, “What were you wrong about.”

Regardless of the consequences, Ming ChangYan explained his mistakes, and made a profound self-criticism, “I was wrong about everything, alright! Don’t ignore me.”

He always admits his mistakes but never repents. Huai Yu was already aware of Ming shaoxia’s bad habits, and so he chose to disregard it.

Ming ChangYan said, “Little Huai Yu, there’s a person behind debts, people behind injustices, you should at least find a reason for suspicion. If you want to doubt Lady Hua, you have to first disregard the years-long friendship the two of us share. She can’t even walk on too long of a road with a body like hers, she has to stop and rest every few steps, how would she even be capable of setting me up? Besides, what benefit would she gain from killing me?”

Huai Yu said, “It’s fine if you don’t doubt her, why are you explaining this to me.”

This single sentence dejected Ming shaoxia.

Upon further thought, he realized what he said made sense.

Why was he so nervous? Why did he explain so much to Huai Yu? Because he was afraid that Huai Yu would be jealous?

Thinking of this, Ming shaoxia’s thoughts suddenly became a blur. He shook his head and thought: It’s all nonsense in your head! Nope nope! Forget about it!!

Huai Yu called out, “Why aren’t you keeping up, I can’t talk back to you now!”

Ming ChangYan used his hands to fan his cheeks while also hastily cooling them down, before saying, “You can you can, everything’s all up to you, when we return to the capital, I’ll definitely question Lady Hua!”

Huai Yu pursed his lips, “Whatever you want!”

After the Fireworks Festival, Zhu Rong completely disappeared from everyone’s sight.

Ming ChangYan finally had a moment of leisure and left from Huai Yu for a few days.

Because of everything that had happened before, the two were like conjoined twins, almost inseparable. Ming ChangYan was somewhat unaccustomed to this sudden separation.

Hua YunChang asked, “Zhao Zhao, what’s wrong, heats only come in summer.”

There was a slight pause in the hand Ming ChangYan was using to feed the fish, “Who’s in heat!”

Hua YunChang clapped her hands, “You, of course, is there anyone else in my courtyard?”

Ming ChangYan, “I’m not feeding them anymore.”

Hua YunChang smiled, “It seems that your thoughts were never on this fish in the first place.”

Xiao A-Chai also made fun of him, “Young master ChangYan, others buy fish to take home and eat, but you, you buy fish to raise in a barrel.”

Ming ChangYan plucked a green foxtail from the courtyard and used it to tease the fish in the barrel.

Hua YunChang said, “What, you quarreled with the other fish out there, and now you’ve come to buy a fish and vent your anger?”

Hearing this, Ming ChangYan sighed. He then asked, “Actually, I came here today to ask you a question. Xiao A-Chai, go to the kitchen and cook this fish for your lady.”

Xiao A-Chai knew that this was Ming ChangYan signaling her to leave, thus she wiped off her smile, agreed, and went into the kitchen.

Ming ChangYan said, “Yun Luo, are you still refusing to tell me what exactly is wrong with your body?”

Hua YunChang sat on a stool and asked with a smile, “Why did you suddenly call me by my name, it’s been more than ten years since someone’s called me that.”

Ming ChangYan paused then questioned, “Yun Luo, who else besides you knows that I’m not dead?”

Hua YunChang began, “Are you suspecting me?”

After hearing her bold words, Ming ChangYan decided to be direct with her, “Not to that extent, I was just casually asking.”

Hua YunChang sighed.

Ming ChangYan’s heart tightened, “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean to suspect you, I just…..”

Hua YunChang whisphered, “So it’s true that you can’t retrieve girls that have been married off.”

Ming ChangYan expressionlessly said, “……think the person behind everything is definitely you!”

Hua YunChang laughed and said, “Zhao Zhao has been deceived by a few words from people outside and is now coming here to suspect me. If I wanted to kill you, you would’ve died a thousand and eight hundred times already.”

Ming ChangYan thought about it, and she was right.

Hua YunChang grinned, “Zhao Zhao, just because I’m fond of you, doesn’t mean you can be unrestrained with me, I’m very upset.”

Ming ChangYan chuckled, “So what if I want to be unrestrained!” He then turned serious, “Look, when I first saw you, my body was almost as crippled as yours, practically helpless; and now? I’m almost back to how I was before.”

“I think that if I got Huai Yu to come take a look at you, he might be able to cure you, though I’d have to nicely beg him for him to agree.”

After hearing this, Hua YunChang ultimately said, “Forget it. Didn’t you want to know what happened to my body? I can tell you.”

After a pause, she gently began, “At that time, NanRou was destroyed by DaChu, I was captured by the DaChu army and thrown into the barracks. That day just happened to be my fifteenth birthday.”

Ming ChangYan asked, “And then?”

Hua YunChang smiled, “That’s it.”

Ming ChangYan was surprised, “That’s it?”

Hua YunChang, “Of course, what else do you want?”

Ming ChangYan was still befuddled, “You were captured, then what? They beat you and rendered you crippled? That doesn’t make sense, with your cultivation, you couldn’t have been crippled so easily!”

Hua YunChang laughed at his innocence, only saying, “I am responsible for my high cultivation, but how could I stand up to thousands of troops. Besides, I was only fifteen years old at that time. No matter how powerful I was among my peers, I will still only a knife that hadn’t been sharpened yet. Zhao Zhao, what do you think happens to girls who are thrown into the barracks?”

She didn’t say anything, but Ming ChangYan’s expression turned a deathly pale.

Hua YunChang continued, “I’ve already let go of the past, if you want to leave a few tears for me, then I will remember your kindness. It’s just that I don’t need your tears, Zhao Zhao, sit down.”

After a long time of silence, Ming ChangYan slapped himself.

But in mid-air, this slap was stopped by Hua YunChang.

“What are you doing? I was the one who wanted to tell you, what’s it got to do with you?”

Ming ChangYan pursed his lips and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Hua YunChang gave him a soft smile, “Oh you, I said I wouldn’t tell you, but you just kept pestering me. Now that I’ve told you, you’re hurting my heart by doing this again.”

She poured a cup of tea and handed it to Ming ChangYan, “This life of mine is already over, but seeing you slowly walk a similar path as me, I have to remind you that in this world, cultivation isn’t everything.”

“You know the person behind this has a lot of influence, they’re setting traps to try and kill you. You’ve already ‘died’ once, why haven’t you learned your lesson, continuing to get involved with Jianghu.”

Hua YunChang seemed to have recalled something, saying, “But I’m surprised by how well you’ve recovered, did you get a hold of the Immortal Grass?”

Ming ChangYan said, “No, I didn’t find the Immortal Grass when I went to the palace, it’s all because of Huai Yu’s brilliant medical skills.”

Hua YunChang nodded then continued, “Listen to my advice, it’s better if you abandon everything, find a mountain full of vegetation and settle down.”

Hearing this, he waved his hand and dismissed, “Nope. That person has harmed to this extent, if I don’t make mincemeat out of them, then even if I went through purgatory, I’d still crawl my way back up.”

Hua YunChang said, “You and your temperament, I persuade you a hundred times and you won’t listen, what a headache. Zhao Zhao, I really won’t let me be worry-free. You’re always out there fighting and killing, while I’m over here filled with anxiety that one day, I might have to go and collect your corpse.”

Ming ChangYan assured, “Don’t worry, I’ll avenge Yi Yue and YuLou before you could collect my corpse.” He then asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Hua YunChang said, “It’s just that you changed a lot, I almost couldn’t believe it.”

Ming ChangYan, “How come I didn’t know that I’ve changed that much.”

Hua YunChang, “If it’d been the you from before sitting here, you would’ve most likely said ‘how many people in this world would ever be as talented as me’ or, ‘what number one in this world doesn’t toy around.’”

Ming ChangYan tapped his forefinger on the table, and he suddenly felt a little fidgety, “Really.”

Ming ChangYan knew that he was different from how he was in the past. Nowadays, all he wanted was for him, his sister, and YuLou to not have died without a cause. Ming ChangYan was well aware, although Huai Yu’s medical skills were almost a defiance to the natural order, it was still unable to completely restore his cultivation to what it had been before.

Without the strength he had before, and his encounter with life and death, he was no longer able to be as blindly self-confident and only care about prestige anymore. But for him to let it go was simply impossible. And now, even if they perished together, Ming ChangYan would never let the person behind all of this go.

Hua YunChang sighed again, looking at him with eyes full of worry.

Ming ChangYan stayed there for a few days.

But in reality, he couldn’t stay a second day. Hua YunChang’s residence wasn’t far from the palace and according to his qinggong skills, it only took two incense sticks for him to go back and forth.

However, he thought for a whole day and night, but couldn’t think of rational reasons for him to visit Huai Yu, making him feel bitter.

On the third day, Ming shaoxia had the guts to push open the door. This time, he didn’t care whether or not he had a reason or not. If he had a reason, then he’d go honorably, even if he didn’t have a reason, couldn’t he just secretly enter without notice?

He changed clothes and entered through ShaoYang gate. After leaping through roofs and vaulting over walls, he landed in the Ninety-Ninth Palace’s front corridor.

At this moment, Zhao XiaoLan hurrying past this very corridor.

Ming ChangYan didn’t expect to bump into him, but with his current appearance it wasn’t convenient for him to greet him, so he merely watched as Zhao XiaoLan walked towards the Ninety-Ninth Palace.

Huai Yu seemed to have been waiting for a long time, as soon as Zhao XiaoLan arrived at the entrance, he walked out.

Ming ChangYan sat on top of the palace corridor and found an area that was out of sight.

Zhao XiaoLan began, “Huai Yu-gege, I came to fetch the medicine!”

Ming ChangYan suddenly remembered that a few days ago, he had promised Zhao XiaoLan to let Huai Yu give him an extra ointment so that he could use it to treat Li Li’s old scars.

Huai Yu took out two cases of ointment from his cuffs. His hand was hanging in midair when he suddenly took it back.

Not only was Zhao XiaoLan stunned, but the Ming ChangYan who was still on top of the corridor was also a bit stunned.

He thought: What’s Huai Yu doing?

Huai Yu said, “I’m coming with you.”

Zhao XiaoLan was surprised, “What?”

Huai Yu stated, “Just in case, I want to have a look at her scars to confirm I prescribed the right medicine that has the better result.”

Zhao XiaoLan mumbled, “This, this…..”

Huai Yu, “What’s the matter?”

There was a slight change in Zhao XiaoLan’s expression, he said, “I don’t think that’s right, Huai Yu-gege, what would Yan-jiejie do if she found out. Although it’s said that the folk customs of our Central Plains are quite open, it’s okay for a doctor to examine a female’s arm.”

“But when it’s said and done, Maiden Li Li is the number one beauty in the world, and Huai Yu-gege was born attractive. It’s always been difficult to guess what’s going on inside a woman’s mind, even if there isn’t anything between you and Li Li, if Yan-jiejie found out, she’d definitely start filling her mind with nonsense.”

Huai Yu was dazed and said, “You don’t read books, you don’t attend class, it seems that you’ve only been using your brain to study these dishonest practices. I want you to know that if you used the wrong medicine, the scars may stay there forever, so it’s better if I see it with my own eyes.”

In a nervous state, Zhao XiaoLan was quick to say, “No, no! Huai Yu-gege, I haven’t…..I, I was just babbling! I’ve been reading, I’ve been reading…..”

Huai Yu felt disinclined to reply, walking ahead without glancing back.

Zhao XiaoLan cried out, “Huai Yu-gege! Wait for me, why don’t you go greet Yan-jiejie instead…..” He finally voiced his inner concerns, “If Yan-jiejie found out, she’d definitely get jealous….besides, you’re, you’re good-looking, what if Li Li falls in love with you!”

Ming ChangYan laughed as he sat on top of the wall, unable to restrain a smile: Zhao XiaoLan that child, he’s making me seem way too petty, why would I get jealous of Huai Yu over something like this.

And yet unpredictably, Huai Yu replied, “Heh, perhaps.”

Ming ChangYan was expressionless: fuck

 

The author has something to say:

Ming shaoxia is lighting fast!

Of course Huai Yu knows that there’s a pair of small eyes staring at him.

 

 

 

This was translated by https://poppyscanlations.video.blog/, any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my translations I’ll tease you with a foxtail.

 

 

 

aaaaaahhh, I forgot to post the MCY doodle that I promised like two chapters ago, so I’ll post it here!! I’ll probably put a Huai Yu in the next chapter I post. Just warning you, that this was drawn some time ago and there are parts of it that aren’t that good hahaha (・・；)

It’s my birthday soon and my mother wants to go on a road trip with me, so I’ll probably be gone for a week until the next chapter is posted.

If you see any grammatical/translation errors please tell me!! I cringe everytime I spot a grammar issue in my posts.

Have fantastic day guys~~~

 

 

 

Chapter 61 : Table of Contents : Chapter 63