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Chapter 27 – Sword Dance in a Red Dress, Frost Beneath the Moonlight
Beneath the Moonlight
In the Juying Palace Hall in Zhenhai City, Xu Chaoyang was sitting in the host’s seat. Across from him was the former Patriarch of the Jin Clan, Jin Hai, as well as the current Patriarch, Jin Qingdi. Jin Hai had already retired a long time ago, taking up a behind-the-scenes role. No one expected him to suddenly come out of obscurity to congratulate the Xu Clan like this.
Seated below them was an extremely beautiful girl in a red dress, with an exquisite face and a picturesque countenance. It was none other than Jin Yu’er, the eldest daughter of Jin Qingdi.
They were all conversing amongst themselves when Xu Qinying and Xu Disheng entered the palace hall together. The dozen or more people in the hall all stood up and saluted. “Grand Elder!”
“Regional Lord!”
Xu Qinying’s dignified gaze swept the hall. “At ease.” When he caught sight of Jin Hai, a look of astonishment crossed his face. He said with a smile, “Former Patriarch Jin, why are you here?”
From his seat, Jin Hai smiled as he replied, “Of course, to pay my respects to the presiding clan of the Ruyang Region.” When he finished speaking, he looked at Xu Disheng and felt amazed.
The rumors amongst the citizens only said that Xu Disheng was extremely young. He didn’t think that he was really just a youth, nor that he would have such a handsome appearance. In all these years, this was actually Jin Hai’s first time seeing this grandson of his.
Hidden in the pupils of the youth in Daoist robe were vortexes of black Soul Force. Profound qi encircled Xu Disheng’s whole body, emitting an aura as deep as the ocean. “Greetings to Former Patriarch Jin and the Patriarch of the Jin Clan.”
These two were considered to be his maternal grandfather and uncle, so this degree of etiquette was fitting.
Jin Hai and Jin Qingdi hurriedly waved their hands, not daring to receive his humble courtesies. This was especially so for Jin Qingdi, who had led the upper echelon of the clan to attend the Bai Clan’s Transcendence Ceremony, and was now only respectfully accompanying Jin Hai as the lowest position at the table. The sight of Xu Disheng using the Passing Soul Mantra to execute a Xiantian transcendent was still burned vividly in his mind, his black hair fluttering about as the black energy wreaked havoc as an evil spirit skull floated in the air above him. There was no way that Jin Qingdi could dare to assert his identity over Xu Disheng as his uncle.
Xu Qinying let out a hearty laugh. “Great! Pass down the order. We will host a grand banquet tonight, invite the guests!”
“As you command, Grand Elder!” Several servants accepted the order and left the room to carry it out.
The more Jin Hai looked at Xu Disheng, the more he found himself liking him. With a broad smile, he said, “Yu’er is my only daughter, but I never would have imagined that my daughter’s son would be such an outstanding young man who reached the Xiantian realm at such a young age, ruling over an entire Region.”
Xu Disheng replied, “I don’t deserve your praise, Grandpa. I’m not yet at the Xiantian realm.” He was about to refer to Jin Hai as ‘Former Patriarch Jin’, but he suddenly saw Jin Yu enter the palace hall at that moment, accompanied by a maid, so he quickly took it back and called him ‘grandfather’ instead.
Almost everyone had a look of astonishment on their faces. The entire city was aware of the fact that Xu Disheng had executed a Xiantian transcendent, so they all assumed that he had recently advanced to the Xiantian realm. But at this moment, Xu Disheng himself denied that fact, leaving everyone in complete disbelief.
Xu Qinying was the only person here who knew a thing or two about the Dao Palace and cultivating profound qi. He said with a smile, “Sheng’er is part of the Dao Palace. The Dao Palace is marvelous and unmatched, and everything related to it cannot be understood with common sense. After all, even His Excellency the Prince is a part of the Dao Palace.”
Everyone nodded in response to this. Jin Qingdi spoke up and said, “Sheng’er, now that you are the Regional Lord, your status should be upheld accordingly, so shouldn’t we construct a new Regional capital? Although Zhenhai City is big, it still isn’t as big as Ruyang City, so it doesn’t match up to your status.”
Xu Disheng just flicked his sleeves and shook his head. “Uncle, I want to resign from my position as the Regional Lord. Today, I have already sent a letter to Senior Martial Brother to officially appoint Grandpa Chaoyang as the Regional Lord of the Ruyang Region. In a few days’ time, I will be returning to Youyang City.”
Jin Yu had just walked up to where they were and finished greeting her father and elder brother when she heard what he said. Her elegant brows wrinkled and she said anxiously, “Sheng’er, you’re leaving again? Why didn’t you even tell me? You’ve only been here for a few days!”
Seated in the lower hall was the girl in the red dress, Jin Yu’er. Her eyes were like the reflection of sunlight off the ocean waves as she looked at Xu Disheng.
Xu Disheng glanced around at the varied expressions of everyone in the hall before once again looking back at Jin Yu. “Mother, Sheng’er has his own matters to attend to.”
Jin Yu’s eyes began to tear up. “I’ve always known that you’ve had strong opinions even since you were little. But you haven’t returned for 10 years, and now that you’re finally back you’re only going to stay a few days before leaving. How could you be so uncaring?”
Xu Disheng remained silent, unsure of what to say. In the end, Xu Qinying, whose face was stiff as a board, tried to speak up for him. “Sheng’er has already grown up, and having joined the Dao Palace, the road before him is immeasurably long. Not to mention a small place like the Ruyang Region, even the You Province wouldn’t be able to contain him. Xiao’er, please try to persuade Yu’er. The women of our clan do not need to be involved with such matters.”
Xu Xiao complied and dragged Jin Yu to him, urging her to take a seat.
That night, the Xu Clan’s grand feast began in the Four Seas Palace Hall, and there were countless colored lanterns abound. The commoners of Zhenhai City all looked out from their houses and saw the magnificent view of these lanterns in the sky, illuminating the night.
The people of the Xu Clan and the Jin Clan had many marital relations, and were mutually related. There were more than 10 tables in the palace hall, and at this moment, they were all completely seated to capacity. They were all drinking and engaging in festivities as laughter permeated the hall with a noisy and exciting atmosphere.
In the hall, ten or so beautiful maids were dancing elegantly, accompanied by musicians playing their instruments. Xu Disheng was there, sitting alone at a table. His black Daoist robe had gotten a bit wrinkled, and he had long since changed out of it.
He was now wearing white luxurious satin clothes with gilded sleeves. He had taken out the jade hairpin atop his head, and his long black hair was now fastened in a ponytail by a jade band, making him look somewhat like a handsome playboy noble.
Xu Disheng shifted his gaze upwards and looked around at the singing and dancing going on around him. After a while, he grew disinterested and shut his eyes, silently entering a cultivation state.
Although the maids were good-looking, their dancing lacked spirit, and they were only dancing to show off their figures. But he wasn’t aware that among the gazes in the palace hall, there was one girl always looking straight at him. When she saw that he clearly had no interest in the singing and dancing in the hall, this girl wearing a red dress smiled faintly. With a twinkle in her beautiful eyes, she stood up.
“Grand Elder, Grandfather, Father, there is a sword dance that I would like to demonstrate, to commemorate the long-standing friendship between our two clans,” Jin Yu’er said after she walked into the hall and bowed deeply.
The hall quieted down a bit, and Xu Qinying, who was seated at the most honored position at the table, shared a glance with Jin Hai and the others. They all smiled, either giving their assent or speaking highly of her.
“You may,” Xu Qinying replied.
“Much obliged.”
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Xu Disheng had already closed his eyes to cultivate. When he heard the girl’s silvery sweet voice in his ears, standing out amidst all of the loud, festive celebrating going on around him, his long eyelashes twitched slightly, but he didn’t open his eyes.
In the middle of the hall, the girl in the red dress stood, her hair black as ink, looking like she had just walked out of a dream. Her features were picturesque; her countenance refined. From time to time, she would lift her arm and lower her eyebrows, and other times she would gently wave her hands like the clouds1. With the longsword grasped in her hand, her sleeves would look like jade winds as they moved with the flow of her elegant movements.
The sword gave off a clear ring, gracing the ears with a sound that resembled flowing water. As her movements ebbed and flowed in a similar manner, the 1-meter long sword in her hand looked flexible, as if it was made out of cloth. As she turned, swung her sword outwards, maneuvered through open and closed movements, twisted, spun, and arced, her dance seemed to paint the picture of a phoenix cutting through a deep valley. The phoenix was soaring amidst a sea of clouds, as light upon the wind as a dragonfly alighting upon the surface of a pond.
Akin to a butterfly dancing among peach blossoms, the sword dance gradually slowed to a stop. Although the lanterns in the hall were brightly lit, there was a beam of moonlight that happened to be shining upon the girl and her red dress from the window on high.
Beneath the moonlight that scintillated upon her like frost, the girl in the red dress finished her sword dance and gave a full bow. She cast a fleeting glance at the white-robed youth seated among the seats of honor before going back to her seat.
The hall had long since fallen into absolute silence. After a short moment, the entire audience erupted into applause, crying out in admiration.
But Jin Yu’er just continued to sit in her seat, staring fixedly at that white-clothed youth.
The youth’s eyelashes eventually shifted downward as he averted his gaze, no longer meeting her eyes again. Only then did the corners of her mouth curl into a wide smile.
Jin Yu’er had an extremely proud temperament. A few years ago, she was measured to have Grade 5 Dao Channels, and her cultivation progress was extremely fast. She was cultivating the secret method, the Guiyuan Qi, and she was only a bit away from being at the half-step Xiantian realm.
She had long thought that that calm boy in her memories had long since disappeared. But now, he had unexpectedly returned as such a dazzling, intimidating presence, overturning heaven and earth.
However, the one thing that didn’t change since childhood was his cold nature.
Jin Yu’er’s proud temperament caused her to be inclined to showing off, so she had yet to exchange any words with Xu Disheng even up until now. Even so, the girl’s feelings and thoughts were all concealed within this one sword dance.
Footnotes
Cloud Hands is a famous movement from Tai Chi, most people who don’t even know much about it other than the name would even recognize the movement. You can see what the movement looks like in the gifs in this link here: link