Chapter 191 Three's Company:

It was late at night when the carriage arrived in town.

There is no curfew in the town. Once the sun sets, the streets are deserted. In the quiet of the night, every household closes its doors and windows, and the only sound is the rustling of the north wind blowing through the thatched huts.

"Is it here?" Shen Bingsi lifted the carriage curtain and looked around. "It doesn't look like there's an inn here."

Feeling someone pushing her from behind, Shen Bingsi deliberately dawdled and blocked the car door, slowly shuffling out of the car.

Rong Xie emerged from behind him, leaped lightly, and landed gracefully and swiftly. After thanking the coachman, she turned around and said, "This is just a small town, so of course there are no inns here."

"Where will we stay?" Shen Bingsi asked as the driver hurriedly drove the cart away. "Are there any kind farmhouses that will take us in? We can even share a bed."

However, Shen Bingsi's dream was shattered.

"Senior Brother Shuyang is here to meet us." Rong Xie took out a signal firework and threw it out. The firework shot upwards and threw out a bright green star.

"Shu Yang?" Shen Bingsi remembered that Rong Xie seemed to have mentioned that Elder Yunfeng lent him a high-level disciple.

A tall and elegant cultivator from the Spirit Mirror Sect emerged from a corner alley. He was dressed in the robes of a high-ranking disciple of the Spirit Mirror Sect. He stepped forward and bowed to Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi, saying, "Junior Brother Rong, Sword Saint Shen."

"I've troubled Senior Brother Shuyang to wait so long," Rong Xie said apologetically. The two had previously discussed that since Rong Xie was going to Yunshan Sect and didn't know when he would come down, Shuyang would wait for him in the town closest to Yunshan Sect.

“It’ll be soon,” Shu Yang said, glancing at Shen Bingsi, his gaze lingering on his silver hair for a moment before offering no further comment. “Shall we go back now?”

Shen Bingsi felt an ominous premonition rising in her heart, a premonition that reached its peak when Shu Yang took out his natal flying sword and let it hover in mid-air.

"What? You want the two of us to squeeze onto this little sword with you?" Shen Bingsi pointed at Shu Yang's flying sword and said incredulously.

"Yes," Shu Yang said without changing his expression, "The situation is special now, so we can only act according to the circumstances."

Rong Xie tugged at Shen Bingsi's sleeve: "Go up. Senior Brother Shuyang's sword control technique is still very stable. He will stand in front, and I will protect you from behind."

“Even if it’s safe, it can’t be…” Shen Bingsi suddenly realized something, “Did you two fly to Yunshan Sect like this too?”

“Then what else can we do…” Rong Xie glared at Shen Bingsi, signaling him not to act recklessly.

Shu Yang wisely turned his face to the other side, waiting for Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi to finish their discussion.

"No, didn't you only want to ride on a greatsword?" Shen Bingsi said with dissatisfaction. "Before, I had to make the sword this wide so that you couldn't see below when you sat on it, and I also needed a seat to lean on before you would ride my flying sword. How come you don't care about anything now when you're with someone else?"

"Is this the time to discuss this?" Rong Xie said in a low voice. "Why don't you conjure up a flying sword? No matter how small it is, as long as it can fly, we won't ride on Senior Brother Shu Yang's."

"..." Shen Bingsi gritted her teeth, "What do you mean no matter how small? I'm the one who transformed into a greatsword!"

"Alright, alright, you've transformed into the Greatsword, and your sword is the biggest." Rong Xie knew that arguing with him about this was pointless. "But you haven't recovered yet, have you? Why don't you ride on Senior Brother Shu Yang's flying sword for a bit? It's better than me carrying you to Yunshan Sect in the Yunmeng Flatboat. You're not afraid of falling into a ditch, but I am."

"Who says I can't conjure it up?" Shen Bingsi drew the golden Shengxie Sword from the void and unsheathed it.

The golden light of the Shengxie Sword illuminated their faces. For a moment, Rong Xie thought the Shengxie Sword was about to grow bigger and thicker, and his heart pounded wildly.

However, Shen Bingsi held up the Shengxie Sword, pointing it diagonally into the air, but a gust of north wind blew by and nothing changed.

Shen Bingsi refused to believe it, tossed the Victorious Evil Sword upwards, channeled spiritual energy into her fingertips, and said, "Rise!"

"puff"!

The Victory Sword fell to the ground and lay there quietly, its light dimmed slightly.

"..."

"..."

Shu Yang's natal flying sword hovered three feet above the ground.

"Can't it be a little longer?" Shen Bingsi instructed Shu Yang on how to lengthen the flying sword. Shu Yang was happy to learn a new trick, and with their tireless efforts, Shu Yang's natal flying sword was finally twice as long and three times as wide as before, enough to fit three people. But Shen Bingsi was still not satisfied. "I don't want to stand next to you. Wouldn't it be better if we all had some personal space?"

“Sword Saint Shen, my talent is dull and I’m afraid this is all I can do,” Shu Yang said honestly. “Sword Saint Shen is exceptionally talented. He can make his flying sword infinitely larger. He can slay demonic dragons in the sky and giant whales in the sea. We are not as talented as him. If I make the flying sword any larger, I will not be able to maintain its stability.”

"No need, no need to get any bigger." Upon hearing that it would be impossible to maintain stable flight, Rong Xie quickly waved his hand and turned to signal Shen Bingsi to stop while he was ahead.

"Heh." Shen Bingsi felt good after being flattered, so she didn't nitpick anymore.

After the three of them boarded the flying sword, Shen Bingsi raised another objection.

“I don’t like standing behind strange men, especially on such a narrow sword.” Shen Bingsi poked Shu Yang’s back with a finger in disgust, making him keep a certain distance from her.

"Then what do you want?" Rong Xie began to get impatient. "With these conditions, Senior Brother Shu Yang has already gone to a lot of trouble by taking the two of us under his wing. Are you still being picky?"

"How about we switch places between Sword Saint Shen and Junior Brother Rong?" Shu Yang didn't mind and turned around slightly to ask.

"No, you two can't be touching each other either," Shen Bingsi firmly refused.

“No, Shen Bingsi can’t stand at the back, he’ll fall down,” Rong Xie said almost simultaneously.

"How could I have fallen?" Shen Bingsi protested Rong Xie's assessment of him.

“You can’t circulate your spiritual energy right now; you’re not even as good as a Qi Refining cultivator,” Rong Xie reminded him.

"So what do we do now?" Shu Yang asked.

"...I'll stand at the front, Rong Xie next to me, Shu Yang, you stand at the back, on the hilt of your sword," Shen Bingsi instructed.

“That’s absurd. Senior Brother Shuyang needs to watch where he’s going. How can he stand at the back?” Rong Xie immediately retorted.

“Actually,” Shu Yang said, “that’s also possible.”

Shen Bingsi said with satisfaction, "See? I told you he could do it." She then patted Shu Yang on the shoulder, "Junior Brother Shu Yang, you have a bright future. I have high hopes for you."

"Sword Saint Shen is too kind!" Shu Yang's usually calm voice suddenly became cheerful.

The order was settled, and Rong Xie, following Shen Bingsi's instructions, hugged his waist and stood behind him.

The flying sword soared into the sky.

This was the first time Rong Xie had ever ridden in a flying sword with passengers in front and the swordsman behind. He felt a little uneasy and kept peeking his head out from behind Shen Bing Si's shoulder while holding her, trying to see what was going on ahead.

"Don't worry, there's no problem ahead, I'm watching." Shen Bingsi patted Rong Xie's arm.

"What's the use of you looking? You can't control the flying sword anyway." Rong Xie's words became sharp as he got nervous. "If it crashes into a mountain later, are you expecting me to use my face to block it?"

"Junior Brother Rong, don't worry, my spiritual sense can see ahead." Shu Yang honestly explained the principle behind his control of the flying sword from behind.

"See? No problem. All Golden Core cultivators have this ability," Shen Bingsi said confidently.

"That's amazing!" Rong Xie exclaimed in surprise, turning around to praise Shu Yang, "Senior Brother Shu Yang, your spiritual sense can even see so far ahead? That's incredible! So this is what a Golden Core sword cultivator is like."

Shu Yang smiled and said, "Junior Brother Rong can do it too in the future."

Rong Xie felt a longing: "I wonder when I will be able to cultivate to the Golden Core stage. Senior Brother Shu Yang, how many years did it take you to cultivate from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Golden Core stage?"

Shu Yang calculated: "About forty years?"

"Huh?" Rong Xie exclaimed in surprise, "How old is Senior Brother Shu Yang now?"

"I'm over eighty," Shu Yang said. "When you get old, you stop counting the years. I don't even know what year it is this year."

"Senior Brother Shuyang is already over eighty!" Rong Xie exclaimed in shock.

Rong Xie wanted to continue talking, but suddenly pulled his arm forward, pressing himself against Shen Bingsi's back, almost knocking his nose out of place.

"Shen Bingsi, what are you doing?" Rong Xie raised his head angrily.

"Shuyang, focus on the road and stop chatting." Shen Bingsi adopted the tone of a sword saint.

“Yes, Senior Brother Shen,” Shu Yang replied.

Rong Xie knew that Shen Bing Si's narrow-mindedness had resurfaced. In the past, when he was Shen Bing Si's best friend, he also wanted to be a close friend to him, and no one else could interfere. Now that he was more open-minded and considered Shen Bing Si his lifelong partner, he would even interfere when Shen Bing Si was chatting with others.

“He’s not your senior brother. He and I are the same age. We entered the Spirit Mirror Sect together. You should call him Junior Brother Shen.” Rong Xie said while tightening his grip on Shen Bing Si’s stomach.

Shen Bingsi is currently powerless to bind demons, and can only suffer in silence when faced with the violent pressure from Rong Xie, a Foundation Establishment expert.

"That won't do. Senior Brother Shen is, after all, the Grand Elder's disciple. In terms of seniority, he is only higher than the disciples of Yunfeng. Now that the Grand Elder has passed away, Senior Brother Shen will have to preside over the funeral rites and inherit the position of the Lord of the Supreme Immortal Mountain. In the future, he will probably have to be called Elder Shen."

"What?" Shen Bingsi turned around abruptly. "Who told you that the Grand Elder has gone?!"

“This…” Shu Yang hesitated.

“Let me speak,” Rong Xie said, “The passing of the Grand Elder has already been made public; it’s no secret. You no longer need to keep your oath of secrecy.”

Rong Xie relayed the news that Elder Yunfeng had told him to Shen Bingsi again. Shu Yang was Elder Yunfeng's trusted disciple, so Rong Xie didn't hide it from him.

Throughout the rest of the journey, Shen Bingsi lost her playful mood and fell silent, lost in thought.

“Actually, the sect leader will preside over the Grand Elder’s memorial service, and you don’t necessarily have to attend. If your health condition doesn’t allow it, you don’t have to participate,” Rong Xie said. He was very worried about Shen Bing Si’s health. Although Shen Bing Si’s mentality had improved a lot since returning from Yunshan Sect, he still couldn’t circulate his spiritual energy. He didn’t know if his inner knot had been untied. Attending the memorial service would definitely cause many things to happen and delay his progress in cultivating other paths. The consequences would be unimaginable.

"Let's go back and meet with Elder Yunfeng first, explain your situation, and then go to Elder Hong's place to continue treating your shattered Dao Heart," Rong Xie said, revealing his plan.

“No, let’s attend the memorial service first,” Shen Bingsi said firmly. “No matter what, he is my master, and I want to see him off. As for my health, I know that I will be fine.”

"Really?" Rong Xie didn't believe it. "Your hair is still completely white, didn't you know? You—wait?"

Rong Xie suddenly stared at the strands of hair floating in the air. What he had always thought was silvery white was actually silver frost covered by moonlight. Rong Xie held a strand of hair in his hand. The coarse and stiff hair was very noticeable. Rong Xie opened his palm and looked into it. Against his fair skin, there were clearly black strands of hair.

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[Sprinkling flowers]