Chapter 81
Autumn seemed to have only passed through briefly before gentle snowflakes began to fall again.
The palaces were constantly bathed in the wind and snow. The inspecting disciples continued to move through the corridors as usual. New people had arrived at the new disciple courtyard, and there were some unfamiliar faces on the training ground. All the major peaks were covered in snow, a world of silver and white.
Yin Qiu placed the packed bundle on the table, then took another wooden box. She meticulously packed her things, including all the food she had obtained from Man Jiangxue, leaving nothing behind.
"Alright, alright, stop taking so much. How can I possibly finish all of this?" Fu Xiang stood by the door, watching Yin Qiu's busy figure, and couldn't help but go over and pull her aside.
“It’ll take us many days to travel. There are no restaurants in the mountains. If you don’t bring more, what will we eat?” Yin Qiu said.
“You don’t need that much,” Fu Xiang said, amused. “Are you feeding pigs?”
"Isn't that just feeding pigs?" Yin Qiu laughed. "You eat so much, you're almost as big as a pig's head."
Fu Xiang immediately glared at her, but seeing that Yin Qiu had quickly packed her luggage, she stopped arguing with her. The two of them carried their things to the mountain gate, where a carriage from Mingyue Tower had been waiting for a long time.
In the blink of an eye, several months had passed since the new disciple assembly ended. Fu Xiang, after listening to Yin Qiu's words, wrote a letter to Fu Cen on the day she became a disciple. She had been studying martial arts with Xie Yijun in the palace for several months, and Fu Cen finally sent someone to take her back.
During this time, Xie Yijun had already decided to send Fu Xiang down the mountain. Fortunately, although Fu Cen was a bit slow, he replied quite quickly. After reading the letter, Xie Yijun was somewhat relieved of her suspicions about Mingyue Tower, so she let Fu Xiang stay in the palace and did not actually send her away.
The snow fell heavily, and the cold wind stung people's cheeks. As soon as Fu Xiang and Yin Qiu appeared, several disciples of Mingyue Tower quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Young Master."
Upon hearing that address, Fu Xiang raised an eyebrow and smiled.
She hadn't gone back yet, and naturally hadn't truly become the young master, but hearing these disciples address her in that way, Fu Xiang understood that Fu Cen had ultimately decided to cultivate her.
Being able to stand out among the new disciples of Yunhua Palace and even become the disciple of the sect leader Xie Yijun is a great honor for Fu Cen. Now that the Fu family only has one daughter, Fu Xiang, who is so outstanding, he certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to ignore her. Even if he still hopes that his wife at home will have another son, Fu Cen will not let Fu Xiang stay in Yunhua Palace and let Xie Yijun benefit from her.
Several disciples quickly loaded the luggage onto the carriage. Fu Xiang turned to look at Yin Qiu, sighed softly, and said, "Although I always knew there would be a parting, it's still quite painful to see it happen now."
Yin Qiuli stood to one side, her height almost the same as Fu Xiang's. She reached out and grabbed a handful of air, touching a cold snowflake, and said, "What's there to be sad about? It's not like we'll never see each other again."
Fu Xiang raised her eyebrows, her eyes filled with laughter: "You're quite good at comforting people. You were crying and sobbing when you were packing your things, and your eyes are still red right now. And you're still talking about me."
Yin Qiu calmly said, "Who's crying? Don't talk nonsense, you just have bad eyesight."
Fu Xiang reached out and hugged her, her eyebrows dancing with excitement, and said, "Good Xiao Qiu, will you miss me after I leave?"
Yin Qiu glanced at her and said coldly, "If I don't want to, why should I want to think about you?"
"How heartless," Fu Xiang sighed, then released her and walked toward the carriage. "Alright, I'll be going now."
Yin Qiu watched her retreating figure and smiled, saying, "How stingy, leaving so easily."
Fu Xiang smiled silently, then turned around halfway through her walk and threw something at Yin Qiu.
"then!"
Yin Qiu held it in both hands, looked down and saw that it was a small and delicate purse with the character "秋" (Qiu) embroidered on it in a crooked way. When she opened it, she found the character "湘" (Xiang) inside.
“What an ugly purse,” Yin Qiu said from the bottom of her heart. “How could you even show it off?”
Fu Xiang choked and quickly scolded her, "Enough already! You accept a gift and then you're being picky. If you don't like it, give it back!"
She reached out to snatch it, but Yin Qiu immediately dodged backward, smiling and saying, "Can't I even say it's ugly?" Though she said that, she secretly loved it and asked, "Why did you think of giving me this?"
Fu Xiang crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at her: "Your birthday is in a couple of days, so here comes the birthday gift."
Yin Qiu pretended to be disgusted and put the bag into her clothes, saying, "I'm really sorry, I didn't prepare a parting gift for you."
"Who cares?" Fu Xiang pouted, leaped onto the carriage, and as soon as she stood up, something hit her on the back of the head.
She turned her head and saw a small purse lying at her feet, but compared to Yin Qiu's, it was like heaven and earth.
"You..." Fu Xiang picked up the purse, her face filled with shock, "You plagiarized me! You made a purse too!"
It's still so beautiful!
"That's why I said your wallet is ugly," Yin Qiu said. "Now do you admit it or not?"
Actually, she had discovered that Fu Xiang was secretly embroidering a purse a long time ago, and guessed that she was definitely going to give it to her, so she quickly embroidered one herself. However, she did not expect that Fu Xiang's needlework skills would be so bad.
"That's too much!" Fu Xiang complained, turning the purse inside out to examine it thoroughly. "You're so cunning! You deliberately embarrassed me. I really misjudged you!"
Yin Qiu readily agreed, "If you don't like it, come again."
Fu Xiang immediately laughed again, as if she had found some treasure: "Dream on!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the two of them fell silent as if by unspoken agreement, simply gazing at each other quietly.
After a while, Yin Qiu suppressed her reluctance and said, "Are you sure you don't want Senior Sister Ye and the others to come and see you off?"
Fu Xiang looked past her toward the distant palace gate, paused for a moment before replying, "Never mind, don't notify them, you can just come and see me off."
"Then remember to wear more clothes, so you don't catch a cold on the way," Yin Qiu said.
"Okay," Fu Xiang agreed.
“When you get back, get along well with your father and don’t be temperamental,” Yin Qiu added.
"I know," Fu Xiang replied.
Yin Qiu actually had a lot more to say, but when the moment of parting came, she didn't know what to say.
Fu Xiang continued, "After I leave, you must take good care of yourself. Even if you make new friends, you must not forget me. You are so easy to bully. If you are wronged, you must tell your martial aunt in time and let her stand up for you. Don't worry, if anything happens to you, I will definitely come to find you from Mingyue Tower overnight. Aren't I loyal enough?"
Yin Qiu said, "You're the one who's going to get into trouble. If you can't speak properly, then don't. And when you get back, don't just focus on practicing martial arts; read more books!"
Fu Xiang originally wanted to get emotional and connect with her on a deeper level, but who knew that this girl would still show her no mercy as always? Fu Xiang could only say, "Pah, you're not easy to bully, you're the one who knows how to bully me the most!"
The two started arguing again, each saying something to the other, neither willing to give in. It was the disciple driving the carriage who reminded him, "Young Master, it's getting late, and it's still snowing. We need to hurry and get going."
Fu Xiang glanced at the sky and her smile faded slightly. She jumped down from the carriage again, opened her arms and said, "Good Xiao Qiu, stop arguing. Come here, give me a hug."
Yin Qiu then opened her arms and hugged her back.
"Don't worry, I won't forget what I promised you," Fu Xiang whispered in her ear.
“I believe you,” Yin Qiu said.
“But you have to promise me one thing,” Fu Xiang said.
Yin Qiu turned her head and looked at her: "What is it?"
Fu Xiang stood straight, her eyes revealing a sincerity she rarely showed, and said, "No matter what happens in the future, or what you will face, you must maintain this trust in me. I want you to remember that I will not harm you, nor will I harm Yunhua Palace. Perhaps you cannot understand what you mean to me, but as long as you know that I truly consider you a friend, that I have not lied to you, and that I have not been playing along with you, that is enough."
This is a passage containing many hidden meanings.
Yin Qiu heard it clearly and discerned many hidden meanings, but since Fu Xiang hadn't explicitly told her what it was, Yin Qiu didn't want to press for details. Instead, she picked a detail she considered harmless and asked, "Then tell me, what do I mean to you?"
A cold wind carrying snowflakes came, ruffling their hair. Fu Xiang smiled enigmatically and said softly, "Perhaps... it's a mission."
mission?
Yin Qiu looked slightly confused.
"I won't say any more, just remember what I said today." Fu Xiang released Yin Qiu, her bright smile returning to her face.
The disciple who was driving the carriage took the initiative to lift the curtain. Fu Xiang turned around and got into the carriage. After sitting down, she lifted the curtain again and looked at Yin Qiu.
“Don’t forget, we’re best friends for life!” she said.
Yin Qiu looked at her and smiled: "Of course I won't forget."
The carriage began to move slowly. Fu Xiang leaned against the window and called out, "Xiao Qiu! Until we meet again!"
Yin Qiu waved his hand and raised his voice, saying, "Until we meet again!"
The horse carried the carriage down the mountain road. The people in the carriage kept looking back. Yin Qiu watched Fu Xiang leave until the carriage and horses completely disappeared from sight. Only then did her smile fade and she let out a long sigh.
·
By the time we returned to Jingyue Peak, it was already getting dark.
The courtyard was deep and secluded. Red maple leaves swayed in the wind, covered with a thin layer of snow. Several secret guards were squatting on the trees. When they saw Yin Qiu walking in slowly, they mischievously made snowballs and threw them at her.
Yin Qiu smiled and moved with light steps, dodging every snowball that came her way.
She had just stood still when several figures flashed in front of her. Yin Qiu drew her sword and fought them on the spot. Although her senior brothers were just playing with her, they didn't forget to test her skills. After this exchange, Yin Qiu didn't get hit, but her head was covered in snow. She had no choice but to beg for mercy and retreat. Several of the secret guards were having a great time and dragged her under a maple tree, trying to bury her.
"If you bully me again, I'll tell my martial uncle!" Yin Qiu said, both amused and exasperated, and quickly struggled to get up from the snow.
One of the disciples laughed and said, "How is that bullying you? We saw you wiping away tears on the road from afar. You must be in a bad mood. We were just trying to cheer you up."
These secret guards are all elites of the palace, found only on Jingyue Peak. They are all highly skilled, able to see in all directions and hear from all sides. However, because Man Jiangxue prefers to do everything herself, she doesn't often send them on missions. At most, she only asks them to do some small daily tasks. So, besides guarding Jingyue Peak and endlessly practicing swordsmanship, they don't have much else to do.
Now that Yin Qiu has arrived, there's a well-behaved and pretty junior sister. She's quiet, has a good temper, and never gets angry no matter how much you tease her. The disciples feel that their master has picked up a little toy, so they spend all their time teasing and playing with Yin Qiu. Over the past few months, their relationship has become very good.
Yin Qiu said, "Who wiped away tears? You are not allowed to tell your martial uncle!"
The disciples burst into laughter, teasing Yin Qiu for being unruly. After teasing Yin Qiu for a while, they heard the palace door being pushed open, and they all fled in a hurry, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Man Jiangxue, dressed in a brocade robe, stood under the eaves watching. Yin Qiu immediately flew towards her, saying, "They bullied me again! And they ran so fast!"
Man Jiangxue couldn't help but laugh and said, "Then what can we do? You can't beat them anyway."
Yin Qiu stared wide-eyed: "Master Uncle, please stand up for me!"
Man Jiangxue said "Oh": "Okay, then punish them by making them do odd jobs at Tianyin Peak later."
As soon as these words were spoken, several secret guards shouted from the rooftop.
"No, Uncle-Master! Tianyin Peak is so tiring!"
"That's right, Uncle-Master is too biased!"
"Xiao Qiu! You're not as skilled as others, all you do is complain. When your master isn't around, we'll throw you into the pond!"
...
Yin Qiu laughed heartily and made a face at the roof. The disciples quickly dispersed and took their places. Man Jiangxue looked at the snowflakes swirling and dancing in the air and said, "Fu Xiang is gone?"
“She’s gone,” Yin Qiu said, taking out a purse from her bosom. “Look, she even prepared a birthday gift for me.”
Man Jiangxue glanced at it.
"Does it look good?" Yin Qiu asked mischievously.
"It's acceptable," Man Jiangxue replied casually.
Yin Qiu knew she would say that, and burst into laughter. But as she laughed, tears welled up in her eyes, and she choked out, "Fu Xiang is gone, so no one will bother me anymore."
Man Jiangxue touched the corner of her eye and said, "We will meet again."
Yin Qiu hummed in agreement: "I know, but I'm still a little reluctant to part with it." She sighed softly and raised her head again. "I still have a gift to give to my martial uncle."
Man Jiangxue asked, "What is it?"
Yin Qiu immediately ran into the hall, took out a square wooden box from the bookshelf, rummaged through it, and finally took out a snow-white money bag, saying, "I made this myself, and it is somewhat similar to the one my uncle made before. Although it is not very well made, it represents my heart. Please don't dislike it, uncle."
Man Jiangxue glanced at it, reached out and took it. She looked down at it for a moment, then said, "What about yours?"
Yin Qiu immediately took her clothes off from her lower back: "Here they are."
The two purses were placed together; they were the same color and style, only one was newer and the other older.
Man Jiangxue said, "I didn't know you were good at needlework."
Yin Qiu chuckled and said, "Actually, I know a lot more than that. It's just that my uncle doesn't know. Back when I was in the Su family, I often helped the head maid with embroidery. Although life was tough back then, I learned quite a lot."
Man Jiangxue put the purse away and said, "Very good, I like it." After saying that, she looked at the wooden box again, "Are these purses also meant to be given away?"
Yin Qiu nodded: "Senior Sister Ye, Senior Sister Lu, and Instructor Sister, the sect leader also wanted to send them... but it felt a bit inappropriate, so he wasn't sure whether to send them or not."
Man Jiangxue asked, "Then who should we give the remaining two to?"
Yin Qiu said, "One is for Meng Jing, and the other is for Senior Sister Ji. Although Senior Sister Ji will be out of seclusion for a long time, she will eventually come out. I will put them in her room."
Man Jiangxue looked at her for a while, then held Yin Qiu's hand and examined it for a few moments before saying, "Aren't your hands tired from making so many purses?"
Yin Qiu looked at her holding her hand and felt a little happy. She shook her head and said, "I'm not tired. I'm glad that my senior uncle and senior sisters like it."
Man Jiangxue pulled her to sit down in the hall, saying as they walked, "I like it."
Yin Qiu glanced at her profile and felt the warmth emanating from her hands. At that moment, she felt very content.
Yin Qiu was overjoyed to have helped Fu Xiang return to Mingyue Tower and stay at Jingyue Peak, which she had always dreamed of. These were the two happiest things for her this year.
Although she rightfully belonged to Jingyue Peak, she still had to go to the school to study every day. As for martial arts, although Xie Yijun was forced to take Fu Xiang as her disciple, she had called Yin Qiu along almost every time in the past few months. Whatever Xie Yijun taught Fu Xiang, Yin Qiu would learn as well.
Although Man Jiangxue did not take Yin Qiu as her disciple, she still taught Yin Qiu martial arts every day. However, she did not teach much. Most of the time, she only pointed out Yin Qiu's shortcomings and gave him some pointers. After all, there were a bunch of idle secret guards on Jingyue Peak. With them around, Yin Qiu was kept busy by them without Man Jiangxue even having to say anything. He was either practicing swordsmanship or on his way to practice swordsmanship.
After staying at Jingyue Peak for about half a month, Man Jiangxue asked Yin Qiu to bring over the "Purple Sound Heart Sutra" and began to study it step by step.
Jingyue Peak has no senior disciple. Although only the senior disciples of each peak can learn that mental cultivation method, apart from those secret guard disciples, Yin Qiu is the only one in this place. So whether she learns it or not is entirely up to Man Jiangxue.
In this way, Yin Qiu has many "masters". There is Man Jiangxue, as well as the senior brothers of Jingyue Peak. Now that Fu Xiang is gone, Xie Yijun will definitely continue to teach her. In her spare time, Yin Qiu often goes to other peaks to audit classes. The elders are happy to see her and are all generous in giving her advice. Every time Yin Qiu goes, she will fight with the disciples of the same class who she has become familiar with. So far, she has never lost.
Overall, Yin Qiu lived a good life after leaving the New Disciples Academy.
Snow accumulated on the eaves, and every now and then some would fall in clumps. The main hall door was open, and the cold wind outside carried snowflakes in, making the charcoal brazier flicker. Yin Qiu sat down on the futon and watched Man Jiangxue skillfully brew tea, watching her spotless hands as she held the teacup and moved it in front of her.
This is Jingyue Peak, and there is no one else here.
As if by some strange twist of fate, just as that elegant, fair hand was about to withdraw, Yin Qiu suddenly reached out and grabbed it.
Man Jiangxue was dressed in casual clothes today, with a wide-sleeved cloud robe over her outer garment. She was white from head to toe, as if the paper had been dyed through. Several pearl buttons were fastened on her clothes, which made her skin look as white as jade, her lips red and her eyes clear. Yin Qiusheng felt a secret pleasure when he saw her.
"What's wrong?" Noticing that she was staring at her intently, Man Jiangxue raised her eyelashes, her eyes reflecting the faint sparks, as serene as the night sky reflected in a pond.
Yin Qiu didn't dare to be too obvious, so she calmly released her hand and said with a light smile, "It's nothing, I just think my martial aunt looks especially beautiful today."
Man Jiangxue slightly curled the corners of her lips, carefully added a little tea, and said, "Is that so?"
Yin Qiu's eyes crinkled into a smile as she said, "Yes, that's right."
A wisp of smoke rose from the incense burner beside the table, mingling with the rising steam from the tea, enveloping the two in a misty cloud.
Yin Qiu leaned forward and gently nestled into Man Jiangxue's arms in the mist. She inhaled her delicate fragrance and listened to her strong heartbeat, saying, "I'm a little sleepy..."
Man Jiangxue gathered her sleeves, turned her over, held her in her arms, and placed her on her lap, saying, "Then sleep for a while."
Yin Qiu said, "I'll sleep here. Don't carry me to the bed, Uncle-Master."
Man Jiangxue agreed, "Okay."
Yin Qiu then said, "Uncle-Master, give me a kiss."
Man Jiangxue lowered her head.
(End of Volume 1)
Author's Note: Volume 1 is finished, the next chapter will be Volume 2!
Qiuqiu has endured over eighty chapters; she's finally growing up! hhh
Thank you all for your support during this time. So many of you lovely people have checked in every day, and I've remembered all your IDs. Those who follow the series, leave comments, and send gifts are all angels!!!
I'm giving out red envelopes for this chapter! Everyone who leaves a comment before the update at 9 PM tomorrow will get one. I don't know how else to repay you all, so giving out red envelopes and writing a good story is all I can do right now.
Thank you again everyone! *kiss*
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
