Chapter 105: Snowy Mountain in Dream, Blood in the Basin

The earth is white and clean, the world is full of melting snow, I don’t know how deep it is, the snow plains reach the sky, I don’t know how wide it is. Right at the end of the skyline, suddenly uprooted a very high snow peak, straight into the clouds, like a sword inserted into the sky. This snowy mountain was so high that it was breathtaking, and one was too afraid to get close to it.

Fan Xian looked down and realized that his bare feet stepped in the snow, but strangely did not feel any icy pain, but only very clearly felt the touch from one snowflake after another. Feeling a bit surprised, he squinted his eyes towards the high mountain directly in front of the snowfield, only to have his eyes stung by the light reflecting back from the ice and snow on the mountain walls.

The sky and the earth were bright, as if there were nine suns above the snowy clouds, and Fan Xian didn’t know how long he had been walking in this snowy plain, five days? Six days? He hadn’t slept, but the sky hadn’t darkened either, as if there was no difference between day and night in this hellish place.

“The last time I came here, it was always night at the very beginning, and then the sky opened up and it became daytime.”

A voice rang in Fan Xian’s ears, and as he twisted his head around, he saw a face that he hadn’t seen for a long time, and that pale face had an unhealthy flush, and at a glance, he knew that it was the aftereffects of the Ephedra Pill. Fan Xian inclined his head and looked at Sean strangely, thinking, “Aren’t you dead? How did you appear in front of his eyes again, and still be able to speak so clearly?

He felt a bit strange, but subconsciously there was a spiritual force that kept him from thinking about this odd question, and instead asked very directly, “The temple is in that snowy mountain?”

“Yes, that’s where the holy place on earth is, the place where mortals can’t touch.” Sean sighed, and then that face turned into countless shards of light, falling on top of the snow, never to be found again.

Fan Xian crouched down. Using his reddened hands to plow through the snow pile, he seemed to want to grab the already dead Sean back again and continue to ask some questions, however, after half a day’s plowing, the snow pit became deeper and deeper, but he couldn’t find the slightest trace of it, but instead, next to the deepening snow pit, he saw a shadow.

A hemp-clothed man wearing a hat was sitting beside the snow pit, his eyes clear as the sea, quietly looking at the large snow mountain.

“Where did your shoes go? Where did my shoes go?” Fan Xian jumped out of the snow pit, glanced at his own bare reddened feet, then glanced at the equally bare feet of the hemp-clothed man wearing a hat, his eyes saw the man’s bald head through the hat, and said with a smile, “I know you’re Bitter Lotus, you came to the temple back then as well, and both you and Sean have eaten human flesh.”

Sitting on the snow, Bitterhelm smiled. Said, “The temple is not sacred, it’s just a ruined temple.”

“But the world knows that you have unlimited reverence for the temple, and once knelt on the green stone steps in front of the temple for several months before you were taught the best art in heaven.”

“But you know the truth of the matter is not like that.” Bitter Lotus turned his head and calmly looked at Fan Xian and said, “Where in this world is there an invincible force?”

After saying these words, Bitter Lotus disappeared, as if he had never appeared. In an instant, right where Bitter Lotus disappeared, the short Sword Saint Patriarch suddenly appeared, staring at Fan Xian with wide eyes and roaring angrily, “Where are my ashes? Where are my ashes?”

Fan Xian was creeped out, and only then did it occur to him that he seemed to have forgotten something, that he seemed to have promised the Four Gu Swords that if he were to go to the temple, he would take his ashes with him and sprinkle them on the stone steps of the temple, so that he could go and see what kind of remarkable figures were in that temple.

Fan Xian was incredibly bitter and said, “That mountain is so tall and cold, I can’t even get close to it, so even if I brought your ashes with me, it would be useless.”

“That’s an excuse!” Four Gu Swords roared angrily, “That’s just an excuse!”

Then the Four Gu Swords stabbed his sword over, rolling up a snowflake that spread between heaven and earth, its marvelous beauty irresistible. Fan Xian’s face turned white, and he exerted all of his energy, his bare feet desperately trampling on the soft snowy plains, rushing toward the snowy mountain ahead that he looked up to and seemed to never be able to conquer.

Then he saw a black dot traveling slowly but firmly up the snowy mountain, and Fan Xian was overjoyed, shouting, “Uncle Five Bamboo, wait for me.”

The black-clothed Five Bamboo looked as if he hadn’t heard any sound at all, and was still just walking indifferently and firmly toward the mountain. The sword behind Fan Xian, however, had already arrived, the sword flower was just a single one, but it opened countless petals in a split second, each petal cutting off a piece of flesh and blood from Fan Xian’s chest and abdomen.

The endless pain caused Fan Xian to howl miserably as he fell to the ground, the blood and water on his body flowed onto the snow and was immediately iced into crimson blood flowers, like precious onyx filled with the aura of killing.

Fan Xian watched as Uncle Wu Zhu walked towards the great snowy mountain, which was still as tall and cold as ever, and he felt the unbearable pain coming from his heart, and the despair and awe that filled his mind.

Then he woke up.

Fan Xian let out a muffled grunt and struggled to sit up from the bed, drenched in a weak sweat that dampened all of his undergarments, he subconsciously touched his chest, realizing that apart from being a little sore, he hadn’t really had countless slices of flesh cut off.

At this time, it was already nightfall, and it seemed that after waking up at twilight earlier, he quietly looked at the top of his bed and then fell asleep again, only to wonder why he had such a nightmare, where those supreme figures who had once sprinkled their elegance in this world appeared one by one in his dreams, telling him stories about that snowy mountain, and then persuading him, encouraging him, and deserting him.

Fan Xian panted heavily, wiped a handful of cold sweat on his forehead, stared blankly at the quilts on his body, thought of that big snow mountain in his dream, and still shuddered, he knew what the big snow mountain in his dream stood for in the real world, and he also knew that that man was actually more powerful and cold than that big snow mountain, however, the snow mountain was in front, and he would always have to go and climb it.

Inside the imperial study room of the palace, His Majesty the Emperor slowly opened his eyes and woke up. He looked at the lamps on the desk table around him and realized that it was already nighttime. His eyes were a bit cold and strange, because he had a dream earlier, he dreamt that he was standing on top of a lonely snowy mountain, enjoying the worship and admiration of countless people in the snowy plains below the mountain, yet there was no one around him, just as lonely as that snowy mountain.

Those people were on the verge of being frozen into zombies, and perhaps there wasn’t much pleasure to be seized by being worshipped by such creatures. The Emperor slowly closed his eyes, thinking of those eyes that looked at him indifferently in his dreams, the eyes of those familiar companions, for a long time without words.

“I want to scald my face.” The emperor opened his mouth and said.

Eunuch Yao, who had been waiting at the side, rises to answer the order and pushes open the door of the imperial study, before leaving, he softly reports, “Significant person Ye has been waiting in the front hall.”

The Emperor didn’t say anything and waved his hand somewhat boredly, and the door to the Imperial Study was closed. Although His Majesty the Emperor of Qing had his own palace in the harem, over the years, he was diligent in politics, coupled with his excessive energy, he was also accustomed to staying up all night in the imperial study to approve the sangha, and this place housed a full set of bedding so he rarely returned to the palace to rest, but often spent the night in the imperial study instead.

It is not a lie to say that a large part of Emperor Qing’s life was spent in the imperial study. On weekdays after nightfall, in addition to the Emperor, only his most trusted eunuchs were able to enter this quiet study, and when Eunuch Hong died and Hong Zhu lost his power, the only person who was able to stop by the imperial study at night was Eunuch Yao.

However, today there is another woman inside this quiet imperial study room, this girl’s eyebrows have a natural repellent calmness, her face is clear, she is wearing a half fur thin shirt, she is sitting peacefully on the round pier opposite the soft couch, and there is also a box placed at her feet.

The emperor glanced at this woman and said gently, “You haven’t had much rest in the past two days, stay and rest in the harem.”

Fan Ruo Ruo calmly saluted and did not say anything, ever since she was accessed into the palace at midday the day before yesterday to heal His Majesty’s wounds, her movements had been greatly restricted, and although no one had explicitly said anything, she knew that she had to stay in the palace.

In the past two days, His Majesty had kept her by his side, even when he was inspecting things in the Imperial Study and when his subordinates were returning information related to the Fan family, Fan Ruoruo was beside her quietly listening, and His Majesty didn’t seem to be avoiding her much.

The Emperor lightly glanced at her, and easily saw the trace of deep worry in the calmness between the woman’s brows, and he knew what she was worried about. It was wonderful that the emperor had kept Miss Fan by his side for the past two days, not just to suppress Fan Xian, nor was it just because Fan Ruo Ruo was going to heal his wounds, but the emperor felt that this niece-generation girl, with this kind of refreshingly indifferent disposition, was really very much in tune with his own temperament, and that by casually chatting with her, no matter whether it was astronomy, geography, or all the colors of the world, Fan Ruo Ruo was always able to pick up His Majesty for a sentence or two.

“Don’t worry about anything.” The Emperor coughed gently, although Fan Ruoruo’s wonderful hands had taken out most of the iron shards and steel beads in his body, that is, after all, the killing power of Chen Pingping’s wheelchair double bombardment was too great, and no one knew that the injuries he had sustained were in fact extremely serious.

Emperor Qing was a great master, so he was able to survive, if he was replaced by anyone else, he was only afraid that he would have already died under Chen Pingping’s double shot.

“An Zhi …… your elder brother, there are some misunderstandings about me, when these misunderstandings are clear later, it will be fine.” His Majesty the Emperor did not know why, it seems that he does not want to see the Fan family little girl worried, greatly against his temperament softly explained.

And this is also really the emperor’s sincere words, in his opinion, An Zhi this person has always been a person who is extremely sentimental, Chen Pingping’s tragic death will inevitably make him momentarily unable to figure out, momentarily unable to turn the corner, in the future, if he knows Chen Pingping’s those great evils sown against Li’s royal family, and had once inflicted poisonous hands on him so many times, he will naturally figure it out.

“Your Majesty is right.” Fan Ruo Ruo bowed her head in response.

The emperor’s expression became a bit gloomy, he didn’t like the tone of the Fan family girl’s speech at this point. After a long time, he did not snap, but only slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “Anzhi has already slept for a day and a night, it seems that this journey has been really hard for him.”

Fan Ruoruo raised her head, gently biting her lower lip, looking at this Emperor Majesty in front of her who she could not see through the depths of no matter what, not knowing how to answer at all. At this time, his elder brother was sleeping on the couch in the mansion, so he must not be able to sleep peacefully. And what kind of emotions did His Majesty’s words represent?

“Tell me about the situation when you first learned the art in Green Mountain, I have never set foot in the land of Northern Qi, this has always been my regret.” The emperor naturally turned the conversation, for some reason, he was really following Fan Ruoruo’s heart, knowing that if he talked about Kyoto’s affairs, the affairs of the Fan House, it would chill this girl’s heart.

“Of course, before long, I will be able to go to Castle Peak to see for myself.” The emperor smiled faintly.

Fan Ruoruo respectfully responded, “The scenery on Castle Peak is excellent, and the masters and brothers of the Heavenly Dao have also treated me extremely well.”

“You are, after all, a citizen of my Daqing, and although I don’t know what tricks Fan Xian used back then to actually force that dead bald guy Bitter Lotus to accept you as a shut-in disciple, I’m sure that those Northern Qi people are still uncomfortable looking at you.” The emperor wiped the white hair on his temples and said casually.

Fan Ruo Ruo smiled naturally and said, “Your Majesty’s divine eyes are like a torch, that situation was indeed like that at first, but then the teacher gave his word, and with the addition of Sister Haitang returning to the mountain, it naturally got better.”

“Speaking of that woman Haitang, what exactly did An Zhi do with her?” The emperor’s eyes flashed with a trace of emotion as he calmly asked.

Fan Ruoruo, however, clearly sensed that His Imperial Majesty was not using this matter to inquire about anything, but was merely curious about this story of a man and a woman that had been spread around the world. She stared blankly at His Majesty’s slightly pale face, and suddenly thought that all of these matters were related to her elder brother, who would never talk to His Majesty about the details of these matters.

This was considered a parental conversation? Fan Ruoruo suddenly understood that His Majesty the Emperor was just old, just lonely, just lonely, just being a human father, but never getting the treatment of a human father, so he left himself in this palace, wanting to talk to himself more, wanting to know more about the unusual things in the world, wanting to know more about the things related to his elder brother.

The family chat between the Emperor and his young daughter went on in such a calm and strange manner, and it was obvious that His Majesty was in a better mood, and a rare trace of a gentle look began to show on his slightly white countenance.

The door of the imperial study pushed open, Eunuch Yao led two small eunuchs to come in with a copper basin, inside the basin was a white mist of steaming hot water. The Emperor took the hot towel from Eunuch Yao’s hand, signaling Fan Ruo Ruo to continue speaking with his afterglow, then covered his face with this rolling towel, vigorously wiping at his eye sockets a few times.

Emperor Qing under the towel, slowly closed his eyes, no one was able to see his expression at this moment, and no one knew that at that earlier moment, he suddenly thought of yesterday after that autumn rain, he brought Li Chengping back to the palace, Little San’er’s hand being held by his own had been shaking, and his eyes looking at himself were full of fear.

Like the Chengqian of many years ago.

The emperor’s heart suddenly surged with an extremely cold anger, ripping off the towel from his face and throwing it on the ground, breathing deeply several times before suppressing his temperament, looking at Eunuch Yao and saying, “What took you so long?”

Eunuch Yao knelt down, trembling voice responded, “Earlier the inner court had important matters to report, so there was a delay in the array of time.”

“Speak.”

“The eyes of the inner court stranded outside of the Fan House …… ” Said here, Eunuch Yao subconsciously glanced at Miss Fan House who was staring blankly at himself, and then hurriedly lowered his head, “A total of fourteen people, all of them were killed. ”

The emperor’s face abruptly sank like ice, slowly sat up straight on the couch, looking at Eunuch Yao without saying a word.

Fan Ruoruo sitting aside suddenly heard this news, her face gradually turned white, unable to let go. In the past two days, she has been guarding the Imperial Study Room, guarding His Majesty’s side, naturally knowing that yesterday afternoon her elder brother had returned to the capital, had already returned to the residence, and although the inner court and the military had apparently relaxed their suppression of the Fan residence, they had still left countless eyes responsible for surveillance outside the residence.

Those eyes are all dead? What was in my brother’s heart? Doesn’t he know that His Majesty let him sleep peacefully in the mansion, waiting for him to wake up and come to the palace to apologize? And yet he wants to kill all those people sent by His Majesty? Is he not afraid of angering His Majesty?

The frosty color on His Majesty’s face slowly melted at this moment, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, smiling with a hint of sarcasm, calmly saying, “Continue to send people over, my world’s hundreds of millions of people, can he kill them all by himself?”

Fanfu’s main door was wide open, the lights were hanging high, illuminating this half of the street in the south city as clearly as if it were daytime, Tantalizing Duke Fan Xian, covered in blood, walked from the shadows where the lights couldn’t illuminate, and slowly walked to the door of his house under the gaze of the terrified eyes of those on the street wearing official uniforms and flashing their identities.

He sat down on the bench right in front of the main entrance of Fan’s house, threw the blood-stained Great Wei Heavenly Son Sword at his feet, stretched out his hand and scrubbed it twice in the basin of hot water handed over by his servant, and the clear water in the basin suddenly turned into blood.