Legend of Fu Yao

Meng Fuyao found this sentence odd, yet was unable to retort. Looking into Zhangsun Wuji’s eyes, she could see some sort of emotions in them, yet she could not decipher if it was anger. Regardless, she knew it was not appropriate, and from her experience, as long as Zhangsun Wuji felt that it was not appropriate, she could not say otherwise. With much resentment, she said, “Drink then.”

She handed over the bowl of soup lazily to Zhangsun Wuji, but he was not going to let her off so easily. “Here? In someone else’s house?”

‘Goodness, this young master is certainly a handful to wait upon. Also, what is with that sour smell emitting off you? How stingy!’

Gloomily, she grabbed the soup and followed behind him. He strolled leisurely around the garden, where mimosa silk tree flowers bloomed joyfully. The pale pink of the flowers resembled the attractive lips of a young lady, fanning out into rows of red.

Zhangsun Wuji walked towards a white stone table and sat down. “This place is beautiful, scenic, where everything is clear and pure.”

Meng Fuyao rolled her eyes. ‘Is he insinuating that her being with Yun Hen in a room is ‘dirty’? Geez, what a tight-arsed man.’

Resting his chin on his hand, Zhangsun Wuji commented, “Is my lady planning for me to drink the soup with my eyes?”

This poor, tormented servant could only bitterly serve up the soup in a bowl. She shoved the bowl in front of him, spilling it on the table. With a laugh, he looked into the bowl and commented, “This amount included everyone but yourself?”

Meng Fuyao snapped back. “I am just a poor, suffering cook whose life is to serve my masters their soup!”

He laughed and slowly scooped up the soup. “I did not mean to disturb the two of you.”

Her heart sunk a little, yet she still commented, “Then why don’t you generously say ‘please continue, I did not see anything’ and just leave?”

Zhangsun Wuji ignored this thick-skinned ruffian and continued, “Because… I received news on Feng Jingfan’s death.”

“Ah!” She sat there, with her mouth agape.

He chuckled and sent a mouthful of soup into her mouth. “Here, to the most honorable chef.”

Meng Fuyao swallowed it in the most inelegant way she possibly could, ignoring his gentleness. Then, she anxiously grabbed onto his sleeve, asking, “Dead? Killed… really? Is… it a lie?”

“According to the news, they met with the bandits fighting for territory in the borders of Tiansha. Feng Jingfan was accidentally killed in that exchange.” Zhangsun Wuji slowly sipped his soup as he contemplated.

“What about Fourth Prince Feng?”

“Escaped in shock and got separated with his sister. He went back to search for her corpse only to find a shoe of hers.”

Meng Fuyao frowned. Then, she realized that Zhangsun Wuji’s tone was unusual. “Are you saying that there was no corpse?”

“Yes.” Zhangsun Wuji tapped his finger on the table and looked towards the north. “Variables appeared. Feng Jingfan’s assassination was planned by my subordinates. They are professional assassins and have never failed missions of such nature. Yet, this time, a strange phenomenon has appeared.

“Mn?”

“They lost a portion of their memories.”

“Ah?”

Zhang Wuji turned to look at her. “Their memories were from where they masqueraded as bandits and intentionally included Feng Jingfan in the conflict. They remembered everything clearly until the point where she was shot. However, when she fell down the cliff, everyone’s memory blurry. More so, a majority of the people did not even realize that their memories had been tampered with. Their memories jumped from when Feng Jingfan fell off the cliff to where they came back to report to me their accomplishment. In their eyes, this was a normal, successful assassination.”

“Then how did you realize something was abnormal?”

“The leader of the invisible guards. He participated personally as he was worried. He has followed me for the longest, picking up some stuff, and he felt that something was wrong. He has a habit of checking the time frequently, and I had especially given him a golden pocket watch from the western region. After checking the time, he realized that there were 25 minutes where they had no memory of any actions.”

He looked towards Qiongcang, the stars reflected in his dark eyes. In his gaze, a form of uncertainty and weariness lingered as he remembered someone who was present at the last round of the competition that day. Slowly, he muttered, “Perhaps, someone I really hate finally appeared…”

Meng Fuyao turned around and curiously asked, “You have someone you hate? I never thought that you could have such normal human emotions.”

“When you have learned to love, you will learn to hate. And I am glad I have learned.” Zhangsun Wuji smiled lightly as he stared at her lovingly.

Embarrassed, Meng Fuyao could not help but turn away. But at that moment, she suddenly recalled something. “I remember you practice a form of art that can remove one’s memories and control them. Could it be…”

Zhangsun Wuji smiled gently. “Fuyao, sometimes you are indeed intelligent.”

She paused, and then said, “Zhangsun Wuji, I have never been one to inquire deeply into things that people do not tell me. That’s why I have never asked about your birth and the peculiar things about you all this while. But do you really intend to not tell me anything if I do not ask?”

Zhangsun Wuji placed his bowl down and sat down beside her. He held her hand in his palm as their knees touched and gently said, “Fuyao, I have already told you what I should, but for the things that I did not, it is because knowing them will do you more harm than good.”

A quiet sigh escaped his lips. “I think it would be better for me to make a trip to Fu Mountain…”

“No need!”

From afar, a woman’s voice could be heard. The voice seemed to ring right beside their ears, yet at the same time, it seemed to have come from the other end of the word. The voice sounded…”empty”, with the intonation of every word the same.

Zhangsun Wuji’s gaze changed ever so slightly, and he pushed Meng Fuyao away. He then placed his hand on the white stone table.

What followed was a crack appearing on the white table.

The crack came, without a notice or sound. Initially, it was like a light slit across the table. But gradually, the crack deepened, and like a blade, made its way towards the direction of Zhangsun Wuji, inching closer to the eight treasure lotus soup.

The woman’s satirical laughter resounded in the air. It was a peal of laughter voided of any joy, yet, the voice was now more alluring than before. “Senior Brother, you certainly are enjoying yourself. I have come from afar, are you not going to treat me to a bowl?”

Zhangsun Wuji tapped his finger on the table. That crack that was continuously expanding stopped right beside the bowl. He lifted one of his eyebrows and commented, “Tai Yan, you’ve never been one to snack.”

“An occasional snacking is surely fine. Just look at this lotus soup, what kind of exceptional, sacred soup this must be for the Senior Brother who has distanced himself from the worldly affairs and emotions to enjoy this soup being fed to him as he overlooks the beautiful scenery?”

In her meandering, the crack once again extended.

With his finger, Zhangsun Wuji smoothened over the crack and in an unperturbed tone, said, “Merely a commoner’s taste. It definitely is not something that you will take a fancy of, lest it taints your sophisticated palate.”

“Would I be any more sophisticated than Senior Brother? That genius that even I have to look up to?” Her tone was filled with unmistakable scorn, removing any bit of allure she had and replacing it with mockery. “So, you can drink it but I can’t?”

In her very last word, her voice cracked as it turned into a high-pitched shriek that reverberated, splitting open the bowl.

The bowl broke apart, yet, not a single drop of soup spilled out. Zhangsun Wuji had lifted his hand the moment Tai Yan raised her voice and swiftly gathered the soup, even maintaining its original shape without spilling a single drop.

Zhangsun Wuji stared at the soup, with a hint of weariness in his eyes. He fixed his cold gaze at the corner of the roof and said, “You can have it. Not only this but whatever I can get, you can get too. I told this to our teachers years ago. So, right now, you may leave.”

“Why should I leave?” Following Zhangsun Wuji’s gaze, a tiny figure appeared at the corner of the roof. A ball of light-pink blending with the moon, looking so soft and fluffy. It also resembled a ball of mimosa silk tree flowers, causing a mismatch between the alluring, mature and cynical voice that they had heard. But there was absolutely no doubt that the voice belonged to her as she shouted, “Zhangsun Wuji. I hate when you do this. I told you I don’t want you to let me, and you do not have the right to let me!”

Just as she finished her sentence, with a ‘bam’, the stone table instantly shattered into pieces. The fragments danced in the air, initially slowly, then with a flash, they gathered together, forming a long snake heading straight for Zhangsun Wuji’s forehead.

Zhangsun Wuji placed his hand in front of Meng Fuyao to prevent her from being injured by the fragments. Then, he stretched out his fingers and slashed, silently cutting the “stone snake” into two.

But that “stone snake” divided into another section and reassembled itself swiftly. Suddenly, it transformed into a stone fan, and as the woman flicked her wrist, the fan swung back and forth, attacking Zhangsun Wuji.

Zhangsun Wuji waved one of his hands, and the bowl of soup became strings of pearls flying in the air. Those “pearls” became a strand of mala beads at the tip of his finger. The pearls knocked against the fan and shattered into dust.

“Since you want it so much, I’ll let you try,” he said coldly.

Tai Yan snorted. With a command of a finger, those white stone fragments immediately realigned themselves, transforming into multiple things; a butterfly, the clouds, the storm and the legendary dragon that resided in the deep sea.

Regardless of angle, aggression or size, Zhangsun Wuji was able to counter them all with a bit of soup. Unlike Tai Yan, he did not conjure up an array of forms but instead used the beads of soup in a different formation to defend.