Chapter 81 Unity of Knowledge and Action: My Struggle with Myself
Lin Feiran's sword has been drawn countless times.
In the pine forest where swordsmen practice, in the sect competition where the stakes are low, and in every place of hardship at the foot of the mountain.
Lin Feiran's sword had been swung countless times.
The surging winds in the mountains, the silent swords that strike, and the heads of every evil beast.
The Dao values life and offers boundless salvation to all beings.
She always believed that all lives are equal, with no distinction of importance. People may be strong or weak, but one should not rely on strength to act. Saving others is always more in accordance with the Way than killing.
Even though she later wanted to become a chivalrous person, she still believed in this. A chivalrous person helps those in distress and rescues them from fire and water; it is still about saving people.
This was her belief, and she always held it firmly.
Therefore, when the Spring City riots broke out and people were using the method of creating flowers from flesh and blood to commit perverse acts, although she was angry, she did not draw her sword. She simply walked calmly to each flower farmer and completed the task.
She wanted everyone to see that one could obtain the flower token without killing, and that one could still find another path without going against one's conscience.
Leading by example and setting things right, she has always adhered to this principle, whether in Daohe Palace or in Chuncheng at this moment.
Lin Feiran never kills anyone, Lin Feiran only walks the path of suffering, and Lin Feiran is actually weak. All the disciples of Daohe Palace who know Lin Feiran think this way.
Who never kills? If good people don't kill, does that mean evil people don't kill either?
What is the true value of life? Isn't this just foolish kindness?
The Thousand-Foot Wall in the Sword Realm of Daohe Palace was moved from Xiaofeng Mountain in the Eastern Continent by our grandmaster. It is a thousand feet high and a hundred feet wide, with countless sword energies and numerous famous works on it, but only the character "kill" occupies half of the wall.
That was the first character that my grandmaster carved after facing the wall and standing in silence for several days. He only carved this one character.
The character "杀" (kill) above is like a straight knife when horizontal and a hanging sword when vertical. When they intersect, they tremble like a battle flag. When they hook back, they resemble a longbow. Between the strokes, the sound of metal weapons echoes. In just a few words, the turmoil in the heart is fully expressed, and the sorrow is everywhere in the strokes of the brush.
Unlike Wei Chang, who fully agreed, Lin Feiran was puzzled by the word "kill" at that time. She didn't understand why her master would pick out "kill" from hundreds of words.
Is there really no other way but to kill?
If that's the case, then why is there a mournful cry amidst this solemnity and turmoil?
A thunderclap rolled across the sky, exploding like a tidal wave, but only its sound was heard, not its light or shadow. Apart from a few wisps of dampness gradually rising, there was nothing else.
In the straight alley, the ever-burning lamps quietly burned under the eaves, their brilliance shining brightly. They cast the huge, twisted, and menacing shadows of every sword, knife, and hand raised inside the houses onto the bluestone ground of the alley, like a centipede lurking in the alley.
Lin Feiran turned his head and saw several cultivators facing each other in the courtyard, their faces contorted with rage. They had been waiting for the flower farmer for four whole hours, and now they wanted to fight over who would get the flower.
Another clap of thunder rolled by, but still no rain fell. The bright moon in the sky flickered for a moment, bringing a brief period of darkness and obscurity. The group suddenly stopped moving, their vision blurred.
A moment later, the light reappeared, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw a person leaping onto the blades of several people. The hem of her clothes fluttered like the wings of a black crow, and her black hair swirled and brushed against her clear eyebrows and eyes. There was no murderous intent, only a few undisguised confusion and pity.
Since the competition was for the Flower Order, it wouldn't be worthwhile to open the Flower Compendium. Therefore, the group only fought with their swords. Due to the restrictions of the rules, the competition was only limited to a brief exchange. But at this moment, the hidden spirit of the cultivators returned, and they no longer acted like vicious dogs snatching food.
They looked at the person on the sword, mistakenly thinking she was also trying to snatch the flower token, their expressions changed drastically, and they immediately raised their swords, trying to pin her down and sever her arms.
The sword's edge pressed down, its cold light flashing like streaks of nebula, but how could such a glimmer withstand the blazing sun?
Lin Feiran spun around and escaped with an extremely peculiar movement technique, standing in front of the flower farmer. He then pushed the farmer away, paused slightly, and drew his longsword again. With a single step and a series of clanging sounds, he faced several cold swords and held his own against them.
Wei Changzai stood quietly in front of the door, showing no intention of making a move. His gaze fell on Lin Feiran's empty eyes, and a dense, bitter feeling arose inexplicably.
That's the kind of person she is. The more confused she is, the faster her sword moves. When she's not focused on anything, it's not that she controls the sword, but that the sword controls her.
Throughout his life, Lin Feiran was the person he had met who respected life the most. Beneath his taciturn exterior was an extremely soft and tolerant heart, without any pretense, only sincerity.
But conversely, she was also the most self-bound and self-reflective person he had ever met.
Everyone has anger, everyone loses their temper, but she chose to do the opposite, suppressing her anger and opening her calm eyes to look at this ever-changing world.
She once said that whatever is too easy to obtain, one will inevitably take it for granted.
Just like a cultivator, without the worry of having enough to eat, millet and wheat are like roadside weeds; without the worry of living to a hundred, the myriad flavors of life are like the ribs of a vegetarian chicken; and with the power to kill at will, life becomes as cheap as a feather.
She never kills anyone, but she fears that if she kills too many, she will one day become a "spiritual monk" who regards life as worthless, rather than a "human being".
Others cultivate Taoism to transcend the mundane, but she cultivates Taoism to better become a "human being," to become the person she idealizes.
She was indeed somewhat naive in this respect, but Lin Feiran never hid it and was not ashamed of it.
Only by aligning knowledge with action can one attain purity.
She truly did this; she cherished food, so she ate every bite with care; she cared for her family and friends, so she treated everyone with sincerity; she revered life, so she never killed any living being.
Wei Chang saw in her a unique and stubborn "truth" and "purity," and it was this unity of heart that made her the Lin Feiran she is today.
But at this moment, Lin Feiran was moved and confused. Her knowledge and actions contradicted each other, so the seemingly swift sword had actually slowed down.
As the group struggled, a cultivator's eyes flashed with a sharp light. Taking advantage of the opportunity to escape and change his sword, he leaped to another spot in the courtyard and pierced the flower farmer's throat with his sword, killing him instantly. He then casually cut open the farmer's chest and abdomen, and a golden peony immediately sprouted from the flesh, swaying and shining.
No matter how fast Lin Feiran turned around, she couldn't outrun the two swords that stabbed and slashed. By the time she arrived, the blood splattered from the swords onto her face. A few warm drops rolled down her cheeks, and the person who had been smiling earlier was now lying in a pool of blood.
But it has yet to fall.
Under the bright moon, the dampness had not yet subsided, but the thunder had ceased, and it was unknown whether it was raining outside. However, no one cared at the moment; they all looked at Lin Feiran with either fear or resentment.
She stood under the moon, dressed in black. The night breeze swayed her clothes, and her raised arm from right to left covered the lower half of her face, revealing only her clear eyes. The sword blade, held high, reflected the moonlight, casting a bright streak that slanted towards her eyebrows and eyes, revealing a hint of wildness and coldness that sent chills down one's spine.
The person at your feet suddenly said, "Fellow Daoist, please think twice. If you kill me, you will break the rules and be punished by the sacrificial officials and expelled from the Flying Flower Society!"
Lin Feiran slowly closed his eyes and exhaled a thin breath. The breath condensed into a faint frost, which was chillingly cold.
"And who will punish the flower grower for his death?"
She spoke, and her voice carried a chilling quality.
The others looked at her with absurdity in their eyes: "They are fake people who can come back to life!"
Lin Feiran looked up at the full moon, and the long sword in his hand fell, grazing the man's neck amidst his altered shouts, and was buried deep in the earth.
"Even if they can be resurrected, the fear before death is real, just like the horror you felt just now. They have to go through it again and again, the pain of having their chest and abdomen cut open will only be etched into their bones each time."
I wanted to kill you, but I couldn't. It had nothing to do with the commandments; it was just that I was fighting with myself again.
She used to think that killing and saving were always contradictory and difficult to do, but now, she seems to be wavering.
After entering the city, she thought of Gu Buhui for the second time, of his infamy after his rise and fall, of the curtain he wore, and of the words he had spoken.
In a daze, another person leaped up, plucked the delicate peony from the flower farmer's corpse, and tried to climb over the nearest wall to leave.
The cultivator at Lin Feiran's feet suddenly hugged her leg tightly, and then a strange sense of camaraderie arose within him. He said as if facing death, "Brother Zhao, you take the flower and go first. I'll stop her!"
Lin Feiran was stopped, but there was a cultivator quietly watching by the door. The crowd did not know his purpose and assumed that he was a fisherman in the fight between the snipe and the clam. However, even though the flower token was taken away, he remained unmoved.
It can be released!
That person was overjoyed!
At the critical moment, Lin Feiran looked up at the seemingly unchanging bright moon and sighed.
"The moon is so round tonight."
The next moment, the cultivator who had crossed the wall gradually changed his expression, his secret joy turning into fear. In just a flash of light, before he could even feel the pain, the arm holding the flower was smoothly dislocated and severed, the cut clean. Before the blood gushed out, the wound was covered with a thin layer of ice, stopping the bleeding.
It was the monk standing quietly by the door.
The cultivator let out a few quick sounds and fell from the wall. His red eyes were fixed on the boy wiping his sword under the moon. He calmly sheathed his sword, landed on the ground, picked up the peony from his severed arm, looked at it for a moment, and then handed the flower to the female cultivator. His cold face seemed to show a sense of nostalgia.
They're in cahoots!
The others were all horrified. A person who could wield such a sword that severed an arm was no ordinary person!
Everyone looked over and saw that the female cultivator took the flower, but did not put it into the chart. Instead, she walked to the flower farmer's corpse, stuck the flower branch into the soil, walked to the corridor, took the ever-burning lamp, and burned it with a small flame. The petals turned yellow and curled up, and the flame rose.
She simply watched quietly as the flames licked every delicate leaf and every stamen, releasing a rich and deep fragrance that lingered for a few breaths before finally turning into a handful of scorched earth.
Looking at the scorched earth, Lin Feiran suddenly said, "I didn't expect you to still remember."
Wei Chang was silent for a moment before replying, "I didn't expect you to say it at this time."
Few people from Daohe Palace would accompany her down the mountain to exorcise demons. Most of the time, Wei Chang would go with her. When they were bored, the two of them would agree on a secret code: if they needed help, they would say "full moon".
In fact, the two rarely needed help, so this agreement to relieve boredom was not often used. Now that she mentioned it, it was as if she had completely exposed her identity.
However, he didn't seem very surprised.
But it doesn't matter anyway.
Lin Feiran had no time for sentimentality; her mind was solely focused on the struggle within herself.
She stood up, and the thunder that had been silent for so long began to rumble again, almost imperceptibly. A night wind suddenly rose, and the embers of the flower, still glowing with sparks, swirled and flew up, brushing past her eyebrows and eyes.
The pool of blood at her feet gradually receded, and the flower farmer's chest and abdomen began to heal. Lin Feiran turned and left, her clothes billowing in the wind.
She walked to the horrified cultivator beside her. Her sword was still stuck in his clothes, embedded in the ground, leaving him nowhere to escape. The cultivators who had been eyeing them menacingly just moments before had already scattered and fled when Wei Changzai cut off his arm.
She pulled out a spirit rope and bound him tightly, saying slowly, "Normally, I would hand you over to the four priests and let them deal with you, but they have no authority to do so now, and besides, I don't want to do that."
"You stay here for now. We'll decide what to do with you after we've settled our differences. I'll come back to you then."
She grabbed the monk by the back of the neck, threw him onto the counter, and then took out a peach blossom token, using flowers as talismans to trap him inside.
The cultivator was taken aback, then flew into a rage, saying, "What right do you have to confine me here! These flower farmers are not dead at all... Look, he's standing up, he's resurrected! You have no right to do this!"
Lin Feiran paused, glancing at him sideways. She said, "Why? Because I'm stronger than you, because you never beat me. The strong have the right, isn't that what you think? Isn't that what you did to them? Now that it's the other way around, you don't agree with it anymore. What kind of logic is that?"
After asking her question, she didn't give him time to answer before she disappeared in front of the counter.
"Come back! What right do you have to prevent me from participating in the Flying Flowers Festival? What right do you have to deprive me of this opportunity!"
His roar had been forgotten. Lin Feiran simply walked out, observing everything in sight along the way.
She saw the flower grower slowly stand up, unharmed; she saw the monks in the streets and alleys who passed by her with eyes full of joy; she saw the crowd standing by the roadside, not daring to kill and take the flowers, but with eyes full of envy; she saw the list of names that flipped up again.
She quickened her pace, going against the flow of the crowd. The damp wind blew across her face, touching her hair and making it slightly wet.
“That person, I recognize her! It’s Wenran!”
"Wenran?! She has Danruo and Mudan!"
"Stop her! Stop her now!"
"That's Wenran. Is she being stopped? Help her!"
Lin Feiran moved with incredible speed, almost unmatched. A group of people followed him, from the east alley to the west alley, and then from the south to the north. Everyone who saw him followed him, even though many of them didn't know why.
What is she doing?
Where is she going?
"What happened? Why are you running around like this?"
The crowd followed her all over the city, until they reached the central pagoda. Near the pagoda stood an old bell tower. She stopped at the foot of the bell tower and looked up.
On the clock tower, besides the ancient and heavy bronze bell and the crooked wooden mallet, there is also a magnificent figure.
Ru Xian was leaning against the clock tower, looking down at the bouquet in her hand with a bored expression. Suddenly, she saw a group of people running towards her. The leader was standing at the bottom of the tower, looking up at her.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, his eyes showing doubt.
The next moment, Lin Feiran leaped up the clock tower. When she stopped inside, her forehead was covered in sweat, her face was flushed, and she was still panting.
She glanced at Ru Xian, flipped over his raised leg, and landed inside the clock tower. Then, she raised one hand to cover his ear, raised the mallet with the other, and with a burst of strength from her waist and abdomen, struck it down.
In an instant, the sound of bells mingled with thunder, resounding throughout every corner of Kunming.
The Holy Spirits, who were still wandering in the city, stopped and looked up at the building, at the figure that was not tall but rather slender.
She didn't look downstairs, nor did she look at Ru Xian, who was standing there in a daze. Instead, she looked at the sky and the bright moon, and said loudly.
"I am Wen Ran, and tonight, I declare war on all cultivators in Spring City!"
The words mingled with the sound of bells, spreading throughout Kunming in a humming melody.
Before the cultivators reached the foot of the bell tower, they looked up and saw that the list of names in the sky was constantly being updated and changed because of the recent killing of the flower farmer. However, the top ten names remained unchanged, so it was easy to see the name at the bottom of the list.
Wenran.
So ordinary, so unknown, so anonymous, yet so audacious as to declare war on the cultivators in the city.
However, the crowd did not find it absurd or ridiculous. Instead, they felt a sense of unease and seriousness. They all knew that the cultivator who had broken through several levels in just four hours and risen from obscurity to tenth place was definitely not as unknown as she was.
For a moment, everyone who saw Lin Feiran turned their curious or scrutinizing gazes to the bell tower. She was dressed in an unremarkable black robe and was not outstanding. Perhaps with the slightest movement, she would melt into the purplish-black sky.
But that's just a possibility. In reality, anyone who gets to see her, even just once, can't take their eyes off her.
It was an extremely unique shade of black, like the unmoving shadows of trees before a mountain rain, or the reefs that stand resolutely amidst raging winds and waves. Upon closer inspection, it resembled layers of clouds gathering and overlapping before a rainy night, a vast expanse of black that did not feel imminent, but rather gently and silently covered everything, even extinguishing the platinum light beside her.
Aside from the large group of cultivators downstairs staring in disbelief, there were also many familiar gazes.
Standing beneath the bell tower, Wei Changzai's expression was aloof; Pei Yu stood atop the roof ridge, arms crossed, sneering; Shen Qi stood among the crowd, looking on with a smile; and the Grandmaster, far away on the other side of Spring City, was so tall that his smile was clearly visible.
He appeared at some unknown time, and did nothing about it; he simply watched her from afar, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration and satisfaction.
He met Lin Feiran's gaze, stretched out his hand from his sleeve, pointed to the sky, then smiled and continued towards the border of Spring City with several Holy Spirits, his actions seeming as if he were driving something away.
Lin Feiran was slightly taken aback, then looked up in the direction he had just pointed, her gaze shifting slightly.
Because this action was so extraordinary and incomprehensible, the monks below the bell tower only felt strange and surprised, and did not feel the slightest bit offended or displeased.
Suddenly, someone asked, "Wenran, why did you declare war? Have we provoked you?"
Someone chimed in, "Yes, what exactly are you trying to do? The sage has clearly forbidden internal strife; do you intend to disobey the order?"
"Who upset her to be so angry?"
"What are you pretending for? No matter how you calculate it, it's only a mere ten!"
Amidst the cacophony of words, speculations, and insults, Lin Feiran suddenly spoke up.
"Can I only be angry when I am provoked? Can I only be angry for myself? Tonight, I am for myself, but not only for myself. I will declare war on the flower growers in the city who have no voice!"
I will leave you with nothing to take.
An uproar arose immediately, and astonishment arose everywhere.
What's astonishing is that she uncovered everything in such a short time and was even willing to spread the secret method far and wide. What's surprising is how she plans to leave everyone with nothing to take.
The crowd's expressions varied, their eyes gleaming with different thoughts, and their minds began to race again. But she remained standing on the clock tower, quietly watching everyone.
Pei Yu scoffed from afar. Lin Feiran was always like this. She clearly understood human nature better than anyone else, yet she was always so naive. If this was the childlike innocence her master spoke of, she would rather not have it.
The path to becoming a strong person is not the one Lin Feiran followed. If the strong and the weak were truly treated equally, why would she bother to climb the ladder? Equal treatment for the strong is unfair to the strong.
So-called compassion and helping those in distress are nothing more than another privilege reserved for the strong!
She looked away, jumped off the roof, and left.
The area beneath the clock tower was bustling with activity, but Wei Changzai stood quietly among them, looking up. He saw that behind those angry eyes, she still chose to suppress everything as always, watching the changing world with only a pair of calm eyes.
But he knew she was just giving him another chance.
Beneath her unwavering figure lay a violently trembling heart, an unspeakable struggle, and beneath the calm surface, an unknown and shocking change was brewing.
Slowly, perhaps it will emerge from its cocoon; he thought, it should be congratulated.
He lowered his eyes, took out the messenger bird, and the creased paper suddenly overlapped, folding into a small mayfly butterfly, which fluttered towards her.
Now that she had revealed her identity, he could no longer remain by her side as a "stranger." Before leaving, he turned back to look at her again. Lin Feiran was standing on the clock tower, the night wind whistling.
[If needed, I will respond immediately. Also, be mindful of seeking out beautiful women.]
There was no signature, but she knew in her heart who this person was.
While the crowd was still making noise, Lin Feiran rang the bell again, and then disappeared into the night with Ru Xian.
"Where is she?! I was so intimidated by her that I couldn't find an opportunity to strike, and she escaped!"
"Since there's a way to break through, why not keep it to yourself and take first place first? Are there really good people out there?!"
"What a vicious scheme! She must have said that on purpose so that when the time comes, she'll give us a fake method, and no one will be able to break through the barrier, wasting our time. Then she can take the opportunity to seize first place!"
"Wenran has appeared, but where is Chenfeng?!"
Standing at the edge, Shen Qi withdrew his gaze, ignoring the cultivators' speculations, turned to look at the others, and said with a smile, "Senior Qin, let's go."
Senior Qin had never met Lin Feiran before, and upon seeing her just now, he was somewhat stunned. Only then did he stammer, "Where are you going?"
Shen Qi initially wanted to decline, but then he thought that this would give him a reason to see her again, so he nodded and said, "Of course, although Wen Ran doesn't seem to smile much, she is a very kind person. Someone like Senior Sister Pao Tang wouldn't refuse her!"
Halfway there, Qin Xuechang still had doubts on his face: "She's not as calm as she seems. If she's really angry, why doesn't she just do as she says and ban the flower-giving ceremony? Why does she have to wait until the night bell rings? What is she waiting for?"
Shen Qi smiled but remained silent, twirling the old pen in his hand. At this moment, his timidity had completely disappeared, and his demeanor was surprisingly calm and composed. This was the Shen Qi that Senior Qin and the others knew.
Her actions actually pointed them out to another path besides murder.
Senior Qin was still completely confused, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He simply nudged Chen Qi's shoulder quietly and whispered, "What do you mean?"
Shen Qi chuckled and leaned in to whisper, "Senior, she's giving us a chance. Think about it, killing a flower farmer only gets you one flower token. After that, you have to wait four hours, which is actually quite slow. If we follow her method, we can get more than one flower token in four hours. By then, the list will be full of those who have broken through, and no one will dare to raise their swords anymore."
"Will it work?" Senior Qin pondered for a moment. "The meaning is good, but you and I have read the classics and know that people's hearts are not what they used to be. Everyone has a flower-themed game, which is equivalent to no one having a flower-themed game at all..."
The implication is self-evident.
This method only works for those with passionate hearts; for those with cold hearts, it is merely an extra, insignificant path outside the path of killing.
Shen Wang looked up at the bright moon and sighed, "For her, isn't this also a path of insignificance? Even with immense strength, she still has to retreat again and again when faced with the cold poison of the human heart. I knew this would happen when I first met her, and now, she simply has nowhere left to retreat."
Without enduring the bitter cold, how can the plum blossoms exude their fragrant aroma?
But why do other beautiful flowers not need the tempering of ice and snow to bloom naturally? Is this an injustice? Does the winter plum ever cry out in silence?
How tragic and lamentable.
This Spring City is like a small world where human nature is revealed and chaos is about to erupt. Thus, goodness is not tolerated in the world and begins to struggle.
He could see through Lin Feiran's confusion and hesitation at a glance. He recalled that he was also unwilling to believe or break the illusion back then, because what was to be shattered was the "young self" that he had always believed in and cherished.
"Let's go, senior."
...
In the northern part of Kunming, where no one had yet arrived, a bright light streaked across the sky, the shadows of the summer lotus flowers dissipated, and two figures appeared.
As soon as they landed, Lin Feiran let go of her hand, and Ru Xian immediately turned to look at her: "Even if I am a demon, I still have two ears."
Lin Feiran's act of striking the bell was sudden. Although one of his ears was covered beforehand, it did not mean that he could "turn a deaf ear". His other ear was still numb from the deep sound of the bell.
Hearing him say that, Lin Feiran's gloom dissipated somewhat, and she said apologetically, "Next time I will definitely cover both of them."
Ru Xian's words were stuck in his throat. He raised an eyebrow and said meaningfully, "You really want to attack me?"
Lin Feiran then realized that his words were ambiguous and quickly said, "No, no, I was a little distracted just now and misspoke. I meant that if this happens again, I will definitely let you know in advance."
Ru Xian didn't pursue the matter further. He could naturally see that Lin Feiran was not in a stable state of mind at the moment. After laughing, he handed over the bouquet in his hand, his eyes slightly moving, indicating that she should accept it.
He didn't have a catalog of flowers, so although he could pick them, he couldn't collect them; therefore, he could only hold them in his hands.
Lin Feiran looked down and saw a variety of flowers, including spring apricot, golden and silver platform, summer lotus, gladiolus, hibiscus, laurel... The colors ranged from dark to light, and a beaded chain wrapped around the tender green stems under the flowers, making it almost a large bunch, which was presented to her in front of her.
Ru Xian was naturally beautiful, and everything around him was beautiful and gorgeous. Even this bouquet of flowers with different shapes and sizes that could not be contained was still decorated by him. In fact, he did it without much effort, just casually, but it was still pleasing to the eye.
"How is it?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
Lin Feiran: "...It looks great."
This was the first time Lin Feiran had ever received flowers like this, and she was a little awkward and at a loss. She stiffly changed the position of her raised hand several times, not knowing how to accept them properly.
After all, in her understanding, giving flowers inevitably carries a special meaning, but since Ru Xian only wanted to help her and had no other intentions, she wanted to accept it with a more respectful attitude.
Seeing this, Ru Xian found it amusing and raised her eyebrows, saying, "What, do you think my flower is too hot to handle? When you were holding that paper butterfly just now, why didn't you hesitate?"
Lin Feiran suddenly brought up the paper butterfly, saying, "Accepting it hastily would be a lack of respect for this act of assistance."
This answer was exactly what I expected, but Ru Xian still smiled and said, "It's just a few flowers."
Lin Feiran finally accepted the flower and respectfully performed a Taoist salute: "Whether it is a flower or grass, and for whom, Your Excellency is willing to lend me a helping hand, and I should be grateful for this kindness."
Ru Xian's expression shifted slightly, the smile in his eyes vanished, replaced by a focused look. He raised his hand, but just before touching Lin Feiran, he suddenly turned his hand down, landing on the delicate bouquet of flowers. He said in a cool voice, "Taking flowers is not difficult, but it is not easy either. I don't often help people."
Lin Feiran nodded: "I will not forget. After entering the Pilgrimage Valley, I will definitely do my best to help."
Ru Xue paused for a moment, then sighed slightly, saying only, "Put it in your 'Collection of Beauties' and see how many can make it onto the list."
Lin Feiran examined the bouquet of flowers in her arms for a few more moments before unfolding the chart and putting all the flowers back in their places. The chart, drawn with ink, suddenly became vibrant and beautiful.
The two looked up together, and among the top ten who had remained unchanged, "Wen Ran," ranked tenth, started to move, not backward, but forward.
Ninth, eighth, seventh... second, until this point, her name slowly stopped.
Not only them, but many people in Kunming looked up at the sky and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Even riding in a royal carriage couldn't make it this fast!"
Lin Feiran did not hear the exclamations of the crowd. She and Ru Xian remained calm, as this outcome was exactly what they expected.
When Lin Feiran broke through the barrier in Spring City, he obtained many flower tokens, and even collected ten kinds. He was only missing the Golden Silver Terrace and the Plum Blossom in the chart. Later, due to the Murong Qiudi incident, the search for flowers was temporarily put on hold. That's why he was only ranked tenth because of the lack of species. Now, if he obtains a Golden Silver Terrace and eleven out of the twelve flower tokens, his ranking will naturally not be low.
After looking at the list of names, Lin Feiran turned around and walked to the wooden railing. He took out his ink brush and wrote down the method to break through the barrier, word by word.
As she wrote, the eyebrows that had been raised when she received the flowers gradually lowered, and her expression returned to calm, devoid of any joy.
Ru Xian glanced at her sideways, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke: "Why did you suddenly ring the bell? What do you want to do?"
Lin Feiran paused slightly with her pen. Someone as intelligent as Xian would not fail to see the confusion and bewilderment in her heart, so she only paused for a moment before continuing to write.
"On my way to find you, I met Chenghua and Qi Chen. That's when I realized that the flower farmer was not ignorant or unaware. He just didn't show it on his face, but he was actually very clear-headed."
They experience death three times a day, watching helplessly as their intestines are ripped out, and then their flesh and blood nourish a rootless flower, which is then easily taken away… The people speak of the futility of life, but they have probably all forgotten that these flower growers are all the ordinary people who came to the city seeking the help of the 'immortal' in their past lives.”
When cultivators slay demons and fight, they inevitably teeter on the edge of life and death. But mortals are different. Without spiritual veins and bones to aid them, the greatest tribulations they suffer are death and illness.
But now, they have to endure such great suffering again and again in this small spring city, how cruel.
I thought that entering the Spring City and meeting the sage would be the beginning of a new life. I came full of hope, but instead stepped into a land of despair. My cries had nowhere to go. What torment this experience must have been for my body and mind.
“But there’s nothing I can do.” Lin Feiran’s pen gradually slowed down.
"Killing is forbidden within the city, not for the sake of the flower farmers, but for the sake of the cultivators. Therefore, the sacrificial officials cannot do anything about it. The flower farmers are filled with grief, but they have nowhere to speak and no way to express it. They can only let others kill them. The cultivators clearly know their identities, but for the sake of the Flower Order, they insist that they are just puppets and have no sense of pain."
“…I’m furious.” She turned to look at Ru Xian, a glint of light in her clear eyes. “But there’s nothing I can do. The knife is in their hands.”
"At first, I thought that as long as I seriously worked my way through the levels, someone would realize that killing was not feasible. Although it was naive, it was a path I chose from the bottom of my heart. As you can see, it didn't work."
I have always felt that killing is not salvation. The path to salvation should never be paved with corpses. Otherwise, I would be exchanging one person's death for another's life. Wouldn't that make a difference between life and death?
Like scattered snowflakes, a wrong path has taken hold in my heart.
This was the first time Lin Feiran had called him by his name, and under these circumstances, Ru Xian felt a mix of emotions.
After a moment of silence, he rubbed his fingertips without moving, and said only, "So, this is another path you've chosen for yourself?"
Lin Feiran looked at the ink-covered characters on his face and shook his head: "This is the final path. If this path is blocked, my heart will surely be moved... Perhaps, killing and salvation are inherently one."
Confused and fragile, how pitiful the human race is.
As Ru Xian looked at her, a strange thought suddenly popped into his mind. The next moment, as if out of his control, his hand touched the back of her neck, slowly caressing it and gradually getting closer. A slightly hoarse, yet satisfied sigh escaped from his throat.
Lin Feiran didn't understand. When she turned around, she saw him looking at her quietly and saying, "No matter which path you choose, I will leave a way out for you. Go ahead and do whatever you want."
Author's Note: Like Scattered Snowflakes: kiamo
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
