slow
The Longtan Ferry shimmered with a cold, shimmering light under the night sky, shrouded in mist. Xie Linyang, concerned about Jiang Cheng's wound on his back from the battlefield that day, came searching with a medicine bottle in her hand. She vaguely heard the sound of water, assuming it was just an ordinary stream, and parted the dense reeds, about to call out to him—
The moonlight poured down like quicksilver, clearly outlining the tall figure in the pool. Jiang Cheng had his back to her, water droplets sliding down his firm spine, the broad shoulder and back muscles flowing smoothly and powerfully, and the water rippling around his lean waist.
He was raising his hand to scoop up water, the movement of his arm engaging his back muscles, revealing a wild power ready to be unleashed.
Xie Linyang's breath hitched, her gaze involuntarily drawn to the clearly defined muscle contours on his waist and abdomen. Her mind went blank, and only one thought remained: This guy... has such a great physique! Her cheeks instantly burned, and she hurriedly turned around to quietly retreat.
"Who?!" Jiang Cheng shouted alertly from behind, accompanied by the sound of rushing water.
Xie Linyang paused, frozen awkwardly in place, and forced herself to speak: "It's...it's me. I...I came to bring you medicine, I didn't know you were..." Her voice trailed off, her ears burning.
There was a moment of silence behind him, followed by Jiang Cheng's voice, which seemed to be suppressing some kind of emotion: "...Come here."
"Huh?" Xie Linyang was stunned.
"I said, come here!" Jiang Cheng's tone carried his usual unquestionable authority, with a hint of tension that was barely perceptible. "You can't reach my back."
Xie Linyang took a deep breath, thinking to himself, "Doctors have the heart of parents; what haven't modern people seen?" He made a mental effort to prepare himself before turning around and walking to the edge of the pool, trying not to look to the side.
Jiang Cheng had his back to her, his lower body submerged in the water. Water droplets dripped from his wet hair, sliding down his well-defined back. A hideous purplish-red bruise stretched across his shoulder blade, looking particularly glaring.
Xie Linyang unscrewed the cap of the ointment, dipped his fingertip in the cool ointment, and gently applied it to the edge of the wound: "Bear with it, this ointment is a bit cold."
When Xie Linyang's fingertips touched his warm skin, Jiang Cheng's back stiffened abruptly, and his breath hitched. Xie Linyang didn't notice, focusing intently on spreading the ointment evenly with his fingertips, his movements gentle yet with the efficiency of a healer: "If this wound were half an inch deeper, it would have damaged the tendons and bones. Don't push yourself so hard next time—"
"You think I wanted this?" Jiang Cheng's voice was a little hoarse. "Back then, the puppet's claws were almost hitting your face."
Xie Linyang paused, feeling a warm glow in her heart, and chuckled, teasing, "Oh, are you worried about me?"
Jiang Cheng's shoulders tensed even more, and his tone was harsh: "Who cares about you? I'm afraid that if you die, no one will be in charge of the alliance."
Xie Linyang chuckled, then lowered his head to continue applying the medicine. Occasionally, his fingertips would brush against Xie Linyang's uninjured back muscles, and he could feel the tension in those muscles.
She casually mentioned, "Speaking of which, when my senior sister sent medicinal food to Jin Zixuan, that female cultivator from the Jin family claimed it without her permission. Jin Zixuan even scolded my senior sister in public, which made her feel very wronged."
Jiang Cheng snorted coldly: "That Golden Peacock deserves a beating. I told you long ago that he is not good enough for my sister."
"You can't say that." Xie Linyang bandaged his wound with a strip of cloth and tied a knot on his waist with her fingers. "Senior sister likes him. As long as senior sister is happy, we, as her younger brothers and sisters, should just support her. But speaking of which, Jin Zixuan is quite awkward. He clearly cares about senior sister, but he insists on acting so arrogant."
Jiang Cheng was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke in a low voice, so soft it was as if it had been blown away by the wind: "Some people... are more than that."
Xie Linyang didn't hear clearly: "Huh? What did you say?"
Jiang Cheng turned around, water droplets dripping from his hair onto his collarbone. His dark eyes were fixed on her, the moonlight reflecting off them in fragmented light: "I'm saying, some people... clearly care, but they pretend to be indifferent, and the other person doesn't even notice."
Xie Linyang blinked and analyzed seriously, "Isn't that stupid? If you like someone, just say so. Why hold it in?"
Jiang Cheng: "..."
He looked at Xie Linyang's expression that said, "I understand, I understand, this kind of person just overthinks things," and his lips twitched slightly, as if he were giving a bitter smile.
He took a deep breath, as if making a firm decision, his voice deepening, almost blending into the sound of the water: "Yes, sometimes... that person might be right beside you, seemingly intelligent, but actually as dull as a stone, oblivious to all hints..."
"Exactly!" Xie Linyang, completely oblivious to the arrow being aimed at her, indignantly echoed, unconsciously increasing the pressure of her massage. "Those oblivious people are the most infuriating! They waste other people's good intentions! If you ask me, if you like someone, you should just say it directly!" She thought of the straightforward dating in modern society and felt that people in the cultivation world were just too reserved and coy.
"..." Jiang Cheng gasped sharply, the pain in his back paling in comparison to the suffocation in his heart. He felt a tightness in his chest, as if he were about to vomit blood.
He turned around abruptly, glaring at the woman behind him who was still diligently applying medicine and had an expression that said, "I support the courage to pursue love." His eyes were filled with disbelief and anger, as well as a sense of almost desperate helplessness.
"Xie, Lin, Yang!" He almost gritted his teeth as he uttered her name.
"Huh? What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Xie Linyang looked up and met his almost fiery eyes, looking completely bewildered and innocent, not understanding why he was reacting so strongly all of a sudden.
Looking into her clear, innocent eyes, filled with pure concern and bewilderment, Jiang Cheng swallowed back all the questions and confessions that were about to spill from his lips. He stared at her intently for a long while, then abruptly turned his head, his chest heaving, and forced out through gritted teeth, "...It's okay! Be gentle!"
Xie Linyang said "Oh," and although she found his actions strange, she still softened her movements.
She was focused on healing the bruises on her hands, completely unaware of the tightly clenched fists of the person in front of her, and the handsome face reflected on the water that seemed to say "talking to a brick wall" and "about to die of anger."
The moonlight remained gentle, and the pool flowed quietly. Only Jiang Cheng's heart, which was just beginning to stir, clumsily trying but was cruelly ignored, shattered into ripples by the pool, silently wailing.
Smoke and fire obscured the sun. Wen Ruohan, wielding the Yin Iron, launched each attack as if a hellish inferno had descended. On the battlefield, black mist churned, not only devouring spiritual energy but also eroding the soul, driving the weak-willed to madness. The Immortal Alliance's defenses retreated again and again, blood soaking the scorched earth, cries of agony echoing across the land, even the air thick with the stench of decay and death.
In this almost hopeless and oppressive atmosphere, a glimmer of light quietly appeared from the depths of the clouds.
Lan Xichen rushed back to the Alliance camp, his usually gentle face showing undisguised exhaustion, but his eyes burned with a burning light. He didn't even have time to change out of his blood-stained and dust-covered robes before he and Qingheng-jun strode into the commander's tent.
Inside the tent, Jiang Fengmian, Nie Mingjue, and the others also looked somber, their brows furrowed with weariness from days of arduous battle.
"Father, Sect Leader Jiang, Sect Leader Nie," Lan Xichen's voice was slightly hoarse with urgency as he held the scroll in his hand, "My uncle and I found a clue in the remaining scrolls of the Forbidden Pavilion that might be able to restrain the Yin Iron!"
As soon as he said this, everyone in the tent focused their attention on him.
Qinghengjun took it, his tone steady but unable to hide his solemnity: "The ancient book is tattered, with only scattered records of an ancient 'Lingyang Divine Lord' who, at the beginning of chaos, used his own purest and most yang power to seal an extremely evil object called 'Yang Sha Marrow'. That power attribute is exactly the opposite of the extremely yin and evil nature of Yin Iron!"
“Extremely Yang and pure…restrains Yin Iron…” Nie Mingjue’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he suddenly stood up, his Baxia sword intent spreading uncontrollably. “Do you know where the ruins of the Lingyang Divine Lord are?!”
Lan Xichen shook his head, looking troubled: "The scroll is incomplete, only mentioning that it may be deep in the miasma of the far south, but the exact location... is no longer known."
Hope was so faint, like searching for a speck of dust in boundless darkness. Silence fell again in the tent, the heavy pressure almost suffocating.
Jiang Fengmian spoke slowly, his voice hoarse from the fierce battle, yet exceptionally firm: "Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, we must not give up. With the Yin Iron, Wen Ruohan is no longer someone we can defeat head-on. Searching for the Lingyang Ruins may be the only way to break this deadlock."
"Excellent!" Nie Mingjue's voice boomed like a bell, filled with a do-or-die determination. "We old guys are holding the line at the front; we absolutely cannot let Wen Ruohan advance any further! This crucial task of finding the ruins must be accomplished by sending someone!"
All eyes turned to the outside of the tent. There, a group of young men were busy in the wounded soldiers' camp. Their faces were weary, but their eyes were still bright, full of indomitable fighting spirit. Their experience of fighting side by side at Muxi Mountain had already etched a mark of trust and resilience into their very being.
“They… are the best candidates,” Qinghengjun said softly, her tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible worry and expectation.
The resolution was reached in a somber atmosphere.
When the mission to find the Lingyang Ruins was assigned, the camp was filled with a complex mix of emotions: a resolute determination to fight to the death, anxieties about the unknown dangers, and a surge of youthful passion.
As night deepened, the campfire flickered in the wind. Xie Linyang was checking her belongings in her cramped tent, the gleaming gold hairpin shimmering with a warm luster on her fingertips. The tent flap was lifted, letting in a cool night breeze.
Jiang Cheng stood at the door, his figure as straight as a pine tree, but his face was somewhat tense.
He pursed his lips, took a few steps to Xie Linyang, and somewhat roughly shoved a small, cool white jade bottle into her hand. It was warm to the touch, clearly a high-quality item made with care.
"Take it." His voice was harsh, his gaze drifting to the corner of the tent, refusing to look at her. "Anything can happen in a place like the ruins. Don't... don't be stupid and rush forward. Know your limits." He finished speaking quickly, as if he had completed an extremely difficult task. He immediately turned around and strode away, almost fleeing, but his back looked somewhat stiff.
Xie Linyang held the bottle of medicine blankly, the bottle still seemingly warm from his palm. She lowered her head, accepting Jiang Cheng's always unexpected warmth.
A gentle voice rang out from outside the tent: "Master, your disciple Meng Yao requests an audience."
"Come in." Xie Linyang composed himself.
Meng Yao bowed as he entered, his demeanor as humble and submissive as ever. His gaze swept quickly over Xie Linyang's smile, which had not yet completely faded, and the white jade bottle in his hand. A hint of darkness flickered in the depths of his eyes, too fleeting to be detected.
“Master,” he raised his eyes, his gaze sincere, his voice carrying just the right amount of worry, “the road ahead is unpredictable and extremely dangerous. Your disciple will fight to the death to protect you and will not allow anyone or anything to endanger you.” His words were firm and resolute.
Xie Linyang didn't think much of it, assuming it was just his disciple's loyalty, and said gently, "It's good that you have this intention. This journey will be difficult, and we need everyone to work together and trust each other. You yourself must also be careful in everything you do."
"Yes, disciple will remember Master's teachings." Meng Yao lowered her eyes and answered respectfully, perfectly concealing all her turbulent emotions beneath a docile appearance.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, Wei Wuxian almost pressed himself against Lan Wangji, grinning as he pointed at the unfolded map: "Lan Zhan, look, I've heard that there are many poisonous insects and ferocious beasts in this far south. We'll be passing through this area, and it's said that the miasma here is colorful; if you inhale it, you can see fairies with three heads and six arms dancing!"
Lan Wangji expressionlessly avoided the man's head, which was almost resting on his shoulder. His body remained taut, but his gaze remained fixed precisely on the treacherous terrain markings on the map. His cool voice rang out: "According to ancient texts, the miasma here contains deadly poison that corrodes bones and heart. We must prepare sufficient Qingxin Pills and Miasma-Avoiding Pills." He pointed his slender fingers at several passes in the air. "Furthermore, the terrain is low-lying, with many swamps and hidden currents, so we must be extremely cautious."
"I know, Second Young Master Lan~" Wei Wuxian drawled out, waving his hand dismissively, and leaned closer, almost able to smell the cool sandalwood scent on Lan Wangji's body. "But tell me, why did Lingyang Shenjun hide the ruins in such a godforsaken place? Was he deliberately trying to torment his descendants?" As he spoke, his breath brushed against Lan Wangji's ear intentionally or unintentionally.
Lan Wangji's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he finally turned his head away. His jade-like face appeared even colder in the firelight, but his tone remained calm and even: "What the Divine Lord thinks is not something we can presume to fathom." He paused, then added, "You... stay close and do not act on your own."
Wei Wuxian's eyes lit up, as if he had caught something red-handed. His smile grew even brighter, and he deliberately bumped Lan Wangji with his shoulder: "Oh, Hanguang-jun, are you worried about me?"
Lan Wangji remained as steady as a rock, giving him only a fleeting glance that seemed to say "incomprehensible," before turning his attention back to studying another possible ancient marker on the map, ignoring the noise from the person beside him.
On the other side, Nie Huaisang wore a bitter expression. Under the stern gaze of his elder brother, Nie Mingjue, he hurriedly hid the various storybooks and scrolls, muttering repeatedly, "Brother, I really can't do this... I just wanted to make some notes..."
Lan Xichen stood at the edge of the camp, moonlight shining on his jade-like profile. He gazed at the unknown land shrouded in mist to the south, clutching an ancient, broken jade pendant in his hand—the only clue discovered along with the fragments of the Forbidden Pavilion scrolls.
Between his gentle brows lay an unyielding worry and a heavy sense of responsibility.
Su She stood silently in the shadows, watching the group of young people who were about to set off and who symbolized the hope of the alliance. His eyes flickered, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed a communication talisman made of a special material in his sleeve.
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