Chapter 843: The Woman in the Painting
Qi Xiayu shot Qin Mu a fierce glare. Qin Mu gave a helpless smile, and the girl beside him once again brought a peach to his lips, leaving him with no choice but to continue eating.
Seeing his awkward predicament, Qi Xiayu didn’t know whether to be angry or amused. She put on a stern face and said, “Stop eating! They are green sparrows, given to my teacher by the Southern Emperor. They love serving people the most, but what’s most annoying is exactly that—their service. Usually, they hold food in their beaks to feed little birds. They’re treating you like a fledgling. And they have no restraint—be careful they don’t stuff you to death!”
Qin Mu suddenly understood. No wonder these girls always liked to feed him.
“Has Sister Qi ever been fed by them mouth-to-mouth?” Qin Mu asked with a strange expression, unable to help imagining the scene of these girls feeding Qi Xiayu.
Qi Xiayu’s face flushed slightly. “When I was little, they did... Bah! You’re still eating? Why don’t you get up quickly?”
The girl called Yan’er giggled and said, “Young Master Qin, we can also bite the peaches to feed you, and we can feed you tea too.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. The image was too alluring; just thinking about it made his body heat up.
He was no longer the innocent youth of years past. He had read *The Capital’s Tales of Romance* at the National Teacher’s place and knew something of such matters. This kind of scene made it hard for him to maintain his composure.
The young man hurriedly stood up and said, “No more tea! No more food! Thank you, sisters, for your care! Sister Qi...”
“Don’t call me sister—we’re not that close!”
Qi Xiayu’s expression darkened. She flicked her sleeve and turned away, her multicolored robe spreading like phoenix feathers, blocking Qin Mu’s view as she walked toward the front hall. She said coldly, “Master, why did you bring this lecher here? Your peach grove is so complex that even I can’t enter without your guidance through the zither music. You clearly let him in!”
Qin Mu wiped his mouth and followed her to the front hall.
From behind the screen, the woman shook her head and said, “How could it be that I let him in? It was the Heavenly Lord who meddled, hanging a star in the sky to guide him, breaking the spell of my peach grove. I’ve already snuffed out that star of the Heavenly Lord’s, to keep him from prying around.”
Qi Xiayu said, “The Heavenly Lord can’t even save himself, yet he still can’t stay still.”
Yan’er and the other girls brought over jade tables and cushions for Qin Mu to sit on.
Qin Mu sat upright, ignoring the peaches the lovely girls had cut and the tea placed at his lips.
Yan’er took a sip of tea and brought her lips close to his cheek, looking at him expectantly.
“The monk Mingxin once gave me a *Heart Sutra* that could keep one calm even with a beauty in one’s lap. How did it go again?”
The young man’s mind wandered, feeling his Dao heart severely challenged, his head full of red lips, with no room left for Buddhist scriptures.
Qin Mu quickly distracted himself: “Just now, Qi Xiayu said Yan’er and the others were green sparrows, given by the Southern Emperor, Zhuque, to the woman behind the screen. So Sister Zhuque has a deep friendship with the woman behind the screen. An existence that can befriend Sister Zhuque certainly wouldn’t be inferior to her. Then the identity of the woman behind the screen is obvious...”
The woman behind the screen had Yan’er and the other girls withdraw and said apologetically, “Yan’er and the others have troubled Young Master Qin. I see you’re so flustered that you’re sweating on your forehead.”
Qin Mu’s forehead was indeed sweating, but as soon as Yan’er and the others left, he returned to normal and stopped being nervous. He smiled and said, “I didn’t expect the Crimson Emperor to be your disciple. The Crimson Emperor once hunted me down. I’m relieved to have resolved that conflict with her this time.”
Qi Xiayu, sitting not far away, had a vein bulging on her forehead and said, “Master, I wasn’t hunting him down; I was hunting down a faithless man. And this man is just as unreliable as that faithless one—he’s all talk. Master, don’t trust him! He and that faithless man caused a huge uproar in the Twenty Heavens of the Buddhist Realm. The Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha used their hands to eliminate the Heavenly Court’s forces in the Buddhist Realm. The Heavenly Court has long wanted to get rid of them. Now, the Heavenly Court has already sent other strong experts to capture that faithless man.”
The woman behind the screen said, “Young Master Qin, Xiayu actually means no harm. Don’t blame her. Her experiences have been quite rough. She was never valued in the Phoenix Clan and was suppressed by the Earth Mother. The Earth Mother’s son became the Heavenly Emperor of the Northern Imperial Heavenly Court and ordered her to enter the palace to serve him. She had no choice but to defect to the Southern Imperial Heavenly Court.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered as he said, “And then the Southern Imperial Heavenly Court fell, so she defected to the Outer Heavenly Court.”
Qi Xiayu raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The woman behind the screen smiled and said, “When Xiayu was young, the Southern Emperor recommended her to become my disciple. Actually, she can be considered a shared disciple of mine and the Southern Emperor. I usually don’t involve myself in worldly affairs, but the Southern Emperor and I have a very good relationship. When she personally asked, I couldn’t refuse, so I took Xiayu as my disciple. Young Master Qin, you don’t need to doubt Xiayu. Most of what she has done has been at my behest.”
Qin Mu said, “You live in seclusion here, Sister, but your mind is not in seclusion. You still have thoughts, wanting to change the outside world through the Crimson Emperor. But the Crimson Emperor has defected repeatedly—from the Earth Mother to the Northern Imperial, from the Northern Imperial to the Southern Imperial, then to the Outer Heavenly Court, and in the Kaihuang Era, she betrayed the Emperor Shakti Heavenly King Buddha. Although I didn’t say anything in front of the Crimson Emperor, I do feel quite contemptuous of it.”
Qi Xiayu said flatly, “What you think of me, what the world thinks of me, I don’t care at all. But that scoundrel Li Youran is a heartless, faithless man. If you say I betrayed him, that’s turning things upside down! He not only betrayed me but also betrayed Kaihuang, running off to become a monk!”
Qin Mu frowned slightly.
Regarding the Emperor Shakti Heavenly King Buddha, he really couldn’t say much.
The woman behind the screen smiled and said, “Xiayu is indeed a bit overly suspicious, but there’s a reason for it. From her perspective or from Li Youran’s perspective, neither of them did anything wrong. Young Master Qin, don’t be too harsh on them.”
Qin Mu sighed, feeling desolate, and said, “I just pity the people of the Heavenly Artifact Divine Clan, trapped to their deaths in the Ark of the Other Shore by the Heavenly Court, with only one child escaping. I pity that sole survivor, who eventually became an old blacksmith, who dared not reveal his origins, had to cut out his own tongue, and willingly became a mute.”
His expression darkened as he thought of that “Ah-ba, ah-ba” bad old man from the village, and his eyes stung.
Mute was the most bitter person in the village, with the most tragic background and experiences, yet Mute had never cried, at least not in front of the villagers.
He was always smiling, with half a tongue showing in his mouth.
Although he was very bad and always teased Qin Mu, it was just the childlike nature beneath his aged exterior, playing around with Qin Mu.
His eyes were always pure, always clear, as if he were still that helpless child who had walked out of the seal over the countless bones of his clansmen, facing the dark Great Ruins alone, stumbling and groping through the dark forest, moving forward helplessly.
Qin Mu didn’t think Qi Xiayu and the Emperor Shakti Heavenly King Buddha were wrong, but from Mute’s perspective, they were too wrong, so wrong that the countless bones of the Heavenly Artifact Divine Clan lay buried beneath their feet!
Qin Mu composed himself and said, “Sister, since you’re unwilling to show yourself, there’s no benefit in me staying here. I won’t disturb your reunion with your disciple. I have an elder who strayed into the peach grove—a god with a black dragon spear wrapped around his waist. Please tell me where he is, Sister, so I can take him away.”
“That god has remarkable insight.”
The woman behind the screen smiled and said, “He actually broke through the barrier outside the peach grove and entered its depths. I had to use some of my power to trap him. But he was very clever. Just now, while I was using the zither music to guide Xiayu, he moved through the sound and has already reached this heavenly realm. If you go looking for him alone, you probably won’t find him. I’ll have Yan’er go with you.”
Qin Mu thanked her, stood up, and said, “Sister, you live in seclusion here, while outside, things are in dire straits. You may have a thousand reasons to stay out of it, but I have only one reason to throw myself into the fire.”
The woman behind the screen tilted her head, her earring pendant swaying slightly.
Qin Mu showed a smile and said, “I cannot bear to see my people treated like fish and meat on a chopping block. I cannot bear to see them treated like ignorant commoners. I cannot bear to see them die in ignorance. I disdain the Buddhist concept of emptiness, and I disdain the Daoist principle of non-action. I must do something to be true to my conscience, even if it means sacrificing this body, this life—I will not hesitate, and I will not shrink from my duty!”
He bowed deeply to the ground, stood up, and said solemnly, “Today, I failed to see your true face. I don’t know if we’ll meet again. Perhaps when you think of me, I will have already died in battle. Farewell.”
He turned and walked out of the hall.
The woman behind the screen suddenly said, “Wait a moment!”
Qin Mu stopped. The woman called Qi Xiayu over. Qi Xiayu went behind the screen, and the woman whispered some instructions. Qi Xiayu came out from behind the screen, walked up to Qin Mu, and handed him a scroll with both hands.
The woman behind the screen said, “Young Master Qin, take this. Don’t open it yet. Open it after you leave the peach grove.”
Qin Mu was puzzled but accepted the scroll and walked out of the palace.
Outside the hall, the girl called Yan’er was waiting for him with a red lantern, giggling. “Young Master, please follow me.”
Qin Mu smiled back. Yan’er somehow produced a grape and tried to feed him. Qin Mu quickly shook his head. “Sister Yan’er, I’m full, really full!”
Yan’er’s face fell, and she dejectedly carried the lantern outside.
Qin Mu’s heart softened, and he opened his mouth. Yan’er cheered up again and quickly popped the grape into his mouth.
The grape was very sweet, with a hint of astringency.
But the next moment, a peach appeared in Yan’er’s hand. Qin Mu silently took a bite of the peach brought to his lips.
Inside the hall, the night pearls were still bright, but the master and disciple were silent for a long time.
Suddenly, Qi Xiayu said, “Master, why didn’t you see him?”
The woman behind the screen was silent for a moment, then said bitterly, “I am already crippled now. Why should I see him? He has taken my painting. In the future, he will naturally understand why today’s events came to pass. This meeting in the peach grove was just a chance encounter, a coincidence. He never imagined what the Heavenly Alliance he founded would become. The Heavenly Alliance of those days has long since changed beyond recognition...”
Qin Mu followed Yan’er, keeping his mouth firmly shut, resolutely refusing any more feeding. No matter how annoyed the girl acted, he wouldn’t accept, even if she pretended to feed him mouth-to-mouth—he wouldn’t be tempted. His expression was very determined.
Yan’er had no choice and, pouting, stopped paying him any attention.
Finally, deep in the peach grove, Qin Mu found Blind, who was wandering around in confusion. Blind was startled and suspicious at his arrival, asking questions repeatedly. Qin Mu recounted his experience in the palace and said, “Grandpa Blind, you’ve been trapped here for almost a month. The owner of the peach grove won’t see you. Let’s just leave.”
Blind said, “I can’t find the way out.”
“It’s fine, Elder. I know the way.”
Yan’er looked at him with a grin, her eyes bright. She took out a bright red peach and said, “Elder, want a peach?”
Blind thanked her, but then the girl brought the peach to his lips. Blind was puzzled. “Why is this girl so attentive?”
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, “This journey is going to be tough on Grandpa Blind. It’s a good thing he’s here—it saves me trouble.”
By the time Yan’er led them out of the peach grove, it was already light outside. Blind had been fed so much by the girl that his stomach was bloated and bulging. He couldn’t eat anymore, but Yan’er was too attentive, and when she made as if to feed him with her mouth, he couldn’t bear it and had to grab the peach and take a big bite, veins bulging on his forehead from the strain.
As soon as Qin Mu left the peach grove, he immediately opened the scroll and spread it out.
A ray of sunlight streamed in from the east, falling on the painting. It depicted a woman standing in the moonlight, serene and sorrowful.
This painting was Qin Mu’s own work.
Qin Mu rolled up the painting and silently put it into his glutton sack. He turned back to look at the peach grove.
“Moon Celestial, we’ll meet again in the future.”
Yan’er darted around in the peach grove, then suddenly transformed into a green sparrow and fluttered into the air. After a moment, the sparrow flew back to Qin Mu and Blind, landed, and turned back into Yan’er. She said with a mournful face, “I can’t go back! The Lady doesn’t want me anymore!”
Qin Mu laughed and said, “In that case, Sister Yan’er, come with us into the mortal world for a while.”
Yan’er’s eyes lit up, and she flipped her hand to produce a peach.
Blind immediately fled in panic, running far away, shouting, “Mu’er, I can’t handle this! Enjoy it yourself!”
Three thousand six hundred words, truly not short!