“What do you mean?” Changling’s throat instinctively tightened. “Explain clearly.”

Seeing her suddenly turn serious, Xu Laifeng was startled, then said, “Well, what’s written on that paper first tells someone to disperse their internal energy, then sever their Ren and Du meridians. Isn’t that seeking death?”

“The paper?” Changling asked. “Did you bring it with you?”

“Originally I was going to throw that thing away in anger, but then I thought, what if that old gentleman was mistaken?” Xu Laifeng slowly pulled out a folded, tattered paper from his chest. “I remember you used to stay in Tianzhu too…”

Before he finished speaking, Changling snatched the paper and unfolded it. After reading just a few lines, her eyes began to tremble uncontrollably. Changsheng, constantly observing her expression, asked, “What does it say?”

“The essence of the Ten Thousand Flowers Manual’s third level: First disperse internal energy, leaving only a trace in the heart meridian. Sever the qi of the Ren and Du meridians. Qi originates from the spine, flows from the Yin Linking Vessel to the Yang Linking Vessel, gathers at the vertebrae. When qi reaches the heart, it should be severed but not completely…” Reading to this point, Changling’s palms broke out in a fine sweat. Xu Laifeng exclaimed “Ah!” “That old man’s eyes were indeed poor—he couldn’t even read all the characters. What comes next?”

“Nothing more.” She put down the paper. Changsheng took it and examined it for a moment. “This should only be a fragment. The beginning and end are already destroyed.”

Xu Laifeng said, “Without beginning or end, if you really disperse all your internal energy and sever meridians, isn’t that still seeking death? Second Young Master, how about we study it together and see what follows… Hey! Where are you going?”

Seeing Changling rise and leave without looking back, Changsheng smiled at Xu Laifeng and poured him tea. “My sister’s mood hasn’t been good lately. I hope Alliance Leader Xu will be understanding. By the way, regarding the Ten Thousand Flowers Manual, I have some questions I’d like to ask.”

Changling shut herself in her room. It wasn’t until dark that Changsheng pushed open the door and wheeled in to see her.

She leaned by the window ledge, gazing at the flowering trees outside. Only when she heard the movement did she turn her head. “Big Brother.”

Changsheng glanced at the untouched food on the table. “Still thinking about what the mental cultivation method said?”

Changling nodded slightly. “I’m thinking… he had blocked meridians since childhood, making it difficult to live long. And that day his internal energy was severely depleted. At such a critical moment of life and death, if he didn’t take the Purple Gold Pill in time, the danger would be extreme… But now it seems he had cultivated to the second level of the Ten Thousand Flowers Manual. Originally, there might have been a sliver of hope… It was I who misled him…”

Changsheng moved closer, pondering briefly. “With such an opportunity, perhaps… he may still be alive.”

“Impossible.” Changling hastily denied. “That day, Little Qin and the others witnessed it from the shore. Fu Yangui’s people used arrows on him. He couldn’t have survived…”

“Sometimes what’s witnessed with one’s own eyes isn’t necessarily the truth.” Changsheng said gently, “Setting aside whether the distance from shore to mid-river allows seeing everything clearly—if a hundred arrows were fired at you simultaneously, could that really take your life? Your understanding of martial arts far surpasses Big Brother’s. You should know that when martial arts reaches the supreme realm, every gesture transcends physical limitations. When you threw melon seeds at Island Master Xu, though he couldn’t react in time, didn’t he instinctively avoid them?”

“Impossible…” Changling shook her head repeatedly. “Fu Yangui personally admitted Ye Qi died. Moreover, he removed the longevity lock. If Ye Qi had fortunately survived, how could Fu Yangui not have noticed?”

Changsheng looked at her. “Speaking of impossible, is there anything more inconceivable under heaven than you and I surviving to this day?”

Changling closed her eyes. “Big Brother, please say no more.”

In truth, she had thought of what Changsheng said more than once. However, this so-called “hope” was so slim, so slim that vines of panic grew from the depths of her heart, constricting her supposedly fearless body until she couldn’t breathe.

“Waking this time, I’ve discovered you’ve changed greatly—you’ve become considerate of others and more cautious.” Changsheng asked, “He did so much for you. Don’t you even have the courage to bear one more empty joy for him?”

Changling’s heart thumped heavily.

She suddenly remembered that when Ye Qi took her to excavate graves, he had asked her a similar question.

Changling, are you afraid of disappointment? I’ve been afraid. But what if?

Changsheng said, “As for here, you needn’t worry. How to explain to General Wei, how to withdraw safely—Big Brother has plans.”

After Changsheng left the room and closed the door, he found Xu Laifeng standing at the courtyard’s edge, casting a rather puzzled look.

“I truly don’t understand,” Xu Laifeng said, pushing the wheelchair to take Changsheng for a walk by the lake. “Doesn’t the Young Master hope the Second Young Master can let go of the past? Giving her unrealistic false hopes—aren’t you worried she’ll be hurt again?”

“Without releasing the knot in her heart, how can she let go of the past?” Changsheng said lightly. “Rather than letting her remain mired in long-term pain and self-blame, better to let her go out and search. Even if she reaches the ends of the earth and finds nothing, having given her all, her heart will feel somewhat better.”

Xu Laifeng nodded slightly.

“Moreover, if there truly is a thread of hope, why not try?”

Changsheng noticed Xu Laifeng staring at him and couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong?”

Xu Laifeng smiled. “Nothing. I just suddenly understand somewhat why, after all this time, people still can’t forget the Young Master.”

When arriving in Chang’an, the plum blossoms hadn’t bloomed. Upon leaving, fallen petals already clung to sleeves with lingering fragrance.

As winter snow began melting, hoofprints left no trace in an instant. By the time Wei Xingyun discovered she was gone, the Second Young Master had long since galloped to who knows where.

Changling headed straight for the Longmen River.

She had considered that Ye Qi could hold his breath underwater far longer than ordinary people. If he had fallen into the river and then concealed his tracks, it wasn’t entirely impossible. It was just that he was gravely ill. If he had fortunately escaped with his life, he probably couldn’t have fled far. If so, searching the villages near the riverbank wouldn’t be entirely fruitless.

Though such speculation was too far-fetched, it was enough to rekindle Changling’s heart full of utter despair.

However, when she actually reached the Longmen River and stepped over the thresholds of every household in all the nearby villages, she truly experienced the essence of “what if”—what if, what if—after that single hope came nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine disappointments.

How cruel was Heaven, disregarding the insignificant prayers of all things, coldly observing a drop in the ocean, mayflies between heaven and earth.

But some people won’t turn back until hitting the wall.

From Yuzhou to Jinling, Changling had wanted to seek answers from the culprit, but Fu Yangui happened not to be in the capital. She continued south all the way to the He family in Jiangling Commandery to inquire about recent news.

The current head of the He family was He Song. Initially, he thought Changling had come perhaps to persuade them to submit to Western Xia, which naturally made him uncomfortable. Unexpectedly, she came up and directly asked if there was any news of Ye Qi, which truly left him unable to respond for a long while.

“I thought you already knew of his death…” He Song studied her expression. “Didn’t Seventh Uncle and the others tell you?”

Her heart having grown accustomed to disappointment, hearing these words, Changling rose. “I’ve disturbed you. Thank you for your hospitality, Young Master He. I have matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

He Song watched Changling’s figure. Somehow, he inexplicably remembered she should have become his cousin’s wife, and couldn’t help saying, “Miss Yue, we’ve erected his cenotaph. Would you like to see it?”

Changling stopped in her tracks and turned her head slightly. “No need. The one lying inside isn’t him anyway.”

She rode off alone on her horse. After leaving Jiangling, for a moment she felt the vast sky was ethereal with nowhere to go, nowhere to return.

“Miss Yue!” She heard the sound of hoofbeats behind her. Looking back, it was Seventh Uncle riding in pursuit. “Please wait!”

When Seventh Uncle drew near, he pulled out a rolled sheepskin scroll from his chest. “The Young Master once gave instructions that no matter what happened in the future, this map must be delivered to Miss Yue’s hands.”

Changling accepted the scroll. Untying the binding and unrolling it, she discovered this was actually a complete copy of Wu Run’s secret manual map.

“These three locations—we’ve already sent people to search. We found nothing at the Eastern Sea coast or the northern Yan region. Only the Red Stone Beach and Yanzi Gorge area in the southwestern Central Plains had extremely similar features.” Seventh Uncle said, “However, that place has endless glaciers and is rarely visited by people. If Miss Yue intends to go, you must be careful all along the way.”

Changling’s hand froze in midair, various emotions entangling in her chest. She needed all her strength to steady her voice. “He’s been gone so long, yet I never expected you would still remember.”

Seventh Uncle smiled faintly, his eyes not without sorrow. “Since it’s the Young Master’s unfinished wish, being able to do one more thing for him is good.”

These words were spoken lightly, yet they imperceptibly branded themselves in her mind.

Changling set out on the road to Yanzi Gorge. This time it was no longer to search for him, but to walk a path that should have been walked by the two of them together.

Originally agreeing to journey together, now alone—she suddenly realized she had unconsciously grown accustomed to being accompanied. So when everything returned to how it was, only then did she know the warmth and coldness of human feelings. In this vast world, how empty it was.

Just when Changling thought she would keep walking like this, she unexpectedly encountered someone.

It was her long-missing aunt, Yue Qingyi, sought many times yet without a trace.

In this remote Sichuan town, outsiders coming and going were few to begin with. Yue Qingyi wore short, fitted martial attire, making her easy to identify in a crowd. When Changling saw her on the street and was about to approach to greet her, before she could speak, she saw her aunt cautiously retreat into an alley, her eyes tightly fixed on an inn not far ahead.

It seemed she was tracking someone and didn’t want to be detected.

Changling slowed her pace, looking in the direction of Yue Qingyi’s gaze. She saw a carriage slowly stop, surrounded by a small escort team. Someone disembarked and went directly upstairs, but due to obstructed sightlines, the person’s appearance couldn’t be clearly seen.

However, just from the surging killing intent Yue Qingyi emanated, one could guess what Aunt wanted to do.

After that group entered the inn, Changling strode forward and pressed her hand on Yue Qingyi’s shoulder. “Aunt.”

Yue Qingyi turned to see Changling, both surprised and delighted. “Ting’er!”

Reunited after separation, the two naturally had much to ask. Yanzi Town mostly had grass-thatched tea stalls. Sitting at a roadside seat, each ordering a bowl of hot soup provided some warmth.

Changling said, “So Aunt was captured by Fu Yangui’s people that day and imprisoned for so long… But since you escaped later, why didn’t you come find me?”

“Hmph, that Fu is so cunning—he actually poisoned me and wanted to use me against you…” Yue Qingyi said through gritted teeth, “If I can’t personally eliminate him, won’t he harm you again someday?”

“So… these past months, you’ve been seeking opportunities to assassinate him?”

“He has many eyes and ears in Jinling City, and the palace defenses are tight. I’ve been unable to act. But recently he’s been traveling secretly with few people. Following him here, I discovered he’s been visiting renowned physicians everywhere—he’s probably contracted some incurable disease.” Yue Qingyi said, “These past two days his pace has slowed. His illness must be severe. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for me to strike?”

Changling’s eyes flickered slightly. “Aunt, let me go this time instead.”

Yue Qingyi said, “How can that work…”

“The parasitic poison hasn’t been removed from your body. How do you know he won’t activate the poison in you again when he sees you?” Changling said solemnly, “Let me go. For me, it’s just a matter of going and returning.”

Sichuan nights were exceptionally damp and cold.

Fu Yangui half-reclined on a bamboo couch covered with animal hides. A charcoal fire burned in the room, yet that wasn’t enough—he also held a copper hand warmer in his arms. He held a book in his hands, completely absorbed in reading, not even noticing the movement on the balcony outside.

Until a “creak”—someone stepped on a rotted floorboard. Fu Yangui looked up at the sound and saw someone he… sought but couldn’t obtain even in dreams. He suddenly stood up. “Changling?”

“It’s me.” Compared to their last meeting, Fu Yangui seemed to have grown considerably thinner. Changling had never seen him in such a frail, cold-fearing state and couldn’t help pausing. “How did you end up here?”

Fu Yangui was dazed for quite a while before answering, “Nothing. I heard there was medicine in Sichuan that could treat my illness, so I traveled this far… But you—how did you also come here? To find me?”

“Tonight, I am indeed here to find you.” Changling said, “That day my aunt suddenly went mad. I know it was your doing. Now that the matter has passed, if you’re willing to produce the antidote, I won’t pursue it further. If you won’t, don’t blame me for taking advantage of a sick person and striking down a patient.”

Fu Yangui’s eyes dimmed slightly, the corners of his mouth curving up faintly. “You worry too much. The parasitic poison in Senior Yue’s body couldn’t last long to begin with. After all this time, it no longer exists, much less needs an antidote.”

“You think I’ll believe you?”

Fu Yangui said, “If you don’t believe me, you might take her to seek medical treatment. If you find my words false, come find me again. I’d be happy to see you once more.”

Changling stared at him coldly for a moment, said not a word, and directly turned around. Seeing she was about to leave, Fu Yangui instinctively reached out as if to say something, when suddenly he saw Changling stop and ask, “I have one more question… are you certain he really died then?”

Fu Yangui naturally knew who she meant.

“Of course.”

Changling took a deep breath, her voice somewhat tight. “Then where is his body?”

“Thrown into the river.”

“You hate him that much? You won’t even give him a burial place?”

Fu Yangui said, “Can’t say I hate him. It’s just that a body pierced by ten thousand arrows isn’t a pleasant sight. If you saw it, I feared you’d grieve.”

The next moment, cold light flashed. The Muling sword tip pointed at him.

Changling said, “Do you think that because I killed you once, I can’t kill you a second time?”

Fu Yangui said, “If you could bring yourself to do it, you would have acted long ago.”

Changling laughed coldly. “Fine. Since you’re seeking death, I’ll fulfill your wish. It won’t violate my promise to your brother either…”

“No!” Suddenly a figure burst in from outside the door, inadvertently knocking over the table nearby. “I beg the Second Young Master to show mercy…”

Changling hadn’t expected Lü Biqiong to also be here. She saw her kneeling beside them, crying, “Second Young Master, actually the Master has an incurable illness and doesn’t have much time left. Moreover, he…”

“Shut up!” Fu Yangui directly cut off her words, gazing deeply at Changling. “I don’t need your pity. Don’t you hate me to the bone? Then strike. This time aim right here—there won’t be any mistakes.”

As he spoke, he pointed to his own throat.

As Changling’s gaze shifted away from Lü Biqiong, she caught a glimpse of the book scattered on the ground. Her eyes focused slightly. When she looked back at Fu Yangui, she lowered her hand. “You want to die by my hand. How could I grant your wish? Fu Yangui, from now on, you and I have no more connection. Look after yourself.”

With that, she flew out, vanishing into the night in an instant, coming without trace and leaving without shadow, as if she had never been there at all.

Lü Biqiong scrambled to her feet. Seeing Fu Yangui swaying unsteadily, she hurried forward to support him. “Master…”

Fu Yangui pushed her away. “You shouldn’t have stopped her…”

Lü Biqiong’s tears fell like rain. “Why won’t you tell the Second Young Master…”

“Tell her what?” Fu Yangui slowly walked to the window ledge, gazing at the night where her figure had long disappeared. “These days, I’ve been thinking about what He Yu said to me before he died… He said that loving but not obtaining is the karmic retribution I must bear this lifetime… I didn’t believe it then… but I never expected…”

He laughed lightly, moisture welling in his eyes. “But I’m not reconciled. Truly, I’m not reconciled… I thought, back then I mistakenly killed her once, brewing today’s fruit. If I could also let her mistakenly kill me once, when she thinks of me in the future, might she not hate me so bitterly? Who could have known, even this small wish remains unattainable…”

Lü Biqiong looked at him with heartache. “Why do you torment yourself so?”

“Why torment myself?” Fu Yangui walked back to the chair and picked up the book from the ground. Tears fell on the paper, blurring the two characters “Ling Jue.” “Throughout my life I’ve calculated all hearts, yet I miscalculated three people. One was her, one was He Yu, and one more… was myself.”

The Glacier Valley—though winter passed, spring colors were not to be seen. Along the way, ice rivers remained unfrozen, requiring no boat. People could walk directly on the ice surface.

A few days ago, Changling told her aunt that Changsheng in Chang’an had inconvenient legs and greatly needed family care. Upon hearing this, Yue Qingyi accepted the responsibility without hesitation and rushed to Western Xia.

And she came to Yanzi Gorge.

The Red Stone Beach stretched for dozens of li. The pebbles on the road were rust-red like carpets. White snow covered cypress trees in the valley. Looking around, the mountains and wilds were interspersed with red and white—truly naturally beautiful.

Reaching halfway, she heard from afar the sound of bells from the northern mountain. Changling recalled the poem on the fan—Northern pavilion hears bell and chime, southern neighbor has pine and cypress fragrance. It seemed this was indeed the place Patriarch Wu Run had walked a hundred years ago.

The sky was still early. Leading her horse, she followed this ice road carved through cliffs and mountains forward, passing through several winding rocky ice caves, finally seeing the place the poem indicated.

Dawn falls on pond water, in the ravine white like snowflakes.

Except the pond water had frozen into ice, and the flowering trees had withered. The scenery before her eyes was completely different from the ten thousand flowers floating in the valley depicted in the poem.

Changling slowly stepped into the cave by the ice pond. Raising her eyes, she immediately saw densely packed stone carvings on the rock ceiling.

At first glance, the stone carvings seemed like characters dancing like dragons and phoenixes, yet peculiarly indecipherable as to what characters or symbols they were. But looking a few more times, the characters seemed to come alive, as if an immortal figure with extraordinary bearing crossed a hundred years to generously expound profoundly deep absolute arts, presenting them unreservedly before her eyes.

So this was the legendary Wu Run secret manual.

Back then, Wu Run had passed through this place by boat due to some unknown opportunity. Looking at the bold swordplay on the wall, one could imagine that back then he must have suddenly gained enlightenment, thus expressing it spontaneously. When inspiration reached its depths, the mysteries were infinite.

Changling had extreme talent in martial arts, but after mastering the ninth level of Shimo’s cultivation method, she had also stagnated, making no progress for a long time. Now, having looked several more times, she suddenly felt the vast profundity of martial arts—like the vast Milky Way, inexhaustible and limitless.

However, even for someone like her, a top expert in the contemporary world, after one look her heart pounded like drums, difficult to control. If it were an ordinary expert, practicing even slightly would likely result in qi deviation—yet with such absolute arts right before one’s eyes, how could one not be tempted?

No wonder Wu Run didn’t permit his disciples to cultivate this martial art. But he ultimately couldn’t bear for his life’s work to be lost, hence the later folding fan and final command.

Walking out from the other end of the cave, dusk had arrived.

The cloudless sky was painted with a layer of gold, exceptionally magnificent.

Changling slightly raised her head, suddenly wanting to ask Heaven—were those who achieved enlightenment since ancient times all destined to be alone?

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself. What was the way of Heaven? When had she ever comprehended it?

She was about to lead her horse away when, lowering her head, she inadvertently discovered beneath the lake-blue ice pond a blurred human figure.

Changling knelt down in disbelief, her trembling hands wiping away the frost on the ice surface, seeing white robes through the thick layer of ice, floating underwater, faintly visible.

When she realized what it was, Changling’s entire body trembled violently. Closing her eyes and panting for quite a while, she could no longer restrain herself. Raising her palm and mustering all her strength, she struck down, shattering a large hole in the vast ice surface.

A pair of hands, disregarding bone-eroding cold, groped downward wildly. She grasped and pulled up a water-soaked white garment, along with several small fish that soundlessly slipped from the sleeves, “plop plop,” leaping back into the pond water.

Just at this moment, accompanied by the rustling of wild grass, a familiar voice came, “Who’s there? I just set up my ‘fishing net,’ don’t scare the…”

The speaker’s words came to an abrupt halt upon seeing Changling’s back.

Changling slowly turned around. Through thin mist and light smoke, a refined, slender figure appeared backlit, leaning on a wooden branch as a crutch, standing five zhang away, staring in dazed bewilderment.

People say that spring comes and autumn goes, years wither and flourish, year after year—no one has the power to change it.

But if no one crosses mountains and forges through waters, how can flowers bloom on the other shore?

Not knowing how much time passed, Ye Qi’s three souls and seven spirits finally returned to his original spirit. His long lashes blinked toward her moistly. Continuing where his unfinished words left off, he smiled. “The fish have all been scared away. What does the fairy plan to eat tonight?”

(The End)

(Superfluous Little Bonus Scene)

Perhaps that palm strike just now was too intimidating. The ice around Changling gradually cracked, but she continued staring at him unblinking, as if fearing the person before her eyes would disappear with one movement.

She was completely unaware, but Ye Qi was startled. In his urgency, he tossed aside his wooden crutch, flew up, and just before she sank into the ice pond, he caught her in his arms. Spinning once in mid-air, he landed barely on the grassy edge.

“Have you not been eating properly?” He touched her somewhat thinned cheeks. “You’ve gotten lighter.”

Changling looked at the person so close before her, feeling his warmth, and felt her frozen heart like that ice pond—bit by bit beginning to melt.

“You’re alive. Why didn’t you come find me?”

“I’m wronged.” Ye Qi tightened his hold on her waist, half his body weight practically leaning entirely on her. “Only these past two days could I barely stand. I can’t even walk a few steps. How could I find you?”

All the despair and helplessness that had accumulated suddenly broke through the dam. Changling couldn’t hold back as her eyes reddened. “Do you know how long I’ve been searching for you?”

“I… I was half-conscious here. When my eyes opened, I groggily saw martial arts mental cultivation methods swaying overhead. Watching and watching, I unknowingly woke up…” Ye Qi looked at her eyes, quite at a loss. “I didn’t know how much time passed. I didn’t know you would… How did you find this place?”

Changling stiffly turned her head away. “You didn’t fulfill a single thing you said. Without going to the ends of the earth, how could I be content?”

How intelligent was Ye Qi? From just her one phrase “ends of the earth,” he understood all the hardship and hopelessness within.

He gently nuzzled her forehead with his chin. “From now on, whatever you want, I’ll agree to it. I absolutely won’t break my word.”

“Good.” Changling pushed him away. “I want to see spring cicadas, summer snow, autumn plum blossoms, and winter thunder. Will you agree to all of them?”

“Ah?” Ye Qi said with great difficulty, “Hiss, this really…”

Seeing Changling directly turn to leave, and unable to walk well himself, he could only limp after her. “Can we lower the difficulty level a bit?”

Changling wiped away her tears, feigning an icy tone. “What’s so difficult about that? Things harder than this—I found them all.”

“Really? What in this world is more absurd than finding these things?”

Changling turned back around, a smile unconsciously floating to the corners of her mouth. “You.”