Chapter 24 Familiar Embrace
Realizing that her emotions didn't seem quite right, Linghu Xian hurriedly withdrew her hand, pulled the eldest young master up from the ground, put down her weapon, and gave Ouyang Zhong a salute, "Eldest young master, please forgive my slave for being rude and offensive just now. Your clothes are dirty. I'll go fetch you a bath to shower and change!" After saying that, he turned around and ran away.
Ouyang Zhong lowered his head and closed his eyes as if he had no emotions, but he was turning over a million horses in his heart. What secrets did she have? Why did she choose to run away every time?
Ouyang Zhong returned to his room, removed his muddy clothes individually, and entered the bathtub. Inside the warm soup, there were also a lot of herbal petals soaked in, soothing the muscles and bones and relaxing the spirit.
He knew that Linghu Xian was still busy outside ironing his clothes for tomorrow's visit, and through the screen, Ouyang Zhong said in a muffled voice, ''I know there must be some secret you refuse to tell me. I also know that you have never treated me as a friend. But if I marry Princess Jiao Yang, I'll have to move outside, and then it'll be hard for us to see each other again, you know?"
"Young master, I know." Linghu Xian thought about it again and hurriedly added, "Oh, slave girl first congratulates the eldest young master, wishing you to fulfill your wish and finish the marriage with County Princess Joyful Sun at an early date. Realize the ambition in your heart, and your career path will be smooth and rising from now on!"
"You want me to leave so badly? Then what would you do if I married you off first?"
"Haha, this, can't. I'm not even thirteen yet. Even if I were to marry someone, I'd have to be like County Lord Jiao Yang, who started hiring matchmakers at fourteen to do the matchmaking. Not to mention ..." Linghu Xian looked gloomy, "Since my mother and brother left, I sold myself into the Ouyang Mansion. I'm already in slavery, and anything like getting married and having children has little to do with me. I only ask the mansion to give me a mouth to feed. A place to sleep is good, and I don't dare to ask for too much."
"Come here. My water is cold." Ouyang Zhong said with a heavy nasal voice, then sank his head under the water.
He didn't know why he suddenly fell into tears, releasing his emotions uncontrollably while at the same time trying his best to suppress and even feel inexplicable. This complex emotion makes him feel very strange. His usual joy and anger do not show color. Their personality has always been high to treat people detached and cold, but how in the Linghu Xian here are more and more different?
Linghu Xian, childhood serving Ouyang Zhong, also did bathing and back rubbing. Still, after all, the age of day by day, waiting for her to apply with the steward uncle, Ouyang Zhong's mother, Mrs. Xie, felt that a girl to do his valet was more and more unsuitable. This period would like to find a clever boy to replace her. But this is not waiting to change; Ouyang's young master again wants her close waiter, which is trouble.
Even if Linghu Xian is cheeky, in the end, she is also a girl; she hurriedly brought a basin of hot water and poured it into Ouyang Zhong's bathtub with her face sideways. But she suddenly realized that the young master was gone. She looked around and asked, "Young master, young master?" Walking to the bathtub's edge, she was suddenly grabbed by a giant hand; Ouyang Zhong sat up from inside the water while Linghu Xian stumbled and fell on Ouyang Zhong's body. Ouyang Zhong hugged Linghu Xian so that she couldn't move. Linghu Xian was about to struggle up, but Ouyang Zhong said, "Don't move. Let me hold you for a while. I know I can't beat you." This voice was permeated with aggression and a thick nasal tone, so it turned out that the eldest young master, Ouyang Zhong, cried.
How could he not understand the distance between them? How can he not be clear that this life between them is impossible to tie the knot and even a friend can not? He understood that she did not see that she was heartless and unfeeling towards him but was more aware of who she was and her identity. But when he thought that in the future, they would soon never be able to see each other again, he suddenly felt so sad.
What he wanted most was not a high rank or a promotion, as if everyone thought those were what he wanted. He was just too lonely, and how lonely life could be without a confidant in his life that he could push himself to! Fortunately, there is her beside him. However, she usually does not show anything; she can understand his zither, read his paintings and written calligraphy, memorize the poems he wrote, and can even gallop with him, dance sword cutting. Where can we find such a person in the future?
Linghu Xian was Ouyang Zhong, so she hugged someone uncomfortable. She knows he may be preparing for the big event in life, more or less some emotions, so it's not good to say anything more. She touched his head and patted his shoulder, comforted: "Young master, don't need to be so tense, although the old master is very hopeful that you were Nanling Princess was selected by the county princess as the county prince's side harnessed by the side of a team of horse, but the world can't be predicted, who knows who will come along in the middle? Take it easy! You hurry to wash up and come out; be careful of catching a cold."
She stepped back from him, patted the water on her body, and calmly said to the young master, "Young master, forgive the slave girl for talking too much. I want to advise you that it's fine for you to play with your temper at home, but if Princess Jiao Yang has the same temperament as you, there will be no more peace in this house. Why don't you each tolerate one step, raise eyebrows, and respect each other as guests? The future days are still long; always need to think long term."
"This is what you want to say to me?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Is there anything else you want to say?"
"Hmm? No."
"Linghu Xian, are you human?"
"..." Linghu Xian gave a start and didn't dare to answer. She felt that this had to be said in two ways. On the one hand, she was indeed a fox demon, not a human being; on the other hand, she was just a lowly slave girl. I'm afraid she couldn't be counted as a human being in the eyes of a significant person like them. She finally shook her head and prepared the evening meal for this difficult-to-serve male.
Ouyang Zhong sat in the bathtub very disheveled. Did this woman have no heart? Why did she let him go through the inner torture alone, yet she acted like nothing was wrong? Could it be that there was someone in her heart already? Who could it be? She's been with me since childhood and has rarely seen anyone outside. Could it be that it's from this mansion?
"What am I thinking!" Ouyang Zhong made a strong punch into the water, splashing everywhere.
Into the night, all is silent; it's summer now, the begonia trees in the courtyard bear green fruits, and the cicadas chirping noisily annoys the people. The hottest place in this small courtyard is the tiny, cramped barroom of Linghu Xian. That is a partitioned storage room with a bed and a table in no home. The weather was too hot, so Linghu Xian had to open the windows and put down the grass curtains to block the light and insects; the door had to be hidden. No one ever wanted to come to this small corner of the humid and hot.
Linghu Xian was sleeping in a daze. Suddenly, she felt that someone seemed to be sitting on the edge of her bed; she opened her eyes alertly but was covered by a giant hand; under the moonlight, she saw those familiar eyes, brilliant as stars, faintly emitting a ghostly deep blue light.
"Do you not understand my mind, or are you pretending to be confused? I know that you and I have different identities, and I also know that we don't have a future, but I want to hear you tell me in person that you also care about me ..." Ouyang Zhong's expression was very complicated. He looked at her on the bed, loosened the hand that covered her mouth, and gently stroked her hair and cheeks. His eyes were thirsty, and he had Some fear and reluctance to see Linghu Xian; delayed to respond, suddenly chagrin, he pulled Linghu Xian tightly; this embrace was as if goodbye. Not only is the parting of tomorrow's departure but also, like Ouyang Zhong said goodbye to his inner feelings, ignorant first love. From now on, he and she can only be in a master and servant relationship, each going their way and never crossing paths again.
Early the next morning, Ouyang Zhong followed the Ouyang Ming line of people, a large number of people, to pay a visit to the Nanling Princess; this was necessary to go to the other side of the residence for a few days and therefore brought a few important people to accompany, the rest of the enslaved people will be at home to stay at home. Of course, Ouyang Zhong did not get Linghu Xian and can not be brought; a male servant accompanies this. I heard that the eldest princess of Nanling is a famous snake beauty, Big Vinegar; if you find your extra horse harnessed by the side of a team to look at a few more other women, you will be the innocent woman severely punished, the means is extremely harsh and cruel.
Ouyang Zhong sat on the carriage, lifted the curtain, and looked at Linghu Xian standing in the crowd, then clenched his fists with knuckles clearly defined and gradually lowered the curtain. Linghu Xian followed her subordinates to salute her master's family to see them off respectfully and without any difference. But it seemed a little empty when she returned to this open courtyard and sat under the eaves. She remembered that last night, the young master fought with her and said those words in the bathtub, and at night, Ouyang Zhong broke into her room and hugged her. It was also fine, and nothing was special about it. Still, she felt that the feeling of that embrace was so familiar as if in the depths of her memories of her distant past life, she had been surrounded by precisely the same arms and warmed by the same components.
In the Ouyang mansion, Linghu Xian is usually dedicated to serving the young master, and now the young master is afraid that she will not return for a while. The steward let her go to help do some other chores, such as to the cook to play a hand, help go out to buy errands, and so on. She has always been hardworking and done an excellent job, so some older subordinates quite like her.
This day, the steward's uncle let her accompany a few ladies to the outskirts of the city temple to burn incense to pray for blessings and then stroll around the market to buy some silk jewelry rouge and powder. Linghu Xian heard that the steward's uncle took care of her, gave her a not-tired but also the fun of the beauty of the job, and smilingly agreed.
The weather was perfect, cloudless, just the right time to go out. She followed behind the ladies' carriages and traveled to the outskirts of the city to the Azure Cloud Temple. Mountains surround this temple on three sides; one has a quiet, deep pool, a courtyard of ancient trees, and incense smoke. It is a faction of the world outside the pure land of the untainted.
Along the way, Linghu Xian learns from the ladies to kneel piously, but she does not know what should be worshiped. In the past, she learned to cultivate the freeway and then worshiped under the seat of the South Pole Immortal Weng; although the usual coursework is also very heavy, she knew for a short time that she was sent to the mortal world to cultivate. Therefore, in practicing meditation, eating, fasting, and reciting scriptures, she was indeed a novice. In her opinion, as long as it was knowledge, there was a need to understand it. Anyway, she was on her way to cultivation, so there was no harm in knowing more.
After kowtowing and offering incense, she accompanied the ladies to drink tea and rest in one of the guest rooms of the Zen garden. Ouyang Zhong's mother, Mrs. Xie, looked at Linghu Xian's sleeves and trouser legs; why were they missing a large portion? It turned out that recently, Linghu Xian's body was growing. Within a few days, her body drew curves, and she also developed a lot taller. These following people's clothes were changed once every half a year, and they seldom wore new clothes; Linghu Xian was living alone in the Grand Young Master's courtyard, so there was no one to replace them for her.
Mrs. Xie shook her head and said to Linghu Xian, "Fresh, you have done your best to serve the young master over the years and deserve a lot of credit. Today, I will reward you with a new piece of clothing as a treat." Then, after scrutinizing her for a while, he said, "This child is also gradually growing up; without paying attention, she has become a big girl. I remember this child was sold to our Ouyang family all by herself. It's pitiful to think about it, fatherless, motherless, and lonely."
"Thank you, Mrs. Master Mother, for thinking of the slave girl; that was many years ago; don't mention it." In her heart, Linghu Xian sees that when Ouyang Ming drunkenly breaks into her mother's room, she doesn't say half a word to Mrs. Xie. She would not say such words now if she knew what was behind this.
However, Linghu Xian genuinely felt that Mrs. Xie, the principal mother of this hallowed Ouyang family, was a pitiful woman. The Ouyang family, greedy for wealth, climbed the city giant wealthy merchant Xie family's daughter behind the back, using some unseen tricks before marrying over to do the principal mother. Later, Xie gave birth to the eldest son and grandson of Ouyang Zhong, also regarded as the mother's son. In the eyes of outsiders, this is a highly respected, high-ranking noblewoman; she and her husband, Ouyang Ming, have never been apart, never happy in life. Because of her encounter, she hoped that her son would not once again have to bet his life-long happiness as a bargaining chip for the sake of his family and his future. But what could she do as a woman?
Later on, Ouyang Ming married several young and beautiful concubines on the pretext of spreading the family's branches and adding more children to the Ouyang family. The family is often calm on the surface, but there are dark currents in reality, and the internal relationships are very complicated. Today, we come with the prominent mother, Mrs. Xie, relatively good relations; three or two chats, talk, and incense are also considered distractions.
While resting, a small sandman comes to see the ladies. The Abbot of this temple is to be with the ladies in front of the main hall for a moment. Ladies, move. Ouyang Ming is now the first rank in the dynasty, and his ladies naturally have a much more honorable status. Mrs. Xie probably wanted to take the opportunity to say a few flattering words to them and ask for some more incense money. It... is no harm, naturally, had to give the Abbot this face. A line of people, along with the small Shamans, to the front of the Maharishi Temple stands, see the Azure Cloud Temple Abbot holding a tin staff to welcome up, each salute and pleasantries.
Linghu Xian was an inferior, so she stood relatively far away, but she felt a vague sense of wrongness when she saw this Abbot. She suddenly felt a burning in her chest and a tightening of the skin and tendons on her body; she looked up at the Abbot, and suddenly, a thought flashed in her mind - "Demon." Yes, she was very sure of this feeling; this Abbot was not a human but a demon! This demon's magic power was extreme; she could feel it but could not tell whether this spell was positive or negative. After all, the demon world is also the same as this human world: it is good, and it is terrible; there is positive, and it is evil; this is the yin and yang phantasmagoria, this and that, the law of endless operation.
Now, Linghu Xian only restored part of the memory and knowledge of their previous life as a demon, and the magic power is not in the least. Ordinary mortals do not have any difference; she can sense only instinctive reactions. I do not know what to do; if this Abbot is a good one, all will be happy; if it is evil, then we can only wait and see what happens and wait for the opportunity to see what happens.
Suddenly, she heard a voice, "You're in danger, run!" She scanned around and saw no one talking to him. She wondered where this voice was coming from.
The voice continued, "Quickly, this Abbot is not a real person; he is a spider spirit transformed; hurry and take them away quickly; I will deal with him!"
As soon as she heard this, Linghu Xian knew it was not a small moment. She saw that the Abbot proposed to show the master mother, Mrs. Xie, a palm instruction, and was about to touch Mrs. Xie's palm, Linghu Xian quickly rushed over, and blocked Mrs. Xie's hand behind herself, and then tilted her head back to angrily look at the Abbot, and shouted, "Ladies, quickly go, he is not an accurate abbot, there is danger here! "
As soon as the Abbot saw that things were lost, he narrowed his eyes and stared at Linghu Xian. The top of his head was the first to crack, and then his whole face skin gradually fell off. The ladies had wanted to blame Linghu Xian for being rude, but when they saw such a horrifying sight, they were all scared, like sifting chaff. Mrs. Xie fainted in direct fear, and several ladies also fell limply to the ground and fainted.
Linghu Xian looked at the ladies' breath, still stable, but now what to do? If it is just a thief, they can still barely use their martial arts to block it, but if the other party is a demon, what should they do?
That goblin has removed the whole body camouflage and showed its original form. And just now, those who led the way for the little sannyasin have also changed into their original form. It turns out that demons have infested this Tumulus Temple, and these demons are a group of black, hairy, zippy, a whole lot of eyes of the spider spirit.