“Who are you? Why were you captured by Elder Lu and brought to Maozhu Forest?”

When Fu Liujing heard the first words she spoke to him, a short sword pressed coolly against his neck. He lay in a dilapidated wooden hut. The young woman before him wore purple robes, her face delicate and charming, though her graceful brows were slightly furrowed: “I’ll ask you once more—who are you?”

“This humble one… my surname is Fu, given name Liujing with the grass radical…” He recalled the last scene before losing consciousness—this woman had swiftly dispatched several elders of the Xiuluo Sect. She must be a righteous warrior come to eliminate the evil sect. “So that old man’s surname was Lu? I don’t know why he wanted to capture me upon hearing my name…”

The purple-robed woman seemed momentarily stunned upon hearing his name. “You are Fu Liujing?”

“This humble one is merely a wandering swordsman of the martial world. Has the young lady heard of me?” Seeing she had no intention of withdrawing her sword, Fu Liujing took an unconventional approach, staring at her and displaying a standard roguish smile: “The Xiuluo Sect commits endless evils, their leader is inhumane. If that old man had taken me, I surely would not have escaped this calamity… Now, fortunately rescued by the young lady, I am deeply grateful beyond measure. Having no way to repay you, if the young lady doesn’t mind, from now on I’ll just follow you…”

Upon hearing this, the purple-robed woman did indeed withdraw her hand, but she did not spit out “lecher” as expected. Instead, she gave a cold laugh: “Follow me? Do you know who I am?”

Fu Liujing propped himself up to sit, discovering he was quite seriously injured, and asked: “This young man dares not ask the young lady’s name.”

“Unfortunately, my surname is Ji, given name Zining,” her lips curved slightly, “I am precisely that ‘endlessly evil, inhumane’ person Young Master Fu just spoke of.”

Fu Liujing hadn’t expected his luck to be this poor. Momentarily speechless, before he could fabricate a new excuse, this “Ji Zining” grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the edge of a sea cliff.

“Is there anyone to collect your corpse? You might as well say. If not, I’ll just throw you into the sea to keep the seabirds and flying fish company.”

Though she spoke “murderously,” Fu Liujing detected her intent “not to kill.” If she truly wanted to kill someone, why bother taking such a roundabout route to the seaside? She probably wanted to probe whether he was truly “all alone in the world.”

Fu Liujing calmed himself, removed the leather wine flask from his waist, took a sip and said: “A pot of wine before death, enough to intoxicate the mundane world…”

Before he could finish reciting, the flask was kicked off the cliff. He sheepishly rubbed his nose: “…Pour it all into rivers and seas, to drink with all under heaven.”

She blinked with some surprise. “Oh? Facing death, you still have the mood to drink wine and recite poetry?”

“Poetry and wine while young,” Fu Liujing knew how to swim and wasn’t truly afraid of being kicked down, but he’d heard this Sect Leader Ji most favored refined and handsome men. By showing off this way, he might dodge a calamity. “For me, Fu Liujing, to have such a beauty’s company before death—I can die without regrets.”

Sure enough, “Ji Zining” sheathed her sword and smiled faintly: “If you’re not afraid of death, then killing you wouldn’t be much fun.”

Fu Liujing got his wish to follow her, but they didn’t go to the Xiuluo Sect—instead they returned to that wooden hut in Maozhu Forest.

“I heard that Elder Lu say your sect seems to have internal strife,” he said, seeing she had no intention of leaving. “Won’t the Sect Leader go back to take a look?”

She smiled ambiguously: “Those snakes, insects, rats and ants—I don’t take them seriously. What, do you want to join the excitement?”

“No, no, I’m just asking casually. This bamboo forest is quiet and elegant—I quite like it… It’s just, I fear it may be inconvenient for the Sect Leader.”

“If it’s not inconvenient for you, what’s inconvenient for me?” She simply sat cross-legged to cultivate. “There’s rice and meat in the house, a stove outside. The meals for these few days will trouble Young Master Fu.”

Fu Liujing said unexpectedly: “The Sect Leader isn’t worried I’ll tamper with the food?”

She closed her eyes indifferently. “All the powder packets and medicine you hid from head to toe, inside and out—I threw them all away. To poison someone, you need materials to work with.”

Fu Liujing clutched his chest and back in shock. Seeing her so composed, he barely managed to swallow back “Don’t you have any concept of propriety between men and women?” He obediently scooped rice from the vat and, holding the pot, went to cook.

After cooking, he washed the dishes and pot; after eating, he chopped firewood and prepared water. This dignified young master had truly turned himself into a servant for the evil sect leader. Whenever this thought occurred to him, he would mentally curse the deceased Elder Lu once more—if not for that wretch’s schemes, how would he have fallen to this state?

Naturally, if he had to say it was miserable, that wasn’t quite accurate either.

This Sect Leader Ji, aside from occasionally threatening him verbally, hadn’t actually done anything improper to him—strangely enough, when she spoke, she was indeed full of “demoness” flavor, but when keeping to herself, she inexplicably gave off a feeling of peace and tranquility.

If others heard this thought, they would surely laugh at him. When doesn’t everyone stay quiet when not speaking?

But “Ji Zining” was different. He couldn’t quite articulate how she was different, but the more contact he had, the more curious he became. The more curious he became, the more he wanted to know—how could such a woman be the murderous female demon everyone spoke of?

If he had sufficient time, he would truly be willing to spend more time with her. Unfortunately, he had other tasks to accomplish—he must reach the Yue Family in Jiangdong before the Dragon Boat Festival and gain the trust of the Yue Family’s eldest young master.

That night, deep in the darkness, he lay on his floor bedding, listening to the person on the bed already breathing evenly in sleep, and removed the hairpin fastened in his hair. She naturally didn’t know that even after emptying everything on his body, his hairpin was still coated with extremely potent sedative. With just a light scratch through the skin, it could immediately render someone unconscious.

He slowly moved to her side, testing several times before finally steeling his heart and silently used the hairpin’s tip to scratch her hand. Seeing only her brow furrow slightly with no further movement, Fu Liujing breathed a slight sigh of relief, yet an indescribable sense of loss arose in his heart.

However, what he hadn’t expected was that upon stepping out the door, he came face to face with several elders from minor sects.

“Young brother, you were abducted here by Ji Zining, weren’t you? Don’t panic—we’ll join forces to kill this demoness right now and rescue you.”

Fu Liujing hadn’t been panicking, but after hearing this he truly panicked—never mind several people joining forces, with “Ji Zining” currently lying there unconscious, one slash could split her in two without her fighting back.

He couldn’t quite remember how he responded, but seeing those people about to burst through the door, he grabbed the kitchen knife from beside the stove without a second thought and attacked them—though his martial arts were decent, he lacked martial world experience, was still recovering from serious injuries, and faced superior numbers. He couldn’t withstand more than a few moves before being kicked into eating dirt.

Someone spat, “Damn it, this bastard is actually protecting that demoness!”

Fu Liujing struggled to climb up and, heedless of everything, fought with this group again.

Many years later, when he recalled this episode, even he found it unbelievable. Logically, at that time he and “Ji Zining” weren’t close—how had he been foolish enough to fight for her life?

Perhaps he had unconsciously developed feelings for her, or perhaps it couldn’t yet be called affection—he simply didn’t want someone to die because of him.

So when she miraculously “awoke” and beat this mob of rabble until they crawled on the ground searching for their teeth, Fu Liujing even forgot that he had drugged her just one incense stick ago. Not only did he not flee, he stood on the sidelines cheering and encouraging.

When he came to his senses, she swooped in with one flying grab and unceremoniously “carried” him away, directly throwing him off the mountain cliff.

Fu Liujing was still floating in shock when the next moment he landed on something soft and solid. Reaching out to touch it, he felt a thick pile of maple leaves.

That several zhang below this mountain cliff existed such a place was truly unexpected.

When “Ji Zining” jumped down, shouts of “chase the demoness” could be heard from various parts of the mountain. She very leisurely pillowed her head on her hands, lay down in the pile of maple leaves, and said: “Don’t worry, they can’t find this place.”

Fu Liujing was silent for a moment. “You… aren’t here to settle accounts with me?”

“Settle accounts?” She curved her lips. “First drugging someone, then saving them—this muddled account, I’m too lazy to settle. If you want to explain yourself, I won’t stop you.”

She wasn’t just not angry—she didn’t even ask “why bother risking your life to block them.” At this moment, the moonlight’s halo couldn’t illuminate her face clearly, but it perfectly highlighted her carefree silhouette, making his heart itch.

“Muddled account… well said. People need to be contentedly confused,” he gazed at the moonlight, smiling cheerfully. “Unfortunately, we left in such haste, I didn’t bring wine. What a waste of this beautiful scene on such a fine night.”

“You, with a brain full of only poetry and wine, dare to roam the martial world?”

“Without the martial world, how could poetry and wine be properly savored? Naturally I love the sword. When I was young, my father wouldn’t let me learn. Later when he wanted me to learn, he was gone.” He spoke as if telling someone else’s story, smiling lightly: “When others taught me, they weren’t sincere, so I became this half-baked amateur.”

She made a sound of interest and sat up with some surprise. “I never imagined you understood the sword. Since we have nothing better to do anyway, perform a few moves for me to see.”

“Ah? Right now?”

“What? Afraid to embarrass yourself?”

Fu Liujing casually picked up a dead branch and waved it freely—it truly wasn’t as lacking as he’d claimed.

The branch like a blade, brushing with the wind, fallen leaves flying about, made his entire bearing appear even more refined and outstanding.

She was moved to join the dance, also picking up a twig, light as a swallow as she “crossed swords” with him. One flowing freely, one nimble and transforming—at the crescendo like wind and rain, in the quiet passages like whispers through gauze. When their two branches merged as one, it was a rare moment of perfect accord as they stopped simultaneously.

Fu Liujing watched the moonlight pour over her body like silver, like water, and couldn’t help murmuring: “You’re so beautiful.”

Her form stiffened slightly. She didn’t give him any expected response, casually tossing aside the branch and looking up at the sky: “I see they’ve all left. Let’s go back.”

Fu Liujing’s heart stirred for the first time. He took this as a young woman’s shyness and happily treasured this beautiful night in his heart, thinking he might stay a few more days, wait for an opportunity to express his feelings, then leave.

He began to find Maozhu Forest’s wooden hut too simple. In his leisure time, he made a reclining chair for cooling off and resting, built a vine frame for shade—if time had permitted, he would have liked to brew a pot of fine wine to share with her.

He hadn’t spoken this thought aloud, but unexpectedly she brought back a jar of richly fragrant Sangluo wine. He was dumbfounded: “This wine… where did you get it?”

“Snatched it from the Drunken Old Man down the mountain. Considering your hard work these past days, it’s your reward.”

He couldn’t bear to drink it, only sniffing it: “If this Sangluo wine is buried for a period, it will become more aged and fragrant.”

She seemed somewhat surprised. Before she could speak, he gathered his courage, took her hand, and led her under a tree, smiling: “How about we bury the wine together? When the peach blossoms bloom, we’ll dig it up and taste it.”

Her eyes trembled slightly, then she quickly turned her head away. “As you wish.”

These two words sounded cold, but falling on his heart, they were warm.

After burying the wine, she lazily turned her back: “Alright, Young Master Fu, it’s getting dark—time to prepare dinner.”

“Alright, Aning.”

She turned around somewhat inexplicably. “What did you call me?”

“I think Aning sounds lovely, and suits you better than ‘Sect Leader,'” he said. “From now on, don’t call me Young Master Fu either—too formal, I don’t like it. Call me Ajing, how about that?”

Her breathing caught slightly. She forced a carefree laugh: “Oh, so you’ve… taken a fancy to me and want to pledge yourself?”

He actually didn’t avoid the topic at all, saying solemnly: “Mm, ‘pledge yourself’—that sounds quite pleasing to the ear too.”

“Hmph, you’re thinking too well of yourself.” She waved dismissively without commitment, no longer paying him attention, and went straight into the house to meditate. Fu Liujing watched her retreating figure, suddenly feeling that though this withered tree had yet to meet spring, his own heart had already bloomed with peach blossoms.

But alas, in the martial world’s misty rain, fate is always shallow. When he awoke the next morning, she was nowhere to be seen—only a brief letter remained on the table.

“Falling flowers intend to follow flowing water, but flowing water has no heart for falling flowers. Act as if I never came—don’t search for me.”

Fu Liujing held the letter, wanting to set it down as if nothing had happened, but found he couldn’t.

He neatly folded the letter, tucked it into his chest, and headed straight for the Xiuluo Sect.

However, the Xiuluo Sect had already been swept into chaos by several major sects—not one inch of pure land remained.

Fu Liujing turned over every corpse in the sect from top to bottom but didn’t see her figure. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she must have escaped, not wanting to implicate him.

He didn’t dare search for her openly, only painting a few portraits of her and wandering through Jiangnan, wearing through several pairs of shoes.

Just when he thought he would never find her, he found her… only she was unrecognizable, rotting in the cold earth.

Ji Zining’s trusted subordinate knelt beside the unmarked grave, crying: “The Sect Leader died at the hands of Yue Changling…”

He stroked the broken bones throughout the corpse and the shattered, flower-patterned chest cavity…

Bones shattered into flowers, flesh unbroken but bones destroyed—in all the world, this could only be the Heroes’ Tomb technique.

That night, he received a letter from home, urging him to get close to the Yue Family and advising him not to be softhearted.

He thought that previously he had probably taken a wrong path. Now it was time to return to the righteous path.

So he wrote in reply: I will not fail the clan’s trust. Without restoring the family’s honor, I will not return home.

He didn’t continue to linger. Mounting his horse, he headed toward Jiangdong.

This road was long and endless. Evil thoughts had been born, his original heart had vanished, willingly falling into the cycle of karma. When they met again, they would already be strangers.