The one who came here was no other than the man who took care of the herbal garden for Mu Chen. No one had ever heard about his name. Actually, they only knew the man"s last name Li. Gradually, everyone in Yanyang Palace just called him Uncle Li or Mr. Li. But Mu Chen usually called him Diviner Li. It was naturally unnecessary to take seniority into account as the man was not even a member of Yanyang Palace.
Mu Chen felt a bit surprised when he was halted by the man. As everyone knew, the man was able to tell people"s fortune and the most miraculous thing was that he was always right. Certainly, as the G.o.d gave him the unique gift, he had also taken something away from him. Diviner Li had been blind since his birth and no medicine could cure him.
Diviner Li put Fragrance Tree outside the window and then clapped his hands, averting his sight to Mu Chen with some hesitation and struggle in his eyes.
His grave look made Mu Chen inexplicably feel that some bad things might happen. "You have some bad divination about me, right? Is it so hard for you to tell me directly?" inquired Mu Chen.
"Not exactly. I"m just confused," Replied the man smilingly. "I suddenly lost the ability to see your fate clearly eighteen years ago. So I have kept on researching it all these years and now it seems that I eventually figure something out."
Mu Chen got speechless hearing his words. He grabbed a handful of Black Egg"s feather. It never occurred to him that he would become a study subject one day.
"Lately, I"ve just noticed that there is so many dark clouds around your Love Star. So it"s possible that you will have some trouble in love affairs. Remember to be careful on the road." Diviner Li was not sure himself while he was warning Mu Chen. After all, no woman would like to fall in love with Mu Chen because his face couldn"t be colder. Who would want to see such a cold face every day and take good care of him? Thus, they could only simply admire him so nothing else would happen between Mu Chen and a woman.
Mu Chen got stunned for a moment and then asked curiously, "...Trouble in love affairs?" The diviner"s words made him want to laugh. "When I became an apprentice of Lofty Cloudy Sect, Martial Uncle Xuanji told me that I am destined to be alone and no woman will fall in love with me. Where should the trouble come from?" he added.
"I can"t figure all these things out." Diviner Li made a bow with hands folded in front, smiling. "Farewell, we can meet again if fate allows."
"Are you going to leave?"
"Yes, it"s time to go as there shouldn"t be any more connection between Lofty Cloudy Sect and... Take good care of yourself." The man casted a glance at Mu Chen with something unperceivable in his eyes. Even though he knew clearly what would happen in the near future, he couldn"t tell it out because of the limitation of the Heaven"s rule. Mu Chen felt so confused, knowing nothing about his true meaning. Did he refer to the connection between Lofty Cloudy Sect and himself or he was dropping a hint that Mu Chen would have no chance to come back again?
Afterwards, the blank eyes of Diviner Li turned to the direction of Gu Yunjue. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding slightly. He eventually gave no more words, shaking his head and going away.
Staring at Mu Chen"s back, Gu Yunjue gradually narrowed his eyes. "Trouble in love affairs... The following days are so attractive," wondered Gu Yunjue in his heart.
Realizing its master"s feeling, Black egg, who was busy combing down its feather, couldn"t help trembling unexplainably.
As soon as Mu Chen put his hands on it, he felt that Black Egg was trying to "escape", which made him feel a bit angry. So he got it back, kneaded it and pulled a handful of feather at the same time. "Pet will always be like its owner! b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" murmured Mu Chen in his heart angrily. Thinking about what Gu Yunjue did, he even felt extremely unpleasant to see Black Egg"s black feather. It was exactly that anger for a person extended even to his crow.
As for the so-called trouble in love affairs, he didn"t pay any attention to it at all. No matter what kind of affair it might be, there would always be enough solutions to solve it.
After thinking about it, Mu Chen planned to make a kind of paint which could change Black Egg into a white one.
*
Three months later, Mu Chen and Gu Yunjue eventually arrived at Shuangji City.
This city was a necessary station on the road to their destination, Snow City. After pa.s.sing the city, they would see the Great Barren Mountains. Gu Yunjue suggested that they should stop to take a rest here and asked for some related information.
Mu Chen totally agreed with him. Since they went out, Gu Yunjue was actually the one who took care of all these things. Gu Yunjue had ever said in his childhood that he would take good care of Mu Chen in return when he grew up and it seemed that he perfectly kept his promise.
And it was obvious that he did the job so carefully.
This time, they didn"t go to a hotel or restaurant, instead, they went to a branch of Gazing Chen Pavilion. It was just a normal medicine branch which was situated in Shuangji City. In this case, nothing serious would happen even though some one recognized Mu Chen.
Now they were standing together, and it was extremely hard to tell which one was the master or the apprentice. Because Gu Yunjue looked much more dangerous when he hardened his face and kept silent. At first, being attracted by their wonderful appearance, all the pa.s.sers-by would take a few more looks at them. But as they felt the awe-inspiring atmosphere around Gu Yunjue, they immediately walked away.
Meanwhile, they happened to pa.s.s through a store in which gauze caps were on sale. Gu Yunjue pulled Mu Chen"s sleeve as he saw it. However, before he could utter a word, Mu Chen hardened his face saying, "You wear it yourself if you buy it!"
"How about eating a Disguising Pill?" Gu Yunjue"s expression turned worse. Recalling the sights of those pa.s.sers-by who had ever looked at Mu Chen, Gu Yunjue felt so angry that he even wanted to dig out their eyes and hide him in a secret place.
Mu Chen got speechless with his reply. Since the Diviner said that he would have trouble in love affairs, his stupid apprentice began treating the others with an aggressive att.i.tude, to which he had been accustomed by now. He wouldn"t have a strong aversion to him as long as he stopped saying those mushy words.
After all, in Mu Chen"s eyes, Gu Yunjue was just like when he was a small boy. It was rather easy for him to get jealous whenever someone got close to Mu Chen. He simply thought that they were going to rob him of his master. Gu Yunjue"s obsession for his master aside, he would behave much more normally, just like what he did before. But now Gu Yunjue had grown up and Mu Chen had already known what he did in his last life, so he had to keep a close watch on him, being afraid that he would make the world b.l.o.o.d.y again.
Mu Chen and Gu Yunjue came to the branch and Gu Yunjue showed his token to the staff. Soon after that, the head of the branch came out to receive them.
Hearing that they arranged only one room for them, Mu Chen slightly raised his eyebrows.
The man who took in charge of the branch realized that he might have made a mistake. These two men in front of him looked so close with each other that they used eye contact with ease as if no one was around them. In this case, he simply thought that they would be a couple. However, Mu Chen"s gloomy face made him hesitate. He then asked with great care, "How about two rooms?"
Mu Chen shook his head and replied slightly, "One room is enough. By the way, put a blanket on the ground." His apprentice was such a wretch that Mu Chen decided to make him stay right before his eyes. If he dared to go out and do something bad, Mu Chen would kill him with one palm to help people get rid of the scourge.
Gu Yunjue poked Mu Chen"s waist and said in an injured tone, "Can"t we add a bed?"
But Mu Chen just answered coldly, "No. That will be too crowded."
Gu Yunjue didn"t know whether he should smile or cry. He had realized that Mu Chen was still angry with him, so there was no doubt that Mu Chen wanted to take the opportunity to torture him.
There was only one bed in the room and under the bed laid a fox skin blanket, which seemed to be two meters in both length and width. Sitting beside the window, Mu Chen was matching color with a brush in his hand. Black Egg, standing on the windowsill, looked outside the window to find some delicious souls to eat. It didn"t resist at all when Mu Chen was painting it into a white one.
Its master had told it there would be a large amount of food to eat as long as it pleased Mu Chen.
So, it would not say a word of complaint even though it was painted to be pink, let alone to be white! Could the moral integrity serve as food? No! So it was nothing to Black Egg!
Gu Yunjue just sat beside him and put the files in order.
As he painted, Mu Chen asked curiously, "How"s the Chen Family going now?"
Gu Yunjue just responded with an indifferent tone, "Pill City made an alliance with Medicine Valley against the Chen Family, so the Chen"s was too scared to do anything. Any cooperation with the Chen family means offending both Pill City and Medicine Valley. So their situation is not good now."
"How about Chen Mo?"
"He went to visit the Devil Realm with Bai Yi. It"s said that he has a good time now."
Mu Chen turned around and glanced at him. His sight showed that he didn"t believe Gu at all!
But it was true that Chen Mo didn"t like the position as chief master of Chen Family. Chen Mo liked running around and he always looked forward to living a free life. As long as he was happy, Mu Chen would set his mind at rest.
Finishing looking through the files, Gu Yunjue slightly smiled, "It"s so interesting that the master of Snow City is said to be a man."
Mu Chen stretched his hand outside the window, taking off one plum blossom petal with his slim fingers. Staring at the veins of the petal, he asked in a soft voice, "All of the former masters are women?"
Tilting his head, he turned his eyes to Gu Yunjue, who got on his feet, stepped towards him and finally sat down before him. Then he blew a breath and made the plum blossom on Mu Chen"s finger fall down on the ground. Mu Chen raised the brush and wanted to paint him in return.
Gu Yunjue immediately moved his head to dodge it and took the chance to explain, "Traditionally, Snow City"s master will be succeeded by Saint Girl who is said to be protected by Snow Girl. People believe that her tears can turn into Ice Soul Pearls which won"t melt in one thousand years."
His words made Mu Chen laugh. Taking out a small bottle of red liquid medicine out, Mu Chen painted the mouth of Black Egg into red and replied, "Tears that won"t melt in one thousand years... What"s the difference between this absurdity and the rumour that mermaids" tears can turn into pearls? Both of them are groundless statements."
"Whether it"s true or not, we can go there to find the truth ourselves. At that time we can catch the master of Snow City, inducing the Snow Girl to show up and cry for three days. Then we can see if she will shed tears."
"We"d better not do that," said Mu Chen. He was not taking pity on her but felt a bit disgusted for this kind of behaviour. "Don"t you think it"s a bit dirty to use some others" tears to make pills?" He couldn"t even stand it when he merely thought about it in his mind.
Gu Yunjue nodded obediently, "Master, what you said is quite right."
Mu Chen was satisfied with his reply, feeling that his little apprentice was still sensible. Then he happily drew a Yin Yang Eight-Diagram tactics on Back Egg"s white belly.
Black Egg lied still and its mind was filled with Gu Yunjue"s words. He promised to give it enough food to eat if it pleased the young master. And it was obvious that tasty food was the most important thing in its heart.
As they talked with each other for a while, the shopkeeper of the branch came and knocked the door. "My lords, I have something to report," said the man, standing outside the door.
Gu Yunjue didn"t expose his ident.i.ty. The man just treated them respectfully because he thought that they were two elders who were sent out from Gazing Chen Pavilion.
"Come in," replied Gu Yunjue in a low voice. Meanwhile, the smile on his face disappeared.
The man pushed the door open and then closed it with great care. "I heard that there is a Green Red Valley three thousand li away from the city and there is a secret boundary in the valley which will open in two months. My lords, if you are interested in it, you can go there to have a look."
With those words, the man politely got out of the room. His words made Mu Chen get lost in thought. "Green Red Valley...sounds so familiar..."
Gu Yunjue took out a black sword and put it on the table, a smile curving his lips.
It seemed that something suddenly occurred to Mu Chen. "Azure Fire Sword!" Mu Chen estimated the time. According to his memory, in the last life, Gu Yunjue got Azure Fire Sword around this time too. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d must have taken all factors into account and took him here on purpose.
Gu Yuejue put some snacks in front of Mu Chen and said with a smile, "We will pa.s.s that place. I need a suitable weapon now. Master, you can wait me for a month and I will go to find you after I got the sword."
"No, I"ll go with you." Mu Chen had already made up his mind that he would never let Gu Yunjue go alone and stir up troubles.
Gu Yunjue nodded, "If so, Master, please follow me as close as possible. I am not sure what I will do when you are not at my side."
Mu Chen impolitely threw a walnut into Gu Yunjue"s mouth, which was still hard-sh.e.l.led.
Now that they had decided to visit the secret boundary, Mu Chen and Gun Yunjue intended to buy some necessary medicine in Shuangji City. Having not been there before, Mu Chen didn"t want to totally believe one person"s words. He was so cautious that he didn"t believe the man"s words so much. So he planned to buy some medicine himself and ask for some information about the secret boundary.
There were so many pills in Medicine Pavilion. Seeing Gu Yunjue take out spirit stones, Mu Chen always felt that he was taking it out of the left pocket and then put it into the right pocket.
Gu Yunjue happened to turn around, noticing the expression which seldom appeared in the cold eyes of Mu Chen. At the risk of being hit, Gu Yunjue couldn"t help getting close to him and said slowly, "Let"s go out to buy some seeds of fruit trees."
His warm breath was blown to Mu Chen"s face, with a familiar smell and a kind of strange smell of a mature man. Mu Chen furrowed his eyebrows and felt a bit unaccustomed, asking, "Why do you need seeds of fruit trees? Do you want to make some porridge?"
Gu Yunjue slightly smiled, answering, "Master, just listen to me. They"ll be useful for us one day.