Chapter Ninety-One: Cling to Me, Cling to Me, Cling Cling Cling

The ancient Master Gu Mo’s expression shifted again and again, as though storm clouds were rolling through his face.

“Enough, husband. Do not be angry anymore.”

The woman in green smiled softly and reached out, lowering the hand Gu Mo had raised.

“Qing’er?”

As if unwilling to let the matter rest, the ancient Master Gu Mo turned his head and looked at his young wife with puzzled eyes.

Meeting his bewildered expression, the woman in green leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words. Then she turned a bright smile on me, while her husband, Gu Mo, frowned deeply and stared at me with an inscrutable look.

The way those two looked at people was truly terrifying. My heart thudded anxiously as I glanced left and right, too afraid to meet either of their eyes.

“Little Fish, let’s go home.”

With that, Violet Lotus stepped away first, leaving on his own.

“Oh, all right, Master.”

I answered and turned to hurry after him. I had only gone a few steps when the woman in green spoke again behind me.

“Now that night has fallen, traveling in the mountains is inconvenient. If the two of you are not in a rush, you may stay at my humble home for the night. After breakfast tomorrow morning, you can set out for your mountain gate. What do you say?”

As soon as she finished, the chirping of insects rose again in the pear orchard. Moonlight spread across the ground, lending the night an even greater stillness and enchantment.

I knew her words came only from kindness. Yet since Violet Lotus had not turned back, nor answered her, I did not dare agree on my own.

I had turned, meaning to offer her a smile and keep her from taking offense at Violet Lotus, but my eyes accidentally met her husband’s. Those dark, ink-black eyes held no warmth at all, and they were truly frightening. I could not help patting my chest. When the woman in green noticed me and smiled gently, I could not help waving back.

“Come on, Little Fish.”

I did not know when Violet Lotus had come back to my side. After uttering those words, he once again set off ahead.

Under the soft glow of lantern light, the woman in green stood beneath the pear tree with a tender smile, watching us with amused eyes. Beside her stood her husband, that icy-faced man, looking unwilling and displeased, as though everyone were beneath his notice. From the expression on his face, I truly could not tell whether he welcomed us or did not welcome us at all.

The next day, after breakfast, Violet Lotus and I set out on the road back to Spirit Cloud Mountain. Unlike our journey here, the spirit crane had been taken away yesterday, and so we could only walk back. He was light as a swallow and swift as an arrow; I, on the other hand, was panting and exhausted, stumbling along behind him until I was nearly too weak to stand.

“Master, please slow down, just a little. Wait for Little Fish.”

When we passed a stretch of bamboo grove and came upon a large rock, I could no longer bear it and called out to him at last. Dragging my aching legs, I slowly made my way to the stone and plopped down on it.

Violet Lotus stopped and turned back to look at me. Seeing me resting on the rock and not taking another step, a trace of confusion appeared between his brows. He parted his lips and asked, “Little Fish, what is this? Why have you suddenly stopped walking?”

I lifted a hand and hammered at my swollen calves, then looked up to watch him slowly walk toward me, and pleaded in a small voice, “Master, we’ve been traveling for so long, and we haven’t stopped to rest in ages. Little Fish is tired, hungry, and thirsty, and my legs hurt terribly. I really can’t walk any farther.”

Having said that with a pained expression, I puckered my lips and looked at him miserably.

“If you cannot walk, then rest here for a while first.”

Coming near, he also sat down on the rock, reached out, and pulled the water flask from my waist, shaking it in his hand. With a sigh, he said, “Stay here and do not wander off. I will be back shortly.”

“Where are you going? Master, where are you going?”

Seeing him turn to leave, I suddenly felt that something was wrong. At this moment, could he be planning to use fetching water as an excuse to hide in the woods alone and leave his poor disciple behind, sneaking off back to Spirit Cloud Mountain by himself?

If that were truly the case, I would have to stay right on his heels.

Just as I clung to his leg and rubbed against him, trying to think of a reason that would make him take me along to fetch water, a blast of cold wind suddenly swept through the bamboo grove.