A Glimpse into the Hundred Faces (19)
Qin Wenshuang's fingers clenched unconsciously. She knew Li Zhoubai's feelings better than anyone else, which was why she was even more afraid—not afraid that he would change his mind, but afraid that her own Dao heart would waver because of the answer.
The moment this thought crossed her mind, a cold sweat broke out on her back. Lu Jiuzhong's meaningful smile flashed before her eyes; his words, like venomous snakes, coiled around her mind, leaving her unsure how to face Li Zhoubai—at least, not with a smile.
She couldn't laugh now. If everything was really as Lu Jiuzhong said, how could she ask Li Zhoubai to be an enemy of the demonic cultivators? But if she let the demonic cultivators run rampant, how could she be at peace with herself?
Qin Wenshuang thought about it for a long time without finding a solution, and she couldn't help but sigh deeply: "You're right." Rather than tossing and turning here, it's better to ask for clarification face to face.
After her figure disappeared at the end of the stone path, Wu Shao suddenly smiled at the empty teacup and said, "Little apprentice, since you're here, would you please make me another cup of tea?"
A soft rustling of leaves came from the treetops. When Yun Yanqiu landed, a few new leaves were still clinging to her. "When did you notice me?" she asked.
“Ever since you scurried up the tree like a cat,” Wu Shao teased, swirling his empty teacup.
"Didn't we already know that from the beginning?" Yun Yanqiu's ears burned, and she awkwardly picked up the teapot. Wu Shao seized the opportunity to tease her again, "Eavesdropping on elders, that's not a habit Li Zhoubai taught you. Little apprentice, you have this kind of quirk?"
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, it was just that when I was chasing birds, I suddenly..." Yun Yanqiu hurriedly tried to explain, but after thinking about it, he realized that the more he explained, the worse it would get, so he simply shut his mouth.
Wu Shao chuckled twice: "Now I'll give you a chance. What do you want to know?"
Yun Yanqiu shook his head and silently poured her tea.
Wu Shao raised an eyebrow: "Aren't you curious about your master's past?"
“My master treats me very well, that’s enough.” Yun Yanqiu paused, the tea soup drawing an amber arc under his hand. “They will tell me what I need to know.”
Wu Shao paused, her teacup reflecting her meaningful smile: "I hope you will always think that way."
Upon hearing this, Yun Yanqiu's brows furrowed sharply: "What do you mean?"
"It's nothing, I just think Li Zhoubai has taken on a good disciple." Wu Shao finished his tea and pushed the cup away. "You'd better remember what you said in the future."
She was clearly implying something, but no matter how much Yun Yanqiu pressed her for details, Wu Shao avoided the topic.
Seeing that Yun Yanqiu still hadn't given up, Wu Shao changed the subject: "Little apprentice, would you like to come with me to Wuren Valley and meet my daughter?"
Yun Yanqiu was slightly taken aback, then abruptly refused.
"Don't be so hasty! My daughter is adorable; you'll definitely like her when you see her. Hey, how about we become god-sisters?"
"No!" Yun Yanqiu broke out in a cold sweat and immediately distanced herself from Wu Shao.
Wu Shao chuckled: "Well, you were spoiled by your older siblings when you were little, weren't you? You have such a spoiled brat attitude!"
Yun Yanqiu paused, recalling Yun Yuxi's cold face, and a chill flashed in his eyes: "It has nothing to do with her."
The voice sounded angry, causing Wu Shao to pause in surprise: "What, are you two on bad terms?"
“It’s not that it’s bad…” Yun Yanqiu said in a deep voice, “It’s very bad.”
Yun Yanqiu harbored a deep resentment towards Yun Yuxi, always feeling that she was a terrible older sister. No matter how well others spoke up for her, it couldn't change the fact that she had hurt him.
To be honest, Yun Yanqiu didn't ask for much. He just wanted Yun Yuxi to apologize to him in person. It was clearly her fault, but Yun Yuxi always put on a cold and indifferent face whenever she saw him, showing no remorse whatsoever.
Yun Yanqiu grew angrier the more she thought about it, and her clenched fists trembled slightly.
Wu Shao didn't quite understand the intricacies of the situation. She pursed her lips, propped her chin up with one hand, and leaned against the table: "So you do hold grudges, huh? That's different from your master." Then she thought for a moment: "Oh, maybe your master just doesn't care about others at all, so there's no such thing as a grudge."
"Do I look a lot like my master?" Yun Yanqiu suddenly asked.
"Half and half," Wu Shao said, crossing her legs and letting her clothes sway slightly with her movements. "You're his apprentice, so it's normal that you have some of his traits."
"So, does it resemble it, or not?"
"What does it matter? Do you want to become the next Li Zhoubai?"
"..." Yun Yanqiu remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement. After all, in his mind, his master was the most powerful person in the world. With such a role model, what else could he do but emulate him?
Wu Shao understood. She frowned and hesitated, "You're still young. There's no need for you to act like an old ice block, is there?"
"Old Ice Cube?" Yun Yanqiu was speechless for a moment. He said it was the first time he had heard someone call Li Zhoubai that, and his feelings were inevitably complicated.
“I think you’re too ignorant. There are countless cultivators in the world, and you’ve only seen Li Zhoubai.” Wu Shao suddenly said seriously, “Why don’t you come back to Wuren Valley with me to broaden your horizons and meet my daughter while you’re at it.”
"..." Yun Yanqiu never expected that this would allow her to steer the conversation back on track.
There was no time to continue the conversation, so he made a quick decision and ran to Li Zhoubai's secluded cave to check on the situation. When he arrived, Yun Yanqiu found Qin Wenshuang silently guarding the entrance, motionless.
"Master's wife," Yun Yanqiu called out as he stepped forward, but Qin Wenshuang did not respond at all. He moved closer and called again, and only then did Qin Wenshuang seem to wake from a dream and greet him, her eyes filled with a worry that was thicker than the clouds in the mountains.
The moonlight, like water, flowed silently before the tightly closed stone door. Yun Yanqiu and Qin Wenshuang stood side by side, their shadows overlapping on the bluestone slabs. The heavy stone door seemed to shut out time itself; even the falling snowflakes seemed to freeze the moment they touched the stone surface.
"Master has been in seclusion for some time now, and I don't know when he will come out," Yun Yanqiu said softly, his exhaled white mist swirling in the air.
Qin Wen lowered his eyes, his voice as calm as a frozen lake: "It's alright, I'll wait here for him to come out."
As night deepened, a thin layer of snow accumulated on the pine branches outside the cave, glistening under the moonlight. Midnight had passed, and the temperature plummeted. Yun Yanqiu quietly cast a spell to ward off the cold, trying to protect himself and his master's wife from the night's chill. But the warmth that had just seeped into Qin Wenshuang's sleeves was quickly waved away by her: "It's alright."
Qin Wenshuang seemed to be competing with someone. She sat cross-legged, stubbornly refusing all conveniences, as if this steadfastness was a form of atonement.
Suddenly, a faint sound came from the stone gate. The two of them straightened their backs at the same time, but all they could hear was the whistling of the mountain wind rushing through the stone wall.
Qin Wenshuang stared at the marks accumulated over the years on the stone gate and suddenly spoke: "Back then, I accidentally entered a formation in the Netherworld, and he waited for me to break the formation for a full forty-seven days."
Yun Yanqiu looked at her. The mist condensed into tiny water droplets in Qin Wenshuang's hair, and the white mist she exhaled clung to her eyelashes like a layer of frost.
“At that time, everyone outside the formation ran away, only he remained… Every moment spent there was more danger.” Qin Wenshuang’s voice choked as she spoke, “But this guy stubbornly stayed outside the formation to protect me and drove away all the attacking monsters for me.”
Yun Yanqiu saw that the ice crystals in his master's wife's hair reflected tiny fragments of light, like scattered stars.
“At that time, I felt that no one in the world could treat me better than him…” Qin Wenshuang’s voice grew softer and softer. She suddenly looked up, a trace of pain flashing in her eyes. “But now that I think about it, I don’t even know what he used to be like.”
"Even recently, I only learned about the backgrounds of his friends..."
"These past few days, one question has been constantly popping into my head—why doesn't he tell me about his past?"
"Do you think it's unnecessary? Or do you think you should keep it from me?"
Qin Wenshuang seemed to be caught in some kind of stubbornness. She muttered to herself, and the atmosphere around her grew increasingly heavy. Yun Yanqiu tried several times to comfort her and tell her not to overthink it, but it was all in vain. This was a matter between her and Li Zhoubai, and Yun Yanqiu could only stay by her side; there was really nothing she could do to help.
As the moonlight climbed over the stone gate again, the mottled patterns suddenly shimmered. Qin Wenshuang abruptly stood up, her knuckles, stiff from the cold, pressing against the stone wall, producing a crisp sound. Yun Yanqiu was about to step forward when she saw her slowly shake her head: "It's moonlight."
She spoke but refused to withdraw her hand, as if she could feel the warmth of the person inside through the three-foot-thick stone door.
Days passed, and Wu Shao visited several times during this period. Each time, he would see the heavy stone door and Qin Wenshuang sitting in front of it and sigh helplessly. Until one morning, an unexpected figure arrived at Xuanming Mountain.
"Brother Yan!" Zhao Huai-ren's laughter startled the birds in the woods. He rushed over and affectionately put his arm around Yun Yanqiu's shoulder: "Good lad! So you're Senior Li's disciple!"
He wore a hearty smile, a smile that radiated energy like the sun, as if it could instantly sweep away the gloom that had accumulated in people's hearts.
Upon reuniting with his old friend, Zhao Huai-ren patted him happily and said, "Looking at it this way, aren't we even more destined to be together!"
"What are you doing here?" Yun Yanqiu was quite surprised by Zhao Huai Ren's appearance, but her eyes still revealed an uncontrollable joy.
“Senior Li saved my life before, so he’s my benefactor. That’s why I came to visit him.” Zhao Huai-ren said, then unconsciously scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. “My blockhead should have realized sooner that your swordsmanship is from Senior Li! No wonder I felt a connection with him. A great teacher produces a great student!”
"Alright, stop bragging." Yun Yanqiu told him to stop. "Master is still in seclusion. I haven't seen him in a long time."
"I see." Zhao Huai-ren was taken aback for a moment, then said cheerfully, "It's alright, I'll stay with you for a few days. Since we're already here, there's no rush to go back."
"Go back? Go back where?" Yun Yanqiu narrowed her eyes warily, instantly scrutinizing the man in front of her who had become much tanned. "Zhao Huai Ren, you're not still staying at my house, are you?"
“Uh…” Zhao Huai Ren blinked, awkwardly raising the corners of his mouth. He pulled out a gold-embossed wedding invitation from his pocket, the crimson paper particularly eye-catching in the morning light: “Um… your sister and I are getting married.”
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