Chapter 235: Returning North with Nan Yan

When Huang Baozhuang was very young, her master brought her to the immortal palace deep within Beimang. Her slender shoulders were burdened with heavy responsibilities from an early age. Afterward, she had nothing else to do but practice swordsmanship and play chess. She was as delicate as the finest white Xuan paper in the world. The Qi-Jian Le Mansion valued her so highly that no one was allowed to privately inscribe a single stroke on this "paper." From childhood to girlhood, she had contact with only a handful of people: her master and the two mansion lords. Countless times, she stood on tiptoes in tall pavilions, gazing from afar at the laughter and joy that had nothing to do with her, filled with curiosity and longing.

After Huang Baozhuang turned ten, she became aware of another self within her. At sixteen, this "other self" emerged powerfully in the Green Mountains, so formidable that the Qi-Jian Le Mansion had to assign a Grand Master Ancestor to constantly monitor her. She was unpredictable, like someone stepping on a watermelon rind, liable to slip in any direction. After she turned twenty, her master had passed away. Besides the Bronze Man Grand Ancestor, only Senior Brother Hong would occasionally come to play chess with her. They were both terrible at chess. After watching their games, the Mansion Lord of Chess was unwilling to observe anymore. Huang Baozhuang knew that apart from the existence of her "other self" and her swordsmanship, she was useless; she played chess poorly and was not very literate. She had always envied her senior brothers and sisters in the sect, who were well-versed in literature and could speak eloquently. Before entering Yanmen Pass, Senior Brother Wu Miaozai of the East Immortal faction had a bet with Senior Brother Xihu about who could recite "The Buddhist Shrine Record" perfectly. So, when she climbed the city wall, saw his back, and heard him reciting fluently, she deeply admired his erudition.

Her master, the two mansion lords, the Bronze Man Grand Ancestor, Senior Brother Hong, and she herself—a total of six people. However, if His Royal Highness knew that he was only the third to last among a group of slightly more than one hand's worth of people, he would surely find such "erudition" to be utterly disingenuous.

Seeing no one around, Xu Fengnian took out a stack of facial masks, thin as cicada wings, from within his robes. He carefully peeled off one and applied it to his face. With his fingers, he slowly adjusted every detail of the features. Huang Baozhuang made no attempt to hide her shock. Though it looked like simply slapping a mask on, it was actually a delicate process, no less intricate than embroidery. Xu Fengnian's vitality was severely depleted, and he feared revealing any flaws. Just as he was about to ask her if anything looked amiss, she instinctively extended her slender fingers, slowly and gently smoothing out some minor imperfections for him.

There were six masks in total. Shu Xiu had worked tirelessly by lamplight for twenty days. His Royal Highness didn't know the exact details, but during that period, Madam Shu, whose breasts resembled inverted bamboo shoots in spring, would come and caress his face whenever she had a moment. Each touch lasted for the long duration of several incense sticks. Heaven knew if she had any ulterior motives. Several times, His Royal Highness clearly felt her two cherry-like nipples harden against his chest or arm. His mind became utterly distracted and restless. Truly, she was a mature woman of a certain age, restless as a cat in heat once spring arrived.

Taking advantage of Huang Baozhuang's help, Xu Fengnian saw her eyes filled with interest and wonder, and explained with a smile: "These were crafted by a master of disguise from the Southern Border Witch Sect. She said that this art of disguise has five stages: Initial Placement, Qi Circulation, Rooting, Spirit Integration, and Reincarnation. Initial Placement is only the crudest form of disguise, enough to fool ordinary people with poor eyesight. Qi Circulation is when you truly enter the inner hall. If it can 'Root,' it's not easily seen through. With Spirit Integration, not only the appearance but the entire demeanor changes after wearing the mask. As for Reincarnation, she herself claimed to have only heard about it. You know the saying 'the face reflects the heart'; putting on such a mask is like altering your fundamental bone structure, and it might even lead to unpredictable changes in your destiny. She made six for me: one Qi Circulation, one Spirit Integration, and four Rooting. The one you have now is Initial Placement, and the one that was just damaged was a Rooting mask. Your Qi-Jian Le Mansion should be able to better understand the deeper meaning of this explanation."

Xu Fengnian stood up, and Huang Baozhuang quickly followed suit, retreating a few steps. Xu Fengnian knew it was unwise to linger there. Before leaving, he softly said, "Let's pretend what happened today never did. Don't tell anyone."

Unexpectedly, Huang Baozhuang shook her head. Xu Fengnian asked in surprise, "Are you going to report it truthfully to the Qi-Jian Le Mansion?"

She nodded.

Xu Fengnian's brows furrowed in an inner struggle. If the woman before him were merely a direct disciple of the Qi-Jian Le Mansion, then putting aside whether it was right to "destroy a flower with cruel hands," killing her would be the safest course of action. But she carried a "Dragon Pearl" in her mouth and had a mysterious background; killing her would be akin to unleashing an unparalleled great demon, either of the highest or second-highest rank, which was no different from suicide. Yet, abducting her was certainly not a wise move. She was destined to be a crucial piece for the Qi-Jian Le Mansion, her importance perhaps second only to Hong Jingyan. Taking her away would be like stabbing the Qi-Jian Le Mansion in the backside and then shouting, "Come chase me! Come chase me!" The Qi-Jian Le Mansion was immensely powerful and high above; if they didn't pursue him, whom would they pursue? Neither killing nor abducting her to silence her was an option. Should he just let her go?

Xu Fengnian rubbed his forehead in thought. This woman seemed quite gentle; when he had threatened her by pressing against her chest, her first thought was for him to escape. Yet, in the end, she turned out to be someone who would stubbornly stick to a principle and couldn't be flexible at all. Xu Fengnian sighed heavily. "Fine," he thought, "it seems I'm definitely going to get into trouble." Anyway, back then, to avoid trouble for the Fish-Dragon Gang, he had unnecessarily asked the hawk-nosed old man for a copy of "Gongyang's Commentary" next to the corpse. While this was meant to dispel suspicions from other Jianghu figures besides the Qi-Jian Le Mansion, it also meant that if Wang Weixue was meticulous, he would bring trouble upon himself. "A man with many lice isn't afraid of bites." After separating from the Fish-Dragon Gang at Liuxia City, he was going to cause a big commotion anyway. "Let the Qi-Jian Le Mansion come however they please; I'll deal with them as they come."

Huang Baozhuang hesitated, then gestured with a slender finger: "I'll only say I saw you, and that you made me spit out the Dragon Pearl. But I won't say your name, I won't mention your saber, and I won't say you have a mask."

Xu Fengnian was stunned for a moment, then a brilliant smile spread across his face. He took two steps forward, spreading his arms as if to offer a farewell hug. Huang Baozhuang, blushing, retreated exactly two steps. Would Xu Fengnian, who grew up amidst rouge and powder, stop there? He shamelessly took another two steps forward, a seemingly sincere and heartfelt expression of pathetic innocence appearing on his face. That "Mountain Gradually Green" from the Qi-Jian Le Mansion blushed even deeper, her cheeks like peach blossoms, and she retreated one step. From two steps to one step—would His Royal Highness, a veteran of the "flower bushes," not understand the subtlety in that? Were the countless gold, silver, jewels, and silks he had spent over the years all for nothing? He wrapped his arms around this woman, who didn't necessarily like him but simply wasn't good at refusing. Xu Fengnian took a deep sniff near the black hair pinned up by her zitan wood hairpin, then teased with a mischievous smile: "If I get a chance, I'll come find you at the Qi-Jian Le Mansion. If you feel like you were disadvantaged by my hug, you can hug me back then."

Finally, he brought himself to release Huang Baozhuang. He wondered if it was due to the Dragon Pearl she carried in her mouth, or her innate talent as a Dragon Consort; her body was cool as a spring in summer and warm as jade in winter. Xu Fengnian stepped swiftly away from her side, deliberately avoiding looking at her tearful, wronged expression. With one hand propped on the city wall, he leaped down from the parapet and hastened away from Yanmen Pass into the desert.

Huang Baozhuang stood blankly on the city wall, lost in thought. As dusk deepened, she recalled her master, who had traveled the world, saying that wild geese from the south returned north through Yanmen Pass, carrying reed leaves in their mouths. If one was lucky, they could even witness the wonder of a mirage. She had only managed to muster the courage to ask the Mansion Lord for this trip with great difficulty.

After a long while, Huang Baozhuang's body suddenly stiffened. She slowly turned around, saw two figures standing at the end of the green brick corridor, then relaxed and offered a smile. In Huang Baozhuang's sight, two men stood side by side. One was unbelievably massive, nearly twice Huang Baozhuang's height, and this giant's skin had a rare golden-bronze hue.

The giant, resembling an immortal from the Heavenly Court, had a dull expression. Beside him stood a man with an even sharper presence, appearing to be in his early thirties. He held a string of heads, like candied hawthorns, some with dried blood and shriveled faces, while others still had fresh blood drops and seemed chillingly lifelike. Among them was the head of Old Gu Tou Song, whose features were distorted, undoubtedly from extreme terror in his final moments. If His Royal Highness had still been on the city wall, he would surely have mistaken this for Wang Xianzhi of Martial Emperor City in his youth, not due to physical resemblance, but uncanny spiritual similarity.

The man in his prime handed the large string of heads to the Bronze Man beside him and walked towards Huang Baozhuang, smiling. Only Huang Baozhuang would perceive it as a smile; any ordinary person with a bit of worldly experience would only feel an unsettling chill upon seeing this man's smile, because his eyes had no pupils, only an eerie silvery-white. He took out "The Green Cicada Sword Manual," "stared" at Huang Baozhuang for a moment, and slowly said, "The Bronze Man Grand Ancestor and I went to the border city of Beiliang to return a gift to Chen Zhibao, who killed our Beimang imperial family. On the way back, I conveniently picked up a few secret manuals. This Green Cicada manual was meant for you anyway, so I won't hand it over to the Mansion Lord."

After handing over the Green Cicada Sword Manual, the man said no more. He launched himself from the ground, soaring into the sky like a feather arrow. The entire city wall trembled and shook with his single step. Huang Baozhuang watched as this Senior Brother stepped onto the back of a large wild goose, one leading the 'V' formation, and headed north. Holding the Green Cicada manual, her eyes were filled with pure reverence.

This Senior Brother, Hong Jingyan, once pointed to his eyes while playing chess and said that in the entire world, he only truly saw two people: Wang Xianzhi and Tuoba Pusa.

Huang Baozhuang's Bronze Man Grand Ancestor tilted his left shoulder downward. She smiled, leaped up, and stood on his shoulder.

In the moonlight-shrouded desert, the bronze giant, carrying six or seven heads, sprinted northward with the woman.

In Beimang, only a few immortal mansions like the Qi-Jian Le Mansion featured the continuous scenery of mountains gradually turning green. Huang Baozhuang genuinely loved the name of this sixth-tier Ci-poetry tune, "Mountain Gradually Green." For this home that had no family in the conventional sense, she didn't want to lie or secretly conceal anything; it was already her limit.

In the quiet of the night, an old scholar, carrying a heavy bamboo-woven book box, arrived at the city wall. He looked at the heavily damaged stone tablet, shook his head regretfully, and murmured about the youth of today. The old man, his face weathered by the elements, stood alone beneath the general's platform. Having been away from home for over twenty years, whether it was the apprehension of returning home or some other lingering thought, it was time for him to go back.