Lei Xiuyuan dipped his brush in ink and began writing another letter, this time to be delivered to Ji Tongzhou. Regardless of any awkwardness between the three of them, the matter at hand was too important to let personal discomfort take precedence.
However, Ji Tongzhou’s letter couldn’t be sent either. With only a month left until the August meeting, it seemed their friends had all grown restless, unwilling to stay obediently at their sects to cultivate.
“Are you worried that the lack of news from Ge Lin might be related to Zhen Yunzi?” Li Fei pondered for a while, concluding this was the most likely possibility. Bai Li Ge Lin had been silent for almost an entire year. The fact that letters could be sent to her indicated she was certainly alive, which was the only reassuring aspect of the situation.
“Zhen Yunzi’s current position is quite awkward,” Lei Xiuyuan explained. “He used to be one of the three great elders of the Mystic Gate, but their cultivation methods are unique – if you don’t advance, you regress. He can no longer serve as an elder, yet he’s not a disciple either. He probably tries to avoid staying at Xing Zheng Hall as much as possible to prevent embarrassment. Now, with the Sea Calamity approaching, he’s chosen to go near the East Sea. I suspect this isn’t his first time there. I can’t say for certain if Bai Li Ge Lin’s silence is related to him, but there are too many unexpected things in this world. It’s best to be prepared.”
Li Fei could no longer sit still. She immediately picked up her brush, dipped it generously in ink, and began writing a detailed letter to Bai Li Ge Lin, explaining everything about Zhen Yunzi. If she didn’t respond this time, it was highly likely she had fallen into Zhen Yunzi’s hands. The envelope wrapped with her hair was cast into the fire and successfully sent without being bounced back. Li Fei quietly sighed in relief.
After an unknown period, shadows suddenly began to dance on the old wooden table. Li Fei’s heart leaped – had Ge Lin replied?!
Lei Xiuyuan joined her in examining the shadow-formed characters closely: [All is well. I haven’t heard anything about Zhen Yunzi. We’ll meet again at Lu Gong Town in August. Looking forward to it.]
The handwriting was graceful and crisp, unmistakably Bai Li Ge Lin’s. She was safe and sound, but why had she suddenly gone silent for an entire year? She was alone in such a distant place as the East Sea, with so many people worried about her here, yet she remained as willful as ever.
Li Fei felt somewhat annoyed and wrote to her again, inquiring about the reason. However, this letter seemed to sink like a stone into the sea, with no reply even as night fell.
Lei Xiuyuan came in from the courtyard after chopping firewood. Seeing her still in a daze, he said, “She’s always been like this since childhood. When faced with problems, she won’t seek help or discuss them with others. She just endures on her own. There’s no need to wait anymore.”
It was surprising that Lei Xiuyuan understood Ge Lin so well. Their relationship had never been good, and ever since his deception was exposed, Ge Lin had been cold toward him. Among the six of them, the most distant relationship wasn’t between Ji Tongzhou and Lei Xiuyuan, but between Ge Lin and Lei Xiuyuan.
“Do you always secretly observe people like this?” Li Fei sighed with a smile. Since there was no reply, she decided not to wait any longer. It would be best to ask in person when they meet.
Lei Xiuyuan took a book and began reading by lamplight. He spoke, “It seems in your eyes, I’m not only harsh but also lecherous.”
Li Fei laughed, resting her chin on her hand as she watched him from the table. She liked how Lei Xiuyuan looked when he was quietly engaged in something, whether reading or mending shoes. At these times, he had a gentle, refined air about him, completely different from when he was in battle.
Lei Xiuyuan silently continued reading. Halfway through the book, he noticed her breathing had become deep and steady – she had fallen asleep at the table.
He gently carried her to the bed and began to undo her belt. Suddenly, he felt something hard tucked in her clothes – it must be the black booklet given to her by the Qingcheng Immortal. She kept it on her at all times. He slowly removed her outer garments and shoes, tucked her in, and took the black booklet to examine it under the lamp.
Last time, he had only glanced at it briefly, but now he needed to examine it carefully.
To his surprise, although he clearly remembered seeing the booklet full of ink marks last time, this time when he opened it, the pages were completely blank. Lei Xiuyuan quickly flipped through the thin black booklet from beginning to end, but there wasn’t a single ink mark. His brow furrowed slowly.
What was going on? Had some immortal technique been applied to it? He placed his hand on it, probing with his spiritual energy, but there was no reaction. He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly, a flash of dark golden light appeared in his eyes. In an instant, the previously blank pages of the booklet began to reveal text, though it was intermittent and faint, with many blank spaces still unreadable.
Lei Xiuyuan focused and opened the first page. There, written in a bold and flowing script, it read: [Alas, while we in the Central Plains are confined, immortals are but common folk. Beyond the four seas, such a world exists! I leave these ink marks here, all that I have seen, heard, and done over several decades, waiting for a fated reader.]
His spirit immediately perked up, and he quickly turned to the second page. The Qingcheng Immortal’s narrative was very concise and direct: [On the 21st day of the 3rd month in the year of Guichou, I set out from Manshan in the East Sea with Ri Yan…]
The year of Guichou? Only a hundred years ago? It also mentioned Ri Yan, so that fox had indeed gone overseas with him. No wonder he seemed so knowledgeable about Li Fei and his background in conversation.
Lei Xiuyuan slowly read page by page. The readable parts all described the various customs and incredible sights of the thousands of islands overseas, far beyond imagination.
As he continued to flip through, large sections became blank and unreadable. He decided to skip to the last page, where the visible text was still fragmented. It seemed to express amazement, mentioning “shell cracking,” “turning into an infant,” “appearance no different from ordinary people,” and “at first, clear-eyed and beautiful enough to topple a city, but after half a year, increasingly resembling the face I showed with my illusion technique.”
Was this talking about Li Fei?
Lei Xiuyuan closed the booklet and looked back at Li Fei. She was curled up quietly in the blanket, sleeping soundly.
Fortunately, she couldn’t see the words on the pages.
He blew out the candle and gently lay down beside her. She wasn’t used to sleeping with someone else. In her sleep, feeling someone next to her, she immediately moved away. Lei Xiuyuan put his arm around her shoulders, holding her in his embrace. She woke for a moment, realized it was him, and her tense body relaxed again.
“Tomorrow, let’s eat tofu with bamboo shoots…” she mumbled unclearly, either sleep-talking or something else. Lei Xiuyuan couldn’t help but smile. He tucked in the blanket corners and fell into a deep sleep holding her.
After six years, Lu Gong Town had hardly changed at all. The streets were still narrow, with hurried passersby. This year, it seemed the initial selection for the academy wasn’t held here. The ancestral hall of Lu Gong Town was empty, with only wisps of incense smoke rising from the bronze tripod in front of it, no longer bustling with activity as it had been in years past.
Li Fei looked around nostalgically. She still remembered when East Yang True Person brought her here. The wooden box containing the numbered bronze tokens was placed in that corner, and the woman in the black veil sat at the inner door of the ancestral hall, testing each child’s extraordinary meridians and selecting those with excellent aptitude.
It was here that she first met each of them, and even Ri Yan first spoke to her here.
Su Wan was also curiously looking around. She had just arrived in Lu Gong Town when she met Li Fei and Lei Xiuyuan. Li Fei had invited her to this gathering in Lu Gong Town early on, and for this, she had frantically completed all her unfinished cultivation tasks in advance. She was most interested in the legendary “alluring East Sea female disciple” and wanted to see if she wore the rumored midriff-baring, arm-exposing East Sea attire.
“Why isn’t anyone here?” she asked, puzzled. “We couldn’t be the first to arrive, could we?”
Li Fei pulled her into the ancestral hall, where there was an inner door. She smiled and said, “It was through this door. That year, when I went through this door, I met all those friends we’re gathering with today.”
She remembered that when she entered the inner door, the first thing she saw was the rainbow deer in the backyard. Because it was so novel, she stared at it for a long time, which led to Ji Tongzhou and his lackeys mocking her.
Although her relationship with Ji Tongzhou was now worse than that of strangers, she still fondly recalled their first encounter – the little prince with his harsh voice, and the arrogant and domineering lackeys. They were in a small pavilion at the time, looking imposing, and none of the other children dared to compete with them.
Su Wan chuckled, “I’m more interested in your and Junior Brother Lei’s past. Oh, you mentioned last time that when you first met him, he was hit with stones and bleeding from the head. What was that about?”
Li Fei was about to speak when Lei Xiuyuan, who was behind them, said calmly, “Senior Sister, Junior Brother Deng just sent a letter. It seems to be for you. Would you like to read it?”
Su Wan, unaware that this person had a long-standing habit of changing the subject, immediately fell for it. “Ah? Junior Brother Deng wrote to me? Quick, let me see!”
Lei Xiuyuan mercilessly handed her the letter from Deng Xiguang, filled with sappy language and instructions for them to keep an eye on Su Wan and prevent her from falling for any outside men. While she was stunned reading it, he gave Li Fei a mischievous smile and patted her head. “Loose lips?”
Li Fei shook her head with a smile. He always disliked mentioning that time of pretense, as if trying to erase its existence. He preferred to think that when he first met her, he was as clever and capable as he was now, rather than a weak coward.
Deng Xiguang’s letter left Su Wan feeling “uncomfortable all over,” and she cruelly tore it up. The three of them entered the backyard and saw two figures in the pavilion, seemingly a man and a woman, sitting very close and whispering to each other.
Ye Ye and Chang Yue? No, the fluctuation of spiritual energy seemed more like…
Realizing their friends had arrived, the couple in the pavilion immediately stood up and turned around. It was Ji Tongzhou and Princess Lan Ya.
…The most awkward group of people met first. Li Fei was a bit stunned. Why was Princess Lan Ya here too? Ji Tongzhou’s hand was intertwined with hers, and their bodies were very close. Could it be that he had moved on?
Ji Tongzhou glanced at her and nodded slightly in greeting. Li Fei was taken aback for a moment but also nodded back in response. Princess Lan Ya beside him also gracefully bowed to greet them. The noble aura surrounding these two made them a dazzling and well-matched pair.
Li Fei politely introduced Su Wan: “Let me introduce you. This is Su Wan, my friend. This is Ji Tongzhou, and this is Princess Lan Ya.”
Ji Tongzhou nodded to her. Su Wan introduced herself gracefully, “I am Su Wan, an elite disciple under True Person Guang Wei of Wu Yue Ting. Junior Brother Ji, may I ask boldly, is your flame aura the legendary Xuan Hua Fire?”