A Match Made in Heaven Chapter 7

佳偶天成 (A Match Made in Heaven) by 十四郎

Chapter 7
Things on Qian Qiao's Mind

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On the third floor of the restaurant, a bamboo screen blocked off a private room with jade walls drenched in the fragrance of wine. Lu Qian Qiao pushed aside the bamboo screen and started—Mei Shan Jun was gone. Only a stranger was left in the room, his figure reclining at a slant at the table as he poured himself wine. When the two people suddenly burst into the room, he was neither surprised nor angered. He only lightly smiled.

"Ah…" Xin Mei didn't know whether to feel grateful or otherwise. Lord Mei Shan wasn't here, and the person in front of them was named… Fu Jiu Yun, was it?

"Mei Shan has already escaped." Fu Jiu Yun spoke leisurely, looking as if he was watching a play. "You both arrived just a moment too late."

Lu Qiao Qian didn't waste his words, and he turned around to leave. However, Fu Jiu Yun spoke up again behind him, "Wait a just moment. What did you need from him?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

The bamboo screen flashed. They were already outside.

"I know where he lives."

A single, un.o.btrusive sentence stopped the tracks of the frosty and austere man on the other side of the bamboo screen. Fu Jiu Yun peeked outside of the bamboo screen, smiling as if he couldn't care less. "Just agree to one condition, and I will tell you where he lives."

~

Flower petals blew in through the window by the spring breeze. Xin Mei couldn't help by yawn a couple of times. Fu Jiu Yun sitting across from her spoke in a gentle voice, "Don't move yet. I'm not finished drawing."

She could only freeze up her entire body in the pose again—standing in front of the window, grasping a stem of peach blossoms with a smile that now pained her cheeks.

They had just finished negotiating the conditions. Xin Mei had been all prepared for them to duke it out while she would find an opportunity to escape in the midst of their fight. Little did she know that Fu Jiu Yun would point at her and say, "I want this young lady to be a model for a drawing. When I'm done, I'll tell you where Mei Shan lives."

Xin Mei was utterly speechless.

Lu Qian Qiao sat across from Fu Jiu Yun, holding a wine cup and quietly looking at the spring scenery outside the window. Lost in his thoughts, a couple of flower petals fell into his wine. Without paying any attention, he drank the wine with the petals.

"I heard…" Fu Jiu Yun suddenly spoke up in the silence, "In the lands in the Far West, there is an ancient, pureblooded berserker clan. With eyes the color of deep red and extraordinary silhouettes, they are an extremely proud people who are notoriously difficult to get close to. All clan members, no matter the gender, have to undergo an extremely dangerous crisis once they turn the age of 25. The majority of the clan members die at age 25. I wonder if this is true."

Lu Qian Qiao did not respond.

"Since the ancient times, the berserker clan had unsparingly contributed to the great war between the G.o.ds and the devils. Because of their efforts, the G.o.ds have always bestowed their favor upon the berserkers. It's a pity that today we live in times where divinity and magic is kept a secret from the world. Without the protection of the G.o.ds, the berserker clan has gradually died off, and the age 25 crisis has become practically fatal. As to the berserker clan… they're probably fairly troubled about this situation, aren't they?"

Lu Qian Qian finally moved. He put down his cup, and his voice was calm.

"What is the meaning of you speaking of this to me?"

Fu Jiu Yun smiled. "No particular meaning. It's just that I am unlike Mei Shan. I don't understand these mysteries at all. As for what happens when a berserker who is half-human turns 25, I'd be even more mystified. For these questions, you are going to have to ask Mei Shan."

After Fu Jiu Yun finished speaking, he clapped his hands. "Where is Madame Qin? Bring in more wine and some music."

A beautiful woman entered the room from behind the bamboo screen. She poured wine to the brim in the cups of the three people and then dismissed herself. In a moment, the vibrating strings of a zither flowed like a stream of water, washing into the listless atmosphere inside the private room.

Her dad told her once, hedonistic guys who spend their money on women and drinks are all bad apples. Xin Mei disdainfully rolled her eyes.

Fu Jiu Yuan knocked on the low table. "Excuse me. Young lady over there, please refrain from pulling on your eyelids. It is unsightly."

AHHH! She REALLY wanted to throw herself out the window!

Seeing the sunset, Fu Jiu Yun finally finished drawing his picture. He was pretty satisfied with it, and after smiling at it for a while, he waved Xin Mei over. "Come take a look."

Dragging an aching leg, Xin Mei approached him to glance over the picture. She couldn't help but be shocked.

This drawing of a great beauty with her head held high and her chest thrown back, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence—who was she?!

Fu Jiu Yun grinned, pleased with himself. "You are still really young. One could say that you have practically no presence. Yours truly kindly added two years to the woman in this picture. As you grow up, make this woman your goal, alright?"

Xin Mei was so moved that her eyes teared up. "Even though you're such an evil person… Who knew you could draw so beautifully! It's so amazing!"

Fu Jiu Yun paused in the middle of handing over the drawing, and he asked with a nice smile, "…What did you just say?"

"It's so amazing!"

"The phrase before that."

"Who knew you could draw so beautifully!"

"The one before that."

"You're such an evil person."

Fu Jiu Yun nimbly folded up the drawing, returned it inside his sleeve, and began to see the visitors out of the private room with waning enthusiasm. "We'll finish up here today. Mei Shan lives at the House of Mei Shan on the southern side of the Bai Tou Mountain. Look for him yourselves."

What's wrong with him? Did he start to feel unwell? Xin Mei worriedly scratched the back of her head as she closely followed Lu Qian Qiao on the way down the stairs.

Fu Jiu Yun turned to ask Madame Qin. "Do you have a mirror?"

Madam Qin handed him a mirror with a blushing face. Fu Jiu Yun stared looked at his reflection from the front and from the side. He looked at himself from all angles, even from the top.

Exactly which part of him was evil?

What a depressing problem…

~

Lu Qian Qiao walked extremely fast. After leaving the restaurant, he picked a small road heading south and took off. Xin Mei couldn't help by jog after him down the small road. As she ran, she ma.s.saged her tummy. She was hungry… but this inconsiderate Riding Wh.o.r.es General was definitely not going to be kind enough to let her eat something.

During times like these, she had to depend on herself.

Xin Mei's eyes were sharp. Seeing that there was a baked pastry stall on the side of the road and how the vendor was neatly stacking freshly baked pies that were still steaming, Xin Mei adroitly reached out with one hand to grab four pies as she threw down some coins with the other. Being that she was still dragged forward by the invisible force, she shouted behind her as loud as she could, "I paid!"

Lowering her head to bite into her pies, she discovered they happened to be authentic duck fat pies. This baker was pretty generous. She chowed down three in one go. When she was finished, she was left with oily hands, and as she was trying to find a handkerchief, she suddenly caught sight of Lu Qian Qiao's sleeve fluttering in front of her… it looked like… it looked like the cloth was pretty soft…

Quietly taking ahold a piece of Lu Qian Qiao's gown, she vigorously wiped her hands on the cloth. Just as she was about to lower her head to wipe her mouth, he suddenly stopped. Xin Mei couldn't brake herself in time and she slammed painfully into his back, bouncing backwards a couple of steps from the force of impact, and then was harshly yanked forward by the Demon Binding Rope still in his grip. In the end, he had to help straighten her up.

Xin Mei raised her head to find herself standing in front of an inn. She covered her face in shock. H-H-He… Were they about to undergo that clichéd experience of a tense and sensual evening alone together in a hotel room?!

No! This fellow was about to force her into doing stuff. She was starting to see his tastes! She needed to watch out, be on guard….

Lu Qian Qiao glanced at her and saw all the odd and changing expressions on her face. He indifferently said, "I know what you're thinking."

Eh? Xin Mei's poor little heart started beating wildly…

He smiled and continued with a mocking tone, "But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."

He continued to drag her and they continued to walk and walk… and then they exited the town.

~

This guy was so cold and inflexible, it was no wonder that the Emperor sent him to guard the Imperial Mausoleum. Xin Mei held back hot tears as she squatted in the outskirts of an old forest in the mountains, trying to build a campfire. Lu Qian Qiao tied the Demon Binding Rope to the trunk of an old tree that was as thick as ten human bodies standing together. Unless she had G.o.d-like strength that could move mountains… otherwise she was going to have to sit there obediently and make her little campfire.

By the time Lu Qian Qiao returned with his waterskin filled with fresh water, the campfire was already burning healthily. He took an unremarkable-looking sack hanging from his waist, and from inside the sack, he retrieved an iron frame, a small iron pot, some noodles, some dried meat, and some eating utensils like bowls and chopsticks. Xin Mei stared dumbly.

She had heard this treasured object, these so-called cosmic pouches. Several hundred years, an immortal from the country of Zhou Yue invented them. The pouches appearances were nothing to speak of, since they looked like really worn money bags, however, inside each was a limitless storage s.p.a.ce. In the immortal's lifetime, he completed not even ten cosmic pouches… other than the one in the Palace of Qiong Guo, the rest were supposedly lost forever. How unexpected it was that Mr. Face Paralysis owned a treasure like this.

Lu Qian Qiao poured water into the pot and put it in the fire. He kneaded the noodles and then tossed some into the water as a little lump, following it with some wild herbs and dried meat. He did all of this very naturally, very nimbly, as if it was some every day thing that he had done thousands of times.

Maybe he was the magnificent and renowned General Biao Ji, or maybe he was a half-blooded berserker, or maybe he was a wolf who made attempts on pure and innocent girls… but at the moment, all of these ident.i.ties seemed rather faraway.

After setting all the ingredients inside the pot and boiling it for a moment, a fragrance filled the air around them. Xin Mei suddenly fixed her gaze on the pot with hungry eyes. However, thinking it over again, she realized that this person definitely wouldn't share with her. She could only pull out her last duck fat pie, wondering to herself if she should finish it.

"Eat." Lu Qian Qiao filled a bowl of freshly cooked noodle soup, putting it beside her feet.

Xin Mei stared blankly for a long while before reacting. "Eh, thank…thank you…"

She carefully sipped the noodle soup. The fresh flavor carried a slight spiciness, and though she wasn't used to it, it was unexpectedly tasty. Xin Mei drank her soup as she furtively watched the fire dance on Lu Qian Qiao's face.

He seemed to have a lot on his mind…

Xin Mei cleared her throat, "In life, there is always a way out of any problem."

Therefore, please hurry up and let me gooooooo! She howled inside her heart.

Lu Qian Qiao looked over at her with a slightly surprised expression. Upon seeing her bright eyes shooting him rays filled with hope and antic.i.p.ation, he turned away and said coolly, "When you're done eating, go to sleep."

…This boy! She had faith that he had a weakness somewhere!

Xin Mei moved the campfire to a new location and laid down her blanket down on top of the warmed dirt. Wrapping herself in cloth, she pretended to sleep. She stealthily peeked through one cracked-open lid at Lu Qian Qiao's back. He motionlessly sat under the tree across from her. With only the crackling of the campfire, the night in the forest was incomparably quiet.

Xin Mei didn't know how much time had pa.s.sed, but she felt that he was probably asleep. She snuck a hand into the clothing folds at her chest, planning to pull out Qiu Yue to knock him out.

The second she moved, as if there were eyes on the back of his head, he turned around to look at her c.o.c.kily.

"What do you think you're doing?" His mood seemed to have improved, because he said this serenely as if she wasn't about to knock him out.

Xin Mei laughed awkwardly, "N-nothing… I think I was bitten by a mosquito…"

"I know you are in possession of an impressive Spirit Beast." Lu Qian Qiao smiled a thin smile filled with bloodthirst. "If you don't want to eat baked pelican tomorrow, then quietly go to sleep."

Baked pelican! Did he mean to say that he would roast Qiu Yue?! Even turned into a talisman, the Qiu Yue hiding at her chest trembled violently and seemed to try to burrow as far into her chest as possible.

Xin Mei held back her hot tears, turning her body over to sleep. Fine, he wins this time.

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Let’s just translate xian as immortal from this chapter on… if I change my mind again I will let you know -.-‘

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