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”When you have learned to love, you will learn to hate. And I am glad I have learned.” Zhangsun Wuji smiled lightly as he stared at her lovingly.
Embarrassed, Meng Fuyao could not help but turn away. But at that moment, she suddenly recalled something. ”I remember you practice a form of art that can remove one's memories and control them. Could it be…”
Zhangsun Wuji smiled gently. ”Fuyao, sometimes you are indeed intelligent.”
She paused, and then said, ”Zhangsun Wuji, I have never been one to inquire deeply into things that people do not tell me. That's why I have never asked about your birth and the peculiar things about you all this while. But do you really intend to not tell me anything if I do not ask?”
Zhangsun Wuji placed his bowl down and sat down beside her. He held her hand in his palm as their knees touched and gently said, ”Fuyao, I have already told you what I should, but for the things that I did not, it is because knowing them will do you more harm than good.”
A quiet sigh escaped his lips. ”I think it would be better for me to make a trip to Fu Mountain…”
”No need!”
From afar, a woman's voice could be heard. The voice seemed to ring right beside their ears, yet at the same time, it seemed to have come from the other end of the word. The voice sounded…”empty”, with the intonation of every word the same.
Zhangsun Wuji's gaze changed ever so slightly, and he pushed Meng Fuyao away. He then placed his hand on the white stone table.
What followed was a crack appearing on the white table.
The crack came, without a notice or sound. Initially, it was like a light slit across the table. But gradually, the crack deepened, and like a blade, made its way towards the direction of Zhangsun Wuji, inching closer to the eight treasure lotus soup.
The woman's satirical laughter resounded in the air. It was a peal of laughter voided of any joy, yet, the voice was now more alluring than before. ”Senior Brother, you certainly are enjoying yourself. I have come from afar, are you not going to treat me to a bowl?”
Zhangsun Wuji tapped his finger on the table. That crack that was continuously expanding stopped right beside the bowl. He lifted one of his eyebrows and commented, ”Tai Yan, you've never been one to snack.”
”An occasional snacking is surely fine. Just look at this lotus soup, what kind of exceptional, sacred soup this must be for the Senior Brother who has distanced himself from the worldly affairs and emotions to enjoy this soup being fed to him as he overlooks the beautiful scenery?”
In her meandering, the crack once again extended.
With his finger, Zhangsun Wuji smoothened over the crack and in an unperturbed tone, said, ”Merely a commoner's taste. It definitely is not something that you will take a fancy of, lest it taints your sophisticated palate.”
”Would I be any more sophisticated than Senior Brother? That genius that even I have to look up to?” Her tone was filled with unmistakable scorn, removing any bit of allure she had and replacing it with mockery. ”So, you can drink it but I can't?”
In her very last word, her voice cracked as it turned into a high-pitched shriek that reverberated, splitting open the bowl.
The bowl broke apart, yet, not a single drop of soup spilled out. Zhangsun Wuji had lifted his hand the moment Tai Yan raised her voice and swiftly gathered the soup, even maintaining its original shape without spilling a single drop.
Zhangsun Wuji stared at the soup, with a hint of weariness in his eyes. He fixed his cold gaze at the corner of the roof and said, ”You can have it. Not only this but whatever I can get, you can get too. I told this to our teachers years ago. So, right now, you may leave.”
”Why should I leave?” Following Zhangsun Wuji's gaze, a tiny figure appeared at the corner of the roof. A ball of light-pink blending with the moon, looking so soft and fluffy. It also resembled a ball of mimosa silk tree flowers, causing a mismatch between the alluring, mature and cynical voice that they had heard. But there was absolutely no doubt that the voice belonged to her as she shouted, ”Zhangsun Wuji. I hate when you do this. I told you I don't want you to let me, and you do not have the right to let me!”
Just as she finished her sentence, with a 'bam', the stone table instantly shattered into pieces. The fragments danced in the air, initially slowly, then with a flash, they gathered together, forming a long snake heading straight for Zhangsun Wuji's forehead.
Zhangsun Wuji placed his hand in front of Meng Fuyao to prevent her from being injured by the fragments. Then, he stretched out his fingers and slashed, silently cutting the ”stone snake” into two.
But that ”stone snake” divided into another section and reassembled itself swiftly. Suddenly, it transformed into a stone fan, and as the woman flicked her wrist, the fan swung back and forth, attacking Zhangsun Wuji.
Zhangsun Wuji waved one of his hands, and the bowl of soup became strings of pearls flying in the air. Those ”pearls” became a strand of mala beads at the tip of his finger. The pearls knocked against the fan and shattered into dust.
”Since you want it so much, I'll let you try,” he said coldly.
Tai Yan snorted. With a command of a finger, those white stone fragments immediately realigned themselves, transforming into multiple things; a butterfly, the clouds, the storm and the legendary dragon that resided in the deep sea.
Regardless of angle, aggression or size, Zhangsun Wuji was able to counter them all with a bit of soup. Unlike Tai Yan, he did not conjure up an array of forms but instead used the beads of soup in a different formation to defend.