That night, the crescent moon rose high, and the stars twinkled.
Inside the room, the bright lamps lit by the crystals shone as brightly as day, casting two long shadows on the ground.
Qi Changfeng personally poured a cup of clear wine for the person opposite him, saying as he poured, "Young Master Qi, this Qinshan Spring water is the finest wine, extremely precious. I searched the entire human realm and only managed to obtain two jars. The taste is even more refreshing than peach blossom wine. Please try it."
Qi Rong raised the cup with both hands to pour him wine. Hearing this, he said, "I have long heard that there are the finest wines in the Three Realms. The God Realm has the Heavenly Magpie Wine, and the Human Realm has the Qinshan Wine. Today I am fortunate enough to taste them, thanks to Sect Master Qi."
"Judging from Young Master Qi's demeanor and speech, he is knowledgeable and well-traveled. His appearance is also exceptional. He is clearly a man of outstanding talent and will surely achieve great success and become famous far and wide in the future."
Qi Rong humbly replied, "Sect Master, you flatter me."
Qi Changfeng observed his composed and gentlemanly demeanor, paused for a moment, and then asked, "How did you and Qinghe meet?"
Qi Rong paused for a moment, then said, "We met at Yujing Manor when she went to Yueshan."
"Qinghe has a rather strange personality. You could say she's aloof, but she can also be quite lively at times. You could also say she's not exactly cheerful."
Qi Changfeng took a sip of sake and spoke in a leisurely tone, "I still remember when she joined the sect. On the surface, she seemed to get along well with her fellow disciples, but in her heart, she was very wary of everyone, including me, her master."
As he recounted Qinghe's past, Qi Rong put down her wine glass and listened intently.
“I once asked her why she harbored malice towards everyone, and she replied that if a seriously injured person and a seriously injured dog were both asking her for help at the same time, she would walk towards the dog without hesitation and then draw her sword to kill the person. The human heart is the most unfathomable thing in this world; it is not black and white, but rather gray, like a rainy day.”
Qi Changfeng got up and walked to the lamppost, added some crystals, and the flame that was about to go out instantly rose higher.
"After hearing this, I stopped giving her any more teachings. A person's character is easy to change, but changing one's heart is not something that can be accomplished overnight."
Qi Rong: "Dao Heart?"
“That’s right, Dao Heart.” Qi Changfeng looked at him and said, “The reason she has such thoughts is related to the Dao she cultivates.”
"What path?"
Qi Changfeng was about to answer him when he suddenly heard a loud noise outside the door, and someone shouted for help, "Help! Senior Sister... Senior Sister has gone mad!"
Before he even stepped out the door, a sudden gust of wind rushed past his ears. He turned his head and saw only a dark blue hem of clothing.
In front of Lingxiao Palace, many disciples were struck down, with only a few with decent cultivation still holding on.
A disciple tried to draw his sword, but someone immediately stopped him, saying, "Don't draw your sword! That's Second Senior Sister! Do you want to hurt her?"
"But without a weapon to defend myself, I'll be whipped unconscious by my senior sister sooner or later!"
The disciple glanced at the defeated disciples scattered on the ground and hurriedly asked, "Where did our senior brother go?"
"It seems like they've been resting since daytime; I haven't seen them at all..."
Before they could finish speaking, a fierce gust of wind whistled past, sweeping the two of them to the ground in the blink of an eye.
The two turned around in alarm and looked ahead.
The long whip lashed the ground, flashing like lightning. The person wielding the whip was only dressed in his undergarments and appeared as delicate as the wind, but in reality, he was incredibly strong. None of the disciples in the courtyard dared to approach him.
Qinghe's dark eyes were like ice, and his whole body exuded a strong killing intent and a terrifying aura. Wherever his eyes swept, everyone felt a chill, a coldness ran down their spines, and they kept backing away.
She felt a stinging pain in her neck and instinctively raised her hand to touch it, but found nothing.
She frowned, looked at a disciple on the ground, and held out her hand, "Give me a mirror."
The disciple was both delighted and apprehensive when he saw a girl asking him for a mirror for the first time.
He trembled as he reached into his robes, then trembled again as he withdrew his hand, saying in a trembling voice, "Senior sister, I...I don't have a mirror."
Qinghe's eyes sharpened, and with a flick of his sleeve, he swept the man away.
Moving on to the next one, "Mirror."
"Me too...I didn't either..."
Sweep it out, next one.
"I also……"
Sweep it out, next one.
"..."
She flung several people away but still couldn't get the mirror. Frustrated and angry, she unleashed a torrent of spiritual energy, sending a cold light soaring into the sky, accompanied by fierce winds, lightning, and thunder.
Seeing this, everyone quickly got up and left the place of trouble, but before they could take a few steps, a flash of light appeared before their eyes and a long whip was already in front of them.
Just as she was about to be whipped away again, a hand suddenly grabbed the whip and pulled Qinghe into her arms.
The moment he pulled her into his arms, his other hand swiftly touched her forehead. Qinghe paused abruptly, her head gradually drooping as she closed her eyes.
Qi Rong gently pulled her into his arms, then with a flick of his wrist, he lifted Qinghe up horizontally and in a flash, they were already at Luhua Terrace.
He gently placed Qinghe on the bed, his movements extremely tender, as if handling a rare treasure.
Qi Changfeng then came over, leaned over to look at the bed, and his gaze darkened slightly when it swept over the strange mark on Qing's neck.
Seeing his serious expression, Qi Rong asked, "Do you know why she suddenly became like this?"
Qi Changfeng said in a deep voice, "Do you still remember what I just said?"
Qi Rong recalled their conversation and suddenly looked at Qing He, "Is this her Dao Heart?"
"To be precise, it's about sealing away the Dao heart in her heart," Qi Changfeng said. "It's clear that she has abandoned her former Dao and is now seeking a better one."
"Then why is this happening?"
Qi Changfeng stroked his beard and sighed, "I'm afraid his Dao heart is unstable and his will is not firm."
Qi Rong lowered her eyes to look at the person on the bed and reached out to brush away the stray hairs from her forehead.
Listening to Qinghe's steady breathing, Qi Rong felt both guilty and heartbroken.
I feel guilty that I met her too late and was not a part of her past. I feel sorry for her being tormented by the Dao Heart, exhausted and in great pain.
"Is my unstable Dao heart because of me?"
He murmured softly, revealing boundless melancholy, but Qi Changfeng rejected him outright.
Qi Rong was somewhat surprised. In this world, nothing is more troubling than the word "emotion." Whether it is familial love, friendship, or romantic love, they are all powerful tools that can shake people's hearts. Countless people have abandoned the path of enlightenment because of the word "emotion," and their fates vary from person to person.
Over the millennia, the things he has seen and the people he has met have far surpassed those he has experienced.
However, Qi Changfeng told him that Qinghe was not driven mad by love, which made him feel both heartbroken and genuinely surprised.
What kind of cultivation path did she practice?
Qi Changfeng walked back from the window, his gaze shifting before finally settling on the ring on Qinghe's right pinky finger.
"The Path of Ruthlessness".
Qi Rong murmured these three words repeatedly, "Severing emotions and love, being selfless and without desire, is to be heartless, the way of heartlessness..."
Long, cool fingers traced the strange, mysterious mark on Qinghe's neck. The mark seemed to be afraid of Qi Rong and was consciously fading away.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com