Chapter 107: A Humble Beauty

Lin Fu.

Outside the window, faint insect chirps drifted; inside the vast mansion, all sound had long ceased, save for the boudoir where the Young Lady resided, still lit by a dim lamp.

Inside the room, Lin Wanyi sat by the table, her hands cupping her cheeks; on the lenses of her gold-rimmed glasses, the flickering candlelight cast a wavering reflection, her eyes staring blankly into space.

On the round table lay four dishes and a white porcelain jar, all covered with plates, alongside a blue-and-white wine bottle.

But after waiting half the night, the food had long lost its heat, cold just like the heart that had been left hanging for half the night.

You promised to come early tonight; what hour of the night is it now...

You big pig trotter, I even worried you'd be hungry at night and secretly stir-fried a few side dishes...

Couldn't you accompany Miss Linghu...

Besides Linghu Qingmo, who else could you accompany...

Maybe I should bolt the door and not let him in...

After longing and missing him for who knows how long, a faint sound finally came from outside the room:

Hush~

Creak~

The door pushed open; a young man in white robes poked half his body in, glanced at the scene inside, paused slightly, and his stern face clearly showed a few shades of shame.

"Why is there still food prepared? Sorry to keep you waiting; um... I went to investigate a case just now, so I'm a bit late..."

"Hmph~"

Lin Wanyi straightened her posture, turned her gaze elsewhere, and spoke in a tone neither cold nor warm:

"I know, you're a busy person; this isn't some important place anyway; coming over when you have free time is the same..."

Her words clearly carried a hint of displeasure.

Xie Jinhuan had just gone to kill Zhou Ming'an, 顺便 helped Li Gongpu clean his house, then discussed business with Bu Hanying, making hundreds of taels per minute, nearly busy to the point of exploding; arriving late was truly unavoidable.

Upon a brief glance now, he could see the great beauty Lin had changed into a dark green autumn skirt; compared to yesterday it was slightly more conservative, but her temperament had become even more intellectual and graceful; paired with her gold-rimmed glasses, she looked like a fully bloomed, exquisite peony, clearly having dressed up with care.

However, what surprised him most was the wine and dishes on the table.

Xie Jinhuan remembered the last time he saw food on the table at home was before he left Jingcheng at sixteen; back then he was still studying at the academy, he loved to wander around a bit, and although the old man was busy with official duties, he would still wait for him every evening at dinner.

That feeling of home, when possessed, seemed ordinary, nothing special.

But after losing it completely, seeing it again felt as if someone had struck his chest with a hammer, as though a lifetime had passed.

Lin Wanyi tilted her head, waiting for the man to offer flowery apologies; noticing Xie Jinhuan remained silent, she turned her gaze back, only to see Xie Jinhuan still smiling but saying nothing; he first walked to the table, then turned, took her towel, and wiped his hands.

Seeing Xie Jinhuan's strange reaction, as if he was very surprised she had prepared food, she found it hard to stay angry, thought for a moment, and rose:

"I worried you'd be hungry at night, so I casually made a couple of side dishes; they've all gone cold. Let me heat them up for you..."

"No need; it's so late, it's unnecessary. I'm a wandering swordsman; I don't mind hot or cold."

Xie Jinhuan pressed down on Wanyi's shoulders, making her sit, then sat in front of her, lifted the plates covering the dishes, revealing four side dishes: stir-fried pork with greens, cold tossed bamboo shoots, sour and spicy shredded celery, and vinegar-glazed fish; the porcelain jar held white rice.

Judging by the knife skills, all four side dishes were made by the glasses-wearing lady herself; she had even carefully arranged them with red and green contrasts; if they hadn't gone cold, they would surely have been perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

"Your skills are excellent; I never realized that before..."

Lin Wanyi sat beside him; seeing Xie Jinhuan inspect each dish one by one, she felt a bit constrained, and lifted the stir-fried pork and the vinegar-glazed fish:

"Cold food doesn't taste good; let me heat it up for you. It's just a few steps; you eat a few bites of the cold dishes first."

Saying this, she quickly stepped out the door.

Xie Jinhuan watched her swaying, graceful figure; for perhaps the first time, his gaze did not drift toward her rear.

After the young lady resembling a modest beauty left the room, he shook his head and smiled:

"This silly girl is quite virtuous..."

Ye Hongshang appeared silently and sat opposite:

"Oh ho~ You came for the girl's body, but the girl fell for your heart; now you feel embarrassed, don't you?"

"How can you say I came for her body? I came to teach a cultivation technique."

Xie Jinhuan corrected him seriously, though deep down he indeed felt embarrassed.

After all, Lin Wanyi was a standard well-bred young lady; at most she had some connection with the Wu Sect, and could hardly be counted as evil path.

He was different; given his current bandit-like behavior of 'practice makes perfect,' he dared not think about what he had done over these three years.

The matter of the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum was not yet settled; if a shocking variable truly erupted from the exploding graves in ten-odd days, no one knew what it would turn into.

Fortunately, Li Gongpu had provided an enormous sum of travel funds; tomorrow he would meet the seller of the Sixty-Year Lotus again; once he obtained the item, maintaining his current idyllic life and righteous persona would not be difficult.

After pondering thus for a moment, the door opened once more.

Lin Wanyi carried two plates of reheated dishes, placed them on the round table; because the plates were somewhat hot, she pinched her earlobes:

"Taste them; if they don't suit your palate, tell me."

"How could they not be delicious?"

Xie Jinhuan pulled Wanyi's sleeve, made her sit beside him, and chatted casually:

"You worked hard. Did you inquire about the medicinal herbs today?"

Lin Wanyi opened the wine bottle and poured a cup of wine for Xie Jinhuan:

"I inquired; the matter of the medicinal herbs is not a big problem; it's just the final payment..."

"Rest assured; within five days I will definitely gather the full amount."

"Ah?"

Lin Wanyi picked up her wine cup, slightly puzzled: "Where will you gather so much silver?"

Xie Jinhuan clinked glasses with the glasses-wearing lady and smiled:

"Don't you know my capabilities? Tomorrow Princess Zhangning will arrive; even by borrowing, I can gather enough."

Princess...

Lin Wan'er's eyes looked a bit strange; she covered her face with her sleeve, drained the wine in her cup in one gulp, and pressed her lips together:

"Going to serve the Princess again? You... you are a knight..."

Xie Jinhuan found this somewhat amusing:

"I am the halberd-bearer of the Princess's residence. If the Princess comes and I don't serve her, wouldn't that be drawing a salary for doing nothing? But rest assured, I sell my skills, not my body."

"Tsk~ Who knows if you want to sell or not..."

Lin Wan'er felt that talking about this was only making things uncomfortable for herself, so she changed the subject again:

"Hmm... You are familiar with Miss Linghu. Have you discussed the matter of Sect Master Nangong?"

"We have. She said Nangong Xianzi will return after the Mid-Autumn Festival, probably soon. Why do you ask?"

Lin Wan'er had been given the arduous task of persuading Nangong Ye to surrender and was worrying about how to handle this matter.

This matter was a private grudge between two sect masters; currently, it was a case of 'whoever chickens out is the other's granddaughter.' If it spread, it would be hard to resolve. Since Xie Jinhuan didn't even know Nangong Ye, she certainly couldn't speak plainly. Thinking it over, she merely said:

"Just curious. Nangong Sword Immortal has profound cultivation and a far-reaching reputation for chivalry; you should get along well. If you see her, you must curry favor properly. Hmm... If Sect Master Nangong returns, tell me. I actually admire her quite a bit."

"Alright. If I have the chance to see her, I will definitely introduce you."

Xie Jinhuan held his bowl and shoveled rice into his mouth in large bites. Relying on the astonishing appetite of a martial artist, he forced himself to eat all four side dishes along with the rice until the plates didn't even need washing.

At first, Lin Wan'er worried Xie Jinhuan wouldn't be used to the food. Seeing that he didn't disdain her cooking, she naturally felt delighted. After finishing, she prepared to clean up again.

But Xie Jinhuan had spent the day fighting and killing; having a home-cooked meal at night was already an unexpected joy. Where would he really act like a master? He took the plates and slipped away to the empty kitchen of Lin Fu, cleaned the tableware, and only then returned to the room.

Afraid her parents would discover them, Lin Wan'er didn't dare follow behind. She busied herself by the bed. Perhaps because she had been held to sleep last night, she felt it was a bit too much, so she made a floor bed with quilts beside the bed.

Seeing Xie Jinhuan sneak back, Lin Wan'er sat down by the bed:

"Today, you are not allowed to climb onto the bed. Otherwise... otherwise I will cast a love poison on you."

Her eyes carried three parts threat, fierce yet cute!

Xie Jinhuan had an appreciation for beauty, but Wan'er personally cooking dishes and preparing wine to wait for him half the night was far more comforting than simply touching her a couple of times. So he simply sat cross-legged on the floor bed:

"Alright. If I am not proper, just cast the love poison on me directly and let me suffer the agony of ten thousand ants eating my heart!"

Once the love poison was cast, one had to give one's body on the spot; Lin Wan'er was not that foolish.

Knowing that entering the dream required lying down to watch, Lin Wan'er took off her shoes, lay on the pillow, gazed at the back of the figure sitting cross-legged by the bed, and closed her eyes to wait.

And soon, the sensation of dizziness and vertigo returned.

Then the bed disappeared, and the whole person began to fall...

—

Boom—

Splash~

The sound of waves rose from beside her ears, accompanied by bursts of thunder.

Lin Wan'er's consciousness was clear when she realized her body was shaking violently, as if sitting on a boat. Opening her eyes to look around, she discovered the surroundings were no longer an endless abyss and stone tablets, but a boundless Wang Yang.

Above the sky, thunderclouds were dense, and the sea surface appeared a dark, gloomy black-green.

Waves several people high surged from the horizon, causing the broken ship planks floating on the sea to resemble wood chips in a torrent, churning violently to the point where it was hard to sit steady. The waves splashed onto her body, chilling her to the bone.

"Eh?"

Suddenly plunged into this deadly, lifeless region, Lin Wan'er's face turned a few shades paler with fear. She clung tightly to the edge of the floating plank, looking around anxiously:

"Xie Jinhuan? Xie Jinhuan?!"

On the broken ship plank, there was only her, all alone, as if forgotten by the entire world and abandoned in the dead zone beyond the sea.

Lin Wan'er struggled to maintain her posture so she wouldn't be washed off the board by the huge waves. After sweeping her gaze around, she noticed movement in the water beside the plank:

"Gurgle gurgle~..."

Lin Wan'er immediately leaned over the edge of the plank to look, but discovered Xie Jinhuan had sunk into the seawater, flailing his arms and legs with bubbles coming from his mouth. It looked like he wanted to float to the surface, but his body was sinking!

"Eh?"

In her panic, Lin Wan'er immediately leaned out, grabbed Xie Jinhuan's arm, and then pulled upward with force.

Splash~

Xie Jinhuan burst out of the bone-chilling seawater, rolled over onto the bamboo raft:

"Holy crap, cough... cough..."

Lin Wan'er couldn't sit steady at all; she could only hug Xie Jinhuan, looking around with eyes full of panic and confusion:

"What's going on with you? What place is this?!"

Xie Jinhuan had almost drowned, and his heart was also strangely confused.

However, as the spellcaster, he certainly couldn't show confusion. He gripped the cracks in the plank to steady himself:

"I just used this kind of divine technique and am not yet skilled at controlling the dream. What one thinks about during the day, one dreams about at night. This situation appearing, hmm... maybe I drank too much just now and wanted to relieve myself..."

"Ah? You... you wouldn't have bed-wet, would you?"

"How is that possible? I'm not a little brat."

Lin Wan hugged Xie Jinhuan tightly. Seeing the towering waves all around, even though she knew it was a dream, she was still terrified, feeling that she would die here in the next second.

Fortunately, Xie Jinhuan was right there. If she were alone, trapped in this boundless Wang Yang with storms raging, she didn't know how desperate she would become...

After calming down for a moment and realizing she definitely wouldn't fall off, Lin Wan'er felt slightly relieved. She looked left and right, then gazed up at the sky.

Above the dark, oppressive canopy, thousands of lightning snakes intertwined, forming a surging pattern of thunder runes, almost identical to the star chart she had seen last night.

As the saying goes, the first time is unfamiliar, the second time is familiar. This time, Lin Wan'er didn't need Xie Jinhuan's guidance; she simply turned slightly, leaned against Xie Jinhuan, and began to memorize the thunder rune pattern in the sky, silently chanting in her heart:

"I've understood it, I've understood it... Eh? Why am I not understanding it anymore..."

Xie Jinhuan lay on the floating and sinking broken ship plank, his single arm encircling the plump, juicy bespectacled lady. At first, his mind was still a bit wandering.

After all, Lin Wanyi was afraid of falling, so she curled up directly in his armpit; he wrapped his arms around her upper body, and that bulging sensation on his arm truly made one unable to help but recall those half an hour on the pleasure boat.

Great waves surged on the sea, and the small deck would capsize under the storm if there was even the slightest carelessness.

It was not easy for Xie Jinhuan to maintain his own stability, let alone hold a person; at this moment, he could not move his hands and feet, but only did his best to steady his figure so that Wanyi could focus on memorizing the cultivation technique, while he continued to study his own "Candle Wax Poured in Turns."

However, after studying like this for a moment, Xie Jinhuan frowned secretly, then turned his head to scan the stormy sea with surging waves and the broken deck beneath him.

Lin Wanyi was initially seriously searching for the feeling of enlightenment, but noticing Xie Jinhuan twisting his head left and right, she raised her eyes and asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm..."

Xie Jinhuan thought for a moment, then shook his head and smiled:

"We won't be lying in bed again, will we?"

"Ah? This is a broken dream you created; you... you get down!"

"What if I get down and drown?"

"I don't care; you did it on purpose..."

"How could I possibly have done it on purpose? Memorize the cultivation technique properly and stop overthinking."

"..."

(End of this chapter)