Acquaintances stroll along the waves and through the snow, under a clear, bright moon.
Yan Huanyue escorted Pei Hanzhou and the others to the door of their guest room. She was quite worried about Pei Hanzhou's health at the moment.
However, Pei Hanzhou recovered quickly. Repairing the damage from the Soul Search was not a big deal for him, so when he walked from the bedside to the door, his complexion had returned to normal.
The door opened, and he waved away the barrier he had set up when searching Pei Xuanzhi's soul.
A young black swallow peeked its head out from under the eaves. Seeing him come out, it happily spread its wings and glided down. Then it flapped its wings and led the way into the courtyard.
Looking at the color of the black swallow's feathers, Yan Huanyue guessed that it was the sick swallow that its mother had previously carried out of the nest.
"This is Youzhi."
Su Xianqing followed behind Pei Hanzhou, deliberately lagging behind by a step, and whispered to Yan Huanyue:
"Master said that he found it outside the inn where Junior Brother Pei stayed when he was sick. Now it is very healthy and spirited. However, he was worried that Junior Brother Pei would not like it, so he has been calling it Yun Guan'er for the past few days."
Yan Huanyue said, "Oh, it really is it."
Han Shuangying was not a disciple of Pei Hanzhou and rarely visited Changqing Palace, so she rarely spoke in front of Pei Hanzhou.
He was walking slowly with his hands at his sides, looking up at the black swallows flying freely under the blue sky, slightly lost in thought.
Pei Hanzhou turned around and said, "Baoying, there's no need to see me off. After Xuanlang takes his medicine, let him rest for a while and then come to my room."
"yes."
Pei Hanzhou waved his hand, and a small celadon bottle flew to Yan Huanyue's side. "Use this for the wound on your hand. It heals extremely quickly and won't leave a scar."
Yan Huanyue accepted the medicine and watched them leave.
Just as she was about to turn around, she saw that the window of a guesthouse on the east side was half open, and Xue Jingnian was standing in the shadow of the window frame looking at her.
Beside the table behind him, Yu Yi took a small brocade pouch and slammed it onto the black lacquered wooden table. A sliver of golden light flashed, but there was no sound.
Tan Guiyi asked in surprise, "Such a big brocade pouch, and it only contains this one tiny golden millet? What kind of fine wine can you drink from that?"
Yu Yi carefully put away the small brocade pouch and said in a serious tone, "To be honest, the fox demon robbed the pills meant for Twelfth Brother on the way. He didn't find anything at the Ghost Market this time. I don't have much wealth, so naturally I can't be as generous as Young Master Jiang."
Tan Guiyi sneered inwardly. Yu Yi had plundered an unknown amount of things from the Ghost Market, and now she was pretending to be pitiful.
However, some scions of wealthy families are like this: despite their riches, they are extremely stingy, especially when they don't have a deep relationship with others, they are even less likely to give away their wealth.
Tan Guiyi showed no emotion on her face, but waved her hand and said with a smile, "Never mind, I know you're in a difficult position, so let me ask you. After all, it was only because you agreed to let me go with you that I was able to do my part to help Yu Zhao find medicine."
Yu Yi smiled and leaned back in her chair. She turned her head slightly and caught a glimpse of Yan Huanyue walking through the courtyard. At that moment, Yan Huanyue happened to turn her head and glance over.
Yu Yi raised her voice from afar, "Fellow Daoist Pei has been ill for several days now, and I heard that Fellow Daoist Yan has been taking care of him tirelessly. How come his condition hasn't improved, and he's still so radiant? Could it be that all men associated with Fellow Daoist Yan can't survive the ordeal of being bedridden with a chronic illness? My twelfth brother is like this, Fellow Daoist Pei is like this, and I think our Third Young Master Xue looks haggard; I'm afraid he'll fall ill soon too..."
Yan Huanyue said coldly, "I see that you have a foul mouth and a rotten heart and lungs; you look like you're destined to die young."
Instead of getting angry, Yu Yi laughed, tilted her head back completely in her chair, covered her face with her hands to suppress her laughter, and said with a smile, "I'm talking to you nicely, why are you scolding me?"
Taking advantage of his inability to see, Tan Guiyi secretly glared at him.
Are you sick? You're laughing even after being scolded.
Not only is he narrow-minded and petty, but he's also mentally ill. He'd be better off dead sooner rather than later.
Tan Guiyi got up and walked to the window, saying politely, "Fellow Daoist Yan, how is Fellow Daoist Pei now? May we go and visit him?"
Yan Huanyue looked at the white veil on Tan Guiyi's face and said calmly, "Thank you, but it's not necessary."
After saying that, he turned and went back to his room.
Yu Yi rubbed her face, somewhat annoyed at her behavior of laughing when she was scolded in public.
His left ring finger touched the barely visible knife scar between his eyebrows, and he muttered, "How rude... No wonder Twelfth Brother is annoyed by her, how rude..."
As he spoke, he got up, picked up the golden millet from the table, and walked out of the room.
Yan Huanyue turned around and closed the door, glancing at the neatly made bed and the thin person lying in the quilt.
She walked lightly to the bedside, sat down in a chair, leaned over to pick up the medicine bowl from the small table, and asked, "Can you get up?"
Pei Xuanzhi blinked upon hearing this.
Then, he propped himself up on the bed with one hand, slowly leaned against the headboard, coughed twice, and slowly reached out to take the bowl from her hand, tilting his head back to drink a sip.
Just as she swallowed, her brow furrowed slightly, and she turned to the bedside, the bowl in her hand wobbling.
Yan Huanyue quickly took the bowl from his hand and placed it on the small table. She put a piece of candy into his mouth and said in a low voice, "Why are you drinking so fast? If you drink your medicine too quickly, you'll vomit."
Pei Xuanzhi felt a warm sensation brush against his lips. She touched the candy in her mouth with her fingertips, which felt strange and abrupt, leaving him momentarily at a loss for what to do.
The golden mist within his soul unexpectedly became excited and twisted. He lay on the edge of the bed, breathing evenly, and remained motionless for a long time.
Yan Huanyue didn't reply, but took out the ointment Pei Hanzhou had given her and applied it to the wound on her palm.
Pei Xuanzhi finally took a sip of the candy in his mouth.
A subtle sweetness gradually overwhelmed the bitterness as it flowed down the throat, but it did nothing to soothe the increasingly restless golden mist.
From the moment he woke up and saw her, Jin Wu relentlessly demanded to get close to her, regardless of the time or place.
Therefore, it is not difficult for him to understand that in those lost memories, he must have had impure thoughts about her.
This surprised him, but not entirely.
Just like this time with amnesia, he didn't know why his father asked him those questions, nor did he know what he had done.
However, he wouldn't be surprised if it was something he did intentionally or in a way that went with the flow.
That little world?
If he deliberately hid those memories, they shouldn't be hard for him to find.
He must have anticipated his search for his memories, and he must have also anticipated how he would get along with Senior Sister Yan after waking up.
Otherwise, why would he still remember the first time he met her?
He turned his head to look at Yan Huanyue, carefully examining her lowered eyes and brows, and slowly said, "Senior Sister Yan, since so many fellow disciples have come, why did Father leave you alone to take care of me?"
Yan Huanyue put away the ointment and said calmly, "If you don't want me here, I'll go and ask..."
"don't want."
He sat up, sipping his candy, glanced at the injury on her hand, picked up the medicine beside him, held it in both hands, and leaned against the headboard to slowly sip it.
The brown herbal soup reflected on his face, its bitterness mingling with a barely perceptible sweetness, creating a serene atmosphere in the quiet room.
After a long while, he heard Yan Huanyue whisper, "As long as you wake up..."
Her voice was very low and soft; it was unclear whether she was speaking to him or to herself.
Yan Huanyue put away the small porcelain bottle. Her palm felt slightly cool and slightly painful, neither too strong nor too weak. If she didn't pay attention to it, it wouldn't hurt much.
Are you feeling unwell anywhere right now?
Pei Xuanzhi shook his head. "It's alright."
"After you take the medicine, go to the third floor of the inn's front courtyard to find the sect leader."
Pei Xuanzhi nodded and said, "Alright. But I'll stay in bed for a few days and take a bath before I can go out."
Yan Huanyue nodded, stood up and said, "I'll go ask the waiter to bring some water."
She hadn't returned for a long time. When Pei Xuanzhi took a bath, he noticed several faint bite marks and scratches on his body as soon as he took off his clothes.
A chill ran through him, his brow furrowed, and he grabbed a mirror from the side, examining himself carefully.
Above the collarbone, on the chest, on the arms, on the waist and abdomen...
These scars had faded, but they still carried a strong sense of ambiguity and desire. He gripped the mirror tightly, staring intently at the teeth marks on his collarbone.
Could it be her?
But her father called her "Senior Sister Yan," and she didn't seem like the type to do such a thing to him at all. These injuries...
What else did he experience?
What if he originally wanted to start fresh and clean? Otherwise, why keep the memory of her rescuing him from the water?
Did she see these things while she was taking care of him these past few days?
With a loud "bang".
He threw the mirror in his hand to the ground. The bronze mirror crashed to the ground and bounced violently several times, making a piercing sound and instantly cracking several times.
Amidst the misty haze, the wobbly bronze mirror reflected a jade-white body riddled with cracks.
A cracked yellow talisman drifted down, obscuring the shattered beauty reflected in the mirror and shattering the bronze mirror into dust...
Dust settled in the air; dusk was approaching.
On a meadow dotted with tiny purple wildflowers in the suburbs, Yan Huanyue raised her hand, made a hand seal, and brushed away the dust from her sword, dispelling the barrier she had temporarily erected for sword practice.
Han Shuangying stood with her hands behind her back in the evening breeze, and commented impartially, "She has not neglected her cultivation and has made some progress."
Yan Huanyue sheathed her sword, made a hand seal, and greeted, "Senior Sister Han."
As Han Shuangying turned around, the hem of her green gauze dress brushed against the grass, and Yan Huanyue followed in her footsteps.
“Junior Brother Pei has lost his memory, but the moon has its phases, and nothing is perfect. The hardships in the world are like swirling clouds, sometimes visible and sometimes hidden, endless. At least he is still alive... You are also alive and can still wield a weapon. Do not be confused and trapped in the past, unaware of the value of today and the distance of tomorrow.”
Yan Huanyue looked up at her back, never expecting that she had come all this way and would talk about these things.
Yan Huanyue nodded and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister. I understand what you said. When things come to this, self-harm is useless. Let's walk on the waves and through the snow, under the clear moon and bright sky."
Han Shuangying suddenly stopped and turned to look at her. After a long while, she said slowly, "You are very much like your mother now. She is a very open-minded person."
Yan Huanyue's heart tightened suddenly; this was the first time she had heard her talk about her mother.
Logically speaking, at that time, Senior Sister Han was a renowned young genius who had not yet become a lecturer at the Zhijing Hall.
Her mother was an insignificant outer disciple, and she had almost never heard anyone mention her mother, yet Senior Sister Han still remembered her.
"There are many disciples in the sect. I didn't know her originally. Once, my master instructed me to take a few outer disciples to go out into the world for training. We met briefly then."
"Senior Sister Jiang is a bit older than me. She is very lively and loves to laugh. Even when she is seriously injured, she can still jokingly talk about her cultivation level. In this respect, you used to be somewhat like her, but you are not like her now."
Have you ever thought about what she might have said before she died?
Yan Huanyue was stunned for a moment. At that time, she was cut out of her mother's womb by a demon. She never dared to think about the pain her mother had endured until the sect leader arrived.
Over time, the girl's appearance before Han Shuangying's eyes has changed slightly.
Blood soaked the woman's clothes; she was drenched in cold sweat, her face as thin as paper, and dark red blood kept spilling from her mouth, yet she still smiled and said:
"Junior Sister Han, don't worry... it's just a few broken ribs. My cultivation is too low, hehe, I'm ashamed..."
"Junior Sister Han, what nonsense are you talking about? It wasn't that I was overestimating myself and tried to block it for you; I just didn't like that thing. If I die... it's not your fault. It's all that damned demon's fault; it was just too... hard to fight. Look, I even cried from being beaten, hehe..."
"If I survive, I will definitely... make a lot of money and spirit stones, find many hidden talents like you... and crush those worthless bastards..."
A breeze ruffled her hair as Han Shuangying turned and headed towards the place where the setting sun was about to set.
Yan Huanyue followed behind her, struggling against the wind and quickening her pace for a long time before finally reaching her side.
After a while, she walked up to Han Shuangying, ignoring the strands of hair flying wildly in the wind, and turned to ask, "Senior Sister Han, I want to know some things..."
Han Shuangying said, "I'm sorry, I know very little about your mother."
The light in Yan Huanyue's eyes faded, and she said softly, "Oh..."
Just as dusk was falling, the two returned to the inn's entrance.
Remembering that Pei Xuanzhi's medicine was running out, Yan Huanyue bid farewell to Han Shuangying and went back to the street alone to buy medicine, and also to see if she could find any mashed sweet potato snacks to take back to him.
The medicine was bought quickly, but the mashed potato snacks took quite a while to find in a secluded alley.
Waiting for the last batch of pastries to come out of the oven, I bought one and put it in my treasure pouch. I had only been out of the low-ceilinged little shop for a short while when it started to rain.
The rain looks heavy; it shouldn't last much longer.
She stood under the eaves to shelter from the rain. The streets and alleys were quiet and dark, with only a few houses letting in some light.
She was reciting scriptures when suddenly, with a "thud," a person fell from the sky and landed on the street, motionless.
She glanced at him in the dim light and realized it was Yu Shiliulang from Yunjing.
It really is my damned fate.
She stood quietly under the eaves, watching. Occasionally, she looked up and saw Yun Ruoliang with two crossbow bolts stuck in his body, flying through the night rain, wielding a long sword and heading straight for Yu Yi.
Yan Huanyue narrowed her eyes.
Perhaps I was too happy and mistook a familiar face for someone else through the rain.
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