Ch. 457 - The Protagonist And The Painting

It was late at night, and the lights of thousands of houses illuminated the sky between the City of Dreams' gate towers.

On the street, half-drunk cultivators put their arms around one another and talked about which immortals were more beautiful. There were also pairs of men and women talking about love under the streetlights.

Feng Yu Die coiled her silver hair and covered it with a bamboo hat, pretending to be a tourist and blending in with the pedestrians. Her golden eyes under the white veil were vividly scanning the surrounding shops and passers-by.

Xiao Yunluo felt that it was not convenient for her to carry her hornet's nest head around, and Xiao Tian was not with her. Hence, after they booked a room in the inn, she went to the street alone. Amid the traffic, she paid attention to the words "Young Master Ye" and "Hundred Lotus Sect".

Indeed, just like in the immortal cities they passed along the way, there were quite a few people talking about the "Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect".

---"The Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect is already in the late Core Formation stage at such a young age, and he is naturally handsome... I really want to go to the Western Region to take a look. Speaking of which, is the Hundred Lotus Sect far away?"

---"It's quite far, but anyway, we sisters are only some Qi Refining-stage cultivators. Even if we go, he might not even look at us."

---"Yeah, alas..."

... ...

---"Why is it so unfair? He is only in his twenties, but he is already the Young Master of a sect. He also has the Spring Phase energy and is handsome too. Brothers, did you hear those girls talking about that Hundred Lotus Sect Young Master?"

---"How could I not hear? A few days ago, my cultivation partner suddenly said that she wanted to go to the Hundred Lotus Sect of the Western Region to see the scenery there. She even asked me to accompany her."

---"Eh? Brother, there's something wrong with your cultivation partner~ Forget it, let's not talk about it. Let's drink!"

...

Of course, there were also some cultivation-related topics about Spring Phase spiritual energy. Feng Yu Die wandered the streets for nearly four hours and listened to more than twenty freelance cultivators or sect disciples talking about Ye Anping, but she did not hear what she wanted to hear.

She wanted to know where Ye Anping was at the moment so she could hurry over with Xiao Yunluo to meet him.

It had been half a month since she and Xiao Yunluo had left the Black Star Sect.

The roasted chicken that Ye Anping had specially prepared for her before he left was already finished...

As she walked down the street, she felt as if something was blocking her heart, unable to move up or down. She couldn't stop replaying in her mind the words she heard when she visited her master's grave.

---"He's dying soon. When he dies, won't Sister Pei belong to you?"

Feng Yu Die knew that this was what cultivators referred to as the 'inner demon'. She had heard Master Taixu say that the inner demon was terrible and could easily ruin people's cultivation.

However, it wasn't until she truly faced the inner demon that she directly experienced what the "terrible" her master spoke of meant.

That murmur disguised as her master's voice was like a nightmare, constantly repeating things that went against her heart.

Couldn't be touched, couldn't be cut with a sword.

Just like a ghost.

Even if she covered her ears, she couldn't make the voice stop.

Moreover, the voice appeared more and more frequently and became clearer and clearer...

"Master Ye... where are you..."

Feng Yu Die clenched her fists, feeling her head swelling and aching as if Xiao Tian was practicing fire magic inside. Suddenly, her vision blurred and her body tilted.

Crash---

"Freshly baked glazed porcelain~ affordable price... ah?!!"

Her left hand rested directly on a wooden stall beside her, but she accidentally swept a piece of colored glazed porcelain off it, breaking it into pieces.

The stall owner sitting on a small rattan chair nearby was startled.

The stall owner watched Feng Yu Die with a bamboo hat passing by his stall before suddenly leaning over and breaking one of his glass lamps. He thought she was here to mess things up.

However, after noticing Feng Yu Die was in the Core Formation stage, he did not dare to step forward. Instead, he stood rooted to the ground with a blank expression.

"You... Senior? What's wrong with you..."

Feng Yu Die looked at the glass fragments on the ground. She squinted her eyes and stood up straight, asking, "How much?"

"Uh... sixty spirit stones."

"Okay, I'll compensate you."

After taking out a small bag of spirit stones from her storage bag and tossing it to the stall owner, Feng Yu Die felt that it was best to go back to the inn to find Xiao Yunluo, so she turned and went back the way she came.

However, just as she turned around.

A figure dressed in a snow-white robe stood out from the pedestrians in front of her.

Amidst the crowd of people with colorful clothes, the figure seemed to emit a faint white light, deliberately drawing her attention.

The figure didn't seem to notice Feng Yu Die. His handsome face slightly turned toward her, revealing his deep purple eyes, but he just looked around and walked forward without turning his head.

"Ah... wait! Ye... Wait!"

Feng Yu Die, seeing the figure fade away, stretched out her hand and hurriedly chased after it.

"Wait!!!"

"..."

"You... wait a minute! It's me!"

"..."

Feng Yu Die felt that the passers-by around her were looking at her strangely, but she knew that it was not a good idea to shout "Young Master Ye" or her own name on the street.

She still remembered that Sister Xiao had said that Young Master Ye didn't want to be exposed in public.

Feng Yu Die shuttled through the crowd, trying her best not to bump into pedestrians. She quickly chased after it, but she found that the figure was walking faster and faster.

"Wait! Ye... Ah! Wait--"

With sweat all over her forehead, Feng Yu Die felt as if she had run dozens of miles, and her breathing had become uneven.

Seeing that the white figure was about to be drowned in the crowd on the street, she bit her lips slightly and, while ignoring the pedestrians around her, she waved her hand to push away those who were blocking her way.

Then, she condensed her spiritual energy to her feet and took a step, dashing forward.

The bamboo hat on her head was lifted due to the air resistance and was left behind. The silver hair coiled in it spread out like a waterfall.

Feng Yu Die bit her lip, and seeing him close, she quickly reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

But just when her palm touched his shoulder, the figure in Feng Yu Die's vision, as well as the shops on both sides of the street, all melted and dispersed in an instant like ink drops in clear water.

Then, a male voice with a strange tone came from beside her.

"Eh? Miss?"

"..."

"Miss, do you want to buy a painting? I'll give you the portrait you're holding for three hundred spirit stones. What do you say?"

"Painting..."

Feng Yu Die finally came out of her daze, and it was then that she noticed that she was standing in front of a wire frame with more than ten ink paintings hanging on it, and her right hand was holding one of them.

The man in the painting was very lifelike, and every detail was exactly like Ye Anping's face in her mind.

The middle-aged man smiled and continued, "It's a portrait of the Hundred Lotus Sect's Young Master. Recently, everyone has been talking about him. It just so happens that I painted Young Master Ye a while ago, so I wanted to sell the painting to earn some spirit stones."

"..."

"I guarantee that this painting is not fabricated, and Young Master Ye looks exactly like the person in this painting."

Feng Yu Die frowned and looked at Ye Anping's face. She suddenly felt very calm. The voice of the inner demon in her mind seemed to have been shocked and stopped speaking.

But...

Feng Yu Die sized up the stall owner and saw that he was only a mid-stage Foundation Building cultivator. Moreover, he looked quite old. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "Hmm... have you met the Hundred Lotus Sect's Young Master? Where was that?"

"It was a long time ago. The Hundred Lotus Sect's Patriarch once invited me to draw something for the Ye Clan's good fortune. I have also drawn the Hundred Lotus Sect's Young Master for the Eldest Miss of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect. Since the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect has become famous, there should be quite a number of people buying his portraits, so I came to set up a stall... Miss, you know what, I have sold quite a few recently, and basically all of them were bought by girls like you."

"..."

"Ahahaha... This beautiful young man from the Western Region is already a Core Formation cultivator at such a young age. Let me ask which beautiful woman in the world wouldn't yearn for him?"

Feng Yu Die pursed her lips and looked at the painting she was holding, then she simply nodded. "Well, I'll buy it."

Then, she directly took out three hundred spirit stones from her storage bag and handed them to the stall owner.

The stall owner immediately accepted it with a bow and cupped his hands with a smile. "Thank you for your support, thank you for your support!"

He then stepped forward and prepared to remove the painting from the frame.

However, at this moment, two masked men walked over and asked, "Boss, I heard that you have a portrait of the Hundred Lotus Sect's Young Master here? And that you even met him before? How about drawing him for us?"

The Hundred Lotus Sect Young Master's portraits had indeed sold quite well lately, but this was the first time the stall owner had seen male cultivators come to ask for it. Most male cultivators just looked at them and didn't buy them.

Moreover, the vibe of these two people was obviously not right. Although they wore two masks that could be considered friendly, their entire bodies exuded a hostile aura.

The stall owner sized up the two of them and hesitated for a moment before replying, "Uh... wait a moment, I'll help this lady pack first."

"Well..."

The two masked men looked toward Feng Yu Die, noticing her silver hair.

Feng Yu Die naturally saw that the two were looking at her.

Her silver hair was indeed very conspicuous, but these two people looked strange, and she immediately had the impulse to draw her sword and kill them.

However, Ye Anping's portrait calmed her down.

In fact, even if she didn't appear, these two people would probably come to buy Ye Anping's portrait.

In other words, it was better for her not to do unnecessary things, lest she accidentally ruin Young Master Ye's plan.

Let's just pretend to be a passerby...

"Boss, is the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect really as good-looking as in the painting?"

"Ah... yes." The painting stall owner replied, smiling. "I guarantee that it is definitely painted according to the model. Although it can't look like a real person, it is at least 90% similar."

Indeed... Feng Yu Die nodded as she looked at the painting.

"Then, is the real person more beautiful than the one in the painting?"

"If I were to say it, there would be indeed more spirit. After all, ink is dead, but people are alive."

"Very good. If I have the chance, I'll go to the Hundred Lotus Sect. If he doesn't look like it, I'll come back and ask for a refund."

"Of course, of course..."

The painting stall owner smiled and agreed. The two men seemed to have relaxed their vigilance when they heard this conversation. They went to sit on the chairs prepared by the stall owner and waited.

Feng Yu Die didn't look at them. She waited for the stall owner to wrap up the painting and cupped her hands in salute. Then, she turned around and mixed into the crowd. At the first turn, she rushed straight into a deserted alley where no one noticed her. She took out her spare bamboo hat and put it on, jumped onto the eaves, and rushed back to the inn over the roofs.

The painting stall was located in the eastern part of the city, whereas the inn she and Xiao Yunluo had booked was in the southern part, near the city gate.

Feng Yu Die paid attention to the surroundings to avoid being followed. She circled around for a while before landing on the roof of the inn.

Stepping on the tiles, she took out the portrait, slightly opened it, and looked at it in the light of the waning moon.

Perhaps it was because the owner of the painting stall was so good at fine brushwork that seeing the painting was like looking at the real man.

Looking at the portrait on the scroll, she felt like she was seeing Ye Anping himself. The fatigue and uneasiness accumulated along the way were swept away at this moment.

"Young Master Ye..."

Feng Yu Die's eyes showed a hint of tenderness, but when she recalled the conversations she had heard along the street, she tilted her head and couldn't help but wonder, ---Was Young Master Ye really that handsome?

In the past, she didn't think Ye Anping was particularly handsome, but it was either because she had been influenced by him or because she had been with him day and night for the past few years...

"Well, he does look pretty, especially when he roasts chickens for me, hehe..."

A faint blush appeared on her fair cheeks. Paired with a silly smile and some faint silver threads under her bamboo hat, it was as if spring had touched her face and all things were freshly born.

Feng Yu Die stood on the roof and stared at the painting with a silly smile for a while. Then, she rolled up the painting and put it back into her storage bag at her waist. She hung upside down, opened the window, and jumped in.

"Sister Xiao, I'm back..."

"Ah!!!"

A shriek startled Feng Yu Di, making her jump up like a cat.

Feng Yu Die looked toward the bed in horror, only to see Xiao Yunluo lying on the bed with a blushing face, hugging the quilt, and no one knew what she was doing. "Sister Xiao... what are you doing?"

"I..." Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and quickly hid something in her hand under the blanket. Then, she picked up the pillow and threw it at Feng Yu Die's face. "You idiot! Why don't you knock?! Why did you flip through the window?"

Puff---

Feng Yu Die didn't dodge. After receiving the pillow in her face, she took it in her hand and smiled.

"...I'll be careful next time. By the way! Sister Xiao, do you know how to dye your hair?"

"Dye... dye your hair?"

"Yeah." Feng Yu Die took off her hat and brought her hair in front of her. "I was almost discovered just now. My hair is too conspicuous."

"Discovered?"

"Well, I thought about it, we can't get on like that. Look at my silver hair and your hornet's nest, the two of us are too conspicuous when we walk the streets. Young Master Ye most likely doesn't know that we followed him here now, so we'd better lay low on the road!"

?

Xiao Yunluo was taken aback and touched the horns on her forehead, feeling that she was being scolded.

Feng Yu Die was right. They should indeed keep a low profile.

But!

"That makes sense, but the main problem is your hair! Others will find it strange if they see a hornet's nest on my head, but they won't be able to tell who I am. However, silver hair is rare, and your reputation is not small... When others see your hair, they would guess that you are the Second Idiot..."

"..."

Xiao Yunluo sat up and tugged at her skirt, then pointed at the dressing table in the room. "Sit there! I have something to dye your hair."

"Oh! Great~ Hehe..."

Feng Yu Die grinned and quickly sat down on the stool in front of the dressing table, scattering her hair behind her.

Xiao Yunluo walked behind her and saw the smile on Feng Yu Die's face in the bronze mirror on the table. Frowning, she asked, "You Second Idiot, what happened to you that made you so happy? You were so sad on the way here."

"Huh? Nothing~ I just... feel relieved."

"What do you mean by relieved?"

"Hehe~~ I won't tell you unless you treat me to roasted chicken."

Xiao Yunluo suddenly felt like she was a mother, and she was exhausted. She sighed, tapped her head gently, and took out a comb and a small bottle of hair dye from the side. "Tilt your head back!"

"Oh!"

"Don't stare at my face, close your eyes!"

"Oh!"

"...Have you heard anything about Anping?"

"No, but I saw someone waiting for him. Master Ye should have thought of this a long time ago, and since someone here in the city is waiting for him, I think Master Ye and Lianxue probably haven't arrived yet. So, shall we wait here too?"

Xiao Yunluo raised her eyebrows. "When did you become smarter?"

"I've never been stupid... Anyway, Sister Xiao, your face was so red just now. What were you doing?"

"...Reading the Book of the Great Dao."

"Oh~~"

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