I know
The palace doors slowly closed behind them, leaving only two long, slanted figures on the bluestone steps. Before entering the Soul Breath Tower, Zhou Hengyan had already teleported the black cat he was carrying away.
He handed over the schedule booklet, which was about half a palm thick, and said, "You should officially begin your training tomorrow. This is your schedule."
"Thank you, Senior Brother." Lin Yun took it, but his hand felt heavy and he almost slipped it to the ground. He had to catch it in a hurry.
They both reached out to help each other at the same time, but the moment their fingertips touched, they recoiled as if electrocuted.
In the end, Zhou Hengyan picked it up and handed it to her, saying, "Why don't you take a look first? If there's anything lacking, I'll add to it."
Lin Yun flipped through the pages. The small characters were neatly arranged, and there were notes in red ink next to them. The schedule only took up part of it, and the rest was an introduction to the Jingyin Sect. There were even records of the food in the canteen.
At the end of the book, there are rows of portraits and brief introductions of the characters.
She held up the booklet and compared the person in front of her with the first portrait, examining it closely. Just then, a gentle breeze lifted Zhou Hengyan's hair, revealing that even his eyebrows and eyes were exactly the same.
"It's perfect, thank you for your hard work, senior brother." She closed the yellow booklet, hugged it to her chest, and smiled. "Such meticulousness must have taken a lot of thought and time."
"It's just a slight modification to the schedule I took when I first entered the sect, nothing too complicated." This was obviously a lie. He had been in the Jingyin Sect for over a decade, and the courses he took were quite different from today's. This was the product of his hard work last night.
Lin Yun recalled the many ink blots that had formed in the book, probably due to time constraints. She smiled knowingly, acknowledging his hard work yesterday. "I should still thank my senior brother."
She was thinking about what she could do for Zhou Hengyan to repay this favor.
"Take a good rest at noon. The sect's canteen is next to the cultivation building. You can cook for yourself in the courtyard." Zhou Hengyan escorted her to the courtyard gate. "This afternoon, I'll take you to meet people throughout the sect."
This should have been the responsibility of Lin Yunwang's senior brother, Sang Zhao, but he was still in seclusion and could not get away from it.
Therefore, Zhou Hengyan took on this task with a clear conscience and as a matter of course.
Just as Lin Yun was saying goodbye to him and about to push the door open to go inside, Zhou Hengyan stopped him.
“What I said last night was not malicious, please don’t take it to heart.”
“Senior Brother Zhou, this is the second time you’ve apologized.” She paused as she pushed the door open, then turned around and said, “I believe you, Senior Brother, but if you really have any complaints about me, it would be better to talk about it sooner rather than later.”
Thinking of Nangong Suiqing's seemingly dismissive attitude towards her senior brother, she couldn't help but frown slightly.
This caused Zhou Hengyan to misunderstand, thinking that she naturally cared about what he had said yesterday, so he hurriedly defended himself, even telling a lie full of loopholes, "Senior Brother Sang and I have always been on good terms, and there has never been any estrangement between us."
"That's good then." Lin Yun pushed open the wooden door, and the afternoon sunlight cut a line between light and shadow on the ground through the door. "Senior Brother Zhou, see you this afternoon."
See you this afternoon.
A wooden door gently closed, stitching the sunlight and shadow back together.
Lin Yunwang, unlike Zhou Hengyan, did not have the smug smirk on his face.
However, even if she saw it, she wouldn't think anything of it.
She was always perceptive, yet surprisingly slow to react in some ways.
People follow their own operating rules. As long as they don't cross the safety red line or damage the protective circle she has drawn, whatever others do within the law is none of her business.
To outsiders, this might appear as a cold wall built of rationality. But once someone gets to know her, they will realize that it is her most tender compassion.
Lin Yun never used the dagger of prying to dissect people's hearts, but instead left others with the freest rights within the rules.
Choose what kind of person you want to become.
This is also a question she has been pondering.
For lunch, she ate pastries from a food box sent by her senior sister Bai Xiyan; they were exquisitely presented and had a delicate texture.
Feeling full, she put down the pastries. She wiped her hands and picked up the letter she had placed under her pillow that morning.
Raise it, aim it at the sunlight, and flip it over repeatedly.
The characters in the letter have a slight upward flick at the end of the stroke, which is Ah Sheng's writing habit.
But when did he put it in the bundle? She pondered for a moment and guessed that it must have been on the day of the banquet, when the bundle was not with her.
It certainly wouldn't have happened during the time of the Jingyin Sect.
She had a new question: Why not show up?
After thinking for a long time, it was nothing but speculation. But finally there was news, and Lin Yun felt a little more relieved. He thought he should change the content of the letter to his grandfather, at least to tell him that Asheng had come back. So he opened the envelope that had been written and sealed.
She was having trouble writing it; how should she write it?
If we say "returned," the person has clearly not appeared; if we say "sent a message," the old man might be disappointed.
After thinking for a long time, Lin Yunwang could not come up with a suitable excuse.
So he added a dry sentence at the end of the letter: "I received news from my brother that everything is fine."
After the ink dried, she resealed the envelope.
Lin Yun looked out the window, judging the approximate time based on the sun's position. There was still some time before her meeting with Zhou Hengyan, so she began to look through the booklet that Zhou Hengyan and Sang Zhao had given her.
The contents were largely the same, but none of them contained the information she most wanted right now.
Where can I send a letter?
With this question in mind, she tucked the letter into her sleeve, intending to ask Zhou Hengyan when they met. She then turned back to the row of portraits at the end of the book; she was to meet these people that afternoon.
After memorizing their appearances, names, and positions, she counted the number of portraits. There were no more than forty people in total, which meant that the Jingyin Sect's high-ranking members, including the 12 direct disciples, numbered only 40.
This number surprised her quite a bit, after all, the Jingyin Sect is one of the four major sects in the cultivation world, and it is backed by three of the twelve members of the "Golden Generation".
That's really strange.
Lin Yun had already read some of the books about the Jingyin Sect, but he always felt something was strange, as if something had been forcibly broken and hidden away, and that the event would completely disappear only after the death of the person who witnessed it.
Most of the books she is currently reading were given to her by Sang Zhao, and she is thinking of visiting the library of the Jingyin Sect when she has some free time.
"System, do you know anything about the Silent Chant Sect?"
"I can't answer that; it's too different from what I remember."
"How can there be two appearances for just one Jingyin Sect?" The system's answer left her puzzled. She thought about the stories in the human world and realized that it must have been caused by these incorrect data being entered.
Or perhaps the data is too outdated, since it used to crash frequently.
Lin Yunwang struck her usual absent-minded pose, resting her chin on her hand at the table and looking out the window, appreciating the subtle changes in light.
She was staring intently at the dappled light and shadow when she suddenly heard a knock on the courtyard gate.
The person who arrived was not Zhou Hengyan, but a disciple in blue robes. Upon seeing her, he hurriedly clasped his hands in greeting, "Senior Brother Sang Zhao..."
After she was settled in, there was another knock on the door. This time it was Zhou Hengyan.
"Senior Brother Zhou."
The young monk nodded.
He had already made arrangements last night for him to visit various places in the Jingyin Sect with Lin Yun today.
The meditation hall has morning classes every day, and the stewards are usually busy supervising the classes at this time, so it would be inconvenient to visit at this time. Therefore, we decided to go in the afternoon.
"I informed the heads of each hall last night that I will show you around the sect this afternoon." Just in case, he made the arrangements to avoid disappointment.
"Sect Master Ning specifically instructed that you should first study the basic courses with the outer disciples tomorrow." The inner disciples' courses are now mostly complete and in-depth. Sect Master Ning is meticulous and worried that Lin Yun, being new to the sect, might not be able to keep up, hence this arrangement.
"Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother and Sect Master." She met her master, Yichen, in the council hall last night, and this morning he sent a message saying that he had some urgent business to attend to in the human realm. She didn't know what he was busy with.
Within the Jingyin Sect, the two people closest to Lin Yunwang were not by her side. Her master had gone to the mortal realm, and her senior brother Sang Zhao had been punished by being confined to his secluded cave to reflect on his mistakes. She herself did not feel uneasy, but her senior brother Sang Zhao, who was in seclusion, was worried about her after hearing that their master had left, and sent her many things through someone.
There was also a handwritten letter among them.
The letter said: The chill of spring has not yet dissipated, so don't forget to add layers. Junior sister, just follow the path in your heart, there's no need to tread on thin ice or compromise yourself. Even if mountains and seas collapse, your master and senior brother will still be there to hold the fort.
The letter was mostly about his concern for his junior sister Yunwang, and he didn't mention anything about his situation in the secluded cave.
Therefore, Lin Yun couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Perhaps there was a way to visit her senior brother in the secluded cave. Thinking this, she was momentarily distracted and stepped on the moss, almost falling down the steps. Fortunately, Zhou Hengyan grabbed her arm and steadied her.
“The mountain path is rugged, Junior Sister Lin, you should focus on walking.” Zhou Hengyan released her arm.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhou." Lin Yun lowered his eyes awkwardly, still thinking about how to enter the secluded cultivation cave.
Zhou Hengyan seemed to see through her thoughts and, as if giving her a warning, said in a deep voice, "Don't do anything that violates the rules of the sect, or you will only put yourself in a dilemma."
"I understand." She touched the tip of her nose, abandoning her plan to visit him privately, but still wanted to know about Sang Zhao's situation. Without beating around the bush, she looked up and asked, "Senior Brother Zhou, do you know of any compliant way to enter the secluded cultivation cave?"
To be honest, she doesn't like to operate outside the rules.
The person in front of him seemed caught off guard by this direct question. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Of course there are."
Lin Yun leaned closer to listen.
"The Mission Pavilion releases missions regularly, one of which is to deliver meals to the disciples in seclusion." Seeing her expectant gaze, he said, "Now that today's task is done, I'll take you there."
"Thank you for your guidance, senior brother!" She bowed solemnly, a smile she couldn't suppress on her lips.
This was the second time Zhou Hengyan had seen her like this. The phrase "smiling like a flower" suddenly came to mind, but he found that he couldn't quite understand her anymore.
Just yesterday she lost her composure in public while defending Sang Zhao, but she quickly recovered perfectly. He considered himself a keen observer of people, able to see her stubbornness and her cautious, step-by-step approach.
But he forgot that the two of them had only met four times in total, and the total time they spent together was less than a day. Those carefully concealed sharpnesses and deliberately hidden edges were merely the tip of an iceberg rising above the water.
She was cautious, calm, stubborn, and secretive. At this time, she still had a touch of naivety, and she could be overjoyed by a "small matter."
The spring breeze rose again, ruffling their hair.
A bitter taste rose in Zhou Hengyan's throat; none of those vibrant joys and sorrows had ever been born for him.
Those late nights when I struggled with whether my judgments of others and myself were accurate, those thoughts that I pondered repeatedly at the boundary between light and darkness, are no longer important now.
Amidst the frost and flying snow, she braved the cold to seek medicine alone, unlike him; in the deep darkness, she stubbornly argued like a candle against the starlight, unlike him. Apart from both being cautious in their actions, they had no other similarities.
He suddenly realized how absurd he had been. Why bother to investigate whether he was attracted by similarities or differences?
She simply stood there, yet she was able to capture his entire gaze; it was destined from that first snowy day when they first met.
The two were at an intersection when Zhou Hengyan, who was lost in thought, stopped in his tracks.
So Lin Yun asked, "Senior Brother Zhou, which way should we go?"
He replied, "Go forward."
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