The sunlight at the high noon of the beginning of the fall is bright but not such that would blind the eye. Cloud Mountain, the one so aptly named by our heroine stood tall and proud, towering over the sea like a painting.
“Isn’t Most Honourable being too much? The shield he has set around this thing is so strong that even the Holy Goulan Jade can’t break through it!”
A pouting Yuo Ruo hasn’t changed much…unless she is in front of the Chang Liu elders then she will pull on her wise dignified air as the Head Elder of Chang Liu. After the big battle ended, Bai Zihua went crazy and neither Mo Yan nor Sheng Xiao Mo was interested in becoming the next Head Elder. Luo Shi Yi was originally the best disciple out of all of them but then he lost his memory. (I guess that’s the after-effects of coming back to life…although I am not sure if that was something that only applied to Luo Shi Yi or everyone that came back.) After some considerations, Yuo Ruo was chosen as the next Head Elder. Initially, Yuo Ruo had accepted because she thought it would be fun but then once she realized that being the Head Elder was nothing but trouble, she has been bugging Luo Shi Yi the last few years to take the position from her.
After hearing the news that Bai Zihua has finally found Hua Qiangu, this last year You Rou has been showing up at Cloud Mountain every couple days hoping to see her Master. Unfortunately, there is seemingly no way to reason with Bai Zihua and no matter how much everyone begged, he remained unmoved and will not allow anyone to enter into the mountain.
Unable to do anything else, You Rou resorts to sneaking the Holy Goulan Jade from Chang Liu thinking the holy weapon will surely be the mean for her to get into the mountain. Stunned when even the Holy Jade couldn’t break the shield Bai Zihua has set up, a determined You Rou starts to holler at the top of her lungs. If the fist won’t work, You Rou is willing to beg…if that means she could at least see her Master from afar just to make sure she is okay.
“Go back….” A cool and aloof voice came from a long distance away.
“Most Honourable, I beg you to let me just see my master once.” You Ruo pleads as everyone else joined in on her pleading as well.
“She is doing really good, so you don’t have to worry. Don’t come back again.”
Angry, You Ruo retorts “She might be your pupil but she is still my master! What right do you have to not let me see her! I don’t care! I am not leaving unless I see her today.”
“If you are going to act like this, then I will just take her away and find another place where you can’t find us.”
Stumping in frustration when another disciple says “Let’s just go today. It took a lot to get my Master to tell us where they are so if they left again then we would really have no hope of seeing them.”, You Rou demands “Have you forgotten how crazy Most Honourable got when my master died? He has been unstable emotionally all these years. My master had gone as far as forcing him to kill her, he must hate her so much. So now that he has her locked up on the mountain away from everyone, what are we going to do if he takes the chance to torture her as a revenge?”
Bursting out in laughter, another disciple asks “What are you thinking about You Ruo? Most Honourable is so overwhelmed with guilt towards Qiangu, how would he hurt her when he wants to do everything he can to make it up to her?
“Then why won’t he let us see her?! My Master doesn’t just belong to him!”
Patting You Ruo on the shoulder, Luo Shiyi says “Most Honourable must have his own reason. Let’s go for now, we will surely get a chance later.” In all honesty, Luo Shiyi himself really wanted to see Qiangu as well. There are so many things he wanted to ask her. He keeps feeling like there are a lot of things people are hiding from him. For example, how did he lose his memory and why in the heaven’s name has he started to keep a bunch of worms of various colors in his room?! (Poor Luo Shiyi, he is missing Tango terribly but he doesn’t even realize he is missing her since he has lost his memory.)
“But I miss her so much….” Biting her lips, You Ruo’s hand forms into a tight ball. She knows she shouldn’t blame Bai Zihua for his decision that fateful day…but deep in her heart she is still very angry at him for it.”
Unable to do anything else, You Ruo and her friends finally left.
Deep inside Cloud Mountain, Zihua takes his attention off You Ruo’s group when they finally left and turn his gaze to Qiangu who is running in the yard. Doing all she can to just keep her balance, Qiangu’s face is red and covered with sweat as the little bell on around her neck jiggles unceasingly with every step she takes. Close behind her, in the form of a small piglet, the Hengi Best is running with Qiangu using its four small stubby legs. (Hengi Best is the beast that kept our heroine company while she was in the Wildness of Desolation. Qiangu didn’t realize this then but the beast was actually sent by Zihua to watch over Qiangu.”
Stealing a glance at Zihua after every two steps, Qiangu’s little body is bolstered up by an invisible hand everytime she loses her balance and is about to fall.
“Master, Silly Girl can’t run anymore…don’t punish…”
Frowning slightly, Bai Zihua chides “I told you that your name is Xiao Gu. Don’t call yourself Silly Girl anymore.”
Feeling the air suddenly turned frigid, Qiangu’s body shrank.
Catching himself, Bai Zihua quickly smoothes his expression. She is no longer that obedient and smart girl. With the loss of her memory, she has almost turned into someone else completely. But he knows the one he loves is who she is at the core, so his love will never change no matter how much she changes and no matter how many reincarnations she goes through. However, on the other hand, he is deeply conflicted. Part of him wants her to still love him like she used to but then part of him hope that she will never recover her memory.
Gently wiping away the sweat off Qiangu’s forehead, Zihua says “I am not punishing you. Your body is too weak right now so it can’t stay balanced or discern colors. We can’t rely completely on medicine so you have to strengthen your body as well. Plus, you haven’t even finished one circle around the yard…” How is she going to be able to become an immortal at this pace…and how is she going to stay with him forever?
Pouting her little lips, Qiangu complains “But Xiao Gu doesn’t have any more strength.” before she throws herself into Bai Zihua’s arms. Why does Master always get weird sometimes?
Embracing Qiangu’s little body, Zihua begins to wipe the sweat on her face with his sleeve but suddenly finds his arm immobilized.
“Why are you biting my sleeve?” Pinching Qiangu’s puffy cheeks, Zihua says “Let go.”
Rising her head, Qiangu sniffs the air and opens her mouth “Delicious smelling Master, I am hungry.”
Standing up, Bai Zihua asks “What do you want to eat?” Since having Qiangu with him this past year, Bai Zihua’s cooking skill has improved dramatically. Unable to do a thing on her own, Bai Zihua has to take care of Qiangu in every way. Sometimes he wonders how it would’ve been like if he found her since she was a baby…and it makes him smile just thinking how chaotic it would’ve been to take care of a screaming baby.
“I want the same as yesterday!” Qiangu doesn’t remember what she ate but she has a vague memory that it was really good. “Master, hug!”
As Qiangu is doing all she can to climb up Zihua’s leg, the Hengi beast is happily circling the two of them. Resigned, Bai Zihua bends down and picks Qiangu up. Out of 24 hours a day, Qiangu spends half of it sleeping and she eats twice of the food compares to him but whines of being tired after only taking a few steps. Bai Zihua sometimes wonders if Qiangu was a piglet reincarnated.
Tempted by the smile that appeared on his lips, Qiangu puts her hand on Zihua’s face and pucker up her lips to follow where her hand is. Patiently, Bai Zihua turns away his face as he grabs her wiggling hand. “Don’t be naughty. I am going to go make you something to eat. In the meantime, you can practice all the words I taught you a few days ago.” It would be ridiculous if it turns out Bai Zihua’s disciple doesn’t even know how to count from one to ten.
“Alright.” Grabbing a writing brush, Qiangu begins to throw herself into fulfilling her mission.
Shaking his head, Zihua gently puts his hand over Qiangu’s short stubby fingers “I have told you many times this is not how you hold a brush.”
Her hand is so small that Bai Zihua’s palm could’ve easily fit two of Qiangu’s fists. Lost in thought, Qiangu suddenly raises her head and slams right into Zihua’s chin.
“Ouch!” Yelping in pain, Qiangu rubs her aching head then glares at Zihua when she sees that he seems completely fine.
“That’s the price for never paying attention.” If he just takes his attention away from her for a moment then she ends up getting hurt or bruised.
The second Bai Zihua steps out of the door, Qiangu promptly bends down and picks up the Hengi beast that has been chewing on her skirt. Thrusting a brush into Hengi beast mouth as she puts it on the table, Qiangu says “Little Hengi, my hand will get so sore from writing so much! Help me write a few.”
With the brush in its mouth, Hengi beast drags it on the paper to form a really big “One.” Picking up her own writing brush, Qiangu begins to work hard as well.
By the time Zihua is done at the kitchen, he could only sigh in resignation when he sees the big mess the study has become.
“Why did you move from the table to the floor?”
“The table was too small.”
“Then how did writing on the paper end up writing on your own face?”
“Eh?”
Pulling her to him, Zihua begins to wipe away on the ink that is on Qiangu’s little face.
“One would think that you fell into a pot of ink.”
“It wasn’t me, it was Hengi.” Opening her mouth, Qiangu wants to bite the hand that is busy wiping her face but no matter how hard she tries she can’t seem to catch the hand.
Looking up guiltily at the spilled over ink tablet and the ink all over itself and Qiangu’s clothes, Hengi beast quickly runs over to hide behind Qiangu leaving small paw prints all over the paper on the floor.
Giving Qiangu a wry smile, Zihua asks “How come you are still stuck at writing one two three after learning for so long?”
“No no, I am improving! I learned to write this today!” Pulling out a crumpled paper, Qiangu shows Zihua the twisty letter eight and ten on it. Speechless, Zihua pats Qiangu on the head and says “Alright. Let’s just eat.”
On the dining table, Qiangu holds Hengi beast on her lap as she stuffs both herself and Hengi’s mouth with food. Seemingly loving the feeling of being fed, Hengi keeps making humming sounds as it eats.
His heart heavy as he thought of Tangbao. In all honesty, he is actually not worried about Qiangu’s current state. She is a goddess after all. So after tens, hundreds or thousands of years, one day, her soul will mend until it’s whole again. If by then, her memory is still gone…will he just keep lying to her? Pretending nothing happened? But if he let her remember everything then can they still be together like they are now?
Perhaps his unwillingness to let her see You Rou came from the fact that unconsciously he wants to cut her off from anyone who could possibly tell her about their past. This way…can she belong only to him.
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Awww. thank you!!! man, they really put each other (and their friends) through the wringer. I still love them. Thank you for your gorgeous translations! 🙂
Thank you for the current update.
Thank you for the update! 🙂 i can’t help but smile at Xiao Gu’s antics and Bai Zihua’s patience. Your updates never fail to make my day :*
Thank you for your time in translating. There are some key aspects that have been answered that the drama did not touch on which made more sense when reading the translations. I had looked everywhere to find good English translating novels and found you. I am very thankful for your hard work.