33 H-he…

The young man's white hand moved to his face, making his long white sleeve flap with the breeze. His long fingers took the old book which disappeared with a slight motion of his hand.

His handsome face, bathed by moonlight, was then revealed. His still closed eyes trembled, making his long eyelashes flutter. At length, he opened his eyes as he took seat on the greenery, showing his pitch black pupils. His long black hair dropped like a cascade at his action, making his fine inky threads mix with the silver silk shedded to earth by the moon.

He stood up and pondered for a bit, 'Strange, I thought that nobody aside from me could come this deep into The Forbidden Bamboo Forest'. He looked towards where the sonata's notes came with his head tilted. Finally, he walked through the tall green bamboos with a gracious pace.

He halted his steps before reaching the crystalline lake that beautifully glittered; he stood in the middle of some green bamboos, not coming out.

The first thing he saw wasn't the lake but the back of a maiden seated on a flat rock. He couldn't see her face; he could only see her flowing dark hair and parts of her white robes.

His appreciation didn't last long; it wasn't as though he had never seen the back of a woman in a beautiful night.

The curiosity he had because he had never seen someone here before cooled down as he smelled the strong flavour of wine. The zither playing was superb though, but was shrouded with a melancholy born from deep love, and he didn't understand at all such emotion.

He didn't listen to the melody but to the dancing notes, he also played the zither after all. As he paid careful attention, his heart plunged; this ringing motion and smooth shift of notes was so familiar to him.

He stood motionless for a while, 'I'm thinking too much', he shook his head and turned around to leave; this has nothing to do with him.

Before giving three steps he stopped as he heard the slight splashing sound of dripping tears colliding against the zither's surface.

For some reason his heart froze, making him unable to step forward.

As the tears poured down strongly and mingling with the sadness born from yearning, he sighed and waved his long white sleeve as he turned around and took seat within the field of bamboos.

An exquisite white zither with majestic black dragons carved on it appeared. He placed the zither on his lap and his long fingers began to waltz on the strings.

His starting was an imitation of hers; though the same sentiment couldn't be felt at all, his flawless technique matched up to that deficiency. Before long, his notes changed from a rainy day to the fragrant spring, playfully joining her interpretation and bringing her play to a pristine land.

An Bing Qing didn't notice it, she had been encompassed by her sentiments of remembrance and longing; and was focused on her flowing play.

At long last, when her memories went back to when she first had met him. She was able to discern some lively notes which easily intruded and mingled with her melody.

Part of her mind drifted her attention and when she recognized such immaculate skills, her notes broke and she hastily turned back.

She froze in place; she saw a young man clad in a white robe with purple patterns, he had now put away his zither as she had stopped and he was standing up.

He was gentle but haughty and noble like an Emperor who was above all. He was warm like the sun but distant like a God from heavens; he gave off an ethereal feeling just like an Immortal devoid of dust. She watched him with silly and tearful eyes.

'H-he… what is Shu doing here? He wasn't supposed to come this time'. She raised her hands and her rosy lips were covered by her wide sleeves.

In her blankness, the young man regarded the maiden looks. The girl in front had an exquisite face with a pair of bewitching dark eyes; a beauty mole was below her left eye, and her tearful pair of phoenix eyes made her mesmerizing. She was clad in a simple loose white robe and tufts of her unbound hair hovered around her with the pleasant wind.

A dazzling sight indeed; but he felt her eyes were wrong and he felt weird. He was used to the silly look girls have when they watched him as if they had been struck by love, wanting to commit to him. Though this girl had a blank silliness, it wasn't by a sudden infatuation; they were complex with thousands of unspoken words. Such eyes were really odd but his face was as placid as ever with no change in expression.

It was hard for something or someone to hook his curiosity; he was about to go just moments later after all. But that pair of watery eyes caught it and he stepped forward.

An Bing Qing had been dazed all along and in her absence, her mind became a mess. He wasn't supposed to be here. As she freed herself from her stupor and came back to earth, she heard his soles touching the ground; he was approaching to where she was.

She didn't think it twice and with a swing of her hand, she recovered all her things back. She jumped from the stone and strode away as a scared bird; she even used her agility skill to run away.

The young man's calm and gentle face cracked as he froze with an unbelieving expression in his eyes. This kind of reaction was even weirder. Before long, his gentle temperament was back and a pleasant smile bloomed; he shook his head and went back to his sleeping place to lie on the open field of grass that was surrounded by bamboos.

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Chapter 33.1: Stories from the Past; Weird Meeting

An Bing Qing, who had been running away from Captain Xiu Tu since noon, spotted the forest full of green bamboos that she had seen from the spacecraft.

With some drops of sweat rolling down from her forehead, she gave a small smile with little relief as she speeded up her pace, quickly entering into the verdant forest.

Her rhythm didn't slow down once inside, she ran as though she was still being chased.

After half an hour or so, she finally felt the heaviness of her mad sprint. She didn't stop though and just slowed her pace; afraid of being caught back, it had cost her too much to slip away through the masses of people after all.

Hours later, when she didn't felt threatened anymore, her pretty dark eyes noticed a beautiful glitter some meters ahead of where she was and she walked towards it.

Shortly after, she saw a lake, and her steps quickened.

She came out from the area with bamboos and walked on the dark greensward, directly reaching the lakeshore.

"How beautiful!" She exclaimed as her eyes were dazzled by its glistening surface and blue crystalline water. It was beautiful beyond compare and there were colourful fish swimming happily in it.

She squatted down and raised her arms; her wide sleeves with little blue lilacs embroidered on them slide on her smooth skin, revealing her snowy arms. Then, she stretched them towards the lake to take some clean water with her little fine hands to refresh herself.

The cool water washed away the sweat and tiredness on her enchanting face. She waved her hand and pink handkerchief with white patterns appeared. The water on her face was then absorbed by it.

"Sigh… that was revitalizing", she lowered the hand with the handkerchief and said jovially as she stood up; she had just seen a flat rock just some tens of meters from her position and she wanted to take seat there to enjoy the magnificent view.

But when she turned around to walk through the lakeshore, the gleeful smile she had before froze.

There was a handsome young man, dazzling like the sun he was basked in, standing in the distance just before the green bamboos; if she walked forward and stopped in the middle of the way to the flat stone and if she turned around, she would be in front of him.

His pure white robes with purple patterns highlighted his noble grandeur and his silky black strands of hair playfully danced with the light breeze. And his face… though An Bing Qing hadn't gone out much, she had seen some young masters of good standing clans before; but in her eyes, no one could ever match her eldest brothers face and devious charm, he shared her face after all. But the beauty of this young matched the one her eldest brother has, even though their charms were completely different.

He had white skin and flawless facial features. A chiselled nose and sword-shaped eyebrows that made his pair of obsidian eyes look mighty despite the gentleness it radiated; and his beautiful thin lips had painted a warm smile.

She was overwhelmed by his brilliance. She looked at him with silly eyes, a silliness born from blankness and incredulity.

As breaths of time passed, an actual thought began to swarm into her mind, 'Why does he seem so gentle and warm but feels so distant? As though I can approach him yet I can't…' She secretly shook her head while thinking again, 'What a weird feeling'.

When she cut her line of thinking, she realized she still had her eyes on the young man's face and that he was also looking at her; she felt ashamed and a light pink blush overtook her clean cheeks.

Not knowing what to do, she gave him courtesy and went towards the flat rock, as if nothing had happened. As she did so, she watched to the lake, at the swimming fish to hide her ashamed face.

She got absorbed at watching the playful fish that she went past him without giving him a glance but she almost fell when she came to her destination as she stumbled with the flat rock.

"Aa-ah!" she exclaimed as she maintained her body's equilibrium.

She didn't fall and she vented her thoughts out, "Bad rock!" She even kicked the rock a little, totally forgetting about the young man existence; her temper was just that volatile.

The white attired young man was still looking at her in the same place with the same expression on his handsome face: a pair of gentle eyes and a beautiful warm smile. It wasn't because he wanted to see her; the girl was just that weird that she got his attention.

'What an odd way of conducts', he thought to himself. She was obviously a beautiful and well-bred young miss from a decent standing cultivator family, the fine materials of her clothing and he not being able to see through her strength spoke by themselves. With his strength and acute eyes, he was sure she couldn't possibly be stronger than him and she couldn't be a mortal either as Ghost Forest City was a city meant for only cultivators and this bamboo forest wasn't a place that many could enter; this was the first time for him seeing someone so deep in this forest. But her behaviour was clumsy, if not stupid; and she also was a strange female.

There were many attitudes maidens tended to take when meeting him, whereas it was for the first time or later; many were silly with adoration and some refrained themselves, feigning a reserved poise that was betrayed by their blazing eyes and hidden motives.

As sharp as he was, he could see the true intentions and personality of a man in a split second; but he couldn't read through her. He wasn't sure if she was pretending to be funny or if she was just that silly; if it was the former, then she had good acting skills but if not, then she was a hopeless young miss.

'How could someone like her have survived till now?' he wondered.

Having picked his interest, he walked towards her with unreadable motives.

An Bing Qing was now seated on the flat rock with her legs hanging from it; She was enjoying the panorama with a mirthful smile.

Suddenly, the corners of her eyes saw a long white sleeve to her right. She turned around and she swayed a bit; it was the handsome young man from before.

She blinked several times, 'Why has he come here?'

But before she could think an answer to her incognita, she saw him waving his hand.

Two cups appeared along with a beautifully carved jade bottle.

He opened the jade bottle and an intoxicating aroma wafted in the wind; it was wine. He served the wine and approached one to her side, making her blink more.

'What is the meaning of this now?' She was even more confused.

But then again, before she could ponder more, she saw himself with his hands on the rock in a relaxed position and watch the verdant scenery.

'Oh, he just wants company', she thought before taking the cup in her hands and turning back to delight her eyes with the view again. If she had voiced out her assumption, the young man could have reached his conclusion in an instant; she wasn't the most brilliant person.

Both of them were quiet, indulging themselves in the pleasant atmosphere and fresh air.

As time passed, An Bing Qing began to take little sips of wine, she wasn't fond of it but she didn't want to be rude. It had a mellow flavour, she really liked it.

She wasn't able to appraise the wine for long as a silky and soothing voice came to her ears.

"Little young miss, aren't you afraid of being poisoned?"

She didn't react to his words; the tone of his voice was ringing in her ears, making them tickle.

Moments later, she recollected her thoughts to give a proper reply.

"The young master must be joking. Someone as godly like you would never bother with someone like me". After uttering her words, she frowned in her wonder, 'What nonsense am I saying?' She wanted to say something else but she ended saying that.

Still, her words left him a little-stunned inside.

'Though this girl has taken her time, she can actually come up with a good set of words but that light of confusion in her eyes makes me wonder'. And not long after, he laughed pleasantly.

'An annoying guy like my eldest brother, I see. Laughing at whatever they want'. She furrowed her brows and turned her attention back to the lake. She had been mesmerized at first because of his heavenly breath and noble grandeur; but now she had put him at the same level as his brother, making his ethereal aura less overwhelming.

Her action just made him more amused; no woman had ever frowned at him in front of his face. Even the second wife of his father would do it at his back.

He stopped his laughter as he thought about that woman; it has killed his mood but his expression remained the same. Then, he reassumed his nonchalant nature contemplation with his wine in hand this time.

Time went by just like this; it was a peaceful and unperturbed sight.

The sun began to set west and shades of red and orange dyed the sky.

Noticing this, An Bing Qing quickly stood up.

She patted her long skirt and turned around to run as she mumbled, "My eldest brother will kill me!"

Though it had been a quiet murmur, the young man was still able to hear it.

'Kill her?' He pondered her words while he watched her vanishing figure from a corner of his eyes.