Meng Yao
The seven-day discussion finally came to an end. A layer of ginkgo leaves had fallen in the courtyard of Qishan Palace, rustling under the footsteps of disciples carrying luggage.
When Wei Wuxian saw Xie Linyang come out carrying a small cloth bag, his eyes widened. "Hey? Linyang, what's with this bag? Is this all you have? We've prepared everything for your trip back to Yunmeng!"
The courtyard fell silent for a moment. Jiang Yanli, who was carrying folded clothes out of the house, paused upon hearing this, walked to Xie Linyang's side, and reached out to touch her forehead: "Linyang, you're not fully recovered yet, why don't you rest a little longer? Come back to Yunmeng with us, Acheng said there are still some top-quality snow lotus in the storeroom, we'll help you recover..."
Xie Linyang smiled and said loudly, "Thank you all for taking care of me recently. I want to go out and gain some experience on my own. The Wen family matter is not yet settled. If I go out and practice, I can be of help if we really clash in the future."
"Experience?" Nie Huaisang, clutching his precious folding fan, peeked out from behind Lan Xichen, his face slightly flushed, his voice soft, "But...but it's not safe outside...How about I talk to my older brother and you come back to Qinghe with me?"
Lan Xichen stood aside and gently replied, "Since Miss Xie has decided to leave, if you need assistance, you can send a message to Cloud Recesses or the Nie Clan of Qinghe. The Lan Clan and the Nie Clan will definitely come to your aid." He took out a jade talisman from his sleeve and handed it over, "This is the Lan Clan's communication talisman. Just crush it when you are in trouble."
Lan Wangji stood beside his elder brother, still with that aloof demeanor. He looked at Xie Linyang, nodded, and said in a low voice, "Take care."
Xie Linyang responded to each of them, took the jade talismans and stuffed them into his cloth bag, then patted Nie Huaisang's arm: "No need to trouble Huaisang, just focus on your cultivation."
The lingering grass had appeared on Huai Sang's body before, but it remained a mystery that she could not see through.
Xie Linyang felt a warm glow inside as they surrounded her. She smiled, but her gaze unconsciously swept towards the courtyard. Jiang Cheng was standing under an old locust tree, holding a notebook to check his luggage. He seemed focused, but his tightly pursed lips and slightly furrowed brows betrayed his thoughts.
"Thank you all for your kindness." She withdrew her gaze and said earnestly to everyone, "Jiang Cheng's resentment has been dispelled, and my injuries are also much better. The purpose of coming down the mountain was to gain experience, and staying in one place would only go against my original intention."
Wei Wuxian followed her gaze, then his eyes darted around, and he suddenly shouted, "Jiang Cheng! Lin Yang is leaving, what are you still dawdling over there for?"
Jiang Cheng paused, shoved the booklet into the hands of the disciple beside him, and walked over with a stern face. He stopped in front of Xie Linyang, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before he asked curtly, "Have you made up your mind?"
"Yes." Xie Linyang nodded. "My injuries have almost healed, and it's time to continue my travels."
Jiang Cheng stared at her for a while, then suddenly pulled a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to her: "Here's some medicine for the road."
Xie Linyang took the porcelain bottle, her hands still warm from his touch. She looked up at his tense profile and whispered, "Thank you."
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Wei Wuxian, watching anxiously from the side, nudged Jiang Yanli with his elbow and winked. Jiang Yanli understood and softly said to Lan Xichen and the others, "Zewu-jun, Huaisang, why don't we go over there and see how the luggage is being packed?"
Lan Xichen smiled knowingly and said gently, "Very well." He then led Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang to the side. Nie Huaisang wanted to say something, but after being given a faint glance by Lan Wangji, he had no choice but to obediently follow.
Wei Wuxian was also gently pulled away by Jiang Yanli. Before leaving, he mouthed "speak properly" to Jiang Cheng.
In the blink of an eye, only the two of them remained under the locust tree.
"You..." Jiang Cheng opened his mouth, his brows furrowing even more deeply, "Can you manage alone?"
"Okay." Xie Linyang couldn't help but smile as she looked at his awkward expression. "I'm not a child."
Jiang Cheng looked at her and laughed, his expression becoming even more uncomfortable: "What are you laughing at! I mean..." He paused, his voice lowering, "If you encounter any trouble, you can come to Lotus Pier."
He turned his face away after he finished speaking, his ears turning slightly red.
Xie Linyang gripped the porcelain bottle tightly, her heart softening. She knew how difficult it was for Jiang Cheng to say those words. This proud and stubborn young man never expressed his concern directly.
"Okay," she replied softly. "If I pass through Yunmeng, I will definitely come to see you."
Jiang Cheng then turned to look at her, his eyes filled with complex emotions. He seemed to want to say something, his lips moved, but in the end he only gave a muffled "hmm."
"Be careful on the road."
"You too." Xie Linyang looked at him meaningfully, "Back at Lotus Pier... be careful of everything."
Jiang Cheng's gaze sharpened, and he nodded heavily: "I know."
After saying goodbye, she slung her bag over her shoulder, waved to the crowd, and turned to walk down the mountain.
Jiang Cheng stood there, watching her figure walk further and further away, her purple dress swaying slightly in the wind.
He felt empty inside, as if a piece of him had been ripped out. He knew she wasn't someone who would stay in the same place forever, but watching her leave still made him feel incredibly sad.
Wei Wuxian leaned closer and hooked his arm around his shoulder: "You're reluctant to part with him?"
"Get lost." Jiang Cheng shook him off, his eyes still fixed on the shrinking figure.
"Stop looking, she's already gone." Wei Wuxian clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Why didn't you stop her earlier? Or you could have left with her!"
Jiang Cheng finally looked away and glared at him fiercely: "Do you think everyone is as idle as you?" After saying that, he turned around and walked into the courtyard, his steps quick and heavy.
He will wait for her to come. He will wait for the day she comes to Lotus Pier.
At this moment, Xie Linyang was walking alone down the mountain path of Qishan. She touched the warm porcelain bottle in her arms and glanced back at the mountain shrouded in dark clouds.
The road ahead is unknown, but she must become stronger. To deal with the Wen family, and also to... protect those she cares about.
The wind from the Mengyu Mountains carried the smell of rust, swirling withered yellow leaves across Xie Linyang's face as she crouched behind a broken rock, her fingertips clutching a nearly burnt-out talisman.
This is her seventh day in the mountains.
The "Corroded Bone Wraith" I encountered three days ago on the outskirts of the mountain was still lingering in my mind's eye. The bluish-gray mist enveloped the severed limbs, the fingernails were black, and it brought a bone-chilling cold when it pounced.
Her hand holding the talisman was trembling violently. The "Sheng Yang Jue" had only been circulating to the eighth level, and the spiritual power was stumbling in her meridians. The Yang Fire talisman that she had finally managed to gather was thrown off course by half a foot, only managing to scorch the hem of the vengeful spirit's clothes.
"Damn it!" She gritted her teeth and rolled to the side, dodging the vengeful spirit's grabbing hand. Her back slammed into a rock, and the pain made her see stars. The vengeful spirit's chill seeped into her pores, instantly freezing her fingertips purple. She drew her hair-sparkling hair and swung it backhand towards the vengeful spirit's neck, the weakest point of yin energy, as her master had taught her.
The vengeful spirit let out a piercing shriek, and the mist suddenly exploded. Xie Linyang was jolted back two steps, her spiritual energy instantly drained, and her legs gave way, causing her to collapse to the ground. Watching the vengeful spirit dissipate into black smoke, she realized that her palms were blistered from the sparks of the talisman, and the abrasions on her back were bleeding, mixed with dirt and sticking to her clothes, both cold and painful.
From that day on, she folded the map Jiang Cheng had given her and tucked it into her bosom, then found a sheltered mountain cave to live in. Every day she would get up before dawn to practice the "Sheng Yang Jue" (Life-Generating Technique), practicing from sunrise to sunset, her meridians aching and swollen from the spiritual energy washing over them.
If you encounter monsters or vengeful spirits, fight them. If you can't beat them, run away. If you can't run away, fight them. The wounds scab over and then crack open, crack open and then scab over again, until the scabs become calluses.
In the third month after entering the mountains, Xie Linyang encountered the Crimson-Eyed Wolf at Black Wind Pass.
The wolf was half a head taller than her, with glossy fur and blood-red eyes, its attack accompanied by a foul stench. Unlike before, she didn't rush to pull out her talisman. Instead, she pressed herself against the rock wall, her right hand gripping her short sword, her left hand discreetly resting on the "Thunderbolt Talisman" at her waist. This was a new one she had learned, more powerful than the Yang Fire Talisman, but it consumed more spiritual energy.
The wolf's front paws dug three deep marks into the rock. Xie Linyang watched its movements, took a deep breath, and the spiritual power of the tenth level of the "Sheng Yang Jue" flowed in her dantian, warm and comforting, and surged along her arm towards Zhuo Yao, causing a very faint golden light to emanate from the staff.
The crimson-eyed wolf pounced again, its front paws barely touching the ground before Xie Linyang suddenly ducked down, slipping under the wolf's belly like a cat. At the same time, she tore off a Thunderstrike Talisman with her left hand and slapped it onto the wolf's hind leg. With a muffled "boom," the wolf howled in pain, and in that moment of hesitation, she turned, swung her staff, and precisely stabbed it into the wolf's throat.
The wolf fell heavily to the ground, blood splattering on her trouser leg. Xie Linyang was panting, but instead of collapsing into a slump as before, she leaned against the rock wall and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.
At dawn at the end of the fifth month, she was meditating by a stream. The spiritual energy within her surged like a river, endlessly flowing, and she had already broken through the previous bottleneck.
The eleventh level of the "Yang-Generating Technique" has been completed.
She felt the increased and more refined Yang energy within her body, and a sense of security welled up within her. She was only one step away from the twelfth level of Great Perfection, as her master had mentioned. If she were to face the perils of the Thousand Machines Illusion again now, she was confident that she could handle them with even greater ease.
With his strength increased and the pills and talismans he carried exhausted, it was time to leave this place.
Five months later, Xie Linyang left the Mengyu Mountains and entered the territory of the Lanling Jin Clan. She found a relatively prosperous town not far from the mountains, and settled in a fairly clean-looking inn to rest and replenish her supplies, as well as inquire about news from the outside world over the past few months.
Xie Linyang had just put down the cloth bag on his back when he heard an argument coming from the accounting office. A burly man with a fierce face slammed an account book on the table, spitting in the face of the young man opposite him: "I stayed for four days! You dare to charge me for five days? Do you think I'm blind?"
The young man, wearing a faded blue cotton shirt with frayed cuffs, was squatting on the ground picking up scattered abacus beads. He looked thin, with long eyelashes, and when his eyes were downcast, he resembled a startled bird. The burly man raised his foot to stomp on the back of his hand, but he only shrank back, not daring to dodge, and said softly, "Sir... the ledger shows you added a pot of apricot blossom wine the day before yesterday, it's included in the room charge..."
"Bullshit!" The burly man kicked over the stool next to him. "When did I drink? You poor accountant trying to extort money from me?"
Xie Linyang frowned.
She walked over, said nothing, simply bent down to pick up the abacus from the ground, and handed it back to the young man. The burly man turned and glared at her: "Who are you? Trying to meddle?"
Xie Linyang ignored him, only looking into the young man's eyes, which were very clear, as if covered by a layer of moisture, with a timid light.
She pointed to the ink stains on the ledger: "There's the manager's personal seal next to this record of the wine money. If you don't believe me, you can ask the manager to check. Or, I can go to the kitchen and ask if a young man in a gray cloth shirt came to collect the apricot blossom wine around 5 PM the day before yesterday?"
The burly man's expression changed, probably because he hadn't expected this seemingly unremarkable girl to say such a thing. He muttered "bad luck" and turned away.
The accounting room fell silent. The young man took the abacus, his fingers still trembling slightly, but he first bowed to her, his voice soft: "Thank you, young lady... My name is Meng Yao, and I am the accountant here."
Xie Linyang looked at the red mark on the back of his hand where the corner of the table had been pressed, and suddenly laughed: "Xie Linyang. I'm just passing by and would like to stay at an inn."
Meng Yao's eyes lit up, and he quickly opened the ledger: "How many days will you be staying, miss? I'll give you a discount..." He lowered his head and wrote the room number, the pen tip tracing neat handwriting on the paper, just like him, clean and serious.
"Thank you very much. I'll be staying here for a while."
Meng Yao quickly and efficiently arranged Xie Linyang's check-in, even choosing a quiet and clean superior room for her. He always spoke softly, with just the right amount of respect and gratitude, making people feel very comfortable.
Over the next few days, Xie Linyang settled into the inn. During the day, she went out to replenish her elixirs and talismans and gather information. At night, she meditated and regulated her breathing in her room to consolidate her cultivation. She discovered that although Lanling seemed prosperous, life was not easy for the lower-level cultivators and ordinary people. She often heard about the difficult situations of small sects or ostracized cultivators.
She would "bump into" Meng Yao every time she entered or left the inn. Sometimes she would see him being harassed by other guests, silently enduring it; sometimes she would see him diligently practicing a rudimentary set of boxing techniques by moonlight in the backyard, his slender frame revealing his extraordinary focus; sometimes he would be carrying a stack of account books, and upon seeing her, he would give her a shy yet admiring smile, softly asking, "Miss Xie, you went out? Are you back?"
He never bothered people unintentionally, but his clean and handsome face always carried an easily perceptible sense of vulnerability, a feeling of struggling to make a living yet still facing difficulties. In particular, his eyes, which always seemed to be smiling yet also contained endless grievances, easily aroused people's protective instincts.
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