Book 1 Chapter 56: Liu Meng
On the second floor of the Mingxiang Tea House, in a private room,
After sitting down in this place, Bai Yunfei obviously still felt a bit uncomfortable in front of the two girls. Holding his cup with both hans, he dranked from it nonstop and did not even notice it when he drank the tea leaves.
Seeing him like this, the servant girl Xiao Ning could not help letting out a ‘pfff’ sound of laughter, but when she was about to burst out laughing, she was stopped by Liu Meng.
Seeing such behavior from this young man in front of her, Liu Meng was somewhat tempted to laugh too. She filled Bai Yunfei’s cup again with tea gently and said softly: “This time I was suddenly taken ill and even ran into some good-for-nothings. Fortunately you got into action and saved me. I really can’t be thankful enough to you.”
Bai Yunfei put the tea cup in his hand down, calmed his indescribably nervous mind down a bit and said while waving his hands: “You don’t have to stand on ceremony like this, miss. Helping people is the source of pleasu… Er, I mean, getting in to action upon seeing injustice is what everyone should do. Besides, it took me very little effort, so you don’t have to care about this too much.”
“But it didn’t take you just a little effort…” Liu Meng said with a chuckle, “At the time, there were so many people, but you were the only one who dared to get into action to help me. That second young master Long is an infamous good-for-nothing in this city. Relying on his family’s influence, he often commits all kinds of outrages. This time I went out alone to relieve my boredom but I didn’t expect to become entangled with him.
“The Long family was quite powerful in Cuiliu City. Even the Green Willow School is somewhat afraid of it, but this time you have offended that second young master Long because of me. I’ve really embroiled you in this…
“Actually, given my power as a soul cultivator, I shouldn’t have been afraid of those good-for-nothings, but at the time, I was suddenly taken ill. The pain was unbearable so I was basically defenseless, and he was able to bully me only because of this…”
At first Bai Yunfei sighed in his mind: “The Green Willow School is really here!”
But upon hearing the last words, he was dumbstruck for a while and said in amazement: “Oh? You said you’re a soul cultivator too?”
Liu Meng nodded smilingly: “It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’m really a soul cultivator… Oh, what do you mean by ‘too’? Could it be you’re also a soul cultivator?”
Seeing Bai Yunfei nod, on one side, Xiao Ning could not help whispering: “Whoa! Turns out you’re a soul cultivator, mister! No wonder you were able to fight off those scoundrels so easily!”
Noticing that the look in Liu Meng’s eyes seemed to have changed a little, Bai Yunfei became somewhat uncomfortable again: “Ha ha, this doesn’t mean anything either. I’m just a weak soul cultivator. Miss, you…”
“I’m Liu Meng. You can call me Meng’er directly, mister.” Hearing Bai Yunfei call her ‘miss’ all the time, Liu Meng smiled and said in a low voice. This might or might not be an illusion but Bai Yunfei seemed to see her face slightly redden as she said these words.
“May I know your name, mister?” Liu Meng continued with another question after pausing for a while.
Bai Yunfei had not expected to be allowed to call her so intimately so he was somewhat stunned for a short period of time. Only after two minutes did he say rather cautiously: “Miss… Er, Meng, Meng’er… You can just call me Yunfei…”
“Yunfei? Ha ha, it sounds full of freedom.”
Bai Yunfei drank another large mouthful of tea, as if doing this could dilute that indescribable feeling of nervousness in his heart. He then put the cup down, seeming to think of something, and asked curiously: “Right, Meng, Meng’er… Since you’re a soul cultivator, how did you suddenly become like that earlier?”
To soul cultivators, even the lowest-ranked ones had much stronger bodies than those of ordinary people so common illnesses simply could not affect them, and this was the reason why Bai Yunfei asked that question.
Right after his question, in front of him, Liu Meng felt silent all of a sudden. After a long time, she sighed softly and continued:
“I’ve been suffering from a weak body and illnesses since I was little, almost growing up in pots of medicine. No matter the treatment method, they couldn’t be cured and even become more and more serious. My whole body was often in extreme pain all of a sudden, as if there were countless spikes moving back and forth nonstop in my body. It was extremely painful. The doctor who treated me said that I wouldn’t live past the age of ten…
“Later, when I was eight, I ran into a traveling senior. She pitied me so not only did she awaken my soulforce, she also taught me a cultivation method, allowing me to become a soul cultivator. Then she continued her journey after giving me some prescriptions, saying that if I used them and didn’t stop training, my body would be cured.
“As I became more powerful, my body got better as well. Now I’m rarely taken ill. As long as I can break through to the Soul Sprite stage, my body will be tempered by the natural elements and I’ll be able to get rid of these illnesses forever…
“Today, I did take my medicine in the morning but somehow I was still taken ill earlier. At the time my entire body was in severe pain. Even my mind was extremely confused, and I also ran into those scoundrels. If you hadn’t got into action to help me, perhaps I would have died from the pain. It can be said that I owe you for saving my life…”
Bai Yunfei slightly leaned his body to one side. At first he immersed himself in listening to her, but when she suddenly said the words ‘owe you for saving my life’, he almost choked on the tea and said while shaking his head again and again: “Er… You’re taking it too seriously, Meng’er. What I did wasn’t so important. I didn’t save your life. You don’t need to…”
Luckily he put on the brakes in time and swallowed back the words ‘repay me with yourself’. Bai Yunfei looked down on himself for a while in his mind again.
“Need to what?” However, in front of him, Liu Meng asked out of curiosity.
“He he, nothing, nothing at all. Don’t mention it again, Meng’er, otherwise I’ll feel embarrassed…”
On one side, Xiao Ning could not bear seeing this anymore so she cut in: “Mister Yunfei, as a man, how can you seem even shyer than my young lady? Where has the heroic spirit shown when you dealt with those bad guys earlier gone?”
“Cough cough cough!!” Hearing those words from Xiao Ning, Bai Yunfei was even more embarrassed and coughed continuously.
……
When the three of them walked out of the tea house, it was already dusk. Before parting ways, Liu Meng seemed to suddenly remember something and asked Bai Yunfei laughingly: “Right, Yunfei, tomorrow let’s take a stroll to Mt. Qingquan outside the city together! You just arrived in Cuiliu City so this is the right time to go for a stroll. I heard that the spring water on that mountain is clear and sweet and can even cure illnesses!”
“Oh? Tomorrow? Only both of us will go there?” By sheer coincidence, Bai Yunfei blurted these questions.
Right afterwards, he realized that they were inappropriate and almost felt like giving himself a couple of slaps: He had unexpectedly blurted such flirtatious words!
“Hey hey! Mister Yunfei! You’ve gone too far. I didn’t expect that you’d dare to flirt with my young lady!” On one side, Xiao Ning said in pretended anger, “Besides, you have just left me out directly, haven’t you? But I’ve got to look after my young lady all the time. I can’t leave her side even for a moment!”
“Xiao Ning, you devilish servant girl! What nonsense are you saying?!” Liu Meng gave Xiao Ning a slight stare then looked at Bai Yunfei with a charming smile, her face slightly reddening.
“Well, it’s settled then! Yunfei, you should go back and rest early. We’ll meet up at the east city gate at dawn tomorrow!”
By the time Bai Yunfei regained his composure, the two girls had already disappeared at the end of the street. He stood still there for a long time and eventually let out a sigh. Now he had no choice but to turn around and walk towards that tavern where he had booked a room earlier.
…………
In the tavern, Bai Yunfei was lying on the bed with hands behind his head looking at the ceiling in a somewhat preoccupied manner. He was not even in the mood for cultivation. His mind was unceasingly recalling the scenes after he had come across Liu Meng today.
Suddenly, his expression changed and his eyebrows wrinkled. It seemed some important matter had come to his mind.
“Her identity… When she was with Zhang Yang at that time, she called Zhang Zhenshan uncle. What’s the relationship between her and the Zhang family?” At this point, Bai Yunfei’s eyebrows wrinkled even more tightly, “She should have known that Zhang Yang is already dead. If there’s a close relationship between them, she should have already known that I killed Zhang Yang. But her behavior today…
“Did she really forget about me? Or… was it just an act? That’s not true. When she was taken ill, it was definitely not an act. Plus, I didn’t notice anything unusual in the surroundings.
Then… am I thinking too much? Perhaps there’s not any close relationship between her and the Zhang family. I remember at that time her attitude towards Zhang Yang was pretty cold…”
Now Bai Yunfei could not help recalling the scene when he and Liu Meng had met for the first time.
……
“Zhang Yang, stop… Did I ever say I wanted him dead?”
……
“It doesn’t seem to me that this person was pretending he was in a trance. Moreover, even though he offended me, there’s no need to take his life either…”
……
“He already took a kick from you just now. He’s seriously injured too. Let’s consider that he’s been punished.”
……
“Ha ha, besides, he already compensated me with tanghulu. It’s just that you knocked it down…”
……
As Bai Yunfei thought about what had happened, his eyes gradually dimmed. An unprecedented feeling surged inside him bit by bit, seemingly preventing him from doubting Liu Meng, preventing him from thinking about the bad aspects.
“Tomorrow… Stroll…” Bai Yunfei recalled the words said by Liu Meng when they had parted ways just then, “But I have to leave this place. Even though the Zhang family hasn’t found me yet, if I stay here longer, I’ll be in more danger…”
“Well, it’s settled then! Yunfei, you should go back and rest early. We’ll meet up at the east city gate at dawn tomorrow!” His ears seemed to hear Liu Meng’s gentle words again. Bai Yunfei frowned slightly, seemingly having a fierce mental struggle.
Eventually…
“Let’s have fun for a day. There shouldn’t be any problem…”