Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 99 Sharing the same bed
The so-called "after the New Year" is actually already here.

The two returned to the mountain to make some preparations. On the fourth day of the first lunar month, they heard the news that Chen Jinnian had gone to the prefecture and successfully promoted the prefectural magistrate with his newly refined heart-saving pill.

The first thing Chen Jinnian did after being promoted was to recommend candidates for summer enrollment to the Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences, as requested by his superiors.

While serving in the Pill Bureau of Xia Prefecture, the old man first wrote a recommendation document for Xia Prefecture. When he arrived at the prefecture, he approved his own document, which was a very rare experience in his life and quite enjoyable.

After the prefecture screened the lists from each county, Lu Xingzhou was selected as the person to be reported.

This wasn't really a case of using connections. Chen Jinnian knew that Lu Xingzhou's alchemy skills were already at the fifth rank, on par with his own except for a lack of experience. In a direct comparison of alchemy quality, Chen Jinnian might even be outmatched by Lu Xingzhou.

The entire Dongjiang Prefecture, including its capital Dongjiang and its eight counties, had only seven people who reported the highest rank of seventh grade. How could they compare to Lu Xingzhou? They were simply not on the same level.

There's no need to hold a selection competition within the county. Lu Xingzhou's sixth-grade ranking on the list of promising alchemists is enough to shut everyone up. The competition would just be like beating up a child.

The official letter recommending Lu Xingzhou to the Imperial Academy of Alchemy in the capital was delivered to the Heavenly Sword Sect on the evening of the sixth day of the first lunar month, which was incredibly efficient.

Lu Xingzhou received the official letter and remained silent for a long time.

The arrival of this item means he is truly leaving.

Shen Tang, who had been pretending in public that she "didn't meet with Elder Lu alone very often" a few days ago, has stopped pretending these past few days and has been spending all her time in Lu Xingzhou's room. Seeing Lu Xingzhou staring blankly at the official letter, she reached out and took it down, then stuffed it into his ring and packed it away: "Alright, you must pass the entrance exam, don't let Manager Chen's good intentions go to waste."

Lu Xingzhou snapped out of his reverie and smiled, "There are many outstanding people in the world, and I'm not necessarily better than the heroes from other places."

"I don't believe it. You're not just at the level of a rookie of 38. If everyone your age is better than you, then the rookie rankings might as well be abolished."

"Gua Mei and the others don't have enough information, so they missed a lot in the rankings. What's more, there's a delay... Hey, I think this thing isn't well done. How about we create a more real-time ranking system when you have the authority?"

Shen Tang laughed: "I'm relieved to see that you still have this in mind."

"What do you mean? Even when I was most focused on revenge, I wasn't tense at all."

"That's right, back then you still had the mind to appreciate Qingli's beauty."

"..." Lu Xingzhou decisively stopped arguing about it, and hugged her and whispered, "The reason I feel so down, you know, is not because I'm worried about those things, but because I have to part with you."

Both of them shared the same thought, feeling extremely depressed.

Shen Tang never imagined that a short separation from a man, especially one who was going to her hometown and would return soon after his studies, would cause her such discomfort.

Lu Xingzhou felt the same way; he didn't have this feeling when he left Yuan Muyu... At that time, what he thought more was, "Since you have no heart for me, then I will give up; spring breeze and you are both just passersby."

At this moment, with countless thoughts swirling in my mind, it's quite difficult to express them accurately.

In the end, all the words I wanted to say boiled down to one sentence: "Please don't leave tonight, okay?"

Shen Tang looked up at him. His eyes no longer held the desire that had been present during their passionate days; instead, they held a touch of stubbornness.

She smiled slightly and said softly, "Okay."

The two naturally embraced and lay on the bed, sharing a pillow fully clothed.

The candle on the table was still lit. Shen Tang leaned against Lu Xingzhou's shoulder, looking at his profile in the flickering light.

Lu Xingzhou turned his head, gently pecked her lips, and whispered, "Goodnight, my princess."

"No goodnight," Shen Tang said. "You're usually so lewd, always kissing and touching me. What are you pretending to be a gentleman for today?"

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Shen Tang pouted: "Kiss me."

Lu Xingzhou chuckled, then turned and leaned over to kiss her.

Shen Tang parted her pearly teeth to welcome him, closed her eyes, and hugged his neck tightly.

A mountain breeze swept by, and the candlelight finally went out.

The temperature inside the room became even hotter.

“Sometimes I think… I shouldn’t care about those things anymore. I was the one who seduced you…” Shen Tang’s low breathing came from the darkness.

"No." Lu Xingzhou stopped what he was doing and pulled her back to his shoulder. "I'm here to help Her Highness achieve her goal, not to ruin her."

Shen Tang gave a soft "hmm" and proactively stretched her slender hand down so he wouldn't hold back.

This time, Lu Xingzhou didn't stop me, but said in a low voice, "I won't dwell too much on revenge this time I go to the capital. I know that with my current strength, it's too much of a pipe dream to bring down the Huo family. I'll cause them some trouble if I can, and if I can't, so be it. My main focus is on the Golden Body of the Pill Academy and basic official exchanges... laying the foundation for our future."

Shen Tang kissed his ear and said softly, "I believe you."

She paused, then said with some difficulty, "If anything happens outside... just do what you need to do, don't worry about me. I... I don't mind."

This is a rather difficult thing to understand. It actually refers specifically to Sheng Yuanyao. Shen Tang still felt that the two of them might not be so innocent, and that the Sheng family could help Lu Xingzhou a lot. It wasn't the time to be jealous.

Lu Xingzhou sighed, then leaned down and kissed her lips again. ...

The next morning, the two opened their eyes almost simultaneously from their deep sleep.

They met each other's smiling eyes at first glance and said at the same time, "Good morning."

The so-called "sleeping fully clothed" is self-deception. Looking at each other now, we're all stripped down to our bare skin, like Aries, and we're embracing each other tightly.

Neither of them felt shy at all. Shen Tang sat up naturally, straightened her crooked undergarment, and put on her outer garment.

Lu Xingzhou insisted on sleeping with her before leaving, which meant she understood. But once they actually fell asleep in each other's arms and woke up together, the sense of belonging they felt as a married couple was something that couldn't be fully experienced just by thinking about it beforehand.

It seemed that all the worries in their hearts last night had vanished, leaving only sweetness and naturalness.

Lu Xingzhou put on his coat, picked up Shen Tang who was trying to get out of bed, and placed her on the table. Then, as if by magic, he took out a mirror and placed it on the table, and took out a comb to comb her hair.

Shen Tang looked at the mirror and found it somewhat amusing. This mirror was a magical artifact used to reflect certain spells, and he was using it to comb his wife's hair. He wondered if the magical artifact, if it had a spirit, would cry.

Regardless of whether the magic weapon would cry, Shen Tang only wanted to laugh. The person in the mirror smiled sweetly, her cheeks were rosy, and the astonishing charm and mature allure in her almond-shaped eyes would probably make her from a few months ago unrecognizable.

Seeing Lu Xingzhou behind her in the mirror, so earnestly combing his hair, not to mention others, even Ah Nuo, who depended on him for survival, was almost speechless with her complaints these days.

After their hair was combed and adorned with jade hairpins, the two got up hand in hand and naturally went outside to have breakfast.

Ah Nuo squatted to one side, holding a basin and rummaging through it, her dark eyes watching the couple's behavior today with a strange look.

I thought they would be sullen or even tearful when I said I was leaving, but they were all smiling and acting very naturally.

After finishing breakfast, Shen Tang asked seemingly casually, "Are we leaving already?"

Lu Xingzhou said "hmm".

Shen Tang got up and straightened his clothes again, saying softly, "Don't separate from A Nuo on the way. Don't always try to hook up with Pei Chuyun on your own... Ignore her if you can, and just go straight to Meng Gui City to avoid any complications."

"Understood." Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "I will come back when I have time. I hope that the Tianxing Sword Sect will be at its peak of talent by then."

"There will be."

Ah Nuo stared wide-eyed, completely baffled as to how the two could part so casually. What kind of logic was that? Weren't you two so inseparable that you practically wanted to merge into one?

"Let's go." Lu Xingzhou picked up A'nuo: "To avoid Pei Chuyun's attention, we'll fly there directly."

Ah Nuo tossed a piece of cake, which turned into a round frisbee in mid-air.

The frisbee emitted a strong magnetic field, causing Lu Xingzhou's wheelchair to spin around wildly.

In recent days, she has successfully refined her iron disc and combined it with the primordial magnet.

Lu Xingzhou irritably pulled A Nuo into his arms and said, "Master can carry you and fly away. You can put away your cake first."

Anuo quickly put away the frisbee, nestled happily in her master's arms, and waved to Shen Tang: "Goodbye, Master's wife."

Shen Tang suspected that the little girl had deliberately brought out the discus to get her master to hug her, but she had no proof. Seeing her cute way of saying goodbye, she forced a smile and said, "Goodbye, Anuo."

Lu Xingzhou gave her a deep look and said in a low voice, "We're leaving."

Shen Tang smiled slightly: "Be careful on the road."

The wheelchair flew into the sky and quickly headed east.

Shen Tang stood on the edge of the cliff and watched until the wheelchair disappeared into the horizon and could no longer be seen. She remained motionless for a long time.

After a long while, a disciple rushed over: "Sect Master, Elder Tang and the others are waiting for you to start a meeting..."

"Hmm." Shen Tang finally turned his wheelchair and went down the mountain: "Give the order that the distribution of spirit stones and pills throughout the sect be doubled in the next year. I want him to see the most prosperous and powerful sect when he returns next time."

High in the sky, Pei Chuyun stroked her chin, watching the streak of light as the wheelchair flew away, and quietly followed it.

Having studied the formation of Lingquan Mountain for the past few days, she had at least figured out the range of the formation's attack in the air. So she had been spying on Lu Xingzhou's movements from a distance outside the range for several days now.

Seeing that Shen Tang hadn't come out of Lu Xingzhou's room all night, Pei Chuyun pouted, a little disdainful: "You say our Charming Maidens' Joyful Union Sect is slutty, but your Heavenly Sword Sect Master is no less so. You call yourself a dignified swordsman, how come you're living in a man's room before marriage without any shame?"

Before he could finish his scornful remarks, he saw Lu Xingzhou driving a wheelchair and carrying the child away alone.

Pei Chuyun was completely taken aback; the opportunity for Lu Xingzhou to travel alone, which she had been waiting for so long, suddenly presented itself, and she almost didn't realize it. Overjoyed, she chased after him.

Without the protection of the Heavenly Sword Sect, I refuse to believe I can't handle you, you stinky man and your child!

You took advantage of me, stole my shoes, and even shaved my... Go to hell!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: The Mountain and River Festival is selling better and better! *kiss*
(End of this chapter)