Read Novel Full Chapter 128 - The Scene in the Painting (1)
Before it bloomed, they hadn’t recognized it, but now they realized that this flower tree was identical to the one in Gu Baiying’s Elysium Hall, the one that bloomed in winter.
“The Biyi Blossom…”
“The Biyi Bird, they do not fly unless together. When flying or resting, they are inseparable… they die and revive, always together.” Zanxing had only heard of the Biyi Bird before. In Duzhou, some wealthy cultivators often went to the market to buy these birds at high prices to give to their Dao companions as a good omen. However, it was said that these birds were very delicate and difficult to keep. One wondered if those cultivators felt unlucky when the birds died due to poor care after they brought them home.
The Biyi Blossom, as the name suggests, also symbolized love. Zanxing asked Gu Baiying, “Senior Uncle, the Biyi Blossom in your hall is maintained by illusion. This tree…” She looked up at the clusters of fiery red in the tree crown. “Is it also an illusion?”
“It’s not an illusion,” Gu Baiying’s eyes flickered. “This tree is real.”
“In this desolate wilderness, where there are no trees, how could there be a Biyi Blossom? Could it be planted by the owner of the thatched cottage?” Zanxing rubbed her chin. “But why does this place seem familiar to me?”
Gu Baiying remained silent. In the deep night, in the vast wilderness, the two of them stood under the tree with their heads raised. The distant stone mountain blurred into a shadow, the world was silent, and in the darkness, only this tree was bright and captivating, like an endless, magnificent dream.
Zanxing was so entranced by the sight that she didn’t realize she had been staring blankly. She felt as though the entire tree of Biyi Blossoms was about to take flight, swaying and fluttering towards her face. The next moment, Mimi suddenly let out a loud cry and leaped towards the tree. Zanxing snapped out of her daze, realizing it wasn’t the Biyi Blossoms that were moving, but something on the tree itself!
“Senior Uncle,” Zanxing said, “what’s up there?”
Gu Baiying swiftly brandished his spear, the embroidered bone flashing like a streak of silver. In an instant, it shot into the dense branches, knocking down a shower of red petals and leaves. Mimi’s claws grasped at thin air, but the lightning talismans clearly revealed the head poking out from among the branches.
A… chicken?
The chicken lowered its head and saw Zanxing and Gu Baiying. It seemed that it had grown accustomed to being alone in the wilderness. At the sudden sight of two strangers, it was so startled that it turned and tried to fly deeper into the tree’s crown. Gu Baiying narrowed his eyes and with a swift move, reversed his spear and poked the chicken’s behind with the spear’s shaft.
The chicken clucked frantically and landed in Gu Baiying’s hands.
Mimi jumped down from the tree, eyeing the chicken in Gu Baiying’s grasp eagerly. Zanxing also leaned in for a closer look. The chicken blinked its beady black eyes and held its head high with an air of indomitable pride.
The Taiyan Sect also had chickens, and their morning rooster, called General You Ri, would crow punctually every day, shaking the mountains with its calls. Zanxing remembered its beautiful red feathers and golden crest. In contrast, this chicken looked rather pathetic. Its comb was only half intact, its feathers were ragged and covered in dirt, and its tail was nearly bald, making it look like it had just been through a rough ordeal. With most of its feathers gone, the cold wind made its bare skin break out in goosebumps.
Gu Baiying held its wings in one hand, looking like a butcher weighing a market chicken. This menacing stance gradually tamed the once defiant chicken, which even pecked at Gu Baiying’s hand gently in a show of friendliness.
Zanxing sighed inwardly, thinking that even a chicken in a secret realm had learned to adapt to its circumstances.
Gu Baiying, holding the chicken, asked in confusion, “Why is there a chicken here?”
“It can’t be that the owner of this straw hut was originally a chicken, right?” Zanxing looked at its bald tail. “Or maybe someone cast a spell and turned the owner into a chicken?”
Gu Baiying: “…”
Incredulous, he asked, “What kind of strange things are in your head?”
Well, this is a world of cultivation, not a magical one. Zanxing was about to respond when she noticed something under the pitiful few feathers on the chicken’s chest. She reached out and found a wooden tag tied around the chicken’s neck with a piece of straw rope. The tag was narrow and long, only as wide as a little finger.
Three characters were neatly written on it: Bai Qie Ji
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Zanxing: “…”
The elegant and flowing handwriting on the tag matched the writing on the poems scattered on the table in the thatched cottage. It was undoubtedly the same person’s handwriting.
Zanxing thought for a moment and said, “If I’m not mistaken, this chicken should be the beloved pet of the owner of this hut. But… who in the world would name their pet ‘White Cut Chicken’?”
Was this a pet name? It sounded more like a dish name!
As soon as the words “White Cut Chicken” left Zanxing’s mouth, the chicken in Gu Baiying’s hands reacted as if it had been hit on a sensitive spot. It started struggling frantically. One of its wings slapped Gu Baiying’s face, splattering him with mud. Caught off guard, Gu Baiying let go, and the chicken let out a loud squawk, flapping its wings as it flew into the thatched cottage.
Mimi’s eyes lit up and it quickly gave chase.
Zanxing turned to look at Gu Baiying.
He wiped the mud off his face, clearly at the end of his patience, and gritted his teeth. “I’m definitely going to kill that chicken!”
When the two of them entered the thatched hut, they found the place filled with flapping shadows. Mimi seemed to take a special liking to this bald-tailed chicken. Back in Gufeng Mountain, it had ignored the rooster, General You Ri, but now it was enthusiastically chasing after this chicken’s tail.
Bai Qie Ji, on the other hand, was quite cheeky. It flew up to the beam, then jumped onto the wooden bed. Mimi, being plump and less agile than the chicken, was quickly worn out from the chase.
Zanxing: “…”
Seeing a Silver Moon Lion reduced to this state was truly pitiful.
She had seen enough of this chaos and was about to intervene when she noticed Bai Qie Ji flapping its wings and flying to the beam in the inner room. It leisurely pecked at the wood, as if taunting them.
Mimi, either too tired or simply disinterested, remained motionless at first. The chicken pecked at the wood a few more times, causing Mimi’s tail to twitch before it suddenly leapt up in a burst of energy.
Zanxing sighed, already predicting the outcome.
Unexpectedly, a loud crash echoed through the hut, filling Zanxing’s mouth with dust and causing the entire structure to shake.
Gu Baiying was also stunned.
Mimi, clutching the chicken, rolled to one side. Within the hut, a section of the earthen wall had suddenly collapsed, revealing what seemed to be a wooden panel torn open to expose its contents.
Through the billowing dust, a glimpse of an exquisite woman standing beneath a tree became visible. Her white dress fluttered in the wind, her long black hair cascading like threads of longing. With delicate hands, she played with flower buds, her eyes filled with boundless emotion, and her smile radiant. She gazed out from the painting, capturing the viewer’s heart with her allure.
It was a painting of a beautiful woman, hanging on the wall.
Footnotes
It means White Cut Chicken