Ask your conscience
Under Yunxiu's straightforward gaze, Yan Xiu dodged for the first time in his life.
His eyes fell on Yunxiu, on the morning glow in the sky, and on the banyan tree beside Yunxiu. After a long time, he looked back into Yunxiu's eyes calmly.
"What do you mean? I don't understand."
The voice in Yunxiu's ears disappeared. She couldn't find any concrete evidence from Yan Xiu, and she suspected that she was hallucinating due to mental fatigue.
Yan Xiu's knuckles clicked softly as he gripped the sword, and his Adam's apple rolled like he'd swallowed a whole, shelled walnut with difficulty. He turned his head, and his handsome, but usually expressionless face now perfectly embodied the word "innocent." His dark gray eyes were calm, even holding a hint of just the right amount of doubt.
"I didn't say anything."
"..." Yunxiu almost choked. She quickly changed her expression:
"Well, maybe I'm hallucinating because I fainted from hunger..."
"Brother, didn't you agree to teach me the second chapter of swordsmanship today? Master said he would check in three days. If I don't do well again, he will spank my palm."
Yan Xiu's gaze paused for a moment, almost imperceptibly, at the "hit the palm" she emphasized. He averted his gaze, gazing at the bamboo poles in the corner of the courtyard. His voice remained steady, unperturbed, "Remember. Take the sword."
Yunxiu quickly ran into the house and took out her sword - an ordinary iron sword with a small flower crookedly engraved on the scabbard.
When he came back, Yan Xiu had already entered the demonstration mode.
"Chapter Two, 'Guarding the Heart'." He began his explanation in a flat voice, "Focus on intention, not strength. Let the Qi flow through the sword, and let the mind precede the spirit. Guard your body's internal circulation, like a rock stabilizing the sea."
The sword's momentum was steady and heavy, indeed like a big rock.
Yunxiu followed suit and swung his sword. But in his heart he was thinking:
A rock to calm the sea? She felt like a person paddling in a bathtub in a storm...
Well, I've been distracted again. Yunxiu quickly looked at Yan Xiu's expression, but found that he didn't notice her absent-mindedness at all.
In the past, although the eldest brother had a cold face, he was extremely meticulous in teaching swordsmanship. If her wrist was slightly crooked, he could accurately straighten it with his scabbard.
But today, this "Coach Yan" was completely different. He stood a few steps away, his eyes sharp as a carving knife, scanning her from head to toe over and over again, his lips tightly pursed, not uttering a single word of correction!
Yunxiu's strength was momentarily lost, and her blocking movement resembled a drunkard swinging a sledgehammer—heavy and crooked. She was startled, expecting the venomous Yan Xiu to scold her, as he had in the past, for having "weak wrists and a weak lower body."
Yunxiu closed his eyes and stood up straight, waiting to be scolded, but Yanxiu didn't react at all.
Yunxiu: “…”
Wow, you finally have a conscience?
She took a deep breath and swung her sword again, trying to gather the legendary "Rock". The sword's tip drew a half arc -
"clang!"
An extremely slight crisp sound, like a fingernail tapping on an empty clay pot, exploded in her mind!
At the same time, an icy, invisible force with a clear intention of "get away" slapped her chest like a huge, invisible, furry bear paw.
Yunxiu was hit by this "bear paw" and staggered back several steps, almost falling to the ground.
She clutched her aching chest and almost cursed angrily, "What hit me just now?!"
Yan Xiu didn't move at all, not even the hem of his clothes fluttered. His eyes were calm and even contained a hint of condemnation of "uselessness":
"If the mind is not focused, the intention is not concentrated, the Qi will be scattered, causing the Yuan Qi of heaven and earth to backfire. The most important thing in guarding the heart is to keep the mind focused. Concentrate your mind and try again."
Yunxiu almost couldn't catch her breath. She rubbed her chest and started again.
This time, she learned her lesson and swung the sword carefully.
Just as she was trying to stabilize the crumbling "rock"——
"Oh...I don't know either. What should I do?"
The disjointed and illogical fragments of his thoughts, coupled with the anxiety in his tone, made Yunxiu stunned.
Yan Xiu still maintained that flawless sword-holding posture, his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes filled with stern dissatisfaction with her "distracted again", frank enough to look in the mirror:
"My heart is in turmoil again. Yunxiu, if you don't feel like practicing sword today, then go back."
Yunxiu's eyes darkened, and he took a small, seemingly clumsy step forward, but his wrist turned extremely deftly—
"Shocking Bird"!
The sword flashed, and it pierced Yan Xiu's side with a cunning thrust! This move worked every time. Although it had never succeeded, it always earned her a helpless look and a "nonsense" from the eldest brother, or a "punishment" of the sword's spine tapping the back of her hand.
This time, what she is betting on is this tacit understanding of "nonsense"!
The tip of the sword almost touched the corner of Yan Xiu's clothes——
"Buzz—bang!"
An invisible force that was more terrifying and colder than the "bear paw" just now suddenly bounced out with Yan Xiu as the center.
Yunxiu's sword flew out of her hand with a clang, and she cried out "ouch" as the force of the sword landed on the grass a few steps away, sending her rolling half a circle and getting covered in grass debris. It didn't hurt much, but she was a little dazed.
A series of terrified and incoherent voices rushed into Yunxiu's mind like a flood.
"She should really be locked up."
Yunxiu was lying on the grass, his face covered with grass debris, staring blankly at Yan Xiu who was still standing there, with not even a hair messed up.
Yan Xiu slowly lowered his head and looked at Yun Xiu, who was lying on the grass, looking a little dazed like a little turtle with its shell flipped over.
The hand gripping the hilt of the sword, his knuckles white with exertion, trembled slightly. On that face of a thousand years of ice, the muscles seemed to twitch ever so slightly, so fast it seemed like an illusion. Then, in a tone that he struggled to maintain, he spoke coldly, each word measured:
"Your sword moves are frivolous, and your intentions are not right. Today, we will stop here."
After saying this, he turned around abruptly and walked quickly towards his bamboo house with a stiffness that was almost like fleeing in panic.
"Bang!"
The bamboo door closed quickly and loudly, as if a ghost was chasing it.
The whole yard became quiet in an instant.
Yunxiu lay on the grass, looking at the blue sky, feeling the softness of the grass under his butt, and the taste of the little bit of grass that he accidentally bit into his mouth.
She slowly sat up, brushed off the grass debris on her body, and wiped the corners of her mouth.
She looked at the tightly closed bamboo door, then looked towards her master's courtyard on the top of the mountain.
"Bad intentions?" she repeated in a low voice.
She was finally sure it wasn't an illusion.
Those chaotic sounds...are not illusions.
"Tsk." Yunxiu smacked his lips. Instead of feeling depressed, he felt a little excited.
"Could it be that I have awakened some special ability?"
She imitated Yan Xiu's cold tone and picked up her little flower sword.
She clutched her sword, her eyes darting around as a plan formed in her mind. Tiptoeing like a fox about to steal a chicken, she slipped back outside Yan Xiu's gate. This time, she learned her lesson, cautiously poking her head in a tiny bit, peering inside with a sly look.
The courtyard was silent, with only the rustling of bamboo leaves in the wind. The doors and windows of the eldest brother's bamboo house were tightly closed, like an airtight fortress.
"Senior Brother!" Yunxiu shouted again.
There was no movement inside.
"I didn't sleep well last night." So she changed the subject, "I had a nightmare. Brother, can you help me calm down?"
But she knew Yan Xiu wouldn't agree. This cold-hearted senior brother treated everyone like he was collecting a debt, and Yun Xiu had never seen him smile at anyone.
Yunxiu said this just as a humble way of saying, "I want to hear what that sound is all about."
Yan Xiu couldn't possibly help her. He would only sternly scold her for never concentrating on her homework, which was why she had nightmares at night. But she had to find a way, first...
Yunxiu's face was filled with anticipation, and he was already planning to go find his senior sister later. But the door in front of him suddenly opened.
"Come in."
Yunxiu followed Yan Xiu into the inner room as if sleepwalking.
The interior furnishings were extremely simple: a bare wooden desk, a screen sparsely embroidered with a few stitches depicting green mountains and floating clouds, and a guest chair that was harder than the owner's heart.
Yunxiu felt a little regretful. She and her senior brother had hardly ever been alone together, and the few times they had been together, they didn't have any good memories.
Yan Xiu was a cold, aloof demon who spoke few words. Whether he was talking to his master or his fellow disciples, he could easily choke them to death over a cup of tea. Even Wu Yi, the most talkative, became speechless when he saw Yan Xiu.
She hadn't thought Yan Xiu would actually agree. This was only the first reason. Before she could even think of the second reason, Yan Xiu had already opened the door. Asking Yun Xiu to be alone with Yan Xiu for more than half an hour was simply shortening her lifespan.
I didn't sleep well tonight, and now I'm going to have nightmares all night long.
"Come back to your senses."
Yunxiu was startled to realize that he had been sitting on the guest couch, staring at Yan Xiu for a long time. Yan Xiu looked at him calmly, as if he was quite dissatisfied with his behavior of being distracted even when he needed help.
"I'm sorry, Senior Brother. I really didn't sleep well last night... I'll concentrate right away..."
Yunxiu mumbled an apology. She knew what Yan Xiu was going to scold her about, so she just let it all out.
"Don't force it. If you feel uncomfortable again in the future, you can always come to me."
"ah?"
Yunxiu suspected that he was hallucinating again.
"I'm telling you, if you still can't sleep well or feel uncomfortable somewhere, come to me... or go find Yingtang or Master. Don't force yourself."
Yunxiu was now certain that he was hallucinating.
There was no way Yan Xiu was taking her pulse while talking about this. Not only was he not mean-spirited, he was actually quite considerate.
She must have been psychologically traumatized by Yan Xiu's scolding yesterday. She thought about it during the day and dreamed about it at night. She was unconscious and had hallucinations.
"Now let you bleed a little..."
Yunxiu:?
Although she wasn't particularly skilled, she'd only seen this bloodletting treatment in a thousand-year-old witchcraft book! And the mortality rate was a staggering 30%! Could this man be the witch doctor wearing the crow mask from a thousand years ago?!
She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but Yan Xiu's wrist was tightly gripped, preventing her from moving at all. Yan Xiu's right hand gently hooked, and Yun Xiu felt a sharp pain in her hand. A streak of blood snaked out from her fingertips, flashing brightly against the light.
Yan Xiu concentrated his attention, gently clenched his right hand, and the blood thread seemed to come to life and was summoned by him, going straight into the palm of his palm.
In an instant, something seemed to merge, expand, and explode within Yan Xiu's body. Their clothes and hair rustled violently.
Yunxiu didn't know whether to be shocked that this wasn't a dream, or to wonder what kind of blood test this was. While she was still dazed, Yan Xiu calmly finished the procedure:
"It's okay, just get some rest. You don't have to practice for a few days, let Wu Yi take you out to play."
Before Yunxiu could question her senior brother's overly considerate words, a vague voice appeared in her ears:
"Nothing unusual. It was a success."
What was so successful? Yunxiu looked around in surprise, but she and Yan Xiu were the only ones in the room.
She stood up hesitantly, but for some reason, her heart felt heavier.
That wasn't what she wanted. Born and raised like a little sparrow, Yunxiu had been "respected by her master, loved by her brothers and sisters" in the short few years she had been in human form. Her cultivation had been smooth and she hadn't encountered any setbacks. It could be said that she was born with a worry-free holy body.
Yunxiu had never experienced what it meant to be "worried".
So much so that she instinctively thought it was some kind of body omen. The crying in her dream, the heartache that felt like it was about to burst this morning, combined with Yan Xiu's unusual behavior today, Yun Xiu blinked, and suddenly deliberately frowned:
"Brother... am I suffering from some terminal illness?"
Can't eat cakes anymore? Can't go out and play in the human world anymore? Will it hurt?
It was not what she wanted, but her eyes suddenly felt sore, and Yunxiu felt sad from nowhere.
Yan Xiu hesitated to speak. His usually immovable eyebrows seemed to be about to frown, or raise, twitching as if he were doing exercises.
"It's okay, Senior Brother, just tell me directly so I can tell Senior Sister that she can only make mountain flower cake for me a few more times..."
"nonsense!"
Yan Xiu frowned and spoke in a harsher tone, which frightened Yun Xiu into falling silent.
Yunxiu was embarrassed, still a little depressed: "Okay, I shouldn't have said that..."
"You're fine, you just didn't get enough rest last night, so you're not feeling well."
Yan Xiu interrupted her, turned his back, and seemed to be looking at the calligraphy and paintings on the north wall.
Yunxiu followed suit. It was Master's calligraphy, as uninhibited and unrestrained as ever, and it was impossible to discern what it was. But the wooden table below was empty, and Yunxiu had a feeling that something should be placed there.
"If you had focused more on practicing and spent less time wandering around the mountains, your mental strength wouldn't have been so depleted."
I knew this would happen. Now I feel better, Yunxiu thought.
"Deal with the back mountain..."
That vague voice appeared again.
“It’s too late…”
Yunxiu frowned this time, carefully identifying the sound, following the intermittent and unclear voice. She walked around the room and looked back at her senior brother Yan Xiu.
The source of the sound is... Yan Xiu?
As she approached step by step, it seemed as if something was pulling at her heart, causing it to ache.
"sorry."
She heard such a clear sound and looked up at Yan Xiu in surprise.
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