Zanxing (Retranslated)

Extra 20 - The Sound of the Flute (2) — Qinghua x Gu Caiyu

Fairy Qinghua was not a well-liked figure in the cultivation world.

She was undeniably beautiful, and her cultivation level was exceptionally high, but her cold demeanor surpassed even that of Shaoyang Zhenren. While Shaoyang Zhenren was aloof, he would at least leave people some face when dealing with them. Qinghua was different—she seemed completely unfamiliar with the concept of “tact.” Many young talents from various sects had attempted to court her, but she rejected them all without a shred of politeness.

As a disciple of Sage Yushan, with her formidable cultivation, none of those so-called “young talents” dared to do anything to her. However, a few with lower moral standards, feeling their “masculine pride” wounded, began spreading malicious rumors about her. They claimed she was born without the ability to feel emotions and desires, branding her as some kind of freak. Over time, aside from a few allied with the Taiyan Sect, few dared to approach her.

Qinghua didn’t mind. Those people were too noisy, and she was happy to be left alone in peace.

However, while she could remain indifferent to other cultivators, she couldn’t just turn a blind eye to the children who had narrowly escaped from the jaws of death.

She rarely interacted with children in her life, and now an entire courtyard was filled with their wailing cries. For once, Qinghua, always so indifferent, looked a little at a loss.

Should she use a sound-silencing spell to quiet them down? But that would only scare them even more.

As she was pondering, a small child, covered in the blood of evil cultivators, stumbled toward her, arms outstretched as if wanting a hug.

Qinghua hesitated, looking at the child, her beautiful face devoid of any expression.

The child’s steps suddenly faltered. Seeing the cold expression on the woman’s face, he seemed frightened. His mouth quivered, and he burst into tears.

Qinghua: “…”

She knew she wasn’t popular with children, but she hadn’t realized she was scary enough to make one cry.

Just then, someone approached, picked up the crying child, and gently comforted him. Looking at Qinghua with a smile, he said softly, “Fairy, that’s no way to comfort a child.”

Qinghua looked up at him. Gu Caiyu, holding the child, moved with such ease and familiarity that, in no time, the sobbing child was quiet.

He carried the child into the courtyard and called the other children over, sitting them all down on the ground. From his Qiankun Bag, he pulled out a large handful of colorful candies, handing them out with a cheerful smile, one by one, to the children.

Qinghua was slightly taken aback.

Gu Caiyu’s Qiankun Bag never contained talismans, magical tools, or medicinal pills. Instead, it was filled with snacks and useless food items—something she had learned during their time in the Secret Realm of Li’er Country. On their journey together, while passing through trade pavilions, Gu Caiyu hadn’t bought any magical tools or spiritual herbs, but he had collected plenty of local snacks along the way.

It was as if he was out on a leisurely trip.

However, this also had its benefits. For instance, at this moment, the sweet candies helped these frightened children momentarily forget the terrifying events they had just experienced.

As the children quieted down, Gu Caiyu pulled out the purple flute from his waist. This seemingly ordinary flute was actually a formidable magic tool. In Heishi City, it had withstood the Vajra Bracelet of the demon clan beauty. Qinghua wasn’t sure what Gu Caiyu was about to do until he placed the flute against his lips and began to play a tune.

Qinghua was taken aback.

She had witnessed the power of this magic tool before, and it was no less potent than her Suihua Sword. But she hadn’t known that when used as a simple flute, it could produce such melodious sound.

Under the soft moonlight, a gentle breeze carried away the smell of blood in the courtyard. Amid the scattered debris, the children sat quietly, listening to the young man playing the flute.

As he played, his eyelashes drooped, and he wasn’t as noisy as usual. His robe, the color of early spring, swayed slightly in the wind, along with his hair ribbon, giving him an ethereal, jade-like appearance. He looked like an immortal who had mistakenly wandered into the mortal world, and his song seemed to soothe the suffering of the common folk.

He was always gentle.

The sound of the flute was enchanting, the tune unfamiliar, like a simple rural melody, evoking images of golden wheat fields and gentle smoke rising from chimneys. The music carried a calming magic, and as the children listened, their expressions began to show signs of sleepiness.

The feeling of drowsiness, like a warm breeze, crept in. When the flute music stopped, Gu Caiyu stood up and gently picked up the children one by one, laying them on the beds inside the house, carefully tucking them in.

He was remarkably patient, and his movements were gentle. Qinghua watched him thoughtfully, a hint of admiration rising in her heart. What had seemed like a chaotic and overwhelming situation was neatly resolved in just a short time in Gu Caiyu’s hands. He truly was capable.

The last child, the one who had earlier been frightened to tears by Qinghua, clung tightly to Gu Caiyu’s neck as he was placed on the bed, unwilling to let go.

It was said that this child had witnessed his friend being thrown into the furnace by the evil cultivators, a sight that had terrified him deeply. Although the flute had soothed him somewhat, he was still haunted by fear.

Gu Caiyu didn’t force him to let go. He let the child continue holding onto his neck and carried him back into the courtyard.

The corpses of the slain evil cultivators had been moved to the rear hall to avoid scaring the children. The living perpetrators, bound by the Immortal-Binding Cords, were tied up in the main hall, awaiting the sect’s people to come and deal with them.

These children had been abducted from various places, and once the sect’s people arrived, they would need to be sent back to their homes.

Qinghua sat down at the stone table in the courtyard, watching as Gu Caiyu approached, still holding the child.

His movements were gentle, and the child seemed to find a sense of security in his arms, curling up like a little kitten and falling into a peaceful sleep.

Qinghua glanced at him, paused, and her tone was a bit softer than before. “You’re good at comforting children.”

Receiving the compliment, Gu Caiyu’s expression became somewhat smug. He curled his lips and said, “Of course. Since I was young, children have always liked me. People say that if I ever have kids, I’ll definitely be the most loving father.”

Fairy Qinghua responded indifferently, “Oh.”

“And what about you?” Gu Caiyu, not seeing the admiration he had hoped for in her eyes, moved closer and asked, “Does the fairy like children?”

“No,” Qinghua answered coldly.

“Why not?” he asked. “Children are so adorable. You must have been very charming as a child. When you cried as a kid, could a piece of candy cheer you up?”

Qinghua didn’t reply.

She came from a declining family of cultivators and had shown great spiritual aptitude from a young age. When her family was in decline, they suddenly had a prodigious child with immense talent in cultivation, so they put all their effort into nurturing her. Before she was taken by Sage Yushan, Qinghua’s life consisted of nothing but cultivation.

Her elders disciplined her strictly, constantly reminding her that she was the last hope of the entire family. If she could become a disciple of a major sect, the whole family could rise again. Carrying the burden of her family’s hopes was always heavy.

As a child, Qinghua practiced diligently every day. The other children in the family didn’t play with her because she was “the hope.” Her elders were very devoted to her training. If she didn’t meet their expectations, they didn’t scold her. They just looked at her with disappointment, which inevitably made her feel guilty.

She rarely cried. The clan leader often said that the path of cultivation was lonely and arduous. If she couldn’t endure such hardship, how could she explore the Great Dao? When Qinghua was young and couldn’t help but cry, no one would wipe her tears, and no one would give her candy or patiently comfort her.

Tears couldn’t improve her cultivation, and anything that didn’t improve cultivation was considered a waste of time.

That’s how she grew up, until the age of twelve, when she made a stunning impression during a sect selection and was noticed by Sage Yushan, who took her back to the Taiyan Sect.

Sage Yushan was a peculiar person, quite different from what her elders had told her. He was an incredibly powerful cultivator but loved doing “trivial” things. He would plant flowers and herbs from seeds he found, spend months working in a tavern at the foot of the mountain just to learn how to cook a signature dish, read storybooks, and listen to folk tunes. He lived life to the fullest and wanted his disciple, Qinghua, to do the same.

Unfortunately, Qinghua let his good intentions go to waste.

Perhaps because she had been taught from a young age that everything apart from cultivation was a waste of time, Qinghua didn’t enjoy leisure. In fact, she didn’t even know what “enjoyment” was. She once told Gu Caiyu that she cultivated to protect the people, but sometimes Qinghua wondered if she herself was also one of those people. Yet, she couldn’t even make herself happy.

There were times when she envied Gu Caiyu. Gu Caiyu was like Sage Yushan—they both could find joy in the mundane world. But not her. Perhaps they were right—she was indeed a misfit, incapable of experiencing the simple pleasures that others did.

A person who doesn’t understand joy leads a dull life.

“Fairy?” Gu Caiyu’s voice called from beside her.

Qinghua snapped back to reality and said calmly, “I didn’t cry when I was a child.”

“How is that possible?” Gu Caiyu exaggeratedly gasped, “Didn’t you have anything to be sad about as a kid?”

Sadness? Perhaps there was, but it was too long ago. She lowered her eyes. “I don’t remember.”

Gu Caiyu fell silent.

The evening breeze blew, ruffling the hair of the child in his arms. The strands tickled the child’s face, causing the child to frown and make soft murmurs. Gu Caiyu came back to his senses, gently patting the child’s back, softly singing, “The moonlight shines, planting ginger, ginger grows eyes, planting bamboo, bamboo blooms, planting melons…”

He always had many nursery rhymes at hand, and when he calmed down to comfort children, he was both patient and tender. His voice, melodious and soothing, seemed to travel through time, as if comforting the young Qinghua who once cried alone in the vast, empty chambers of her family while training in solitude.

He sang for a long time, and Qinghua listened for a long time.

A candy wrapped in red paper appeared in front of her.

Qinghua was slightly startled.

He didn’t look at her, his attention focused entirely on the child in his arms. Lowering his voice as if afraid of waking the child, he said softly, “It’s alright if you don’t remember. From what I see, Fairy, you’re probably only fifteen or sixteen, still practically a child in our cultivation world. After dealing with those vile demonic cultivators today, the children all got candy as compensation. Since everyone gets a share, you shouldn’t be left out, either.” Seeing that she didn’t take the candy, he simply placed it on the stone table and smiled at her. “I’ll play the role of your elder today and coax the little one, alright?”

This man was always full of nonsense. She couldn’t possibly be “fifteen or sixteen” anymore, but Gu Caiyu said it so sincerely that it was hard to get angry.

He gently brushed the strands of hair from the child’s face and stood up. In a soft voice, he said, “The little one is asleep now. I’ll take him to bed. Fairy,” he winked, “don’t forget to smile.”

As he carried the child toward the house, Qinghua inwardly scoffed. Did he really think of her as a child, trying to win her over with a piece of candy? How absurd.

She picked up the candy wrapped in red paper and glanced at Gu Caiyu’s retreating figure. His movements were light, and the child clung tightly to his neck. Gu Caiyu carefully stepped over the threshold, extending his arm slightly to shield the child from the wind.

Ding—

The faint sound of a bell rang out. The sound was so soft that it was quickly drowned out by the wind, and Qinghua didn’t notice.

After a long while, she clenched the candy in her palm and suddenly let out a small, quiet laugh.

She had forgotten to mention that his flute playing… was quite beautiful.