Translator: Rize
Editor: Larkspur
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After entering the cave, Mu Yunjin felt a slight chill. Though it felt a lot comfortable, her back was still breaking into a cold sweat.
After a short rest, Mu Yunjin looked at the pond of black lotuses. By now they’d blossomed, making it a beautiful, yet entirely enigmatic sight.
"What magic does this black lotus have that it can break the Space Formation?"
Mu Yunjin scrutinized the black lotuses and found that aside from the difference in color, there was nothing remarkable about them. She was puzzled over for quite some time in vain. Wherefore, she couldn’t help feeling that Chu Li must’ve been led astray by the Old Daoist.
At the outset, Chu Li had wanted Mu Yunjin to come and test her blood. But now that she looked so frail, he was somewhat hesitant.
"Let's start." Mu Yunjin felt she’d had enough rest. She walked over to Chu Li's side, lowered her gaze towards the black lotuses, and asked, "How do you test it? Where do I need to put blood?"
"Can you?" Chu Li arched an eyebrow, as he looked up and down at Mu Yunjin a few times, sizing her up.
Mu Yunjin nodded, an 'it is unnecessary' written across her face. "I’ve had sufficient rest; there is no time to lose, we should begin. How do you get the blood?"
"Silver needle should be pricked on your finger." Chu Li narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
"En."
Mu Yunjin took out a silver needle and without the slightest hesitation, pricked herself. Her brows didn’t wrinkle even a bit.
Immediately, droplets of dark red blood dripped from her finger. Mu Yunjin moved towards the pond and held out her hand as the droplets fell atop a black lotus......
.........
Even after a long time had passed nothing changed.
The outcome didn't surprise Mu Yunjin. She didn't find it out of the ordinary either. To begin with, it's said that only the blood of a Phoenix Daughter could be used on the black lotus. She wasn't a Phoenix Daughter. In other words, someone with ordinary blood cannot evoke this kind of mysterious object.
"You don't have to be dismayed, there will always be some other way." Mu Yunjin wrapped a silk handkerchief around her finger, as she comforted Chu Li.
Chu Li didn’t speak but stared at the black lotus in the pond.
"Boom--"
There was a sudden clap of thunder outside the mountain, the whole cave even shook slightly.
"Boom--"
Along with the sound of thunder came the rain, so the originally cool cave turned cooler.
Mu Yunjin hugged herself as she shivered.
Chu Li glanced at Mu Yunjin, and then at the torrential rain outside. He said thinly, "Endure it for a while, we cannot leave."
"En." Mu Yunjin nodded.
"Look, the black lotus has changed!" An excited Ding Xian suddenly cried from the side.
Chu Li and Mu Yunjin looked towards the pond in concert.
Indeed! All those black lotuses that were scattered across the pond, at this time, though it's not clear if they're blown by the wind or other reasons, had converged to form a dense black mass.
As the black lotuses continued to draw firmly close, a black mist gradually formed above them. In due course, the black lotuses were all tightly wrapped together as one giant black mass.
Mu Yunjin watched the happenings in awe. The giant cluster of black lotuses was being slowly swallowed by the black fog. The black fog gradually rose mid-air, right above the pond, rolling and turning incessantly, leaving nothing but an empty pond in its wake: vanished without a trace, as if there were never any black lotuses, to begin with.
"Boom-boom."
Another roar resounded through the sky, a few rubbles atop of the cave even fell.
"Chu Li, what is this?" Mu Yunjin kept her eyes open and looked at the dark mist, which was now, steadily turning smaller and smaller. She was astonished.
Chu Li clenched his fist and pursed his lip. His countenance was cold even as he could hardly keep calm now that the black lotus had changed at last.
When the dark mist kept shrinking further, Mu Yunjin bit her lip and pointed a finger at it, "Why is it getting smaller and smaller? What if it stops changing?"
Just then a strong wind blew out of the cave, blowing the silk handkerchief wrapped on Mu Yunjin's finger to the ground. The finger that had stopped bleeding was faintly bleeding out again. The black fog, however, suddenly ceased to coagulate and hurled towards Mu Yunjin.
Mu Yunjin visibly retreated a few steps, yet she couldn't compare to the speed of the fast-approaching black mist. In a flash it drew closer, and abruptly transformed into a black ray of light, penetrating Mu Yunjin's forehead...
For a moment, Mu Yunjin felt as if there were hundreds of ants gnawing in her head. She soon felt dizzy and fell backward, only to be cradled in a warm embrace.
..........
Mu Yunjin didn’t know how long she’d slept for. In her dreams, she was in a dark and bloody environment. She couldn’t escape no matter how she ran.
"Mu Yunjin, wake up..."
"Ah!"
Mu Yunjin screamed and sat up on the bed, panting, sweat rolling down on her forehead.
Chu Li stood by her bed, his eyes fixated on her body. When she woke up, he asked, "Do you feel any discomfort?"
"Did I faint again?" Mu Yunjin looked at Chu Li in silence, stretched out her hand and rubbed her temples, and carefully recalled all that had happened before she lost consciousness.
Chu Li nodded, "You lost consciousness in the cave."
Mu Yunjin couldn't help feeling that she's turning fragile lately. If things went on like this, I will soon become Lin Daiyu; good enough to just lie in bed every day.
(TL: Lin Daiyu, female character in The Dream of Red Mansions, cousin and thwarted lover of Jia Baoyu. She is portrayed as a well-educated, intelligent, witty, and beautiful young woman of physical frailness who is somewhat prone to occasional melancholy.)
"By the way, that black mist..." Mu Yunjin wanted to speak but stopped. There was still some confusion about whether it was a part of her dream or reality.
If the black mist did penetrate her body, would it bear ill effects? If so, this is truly an arduous and thankless job!
"The spirit of the black lotus is now in your body. Tomorrow, benhuangzi will take you to Shen Yao City to meet the Old Daoist." Chu Li said as he stretched out his hand and rubbed Mu Yunjin's head, seemingly relieved.
Spirit of the black lotus......
Mu Yunjin swallowed hard her saliva and managed a smile, but the name did give her the jitters.
With a pout, she looked at Chu Li somewhat moodily, "I've sacrificed a lot this time. You have to recompense."
Chu Li smiled lightly and nodded, "You can choose."
"It's a deal then. I'll let you know when I’ve thought it over." Mu Yunjin raised her lip and subconsciously extended her pinkie towards Chu Li to make a pinky swear.
But when her pinkie reached midway, it shrank back weakly. She secretly clapped her head. In her overexcitement, she forgot that the other side was Chu Li...
Chu Li's eyes had never left Mu Yunjin. When he saw her lovely little expression, he couldn’t help reaching out to pinch her face.
"Hey, it hurts..." Mu Yunjin didn’t expect him to suddenly pinch her cheek, and in the process of crying out of pain, her face flushed.
"Truly adorable!" Chu Li gave a low laugh, turned, and left the room.
Mu Yunjin sat in place, her mouth twitching, rubbing her cheek. Chu Li said she was ….adorable?
.......
The hour was wushi (11am-1pm), just after the rain. The sun stayed hidden, so it was still cool and refreshing. A short rest later, Mu Yunjin decided to go out only to find herself in the all-familiar house in River Moon City. She walked about in an attempt to work her bones and muscles.
"Huangzifei, are you awake?" Ding Xian was guarding the door. When Mu Yunjin stepped out, he came to meet her.
Mu Yunjin nodded and leaned against the door frame, "What about Chu Li?"
"His Highness went out." Ding Xian embarrassedly smiled.
"En." Mu Yunjin slightly hooked her lips.
Just as she was preparing to return to her room, the main door opened, and Chu Li walked in. He saw her leaning against the door and frowned slightly. He walked closer and threw her the oil-paper bag in his hand.
Mu Yunjin steadily caught it and curiously opened the oil-paper bag. When the sweet smell wafted out from the oil-paper bag, Mu Yunjin cried with joy, "Ah, sweet cookies!"
Ding Xian on the other side had only just realized that Chu Li had just gone out to……… buy Mu Yunjin some cookies. In a moment, his worldview collapsed again.
It's over! There’s something fishy about these two people.
After savoring a cookie, Mu Yunjin looked at Chu Li, "Shall we go to Shen Yao City tomorrow? Is it far from here?"
"Not far." Chu Li answered.
Mu Yunjin wiped her lips and nodded.
She suddenly thought of that strange woman Qiqi had mentioned, Qu Xinyao. She wondered if she'd get a chance to meet the queer woman during her trip to Shen Yao City. Nevertheless, it’s imperative for her to dwell more on the spirit of the black lotus as she’s perpetually fraught over this inexplicable thing within her body.
As she pondered, Mu Yunjin suddenly thought of something and furrowed her brows at Chu Li, "Were those black lotus flowers evoked by me?"
"En." Chu Li responded.
Mu Yunjin bit her lip, her eyes filled with surprise: Wasn't it the blood of a Phoenix Daughter that could evoke those black lotuses?
Why was her blood able to do it?
As Mu Yunjin mulled over, her mouth twitched. She mused, perhaps the whole premise of needing the blood of the Phoenix Daughter was ill-founded. The Phoenix daughter belongs to the Female Phoenix star, the black lotuses looked quite ordinary. No matter which way one looks at this, the question remains- how could the two possibly coalesce...
'Knock, knock, knock...'
Ding Xian hurried to open the door. When he saw the visitor, he quickly bowed in greeting.
"City Lord Xu..."
At the mention of the City Lord, Mu Yunjin's curiosity got the better of her, so much so that she forgot to leave. She saw a handsome young man walk in. His clothes were light and elegant, fine black hair fell on his shoulders, with a hint of gentleness on his face.
The City Lord approached Chu Li and Mu Yunjin and bowed to them. "Heyu pays respect to His Royal Highness Liu Huangzi and Liu Huangzifei."
"No need to stand in ceremony." Chu Li said nonchalantly.
Xu Heyu nodded and thanked him. His eyes then turned to Mu Yunjin and smiled, "Heyu has now taken up the duties as the City Lord. Heyu stood by Liu Huangzifei to uphold justice. Now Heyu will treat the people of the River Moon City well."
"I heard that Qu Xinyao and you have some mutual affections?" Mu Yunjin didn't spare a thought to his words; her eyes were ablaze with the fire of gossip. No sooner than he'd walked in that she was reminded of the juicy tidbits that Qiqi had revealed about Qu Xinyao and Xu Heyu.
"Cough..." Chu Li coughed softly and patted Mu Yunjin's head, "You go inside and rest."
Although Mu Yunjin was unwilling to leave, it's obvious he had something important to discuss with Xu Heyu. As her answer was written all over Heyu's face, she curled her mouth and trotted inside.
With her departure, a grateful Xu Heyu pulled out a delicate brocade box from his sleeve. "I heard that Liu Huangzi is going to Shen Yao City tomorrow. I don't know if I could inconvenience you to hand this over to her for me?"
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