The rain at Tianyan Mountain, like that of a brother, can be so enchanting...
Because of her extremely low natural talent of the five spiritual roots and the limitations of her pure spiritual body on cultivation, she carefully maintained the balance between the spiritual energy inside her body and the outside world, and used six or seven tenths of her strength to cultivate for a period of time.
But as she watched as some of her former fellow disciples who had cultivated together in the Zhijing Hall passed the sect's trials, left the outer sect, and became disciples, she herself remained in the same place year after year.
So she became lax in her practice. To avoid being noticed that her cultivation was of little use, she simply stopped cultivating properly and just made do with whatever she could. She never put in any effort.
After that, he became distracted and drifted aimlessly through the three years of his imprisonment, only then gradually recalling those wasted years.
It can be very difficult to get someone to truly admit their shortcomings or mistakes.
But no one in this world is without flaws. A mistake is a mistake, and there's nothing wrong with admitting it. Besides, she was just young and ignorant and lazy in her cultivation, not someone who committed evil deeds or killed people.
She entered the sect at a young age, entered the Zhijing Hall at the age of three, and spent seventeen years lazily studying the Dao in the Tianyan Sect. In the end, she couldn't even deal with a few crazy demonic beasts.
Even if she only has five spiritual roots, people would still laugh their heads off if they told others.
If he hadn't been held back by those demonic beasts, he wouldn't have encountered Fu Yinhuan, who was looking for Tan Guiyi.
People will eventually have to pay the price for their choices, sooner or later, in varying degrees.
The scriptures neglected at thirteen, the swordsmanship never practiced at fourteen, the talismans half-heartedly learned at fifteen...
Those years when she was complacent about being lazy and taking time off all came down to the worst blow she suffered in the old forest during the dead of winter when she was twenty.
But that was just her choice in her past life. Even if she had chosen to become a beggar, no one would have the right to take her life.
But even if that's the truth, people like Fu Yinhuan in the cultivation world would never follow it.
Yan Huanyue was lost in thought for a long time. It wasn't until a cool breeze brushed past her temples and made the hairpins jingle that she came back to her senses and saw that the sky was getting darker.
I never noticed before that the rain at Tianyan Mountain could be so enchanting.
The hazy, distant view that had appeared countless times in her dreams within the dark, sunless prison now transformed into an incredibly clear panorama of misty mountains unfolding before her eyes. She was fortunate enough to be able to stand before the mountains once more...
She couldn't help but pick up her teacup, get up, and walk to the window to look at the green mountains and slanting rain outside the curtain.
After a long while, the other hand, which was not holding a teacup, made a Supreme Jade Purity Incantation. With clear eyes, he said softly and respectfully, "Thank you, Heaven, for your tolerance and for guiding your disciple through the darkness."
After saying this, she reached out and rolled up the bamboo curtain. Instantly, a wild breeze filled her sleeves and brushed away the old dust from her face.
She suddenly poured the tea from her cup into the misty rain of Cangshan Mountain, offering it as a tribute to the vast universe.
As the wind and rain intensified, she withdrew her hand and slowly lowered the bamboo curtain. Holding the still-warm cup, she poured herself another cup of tea.
Taking advantage of the scalding heat, she tilted her head back and gulped down a whole large cup, almost instantly scalding her lips, teeth, and throat, causing blisters and sores.
She formed a protective barrier with her hands, savoring the increasingly tormenting pain, threw down her teacup, threw her head back and laughed, laughing until tears streamed down her face, laughing until she was almost suffocating.
"I'm still alive! I'm still alive!"
After her outburst, Yan Huanyue waved her hand to dispel the barrier, gradually calming down and beginning to speculate on what time it was.
She remembered what Gu Yuxiao had just said about Yu Zhao going to Linjiang and not wanting to take her with him, which made her unhappy. It seemed to have happened in the spring when she was seventeen.
She still remembers that incident not because of Yu Zhao, but because she had a quarrel with Xue Jingnian over Yu Zhao and scratched Xue Jingnian's face. Surprisingly, Xue Jingnian didn't pursue the matter.
That was the only time she had ever beaten Xue Jingnian since she was seven years old, so she would sometimes think back on it.
In fact, in her past life, she always clung to Yu Zhao, not because she particularly liked him.
It was only because Yu Zhao had a higher cultivation level among the disciples of this generation, was born with dual spiritual roots, entered the sect at the age of five, and passed the outer sect examination at the age of thirteen to become a disciple of the peak master of Lingxu Peak.
After she completely gave up cultivation, she wanted to leave the Tianyan Sect. Firstly, she could not pass the trials year after year and was ashamed to be with her fellow disciples. Secondly, she wanted to give up something that was not suitable for her and live an ordinary life in the mortal world.
Since childhood, she had longed to go to Yunjing to marry into the Yu family and see the prosperous scene described in her parents' notes.
She had known since childhood that although Yu Zhao had some affection for her, he still couldn't let go of his resentment. If her mother hadn't died saving Yu Zhao's mother, Yu Zhao would never have had any connection with her.
Her feelings for Yu Zhao were largely based on her longing for Yunjing.
However, her trip to Yunjing in her previous life did not bring her any joy at all.
The cold stares of my parents and old friends, and the belittling from the Yu family, are as clear as if I saw them yesterday.
Yu was indebted to her parents, so even if they disliked her, they couldn't very well bring up the matter of breaking off the engagement.
So, after she left the mountain in her previous life, she had actually told Yu Zhao that if he couldn't get over his own hurdle, he could take her on a trip to Yunjing and then she could ask the Yu family to dissolve the engagement.
She even wrote a letter to her sect informing them that she wished to live alone in Yunjing.
At the time, Yu Zhao questioned her about why she said such things, suspecting that she had fallen in love with someone else. Later, he said he would have a few days to think about it. But after arriving in Yunjing, he was determined to marry her.
It wasn't until the wedding day, when Tan Guiyi barged into the bridal chamber, that she learned that Yu Zhao wanted to marry her ahead of schedule simply because he had a conflict with Tan Guiyi and wanted to spite her by forcing her to show herself.
What's more, he actually said that he didn't want to let down the two women. While she was still a little confused, Tan Guiyi immediately drew her sword to commit suicide, and he instantly sided with Tan Guiyi.
She had traveled a long way to Yunjing with great joy, only to become a rather ridiculous joke.
She thought that after enduring so much cold treatment, even if her new husband didn't care about their marriage, he would at least consider their shared background and do his best to be a good host.
Even if you go after Tan Guiyi, bring her along. Even if the three of you talk about it together, at least don't let her become a joke in Yunjing, the place her parents once protected and the place she cherishes.
But he didn't. He chased after Tan Guiyi without hesitation, using a restriction to keep her out of the snowy forest in the middle of the night.
Thinking of this, Yan Huanyue couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.
If she remembered correctly, half a month before Yu Zhao went to Linjiang, Tan Guiyi and others also came to Tianyan Sect to find him, planning to travel with him. She had also been summoned by the sect leader to ask him a question.
She looked up at the misty green mountains outside the curtain. She remembered that it was a gloomy, rainy evening when Xue Jingnian told her that she was not good enough for Yu Zhao and that she still insisted on going to Linjiang to hold him back.
Xue Jingnian then brought up the matter of the demonic calamity in Yunjing back then. Because it involved her parents, she became furious and pounced on Xue Jingnian, starting a fight.
But she came and went quickly. After being taken to the teahouse by her senior brother Gu, she was boiling water to prepare tea when she fell asleep. That day, the fire in the stove ignited two new sheets of paper, scorching her hair.
Yu Zhao also scolded and reprimanded Xue Jingnian for scratching her face, and came all the way to the teahouse.
On many occasions, Yu Zhao was willing to discipline her.
Because within the sect, he was considered one of those who possessed both family background and cultivation, and he disdained to criticize or discipline others. Therefore, he poured out all his pent-up emotions onto his fiancée.
Yu Zhao was six years older than her. When she was little, he would often take her with him whenever he wasn't in class. If she misbehaved, he wouldn't allow her to eat in the cafeteria, and sometimes she would go hungry for a whole day.
This situation only gradually improved after she grew to be eight or nine years old and became sensible enough to tell others.
Thinking of those past events, Yan Huanyue remained calm and poured two cups of tea.
Then he sat by the large, scratched table, enjoying the cool breeze, gazing at the green mountains outside the curtain, and drinking tea while waiting.
Before long, one could hear someone gently knocking on the wooden door in front of the courtyard.
Yan Huanyue sipped her tea and heard Gu Yuxiao lazily respond from across the bamboo grove. She then stepped across the wooden corridor with not-so-light steps to open the door.
Suddenly, he became unusually clear-headed and greeted, "Junior Brother Yu, what brings you here?"
"Senior Brother Gu, is Huanyue here?"
"In the teahouse, Junior Brother Yu..."
Yan Huanyue put down her teacup, sat steadily in her original position, and stared intently at the young man who walked in from outside with a sullen face, separated by a destroyed table.
Hatred surged up from the roots of his teeth like poison, and the burn in his mouth felt like his flesh was being shredded.
Yan Huanyue used all her reason to suppress the urge to cleave him in two with a single blow. She gripped her wounded hand tightly, revealing a seemingly obedient smile, but her voice was hoarse and undisguised, "Senior Brother Yu, you were looking for me?"
Yu Zhao, dressed in a blue robe, was free of moisture, and his brows and eyes exuded the confidence and arrogance unique to those who had achieved fame at a young age.
He stood directly by the door, looking at her with a serious expression, without taking another step towards her.
Although he noticed her hoarse voice, he didn't pay it any mind.
"Yu Zhao, why are you running so fast? Are you in such a hurry to see your fiancée?"
A cheerful girl's voice came from outside the door, and light footsteps grew closer. Tan Guiyi, dressed in a pale yellow dress, leaped in from outside.
Her fellow disciple Xiao Tiran followed her in, but Fu Yinhuan, dressed in black, simply stepped up the stairs and stood under the eaves.
Yan Huanyue's gaze passed through the three people and went straight to Fu Yinhuan, who was standing with his hands behind his back. He seemed to sense her gaze, glanced at her indifferently, and then turned back to look at the small bamboo grove in the courtyard.
This dark figure overlapped with her past life. During the three years that Yan Huanyue worked as a laborer, she could never understand why Fu Yinhuan would treat her that way after she had saved him once.
Why did she end up with nothing but regret, unable to repay the deep kindness she had received, and suffering all the consequences until her death?
But now that I think about it, why bother with all that? Why keep asking why, why? Where do all those whys come from?
Many people do evil in ways that are incomprehensible to ordinary people. What she needs to do is not to understand him, but to cultivate herself well and kill him with her own hands.
Tan Guiyi first shoved Yu Zhao's arm as if venting her anger, then looked at Yan Huanyue with a beaming smile, "Fellow Daoist Yan, why are you looking at Yin Huan? Do you think he's even better looking than Yu Zhao?"
Yu Zhao's expression instantly turned somewhat strange, and Fu Yinhuan, who was outside the door, inadvertently turned her head.
Yan Huanyue naturally withdrew her gaze, suppressing the nauseating hatred churning in her chest, and said in a low voice:
“Oh, no, I saw Fellow Daoist Fu a few days ago and saw how close you two were, so I assumed he was your Daoist partner. But today, your junior brother is not as close to you as he is to you, which I find a little strange. So I looked at him. Ah, I don’t know what your relationship is. If I have offended you, please forgive me.”
Aside from Fu Yinhuan's subtle change in expression, Yu Zhao and Xiao Tiran's faces both stiffened for a moment.
Tan Guiyi smiled helplessly, waved her hand casually, a hint of disdain in her eyes, but still generously explained:
"No, how come all you young girls have in your heads is just love and romance? We often go on trials together, we're practically brothers and sisters, we get along like brothers, how can we be considered Daoist couples? What, Yu Zhao, are male and female disciples not allowed to go on trials together?"
A note from the author:
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