Unseen Immortal of Three Hundred Years - Chap 56
Chapter 56
Wu Xingxue stood silently for a moment before saying, “Late.”
Then, with a flick of his finger, the grand doors of the Sit Spring Breeze Palace slammed shut with a “boom.”
Two young boys dashed over, skidding to a halt beside Wu Xingxue’s legs with an “eh.”
They were all prepared to welcome guests, only to see the grand doors tightly closed. Their master, wrapped in a cloak, arms crossed, leaned against the door, while the guests…
The guests were decidedly left outside.
Just as the young boys were about to speak, they saw Wu Xingxue place his index finger to his lips, gesturing them to “shush.”
They immediately lowered their voices, whispering, “Master, why lock the door?”
Wu Xingxue replied calmly, “To save our lives.”
The young boys exchanged looks, even more curious now, “Who was coming?”
Wu Xingxue said, “The Celestial from Heaven’s Inn.”
The boys instantly understood, “Oh.”
The younger one blinked, “What does the Celestial want with you?”
Wu Xingxue replied, “To fight me.”
The boys were speechless.
Unable to contain himself, one asked, “Master, what did you do for the Celestial to want to fight you?”
Wu Xingxue thought to himself that it was a long story.
He beckoned the boys closer, their faces serious, ready to listen to a “big secret.”
This time, Wu Xingxue didn’t speak; instead, he flicked them on the forehead.
The boys, clutching their heads, felt a buzzing sound in their brains as if they had suddenly entered another realm. Although their master hadn’t opened his mouth, they could hear him speaking.
Their master said, “I thought the young boys in the Ritual Pavilion all looked too much like little old men, lacking vitality and too obedient, so I played a little trick.”
What did he do?
It was actually quite simple, albeit a bit mean.
He would often throw a few paper talismans that transformed into actors, who would bang gongs and clash cymbals, performing grand operas by their bedsides. He wasn’t particular about the content of the plays, which were a mix of love and hate, life and death, gathered from the streets by the Falling Flower Platform—all sorts, really. Regardless of the quality, the excitement was genuine.
When the Ritual Pavilion sent those twelve boys to Sit Spring Breeze, he applied a bit of the art of manipulating actors to the boys.
After all, they’re made of paper, sharing the same essence.
A young boy asked, “What happens when you add those?”
They come alive, as if they were living beings.
The paper is also reinforced, so it won’t lose its spiritual essence amidst the long-lasting malevolent energy.
But Wuxing Xue picked the most unique point to answer, “They can perform, cry miserably.”
The young boy was speechless.
The young boy, looking puzzled, couldn’t grasp what good “crying miserably” would do, but Wuxing Xue was all too clear about the deeds he himself had done.
If it were those young boys from the past in the Ritual Pavilion, they would obediently and neatly line up back to the Pavilion at the mere word of “no need, go back on your own” from the Celestial Immortal of the Heavenly Dwelling.
But for those influenced by Wuxing Xue, at the words “let’s go, back to the Ritual Pavilion,” they would cling to the corner of the Celestial’s robe, crying until the seas run dry and the stones crumble.
The young boy was speechless again.
After pondering quietly for a moment, they asked, “Crying like that, those young boys really won’t get beaten up?”
Wuxing Xue hummed in response, “No, they won’t.”
After a pause, he added, “They shouldn’t.”
The young boy asked again, “Why?”
Wuxing Xue softly said, “Because Lord Celestial has a soft heart.”
The young boy recalled the stern appearance of the Celestial, finding it somewhat hard to believe. The other seemed miles away from the notion of “soft-hearted.”
In fact, not only these two young boys but most people in the Celestial City, including those in the Ritual Pavilion, thought this way.
When the Celestial Immortal took the young boys to settle accounts in the spring breeze, the people of the Ritual Pavilion finally understood the good deeds done by the Spirit King.
In their fingers held a talisman paper for sending messages, fluttering loudly beside Sang Feng’s face.
Sang Feng stepped aside slightly, just enough to avoid being hit in the face. He habitually said, “Again, it’s my fault something happened.”
“What thing is your fault?” Meng Gu threw a talisman paper at him, “I’ve found out.”
Sang Feng asked, “Found out what?”
Meng Gu clicked her tongue, “Why hasn’t Tianxiu returned our ritual hall’s children?”
Sang Feng nodded repeatedly, “Ah, that.”
He originally thought of this matter with joy, but seeing Meng Gu’s complex expression, he quickly hid his happiness, “How is this not a good thing?”
Meng Gu chuckled dryly.
Sang Feng immediately became anxious, “Hey, come on, don’t beat around the bush. Your look is making me anxious and uneasy.”
Meng Gu said, “From what I’ve found out, it’s said that yesterday evening, Lord Tianxiu returned to Xiandu and also saw those children sent over.”
Sang Feng asked, “And then?”
“Then he intended to send them back to the ritual hall immediately.”
“Why didn’t he send them back after all?”
Meng Gu’s expression became indescribably complicated, “It’s said that just as Tianxiu had them return to the ritual hall, those twelve children pathetically shuffled over, each grabbing a corner of Tianxiu’s robe.”
Sang Feng was speechless.
“They surrounded Tianxiu completely, and suddenly started crying. They cried so heartbreakingly, as if their hearts were being torn apart.”
Sang Feng remained silent.
“The most absurd part is that two of them, while crying and looking up, could barely stand steady. Being so small, they almost fell over backward. But they were steadied by a slap of sword energy on their backs.”
Sang Feng stayed quiet.
After a moment of thought, he asked, “Did anyone die?”
“Who died?” Meng Gu replied.
Sang Feng asked, “Those two who were slapped by the sword aura, did they turn into talisman paper right there and then?”
Meng Gu replied, “No.”
Sang Feng finally felt that this matter was a bit outrageous.
He thought for a moment and asked, “Where did you hear this from?”
It was too bizarre; he couldn’t believe it.
Meng Gu said, “A celestial envoy from Lingtai just happened to pass by and saw it. Fearing they might be implicated, they hid.”
The temperament of the celestial envoys from Lingtai mostly follows that of the Celestial Chief Hua Xin; they do not spout nonsense.
Sang Feng believed her somewhat but still struggled, “Did they see clearly? What if they saw it wrong?”
Meng Gu replied, “No, at that time, they also heard Tianxu ask the disciples a question with an expressionless face.”
Sang Feng asked, “What question?”
Meng Gu said, “He asked who taught them this move, at the Ritual Pavilion. But those little disciples were crying so miserably, gasping and choking, they couldn’t even breathe, let alone answer. It’s said that Tianxu turned his head and stood aside for quite a while, then with a sweep of his sword aura, he swept all those twelve little things into the Xiangyang Pavilion under the south window.”
Sang Feng asked, “And then?”
Meng Gu said, “Then, it’s said that Tianxu received a heavenly decree. Probably he didn’t have time to do anything else and went down to the mortal realm. He just returned to the Celestial Capital.”
After hearing this, Sang Feng’s face looked terrible. After a long while, he said, “I’m not going to survive this.”
Thinking about that scene, he always felt that the next moment, Tianxu’s ‘Mercyless Sword’ would be at his neck.
Now that Tianxu had returned to the Celestial Capital, to save his life, it would be best for him to go and apologize.
So, without caring for the deeper implications, Sang Feng hurriedly made his way to the south window. However, upon arriving, he saw that the entire palace was silent, with not a single light.
He caught a celestial envoy patrolling at night and asked, “Have you seen Lord Tianxu return to his mansion?”
The envoy answered, “He returned, but then he left again.”
Sang Feng was surprised, “Where did he go?”
The envoy said, “He went in the direction of ‘Sitting in the Spring Breeze.'”
“At this hour, to ‘Sit in the Spring Breeze’?”
“Yes.”
While puzzled, Sang Feng hurried towards ‘Sitting in the Spring Breeze.’
Indeed, upon arriving there, he didn’t go in because he saw the celestial Tianxu standing outside the door of ‘Sitting in the Spring Breeze,’ holding his sword.
Strangely, the door was closed.
Even stranger was that Tianxu, the celestial, just let it be closed. He was slightly bowing his head, as if talking to someone inside the door, not in a hurry to enter, nor intending to leave.
The atmosphere was indescribably subtle and odd.
Sang Feng was about to walk over but then silently retracted his foot and quietly walked away.
The person sitting in the spring breeze was unaware of Lord Sang’s hesitation in the distance.
At that moment, the two young boys were savoring the “secret” their master had shared about what kind of tricks the Spirit King had played on the young boys Tianxus.
They had no clue who in the Immortal City was the strongest or most formidable. They merely sized up their master’s graceful, tall, and slender figure, then thought about the Heavenly Lodging coming to settle accounts at their door. After pondering for a moment, they earnestly advised, “Master, let’s run.”
The Spirit King, leaning against the door, laughed, “Alright, you go first, I’ll cover the rear.”
The young boy asked, “Why?”
The Spirit King said, “Just in case Lord Tianxu decides to level the place, I have a sword and can take a hit, slightly better than either of you.”
The young boy gasped in surprise, “Wow, Lord Tianxu is that angry to level the place?”
The Spirit King said, “Hmm, hard to say.”
He didn’t set any prohibitions, nor did he use voice transmission. Just a door apart, even if he lowered his voice, it was just teasing the kids, as the one outside could hear everything clearly.
After scaring the young boys, he leaned against the door and laughed for a while.
Then he heard Xiao Fuxuan’s voice on the other side of the jade door, saying, “Having fun?”
He seemed to be leaning against the door too, his deep voice coming through the jade door, sounding surprisingly close.
Wu Xingxue pinched his earlobe.
Xiao Fuxuan continued, “The mighty Spirit King.”
He pronounced Wu Xingxue’s name, paused for a moment after finishing.
Wu Xingxue waited for what would come next, but it never did.
The other seemed to be pondering, yet couldn’t find any suitable adjective. After a moment, Xiao Fuxuan’s voice came through the seam in the middle of the jade stone door.
He skipped other words and added, “I’ve learned.”
Wu Xingxue asked, “Learned what?”
Xiao Fuxuan said, “The way of hosting guests by not opening the door.”
Wu Xingxue leisurely said, “Lord Tianxu comes with a sword to my door, not even a smile, and you expect me to talk about hospitality? You’re here to settle accounts, not as a guest.”
He intended only to tease, the door wasn’t really closed, nor was he truly hiding. But after saying that last sentence, he suddenly paused.
In casual conversations with Sang Feng, those feelings of regret and nostalgia would suddenly prick at his heart.
In the land of immortals, all are strangers at first, able to mingle and move freely with just a jug of new wine, becoming guests of each other and calling one another “friends of the immortals.”
Yet, between him and the person outside the door, with their profound and complex history, a visit still required the pretext of “settling accounts.”
He laughed to himself, suddenly losing any interest in teasing others.
“Little ones,” Wu Xingxue glanced at the children by the door.
The two children looked up at him.
“Step aside,” Wu Xingxue said.
The children, puzzled, obediently moved away from behind the door.
Seeing them step aside, Wu Xingxue flicked his fingers, and the tightly shut jade door swung open abruptly.
Twelve children, looking like they were under a cloud of doom, huddled together in a “about to be sent away” manner, while Xiao Fuxuan stood with his sword in the long shadow of the lamps, nodding slightly.
The other party seemed startled by the sudden opening of the door, pausing for a moment when looking up.
Wu Xingxue’s face remained impassive, as calm as before, with even a hint of a smile in his eyes. He thought to say, “Forget it, I won’t trouble Lord Tianxu any longer. However you want to settle the accounts, you say, I’ll listen.”
But Xiao Fuxuan spoke before him.
With the layer of jade door no longer between them, his voice, mingled with the night’s fog, was still cold but somehow deeper.
He paused for a moment and then said, “I, too, can come as a guest.”
