Jian Xingzhi stared blankly as Qin Wanwan walked away. After a moment, he finally reacted and asked suspiciously, “Does this count as her agreeing with me?”
“That’s right!”
666 couldn’t watch anymore. “See you tonight—hurry back and get dressed up. Every day in those Daoist robes of yours, are you going out to fight?”
“Oh.” Jian Xingzhi came to his senses, then quickly ran back to his room and dumped out all the clothes from his storage pouch.
As expected—
Daoist robes, Daoist robes, Daoist robes.
Jian Xingzhi sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the pile of Daoist robes with a contemplative expression. 666 thought for a moment and reminded him, “Didn’t you have some clothes that male consorts wear when you first came to this world?”
Hearing this suggestion, Jian Xingzhi immediately recalled those pink-colored long robes. His breath hitched and he immediately refused. “I won’t.”
“Go rummage through them. Maybe there are some good-looking ones?”
“No way. Male consort clothes are too undignified!”
Jian Xingzhi flatly refused, but after sitting cross-legged and thinking about it, he still pulled out those clothes.
Pink wouldn’t work, but what about other colors?
While Jian Xingzhi was struggling to find clothes, Qin Wanwan’s situation wasn’t much better.
For a girl to dress up formally required at least an entire afternoon of careful preparation, with the most meticulous attention paid to the inconspicuous details.
Bathing, applying fragrant oils, facial masks—moisturized skin was the foundation for makeup to apply smoothly…
38 watched as Qin Wanwan dabbed and smeared things on her face. After watching for quite a while, it couldn’t quite understand. “You… you’ve been applying things for ages but there’s no color?”
“What color do you need?” Qin Wanwan was doing a peach-toned sweet makeup look. “For straight men like Jian Xingzhi, makeup should of course be the kind he can’t tell you’re wearing, where he just thinks you’re truly beautiful—that’s strategic makeup!”
After finishing her makeup, Qin Wanwan began selecting accessories, teaching 38 as she chose. “Don’t think beauty is simply natural good looks. Without effort, where does beauty come from?”
38 listened in bewilderment and began recalling every past appearance of his wife.
Did she wear makeup?
Did she?
Never mind—his wife was so beautiful, perfectly round!
The two of them each struggled in their rooms all afternoon. By the time Qin Wanwan was almost ready, it was already dusk. Cuilu knocked on her window. “Wanwan, Luo Xingzhou invited us to drink. Coming or not?”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan quickly refused. “No, I’m not going.”
“Why not?” Cuilu found it strange. “Everyone’s going. You should come too—it’ll be livelier!”
“I…” Qin Wanwan didn’t know why, but instinctively wanted to conceal the fact that she was secretly going out with Jian Xingzhi. She stammered, “I… I’m a bit tired, have a headache. I need to rest.”
“Are you alright?” Cuilu’s tone carried some concern.
Qin Wanwan regained her composure and reassured Cuilu. “I’m fine. I’ll be better after resting a bit. Don’t worry about me—go on your own.”
While Cuilu was calling for Qin Wanwan, Xie Gutang also went to call Jian Xingzhi. Jian Xingzhi was gritting his teeth struggling with a hair ribbon.
He had found a book specifically to learn how to tie a topknot, but while his eyes understood it, his hands had their own ideas. After struggling for a long time without success, he was getting irritated when he heard Xie Gutang call him. “Senior, Xingzhou wants to invite everyone for drinks before the wedding. Will Senior join us?”
“About to get married and still drinking?”
Jian Xingzhi faced the mirror tying his hair, saying impatiently, “Not going!”
Xie Gutang was accustomed to Jian Xingzhi’s temperament and wasn’t bothered, only persuading, “Wedding preparations are all complete. Xingzhou was thinking that after tomorrow’s wedding, Senior will be departing, so he wanted to host a gathering to express his thanks.”
Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi’s movements slowed slightly, but thinking that Qin Wanwan was still waiting for him, he still said, “I appreciate the sentiment, but I have something today. Let’s gather another day!”
Having said this much, Xie Gutang didn’t press further, only saying, “Then Senior should rest well. Gutang will take his leave first.”
After Xie Gutang withdrew, Jian Xingzhi saw a paper crane fly to the window. The crane carried Qin Wanwan’s spiritual power. He flicked it with his finger and saw the crane transform into a line of golden characters: “Meet at the archway on East Street.”
The archway on East Street wasn’t far from the dock. Since Qin Wanwan was meeting him there, could it be she wanted to go boating on the lake with him?
Jian Xingzhi pondered this in his heart, and the movements of his hands tying his hair immediately quickened.
A good man couldn’t keep his sweetheart waiting!
He hastily finished tying his hair and quickly left. By the time he arrived at the designated location, the sun had already set. Lanterns hung on the streets and it was bustling with activity. He stood at the intersection looking around for a while, then under 666’s guidance bought a bouquet of flowers from a flower girl’s basket and stood at the roadside somewhat at a loss.
666 explained to him, “The female lead will definitely come from that intersection. You face away from the intersection. There’s a lamp ahead—walk forward two more steps and stand in the lamplight. Wait. When the female lead calls your name, slowly turn around. Remember, you must be slow, be dramatic, your gaze must be tender. You need that feeling of ‘searching for you hundreds of times, and there you are in the dim lamplight!’ Do you understand?”
Jian Xingzhi thought for a moment. He extracted the main points: when she calls his name, he turns around slowly with a tender gaze.
He nodded. “Got it.”
Holding the flowers, he faced a deity statue with his back to the intersection and waited for quite a while. Finally, he heard an excited yet disbelieving call: “Jian Xingzhi?”
The street was noisy. He couldn’t tell whose voice it was, so he could only follow 666’s words and slowly, slowly turn around.
The moment he turned around with a tender gaze, he saw a large group of people.
Luo Xingzhou with Liu Feishuang, Xie Gutang holding Nanfeng, Cuilu standing to the side—five people looking at him in confusion.
Cuilu mercilessly struck him down. “What’s wrong with you? Did you twist your neck?”
“No, just exercising.”
“Why are you…” Xie Gutang looked at him puzzled, dressed in a powder-blue long robe embroidered with white plum blossoms, his hair tied with white silk. “…dressed so… handsomely?”
The word “flamboyantly” was right on the tip of his tongue, but politeness made Xie Gutang change to a different word.
Jian Xingzhi stiffened his neck and feigned composure. “I’m strolling around, just wearing whatever.”
“Then,” Liu Feishuang frowned and continued asking, “why are you facing the Earth God holding a bouquet of flowers?”
“I…” Jian Xingzhi was too embarrassed to say the flowers were for Qin Wanwan. Looking at the pile of flowers on the ground, he stuck the flowers into the ground. “Making an offering.”
With that, he decided to turn the tables. “What are you all doing here?”
“Drinking,” Luo Xingzhou raised his hand and pointed to the dock beside them. “I rented a boat. Tonight I’m taking everyone boating on the lake! Join us, Daojun Jian?”
“No need,” Jian Xingzhi refused stonily. “I’m strolling by myself.”
“Strolling alone is so boring,” Luo Xingzhou raised his hand to pull him, persuading, “Being alone is very lonely. I can tell at a glance that you’ve definitely been very lonely all these years, Daojun Jian. Come, let me show you a good time…”
“No need,” Jian Xingzhi pulled away his hand trying to refuse. “I’m fine by myself.”
The two of them pulled back and forth on the street with their backs to the crowd for quite a while, when a hesitant call suddenly came from behind. “Jian Xingzhi?”
Hearing the female voice, everyone immediately turned around to see Qin Wanwan in a white dress embroidered with peach blossoms, a flowing immortal-style gown. Qin Wanwan looked no different from usual, but somehow seemed much sweeter and more beautiful.
Everyone looked at Qin Wanwan, who seemed a bit different, then turned back to look at Jian Xingzhi, who was very different.
They suddenly realized something.
“Oh!!” Luo Xingzhou had an epiphany. “So you two came out for a tryst!”
“Oh, you’re all here,” Qin Wanwan smiled. Thinking about it, she decided to make the best of the situation. “Where are you going?”
“We rented a boat,” Luo Xingzhou persuaded Qin Wanwan. “Tonight we’re touring the lake. I heard you’re leaving after attending the wedding, and thinking we don’t know when we’ll meet again, why not drink together today? Miss Qin, would you like to join us?”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan glanced at the people around her. Everyone was looking at them expectantly. Although Jian Xingzhi crossed his arms sulking, his sidelong glance at Luo Xingzhou also seemed to carry some anticipation.
Qin Wanwan thought about it and smiled. “Then let’s go together.”
“Daojun Jian,” Luo Xingzhou happily turned back. “Miss Qin says let’s go together.”
“Since she said together,” Jian Xingzhi seemed reluctant, “then let’s go together.”
“Let’s go!”
Luo Xingzhou happily led everyone. “Feishuang and I will introduce you to some of Flower City’s customs!”
With that, the large group followed Luo Xingzhou onto the boat.
The boat was neither large nor small. Luo Xingzhou hired a boatman, prepared wine and a grill, and led the group to barbecue and drink at the bow.
“Daojun Jian,” Luo Xingzhou turned to look at Jian Xingzhi. “Do you know how to play finger-guessing games?”
“I…” Jian Xingzhi instinctively glanced at Qin Wanwan. Qin Wanwan immediately walked up eating barbecued meat. “Come, I’ll play with you.”
“Alright,” Luo Xingzhou nodded. “Then I’ll pick a team and you pick a team. We’ll take turns playing finger-guessing. Winners stay, losers leave. Whichever team loses all their people first, the whole team drinks.”
“Good.” Qin Wanwan nodded. “We’ll play first. Winners pick people.”
“You’re on.”
Luo Xingzhou praised her, rolled up his sleeves, and played finger-guessing with Qin Wanwan to pick teams. Qin Wanwan picked Jian Xingzhi and Xie Gutang. Luo Xingzhou took Cuilu, Liu Feishuang, and Nanfeng.
Jian Xingzhi saw Qin Wanwan pick Xie Gutang and quietly spoke up. “Why didn’t you pick Cuilu? Xie Gutang clearly looks like an upright person—how can he beat them at this?”
“You don’t know,” Qin Wanwan quietly reassured Jian Xingzhi. “Xie Gutang isn’t upright at all.”
Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi looked at Xie Gutang suspiciously, then turned back to look at Qin Wanwan. “How do you know?”
Qin Wanwan choked, coughed lightly, and turned to look at Luo Xingzhou. “Come come come, let’s have Jian Xingzhi go first.”
Jian Xingzhi didn’t know how to play finger-guessing games. Under everyone’s hands-on teaching, he quickly learned. At first he would lose, but after a few rounds, he became the strongest present. Only Cuilu and Xie Gutang could compete with him.
Qin Wanwan drank a few cups, somewhat bewildered. Could it be that in this world, even finger-guessing games depended on cultivation level?
Feeling deeply hurt, she could only go to the grill and eat several more skewers of barbecued meat in retaliation.
The small boat drifted along with the current, passing through lotus ponds. After the group got drunk, they gathered together to chat. Luo Xingzhou was talkative and told everyone about interesting stories from the Heavenly Sword Sect.
“When people enter our sect, we first examine their nature. Based on their nature, they’re divided into Inquiry Heart Sword and Passionate Sword. When my senior brother was young, he didn’t know how to smile and had no feelings for anyone. I remember when he first entered the sect—he was so good-looking. My little sister and I—right, that number one beauty under heaven, Su Zhenxue!” Luo Xingzhou was quite proud. “Let me explain, my sister took our mother’s surname. Back then we kept going to play with him, giving him food every day. Then one day we secretly ran to play in the back mountain. When the Punishment Hall elder came and asked him about it, he didn’t cover for us at all and told everything. My father took one look and said, ‘What excellent Inquiry Heart Sword material!'”
Luo Xingzhou clapped his hands. “Cold heart, cold feelings, the Great Dao supremely impartial!” He raised his hand to point at Xie Gutang. “The best guardian of the Realm of Life and Death—my senior brother, Xie Gutang!”
Hearing these words, Qin Wanwan and Jian Xingzhi couldn’t help but look at Xie Gutang a few more times. Xie Gutang calmly drank his wine. Cuilu listened, somewhat curious. “Xie Gutang doesn’t seem like the kind of person you’re describing, does he?”
“You don’t understand him,” Luo Xingzhou waved his hand. “What Inquiry Heart Sword practitioners are like—our sect knows best. Actually my senior brother is a good person,” Luo Xingzhou seemed somewhat sad. “But everyone doesn’t dare get too close to him. If we get too close, later when he goes to the Realm of Life and Death and guards for hundreds of years, just thinking about it is sad.”
“The Realm of Life and Death,” Jian Xingzhi listened, finding it strange. “What kind of place is that exactly?”
“The Realm of Life and Death is an evil place suppressed by the Heavenly Sword Sect. Inside are sealed countless demons and monsters. If they emerged into the present world, they could throw the entire world into chaos. To get out, these demons constantly release evil energy at the seal to disturb people’s minds. Ordinary people cannot resist it, so every generation’s guardian must be an Inquiry Heart Sword practitioner—cold heart, cold feelings, unaffected by evil demons. But Inquiry Heart Sword cultivation has extremely harsh requirements on practitioners, so guardians of the Realm of Life and Death, after entering, must wait for the next guardian to arrive. This wait could be a hundred years, a thousand years, or perhaps they’ll never emerge for their entire life.”
Xie Gutang explained to Jian Xingzhi. Qin Wanwan understood. “So, will you have to go back one day?”
“I haven’t yet achieved the Dao,” Xie Gutang smiled. “I don’t yet have the qualifications to go to the Realm of Life and Death.”
“Your sect is quite interesting,” Jian Xingzhi listened to Xie Gutang’s meaning and thought about it. “The feelings between senior and junior brothers seem quite deep.”
“The depth is one-sided on my part.” Luo Xingzhou said painfully. Xie Gutang glanced at him calmly and didn’t speak.
“What about you?” Hearing Jian Xingzhi mention sects, Qin Wanwan turned to look at him. “How did you get along with your fellow sect members?”
“Get along?”
Jian Xingzhi thought about it and shook his head. “Never got along. I was born at Golden Core stage. My master raised me single-handedly. Our sect uses battle to cultivate the Dao—we rely on fighting. So from my earliest memories, whenever I saw fellow sect members, it was to fight.”
“So brutal?” Luo Xingzhou was incredulous. “You can’t be fighting all the time, right? After fighting, don’t you eat together, hang out together?”
“After fighting we meditate,” Jian Xingzhi pondered. “I was born in bigu state and don’t need to eat. Normally I cultivated in my master’s Dao palace. My master rarely saw me either. From my earliest memories, he just threw me out to fight all along.”
“Then…” Liu Feishuang stared at Jian Xingzhi blankly. “Doesn’t that mean you’ve never had friends?”
Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi froze. He felt inexplicably embarrassed. “I… I…”
“He has friends.” Qin Wanwan interrupted Jian Xingzhi’s words and looked around at everyone. “Aren’t you all his friends?”
With that, Qin Wanwan began counting on her fingers. “Big Brother Xie, Sister Cuilu, Nanfeng, Daojun Luo, Miss Liu,” Qin Wanwan looked up and scanned everyone. “You’re all his friends.”
“Right!”
Nanfeng, who was somewhat drunk, crawled out slapping the table and raised his cup. “I’m Daojun Jian’s friend! Daojun Jian, bottoms up!”
Hearing Nanfeng’s words, Jian Xingzhi scoffed but still raised his cup and clinked it with Nanfeng’s. “Bottoms up.”
“Exactly!” Luo Xingzhou tapped his fan on the table. “Fate brings us together across a thousand miles. Everyone present today is a friend!”
“Who’s friends with you people?” Cuilu was reluctant. Liu Feishuang raised her hand to rest on Cuilu’s shoulder. “Sister Cuilu, stop being stubborn. Come, bottoms up.”
“Cheers!”
Everyone cheered together and clinked their cups.
The small boat traveled deep into the lotus pond. The lake surface glittered with starlight. The group was boisterous and noisy. Jian Xingzhi calmly watched the lively crowd, momentarily feeling as if it were an illusion.
Cuilu was crying bitterly with Xie Gutang, cursing those who had harmed Lin Yanzhi. Luo Xingzhou and Liu Feishuang accompanied her in cursing.
Jian Xingzhi found it too noisy. He took a wine bottle and got up, going to the back of the boat to sober up. Before long, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned back to see Qin Wanwan standing beside him. Qin Wanwan sat down next to him, propping her chin to look at him. “Sobering up by yourself?”
“They were too noisy.” Jian Xingzhi glanced disdainfully at the bow, then complained, “Why did you want to join them?”
“Didn’t I see you wanted to join them?”
Qin Wanwan smiled. Jian Xingzhi immediately denied it. “Who wanted to join them?”
Qin Wanwan smiled without exposing him. She took the wine bottle from his hand, took a sip, and lowered her head to play with the starlight in the water.
Jian Xingzhi felt the guilty conscience of being seen through and added, “We may think of them as friends, but they may not think of us as friends. Now that how Lin Yanzhi died has been clarified and the dragon core in your body is gone, Xie Gutang doesn’t need to protect you closely anymore either. Whether they’ll accompany us for the next stretch of road is still uncertain.”
“Then I’ll make a bet with you,” Qin Wanwan turned her head. “Xie Gutang and Cuilu will both continue to accompany us.”
Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi didn’t speak. Qin Wanwan pressed on. “Bet or not?”
“Fine,” Jian Xingzhi spoke lazily. “If they accompany us to the Formless Sect, then when they ascend—” Jian Xingzhi smiled. “I’ll invite Xie Gutang to be my best man and Cuilu to be your bridesmaid.”
“You!”
Qin Wanwan’s eyes widened. She raised her hand to pinch him. “You’re talking nonsense…”
“Don’t pinch me,” Jian Xingzhi jumped up, dodging Qin Wanwan and running toward the bow. “If you pinch me I won’t talk to you anymore.”
Qin Wanwan was amused by Jian Xingzhi’s antics. Jian Xingzhi bounced and hopped to the bow to see Luo Xingzhou and Liu Feishuang sitting at the bow leaning against each other counting stars. Cuilu had transformed into a bird, and Nanfeng had become a toy-sized giant ant lying on the table—it seemed they had drunk themselves to sleep.
Xie Gutang sat at the boat’s edge drinking alone. Seeing Jian Xingzhi come over, he smiled and turned his head. “What is Wanwan angry about?”
“She’s making a bet with me.” Jian Xingzhi walked to the table, tucked Cuilu into his sleeve, held Nanfeng in his arms, took some wine, and sat down beside Xie Gutang.
“Betting on what?” Xie Gutang was curious. Jian Xingzhi took a sip of wine and turned to look at him. “Betting on whether you and Cuilu will accompany us to the Formless Sect.”
Xie Gutang froze. Lotus leaves on the shore blocked the moonlight. Jian Xingzhi looked up at the lotus leaves. “I told Wanwan that if you’re willing to go, when you ascend, I’ll ask you to be my best man and Cuilu to be the bridesmaid.”
“You…” Hearing this, Xie Gutang couldn’t help but grip his cup tighter. “Xingzhou already said…”
“I don’t believe it,” Jian Xingzhi turned to look at him. “I only believe what my eyes see and my ears hear. Anyway, in my heart, you’re my friend,” Jian Xingzhi looked at him jokingly. “So about your ascension—I advise you to hurry it up. Already hundreds of years old and still not ascended—isn’t that embarrassing?”
Xie Gutang didn’t speak. He stared fixedly at Jian Xingzhi. After a long while, he smiled calmly. “Ascension is not an easy matter. To ascend within a few hundred years can be called young and promising.”
“But some excellent people ascend in less than a hundred years.”
Jian Xingzhi sighed. “You still need to work harder.”
Xie Gutang held his wine cup maintaining a smile. After a moment, he changed the subject. “What are you going to the Formless Sect for?”
“I heard the Formless Sect has a young Old Ancestor?”
“Correct,” Xie Gutang nodded. “The Formless Sect is renowned throughout the world for divination arts and is extremely mysterious. No one knows the true location of their sect. The common people in their jurisdiction can only contact the sect through burning incense and praying. That young Old Ancestor of theirs appeared just a hundred years ago. It’s said this young Old Ancestor was born with double pupils. Although his cultivation is only at Foundation Establishment, he has eyes that can spy on heavenly fate. Unfortunately, his lifespan wasn’t long. A thousand years ago when he was on the verge of death, he calculated that nine hundred years later he would have a chance at survival, so he had people freeze him. Just a hundred years ago, he suddenly revived and then directly formed a Heavenly Grade Nine-Rank Golden Core. Heavenly Grade Nine-Rank Golden Cores—in these few hundred years only I, Shen Zhiming, Jun Shu, and this young Old Ancestor have formed them. When he formed his core, the tribulation lightning alarmed the three sects and four cities, which is how people learned of his resurrection. But since then he hasn’t appeared again. It’s said he has a youthful appearance—when frozen he was only sixteen years old. His name is unknown, so everyone just calls him ‘Young Old Ancestor.'”
Xie Gutang finished explaining what he knew and suddenly realized. “You’re guessing he might be related to the Evil God?”
Revived from death a hundred years ago, and the Evil God also has no body…
Seeing him understand, Jian Xingzhi nodded. “Correct. So we’re going to punish evil, promote good, eliminate demons and protect the Dao. Are you coming?”
Hearing this, Xie Gutang smiled. “For such a great matter,” he raised his wine bottle, “Gutang cannot shirk responsibility.”
As soon as the words fell, the lake surface suddenly trembled. Luo Xingzhou woke with a start. “What happened? Did an earth dragon move?”
“Just sleep.” Jian Xingzhi reassured Luo Xingzhou. “Even if an earth dragon moved, it’s already finished moving.”
With that, Jian Xingzhi turned to look at Xie Gutang. “Come, let’s drink.”
The group made merry for half the night. In the second half of the night, they sang songs as they returned to the Liu residence. The next day, everyone hurried to the Liu clan. Under Liu Yuehua’s scolding, Luo Xingzhou and Liu Feishuang changed into wedding clothes and began preparing for the bride-fetching and wedding ceremony according to procedure.
Jian Xingzhi was inexplicably pulled along to accompany Luo Xingzhou in fetching the bride. After making merry all day, they brought the bride to the great hall. Jian Xingzhi and his group stood in the crowd watching Luo Xingzhou and Liu Feishuang perform the rites.
This time was a proper wedding. The crowd was extraordinarily lively. Everyone watched the newlyweds bow to heaven and earth, bow to their parents, and bow to each other as husband and wife. The newlyweds stood smiling radiantly.
Just as everyone was chanting “Send them to the bridal chamber—” a spell descended from the sky like a meteorite. Liu Yuehua instantly took action, but before that, Jian Xingzhi had already struck with his sword. Then the spell was split open by Jian Xingzhi, and a line of golden characters appeared in the air. A young man’s ethereal voice resonated through the sky.
“Demonic seeds emerge in the world, the Evil God appears again, chaos approaches. The Formless Sect, inheriting the mandate of the Heavenly Dao, sincerely invites heroes from across the land to participate in the Immortal Alliance Conference at the Formless Sect, to rebuild the Immortal Alliance and initiate the Demon Hunting War.”
—
**Author’s Note:**
**[Mini Theater]**
Question: “What is your purpose in coming to this world?”
Qin Wanwan: “Little fairy looking for mom and dad.”
Jian Xingzhi: “Making friends, falling in love. Anyway, not doing proper work.”