Chapter 44: Old Dreams (VII) “The blooming season has passed, they…will not…

"I heard that I was previously a disciple of the Wuji Sword Sect, so I wanted to go and check it out, but I accidentally discovered this place." Chi Xingji pushed open the door with ease.

Everything remained unchanged, as if it was still the same as a hundred years ago. They just left home for a while, perhaps to travel, or perhaps just to return to the sect, and then they returned soon.

"...Didn't you say you would take me to the Wuji Sword Sect? Why did you bring me here?" Lian Qiang forced herself to deal with it. She really neglected to deal with Chi Xingji.

When she entered the room, even though she had already prepared herself mentally, her heart still felt a prick when their eyes met.

—The apricot blossoms in the yard were all dead. She should have thought of this earlier.

"I sensed some familiar remnants of spiritual energy, and after tracing it back to its source, I found myself here," Chi Xingji said solemnly as he led her into the forest. "As expected, I discovered this might be my former residence. Besides that..."

After hearing the last half of the sentence, Lian Qiang raised her eyes and gave him a look: "What?"

"I discovered your spiritual power. It's weak, but it does exist. Even now, are you still unwilling to admit it?"

Because of this foreshadowing, Lian Qiang didn't panic when suddenly asked, "Maybe it was a mistake."

"I can't be mistaken." Chi Xingji was very sure. Lian Qiang chuckled: "But what does this prove?"

"You said we had never met before, and that you were deliberately lying to me by taking advantage of my amnesia. Is that right?"

He already had the answer in his heart, and Lian Qiang no longer concealed it: "Yes."

Chi Xingji's eyebrows moved slightly, and it could be seen that she had thrown away the concealment she had made before. Suddenly, his heart turned cold. He wanted to ask something, but he couldn't.

"What you're asking is why I kept it a secret from you, and what happened between you and me in the past." Lian Qiang walked straight past him, not stopping until she saw the spiritual tree in her memory was gone. "I can tell you, but only after I've visited the Wuji Sword Sect."

She was willing to take the initiative to confess her missing memories. Chi Xingji should have been happy, but he could not feel any emotion called "joy" anyway.

He hesitated and said, "Did I...do many wrong things in the past to upset you?"

Lian Qiangben stared at him indifferently. Hearing him reflect like this, her heart suddenly twitched. She turned her face away: "I will tell you when the time comes."

She turned around to leave, and then heard Chi Xingji say, "Did you plant so many apricot blossoms? Do you need me to restore them..."

"No need," Lian Qiang interrupted him bluntly, "The flowering period has passed, they...will not bloom again."

Lian Qiang had been thinking a lot over the past few days. Her feelings for Chi Xingji were difficult to eradicate immediately, and if she really wanted to end things completely, it could only be done by Chi Xingji.

It was nothing more than asking him to push her away again, Lian Qiang thought calmly, what could she not do?

She...can do it.

The two's return to the Wuji Sword Sect wasn't a grand event, but it still alarmed quite a few people. Over the years, news of Chi Xingji's ascension had spread far and wide, attracting numerous cultivators from around the world, hoping to be among the next to ascend.

They were not clear-headed, but Lian Qiang was clear that Chi Xingji did it because he was Chi Xingji, nothing more.

The sword energy left by Chi Xingji was still protecting her body, and no one dared to question the Immortal Lord's companions, so Lian Qiang seemed to be in a deserted place.

The two were welcomed and sat down. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Chi Xingji asked to meet his former mentor, but he saw that the faces of the people receiving him all changed, and they hesitated and were unwilling to tell the truth.

Judging from their expressions, it didn't seem like Xi Wenji had passed away, but rather that there was some other hidden secret.

"Is Master in seclusion, or is there something he can't tell me?" Chi Xingji naturally assumed that Xi Wenji was inconvenienced. Lian Qiang watched coldly from the side, holding a cup of tea.

Just because she can live harmoniously with the amnesiac Chi Xingji, it doesn't mean she is willing to see Xi Wenji again.

"I'll take you there." Suddenly, someone stepped forward. It was a woman, half of her hair tied up in a bun, the other half flowing down behind her. She exuded an otherworldly aura. Particularly striking was a small red mole beneath her eye.

She was not like those flatterers who kept calling Chi Xingji "Senior Brother" in an attempt to establish some kind of relationship with him. She only addressed him distantly, and there seemed to be some discontent between her brows...?

Who doesn't like to look at beautiful women? Lian Qiang is no exception. He looked at her a few more times and met her gaze. When their eyes met, Lian Qiang nodded first, and then the other party did the same.

Chi Xingji was naturally happy to have someone leading the way. He thanked them and walked out of the magnificent hall.

The three of them walked for a long time, and along the way, people kept interrupting and greeting them, making the short journey seem particularly long. Lian Qiang was impatient and glanced at the girl leading the way. She casually asked, "My name is Lian Qiang. May I know your name?"

"My surname is Jiang, and my name is Zhen." Jiang Ruzhen looked straight ahead and continued to lead the way steadily.

Lian Qiang tried to find some conversation, but ended up making things worse: "I wonder if Miss Jiang is married?"

As soon as she said this, she thought to herself that it was not good. Even Chi Xingji looked over at her. She saw that Jiang Ruzhen seemed to be a straightforward person. She was afraid that her presumptuous behavior would upset him.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Ruzhen seemed to stumble for a moment, then feigned indifference, saying, "...I have a senior brother who shares my feelings for me. We've known each other for decades, and we're getting married soon."

The taut string loosened, and Lian Qiang breathed a sigh of relief: "This is really a good thing. I was presumptuous just now, I hope Miss Jiang doesn't mind."

Jiang Ruzhen nodded as if to assent. As they spoke, the three of them walked further and further away from the buildings in the center of the sect that were full of spiritual power.

Lian Qiang harbored doubts, but she didn't point them out. Logically speaking, Xi Wenji, having trained such a disciple, deserved no more respect, but also shouldn't have... moved to a worse place than before.

Leading the two to the scattered courtyard, Jiang Ruzhen didn't know the way and took them around in circles for several times. As time went by, Chi Xingji's face became more and more gloomy.

The building before him seemed like the most shabby corner of this huge sect, even incomparable to many ordinary residences. He could hardly imagine that his mentor would live in such a place.

"We're here." Jiang Ruzhen finally stopped in front of a room. She pushed the door gently, and it opened with a creaking sound.

"Who's coming?"

Lian Qiang felt that this voice was familiar. It was Xi Wenji's, but not his. It sounded like the voice was decades older than his.

But how is this possible? Lian Qiang denied this answer. Xi Wenji has long maintained his youthful appearance. Although he cannot live forever, at least he will not age any further.

Chi Xingji thanked Jiang Ruzhen and walked quickly into the yard.

Lian Qiang followed closely behind, but saw Chi Xingji, who was one step faster than her, frozen there.

"...Master?" Chi Xingji uttered the two words with difficulty. The previously smooth address now felt as heavy as a rock.

Lian Qiang seemed to have sensed something, took a step forward, and saw Xi Wenji, no, to be more precise, an eighty-year-old man.

"Xi Wenji?" She murmured like Chi Xingji.

No one had visited his courtyard for a long time. Xi Wenji narrowed his eyes and looked at the visitor. He glanced at Chi Xingji back and forth several times before finally confirming that his guess was correct: "You are Xingji!"

"Master." Chi Xingji's instinct guided him to understand the identity of the person in front of him. Without saying a word, he lifted his robe and knelt down, kowtowed three times to Xi Wenji, then stood up and supported the old man.

"Good, good, good boy! I didn't expect that after you ascended to heaven, you would still be willing to come and visit me, your master..." Xi Wenji stroked his beard and patted Chi Xingji's shoulders repeatedly. He was so happy that he couldn't see his eyes. However, his laughter stopped abruptly when it swept across Lian Qiang.

"...Lian Qiang?" He looked at her behind Chi Xingji with his eyes wide open, as if he had eaten bitter herbs. "Why are you here?"

"Why can't I be here?" Lian Qiang suddenly felt funny. She walked closer to Xi Wenji step by step. As expected, Xi Wenji was now like a mortal who had lost all his cultivation. Even if he had the murderous intention again like before, he could not do anything to her.

The status many years ago now seems to be reversed.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead..." He stretched out his index finger and pointed at Lian Qiang tremblingly.

Lian Qiang smiled kindly: "That's all thanks to Master. I'm lucky and have a long life. I didn't die."

She didn't believe that after Chi Xingji left, Xi Wenji didn't know how difficult her situation would be, but still ignored her. When she saw her today, she realized that he did it on purpose.

"Evil disciple!" Xi Wenji wanted to vent his anger by smashing the objects at hand, but it was in vain.

The two people who knew their past were in a stalemate. Chi Xingji, the only one who didn't understand what happened, saw the hostile look between the two and understood a little.

"Master, if you have something to say, why don't you sit down and talk it over." Chi Xingji spoke. No matter how unwilling Xi Wenji was, he had no choice but to listen to him. After all, things are different now. He can no longer rely on the little bit of master-disciple relationship he had in the past to threaten the almighty immortal to do something for him.

Fortunately, Chi Xingji also retained some awe and respect for him in his bones. After settling Xi Wenji, he looked up to signal Lian Qiang to sit down as well, but saw that she turned her head to the side, very reluctant to look at them.

Since that was the case, Chi Xingji stood with her and talked about some things with Xi Wenji.

When he learned that he had forgotten the past, Xi Wenji's eyes were half regretful and half relieved. He felt regretful that he had completely forgotten the friendship between master and disciple; he felt relieved that Chi Xingji would not be burdened by Lian Qiang either.

Putting the two together, Xi Wenji didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.

Perhaps because the two of them didn't have a good relationship, Chi Xingji only told Xi Wenji the parts that didn't include Lian Qiang. Even so, he could still feel deeply moved and exclaimed that Chi Xingji had made great progress.

"Now that I've talked about my apprentice, it's time to talk about my master. Why did my master..." Chi Xingji couldn't bear to continue. Xi Wenji was much more calm than him. He waved his hand and said, "You want to know why your master has fallen to this point, right?"

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air: "This is a long story, and it is also related to you."