Zhong Fengyue gave a gentle smile. Under his white gauze hat, his inky eyes stared at her quietly. He slightly parted his rosy lips and said, "Yes, it's always been in my heart."
When Su Xiaoliu heard him say "yes", her heart felt stuffy. After he finished speaking, she felt even more uncomfortable. She secretly pursed her lips, then forced a smile and said, "I hope this river lantern can float into the heart of the fated one." It's really a pity that such a nice man as Young Master Zhong already has someone he likes, Su Xiaoliu thought to herself.
His rosy lips curved up, and his slightly pointed chin nodded gently.
"I hope so."
At the side, Chu Weixin had already folded his river lantern. He reached out and placed it into Penglai Lake. Su Xiaoliu curiously asked him, "What did you write?"
Chu Weixin turned his head and glanced at her. His cold eyes reflected the light of the river lantern. He said, "If I tell you, it won't work."
Hearing this, Su Xiaoliu pouted and muttered, "If you don't want to say, then don't. Who cares anyway."
Saying so, she lowered her head and wrote her wishes on her two river lanterns respectively. Then, imitating Mo Xin's technique, she folded the lanterns and placed them into the river one by one.
She had written two wishes. One was that Young Master Zhong's wish would come true, and the other was that Chu Weixin's wish would never come true.
She secretly snickered and stood up, patting the dust off her clothes.
"Finished writing?" Mo Xin looked up at her.
Su Xiaoliu nodded and said, "I wrote two."
Chu Weixin looked at her and also stood up. He smiled and said, "River lanterns usually work only when you place one. If you place two, at most only one will work. Maybe God will think you're greedy and none of them will come true."
Su Xiaoliu looked at him irritably. Why couldn't this guy say something nice?
"You'd better pray that God won't let any of my wishes come true. Otherwise, your river lantern will be in vain." Su Xiaoliu raised her head, looking quite proud.
Chu Weixin had no idea what she was up to. He just thought she was saying something to annoy him, so he didn't argue with her.
Who would have thought that God couldn't be mentioned casually. Right after they finished talking, retribution came.
Su Xiaoliu squatted down to pick up the phoenix lantern. As there were too many people by the river, it was crowded. Someone accidentally bumped into her. Su Xiaoliu lost her balance, slipped on her feet, and with a "plop", she fell straight into the lake with the lantern in her hand...
Back at the inn, Mo Xin asked for a bucket of hot water and let Su Xiaoliu soak in it for a while.
After Su Xiaoliu got out of the bucket, she changed into a dark blue silk dress. Then, with her hair wet, she sat in front of the sandalwood table, holding a cup of hot tea and frowning as she reflected on herself.
She would never bicker with Chu Weixin again. She fell into the lake right after she finished talking. God knows what worse things might happen next time. The water in Penglai Lake was so salty that she almost choked to death.
After sitting for a while, her body gradually warmed up. Su Xiaoliu put down the teacup, and her eyes suddenly fell on the phoenix lantern beside her.
This lantern had fallen into the lake with her. The candle inside had gone out, and the paper outside was wet. Su Xiaoliu quickly walked over, took apart the lantern frame, carefully took out the paper with the phoenix drawn on it, and then used a cloth to absorb the water.
The phoenix was drawn with good ink, and it didn't blur much when it got wet. The phoenix looked even more charming after getting wet. As Su Xiaoliu gently wiped it, she suddenly noticed that two lines of something like words gradually appeared on the paper.
Moreover, these two additional lines were right after the sentence "The phoenix soars, relying on the parasol tree. The phoenix soars, its feathers fluttering."
Su Xiaoliu picked up the painting, held it up to the candle, and looked at it closely.
"The phoenix is reborn, the parasol tree bears fruit..."
Su Xiaoliu murmured these words a few times. Suddenly, her face turned deathly pale.
The phoenix is reborn, the parasol tree bears fruit?
The phoenix and the parasol tree. Could it be referring to... the Rebirth Fruit?
Su Xiaoliu lowered her head and looked again. She found that as the painting paper dried, the words were gradually disappearing. Could there be some hidden mystery behind this painting?
The matter of the Rebirth Fruit hadn't spread in the martial world yet. Then why were these two sentences written on this painting in a suggestive way?
Su Xiaoliu flipped through the painting again. The person who painted it was called Feng Yufei.
The peddler who sold this lantern said that Feng Yufei was a painting immortal. If he was really a painting immortal, how could he know about the Rebirth Fruit?
Who was Feng Yufei? Was he also a person in the martial world?
There were two knocks on the door.
Su Xiaoliu quickly put away the painting, turned to look at the door, and said, "Who is it?"
"It's me." Zhong Fengyue's voice came from outside the door.
Su Xiaoliu let out a sigh of relief and walked over to open the door.
Zhong Fengyue came in with a porcelain cup filled with a cup of ginger soup that smelled strongly. He placed the cup on the table.
"Drink some ginger soup to warm yourself up."
A crescent moon hung high in the lonely sky.
Two carriages were traveling one after another on the desolate road.
Inside the carriage, Gu Rongxue in a magnificent purple robe was quietly looking out of the window. After a while, he turned around and looked at the old immortal sitting opposite him.
Gu Ran was already asleep. Although the old immortal was usually strict with him, he didn't disturb him when he was too tired and fell asleep.
"Sir Qiongxue, are you thinking about the Rebirth Fruit?" The old immortal looked at Gu Rongxue and said in a low voice.
Gu Rongxue was slightly startled. He pursed his fleshy lips and said, "I don't know how long this life of fleeing will last. It would be great if we could settle down earlier."
The old immortal smiled and said, "Sir Qiongxue, are you still worried about that Miss Xiaoliu?"
Xiaoliu? Her name was Xiaoliu?
Gu Rongxue was stunned for a moment. He gave a gentle smile but didn't say a word.
So her name was Xiaoliu...
His long eyelashes drooped. He had wanted to commit suicide that day but was saved by her. How could he forget what had happened that night...
He just was afraid that he would have a hard time facing her in the future.
The carriage bumped along. There were sounds of wind and movement all the way, and the moon shadow slanted.
Jiang Li put down the curtain of the carriage and looked at Duanmu You, whose delicate eyebrows were slightly frowned.
"We spent too much time resting before. There's not enough time to stay at an inn. We'll sleep in the carriage tonight." Jiang Li looked at her. Different from his usual suave self, he said softly.
Duanmu You nodded. Her charming eyes looked up at Jiang Li. She said, "The plan to assassinate the alliance leader failed. The Heavenly Lord should have sent out the Southern Star Lord."
The Southern Star Lord?
Jiang Li was taken aback. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the carriage board. He said, "It's been a long time since I last saw him."
Duanmu You remained silent.
Suddenly, the carriage tilted violently.
Jiang Li and Duanmu You both looked up at the same time. Jiang Li walked to the side of the carriage and said to the coachman outside, "What's going on outside?"
The coachman's slightly worried voice came from the other end.
"Report to the Northern Star Lord. It seems that someone is following us!"
Duanmu You's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. Both of them were shocked.
Someone is following them?
Jiang Li lifted a corner of the curtain and looked outside.
In the dark night sky, a dark figure suddenly flashed by so fast that even its shadow couldn't be caught.
Jiang Li put down the curtain and looked at Duanmu You. He said, "It's just one person. There should be no problem."
Duanmu You nodded, but there was a faint worry in her heart.
Outside the carriage, the tree shadows were dancing, making rustling sounds. Suddenly, several uneven shadows appeared on the hillside.