Although Jian Chou had never truly coveted the “ill-gotten gains” in Elder Pang Dian’s little treasury at Longmen, when she heard Fudao Shanren say these words, she couldn’t help but feel an indescribable doubt in her heart: “Master, with such friendship between you and Master Hengxu, he still asks you to compensate for Kunwu?”

“…Cough.”

Whether their friendship was deep or not was another matter entirely.

Fudao Shanren looked up at the sky, blinked his eyes, and said with a stiff neck: “This isn’t a matter between me and Hengxu Laoguai, but a matter between Yashan and Kunwu. How could I escape? Besides, it’s all your fault! It’s all your fault!!!”

What the hell, why should I, Shanren, feel guilty?

Clearly it was Jian Chou who caused the destruction!

Fudao Shanren suddenly came to his senses and immediately raised his voice, roaring at Jian Chou.

In that instant, Shen Jiu and the others all cast sympathetic looks toward Jian Chou.

Senior Sister, when you encounter Master, you should just… oh no, accept your fate.

Jian Chou was also completely speechless. Looking back at the area in front of the main peak that she had destroyed earlier, she also felt that the commotion was indeed quite large. For a moment, her heart felt stifled, and she didn’t know what to say.

Seeing her being honest, Fudao Shanren was already laughing with joy in his heart, but still pretended to have a “reluctantly forgiving you” expression as he led his disciples back to Yashan’s lodgings at Kunwu.

The moon had already hung on the treetops.

Inside the lodgings was a hall with a large table in the center, on which were placed several spiritual melons and fruits.

As soon as Fudao Shanren entered, he directly pounced over and grabbed the fruits in one motion, beaming with joy: “Ah, Kunwu is still so generous with money. I’m feeling a bit embarrassed. Well then, disciples, it’s getting late, go rest early. Master will leave first!”

Wahaha, mine, mine, all mine!

Not giving any to these stupid disciples!

“Master, at least leave some!”

Shen Jiu stood behind, looking completely exasperated.

Jianghe watched that figure bouncing and dancing with joy under the moon, and after a long while said: “If Kunwu is so good, why doesn’t he live at Kunwu?”

That was indeed a question.

The big guy Chen Weishan stood in place for a long time, pondered for a long time, and finally slapped his own head: “This is simple! Because Kunwu definitely can’t afford to support Master. Now they have no choice but to entertain him. Usually when Master comes, he would definitely be kicked out!”

“…”

A moment of silence.

Jian Chou suddenly felt that these junior brothers were quite good at wild speculation.

She shook her head, seeing that it wasn’t late, and also wanted to return to her room to meditate and rest for a while.

Unexpectedly, just as she was about to take her leave.

Shen Jiu directly pulled out a small booklet: “Senior Sister, please wait, look at this first.”

“What is this?”

Jian Chou was somewhat surprised and took the small booklet.

Shen Jiu looked quite proud: “Senior Sister, you’ll know when you see it. This is exclusive to our Yashan, nowhere else has it. Several junior brothers and I, following our Yashan tradition, have collected this for Senior Sister. We’re sure Senior Sister will find it useful later. We dare guarantee that what’s written here is definitely more than what’s in Zhilin Sou’s notes!”

More than Zhilin Sou’s?

Jian Chou looked at the small booklet, picked it up and flipped through it, and lines of text immediately burst forth.

“Third, Young Master Ruhua of Wuyi Sect, cultivates the Hundred Flowers Killing Heart Method, has at least sixteen Dao Seals, divided into the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter…”

“Unranked, Lu Xiangleng of Baiyue Valley, known as the Medicine Woman, proficient in pill dao, besides carrying countless pills, cultivates the Heavenly Fragrance Heart Method, possessing the Languishing Cardamom Ten Seals…”

…

Following that were many more people and much more information, even including each person’s cultivation methods, their respective Dao Seals, and even their fighting styles and weaknesses!

Even for those without more information, they had analyzed each person’s most likely fighting methods and weaknesses based on their lineage, as well as the characteristics of their sects!

Jian Chou was immediately stunned: “You all…”

“Touched, right?” Shen Jiu was about to continue showing off, “It was quite difficult to compile.”

Jian Chou was about to express her thanks.

Chen Weishan honestly added from behind: “Yes, ever since Junior Brother Jianghe stopped participating in the small gatherings, we haven’t done this kind of thing for a long time. It used to be Second Senior Brother who led us in doing this. Now that he’s gone who knows where, we’re indeed a bit rusty at it.”

“…”

This fool!

Shen Jiu almost wanted to glare at Chen Weishan with murderous eyes.

He was truly about to be infuriated. He had originally wanted to take initiative to show off in front of Senior Sister, but now this fool directly said this was a tradition of Fudao Shanren’s disciples at Yashan. What was the point of showing off now!

Kou Qianzhi, holding his sword, showed a helpless smile.

Jian Chou heard their conversation and was somewhat surprised.

So it turned out that every small gathering, Fudao Shanren’s disciples would work together to gather such information. And she was the only disciple Fudao Shanren had taken in three hundred years, so they were indeed doing this proactively for the first time.

Looking at this thin little booklet, Jian Chou felt it had some weight in her hands.

“Thank you, junior brothers, for your efforts on my behalf.”

“Eh?”

She actually thanked them?

Shen Jiu suddenly forgot about glaring at Chen Weishan and turned around in surprise.

Jian Chou was looking at them with an indescribably gentle gaze, warmth flowing in her eyes, her lips lightly curved, giving off a feeling like willow catkins on a pond in a gentle breeze.

In that instant, Shen Jiu felt somewhat dazed.

Jian Chou didn’t notice Shen Jiu’s daze. She glanced at the slanted moon hanging outside and heard only faint insect chirping around them, knowing it was getting late. She said: “Tomorrow will be the last day. I’ll return to my room to carefully study what you junior brothers have prepared for me, in case I need it. As for you junior brothers…”

“Senior Sister needn’t worry about us. We’re planning to wander around Kunwu.”

Shen Jiu immediately understood Jian Chou’s meaning and casually indicated they already had their own “nightlife” planned.

Going to wander around Kunwu…

They really did treat Kunwu like their own backyard.

Thinking again about how Fudao Shanren could randomly throw chicken bones around Kunwu without being caught, Jian Chou felt some indescribable complexity.

Her smile remained unchanged as she simply nodded: “Then I’ll return to my room first.”

“Senior Sister, take care.”

Jian Chou turned and left, with Shen Jiu and the others seeing her off.

Leaving the hall, Jian Chou could see many lodgings for Kunwu disciples outside, with wisps of cloud qi drifting over, making this area of buildings on Kunwu Mountain appear hazy.

Her room was on the east side of the hall, the innermost one.

Jian Chou pushed open the door and entered. With a flick of her finger, a point of spiritual fire shot out, lighting the lamp inside the room.

She had originally wanted to sit cross-legged and cultivate, but discovered that she had cultivated too much during the day. Now at the bottleneck of Foundation Establishment Peak, she was like a container filled with water – more cultivation would just be pouring water that would overflow.

Without advancing in realm, cultivation was useless.

That final step wasn’t so easy.

Jian Chou deeply felt the difficulty of bottlenecks, though she herself didn’t particularly mind.

Since she couldn’t cultivate, she might as well look at the small booklet Shen Jiu and the others had given her.

With this thought, Jian Chou took out the small booklet and slowly began reading through it.

There were many cultivators at the gathering. Only those judged by Shen Jiu and the others to pose a threat to Jian Chou or have some small distinctive features would be recorded within.

In this small booklet, she even saw Jiang Wenchao’s name.

“Jiang Wenchao, the spirit he communes with is suspected to be the Four Directions Vermillion Bird! His battle power should be at mid-Core Formation level. Since he hasn’t made a move yet, much is unknown.”

Vermillion Bird?

When Jian Chou had fought with He Jiuyi, she understood what kind of existence the Tongling Pavilion’s cultivation method was. It had similarities with natal Dao Seals – the more powerful the spirit communed with, the stronger the power of the Dao Seals that could be displayed.

According to historical records, the universe was divided into three eras.

First was the Primordial Era, when all was chaotic and only various beings fought each other in the endless night.

Second was the Ancient Era, when heaven and earth separated into clear and turbid, stars were born and hung in the sky. The primordial beings roamed freely, while humans were born between heaven and earth, following the dao of heaven and earth, slaying many demon gods and pushing the long river of time to the present.

The Vermillion Bird, as one of the Four Directions Divine Beasts, like Dijiang, was also a survivor from the Primordial Era.

Jian Chou had only obtained the Dijiang Wind Thunder Wing as a seal, yet found it difficult to control.

Then what about…

Jiang Wenchao?

The genius who shocked the world thirty years ago, yet inexplicably regressed in cultivation – could it be related to what Shen Jiu and the others recorded: “the spirit he communes with is suspected to be the Four Directions Vermillion Bird”?

Jian Chou became lost in thought for a moment.

“Whoosh!”

The half-open carved window suddenly trembled, as if a gust of wind had swept past outside.

Under the stars and moon, someone seemed to flash quickly past outside.

Jian Chou immediately became alert, instinctively closing the small booklet and coming to the window, pushing it open to look out.

Kunwu Mountain was bathed in bright moonlight, but unlike Yashan’s lofty coldness, it carried a worldly, smoky atmosphere, with buildings like mountain houses and towers faintly visible.

At this moment, a crimson-white light was fleeing desperately past the distant mountain houses.

Another white light swiftly followed behind. The spiritual qi fluctuations immediately startled some people. In the blink of an eye, as the front white light plunged into the dense mountain forests within Kunwu’s boundaries, the pursuing light also followed and disappeared from sight after a moment.

What audacity.

To chase and flee like this near Kunwu’s main peak – who knew what had happened.

Jian Chou frowned. Such commotion yet no one came out to watch – how strange.

But thinking about it, she understood: though Kunwu was large, many people had come now. Who knew what grudges and vendettas people had? Better not to cause trouble if possible. Some matters even Kunwu found difficult to handle, so unless something major happened, they simply ignored it.

Since that was the case, she seemed to have nothing to worry about.

With this thought, Jian Chou was about to close the window with both hands when a tranquil figure on the distant mountain path suddenly caught her attention.

It was a woman holding something, who also seemed attracted by those two streaking lights, raising her head to look up for a while.

However, she didn’t seem very concerned and slowly continued along the mountain forest path toward the distance.

Her snow-white robes, under the reflection of the pure moon, made her seem even more like a moon palace fairy, refined and otherworldly.

Jian Chou suddenly thought that since entering the Nineteen States, she had seen so many people, with many female cultivators being called fairies, but only Lu Xiangleng truly deserved the title of “fairy.”

However, this person was obviously not someone who cared about empty fame.

“Wu wu wu…”

Little Marten, who had been dozing, shivered from the mountain breeze and curled up smaller on the simple cushion, showing no signs of waking.

Jian Chou glanced at it and smiled slightly. Taking advantage of the incoming breeze, she silently flew out the window, floating gracefully like a crane, gliding over half of Kunwu Mountain toward the forest below.

All one hundred and sixteen Heaven-Reaching Platforms were empty, no longer bustling with daytime activity.

A clear stream flowed down from Kunwu’s peak, winding through the grass-and-tree-filled forest. The trees on both sides of the stream, having entered deep autumn, showed touches of yellow, covered with white frost. Occasionally, fragmented moonlight fell through the forest, settling on the grass and leaves, creating an even more desolate and cold feeling.

When Jian Chou landed, she had lost track of Lu Xiangleng, so she simply walked leisurely through the forest.

The cold, secluded moon most easily stirred sorrowful thoughts.

Jian Chou suddenly remembered her flower-before-moon pledge and moon-under oath with Xie Buchen.

Under such a moon, she had once been stunned by his sudden low murmur of “How can one grasp the moon in the azure sky,” and had once fled with him through deep alleys, evading pursuing enemies. They had once joined hands under this dawn moon to go to strange little villages, hiding their identities. At that time he was still called Xie Wuming, later changing his name to Buchen with the courtesy name Wuming.

Also under such a moon, she who had returned from death brought Fudao Shanren back to the village house that remained much the same, seeing in the sewing basket the silver lock meant for her unborn child.

“Hmm…”

Qin strings vibrated, and immediately melodious qin music flowed forth.

Jian Chou, deep in her thoughts, thinking of how she now stood on the Kunwu territory where Xie Buchen had once cultivated for two years, yet couldn’t meet her enemy face to face to draw swords, felt a kind of irony.

That qin music entered her ears and flowed into her heart, carrying an indescribable sense of peace.

This was very simple qin music, not even recognizable as any particular piece, seeming just a casual strum to test the sound.

However, the more casual, the more natural.

The surging thoughts in Jian Chou’s mind didn’t calm, but followed this qin music.

The stream at her feet gradually became somewhat wider, flowing over moss-covered mountain stones, finally joining the lake that suddenly appeared in Jian Chou’s view ahead.

Dense forest shadows surrounded the mirror-smooth lake in the center.

The water surface, barely rippling, reflected the frosty moon’s image from above.

By the lakeside was a wooden boardwalk extending several zhang inward, looking somewhat old.

A figure in plain white sat at the end of this wooden platform in the lake’s center. Before her was a wooden table with a wine vessel, and across her knees lay a newly-made wooden qin. She was gently plucking the strings with her fingers in a somewhat absent-minded manner.

Jian Chou slowly emerged from the forest shadows and came to the lakeside.

The qin music suddenly stopped, as if the player had noticed someone’s arrival.

Lu Xiangleng turned her eyes to look left, indeed seeing a figure in moon-white robes, though she showed some surprise upon recognizing the person’s identity.

A moment of silence.

“Unable to sleep on this starry night, seeing people chasing outside and thinking something major had happened, I came down for a walk. I didn’t expect to find Daoist Lu in the elegant mood for drinking wine and playing qin, so I followed the sound.”

Jian Chou slowly walked onto the boardwalk, her every movement quite natural.

“Previously I received a bowl as a gift from Daoist Lu. I didn’t expect to encounter you again tonight. Seeing Daoist Lu drinking alone, I wonder if I might again request a cup of fine wine?”

Lu Xiangleng had seen Jian Chou from afar before, but now seeing her walk directly in front of her, she was indeed the same female cultivator she had seen on White Stone Mountain that day. A strange feeling arose in her heart.

“So it’s Daoist Jian Chou.”

“Coming on this starry night, I fear I’ve disturbed Daoist Lu’s elegant mood, but when old friends meet…” Jian Chou smiled slightly, “Long admired, long time no see.”

Long admired.

Long time no see.

Lu Xiangleng was slightly stunned, feeling these four words were quite wonderful, with some meaning worth savoring.

Her fingers wrapped in black qi pressed on the qin strings. After a moment of silence, she also smiled: “Indeed long admired, indeed long time no see. Though I have no fine wine or delicacies, I have a few cups of clear spring water. If Daoist Jian Chou doesn’t mind, perhaps we could have a chat.”

“In that case, it would be rude to refuse.”

So Jian Chou came up.

Lu Xiangleng set the unfinished wooden qin aside, took out another wine cup, pressed with her finger, and a long-necked wine pot appeared in her hand. With a tilt, gurgling nectar fell, pouring into the wine cup.

Jian Chou naturally sat down opposite Lu Xiangleng. Looking carefully, she discovered that this wooden table with wine cups on both sides was actually a chess board, with many black and white pieces scattered on it, forming an intricate endgame.

For a moment, Jian Chou was quite interested.

“I wonder which master left this…”

Saying “left by a master” without mentioning Lu Xiangleng showed that Jian Chou judged at a glance that Lu Xiangleng hadn’t been here long and hadn’t had time to play chess, so she omitted even asking whether Lu Xiangleng had left this chess game.

Her observational skills and subconscious thinking made her judgment and words different from ordinary people.

Her brows seemed to furrow slightly like caught smoke, and Lu Xiangleng appeared almost transparent under the moon.

She glanced at Jian Chou and smiled slightly: “It was here when I arrived. I didn’t damage this game, just played the vulgar role of using the chess board as a wine table.”

“That does seem somewhat wasteful…”

Jian Chou’s gaze swept across each stone and point on this chess board.

This board was no different from worldly chess boards. Each piece was made of stone, and touching them lightly, they felt perfectly round and smooth.

Lu Xiangleng said: “These pieces are black and white stones from the lake bottom, casually picked up and lightly polished into these perfectly round pieces. The black and white pieces actually have subtle color differences. This player also seems to be a casual person.”

Hearing this, Jian Chou looked at the chess board and shook her head.

She wasn’t skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but had been exposed to them and had seen many qin scores and chess manuals, observed many intricate chess games.

The current game had both black and white pieces following the same strategy, clearly the work of one person, probably playing against themselves.

However, the player was thoughtful and thorough, calculating many moves ahead with each placement, so that this game before them seemed like a dead game where any move would result in a draw.

Black and white battled with murderous intent at every step.

But this murderous intent was all left by the same player.

Casual?

Of course not.

Jian Chou’s head shake caught Lu Xiangleng’s attention, and looking down, she immediately understood the reason for the shake.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

Perhaps because death was approaching, she was too lazy to think about such things.

Lu Xiangleng smiled mysteriously.

Seeing this, Jian Chou tapped her finger on the edge of the wooden chess board, calculating the moves of black and white, feeling her mind restless, caught up in the murderous intent of this game.

“Does Daoist Lu also play chess?”

Lu Xiangleng looked up at her.

Their eyes met, and she immediately understood, raising her hand to point lightly toward the lake water. A white stone with moist lake water fell into her palm, and with a gentle squeeze, it became a smooth white piece.

“I know a little, but…”

“No one will know it was us.”

Jian Chou naturally knew what Lu Xiangleng was thinking. After all, disrupting someone else’s chess game seemed impolite, but…

“Anyway, this original game, when played to the end, is just someone playing against themselves. How could there be a winner? How can one defeat oneself? Better to let others finish this game. If Daoist Lu is worried, we can just replay it later.”

Lu Xiangleng was somewhat surprised and amazed.

Jian Chou also picked several stones from the lake bottom. Seeing her looking at her this way, she roughly guessed what she was thinking and said: “Do I not seem like this kind of person?”

“…Daoist Jian Chou is more free-spirited and casual than others.”

Lu Xiangleng’s eyes showed a faint glimmer, and her smile carried an indescribable sense of emotion.

She had forgotten that the person before her was Yashan’s senior sister, one who acted on whim and followed her nature – perfectly fitting.

“In that case, let’s play a few moves on this game.”

Jian Chou took black, which in the current board position would move first.

So she placed the first stone.

Lu Xiangleng pondered for a moment and also placed a stone.

The half-made wooden qin was ignored.

This endgame continued from moonrise to moonset.

One move, then another.

The original player who left this game was unknown, but their thorough consideration was simply beyond imagination. Only when playing did one realize that what seemed like idle moves might have different purposes.

However, neither Jian Chou nor Lu Xiangleng was the original player, so they didn’t know whether the roles they assigned to these idle pieces when placing stones matched the original master’s intentions.

“…Forget it, my chess skills are inadequate. I’ve wasted what was originally a good game…”

A white piece was already between her fingers, but she couldn’t place it.

Lu Xiangleng sighed slightly and finally withdrew her hand, placing the piece beside the chess board.

Jian Chou held several black pieces in her left hand and was lightly tapping with a black piece between her right fingertips, seeming somewhat bored.

Hearing Lu Xiangleng’s words, she said: “The original player followed a careful, thorough, one-strike-kill strategy. Daoist Lu has a kind heart – whenever you could strike ruthlessly, you would lose the initiative due to momentary softness. Although… in this game, you had no initiative to speak of.”

Because all the initiative was on Jian Chou’s side.

These words were hardly polite, even carrying a sharp sting.

Lu Xiangleng listened in shock, and after a long while reacted, laughing: “Daoist Jian Chou speaks truly.”

However…

She observed Jian Chou’s chess strategy in this game, which was remarkably similar to the original master’s. When it was time to capture her pieces, she showed no mercy, taking as many as possible without any hesitation.

This decisive and resolute character alone surpassed the so-called “heroic cultivators” Lu Xiangleng knew by several times.

Jian Chou also knew how this game would end and didn’t mind. She threw the pieces in her hand back into the lake and smiled: “I was too ruthless and direct while playing, cutting to the bone at every move. I’m afraid Daoist Lu might turn against me now.”

Lu Xiangleng continued to laugh: “Daoist Jian Chou is someone I could take as a close friend.”

Could take as a close friend.

Medicine Woman Lu Xiangleng wasn’t originally someone with low aspirations. For her to say “could take as a close friend,” if others heard it, they would probably be greatly shocked.

“Then it seems we are fated.”

Jian Chou picked up the wine cup that had been placed beside the chess board, lightly sniffed it, detected no wine scent, and knew it truly wasn’t any fine wine. She simply flipped her hand and directly poured this nectar into the lake water.

Lu Xiangleng was immediately surprised.

“Daoist Jian Chou, this is…”

Jian Chou didn’t explain, reaching out to take Lu Xiangleng’s wine cup as well and poured it into the lake water.

“Previously on White Stone Mountain, I received a bowl from Daoist Xiangleng as a gift, a debt of drinking water. Today we’ve had a meeting of minds through chess, which also counts as a spiritual connection. Daoist Xiangleng has the bearing of an immortal – this mere mountain spring nectar isn’t anything rare. How could it match a fairy?”

“…”

Lu Xiangleng was speechless.

She didn’t tell Jian Chou that these two cups of nectar were made from water essence and flowing ice from underground spiritual rivers, having detoxifying and mind-clearing effects. For ordinary cultivators, they were rare treasures.

But since Jian Chou had already poured them out, she didn’t say more, only sighing: “I dare not claim to be a fairy. Xiangleng only wishes to be an ordinary person.”

A dying person – this water essence and flowing ice couldn’t cure her ground scorpion poison, merely offering a final struggle to delay things by a few days.

Now that Jian Chou had poured it out, it was actually cleaner this way.

Jian Chou placed the empty wine cups together, revealing a smile with several points of brightness.

With a flip of her hand, a cup appeared in her grasp.

The cup bore ancient, simple patterns with primordial script carved upon it. Within the cup was jade-like liquid, ice-cold, with a thin layer of cold qi enveloping the water’s surface. When illuminated by the setting moon above, it immediately created a misty, dreamlike beauty.

A clear, cold sensation spread from this cup’s appearance, extending to the entire lake!

In an instant, even the lake’s surface froze with a thin layer of ice!

Lu Xiangleng’s fingers on the chess board immediately stiffened.

She was stunned.

Jian Chou wasn’t, only thinking that outside the Killing Red Small Realm, this cup of Ice Vine Jade Essence seemed much more powerful than she had imagined.

She tilted the cup, pouring the Ice Vine Jade Essence into the two smaller wine cups, then gestured.

“Under the moon is a beauty, we are both heroes. At this time and place, how can we lack true jade nectar? Please, Daoist Xiangleng, drink this cup fully.”