Chapter 64: Fruit of This Life (I) You are you, I am me
The illusion collapsed, like a dream that was shattered at an accelerated rate.
Through the colorful dots of light in the sky, Xie Rangchen could see every ordinary little thing that happened in the Qingwei Sect, including his master and his fellow junior brothers and sisters.
The Qingwei sect was destroyed, his teachers and friends perished, his younger sister guarded the sword... all these past events came together to tear the young man's heart apart and leave him in agony. Xie Rangchen stood alone, a dead look in his dark eyes.
The flying light spots passed through his body, drifted away into the distance, and dissipated bit by bit.
When everything was quiet, the girl's clear voice suddenly rang out in the dark world.
"Senior Brother."
Zhu Ciying stood with her hands behind her back, gazing at him from a distance of several dozen meters. Seeing that he was safe and sound, her tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and her almond-shaped eyes curved slightly.
Xie Rangchen's face twitched slightly, and he quickly pulled himself out of the grief, gathered his thoughts, and then quietly lowered his brows.
here we go again.
Junior sister is looking at others through herself again.
The young man felt a little unhappy.
He took a step forward and approached her.
When he was three steps away from her, Zhu Ciying's hands behind his back suddenly moved.
"Senior Brother, your Jade Phoenix Sword." She held the hilt of the sword in one hand and held the sword respectfully with the other hand, looking at him with a smile.
Xie Rangchen paused, and for a moment, shock flashed across his eyes, followed by a strong sense of relief.
He knew better than anyone that all the events in the illusion were based on Zhu Ciying's most authentic memories. She remembered her father Zhu Lingyun, her mother Shu Mei, her brother Zhu Liansong, and her master, senior brothers and sisters from the Qingwei Sect...
She remembered everything, even the details hidden in his memories that he couldn't remember clearly.
"Hide the sword to comfort old friends, unsheath it to suppress evil spirits."
Xie Rangchen raised his hand to take the Jade Phoenix Sword. The sword heart that had been lost when the Qingwei Sect was exterminated was recovered.
Now that the Demon Lord Shuo Heng is about to be resurrected, the situation in the world of cultivation is grim. Given my junior sister's avenging nature, she will definitely fight the Demon Lord to the death.
He looked back at Zhu Ciying deeply and said softly, "Aying, you have grown up and are much more beautiful than I imagined."
Zhu Ciying blinked twice quickly and asked innocently, "So, Senior Brother, do you like me?"
"I like it." He said as a matter of course.
——I like you so much... I am willing to regain my sword spirit for you and wield the sword to suppress evil spirits.
He approached her and pulled her into his arms. Zhu Ciying naturally put her arms around his waist, her purple dress intertwined with his moon-white dress, inseparable and charming.
"Junior sister, you may not know this, but Master once divined for me and told me that I have a destined marriage partner, and it's you."
He slowly tightened his grip, holding the person in his arms even tighter. "At fifteen, on the eve of choosing my path, I gave up the Path of Ruthlessness for you and focused on the Path of Inner Conscience. At seventeen, I went on a long journey down the mountain and accidentally saved your life. During our brief three-month stay together, I was fortunate enough to experience the feeling of being needed through you for the first time, and for the first time, I believed that the world wasn't completely boring. At twenty-one, you became my disciple, and during our daily interactions, I began to understand the true meaning of the bond of love, and the deep concern for someone."
"Hmm..." Zhu Ciying buried her head in his chest, with a hint of sweetness and bitterness in her mouth.
"Brother, what's going on with your bone age?"
"Why is it that after three hundred years, your bone age has not changed and is still twenty-one years old?"
Xie Rangchen explained truthfully, "Back then, your soul dissipated, and I re-condensed it for you. To find the last wisp of your soul, I wielded the Jade Phoenix Sword, splitting the Netherworld apart and forcing my way into the underworld, angering the Heavenly Dao. While fighting against the Heavenly Dao, I was swept into the turbulence of time and space. Who knew that when I opened my eyes again, my soul would be lodging in the body of Xie Rangchen of the Shaoyang Sect."
"I don't know what happened either. Now that I think about it, it's probably the effect of the crimson jade."
Xu Shuguan had said that the Crimson Jade could manipulate time and space. If the Crimson Jade worked, it could indeed carry Xie Rangchen's soul to a world three hundred years from now.
I see.
No wonder Xie Rangchen always tried to evade the question whenever she asked about his amnesia, because he was not the original owner of Shaoyang Sect and naturally could not have the original owner's memories.
"Brother, I wasn't born knowing anything about my past life."
Zhu Ciying took the initiative to confess the secret buried deep in her heart: "The day before entering the back mountain, I suddenly awakened my memories of my past life. When I chose to save you in the back mountain, it wasn't just because you were a disciple of the Shaoyang Sect. What really made me decide was that you looked exactly like my senior brother in my previous life."
"I never thought there were such coincidences in this world. After all, someone like me who should have died can actually have an afterlife. I think you and my brother must have some special connection that is unknown to the public."
She paused, her voice choking as she spoke, "Many times, I almost thought you were the same person, but your bone age was clearly there, providing irrefutable evidence that I couldn't judge you. As we've gotten to know each other better, I've discovered many differences between you and my senior brother."
"You don't like to practice. You usually like to drink tea, sleep in, and play with jade slips, often playing all night long. Whenever I am in danger or in need, you are always the first person to appear by my side."
"Unlike in my previous life, you no longer teach cultivation to anyone other than me, you don't chat with anyone other than me, you don't smile at anyone other than me... everything about you includes not being with anyone other than me."
It’s as if I’m the only one in this vast world who favors me.
Thinking of what she was about to say next, Zhu Ciying couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You accompanied me to eat, went shopping with me, slew demons with me, and helped me deal with one difficult and thorny matter after another. From that time on, you were like quicksand mixed in with a pile of stones. From then on, you began to appear in every aspect of my life."
"Later, when you said you wanted to form a soul bond with me, I was actually very nervous because it was the first time I liked someone, and I didn't know how to get along with you after that layer of window paper was broken. At the same time, I was extremely excited, hoping that we would be attracted to each other and share the same aspirations."
"But in the end, your words 'it has nothing to do with romance' really hurt my heart. From then on, I realized that I didn't want to be just a senior apprentice with you."
"I want you to like me, to have only me in your heart and eyes."
Zhu Ciying took a half step back, supporting herself on his chest with both hands, and keeping some distance from him.
She said softly, "Brother, I like Xie Tiantian, who is lazy and enjoys life comfortably, and who will do everything in her power to possess everything she likes. That is the real you, not the Xie Rangchen who disguised himself in his previous life."
She saw her blushing face in Xie Rangchen's slightly dilated pupils as if looking in a mirror.
"Brother, what about you? How did you recognize me?"
The answer she got was the young man's lingering kiss.
It was a long time before Zhu Ciying heard his slightly hoarse voice.
"You are my destined marriage, my only choice in this life, an eternal truth. So no matter how many times I reincarnate, if I fall in love, that person can only be you." Xie Rangchen lowered his head and rested his hand on her forehead, emphasizing again, "Only you. Ah Ying is you, Man Man is you, and Zhu Ci Ying is also you."
Inside Zhu Ciying's spiritual palace, the thread of love belonging to Xie Rangchen suddenly burst into a scorching heat.
He reverently kissed the mark of the soul contract between her eyebrows: "Since I am moved by you, I know the cause of the past life and the result of this life. You are you."
"I am me."
True self, true heart, true feelings.
*
"If I had known that you two would be so affectionate, I would have kept you apart for a while longer." The spirit of the Huoyang Ding rolled its eyes and shook off goose bumps that didn't exist on its body.
Zhu Ciying pretended not to hear: "I'm in a hurry, so if you have any test, just come directly."
"Test? Bullshit test!" the weapon spirit said depressedly, "I was sleeping soundly, but Heaven insisted on waking me up. Ahhh, I'm so sleepy. Hurry up and finish using the Huoyang Ding so I can get some sleep!"
Zhu Ciying blinked in confusion. It seemed like she had simply fought a battle with the demons, and then easily obtained the Huoyang Ding?
"Hey." The spirit of the weapon noticed her lost in thought and said speechlessly, "What are you daydreaming about? Don't blame me for not reminding you. Since you entered the Huoyang Cauldron, the Huoyang Cauldron has automatically repaired your damaged soul."
"Something extraordinary has been mixed into your residual soul. It seems to be demonic energy, and it is quite powerful."
The weapon spirit said solemnly, "His soul and yours are intertwined, living and dying together. If you live, he lives; if you die, he dies."
Living and dying together, is that so serious?
Zhu Ciying knew that the demonic energy that the weapon spirit was talking about was something sealed in his dantian, but he never thought that it would be entangled with his soul.
"You'd better think of a way to eliminate him as soon as possible, otherwise he will devour your sanity and control your body sooner or later." The spirit of the weapon kindly reminded.
That's really bad news, Zhu Ciying thought. But fortunately, she has a way to deal with the evil spirit.
She came out of the world inside the cauldron, and the huge Fire Sun Cauldron automatically shrank to the size of half a brick and fell lightly into her palm.
"What did you say to the spirit of the weapon?" Xie Rangchen came out before her, and he knew nothing about the conversation between Zhu Ciying and the spirit of the weapon.
Zhu Ciying had no intention of hiding it from him. He would know it sooner or later anyway, so she replied slowly, "Do you remember the demonic energy sealed in my body?"
"I remember." He asked, "Do you need help?"
"It's a bit troublesome to deal with." Zhu Ciying shook his head, "But it's not a difficult matter. I'll handle it myself when we return to Shaoyang Sect."
She raised a smiling face: "Brother, do you believe me?"
"Of course I believe you. Whatever you want to do, you have accomplished?" Xie Rangchen took her hand and squeezed it carefully. He found that her fingers were long and thin, with almost no flesh, and he couldn't help but frowned.
"Why are you still as thin as before?"
"Brother, some people are born with long, thin fingers, so it's hard for them to gain weight." Zhu Ciying folded her fingers together, took his warm hand and pulled it in front of her. "Look, there's not much flesh on your hand."
"I am who I am. But I can't have a full house."
"Who is your family? I didn't agree to it."
"I'll cook three meals a day from now on?"
"...Then I'll consider it yours."
Even though I have 10 million spirit stones, I can’t buy the dishes cooked by my senior brother! I’m very angry.
You are so soft-hearted when you eat someone’s food!
*
It was five days later that the two of them flew on their swords to the location of the last artifact.
——Xiangzhou.
"Junior sister, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the city is bustling, do you want to go out for a walk in the evening?"
Zhu Ciying was held by his hand and allowed him to polish her nails with a file.
His expression was focused, his movements meticulous, and Zhu Ciying's ten nails were polished smooth and round by him.
"This is called regular cat claw trimming." Xie Rangchen put down the file and looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction.
"Senior Brother doesn't seem like someone who likes to watch the fun." Zhu Ciying exposed his little thoughts, "Do you want to eat mooncakes?"
"Come on, I'll go shopping with you."
Because of the festival, there are several times more pedestrians on the streets than usual, and it is really crowded.
The two of them walked hand in hand, looking no different from any other couple in love on the street.
The shops on the street are next to each other, the vendors' shouts are deafening, and the two people communicate entirely through the soul contract.
There was a long queue of people buying mooncakes. They came late and were at the end of the queue.
[Junior sister, I'll wait here, you go somewhere else.]
Zhu Ciying raised an eyebrow: [Brother, aren't you worried that I've gotten lost?]
Xie Rangchen replied calmly: [Don't worry, I will find you eventually.]
So she left him and followed the crowd to a Taoist temple where incense was always burning.
Qingfeng Temple is built halfway up the mountain, and it takes hundreds of stone steps to walk up from the bottom of the mountain.
Countless red silks and red wooden plaques are hung on the long iron chains on both sides of the mountain road, and people’s wishes are written on each one.
Zhu Ciying stepped onto the stone steps, one step after another, without stopping. After a moment, she paused, reached out and took a piece of severely faded red silk, silently reading the words written in black ink from beginning to end.
After a hundred years of baptism, the text has long been blurred.
No one except the person who made the wish can know what is written on it.
She pulled gently and the red silk fell off the chain.
This behavior seemed out of place and very strange compared to the people around who were happily hanging wooden signs and red silk.
Zhu Ciying didn't care about their strange looks. She turned around with a sense of uneasiness and looked into the distance towards the foot of the mountain.
There were crowds of people around, and a gust of wind made the mahogany signs tied to the chains on both sides rustle. Across hundreds of stone steps, Zhu Ciying met a pair of gentle eyes. At this moment, it seemed as if time was frozen, and the world was calm.
Suddenly, the strength in her hands loosened, and the faded red silk flew away with the wind, swirling all the way to the foot of the mountain.
As he passed through the crowd, he was firmly grasped by a bony hand.
Xie Rangchen looked up at the red silk, slowly withdrew his hand, and then appeared in front of Zhu Ciying in a flash.
"What does it say?"
He pinched the red silk, stroking the rough and prickly fabric with his fingertips, his eyes fixed on the girl who was smiling at him.
"I heard that wishes made at Qingfeng Temple are very effective, so I came here to fulfill my wish."
She held the other end of the red silk, and the two of them held hands together, just like a newlywed bride and groom.
The girl's eyes were filled with starlight as she quietly gazed at her beloved, who looked like a banished immortal. Using the soul contract, she silently sent him a message:
【May the bright moon shine upon me alone. 】
Xie Rangchen's lips curled up slowly, his narrow eyes curved slightly as he tugged at the red silk. His sudden movement was so swift that the girl across from him couldn't react. He grasped Zhu Ciying's hand, lowered his head, and gently placed a kiss on the back of her hand.
"Congratulations on achieving your wish."
"Then what did you do, senior brother?" She raised her hand, questioning what he had just done.
Xie Rangchen smiled and said, "Reward."
"Thank you." She liked the reward.
The regret of not being able to spend a lifetime together in the previous life.
But when it comes to making up for the debt in this life, I thank you again and again and wish you again and again.
"Brother, there are all kinds of people in this world. I have a very good eye and I picked the most outstanding one without any bias."
Her finger gently touched the young man's heart: "Besides you, I can't think of anyone else I would like."
Xie Rangchen's eyes curled up in delight. Zhu Ciying thought that if he had a tail, it would have been pointing to the horizon long ago.
She buried her head in his chest and said in a low voice, "Look at my past, and admire the spring with me."
Xie Rangchen raised his hand and stroked half of her face, gently scratching her ear with his fingertips covered with thin calluses.
When facing the one he loves, he responds to every word.
"Knowing your darkness, I promise you a spring morning."
The red silk was held in two hands, one large and one small. Xie Rangchen passed a ray of spiritual power to it, and the originally faded white silk suddenly returned to its bright red color.
"The old wish has been fulfilled."
"Junior sister, make a new wish."
The person in his arms moved his head when he heard that, then stood on tiptoe, wrapped his arms around his neck, tilted his head and gently bit his neck.
"I want to be in your heart, I am the only one who will never change."
"Is it okay, Senior Brother?"
"What's the 'can't' thing..." He felt both helpless and amused. "You always compare me to the bright moon, but you don't realize that the moon is accompanied by countless stars, scattering its light. How can a group of stars surrounding the moon compete with the shining sun?"
He held her slender waist with one hand and pushed up slightly. Zhu Ciying's half body flew into the air. She quickly loosened her hands around his neck and grabbed his shoulders instead.
The up-and-down posture forced her to lower her eyes to look at the handsome young man under the moonlight. Seeing her own figure in his autumn-water eyes, her heart began to beat wildly uncontrollably.
"There is only one sun in the sky."
Xie Rangchen looked up at her, like the most loyal believer under the throne of a god or Buddha: "You are my sun."
*
The road down the mountain is long and winding.
Dark clouds covered the moon and muffled thunder rumbled.
Soon, a light rain began to fall from the dark night sky. On that August night, the cold raindrops fell on people, bringing a slight chill.
Passersby quickened their pace, hurried down the mountain, or simply hid in pavilions to avoid the rain.
In the noisy night, there was a man and a woman who were not affected at all. The raindrops that fell like ink avoided them and fell somewhere else without a single drop falling to the ground.
The two fair wrists were connected by a bright red silk.
Inside the pavilion, a Confucian monk saw this scene and was suddenly inspired. He picked up his pen and wrote on paper:
We meet again in this life and past lives, and a sudden rain falls on the world.
Two people are holding hands with a red silk thread, and fate rings the bell of love.
Zhu Ciying was not aware of this.
All she could think about was the last of the four divine weapons mentioned by the oracle: "Brother, if there is a sword in this world that can rival the Jade Phoenix and remain in Xiangzhou, I think it would probably be my natal spirit sword."
Xie Rangchen: "Still arrogant?"
"Um."
"Let's go back to Huaijiang Mountain together."
*
The oracle instructed that if the four artifacts were collected, the Demon Lord could be completely destroyed.
If the cultivation world wants to obtain the divine weapon, the demon world will definitely find ways to interfere.
Therefore, there are many demons lurking in Huaijiang Mountain.
But Zhu Ciying still couldn't figure out one thing.
The location of the four sacred artifacts was an absolute secret, known only to a handful of the upper echelons of the cultivation world. Furthermore, the major sects had sent a large number of elite disciples down the mountain, ostensibly to exorcise demons and defend the Way, but in reality to provide cover for her and her senior brother, distracting the demons from their sight.
Surprisingly, the demons were able to find the artifacts accurately every time, almost at the same time as them.
This matter is full of doubts and goes against common sense.
Could it be that there is an accomplice among the upper echelons?
The more Zhu Ciying thought about it, the more she felt that this was possible.
But she had no time to investigate at the moment, as the demons lurking in Huaijiang Mountain came out in droves and surrounded her tightly with three layers of defense.
The demon world has invested heavily this time. Every demon has a cultivation level no lower than the Nascent Soul stage. It is bound to be a tough battle for Zhu Ciying against them.
The two sides were deadlocked for a while. She held the Jade Phoenix Sword in her hand, and the situation was tense. Before she could make a move, the entire Huaijiang Mountain suddenly glowed with golden light.
Accompanied by an earth-shaking roar of a beast, a huge black shadow slowly walked out from the golden light, and every step carried the momentum to move mountains and rivers.
Zhu Ciying looked up at him. After a brief moment of difference, her eyes were filled with incredible shock. She was so shocked that the hand holding the sword trembled slightly.
Horse body, human face, tiger patterns and bird wings.
It travels all over the world, and its sound is like a pomegranate.
Ying Zhao, the guardian beast of Huaijiang Mountain.
Ying Zhao flapped his white wings, leaped with his long hooves, pounced into the group of demons, and spewed out blazing fire from his mouth.
Rumor has it that the fire of Yingzhao burns all evil spirits.
Three hundred years ago, when the Qingwei clan was destroyed, Ying Zhao appeared to guard the mountain. Zhu Ciying witnessed his body being destroyed by the Demon Lord and his death in Huaijiang River. But she never imagined that she would see Ying Zhao again today.
Seeing her expression touched, Xie Rangchen explained: "As long as Huaijiang Mountain exists, Yingzhao will never die."
"Although the body was destroyed, the soul still exists. Ying Zhao needs to sleep for a long time to rebuild his body."
Zhu Ciying nodded with red eyes.
She was about to raise her sword to help Ying Zhao when a flash of red light suddenly appeared in the sky. The demons all looked up. A fire demon pointed at the red light and exclaimed, "Heaven! There are two suns in the sky!"
The "Sun" made a cry unique to birds, and red wings grew in the Fire Demon's pupils, which suddenly shrank due to shock. The huge wings stretched out, and the twelve feathers all turned into flying swords, flying in twelve directions respectively.
Every time the sword falls, even a demon with the cultivation level of Yuanying stage cannot escape the fate of being destroyed both physically and spiritually.
Zhu Ciying looked up in a daze at the phoenix that suddenly appeared in the sky, her mind going blank.
Phoenix Seal.
And it’s Second Senior Brother’s Phoenix Seal?
She was puzzled, thinking that her second senior brother had died three hundred years ago, so he couldn't have been reincarnated like her. Then she heard a girl's clear, slightly angry voice coming from behind her: "Hey, Yun Cangyu, how many times have I told you not to use high-level seals! Don't use high-level seals! Did you hear me?"
Then came the young man's helpless voice: "I know, I know, Miss Yu, I don't need it anymore."
Zhu Ciying tightened the Jade Phoenix Sword in her hand, took a deep breath, and turned around with all her strength.
In the distance, under countless stone steps, a girl in a red skirt was grabbing the ear of a boy in red clothes and arguing with him with red faces.
"Second Senior Brother! Third Senior Sister!"
Zhu Ciying blinked hard, and blinked again.
They were arguing while pulling each other's ears. That was right. It wasn't an illusion. They were definitely senior brothers and sisters!
Xie Rangchen raised his eyes and looked towards the source of the sound, and was stunned on the spot.
Yun Er, Yu San...
And there is the Master behind them!
All the people who died in the Qingwei Sect.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Still arrogant, countdown to completion: three
The column has updated the extra story of "Senior Brother", added the extra story + story of "Dead Rival", and the short story "The Second Year After the Death of Childhood Sweetheart". Those who are interested can collect it first, and the short stories in the column will be filled in after they are completed.
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