Chapter 22: The Silhouette of Little Yiyi (Part Two) Please add to your collection and recommend.
The commotion in front of the Imperial Treasures Restaurant lingered, with passersby murmuring about Miss Ye’s latest bout of illness. Yet aside from shaking their heads and sighing, most seemed resigned, offering no further response.
Moments earlier, a brief chaos had erupted when a carriage delivered specially made ice, causing the air to drop sharply in temperature. Water from the melting ice still dripped from the threshold.
Few guests remained in the main hall, only a single table still discussing the Emperor’s prohibition of the Little Garden Mountain. The rest crowded at the back door, drawn by the spectacle of the ice delivery, anxious about Miss Ye’s condition.
Gu Yi reasoned that since Master Ma knew Xiao Yue, visiting as a friend should be permissible. He waited outside with him for quite a while. Yet Xiao Yue, poised and composed, managed both entry and exit, dispersing everyone from the premises. Master Ma ambled over, grinning, “Xiao Yue.”
“Ah, Sir. What brings you back so soon?” She greeted him with a courteous gesture, bowing slightly.
“Well, you see, my master here seems to know a thing or two about Miss Ye’s illness. Could you allow him to try?”
At these words, the gentle lady’s expression froze for an instant as she glanced at Gu Yi.
“Are you a physician, sir?”
“No, not exactly.”
Interest drained from Xiao Yue’s face. “If that’s so, I must apologize. Miss Ye is too frail for further experimentation.”
Gu Yi was dumbfounded—so all Ma Yuan’s boasting amounted to not even being allowed a meeting?
Ma Yuan looked awkward. “Oh, Xiao Yue, you know we’re well acquainted, and I truly wish Miss Ye well. My master isn’t an ordinary man; let him take a look—perhaps there’ll be a turning point.”
...
A young man in blue nearby called out, “Are you physicians, then? Wanting to treat Miss Ye? If every self-proclaimed expert were granted an audience, how many would she have to meet?”
“That’s right! Any remedy you two prescribe, Xiao Yue would have to test herself first, wouldn’t she?”
Gu Yi frowned, acknowledging the logic. With such a precious patient, one couldn’t let just anyone examine her. If someone harbored ill intent or prescribed a reckless treatment, disaster could ensue.
“Xiao Yue, you can’t let them in! The Third Princess has summoned countless experts, yet none can determine the cause. What makes them think they know better?”
“Everyone, please be quiet.” Xiao Yue gently raised her arm, then addressed Master Ma, “Sir, I understand your concern. But as they say, Miss Ye needs peace to recover. If every well-intentioned visitor were allowed in, how many would cross this threshold daily?”
Master Ma tried to speak again, but Gu Yi pulled him aside, “Let’s go. The sick seldom wish to see people. Why are you so eager?”
“But master, you said you understood the illness.”
Gu Yi was irritated, “You claimed Xiao Yue would let you in for sure!”
“Little lord, you fell for his boasting again.” The bystanders laughed, adding, “Xiao Yue treats everyone in the main hall with courtesy.”
“In that case, what he said wasn’t entirely wrong!” The crowd erupted in laughter, and even the thick-skinned Ma the Bald turned red with embarrassment, storming out of the Imperial Treasures Restaurant.
Gu Yi followed him out, pausing at the doorway to glance at the signboard and the hastily scrawled talisman.
...
“Xiao Yiyi, your talisman looks like a child’s scribble. I can’t read it at all. How am I supposed to learn?”
“In the heat of battle, speed is essential. The faster you write, the sooner the talisman is formed.”
“But it’s so ugly!”
...
Returning from his reverie, Gu Yi found Ma Yuan gone amid the shifting crowd. He darted here and there, nearly colliding with a child, but failed to find him.
Aside from “the Bald,” did this fellow have other weaknesses?
Gu Yi sighed, seeing evening approach. He needed to find lodging.
Directly opposite the Imperial Treasures Restaurant stood the Cloud Comfort Inn.
If his speculation with Zhihua was accurate and Xiao Yiyi adored earthly splendor, then surely this bustling quarter of Luyang would be her first choice. The Imperial Treasures Restaurant was one of Luyang’s four wonders, surely a place she’d visit.
Though the timing suggested the talisman on the signboard and Miss Ye’s illness weren’t Xiao Yiyi’s doing, Ma Yuan’s words inspired Gu Yi: even if not, perhaps there was some connection.
It was a stretch, but better than having no clues at all.
“Sir, will you dine or stay?”
Gu Yi produced a gold ingot. “I’ll take a room—the one upstairs with the broadest view.”
He wanted a room with a balcony, where he could sit in the sun and overlook the full grandeur of the Imperial Treasures Restaurant.
“Oh! Certainly! Please follow me. We have three rooms left; take your pick!”
The inns in Luyang were more refined than those in Quanmen County, with fragrant incense, pristine white porcelain tea sets, and exceptionally soft, clean bedding.
Gu Yi opened the balcony door, gazing at the lanterns gradually lighting up at the Imperial Treasures Restaurant, and made up his mind—this would do.
“You’re from out of town, aren’t you?” The inn’s attendant, a boy no older than thirteen or fourteen, still had a child’s voice.
“I am. How can you tell?”
“It’s not that I can see it, but I haven’t seen you before. Though many people come and go at the Imperial Treasures Restaurant, I’d remember someone with your air. Since I haven’t, you must be new. But where did you come from?”
“I came from Four Stone Town at the foot of Little Garden Mountain.”
“Oh, I see. It’s because of the Emperor’s mountain ban, isn’t it? Luyang has been abuzz over this, and the people are puzzled. They say the Seventh Princess pleaded for the people and was punished for it.”
Gu Yi smiled. The capital’s citizens were indeed different—their conversation always revolved around the Emperor and the princesses.
He thought his purpose was conveniently covered, “I did come seeking the truth. But it’s just my own curiosity, so I’m wandering Luyang, listening and observing.”
“So, Little Garden Mountain really is sealed?”
“When I arrived, the Divine Forest Guards were already ascending.” Gu Yi shifted topics, “By the way, how long has the signboard at the Imperial Treasures Restaurant been there?”
The boy frowned, thinking, “When I was ten... must be four or five years now.”
Four or five years...
That made it uncertain. Four or five years ago, Gu Yi was still roaming the Summoner’s Rift; who knew what Xiao Yiyi was up to then.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The attendant bowed, “Please rest. The wind is strong tonight—should I close the door for you?”
...
“No need.”
If he closed it, Ma the Bald would be sleeping in the street.
He supposed Ma Yuan was in a foul mood, likely off drinking somewhere.
Gu Yi finished his supper and sat out on the balcony. Bored, he finally remembered to cultivate, closing his eyes and sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, a faint aura swirling around him.
When the night was fully dark, Ma the Bald finally found him, just as Gu Yi had guessed, drunk, his plump cheeks flushed.
“Master! I found you!” He perched on the railing, swaying precariously.
“You still recognize me; not completely drunk then.”
Ma waved his hand, “I can’t get drunk~ I’ve no money left. But I mean nothing else. Treating you to embroidered perch is my duty as your disciple.”
Gu Yi often scolded his boasting, but today was different—he’d been mocked in front of everyone. So, no matter how disheveled Ma Yuan was, Gu Yi said nothing.
“There’s a bed inside, go sleep.”
Ma refused; instead he slumped to the ground, clutching the railing. From this vantage, he could still see the brilliant lights of the Imperial Treasures Restaurant.
“Master... In your eyes, am I just a good-for-nothing? Though I graduated from Luyang Immortal Academy, I’m just an ordinary student...”
“I can't fathom the books in the Technique Pavilion. I spent two years with swords, barely studied talismans. It’s not for lack of effort; I’ve gone sleepless nights to learn cultivation, lost all my hair. Yet I’m still only at the Mind Establishment stage.”
...
“Master, I have to save for ages just to see Xiao Yue smile. In Luyang, Ma Yuan is nothing—if anything, I am just a humble man.”
He said this of himself, yet ended with a smile.
...
“Master? Why do you just look at me in silence?”
Gu Yi didn’t know what to say.
“Did it really hurt, being belittled by those people today?”
Ma Yuan was stunned, his face bitter as a pauper’s—usually so talkative, he now couldn’t utter a word.
“Forget it, you needn’t answer. So you’ve lost hope in cultivation and turned to pleasure?”
“Of course not... I used to be a spirited lad who never admitted defeat.” He laughed, almost crying, suddenly losing his earlier emotion.
He then staggered over, grabbed a blanket, and instead of sleeping in the bed, wrapped himself up and lay silently in the corner.
In the deep night beneath the stars, he seemed just like a homeless soul.