FMT 41

Chapter 41 His Appearance

The next day, Liandan got up later than usual. Xiaodan was still lying on the bed, sleeping spread out in all directions.

Outside the window there were bleating goat. Liandan pushed the window open a crack. He saw Xue Ming milking the goat. Xue Ming must have heard the sound of the window opening, she lifted her head and looked this way, she smiled and waved her hand. Liandan also raised his hand and waved.

At breakfast, he did not see Chen Shuanning. Xue Ming said some people had been coming back over these days, and they needed to talk together.

Liandan found it strange. In this large residence he had not seen anyone very old. Other than one or two old women, the oldest was Leng Shan. The rest were all young people in their twenties, and some children who were still small.

Among the young people, there were very few girls, and not many ge’er either.

He could not figure out their relationships. They did not all look like relatives. But since Xue Ming called Liu Shuqi senior brother, then they were probably all from the same sect.

Xue Ming did not take the initiative to explain, so Liandan also did not ask.

That day, Xue Ming led him around the residence. At first Liandan tried to remember the way. But the residence was too big. There were too many winding paths and hidden passages. Later he really could not remember, so he had no choice but to give up.

In the afternoon, Liang Yun came over and chatted for a while, then he carried Xiaodan away to play with his own little daughter, and told Liandan to rest well.

Liandan really still felt tired, so he took a nap. When he got up, the sky was already growing dark.

He tidied himself, then went out to pick up Xiaodan.

In the morning he had just been to Liang Yun’s house. When Xue Ming led him there, he had carefully memorized the path.

But after he passed through two gardens, crossed three bridges, and went down two corridors, Liandan realized he was lost.

By now the sky was about to turn black. It was dinnertime, and outside there was no one to be seen.

Liandan thought, he should go back and find Xue Ming for help.

He tried to follow his memory to find the courtyard he lived in, but he did not expect that he seemed to walk farther and farther away.

Now he was in a place Liandan had never been to before.

It was fully dark. Fortunately there were lanterns along the way, so it was not too dark. But Liandan still felt nervous, and he started to feel afraid.

Earlier, he had passed by courtyards where there were people, and he could hear voices inside. But he had not wanted to disturb people’s dinner, so he had thought to try on his own.

But now, Liandan regretted it.

He thought, as soon as he ran into another courtyard with people, he would definitely go in and ask for help.

After the sun set, Liandan could no longer tell directions.

After he walked for a while, he seemed to hear the creak of a door opening and closing. Liandan’s eyes lit up. He saw in front of him a very large courtyard.

The main gate was half open. There was no one in the courtyard. But from the window of a building deep inside the courtyard, a building that could be called splendid, bright lamplight from an oil lamp shone out.

Liandan instantly felt his spirit lift. He quickly crossed the courtyard and went straight to the doors of that building.

When he came closer, he saw the two vermilion doors were not completely shut. Through the crack, Liandan saw inside was a rather large square hall. In the hall, at least twenty to thirty people were standing.

Standing in front, bowing and speaking, Liandan saw at a glance was Liu Shuqi. Beside him were Leng Shan and Bai Wushuang.

Liandan’s eyes lit up. He was just about to push the door open and call out when he suddenly noticed that everyone inside was looking in the same direction.

Liandan also followed their gaze. Beneath a tall candlestick, a young man wearing a white long robe was standing there with his back to the crowd.

His long hair hung loose over his shoulders and back, the strands shining faintly under the dim yellow light.

Liu Shuqi was talking about something to do with the Left Protector. Liandan could not really understand. After he finished speaking, the young man did not respond right away.

Liandan was drawn to the man’s back. He stared, almost calling out the man’s name. But just then, the man suddenly turned his head, and his gaze came over like lightning.

Liandan’s eyes instantly widened. He squatted down without thinking, almost landing on the ground with his backside.

“There’s someone outside the door!” a voice shouted inside the room.

The doors banged open, and messy footsteps rushed out.

A startled black cat jumped down from the eaves onto the door panel. It let out a frightened cry, then ran out of the courtyard and disappeared.

“That’s the little black cat Liang Yun keeps,” someone said.

“It might have followed me when I went out,” that was Bai Wushuang’s voice.

The footsteps went back inside. The doors closed again with a loud bang, tightly shut.

Liandan pressed his hand over his mouth. He curled up behind a thick tree beside the building.

His body was small, and the courtyard was not very bright, so he managed to stay hidden.

After the two big doors closed, Liandan slowly lowered his hand from his mouth. He still stayed crouched there, not standing up. His face showed surprise, mixed with other complicated feelings.

Through the crack in the door just now, when the young man turned his head, Liandan had seen half of his side profile.

A face pale to the point of being bloodless. Brows slanting into the temples. Bright phoenix eyes. A high nose bridge, and a finely shaped jaw.

It was an unusually handsome face, and also a completely unfamiliar face.

Liandan quietly stood up. He lightened his steps as much as he could, like a cat, and walked out of the courtyard.

One hand hung at his side, the other pressed on his chest. He picked a direction at random and ran without thinking.

He did not know how long he ran before someone called his name, “Liandan, Liandan!”

Liandan stopped and turned blankly. He saw Xue Ming holding Xiaodan and smiling at him. “I was just wondering where to find you. What happened to you, why are you standing outside your own gate and not going in?”

Liandan looked up and only then realized that somehow he had stumbled back to his own courtyard.

Xiaodan had not seen his father all afternoon. He mumbled “dad” as he reached toward him.

Liandan spread his arms and gathered the heavy, chubby baby into his embrace.

Xue Ming held his arm. “Dinner is all ready. Come inside, wash your hands, and eat.”

Liandan answered with a quiet “Mm.” Xue Ming walked beside him, looked at him, and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Liandan shook his head. “Nothing, I just got lost just now, and I got a little tired.”

Xue Ming felt relieved and said, “After dinner go rest early. You’ve been on the road so many days, you need a good while to recover.”

They went inside. Liandan put Xiaodan on the chair by the table. He went over to the basin stand to wash his hands. Xue Ming sat at the table and prepared food for Xiaodan.

Water splashed in the basin. Liandan took his hands out of the water and dried them with a cloth.

As he wiped, his movements gradually slowed, and he started staring blankly again.

That side profile he had seen floated back into his mind, clearer and clearer. A fleeting glance, but it looked like a celestial being.

Liandan’s cheeks, without reason, grew faintly red. His lashes trembled. In his heart he said, “So, his appearance is like this…”

So unexpected, so… beautiful.

After he left that courtyard, when he was hurrying along the path, one thought fell into his heart like a stone dropping into a lake, impossible to ignore.

“The man in that house is Chen Shuangning.”