The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#196 - Red beans and chicken drumsticks

The red nightingale glanced at the three motionless figures under the tree, immediately dismissing Lu Jing as a possibility.

Lu Jing's stillness was genuine; he hadn't even taken out a beetle jerky, just standing there, clearly uninterested.

With its proud nature, the red nightingale wouldn't waste its affections on someone so cold.

That left it with only two real choices.

Seeing that it was surrounded, the red nightingale didn't hesitate and darted towards Xia Huai.

A hint of joy appeared in the girl's eyes, while Yang Tao, on the other hand, wasn't too disappointed. Firstly, Xia Huai was his companion, and secondly, with his recent run of bad luck, he was somewhat prepared for this outcome.

He'd only taken out the beetle jerky to go through the motions, to give himself some closure.

Unexpectedly, just as the red nightingale was about to reach Xia Huai's palm, it suddenly flicked its tail and made a sharp turn.

It fooled everyone chasing it, then swooped onto Yang Tao's hand.

Everyone present was stunned, never expecting the red nightingale to pull such a feint.

Yang Tao was taken aback, but seeing the red nightingale eat the beetle jerky from his hand, excitement welled up in him.

He immediately took out more beetle jerky and poured it into his hand.

Then, remembering something, he turned to Xia Huai and said, "Do you want to try again?"

Xia Huai shook her head. "It's already made its choice. Don't betray its decision."

Hearing this, Yang Tao tremblingly took out the small pill from his pocket. When the red nightingale had nearly finished the beetle jerky, he offered it the pill.

The red nightingale hesitated for a moment, but finally stretched its head and swallowed the pill.

The others around them revealed envious expressions.

However, Yang Tao was well-liked among the newcomers, so even though most people were a little disappointed that the red nightingale chose him, they still stepped forward to congratulate him.

Afterward, the crowd dispersed in twos and threes, continuing their search for their own messengers.

Yang Tao felt like he was dreaming, gazing at the red nightingale preening its feathers, and murmured, "Is… is my bad luck finally over?"

"Congratulations, Brother Yang, on obtaining such an excellent messenger," Lu Jing said from the side. "Will you continue further in with us, Brother Yang?"

"Yeah, yeah," Yang Tao nodded. "I don't have anything else to do anyway. The scenery here is nice, so I'll just treat it as a picnic."

As he spoke, he bit his thumb and pressed it against the red nightingale's wing. The red droplet of blood landed on the red feathers, making it almost impossible to see.

Then, with a thought, his messenger spread its wings and flew back to the love tree, bringing back a string of red loveberries to his hand.

Unfortunately, the loveberries on the tree weren't the edible kind, only suitable for jewelry and ornamental purposes. The berries themselves contained toxins, so Yang Tao didn't pick many.

"Give it a name," Xia Huai suggested.

"Ah, a name, it needs one," Yang Tao scratched his head. Then, the simple-minded young man seemed to think of something, and his face suddenly turned red as he stammered, "Since it was found on the love tree, then… then let's call it Hongdou (Red Bean)."

"'Red beans grow in the southern land, in spring, how many branches will sprout? I wish you would gather them in handfuls, for this thing best evokes longing…' Brother Yang, do you also have someone you long for?" Lu Jing asked curiously.

"Um… I don't know if it counts. When I was little, there was a little girl next door who always leaned against the wall to watch me practice with my spear," Yang Tao said, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes.

"She would laugh at me if she saw me practicing incorrectly. We used to bicker a lot back then, but somehow we argued our way into becoming friends.

"Later, as we got older, she would tell me all her secrets. We would chat about the people and things we encountered each day, separated by a wall. But before I could ask my dad to propose marriage to her family, they suddenly moved away.

"I don't know where she is now or how she's doing, but I imagine she's probably married by now."

Lu Jing didn't expect the seemingly rough Yang Tao to have such a youthful memory. He patted the young man's shoulder and said, "Brother Yang, don't be too pessimistic. Perhaps one day you two will meet again."

"Maybe, but it's been so many years since we last met. If we really do meet again, I don't know if I'll even recognize her."

Meanwhile, Xia Huai was pondering the five-character poem that Lu Jing had just recited, wondering if it was something he had written in the past two years since they had last met.

If so, the person he longed for… could it be herself?

Xia Huai's heart suddenly beat faster, and her neck became even redder than the loveberries in Yang Tao's palm. Even her search for a messenger became somewhat absentminded.

However, she soon encountered her own messenger.

The three walked for a while longer, arriving at a small waterfall. Xia Huai saw a nightingale singing beautifully in the bushes and couldn't help but take out a beetle jerky to feed it. But before she could even bring it to the nightingale's mouth,

A bandit suddenly appeared, snatching the beetle jerky and running away!

It was like a heartless playboy, pulling up his pants and pretending not to know her. The Leng family disciple had no choice but to chase after it, wanting the yellow nightingale to take responsibility.

She wasn't the only victim in the vicinity, but the others' situations were more or less the same.

Compared to the red bean in Yang Tao's hand, Lu Jing was clearly more interested in this little bandit. But before he could take out the beetle jerky, the bandit nightingale had already plunged into the bushes.

However, perhaps because its belly was too full, it soon turned joyful event into a tragedy. The entire bird was stuck between two branches, chirping anxiously.

Xia Huai couldn't bear to watch, even though it had just snatched a beetle jerky from her. She drew her sword and cut off the two branches trapping it.

However, after being freed, the bandit nightingale didn't just spread its wings and fly away. Instead, it turned its head and landed on Xia Huai's sword, staging a classic scene of a prodigal son returning.

So, Xia Huai finally found her own messenger, naming the yellow nightingale Jituǐ (Chicken Leg).