For Pei Shu, if he wanted to do something, he would do it—why worry about so many things?
For instance, when he heard her voice was hoarse and felt annoyed, he suddenly remembered that the crystal jellies he had eaten were best for the throat, so he went to find some. When he couldn’t find any, he searched further away—perfectly normal. As for fighting over some cake or jelly and running hundreds of miles—naturally, when the young master does something, he does it thoroughly. It wasn’t like he was throwing caution to the wind for a woman, hmph.
He just found her amusing, so what?
In Tianhui Valley, with all that pulling and tugging, flipping and scheming against each other, he had developed his first interest in a woman. All these years, he had only seen women who followed meekly behind men, fragile and boring like dodder flowers, or those who appeared fragile and boring but were actually wildly ambitious, constantly trying to use their supposed weakness to conquer men—like that Ming Cheng woman.
Only she was more unbridled than men, more carefree than men. Despite having the most feminine and glamorous face, she did things that many men wouldn’t dare to do.
After leaving the valley, he heard about her being expelled from Di Ge. It was when he entered Tianlin City of the Zhanyu tribe that night, and he drank all night long. From her situation, he thought of his own, remembering his initial anger, struggle, and dejection in the valley, followed by his unwilling determination to rise again—those were heart-wrenching memories that still caused him pain to recall even as a grown man. Yet she, who must have experienced a similar emotional journey, still smiled like a flower, bright as the sky that occasionally showed through when strong winds blew across Tianhui Valley.
It was only after that night that the sudden marriage proposal came the next day, followed by his pursuit.
Whether it was the marriage proposal, the pursuit, or all those reasons he gave—initially, he hadn’t taken them too seriously. It was simply that he felt a bit of heartache, though whether this heartache was for her or for their similar experiences, he couldn’t sort out clearly. Still, as he always said, when he thought of something, he would do it. If doing it made him happy, that was enough.
He stared at Jing Hengbo, not even noticing the hint of a smile at the corner of his lips—seeming both pleased and doting.
After eating for a while, Jing Hengbo felt the atmosphere was off. Looking up, she saw him staring at her with burning eyes, seemingly quite hungry. After thinking for a moment, she looked down at her bowl and pushed it toward him. “Are you hungry too? Want some?”
“You want me to eat your leftovers, hm?” The young commander raised his eyebrows and glared, just short of putting his hands on his hips.
Jing Hengbo immediately shrugged and pulled her hand back. Fine, if you don’t want it, don’t eat it. I’m reluctant to share anyway.
“You’re just going to eat by yourself?” Just as she gave up, that fellow wouldn’t settle down, adding another cool remark.
What exactly did he want!
Jing Hengbo frowned and glared, deciding she would never accept this guy’s favors again—too difficult to deal with.
“I’ll only eat if you feed me.” Pei Shu raised his eyebrows and made his demand.
As if she was begging him to eat.
Jing Hengbo really wanted to ignore him, but seeing his face and head covered in dust, with barely concealed fatigue between his brows, her heart softened again.
She really felt that Pei Shu was like a little brother—that kind of spoiled, clever child who had suffered a lot but still maintained his inner brightness and boldness. How rare that was.
Or perhaps she also felt they shared a similar fate. Although she often spoke harshly and bullied him, in her heart, she had tender feelings toward him.
She scooped up a spoonful of flower jelly. “Come on, open your mouth.”
Pei Shu was overjoyed. Not only did he open his mouth, but he also moved toward her and closed his eyes. For a moment, Jing Hengbo had the illusion that this guy was waiting for her to kiss him.
Would the prince angrily capture the dragon after the queen’s kiss awakened the violent dragon?
This thought flashed through her mind as her spoon was about to reach Pei Shu’s lips, the flower jelly trembling like a tender heart.
Suddenly, a gust of wind arose beside them. In the next instant, both the spoon and the flower jelly in her hand disappeared. Turning her head, she saw the flower jelly had already entered Ying Bai’s mouth, while Ying Bai was shoving an opened wine flask into the sweetly waiting Pei Shu’s mouth and pouring it down.
The sweet flower jelly was replaced by harsh liquor. Pei Shu choked and coughed, opened his eyes to see Ying Bai, and immediately threw a punch.
“If you’re going to fight, fight outside!” Jing Hengbo shouted. “I still want to sleep later!”
The two rushed out like a storm. Jing Hengbo sighed deeply: “What a cursed fate! Cursed fate! Ying Bai, why did you come back?”
Ying Bai hadn’t been around these past few days. She thought he had left without saying goodbye after meeting Purple Micro Sage, but who knew this guy had run back, looking travel-worn.
“I came back just to tell you,” Ying Bai said lazily while fighting, “when it comes to being distracted, you must focus on being distracted.”
“Focus on being distracted? What does that mean?” Jing Hengbo was puzzled. The two had already tumbled and rolled down to the cliff below. From the duration and Pei Shu’s movements, his poison was improving again.
Jing Hengbo started walking outside, but halfway there, she suddenly remembered something important. She ran back and leaned out the cliff-side window, shouting down: “Hey, Ying Bai, you just drank from that flask, right? You and Pei Pei indirectly kissed!”
A cry of “Ah!” came from below, and the two men fighting on the cliff suddenly both fell down…
Jing Hengbo cackled with laughter, feeling quite pleased, and went out to continue practicing!
Under the moonlight, on the mountaintop, the singer sang while the laundry-washers washed clothes.
Jing Hengbo sang while thinking about Ying Bai’s words.
Focus on being distracted…
Focus on being distracted…
As she pondered this phrase and muttered to herself, her mind casually pulled over the clothes Yong Xue had washed, moving them toward the cabinet, opening the drawers—
Zirui and Yong Xue suddenly let out a cheer.
She startled awake, and with a “plop,” the clothes fell. However, joy was already shining in her eyes!
She understood!
This kind of multitasking meant not thinking about multitasking, not worrying about how many things she needed to do simultaneously. She needed to focus first on entering a state, slowly adapting within this state, then naturally, unforced, and smoothly accomplishing other tasks within this state!
Once she mastered this state, she would never go astray in her cultivation, never be disturbed by external things. She could handle official documents while fighting, regulate her breathing while attacking!
This was the real intention behind Purple Micro Sage’s torment.
Martial artists had a major limitation: their cultivation of true qi was limited. No matter how profound their true qi, it would eventually be exhausted. When tired, they had to stop and regulate their breathing.
And this need for breath regulation would waste how many opportunities?
If she could regulate her breathing while fighting, constantly replenishing her strength, wouldn’t that theoretically mean she could fight forever? Wouldn’t she always be in an invincible position? Even the most divine person would get tired, but she wouldn’t!
This point could actually be thought of by all martial artists, but they couldn’t achieve it because the circulation and storage of true qi had its inherent limitations. But Jing Hengbo was different—she used supernatural abilities, innate talents that required no storage or accumulation. What she needed to learn now was technique, transformation, and how to integrate her singular teleportation ability into combat in countless variations.
This targeted training for her abilities was imaginative yet also a stroke of genius!
At this moment, Jing Hengbo’s heart was full of gratitude toward Ying Bai, and she even stopped hating Purple Micro Sage, beginning to practice with great enthusiasm.
However, while the principle was clear, doing it wasn’t easy.
Sing a few lines, control objects, guide clothes into the pool… she forgot to first direct them to the basin that Zirui and Yong Xue were eagerly holding. Wrong.
Sing a few lines, control objects, direct to the basin, good, then to the pool. Zirui and Yong Xue washed frantically, their movements so fast that she found it amusing and giggled, forgetting to sing.
Amid Zirui and Yong Xue’s sorrowful sighs, she started over.
Sing a few lines, control objects, direct to basin, good, then to pool, wash clean, Zirui tossed up the clothes, she caught them, toward the cabinet, her eyes wandered, and she forgot the words again.
Start over.
Sing a few lines, control objects, direct to basin, good, then to pool, wash clean, Zirui tossed up the underwear, she caught it, toward the cabinet… wait, what color was this underwear? It was washed so it was hard to tell…
“Hey, you forgot to sing again.” The seven jesters popped up, laughing loudly.
Start over!
Unconsciously, night had given way to dawn, and bright daylight arrived. The morning glow gilded everyone’s faces, each face showing exhaustion but eyes brighter than this moment’s radiant light.
The sun traveled from east to overhead, then toward the western mountains. The mountain mist rose and dissipated repeatedly, dewdrops became wet then dry then wet again—another day and night.
Two days and two nights, no one rested.
The seven jesters kept playing around, always coming up with ridiculous jokes to perk her up when she was drowsy and about to sleep.
Tian Qi didn’t manage her, just chattered away instructing Yong Xue and Zirui on how to apply force.
Pei Shu, bruised and battered, slept in the tree above her head, occasionally dropping leaves that hit her head. Ying Bai, equally bruised, drank wine on the other side, sometimes spraying out alcoholic breath that made everyone’s spirits lift.
On the second night, Jing Hengbo forced Zirui and Yong Xue to sleep for a while. After two days and two nights, the two pampered girls’ hands were completely worn raw.
On the third afternoon, everyone gathered on the mountaintop, staring intently at Jing Hengbo.
Purple Micro Sage also appeared, forever maintaining that noble and beautiful appearance, carrying his favorite white eagle. From afar, he looked like a banished immortal from heaven, but once he opened his mouth, he wasn’t immortal at all: “Hahaha, thinking about deducting points and watching you make fools of yourselves makes this old man particularly delighted…”
Amid his laughter, Jing Hengbo stared firmly at him and began singing loudly: “Ah si de ah si de ai ya you…”
With a wave of her hand, underwear flew into the basin one after another. Zirui’s left hand caught the next piece while her right hand had already finished washing one and threw it to Yong Xue. Yong Xue’s washing paddle danced like falling rain—”pop pop pop”—with rapid sounds. The underwear flew high from the paddle tip, scattering water drops in the sunlight. Jing Hengbo sang loudly, not even looking as she waved her hand. All the drawers popped open, and underwear flew to their respective drawers—red to red, yellow to yellow. “Pop pop pop pop”—the drawers closed one after another with distinct rhythm and orderly arrangement, like a song with a particularly unique melody.
“Excellent!” Qi Sha loudly applauded.
Yi Qi excitedly announced the time: “Quarter hour—”
Purple Micro Sage above hummed, “So-so…”
“Ah ya you ah ya you ah si de ge tai de ge tai de ge tai…” Jing Hengbo didn’t stop singing. Suddenly flashing to the treetop, she raised her hand and the cabinet drawers behind her popped open. With a snap of her fingers, a wet pair of underwear appeared in her hand. With another snap, Purple Micro Sage’s belt suddenly broke. With a hum, the white eagle above his head was suddenly pulled down. Jing Hengbo rode on Purple Micro Sage, viciously stuffing the wet underwear into his mouth: “Bonus question! How was that completed? Hurry up and give me extra points!”
While Purple Micro Sage tried to retreat, pull up his pants, and save his beloved white eagle, by the time he comforted his pet and kicked Jing Hengbo away, he had already been splattered with water from the underwear.
As Jing Hengbo flew backward, she summoned a tree full of spiky seed pods to pelt his crotch: “Extra points!”
Just before landing, she overturned Zirui’s water basin, splashing Purple Micro Sage: “Extra points!”
After landing, she waved her hand, and Yong Xue’s soap and small stool flew toward Purple Micro Sage: “Extra points!”
Her righteous shouting echoed throughout the mountain: “Extra points! Extra points!”
For the first time, Qi Sha was dumbfounded: “Damn, now that’s fierce!”
“Little Qi Qi, starting today, she’s our boss!”
“Boss!” The seven jesters bowed in unison.
Pei Shu slapped his thigh and laughed loudly: “Good! This is the woman I’ve chosen!”
Tian Qi rolled his eyes: “No class!”
Ying Bai held his wine flask at his lips, forgetting to drink, staring stupidly for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter and muttering to himself: “Actually, they really are quite a match…”
Under Jing Hengbo’s storm-like attack, Purple Micro Sage maintained his composure while actually retreating somewhat awkwardly, laughing as he retreated: “I’ll give you credit for being ruthless, but if you want extra points, wait until you actually beat this old man—”
Before he finished speaking, Jing Hengbo’s eyes flashed, and she grinned wickedly.
This grin made everyone’s hair stand on end. Purple Micro Sage suddenly felt something was wrong. Turning around, he saw a washing paddle shooting toward his buttocks.
All those chaotic movements before had been setup—the real killer move was here…
It was too late to dodge; there was a cliff behind him. Jing Hengbo had calculated it perfectly.
“Thud.” A muffled sound. Purple Micro Sage cried out.
Qi Sha laughed so hard he almost fell off the cliff.
“Extra points!”
“The student taught the master and blew up the teacher!”
…
Without realizing it, Jing Hengbo had already spent a month on the mountain.
During this month, she naturally faced various kinds of tests—some to train her abilities, some to mess with her, and others to give her opportunities to mess with others. In this crazy month, she learned multitasking and used it to puncture Purple Micro Sage; learned to perform teleportation and object control simultaneously, using this method to pair Purple Micro Sage’s white eagle with a black eagle; learned thirty methods of poisoning and detecting poison—initially, she had diarrhea all the time while learning, but later it was the seven jesters who had constant diarrhea. Even Zirui and Yong Xue gained more flexible movement techniques. Zirui learned puppetry and beast control, while Yong Xue chose medicine and poison insect arts.
Everyone was very busy. Purple Micro Sage was a show-off—whenever he was around, nobody else could have a peaceful moment to lie down. However, the benefits were obvious: their skills were improving, the poison was slowly being cured, and even Pei Shu’s subordinates on the mid-mountain were in much better condition.
Purple Micro Sage was even a polymath. Once when he went to the mid-mountain and looked at Jing Hengbo’s nascent shipyard, he casually offered a few pointers that made the craftsmen feel enlightened, so grateful they wanted to kneel and lick his feet.
Jing Hengbo thought that the legends about the old man’s stunning talent were justified—such a pity about those damn foxes from back then.
Jing Hengbo also began cultivating a mental technique. She didn’t know its name—it had suddenly dropped from above the outhouse while she was relieving herself one day. The manual was tattered and torn, with a shocking title that seemed to be something like “Ugly Woman’s Poison Manual.”
She remembered Qi Sha saying that what the old immortal told you to do, you didn’t necessarily have to do, but what he told you not to do, you could try. She immediately took the manual to show Ying Bai and Tian Qi. After studying it for a long time, those two looked at her with strange expressions and said in unison: “If you’re not afraid of becoming ugly, you can try practicing it.”
Jing Hengbo immediately began practicing. She didn’t believe in any of that becoming-ugly nonsense. The old immortal was so beautiful, and beautiful people liked to see beautiful things. Whatever he dropped couldn’t be the kind that would disfigure someone.
But no matter how much she practiced, there was never any response. Once, she couldn’t help asking Qi Sha, and the seven jesters laughed heartily but refused to say anything. Finally, Er Lu added: “This? All seven of us brothers have studied it, but so far only little Qi Qi has succeeded. Haha, good luck to you.”
Upon hearing this, Jing Hengbo immediately felt deflated. Yi Qi was the one with the best comprehension and highest martial arts among the seven jesters. She wasn’t confident she could surpass someone who had started practicing martial arts at age three. However, she still didn’t give up, persisting every night in mumbling over that manual until she fell asleep.
This day, Purple Micro Sage was going out to visit friends and announced a holiday. Seeing him go down the mountain, everyone cheered. Jing Hengbo immediately lay down on the ground, declaring that whoever pulled her up would get beaten.
But she quickly got up again, because Zirui and Yong Xue said they wanted to go bathe.
Upon hearing about bathing, Jing Hengbo immediately felt itchy all over. During this month, she, Zirui, and Yong Xue had all been tormented to death, with insufficient sleep time. Sometimes when they were still a meter away from the bed, they were too lazy to crawl over. Where would they have time and energy to heat bath water? Zirui and Yong Xue knew she loved cleanliness and had tried several times to heat water for her bath, but while heating the water, they would collapse. Yong Xue once nearly fell onto the stove, so from then on, Jing Hengbo ordered them not to worry about bathing—at most, they would get some water to hastily wipe themselves clean.
Now that they finally had a holiday, someone who hadn’t bathed properly for a month immediately felt as dirty as a dog. Jing Hengbo sprang up with a “whoosh”: “Bath! Bath!”
There were water pools nearby, but they reportedly contained beasts. Most places on Seven Peaks Mountain had beasts. However, Yong Xue said that a few days ago when Tian Qi was teaching her lightness skills, they passed a mountain valley with quite beautiful scenery. The pool water in that valley was different from the deep, dark pools here—it was particularly clear, so clear you could see the bottom, confirming there were no water beasts.
No sooner said than done. The three women decided to go bathe. While packing clean clothes, they mentioned they hadn’t had a good meal in ages—why not bring ingredients for outdoor cooking? While preparing outdoor cooking utensils, they were discovered by the ever-present seven jesters, and then… by the time they set out, it had become a grand procession carrying tents, lugging food and cooking utensils, saying they were going camping.
Jing Hengbo sighed: “I clearly just wanted to take a bath…”
Fortunately, the mountain valley was indeed quite scenic. It was now approaching early spring, and the valley’s earth was warm with orioles singing and swallows dancing, shaded willows and white sand. The valley was filled with cherry blossom trees, all uniform pink and luxuriant, clustered together in dense groups, reflecting on the jade-mirror-like water surface like a continuous, elegant famous painting spread on a green carpet.
Jing Hengbo cheered: “I want roasted wild chicken wings!”
“We’ll hunt them! We’ll hunt them!” The seven jesters ran off happily.
Over there, Tian Qi and Ying Bai dug pits and made fires, arranging for Pei Shu to collect firewood. The violent dragon protested why he should be arranged to do this, but ultimately went anyway because he alone couldn’t beat Ying Bai and Tian Qi working together.
With only Tian Qi and Ying Bai remaining, Jing Hengbo felt greatly relieved, shouting “Bath time!” and rushing toward the pool first.
Outside the lake were flowering trees, and by the lakeside were rocks—no worry about being seen naked. Jing Hengbo quickly undressed and entered the water. She wanted to finish bathing quickly before Pei Shu and the seven jesters returned.
As soon as the three women entered the water, they heard a “quack quack” laugh with that strange voice. All three immediately changed expressions upon hearing it.
Purple Micro Sage had arrived!
Hadn’t the old immortal gone out?
Jing Hengbo’s first action was to quickly retrieve her clothes from the rocks.
But it was too late—the rocks were empty. All three women’s clothes were gone.
Then they heard the old immortal’s voice echoing throughout the valley.
“Surprise exam!”
“What the hell! You can’t scam people like this!” Jing Hengbo cursed loudly. “Zirui, Yong Xue, leave quickly. The more people without clothes, the more trouble.”
“What about no clothes?” Those two voices already carried sobs.
“We brought tents and tarps—wrap yourselves in anything, then make them give you their clothes.” Jing Hengbo shouted loudly: “Ying Bai! Tian Qi! Zirui and Yong Xue’s clothes were stolen. If you want to peek, I’ll marry them off to you!”
Two “whoosh” sounds came from over there, as if people quickly ran away…
“Master, although you mean well for us…” Zirui sobbed, “couldn’t you use a less devastating method…”
“Master, why aren’t you leaving?” Yong Xue was more practical. Being young, she didn’t care about marriage or face.
“Damn it, if I could leave! That old immortal is testing me—how would he let me go?” Jing Hengbo slapped the water surface, signaling those two to leave quickly.
Fortunately, after this period of frenzied training, Zirui and Yong Xue had adapted to this rhythm of being scammed. They randomly grabbed some water plants to cover vital areas, bent down and rushed out of the lake, running like wind to the tent area. Indeed, no one was around. The two found tarps to wrap themselves in and were thinking whether to borrow outer garments from Tian Qi to let Jing Hengbo come out. Before they could act, they felt a cool breeze overhead and softly collapsed.
After knocking out these two, Purple Micro Sage’s voice spread throughout the valley.
“Surprise test question: Battle to Defend Chastity!”
“Go die!” Hearing this topic, Jing Hengbo immediately cursed loudly.
“Right now, the seven jesters, Ying Bai, Pei Shu, and Tian Qi have all been poisoned by this old man and are under attack by wild beasts.” Purple Micro Sage sat on a treetop, smiling. “This old man has arranged corresponding beast groups according to each person’s strength. In about a quarter hour, they’ll all be able to solve their troubles and rush here. But now there’s a problem—they’ve been poisoned and need antidotes. And the antidote,” he snapped his fingers, “is in this lake water.”
“You must have been a bird with broken wings in your past life.” Jing Hengbo cursed.
“This lake water is particularly clear—you understand.” Purple Micro Sage smiled even more delightedly. “As soon as they rush to the lakeside, you’ll be completely exposed. Oh my, if you’re seen naked, you’ll have to marry someone. But with so many people, who would you marry?”
“You’re watching me.” Jing Hengbo suddenly stopped being angry and smiled sweetly. “Will you marry me?”
“I’m wearing an eye mask.” Purple Micro Sage chuckled. “Women are the most terrifying foxes in the world—how could I not know to guard against them?”
“Cut the nonsense.” Jing Hengbo’s expression changed, her willow eyebrows standing upright. “You’re testing them, but what about me? What method can I use to resolve this situation? You can’t expect me to conjure clothes out of thin air, can you?”
“Oh,” Purple Micro Sage said nonchalantly, “I just secretly released a Silver Armor Beast into the lake water. This creature’s inner core is a holy medicine for healing injuries. Its hide is particularly soft yet can block all sharp weapons in the world. More wonderfully, once skinned, flesh and blood separate immediately, making it usable right away. So you just need to kill this Silver Armor Beast before that group of men arrives to bathe with you, skin it, and drape its hide over yourself. Then you’ll have clothes, treasure armor, and avoid random marriage. See? Three birds with one stone. Am I good to you or what?”
“Good! So damn good! When I recover, I’ll definitely marry you off to ten thousand men!”
“If they dare marry me, that’s fine too. Oh, by the way, the Silver Armor Beast is said to be invulnerable to blades and spears, slippery as a swimming fish, amphibious, and one of the fiercest beasts on Seven Peaks Mountain. This thing is already a fierce beast on land, but underwater it’s the absolute king. Oh dear, you’re bare-handed—how will you deal with it within a quarter hour? Thinking about it is really worrying… I need to sleep first and think hard for you…”
Jing Hengbo had no time to listen to the old immortal’s rambling.
Behind her, the water showed abnormal ripples. Something had quietly approached. Er Gouzi, who came with her, had his feathers standing on end, retreating step by step from the shore. Feifei jumped back and forth on a large rock by the shore, expression full of vigilance.
A quarter hour.
She had to kill this famous fierce beast and skin it. Otherwise, that group would rush in and see her completely naked.
Ying Bai and Tian Qi were one thing, but Pei Shu and Yi Qi would definitely run very fast, especially Pei Shu.
Behind her, a silver-blue spine emerged.
Thirty miles from this place stood a low mountain peak with a very flat top, as if cut off by a heavenly blade.
Two people sat on the peak, one lying in the other’s arms.
“Little Qi.” Yelu Xunru lay with eyes closed, speaking softly. “Has the sunlight reached the cliff edge? Is there a large white rock there? Is the stone very flat, like a jade bed?”
Yelu Qi looked ahead. The bare cliff edge had nothing, but he still smiled: “Yes, a very large white stone, gleaming like jade.”
He raised his face, sunlight shooting into his eyes, which also seemed to sparkle crystal-clear.
“I have a story to tell you about this stone.”
“Your stories are always good.” His tone was very supportive.
“That year I was thirteen, a month before going blind,” Yelu Xunru’s voice was like dream-talk. “Father and Mother said they wanted to send you away to learn skills. I wasn’t happy and had a big fight with them. In anger, I ran away. When I left, I pried open Mother’s jewelry box and stole several valuable hairpins, planning to go far away, preferably to Di Ge.”
“Good job prying it.” He said gently. “I didn’t want to learn skills either. What good could come from places recommended by the family head’s wife? Wasn’t it just sending me to be a sparring partner and get beaten?”
She smiled faintly and patted his hand. “I was very angry and walked quite far. Nothing happened along the way until I reached the Hawksbill tribe. One night when staying at an inn, I suddenly heard someone singing ‘Little Fox’ outside my window.”
“What ‘Little Fox’?”
She began singing softly:
“Big fox fell ill, second fox looked, third fox bought medicine, fourth fox brewed, fifth fox died, sixth fox carried, seventh fox dug pit, eighth fox buried, ninth fox cried, tenth fox asked why do you cry? Ninth fox said fifth fox went away never to return…”
After so many years, hearing it once in a daze, she never forgot it since.
“This song sounds like a nursery rhyme at first, but thinking carefully, it seems to have ghostly energy.” He commented.
“Hearing this song, I felt similar to you—felt it was eerie and cold, immediately couldn’t sleep anymore. I got up and went out to search, but the singing seemed to have passed by—the person had long gone, and there wasn’t a sound outside.”
He smiled. Xunru had always been bold since childhood, but was it because she was too bold that she had so many hardships later?
“I wasn’t willing to give up. Having heard ghost stories since childhood, I felt that since this song sounded outside my window, it must be giving me guidance. So I stood in the courtyard and tossed a coin. Whatever direction the coin fell, I planned to chase that way.”
“Then you chased here?”
“I walked for a day and night. When I couldn’t tell directions, I tossed the coin. I left my fate to heaven, wanting to see where it would take me. Finally, I really couldn’t walk anymore and fainted at the foot of this mountain. When I woke up, I saw the flat peak top with sunrise filling the sky, and a purple-clothed beauty sitting on the jade-bed-like white stone, combing her hair facing the sunlight.”
He looked in that direction. Though it wasn’t sunrise now, the light was still dazzling, impossible to look at directly.
“I thought I’d seen an immortal. No, even immortals weren’t this beautiful. I walked over, wanting to reach out and touch her hair. Her hair was truly beautiful—brighter than the most beautiful black brocade. I’ve never seen anyone with such hair in my life. But she turned her hand and grabbed mine, then threw me off the cliff.”
Yelu Qi gasped, never expecting this development.
“I fell down without crying out, just staring fixedly at her face. I thought that in this lifetime, I would never see anything more beautiful than this face. It was worth dying to see my fill.”
No, he thought silently, there’s one more most beautiful thing—her.
“Just when I thought I was definitely dead, suddenly everything went black before my eyes. When I opened them again, I was lying on the white stone. That face that made me dizzy was right above me. She was still pinching my face, saying strangely: ‘Eh, how could a vajra heart grow in this little girl?'”
“I couldn’t understand what she meant. I was completely stunned because that voice was a man’s.” She laughed briefly. “Such a beautiful person was actually a man.” She raised her hand to touch Yelu Qi’s face. “Little Qi, I’ve always said you’re the most beautiful man in the world. I lied to you. In my heart, he is the most beautiful, incomparably so.”
“Someday I’ll scratch up his face,” Yelu Qi smiled. “Then the most beautiful will be me again.”
“You probably can’t scratch him. Otherwise, I think scratching would be good. Growing a face like that is actually ominous. I felt in my heart that he must also be ill-fated. No matter how glorious and remarkable he seemed, his heart must also be bitter.”
“How many people in this world have glory on the surface but sadness within.” Yelu Qi said lightly. “As long as the heart doesn’t fall, it’s fine.”
“My heart fell for him.” She laughed mockingly. “I sat with him without saying a word, watching the sun all day, watching sunlight move inch by inch across the sky, watching the sea of clouds transform into various colors, watching morning glow connect to evening glow. Later I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was alone sleeping on the white stone. All around was empty—no person, no body warmth, no footprints, nothing. Everything was just like my dream.”
Her lips curved slightly. This was a dream, the most beautiful moment of her life condensed into a dream. In that dream, she traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers, young footsteps trekking, meeting that most beautiful person. On that mountain, her skirt hem trailing clouds and mist, her head bathed in golden light, shoulder to shoulder with him, watching skylight traverse seven colors, rainbow clouds filling their eyes. Never to be forgotten for a lifetime.
At that moment, she certainly never thought that a month later, she would fall into eternal darkness. Therefore, that scene of magnificent colors filling the sky, that purple-clothed figure in golden light streaming everywhere, became eternally inextinguishable.
She stubbornly believed this was heaven’s arrangement for her. Heaven wanted her to remember, willing to erase all colors from her subsequent life, wanting her to use a lifetime of darkness to keep that scene vivid and ever-new through long years.
That year she was thirteen, knowing resentment and hatred but not love and hate. She didn’t know if that was love, but from then on, she could never accommodate any other feelings.
“Actually, I met him one more time later, when I was seventeen and already blind.” She said. “Once I was tricked out by my cousin. She wanted to push me into a pit with hidden stakes. I injured my leg and was waiting to die in the pit when suddenly a group of young men passed by. They didn’t rescue people but surrounded my pit, discussing whether to conveniently add a few shovelfuls of dirt to bury me, while others argued that pouring water might be good too, to see if I could float up. Then they actually started shoveling dirt. I used that dirt as a foothold to climb up. They shoveled as much as I used, and they laughed heartily, saying I was fun, so they rescued me. They even said they’d send me back. I was afraid of causing trouble and declined. Just then I heard his voice saying: ‘Disciples, your master is hungry. Hurry up and rob some money.'”
“Hearing this voice, I was stunned. It took me a long time to react and want to chase after them, but I couldn’t move with my injured leg. I listened to them leave, then dragged my injured leg searching for a long time but never found them. Later, I thought I could meet him again… but now I know that heaven perhaps only arranged for me to meet him once. The second time was purely accidental. I needn’t think more about it. He and I are people from two different worlds—each living our own lives is fine.”
“Or…” Yelu Qi said leisurely, “you could still meet him, as long as you take one more step forward.”
“No…” Yelu Xunru raised both hands. Her hands were covered with incomplete scars, the black-purple at her fingertips had spread to her wrists. The remaining parts hidden in her sleeves were unknown. She used these hands that no longer seemed human to catch the sunlight, smiling: “I want to stay here. I like it here. That year I began here, and now I want to end here too.”
Yelu Qi didn’t look away. He stared directly at his sister’s hands, bit by bit, looking at all those pitted scars and breaks.
These were the scars and breaks of their sibling’s lives. Even if looking caused heart-piercing pain, they shouldn’t avoid it.
Remember, so they could take revenge.
“I can’t walk anymore either,” Yelu Xunru closed her eyes, a mocking smile at her lips. “Even if he were nearby, I don’t want to look anymore. Dragging a sick body to find a man when almost dead—what for? To make him remember me for life? Sorry, I don’t do such things. I absolutely refuse to appear before him in my most wretched moment, using my pitiful state to gain a bit of sympathetic pity. If I must appear before him, it has to be when I’m glorious and magnificent… or when he’s very wretched…”
“Just make him wretched…” he coaxed her softly.
“This matter is settled. Our time is precious—don’t waste it on a dream,” she grabbed his hand. “Little Qi, listen to me. If you like someone, pursue them. No matter the outcome, no matter if she has someone in her heart, no matter how many difficulties and obstacles on the road. Jing Hengbo is worthy of you, and you’re worthy of her. Regardless of whether heaven has arranged this marriage for you, if you don’t even try, I won’t respect you in the next life.”
“Then I’d rather you look down on me for seventy or eighty years in this life. I’d rather you give me long disdain.” He smiled.
“I want that too…” Yelu Xunru gently touched his face. “Sister has never been gentle with you in this life. Do you blame me?”
He turned his face toward the sunlight. Golden light pierced his eyes like swords, piercing out tears.
It was because the sunlight was too fierce, not because of this moment’s weakness.
“Gentleness can’t keep people alive. The person I like actually never gave me gentleness either. I was born not liking gentleness.” He smiled, suddenly helping Yelu Xunru up. “Sister, don’t die yet. We still have one thing undone.”
“Mm?” Her breathing gradually lightened.
“If it weren’t for Nine Heavens Gate taking third brother as a disciple, the family head’s household wouldn’t have been so arrogant, wouldn’t have dared force our parents to death, wouldn’t have dared treat us like this. Fundamentally, the root problem lies with Nine Heavens Gate.” He whispered in her ear. “Now, a Nine Heavens zombie has come. Let’s kill him.”
She suddenly opened her eyes wide.