Chapter 155 Snowman, you are my home, no matter how many years pass...
"Setting up this formation is quite a painstaking task. This place is a feng shui treasure land for gathering spiritual energy, so the choice is quite ingenious."
"Can you teach me? Can you teach me? I saw Senior Sister Shen demonstrate this before, but I never imagined it was so profound!"
"Of course, but the cost... considering our friendship, how about each of you give me ten spirit stones?"
Under the warm sunlight, several people stood on a circular platform paved with white marble. Centered around a woman dressed in dark blue, the boys chatted excitedly, their eyes sparkling, and with a flash, a deep blue high-grade spirit stone appeared in their hands.
Simmons's vision blurred, and she almost couldn't speak. These spirit stones were clearly very dark in color, yet she felt as if her eyes were about to be blinded by their brilliance.
One high-grade spirit stone is worth a hundred ordinary spirit stones, and her original starting price was only ten ordinary spirit stones.
Those who felt no pain at all, aside from Tang Huairou and Wu Zhuyue who might have hesitated slightly due to their frugality, saw that everyone else had taken the best items and then stopped hesitating. After all, they also needed Simmons mattresses to set up their formations and wanted to see the revamped Grand Dream Formation.
They're rich, incredibly rich.
Simmons now finally understands that the monthly salary of a few hundred low-grade spirit stones that Si Changxi gave her was not generous, but rather too little.
This person looks like a respectable person, but I never expected him to be even more cunning and scheming than her!
After mentally giving Si Changxi the nickname "Old Fox," Xi Mengsi smiled and accepted the spirit stones they offered. She kept a few in her hand, shaking them back and forth, as if she were a raccoon that had just received a cookie and had to squeeze them with her paws to confirm their authenticity.
Lin Yuxian seemed to think it wasn't enough, so she took out ten spirit stones and nervously handed them to Xi Mengsi, saying earnestly, "Judging from your name, you must be extremely enthusiastic about this formation. It's your lifeblood, right? Ten spirit stones isn't much, just consider it a donation."
...For the first time, this seasoned con artist felt a pang of guilt. It's true that the most powerful thing is a sincere, naive child; when you encounter one, you can't bear to betray those shining eyes.
Simmons coughed twice and accepted the spirit stones. "I will definitely give them to you." As soon as she finished speaking, someone patted her on the shoulder, followed by a laughing voice.
“I want to learn too.” Shen Lixia stood behind her. “Master Xi, would you mind counting me in?”
Simmons, already feeling guilty, slapped away the hand that was on her shoulder and immediately laughed exaggeratedly, pretending to be indifferent, saying, "You've already learned it! Come with me to set up the formation, don't use this as an excuse to be lazy."
However, the Dream Array is a psychological attack, gentler and easier to learn than conventional Nightmare Techniques, unlike most of which are evil arts, and is based on gentle dreams. Although Simmons felt a little like he had deceived a child, he thought it made sense after a moment's thought, so he stopped talking and turned to Shen Lixia and said, "Come, set up the array with me."
"Wait a moment." Lin Yuxian suddenly spoke, then took out a string of folded paper figures from her mustard seed bag and tossed them into the air. After leaving her hand, these paper figures seemed to gain sentience, turning in mid-air and gracefully landing in their respective positions, vaguely showing that they were arranged according to an array.
She clapped her hands, and the paper figure stood up.
"Let's begin."
As soon as the words were spoken, the sound of runes lighting up, like the flickering flame of a candle, was heard, followed by bursts of brilliant light. Then, a thick fog rose up, instantly engulfing everyone present.
A barrier rose, appearing from the outside as a semi-transparent arc enveloping the vast area. However, inside, white mist surged and swirled, obscuring the sky and blocking out even the afternoon sunlight, as if one had suddenly stumbled into a dense forest of giant trees. Within the quietly spreading mist, several figures flashed by like ghosts.
The cool scent of sandalwood filled the air. After placing the last bundle of talismans and lighting the talisman, Shen Lixia straightened up and said softly, "Alright. Where did you set up the array's core?"
A moment later, Simmons' figure emerged from the mist, walked to the boy's side, crossed his arms, and said, "Leave your position. Generally speaking, every formation has its own strengths and weaknesses. A strong position is dangerous and easily leads to disputes and chaos. Leaving your position is one of them."
“Very clever, but—” Shen Lixia paused, “More conflict means more people. With so many people gathered there, wouldn’t they find the array’s core sooner?”
"Why can't the most dangerous place be called the safest place?"
“I will place it in the Xun position,” Shen Lixia shook her head. “Chaos is like a piece of rotten meat that smells bad; it will attract both dogs and more ferocious beasts. The spiritual energy fluctuations in the Li position are strong, making it easier for people to discover clues.”
Simmons pondered for a moment and said, "I think there is some risk involved."
"Let's take a gamble." Shen Lixia suddenly turned around. "Here it comes." The Flowing Fire instantly appeared in her palm, a dark stream of light flashed, and in the blink of an eye, their weapons clashed.
The newcomer was a pale-faced, indistinct person holding a long sword. Shen Lixia slightly slowed her steps to gather her strength, then deflected the long sword that was attacking her, turned her head to avoid the opponent's next strike, her gaze swept coldly over the opponent, and with a twist of her wrist, the blade slashed towards her waist.
A smooth cutting sound rang out, followed by the sound of something hitting the ground.
The pale figure rapidly shrank, as if evaporated, leaving only a tattered little paper doll. The paper doll shakily rose from the ground, turned around, and hopped back into the mist, disappearing from sight.
In the past, only array formations could be used, but now they can be modified on the spot and their power can be used to simulate the enemy. Clearly, Lin Yuxian has made progress again, and thus her understanding of the array set up by Chi Yueying has deepened.
The air was filled with the whistling of swords, and several pale figures appeared in the mist. These were the people who had found this place by following clues after the simulated breaking of the formation, marking the second round of the tactic.
The thick fog obscured everything around them, but they each possessed communication talismans that allowed them to see each other through the fog, thus turning this into an advantage.
Shen Lixia took two steps back and shouted in a deep voice:
"Charge!"
The sound echoed within the barrier, causing countless dark lights to surge forth and transform into sharp edges that attacked.
The fierce battle finally subsided by evening. As the fog dissipated, the paper figure swayed and clung to Lin Yuxian's hand, who was squatting down, as if it had collapsed into her palm due to exhaustion.
Lin Yuqian carefully tucked them into her bosom and whispered, "Thank you for your hard work."
A faint floral fragrance wafted from behind her, intensifying as she bent over, cascading down. Tang Huairou placed her hand on her shoulder and asked curiously, "Is this sentient? A magical artifact, or something else?"
"Hmm... I've been trying to raise some little trinkets." Lin Yuxian smiled slightly. "They can help me carry things or play chess with me."
The others sat on the stone bricks, catching their breath after a while. Though the paper figures were flimsy, they grew increasingly intelligent in battle, as if learning with each encounter, becoming more and more like real people. Furthermore, their ability to continuously regenerate after being destroyed was extremely taxing on their energy.
Shen Lixia was leaning against the Simmons mattress when she suddenly heard a sound from above. A shadow fell, obscuring her vision.
"Junior sister, are you still able to get up?"
A slender, fair hand reached out. Shen Lixia hesitated for a moment, then quickly rubbed her palm on her waistband before slowly placing it on that slightly cool hand.
She wasn't so tired that she couldn't move; she was much stronger than when she competed with Lin Yuxian here last time. But since her senior sister had offered her hand, she was willing to be led.
Qiao Yanshen pulled the boy up with a strong pull. Xi Mengsi also stood up, patting her clothes and trouser legs. She glanced at the others who were about to return, then turned to Qiao Yanshen and asked, "Fellow Daoists, are you going back to camp?"
Shen Lixia said, "We'll go later. You guys go first."
Hearing her say that, Simmons didn't wait any longer and left with the others. Shen Lixia stretched and summoned Liu Huo to hang beside her. She wanted to jump on it lightly, but she felt a stuffy feeling rise up in her back first, and then, as if she could no longer bear it, a burning itch rose up, like thousands of tiny insects swarming.
Before she could react, wings sprouted from her back, allowing her to gracefully step onto the longsword. Shen Lixia stood there dumbfounded on the sword, flapping her wings a couple of times. Suddenly realizing what was happening, she tucked the wings under her shoulders, exasperatedly saying, "Hey—hey? Why aren't you behaving? You just popped out on your own..."
In the dim light, the twilight cast a golden glow, as if a god had poured a spoonful of honey down, making the crimson wings sparkle and shine, adding even more color than usual, emitting a soft purple sheen. The feathers were much thicker than when they were first born, like a fledgling that had grown up, strong enough to fly to the vast sky, no longer weak. Qiao Yanshen watched the boy spin in place, his gaze fixed on those broad wings, until they transformed into flames and flowed back into the boy's body, disappearing from sight. Only then did he purse his lips and come back to his senses.
"Finally, you took it back! You never stop going against me... Don't I deserve your approval? Senior Sister, haven't I grown at all yet?!"
"Of course it is. Maybe it's feeling stuffy and wants some fresh air." Although it was only released once this morning, the Divine Fire is always unpredictable, and even its master can hardly guess its thoughts. Qiao Yanshen finished speaking with a smile, and then gently patted the back where the wings had been, causing the boy to tense up immediately, his face quickly turning red.
How interesting. Qiao Yanshen withdrew his hand, pretended to be nonchalant, and summoned Yu Feng, saying, "I'll go to Frostblade Peak first. You go find Master and ask her to come over after we've finished discussing business."
Before Shen Lixia could ask why, the young man's figure disappeared with the sword, leaving her with only a mysterious thread.
She flew to the Four Spirits Hall on her sword. As darkness fell, the surroundings gradually became quiet. The Four Spirits Peaks were the main peaks, offering a panoramic view of the entire sect, with even the town beyond the outer gate faintly visible. Shen Lixia, with her sharp eyesight, could even discern the flickering lights as lamps lit by the disciples. Standing before the hall, she didn't rush inside, feeling the wind caress her cheeks like a mother's gentle touch, and contentedly squinted her eyes.
At the edge of the sky, the night cast a light haze, yet it could not conceal the twinkling of the distant stars, outlining the crescent moon with its pure white silhouette. Tonight, the arrangement of the stars seemed particularly strange, as if they were separated, or as if they were drifting towards the distant horizon, no longer close together.
Perhaps if Qiao Yanshen were to look at it, she would be able to discover some divine "omen." But Shen Lixia didn't know much about astrology; she only felt that it was profoundly meaningful.
In the gentle evening breeze, the girl opened her arms, embracing the rushing wind and the rich, earthy fragrance of grass and soil. Her bangs were lifted, revealing her full forehead, and her smile was an undisguised, radiant one, as pure as a child's heart untouched by worldly dust. Her upturned eyes, drawn by her smile, resembled sharp, slender willow-leaf knives, beautiful and captivating.
A thin ray of light settled in her bright golden eyes.
"What are you doing standing here?" A familiar voice came from behind. Startled, Shen Lixia quickly withdrew her hand, trying to appear nonchalant in her embarrassment, but Yan Xueya's next words exposed her true intentions—
"Embrace nature, hmm?" The woman with snow-white hair and white clothes slowly walked towards her. "I didn't expect my rebellious disciple to have such refined tastes."
Shen Lixia felt so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground. Her face turned red quickly, and she simply raised her hand and rubbed her cheeks hard, whispering, "You came out a long time ago, why didn't you call me..." A hug between two people is naturally poetic and picturesque, but when someone is watching from behind, it's a completely different story.
Speaking of which, is Master starting to call her "rebellious disciple" more and more naturally? This shouldn't be a term of endearment, right?
Yan Xueya smiled and said, "Seeing you so engrossed in it, I naturally couldn't bear to." She stood beside Shen Lixia, still much taller than the boy, like a lioness with her cubs, exuding an aura of authority without anger.
Soft rays of sunlight fell upon their shoulders. They stood quietly, gazing upon the peaceful scene within the sect. After a long while, Shen Lixia suddenly spoke:
"Master—"
"Leaving Summer".
Coincidentally, her master also called her name. After a moment of silence, Yan Xueya said, "You go first."
Shen Lixia moved closer to her, like a little bird afraid of the cold, wanting to lean on its elder. Yan Xueya lowered her eyes and glanced at her indifferently, saying nothing, letting the young man come.
After all, there were people in the past who were more clingy and loved to stick close to her. Young people always like to show their joy, anger and resentment on the surface, and have a softness and frankness that has not been sculpted by the vicissitudes of life.
"The spies infiltrated within the sect have not yet been identified. I've come up with a method: testing them with divine fire. Demons, no matter how well they hide, will be burned by divine fire. As for the other disciples, as long as I pay close attention, they won't be injured. At most—well, maybe their clothes will be slightly burned? I'll be very careful."
She knew that mending clothes was not easy.
Yan Xueya didn't answer immediately after hearing this, so Shen Lixia waited obediently, clinging to her teacher like a groundhog every now and then, too impatient to wait even a moment. After a while, she called out, "Master..."
"You know I can do it. I won't let the divine fire get out of control. The demon spy is no small matter; it's closely related to both of us. Please let me find her..."
She no longer spoke in a drawn-out tone, but rather with great seriousness, enunciating each word clearly. Yan Xueya, however, ignored her, letting the young man talk for a long time like a begging cat before finally letting out a sigh.
“No,” she said. “You know you possess divine fire, have an extraordinary status, and have abilities that others don’t. But do you not consider how many people will covet this? What if that demon spy came for you? She has lingered for so long, perhaps just waiting for you to lose your composure and reveal your divine fire. At that time, who knows how many ambushes are lying in wait. You must remain calm and not be impatient.”
After saying that, she placed her hand on Shen Lixia's head and gently stroked it, her words carrying a calmness that left no room for the young man to refute.
"As your teacher, my responsibility is not only to teach you, but also to protect you. I have said it countless times before... Li Xia, you and Yan Shen do not have to bear everything alone. No matter what happens... I will protect you. The same goes for the other Immortal Venerables of Taihui."
Even if the past always catches up unexpectedly, she wants her two disciples to know that they no longer need to walk alone in this life.
After Shen Lixia nodded, Yan Xueya turned to look at the sky. After thinking for a while, she ultimately did not speak.
I had originally thought that my student didn't yet have a given name, and I wished to use the stars to name her, but today the celestial phenomena are concentrated in the south, which is the Li position, and there is also a rather subtle name—
Long separation.
-
Upon hearing that Shen Lixia would be coming to Frostblade Peak that evening, Yan Xueya waited until the night was deeper before returning to the palace by performing a hand seal.
However, there were no bright lights, only a small lamp on the table. Beside the lamp was tea, which seemed to be kept warm by magic and was still steaming.
Yan Xueya approached and saw a stack of neatly arranged papers under the teacup, with the following written on the top layer:
"Recent cultivation insights. — Please review them, Master."
She slowly sat down, shook her head, and thought to herself that Qiao Yanshen had indeed not slacked off. It wasn't that she felt he had added to her workload, but as a teacher, this diligence, while gratifying, also brought a slight sense of worry. If Shen Lixia was used to speaking her mind and entrusting her heart to others, then Qiao Yanshen was perhaps at the other extreme, always using other things to escape his own emotions. He had been much better lately, unlike at the beginning, when he wouldn't even speak of his injuries, enduring the overlapping pain of mind and body as he tried to break through.
She turned the pages one by one, the lamplight illuminating her face and revealing the tenderness in her eyes.
—It has indeed improved a lot. In addition to learning to express his own thoughts, he has also started to share many of his worries with her.
As if that was enough, Qiao Yanshen gave a brief summary at the end:
"Thinking about it this way, I realize I'm not alone in bearing this burden. Everyone I've met along the way, whether it's my junior sister, other disciples, or even you, Master, has been sincere to me."
It's always difficult to open up to yourself. She used to be afraid of being understood, because understanding means having your wounds seen, and wounds mean vulnerability.
But no one ever had such thoughts about her; they would only hug her, pray that she would no longer feel the lingering pain, and hope that one day these scars could be erased.
On the last page, there was only one sentence with a slightly quirky style:
"Please go outside the hall and take a look."
Yan Xueya raised an eyebrow slightly, folded the paper, and then got up and walked out the door. The night at Frostblade Peak was exceptionally cold, and even the colors of the blooming plum blossoms seemed to carry a touch of chill.
In the past, she could see the ever-changing, emerald-green glow of the sky over the snow-covered plains, which might turn into violet in the blink of an eye, and then spread out in a dazzling warm light. But after arriving in the Central Plains, she had not seen it for a very, very long time, and her childhood life with the cavalry could never be repeated.
The snow was trampled underfoot, the sound soft and subtle. Yan Xueya looked up and saw something solid ahead. She quickened her pace and, after a brief silence, a smile curled at the corners of her lips.
Frostblade Peak is bitterly cold, and the snow never melts. So Qiao Yanshen built something strange for her by a plum tree in front of the palace gate. Three snowballs were stacked on top of each other, with two branches at different heights, resembling a person's outstretched arms.
The first snowball had two stones embedded in it, and a circle of dots formed by poking them out with a finger, as if it were smiling. On this strange-looking "person's" head, there was also a bright red feather.
—It must have been casually plucked from Shen Lixia's wing.
Yan Xueya stared at it, then suddenly pulled out a soft blue silk scarf and carefully tied it around the snowman's body.
After tying the knot, she carefully examined the snowman, walked around it halfway, and nodded in satisfaction.
Yes, that's good, very suitable.
-----------------------
Author's Note: The title and chapter introduction are inspired by a song I really like, "Snowman".
The three of them were like this to each other... "You are my home, and I want you to know that I will never leave."
The next chapter is about the grand competition. I'm so sorry about the recent terrible pacing... I'm mortified T_T
For the Master, it was actually a kind of compensation for what was lost and then regained. I feel like I might not be able to finish writing about this part before Taihui's part ends here. To put it simply, it's because she lost a student that she understood a lot, started to change, and poured her care into her senior and junior sisters... She used to be a rather ungentle person, and her relationship with the former senior sister was quite chaotic.
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