answer
"Venerable Yichen," Lin Yun called out somewhat uncertainly.
Although Sang Zhao told her that Yi Chen had arrived in the city, she did not expect to meet him here.
Yichen turned around, his sleeve brushing against the charred wood, the charcoal ash swirling like black snow.
He nodded slightly and turned back to look at the dead tree.
Actually, this strange tree is not special; there are countless similar ones in this area.
Rumor has it that this place was once occupied by demons, and the forest was tainted by demonic energy. Lin Yun didn't believe it, after all, no matter how you looked at it, this forest looked like it had been struck by lightning on a rainy day, only with a slightly larger number of strikes.
She knelt behind Venerable Yichen for half an hour, wondering how he had stroked each scorched tree. She didn't know whether to leave or stay, so she couldn't help but ask, "Venerable One, what brings you here? Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Take me to see the mother tree of these trees." Yichen lightly tapped the tree trunk with his finger, and a net-like crack instantly covered the charred shell. The rotten core oozed blackish-red sap, which couldn't help but make people feel eerie.
Then, as he ran his fingertips across the charred bark, the sap seeping from the spiderweb-like cracks twisted and rose as if alive, turning into wisps of smoke the instant it touched his palm and activated his spiritual power.
"The mother tree? I've never heard of it."
She wasn't lying. But as she answered the question, Lin Yunwang's fingertips suddenly burned, as if reminding her not to answer.
Now, the answer to this question is clear.
"One day... Never mind, take me to Stone Creek Village."
Seeing Lin Yun's surprised gaze, he explained, "Sang Zhao asked me to set up a defensive formation in Shixi Village."
"Thank you." After saying thank you, all that remained was silence.
She walked silently ahead of Yichen, leading the way for him.
These past few days, the weather has warmed up, and even the snow has melted. The meltwater seeps into the soil, making the narrow path even more difficult to traverse. Lin Yun's shoes are covered in mud, and the further he walks, the more mud accumulates on the soles of his shoes, making his steps increasingly heavy.
Lin Yun stumbled and was about to fall.
"careful."
She felt a gentle breeze straighten her up. "Thank you, Venerable One. Stone Creek Village is just ahead."
Then I saw the iconic clock tower again, where the bell's core had been corroded by wind and rain and could no longer make a sound.
Yichen did not enter the village; he stepped through the air over withered branches, his clothes fluttering in the wind.
His movements were nimble and light; he drew his fingers to part the air currents, summoned a talisman in mid-air, and then sent it into the earth's veins. In an instant, the wind gathered in his hand and then dispersed, the entire forest whispering before finally returning to stillness.
Yichen gracefully landed in front of Lin Yunwang and handed her a jade token, saying, "With this, you will be able to sense any unusual changes in the village."
Lin Yun accepted it as if he had received something precious, and thanked him repeatedly.
Seeing her overjoyed expression, Yichen hesitated before asking, "So, what's your answer? Are you willing to go to the Jingyin Sect?"
He didn't know what Lin Yun had experienced or how his mindset had changed in the past few days; he just asked the question out of intuition.
No matter what world they were in, no matter what happened, the two of them would become master and disciple; this thought always lingered in his mind.
“I…this disciple is willing,” she answered with unwavering conviction.
The mountain wind suddenly shifted, lifting the hair tie tied in her hair. In the distance came the crisp sound of ice breaking; the spring stream was awakening. The lingering scent of medicine in the house, the laughter of childhood playmates, the wisps of smoke rising from chimneys at dawn and dusk… all these images flashed before Lin Yunwang's eyes.
She admitted that she was attached to the simple life in Shixi Village, and this feeling made her somewhat stagnant, or rather, unambitious.
Admittedly, at this point she didn't think there was anything wrong with her previous thoughts.
But she also knew she had been too weak. She always thought that if she hid, trouble wouldn't come knocking.
When she picked up the jade pendant in her hand, and when she recalled all the experiences she had had after transmigrating, she clearly understood that without the power to protect those around her, she naturally could not live the life she desired.
If she were strong enough, she wouldn't have been forced to watch helplessly as her parents died tragically beside her.
If she were strong enough, she wouldn't be running around aimlessly like a headless fly, searching for a life-saving medicine for the village chief.
Spiderwebs hanging from the eaves cannot withstand a sudden rain, and houses built on weakness and escapism will inevitably collapse because of reality.
Upon receiving her affirmative answer, Yichen smiled faintly. When Lin Yun looked at him, the smile showed no sign of fading. "Please pass on a message to your senior brother: your master has continued to search for old friends. There's no need to worry or fret."
Yichen knew that if Lin Yunwang didn't see the outcome of this matter, he would be restless.
"Once he resolves this matter, you should return to the sect with him," he instructed, still somewhat worried.
He handed her the jade pendant he had prepared beforehand, saying, "This is proof of my identity as a disciple of the Jingyin Sect." He had started preparing it after their last parting and finally finished it before their reunion.
Lin Yun accepted it with both hands and then tucked it into his waistband. "Disciple thanks Master."
A mountain breeze swept past the jade pendant hanging at his waist, which resembled those of Sang Zhao and Yun Wang, stirring up a series of clear, melodious hums, much like the lingering sound of the bronze bell that had hung atop the bell tower many years ago.
Without any elaborate apprenticeship ceremony or congratulations from others, they simply and intuitively embarked on their predetermined path.
Yichen and Yunwang were destined to become master and disciple, just as some people are a match made in heaven, while others will be separated by life and death and turn against each other with swords drawn.
Once his figure had completely disappeared into the woods, Yunwang returned to the village.
Lin Yunwang stood in front of the fence of the village chief's house, watching the figure pacing back and forth in the yard with a cane. He was muttering to himself as he looked at the swallows' nest under the eaves. His health had improved a lot, though he was much thinner than before, but his eyes, surrounded by wrinkles, were still bright and dazzling.
"Yun'er is back!"
"Yes, I'm back." Lin Yun wanted to tell him that she would be leaving Shixi Village for Jingyin Sect soon, but with Asheng as a precedent, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Lin Yun helped him sit down in the rattan chair in the courtyard, then took out the medicine stove from the house and sat down next to him to decoct the medicine.
"This is the last dose of medicine."
She used a palm-leaf fan to fan the stove, controlling the heat, while the bitter smell of the medicine spread with the movement of the fan.
"Excellent, I've had enough of this medicine." After a serious illness, the village chief's energy was far less than before. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, trying to rest. "I'm getting old, really old... I slept for so long and had such a long dream."
He thought he was dead, and his memories flashed through his mind in a revolving lantern, from his babbling childhood to his twilight years.
"I remember when you and Ah Sheng were little, you always argued. You couldn't win the argument, and you would always come back crying, asking me to beat up that brat."
She gazed at the flickering embers in the furnace, the medicinal liquid bubbling in the jar, the rising steam blurring her features.
It's mist, it's tears.
The old man's murmurs mingled with the crackling of firewood and the aroma of herbs, "That rascal poked at the hornet's nest with a bamboo pole, and you got stung all over your face, why do you remember all that..."
As her grandfather spoke, Lin Yun drifted into memories. After being taken in by Asheng and brought back to the village, she enjoyed a rare period of peace, happiness, and freedom.
Has Ah Sheng sent any letters this month?
She handed the letter she had written a few days earlier to the village chief.
After that person left home, he only sent back one letter, but that only fueled Grandpa's continued longing and anticipation. In order not to disappoint Grandpa, the village chief, she took on the role of "messenger."
So, Ah Sheng's letters would be sent to a restaurant in the city run by villagers at the beginning of each month.
The old man carefully cut open the letter, his calloused fingertips tracing the words "Greetings." He unfolded the letter, reading it over and over again, "How perfunctory, always saying the same old clichés."
His feigned reproachful voice was like thin ice in spring, which would break with the slightest step.
Lin Yun stared at her copy of "All is well" and suddenly noticed a flaw in the strokes—Ah Sheng's real handwriting should have a slight upward flick at the end, but she always unconsciously pulled the brush inward.
Each time, she tried to write more to make the letter more believable. But she knew nothing about what had happened after Ah Sheng left, not even whether he was still alive.
"Yun girl."
Hearing his grandfather call his name, Lin Yunwang snapped out of his daze, "Grandpa, what's wrong?"
“You and Ah Sheng are both people with your own ideas. You can be like him and do whatever you want.”
Shixi Village is too small; the world is too big. Neither Asheng nor Yunwang will find their future here.
The village chief thought to himself: I hope you can come and go freely like a drifting cloud, instead of being confined to this small place.
Yunwang and Asheng were both sensible children, yet they argued every day. The village chief had wondered why, attributing it to their striking similarities. However, Asheng possessed a more resolute nature, while Yunwang was more tender.
Therefore, Ah Sheng left resolutely, while Yun Wang left hesitantly. But in the end, they both had to leave.
In a daze, the old man saw Ah Sheng's departing figure carrying a sword overlap with the figure of him running away from home in a fit of pique when he was a child, while the girl stubbornly hid in the house, refusing to stay or say goodbye.
In the middle of the night, a sudden clap of thunder boomed, and a torrential downpour struck the wind chimes under the eaves, causing them to tilt and sway.
This is the first spring rain, announcing the arrival of spring.
Startled awake, Lin Yun hurriedly put on her raincoat and ran to the village chief's house, fearing that the village chief had not closed the windows properly and that the wind and rain would enter the house, causing her to catch a cold.
She stood there, in the same spot as during the day, outside the fence, and heard faint sobbing coming from inside the house.
The wicker chair outside spun in the gale, and the wind chimes danced wildly in the downpour, shattering the facade of tranquility maintained for the past three years. At that moment, she realized that those letters had never been hidden from her grandfather.
Waiting for the birds that will never return to their nests.
This was also the village chief's answer.
Spring thunder sounded again, and Lin Yun stroked the jade pendant at his waist.
Those winding lines awakened beneath her fingertips, as if the Jingyin Sect's mountain range, stretching for miles, was growing in her palm. In the distance, amidst the cracking of ice, she heard something within her meridians responding to the breaking and rebirth, like a seed pushing through frozen soil, or like the tearing sound of a sword cutting through brocade when it is drawn from its sheath.
Lin Yunwang didn't know how he got back to his room. He sat on the wooden stool, still wet from the rain, for a long time.
The rain gradually subsided, and the emotions churning in her heart gradually calmed down.
For some unknown reason, she rushed out the door.
I ran to the peach tree in the center of the village.
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