My Gentle and Pure Sect Leader Husband - Chapter 55

When Ximen Chuixue woke up, the snow was still falling outside.

He moved his finger slightly, and the stabbing pain from his muscles and bones immediately made his jaw clench.

“Brother, don’t move!” Hua Manlou, who had just reached the door, quickly hastened his steps when he heard the muffled groan. He was carrying a tray in his hands.

Ximen Chuixue turned his head and seeing him running over, couldn’t help but say, “Walk slower.”

“It’s fine, I’m familiar with the house, I won’t fall,” Hua Manlou bounded over to the window in a few steps and reached out to feel around.

Ximen Chuixue silently moved backward a bit, making some room.

Hua Manlou put down the tray. “Uncle Yu and Aunt Yan went to Xingyun Manor this morning. They said they needed to deal with some aftermath.”

“Aunt Yan specifically said that you shouldn’t wield your sword today. If the wounds reopen, you won’t be able to learn sword techniques later.”

Ximen Chuixue, who had originally planned to get out of bed later to make up for his thousand sword strokes: “…Alright.”

Both of them tactfully avoided mentioning Long Xiaoyun, one drinking porridge from a bowl, the other reaching out to check the bandages on Ximen Chuixue’s body.

Seeing that Hua Manlou could accurately touch the bandages covering his wounds each time, Ximen Chuixue knew that Hua Manlou must have watched over him all night. His porridge-drinking paused, and he hesitated unusually, “Ah Lou…”

Hua Manlou spoke before he could, “Aunt Yan said that if you still get this many injuries after completing your training, she will absolutely refuse to acknowledge you as her disciple!”

Ximen Chuixue: “…Mmm.”

“In the future…” Hua Manlou’s fingers rested on the hem of Ximen Chuixue’s clothes, gently pinching it, and said, “When brother wields his sword to kill, he’ll surely be able to kill with a single strike, right?”

Ximen Chuixue stared steadily at Hua Manlou.

Hua Manlou tugged at the corner of his mouth, his eyes curving slightly.

“My sword will only strike down those who commit great evil. I will not kill indiscriminately, rashly, or commit murder,” Ximen Chuixue spoke as if making a vow, not to Hua Manlou, but to himself. “I will make sure that one sword strike is enough to kill.”

“Yes!” Hua Manlou broke into a smile, his face full of warmth and gentleness.

A single fatal strike was what Ximen Chuixue could achieve—the most merciful compassion he could show to those who fell under his sword.

The sound of a door creaking open came from outside the courtyard.

Yu Luocha and Yan Hongyin walked in slowly, sharing an umbrella.

The snow outside was falling heavily, and a thick layer had accumulated on the oil paper umbrella.

The two walked shoulder to shoulder until they reached the eaves of the house. Yu Luocha shook off the accumulated snow from the umbrella and looked at the white expanse of the courtyard, seemingly reluctant to enter the house out of fascination.

Yan Hongyin looked at him with amusement. “This isn’t your first time in the Central Plains, why are you so unable to move at the sight of snow?”

“This isn’t my first time in the Central Plains, but this is the first time I’ve seen snow like this,” Yu Luocha justified himself righteously. “Besides, this is the first snow we’re seeing together, so it’s special.”

Yan Hongyin reached up to grasp Yu Luocha’s outer garment at the shoulder, shaking off the snow that had settled there, and very naturally said, “Doesn’t it snow beyond the passes?”

Yu Luocha watched and watched, then reached out his hand to catch snowflakes.

The luminous white snowflakes fell cold on his palm and between his fingers, melting into droplets of moisture with each breath.

“This is the Central Plains that countless foreigners from beyond the passes want to squeeze into, where even the snow is so gentle.”

“The winter desert plains are more dangerous than the scorching flames of summer. If snow really falls, the world becomes a vast white expanse, and even camels familiar with the route can find the path fraught with danger. One misstep and you’ll be swallowed by the boundless desert, your traces completely disappearing in an instant.”

Yan Hongyin heard something in Yu Luocha’s seemingly casual words, her eyes flickered slightly, and she asked him directly, “Was it difficult?”

Yu Luocha’s breath caught, then he slowly exhaled, watching the white mist dissipate in front of him, and turned his head to look at Yan Hongyin. “Just, a little bit.”

“Then take me to see it next time.” Yan Hongyin took a few steps, reached out and grabbed a handful of snow from the windowsill, pressed it into a ball, and with her other hand grabbed a smaller one and stacked them together. She walked back to Yu Luocha, who had been watching her the whole time, and placed the two stacked snowballs of different sizes in his hand. “Here, a reward.”

“Remember to guide me well when the time comes.”

Yu Luocha looked down at the two snowballs in his palm and stared at them for a good while. The wasteland in his eyes transformed into the spring scenery of Jiangnan, and he complained, “Ah Yin, your snowman is so perfunctory.”

Yan Hongyin rubbed her fingers to dispel the cold and responded with an unchanged expression. “You’ve never seen a moving snowman, how do you know snowmen don’t look like this?”

Yu Luocha was left speechless by this completely unreasonable response for quite some time. His other hand rummaged around his body but couldn’t find anything to make facial features or arms for the little snowman, so he sidled up to Yan Hongyin again. “Ah Yin, do you have any black obsidian? And those small rubies I saw in your makeup box last time… let me borrow them…”

Yan Hongyin couldn’t be bothered with him and walked straight into the room, saying incredulously as she walked, “Black obsidian and rubies? Don’t even think about it…”

Most of her jewel-inlaid items were concealed weapons. How could she dismantle them for his whims?

“The winter desert, half sand and half snow, is so beautiful, and the red willow grilled meat, pepper lamb skewers, and desert dates are especially delicious….if you let me borrow your jewels, I’ll take you to see it!”

“No borrowing. I can go by myself if I want.”

“Lovely Ah Yin~ Wife~”

Ximen Chuixue and Hua Manlou, waiting by the door, watched as the two adults walked past them, one pulling a sleeve, the other tugging at a sleeve. The originally expectant children both fell silent.

After holding back, but unable to resist, Hua Manlou said in a very small voice. “Uncle Yu really dares to dream… If my father were to pry the jewels from my mother’s accessories to make a snowman, wouldn’t he end up sleeping on the cold bench in the study for half a month?”

Not to mention that what Uncle Yu wanted to pry might not be as simple as jewels from accessories.

“He’s just relying on Master—Aunt Yan’s indulgence,” Ximen Chuixue got straight to the point.

Hua Manlou nodded deeply in agreement.

“What are you two whispering about? Come in quickly!” Yu Luocha’s voice came from inside.

The house the family was staying in in Luoyang was found by Yu Luocha, originally a stronghold of the Luocha Sect that had been cleared out by Yu Luocha with just a few words.

As for why this courtyard and not one of the several mansions in the city… mainly because this place was secluded, and there were only two bedrooms.

Yan Hongyin first checked Ximen Chuixue’s pulse and nodded with satisfaction. “It seems Ah Lou has taken good care of you, you haven’t been moving around recklessly.”

Hua Manlou let out a laugh.

Ximen Chuixue: “…”

“Pack your things, we’ll set off for Jinling tomorrow.” Yan Hongyin took out two books from her sleeve, one for each child. “We’ll be traveling quickly on horseback. During the journey, you must memorize the contents of these two books.”

The two thought they might be internal energy manuals, but when they opened them, they found that the books were filled with illustrated figures.

Yu Luocha revealed an encouraging smile. “You’re both very intelligent, so Ah Yin and I believe that you can practice your internal energy while also mastering sword techniques and movement techniques during the journey.”

Hua Manlou: “…”

Ximen Chuixue: “…”

Seeing the two little ones with dazed expressions about to walk out, Yan Hongyin called them back, raising an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to ask about Long Xiaoyun?”

Ximen Chuixue’s eyes flickered, and Hua Manlou’s fingers tightened on the book.

“That day, Li Xunhuan took Long Xiaoyun away, originally intending to send him back to Xingyun Manor, but due to the yamen’s inspection, Long Xiaoyun had to stay in the inn for one night. He attempted to ambush Li Xunhuan and escape, but was crippled by a sword from the vigilant Ah Fei, destroying his dantian. His martial arts are completely lost, and from now on, he can never practice martial arts again.”

Although neither of the children had asked, Yan Hongyin naturally knew that Long Xiaoyun was the catalyst that revealed the differences in their paths. Leaving the question unanswered would not be a good thing.

“As for the ‘Lianhua Treasure Mirror’ that Long Xiaoyun had seen…”

Yan Hongyin took out a scroll from her bosom, placed it on the table, and asked the two children. “Are you interested?”

Ximen Chuixue shook his head without needing to think. Hidden weapons and poison techniques were not what he desired, and as for medical skills, he didn’t necessarily need to learn them from this scroll.

Hua Manlou, however, hesitated for a moment and asked, “Will Long Xiaoyun teach those evil techniques that can control others to other people?”

Yu Luocha vigorously rubbed Hua Manlou’s head, successfully making the little master’s originally neatly combed and soft hair messy and fluffy. “He won’t remember any content from the ‘Lianhua Treasure Mirror’.”

Even Yu Luocha hadn’t expected that Wang Lianhua, who had never taught Yan Hongyin disguise techniques due to her frequent contact with evil people, would have passed on the Mind Capturing Technique to her when she was eleven years old.

It was no wonder that no matter how tough the cases, once they entered the Zhenfu Division and met Yan Hongyin, there was no one who didn’t confess. The rumors Yu Luocha had once investigated had demonized Yan Hongyin, the Dark Division Commander, with many believing she had formidable torture techniques, causing people to fear her even more.

Yan Hongyin’s trip to Xingyun Manor was not just to retrieve the “Lianhua Treasure Mirror,” but also to use the Mind Capturing Technique to erase all of Long Xiaoyun’s memories about the “Lianhua Treasure Mirror.”

“Mmm, mmm.” Hua Manlou’s body swayed back and forth with Yu Luocha’s rubbing motion, being extremely obedient.

Ximen Chuixue couldn’t bear to watch his uncle’s cat-stroking actions any longer and reached out to pull Hua Manlou behind him, away from Yu Luocha’s “paws.”

“Don’t forget to say goodbye to Lu Xiaofeng,” Yan Hongyin said. “His senior sister will take him to Lin’an Prefecture; he won’t return to Jinling with us this time.”

Although she didn’t know what Wang Lianhua had arranged for Lu Xiaofeng, it certainly wouldn’t be an easy task.

Both Yan Hongyin and Yu Luocha could see that not only had Hua Manlou and Ximen Chuixue formed their paths, but Lu Xiaofeng’s pursuit had also gradually become clearer.

The black market, with its complex flow of people and abundant information, would be a trial ground where Lu Xiaofeng could swim like a fish in water.

****

Five days later.

The two adults and two children returned to Jinling city, and all four were startled when they opened the courtyard gate.

The originally cramped front courtyard suddenly became spacious. The wall between the neighboring courtyard and this one had been completely demolished. The two pear trees were still rooted side by side in the ground. The pruned pear trees were in their growing period; they hadn’t borne fruit in autumn, but now, many days into winter, their branches and leaves still showed green.

However, the two trees with their intertwined and entangled branches were not so easy to separate.

The people renovating the residence simply didn’t touch them, but instead dug a pond next to them, drawing in live water from somewhere. Through the clear water, only mottled stones could be seen, as well as a large fat carp leisurely swishing its tail in the pond.

Yu Luocha stood by the pond, staring at the fat carp in disbelief, and looked toward Yan Hongyin. “It’s still alive?”

Yan Hongyin really couldn’t understand why the dignified Leader of the Luocha Sect was at odds with a carp, and could only respond diplomatically. “You should try to reconcile with it.”

After a pause, Yan Hongyin very sincerely added. “At the time, it was clearly you who wanted to hit it, and it hadn’t done anything wrong.”

“I didn’t just hit it for no reason, am I that unreasonable?” Yu Luocha pointed at the fat carp blowing bubbles in the pond, enunciating clearly as he complained. “It looked at me! It was definitely provoking me!”

The fat carp blew another string of bubbles and swished its tail.

“See, just like that!”

Strangely enough, it did seem that only when the carp saw Yu Luocha did this carp, which Yan Hongyin had kept for a long time, blow a string of white bubbles all at once…

Yan Hongyin really couldn’t mediate the one-sided discord between Yu Luocha and the carp. She raised her hand to her temple to block Yu Luocha’s accusatory gaze, coughed lightly, and stepped toward the house.

Ximen Chuixue and Hua Manlou had gone around to the back courtyard while the two were talking, and sure enough, the back courtyard had also been greatly expanded. The medicinal herb garden and vegetable plot hadn’t changed much, but the empty space on the other side was extremely suitable for the two children to practice martial arts and swordplay later.

Yu Luocha: “My people followed him to Kunlun Mountain, but then lost track of him… But if he came back to Jinling to prepare all this, why did he deliberately shake off all our people?”

Yan Hongyin hadn’t specifically had people follow Wang Lianhua, as she didn’t think anyone could follow the Thousand-faced Gentleman without being detected, but when Yan Hongyin had the idea of marriage and wanted to find Wang Lianhua, she discovered that he had disappeared without a trace.

“Aunt Yan, look! The seeds in this pot have sprouted!”

Hua Manlou ran over excitedly, carrying a flowerpot, and raised it up to Yan Hongyin’s face, his face full of excitement.

Yan Hongyin was stunned for a moment and took the flowerpot from Hua Manlou’s hands.

The seedling in the pot’s soil was less than an inch tall, but the posture of the sprout and the tiny golden patterns on the small leaves…

“Ah Lou, what seed was this grown from?” Yan Hongyin crouched down and seriously asked the child who was so happy that his cheeks were slightly flushed.

Hua Manlou didn’t understand her concern and pointed to the shelf under the eaves of the back courtyard. “From the box where the seeds are kept, the one placed together with the perilla and baizhi.”

That box contained medicinal herb seeds, each categorized, and Hua Manlou had been very careful when planting them.

Yan Hongyin returned the flowerpot to Hua Manlou and walked directly to the shelf to take down the box and open it.

From a hidden compartment at the bottom, she pulled out a flattened sachet, tipped out two reddish-brown seeds, grabbed two other ordinary medicinal herb seeds in her other hand, and walked back to Hua Manlou.

“Ah Lou, please confirm which seeds the one in the flowerpot was grown from?”

Hua Manlou reached out his hand to carefully identify the seeds lying in both of Yan Hongyin’s palms, then pinched the ones poured from the sachet and said with certainty, “This one!”

“When I was soaking the seeds in warm water, one of them remained flat no matter how long I soaked it, so I planted all the other seeds in the medicinal garden, and kept this one soaking in water, changing the water once a day.”

“After a very long time, it finally softened a little, but by then the seeds in the medicinal garden had already sprouted, so I found a flowerpot to plant it separately.”

“But until we left, it still hadn’t sprouted. I thought it wouldn’t grow.”

Hua Manlou reached out to touch the two small leaves of the seedling in the flowerpot he was holding, his face full of happiness.

“Aunt Yan, is this seed very special?”

Yu Luocha’s gaze also fell on the seedling but couldn’t see anything special about it.

Yan Hongyin stared at the small seedling in the pot Hua Manlou was holding and slowly spoke, her tone complex. “This is the Golden Silk Intertwining Grass. It doesn’t grow large; once it sprouts, it can be used as medicine.”

Seeing that both Hua Manlou and Yu Luocha had confused expressions as if they had never heard of it, Yan Hongyin’s voice grew lower and lower.

“It’s a very precious medicinal herb. Its seeds are very difficult to find in the wild. The Liu Shanmen exhausted all their connections and only found ten seeds.”

Then Yan Hongyin had killed most of them by planting them incorrectly, and didn’t dare to experiment recklessly with the remaining ones.

Yan Hongyin looked at the last two seeds lying in her left palm, with great self-awareness put those two seeds into Hua Manlou’s palm, and then carefully took the already sprouting flowerpot from Hua Manlou’s arms.

Hua Manlou: “…Aunt Yan?”

Yan Hongyin looked at Hua Manlou with burning eyes. “Ah Lou, help Aunt Yan grow these two as well.”

Watching Hua Manlou go to find a flowerpot and dig soil, and Ximen Chuixue go to the well to fetch water, Yu Luocha asked, “Why would the Liu Shanmen help Ah Yin find seeds?”

Yan Hongyin gently pinched the fragile leaf of the seedling and answered. “The Divine Marquis Zhuge’s Mansion once invited me to diagnose Sheng Yaoyu’s pulse.”

“Wuqing?” Yu Luocha raised one eyebrow and then lowered it. “Is it his legs?”

Yan Hongyin nodded slowly, but then shook her head. “The poison in his legs has accumulated for too long and is beyond medical treatment, but Zhuge Shenhou sealed all the deadly poison in his legs to save him back then. As he grows older, the poison will gradually spread. If it can’t be detoxified, it will affect his lifespan.”

The Golden Silk Intertwining Grass was the most important medicinal ingredient for detoxification. Yan Hongyin was truly grateful now that, after discovering she couldn’t grow it, she hadn’t pushed too hard but had stored the seeds away.

Yu Luocha leaned against the doorframe and laughed softly. “It seems our little sun not only makes people like him, but even seeds are more receptive to him.”

Yan Hongyin lowered her head to gaze at the medicinal herb in her arms, her eyes flickering with thoughtful light.

She suddenly asked, “How is your betrothal gift list coming along?”

Yu Luocha immediately let out a series of coughs and looked at Yan Hongyin reproachfully. “How could you peek at my gift list?!”

“Why shouldn’t I look at the list proposing marriage to me?” Yan Hongyin turned her head, asking in confusion.

Yu Luocha’s gaze wavered, obviously plotting some little secret he wanted to keep from Yan Hongyin. “Anyway, you’ll know when the time comes, stop watching me these days!”

“I can’t be bothered to watch you,” Yan Hongyin corrected Yu Luocha’s words. “It’s your head-scratching, ear-pulling appearance while writing the gift list that’s too conspicuous. Actually, it’s just a formality. As long as you have an identity and reason to propose marriage, His Majesty will naturally choose you.”

The twists and turns in this matter had already been negotiated between Yan Hongyin and the emperor that night in the capital.

“How can a major event like marriage be handled casually?” Yu Luocha tilted his head to look at her, his gaze deep and serious, his expression solemn. “That’s not just a gift list, it’s also…”

He fell silent, silently mouthing a few words, but in the end, he still didn’t say what he meant.

Yan Hongyin’s attention wasn’t on the marriage, after all, in her view, this marriage shouldn’t be different from when she married Ah Yu back then, just more complex in terms of ceremony. Her attention was on…

“So these days whenever you encounter me, you act like your tail’s been stepped on, and it’s because of this?”

“That’s not really it…” When asked about this, Yu Luocha’s gaze shifted, skimming over Yan Hongyin’s cheeks, a strange redness appearing on his face as he stammered, “Your father gave me a manual of techniques before he left…”

“Gave to you? What techniques?” Yan Hongyin thought of how Wang Lianhua was familiar with hundreds of martial arts schools, and how Yu Luocha’s Great Heaven and Earth Shift had gone who-knows-where, so perhaps he could truly offer some advice.

Yu Luocha raised his hand to scratch the side of his face. “He said the sarira from the black market was originally meant for you, but your constitution was too weak at the time, so he kept one. Now that you’re about to break through, you need to expand your meridians, and the best way is still to absorb the medicinal effects of the sarira.”

Yan Hongyin knew that she had used six sariras back then, but at that time she hadn’t practiced martial arts and was still a child. Now, not to mention that the last one had already been consumed by Yu Luocha, even if it hadn’t been, she certainly would not be able to absorb the sarira anymore.

Yu Luocha knew what Yan Hongyin was puzzled about, and coughed lightly, saying, “We both have residual medicinal effects of the sarira in our meridians, and our internal energy should also have a reciprocal generation, so…”

Yan Hongyin suddenly understood, and it was only then that she realized why, when Yu Luocha was meditating and regulating his breath, she would always vaguely feel a subtle pulling sensation in her dantian’s internal energy.

“He gave you the Hehuan Sect’s dual cultivation technique? Let me see!”

Yan Hongyin extended her hand toward Yu Luocha, palm up.

Yu Luocha, who had been stuck with this in his throat, not knowing how to talk about it: “!!!”