Chapter 2: Star and Lotus (Part 2) He stopped where he was and said in a deep voice: ...

As soon as the words came out, even Qiang herself was shocked by them. But Chi Xingji still had that calm expression, just a faint smile: "Nonsense."

Rubbing her eyes, Lian Qiang didn't dare to confirm whether it was her illusion just now, but she caught the distrust in Chi Xingji's words and patted her chest: "You are talking nonsense! Aren't you afraid of being lonely when you go alone? It's just right, I can go too, so I can accompany you, and we can still be companions."

She had been feeling somewhat guilty just now, but after hearing this, she felt even more justified and confident, and felt that she was extremely righteous and chivalrous.

"Your parents and siblings are still here. Where are you going?" Chi Xingji spoke clearly, neither fast nor slow, leaving enough time for Lian Qiang to think about it.

"That's a difficult question... You said that immortals should be able to travel a thousand miles a day, right? Otherwise, why would they want to be immortals? The immortals in the books I read can reach wherever they want to go in a flash." Lian Qiang quickly came to the conclusion and overturned his previous guess.

Chi Xingji stared at Lian Qiang deeply, and fell silent. Lian Qiang thought he was going to refute her again, but a gust of wind had just blown by, and some of the apricot blossoms on his head were blown off. They fell slowly, making the boy's skin look even whiter than snow among the flowers.

Lian Qiang could hardly see his features clearly.

"Okay," the young man said suddenly and firmly, "Let's go together."

The sky was bright, and the light stung Lian Qiang's eyes. She covered her eyes and sat up in bed, only to realize that it was just a dream.

...a dream about the past.

She subconsciously looked to her side, and as she expected, the bed was flat, without even a wrinkle.

Indeed, Chi Xingji has always been clean and punctual, and he would never slack off for even a moment. Lian Qiang turned her head to look at her pillow, where there was still a large circle of dark water stains.

Last night, she didn't even know when she fell asleep, but she remembered every detail of her dream perfectly.

They say that what you think about during the day you dream about at night. What does this mean? Is she stuck in the past and unable to extricate herself? Lian Qiang smiled self-deprecatingly, but if you really think about it, it was indeed a very happy time.

Perhaps this dream diluted Lian Qiang's pessimism and uneasiness about reality, and she actually wanted to take advantage of the good weather to go out and relax.

As soon as the thought came to her mind, she felt it was ironic. In the past, she was unwilling to be idle for even a moment, but now she would not think of taking the initiative to go for a walk for ten days or half a month.

Stretching lazily, Lian Qiang walked out of the courtyard. Ever since Chi Xingji ascended to the Golden Core stage, the sect had assigned him a courtyard like this as his cave abode. As his wife, there was no reason for her to separate from him, so she moved out of the ordinary disciple's quarters. Thinking about it this way, she had benefited greatly from Chi Xingji.

Lian Qiang narrowed his eyes. After entering the sect, Chi Xingji had reached the Golden Core stage in just two years. Everyone said he was the fastest cultivator in the past hundred years. If he continued like this, his ascension would be just around the corner. He himself wasn't as happy as outsiders might imagine after hearing these words.

Chi Xingji was indifferent to the envious praise from others. He just brought Lian Qiang to see it and said that this would be their new home from now on.

What was her reaction at that time? Lian Qiang forgot, she only remembered that she was very happy, happy for Chi Xingji and happy for them.

For peace and quiet, the Wuji Sword Sect specially selected a cave for Chi Xingji, built high up and rich in spiritual energy, so that he could practice well without being disturbed by others. However, Chi Xingji chose another cave with a wide view and beautiful scenery, surrounded by apricot trees.

These trees are like useless weeds in the eyes of cultivators, but it is different in Lian Qiang's eyes.

As Lian Qiang walked, she spotted a few figures in the apricot blossom forest. She was surprised. This secluded place was rarely disturbed in the past, so why...

She tiptoed closer to the people and heard two or three younger girls chattering.

"Is this Senior Brother Chi's residence? It doesn't look very grand."

"It's high, quiet, and has apricot trees. This is it, there's no mistake."

"I heard that his wife particularly liked apricot blossoms, so he chose this cave."

Lian Qiang's tense brows relaxed upon hearing this. She thought it was probably just a few of her junior sisters who were bored and came here to kill time. After all, there were many people in the sect who admired Chi Xingji. She knew that, but she didn't care. However, the next sentence made her brows furrow again.

"But Senior Brother Chi should be training right now. Aren't we too early to run into him?" "You're stupid! Of course, you have to wait early. What if, what if he comes back at this time? Wouldn't that be a natural, unobtrusive encounter?"

"...By the way, did you guys go watch Senior Brother Chi's sword fight yesterday? Wow, that graceful performance really got me excited! I wish I could be the sword Senior Brother Chi was holding!"

"That's right, that's right. Hey, who in this sect doesn't want to get to know Senior Brother Chi?"

"But he has a family after all. If we do this... isn't it a bit inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with that? The capable ones get the upper hand! Besides, there's no such thing as first come first served in relationships. If you think so, just stand back! If Senior Brother Chi falls for me, don't envy me."

"Hey, no, no, no... I just said it casually. I just heard that he and his Taoist partner have a pretty good relationship."

"When did you hear this? If the relationship is really good, Senior Brother Chi can stay in Jiange for a whole day?"

"That's right, I heard his wife is just a Jindan... and she's a waste with her Jindan completely destroyed. I'm afraid she won't be able to practice cultivation in this lifetime!"

Lian Qiang stood behind the tree and listened quietly. She didn't feel uncomfortable in her heart, but she felt that the sunlight on her face was dazzling. The voices of these girls, which were sweet just now, now sounded... harsh.

The flower branch that was originally growing well on the tree broke in Lian Qiang's hand. She looked at the branch that was broken into two parts with an expressionless face. She wanted to rush out and throw it hard in the faces of those three people, loudly rebuking them for coveting other people's husbands and talking about others' shortcomings behind their backs, which was such shameless and despicable behavior.

But Lian Qiang didn't. She couldn't think of any words to refute them.

It was a fact that her golden elixir was completely destroyed, but it had been a long time since anyone had said these words to her so bluntly, causing her to almost forget what a miserable and hopeless situation she had ended up in.

Her master didn't care about her, and Chi Xingji didn't care whether she could continue to practice. She herself... didn't cherish herself as much as before.

She is no longer the naive little girl she used to be. How can her state of mind be the same as before?

As for coveting Chi Xingji... Lian Qiang suddenly smiled. She didn't want them to say it. Sometimes she wondered with despair whether it was beneficial to maintain this marriage or whether it would only do harm.

Could it be that Chi Xingji had actually long been tired of her and wanted a divorce, but was bound by responsibilities, or perhaps he was just lusting after her body, so he hadn't mentioned it yet? Or was he waiting for her to come to his senses and bring it up, so he could save his dignity and not feel guilty?

Lian Qiang was still thinking when she heard the sound of something being struck by a branch and three girls exclaiming in surprise from the other end.

"Instead of seizing the time to practice, you're here talking nonsense about your senior sister. What are your names? Who is your master? Is this how they taught you the rules?"

This was Chi Xingji's voice. Lian Qiang didn't need to listen too much to recognize it; it was still the same calm, even tone, neither sad nor happy.

You see, even if the person being talked about was his fellow Taoist, he would not feel the slightest bit of anger, and even called her "senior sister" instead of his wife.

Lian Qiang wanted to step away, but she accidentally stepped on a discarded broken branch, and the crisp sound was particularly clear in the silence.

"...Lian Qiang?" Chi Xingji called her hesitantly. Lian Qiang was secretly annoyed. How could he see her? Now she couldn't get away even if she wanted to.

She hummed, then turned to face him calmly: "Why are you back at this time? What a coincidence, I just happened to be out for a walk today." As she spoke, Lian Qiang glanced at the three girls out of the corner of her eye. They were covering their red and swollen palms, looking at her with shameful and embarrassed eyes.

No matter how slow-witted they were, they could guess that the person in front of them was the "waste" they were talking about, and they couldn't find the right attitude to face her.

Lian Qiang really didn't want to be involved in this incident, even if it was related to her. But Chi Xingji didn't want to let it go. He stared into her eyes and asked, "When did you come?"

He wanted to know how much she had heard. After sharing a bed together for so many years, Lian Qiang believed that they still had this tacit understanding, and no longer intended to hide it from him: "Probably when they said your residence wasn't very grand."

Chi Xingji's eyes darkened. Lian Qiang had arrived earlier than him. Therefore, he couldn't be sure if these unknown junior sisters had said anything embarrassing to her before he arrived. He held the branch that served as a ruler straight, as if holding a sharp sword.

"Apologize," Chi Xingji spat out those two words. The three uninvited guests could see a hint of impatience in his otherwise calm face. Not daring to meet his gaze, they frantically bowed to Lian Qiang repeatedly, "Senior Sister, we're sorry. We didn't mean to say those things. We're sorry, we're sorry..."

They kept apologizing, and seeing that Lian Qiang remained silent, one of them timidly turned her gaze to Chi Xingji, but Chi Xingji was looking at Lian Qiang and didn't even glance at them.

"Have you forgiven them?" Chi Xingji asked. After he spoke, the three turned their gaze back to Lian Qiang, hoping that their "savior" would forgive them.

Lian Qiang pursed her lips, said nothing, crossed her arms, and turned to leave. Chi Xingji followed in silence, and the leader boldly called out to him, "Brother Chi..."

Chi Xingji tilted his head slightly, but did not stop walking: "Why don't you hurry up?"

Even though what he said sounded more like "Get out of here!", it sounded like amnesty to the three people. They ignored the pain of their palms being whipped and quickly left the apricot forest.

Lian Qiang wasn't walking fast, nor were her strides large. Chi Xingji, however, always followed her closely, staying half a step behind her, unwilling to overtake her. Finally, Lian Qiang stopped, sighed, and said, "You don't have to do this anymore. You can't stop the gossip, and it'll only damage your reputation. Besides, even if they say this, they might not have changed their minds at all."

After she said that, she wanted to move on. This time, Chi Xingji didn't follow her.

He stopped where he was and said in a deep voice, "What kind of reputation do you want to bring to my life?"