MOF Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Painting within a Painting, Meeting the Woman in the Painting

Time slipped away bit by bit. Xie Yiling didn’t enter the painting despite waiting for an unknown duration. The room became increasingly quiet, inevitably sparking impatience within him. The more he tried to fall asleep, the more he couldn’t. Giving up, he opened his eyes, only to find both sides of him completely empty.

Where was Nangong Ci? Had they already entered the painting? No, that wasn’t right. When Gu Huanzhi entered the painting earlier, he was clearly lying on the table.

Xie Yiling rose and glanced at the painting on the wall, pondering, “Perhaps this is the difference between a genuine article and a forgery. After all, I didn’t hear a single sound of movement throughout the entire process.”

Xie Yiling looked at the bed opposite. Fan Qiujin, struck by his spiritual curse, still lay quietly upon it. However, A Si, who had been guarding the door, was nowhere to be seen. He walked to the doorway and found it ajar. The barrier Nangong Ci had erected was still in place.

A Si must have opened the door himself and run out.

The moment this thought appeared in his mind, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but frown, subconsciously rejecting it. A Si’s mind was no longer that of a child of a few years old. He could distinguish the importance of matters. Unless it was something extremely important, he would never leave lightly.

So, now Nangong Ci and Gu Huanzhi had entered the painting, while he had failed, and A Si had also been lured away by something.

He just didn’t know why the painting seemed unwilling to let Xie Yiling enter this time.

With Nangong Ci’s barrier outside, the fact that Fan Qiujin was being controlled wouldn’t be exposed in the short term. However, Xie Yiling felt an inexplicable sense of unease. He turned back, looked at the painting on the wall again, and finding nothing unusual, turned around and decided to go out to find A Si.

Colored lanterns hung in the tavern, illuminating it brightly. However, the number of customers had clearly decreased significantly, from a full house to only a few drunken figures slumped on the tables.

On the first floor, only an unfamiliar waiter leaned against the counter, dozing. Suddenly, as if receiving an order, he awoke from his slumber and stepped forward to remind one of the guests, “Esteemed guest, it’s your turn. Please follow me to the second floor.”

Hearing this, the drunken guest’s hazy eyes cleared up a lot, and he repeatedly laughed, “Good, good, good, I’ve finally waited.”

Xie Yiling brushed past the two of them as he descended the stairs, catching a faint earthy smell. He frowned, looked around, and didn’t see A Si.

Reaching the doorway, Xie Yiling looked up at the sky, unsure of the hour. The sky was as dark as ink, as if it would never brighten. He secretly cast a spiritual spell to find people, but the spell flew around like a headless fly.

“Strange,” Xie Yiling stared at the spiritual spell returning to his palm, puzzled. “Why can’t I find A Si?”

“Esteemed guest,” the waiter who had sent the guest upstairs earlier came over, “It’s so late, where are you going? If you want to buy anything, just tell us.”

Xie Yiling quickly put away the spiritual spell, and again smelled that faint earthy smell. He wrinkled his nose, turned around, and saw the waiter bowing slightly, looking at him. His black pupils were too contrasting to the whites of his eyes, making it a little creepy to look at for too long.

Xie Yiling didn’t speak, studying his expression. The waiter waited for a while, not feeling embarrassed by being ignored by the guest, and kindly said again, “If you want to eat any meat or drink any wine, just say the word, and we’ll bring it right up.”

“What kind of wine do you have here?” Xie Yiling finally condescended to speak.

“Eh! We have a lot of wine here!” The waiter’s smile immediately became more sincere when he heard him speak. “We have mellow pear blossom wine, fragrant peach blossom brew, sweet lychee intoxication, which one would you like to drink?”

Xie Yiling walked around him, went to a table, and sat down. “Peach blossom brew.”

“Alright! Please wait a moment, esteemed guest, I’ll go get it for you.”

Besides Xie Yiling, there were three other people on the first floor at this time, each occupying a table.

One was a young woman sitting near the window, staring at the dark outside, one was a thin scholar constantly eating, and one was a white-browed old man drinking by himself.

The waiter quickly brought the wine, carefully pouring it for him before leaving.

Xie Yiling watched the wine glass on the table without changing his expression, not planning to drink. Unlike Nangong Ci, who could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, he was someone who would get drunk after half a cup. He just didn’t know when Nangong Ci and the others would come out, and he couldn’t get in now… wait.

Xie Yiling looked at the wine in front of him, suddenly thinking: if he got drunk and fell asleep, would he be able to enter the painting?

He had just put his hand on the wine pot when he suddenly heard someone at a nearby table say, “Young Master Xie, why order wine but not drink it?”

Xie Yiling’s heart sank. It was Bai Zhe’s voice. He turned his head and saw several plates of half-eaten dishes on the nearby table. It was clear that Bai Zhe had been sitting there all along, but Xie Yiling had barely noticed his presence.

“I’ll take it upstairs to drink,” Xie Yiling said with a smile, becoming more wary in his heart.

Bai Zhe also smiled, picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, and put it in his mouth, chewing carefully. “Why didn’t those two young masters come down with you?”

Xie Yiling glanced around, recalled A Si’s words, and decided to bluff him. He leaned closer and said in a low voice, “You know better than me why they’re not here, Young Master Bai, don’t you?”

“Hmm?” Bai Zhe’s chopsticks paused. “What do you mean by that?”

“Stop pretending,” Xie Yiling said coldly. “I already know your identity.”

The person opposite remained calm, lowered his eyes to put down his chopsticks, and when he looked up again, there was a hint of playfulness in his eyes.

“Then tell me, Young Master Xie, what is my identity?”

Xie Yiling suddenly straightened up, stood up, and said slowly, “The painter of ‘The Tale of Spring Mountain Residence’, I’m not wrong, am I?”

Bai Zhe couldn’t help but laugh, lightly clapping his hands twice, “Young Master Xie really knows how to flatter me. If I had such painting skills, why wouldn’t I even have a place to settle down?”

Xie Yiling grabbed his hand, “Is that so? Then what’s wrong with your hand? This thick layer of calluses doesn’t seem to come from practicing swords. Also, painters are exposed to ink all year round, and there’s a scent of ink on your body.”

The first half of the sentence was pure nonsense. Bai Zhe’s hands had almost no calluses, his fingers were slender and delicate. Bai Zhe, whose wrist was grabbed, looked down at his hand, realizing that Xie Yiling was just making trouble.

“Young Master Xie, you…”

Xie Yiling didn’t wait for him to speak, and with a sudden force in his hand, pulled Bai Zhe’s entire body away from the table.

Bai Zhe was pulled over with an innocent and helpless expression, his legs hitting the table, making a noticeable sound. “Does Young Master Xie have to do this?”

Xie Yiling grabbed his collar with his other hand, looked down at him, and said, “Why didn’t you let me enter the painting?”

Bai Zhe shook his head, “Young Master Xie, I think you’re mistaken. I really don’t understand what you’re talking about, what enter the painting, I don’t know at all.”

Xie Yiling sneered, “Do you think I can’t see what kind of dark and evil ghost techniques you’re using? I’ve used these tricks in my previous life.”

Bai Zhe’s face changed slightly. “Is that so?” He paused for two seconds, then slowly smiled, “Then Young Master Xie must know the solution, why are you still asking me?”

Just as Xie Yiling’s spiritual curse was about to burst out from his palm, a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw the woman at the window table.

The woman wore a blue veil, revealing only a pair of seemingly amorous but ruthless eyes. She stared coldly at Xie Yiling and said, “This young master is being too noisy. If you want to fight, please go outside.”

“That’s right!” The thin scholar who had been eating also complained, “It’s too noisy, I can’t even eat in peace.”

“Cough cough!” The white-browed old man at the farthest table waved to the waiter, “Waiter, another pot of wine!”

The waiter quickly brought the wine, passing by the tense duo without looking at them.

Xie Yiling shook his shoulder, shaking off the woman’s hand, and kept a close eye on this woman who had suddenly stood up for justice in his heart. “Miss, you should stay away from fights like this, swords have no eyes.”

The woman said, “Then where are your swords?”

Xie Yiling: “…”

He almost forgot, his sword was still missing and hadn’t been found. He didn’t know where he lost it.

Nangong Ci shouldn’t have it. If he did, he would have given it to him already.

“Swords are naturally available,” Xie Yiling looked at her, then at Bai Zhe, “It just depends on whether Young Master Bai cooperates.”

The three of them were at a stalemate, Xie Yiling refused to let go, Bai Zhe refused to give in, and the woman stared at them as if watching a show. Until the waiter came over and said to the white-browed old man, “Esteemed guest, it’s your turn.”

Xie Yiling’s heart suddenly jumped, realizing that something was wrong.

It was already night when they entered Jianchun Tower. From the first time he entered the painting until now, about four or five hours had passed, but it was still so dark outside that he couldn’t see his fingers, only Jianchun Tower was still lit.

Xie Yiling immediately let go of Bai Zhe and ran to the door to take a look.

Sure enough, the sky outside was exactly the same as when he looked before, without any change.

The white-browed old man had already followed the waiter upstairs. Xie Yiling slowly turned around and said coldly, “You did this.”

A sneer came from Bai Zhe’s mouth.

“What’s the use of realizing it now?” With a wave of his hand, a piece of ink-colored spiritual power struck, and Xie Yiling raised his hand to use spiritual power to create a barrier to block it.

A writing brush appeared in Bai Zhe’s hand, and he flipped his fingers, causing the brush to float and slide in his hand.

After Bai Zhe finished painting, he recited, “Go—”

A giant python emerged from the ink, opening its terrifying fangs and biting towards Xie Yiling.

Xie Yiling summoned a talisman chain, about to bind the giant python, when the woman suddenly spoke, “Enough!”

The giant python stopped instantly, stiffening in mid-air, looking inexplicably comical.

Bai Zhe said, “You want to stop me?”

The woman said, “You are no match for him at all, take him there.”

Hearing this, Xie Yiling said, “I’m right here, discussing it in front of me, isn’t that a bit bad?” After he finished speaking, he added, “I already saw that you’re in cahoots.”

“Oh,” Bai Zhe said, “Then should I praise you, Young Master Xie, you have really good eyesight?”

Compared to the dawdling and talkative Bai Zhe, the woman was obviously more decisive. She struck quickly, flashing to Xie Yiling’s front extremely quickly, wanting to grab his shoulder.

Xie Yiling leaned back, saying, “Men and women shouldn’t touch each other.”

The face under the woman’s veil seemed to twist for a moment. “Whether you’re a man or a woman, I’m set on having your life!”