Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Wanting a Kiss to Death
Qin Yu tossed Ah Da next to the incense burner and strode into the bathroom, his silhouette tall and straight like a pine, his deanor noble and distinguished. He did everything calmly and unhurriedly, never showing the slightest sign of panic.
Ah Da’s gaze secretly followed him in, not retracting until she could no longer see him. Biting her lip, she sighed softly. After all the turmoil tonight, the food she had eaten had digested, leaving an inexplicable emptiness in her stomach.
Did the Bronze Sword make it back?
Ah Da looked up in search of her little backpack and saw her cloth bag indeed on the couch at the end of the bed. She surveyed the placent of items around her and quickly mapped out a feasible route.
Ah Da leaped from the bedside table onto the bed, and finally reached the couch with ease, pulling out her phone from the backpack. She discovered that Su Qingtong had sent her a couple of WeChat ssages over the course of two days.
Bronze Sword: Have you arrived ho?
...
Bronze Sword: There was sothing I forgot to tell you today. Didn’t you say you wanted to et Little Pink Bottle and Jade Pot? Originally, I was free tomorrow, but unfortunately, with the way you are now, it’s not good for you to go out (laughs). Let’s wait for seven days later, attaching a photo of them.
Ah Da’s palm pressed on the screen, and the photo enlarged; an transparent glass display case, with Little Pink Bottle and Jade Pot each resting on a white silk matted groove, their bodies polished to a shine.
The triangular gap on Little Pink Bottle matched the mory precisely. Through the screen, Ah Da almost saw it chirping and speaking excitedly about the history of its gap—talking about “twists and turns” and “shocking conventional norms”—when in fact, it was just a little accident during transport that chipped off a piece.
In sight of objects, deep friendships co to mind; at this mont, Ah Da’s yearning for them peaked. Fortunately, from what she could see in the pictures, they seed to be doing well, living in better conditions than in the old man’s house before.
Ah Da called Su Qingtong.
Su Qingtong laughed heartily, “You don’t have to worry about those two. They’re living the good life now, holding official positions, comfortably lying in the museum’s showcase. Every day at least a thousand people co to see them, take photos of them, and praise their beauty. They’re practically dying of vanity.”
Ah Da was genuinely happy for them from the bottom of her heart, “Little Pink Bottle always used to say how boring everyday life was. Now that it has so many people looking at it every day, it must be over the moon happy.”
Su Qingtong looked down at the myriad lights below the mountain, her face etched with helplessness, and sighed, “Happy? The last ti I visited, they were both completely slacking off. They even told they didn’t want to strive any more, they just wanted to enter retirent early. I an… they’ve forgotten who vowed to cultivate into human form. It’s only been a few good days, and they’ve already abandoned all their principles.”
Already missing them, upon hearing these words, Ah Da beca even more impatient to visit the museum and see them. She wondered what their reaction would be to her current appearance.
Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Su Qingtong guessed her thoughts instantly and said with a radiant smile, “Relax, what’s the rush? They’re right there in the Kyoto Museum, not going anywhere. It doesn’t matter if you visit a few days later—unless you want to use your current little child appearance to see them. They would definitely laugh much harder than I would.”
“Then forget it,” Ah Da mused. Naturally, a reunion should be greeted in the finest manner. She anticipated the scene of eting with them, “Do I need to prepare anything to go to the museum?”
Su Qingtong said, “You’ll need an ID card and to make an appointnt. Send your ID later, and I’ll take care of it.”
“That’s fantastic, thank you so much, Sister Bronze Sword!” Ah Da was so moved her eyes brimd with tears. Bronze Sword had always been incredibly reliable; she could handle anything. If Bronze Sword were here, Ah Da would surely hug her and give her a big kiss.
“Saying thank you to , Little Incense Burner, who do you think I am? Punish you to say it again,” Su Qingtong expressed dissatisfaction.
Ah Da’s heart felt warm, her eyes curved into crescents as she lay next to her phone and giggled, “You are the best, most powerful Bronze Sword in the whole wide world, capable of anything!”
“Good girl; such sweet talk. Alright, from now on I’ll take you under my wing,” Su Qingtong felt a wave of contentnt. She now kind of understood why people online say that girls are treasures, daughters are like little cotton-padded jackets; such soft, mushy little girls—how could anyone not love them?
She wanted to smother her with kisses.
Ah Da’s smile lingered as she was about to speak, when suddenly a male voice ca from the other end of the phone, sounding both distant and familiar. It seed like Yao Qingzhi.
Had Bronze Sword not left, staying overnight on Lingcheng Mountain?
Yao Qingzhi stood outside the window, looking at Su Qingtong and said, “Rule number twenty-one of Lingcheng Mountain: Lights must be turned off by 8:30 to avoid unnecessary waste.”
Su Qingtong was speechless and choked, “What kind of stupid rule is that, turning off the lights at 8:30? Don’t you have any nightlife?”
“Oh, I forgot, you guys are a bunch of slly Taoists, you probably don’t know what nightlife is.”
Su Qingtong hurled insults mixed with sarcasm, but Yao Qingzhi remained unmoved, his face an unchangeable iceberg.
“You can choose not to stay here, no one is forcing you.”
Su Qingtong gritted her teeth, “Yao Qingzhi, you wouldn’t be singling out and deliberately making things hard for , would you?”
“I’m not that bored,” said Yao Qingzhi.
Su Qingtong stared at him, frustrated that Yao Qingzhi was a complete block of wood, utterly clueless about courtesy and consideration, only knowing how to stick to rules. He might as well spend his whole life with Lingcheng Mountain’s damn rules.
She should never have expected anything from him!
Su Qingtong was overtaken by a fit of anger, her head pounding with pain, “How about I give you money? Just na your price for one night.”
“Three hundred,” Yao Qingzhi said unapologetically, “That’s not just for the electricity, but also includes the room and dinner. Three hundred, according to the cost of living in Capital City, is not much.”
“Three hundred it is, now get lost,” Su Qingtong said explosively, slamming the window shut right in front of him.
The phone call returned to silence, Ah Da’s mouth slightly agape, her mind filled with surprise. This was the first ti she had seen Bronze Sword back down. From the ti she knew her, Bronze Sword had always been strong-willed and never let herself be taken advantage of. If soone wronged her a little, she would pay it back threefold.
From the conversation just now, Ah Da could tell that she had been giving in step by step, her attitude towards Yao Qingzhi was just too different.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Ah Da asked, “Bronze Sword, did you know Master Yao from before?”
Su Qingtong hid behind the window, her pale face concealed in the shadows. Hearing Ah Da’s voice, she quickly wiped her eyes and suppressed the emotions stirring in her heart.
“Why would you say that?”
Ah Da hesitated for a mont, then expressed her concern, “Your voice is hoarse—did you cry?”
“No, I just got too worked up during the argunt and hurt my throat,” Su Qingtong said as she walked over to the desk, picked up a cup, and poured down a gulp of cool tea, which sowhat sobered her up.
“Alright, it’s getting late, you should get so sleep.”
Ah Da sensed sothing was off in her mood but didn’t know how to comfort her. Bronze Sword had never shared her past and experiences with her, and it was sothing she had always deliberately avoided.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, but rember to let know if you need anything. I’m here to help,” Ah Da said earnestly.
Su Qingtong felt a warmth inside her heart. The knots inside her began to loosen because of those words, and she said, “Don’t worry, I was just reminded of so things from the past, but rest assured, I’ve already let go of all that.”
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