Zheng Xiao Mistake: The Mistake of Rebirth Provoked the Cold Master

The moonlight was bright and clear, shining in the courtyard like a clear spring, and the figures of the two people were blurred into a long, clear shadow on the ground.

As the snow got heavier, Rong Yan stood holding the flute, and the clear sound of the flute slowly flowed out. The sound was long and gentle, awakening the mountains in the quiet night.

Zhu Zheng sat alone holding a lamp, feeling that the world was empty, and only her figure under the moon was still before her eyes.

The world is silent, the sound of the flute is far away in the sky, this person is like a cold flower, the creek breeze and the distant moon, no one can embrace him in his arms.

The faint sound swirls and circles, like the pouring Milky Way, sometimes short and overflowing, sometimes distant and wide, just like the sound heard in a dream.

After a while, the flute music ended.

The song ends slowly, as if it has something unfinished.

Zhu Zheng was immersed in it for a long time without coming back to his senses. When Rong Yan approached, he realized that he had finished playing the song.

She is sweetest when she is insincere, but when she is really moved, she is at a loss for words.

After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence, "Sir, can I see your flute?"

Rong Yan handed over the flute.

It was not quite the same as what Zhu Zheng had imagined. This was a very simple bamboo flute, plain and elegant in style, with only a circle of fish patterns roughly carved on the tail ring. It had been polished to be very smooth and looked quite old.

Rong Yan looked at her carefully and asked, "Do you like it?"

After spending a long time with Rong Yan, Zhu Zheng has already figured out some of his temperament.

This person is open-minded and decisive, unlike ordinary people.

For example, at this moment, she could almost guess that as long as she said she liked him, he would most likely give the flute to her directly.

If it was gold, silver or jewelry, Zhu Zheng would not refuse, but flutes and pipes were tokens of love and contracts, and she could not tell whether they were given by someone else. She absolutely did not dare to take the risk.

But I can’t say I don’t like it.

"It's a rare and good flute." Zhu Zheng said vaguely, and then changed the subject abruptly, "Why is the piece you just played called Soul Summoning?"

Although the music has some ups and downs, it doesn't sound like a funeral song.

"It's related to a legend in Chengxu Mountain." Rong Yan brushed the snow off Zhu Zheng's hat. "Are you cold? Let's go back to the room first."

"It's not cold." Zhu Zheng bargained, "Can you tell me about this legend first?"

Rong Yan did not insist. He sat down next to Zhu Zheng and spoke slowly.

"South of Mangqiu there was once a small country called Haichu, which was invaded by its neighbor Changhu for many years and suffered terribly."

"Suddenly one day, Chang Hu sent an envoy to ask for a marriage with Princess Xinping of Haichu, to form an alliance and promise never to fight again."

"After the marriage was arranged, the wedding procession passed through Chengxu Mountain, where they encountered a storm. The procession abandoned the sedan chair and fled in all directions. The sedan chair fell off a cliff, and the Thousand-Year-Old Snake King in the mountain rescued the princess and formed a bond with her."

"The Snake King decided to marry her at first sight, but Princess Xinping was frightened by his snake form and lost her soul. The Snake King had no choice but to hide in the dark and practice to become a human day and night, hoping to meet her again when everything is ready."

"Finally, when the great success came, the Haichu envoy found Chengxu Mountain and took Princess Xinping away."

"After leaving the retreat, the Snake King saw the beautiful woman's message and immediately set off for Haichu."

"On the day of arrival, I found that the Haichu Kingdom was holding a national mourning."

"The King of Changhu said that the princess was disrespectful and tore up the engagement, and demanded that Haichu execute the princess, otherwise it would be regarded as a declaration of war."

"Everyone in Haichu was terrified after hearing the news. The king could not go against the will of the people, so he took Princess Xinping to the palace and ordered her to drink poison and die for her country."

"All this happened the day before the Snake King arrived. He traveled day and night, only to see the corpse of the person in his dream."

Rong Yan's voice was very flat, without much ups and downs, but Zhu Zheng felt agitated when she heard it.

"What's the end of the story? Did the Snake King avenge Xin Ping?" she couldn't help but ask.

Rong Yan frowned, "No."

Zhu Zheng: "Why?"

"Perhaps he knows in his heart," Rong Yan looked at Zhu Zheng, "even if he takes revenge, she will never come back."

Zhu Zheng felt empty inside.

Rong Yan noticed her depression and asked, "Do you remember the name of the song?"

Zhu Zheng nodded.

"It is rumored that the Chengxu Mountain God can do pawning. As long as the person who makes a wish shows enough sincerity to impress the Mountain God, his wish can be fulfilled." Rong Yan looked into the distance, "The Snake King brought Xin Ping's body back to the mountain, knelt in front of the Mountain God Temple for seven days and seven nights, and finally summoned the princess' soul back."

The icicles under the eaves suddenly broke apart, making a crisp sound.

Zhu Zheng's heart was beating fast in her chest. "Are you saying she's resurrected?"

"Yes." Rong Yan nodded, his voice becoming gentler. "At the end of the story, Snake King and Xin Ping were reunited, and both retired to Chengxu Mountain."

"What is the price of resurrection?" Zhu Zheng felt a chill running down her spine. "What did the Snake King pawn to the Mountain God?"

Rong Yan lowered his head and stared into Zhu Zheng's eyes which were as dark as ink.

"It doesn't matter," he said.

This was the first time Zhu Zheng heard about the cycle of death and rebirth. She vaguely felt that it might be closely related to her own bizarre experience.

Zhu Zheng grabbed his sleeve and said, "How can it be unimportant?"

Rong Yan turned his eyes away calmly, "The princess doesn't know, so it's not important. The Snake King doesn't care, so it's not important either."

The red plum petals move in the wind, and the ground is covered with a mixture of white and red.

In Zhu Zheng's eyes, Rong Yan's silhouette seemed a little hazy and unreal, like a bubble that could disappear at any time.

She almost opened her mouth to ask, but in the end she didn't ask any further.

I haven't fully recovered yet and I'm living under someone else's roof. It's really not a good time to reveal any shocking secrets.

That’s all, the days are long.

Zhu Zheng looked at the misty mountains in the distance, trying to calm herself down, and saw that Rong Yan was still staring at something not far away in a daze.

"Sir." She called softly.

Rong Yan turned his head and said, "Yeah."

The atmosphere was a bit dull. Zhu Zheng smiled slightly and jokingly asked, "Are you really a human?"

Rong Yan raised his eyebrows, "Do I look like a ghost?"

Zhu Zheng choked. Her original intention was to ask him jokingly how he knew all these weird things. Could he really be a banished immortal who came down to earth and stayed here?

But his question made her feel a chill in her heart, and she didn't know whether to nod or shake her head.

The candlelight flickered in the cold wind, and Rong Yan's outline became bright and dark.

"Are you afraid of ghosts?" Rong Yan asked.

Due to snow blindness, Rong Yan's face seemed to be covered with a layer of white light, and his expression was difficult to distinguish clearly.

This made his words seem even more bizarre.

If it were in the past, Zhu Zheng would have been fearless when she slept with the Soul-Calming Well in her arms. But now that she had been a ghost once and finally became a human again, it was better to be respectful of each other.

So Zhu Zheng nodded hesitantly.

Rong Yan said seriously, "Will you be afraid of me if I become a ghost?"

This was a very strange question, and it sounded like a trap. Zhu Zheng didn't dare to shake her head or nod.

"Master Taifu has great virtue and achievements. Even if he dies, he will surely be deified and become an immortal. How could he still have any attachment to the human world? He will never linger in the mortal world and become a lost ghost..."

"What if I do?"

Zhu Zheng was somewhat puzzled. "If there is any, there is no need to look for me, right..."

Rong Yan's eyes were fixed on Zhu Zheng's face, deep and unfathomable.

Suddenly, he said, "Then I'll just send you a dream."

I don’t know if it’s because of the tone or the voice, but whatever Rong Yan says sounds very serious, and you never hear any joke in him.

At the moment, Zhu Zheng was not sure whether there was a teasing look on his face, but it sounded like he was determined to come to her in her dreams to take her life, and was just giving her a warm heads-up in advance.

"Or, let's not talk about this anymore."

She discussed in a low voice.

The fate of the Grand Tutor was honest and upright, and he had no taboos. However, Zhu Zheng had died once and almost died again, so it was inevitable that she wanted to avoid the prophecy.

Rong Yan looked at her cowering and cautiously looking around and chuckled softly.

"coward."

Zhu Zheng curled her lips, "What a coward."

Rong Yan took the candlestick that Zhu Zheng was holding, waved it around her, and suddenly blew it out.

The cool moonlight suddenly fell on the two of them.

"Then we will become a pair of companion ghosts, and never be separated." He whispered.

As these words fell, a strong wind suddenly blew up, and the swaying shadow of the plum tree bared its fangs and claws, stretching out countless branches that turned into long arms, and entangled the two gray figures on the ground.

The person who can say such things has obviously never done anything evil.

The experienced Zhu Zheng shook his head helplessly. Who would want to be a ghost when they can be a human?

Anyway, she doesn't want to.

"Go back, go back, go back."

Zhu Zheng stood up first, moved her numb legs, and limped back.

When she finally reached the corner, she suddenly felt something tighten around her waist, her feet suddenly lifted off the ground, and she was lifted up horizontally by the waist.

Zhu Zheng was so frightened that she screamed, and the sound echoed far away, startling a group of sleeping snowfinches.

"What?" Rong Yan held the person in his arms tightly, "Do you think the coward is going to eat the coward?"

Zhu Zheng covered her mouth, looked into those eyes filled with a faint smile, and couldn't help but raise her hand to punch him.

"My Lord, have you lost your mind?!"

Rong Yan received a soft punch, and the smile on his lips deepened. He walked back while holding her in his arms, leaning close to her ear.

"I'm kidding you, don't you understand?"

The warm breath with the fragrance of cool plum blossoms blew on her ears, making Zhu Zheng feel itchy.

Why does this sentence sound so familiar...

She finally realized that this was a revenge for the trick played on her by the man who had promised him his body.

"My lord is really..."

...He is simply vindictive.

Rong Yan stopped and asked, "What is it really?"

Her life was in his arms. Zhu Zheng was afraid that he would throw her into the snow if he got unhappy, so she could only swallow the last words.

"Really, you're quite strong."