Volume 17
Chapter 1675: “Fallen Flowers Might Pine, The Flowing Waters Merciless (3)”
“He’s really that good looking?” Gu Ying’s voice suddenly rang out within Gu Xin Yan’s ears and Gu Xin Yan was immediately bathed in cold sweat, quickly retracting her gaze.
Gu Xin Yan turned her head to look at Gu Ying, and discovered that the wine cup Gu Ying was holding was dripping wine out from its bottom. The wall of the wine cup was completely undamaged but its bottom must have crumbled from his crushing grip.
“The one who came over and spoke is the Dragon Slayers Palace’s Young Lord?” Gu Ying asked as he looked at Gu Xin Yan smilingly.
Gu Xin Yan could see from his eyes the thick and intense murder. “The might of the Dragon Slayers Palace has not been slow in their growth in the recent years and if there is no need, it is best that we do not start any feuds with them. Our target now is the Flame Demons Palace.”
Gu Xin Yan reminded in a low whisper.
Gu Ying suddenly laughed out loud. “What are you afraid of exactly? You’re afraid that I will kill the kid from the Dragon Slayers Palace or are you afraid that I will slaughter that one from the Shadow Moon Palace?”
Gu Xin Yan was startled. She had been discovered by Gu Ying as expected.
Gu Ying’s gaze then looked in the direction of Jun Wu Xie sitting not too far away, his eyes narrowing up slightly.
“His eyes, are so beautiful.”
Just those simple words, had driven chills into Gu Xin Yan’s entire body. Those were words she had heard before.
“Do not touch him!” Gu Xin Yan lost her composure in a moment of panic.
Gu Ying lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? So protective of him?”
Gu Xin Yan was astounded herself. In fact, she was not certain that that person was the same one in her heart. But the mannerisms, the gaze and that voice had been too similar which caused her sentiments to be transposed over. Regardless, she wouldn’t wish for the youth from the Shadow Moon Palace who was so similar to Jun Wu to fall under the venomous clutches of Gu Ying.
“I just do not want you to stir up any untoward incidents here in the Pure Grace Palace. Otherwise when we return, both of us would not be able to answer for it to Father. Please bear in mind that we are only here to celebrate the Palace Lord’s birthday.” Gu Xin Yan forced herself to calm down. She knew very well what Gu Ying was capable of and if she said too much about it, she would only anger him, bringing about an opposite effect.
Gu Ying merely smiled as he looked at Gu Xin Yan, but that smile just made Gu Xin Yan feel even more uneasy.
“I do not see you being that protective over that kid Zhuge Yin, but you’re so defensive over a mere youth from the Shadow Moon Palace instead. If I remember it correctly, you did not have much of an interaction with anyone from the Shadow Moon Palace before, so seeing you being so protective, makes me wonder why?”
“Nothing.” Gu Xin Yan regretted that she had not retracted her gaze in time earlier.
Gu Ying did not probe her any further but just turned his gaze to look at Jun Wu Xie who was seated not too far away, a thought provoking smile playing at the corners of his lips.
…..
Jun Wu Xie had not noticed how much strife her appearance here had stirred up, and was completely unaware that the attention Gu Xin Yan was paying to her had caused Zhuge Yin and Gu Ying to bear in mind of such a person. She just sat quietly in her seat, her gaze sweeping fleetingly over the crowd seated within the main hall, and among all those unfamiliar faces, to see several highly familiar faces. But the great rapport they all shared among themselves made the companions tacitly avoid each other eyes, looking like they completely did not know each other at all.
But they, were all chess pieces Jun Wu Xie had buried deep within the Twelve Palaces, and the end that the Twelve Palaces would finally meet, would be brought about by these very same people.
The guests had all arrived and the banquet began. An Elder of the Pure Grace Palace thanked everyone on the Pure Grace Palace’s behalf and said a few grand and courteous words, but not many of them paid him much attention. Most of the youths were the elite from their respective palaces and were highly haughty, regarding themselves extraordinary. They all sat in groups to drink and revel, as they watched the dancers twirl and swirl within the main hall, chatting happily among themselves.
Volume 17
Chapter 1676: “Fallen Flowers Might Pine, The Flowing Waters Merciless (4)”
Zi Jin sat at Jun Wu’s side and because of Jun Wu’s instructions, she did not dare to speak or even look around carelessly. But after sitting there for a time and with singing voices reverberating around her ears, the sounds of revelry all around her made her relax slightly. She then discreetly tugged at Jun Wu’s sleeve and asked: “You know Gu Xin Yan?”
Jun Wu Xie’s eyes were questioning as she looked at Zi Jin.
Zi Jin then said softly: “When we came in earlier, I noticed that she kept staring at you. I remember that you spent more than half a year training in the Cloudy Brook Academy before haven’t you? The Young Miss of the Blood Fiend Palace had been there as well then. Could she possibly have recognised you?”
A young girl’s sixth sense was always unusually sharp and even though Zi Jin did not dare to look around carelessly, her senses had been sharp enough to detect the attention Gu Xin Yan was paying to Jun Wu, which made her unable to help herself but feel a little nervous.
Jun Wu Xie turned her eyes away indifferently and looked in the direction towards Gu Xin Yan. Gu Xin Yan had her head lowered at that moment and it was not known what she was thinking.
“I don’t know.” Jun Wu Xie replied calmly.
Had Gu Xin Yan recognized her? She could not be sure. Based on the fact that she had already altered her looks, people who were not on highly familiar terms with her would not be able to discover anything amiss. She had indeed spent a period of time where she had interacted with Gu Xin Yan but it had not been for very long, and moreover she did not think that Gu Xin Yan would have too deep an impression of her at all.
Jun Wu Xie’s calm had come from her logical analysis but she was however unaware that when a young lady had her heart set upon someone, no matter how that person altered his looks, that feeling of familiarity would still not be that easily broken.
“You….. you must really be more careful. Don’t let yourself be discovered.” Zi Jin said worriedly as she looked at Jun Wu.
Jun Wu Xie merely muttered an indifferent “mm” in acknowledgment.
Not knowing that Gu Xin Yan who had her head lowered was actually secretly paying attention to the ongoings around Jun Wu. When she saw Zi Jin leaning close to Jun Wu’s ear to whisper, her heart suddenly winced in pain, her eyes growing despondent.
At the banquet, Zhuge Yin’s gaze had not left from the figure of Gu Xin Yan, finding Gu Xin Yan to be absolutely beautiful the more he looked at her, his heart feeling that his father’s decision had been wise. But…..
His eyes suddenly met those of Gu Ying’s smiling ones, and his entire body involuntarily filled with a chill.
“Who is that sitting beside Xin Yan?” Zhuge Yin asked with a slight furrow of his brows, asking Fei Yan beside him who was secretly admiring Rong Ruo’s “beauty”.
His enjoyment interrupted by Zhuge Yin, Fei Yan turned his head to look and his eyes flashed coldly but his face still showed a gentle smile.
“That is Gu Ying, a Young Lord of the Blood Fiend Palace’s, Gu Xin Yan’s elder brother.”
“Oh, so I see.” Zhuge Yin nodded his head in understanding. He had heard of such a person, but Gu Ying seldom moved about outside and not many people were able to recognize him in person. “That pair of siblings don’t really look alike but they are both highly good looking.”
Fei Yan smiled and did not say anything, thinking to himself in his heart: [I wouldn’t know what Gu Xin Yan is like, but I know clearly just how vicious and cruel Gu Ying really was.]
On the other side, Jun Wu Xie was planning out how to make the next few days of the birthday banquet move according to her plans when one of her fingers on the hand she rested upon her knee suddenly felt something cold.
Jun Wu Xie bent her neck and looked down, to discover an Ink Snake about the width of a chopstick coiling itself around her little finger. The tiny snake noticed Jun Wu Xie gazing at it and it spat out the note before it slid to the floor down her calf, slithering out through the door of the main hall in an instant.
Volume 17
Chapter 1677: “Aren’t You Giving Me a Hug (1)?”
That tiny little shadowy snake did not attract anyone’s notice within the noisy and crowded main hall and Jun Wu Xie saw its shadow disappearing outside the threshold of the main hall’s door.
Ink Snake.
She had seen it many times before and Ink Snakes like that were kept around Ye Sha and Ye Gu as well. For the banquet, Ye Sha and Ye Gu did not take part in it. Now that they had released an Ink Snake, could anything have happened?
Suspicion swirled within Jun Wu Xie’s heart and she silently stood up while she gave Zi Jin and Yue Yi a gaze saying “no need to get excited”.
Jun Wu Xie walked out through the main hall’s doors and under the night, she saw that tiny little Ink Snake. The Ink Snake seemed to be consciously waiting for Jun Wu Xie to follow it. But after having taken merely just a few steps, it then stopped in its tracks till it saw the figure of Jun Wu Xie, where it would then continue to slither further towards the darkness.
Jun Wu Xie followed behind it calm and composed. Most the disciples who guarded the Pure Grace Palace had been mostly summoned into the Pure Grace Palace’s main hall and on the outside, the place had a very sparse number of people. Jun Wu Xie had merely avoided them slightly and she was about to avoid the disciples patrolling the place.
She followed the Ink Snake the entire way as they went walking towards the little hill outside the Pure Grace Palace.
The further it was away from the raucous Pure Grace Palace, the more tranquil the surroundings became. There was a tinge of a chill in the air on the hill under the night, gradually going further away from the fiery lights in the Pure Grace Palace, the woods on the hill bathed in the soft glow of moonlight.
The tiny little Ink Snake slithered deftly through the woods, darting further out a few steps and then stopping for a moment to turn back to see Jun Wu Xie’s position. After ascertaining that Jun Wu Xie was still following it, it then continued its way forward.
Just what species these Ink Snakes really were, Jun Wu Xie still had not been able to clearly identify. When she had been working in the pet hospital in her past life, she had also cared for for some cold blooded animals, with her having come into contact with quite a number of species of snakes, but she had seldom come across a snake that possessed such clear consciousness.
Jun Wu Xie had always been highly curious what kind of method Jun Wu Yao and his men employed to make these tiny little Ink Snakes move according to their whims.
And, besides having seen the Ink Snakes in the hands of Jun Wu Yao and the three men from the Dark Regime, Jun Wu Xie had never seen these strange and amazing creatures anywhere else.
Weaving through the dense woods, the position Jun Wu Xie stood was already a stretch higher than the Pure Grace Palace. She turned her head around slowly, to look down at the brightly lit Pure Grace Palace from her higher vantage point. She could no longer hear the melodious music from inside the Pure Grace Palace, her ears only filled with the sounds of the wind sweeping through the woods.
At that moment, Jun Wu Xie could not help but feel that it was a little strange.
Ye Sha and Ye Gu were left within the Pure Grace Palace to secretly investigate into the situation within the Pure Grace Palace so why would they suddenly come running out to this woods on the hill outside? Moreover, she was already quite a distance away from the Pure Grace Palace and if the two of them had anything they wanted to tell her about, they should have already appeared by now.
But the Ink Snake did not seem to have any intention of stopping. It continued to slither its way towards the hill’s peak, occasionally turning its head back, like it was urging Jun Wu Xie to hurry up to keep up with it.
If not for the fact that Jun Wu Xie knew that the Ink Snake could not be controlled by any others, she would have thought that something was amiss and immediately left.
Her heart filled with bewilderment, Jun Wu Xie’s eyes hid a faint wariness. She kept up with the Ink Snake’s speed, treading upon the moon’s light, traversing the woods. It was quiet all around, with only a swishing heard as the night’s wind blew through the woods.
Volume 17
Chapter 1678: “Aren’t You Giving Me a Hug (2)?”
Moonlight streamed down through the cracks between the leaves and spilled upon the land, littering a scatter of stars on the ground. The soft cover of dried leaves had piled up thickly, slightly sticky under the nourishment of fallen snow.
Jun Wu Xie slowly walked to reach the hill’s peak, and everything that appeared before her eyes stunned Jun Wu Xie in an instant.
On the peak where dense woods were supposed to stand, it was not known when it had been replaced by a sea of flowers. What should have been the woods no longer existed, and before Jun Wu Xie’s eyes, the ground was a carpet of white lotus flowers, every bloom just budding, their petals beautifully reflecting the gentle glow of the moon, almost glowing faintly. The sea of white, lit up the peak enclosed within the dense woods, like a cluster of light that had been lit within the surrounding darkness.
The Ink Snake who had led Jun Wu Xie here then deftly slipped itself into the sea of flowers, to disappear without a trace.
Jun Wu Xie’s eyes were filled with bewilderment as she stared at the inconceivable sea of flowers before her eyes.
Lotus flowers grew in bodies of water and in the hill’s peak that had no lake, it was impossible for this sea of lotus flowers to exist.
Jun Wu Xie subconsciously walked into the highly bizarre sea of flowers but at the moment her foot stepped in among them, the budding white lotuses clustered around her foot immediately blossomed in bloom!
The snow white petals unfolded in bloom, revealing a faint tinge of pink around their stigmas, which gradually spread out to every single petal, the colour deepening slowly, from pink to red.
Every lotus bloom was tinged with a faint glow, like a star was wrapped in the centre of every flower.
This impossibly strange sight reflected within Jun Wu Xie’s eyes, the eyes that had been cold for so long giving rise to a faint glint of surprise.
The sea of flowers before his eyes were so clear to the eyes, but when Jun Wu Xie stepped within them, she did not feel their touch in the slightest, the lotus blooms clustered around her feet seemed an illusionary existence. Jun Wu Xie lifted her foot and walked a few steps forward, and at the spots that she had treaded upon, the surrounding lotus flowers would bloom, to turn a bright colour.
Like the twinkle among the stars had been marked, following Jun Wu Xie’s footsteps, the lotus blooms swaying in the wind, the pink petals pursuing Jun Wu Xie’s steps.
Under the night sky and bathed in moonlight, among the pure white sea of flowers, a streak of flame coloured lotus lay behind Jun Wu Xie, faintly twinkling resplendently with its light.
Jun Wu Xie looked at the scatter of flower petals caught in the wind floating past her, stretching her hand out thinking to touch them, but the petals passed right through her hand…..
They were not real…..
Jun Wu Xie’s eyes were tinged with surprise and before she could think deeper into the reasons all of this was happening, under the silvery moonlight, a tall and slender figure came walking slowly in from the other end of the sea of flowers.
In the instant that Jun Wu Xie’s gaze came into contact with that figure, all traces of emotions in her eyes disappeared, leaving not a single trace behind. She merely froze there in shock, as she looked at
the all too familiar figure approaching from afar, slowly walking towards her. She stared at the countless number of flower petals swirling around him, the flower petals tinged with a faint glow, like countless stars were falling around that person.
Encompassed under the night sky, everything before her eyes looked so completely unreal.
Every step taken, treading upon her heart.
Thump, thump.
She seemed to be able to hear her own hearbeat.
Volume 17
Chapter 1679: “Aren’t You Giving Me a Hug (3)?”
“Aren’t you going to give me a hug?” Standing within the sea of flowers, Jun Wu Yao held his arms open, the corners of his mouth lifted in an indulgent smile, his handsome face within such a dreamy scene seemingly as unreal as a dream.
Jun Wu Xie stood frozen in her spot for a moment, still having not recovered her senses as she stared at that familiar contenance. She then slowly lifted one foot, her step snail paced, treading lightly within the sea of flowers to stir up a whirl of falling lotus petals.
Step by step, her pace gradually increased, every lift of her foot kicking up another swirl of flying petals, all faintly aglow as they trailed her hurrying steps, to stir up a flowery rain.
Ripples of red surged forward together with Jun Wu Xie, within the snow white field, as the lotuses bloomed a beautiful pink.
The tiny figure accompanied by lotus petals leapt into that warm and wide embrace, and in the instant the Jun Wu Yao came into contact with that tiny figure, he wrapped his arms the little one, to envelop her in a tight hug.
Under the canopy of night with the soft glow of the moon spilling over the sea of flowers, the flower petals rose with the wind to fall in a mesmerizing gentle shower, the petals swirling around the two people locked in embrace.
Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss Volume 17 Page 20