Jiang Shuxuan carried Gu Xiqiao in his arms as he walked the steps up. He hadn’t been here before, but he could accurately pinpoint her room. Placing her on the bed, he gently pressed his palm on her forehead.

He removed his hand after a moment, taking a step back. Seeing that some color had started to return to her face, he felt some relief course through him.

Heading downstairs, the interlinked formations that Gu Xiqiao drew had disappeared the moment she went upstairs. Tang Qinghong had managed to crawl up from the ground, and he was sitting on the stone bench in the yard, looking at the door in a slight daze.

“Why didn’t you ask for assistance?” Jiang Shuxuan said as he raised his hand, sending the scattered medical materials in the yard back to its original places.

Tang Qinghong stood up immediately, not daring to look at Jiang Shuxuan’s face. “It was my oversight.”

Jiang Shuxuan narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Nonsense! Go back and receive your punishment!”

Glancing up at the second floor, Tang Qinghong pursed his lips, but could only reluctantly reply, “Understood.”

He stood there for a while, watching as Jiang Shuxuan cleared up the mess in the yard, putting everything back in its place and making sure everything was neat. He smiled bitterly, who would have thought, the member of the Jiang family who was standing at the peak of the world would actually lower himself to perform these trivial tasks?

A fifteen-year-old boy that had participated in the qualifying competition for the Ranking List and had soared high into the sky. Now, ten years later, he still dominated the top spot, and even the masters of the older generations didn’t dare to compete with him.

Letting out another sigh, he thought it was sad to be living in the same generation as these monsters, he didn’t even have the courage to compete against them.

Tang Qinghong left quietly, and no one except Jiang Shuxuan knew where he had gone.

Jiang Shuxuan went around the second floor, clearing up the room that Tang Qinghong had been living in, before taking out his phone to make a call. Three hours later, he looked at the redecorated room and felt the distressing feeling that was gripping his heart fade into nothingness.

Gu Xiqiao slept for two days, and on the third day, she finally opened her eyes to see a person sitting by her window, reading a book.

The golden rays of the sun shone on him, casting a majestic glow on the elegant figure, his smooth face looking like it had been carved from ice. Although he was sitting casually, it was hard to deny the natural grace and noble vibe that exuded from him.

Her long lashes fluttered slightly, and Gu Xiqiao pulled herself up, rubbing at her eyes. The figure was still there, and she murmured under her breath, “So it wasn’t a dream.”

Hearing the shuffling movement, Jiang Shuxuan placed his book down, lifting his head to look at her. This is the first time the two had seen each other clearly after a while, and the body that he had carefully taken care of seemed to have shrunk again. He rubbed his temples helplessly. “Are you hungry?”

“Oh,” Gu Xiqiao responded without much thought, her brain still processing. “I’ll take a bath first.”

“Alright, I’ll wait downstairs for you,” Jiang Shuxuan said. He had kept a pot of soup warm downstairs, in case she woke up.

Seeing him walk towards the door and about to leave, Gu Xiqiao finally snapped out of her daze. “Brother Jiang.”

Jiang Shuxuan turned slightly, his face still expressionless, but his tone was warm when he spoke, “Yes?”

“I just wanted to call your name,” Gu Xiqiao said, and after thinking for a while, she climbed down the bed and walked to him. Stretching out her left hand, she placed it on his chest, a warmth pulse underneath her palm. She could feel the strength of his heart beating, a beat after another, strong and powerful, just like she heard when she had fallen unconscious, it inexplicably put her at ease.

Ink black eyes looked at her as Jiang Shuxuan lowered his head slightly, staring into the white porcelain face, the elegant arch of her brows, and eyes that sparkled like stars. Unable to resist, his hand came up to hold the hand that was on his chest.

He finally understood, when there is someone who has a hold on your heart in the world, you would feel pain the moment there was a crease on their face.

“I’ll head down and heat up the soup for you. Once you’re done, come on down and drink some, hm?” He leaned down to embrace her, and although he was reluctant to leave the warmth, he released her almost immediately. She hadn’t eaten for two days, and was hungry, food was more important.

Jiang Shuxuan went down, and lingered at the bottom of the stairs for a while, rubbing his fingers together, it was still such a pity.

Gu Xiqiao watched the figure disappear from the doorway, and a smile stretched on her face after a while. The question that she had been pondering on for what seemed like forever finally had an answer, and her mood was good as she grabbed her clothes to head for the shower downstairs.

[Beauty Qiao,] The system spirit said, after being ignored the whole time.

“Has this part of the chain mission been completed?” Gu Xiqiao asked as she walked into the bathroom. Turning the shower on, the room was soon filled with mist.

Hearing the question, the system spirit’s eyes lit up, [Hehe, there’s a few thousand points from it.]

“So predictable, go ahead and upgrade then.”

[Roger that, Beauty Qiao. I need three days to upgrade, wait for me to come back then!] Saying that, the system spirit disappeared into silence.

In the past few days of taking care of Gu Xiqiao, Jiang Shuxuan had spent the time sweeping through various places of the village that had vengeful spirits. Although these were small problems, he was unnerved and didn’t feel like leaving it for her to deal with it.

“The bird is still in the yard, and it’ll follow you from now on,” Jiang Shuxuan said when he saw that she was almost done with her soup.

Gu Xiqiao looked at him in surprise. “Follow me?”

“You’re a person of great merit, and the Vermillion Bird is one of the four great spirits of the skies. Now that it has started to be contaminated by the vengeful spirits, the southern constellation mansions are in an unstable state. Having it by your side would reassure me.”

“The Vermilion Bird of the South is represented by seven mansions, well, ghost, willow, star, extended net, wings, and chariot. With the Vermilion Bird being corrupted, the stars are unstable, which is a bad omen.”

There is always no doubt about Jiang Shuxuan’s words, and Gu Xiqiao nodded her head. “It really is the Vermilion Bird?”

She had always thought that the Vermillion Bird depicted in ancient mythology was just a myth, she never thought that she would see it one day with her own eyes.

Jiang Shuxuan chuckled lightly, his face holding a warm expression and a gentle smile. “Everything is born of heaven and earth, the existence of the Vermillion Bird is definitely not a myth, but a fact.”

Gu Xiqiao didn’t really understand it all, if she were honest, but she went out to look at the little bird. The mythical Vermilion Bird was nailed down into a corner, and though only two days had passed, the feathers that were previously black had changed, becoming a flaming red color. The feathers were sleek and fiery red, shining brightly under the sunlight, looking as though it would burst into flames at any time.

“It changed color.” Gu Xiqiao reached down to flick its head, “But what happened to its wing?”

The blood on the left wing was still fresh and wet, and it looked to be quite a serious injury.

“Master,” The Vermilion Bird lowered its head when it saw Gu Xiqiao walking over, crying out pitifully, completely different from two days ago.

Jiang Shuxuan glanced at it, a white light flashed in his hands and the Vermilion Bird was released instantly. He ruthlessly exposed its true colors. “Don’t be fooled by it, the injury is not as bad as it looks.”

The Vermilion Bird who had been exposed: Life is already difficult, why must you be so bitterly insistent on making it worse?

Compared to the words of the bird that had tried to kill her, Gu Xiqiao was more inclined to believe Jiang Shuxuan. “Will it have to follow me consistently?”

“Naturally.”

“Then I can’t be calling it Vermilion Bird all the time. There is already a Haha in the house, so let’s call you Xixi.” Gu Xiqiao decided, snapping her fingers in triumph.

Xixi? Xixi! What kind of stupid name was that! The Vermilion Bird realized that it had to protect its own dignity, and opened its mouth, “My name is Aimi, Master.”

Gu Xiqiao was silent for a while, before turning to Jiang Shuxuan. “Brother Jiang, is this really a bird? Could it possibly be a spirit that can turn into a human after some training?”

Jiang Shuxuan grabbed the Vermilion Bird by its neck, and explained, “The Vermilion Bird is a long lived creature, although its intelligence is not high, it doesn’t have any trouble speaking.”

“I see,” Gu Xiqiao said, narrowing her eyes. She suddenly turned to look at the Vermilion Bird, giving it a bright smile. “Xixi, nice to meet you.”

“Aimi!”

“Xixi.”

“Ai… Xixi understands.” Xixi changed its tone immediately, after receiving a glare from Jiang Shuxuan, obediently nodding its head at Gu Xiqiao.

Jiang Shuxuan released the bird, and Xixi flew over to Gu Xiqiao’s shoulder. When it landed on her shoulders however, it was taken slightly aback. At first, he had agreed to be her pet unwillingly, due to the fear of Jiang Shuxuan, its heart was actually full of resentment at the turn of events.

But now, standing on this person’s shoulder, it could feel a steady stream of energy flowing into it, and it was full of vitality. Under this situation, it could also feel its strength slowly growing. Xixi’s eyes widened, in that case, nothing would make it leave Gu Xiqiao’s shoulders.

“When will you be returning to N City?” She had stayed for a long time, and the things that she needed to do were already done. Which meant she should be returning soon, right?

Gu Xiqiao tapped Xixi’s head as she thought about it. “I’ll go back for a bit, but then I have to come back here. I have to go to the county once more.”

Now that the problem in the village has been solved, she should think about how to improve their lives and make it better. The mountain to the north would be the breakthrough point, but it didn’t belong to the villagers, so she needed to head to the county to rent the mountain.

Thinking about this, she gave a call to Mu Zong and proceeded to send messages to Xiao Yun and Wu Hongwen. They had been kicking up a fuss and wanted to come to where she was, especially Xiao Yun, who was not as busy as Wu Hongwen, and took every opportunity to talk her ears off, completely unlike the cold ice queen that she was known to be.

***

Jiang Shuxuan accompanied her to the county in the afternoon, and the car he was using here was a modest BMW, not the luxurious Bugatti.

As for Gu Xiqiao’s little pink car, she was trying her best not to use it if she could avoid it.

The county was a bit far out from the village, and Jiang Shuxuan was driving for forty minutes before they reached the government gates. When she was getting off the car, Gu Xiqiao stopped the other person who was about to follow her out. She feared that if she went in with him, everyone would forget what they were doing.

It was afternoon, and the government building didn’t have much. Gu Xiqiao informed them of her intentions, and the clerk at the entrance was chatting with other people, giving her a short glance before saying, “Wait.”

Ten minutes later, Gu Xiqiao frowned slightly and patiently inquired again.

The clerk was a thirty-year-old woman, glancing at Gu Xiqiao’s cowboy t-shirt, her tone was irritable. “I’ve told you to wait, so wait. If you don’t want to wait then get out, don’t bother me doing work!”

Gu Xiqiao smiled coldly at the show of this attitude. If this were N City, she would have lost her job already!

It was pointless to get angry and argue with these types of people, so Gu Xiqiao stepped aside and pulled out her phone. After making a call, she spoke in a low voice to the other party.

Seeing her do that, the clerk paid no more attention to her. In small places like these, the government offices were filled with nepotism. Although she was just a small reception clerk, she naturally had some connections to the people on top. The connections were unclear to others, but usually nobody dared to cause any trouble or not get along with her. But today, there had to be this off-putting girl that appeared.

Three minutes later, a person came down from upstairs. The female clerk who had been busy chatting suddenly stopped, giving the middle-aged man who just came down a smile. “Secretary, where are you headed to?”

The man ignored her, looking at Gu Xiqiao with a smile. “You must be Miss Gu. Apologies for the wait, let’s go on up.”

After the both of them left, the female clerk was stunned. The phone in her hand rang, and she picked it up numbly, receiving the notice that she was fired.

***

The procedure for renting a mountain was actually quite cumbersome, and it usually took a few days of coming and going for regular people, but Gu Xiqiao had only been sitting for about half an hour before the secretary handed her a stack of documents. “Before you arrived, I’ve already prepared everything. Have a look at and let me know if there is anything wrong, and I will get it changed right away.”

Gu Xiqiao merely glanced at it for a short while, then had read through the documents in detail. “It’s perfect, thank you.”

“It’s a small matter.” The secretary walked her all the way to the gates, and waited until the black BMW drove away and out of sight.

The clerk was looking at him with a pale face. “Secretary, I…”

“Why haven’t you left yet?” The secretary said, frowning. “The first rule of our government is to serve the people, look at what you’ve done! Hurry up and leave!”

Serve the people? If anyone else heard these words, they would literally laugh themself to death. However, no one said anything, only whispering in low voices speculating about who the girl that had just left was.

***

Gu Xiqiao held the government’s permit and returned to Baixing Village, taking a stroll around the north mountain, thinking on how to develop the place. The whole time, Jiang Shuxuan was following her in silence, and there was only the sound of birds twittering.

“Brother Jiang, when are you going back?” Gu Xiqiao asked, turning her head suddenly towards him.

The trees in the mountain provided a decent amount of shade, and it was extraordinarily cool, but the unusual chill that was there a few days ago was absent.

Jiang Shuxuan reached out a hand to pull her towards him, letting out a resigned sigh. “There are stones in front, careful. I’m not in any hurry to return.”

“I was referring to the Imperial Capital, when are you heading back?” Gu Xiqiao raised her head to look at him, her clear eyes looking as though it could see through everything.

“If there are no special matters that require my attention,” Jiang Shuxuan said as he looked into her eyes, “Then I’ll probably stay here.”

Gu Xiqiao didn’t ask about what was considered to be a special matter, and turned to ask other things instead.

The two of them started talking about the ancient martial arts world, and when it came to this, Jiang Shuxuan held out a small wooden token to her. “Everyone in the ancient martial arts world has an identification, this is yours. The forum address is also on it, there are various things on there that you’d be able to find answers to, otherwise, you can ask me.”

Receiving the wooden identification, Gu Xiqiao felt a rush of excitement from the novelty of it. There was even a forum, she never knew that the ancient martial art world was so organized. “Then let’s head back immediately!”

She couldn’t wait to see what the ancient martial arts world had to offer her, it was all so new!

“You go on ahead first, I’ll head up to take a look,” Jiang Shuxuan said as he glanced at the mountain top, thinking that he wanted to draw another two formations to avoid any repeat incidents in the future.

Gu Xiqiao thought for a while. “Then…I’ll head down first?”

“Go on,” Jiang Shuxuan said, rubbing the top of her head gently, “I know you’re curious.”

How could she not be? It was the magical ancient martial arts world! Gu Xiqiao took a step and vanished from his sight.

However, she wasn’t able to dive right into it. As when she reached the bottom, she bumped into Li Yanmei, who was washing vegetables by the creek. “Little Gu, you’re finally back!”

“Sister.” Gu Xiqiao touched her nose as she stopped, “I haven’t been able to give Aunt Li acupuncture for the past few days, right?”

“That’s a small matter, my mom’s eating the medication that you prescribed. Where have you been these past two days? The yard was also closed, and those people are still at your house, I was worried that you were getting bullied,” Li Yanmei said, concern shining through her eyes.

Gu Xiqiao’s heart warmed at the tone of her concern. “I had something to do, and those people have already left my house, not to worry. I left mainly because I had something to do.”

“It’s good if everything’s fine then,” Li Yanmei said, breathing a sigh of relief, “Come over tonight for dinner, I see you’ve lost weight.”

“Tonight’s no good, save the good food for Aunt Li, she injured her bones and will need to heal properly.” If Jiang Shuxuan wasn’t around, she would definitely want to go.

The two of them chatted for a while, Li Yanmei had a lot of vegetables to wash to make pickled cabbage, so Gu Xiqiao gave her a hand in carrying the baskets.

Just as Li Yanmei turned to leave, she suddenly froze. Gu Xiqiao came up from the back, “What’s wrong?”

Seeing that she wasn’t about to respond any time soon, Gu Xiqiao followed her line of sight.

Li Yanmei had never seen such a stunning man before. Tang Qinghong was one, but he wasn’t even two-tenths of the person that was standing before her. The man walking down the mountain path was glowing under the sun rays, his face strong and defined, his features seemingly molded from ice. He wore an indifferent expression on his face, though there was a hint of warmth in it.

Li Yanmei could faintly see the aura he exuded, which was similar to Gu Xiqiao’s, only the aura from him gave off a feeling of being unapproachable.

The man seemed to pause in his steps when he reached the bottom, his eyes glancing around before landing in their direction, and that was where he turned to head towards.

Having seen the beauty that was Gu Xiqiao countless times, Li Yanmei was not dazzled too much by this man. She looked at the man, and her eyes widened. “Little Gu, is he looking for you?”

“Probably,” Gu Xiqiao said, touching her nose without saying anything after.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep