Song of Adolescence

Chapter 286 The Elegant Bamboo

Within Snow Moon City.

Qinhua Pavilion. There were two guests.

One was a man with a long sword strapped onto his back and a bamboo pole in his hand, but he closed his eyes and sat on a chair humming softly to himself. The other was a woman holding a guqin, her face serious as she sat there quietly, looking as if she was unbothered by the other man’s irritating humming.

The Snow Moon City disciple in charge of welcoming guests was a little alarmed. When he had received the guests, he had already tried testing them but the man pre-empted him and said matter-of-factly, "I am blind, so you don’t need to test me. As for my friend here, she’s deaf but she can read lips so you must not slight her."

A blind man carrying a sword.

A deaf woman holding a guqin.

Very strange guests, indeed.

"We would like to meet with Citymaster Sikong and Xiao Se-shidi," the blind man said softly.

These two guests were strange, and they did not give their full names, yet they wanted to meet the most senior person in the city, Sikong Changfeng, and his disciple, Xiao Se. That was really asking too much. It was not impossible for outsiders to meet Sikong Changfeng, of course. One just had to go to the Tower of Ascension and fight your way to the sixteenth floor. But, this person was rather odd as well. Why did he refer to Xiao Se as shidi?

"The two of you claim to be from Lishan Tea Garden. Snow Moon City does purchase a large amount of tea from there every year, so you are our respected guests. But, if you want to meet Sikong Changfeng, that will be a little…" the disciple trailed off faintly.

"My name is Zhu."

"She\'s called Long Er."

The disciple raised his eyebrows. These two names were unknown too.

"We are from Bai Xiao Hall." The man who introduced himself as Zhu gave a small smile.

The disciple blinked then he nodded. "I understand."

He excused himself and not long later, he returned with Sikong Changfeng and Xiao Se. Zhu only heard their footsteps and he smiled. "Citymaster Sikong and Xiao-shidi are here."

Sikong Changfeng sat down and held up a cup of tea. "How can you tell who we were just by listening to our footsteps?"

"Because I am blind, my ears are very good. Just like this companion of mine. Although she cannot hear, she can see better than anyone else." Zhu was still smiling faintly.

Long Er had been staring closely at Xiao Se since he walked in.

"Stop staring." Xiao Se smiled wryly. "Otherwise, I’ll start to suspect that I’m not wearing clothes."

"For Bai Xiao Hall to visit at this time, what can I do for you?" Sikong Changfeng asked.

"We thought Xiao-shidi may have questions to ask us, so we came." Zhu took a sip of tea. "Isn’t that so?"

"Bai Xiao Hall even knows about this?" Sikong Changfeng raised his eyebrows.

Zhu lowered his head. "It’s not that we know about this. We just guessed. Also… I can guess the first question you want to ask. You want to ask, where is the Hallmaster of Bai Xiao Hall, Ji Ruofeng?"

Xiao Se nodded. "Yes."

"We don\'t know." Zhu answered simply, paused, and added, "We did receive a summoning call from the Hallmaster and began to regroup. Last year, Long-shimei and I received orders to ensure your safety on the way to Lei Clan Fort. After that, Long-shimei and I were both seriously injured and have been recovering since then. After we recovered from our injuries a few days ago, we secretly returned to Bai Xiao Hall in Heavenly Revelations, but the inner chamber had not been reopened. The Hallmaster did not return, after all."

"Why did he disappear back then?" Xiao Se asked the second question.

"We don\'t know." Zhu\'s answer was still disappointing. "He didn\'t leave us any messages back then. We continued to send all our information back to Bai Xiao Hall each month, and the six Iron-Masked Officials continued to accept and organize our information. But there was no news from the Hallmaster whatsoever."

Xiao Se smiled bitterly with exasperation. "So the two of you came here, knowing that I have two questions to ask, but could only answer two times, ‘don\'t know’."

Zhu nodded. "But there are always things I know about."

"What things?" Sikong Changfeng was quite interested in this young man who spoke with calmness.

"Two months from now, Hallmaster will appear at Bai Xiao Hall," Zhu pronounced with certainty.

"Why?"

“Because the Golden Lists will be updated. The last time the lists were updated, Hallmaster said the next change will happen in three months. When the time comes, Hallmaster will personally announce the Golden Lists then. Almost half of Bai Xiao Hall’s disciples will return to Heavenly Revelations on that day," Zhu said. "Furthermore, Hallmaster also wanted me to ask Xiao-shidi about something."

"What is it?"

"Why didn\'t Mo Yi and Baili Dongjun come back?"

"Sure enough, he went to Penglai Island. That makes sense. If he’d never gone to Penglai Island, why would he put Mo Yi\'s name at the top of the Ultimate Experts List?" Xiao Se muttered to himself before saying, "Mo Yi has entered a grand dream to self-reflect and will not awaken within ten years. Baili Dongjun is serving as his guard. Until the day Mo Yi completes his self-reflection, he will not leave Penglai Island."

"So that\'s the case." Zhu nodded. "Looks like Hallmaster was considering whether these two people should appear on the Ultimate Experts List again."

"That’s all he wanted you to ask me about?" Xiao Se asked in confusion.

"There’s one more thing. If you want to ask him for the answers you’re looking for, he will wait for you in Heavenly Revelations City in two months," Zhu said.

Xiao Se frowned. "Is he so certain that I will return to Heavenly Revelations City?"

"It\'s not just him. I, too, am certain about this." Zhu stood up. "Long Er is also certain."

Long Er also stood up, looked at Xiao Se for the last time, and said nothing. She was deaf, but Xiao Se knew that she could talk because she learned it through great effort and hardships.

"Goodbye." Zhu didn\'t stop walking as he turned around and walked out together with Long Er.

Sikong Changfeng said quietly, "A very elegant pole of bamboo."

"He’s a disciple that my shifu values very much, and also the most outstanding disciple in the current generation of Bai Xiao Hall," Xiao Se said.

"Not you?" Sikong Changfeng laughed.

"I am Ji Ruofeng\'s disciple, but not Bai Xiao Hall’s disciple." Xiao Se shook his head.

Sikong Changfeng did not continue this topic, but suddenly remembered something. "By the way, some time ago, a friend of yours and Lei Wujie’s came to stay with us for a while."

"What friend?" Xiao Se asked.

"A monk. Who can drink quite a bit." Sikong Changfeng praised, "His martial arts are also highly skilled. Much more skillful than Tang Lian, Lei Wujie, and the current you. I was feeling bored then so I gave him some pointers. Now, he has advanced his realm quite a bit."

"Where did he go?"

"He’s gone to Heavenly Revelations City." Sikong Changfeng also stood up. "They say that young people must go to Heavenly Revelations City at least once in their life. Because, all the best things under Heaven can be found there. But, the most dangerous things under Heaven are also there."

Xiao Se stood there, frowning while deep in thought.

"Don\'t think about it. What’s the use of thinking so much? You’re better off training yourself. Even if you want to return to Heavenly Revelations City and abuse your authority, Heavenly Revelations City is a place where those in the Vajra Realm are as plentiful as dog hairs, and those in the Unrestrained Realm are only good for polishing shoes. It would be shameful if you go without your Unfettered Heavenly Realm, am I right?"