Song of Adolescence

Chapter 60 Xiaobai drank 30 cups in a row, nobility of spirit rang in his fingertips

Xiao Se played the flute, Xie Xuan played the qin, Ye Ruoyi danced with her long sleeves, and Lei Wujie accompanied with his sword dance. Standing to one side, Tang Lian was suddenly a little vexed, as if he’d been left out, but the passion in his heart was also stirred. He jumped easily onto the roof, his black clothes fluttering in the wind, and he started to sing loudly.

“I wish to ride the winds northwards, where the snow falls like a blanket over the earth.

I wish to ride a boat eastwards, where graceful immortals ride the winds.

I wish to step on clouds and travel a million miles, what can an Emperor do to me?

The summit of Kunlun bathed in sunlight, in the vast ocean a paradise of green mountains.

A swallow flies over ten thousand miles to go home, but until I see the world’s end, I will not return!”

That was the song that Wuxin once sang in the Khotan kingdom. Tang Lian had only heard it once but he remembered it perfectly. He merely felt that the spirit of the person in the poem who wanted to visit the “ends of the mountain and the boundaries of the sea” fascinated him. In that moment, he finally couldn’t contain himself and wanted to recite it out loud. Within the sect, he was always known for being calm and prudent, and he seldom had the opportunity to be so wild. But, the Tang Lian right now made people believe more than ever, that he was the disciple of Baili Dongjun. Because Baili Dongjun was known as the Wine Immortal, and was known for being wild and unrestrained when he was young.

The song was over.

Xiao Se put down the flute, the Confucian Sword Immortal Xie Xuan also lifted his hands from the strings, Ye Ruoyi gathered her long sleeves, and Lei Wujie also waved his sword in one round. All the flower petals rose into the sky and poured down like a goddess descending, creating a downpour of beautiful and colourful flowers.

When the downpour of flowers landed on the ground, Lei Wujie raised his head, a little bit shy between his eyebrows as he looked at Ye Ruoyi. He hesitated a moment before he said softly, "What a coincidence. We meet again."

If some busybody in the martial world were to create a ranking list of the worst pick-up lines one could use, then this sentence would definitely make the list.

Xiao Se put away his flute and walked away silently, while Tang Lian jumped down from the roof to ask Xiao Se quietly, "Although I don't know a lot either, this pick-up line is quite terrible, isn’t it?"

Xiao Se curled his lips. "It's so terrible it makes my hair stand."

Ye Ruoyi smiled slightly and played with her hair. "Yes, we meet again."

The atmosphere was awkward. What a waste of Lei Wujie’s sword of a sword immortal. It was beautiful and heartwarming, and created a perfect setting for him, but his pick-up line had completely wasted that wonderful sword dance.

"A beautiful girl, one look and I will never forget. Every day that I don’t see her, I will go crazy missing her." Xie Xuan brushed against the strings and murmured, somewhat alleviating the awkwardness. Then, he stood up, looked into the distance, and suddenly said, "An old friend has arrived."

"Aren’t you running away?" Sikong Changfeng stood up in the private booth and spoke to Xie Xuan.

Xie Xuan took a leap and jumped back up to the private booth. He picked up his bookcase and slung it onto his back, and jumped back down to the courtyard again. He said to everyone, "Today, I’ve seen the young disciples of Snow Moon City and realised that this name of being the number one city in the martial world is justified. Attending this Full Blossom Festival has not been in vain. I’m leaving now, and have nothing much to give you, so I will gift a few books." He waved his hand, and a slightly old book flew out of his bookcase and fell into Ye Ruoyi's hands.

Ye Ruoyi looked at the cover with a startled expression. "This is…"

"Although the Ruoyi Sword Dance is a good dance, its murderous aura is too strong. As a lady, and with your poor health, you should not dance it too often. The name of this dance is Elegance of Dance. The dance movements resemble a swan soaring into the sky, emphasising gentleness and grace, lessening the murderous aura. This will benefit you." Xie Xuan lowered his head and chuckled.

Ye Ruoyi also nodded gently. "Thank you, Mister3."

Xie Xuan took out another book that had no title and handed it to Xiao Se. Suddenly, he said, "This young man, have we met before?"

Xiao Se, who usually didn’t bother being polite to even Sikong Changfeng, was properly respectful this time. He nodded, but only replied a few words, "Jixia Academy4."

"No wonder." Xie Xuan remained unruffled. "In that case, I did not choose the wrong book for you. This book has no title because I wrote it and hadn’t decided on the title. After you’ve read it and thought of a good title, you can write it in yourself."

An untitled book from the Confucian sage Xie Xuan? All those in the audience who had already realised the identity of this person were taken by surprise. Everyone knew that Xie Xuan possessed a profound knowledge that spanned the ages, and his scholarly knowledge was already comparable to the previous emperor, but whenever he wrote a book, he never gave his books a title. He once said that when others read his book and felt an appreciation for the book, it had nothing to do with him. Those feelings, those thoughts that others had when they read the book were all other people’s own business. So, he never gave a title to his books, and left it to the reader. Unfortunately, there were only a handful of people in the martial world worthy of being given an untitled book by him.

Xie Xuan turned and faced Tang Lian. "I’ve often heard your shifu complain that he’d taken in a prudish disciple. But just now, when I saw you reciting the poem in a loud and clear voice, that was very much like the style of your shifu in his younger days. I will give you a book which your shifu also loved to read when he was younger."

Tang Lian was taken aback and hurriedly accepted the ancient book, only to see two words written on it: Wine Scripture. He was also a little amused. "Shifu loved this when he was young?"

"Your shifu is called the Wine Immortal, and he regularly drinks wine like his life depended on it. I was twelve years old when I first met him and he was already like this. Back then, he said that all the wine in the world was already bland and tasteless, so he asked me for this "Wine Scripture". The wines inside are no ordinary wines. 'Xiaobai drank 30 cups in a row, the noble spirit at his fingertips roared like springtime thunder'. Don't waste it."

"This junior will remember." Tang Lian hurriedly clasped his fists.

"Sure enough, he’s a serious one." Xie Xuan turned to Lei Wujie and handed him a booklet with a beautiful cover.

After Lei Wujie accepted it, he looked at the title of the book and asked, "Senior, what is this?"

Xiao Se glanced at the title of the book and recited it meaningfully, "Late Snowfall?"

"The snow came late, my drink felt empty. This was written by a talented lady from Jiangnan, Xie Feixuan. The love story is very moving, and even the ladies in the palace were said to be in tears after reading it. I’m giving you this book, “Late Snowfall” so that you can learn from the protagonist. The next time you meet her, don’t say such embarrassing words anymore," Xie Xuan said with a laugh.

Lei Wujie's face looked like it was about to burst into flames, but Ye Ruoyi simply remained calm with the faint smile that she always had.

"All right, I'm leaving now." Xie Xuan suddenly turned around.

A voice came from a distance, "I’ve just arrived and you’re leaving. Are you really that scared of me?"

Xie Xuan walked forward quickly, muttering to himself, "What’s the point of meeting, when distance makes the heart grow fonder? Although we did not see each other, our hearts have already met."

"Damn scholar," the voice in the distance said coldly.

"Fierce…" Xie Xuanyue walked farther and farther, and the last two words were already too soft to make out.

Lei Wujie looked flustered, turned his head and almost wanted to run away, but his escape was blocked by a sword. The person who’d spoken just now had arrived. Dressed in white with a gray veil, it was the Snow Moon Sword Immortal, Li Hanyi.

"Shifu." Lei Wujie nodded and bowed, looking as if he’d done something wrong.

Li Hanyi glanced at him coldly. "I was on Cangshan just now, and suddenly I saw a ray of sword aura from here."

"That sword was not bad," Li Hanyi said slowly.

"Shifu, are you praising me!" Lei Wujie's eyes widened, and he was so happy he couldn't believe it.

"But, who allowed you to come down the mountain!" Li Hanyi lifted his sword and sent Lei Wujie flying, who was still laughing with his mouth open.