Chapter 35
Chapter 35
The Transient Realm (4.2)
Zheng Wan took it from him with extreme care. “What about you, Mister Cui?”
“I practice bigu.”
“What is bigu?”
“When we cultivators reach a certain level, we no longer need to eat. This is bigu.”
“Is Mister Cui really an immortal who eats only wind and drinks only dew?”
Zheng Wan lifted her head abruptly, her small face almost radiating light, “That’s amazing.”
Cui Wang turned his head. Just then, a sharp gust of mountain wind swept past, lifting a lock of his long hair and exposing his right ear. Zheng Wan noticed that the tip of that ear was a little red.
“Mister Cui, can you also teach Wan’niang to bigu?”
Although Zheng Wan was touched by his actions, she could never forget her purpose. She seized the opportunity and said, “Even if I can’t learn how to cultivate, it’s good to learn to bigu, otherwise… I might become a burden to Mister Cui here.”
Cui Wang looked at her for a long time; when she thought that he wasn’t going to answer, he suddenly asked in return:
“You really want to learn?”
Zheng Wan nodded calmly.
“I do.”
“Mister Cui, Wan’niang doesn’t want to flicker out like a candle in the wind. I want to be able to be by your side for a long time, even if only as a maid or a slave.” She raised her head cautiously, and her eyes seemed to be filled with deep affection. She asked tentatively, “Mister Cui, is that… alright?”
Alright?
Alright.
Cui Wang sighed.
“Not alright.”
Zheng Wan bit her lips hard; she tasted a rusty taste. This person really was an impenetrable hedgehog. “Could it be that Mister Cui doesn’t want Wan’niang to be by your side?”
“Even if only as a maid or a slave?”
“Even if only as a maid or a slave.”
Zheng Wan looked up and replied with firm conviction, but she found that she could not read Cui Wang’s current expression. It was as if he had a thick mask on, and everything was blurry.
She couldn’t quite make it out.
“But Wan’niang, your eyes tell me that you are reluctant.”
Said Cui Wang slowly as he looked at her.
The corners of Zheng Wan’s lips lifted reflexively, and her eyebrows and eyes assumed a submissive and respectful expression. She had practised this look countless times in front of the mirror before. Father had said that this was the very essence of her mother.
But Cui Wang was no longer looking at her. He conjured the wind, stepped on his sword, and disappeared before her in an instant.
Zheng Wan sighed, clambered up the branches of the old pine tree and sat down slowly.
“He doesn’t believe me.”
“Actually, if I were him, I’m afraid I wouldn’t believe me either,” muttered Zheng Wan to herself.
She unwrapped the warm package; the roast chicken still retained the tenderness and chewiness of one fresh off the stove. She began eating in small bites. When she came to the chicken bones, she somehow suddenly thought of the wound on Cui Wang’s right hand that revealed his bones, and lost her appetite at once.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
The faceless monster they met at the top of the cliff earlier ignored the golden shield and slammed down on her back.
Zheng Wan opened her mouth to scream——but before any sound came out, her mouth was sealed by some force.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I mean no harm.”
The faceless monster’s head defied logic and suddenly stretched out and twisted in front of her face, coming face to face with her.
Zheng Wan’s scalp was about to explode, and goosebumps rose all over her arms. She could feel the intense longing that was cast upon her face, as well as the jealousy and malice that was about to boil over.
“Keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, before your lover comes back, I can promise you that you will fall off the cliff and die.”
Zheng Wan forced herself to calm down.
“You can’t touch me.”
“Tch! Everyone who had dared to talk to me like this has become a pile of dry bones! How foolish! How reckless!” The faceless monster seemed furious as she whipped around Zheng Wan.
“If you could kill me, you would’ve done it long ago.”
Zheng Wan carefully contemplated everything that had happened since they entered the transient realm. “Are you the spirit in the Puppet Mirror? ……an earthbound spirit? Or are you limited by some rules and cannot kill?”
The faceless monster froze.
If “it” could make expressions, it would probably look as stiff as it did now. After a while, it coughed. “Finally, someone with some intelligence came. But——you’re still not as smart as I am.”
After speaking, it became smug.
“Hey, make a bet with me! If you win, I’ll give you something.
“Don’t you want that man?”
It held its head high. “Earlier I helped you—I helped you perform the ceremonial bows with him, drink nuptial wine, paint eyebrows… Now, I only want to make a bet with you, and you don’t dare to?”
“I’m not betting.”
Zheng Wan was immovable.
The greater the bet, the greater the risk and the higher the odds of losing.