Xie Hualing trembled all over and the candlestick almost tipped over. Fortunately, Dai Luan reached out to stabilize it. The two turned around hastily and saw a man standing behind them with his hands on his hips.
"If you don't eat well, you'll just run around here and there." Xie Huayao complained.
"You scared us to death!" Aling raised his voice, "We were almost on the verge of a fire! And you told us, why are you here if you don't want to eat with them?"
"I told them that I came to find you. When I saw that there was no trace of you two, you must have sneaked out for fun. I was afraid that you would run around with Ah Luan and something would happen, so I came to find you. I watched you The two of us followed us as soon as we ran here. Okay, let’s go back quickly.”
"Okay, it's on!"
The two sisters turned around and found that Aluan had somehow picked the lock while they were arguing.
"You, you are too courageous! This little girl..." Xie Huayao was a little nervous. But despite her accusation, she still couldn't help but poke her head in. Xie Hualing pushed the door open a little, and the notes fell off on both sides. It made a squeaking sound and slowly opened.
It's like an invitation.
The three people looked at each other and couldn't help but move their feet inward. It seems that Xie Huayao has already been suspicious.
The air in Xueyan Valley has always been very clean, and there is not much wind. Moreover, the doors and windows are closed tightly, and the whole room is clean. It is impossible to tell how long the residents have been away. Dai Luan gently wiped her hand across the counter, and there was almost no dust at all. There is no expensive furniture in the whole house, only ordinary necessities. The space is not too big or too small, and it is neatly packed. It's just that the house hasn't been ventilated for a long time, and there is a faint smell of moisture.
"...It's like I just left." Xie Huayao muttered to himself.
Xie Hualing lit the candlestick on the table, making the room brighter. There is a small desk next to the window, and the dim moonlight through the paper window is reflected on the table. She saw a small stain with no color, so she reached out and touched it, and it felt dry to the touch.
"Senior Sister Yan seems to have worn off the snow ink." She tried to scrape it with her nails and picked up a few white particles, "it spilled out."
"She has always loved to be clean, so she left without cleaning the table? What is the snow ink used for..."
Dai Luan didn't answer. She guessed that the two people didn't know about the wordless letter. She also knew in her heart that it was rude to break into other people's rooms and look through other people's things. But it doesn't matter - after all, there is still one person present who doesn't know the truth of the matter. She wanted to find something easy to take with her and hand it over to Mu Wan. She should feel relieved.
She opened the small drawer under the desk. There was nothing special inside. There were several jars of rouge and a half-used box of chilblain medicine, and a few old pieces of jewelry stacked next to them. This might be a bit valuable, and she was embarrassed to take it in front of Sister Xie Hua. So she opened the drawer on the other side, and inside there was a clean ink tray and a thick stack of paper.
Dai Luan took out these wrinkled papers, some of which were letters from home, and some of which were poems excerpted by Yan Muxue herself.
Xie Huayao noticed this. She took the papers from Dai Luan and looked through them roughly.
"These... these should be Yan Muxue's words."
Xie Huayao looked at it, but his brows gradually furrowed, and his hands picked up the speed of reading.
"What's wrong?" her sister asked.
"...These, if these are her handwriting...no, they are different from the handwriting on that letter."
Dai Luan asked: "That letter, was it the one she left before she left?"
"Exactly. But, how could it be...there is no reason..."
Xie Hualing sighed.
"If there really is no reason, that would be great."
"What are you talking about?" Dai Luan couldn't understand.
"Since she is leaving on her own, why would she let someone else write the farewell letter? What's the point of doing this?"
"Perhaps these poems and songs were copied to her by others," Dai Luan thought. "Why don't you take them back and show them to Mu Wan. She must know best which ones are Senior Sister Yan's notes."
"That's right... let's go back quickly, lest others get suspicious." Xie Huayao picked a few pieces of paper and stuffed them into his arms, looked around in a panic, and urged them to leave quickly.
Aring blew out the candles, the three of them went out, and carefully closed the door. Ah Luan used a wire to pry open the lock - I really don't know what gadgets she brought with her. Fortunately, the lock is not broken and can be plugged back in again. As for the trouble with the seal, they carefully pasted it back and stuffed the edge into the gap in the door lock. The big eyes looked like no one had touched it. Afterwards, the three people left here immediately and returned to the banquet pretending to be calm. Fortunately, even the patrolling disciples and guards were at the table, so no one noticed.
"Oh, these children are really troublesome." Xie Huayao smiled to the guard disciple in front of the hall.
"Children like to run around. It's normal to be playful. Okay, go back quickly, the food is getting cold."
"You two brothers have worked really hard. After a while, I will go to the kitchen to bring you some hot food."
"Thank you very much."
Returning to his original seat, Xie Huayao was extremely calm. The other two girls also pretended that nothing was wrong, still looking around and refusing to settle down. Most of the food was missing, and many disciples drank. Mu Wan was still quite sober, but he kept trying to shirk it. Wu Yuangui knew she couldn't drink, so he didn't force it, he just kept drinking it.
"You don't know," a girl next to her whispered to Xie Huayao, "Yuan Gui originally persuaded the junior sister to drink a little, saying that she wanted to see if her drinking capacity had improved while living outside. But after trying two or three times, nothing happened. He was blocked by the Taoist priest."
"That's right," the senior brother opposite said, "I see, don't be jealous if he returns from afar, just make yourself sulky."
There was a small burst of laughter all around. It was a little far away, and the people over there probably didn't hear it clearly. However, Wu Yuangui looked up and Xie Huayao smiled politely at him, without any suspicion of doing anything wrong.
Aling pulled the senior brothers on both sides and asked them, "What were you talking about behind my back just now?"
"Why did I just carry you behind my back? You ran away without listening. There's nothing special. I just talked about the Taoist priest. Linxiao Temple, right? I heard that they have some magical weapons. The most famous one is a mirror called Yun Waijing. But they are just myths and legends. No one has ever seen them. Who knows if they are true. We just had a casual chat. "
Dai Luan didn't know anyone around and didn't talk much. She kept looking at Lin Shanhai's face - it was still so calm, as quiet as a pool without any waves or reflections.
But she understands him - after more than ten years, she can understand some things about Shanhai. She felt that he was holding back something, and at the same time he was also suspicious of something. So Dai Luan looked at Wu Yuangui again. He drank some wine and smiled heartily, but without any flaws.
I really don’t know what they just said.
Mu Wan was still smiling, smiling happily. She hadn't seen her like this for a long time. Those poems... I really don't know whether I should give them to her. Mu Wan took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and then told his senior brother what happened on the journey. But after a while, her face turned a little red. Dai Luan noticed something was wrong and quickly ran over to take a look.
As soon as he reached her side, Mu Wan leaned on the chair and slid down. Shanhai and Dailuan hurriedly helped her up, and Wu Yuangui sobered up a bit. He patted his forehead, pointed at the two cups in her hand, and said:
"This girl must have drank the wine as tea."
"Won't she think the taste is wrong?"
Dai Luan held up the cup with some confusion and smelled it gently, but she really couldn't tell the difference. They are all slightly yellow in color, like flowing beeswax, and smell cool and sweet. I don’t know whether it was the wine that was warm or the tea that was cold, but the temperatures of the two cups were about the same. She tried taking a sip of both. One tasted bitter at first, but tasted sweet afterward; the other tasted sweet at first, but tasted bitter afterward.
Dai Luan is really confused.
Wu Yuangui laughed at her: "Can't you understand? This is a craft unique to our Xueyan Valley, camellia brewing."
"Is it actually tea wine?" Shan Hai helped Mu Wan up and said, "I just thought it was flower wine, but I don't know what it is. Camellia flowers don't have much sugar and produce little wine, so it's difficult to make wine."
"Yeah. Even here, it's easy to spoil the wine. If the temperature is slightly wrong, or if it rains for a few more days, the wine will taste sour. If you open it too late, it will be astringent, if you open it too early, it will be weak. It doesn't even matter when and how much honey is added. It’s all very particular.”
"This is an amazing craft, why hasn't it been shipped out and sold?" Dai Luan asked.
"You don't know something. This wine is different from tea, more like flowers. By the time the carriage is pulled out of the valley, the taste has already changed. I sent someone to bring it back to a friend before, but he couldn't say it well and blamed me for exaggerating. .”
After a few casual words, Sister Xie Hua and the master and apprentice helped Mu Wan back - rather, on his back. She always fainted after a drop of wine, like a puddle of mud, and she couldn't lift her up. Originally, Wu Yuan came back and advised her to live in a newly renovated house for a few days, but they refused on the grounds that it was difficult to take care of her.
"That's right. Now that you, Taoist Master Lin, are here, Wu will feel relieved." He said.
Returning to Xie Huayao's small courtyard, they put Mu Wan on the bed, covered her with quilts, and closed the door. They finally breathed a sigh of relief. But just when Shanhai was about to persuade them to take a rest early, the three girls all stared at him seriously.
"Taoist Master Lin, how much do you know about Yan Muxue?"
"..."
"What kind of person do you think our senior brother Wu is?"
"...Your senior brother is an upright and noble man——"
"There is no one else now." Xie Huayao took out the stack of paper, "I believe you sincerely take care of my junior sister. I will tell you the truth, what kind of person he is, I, a collateral disciple, dare not make any judgment. But in In many things, we outsiders can see clearly."
Shanhai frowned and took a deep breath.
"Your senior brother... asked me about Yun Waijing. But I honestly don't know. For us, money is something external to the body. The Taoist sect always passes on destined people, and there is no need for any treasure to watch. It is enough to leave a few shadows on the rivers and lakes. If we must catch wind and shadow, it will be difficult for others. Even if there is some kind of cloud mirror that can see things in the world thousands of miles away, it is meaningless."
Dai Luan asked: "Why didn't I know you had such a treasure? From what you said, it seems like it doesn't exist."
"It doesn't matter."
"It exists." Xie Huayao said. Everyone looked at her, including her sister.
"The ancestor of Linxiao Temple, Immortal Danning's Yun Waijing, exists."
