Chapter 85 - Tired
Chapter 85 – Tired
After having dinner with Qi Qiqi, Xue Qilin returned to Heyun Dorm.
After crossing the long hallway and walking into the courtyard where her room is located, she saw the girl who disappeared throughout the afternoon.
Reflecting silver-white light, a bright sword blade whistles through the air rhythmically, as if a beautiful music composition.
Immersed in silver-white moonlight, dancing lightly, Shui Yuner draws one beautiful flower in the air after another with the practice sword in her hand.
She is practicing swordsmanship, the Merak Swordsmanship to boot.
Although she isn’t proficient in martial arts, but Xue Qilin’s memory isn’t bad.
After a short look, she realized that the girl is practicing the unique swordsmanship of the Merak Temple.
In order not to disturb the other party, Xue Qilin watched from the side.
The lass’s expression gradually turned into surprise.
The moves of the introduction to Merak Swordsmanship reproduced by Shui Yuner flow naturally.
Even though she is still a distance away from Situ Mutou, and her execution of the sword moves is somewhat reserved, but Shui Yuner’s is indeed performing the basic sword moves of Merak Swordsmanship. This is a testament to the girl’s learning ability.
After a while, the girl sheathed the sword and exhaled a long breath.
Xue Qilin immediately clapped her hands in praise and approached Shui Yuner.
“Little Yun you’re doing really well, your performance of Merak Swordsmanship is so vivid and colorful!”
Shui Yuner smiled back, silent.
The smile is slightly strained, but Xue Qilin didn’t notice it.
At this time, Xue Qilin suddenly recalled the earlier events.
“Little Yun, where did you go in the the afternoon? I looked for you.”
After quarreling with Liu Chengzong, in order to determine whether the eavesdropper was Shui Yuner, she looked around for the girl. She searched for the whole afternoon, almost traversed the entire outer temple, and even asked Nangong Mingming. But in the end, her efforts were in vain.
“Um… I had something to do.”
“Oh, so ah…”
She doesn’t know if it is a misconception or not, but Xue Qilin feels like Shui Yuner appears a bit strange, like she she doesn’t want to talk.
“By the way, you didn’t come back to the courtyard house all day?”
Shui Yuner trembled gently.
“… I didn’t.” She answered.
She really didn’t? Xue Qilin wondered. Although she often lacks manners and looks foolish, but that doesn’t mean she is stupid. Many times, she is just too lazy to think – no, she just isn’t used to suspect others.
However, if she delves deeper into it, it will make Shui Yuner feel distrusted.
Therefore, Xue Qilin asked no more, and chose to believe her.
The conversation stopped, and a silence between the two ensued.
“… If there’s nothing, then I’d like to practice some more.”
It was this sentence that broke the silence.
“Oh… okay, okay.”
Unable to adapt to Shui Yuner’s indifference, Xue Qilin doesn’t know how to react momentarily.
What happened to her?
“Little Yun, are you… in a bad mood?”
Feeling that Shui Yuner is dispirited, Xue Qilin asked, hesitant.
Shui Yuner shook her head, “No, just tired.”
Xue Qilin glanced at the sky. It’s already the hour of the rat [1].
Surprise welled up inside her. She didn’t know that she spent the whole evening enjoying Qi Qiqi’s “hospitality”.
“It’s late already. Little Yuner, you should go rest… Besides, you said you’re tired.”
Shui Yuner shook her head again, “No, I still want to practice.”
“Hey, don’t overdo it… Rest is also important.” Xue Qilin continued to persuade. She didn’t want to see Shui Yuner fall ill because of fatigue.
Shui Yuner shook her head, “I’ll practice some more.”
Why is she so … desperate? Before Xue Qilin got angry with the other party because of her words falling on death ears, she pondered this question.
There is a reason why Shui Yuner practices martial arts. She wants to get formidable personal strength, and as such, chose to practice martial arts.
Moreover, she seems eager and determined.
Xue Qilin knows this much.
But… why does she want to practice with the sword this hard? Does she think that magic has a requirement of the physique? If this is the case, then it’s not difficult to understand why Shui Yuner would be this hardworking.
“Little Yun, in fact, magic doesn’t have much requirements on the physique. So…”
The lass’s words were interrupted by a loud shout.
“I know!”
Startled, Xue Qilin shoulders jerked. She has never heard Shui Yuner shout like this.
“When have you ever taught me magic?” She asked in an interrogative tone.
Not expecting to be questioned by Shui Yuner, Xue Qilin was taken aback for a moment, and overlooked the other party refer to her as “you” instead of “little Senior Disciple Sister” [2].
Yes, she used “you”.
“… It’ll take some time. Some things have to be prepared first.” Xue Qilin explained a little.
Suddenly she felt that her words are too lackluster. Is it because she isn’t telling the truth from the beginning?
Perhaps yes, perhaps not.
If yes, then should she tell her everything?
But where should I start? Xue Qilin feels distressed about this.
She is sometimes too clumsy, especially so when dealing with people she cares about.
People in fact are unexpectedly incompetent. The more important a thing is, the more they care about it. But they often fail to grasp the main point, and are even at a loss about what to do, and lose themselves. They often forget what is most important.
More importantly, sometimes, hesitation is fatal.
“… You said it’ll take time. How long will it take?”
The girl suddenly smiled.
A bright and pure smile suddenly burst into bloom, and its brilliance dispelled everything…
But there is nothing, no emotion in Shui Yuner’s eyes.
They are empty, like dark night skies devoid of stars and clouds.
That’s an expression that can only be described with the word strange.
The smile and the eyes form a gap, a strong sense of incongruity that seems to transform into some kind unknown coldness giving off the creeps.
Her thoughts stagnant, Xue Qilin couldn’t respond. There is only the girl’s face in her eyes. As if the expression has some kind of evil power, she cannot avert her eyes.
“… Little Yun?”
The voice sounded unexpectedly hoarse, almost like a cry that was squeezed out from the throat.
It was like a bubble bursting. Although the voice was weak, but it unexpectedly succeeded in erasing the strange expression on the girl’s face.
With Shui Yuner back to normal, everything just now disappeared like a lie.
All that remains is just a picture engraved in her mind.
A picture that seems to be impossible to get rid off.
“Sorry, I’m tired.”
Shui Yuner showed a feeble smile that looks like it will disappear at any time.
Suddenly, Xue Qilin was afraid a little.
She doesn’t know what she was afraid of, she just has this feeling.
Is she afraid that Shui Yuner will disappear in front of her eyes? Perhaps.
I must say something. Xue Qilin thought deep inside.
“I have something to tell you…”
“I’m tired!”
Shui Yun’er interrupted the lass’s words.
As if proclaiming her existence amid a crowd, she shouted at the top of her lungs, emotional.
“I…”
… I’m really tired. Can I have a rest?
Keeping this sentence to herself, Shui Yuner turned around and walked to her room rapidly.
Without even taking her scabbard, she disappeared from Xue Qilin’s field of view.
Unable to adapt to Shui Yuner’s abnormal behavior, Xue Qilin could only watch the girl leave.
The lass missed the opportunity, the opportunity to call the figure to stop.
[1] – Hour of the dragon – 11 pm to 1 am
[2] – Take this sentence as example: ‘When have you ever taught me magic’. In general, Shui Yuner would have said in Chinese: ‘When has little Senior Disciple Sister ever taught me magic’. Which I in turn would have translated as: ‘When have you ever taught me magic, little Senior Disciple Sister’