Legend of Fu Yao

The person behind Meng Fuyao blinked and replied, “You’re welcome. You go ahead.”

Both took a look at that bowl of rice, and they turned away in unison.

The jail cell was dim and damp, with cobwebs and mouse feces all around them. There were also mushy cotton paddings and rice straws on the ground. Occasionally, there would be black mice that scurried by, and their figures and appearances were completely incomparable to that of Lord Yuan Bao.

As Meng Fuyao kicked away one of the mice, she rubbed her nose and muttered, “I hope that that guy remembers to send us food. I want to eat steamed butter meat with ham and the Auspicious Dry Shark Fin…”

Zhangsun Wuji laughed. “The only thing that you can eat right now seems to be me.” He took his hand out of his sleeves, and his exquisite wrist bone shone in the dark like a piece of jade. While listening to him and staring at his wrist, Meng Fuyao blushed, and she darted her eyes around. However, Zhangsun Wuji suddenly pressed down on the arteries on her wrist, and she immediately pressed down on his too. Both used their unique martial arts to allow their inner energy to circulate within the other person’s body. Moments later, they released their grips and shared a smile.

Both felt that the other person’s smile was exceptionally gorgeous and radiant in the dark jail cell.

Because of Zong Yue’s pill, Meng Fuyao’s and Zhangsun Wuji’s inner energy had merged together when their inner energies surged. Their bodies contained traces of the mixed inner energy, and this allowed them to replenish each other when they were recuperating. Hence, their strengths could complement each other.

Another advantage – they could simultaneously recuperate and release their grip together if they were to sense danger. There was no longer a need to specially arrange for someone to guard over them, which was a waste of time.

As Zhangsun Wuji gently fondled her hand, he suddenly said in a desolate tone, “I don’t know why I suddenly have this feeling. There may be many places to explore in my lifetime, but all those fancy luxuries, beautiful residences, or the mountains, rivers, seas, temples, and palaces are all nothing compared to this jail cell. It feels exceptionally nice…”

“You’re really…” Meng Fuyao laughed as well, but she cut herself short and switched the topic. She mumbled to herself, “This time, I don’t think we will meet Gale again, right?”

Feeling that this thought was quite comical, she smiled and looked around, but there was no one around them. Then, she felt that her mask was not worn properly this time, so she asked Zhangsun Wuji to help block her as she took off the mask and started adjusting it.

They sat back-facing each other and looked up. Feeling the warmth of each other’s back and smelling each other’s unique body scent, they thought calmly about the chaotic Xuanji, the things they would do when they were outside, and the enemies that were hidden within the shadows. Meng Fuyao toyed around with her mask, and a while later, she sighed. In a low tone, she said, “Give me three days, just three days…”

Before she could finish speaking, a black figure flashed in front of her eyes. A thin and bony hand reached out from the adjacent wooden railings and snatched the bowl of rice. The fingers were very agile as they swept the fallen rice into the palm, and then, the hand retreated at lightning speed.

When Meng Fuyao looked back, she saw a prisoner in the adjacent cell wearing grey robes that were so dirty that the color could not be distinguished. While he quickly stuffed the rice in his mouth, he smiled at her foolishly.

Meng Fuyao looked at him with a frown, and she cautiously moved away. She ended up being under a spot of light that was a result of a lighted oil lamp on the far side of the adjacent cell. Meanwhile, that person revealed his dark yellow teeth as he smiled. As he chewed ferociously, he took one look at her and another.

Then, he suddenly paused and released his grip, causing the rice in his hands to drop all over the floor. But he was ignorant of it, and he stared intensely at Meng Fuyao. The emotion in his eyes switched continuously; there was hesitation… then confusion… and remembrance… and finally, it changed to a look of shock and terror.

His mix of expressions and consciousness suddenly fragmented, and what was left was an extremely terrified reaction to a shocking revelation.

That terror was as though a patch of greenish-purple haze that landed on him instantly and totally clouded his consciousness.

He raised his hand, and his fingers shivered as she pointed at Meng Fuyao. He could not speak proper sentences as well, and he squeezed out each word from his gritted teeth.

He said, “You… you… you… Wan…”

“Wan? Bowl?” Meng Fuyao looked at him confusedly. “I didn’t snatch yours!”

“A ghost!” That person looked at her and shrilled. Suddenly, he shot to his feet, hugged his head and ran around in his jail cell. He seemed to be desperately searching for a place that he could hide in, but where could he hide in a cell which only had stone walls and wooden railings beside him? He stuck himself to the wall and slid down, and then he tried to lift his shirt to cover himself. When that failed, he finally raised the rice straws and stuck his head below it, while half of his butt was still exposed.

Meng Fuyao felt that the scene was quite comical. Turning towards Zhangsun Wuji, she said, “This is the first time that I realized that I appeared so scary.”

Zhangsun Wuji fell into deep thought as he looked at the man who crouched beneath the rice straws. Though he repeatedly looked at the man, he ended up only saying, “There are many things happening right now, and it’s better that you don’t take down your mask so often.”

Hence, Meng Fuyao wore her mask, and she stared at the exposed butt. As she knocked on the wall, she asked, “Hey, comrade, come and chat with me. Tell me which ghost do I look like?”

The man immediately crawled even deeper within the pile of rice straws.

Meng Fuyao twitched her mouth and scraped down a rock. Throwing it onto the butt, she said creepily, “Wan… It’s here…”

“Don’t find me!” That man screamed so hysterically that even Meng Fuyao was shocked. “Don’t!” he added.

After tying up a few rice straws together, Meng Fuyao inserted the bunch through the wooden railing to reach for that person’s butt. She scratched the butt as she sang casually, “… There was a little girl called Little Wan in town…”

She sang a random tune out of playfulness. Judging by that man’s tone, her appearance resembled that of Wan’s, but Wan was already dead?

However, she did not expect that the man would act as though he was pricked by a needle when he heard the tune. “Ah!” he screamed, and he flopped and landed like a fish. Anxiously grabbing at any rice straw he could find, he stuffed them in his ears and banged his head forcefully against the wall. The bangs were very loud, signifying that he did not show mercy at all, and he banged as though the wall and his head were one.

When Meng Fuyao heard that noise, she was stunned. Sheepishly taking the bunch of rice straws back, she muttered, “Better not make him go crazy and bang until he’s dead… Forget about it.”

She tiptoed and peeped at the adjacent. With much regret, she said, “A wonderful gossip has just flown away…”

But that was just a casual line, and she did not look very regretful at all. Soon after, she sat down and tried weaving the rice straws to kill time.

Zhangsun Wuji tilted his head to look at her… ‘Fuyao seems as though she’s not very interested to know about her own background. Could it be she’s just purposely avoiding it because she has a hunch that it won’t be a pleasant story?’

‘If she was not interested in finding out, then so be it.’

Yet… fate was too unpredictable. The inevitable wouldn’t be avoided.

The dim light in the jail cell reflected Meng Fuyao’s fast fingers. She seemed to be weaving something, and Zhangsun Wuji leaned forward to take a look. However, Meng Fuyao raised her palm and blocked his vision. “Look at it after I’m done.”

Very cooperatively, Zhangsun Wuji closed his eyes. Moments later, he felt Meng Fuyao nudging him, and he opened his eyes to see a fat rat lying on her palm. Meng Fuyao said, “Your Yuan Bao.”

Then, she took out a small figurine and added, “You.”

Zhangsun Wuji took the product from her hand and scrutinized it. “Yuan Bao isn’t this fat.”

Then, he looked at the small figurine and added, “And I’m not this ugly.”

Meng Fuyao burst into laughter. “If you have the ability to use these rice straws to weave a legendary beauty, I’ll kowtow to you.”

“The rest are alright, but there is one bigger flaw in what you weaved. You left out something very important.” Zhangsun Wuji placed the rat on the figurine’s shoulder and commented.

“Oh?” Meng Fuyao glanced sideways at him.

“Close your eyes too.”

This person… could not stand being at a disadvantage at all. Meng Fuyao smiled and closed her eyes.

When she shut her eyes, the surroundings became silent. Without distraction from the outer world, her awareness became sharper and calmer. The sounds that she would not notice when she closed her eyes now appeared in her mind like floating statues. Bit by bit, she could visualize the actions that created these sounds.

She listened to the noise of nimble fingers weaving the rice straws and the heavy breathing of the man who was tired of shrilling in the adjacent cell. She could also hear the sound of guards patrolling outside and the flow of water from an unknown source. The water did not sound like it was flowing, but rather, it seemed as though someone ran their skin through it… The fingers scooped up water and splashed it away? Then, someone seemed to apply something… and there was the sound of clothes rustling.

Suddenly, it turned pitch dark.

Even with her eyes shut, Meng Fuyao could feel the sudden darkness. Originally, the light from the oil lamp shone on her eyelids, and she could feel the warmth of it. But the trace of light had disappeared almost instantly.

Meng Fuyao immediately opened her eyes!

The first thing she did was to grab Zhangsun Wuji, who was originally sitting opposite her.

When she extended her hand, she seemed to have come into contact with Zhangsun Wuji’s slightly cold fingers in the dark. Before she could have a firm grip, she suddenly heard a bang. Cement flakes flew, and the wooden railings of the jail door collapsed in unison. Meng Fuyao leaped up, and someone’s hand reached towards her amongst the ash and dust.

“Fuyao, be careful-” that person said, and she immediately reached forward to grab. However, another person behind her seemed to fly past and say, “Fuyao, be careful-”

Meng Fuyao froze.

Two people!

Two Zhangsun Wujis!

And both of them sounded exactly the same!

The jail cell was ruined, and it was filled with plumes of dust. With a blurry vision, she could not clearly make out the faces of the two people, with one standing in front of her and the other behind her. Judging by the distance, the person in front should be standing outside the cell, while the other person was inside the cell. However, who could be sure that the one behind her would definitely be Zhangsun Wuji, and the one in front would definitely be that bastard?

Meng Fuyao was stunned, and she tried hard to recall what she heard just now, as well as the possible scenarios. The sound of clothes rustling – was it a result of Zhangsun Wuji discovering the enemy and then leaping forward, or because of the enemy jumping in? She shut her eyes for just a short moment, and when she heard the rustling, she had immediately jumped to her feet. Yet, when the door collapsed, dust was all over for a moment, and it was very likely that the other party could have swapped positions with Zhangsun Wuji in that short while. Maybe he had dashed in, while Zhangsun Wuji leaped outwards.

But… she still could not confirm her suspicions.

In the face of such a strong opponent, she and Zhangsun Wuji had to fight together if they wanted to survive. However, who should she join hands with? If she chose wrongly, she would make a very grave mistake!

Meng Fuyao took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down her nerves. Ever since that stormy night, she had learned how to stabilize her emotions. The more dangerous and precarious the situation, the more she could not act with undue haste!