On this day, Huang Rang received a letter.

She thought it was from Xiancha Town or Si Tianjian. Previously, her status had been humble, and due to her temperament, she did not have many old friends with whom she could share sentiments. However, when the letter was opened, the sender was actually He Xijin.

Huang Rang was surprised. She was actually quite unfamiliar with this Sect Master He. What matter required informing her by letter?

Her gaze moved downward to view the letter’s contents.

He Xijin first exchanged a few pleasantries with her, then inquired about her immortal cultivation situation at Yuhu Xuanzong. Only halfway through the letter did he mention his true intention. He still earnestly exhorted her not to neglect plant breeding matters because of cultivation.

He also mentioned the excellent seed varieties currently lacking among the common people, and attached an item with the letter. When Huang Rang opened it, she discovered it was actually a bank note.

The bank note was for an enormous sum. He said it was to congratulate her on gaining a renowned master. But actually, within the immortal sects, there were very few places where silver money could be used. Such a sum of money was probably truly meant for her to continue plant breeding.

Huang Rang only felt this was inexplicable. She had seen many who sought fame and angled for reputation. In fact, she herself had once been one of them.

But such earnest and heartfelt exhortations were truly rare.

Huang Rang was not someone who would be moved by others’ warm feelings—if she believed whatever others said, her blood and flesh would probably already be spread across the Huang family’s farmland by now.

She put away the letter and finally stepped into Yiyun Hall.

At that time, it was exactly dusk. Summer daylight always lasted longer, and the slanting sun spread inside, stretching her shadow long and thin.

Xie Hongchen was reviewing his disciples’ recent coursework. When he raised his head and saw her, there was actually a faint hidden joy in his heart.

He suppressed this subtle emotion and asked, “What matter?”

His voice was still cool and detached, not losing the bearing of a sect master and leader.

Huang Rang, bathed in the slanting sun, cupped her hands in salute toward him: “Master, today this disciple received a letter from Senior He Xijin. In the letter, he earnestly exhorted that this disciple, while cultivating, should still continue plant breeding. This disciple has specially come to request Master’s instructions.”

After speaking, she presented He Xijin’s letter with both hands. Of course, along with that bank note.

Xie Hongchen accepted them, reading ten lines at a glance, and soon said, “Sect Master He has always been attentive to the common people’s hardships. His words in the letter also cherish your talents. What are your thoughts?”

Huang Rang said, “This disciple entered under Master’s tutelage precisely to contribute a small portion of strength for this world. If Master permits it, this disciple will use leisure time to continue plant breeding. If Master feels it inappropriate, this disciple will immediately decline Sect Master He.”

She advanced and retreated appropriately. Xie Hongchen pondered briefly and said, “Then you shall take time to continue plant breeding. But cultivation should still be most important—do not put the cart before the horse.”

Look, if she didn’t become his wife, he was actually so generous and lenient?

Huang Rang said, “This disciple receives the command. However, if I am to breed plants, I will need land. Currently, Diancui Peak probably does not have a suitable place. This disciple requests to go out and rent fields.”

Though she said this, Xie Hongchen certainly had no reason to let her rent fields. He said, “Yuhu Xuanzong does not have many disciples. To clear a piece of farmland from other peaks is also not a difficult matter. Why abandon what’s near to seek what’s far?”

Huang Rang smiled and said, “Indeed. Yesterday, this disciple walked around everywhere and discovered a place that was very agreeable. Today, I wished to brazenly ask Master for it.”

“Where?” When Xie Hongchen spoke with her, he always could not quite concentrate. His thoughts were so complicated they confounded him.

Huang Rang said softly, “Qilu Terrace.”

The moment these three words left her mouth, Xie Hongchen only felt emotions surge in his heart, as if something was about to burst forth.

He was dazed for a long time, to the extent that Huang Rang thought she had revealed some flaw.

But then, Xie Hongchen said, “Good.”

As if this place was naturally meant to be given to her.

Having gained his permission, Huang Rang was in excellent spirits. She made her way to Qilu Terrace. This was the most remote location in all of Yuhu Xuanzong. And at present, it still had no surrounding walls, no buildings.

It was just an empty place. Though one could not say weeds grew wildly, it was also desolate and barren.

In the waning slanting sun, Huang Rang extended her hand, reaching across over a hundred years of dreams to touch the triangular pavilion in her memory. Very good, very good.

Over the next several days, she personally worked with her own hands, excavating the Bailu Pond according to memory first. Then she cultivated all the remaining area into farmland.

The days in Xiancha Town had made her extremely skilled at these tasks, and her martial cultivation foundation also gave her abundant physical strength. Being an earth demon, she naturally loved soil.

Huang Rang even felt that this was the life this old lady wanted. That whatever ghost sword cultivation… was truly damnable.

She enthusiastically tilled the soil and cultivated the land, not noticing a person standing in the distance.

Xie Hongchen stood on the stone steps, watching from afar the person busily clearing wasteland.

At that time, the weather was hot, and there was no one around. So Huang Rang removed her outer dress. Then she rolled up her sleeves, and also rolled her trouser legs to her knees. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, but her eyes were feverishly bright.

Xie Hongchen did not know why he had come to this place, but his footsteps seemed to have a spirit of their own. Without realizing it, he had still climbed these long steps.

Qilu Terrace was an isolated platform. It did not belong to any peak, nor did it lead to any place. Who would ascend a high platform alone, looking in all directions with no path forward?

He stood for a very long time but ultimately still did not walk over. Huang Rang was a woman, and also his disciple. A teacher for a day is a father for life. Her clothing was disheveled—for him to go over rashly like this would naturally be improper.

Huang Rang loved plant breeding—he could see this. Love carved into one’s bloodline was difficult to fake.

Then why would she suffer through sword cultivation, making things difficult for herself?

He did not understand. Ever since encountering Huang Rang, riddles always circled in his heart. He turned around and slowly descended the long steps. The stone steps of Qilu Terrace were paved from mountain rock, winding and lengthy.

After walking a few steps, he inexplicably looked back, always feeling that at the end of the stone steps, someone would be silently seeing him off, their gaze tender and warm.

But atop the stone steps, the setting sun gradually faded. There was only mountain mist and clear wind.

The feeling of walking alone was too terrifying. Xie Hongchen felt he had simply fallen into demonic obstruction.

He began to refuse to think of this person. He decided to leave the sect and travel abroad.

Each time distracting thoughts grew abundant, he would go out traveling. As sect master, he always had many things he could do, many places he could go.

Who could interfere with his whereabouts?

The next day, Huang Rang learned that he had gone down the mountain to travel.

—In the fifth year of the Chengyuan era outside the dream, they had been married for only three days when Xie Hongchen had also traveled like this once. He had not said a word to her, had not left a date of return.

Huang Rang had also not asked. He was not someone who liked to be bound. If she asked this and that, he would probably be impatient.

Huang Rang had married alone into the immortal sect. Her birth was also humble, with no family background to rely on, and not a single person she knew around her. The only husband she knew had wordlessly gone down the mountain. She remained alone on that isolated platform, daily making small treats and pastries, going to visit fellow disciples of the immortal sect.

She had removed her wedding clothes, and those disciples did not recognize her. She could only wear a smile, searching all over the immortal sect for people to talk to, remembering every single one of them, also trying as much as possible to make them remember her.

The immortal sect truly had many disciples, from the outer gate to the inner gate, from elders to juniors. Some people’s ages and appearances did not match—with one careless mistake, she would use the wrong form of address and confuse the generational hierarchy.

After several setbacks, her heart filled with dejection, and she hid at Qilu Terrace, beginning to not want to go out.

But she knew this would not do. She recorded all the people she knew in a register, earnestly noting down their identities, temperaments, and preferences.

Gradually, she rarely made mistakes again.

Xie Hongchen traveled abroad for three months, exterminating demons and suppressing evil everywhere. His meritorious deeds covered the world, and people everywhere spoke of him in praise.

By the time he returned to the immortal sect, Huang Rang could already recognize every single person in the immortal sect.

She used all her strength to perfectly conceal her unseemly identities of “Xiancha Town earth demon” and “daughter of Huang Shu.”

She smiled faintly, becoming a nearly perfect sect master’s wife. Facing her husband returned from travels, she did not have a single word of complaint.

And now, within the dream, Xie Hongchen had again gone out traveling.

Huang Rang was very busy. Every night she practiced martial arts with a face full of distress, and during the day she went to Qilu Terrace to clear fields. When the soil was properly conditioned and ready for breeding, Huang Rang had to consider the first excellent variety to cultivate.

Truly speaking, she certainly should cultivate Yearning for Peace. Such a flower of false sentiment and pretense was most suitable to bloom here.

However, after thinking it over, Huang Rang chose another variety.

The imperial palace of the capital, Yuanrong Tower.

Previously when Li Lu went to see Di Yiqiu, he only brought official documents. Now when he went, he also had to bring a few peach tree leaves or mulberry leaves—to feed that stinging caterpillar. That stinging caterpillar had a resilient life. Although Qiu Shengbai threatened daily to stomp it to death, it still grew fatter and fatter.

Now it was already a broad-minded and corpulent stinging caterpillar.

When Li Lu entered, Qiu Shengbai stopped him.

He quietly looked toward the prison cell and saw Di Yiqiu facing the wall. His back was still swollen, blue veins bulging behind his ears, looking extremely frightening. Seeing this, Li Lu’s heart trembled, and he could only ask, “What has happened now?”

Qiu Shengbai looked through medical records and said, “The supervisor’s body is fusing very well with the viper demon poison, so I exchanged some blood for him.”

“Ex-exchanged blood?” Even Li Lu’s tongue would not obey him.

Qiu Shengbai said, “To change one’s constitution, naturally one must exchange blood.”

Li Lu looked again toward that person in the prison cell. Steady as he was, he was also furious: “He is only nineteen years old and has not cultivated immortality. How can he withstand viper demon blood?! If His Majesty has need, why not use us…”

Qiu Shengbai sighed and, before he could finish speaking, said, “Deputy Supervisor Li! Viper demon blood is so precious—it is His Majesty’s grace.”

Li Lu knew he was afraid he would say something greatly disrespectful, but he had a breath of air stifled in his heart, blocking uncomfortably. He said, “This kind of grace… this kind of grace…”

Qiu Shengbai hastily said, “Deputy Supervisor Li!”

Li Lu could only stop speaking. Through the bars, he saw that stinging caterpillar lying on the twin snake fruit tree, so he stuffed the mulberry leaves and peach tree leaves to it. That insect held the tender leaves and ate very happily.

Li Lu squatted on the ground. Looking from here, Di Yiqiu in the prison cell seemed as if he had been inflated with air, swollen to a terrifying degree. Because he fundamentally could not sit down, he could only lie or stand. He chose to stand.

He never turned around, not knowing whether he could hear the conversation outside.

Li Lu’s nose felt slightly sour. He wanted to say some comforting words, but when those phrases reached his lips, they were so powerless and pale.

If Miss Ten were here, what would she say?

Li Lu suddenly thought this. Once this thought arose, he truly wanted to go to Yuhu Xuanzong again to seek out Huang Rang. But after all, Yuhu Xuanzong did not regard Si Tianjian favorably, and Huang Rang was now Xie Hongchen’s direct disciple. If he frequently went to seek her, it would probably instead cause her to be reprimanded and suspected by her sect.

In the evening, Li Lu returned to Si Tianjian and suddenly received a letter.

Si Tianjian had many incoming and outgoing letters, but those sent directly to him could be said to be extremely few.

Li Lu opened it, and immediately even his heartbeat accelerated—inside was another envelope. On it, the handwriting was graceful and beautiful, writing—For Di Yiqiu to open.

It was a letter Huang Rang had written to the supervisor!

Li Lu was even more excited than receiving the first love letter of his life. This young lady was truly clever to the extreme. If she had sent it directly to the supervisor, others fundamentally would not dare open the letter and could only hold it for him first.

But sending it to himself, it could be handled immediately.

Li Lu looked left and right, finally quietly selecting a corner with no one around, acting like a thief as he secretly examined this letter’s envelope.

He even could not help but hold it up to the light—if there could be some mushy romantic words inside, that would be wonderful.

He secretly anticipated this but did not dare open it privately. He could only tuck it into his chest, unable to wait impatiently for tomorrow to arrive.

The next day, as soon as the palace gates opened, Li Lu hurried into the palace to deliver the letter.

In Yuanrong Tower, Di Yiqiu still had not turned around. Through the bars, Li Lu said, “Supervisor, Miss Ten has sent you a letter. This subordinate did not dare open it privately and has hastily brought it to you.”

Inside the room, Di Yiqiu did not move. Li Lu could not see his expression clearly. He knew Di Yiqiu was unwilling to let others see his current appearance, so he could only say, “The letter has been delivered. This subordinate will now depart.”

Di Yiqiu still did not speak. He waited until he had gone far before his peripheral vision finally swept over that letter.

Qiu Shengbai sat at the entrance to the underground first level of Yuanrong Tower. Seeing this, he said, “If you don’t look at it, this old man will read it aloud for you.”

Only then did Di Yiqiu laboriously walk over, but his body was extraordinarily huge—he fundamentally could not squat down. Qiu Shengbai handed the letter to his hand. His hands trembled as he clumsily opened the envelope.

Inside was a single page with a line of elegant small characters written on it—Di Yiqiu, guess what kind of seed this is?

Di Yiqiu shook the envelope, and sure enough, a black seed was enclosed inside. The seed was plump and thick, like… the seed of a pear pit. But much larger. Di Yiqiu spread that seed in his palm, gazing at it for a long time.

Seeing this, Qiu Shengbai was naturally curious and asked, “What is it? Should this old man plant it for the supervisor?”

Hearing this, Di Yiqiu finally handed this seed to him. Qiu Shengbai laughed heartily and asked, “Do you want to write a reply?”

A reply?

Di Yiqiu was slightly stunned. Qiu Shengbai continued to encourage him: “Aiya, that little young lady—who knows how much shyness she had to overcome to send such a letter. If she can’t even receive a single reply letter, how disappointed she’ll be. She might cry until her spring gown sleeves are soaked!”

Di Yiqiu lowered his head, silent for a long time, then suddenly said in a hoarse voice, “Paper and brush.”

Ah, Qiu Shengbai tore a page from his own medical records and also handed him ink and brush. Di Yiqiu at first fundamentally could not hold that brush. He tried again and again, finally writing countless times on the ground until his hand became slightly more agile. Only then did he write his name on the page.

On the ground, the three characters “Di Yiqiu” sprawled crookedly everywhere, so clumsy it was unbearable to look at directly.

Yet the handwriting on the page was still like iron-carved silver hooks, its force penetrating through the paper.

Just as in former times.

Qiu Shengbai accepted that page, then looked again toward the ground full of crooked, twisted, clumsy writing in the prison cell. The smile on his face slowly froze.

These simple three characters were a young man using all his strength to maintain a measure of dignity before his sweetheart.

The young are prone to deep feelings; growing old, one sighs at life. Qiu Shengbai earnestly sealed the page properly and sent it out for him at the earliest opportunity.