Towards the end, their voices gradually grew softer until finally falling silent.
Li Fei was stunned for a long while. Was that man Lu Li? When they parted last year, Ye Ye and Changyue were quite at ease. Lu Li was older than them and known for being steady and proper. They felt comfortable leaving Gelin in his care, even for fighting. They had hoped Lu Li could somewhat straighten out Gelin’s twisted personality, but unexpectedly, the two seemed to have become even more warped together. If Changyue found out, she would likely be devastated.
Lei Xiuyuan’s sleeping breath fell on her hair, tickling her. She couldn’t help but turn over, inadvertently waking him. His hands immediately locked around her waist, even his legs entwining with hers, as if he wanted to knead her into his body.
Li Fei could barely breathe. She soothingly grasped Lei Xiuyuan’s hand. Since they had truly become Dao companions, Lei Xiuyuan had been like this almost every night, unwilling to be apart even by a hair’s breadth. Sometimes when she suddenly woke in the middle of the night, she could feel his grip so tight that her ribs ached.
He had a strange possessiveness towards her. It wasn’t so obvious before, but after their hearts were united and everything seemed perfect, he began to show it more and more, especially in moments like these.
His hot, dry lips fell on the back of her neck, slowly spreading to her shoulder. Li Fei shrank away ticklishly, and heard him ask in a hoarse voice, “What are you thinking about?”
She didn’t know how to discuss Gelin’s matter with him. Lei Xiuyuan had never been a good confidant for such things. Moreover, his earlier words had given her much to ponder. He was holding her so tightly, and she was feeling drowsy, so she simply shook her head and said, “Nothing.”
Lei Xiuyuan’s arms suddenly tightened, causing her to gasp in pain. He immediately loosened his grip. After a long while, he seemed to sigh softly, his hand covering her head, kissing her forehead. “…I’m sorry.”
Li Fei turned to look at him. His eyes seemed incredibly deep in the darkness; she couldn’t understand what they concealed.
“What are you sorry for?” she asked.
Lei Xiuyuan shook his head without speaking, gently embracing her with open arms. After a long while, he suddenly released her, tucked in the blanket corners, and said softly, “Alright, go back to sleep.”
Li Fei grabbed his hand. “Xiuyuan, did you kill Qin Yangling? Are you alright?”
The last time he fought with Qin Yangling, he ended up severely injured and in critical condition. This time, he seemed completely unharmed. She instinctively wanted to release spiritual energy to check his meridians. This man was known for enduring hardship; she worried he might have hidden injuries.
But he quickly pushed her hand away, then rolled on top of her, pinning her wrists to the bed. Li Fei was startled, then heard him say, “If you’re not sleeping, we can do something else.”
She hurriedly replied, “I’ll sleep, I’ll sleep.”
She had just experienced the ecstasy of passion and felt that a light taste was enough; she couldn’t handle such insatiable desire. Lei Xiuyuan chuckled softly, patting her head. He was quite strange today, in an indescribable way. Li Fei covered her head with the blanket, hazily glancing at him. He kept looking down at her, not speaking, just silently watching.
She closed her eyes and gradually drifted into sleep after a long while.
In her dream, she seemed to return to when she was very young, awkwardly holding a brush to practice writing. Her master was stingy, not even willing to buy her a practice copybook, instead writing the characters to be learned on paper himself for her to follow.
Her master was left-handed, writing with a rightward slant. As she practiced, she too began to slant to the right. Her hands and sleeves became sticky with ink. When night fell and her master saw this, he angrily scolded her: “You’ve got ink all over your hands just writing characters! Are you playing with ink or writing?”
She handed him the day’s work. Her master’s brow smoothed as he flipped through her childish writing, noticing the increasing rightward slant towards the end. He sighed, “They say children learn by example. My writing is crooked, so you’ve learned to write crookedly too. This won’t do.”
The next day, her master reluctantly bought her a proper copybook. From then on, her writing was never crooked again. When in a good mood, her master would hold her and play with her, often musing, “I wonder what you’ll be like when you grow up? I don’t know if I’ll live to see it.”
She innocently asked, “Why won’t you see it?”
Her master smiled, “Because you’re a child, and I’m already an old man. If I could live to see you grow up, that would be wonderful indeed.”
She had grown up now and even had a Dao companion. Where was her master? Could he see her? Surely he could, right? When she became more powerful and her master was willing to see her, she would bring Lei Xiuyuan to reunite with him. The three of them could live together in Qingqiu.
Li Fei smiled and turned over, continuing to sleep. In her hazy state, she seemed to return to that cliff where Zhen Yunzi stood before her, covered in blood. Strangely, he wasn’t looking at her but stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the vast sea below. After a long while, he sighed deeply: “A lifetime of cultivation, the first half-smooth, the latter half tumultuous. I was misled by the nine-tailed fox for too long, and even after death, I find no peace. I regret, oh how I regret… Among all living beings, who are without regret?”
Having said this, he turned back, looking at her with burning eyes, his expression confused yet fervent. He said softly, “You… what exactly are you?”
Li Fei replied calmly, “I am nothing, just an ordinary person.”
Zhen Yunzi laughed coldly several times, his figure slowly dissipating like blue smoke, his voice fading: “Once fangs are bared, they can never be hidden again. Can you be an ordinary person?”
Fangs? Li Fei felt indifferent. She had always been surrounded by people willing to care for her and protect her. Over the years, every time she faced danger, it would eventually turn into safety. She had gradually become accustomed to this good fortune, accustomed to relying on others. Facing Zhen Yunzi directly was the first time in her life. He was right; she had bared her fangs for the first time, mercilessly tearing apart the enemy before her.
She even felt it was natural. Her first kill, her first absorption of spiritual energy—she didn’t feel uncomfortable. In her subconscious, it all seemed so logical, as if she should have done this long ago.
Li Fei slowly walked to the edge of the cliff, gazing at the boundless sea. At the end of this sea was where she came from, but she didn’t know if it was where she would return.
A huge rock stood at the cliff’s edge. She involuntarily looked up to examine it closely. The writing on it was slender and sharp, slanting to the right—a style she knew all too well.
Suddenly, her heart began to race. In a blink, she seemed to return to the Yimin Tomb, where the withered corpse of the Qingcheng Immortal lay before her eyes. His skeletal hand gripped her wrist tightly like an iron ring. Li Fei was both shocked and frightened, staring at his skull-like face, which bore no discernible features. Suddenly, this face transformed into the infinitely familiar white-bearded old man she had been thinking of day and night.
He playfully winked at her. Li Fei awoke with a start, finding the room bright. Lei Xiuyuan was no longer beside her. Outside the window, she could hear Bai Li Gelin and Su Wan chattering. Su Wan had arrived?
An unnamed fear made her limbs weak. Her entire body was drenched in cold sweat. Li Fei sat dazed for a long while, then suddenly dressed quickly, pushed open the door, and saw that everyone had gathered in the small courtyard. Ye Ye, Ji Tongzhou, and Lei Xiuyuan, the three men, probably feeling headaches from Gelin and Su Wan’s chatter, had retreated to drink tea and chat under a nearby pavilion. Ye Ye’s expression had finally returned to its usual calm, though he couldn’t help but look around for Bai Li Changyue every few words.
Bai Li Gelin and Su Wan, the two girls, seemed to have endless topics to discuss. Changyue sat beside them, smiling as she listened to their chatter. Seeing Li Fei finally emerge, Bai Li Gelin immediately laughed, “You pig, it’s almost afternoon! Finally decided to get up?”
Li Fei stared at them blankly, forcing a smile. Su Wan, noticing her pale face and red eyes, exclaimed in surprise, “What’s wrong? Didn’t you sleep well?”
Li Fei rubbed her eyes and shook her head, “It’s nothing.”
Bai Li Gelin pounced over and linked arms with her, saying repeatedly, “You’re finally awake, I’ve been waiting for you for so long, I’m dying to know! Quick, tell me how you killed Zhen Yunzi!”
Li Fei’s mind was elsewhere. She averted her gaze and said, “Changyue didn’t scold you? Look at you chattering away, you’ve woken everyone up.”
Bai Li Gelin giggled, and Changyue said gently, “It’s good that we’re all alive.”
This time, each of them had been on the brink of death, naturally changing their outlook compared to before.
Bai Li Gelin continued to press for answers: “Where did that Qin Yangling go in the end? And Elder Zhengxu’s body is also missing! And, and! Who healed our injuries? Li Fei, why aren’t you answering me? Quick, tell me what happened with Zhen Yunzi?”
Ji Tongzhou’s brow furrowed again: “Can’t you ask one question at a time?”
Bai Li Gelin made a face at him: “There’s more! What’s that black fire of yours? I’ve been wanting to ask for ages!”
Ji Tongzhou couldn’t be bothered to respond, pretending not to hear as he turned away and slowly sipped his tea.
Ye Ye, perceptive as ever, realized that with Qin Yangling and Elder Zhengxu missing without a trace, dead or alive, and Lei Xiuyuan only saying that Qin Yangling was dead, while Zhen Yunzi had been beheaded by Li Fei—her words extremely vague—and Ji Tongzhou refusing to discuss the black fire, there were things that everyone was unwilling to talk about. He immediately smiled and said, “Regardless of how it happened, our greatest threats have been eliminated. Who cares how they died? From now on, leaving the sect, we’ll feel much lighter.”
He then patted Ji Tongzhou’s shoulder and said softly, “We never told you about Zhen Yunzi because we were afraid it would make things awkward for you at Xingzheng Hall. Who would have thought you’d end up involved anyway.”
Ji Tongzhou seemed lost in thought and merely shook his head silently.
As everyone chatted and laughed in the small courtyard, they suddenly noticed the sky darkening. A strong wind arose, and before long, hail began to fall. Su Wan, visiting the East Sea for the first time, asked in surprise, “Does it hail in August here in the East Sea?”
It had been a scorching summer just moments ago, but in this short time, it had become quite cold. She had never seen such dramatic weather changes.
Bai Li Gelin shook her head and smiled bitterly: “The Sea Calamity is coming. It’s been like this every day lately—summer in the morning, winter in the afternoon. I heard my master say this is just the beginning. After a while, the sea level will start to drop, and things like heavenly thunder and a sea of fire will come through here first. The great beasts and fierce creatures from the sea will also pass through here first. Last time, when the Sea Sect didn’t cooperate with the Mountain Sect during the Sea Calamity, many disciples died. This time, they should be sending disciples towards the Mountain Sect.”
When they came last time, the Sea Calamity was still just a legend. Who would have thought that after a year, it would truly arrive? The East Sea had the most anomalies, and the creatures in the training grounds were also affected. Driven by instinct, they all wanted to flee this place and rush towards the center of the mainland. The elders of the Sea Sect had been busy reinforcing the seals lately, all of them overwhelmed.
“Let’s enjoy ourselves while we’re here,” Bai Li Gelin smiled. “Soon, we disciples won’t be allowed near the East Sea anymore. Who knows when we’ll be able to see the scenery of the East Sea again.”