Chapter 297: Only alive is one worthy to vie for favor

【Xuan Feixing remembers that day.

Xuan Feixing, forever remembers that day.

That day, the bloodwater rose together, and all living beings crossed over.

For people to survive, what they can do far exceeds what heaven and earth could imagine.

The more chaotic the world, the more the devout people increase, yet the devout people also decrease.

When the palaces, temples, and shrines under heaven were all destroyed, the Witch Ancestor, who originally dwelt in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and only passed down in the Witch Clan's legends......

It seems even less worth mentioning.

Moreover, the inheritance of his lineage is even harder to speak of.

He prayed to heaven and awaited the ancestors, longing for a deity to descend and possess him......

But the Witch Ancestor never came, even in the end.

He didn't understand whether it was because his bloodline was no longer worthy of favor, or because there was something wrong with the auspicious rites he performed.

In short, no one responded to him.

Only in a moment, it seemed only in a moment, the Yellow Waters surged up at a speed faster than thunder could cover one's ears.

He carried the Five Turbid Vessels onto the household table, but in no time the water filled up to his feet and submerged most of the house.

This home, of course, was very simple.

However, the thought and effort put into it were indeed genuine.

If it weren't for their genuine love back then, his parents would not have fled the clan, eloping to Ju Cheng, a place unknown to them, where they gave birth to him without permission, then lived honestly as ordinary people, earning a living by selling vegetables and embroidery, gaining only a few melons and dates, toiling half their lives before barely scraping together a home.

However, perhaps the myriad beings do not pity the weak, and the Witch Ancestor also despises them as traitors to the clan......

His parents died.

His parents were beaten to death on a certain night by the pursuing Witch Colonists.

He, though he luckily escaped that night, yet could not escape the heavenly disaster.

He took the door panel from home as a boat, attempting to paddle out of the flood- trapped Ju Cheng.

But such a small door panel could not bear his soul.

That day, rain poured in torrents, heaven and earth indistinguishable.

That day, it was exactly like a certain night that had existed only in his mind before.

The only difference was that before, he could not save his parents, and now, after many years, he could not save himself.

In the wastewater up to his chest, he clutched the Five Turbid Vessels and shed the first tear of his life, attempting to tell everyone he met the old tales of the Witch Clan—

He said, the origin of the Witch Clan is as enduring as heaven and earth.

He said, when heaven and earth first opened, there were no humans, only a pair of siblings with human hands and serpent bodies; they followed heaven's will to propagate all things, yet were ashamed of their own forms.

Thus, they agreed to walk around a heavenly pillar, circling; when one caught up to the other, they would say, "Hey hey hey, who are you?", as their first acquaintance since the beginning of primordial chaos.

He cried out injustice for that pair of siblings, and also for his own parents who were beaten to death......

He further attempted to say, his bloodline was not entirely impure, but had a trace to follow.

He did not want to die in the raging flood, nor did he want after death for no one to remember that a pair who, from the moment they landed, held hands as lovers had once settled in Ju Cheng.

That couple led a very hard life.

They gave birth to a child who was not blessed at birth.

From childhood, that child's mind was not quite like ordinary people's, and all along gave them much trouble.

That child......

That child once firmly believed that, by stealing witchcraft, he could return to the Witch Clan and avenge his parents.

But unexpectedly, even before he could return home, he would die in the endless flood.

He also tried swimming and such foolishness, but foolishness is foolishness; not everyone who can swim can find a way to survive when the waters rise.

The silt, debris, and even a mouthful of turbid water in the water could take a life.

He hated, he clearly, clearly was full of hatred.

However, just as the flood was about to submerge his chest, he saw......

He saw, his new Witch Ancestor.

That radiant woman, leading people, rode a horse on high ground, holding a strange-looking bow‑crossbow; seeing him behind, she shot an arrow at him......

Of course, it was not aimed at him, but at a piece of wood not far before him.

The arrow was trailed by a rope; he grabbed the rope and thus picked up a path to survival.

At that time, many disaster victims were rescued in this way.

However, while being dragged through the flood, at the instant he saw the brows and eyes of the person before him, what he thought remained——

It turned out, he was the most special.

That day, the Witch Ancestor did not come.

However, the new Witch Ancestor arrived.

She ought to be his new Witch Ancestor.】

The Witch Colonists take pride in serving the Witch Ancestor generation after generation.

What's wrong with him wanting to serve her?

What could he possibly be wrong about?

How is it that these days, everyone assumes he will surely gain high office and generous stipend on this trip?

Xuan Feixing couldn't understand.

He didn't understand and refused to speak, so Du Shanü understood even less.

Du Shanü stared blankly at the stern young man before her, wanting to speak but stopping, stopping then wanting again, and finally she said:

Well you......

As for what came after, I also wanted to say, let him do whatever he pleases.

But she could only get out two words when she opened her mouth, and Du Shanü couldn't continue.

It's not her fault; just thinking about what came after almost made Du Shanü heartbroken to the point of being unable to breathe—

We're lacking people!

We're lacking people!

Now we're so short-staffed; how come it's so hard to find talent, and even when we do, the talent isn't willing to work?

She had long known her path might be rough, but no one ever told she'd be this unfortunate! (she winced)

Du Shanü felt a bit listless, a choked breath stuck in her throat, neither up nor down, and for a moment she didn't know how to speak.

Just then, a familiar footsteps went away and came back; holding a food box, she skillfully pushed open the study door, walked straight in, and disturbed the room's silence.

The visitor wore a plain cloud-patterned silk robe loosely draped over her tall, slender figure; her black hair like crow feathers was unbound today, hanging loose to her waist, with only a single strand twisted at the side.

Her tresses fell along her shoulders in graceful waves, making her brows and eyes appear even more clear and elegant, her aura fresh and warm, unpretentious.

Du Shanü was worrying when she suddenly saw such a virtuous husband version of Chinu, and in an instant even her soul was bewildered.

"...... Good slave, come come come!"

"Good heavens, my dear heart, why did fetching a bucket of cow's milk take so long? Did you start raising the cow from birth? And why did you let your hair down......"

Indeed, it's so flavorful...

Oh no, it's making her too worried!

That piercing gaze—Chinu had been sizing up Xuan Feixing, but hearing this, she raised her brows, quickly averted her eyes, and walked toward her Wife Master.

"I was supposed to turn back quickly, but I just happened to glance at Liu Ji imprisoned in the jail, and unexpectedly ran into that nosy bunch in the side lane of the mansion."

"This kid is sly as hell; seeing me, he dove straight into the river. I spent some effort catching him, so...... Wife Master, please use the cow's milk."

Du Shanü smiled, took the bowl of still-warm cow's milk from the food box, was about to bring it to her lips, but remembering there were people in the room, she waved her hand again.

Recruiting talents can't be rushed.

Xuan Feixing basically wants to stay in the government office's waiting hall as a clerk, and surely won't leave anytime soon...

This person is hard to deal with; maybe we need to spend some time on him, and it's not worth the effort of this bowl of cow's milk.

With Du Shanü's wave, the formerly stern young man moved as ordered, slowly retreating from the study; Chen Weifang, not knowing what she was thinking, also followed him out.

Du Shanü and Chinu were talking, while Chen Weifang, holding an official post, stepped over the threshold first...

Thus, no one noticed that as Xuan Feixing stepped out of the study, he glanced back at Chinu, casting a cold, dark look.

However, it was only a fleeting moment; as his feet landed, everything came to nothing.

The two left the study one after another; when Chen Weifang reached the corridor, she dropped her earlier pleasant expression and reached out, saying:

"...... Give me that previous letter."

Xuan Feixing paused, slowly pulling out the sealed letter; just before handing it over, he tore open the envelope, kept the envelope for himself, and gave only the letter inside to the other person.

Chen Weifang wasn't foolish; after a slight squint, she said nothing, and Xuan Feixing promptly continued:

"Sir, if you don't want this letter delivered, I can arrange for some mischief during its delivery; the route from Zhoufu to Cang Cheng Mountain is long and full of waters, so if the messenger accidentally falls into the water and loses the letter, that's not uncommon."

"But doing so would require rewriting the envelope, making a blurred fake letter lost to water, so that when the Wise Lord investigates later, we can shift the blame."

Chen Weifang reluctantly accepted this explanation, slipped the letter into her sleeve, and walked away with her back turned.

Xuan Feixing waited quietly in the corridor until that silhouette departed and all was still, then he took out the envelope and gave it a slight shake in the sunlight.

The rough tear on the envelope remained, like a horrible, ferocious scar.

Xuan Feixing stared at it for a long time, then suddenly broke into a smile that would seem extremely morbid and twisted to any outsider, and immediately—

He brought the sealed flap of the envelope to his lips and lightly kissed it.

?? This chapter has extra half a chapter of text; needs someone to praise, hehe (*^▽^*)

? Yeah, even within the same faction, there will be different disagreements.

? This newly appeared Toxic Brother actually doesn't belong to either Yu Baobao or Chinu's side; he's thoroughly a Shasha faction, and will look down equally on anyone who appears before Shasha.