Chapter 63 "Why did you kill me?..."
Amidst the sea of clouds, buildings rise in orderly rows, with several pavilions in the air unfolding like giant canvases, from which waterfalls cascade.
Even Liu Yuan, who had seen much of the world, couldn't help but linger a while longer, especially because the realistic painting made it almost impossible for him to look away.
He paused, then wanted to turn back and ask Lin Shuchun whose work it was, but found that Lin Shuchun had somehow drifted further away from him.
Some strange looks started appearing around me.
Those gazes held many inexplicable emotions, but what he could feel most were intense pity and contempt.
The source of the gaze was a group of disciples dressed in Taoist robes. They were clearly in a hurry, but when they saw Liu Yuan, they seemed to stop and leave their gazes on him.
Meng Chiwan found it strange, but later she seemed to understand something.
Every gaze that seemed to be directed at Liu Yuan was actually being directed at Lin Shuchun.
It feels like you're walking down the street with someone, and suddenly everyone starts thinking to themselves that you're all a bunch of snakes and rats.
If nothing unexpected happens, the problem should lie with Lin Shuchun.
But looking at Lin Shuchun again, his expression was indifferent, as if he felt nothing at all. Yet, if you were to say that he felt nothing at all, he deliberately distanced himself from Liuyuan.
Although Liu Yuan was a bit oblivious, he could still sense these oddities. So he paused and waited for Lin Shuchun for a while. Seeing that Lin Shuchun had no intention of approaching him, he took the initiative to walk over and asked, "Why are they looking at me like that?"
Lin Shuchun subtly moved her body away a little more, and then calmly said, "Because you are walking with me."
Liu Yuan: "Could it be that you are also a tyrant in this Lingjiang Palace?"
He felt he had found a kindred spirit and was about to discuss with Lin Shuchun how Ping Shi had committed so many evils when he heard Lin Shuchun say unhurriedly, "Those who walk with me either disappear or are expelled from the sect."
Liu Yuan slowly tilted her head, her eyes filled with disbelief: "Missing? Is she still alive?"
Lin Shuchun's expression remained calm, without the slightest ripple, as still as a stagnant pool: "Perhaps."
Liu Yuan took a deep breath: "The reason for the compassion has been found, but what about the contempt?"
Lin Shuchun seemed even calmer, to the point of seeming to be giving up: "That might be because they think you're also ignorant and incompetent."
Liu Yuan: "Eh? You're ignorant and incompetent? I didn't realize that..."
Lin Shuchun said, "It's probably because you're also ignorant and incompetent, so you think it's normal. Although I don't think I'm ignorant and incompetent."
Liu Yuan: "You're not going to say you're doing something great, are you?"
Lin Shuchun slowly turned her head towards him and then nodded gently.
Liu Yuan gave a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, which quickly faded, leaving behind a silent smile.
Lin Shuchun didn't offer any further explanation, and silently walked forward, giving the impression of someone detached from worldly affairs who didn't want to concern himself with worldly matters.
Liu Yuan couldn't find anywhere to go for a while, so she obediently followed Lin Shuchun.
As a guide, Lin Shuchun was quite incompetent. No matter what happened along the way, he remained silent and did not say a word unless Liu Yuan couldn't help but ask, at which point he would answer.
Meng Chiwan and Wei Jiyu followed behind the two, vaguely sensing that something was amiss.
It wasn't until they arrived at the Lingjiang Palace disciple list that they voiced their doubts.
Just then, Liu Yuan also asked the same question, her voice overlapping with Liu Yuan's: "Why is the number one on the list only at the Nascent Soul stage?"
Wei Jiyu shook his head, clearly he didn't know either.
Meng Chiwan then took a few steps closer to hear Lin Shuchun's answer.
Lin Shuchun said, "Those above the Nascent Soul stage have all disappeared. And some... listened to my advice and stayed at the Nascent Soul stage."
Liu Yuan asked, "Are they all related to you?"
"We've only met a few times," Lin Shuchun said.
Liu Yuan was still somewhat skeptical: "Did you say anything to them?"
Lin Shuchun's empty eyes revealed no emotion whatsoever: "I said, stop cultivating."
"Then what?"
“…scoff.” Lin Shuchun paused for a moment before speaking.
"Has no one gone to look for them?" Liu Yuan asked, unable to contain her confusion.
"No one can find it, and no one really wants to find it," Lin Shuchun said calmly, his tone icy, as if he were covered in shattered jade fragments.
"What's the meaning?"
"It doesn't mean anything."
After speaking, Lin Shuchun smiled, and his demeanor softened.
Liu Yuan wanted to ask more questions, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get Lin Shuchun to open her mouth.
"There's a saying that perfectly describes your situation," Liu Yuan said finally, having exhausted all other options.
Lin Shuchun seemed completely uninterested, but still patiently asked, "What are you saying?"
Liu Yuan laughed: "It's not a sentence, it's a word."
What word?
"A jinx."
"..."
After that, Lin Shuchun stopped talking. Liu Yuan felt she had made a fool of herself.
Upon hearing this, Meng Chiwan suddenly pictured everyone pointing at Lin Shuchun and cursing her.
Liu Yuan had only heard a fraction of what was happening before she made this connection; what about the disciples who actually witnessed these events?
She gently exhaled a breath of stale air, and then said to Wei Jiyu, "But I always feel that he is not like that."
Wei Jiyu nodded, a gentle smile spreading across her warm eyes: "Yes, I think so too."
Meng Chiwan was somewhat taken aback: "Why do you think so too? Don't you not know him? How do you know what kind of person he is?"
Wei Jiyu answered quickly, her voice clear as a mountain spring: "Because Chi Wan doesn't think he's like that. Although I don't know him, I know what kind of person Chi Wan is."
Meng Chiwan was somewhat incredulous: "But... we haven't known each other for very long."
“It was like meeting an old friend, or, you could say…” Wei Jiyu’s ears turned red, and she paused, as if organizing her thoughts.
Meng Chiwan's heart skipped a beat, realizing what he was about to say.
love at first sight.
Meng Chiwan and Wei Jiyu's expressions changed simultaneously, and then they looked towards Liuyuan.
The Willow Garden has become a huge ravine, as if the world has been cleaved open.
Liu Yuan and Lin Shuchun had completely disappeared.
During the long fall, it seemed as if someone gently brushed her wrist and then lightly tugged at the red thread wrapped around her wrist bone.
Something gently brushed over my eyebrows and eyes, bringing a slight itch.
She suddenly reached out and grabbed the hand that was holding her wrist, and said calmly, "Yun Xianqing, don't touch me."
She received no reply, but the other hand that was ravaging her lips paused slightly.
“Dirty,” Meng Chiwan said again.
"I can tell you anything you want to know," Yun Xianqing said in her ear as if he hadn't heard anything.
"Do you remember what you did?" Meng Chiwan's voice was calm and even, as if she were genuinely asking the question.
"……Remember."
"You said you weren't lying to me," Meng Chiwan asked again.
This time, Yun Xianqing did not answer, and the surroundings became quiet.
“You don’t remember at all,” Meng Chiwan said, enunciating each word clearly.
From the moment Yun Xianqing first saw her, she had this suspicion. He seemed too self-righteous, acting as if there had never been any discord between them.
It wasn't until she said those things and slapped him a few times that he seemed to realize something.
"But you figured out what you did later, right?" Meng Chiwan's voice was indifferent, devoid of emotion.
Yun Xianqing remained silent.
But in Meng Chiwan's eyes, his silence undoubtedly represented tacit agreement.
She suddenly remembered that Yun Xianqing had told her before that he would take her home.
At that time, Yun Xianqing must have already known what awaited her, right?
Killing her was premeditated. It's just unknown how far back in time this premeditation dates.
"Was our meeting something you planned?" She closed her eyes but sighed softly.
She didn't even have the strength to shout; all she felt was a sense of powerlessness. She had been disappointed too many times, until she became so numb that she simply listened and then forgot, unable to offer any further response.
Yun Xianqing spoke up this time: "...No."
"You said you weren't lying to me," Meng Chiwan repeated.
"No," Yun Xianqing insisted, seemingly knowing what the question meant.
"Why did you kill me?" Meng Chiwan asked.
Yun Xianqing paused for a long time, seemingly finding it difficult to speak even to himself.
Meng Chiwan stopped talking and fell silently.
"I'm sorry." Yun Xianqing ultimately didn't answer the question, but only offered a sincere apology.
But Meng Chiwan seemed not to hear her and did not give any response.
Then Yun Xianqing's voice seemed to start to panic, no longer as calm and composed as before: "Chi Wan, I... you can kill me."
Meng Chiwan remained unresponsive, showing no reaction whatsoever.
When Yun Xianqing grabbed her hand, her first reaction to him was to pull away in disgust.
Yun Xianqing seemed stunned. She wanted to hold Meng Chiwan's hand again, but she could clearly see Meng Chiwan's undisguised disgust.
He finally lowered his head: "...it was to prove the truth."
Meng Chiwan laughed this time, a genuine laugh.
She had come across this term in a book. She remembered telling Yun Xianqing, "If a person needs to rely on such means to prove the Dao, then what kind of Dao is he cultivating? He is probably even worse than the most wicked person in the world."
What was Yun Xianqing's response at the time?
He said, "But if Chi Wan wants to use me as a testament to her faith one day, I will do it willingly."
So that's what they were waiting for her in.
"Yun Xianqing, you're disgusting," Meng Chiwan said sincerely.
As their lips intertwined, Meng Chiwan bit down hard, swallowing a mouthful of blood. Yun Xianqing, however, seemed oblivious to the pain, continuing his exploration.
Meng Chiwan struggled, as if she were being torn apart by bone and blood, pushing and shoving forcefully.
Finally, a few warm drops of water slid down her cheek, indistinguishable as to whether they were hers or his.
She heard him say, "Don't say that... please don't say that."
Meng Chiwan remained silent.
He then added, "You can kill me all you want, please don't say that..."
The voice was mournful, too many emotions finding no outlet, so it turned into a weak sob, silent yet inexplicably sad, as if being disemboweled, trying to dig something out of it.
The author says: I once saw a quote: "Growing up is as painful as pulling out tendons and bones, until one day, words can no longer express the bitterness in my heart."
I think that for Meng Chiwan, Yun Xianqing was more like a period of growth, which is why she hated him and was so disappointed in him that she became numb.
If Yun Xianqing handed her a sword, she would really kill him.
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