Chapter 46: Shroud

  "Why don't you see her off?" asked Baili Kuangfeng, teasing Ye Xiaoxiang.

  "To be honest with you, I did have this intention, but I was afraid she would poison me. When the day comes that my cultivation is complete, I will definitely go and find her." Ye Xiangyu spoke seriously.

  As soon as he said this, the crowd stopped mocking him. Although this man was lustful by nature, he dared to act and take responsibility, not losing his masculinity.

  "Unfortunately, we can no longer get the teachings from our ancestors, sigh..." Liu Shaoying sighed and shook his head.

  "You just run into things and learning the Wind Chasing Ghost Step is enough, there's no point in learning anything else." Liu Song teased.

  "Everyone, I'll take my leave first." Mo Xiang didn't ask any questions and bowed to the crowd before taking his leave, walking towards his own room.

  "A'Jiu, come on and follow him." Bai Li Kuang Feng said with a smile.

  Ajiu originally wanted to follow Mo Xun and leave, but upon hearing the voice, she turned around and glanced at Baili Kuangfeng before humming and quickly catching up with Mo Xun, leaving behind a burst of laughter.

  "I've lived in the mountains for a long time, this thing is useless even if I take it, so I'll give it to you." Ah Jiu handed the wooden box to Mo Wen.

  Mo Wen turned his head to look at Ajiu, smiled after a moment, and then raised his hand to push open the wooden box.

  "I'm giving it to you with a true heart, if you decline, it's like looking down on me." Ah Jiu sends again.

  Don't ask to see the situation, Ah Jiu misunderstood, his bad mood was not because he couldn't pass the test to get the elixir's divine artifact, but because he couldn't escape from Lin Ruochen's nightmare.

  "My inner distress has nothing to do with this, just put it away." Mo Wen shook his head and said.

  "What exactly did you encounter this time when you came out of the mountain?" Ah Jiu asked with concern, Mo Xue seemed worried and preoccupied after returning from the mountain, if it wasn't because of the test, then there must be other reasons.

  Mo didn't ask and slowly walked up to the door, pushed it open and entered.

  Ajiu had not received his invitation, standing outside the door, hesitating to enter. Mo Xun saw him and stepped aside to make way for him at the doorway. Ajiu saw that he was making a welcoming gesture, so he narrowed his eyes and quickly followed him in.

  "Ah Jiu, although you are a different kind of adult, I have never looked down on you and always regarded you as a kindred spirit. This time when I came out, I encountered many things and felt suffocated in my heart, wanting to talk to you about it." Mo Wen walked over and sat down beside the table.

  Ajiu was taken aback for a moment, then walked over to Mo Wen and sat down in front of him, "What happened that made you so troubled?"

  Mo Wen saw Ah Jiu and didn't get angry, only then did he put his heart at ease. Zhi Yin said that it was derived from the story of Bo Ya and Zi Qi, referring to a close friend who is not involved in romantic relationships.

  "Lao Wu recently went out to buy herbs and unexpectedly got news about Lin Ruochen..."

  "Who is Lin Ruochen?" Ah Jiu interrupted and asked.

  "The woman I've been searching for." Mo Wen no longer wanted to address Lin Ruochen as a concubine.

  Ajiu nodded and quietly waited for Mo Wen to continue speaking.

  "Lao Wu was not certain at the time that it was her playing the piano, and we had not yet learned martial arts. The distance between Ye City and here is hundreds of miles, so even if I received the news, I couldn't go to Ye City to investigate in a short period of time. Just a few days ago, Li Zhenren ordered us to come down from the mountain, and I took the opportunity to rush to Ye City and found her." Mo Xun stopped here.

  "Did she have an accident?" Ah Jiu asked.

  "She has willingly submitted to the barbarians." Mo Xun sighed and began to speak, the previous matter had been weighing on his mind, unable to be dispelled.

  "Did you kill her in a fit of rage?" Ajiu asked again.

  Mo asked slowly shaking his head, "I met the Huren who killed my mother in that general's mansion. I killed him and several other guards, but did not harm General Hu or Lin Ruochen."

  "It's rare to see a woman who would rather die than lose her chastity, ordinary women would endure humiliation and live on. You're kind and generous to spare her life, but why didn't you kill that barbarian general?" Ah Jiu asked.

  "If the skin is gone, to what can the hair attach itself?" Mo asked again with a sigh. He wasn't unwilling to kill that ugly barbarian general, but if he died, Lin Ruochen would lose his backing and his fate would be even more miserable.

  "This matter you handled very properly and there is no fault, where does the distress in your heart come from?" Ajiu asked.

  "It's against the rules and etiquette to take someone's life without a clear verdict from the authorities." Mo Xiang said.

  "The Taoist's actions follow the Heavenly Way, with a heart full of good intentions, and decisive in killing or punishment, not limited by Confucius' empty rituals and moral obligations." Ah Jiu said seriously.

  Mo Wen heard the words and nodded slowly, if tracing back to her age, Ah Jiu should have been hundreds of years old, but her views were still extremely correct. In fact, he himself also thought so, it's just that his previous killing behavior was contrary to the Confucian doctrine of moderation he had learned in his early years, so his heart was entangled.

  "I've done something wrong and I've been regretting it for days," Mo Wen said.

  Ajiu didn't respond but instead looked at him sideways, waiting for him to continue speaking.

  "After she was taken away by the Hu people, I went north with Lao Wu to look for her. Along the way, we found two things she had left behind. On that day when we met at the General's Mansion, I threw the hairpin and red silk in front of her, intending to make her understand that I had been searching for her all along, and it was she who was unfaithful to me. But now thinking about it, my actions back then were extremely inappropriate." Mo Xun said.

  "What's wrong?" Ah Jiu picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea in front of Mo Wen.

  "If she sees those two things, she will definitely be ashamed to death. I'm afraid that in her shame, she'll look for a way to die. If she really does, won't I have harmed her life?" Mo Xiang said.

  "It's inevitable that she would feel ashamed, but since she has stooped to the level of a barbarian, she probably wouldn't seek death." Ah Jiu softly consoled.

  "If I had protected her well that day, she wouldn't have ended up like this. When I was searching for her, I expected that she would fall into the hands of the barbarians, but I didn't feel any estrangement in my heart. Who knew that when I went to the general's mansion and saw her with the barbarian's ugly behavior, it made me feel like a fishbone stuck in my throat, unable to swallow or spit out. I hated her for being shameless, yet at the same time pitied her miserable fate." Mo asked, shaking his head with closed eyes.

  Ajiu still didn't respond after hearing this, although she was older than Mo Wen, she had always lived in the mountains and wasn't more worldly than Mo Wen. Moreover, Mo Wen's thoughts were clever, what he needed was just a friend to pour out his troubles to, not an elder to guide him.

  "After she entered the general's mansion, she had played many times the tune we played on our wedding day. But when I rushed to rescue her, she was actually consorting with the barbarian and didn't even know shame. How could her nature change so greatly?" Mo Xun sighed again.

  "She was originally an ordinary woman, doing ordinary things, nothing wrong. Your fate has come to an end, you can write a letter of divorce and break off the relationship." Ah Jiu said after a moment's hesitation.

  "I didn't consummate the marriage with her, so the divorce can be avoided. I'm actually relieved that those people in the General's residence don't know that I was looking for her, otherwise she would have to bear the brunt of their anger." Mo Xun said shaking his head.

  "Are you and Lin's daughter really husband and wife?" Ah Jiu asked in surprise.

  Mo Wen heard this and her face turned slightly red, shaking her head in response.

  "It's like that, you're not a couple. You searching for her from afar is a virtuous deed, but she didn't belong to you before, so it's no wonder she has feelings for someone else." Ah Jiu said.

  Mo Wen nodded slowly, his conversation with A Jiu had eased the distress in his heart, and at the same time, it also helped him clear his mind. Lin Ruochen was just a passerby in his life, they didn't owe each other anything, and there would be no further entanglements between them in the future.

  "A great revenge has been avenged, you should be happy instead. Don't think about it anymore. Do you really not want this thing?" Ah Jiu saw Mo Xun's expression turn sunny and shifted the topic by pointing to the box on the table.

  "No, even ordinary tripod vessels can become Dan, but I'm curious what shape this thing is?" Mo asked, casting a sideways glance at the wooden box.

  Ajiu heard this and lifted the lid, taking out the object inside and handing it to Mo Wen. Mo Wen took it and found that it was a four-legged bronze cauldron, or rather, something similar to a cooking pot. The mouth of the cauldron was round, and its body was slightly larger than a farmer's rice bowl. The body of the cauldron was yellow with a reddish tint, and on either side were cast two small dragons, whose heads formed the handles of the cauldron. A faint scent of medicinal herbs wafted from within.

  "I didn't open the box before, and I didn't expect it to be a female tripod." Ah Jiu said with some regret.

  "It's all as it should be, that's the will of heaven." Mo Wen smiled and returned the Dan Ding to Ajiu. He had been feeling unwell before, but after talking with Ajiu, his heart felt more at ease, no longer resenting Lin Ruochen, nor feeling sorry for himself.

  "You rest for a while, I'll go back to my room first." Ah Jiu took over Dan Ding and stood up to bid farewell.

  After sending off Ah Jiu, Mo Wen went to the East Mountain hot spring for a bath and washed his bloody clothes. When he returned to the East Hall, he found that someone had already placed a bowl of medicinal soup in his room, which was obviously sent by Ah Jiu.

  At noon, Ye Xiang asked the Daoist boy who delivered lunch that Yu Linglong had already left Wuliang Mountain before lunch.

  That night, a heavy snow fell, and at the third watch, Mo asked was awakened by a heavy footsteps. The sound of footsteps he had long been familiar with, but the footsteps outside the house were heavy and urgent, and did not belong to the other six people or the miscellaneous servants of the East Hall.

  Without asking, he put on his clothes and pushed the door to check. He found that there was no one outside the house, and a string of footprints disappeared at the gate of the East Hall. The visitor must have entered the East Hall.

  "Don't ask, who just entered the East Hall?" The Night Wanderer, who lived across from him, pushed open the door and came out.

  "Never seen him." Mo asked Mai stepped out of the house and walked towards the East Hall, treading on the accumulated snow.

  Ye Xiang followed closely behind and went with him to the East Hall. As they walked, Mo asked, "Look at these footprints on the ground. They're quite strange." The distance between each footprint was far beyond that of a normal person's stride. Judging from the footprints, it seemed that the person who entered the East Hall should be a martial artist with lightness skill. However, a martial artist's footsteps shouldn't be so heavy.

  "The outer gate was closed and he came in by climbing over the wall." Yexiaoyao turned his head to take a look, then said.

  Don't ask about the sound of footsteps stopping, looking suspiciously at the temple gate three zhang away, sneaking in over the wall at midnight, the person who came must have ulterior motives.

  Yè Xiāo Yáo saw Mò Wèn Zhǐ Bù and also stopped, shouting towards the East Hall, "Who is hiding inside the hall?"

  As soon as the words fell, the large gate of the East Hall was pulled open from the inside, and a middle-aged man stepped out. He was about forty years old, wearing a yellow robe with no expression on his face. The yellow robe he wore was similar to Gao Gong's Daoist robe, but the embroidery was very messy, with both animals and humans, and he also didn't have a Daoist bun on his head, but rather a commoner's hair knot.

  "What grade of Taoist robe is he wearing?" Mo Xiang asked, turning his head towards Ye Xiang.

  Never thought that turning back would find Ye Xiangyang's face pale, teeth chattering "That, that, that is not a Taoist robe, it's a funeral dress..."