Twin Lotus (10)
Chapter Thirty
modern.
Xie Yuan's life story is not complicated. She was abandoned by her parents in a trash can downstairs from a hospital because she was not born healthy. She was sent to an orphanage by a kind person. However, because she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, no one was willing to adopt her. She watched as her friends were adopted by families and left one after another, while she could only stay in the orphanage bed day after day, waiting for death to come.
She clung to life until the day before her seventeenth birthday, but ultimately did not survive past eighteen.
The moment death approaches, my heart aches as if it's being stabbed with a knife.
But it was only for a very brief moment.
But in the end, I was still unwilling to give up.
——
Xie Yuan never expected that it would be such a coincidence to run into another anniversary of her death.
Today, I imagine my master will personally cook her favorite sweet fermented rice balls.
If nothing unexpected happens, my senior brother should be able to get back soon.
Everything is ready now, we're just waiting to give them a "surprise" tonight.
After ten years apart, they appeared with the same youthful face as before. Well, she was quite looking forward to seeing their expressions.
Xie Yuan and Song Ling sat down at the stone table in the abandoned courtyard.
"Master, what kind of person is your master?" Song Ling seemed extremely curious about her past, since she had kept quiet about it for many reasons.
"Yes, there is a poem that can describe him: 'A gentleman as fine as jade, unparalleled in the world.'"
"In my memory, my master's appearance never aged; he always looked like he was in his twenties."
"When my master found me, he was over a hundred years old. I figured that out myself, because at first I thought he was very young. Later, I overheard a storyteller telling tales at a teahouse at the foot of the mountain, and I accidentally heard his name. Only then did I realize that he had disappeared from the martial arts world for a hundred years, but his fame and various deeds were still widely circulated among the people..."
"Isn't my master amazing!"
She proudly puffed out her small chest, and at this moment, she gradually overlapped with the spirited and carefree girl she was in her youth.
"No, my master is even more powerful."
Song Ling said softly.
——
Song Ling was actually involved in the period of her life when he was not in her memories.
It's just that she didn't know him at that time.
Xiao Xie Yuan practices swordsmanship during the day, and when she's lazy, she goes fishing or sneaks down the mountain to play. Her favorite place is the teahouse, especially the Qingfeng Teahouse at the end of Ancheng alley, where she listens to storytelling. Because of its secluded location, she avoids being caught by her senior brothers. She often plays too much and returns home very late, getting punished by her master by being made to stand in the corner with a storybook on her head, dozing off under the eaves. She even steals a sip of her master's peach blossom wine...
There are many, many more stories like these about her...
It was only then that he belatedly realized...
It turns out that the seventeen years without him were the most fulfilling seventeen years for the master.
She had a loving master and senior brothers by her side, and later she traveled the world with a group of friends she met in the martial arts world, fighting evil and promoting good. She became famous at a young age and was full of vigor.
His master, who was with him, was frequently injured, but each time she returned, she would pretend nothing was wrong. At first, he didn't care, but only after entering her world from that perspective did he realize how much she had done for him, yet never mentioned it to him, and how he had never even trusted her before, always on guard...
However, she never blamed him for the sharp thorns he had erected.
Instead, she would occasionally feel frustrated and blame herself for not being a good mentor to him...
He would be fine without his master.
But Song Ling can't do without her.
——
And then...
The world is vast, and the years are 6,111.
Song Ling never saw spring again.
——
The hour of Xu (7-9 PM).
Under the crabapple tree at Jingyu Manor, the three sat around a stone table, but deliberately left an empty seat and a set of chopsticks, facing the direction of the tombstone.
Xie Jue has now established his own sect, named Zhaoyue Sect, which is now among the top five in the martial arts world and holds a prominent position in swordsmanship.
Zhu Qi's seat faces the direction of the tombstone. The simple meal consists of five dishes and a soup, and the bowl of steaming sweet rice balls is placed in her special spot, unchanged for ten years.
All three remained silent, and none of them touched their chopsticks first.
Until the steam from the fermented rice balls began to slowly dissipate.
Zhu Qi sighed softly.
"It was much more lively when Yuan'er was around..."
As a child, she was mischievous and often turned Jingyu Manor into chaos. Driven by curiosity, she would bring home all sorts of novel trinkets and wild rabbits, pheasants, and piglets she caught on the mountain…
Although he was quite troubled and helpless about this for a while, he was also very happy that Jingyu Manor, which had been quiet for a hundred years, finally had some life because of her.
Xie Jue, dressed in purple and jade robes, had a handsome face and looked to be only in his twenties, but in reality he was already thirty-seven this year, while his junior sister remained forever twenty-four years old.
He, like her, was also an orphan adopted by his master, only three years older than her.
When her master brought her back to Jingyu Manor when she was just a little girl, she was so cute and adorable. She didn't cry or fuss, but instead looked around with her big, curious eyes.
He loved his younger sister very much, and protecting her became his responsibility.
But this junior sister...
His talent for cultivation was no less than his; on the contrary, it was even more outstanding and superior.
During their daily sword practice, she would often run up a tree to relax after a while, and would jokingly swing her legs with her eyes closed as she laughed and teased him.
"Senior brother, forget it, let me protect you instead. It's alright, it's not shameful. After all, I'm a genius, hahaha!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Jue's first reaction was relief. His junior sister was different from ordinary women; she was straightforward and lovely, with her own opinions and things she was determined to uphold.
Although no one knows exactly what principles she adheres to.
But she has always had her own ideas and unique perspectives.
He, as her senior, learned a lot from her, but there was one thing he could never learn.
That is it.
Free-spirited.
Master always said that he had too much on his mind. He was a virtuous gentleman praised by the world, loyal and righteous, and abiding by the rules and regulations. But such a person would be bound by too many rules and regulations.
The junior sister is the complete opposite of him. She is unburdened, follows her heart, and is free and unrestrained. She is not bound by the so-called distinction between good and evil. She has her own standards for judging good and evil. She is a true knight-errant who is suitable for the martial arts world.
As her master and fellow disciples, they never interfered with the decisions she made.
However, no one expected her to make that decision.
Li Shui had never met this junior sister. Although he was a maverick, he had long since become indifferent to life and death. Even if he died, he wouldn't be ranked in the eighteenth level of hell.
But every year around this time, he wisely chooses to keep quiet.
To avoid saying too much and making mistakes, and getting into trouble.
——
"Let's eat. It's rare for us to all be together for even a short while each year." Zhu Qi picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of braised pork in Xie Jue's bowl. "A-Jue, I've heard that things have been a bit unstable in the martial world lately."
Xie Jue: "That's right, Master. In recent years, the martial arts world has been in turmoil, and all the major sects are probably very worried. The Wujian Pavilion has become increasingly arrogant and rampant. As the number one assassin organization in the martial arts world, it is feared by all. In order to maximize profits, they have harmed countless innocent people."
Zhu Qi: "If I remember correctly, Wujian Pavilion suddenly appeared three years after A Yuan's death. Before that, I remember there was another assassin organization."
Xie Jue: "That's right. Ming Buzhichun, Wujian Pavilion is known as the number one assassin organization in the martial arts world for its cruelty. However, Ming Buzhichun has its own unique rules. They prepare sufficient costs and also depend on the mood of the Pavilion Master. But as long as they take action, even if it requires intercepting and killing someone in Wujian Pavilion, they will be able to do it without any mistakes."
"Therefore, these two assassin organizations are mortal enemies."
Li Shui looked at his empty bowl and felt a little annoyed. No, Xie Jue had braised pork, so why didn't he?
But he couldn't get a word in edgewise. The two of them kept talking back and forth, did they even take him, a man who hadn't been born for a hundred years, seriously?
He couldn't stand it any longer and kept trying to interrupt.
Suddenly, all three of them fell silent and looked toward the gate of Jingyu Manor.
"Knock...knock knock...knock knock knock..."
A very chaotic and disorderly knocking sound.
No outsiders have visited Jingyu Manor for many years.
At this moment, the master and disciple outside the door were openly whispering to each other.
"Master, wouldn't we be discovered immediately if we went through the main gate?"
Song Ling stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching Xie Yuan earnestly knocking on the brass ring on the door lock, and expressed her own question.
Xie Yuan kowtowed and said earnestly, "I've thought about it, and the most important task today is to take you to see the Grandmaster. If it's like before, it would make me, who is now the master, seem too improper."
"So we should just stick to the main entrance and be polite."
Song Ling: ..........
No one but herself would believe what her master said.
Moreover, given their high level of cultivation, how could the three people inside the sect not have noticed them, given their ostentatious display?
It could only be that the master deliberately said it for the people inside to hear.
Fine, I'll play along with her.
Song Ling calmly replied, "Yes, Master is right."
Xie Yuan's hands were tired from knocking, but no one came to open the door. Then she looked up at Song Ling, who was standing to the side, and very skillfully ordered him, "It's your turn to knock."
“Master, I think we should skip using the door; it doesn’t really suit your style.”
Although Song Ling said that, she still cooperated and accepted the important task of knocking on the door.
"Ahem, is this how you embarrass your master?" Xie Yuan awkwardly touched her nose. She didn't expect him to guess right. Ever since she learned lightness skill at a young age, she had never walked through the main gate. She always climbed over the wall. There was no wall in Jingyu Manor that she hadn't climbed over.
I remember my master telling her not to jump around like a monkey every day, and the white walls of Jingyu Manor were thus marked with many of her "dark histories" of climbing over the wall.
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