Chapter 65 The Grudge of a Foolish Woman (Fifteen) We're all men, let's tear some clothes...
The thin sheet of paper fell like snowflakes. Song Qiling read the contents of the letter softly, her initial embarrassment gradually turning into composure.
"To my beloved Nie Lang, after our parting at Spring Breeze Pavilion yesterday, I returned with dew clinging to the hem of my skirt. The embroiderer asked me with a smile where I had been, and I replied that I had gone to pick lotus flowers. But then I remembered that I had not yet worn the gourd-shaped jade hairpin you gave me, which I regret. Written by Qing Yu, on the seventh day of the sixth month of the seventh year of Tianxi."
"My dear Nie Lang, this morning the caged parrot mimicked your words and even called out your name in public. I was so annoyed that I scolded it a few times, but the beast flapped its wings and squawked even more enthusiastically. With such intelligence, it seems it's about to become a spirit. On the thirteenth of June, at the fifteenth of the hour of midnight, we agreed to meet at the Qujiang Pool. I hope you will keep this promise."
"Nie Lang, it has been ten days since we last parted. Why have you not kept our appointment at Qujiang Pool?"
"My dear Nie, I have sent three letters, but they have all sunk without a trace. Could it be that the messengers encountered rain on their way and were delayed? I wish you peace."
“My love, yesterday I sent a groom to your residence to inquire, and he said that ‘my lord has returned home.’ If I could see even a single word of this, I would be willing to fast and recite scriptures for a hundred days, hoping for your well-being. Written by Qingyu, August 5th, the seventh year of Tianxi.”
Nie Lang, Nie Lang, Nie Lang, Nie Lang, Nie Lang...
As far as the eye can see, the entire text is about Nie Lang.
The first few letters still smelled of perfume and the handwriting was neat and elegant, but later they began to show wrinkles and the ink became messy and chaotic, as if the writer had lost patience.
Song Qiling frowned. The remaining half basket of letters was mostly in Luo Qingyu's own handwriting. Even after it was empty, there was still no reply from Uncle Nie. It was as if the two had never seen each other since their parting at Chunfeng Pavilion, and no one else knew what had happened in between.
"These two had a falling out?" she murmured to herself.
But now, Uncle Nie and Luo Qingyu are clearly very close, showing no signs of estrangement at all.
After neatly folding the letter and placing it in the chest, Song Qiling stood up, looked back at the large bedroom, and then walked quickly past the landscape screen in the center of the room towards the bed.
Seeing this, Gu Lianzhou hurriedly followed. When he got there, he saw his senior brother take off his black boots without any hesitation, step onto the bed, and stand on tiptoe to pull the mandarin duck sachet on the bed curtain.
Because the bed curtains were too high, Song Qiling had to exert a lot of effort to barely reach one of the sachets, and after struggling to pull it down, she turned around and moved a few steps into the bed before trying to pull up the other one.
Seeing this, Gu Lianzhou assumed that his senior brother had gone mad from the contents of the letter and said worriedly, "Be careful, don't fall." After saying that, he also took off his shoes and helped remove the rest of the sachets.
A moment later, the two sat cross-legged facing each other.
Song Qiling opened the sachet, took out the yellow talisman inside, and her eyes trembled slightly.
She unfolded the talisman and pushed it in front of Gu Lianzhou, pointing to the writing on it and saying, "Do you see any difference?"
After staring at the runes for a while, Gu Lianzhou looked up at his senior brother: "It is indeed Master's handwriting. Is this the Dao An Divine Talisman?"
Song Qiling smiled and nodded: "That's right, this is indeed the most common calming talisman. Since you are already familiar with your uncle's handwriting, you must know that this talisman was written with his left hand, which he usually uses, rather than his right hand."
She pondered, "It is now the spring of the eighteenth year of Tianxi, and the last time the letter was written was in the seventh year of Tianxi, which is eleven years ago. Based on this, after my master and Luo Qingyu parted ways, they returned to Tianji Sect, and it was during this period of disappearance that my right arm was severed."
"Master lost his right arm while in the sect?" Gu Lianzhou asked in surprise. "Master never mentioned this to me, only saying that he was seriously injured while exorcising demons, and that's why..."
"This is just my deduction." Song Qiling got out of bed, returned to the dressing table, took out the topmost letter 'Qingyu Qin Kai', and compared the two handwritings side by side.
“Indeed different.” Gu Lianzhou picked up the talisman and said thoughtfully, “It seems that after Master left Tianji Sect, he reunited with Chief Luo.”
Song Qiling nodded and smiled, "It's a good thing, lovers will eventually get married."
As soon as she finished speaking, the afterglow of the setting sun outside the window suddenly turned crimson. Under the bright red light and shadow, Song Qiling's smile became stiff. "Oh, Miss Luo is unhappy."
Suddenly, a strange rustling sound rang in her ears. She could no longer sit still. She grabbed her junior brother, who was sitting blankly beside her, and ran out the door.
"Senior brother, the shoes!" Gu Lianzhou stumbled as he was pulled, but he didn't forget to pick up the black boots on the ground, holding them protectively in his arms as he ran away in a disheveled state.
The two had barely stepped out the door when they felt dizzy and disoriented, as if they were being turned upside down. Song Qiling thought to herself, "This is bad," when she heard Luo Qingyu's cold laughter coming from above: "Where did this little thief come from, daring to steal?"
She clutched the gourd-shaped jade hairpin to her chest, her body uncontrollably floating upwards. She forced herself to say, "Senior Luo, it was my rudeness that led me to intrude into the illusory realm. I only wanted to bring my uncle out safely. As for this hairpin... please let me go first, and I will return it to you."
After he finished speaking, the surroundings fell into a deathly silence.
Faintly, a very soft cracking sound rang in my ears, almost negligible, followed by a series of tiny crackling sounds, like countless tiny pearls falling to the ground.
Song Qiling slowly opened her eyes, watching the scenery before her rapidly change from darkness to dazzling brightness.
Upon closer inspection, one can see countless sharp-edged fragments suspended in the air, some as large as door panels, others as small as wheat awns, refracting each other and layering upon each other, cutting space into millions of misaligned mazes.
The light was distorted, torn apart, and reassembled.
The mirrors split the human figure into countless fragments. Song Qiling raised her hand in a daze, and thousands of figures in the mirror moved at the same time, but disappeared in the next instant.
Instead, she saw a handsome man with a smile on his face.
"Master?" came Gu Lianzhou's helpless voice from behind.
Song Qiling turned around and saw her junior brother raise his hand to touch one of the broken mirror fragments. His fingertips traced the surface of the mirror, creating ripples that spread across Nie Fengxi's young face, instantly twisting his warm smile.
"Qingyu, I have relinquished the Xishan Golden Seal. From now on, we can be an ordinary couple. You can also be yourself and treat me with honesty."
Nie Fengxi's gentle voice echoed in the mirror room.
Song Qiling was slightly taken aback, then looked at Gu Lianzhou and explained, "These are fragments of Senior Luo's memories."
But why did they come here?
How could Luo Qingyu reveal such a secret memory to them?
"What is honesty?" Luo Qingyu's resentful voice rang in her ears. The scene in the mirror changed, but the bed curtains were swaying, and Nie Fengxi lay on the crimson mandarin duck quilt, his throat pressed against the sharp hairpin.
It was clearly a beautiful scene, yet a glaring crimson blood oozed from the throat of the martial uncle, sending chills down one's spine even through a mirror.
"When did Nie Lang find out I was a demon?" Luo Qingyu pinched her hairpin and lifted Nie Fengxi's chin, her words spitting out blood-stained words, "Did you intentionally approach me?"
The gourd-shaped jade hairpin parted her clothes and went down. Song Qiling hissed softly, hesitating whether to avoid her gaze, when she suddenly saw the mirror surface cracked in the middle with spiderweb-like marks.
This time, it truly is a case of "a broken mirror cannot be mended".
Looking around, one sees the scene in the mirror rapidly changing before shattering into dust. Amidst the shimmering light of the broken mirrors, a figure is clearly revealed.
Her gaze swept across the man's face, and Song Qiling raised an eyebrow slightly, exclaiming in surprise, "Chu Yue?"
The man sat cross-legged on the floor of the mirror room, his eyes closed. If Song Qiling hadn't seen him making hand seals, she would have thought he was taking a nap.
"How dare you call me by my name! How rude!" Although Chu Yue didn't open his eyes, he seemed to sense something and called out, "Qi Ling, come here."
Song Qiling gave a slight smirk and took a step back: "Elder Chu, what brings you here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Yue fell silent. After a short while, he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over her and Gu Lianzhou. His eyes lingered on the latter for a moment before he said coldly, "Who is he? Why did you bring him into the illusory realm?"
Song Qiling was speechless. It seemed that Chu Yue was unaware of the relationship between Gu Lianzhou and Uncle Nie. That was for the best, as it saved them a lot of trouble.
After calming himself down, just as he was about to reply, he caught a glimpse of his junior brother taking a step forward, cupping his fists at Chu Yue, and saying, "This junior greets Uncle Chu."
Song Qiling: "..."
What an idiot, why is he so eager to claim kinship with someone!
Upon hearing this, Chu Yue sneered, "Outer sect disciple, who is your senior uncle?"
He then scanned him up and down, letting out a soft snort from deep within his nostrils, "So you're Gu Lianzhou?"
Gu Lianzhou nodded in agreement: "Yes."
Chu Yue glanced at the blood-soaked bandage on Song Qiling's shoulder, then his gaze shifted to Song Qiling's tattered clothes, and he immediately understood the situation.
"Tearing your clothes at the drop of a hat, what kind of behavior is that?" His voice held a hint of annoyance. "Is this how I taught you?"
Song Qiling's heart skipped a beat, fearing that he would reveal her true gender in the next sentence. She quickly retorted, "Do you expect me to just watch my junior brother bleed to death? Besides, we're both men, what's wrong with tearing a piece of clothing..."
As he spoke, his voice trailed off, revealing his obvious guilt.
Chu Yue then fell silent, and after a moment said slowly, "This is the last time."
Song Qiling was annoyed by this behavior and said impatiently, "It's none of your business."
Seeing the master and disciple at odds, Gu Lianzhou didn't say anything more. He just looked at the scattered broken mirrors around him and kicked them lightly.
Suddenly, the wind howled in their ears, and the world seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand. Countless shards of mirror were swept up by the hurricane and rose into the air, like thousands of silver butterflies dancing, frantically converging towards the center of the mirror room. In an instant, they condensed into a mirror giant that was a hundred feet tall.
"You lot, prepare to die!" Luo Qingyu's roar seemed to be amplified a hundred times, the sharp buzzing making people's eardrums hurt.
Song Qiling instinctively covered her ears and backed away, only to see the mirror giant raise its enormous fist and slam it down on them.
Before the fist even arrived, the intense pressure had already caused the bricks and stones on the ground to crack. In a flash, she reached into her talisman bag, took out the Heart-Guarding Talisman, and crushed it. Instantly, a crimson-gold light shield bloomed, enveloping the three of them.
The moment the mirror demon struck the light shield, the runes burst forth with fine, fiery sparks, causing the light shield to crack and develop spiderweb-like fissures.
The residual force, not completely neutralized by the talisman, slammed into the ground, shattering the blue bricks beneath their feet and causing them to sink downwards.
The surging air currents carried countless fragments, tearing through her clothes and slicing across her skin, a trickle of blood slowly sliding down her neck.
Song Qiling wiped the blood from her neck and frowned: "Chu Yue, you should quickly remove the demon-locking talisman."
If Luo Qingyu continues to be locked up, she's afraid she'll lose all reason.
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