Chapter 34 Senior Brother, these apricots aren't ripe yet.

Afterwards, Yu Sui helped Zhongli Que check the communication array in Qingyang Imperial Capital. After that Miss Chu returned, she did not send any messages through the Wind-Listening Ruler. The messages sent by the people in her clinic did not mention Chu Jin going to Zhongli's house.

Judging from the information on the Wind Listening Ruler, Chu Jin has not mentioned the Zhongli family to anyone.

Yu Sui contacted Elder Yan and asked him about Chu Jin's trip to the Prince's Mansion to treat Madam Su.

Old Yan was slow to send messages, and he didn't even like using the Wind Listening Ruler. If it weren't for the Wind Listening Ruler being able to contact Yu Sui, he wouldn't even glance at it.

When Yu Sui gave the Wind Listening Ruler to Elder Yan, the old man didn't even glance at it, silently despising the thing.

Yu Sui tried his best to persuade him, telling him that the Wind Listening Ruler was absolutely safe and that no one in the world could extract any information from it.

Old Yan remained unmoved.

Finally, Yu Sui said, "If you listen to Feng Chi, you won't be able to contact me, and I won't be able to contact you either. If I die, you won't even know."

Only then did Old Man Yan begin to use the Wind Listening Ruler, which he had utterly despised.

Later, Yu Sui observed the speed and skill with which Yan Lao processed various messages on the Wind Listening Ruler and guessed that he was very likely a member of the Yan State's Communications Institute, or at least that he had worked there.

Yu Sui waited patiently for a while until Elder Yan replied, "She didn't see him."

After a while, Elder Yan said again, "No need to worry."

Yu Sui stared at the message sent by Elder Yan for a long time, her finger lightly tapping the crossword puzzle. After a long while, she replied with only one word: "Okay".

The sunlight hid behind the clouds, and a strong wind picked up in the afternoon; it looks like there will be a downpour tonight.

The weather suddenly changed, the wind blew the fruit trees swaying, and the green fruits hanging on the branches were about to fall. Some of them rolled to the ground and rolled a long way.

Yu Sui's clothes and hair were blown wildly by the sudden strong wind. She braved the gale and carried the food box into the main hall.

After placing the food box on the table, Yu Sui walked back to the door. Suddenly, a cool breeze blew in and hit her face, causing her to turn her head away.

The weather on the island is always unpredictable.

The wind blew out many withered leaves, the sound of falling leaves rustling in the air. Yu Sui raised her hand to wipe her face, then turned to look at the portrait: "Master?"

She sensed that the Holy One Changgen had returned.

“I am here,” replied the Sage Changgen.

Yu Sui raised her hand to shield herself from the strong wind with her sleeve and said, "Is it going to rain tonight?"

"Yes."

"Should I go back to my dorm or stay here?" Yu Sui asked herself, then answered, "I won't go back until my injuries have healed."

Saint Changgen said, "In two days, you will enter the Ghost Daoist School to learn the basic Nine Schools of Arts. The academy also has many courses that you need to adapt to. You can familiarize yourself with the mental techniques in advance while you are recovering from your injuries."

It means you can stay here.

Yu Sui sat back down at the table and picked up the Ghost Daoist manual written by Mei Liangyu again to read.

The Sage Changgen said: "The Ghost Daoists believe that humans have three souls, six spirits, and seven consciousnesses. They cultivate their inner self to control their three souls, cultivate their six spirits, and strengthen their seven consciousnesses."

Yu Sui listened to his explanation and found the corresponding part in the mental cultivation method.

"The first step in the Ghost Dao school is to control the soul, stabilize the spirit, and empty the seven senses," said Sage Changgen. "The Ghost Dao art requires you to accept and refine each 'self,' allowing them to coexist, complement each other, and counteract each other."

Yu Sui asked, "How many 'selves' does a person have?"

“Three,” the sage Chang Gen replied, “the good ‘I’, the evil ‘I’, and the ‘I’ that encompasses them.”

Yu Sui asked, bewildered, "Master, how can these be materialized into the Nine Streams Technique?"

Saint Changgen told her to leave.

Yu Sui obediently went out and came to the stone steps outside the main hall. The surrounding area was full of flowers, grass and fruit trees. At this moment, the wind was strong and dark clouds covered the sun. Although it had not rained yet, there were signs everywhere that a storm was coming.

The unripe green apricots, blown to the ground by the strong wind, floated in the air, enveloped by the five elements, keeping their distance from Yu Sui.

Yu Sui stood under the apricot tree, looking at the green fruit in front of her.

"Controlling the soul means separating intention and consciousness to observe oneself. Stabilizing the spirit means observing that one's own soul cannot be defeated. When all seven senses are empty, one cannot take any action before being attacked or sensing the five elements, and others cannot perceive your five elements."

As soon as the Saint Changgen finished explaining, Yu Sui saw the floating green fruit come to her in front of her. It was so fast that she didn't have time to dodge or even notice it before it bounced right onto her forehead.

It felt neither painful nor itchy; the unripe, green apricot seemed to have only lightly touched her forehead, yet it sent a heavy blow through Yu Sui's consciousness, as if her soul had been violently shaken.

Yu Sui subconsciously reached out and touched her head.

"Master, isn't this too fast?" Yu Sui asked blankly.

“It is your eyes that are deceiving you, that makes it seem fast,” said the Sage Changgen. “When your mind and consciousness are separated, and you observe yourself, the speed of the apricot in the eyes of the observed self will deceive you. You need to use the separated self to feel it, which is when all seven senses are empty.”

Yu Sui was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

This seems... very familiar.

Every time she observed the strange fire deep within her consciousness, it was as if another version of herself was looking at her.

“Again,” Yu Sui said, concentrating.

She vaguely grasped the knack.

The wind howled, scattering withered leaves all around, but the green apricots, supported by the five elements of the Chang Gen Sage, remained steady and unaffected.

Yu Sui was hit by apricots many times. At first, she felt no pain or itching, but later she felt a slight pain. Each time she could feel physical pain, the impact on her consciousness was less.

The master and apprentice taught and practiced together, as dark clouds loomed overhead and thunder rumbled.

When Mei Liangyu arrived, he saw Yu Sui standing under the tree, being hit in the face by a green apricot.

A long-lost teaching method.

Aside from himself, he had never seen his master teach anyone else in this way.

Mei Liangyu couldn't help but touch his forehead, recalling how he had once stood in the same spot under that apricot tree, much younger and shorter than Yu Sui, catching the same green apricots, one bite of which made his face scrunch up from the sourness. Under the apricot tree, the young boy, stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat, repeatedly called out to his master, who was nowhere to be seen, to come again.

Then he was flung away by a headbutt.

Mei Liangyu glanced at Yu Sui, who was clearly being treated gently by her master, and gave a slight sneer before stepping forward.

By this time, the sky had completely darkened, and night had fallen. A strong wind was blowing. Yu Sui raised her hand to press down her hair, which was being blown by the wind. The apricot fruit touched her forehead again and fell to the ground, rolling away with a thud.

Mei Liangyu bent down and picked up the unripe apricots.

"Senior brother." Yu Sui greeted him, pressing down her hair.

"Practicing soul control." Mei Liangyu tossed and caught an apricot in his hand, looking at Yu Sui with a half-smile, and said, "Why bother Master with such a thing? I'll practice with you."

As soon as he finished speaking, a thunderclap resounded in the sky, and torrential rain poured down on the earth. The apricots hanging on the branches were battered by the wind and rain, but stubbornly refused to fall. The sound of the torrential rain drowned out all other sounds, with only the thunder vying for dominance.

Mei Liangyu: "..."

Yu Sui used his Wind Riding Technique to run back to the main hall to take shelter from the rain.

Mei Liangyu took the unripe apricots and returned to the main hall of the sanctuary.

The rain was pouring down, and Yu Sui looked longingly at Mei Liangyu, who was following behind, holding apricots in his hand.

The Sage Changgen said to the two, "The rain will stop when it gets light, so let's stop here for today's training."

Yu Sui nodded.

Mei Liangyu glanced at her, tossed her the apricot, and Yu Sui caught it, hearing him say, "Eat it if you're not going to practice anymore."

"Senior brother, these apricots aren't ripe yet," Yu Sui kindly reminded him.

Mei Liangyu said without changing his expression, "It's ripe. Your physical eyes have deceived you. If you don't believe me, try a bite."

Yu Sui: "..."

She wiped the apricot with her sleeve, and under Mei Liangyu's patient gaze, placed it under her master's portrait.

Yu Sui said, "If it's cooked, give it to Master first."

Mei Liangyu asked with an inscrutable expression, "How are you expecting Master to eat?"

Yu Sui said in a serious tone, "Master has his own way of eating."

The sage Chang Gen remained silent.

Mei Liangyu stared at Yu Sui, who pretended not to know anything, walked back to her table and sat down, picking up the Ghost Daoist manual and pretending to look at it.

After a moment, Mei Liangyu turned his gaze to the portrait of Saint Changgen and said lazily, "I came to ask Master about something. When will the Five Elements Water Field, which was burned by the Strange Fire, be repaired?"

Yu Sui's eyes reflected the black and white words on the paper, but her gaze was already fixed on something else.

She never imagined that what she had gone to great lengths to hide would be spoken of in such a casual and ordinary tone.

Yu Sui's gaze involuntarily drifted to Mei Liangyu beside him. Mei Liangyu stood in the main hall, holding the Wind Listening Ruler in his hand and twirling it around, as lazy and indifferent as ever.

Looking at the portrait of the Sage Changgen, Mei Liangyu spoke of the Strange Fire without any extra expression or emotion, simply uttering the words "Strange" and "Fire".

“We’ll have to wait another year,” Saint Changgen replied. “The fire was too severe, and the balance of the five elements over there was broken. All the Nine Streams Techniques that were set up before are gone and need to be reinstalled.”

"One year." Mei Liangyu said thoughtfully, "So we still can't go this year?"

The Sage Changgen replied, "Yes, but you cannot stay long."

Mei Liangyu leaned against his desk and tapped the surface with his finger: "Then I'll force Wei Kun into the Five Elements Water Field, let him go in and be killed by the Nine Streams Technique that hasn't been fully repaired yet. If it's an accident, then who's to blame?"

Chang Gen the Sage: "Yours."

Mei Liangyu: "Oh."

Yu Sui: "..."

Perhaps the person even more unlucky than her is Wei Kun, who is constantly being plotted against to see how to take her life.

Perhaps it was Yu Sui's hesitant gaze that made Mei Liangyu uncomfortable, so he looked back at Yu Sui and said, "What are your thoughts? Speak up."

"What is the Five Elements Water Field?" Yu Sui asked, feigning ignorance. "How could it be burned by a strange fire? Is a strange fire that powerful?"

"A place where the power of the five elements can be drawn to create life-giving techniques." Mei Liangyu said in a calm tone, "What can't the strange fire burn? It even burns me. As for how powerful it is, haven't you heard of the ancient prophecy about stars shattering?"

Yu Suiqing exclaimed "Ah!" and nodded, "I've heard of it."

She pretended to be eager to learn and said, "Hundreds of years ago, when the stars shattered, it was said that five world-destroying beings would bring strange fire to the continent, capable of destroying the heavens and the earth."

Mei Liangyu tapped on his Wind-Listening Ruler and said, "That thing is really powerful. It can burn anything, and it wants to burn everything."

"Senior brother, aren't you afraid?" Yu Sui looked at him expectantly. "It sounds like nothing can stop it. If it catches fire, it will really destroy the world!"

Mei Liangyu put away the Wind Listening Ruler, and looked back at Yu Sui with a hint of patience. He smiled slightly and said, "Then let's destroy it."

Yu Sui was drawn to his eyes at that moment. His dark eyes, with a faint smile, were like an unfathomable abyss, hiding a chilling power.

Saint Changgen's consciousness invaded the two, saying, "Your senior brother attempted to destroy the world three times but was thwarted. In the future, this topic must never be brought up to him alone."

Yu Sui: "..."

Three or three times?

Mei Liangyu slightly curled the corners of her mouth, her eyes flashing with amusement. She withdrew her gaze and glanced at the portrait: "Master, why are you scaring her? If my timid and weak junior sister is so frightened that she wants to betray the sect, don't blame me."

The timid and gentle junior sister placed the paper in her hand on the table and turned to look at her nonchalant senior brother.

This time, it was Yu Sui's turn to stare at Mei Liangyu.

Mei Liangyu looked back and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm curious," Yu Sui answered honestly.

Mei Liangyu decisively said, "Keep it to yourself, don't ask, and even if you do, I won't tell you."

Yu Sui responded with an "oh" and continued watching him.

Mei Liangyu raised an eyebrow: "What are you still looking at?"

“If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t ask.” Yu Sui’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she said, “I’ll just keep talking until I’m no longer curious.”

[Author's Note]

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!