radicalducati Page 39
Page 39
"Don't worry, sister, I promise I won't tell anyone, not even Sister Honghong! This is our little secret!"
Tu Shan Ya Ya lowered her eyes, "I think... I've really fallen for him..."
Rongrong's eyes lit up, and she deliberately moved closer, her tone full of mischief.
"Oh? Who is it? I must listen carefully to find out who it is that our Sister Ya Ya is so interested in."
Ya Ya suddenly looked up, her ear tips instantly turning bright red.
She reached out and gently poked Rongrong's forehead, her tone coquettish.
"You! You knew perfectly well, yet you deliberately teased me. Fine, I won't say anything then!"
Seeing that Sister Ya Ya was really angry, Rong Rong quickly smiled and begged for forgiveness, tugging at her sleeve.
"Oh, okay, okay, I was wrong, alright? I shouldn't have teased my sister."
She shook Ya Ya's arm, her eyes full of curiosity.
"Then tell me, sister, why...did you fall for him? You always said he was cold before."
A faint blush rose on Ya Ya's cheeks, and her thoughts drifted back to the day she met Mu Qinghan.
She frowned slightly, her tone tinged with confusion.
She herself didn't know when it started, but he had taken up residence in her heart.
“I…I don’t know. I keep dreaming about him. In my dreams, he’s still that cold and aloof person, but when I wake up, I feel strange.”
(Aside from the "intense" chill I saw at the beginning of my dream, all the subsequent dreams were filled with a cold and icy atmosphere.)
"He's always so cold and his words are so devoid of warmth; we've only met twice and barely exchanged a few words."
Ya Ya paused, her fingertips curling slightly. Those details she had overlooked were now exceptionally clear in her mind.
"But... he's so different from others. He's a human, yet he rushed out when I was besieged by Taoists, saved me, and even took me all the way back to Tushan."
“It was raining on the road that day. He carried me and ran for a long time. I was lying in his arms, but not a single raindrop fell on me.”
Ya Ya's voice softened, and a faint light appeared in her eyes. "He would get angry because I went to find him without regard for my own safety, but I later realized that it wasn't anger, it was worry."
She was slow to notice, but not stupid. Those overlooked tendernesses were gradually magnified over countless days and nights, leaving a deep mark on her heart.
She sighed softly, her tone earnest: "He will save those innocent little demons. Humans kill demons on sight, but he is different."
"He seems different from everyone else. He's so amazing, with such strong cultivation at such a young age; he's so smart, he can easily solve any problem he encounters; he seems to have a kind of magic about him, it's just... so attractive."
Ya Ya's voice grew softer and softer, tinged with helplessness and panic.
“I am a demon and he is a human. Humans and demons are different. I know I shouldn’t be like this… but I… I can’t control myself from thinking about him.”
Seeing the undisguised excitement in Ya Ya's eyes, Rongrong couldn't help but laugh out loud, her voice full of understanding.
"Hehe, so that person is with you, it's so nice. So you actually... like him so much, you even think his 'fierceness' is just worry."
Ya Ya's cheeks flushed even redder, and she turned her face away somewhat shyly, but still nodded gently.
"I can't help it. I've tried not to think about it, but the more I try to control it, the less I can't help it."
"It's okay, it's okay. We can take it slow and steady. There's plenty of time in the future. Let's take it one step at a time."
"A gentle... steady flow?"
"Sister, you're an ice skating enthusiast, you should know that."
Even the coldest ice will melt if you keep covering it.
Chapter 50 Change
Deng Qiyue rubbed his chest and backed away, grimacing as he waved his hand.
"Ouch, that hurts! Stop hitting me, stop hitting me! This is just one-sided beating!"
As she spoke, she lowered her head and touched her chest, her tone full of grievance.
Why does this little Qinghan always kick me in the chest?
If this keeps up, my chest muscles, which I've been working on for three years, will be kicked away!
Ji Wuji, standing to the side, was in no better shape. He clutched his aching buttocks with one hand and braced himself against a nearby tree trunk with the other. Fine beads of sweat clung to his forehead as he gasped for breath.
"Sigh, that's right! The difference in their levels is too great, and he's so fast, I can't even touch the hem of his clothes."
Mu Shenqi stood aside with his arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the two men's disheveled appearance before finally settling on Zhang Zheng, who was hanging from the branch of the old locust tree. A slight smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.
He said with a hint of teasing, "You're so clever. You just hung it on a tree, saving yourself the trouble of getting beaten up."
Zhang Zheng, gripping the tree branch with both hands and dangling his legs in mid-air, immediately retorted upon hearing this: "It was clearly those two idiots who insisted on dragging me into a sparring match! I don't want to be a 'living target' like them."
He paused, then his tone became serious. "If you ask me, we need to call Yi Tan and my elder brother over."
"Let Yi Tan use his Heavenly Eye to find a weakness in Qing Han's movements, and then let Big Brother withstand his attacks head-on. Only then will we have a chance to counterattack. Otherwise, staying here will just mean getting beaten up!"
Under the shade of a tree not far away, Wang Quanzui gripped Mu Yuan's arm, his eyes shining.
"Holy crap! Xiao Qinghan is so cool! Mu Yuan, did you see that? She just casually tossed Zhang Zheng into a tree branch!"
"Hey! I can hear you!" Zhang Zheng on the tree branch immediately protested, raising his voice several decibels.
Wang Quanzui made a face at him and stuck out his tongue: "Hehehe! You're the one who deserted in the face of battle!"
“I call this assessing the situation and making judgments; it’s great wisdom! What do you know?” Zhang Zheng retorted defiantly.
"Tch..." Wang Quanzui pursed his lips, about to retort again, when Mu Yuan gently tugged at his sleeve.
"Alright, alright, you two stop bickering."
Mu Yuan gently advised, her gaze sweeping around, "Where's your brother? Why hasn't he come yet?"
Wang Quanzui scratched the back of his head, speaking casually.
"My brother is talking to my father. They've been chatting for most of the day, and he specifically told me not to let anyone else in to disturb them."
"Hmm..." Mu Yuan nodded slightly, and said thoughtfully, "It seems they are discussing something important."
She paused, then remembered someone else, "Oh right, where's Yi Tan? Why haven't I seen him come over?"
"He went to see his aunt."
Wang Quanzui's voice was lowered, with a hint of regret in his tone.
"Speaking of which, his aunt is really quite pitiful. Since that incident, she has rarely come out to see anyone."
Upon hearing the name "Yang Yan," Mu Yuan paused slightly, then softly confirmed, "Aunt? You mean... that Yang Yan?"
Wang Quanzui nodded. "Yes... it's her."
The air instantly quieted down, and the lively atmosphere of their earlier playful fighting faded away.
As for the Li brothers, they went to the Western Regions, and no one knows what they did there.
………………
A very, very small wooden house...
Behind the house is a very small earthen mound with a tombstone on it... that's considered a grave.
The grave was clean, and there were fresh flowers.
Yang Yitan stood in front of the wooden door.
The wind swept the fallen leaves past his feet, but he remained rooted to the spot, silent for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
What happened back then...it's been a long time...
He always felt that it was his grandfather's stubbornness back then, valuing face above all else, that left his aunt all alone in this little courtyard. (Um... his aunt's father was called grandfather, right?)
Over the years, he would often stare blankly at old things late at night. Yang Yitan knew in his heart that he should have regretted it long ago, but the apology was stuck in his throat and he couldn't say it.
His life was flawless and spotless.
This is his honor, and also his...retribution.
His fingertips gradually clenched, his knuckles turning bluish-white. He took a deep breath, raised his hand, and gently placed his knuckles on the door panel.
"Knock knock knock," three soft sounds were particularly clear in the quiet courtyard.
The room was initially deathly silent, but after a while, the sound of slow footsteps could be heard.
Immediately afterwards, the door hinges creaked softly, and the wooden door slowly opened inward.
Yang Yitan looked up and saw the figure in plain clothes. He immediately crossed his arms and bowed deeply. "Yitan greets Aunt."
Yang Yan stood inside the door, her plain cloth dress devoid of any patterns, with only a simple wooden hairpin tucked behind her ear.
She looked at Yang Yitan quietly for a moment, her gaze sweeping over his tall shoulders and back before slowly shifting her gaze away, her voice light, "It's Yitan, you've grown so tall."
"A few years have passed, they should have grown up by now."
Yang Yi straightened up, her voice even softer, "Aunt, how have you been all these years...?"
Yang Yan lowered her eyes and smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes; she simply shook her head gently.
"Me? I guess I'm doing alright. Life is pretty ordinary. Although it can be tough sometimes, with my kids by my side, I can get through even the toughest challenges by just gritting my teeth."
She stepped aside, and Yang Yitan's gaze drifted into the room, where he saw a little boy lying on the wooden bed in the inner room.
The child looked to be about four or five years old, with a chubby face and eyelashes like two small fans. He was sleeping peacefully with a faint smile on his lips, looking very endearing.
"It's Mu Mie's younger brother..."
Yang Yi's voice softened. In his memory, he was still a wrinkled little bundle in swaddling clothes, and now he had grown so big.
"They've grown so big."
When the child was mentioned, Yang Yan's eyes finally softened, and her tone became lighter.
"Watching him grow from babbling to running and jumping every day is the happiest thing for me in the past few years."
The atmosphere had just eased a little when Yang Yitan couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind, "Auntie, you...aren't you planning to go home again?"
The smile on Yang Yan's face vanished instantly, and the air seemed to freeze.
She remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "Home...aren't I just at home?"
She raised her hand and gently stroked the wood grain on the door frame. "This courtyard, this house, is my home, the home of my son and me. The living are here, the dead... are all here."