Chapter 81 Replaces "You're Back".
Jia Yue's gaze fell downwards, her lips drawing ever closer into her field of vision. Her Adam's apple bobbed, and she swallowed unconsciously.
Just as he was about to cover them, a silver shadow suddenly darted between them.
The silver snake that had been coiled in Jiang Yuhuo's hand had woken up at some point. Now it was wide open, breathing directly at him, its body standing straight up, its big black eyes wide open, standing guard in front of Jiang Yuhuo, blocking its master's offense.
The sudden appearance of the silver snake jolted Jia Yue back to reality, and he quickly stepped back. After calming down, even he was shocked by his own crazy thoughts. How could he have had such an idea about her?
But the silver snake kept breathing on it, as if trying to drive it away from Jiang Yuhuo.
Jia Yue was very displeased with its actions, and even more so, she was furious. Whose spirit beast was it anyway?
The silver snake's breath wasn't loud, but its noise was enough to wake the person by the pillar.
Jiang Yuhu frowned and quickly woke up. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jia Yue standing in front of her. Jia Yue's handsome face was tense and his expression was unfriendly.
"You're back."
She yawned slightly, her voice languid.
The familiarity in those words inexplicably triggered some associations in Jia Yue's mind. The intimacy in her words made it seem as if they had lived together for a long time, and she had been waiting for him to return. He awkwardly turned his face away, his tense body relaxing, but the tips of his ears flushed red.
Jiang Yuhuo only said it casually, and then was about to hand the little stream back to Jia Yue, not having seen the fleeting blush on Jia Yue's face.
But his hands were empty. Little Creek had somehow climbed onto the ground, its body upright, making sounds from its throat from time to time.
He was weak all day in her arms, but now he has strength?
Jiang Yuhuo scooped up Xiaoxi and stood up from the threshold.
She handed the stream to Jia Yue, and then honestly confessed to its owner that she had accidentally injured it that day, and that it might need him to check or treat it.
Jia Yue sneered upon hearing this, "It's all an act."
"Is he faking it?" Jiang Yuhuo was shocked.
Ignoring the silver snake's resistance, Jia Yue forcibly took it back into her hand, gripping its neck. Its long body drooped down, and it now looked genuinely weak.
He said calmly, “Its scales are only harder than your sword. Next time it sneaks past, you don’t need to avoid it; you can just cut it down.”
Jiang Yuhuo was completely relieved when she heard that Xiaoxi was alright. She had previously thought that her cultivation level was not high enough to see the internal injuries it had suffered, but Jia Yue would definitely be able to see them.
But how could a master make such demands of others on how to treat their spirit beast?
Jiang Yuhuo felt relieved, but she still found it hard to understand both the human and the snake.
If Xiaoxi hadn't pretended to be weak all day, she wouldn't have had to personally bring it back. She waited for a long time without encountering anyone, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep against a pillar. It was already very late, so she took her leave.
"etc."
Suddenly, Jia Yue called out to her. Jiang Yuhuo was puzzled, but his hand reached out to her, and the mermaid's soft, cool hand landed on her hair.
"It has some fallen leaves on it."
Jia Yue picked up a broken leaf and showed it to her, a smile appearing in her eyes.
"Is it a lot?" Jiang Yuhu patted his head, and sure enough, some more had fallen down, probably from when he was practicing swordsmanship in the forest.
"Hmm." He stared intently at the top of her head, as if it were truly covered in fallen leaves. "Shall I help you?"
Although her tone was questioning, Jia Yue's hand had already touched the top of her head again. Jiang Yuhuo didn't think much of it and nodded in agreement, though she was a little puzzled by his kindness today.
Seeing that she agreed, Jia Yue walked behind her.
She removed the hairpin, let her hair down, and her long, black hair cascaded down his palm. A rich fragrance wafted from her hair, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath; it was all her scent.
The movement above her head was light and slow, making her anxious. Jiang Yuhuo couldn't help but reach out to pat her head, trying to quickly clear away the annoying leaves. A soft, cool hand grabbed hers.
Above him was Jia Yue's clear, cool voice.
"Don't move, I'll take care of it."
He held her restless hand, his fingertips resting on her knuckles, and gently placed her hand back to his side. In that instant, his soft fingertips unintentionally brushed against her calloused palm.
Jiang Yuhuo awkwardly opened her palm, feeling a strange sensation in her hand.
After a long silence from above, Jiang Yuhuo couldn't help but ask.
"Are you done?"
He had already cleared away the few remaining leaves. The merman's hand ran through her cool hair, gently twirling them between her fingers. The moment she heard the question, her fingers clenched silently behind her back.
"alright."
He handed the hairpin back to her, not in front of her, but from behind, reaching out to present it to her, his arm half-encircling her.
Jiang Yuhuo didn't notice anything amiss with Jia Yue's actions. He took the hairpin and stepped back naturally, bowing and thanking her, "Thank you, Master Zongzi."
Then he said goodbye and left.
Only a solitary figure remained in front of the hall.
Jia Yue stood outside the hall, watching her departing figure until the person's back disappeared from sight before turning her gaze away.
She never looked back, her openness making him feel ashamed, forcing him to bury his dark thoughts deep within, afraid she would see them. But was she truly so open?
*
Jiang Yuhuo waited patiently in Xihua Hall until the next day, but instead of Wen Yizhan, he was greeted by another acquaintance he wasn't very familiar with.
Ji Jun once again came into her view, but this time he didn't suddenly appear halfway, but was led by someone to Jiang Yuhuo's place.
Jiang Yuhuo didn't know why she had come, but Ji Yun spoke first.
"My senior brother said that we should thank you."
"Thank me for what?"
Ji Jun ignored her question and continued talking to himself, "He can't enter the Heavenly Palace now, so he can only send me."
"You don't know, my senior brother is very happy. He originally thought he could only watch from afar at the foot of the mountain for the rest of his life, but he didn't expect that Lord Zongzi would still show him mercy. Although it's just a position as an envoy before the temple, it's giving him a path to the Heavenly Palace. My senior brother said it must be because you pleaded for him in front of Lord Zongzi..."
Jiang Yuhuo vaguely understood from Ji Yun's chaotic words that Jia Yue had placed Mo Sheng in a temple at the foot of the mountain and given him the position of a palace attendant. Mo Sheng thought it was because of her pleading that he had this effect, so he asked Ji Yun to come and thank her.
These days, she hasn't mentioned Mo Sheng to Jia Yue; he must have misunderstood. Although she doesn't know the real reason, Ji Yun's current state is very strange.
"Why has your Jianmu tree turned green? Have you been punished?"
The girl, who had been talking to herself, suddenly paused, a look of confusion flashing in her eyes, before continuing, "I didn't come to thank you empty-handed. I promised to give you that kind of jade, but I haven't contacted my family for a long time, and I don't want to look for them. This is our family's token."
As Ji Jun spoke, he took out a sandalwood token from his pocket, which was carved with intricate and elaborate patterns, and had the character "Ji" engraved in relief in the center.
"From now on, when you're down the mountain, take this token to the Ji family, and they'll provide whatever immortal materials you need."
Ji Yun placed the token in Jiang Yuhuo's hand, and a green light flashed, transferring the token's ownership to Jiang Yuhuo.
Jiang Yuhuo looked at the spiritual light and felt that something was wrong.
"Ji Jun, have you been stripped of your cultivation?"
Ji Yun kept her head down and didn't answer. After a long while, Jiang Yuhuo heard a very faint sob. Ji Yun raised her head and sniffed, "Even you know, even you can see it, but Senior Brother... Senior Brother didn't notice at all..."
She swallowed hard, and spoke with difficulty, "After my cultivation was reduced, I went down the mountain to find him. He had just moved into the temple, and he was so happy that I couldn't speak at all. But he didn't even notice that the Jianmu amulet on my chest had changed color..."
"He seems... to not care about me at all..."
"Is that how it is? Am I overthinking things? He just really wants to get back to where he was before, right?"
"...He's already so pitiful, how can I blame him?"
Jiang Yuhuo was unaware of the tension between the two and couldn't give her an answer. She only felt it was a pity that her cultivation had been destroyed. "Can you cultivate back those destroyed cultivation levels in the future?"
Ji Yun was stumped by the question.
Cultivation level...
She wasn't a genius; most of her cultivation came from the immortal materials provided by her family. After so many years of cultivation, she had barely reached the threshold of the Red Rank Jianmu. She couldn't imagine how long she would have to persist to return to the level she was at before she was crippled.
Is she still able to?
It seems she...lost something very important.
But she did it for Mo Sheng, the person she loved. He had saved her life and promised to be with her forever. Isn't it only natural to do what you love for someone you love?
She looked at Jiang Yuhuo with a blank expression. She had only met the woman once, and she had even treated her rudely before, but now she was worried about her. Meanwhile, Mo Sheng, whom she had loved for a long time, couldn't even tell that her cultivation had been destroyed...
Does he really have her in his heart?
Ji Jun was completely bewildered. She walked out of the hall in a daze, having no energy to deal with any more problems. But after only a few steps, she stumbled and almost tripped over the hem of her skirt. Fortunately, Jiang Yuhuo caught her in time.
Are you alright? Can you walk?
Ji Jun waved his hand, no longer looking at her, and left her bedchamber in a daze without saying a word.
Jiang Yuhuo clutched Ji Yun's token and watched her leave, unsure whether Mo Sheng's success was a good thing or a bad thing for her.
Soon, Jiang Yuhuo learned the real reason why Mo Sheng was able to enter the temple at the foot of the mountain and take on the position of the temple envoy.
*
On the third day, the long-silent Xihua Palace suddenly became noisy.
Jiang Yuhuo went outside the hall to look. A group of Tianque disciples in white robes walked in front, followed by a girl dressed differently. She looked around curiously, observing everything around her.
As soon as the girl stepped onto the steps in front of the hall, a blue-haired figure rushed out of the main hall and instantly appeared in front of her.
The girl was startled. After recognizing the person who ran over, she was excitedly about to tell him about her experiences on the way up the mountain when the little mermaid in front of her lowered his head and apologized to her.
"I'm sorry, I promised to celebrate your birthday with you... but I didn't."
The girl patted his shoulder, "It's okay, birthdays come every year, let's celebrate together next year."
The little mermaid nestled into her arms, sobbing, "Zhenzhen, waaaah...we'll never be apart again...I don't want to be apart from you..."
The girl was still confused and reached out to catch his tears. "Qian Deng, please stop doing this. If you keep doing this, I'll start crying too."
The two embraced tightly, sobbing and talking amongst themselves, which saddened the Tianque disciples who knew the inside story.
Until Gayue came out of the temple.
The girl quickly patted Qian Deng and whispered a reminder, "Lord Zongzi is here, let go quickly."
Qian Deng hugged him even tighter, "No, he's the worst one."
The girl said softly, "But it was Lord Zongzi who allowed me to come up the mountain."
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