Ink Burns

Chapter 274 Going Home (Part 2)

Xue Xiao paused, then said in a low voice, "Master thought about it and said that those who believe in Tao should not die for Tao. In times of peace and prosperity, Taoists chant Tao; in times of chaos, Taoists descend the mountain. To live, cats have their paths and mice have theirs. So, we will continue on this path."

Qingyue Temple doesn't need incense offerings at all.

What's needed is clearly war.

The grass was tall and glistening with dew.

The dew clung to the plain surface of the shoes, soaking them and socks in no time.

The mountain moon borrows its light, tilting its head to look at Xue Xiao.

“When I came here, I was not even four years old. My master took me there—”

Xue Xiao, with a strong sense of urgency, carried an umbrella. With a wave of his hand, the tip of the oil-paper umbrella pointed to a small waterfall not far away: "Strip me naked, throw me under the waterfall and make me do horse stance. If I do it for half an hour, I can get a steamed bun. If I do it for an hour, I can get a piece of meat."

It sounded a bit tragic, but when Shan Yue looked up, she saw that Xue Xiao was still smiling.

A gentle, nostalgic smile.

"I spent two hours straight practicing my acupuncture, hoping to get a bowl of minced meat noodles in return." Xue Xiao's smile deepened. "Then my master said it didn't count, he wouldn't honor it."

That old Taoist priest!

Shan Yue clenched her fist for no apparent reason.

"Then my master told me that I can't trust anyone in this world except my own mother." Xue Xiao used his umbrella as a knife to chop at the tall grass, shrugging: "He told me to keep my eyes open when looking for a wife, not to look at her face, but only at her heart—"

After thinking for a moment, Xue Xiao added, "But your face and your heart are both beautiful."

Shan Yue blushed.

Fortunately, it was dark, and his expression was impossible to discern.

"Did you finally get to eat the minced meat noodles?" Shan Yue asked.

Xue Xiao smiled and said, "I got to eat. My master just told me not to trust anyone, and then he took a bowl of noodles out of his basket."

Shan Yue laughed along, then suddenly thought of a question: "Can Taoist priests kill people?"

"No," Xue Xiao replied quickly.

Shan Yue raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't Master and my fellow disciples not kill everyone today?"

Xue Xiao shrugged: "As the Taoists say, harming living beings is a sin that accumulates into deep calamities and brings disaster to future generations. They only use wooden spikes to hurt people. Those who take lives either bleed to death or are someone else. Within the rules, there are flexibility between superiors and subordinates. The content is self-consistent and the reasoning is infinite."

Shan Yue paused for a moment, then smiled and asked, "Why have you never told me about these past events?"

Xue Xiao held the umbrella in one hand, raised his eyes, and said seriously, "You've never asked."

Shan Yue was startled.

Yes.

She never truly cared about the origins, feelings, or whereabouts of the people around her, including Shui Guang.

She regarded herself as an observer, a mortal observer, who glanced at the scene briefly and then left in haste.

Xue Xiao, however, has a completely different mindset from hers!

Xue Xiao also had a great grudge to avenge, but unlike her, he didn't get stuck in a rut and couldn't get out.

The "mad dog" persona is merely a protective shell; in reality, his core is extremely stable and strong, relentlessly seeking opportunities within the rules.

—And she, from the very beginning, held the mindset of "exchanging life for life, one for one is enough, one for two is a profit," which is why she liked "a year-old vine," why she repeatedly rejected Xue Xiao, why she couldn't paint the scenes she truly wanted to paint, and why she initially clashed with Shui Guang.
Life is something you have to live on yourself.

You should figure out your own path and walk it.

Within the rules, flexibility is key.

Only those who have nowhere else to go hang themselves.

Shan Yue curled her fingers, her throat tightening slightly: "If I... if I keep saying no... will you leave?"

Xue Xiaowei stood there stunned for a moment, then shook his head heavily and gently: "I'm not leaving."

Two simple words, yet they carry the weight of a thunderbolt.

"Boom—boom—"

Sure enough, the thick clouds in the south were poised to fall, and the rain that fell in the latter half of the night was accompanied by the roar of thunder.

The raindrops looked like cherries.

It splattered on the ground, on the leaves, on the water, on the rotting soil, and on Xue Xiao's blood-stained face.

His body was covered in blood, but Xue Xiao's eyes shone like a wolf lurking in the shadows.

When the mountain moon is still, he can be a flying bird.

When the mountain moon is loosened, he can also become a mad dog.

A mad dog will do anything to snatch a bone to save its life.

“I absolutely will not leave.” Xue Xiao’s voice was extremely deep: “Whether you resist or not is none of my business, I will not admit to anything—I learned this lesson when I was four years old.” “You have no one else by your side, and there is no one else by my side either.”

"As long as I'm by your side."

“Entanglement, coaxing, fraud, deception, etc.”

"Cats have their paths, mice have their paths, and I always have a path to take."

Xue Xiao trudged closer with each step. The narrow path was extremely narrow, and behind him were tall grasses that were taller than a person. Extending eastward was the waterfall that had honed his skills in his childhood.

The rain poured down.

Xue Xiao opened the umbrella with one hand, the handle lying across their faces.

"After killing the Jing'an private soldiers, I disappeared for a moment. Guess what I did?" Xue Xiao's eyes were extremely deep, and a threatening pressure rose up from behind him for no reason.

A layer of goosebumps suddenly rose on Shan Yue's back. She held her breath and exhaled a long, slow breath: "You went back to Hanshan Temple."

Shan Yue lowered her eyelids slightly, but raised her hand and precisely gripped the umbrella handle, landing right below Xue Xiao's bulging veins on the back of his hand.

"You went back and killed Yue Xiu, the abbot of Hanshan Temple, didn't you?"

Shan Yue spoke again, raising her eyes with a calm gaze.

It wasn't hard to guess. Given his similar understanding with Shan Yue, he wasn't at all surprised that Shan Yue guessed it right away.

Xue Xiao loosened his grip, and the weight of the umbrella handle fell entirely on Shan Yue's hand.

At the same time, the power to decide whether or not to let him get wet in the rain was also transferred entirely to Shan Yue.

"Guess again why I killed Yue Xiu?" Xue Xiao took a half step back, exposing himself to the rain.

Shan Yue looked at Xue Xiao with a complicated expression: "Kill Yue Xiu and break the prophecy."

As the six words fell to the ground, Xue Xiao's deep and composed expression suddenly turned into a thin layer of joyful delight, and in the misty night rain, his breathing involuntarily became heavy.

He didn't care about being labeled as "destined by fate".

But he cares about Shan Yue.

If it's true, it's said that killing the person who divined his fate can change it.

This rumor is mostly nonsense.

However, since Yue Xiu dared to make the decision, he must also be willing to bear the consequences of that decision.

He hadn't expected that Shan Yue could guess this.

Xue Xiao looked up, raindrops dripping down his eyelashes.

“You see, I always understand what you want to do, and you can always guess what I’ve done. Shan Yue, we’re the same kind of people, patient and stubborn, eccentric and obstinate. We’ll be together for all eternity—it was destined from the day you entered into this game.”

Xue Xiaochang felt relieved: "I won't leave, but are you still leaving?"

Xue Xiao fell backward, retreating step by step.

The rain washed away all the blood and grime covering his body.

Shan Yue gripped the umbrella handle tightly with both hands, swallowed hard, and felt her heart pounding like a drum.

Xue Xiao slowly backed away.

A sudden surge of bitterness welled up in Shan Yue. For some reason, she suddenly felt a surge of strength and abruptly raised her hand. The umbrella drew a crystal arc downwards, and the umbrella's support precisely hooked onto Xue Xiao's narrow waist, which was clad tightly in his black clothes!
Using her umbrella as bait, Shan Yue hooked her arm around Xue Xiao's waist. With a slight lift of her wrist, Xue Xiao took a step forward and leaned forward, opening one hand to grasp Shan Yue's waist and the other to hold the back of her head, pulling the slender girl into his arms.

The umbrella lay askew on the ground.

As the rain intensified, Xue Xiao embraced the girl and turned to enter the deep forest. The forest was full of strange rocks and steep cliffs, and he accidentally stumbled into a deep cave in a rocky ravine.

Darkness makes people more sensitive to their senses other than sight.

Shan Yue tilted her head back and immediately sensed Xue Xiao's hot, rapid, and powerful breathing.

Shan Yue clung tightly to Xue Xiao, tilting her head back in unbearable ecstasy. Her already soaked clothes slid down her skin, and the thick clouds obscured the moon. The milky white light was broken into strange starlight by the rain. The woman's snow-white shoulders leaned against the dark brown rocks, revealing an eerie desire.

The dampness of the moss, the muddy smell of the stones, and the heavy stench of blood emanating from Xue Xiao mingled into a seductive, intense heat wave, like an aphrodisiac.

"No, not here." Xue Xiao buried his head deep in Shan Yue's neck, his voice taut with desire, like a bowstring poised to be released: "This is in the mountains... no, it won't do."

Shan Yue didn't speak, but only slightly parted her lips, letting out short moans one after another.

right here.

A voice was clamoring in her heart.

right here.

She had no home when she was young, but Xue Xiao did.

This is Xue Xiao's home.

"Boom boom boom—boom boom!"

Another thunderclap, straight and thick, pierced straight into the soft clouds.