Chapter 186: The Protagonist, Sunny Skies
Whoosh—
The cold wind outside the cave was still piercing, and the heavy snowfall showed no signs of stopping.
Ye Anping sat by the campfire, roasting jerky without diverting his gaze. After hearing Xiao Tian’s narration, his expression remained unchanged.
Xiao Tian glanced at Feng Yu Die, who had wrapped her face in a blanket beside them, and frowned. “Young Master Ye, why are you pretending not to hear at a time like this?!”
Sizzle—
The remaining oil from the jerky melted under the heat, releasing a rich, savory aroma. Ye Anping raised the bamboo skewer in his hand, bit into the scalding hot jerky, and chewed loudly with his mouth full.
“Slurp~~ Slurp~~”
Xiao Tian’s eyebrows twitched upon hearing this. Enraged, she climbed onto Ye Anping’s head and began kicking the back of his skull. “Hiss— Young Master Ye, you’re being unreasonable, aren’t you?! Pretending at a time like this!!”
Ye Anping ignored her, but he offered another skewer of jerky to Feng Yu Die. “It wasn’t cooked properly just now. Want to try again?”
Hearing this, Feng Yu Die looked up, stared at the greasy piece of jerky in his hand for a moment, then hesitantly reached out and took a small bite. “Mmm…” She chewed silently, swallowed with a gulp, and asked, “There’s really no roasted chicken?”
“No.”
“Then never mind…”
“I’ll treat you to one in Jiùquán Town tomorrow.”
“Okay!! It’s a deal!!”
“Won’t you rest for a bit? It’ll be a while before the snow stops.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Oh…”
After a long silence, the two squatted by the campfire, listening to the howling gale outside the cave and the pattering sound of burning wood in the fire before them.
… …
After an unknown amount of time, Feng Yu Die yawned, feeling sleepy, and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “Young Master Ye, can you tell me something about Junior Sister Pei?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Oh…” Feng Yu Die fell silent for a moment, then asked, “How about we play cards? I brought a deck.”
“No.”
“Chess?”
“No.”
“Oh…”
Ye Anping sighed lightly and added more firewood to the campfire. He had nothing to do. For cultivators, Qi Cultivation and meditation were the fastest ways to pass the time. However, the biting cold outside was too intense. If he were to cultivate and bring the cold into his body, it would be counterproductive.
After a moment of thought, he closed his eyes and reviewed the Moon Shadow Sword Sect’s plan in his mind, trying to find any flaws to pass the time.
The sound of the cold wind outside the cave seemed to have grown louder.
As Ye Anping was reviewing the Moon Shadow Sword Sect’s plan for the fifth time, he suddenly felt something bump against his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced over.
“… …”
Feng Yu Die was now leaning against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. It seemed she had succumbed to sleepiness out of boredom and had simply collapsed onto him. Xiao Tian had already disappeared, likely back into her mind.
Ye Anping hesitated for a moment, then decided not to wake her. Seeing that the campfire had dwindled to embers, he tried his best to remain still, took new firewood and fire stones from his Storage Bag, and rekindled the fire.
He had intended to close his eyes and doze off again, but as he glanced at his left shoulder, he suddenly noticed that Feng Yu Die, who was leaning on him, had a slight upturn at the corner of her mouth, her expression extremely relaxed and content.
Whoosh—
The cold wind outside the cave still raged and howled like the sinister laughter in a horror movie. Even Ye Anping felt a bit uncomfortable, yet she slept soundly and peacefully, leaning against his shoulder.
“… …”
Ye Anping fell silent for a moment. Was she mistaking him for the Grand Void True Person? Recalling the letter Xiao Tian had read aloud earlier, Ye Anping felt a mix of emotions.
As mentioned before, if players found this letter from Mr. Qi, they could read its contents. However, the first paragraph was smeared with ink. This had caused quite a stir among lore enthusiasts online at the time. Most players believed that the Grand Void True Person had revealed a great secret to Feng Yu Die or the Xuan Xing Sect, but this letter never reappeared in the main storyline. Therefore, the most widely accepted theory was that the screenwriter had intended to create a major plot point with this letter but forgot to resolve it later in the main story.
In an official interview, the screenwriter had said, “I don’t know what was written there. I just felt that a letter with a blacked-out section would appear more mysterious.”
But who would have guessed it was such a passage.
—The Grand Void True Person had pawned his belongings, trying to upgrade from a bicycle to a motorcycle, and lost it all.
But then again, who had smeared that sentence with ink? Mr. Qi, or perhaps…
Ye Anping looked at Feng Yu Die again. Did she do it? Perhaps she wanted to preserve her Master’s good reputation?
However, that no longer mattered.
“Whoosh—”
Ye Anping sighed softly, closed his eyes, and spaced out to pass the time.
Before long, a ray of light shone in from the cave entrance. The sound of wind and snow in his ears also ceased. Ye Anping suddenly felt his neck was a bit damp and was quite puzzled. When he opened his eyes, he saw that a trail of drool had flowed from Feng Yu Die’s mouth, leaving a prominent mark on his collar.
“… …”
At the same time, a small golden figure floated before them, gazing at him with a motherly smile, circling in the air.
Ye Anping gritted his teeth so hard his cheeks bulged. He then exerted a slight push on his left shoulder.
Plop—
“Ah?!! Huh…” Feng Yu Die fell to the ground and woke up abruptly, looking around in confusion. “What happened?! What happened?!”
“Get up, we need to get moving.”
Feng Yu Die stared blankly for a long time, wiped her drool, and nodded dazedly, “Oh!”
“… …”
Ye Anping stood up, put on his Bamboo Hat and straw cape from his Storage Bag, and glanced at her. Her silver hair, which had seemed to have lost its luster last night, now shone brilliantly again, and her usual cheerful expression had returned to her face.
Feng Yu Die put on her own straw cape and Bamboo Hat. She turned to look at Ye Anping, who was staring at her. She flinched slightly and asked, “What is it? Why are you staring at me?”
“Do you remember what happened last night?”
“Last night… Oh, you were going to treat me to roasted chicken, right?!”
“…Right.”
“Then let’s go!”
Ye Anping sighed helplessly and then crawled out of the cave entrance. The bright sun overhead made it difficult for him to open his eyes.
Fortunately, the skies had cleared.
Feng Yu Die followed him out, squinting and turning her head away like him. “It snowed so heavily last night, and then there’s such a bright sun the next day.”
“Complain to heaven, not to me.”
… …
