Chapter 510: Chapter 183: Madman
"Cough, cough, cough—"
Thick smoke billowed inside the room.
Qi Yutai covered his mouth and nose, frantically looking around.
When the fire had just started, he hadn’t noticed, too busy wrestling with the person in front of him. By the time he realized, the flames were already substantial.
The guest rooms of Fengle Building were hung with cherry-colored curtains and gauzes. The so-called "tasseled canopies rise with fragrant smoke, carved wooden screens deepen the candlelight," but at this moment, as the gauzes licked by the flames with a bang, it only added to the despair in one’s heart.
The person he was tussling with had disappeared at some point, leaving him there alone. Damn it, the windows wouldn’t open, and the fire was too intense at the door; he couldn’t get out or escape.
The heat and agitation from the Cold Food Powder had long since vanished from his body, replaced by profound fear.
Would he be burned to death here today?
No, he didn’t want to die!
Qi Yutai turned to the doorway; a horizontal beam had fallen in front of the tightly closed door, sparking a wall of fire. A few short steps became as unreachable as a chasm, separating him from the way out.
He turned back in panic, trying to find another way to live in this small room, but all he saw was deeper despair.
Lutes, broken wine jars, tapestries... these objects, once touched by a spark, turned into fuel for the flames, and even the painting on the wall was not spared.
The painting that had replaced his favorite Beauty Tears Painting, the uncomfortable-looking Jingzhe Spring Thunder Painting, was half-licked by the fire. The silk sheet curled up, rising slowly like a theatrical curtain to reveal another scene hidden underneath.
Below the Spring Thunder Painting, there was another painting hidden!
This is...
Qi Yutai suddenly stiffened.
It was a very beautiful Light-vented Bulbul Painting.
Deep mountains and verdant woods, rolling dense forests, with the fresh aroma of the ten-mile tea garden wafting in the air, and a copper birdcage hanging in front of a house.
Inside the birdcage, a lively and smart light-vented bulbul sang out in a hundred tones, and in front of the cage stood an old man with white hair and beard dressed like a farmer, bending a finger, teasing the light-vented bulbul inside the cage.
The wall painting was so large it almost took up the entire wall, giving an immersive feeling. However, neither the previous Beauty Tears Painting nor the burnt Jingzhe Spring Thunder Painting was as eerie as the one before him now.
The old man and the light-vented bulbul were depicted tremendously large, especially the old man, almost indistinguishable from a real person. The man and bird, expressionless, gazed out of the painting with inky black eyes, and all around were countless light-vented bulbuls spreading their wings, on first glance, swooping down en masse with sharp beaks aimed right at the eyes of those outside the painting—
Qi Yutai’s mind exploded.
Suddenly, everything went silent around him.
A gentle voice came to his ears, forlorn, as if from afar.
"Young Master Qi..."
"Do you still remember the Yang family from Mangming Township Tea Garden, who raised light-vented bulbuls?"
Qi Yutai’s eyes widened as he involuntarily stepped back, his lips trembling with a weak groan.
"Elder Yang..."
...
That year, during his father’s birthday, he had just been appointed to the Ministry of Revenue. At that time, he thought it was a nominal job and believed that his father was finally acknowledging his efforts. The strained father-son relationship seemed to have a chance of warming.
He had the heart to mend his relationship with his father, so he decided to give him the best birthday gift.
Everyone in Shengjing knew that the Grand Preceptor loved birds; he raised cranes and peacocks in his residence, but Qi Qing’s favorite was the light-vented bulbul.
Qi Yutai wanted to give his father the best light-vented bulbul in the world.
Bird fighting was popular in Shengjing, and the best light-vented bulbuls not only had to have bright feathers and a clear voice but also be fierce and agile.
After looking around the Birdfighting Garden, Qi Yutai felt that none of them had the right spirit, unable to find one that caught his fancy.
At this time, a subordinate told him that an old man surnamed Yang, who farmed at the Mangming Township Tea Garden, had a smart and spirited light-vented bulbul raised for many years; he might as well buy it to try.
Qi Yutai ordered his men to hurry and buy it.
However, the owner of the bulbul refused to sell it.
Despite several attempts, all efforts were futile. If it had been any other time, Qi Yutai would have long since used thunderous means, intimidating and enticing, for dealing with such lowly people was always effortless.
But those days, he had just been assigned to the Ministry of Revenue and felt his future was bright, and his mood was good too, thinking of his father’s birthday close at hand. He should accumulate some good fortune for his father. Perhaps he should personally visit Mangming Township as a display of sincerity.
So, Qi Yutai took a few guards and left the city to visit the tea garden.
In March, the tea garden was teeming with life, green streams among the new grass. Upon reaching the township’s dwellings, Qi Yutai immediately spotted the light-vented bulbul.
It was a very pretty bulbul, tucked inside a copper birdcage hanging under the eaves, happily singing, its call distinctly clear compared to the other bulbuls.