Chapter 437 – Peach Blossom Immortal

Elder Yue’s inability to unseal the acupoints was already within Zhang Xiaohua’s expectations. Now, seeing a trace of unease in Elder Yue’s eyes, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

Zhang Xiaohua walked over and smiled. “Elder Yue, are you still worrying about that meeting gift of yours? Please rest assured—whatever gift you bestow upon me, I’ll be happy to receive it.”

Then, he turned to the others and said: “Don’t you all think so?”

The people nearby also laughed and replied: “Of course! When a senior bestows something, how can the younger generation decline? Whatever it is, it must be accepted.”

Just then, while the crowd laughed, Zhang Xiaohua subtly tapped the shoulder of the man on the ground with the tip of his foot, quietly channeling a wisp of true qi into his meridians.

At this moment, everyone was smiling and nodding, completely unaware of Zhang Xiaohua’s minute action.

However, Elder Yue was squatting nearby and watching Zhang Xiaohua closely. That small movement of Zhang Xiaohua’s foot happened to fall right at the edge of his vision. His heart stirred, and he laughed: “This child—do you think I care about a mere meeting gift? I only wanted to see how skilled you were at sealing acupoints. That’s why I delayed. Now, let me show you mine.”

As he spoke, he immediately switched to an unorthodox technique for unsealing acupoints, one rarely seen in the martial world. This time, however, he didn’t channel any internal energy into the meridians.

Sure enough, once Elder Yue’s fingers left the acupoint, the man on the ground opened his eyes, looked around, and stood up. Naturally, Zhang Xiaohua stepped forward to offer another round of apologies.

Zhang Xiaohua apologizing again and again over such a minor matter of delayed unsealing truly won the goodwill of the people around. They all remarked: “Young Hero Ren truly has a generous heart. To repeatedly apologize for such a small delay in unsealing, Valley Master Nie must have cultivated great virtue in his past life to have found such an excellent son-in-law.”

“Tch—” Zhang Xiaohua muttered inwardly, “Keep this up and they’ll spoil me rotten.”

Elder Yue then spoke up again: “Everyone, Valley Master Nie has already prepared wine and dishes at the manor. Please make some quick arrangements, and come inside to sample our famous Hundred Flowers Brew. The groom and I will go ahead first.”

With that, Elder Yue and Zhang Xiaohua clasped fists in greeting toward the others, then took the lead and departed. Yue Zhonglin and Qiang Sheng followed closely behind.

The group of four entered the mountain villa. By then, the sun was already sinking in the west, and dusk was approaching.

Elder Yue turned to Yue Zhonglin and Qiang Sheng and said: “You two head to the front hall. We have many guests today—make sure everything goes smoothly. You’ve both worked hard these past two months. Once tonight’s over, it will all be complete.”

The two took their leave to carry out the orders. Elder Yue smiled again and said: “Groom, let’s go—your father-in-law is waiting for you up ahead.”

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua frowning the entire way, Elder Yue’s smile only grew deeper.

After walking for a while and confirming that no one was nearby, Elder Yue lowered his voice and said: “Virtuous nephew, since there’s no one else here, I’ll drop the ‘groom’ title for now, hehe… Could you…”

He hesitated for a moment, then continued: “Could you tell me what technique you used just now to seal that acupoint?”

The sect to which Yue Yan and Yue Zhonglin belonged was called the Luming Sect. Each disciple carried a uniquely-shaped weapon resembling a deer antler, designed specifically to strike over three hundred vital acupoints on the human body. As a result, Yue Yan had attained great mastery over meridians and acupoints, and was a well-known expert in the martial world when it came to point sealing and unsealing. This was the very reason he had been asked to assist earlier.

Yet the acupoints Zhang Xiaohua had sealed just now was utterly ordinary—no different from how others would do it. But Yue Yan had still failed to unseal it. If not for Zhang Xiaohua discreetly intervening in time, he might have made a fool of himself right there. Having spent his entire life researching meridians and acupoints, how could the old man remain calm after encountering a sealing technique he couldn’t decipher?

Zhang Xiaohua thought to himself: “This Bewildering Soul Finger is a secret art of the Heaven’s Way Alliance. If I mention its name, Elder Yue will definitely recognize where it came from—revealing it would be inappropriate. But if I refuse to say anything, or worse, make up a name, that would be disrespectful to an elder. Sigh… why did this old fellow have to ask such a question?”

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua hesitate, Elder Yue also began to feel embarrassed. Indeed, every sect had its own secret techniques, and they were rarely taught to outsiders. Though his question hadn’t crossed any real lines, it did carry the implication of prying into someone else’s secrets. Still, unless he got a clear answer, how could his heart rest easy?

So Elder Yue could only laugh at himself and say: “Virtuous nephew, please don’t take offense. This old man has spent his life immersed in the study of meridians and acupoints. When I saw your technique just now, I couldn’t help but grow curious—it was an impulse I couldn’t control. Just tell me the name of the technique, and that will suffice.”

Zhang Xiaohua chuckled inwardly: “This finger technique is nothing more than a martial method. I only borrowed it and have already mastered it—keeping it any longer serves no use. Even if I were to give it to you, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But… even if I offered it, would you dare accept it?”

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said: “Elder Yue, I still can’t tell you the exact name of this finger technique. However… have you ever heard of the [Bewildering Soul Finger] of the Heaven’s Way Alliance?”

“[Bewildering Soul Finger]?” Elder Yue was quite puzzled. He racked his brains but still couldn’t recall anything like it. Still, he smiled and said, “I’ve heard of it—it seems to be one of the Heaven’s Way Alliance’s signature skills.”

“Mhm, as long as you’ve heard of it, Elder. The finger technique I used is quite similar to the Heaven’s Way Alliance’s [Bewildering Soul Finger].”

“Oh, then this old man understands.” Elder Yue wore an expression of sudden realization, though inwardly he muttered to himself: “Since when did the Heaven’s Way Alliance have such a finger technique? I’ve heard of the Qiankun Palm, but not this. I’ll have to ask around and see what this so-called [Bewildering Soul Finger] is all about.”

Let’s set Elder Yue aside for now, lowering his head deep in thought, pondering which channels might get him news of this mysterious technique. Under his guidance, they turned past several slopes, and were suddenly greeted by a sea of crimson red—an expansive peach blossom grove in full bloom. Elder Yue raised his head and, pointing at the grove, smiled. “Little Yu has liked peach blossoms ever since she was a child. All these peach trees were planted by her own hand.”

Looking at the vast peach forest, Zhang Xiaohua finally realized something: “No wonder when Little Fish Nie saw the peach grove earlier, she insisted on going in to admire it and even challenged me to a wine contest. So this is how it is at home. Tsk tsk, wealthy families are really something else. A young girl’s hobby, and they cleared out such a large piece of land just to let her grow peach trees. If I tried planting peach trees all over the southern slope of Guo Village, my dad would beat my backside until I couldn’t sit for three days!”

Then, Zhang Xiaohua frowned slightly and asked: “Elder Yue, there must be hundreds of peach trees in this grove. Are you saying Miss Nie planted all of these herself? Isn’t this just a symbolic gesture, with someone else doing the real planting behind the scenes?”

Elder Yue shook his head. “Virtuous nephew, you still don’t understand Little Yu. With her stubborn temperament, how could she ever go for such superficial displays? To tell the truth, it’s a bit pitiful—Little Yu’s mother had the character ‘Tao’ in her name and also loved peach blossoms dearly. Before she passed away, she planted a peach tree with Little Yu, saying it would be a stand-in for herself. If Little Yu ever had worries, she could talk to the tree. It was meant as a comfort for a child. But later, Little Yu missed her mother terribly, and feared that her mother’s spirit, like herself, would be lonely. So she began planting more peach trees beside that first one.”

“To show her respect for her mother, Little Yu forbade anyone from helping her. Every single tree was planted by her own hand. She plants new ones every year, and over the years, it’s grown into this peach forest.”

“What a lovely and strong girl.” Zhang Xiaohua said with a smile.

“Indeed,” Elder Yue sighed, “so if you’ve been given the chance, you must cherish it well.”

Zhang Xiaohua rubbed his nose and said no more.

After passing through the peach grove, a delicate little courtyard came into view, nestled at the edge. Above the entrance hung a graceful signboard, upon which three elegant characters were inscribed: Taohua An — Peach Blossom Hermitage. The handwriting was strikingly familiar—it was clearly penned by Nie Qianyu herself.

Zhang Xiaohua frowned and asked: “Where is this?”

Elder Yue replied with a knowing smile: “This is Little Yu’s embroidery tower.”

“Oh,” Zhang Xiaohua nodded slightly and said, “The character ‘An’ (庵) doesn’t seem quite right for a girl’s embroidery tower, does it?”

Elder Yue shook his head as well. “I heard from her eldest sister that Little Yu really likes the line ‘Peach Blossom Hermitage holds the Peach Blossom Immortal’, so she changed the name of her place to that.”

Zhang Xiaohua laughed loudly. “That Little Fish Nie actually thinks of herself as the Peach Blossom Immortal—how amusing.”

Since entering the manor, Zhang Xiaohua had been calling Nie Qianyu ‘Miss Nie,’ but in his laughter, he had forgotten this formality. Just then, Little Fish Nie herself spoke up, bringing joy to Elder Yue’s heart.

At that moment, a clear and crisp voice sounded from inside.

“Brother Ren, why are you laughing?” A girl in a pale yellow robe lightly stepped through the courtyard gate, smiling as she asked.

It was none other than Nie Qianyu, dressed in new clothes.

Nie Qianyu’s face was delicate and tender, her stature small, like a twelve or thirteen-year-old. The pale yellow robe she wore matched her sky-high ponytail, and in the dimming light of dusk, she looked like Meng from the nameless ferry crossing years ago.

Zhang Xiaohua was stunned, staring fixedly at Nie Qianyu.

Nie Qianyu’s face was already full of shy blush. Although Zhang Xiaohua had explained before the arena that he was only there to protect her, with little other intent, he was, after all, her fiancé, so how could Nie Qianyu not be bashful?

Not to mention, Zhang Xiaohua was now facing her so openly, like a pig brother.

A rosy flush bloomed across Nie Qianyu’s face, like the peach blossoms in the grove, vibrant and matched perfectly with the pale yellow robe—a true Peach Blossom Immortal indeed.

Her voice, soft as a mosquito’s buzz, whispered, “Brother Ren, Brother Ren…”

Zhang Xiaohua finally came out of his daze, quickly wiping at his mouth, unsure if he had dribbled saliva. His eyes darted, then he smiled and said: “Miss Nie, I really hadn’t noticed…”

Not noticed what? He couldn’t think of what else to say.

If it were without Elder Yue, Zhang Xiaohua might have added, “…just how beautiful you are,” and not minded if Nie Qianyu shot him a glare. But with Elder Yue present, such words would be wildly inappropriate.

Nie Qianyu seemed to understand his meaning and pursed her lips into a smile. “Brother Ren, you jest. I only really like that line of poetry, calling myself the ‘Peach Blossom Immortal’—but I wouldn’t dare to claim such a title.”

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua quickly waved his hands. “Miss Nie, your grace and intelligence would indeed earn you the title of Peach Blossom Immortal—if I were to speak frankly, I would wholeheartedly agree.”

As expected, Nie Qianyu gently spat: “You’re such a flatterer.”

Then she called out to Elder Yue, who was standing a little ways back, gazing far toward the distant peach blossoms. “Uncle Yue, Father is waiting in the hall. Please bring Brother Ren, and come with me.”

Elder Yue blinked as if waking from a dream. “Little Yu, your peach trees are wonderful, but those magpies in the branches are always noisy. They’ll need a good scolding.”

Nie Qianyu and Zhang Xiaohua both blushed.