The White Moonlight Subdues Everyone with a Suona - Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Na Na Na Na Na
Ji Bingyu choked directly on a mouthful of water, holding onto the table as her earth-shattering coughs echoed through the room.
Geese—fine, let it pass.
Mad Goose—fine, that can pass too.
…But what on earth is an Ass-Kicking Mad Goose?!!
Ji Bingyu looked at Pei Leye with eyes full of resentment, as if a thousand words were surging in her heart, yet she couldn’t articulate a single one.
Pei Leye felt his skin crawl from her stare. To make an improper comparison, he felt as if he were being watched by five hundred geese right now, making every single hair on his back stand on end!
Pei Leye rubbed his head, assuming it was simply because he was too exhausted. Coincidentally, the sunlight outside was dimming, and night was falling, so he took the opportunity to suggest they part ways to prepare for the second day’s tournament.
Seeing this, everyone scattered one after another, except for Xie Yu’an, who didn’t leave.
After everyone had departed, Xie Yu’an stood beside Ji Bingyu, gazing at her for a long moment.
Suddenly, he let out a light laugh and asked softly, “That disciple named ‘Five Hundred Geese’ is Junior Sister Ji, isn’t it?”
Though phrased as a question, Xie Yu’an spoke with absolute certainty, clearly having already deduced the answer.
Compared to Pei Leye, who spent every day grinning foolishly, and the relatively simple-minded Feng Feishuang and Zhong Ziqi, Xie Yu’an—who was raised in the Xie family from a young age and had experienced many internal family conflicts—was clearly far more meticulous.
Ji Bingyu’s slight attempts at concealment were not even worth mentioning before him.
Ji Bingyu also knew she couldn’t hide it from Xie Yu’an. Strictly speaking, she hadn’t intended to hide it in the first place, but if anyone heard that nickname, they probably wouldn’t want to admit it either!
Ji Bingyu forcibly suppressed her sense of embarrassment and attempted to curve her lips into a wicked smirk: “Not bad, girl. You guessed right. It’s me. Satisfied now?”
Xie Yu’an turned his head, looking at Ji Bingyu as if hesitating to speak.
As the sun set, the soft glow of dusk fell upon Ji Bingyu’s flawless face.
As the saying goes, “a beautiful person under the bright moon.”
With her icy skin and jade-like bones, her peerless appearance, combined with the slanted rays of the setting sun filtering through the blue tiles and eaves of the Hall of Enlightenment, should have created a hazy aesthetic beauty of gazing at a beauty under a lamp.
However, all of this was ruined by Ji Bingyu’s expression.
Her smile was especially… well, not scary, but somewhat comical.
Xie Yu’an didn’t know what Ji Bingyu had thought of, but her eyes suddenly carried a surge of murderous aura.
Her raised lip corners in particular made her smile appear incomparably weird—extraordinarily similar to Li Fuqing on the day he accidentally drank spider lily juice mixed with vinegar.
Xie Yu’an’s lip twitched; unable to hold it in any longer, he let out a laugh.
“Yes, I guessed right.”
Xie Yu’an looked at Ji Bingyu with quite a bit of amusement.
“You can dodge the first day of the month, but you can’t dodge the fifteenth. I’m afraid Junior Brother and the others will guess it very soon too.”
Given Ji Bingyu’s reaction after hearing the nickname earlier, it was only a matter of time before Pei Leye and the others figured out her identity.
Hearing this, Ji Bingyu wasn’t surprised.
She waved her hand and let out a heavy sigh: “It’s fine. Since I can’t dodge the fifteenth, at least let me turtle my way to the fourteenth first.”
Xie Yu’an: …
What should I say? As expected of Ji Bingyu?
Xie Yu’an burst into laughter, then saw Ji Bingyu raise her head suspiciously and ask: “Xie Yu’an, you didn’t keep me behind just for this, did you?”
Just to expose her disguise and remind her that she’d be discovered soon?
“Naturally not.”
Xie Yu’an shook his head. He suddenly stood up, lifted his robes, and solemnly bowed to Ji Bingyu with deep respect.
“Xie Yu’an thanks you for saving my life.”
This time, Xie Yu’an didn’t call her “Junior Sister Ji,” nor did he address her directly by her name as they usually did when fooling around; instead, he solemnly used the respectful form of “you.”
Ji Bingyu had never seen such a grand gesture before and froze on the spot. Once she reacted, she hastily stepped forward to help Xie Yu’an up.
“Senior Brother Xie, what are you doing!” Ji Bingyu was scared out of her wits by his action.
“You’re my senior brother! If Master Qianming sees you bowing to me, won’t he eat me alive?!”
Xie Yu’an shook his head: “He won’t.”
He curved his lips into a gentle smile at Ji Bingyu.
“Starting from the Newcomer Trial, Junior Sister has saved my life time and again, waking me from the illusions, and this time, you even retrieved my ‘token’ from Xie Wenrui’s hands.”
Xie Yu’an paused, the smile on his face disappearing, as he let out a soft sigh: “That day, I only told you all that this token allows the owner to order around the disciple tied to the token. In truth, that isn’t entirely complete.”
“It’s not just ordering them around. Owning this token even allows one to choose a blood-related disciple to substitute their life.”
Ji Bingyu felt her blood run cold, her eyes widening in horror: “Sub—substitute a life?!”
Xie Yu’an nodded, his eyes dimming slightly: “After the owner of the token suffers severe damage to their body, they can use the token as a conduit to choose a person with close blood ties and harbor their soul in that person’s body.”
“Such soul-harboring can only be done once.”
“If it fails, it might result in both becoming foolish and mindless. However, the closer the blood relation, the easier it is to succeed.”
“Therefore, those direct-line disciples will choose a blood relative with a very high compatibility rate before reaching adulthood.”
Clearly, Xie Yu’an was that chosen blood relative.
Although Xie Yu’an didn’t go into detail and spoke almost offhandedly, Ji Bingyu could hear the boundless murderous intent hidden within.
In that case, on that day, he still…!
Ji Bingyu said in disbelief: “Weren’t you afraid—”
“I wasn’t.”
Xie Yu’an cut off Ji Bingyu’s words. The evening breeze brushed across the youth’s jade-like cheeks, softening his somewhat gloomy facial features.
“I made preparations.”
He said earnestly: “Foolproof preparations.”
Ji Bingyu subconsciously wanted to ask: What preparations could you possibly make? And even guarantee they were foolproof?
Yet in the next second, she found herself unable to ask the question.
Yes, left isolated and helpless, what preparations could Xie Yu’an make?
He didn’t want to implicate Master Qianming and Changqing Sect, who took care of him, nor did he want to implicate friends like them… With his meticulous mind, how could he fail to guess what the consequences would be if Xie Wenrui were exposed?
Xie Yu’an’s so-called “foolproof” plan was nothing more than death itself.
His guarantee was that the moment Xie Wenrui attempted to harbor his soul in his body, he would resist to the death.
Ji Bingyu didn’t know what to say. She looked at Xie Yu’an in silence, and after a long while, she suddenly asked: “Do you think it was worth it?”
“Of course it wasn’t worth it.”
Looking at Ji Bingyu’s astonished eyes, Xie Yu’an smiled slightly: “If it were in the past, I would definitely think that way.”
“If it were in the past… I wouldn’t have considered standing up at all, because I could barely protect myself, and I would never do something as laughable as trying to strike a stone with an egg or a mayfly shaking a giant tree.”
As he spoke, Xie Yu’an’s brow, which used to hold a trace of gloominess, had somehow become exceptionally soft.
“But it’s different now.”
Xie Yu’an recalled his past self and actually felt it quite fascinating as he said, “On that day, I suddenly felt that if I could use my life to expose these people’s evil deeds to the public and have them spurned by everyone, it would actually be worth it.”
Had it been in the past, Xie Yu’an would never have thought like this.
What fairness? What justice? They were all deceitful nonsense.
It was fine to deceive those ignorant children who grew up spoiled, but it couldn’t deceive someone like Xie Yu’an, who had soaked in bitterness since childhood and was accustomed to the coldness of the world.
But now it was different.
Xie Yu’an murmured softly: “Now it’s different.”
Ji Bingyu patted his shoulder heavily, saying with emotion: “Yes, now you have us, Senior Brother Xie!”
Before Xie Yu’an could be moved, Ji Bingyu added seriously in the next second: “So in the future, don’t ever do such ‘two lives for one’ things again!”
“…”
This phrasing sounded somewhat odd.
The somewhat somber atmosphere was instantly broken.
Xie Yu’an looked at Ji Bingyu with a helpless laugh and obediently nodded as told: “Of course I won’t.”
“You’re right. Now I have you… I have all of you.”
The atmosphere turned gentle and cozy, and even the fragrance of green grass in the air added a hint of subtle romantic ambiguity.
The hazy moonlight seemed to linger around them, compelling this handsome pair to open their hearts to each other.
Ji Bingyu: What handsome pair? Why start insulting people?
Also, wait a minute, did something sound wrong with Xie Yu’an’s words just now?
Memories tucked away at the bottom of her mind were dug up by Ji Bingyu. She suddenly remembered that it seemed, maybe, probably, the Heaven’s Will had once told her that in the original novel, Xie Yu’an fell in love with Yan Liusu, who saved him? And then he became crazed for her, wild for her, and banged his head against the wall for her?!
Hiss—
Ji Bingyu gasped. She rapidly retreated three steps to maintain a distance from Xie Yu’an, looking up with a desolate gaze.
“Xi—Senior Brother Xie, do you feel like banging your head against a wall?”
Xie Yu’an: ???
The tender atmosphere vanished instantly, leaving only a suffocating silence in the air.
Xie Yu’an didn’t know why Ji Bingyu would say such words.
Torn between tears and laughter, he said: “Naturally not. Why does Junior Sister Ji ask this?”
“As long as you don’t, as long as you don’t.”
Ji Bingyu lowered her head to soothe her heart, which had nearly plunged into a drop, and then let out a long sigh of relief.
This couldn’t go on. She couldn’t watch Xie Yu’an fall into the quagmire of infatuation without attempting to save him.
Ji Bingyu took a deep breath and decided to launch a preemptive strike.
She looked at Xie Yu’an and said: “Senior Brother, did you feel like, when you first saw my heroic posture saving you, your heart suddenly began beating wildly?”
Her question made Xie Yu’an’s heart skip a beat.
In a flash, before he could even find a foolproof response, his body honestly nodded: “I did.”
“On that day… I even had an illusion that I saw Buddha’s light.”
Xie Yu’an pursed his lips and said in a low voice, “When you stood by the edge of the boat, I also thought I was looking at a deity from a temple.”
The evening breeze blew past, seemingly carrying a trace of light fragrance—crisp and clear, carrying a bit of ethereal scent of winter plum blossoms falling on snow.
Draped in a thin mantle of moonlight, it resembled the crisscrossing shadows of the tree under the great wutong tree at Xueyu Peak, as the light of the sun and moon traversed through it.
Ji Bingyu sniffed. Catching a glimpse of such a beautiful scene from the corner of her eye, she suddenly thought of Rong Qingyuan.
I wonder what he’s doing right now?
Ji Bingyu hurriedly shook her head, tossing these untimely thoughts out of her mind.
She looked at Xie Yu’an and asked earnestly once again: “Then did you feel that your state of mind underwent a subtle shift afterward?”
Xie Yu’an was startled, thinking for a moment: “A little bit?”
Ji Bingyu pressed further: “Then did you feel that every time you ’caused trouble’ together with me, Pei Leye, Feng Feishuang, and Zhong Ziqi afterward, you felt exceptionally excited and particularly happy?”
This time Xie Yu’an didn’t hesitate; he nodded decisively: “Yes.”
Ji Bingyu understood in an instant.
Forget about villain or not—at the very least, the current Xie Yu’an was essentially just a pitied, love-starved kid who had been suppressed and bound for a long time.
According to the Heaven’s Will, his environment growing up was twisted and suffocating; setting aside mental health, even his physical well-being couldn’t be guaranteed. In such an environment, that Xie Yu’an could grow up safely without having his mind completely warped before the trial was already extraordinarily fortunate.
Ji Bingyu thought that Xie Yu’an’s feelings toward her were likely less about true love and more about a combination of the “bridge effect” and never having met a free person like her—someone who lived so willfully, acting on her heart, loving and hating boldly.
Rather than love, it was more like curiosity toward something novel.
Thinking this way, Ji Bingyu suddenly felt a bizarre sense of pride.
She tapped Xie Yu’an’s shoulder with a deep, profound look: “Honestly, I’m so handsome that it’s only human nature for you to feel like you’ve fallen for me.”
Xie Yu’an: ?
At this moment, he suddenly felt that he didn’t like Junior Sister Ji as much as he thought?
“However!”
Ji Bingyu’s voice suddenly rose, startling the dazing Xie Yu’an into a quick posture shift before she continued with utter seriousness: “Senior Brother Xie, you might think you have a subtle crush on me, but the person you love really isn’t me.”
Seeing his minor inner feelings exposed, Xie Yu’an wasn’t annoyed at all. He had originally felt that these emotions were fleeting, elusive, unpredictable, and intermittent.
Now that Ji Bingyu had brought them out into the open, Xie Yu’an adopted a constructive attitude and asked with equal seriousness.
“Then why does Junior Sister think I have such feelings?” Xie Yu’an tilted his head, looking at Ji Bingyu. “I feel happy whenever I see Junior Sister, and seeing your actions makes me feel immensely liberated.”
You feel happy seeing me probably because in your heart, you’ve already categorized me as a slapstick comedian.
Ji Bingyu met Xie Yu’an’s gaze, reached out again, heavily patted his shoulder, and declared with deep gravity: “Brother, the one you love isn’t me.”
“To summarize all of the above: Senior Brother Xie, what you’ve fallen in love with is actually… the Light of Righteousness!”
Xie Yu’an’s spirit jolted.
Whether by sheer coincidence or not, following Ji Bingyu’s words, a few exceptionally bright beams of moonlight actually fell right into the courtyard where they were standing.
The Light of Righteousness had thus shone upon the earth!
……
Ever since falling into the water in his childhood, little Xie Yu’an had been filled with deep suspicion toward the world.
For instance, if someone gave a five-year-old child a piece of candy, that child would likely accept it with joy, at most timidly holding onto their parents and looking up to ask.
Xie Yu’an was different.
His very first reaction would be: Is this person seeking something from me? Are they trying to use me to achieve some goal? Is this candy truly for me, or are they using my hand to pass it to someone else? If it’s for someone else, are they trying to deliver a message, or use a borrowed knife to kill?
Yet ever since he was saved during the Newcomer Trial that day, through several surreal encounters, he had mysteriously gained a group of friends with vastly different personalities and backgrounds, and everything began to change.
[Tell me, Senior Brother Xie: if I hadn’t stepped forward that day, but instead my Second Senior Sister, Eldest Senior Sister Lingyun—or literally anyone else—had stepped up, would your decision have changed? Would you have shrunk back because of that?]
No.
The past Xie Yu’an wouldn’t have stepped forward, but the current Xie Yu’an wouldn’t stand by with folded arms.
Facing the moonlight, Xie Yu’an gradually let out a gentle smile.
He popped the final piece of candy Ji Bingyu had handed him into his mouth.
Instantly, the fragrance of sweet osmanthus bloomed across his tongue, making his entire person feel a bit more full of life.
Xueyu Peak mostly had wutong trees; only Piaomiao Peak possessed osmanthus blossoms.
This candy was made by Ji Bingyu using osmanthus harvested from Piaomiao Peak.
Xie Yu’an walked alone on the path returning to Piaomiao Peak. He looked up and saw the warm lights on Piaomiao Peak, and his somewhat empty heart was instantly filled with warmth.
Mysteriously, the words Ji Bingyu had said while swaying back and forth on the rocking chair in the courtyard popped back into his head:
“—Senior Brother Xie, my Master said that even if he hadn’t stepped in that day, Master Qianming would have moved to reclaim your command token anyway.”
……
Having finally managed to coax Xie Yu’an away, Ji Bingyu let out a long sigh of relief.
Catching a lingering scent that remained hovering at the tip of her nose, her heart suddenly moved, and she tentatively called out: “Master?”
“Your master was still wondering when you’d finally notice me.”
The voice—usually crisp and distant—now carried a hint of sorrow, rendered with a touch of deep romantic tenderness.
Floating down along with the voice was a figure clad in silver-white robes.
Sleeves fluttering like a soaring crane, carrying an ethereal, immortal grace beyond common reach. Raven-black hair was pinned loosely behind his head with a simple wooden hairpin, while a jade pendant hung at his waist.
As his robes fluttered, a subtle fragrance drifted through the air. As the folding fan snapped shut, the moonlight that had condensed along its edges scattered all at once, dappling behind Rong Qingyuan like a trailing train of robes, as if welcoming a fallen deity back to earth.
In a flash, Ji Bingyu suddenly recalled that aside from the somewhat terrifying praise of Rong Qingyuan’s cultivation—”One tune slays ten thousand demons, one string startles the world”—there was another line describing him, though it was less widely known:
“…An immortal guest startling heaven and earth,” Ji Bingyu murmured to herself.
Her eyes sparkled even brighter as she looked at Rong Qingyuan: “Master! Can I learn an entrance as cool as that?!”
Master! I want to learn this!
Meeting Ji Bingyu’s exceptionally bright gaze, Rong Qingyuan let out a gentle laugh: “If A-Yu wishes to learn, naturally you may.”
Ji Bingyu nodded happily and stepped onto Rong Qingyuan’s floating boat upon invitation.
Then she heard Rong Qingyuan ask: “What were you muttering under your breath just now?”
There was nothing to hide about it.
Ji Bingyu spoke without hesitation: “I just said the phrase ‘An immortal guest startling heaven and earth,’ which the Sect Master mentioned once before.” She asked with a bit of curiosity, “Is that also a nickname given to Master by those defeated demon cultivators?”
Rong Qingyuan shook his head: “Not quite.”
“I thought so,” Ji Bingyu said. “Those defeated demon cultivators must have been gnashing their teeth in hatred; they’d never come up with such a beautiful line!”
“That’s not necessarily true either.”
Rong Qingyuan said meaningfully, “Perhaps some resigned themselves to their current situation and decided to be an honest, well-behaved rabbit instead?”
Ji Bingyu: “…”
She really wanted to laugh, but they had already arrived at Xueyu Peak. Ji Bingyu was terrified of running into Li Fuqing, which might ruin their peerless parent-child relationship.
One should know that Li Fuqing’s true form was a rabbit; he thoroughly practiced the strategy of a crafty rabbit having three burrows, and who knew how many residences he had on this Xueyu Peak.
Li Fuqing: If it weren’t for the suona appearing, I wouldn’t have had to resort to this.
Regardless, Ji Bingyu could only pretend not to understand Rong Qingyuan’s subtle shade, coughing lightly in an attempt to change the subject.
“‘An immortal guest startling heaven and earth’ sounds really lovely,” Ji Bingyu said casually.
“It just feels like it’s missing the second half.”
Who knew that this time, Rong Qingyuan actually nodded.
“There was indeed a second half originally.”
Rong Qingyuan blinked at Ji Bingyu.
He leaned forward, gazing into her eyes that were practically screaming ‘I want to know’, letting out a soft chuckle from his throat.
The faint fragrance drifted over once more. Aside from the scent of winter plum blossoms falling on snow, there seemed to be a touch of wild mountain valley greenery?
Before Ji Bingyu could figure out what it was, she heard Rong Qingyuan say—
“However, as for the rest, A-Yu will have to discover it yourself.”
Before Ji Bingyu could snap back to reality, Rong Qingyuan straightened his posture, his voice turning lazy: “Compared to these unimportant matters, I’m actually more curious: why did A-Yu return so late today, staying in the Hall of Enlightenment until the moon reached the tips of the willow trees?”
These words sounded somewhat full of grievance, rendered with a touch of jealousy through Rong Qingyuan’s sorrowful tone.
At first listen, it sounded remarkably like a pitiful, devoted wife waiting full of heartbreak for her playboy husband’s late return.
If anyone else were suddenly asked this, even close friends would be thrown into a panic, but Ji Bingyu was not.
Years of getting along had been enough for her to understand what a dramatic drama queen Rong Qingyuan was.
Ji Bingyu opened her dead-fish eyes and began reciting monotonically: “Since you already know the moon has reached the tips of the willow trees, then naturally it’s because ‘two lovers meet after dusk.’ You’re the one being unreasonable by coming to look for me. Hmph, how embarrassing.”
Rong Qingyuan didn’t panic in the slightest upon hearing this. He immediately switched his demeanor, lowering his eyelashes as his entire frame took on a look of lonely sorrow.
He reached out his left hand to gently hold onto Ji Bingyu’s sleeve, speaking in a soft, pleading voice: “It was my fault for looking for you; it was my wrong. But in the future, you must come home on time—even if you don’t come home, send me a message so I can rest easy, alright?”
This was something Ji Bingyu hadn’t anticipated.
She had thought that since they were inside Changqing Sect anyway, and the white jade pendant Rong Qingyuan gave her was still hanging around her neck, there couldn’t possibly be any danger.
However, well, the situation was different now; maybe she really should give a heads-up?
Thinking this way, Ji Bingyu nodded.
Remembering her playboy persona, she raised her chin haughtily: “Fine, I’ll indulge you this once—”
Ji Bingyu’s voice came to a screeching halt.
Facing the moonlight, she saw Li Fuqing standing in the bamboo forest, having no idea how long he had been standing there or how much he had heard.
Recalling what she had just said, Ji Bingyu gasped for cold air, her face full of horror: “Eldest Senior Brother, let me explain!”
Li Fuqing’s expression was even more horrified than hers. He backed away in panic, shaking his head frantically: “I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”
“It’s not like that! Eldest Senior Brother! Things really aren’t what you think! Listen to my explanation!”
“You goose have zero credibility! I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”
“He and I—we don’t have that kind of relationship—oh, actually wait, we do have a relationship… but definitely not the kind of relationship you think!”
“Then what kind of relationship is it?!”
“It’s the kind of, um, I can’t quite explain it, but those who know, know—Eldest Senior Brother, stop running! I can barely catch up to you! Listen to my explanation!”
“I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”
In an instant, chaos erupted as if the earth were trembling and mountains were shaking—what a lively scene!
Master Qianming, who had come to settle accounts with Ji Bingyu only to get a face full of wutong leaves: “…”
Master Qianming fell silent for a long moment.
Looking at Rong Qingyuan, who was still standing in place with a calm expression, he asked tremulously: “Has it always been like this?”
Rong Qingyuan fanned himself with a light smile: “Nothing to make a fuss about.”
For the first time, a surge of deep admiration for Rong Qingyuan rose from the bottom of Master Qianming’s heart.
He murmured to himself: “As expected of Xueyu Peak, which raises five hundred geese…”
Hearing what Master Qianming said, Rong Qingyuan: ?
He had been in secluded cultivation today. The first thing he did upon exiting was to find Ji Bingyu, so he had no idea what had happened.
Thus, Rong Qingyuan—who had always been the one to leave others utterly bewildered—rarely fell into a brief state of confusion.
—Since when did his Xueyu Peak start raising five hundred geese?
