Book 7: Chapter 34: He Came From the Mountains, Carrying Orchid Fragrance

Lin Xi came out from the water.

It was nighttime outside, yet it was still much brighter than inside the mine. That was why Lin Xi could see everything even more clearly.

He didn’t follow the current, instead leaving the water, directly climbing up the cliff.

There was moonlight shining from the sky.

Clear water flowed down his skin, making it look even more glossy and sleek, even more flexible, full of a type of hidden and restrained strength.

His black hair fluttered about slowly. As the fresh mountain wind entered his chest, he felt more and more satisfied with his current condition, as if he was completely revived.

Under the moonlight, Lin Xi slowly climbed up the mountain peak.

He silently surveyed his surroundings, seeing traces of people being stationed on the other cliffs, but no other traces of people appeared in his line of sight. As such, he stretched out his entire body’s muscles and bones, releasing waves of light noises. Then, after a long and refreshed exhale, he turned around and entered the forest behind him.

Under the moonlight, the forest became even more quiet and secluded. Lin Xi suddenly smelled a wave of faint fragrance that seemed to penetrate his mind.

Drawn by this fragrance, the slightly shocked Lin Xi arrived under an old tree. Then, he discovered that it came from a cluster of small slightly purple orchid flowers.

…

At the foot of the mountain was a small village. Within a house located next to a small stream, an ordinary middle-aged woman with a cloth wrapped around her head was currently kneading flour.

After forcefully kneading the flour for an hour, and then flattening it with a large rock, the soup dumplings would become extremely exquisite and soft.

Suddenly, this middle-aged woman who specialized in making soup dumplings felt like someone was looking at her. She thus turned around with shock.

Then, her mouth opened in surprise.

She saw a ragged clothed young man who was currently smiling towards her in an embarrassed manner.

This young man’s clothes were already almost in complete tatters, but what left her stunned was that this young man instead gave her an extremely clean feeling.

Together with this young man’s shyness and politeness, she felt like he wasn’t a bad person, so she didn’t release any cries of alarm.

Then, she saw that this young man held a cluster of light purple orchids with earth underneath.

“You are an orchid picker from inside the city?”

This also somewhat bashful ordinary middle-aged woman also finally reacted a bit. She rubbed off the flour on her arms and kindly said, “Did you leave too late and got lost, only returning just now? What do you need help with… do you want to eat something?”

“However, I have to congratulate you, you managed to find this stalk of orchid.” When the faint fragrance wafted through the air, this middle-aged woman who was normally always around heat and dough looked at the faint purple orchid flower in his hands, saying this in admiration.

In Deer Forest Province, orchids were always precious, there were even people who left the city just to pick them. Yunqin’s orchid buyers always viewed deep colors as valuable, so this cluster of purple orchids was definitely worth many silvers.

The young man shook his head in a bit of an embarrassed manner, indicating that she didn’t need to help him prepare any food. He instead turned around to look towards the clothes rack outside the house.

There was a set of ordinary clean rough male cotton clothing.

The middle-aged woman immediately understood, laughing in a down-to-earth manner and saying, “If you want to go back into the city, not having clothes really isn’t too suitable. If you don’t find it too uncomfortable, then these clothes are yours.”

“Thank you.” The young man also chuckled. He clearly felt like he was a bit too polite, and as such, he walked over, placing the orchids in front of the middle-aged woman’s window ledge. “You can have this cluster of orchids as well.”

“This…” The woman was stupefied. She knew that these orchids were precious, immediately wishing to decline. However, the young man instead waved his hands towards her in goodbye, removed the clothing, and then with just a few steps,  he disappeared into the night.

The middle-aged woman felt like she just experienced a dream. However, the orchid before her that released a clear fragrance was instead real.

She knew that these orchids were worth at least a year’s worth of labor for her. However, the longer she looked at the thin and weak fresh flower, the more she smelled the fragrance, the more she liked it, not willing to sell it. In the end, she found a clean pot, carefully planting it inside.

She liked it from the bottom of her heart.

…

Under the shining clean moonlight, the serious faced Yunqin officer was sitting on a river bank. When he saw the happy and excited expressions of those following him, his grim face also produced some softer lines.

Several dozen black-armored Yunqin soldiers were busying about Bridge Edge Stream, preparing food.

After more than ten days passed, Lin Xi still didn’t make an appearance, as if he completely disappeared from this world. The cultivators and army were withdrawn group after group, the order to seal up the mountain already removed. The steel wire nets that sealed up Bridge Edge River’s openings into Three Reeds Peak were already completely removed as well. Even though they didn’t catch Lin Xi, these wire nets still caught quite a bit of large fish.

This was especially the case when many of them were still rather fresh.

The dozens of black-armored elite soldiers were currently excitedly removing the freshest and fattest large fish from the steel wires, removing their scales and starting to prepare dinner.

This Yunqin officer knew that it was rare for his subordinates to have this type of relaxed and happy times, so his mood was also affected, becoming happy because of their happiness.

“Sir Lu!”

However, right when some cleaned fish already entered pots, the smell of heat and oil spreading through this river bank, there was a soldier whose hurried shout broke this peace.

“What is it?”

This Yunqin General’s face immediately became grim. He knew that there was definitely something that happened. He arrived in front of that soldier with a single leap.

That soldier looked at him, took a deep breath, but didn’t say anything, instead bringing over a large fish that had been cut open.

By borrowing the moonlight, he immediately clearly saw that there was a fish hook in the fish’s belly. It was a simple and crude fish hook made from fish bones, connected to it a broken fishing line made from tree bark.

His body immediately went rigid, suddenly turning around towards that mountain stream.

A wave of inconceivable shock immediately flooded every part of his body.

This mountain stream was previously completely sealed up, there was no way anyone else could be catching fish here… even if they were catching fish, there was no need to use such simple and crude things.

That meant that there was only one possibility, it was Lin Xi!

Lin Xi was still alive… he had been inside the mountain stream all this time!

All of the black-armored elites who realized something was wrong immediately gathered. They also immediately saw the fish hook in that large fish’s belly, instantly reacting. Silent and inconceivable shock immediately spread through this group of people.

…

In a blistering hot afternoon, while many people were struggling to endure the torrid heat and sleepiness, starting to take naps, a youngster walked into East Forest Province’s provincial capital.

Perhaps because the sunlight was too blinding, he picked up a lotus leaf to block the sunlight, his movements looking rather aimless as he wandered about the city.

Apart from his appearance seeming rather attractive and intelligent, his body exceptionally clean, this youngster didn’t draw the attention of the provincial capital’s ordinary people at all.

However, the instant this youngster entered the provincial city, after walking less than a thousand steps, the provincial capital’s originally peaceful afternoon suddenly became extremely noisy.

Many people surrounded this youngster. Then, more people dressed in uniforms came, even iron hooves sounding, quite a few soldiers heading towards this street.

The youngster who held the lotus leaf only quietly waited, standing under the shade of a willow tree, calmy sizing up the officials and soldiers around him who harbored all types of indescribable emotions. When he saw Xiao Tieleng who finally appeared before him, he revealed a harmless smile and said, “Sir Xiao, did something happen? Why are all of these people gathering as if they are facing some great enemy?”

…

Within a quiet and secluded small courtyard in the provincial capital, there was a pond.

Xue Wantao looked at the goldfish in this pond and then drank a bowl of extremely bitter medicine.

He changed his gauze that finally didn’t have any traces of blood left, his injuries were finally starting to take a turn for the better.

Rushed footsteps entered his ears. An attendant quickly entered the small courtyard, looking like he didn’t dare walk up, only stopping at the entrance of the small courtyard. His head was lowered, saying with a shaking voice, “Lin Xi is still alive… he has appeared in the provincial capital.”

Ka cha!

The thick porcelain medicine bowl cracked into pieces in Xue Wantao’s right hand. His face twitched slightly, the bowl fragments rushing into the pool in front of him, quite a few of them digging into the bodies of the swimming goldfish. The pool in front of him suddenly became a blood suffused pool.

Xue Wantao took a deep breath, and then raised his head.

He could sense the killing intent which was coming from his body, as well as that from the provincial capital, the killing intent Lin Xi gave off. This killing intent only came from his imagination, it didn’t truly exist.

At roughly the same time, within another courtyard in the provincial capital, Jiang Xiaoyi and Bian Linghan heard hurried footsteps.

When they walked out from their respective rooms, the instant she saw the expression of the Ministry of Justice official, Bian Linghan immediately smiled, smiling to the point where her teeth were exposed. All of the worry and gloominess from the past two weeks disappeared, to the extent where this normally extremely gentle and weak looking young lady even displayed a bit of a wild and untamed side.

She looked at this Ministry of Justice official, a bit proud as she said, “Did Lin Xi come back? Where is he right now?”

…

Judicial Sector’s houses were all extremely tall, the color scheme cold and grim. As such, even during the summer, they looked a bit cooler.

Lin Xi casually sat down on a chair, sipping on some tea.

There were seven fifth rank or higher officials seated around him.

Xiao Tieleng sat in the position closest to him, his face expressionless as he drank the tea in front of him. This place was momentarily silent.

Suddenly, Lin Xi lowered the tea cup in his hands, smiling as he waved his hands towards the doorway.

Jiang Xiaoyi and Bian Linghan walked in through the entrance.

When they saw Lin Xi who didn’t really lack anything, in great spirits, the two both completely relaxed. They both released a breath of relief, and then nodded towards Lin Xi, starting to smile.

“Where did you go these past few days?”

Right at this time, Xiao Tieleng also lowered the tea cup in his hands, his cold voice sounding.

Right at this time, the afternoon sunlight coming through the entrance was also blocked by someone. Xue Wantao dressed in official clothes also walked in through the doorway.

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