Chapter One Hundred and Nine: Leaving Heluo Again

The carriage that carried Lian Yue once again passed through the city gate of He Luo Prefecture. For some reason, she found the whole thing absurdly unreal; as the carriage rolled farther and farther away, the gate itself was left little by little behind them.

Before setting out this time, Lan Shui had personally inspected the carriage from top to bottom, inside and out, even finding a silver needle hidden aboard. Yao Yao checked her own set afterward and discovered that, sure enough, one had gone missing.

At present, the carriage was about as safe and comfortable as could be. If only they could erase Qiao Zhi, who kept circling it and chattering nonstop, it would be even better.

Ever since Lian Yue had boarded, Qiao Zhi’s horse had never left the carriage window. No matter what was said inside, he always found a way to insert a remark. In the end, Lian Yue simply shut the window. Fortunately, they had prepared well this time; a basin of ice had been placed in each of the carriage’s four corners to dispel the heat. Aside from feeling a little stuffy, the carriage was still pleasantly cool, and at last her ears had some peace.

But good times never lasted. Before long, someone knocked on the carriage window from outside.

The rhythmic tapping, mingled with the shrilling of cicadas, was especially irritating.

Lian Yue was almost ready to bury her head under the brocade quilt on the couch.

She opened the window and glared at Meng Chu Chen, whose face was full of self-satisfied triumph. “You had better have something important to say.”

Qiao Zhi closed his eyes, savoring the cool air spilling through the window, but his tone was full of hurt. “Does Sister Yue'er really dislike me so much that she will not even speak a word to me? And here I was, kind enough to bring you this.”

Only then did Lian Yue notice that with one hand he held the reins, while with the other he hugged a green watermelon. Her eyes immediately lit up.

Yao Yao also leaned her little head over, staring hungrily at the melon in Qiao Zhi’s arms. “Yay, watermelon! Prince brother, you really are a good person!”

Yao Yao’s words made Lian Yue feel somewhat annoyed, but even she could not quite sort out her own feelings. Perhaps her first impression had truly not been very good; where Qiao Zhi was concerned, she always seemed to lose her temper so easily. Of course, that was also because he really was rather exasperating.

For the sake of the watermelon, Lian Yue softened her tone and asked, “Where did you get it?”

“Here—see the fields beside the road? Those are all melon patches. This one came from there.” As he spoke, Qiao Zhi handed the watermelon through the window. “Here, catch.”

Yao Yao happily took it with both hands and passed it to Lan Shui, who was sitting on the other side, before quickly turning back to look at the fields beside the road with Lian Yue. Through the poplars by the roadside, the land beyond was indeed a lush expanse of green.

Lian Yue had never seen a melon field before. If they were not in such a hurry, she would have loved to get out and take a proper look, but under the circumstances she could only peek at it from the carriage.

Of course, Lian Yue’s thoughts could not escape Qiao Zhi. If this had been any other time, he would have taken her there without a second thought to look around properly. But now Lian Yue had just been abducted; even if he were willing, her two elder brothers would probably never allow it.

After a little while, Lian Yue lost interest, only to be drawn back by a soft pop from inside the carriage.

Lan Shui held a delicate little dagger and split the watermelon straight down the middle, instantly revealing the red flesh within. Juices ran at once, and black seeds were embedded throughout the pulp. One look was enough to tell how delicious it must be.

In weather like this, watermelon was naturally the best thing to drive away the heat. As soon as Lan Shui cut a slice, Lian Yue reached eagerly for it. Just as her hand was about to close around it, another hand suddenly appeared and snatched it away.

Lian Yue knew at once that it was Yao Yao’s hand. She had already been salivating for ages, so thirsty she could hardly wait to bite into it, and turned to stare at Yao Yao, startling the girl so badly that her hand trembled.

The innocent Yao Yao had already come to terms with things after what had happened that morning. She knew very well that Lian Yue was displeased with her at the moment, so she hurriedly yielded the watermelon she had just taken.

Lian Yue was left blinking in confusion by her actions. Only when she saw Yao Yao’s somewhat ingratiating expression did she understand what was going on. So that morning’s prank had been that effective.

Still, Lian Yue had always regarded Yao Yao as a good friend. Besides, there was more than one slice of watermelon. Since Yao Yao had taken that one first, she was not about to snatch it back. That would have been far too dull.

She picked up another slice from the table and took a satisfied bite, muttering, “How did I end up one step too slow? Looks like my martial arts have made no progress lately. If I lose to someone else, so be it, but how could I possibly lose to Yao Yao?”

Upon hearing that final line, Yao Yao, who was in the middle of eating her watermelon, became a little anxious. She forgot all about the fruit and snapped back, “What’s so bad about losing to me? The two of us were never that far apart to begin with.”

“Not far apart? You’re only at the second level, and I’m already at the third. How could we be the same?” Lian Yue’s purpose was to use the argument to dispel the lingering shadow from Yao Yao’s mind that morning, so she deliberately aimed at the girl’s sore spot.

For Yao Yao, the pain of starting to study the Jade-Splitting Scripture at the same time as Lian Yue only to remain one level behind her was one of the few subjects she could not bear to mention.

But this time, Yao Yao did not jump up in anger as she usually would. Instead, she looked at Lian Yue with great satisfaction and said smugly, “I’ve broken through already. I’m at the same level as you now—both of us are at the third level. Maybe I’ll overtake you any moment now. If I remember correctly, you seem to have made no progress for a whole year.”

This time it was Lian Yue’s turn to bristle. Not merely a year without progress; for the past half year, no matter how she cultivated, her internal force had not increased in the slightest. Aunt Ran had said she had run into a bottleneck and needed experience, and as for when she might break through, that depended entirely on fate.

And this morning, on the way to Meng Chu Chen’s small courtyard, she had intended to test the silver needle she had just set in place with her internal force, only to discover that her wretched energy seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, utterly unresponsive.

Then the events that followed had swept it from her mind. If she brought it up now, would that not only make Yao Yao even more smug? So Lian Yue replied indignantly, “Don’t be so quick to celebrate. Maybe I’ll break through in the next few days. As for you, you took so long to get through the first two levels—how much longer will the third take?”

“Hee hee.” Yao Yao kept gnawing on her watermelon and said unconcernedly, “Let’s wait until you actually break through.”

Outside the window, Qiao Zhi watched the two of them argue more and more fiercely, and finally interjected, “Sister Yue'er, I was the one who brought the watermelon. You won’t just make me stand here and watch you two eat it, will you?”

Lian Yue did not want to continue that topic anyway, so she seized the chance to turn away from it. Picking up an unpeeled slice, she handed it out the window. “Is that the only one? It doesn’t seem like enough to go around.”

“Of course not. There are several more on the wagon behind us.” Qiao Zhi took a large bite without the slightest concern for his image. “We’ll hand them out to everyone when we stop to rest. I chose this one myself, just for you to taste first.”

Lian Yue had thought the watermelon had been casually picked by Qiao Zhi—put less politely, stolen—but since it was only one, the owner probably would not notice. Now, hearing him say there were so many more, she realized it must have been quite a few and could not help minding it a little. Her eyes turned somewhat unfriendly.

“How could you steal so many?”

“Cough, cough...” Qiao Zhi nearly choked on the watermelon in his mouth. Steal? This girl actually thought I stole it. “Since when did I say I stole it?”

“Didn’t you?” Realizing she had misunderstood him, Lian Yue blushed and said, “Oh, so you bought it. That’s good.”

Qiao Zhi smiled. “Did I say I bought it?”

Lian Yue was thoroughly baffled by him. If it was neither stolen nor bought, had he found it? If there were really such a good thing, it would hardly fall to him.

“Then where did the watermelon come from?”

Qiao Zhi wiped away the remaining juice on his hand, drew the folding fan from his waist, and with a sharp flick, opened it. “This melon field is mine.”

“Yours?” Lian Yue truly had not expected that. Thinking about it now, it was indeed possible. But seeing Qiao Zhi’s attempt at looking cool, she could not resist mocking him. “Then you’re far too stingy. You should have brought at least a whole cartload.”

So long as Lian Yue spoke to him, Qiao Zhi did not mind at all what she said. “If you like, after we return from the western capital, you can eat as much as you want. I would not even mind giving you the melon field. But for now, the ones on the wagon behind us are the only ripe melons in the field.”

Only then did Lian Yue remember that melon season usually did not begin until June, and it was still only May. It really was a bit early.

Qiao Zhi went on, “One reminder: if you don’t hurry up and eat yours, that dazed little girl will finish the whole watermelon.”

Lian Yue turned to look, and sure enough, there was not much left on the table. No wonder Yao Yao had been so quiet just now.

Without another word, Lian Yue picked up a slice and began to eat. Beside her ears, Qiao Zhi’s hearty laughter rang out.