Chapter 16
Edited by renderedreversed
Chapter 16
That night, Shifu didn’t come back to Fengxueshan Manor . For most of the night, I sat at the manor’s front door, holding my knees as I waited . The cold mountain air felt like needles pricking my bones . My heart also turned cold .
The stars in the sky flew above my head . I stared blankly at the road outside of the manor, hoping that Shifu would suddenly appear . He would pinch my cheeks and yell at me, telling me to go back inside to sleep .
But Shifu didn’t appear . The one that appeared was Zihui . He covered me with a coat .
“Go back to sleep; I’ll look out . When your Shifu comes back, I’ll go wake you up . ”
I stubbornly shook my head . Zihui no longer tried to persuade me . He sat down next to me instead, and together, we stared at the long road before us .
“Zihui, why do you want to be my husband?” Since there was nothing else to do, I opened my mouth and said: “Even though I and the people of Shengling Sect know each other very well, still, no one wanted to marry me . ”
“En, it’s probably because I like you more than I fear your Shifu . ”
“Why do you like me?”
Zihui paused for a moment and then said: “Guess . ”
“I’m stupid, I can’t guess why . ”
I put my head on my knees . I really wanted to sleep . Slowly, my eyelids grew heavy .
I honestly said: “I always felt that there was something strange in your eyes . ”
“Ah?”
The person beside me seemed somewhat agitated .
“What’s strange?”
“I don’t know, but I think…in your heart, you’re probably not willing to be my husband . ”
I closed my eyes . My head fell to the side, resting on a thick shoulder .
“Actually…if you are not willing, we can cancel it… I won’t force you . ”
The person beside me didn’t say anything and I slowly fell asleep .
(Actually, I felt that Xiao Xiang Zi isn’t so stupid here . She saw right through Zihui . She’s just simple-minded)
The next morning, I heard a “sha sha” sound of someone cleaning the floor . Confused, I rubbed my eyes and took a closer look . It was Zihui cleaning the stone stairs using a broom .
The air had a strange smell . I vaguely remembered the butcher once told me that this smell was called wine . It was a wonderful thing, but the butcher never let me touch it . He said that when a girl drank it, she would become crazy . Now, I was a little stupid, but I was still rational . If I touched that kind of thing and became silly and crazy, Shifu would really not want me anymore . So, I had been keeping that kind of thing far away from me . In Fengxueshan, there were also no wine . I scratched my head and asked: “Zihui, how come wine has been spilled on the ground?”
Zihui looked at me, smiled, and said: “Shifu just came back . When he saw us sitting at the front door, he slipped . A bit of the wine spilled from the jar in his hand . ”
“Shifu is back!”
My ears only heard those words . The other words had turned to smoke .
“Where is he?”
“He must be in his room right now…”
I didn’t wait until he finished speaking and quickly stood up, wanting to run straight into the manor . But I had been curling my legs the entire night and I stood up too quickly, so my legs went numb . My vision went black and I collapsed . I must’ve hit my nose very hard, because a flow of blood dirtied the ground . My head turned dizzy, my eyes were blurry . I only heard Zihui’s panicked voice yelling: “A Xiang lady, a Xiang lady!”
“Everything is alright . ”
I forced myself up and wiped my face . Seeing the nosebleed on my hand was a little scary . I couldn’t keep myself upright . Zihui, who was holding me, fell on top of me . He used his sleeve to wipe my face, and not even carrying that it was dirty, he also wiped my nose .
“Where else does it still hurt?”
I looked up and said with a muffled voice: “Nowhere else, I’m thick-skinned . ”
Zihui looked at me for a while . Suddenly he shook his head and laughed out loud .
“Really…really dumb . ”
This sentence was truthful . I couldn’t deny it, so I looked up at the sky in silence .
Zihui helped me stand up, then his hand slightly loosened its grip on mine . He leaned in and carefully took a look at my face . “En, no more blood anymore . ”
With his hand on my shoulder, he whispered: “Do you want to go inside?”
I glanced at that hand of his and felt a little uncomfortable, so I twisted away .
“Yes, but I need to go to Shifu first . ”
While saying that, I ran two steps forward before turning back around . I thought for a moment, looked back at Zihui, and said: “Thank you, husband!”
Zihui was a little startled . He hadn’t yet returned to his senses before I turned and ran inside to go look for Shifu .
I looked everywhere in the manor and still didn’t see a hint of Shifu’s shadow . I scratched my head and said to myself: “Zihui lied to me . Shifu obviously hasn’t come back . ”
Those words had just come out of my mouth when a jug fell from above and hit the ground with a “pa” sound . It broke upon impact . The smell coming from it was the smell of wine .
I sniffed . It was the same smell as the one at the front door .
I took a few steps back and lifted my head . Shifu was sitting on the roof tiles, carrying a jug as he stared at me blankly . I happily waved at him and looked around, then grabbed the ladder out of the corner and moved it to where Shifu was . With shaking legs, I climbed up .
“Shifu! Why are you here?”
Shifu answered me in a voice full of weird emotions: “Standing high, one can see far . ”
I walked carefully to Shifu’s side and sat beside him . I looked at him for a while and saw that he wasn’t angry, so bolstered with that knowledge, I asked: “Why didn’t Shifu come back last night?”
He didn’t even look at me . While staring into the distance, he said: “Isn’t it good that I didn’t come back? How are you getting along with that husband of yours?”
Hearing him ask that, I nodded .
“Good, very good . ”
I held out my hand and was prepared to tell him everything I did with Zihui . But I hadn’t even opened my mouth yet when Shifu suddenly tugged, shoving me down onto the roof . Shifu was lying on top of me, blocking my entire view .
A few roof tiles fell off and broke against the ground .
I blinked and looked at Shifu’s somewhat reddish eyes . He reeked of wine… I panicked a bit .
“Shifu, what’s the matter? Didn’t they say that only a girl would turn crazy if she drank it?”
“Cra…,” Shifu whispered with half closed eyes . “I’ve probably gone mad . ”
He smiled coldly .
“Forget the past lifetime . This lifetime, this lifetime…that bastard Heavenly Emperor Li! Didn’t you say that you liked the play of the little wife chasing the husband?!”
“Shifu?”
He was saying words I didn’t understand again . I shook his shoulder . Having a conversation while I was below him and he was on top of me felt a little too constraining .
“Let’s get up and speak . ”
“Get up?”
Shifu’s tone was that of disbelief . His eyes squinted dangerously .
“When you’re face to face with that Zihui, did you also ask him to get up?”
“We haven’t been speaking like this . ”
“O? Haven’t . ”
He pointed with his finger .
“I must’ve been blinded by the light just now, because I could have sworn I saw you two right there, embracing and cuddling each other . ”
I followed the direction of his finger and saw Zihui, who was cleaning the remnants of my nosebleed on the ground with a rag .
This place was really high; you could indeed see very far .
I blinked and said: “I fell just now, so Zihui was helping me . ”
“Helping you?”
One of Shifu’s eyebrows rose . Hearing him say those two words, I didn’t know why my chest tightened .
“Then I’ll also help you, alright?”
“…Alright…”
My lips felt soft . Shifu’s lips tasted of wine, heightening all of my senses .
I was completely stunned . Suddenly, I felt pain on my lower lip . Shifu actually bit me . I felt really wronged . After Shifu let go of me, I immediately covered my mouth and said: “Shifu, that wasn’t helping me, that was biting me . ”
(Okay, I take back what I said about her not being stupid . Her naivety/stupidity/dumbness is killing me)
I had just finished speaking when I saw that Shifu’s face had changed colors . He touched his lips . Shocked as he was, it was like the person who had been bitten wasn’t me, but him .
He coldly stood up and backed a few steps away from me . Suddenly, he slipped . This person actually rolled down the roof . I was shocked and quickly climbed down the ladder, but when I came down, I didn’t see Shifu . There were only broken roof tiles . It felt like an animal had gone loose .
Shifu disappeared for the whole day again . It was evening, right about when Zihui and I had finished cooking, when he walked pale-faced back into the manor . He said nothing and just sat in between me and Zihui .
Seeing that Shifu didn’t look good, I didn’t dare to speak . I get a plate and chopsticks for him and obediently sat down . But Zihui, on the other hand, picked a piece of meat and put it into my bowl . Quite enthusiastic, he said: “A Xiang, today you worked hard . Eat more meat . ”
I nodded, bowed my head and chew my meat . Today, I had been bitten by Shifu . There were some holes on my lip from where his teeth had punctured . When the warm rice touched my wound, I shivered and reflexively spit out the meat . When I lifted my head and saw that Shifu and Zihui were looking at me, I covered my mouth and vaguely said: “Burned . ”
Shifu coughed loudly and turned his head . Zihui laughed and said: “So that was it . You should blow on it before eating . ”
While saying that, he picked out a piece of meat for me again . I blew hard on it this time .
The dinner was only halfway through when Zihui spoke again: “A Xiang, we’re now engaged, so when will we hold the wedding?”
Shifu put his bowl down with a “ge da” sound . That little sound made my heart skip a beat . I looked at Shifu . Shifu stared at Zihui . Zihui, who must not have wanted to live anymore, continued to speak: “Speaking of the wedding, there are so many things to do . For example, inviting our parents to witness our wedding . ”
Shifu’s body stiffened . His face turned a shade darker .
I blinked and looked at Shifu . Zihui’s voice kept ringing in my ears: “I’m really ashamed; I lost both of my parents when I was very young . Now, there’s only me left . Are a Xiang lady’s parents still alive? If you can, can you invite them? The elders’ blessing is a good thing for a marriage . Of course, Shifu is the best choice to officiate the marriage…”
“Enough . ”
Shifu cut off Zihui’s words . His cold voice said: “I don’t care who you are, nor do I care what your intentions are . I’ll only tell you this: xiaoye’s patience is already at its limit . If you’re sensible, leave today . Xiaoye will not bother you . If you want to stay…”
Shifu paused; his hand gently knocked the table .
“I don’t mind adding a stone to the leg of the table . ”
Zihui didn’t flinch; instead, he smiled and said: “Shifu is threatening me . ”
“No, just informing you . ”
I looked back and forth between the two of them . Their conversation was losing me .
“Shifu, why don’t you ask for a Xiang lady’s wishes? After all, this marriage contract was set because of a Xiang’s lady wishes . Previously, Shifu also approved . Breaking the contract now…”
“I, Xiaoye, just wanted to break the contract . ”
Shifu leaned back on his chair and looked contemptuously at Zihui .
“Come and hit me, ya . ”
“Shifu . ”
Zihui narrowed his eyes slightly .
“Why don’t you want a Xiang lady to bring in a husband and lead a good life?”
I understood these words . So, Zihui had been speaking for me, defending me .
Originally, I was determined to do what Shifu wanted, but after hearing those words from Zihui, all my grievances came out . Always ordering me, always bullying me, even forbidding people from helping me, getting mad at me…abandoning me whenever he felt like it .
When I thought about these things, I couldn’t help myself from glaring at Shifu . I couldn’t believe that master just sneered coldly: “I just don’t want her to have a good life . What about it? And don’t keep talking about ‘Xiao Xiang Zi’s wishes . ’ Xiaoye will also tell you that my wishes are her wishes . ”
Shifu grabbed my hand and pulled me up .
“Xiao Xiang Zi, see the visitor off . ”
I kept my head down in silence .
The surrounding was quiet for a while . Then, I whispered with a little resentment: “Shifu… I still have my own ideas . ”
Shifu’s hand loosened . He seemed like he was suppressing his anger, but he was also in disbelief . He said: “You…you’re bent on marrying him?!”
“I just…”
I wrung my fingers .
“I just think that what Shifu said is wrong . ”
“A Xiang lady . ”
I was arguing with Shifu and didn’t notice that Zihui had come to stand beside me .
He wrapped an arm around my waist and stepped three steps back away from Shifu .
Shifu’s face went white; his dark eyes turned darker . His body lurched, trying to capture me . I was at a complete loss in this situation . Suddenly, Zihui said gently into my ear: “Since Shifu doesn’t understand us, let’s elope . ”
I was astonished . I turned around and saw that his face was bright, chuckling .
Shifu’s hand hadn’t yet had the time to touch my cheek before my head started to feel dizzy . Shifu’s gloomy voice sounded further and further away .
“Demon, you want to die!”
My vision went black and I lost consciousness .
Comment:
I feel for Chu Kong, he must be suffering, going through an inner-turmoil . At one side he doesn’t want to fall in love with XXZ, but at the other side, he can’t help but fall for her . What’s worse than fall for your enemy?
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