Nightfall

The estate by the Yanming Lake had not been completely torn down and rebuilt, but many places had been refurbished. The main hall, reception and the study had been completely redone. The heavy beam above the hall had been painted over, so it shouldn’t have accumulated too much dust. However, flecks of dust started raining upon them. It was hard to imagine how hard Chen Pipi had knocked on the beam when he had leapt into the air like a startled rabbit.

Chen Pipi had left the spacious main hall, but the swirling air he left behind remained. Ning Que sat by the table holding his bowl of porridge and felt the sticky wet mess on his face. He wanted badly to smash his bowl to the floor.

Chen Pipi had left the main hall extremely fast with his sleeves flapping behind him and making odd noises. He was like a fat bird hurtling at high speed towards food. His feet had left the ground. He rushed to the lake, leaving a trail of dust behind him. Had he managed to calm down, he would realize that his cultivation state seemed to have risen under this tremendous stress and he had gained unimaginable speed.

Tang Xiaotang and Sangsang were playing with some willow branches by the lake. The two girls looked childish and adorable as they sang tunes while playing like children.

Chen Pipi dashed to Tang Xiaotang, and stopped beside her. He clutched on to her hand and said, “Let’s go!”

Tang Xiaotang looked at him with widely opened eyes and asked, “Where are we going?”

Chen Pipi’s answer was surprisingly succinct. He said, “Back to the Academy.”

“Why?” Tang Xiaotang was even more confused.

Chen Pipi said with a trembling voice, “There’s a monster in that house.”

If Tang Xiaotang was an ordinary girl who had just fallen in love, she would not think carefully about that if her partner’s words were reliable or logical. She would have just pretended to be weak and followed him which was more suitable to her instinct.

However, she was not an ordinary girl. In fact, she had sworn to be the most powerful woman in the world. When she heard Chen Pipi saying that there was a monster in the house, she was not afraid, but her eyes began to sparkle.

She said happily, “We should fight the monster if there’s one. Why should we run away?”

Chen Pipi looked at Tang Xiaotang’s braids that were dancing in the wind and felt bitterness welling up in him. He wanted to flee, but was forced to stay since it would be extremely shamed to do so if Tang Xiaotang wouldn’t.

Then, Ning Que and Ye Hongyu left the house through the side doors of the main hall and headed towards the lake.

Tang Xiaotang looked at the beautiful girl in the handmaiden uniform beside Ning Que confusedly. She rubbed her eyes subconsciously, trying to confirm that it was indeed Ye Hongyu. Ye Hongyu’s presence surprised her, and her already bright eyes shone even more.

It was brighter than the sun shadow reflected the lake.

She clenched her fist tightly.

Chen Pipi stepped in front of her to stop her and said, “Calm down. Try harder.”

Ning Que came before the two and looked at Chen Pipi who seemed to cower before them and said angrily, “Calm down? I think that among everyone here today, Senior Brother, you are the least qualified to say those two words.”

Chen Pipi had never been willing to lose to Ning Que, much less in the presence of Tang Xiaotang. He was not willing to lose face and his male pride or perhaps self-respect took away the edge of fear. He turned around to look at Ning Que, but refused to even take a glance at Ye Hongyu.

“Am I not calm?”

Ning Que sighed, “You are indeed not calm. You are frightened… But I don’t understand what you are afraid of. This is Chang’an, not West-Hill.”

Chen Pipi adjusted his posture somewhat unnaturally. He glared at Ning Que and refused to move. It was as if he was trying to convince himself that Ye Hongyu did not exist. However, his trembling voice betrayed his emotions as he said, “Afraid… What am I afraid… what? Who’s afraid?”

Ning Que pointed at the porridge on his face and shirt and yelled angrily, “Look at this! Would you spit out all that rice if you weren’t afraid? You didn’t dare to spit it out in her face, so you spat it on me?”

It was only then, did Tang Xiaotang notice the yellow bits of rice on Ning Que. It looked disgusting, but was also hilarious.

Sangsang walked up to him and retrieved a handkerchief from her sleeve. She wiped Ning Que’s face.

Ning Que took the handkerchief and said angrily, “I’ll do it myself. Don’t touch this fellow’s saliva.”

Sangsang turned around to look at Chen Pipi. She did not say anything, but only sighed.

Chen Pipi looked at the porridge that he spat on Ning Que. He was already feeling extremely awkward, and when he heard Sangsang’s sigh, he wanted to jump into the Yanming Lake beside him.

Ye Hongyu looked at him and said, “If you jump into the lake, the fish would be squished to death by you. Furthermore, it’d be hard for you to climb back up, it’d be even more embarrassing for you.”

Chen Pipi looked at her beautiful face. His shame was too deep for tears. They haven’t met for years, how could she still know what he was thinking?

Tang Xiaotang looked at him confusedly and asked, “You’re not really thinking of jumping into the lake, are you?”

Chen Pipi nodded honestly.

Ye Hongyu was shocked and said, “You are much more honest now than when you were as a child.”

Chen Pipi’s shame and annoyance grew. He steeled himself to rebut and said, “Was I not honest when I was a child?”

Ye Hongyu said calmly, “You peeked at me when I was showering when you were little.”

…

All people were silent.

The lake was calm.

Willow branches swayed in the wind gently.

The wind was not silent.

…

Tang Xiaotang looked up at Chen PIpi and asked, “Was it good?”

Chen Pipi nodded and answered honestly, “It was good.”

Tang Xiaotang asked, “Is that why you ran away when you saw her?”

Chen Pipi nodded again.

Tang Xiaotang thought about it and said, “Then you have been tricked. I have fought with her and I know that she is a female gangster. She might intentionally led you to watch her.”

Chen Pipi was a little flustered. He scratched his head as if he had found the truth.

Ye Hongyu said calmly, “Fatty Chen, is this what you think too?”

Chen Pipi considered it seriously for some time and then shook his head. He said, “Even though we all know that you were indeed trying to drive me away, peeking at you was my own decision. I did not think of anything else then but to shame you.”

Then, he added hurriedly, “Because you used to shame me very often in the Taoist Temple.”

Tang Xiaotang turned to walk towards the other side lake bank.

Chen Pipi was flustered and said, “I was only a child then, and she wasn’t much older than me.”

Ning Que’s gaze landed on Ye Hongyu’s breasts and wondered how much they were at that time.

Ye Hongyu felt his gaze and was mildly annoyed.

Ning Que coughed twice and looked at Chen Pipi. He lamented and said, “So the two of you had such a past. I can’t help you then. Senior Brother, even though you were young then, such uncouth acts are still really unacceptable.”

Sangsang lifted her face and looked at him. She shook her head and said, “When we were little, you used to peek at those older sisters when they bathed. You had me be on lookout for you outside the female baths.”

Ning Que showed an awkward expression on his face, and he walked to Chen Pipi’s side.