Bamboo Chest Chapter Sixteen: Moonlight
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As he pushed open the door, Lu Yun let out a breath.
Through a series of indirect questions, he had discovered that Miss Deyue of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion seemed to have no connection whatsoever with Deyue Tower. Nor did she know any woman dressed in Daoist robes.
“You’re out already?”
The blind old man appeared from nowhere, lifted Lu Yun’s sleeve, and sniffed it.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. This fragrance… it hardly belongs to the mortal world.”
Lu Yun quickly pulled away and snapped, “What exactly are you trying to do?”
The blind old man straightened his back and chuckled. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ve decided to take you as my disciple.”
“Who would want to be your disciple?”
Lu Yun hurriedly tugged his clothes free and left.
Watching the young man’s retreating figure, the blind old man frowned slightly and muttered, “He’s entangled in far too much. If he doesn’t seek this old man’s help, things will become very difficult for him later.”
“Sir, are you lost?”
Miss Deyue stood outside the door, looking at the blind old man in confusion.
The old man turned his head and smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t delay your ascension to immortality.”
Miss Deyue stared at him blankly.
The old man paid her no further attention and simply wandered away.
…
“So, Brother Lu, what does Miss Deyue look like?”
When Lu Yun returned, An Luo asked with a curious expression.
“She’s very beautiful.” Lu Yun thought for a moment before answering.
“How beautiful? Is she as breathtaking as the immortals described in those cheap books?”
An Luo’s eyes gleamed as he continued on his own. “Heaven have mercy—if Miss Deyue really looks like that, I’ll have to buy another length of red silk next time!”
Lu Yun was speechless.
He had never expected the Lord of Luoze City, An Luo, to be such a romantic.
“An Luo, get out here!”
A woman’s furious shout suddenly rang out from outside. Several maids could be heard trying to explain something to her.
The instant An Luo heard that voice, his expression changed. He began darting frantically around the room.
“Damn it! How did she know I was here?”
Lu Yun asked in confusion, “Isn’t she your younger sister? Or is she someone you knew in Qianjing City?”
“Thinking about it brings tears to my eyes, so it’s better not to talk about it…”
An Luo reached the window and climbed up with practiced ease. He glanced back at the astonished Lu Yun.
“Brother Lu, just tell her you don’t know me!”
Before Lu Yun could agree, An Luo leapt out the window beneath the young man’s incredulous gaze.
At the same moment, the door was pushed open by a richly dressed woman.
Her eyes were bright and refined, and her entire person resembled an exquisite, noble flower.
“Where did An Luo go?!”
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The woman demanded this with an imposing air.
Lu Yun silently pointed toward the window.
My apologies, Brother An Luo.
The woman was just about to step forward and look when she suddenly turned back.
“Who are you?”
Lu Yun cupped his hands and bowed. “I am Daoist Cloud.”
“Daoist Cloud?”
The woman’s expression shifted. “I remember you didn’t look like this.”
Oh no!
Was there someone else in Qianjing City who knew Daoist Cloud?
“My cultivation encountered an accident, so I had no choice but to…”
Lu Yun forced out an explanation, without knowing whether she would believe him.
“I see. I’ll go find An Luo first. Oh, right—take this.”
Fortunately, the woman showed no particular reaction. Instead, she tossed Lu Yun a wooden token.
“You’ve hardly ever come to Qianjing City before. Don’t forget to attend tomorrow’s Great Red Feast. You can enjoy the spectacle, and I can introduce you to a few people.”
Lu Yun bowed again.
“Have you forgotten my name?”
The woman turned back and narrowed her eyes at him.
Lu Yun paused, then slowly said, “Thank you, Your Highness the Princess.”
“Hmph. Don’t forget to come!”
The woman’s figure flickered and vanished from the window. The next moment, Lu Yun heard her voice rising from below the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.
“An Luo, you stop right there!”
“She’s the princess of the Baiyuan Kingdom…”
Lu Yun looked down at the wooden token in his hand and frowned.
“There’s no way I can attend the Great Red Feast. Yuan Bai will certainly be there. But if the princess discovers that I’m not Daoist Cloud—no, she may already have discovered it…”
Lu Yun fell into thought. Then he cautiously called Shengge’s name several times in his heart.
No one answered. Clearly, the woman in white beneath the moon had no desire to speak with him.
After remaining at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion for a while longer, Lu Yun still did not see the person Dong San Geng had mentioned. He therefore decided not to wait any longer and prepared to leave.
“Lord Cloud City!”
Someone suddenly called out to him.
Lu Yun turned and saw a maid approaching with a tray.
“Someone asked us to deliver this to you.”
Lu Yun looked down and saw a small wooden sword resting quietly at the center of the wooden tray.
“Did he say who he was?” Lu Yun asked.
The maid shook her head.
With no other choice, Lu Yun accepted the wooden sword and left the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.
…
Above the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, Miss Deyue sat by the window and asked bitterly, “Mother, he only saw me once.”
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Beside Miss Deyue stood the woman who had previously accompanied Dong San Geng.
The woman’s expression was complicated. She sighed.
“It can only be said that the boy is unlucky.”
After Dong San Geng left, the old man in the imperial palace had offered an exorbitant price, leaving the woman with no choice but to hesitate.
“Although I stopped him, I still gave the item to that boy…”
The woman pursed her lips, remembering the man whose single sword was powerful enough to split heaven and earth.
“I’ve done everything I could.”
…
After leaving Deyue Tower, Lu Yun’s expression changed slightly.
He did not return to the courtyard. Instead, he headed toward the center of Qianjing City—the magnificent imperial palace.
The rain continued to fall. Wearing a bamboo hat, the young man took one step after another.
Lu Yun gradually quickened his pace. Raindrops splashed against the ground, and the scattered sound of footsteps behind him was clearly not made by a single person. They were all drawing closer.
“There are three of them: two sixth-realm qi cultivators and one fifth-realm martial artist.”
Shengge’s voice sounded in his mind.
Lu Yun’s expression remained unchanged. He simply continued toward the imperial palace.
It was not that he wanted to go there. It was that he had no other choice.
At some point, the streets outside the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, which had once led in every direction, had all been blocked. Only the road to the imperial palace remained unobstructed.
The rain grew heavier.
At last, Lu Yun stopped.
He raised his head and looked at the tightly shut vermilion gates. Then he turned around and slowly tucked both hands into his sleeves.
From the east and west, two men in long robes emerged.
They were clearly brothers, resembling each other by nearly seventy percent. Each held a mother-and-child sword.
From the south came a woman carrying a long spear. She coldly sized up the young man.
“Although there’s really no need to ask, I still want to know one thing.”
Lu Yun looked at the three of them and spoke with complete seriousness.
“Why do you want to kill me?”
“A traitor of the Savage Wastes. Naturally, you must die.”
The woman drove her spear into the ground. The bluestone shattered, fragments exploding into the air.
“A traitor…”
Lu Yun murmured, “I suppose I really am one.”
“Hmph! Arrogant!”
With an angry shout, the woman pulled her spear free and charged at the young man like an arrow.
The two sixth-realm qi-cultivator brothers also summoned the long swords in their hands and rushed straight toward him.
“As expected, I really can’t fight them.”
Lu Yun sighed. He gave the city gates one last glance and asked, “Are you certain this will be all right?”
After receiving an affirmative reply, the young man relaxed. Then he smiled.
“Then let me give it a try, Shengge.”
The instant he finished speaking, a corner of the sky, which had been blanketed by dark clouds, suddenly brightened as though it were about to be pierced open.
The young man’s eyes shone brilliantly, filled with moonlight.