Chapter 41

“The Valley of Fallen Blossoms?” Zixiu immediately cast about for the name, but nothing related came up. Having no time to think about this, he continued, “Senior Brother, we haven’t seen each other for so many years, and I…”

“Zixiu!” Before he could finish his words, the guard suddenly grabbed him by the arms with a complicated look in his bright eyes, seemingly struggling to restrain himself. “Zixiu, you, you…”

Seeing him get so emotional, Zixiu couldn’t help but feel anxious for him. “What the hell is wrong with my ‘Senior Brother?’” he wondered.

“Senior Brother, calm down! Just take your time.” However, to his surprise, the guard froze on the spot after a shudder at his words, as if he had been struck by lightning.

“What’s up?” Zixiu grew tense as well. Before he could raise his question, the guard had come back to his senses and he instantly withdrew his hands, looking panic-stricken. “My apologies, Zixiu. I shouldn’t have been so unruly, but I didn’t mean it. Please forgive me…”

“Unruly? What makes him think this way?” Zixiu stared at him blankly, but he didn’t forget to stop him from further apologizing. “Senior Brother, you don’t have to stand on ceremony.”

“!?” The guard sank into a trance again.

“Did I say anything wrong?” Zixiu wondered. When he looked at his ‘Senior Brother’ with widened eyes, he saw the other party staring at him in a daze as well.

After quite a while, to relieve the bizarre atmosphere, Zixiu picked up a conversation. “Senior Brother, my appearance must have changed a lot over the years, so how did you recognize me?”

But there was no response from his ‘Senior Brother’.

“Didn’t he hear me?” Zixiu thought, blinking his eyes. Disregarding the way the guard looked at him with unusual concentration, he repeated loudly, “Senior Brother, it has been so many years since…”

“Zixiu, no matter how much you’ve changed, I can always recognize you!” the guard suddenly interrupted him.

Zixiu was surprised by his answer, and from the look in his eyes and the way he spoke, Zixiu suddenly had a feeling that his ‘Senior Brother’ seemed to have a crush on him!

“Impossible! My eyes must be deceiving me, and I must have misheard! Liu Ziuxiu, do you think everyone is as shameless as that pervert? Wait… that pervert has never really taken a fancy to me…”

When Zixiu was chafing at his own filthy thoughts, the guard suddenly handed him a small porcelain box, which was the same one he had seen the night before.

“This is for you, Zixiu!”

Zixiu wondered what his ‘Senior Brother’ had given him the ointment for.

“I promised you that I was going to give you the ointment I concocted for the first time. Don’t you remember?”

“Huh?” Zixiu was even more puzzled.

“Zixiu, take care of yourself…” Before he could finish his words, the guard showed a sudden alert expression, and next, he stuffed the small porcelain box into Zixiu’s hand in haste.

“Zixiu, take care! I have to leave!” Hardly had his voice faded away when he disappeared.

Zixiu was left alone in the chamber, dumbfounded. After quite a while, he came back to his senses and his face turned pale. “Did he give me this as a hint that he would never come back? Senior Brother, please! You’re the last glimmer of hope I can cling on to!”

“Hey…” The rest of his words got stuck in Zixiu’s throat, as he suddenly saw Nangong Du showing up at the door!