Chapter 4 Handkerchief
He hurried into the bamboo forest, the delicate fragrance of the leaves soothing the heat from Yun Ruchen's cheeks. The rustling sound was like the sound of natural wind chimes. Bamboo leaves drifted down from overhead, sunlight filtering through the gaps between them, casting beams of light onto the ground. He walked amidst the beams, his figure slender, though not massive due to his lack of practice. A corset accentuated his slender figure, and his tousled hair flowed over his broad shoulders. His features were regular, with thick, black eyebrows, a mole on the side of his nose, and a perpetually relaxed smile on his lips. His most striking feature were his eyes, narrow and long like a fox's, with neatly lashes set to the corners, giving them a striking presence. His dark pupils were round and bright, lending them a hint of languid sleepiness. Only when he laughed did his eyes widen, glittering like stars. Just as he reached the stone steps, Yun Ruchen heard a commotion and turned to see the approaching disciples of the Sword Pavilion. "Yun Ruchen!" Xiong Guiyue asked in surprise. "Why are you here?" She peered deeper into the bamboo forest, her brow furrowed. "You came to see Senior Sister?" Yun Ruchen laughed. Besides Feng Jingluo, who else in the entire sect would address him as Young Master? He nodded. Wen Qi stepped forward. "Don't blame me for my harsh words. You should know yourselves and know you're not worthy of Senior Sister." "No matter how the Sect Master discusses this with Senior Sister, you should make your position clear. Cancel this ill-conceived marriage." Wen Qi's displeasure grew as he surveyed him, his hair disheveled and his body damp with sweat. Only then did the others notice his slightly disheveled appearance. Song Jun smiled. "Were you kicked out by Senior Sister?" Yun Ruchen remained silent, silently hiding the handkerchief behind his back. If these people saw him, it would cause trouble for Feng Jingluo. "As for the marriage, I'll personally cancel it," he said. "I have no interest in marriage," he said. "I have no interest in anything else in the world." He took the initiative to step aside, skirting the group, tucking his handkerchief into his bosom as they passed. "Wait a moment!" Xiong Guiyue stopped him, bowing. "This incident was caused by my junior brother and me. Not only has it troubled Senior Sister, it's also delayed the Young Master's selection of a bride." "We are both willing to shoulder all the blame. We hope Young Master will forgive us." Xiong Guiyue kicked Lin Qiao, who stood like a block of wood beside her. He hurriedly bent down, imitating his senior sister's example. Yun Ruchen turned back, his eyes lowered, a meaningful smile on his face. "Who am I to blame you?" He left without a backward glance. Although he was the Young Master, his status within the sect was even lower than that of a deacon in the Law Enforcement Hall. If he tried to punish anyone, it would only cause laughter, mocking his presumption. Yun Ruchen placed his hand on his chest and sighed. Not only...
He hurried into the bamboo forest, and the fragrance of the bamboo leaves soothed the heat on Yun Ruchen's cheeks.
The rustling sound of friction was like the sound of natural wind chimes. Bamboo leaves fluttered down from overhead, and sunlight penetrated the gaps between the leaves, casting beams of light onto the ground.
He walked in the beams of light, his figure slender, though not strong due to his laziness in practicing. A corset accentuated his thin waist, and his messy hair flowed over his broad shoulders.
He has regular facial features, thick black eyebrows, a black mole on the side of his nose, and his lips often have a leisurely smile.
His most striking features were his eyes, narrow and long like a fox's, with lashes neatly set at the ends, giving them a striking presence. His dark pupils were round and bright, lending them a touch of languor and sleepiness. Only when he laughed did his eyes widen, glittering like stars.
As he was walking and about to reach the stone steps, Yun Ruchen heard a noise. He turned around and saw the disciples of Jiange approaching.
"Yun Ruchen!" Xiong Guiyue asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"
She looked deeper into the bamboo forest and frowned. "You came to see Senior Sister?"
Yun Ruchen laughed. Besides Feng Jingluo, who else in the entire sect would respectfully address him as Young Sect Master? He nodded.
Wen Qi stepped forward. "Don't blame me for being harsh. You should know yourself well enough to know you're not worthy of Senior Sister."
"No matter how the Sect Master discusses with Senior Sister, you should make your position clear. Cancel this wrong marriage."
Wen Qi looked at him with disheveled hair and damp skin, and he felt more and more displeased.
Only then did they notice that he looked a little disheveled.
Song Jun smiled and asked, "Were you kicked out by Senior Sister?"
Yun Ruchen said nothing, silently hiding the handkerchief behind his back. If these people saw it, it would cause trouble for Feng Jingluo.
"Regarding the marriage, I will personally explain to cancel it." He said, "I have no interest in marriage." He also has no interest in anything else in this world.
He took the initiative to step back, walked around those people, and stuffed the handkerchief into his arms as he passed by.
"Wait a moment!" Xiong Guiyue stopped him, bowing. "This incident was caused by my junior brother and me. Not only did it cause trouble for Senior Sister, it also delayed the Young Master's selection of a bride."
"We two are willing to shoulder all the responsibility, and we hope that Young Master will forgive us."
Xiong Guiyue kicked Lin Qiao, who was standing beside her like a piece of wood. He hurriedly bent down like his senior sister.
Yun Ruchen turned back, lowered his eyes, and smiled meaningfully. "Who am I to blame you?"
After saying this, he left without looking back.
Although he is a young sect leader, his status in the sect is not even as high as that of the deacon of the Law Enforcement Hall.
If he wanted to punish someone, it would only cause laughter, and people would laugh at him for overestimating his own abilities.
Yun Ruchen placed his hand on his chest and sighed. Not only did he fail to explain the marriage to Feng Jingluo, but he also took her handkerchief back.
Xiong Guiyue stood up straight with a complicated expression.
She knew that Yun Ruchen was implicated in this matter because of them, leading to the situation where he was being roasted in the fire.
"Don't worry about him." Song Jun said, "Go see Senior Sister."
Before they could move forward, Feng Jingluo had already walked out of the bamboo forest.
She heard conversations here at the waterfall.
As I passed through the bamboo forest, I could only see Yun Ruchen's receding figure.
"Greetings, Senior Sister." Everyone saluted.
"What do you want to see me for?"
Although everyone was full of energy before coming, they became like eggplants hit by frost after seeing Feng Jing fall behind, pushing and shoving each other to get the other to speak.
In the end, Xiong Guiyue was pushed in front of him helplessly.
"Senior sister...why didn't you cancel the marriage?" She scratched her head and looked around.
Feng Jingluo raised his eyebrows slightly, wondering why so many people were paying attention to this matter.
She recalled the Sect Master's words, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I refused to cancel the engagement."
"What!" Xiong Guiyue raised her head suddenly, so fast that her neck made a noticeable crisp "crackling" sound.
After a few seconds, she finally felt the pain and could only cover her neck and look at Feng Jingluo.
The others were also stunned and couldn't believe it.
"But...but Yun Ruchen is not worthy of Senior Sister at all." Song Jun walked forward in a daze.
Feng Jingluo frowned. She was not the bright moon hanging in the clouds, so how could she talk about whether she was worthy of him or not?
She didn't like people putting her on a pedestal, as if she were a clay statue rather than a living person with flesh and blood.
She turned and walked back to the bamboo forest, the jade pendant at her waist swaying gently, and her ponytail hair disappeared from everyone's sight.
Amid the sound of falling bamboo leaves, her calm voice echoed: "There's no need to mention this matter again."
"You are not allowed to trouble the Young Master about this matter."
Everyone looked at each other, lowered their heads dejectedly, like a group of bent mushrooms.
"What's going on? It's actually my senior sister who refuses to cancel the engagement!" Xiong Guiyue grabbed her hair in confusion, her head felt like it was being hit by a small hammer.
Lin Qiao slowly backed away, afraid of being beaten.
Wen Qi covered his chest, feeling short of breath.
Song Jun guessed, "Perhaps Senior Sister is merciful and can't bear to see the Sect Master embarrassed."
"After all, the sect leader has already sent invitations to all the sects." He rubbed his brows and sighed, "Who wouldn't know about this now?"
"What should we do then?" Wen Qi asked, "Do we really have to watch Senior Sister marry that loser?"
Song Jun looked at him, "Didn't Yun Ruchen say he would handle this matter? Wait a moment."
Xiong Guiyue said, "After all, it was my junior brother and I who implicated him in this matter. I don't think it's necessary to make things difficult for Yun Ruchen."
Xiong Guiyue also felt a headache. She just wanted to give her an identity jade token, but ended up giving her senior sister away.
Now that the two of them were being pitted against each other, she had no idea how to resolve the issue.
Lin Qiao came over and whispered, "The forbidden area will be opened soon. When Senior Sister comes out, are we really going to let them get married?"
Song Jun frowned, his eyes slowly lighting up. "Or... maybe we could just let Young Master enter the forbidden area as well. He's injured in there, and needs to recuperate, so he can't marry Senior Sister."
Xiong Guiyue said angrily, "He has just established his foundation, do you want him to die?"
Song Jun said confidently, "You also know that he is in the foundation-building stage! He is a new genius who has just joined the sect. He is only eight years old and has already reached the middle stage of the foundation-building stage after two years of training!"
"Do you really want a guy like this standing next to Senior Sister?"
"If he can't cancel the engagement," Song Jun said, his voice icy cold, his hands behind his back. "He must be prepared to risk everything to stand by Senior Sister's side!"
"If he can't even walk out of the forbidden area alive, how can he be qualified to be my senior sister's man?"
"Do you really think that Senior Sister is soft-hearted and easy to bully?"
Xiong Guiyue was speechless for a moment, pressing her fingers to her forehead and shaking her head, "...We'll do this when there's no way out. I'll protect the Young Master in the forbidden area to prevent him from getting into trouble."
"It's too late." He said, "We must spread the news now and force Yun Ruchen to make a choice."
Xiong Guiyue opened her mouth, turned her head away and stopped talking.
...
Yun Ruchen lives in the upper floor of the pavilion, but he doesn't want to live under the eyes of his mother and father.
Where the lower-level disciples live, there is a remote and quiet courtyard.
When I pushed open the door, I saw that the place of practice was spotless and looked as if the owner had just left, but it was deserted all year round.
He leaned over the desk, took down the brushes from the pen holder one by one, took out the handkerchief from his arms, and spread it out on the desk.
He held his chin up, stared for a long time, and stretched out his fingers to touch the orchid embroidered on it.
Yun Ruchen was stunned for a moment and abruptly withdrew his hand.
Covering his forehead, what is he doing?
He couldn't be shamelessly complacent just because Feng Jingluo was considerate.
Yun Ruchen stood up. He was going to see his mother and father to cancel the engagement. He glanced back at the handkerchief and then returned it.
Yun Ruchen had not set foot in the clan leader's residence for many years. When he stepped into the familiar scene again, he had the illusion that he was in a dream.
He shook his head, regained consciousness, and called out, "Mom, is Dad here?"
Hearing the call, Yun Jing and Ying Yueke in the yard looked at each other in silence, put down the cakes and asked him to come in.
Walking to the pavilion in the backyard, Yun Ruchen bowed.
Although he had seen Yun Ruchen's disheveled appearance for a long time, Ying Yueke was still not used to it and always felt that he was too sloppy.
"At least tie up your hair."
Glancing at the hair on his chest, Yun Ruchen smiled and said, "I'm used to it."
Yun Jing snorted, "What is it?"
He raised his hand and said, "If it's about canceling the engagement, then there's no need to talk about it."
The brat insisted on causing trouble for him.
"Father, it's common knowledge that I'm not worthy of Feng Jingluo. Why should we cause resentment throughout the entire sect?" He paused before continuing, "Besides, no matter what Feng Jingluo said, should we force her to accept this marriage just because she's kind?"
Yun Jing placed his hand on the stone table and spoke in a more serious tone, "Feng Jingluo didn't want you to be laughed at for no reason, so he rejected our proposal to cancel the engagement."
He pointed at Yun Ruchen, his eyes red with anger. "If you had any redeeming qualities, why would you be giving us such a hard time?"
Yun Ruchen opened his mouth and closed it again, clenching his fists at his sides.
"The son of the dignified sect leader is getting married, but only three disciples of our sect presented jade tokens. Yun Ruchen, isn't your life ridiculous enough?"
"How many more times do you think your mother and I can lose face?"
"Feng Jingluo is such a perfect match. If you can live up to her expectations, even if I empty my private treasury, I will go to all the third-grade sects to watch you marry her in style!"
"Instead of relying on wronging her to save your face!"
"Now you still have the nerve to come over and say goodbye to the engagement on her behalf!" Yun Jing was so angry that his breathing became unstable. Ying Yueke reached out and held his hand.
Yun Jing hunched his back, his face instantly aged. "Ruchen, if you don't want to wrong Feng Jingluo, then prove yourself worthy of her."
"Things have come to this, and the invitations have already been sent to the other sects. Your father wanted to sacrifice his dignity and ask for the invitations back, but Feng Jingluo saved your face and asked you to cancel the engagement!"
Yun Ruchen raised his eyes and was shocked.
"She is innocent in this matter. How can a father like you have the nerve to do this? I can only say that I want you to spend some time together before the forbidden area closes. Then, Feng Jingluo can cancel the marriage on the grounds that it's not suitable."
"Ruchen, why don't you understand our painstaking efforts?"
The silent Yun Ruchen laughed out loud, standing where Feng Jingluo stayed, looking at the distant sky over the rubble.
"Have you ever considered my opinion before you make decisions for me in the name of hard work?"
He smiled bitterly: "Is immortality the only path ahead of me?"
"Since ancient times, countless people in the spiritual world have spent their entire lives striving for immortality, giving up everything, only to find nothing in the end."
"How many people have achieved immortality? Can you fill a page with it?"
"For the elusive immortality, I will give up everything I can grasp by instinct..."
He lowered his head, shook it, and turned to walk out along the way he came.
"Family, friendship...love, even self must be sacrificed.
The last empty shell ascended and left."
A faint voice fell to the ground.
“This is the Immortal.”
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