Chapter 83 083 "Would you... like to come with me?"
--
Jiang Ling'er stared in disbelief as the old man and the young girl, who were sworn enemies with a blood feud, agreed to go out for a final showdown, and even discussed their options...
They actually started to be modest!
This was no less shocking than when Jiang Ling'er first learned that these two were old acquaintances, but also enemies.
Only after the two figures, one tall and one short, disappeared from sight did Jiang Ling'er suddenly come back to her senses.
She frantically pounded on the hidden compartment and on the wall:
"Guards! Let me out!"
"Is anyone there? Let me out!"
"Let me out!"
Unfortunately, no one responded even after shouting until they were hoarse.
Jiang Ling'er looked through the hidden compartment at the empty little house and at the darkening sky. She couldn't help but bite her lower lip, her hands clenching until they ached as she held her head. With her back pressed against the wall, she slowly slid down.
Her eyes welled up with tears.
They're rather pitiful.
She couldn't understand it.
She couldn't understand why Pei Xuan, knowing she was imprisoned, didn't rescue her but instead told her to hide and not come out...
What's the logic behind this?
Could it be...?
Is he afraid she'll... hold him back?!
The thought of getting closer to the truth made Jiang Ling'er suddenly shudder. She raised her head, and her pale face made her lower lip, which was bitten, stand out even more, mottled, red, and even almost bewitchingly crimson.
Especially amidst the densely packed crowd of spies, her eyes were slightly red and moist, yet she didn't appear particularly pitiful. Instead, she seemed eerie and sinister, a chilling beauty, a wild and untamed beauty that grew in hiding, like weeds.
It was as if a fire had ignited her eyes, and the desire to become stronger was stronger than ever before.
It dissolves very easily in water.
Before she could even react, he could knock her unconscious with a single palm strike.
That scoundrel Taoist priest is also very strong.
He could split open the mountain gate with a single sword stroke, without even needing to unsheathe his sword.
Master Ma is very strong, Master Lu is very strong, Sister Qin Xiangyu is very strong, including Di Qing and Huo Wu whom we encountered before, and... Little Poison.
Everyone is very strong.
She wants to become stronger too.
Become like them... no, become stronger than them!
She's so strong that no one can just abandon her!
Jiang Ling'er's eyes were bloodshot, and her hands were clenched tightly, her nails digging into the flesh of her palms without her even realizing it.
Suddenly, a familiar, panting sound came from behind.
Jiang Ling'er was startled and slowly turned her head, only to meet a pair of big, dark eyes through the hidden compartment.
Jiang Ling'er was stunned for a moment, then her eyes flashed with an almost terrifying light:
"...Chunhua!"
Come to think of it, she had actually wanted to ask Pei Xuan for a long time how he raised his donkeys. How could they be so intelligent and understanding!
Pei Xuan had always let Chunhua roam freely, as he didn't want to restrict her. Chunhua, on the other hand, was extremely perceptive and adept at sniffing out her master's scent to carry him back from some unknown corner where he had passed out drunk.
This time too.
She followed the scent of that scoundrel Taoist priest and stumbled into the inner room by accident.
With Jiang Ling'er's shouting, whistling, and dancing, Chunhua successfully forced the inner room open from the outside.
The moment Jiang Ling'er smelled the fresh air, tears almost streamed down her face.
She hugged Chunhua's neck and kissed her fluffy head again and again:
"My dear Chunhua, my dear Chunhua! Tomorrow I'll buy you the best radish to eat with your rice!"
Jiang Ling'er hurriedly stepped outside and saw a waning moon in the early morning breeze, and the streets were desolate.
There was no one left in sight.
The scoundrel Taoist priest and Shui Rong had long since disappeared.
She felt inexplicably lonely. Lost in thought, she saw Chunhua burying her head in the ground, sniffing lightly, and walking straight west.
She... went to find her master again.
Jiang Ling'er paused, pursed her lips, and followed.
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The cold moon hangs endlessly.
At the foot of Dagushan Mountain.
I don't know when it started, but it began to snow heavily again.
Perhaps no one would have imagined that in the dead of night, outside an inconspicuous town, amidst the biting wind at the foot of Dagushan Mountain, sword energy would stir up frost flowers that danced in the air, and in this scene, on this night, two masters would duel atop Dagushan Mountain.
Jiang Ling'er arrived with Chunhua and was immediately stunned.
It was only at this point that she truly believed Yang Dalang's words.
Only then did she truly believe and accept that the seemingly carefree conman in front of her was actually the Immortal Xiaoyaozi of the Lingxiao Sect, the little immortal she had been searching for.
Now I finally understand why Pei Xuan is called "the carefree little immortal".
His figure wielding the sword was like that of an immortal. After six years, the Frost Sword has reappeared in the martial world.
The sword intent surged forth, amidst the hurricane and frosty blades, like the roar of a tiger and the cry of a dragon.
A sword comes from the west, a thousand cliffs stand in rows, and demonic shadows crisscross.
A single sword, its frost chilling fourteen provinces.
On Mount Dagu, figures from the Lingxiao Sect moved about, with many eager to witness the duel between the two astonishing masters.
At the foot of the mountain, Jiang Ling'er used Chunhua's body to block the hurricane, bringing her closer to the two dueling opponents, yet she dared not get too close.
Unexpectedly, Chunhua still longed for her master and disregarded the danger to go deep into their territory, where she was held tightly by Jiang Ling'er.
Within a radius of more than ten feet radiating outwards from Pei Xuan and Shui Rong, the frost-cold sword energy was like frost and a blade, while Shui Rong's vast and continuous internal energy spread out like water. It was more like a needle hidden in cotton; as long as one got any closer to them, the hurricane carrying the terrifying sword energy and internal energy was like a blade, scraping one's head and face painfully.
Going any closer will result in death!
Jiang Ling'er couldn't stop Chunhua. At the same time, she understood the danger, but she still braved the bone-scraping cold wind and greedily took in every move of Pei Xuan and Shui Rong's duel, memorizing it all.
Even when her eyes were so dry they were about to tear up, she couldn't bear to blink.
Although she didn't know why Shui Rong, one of the seven great assassins of the Demonic Sect, would instruct her in martial arts, perhaps it was to keep her in the small restaurant for better surveillance and to wait for an opportunity to act, setting aside right and wrong, merit and demerit, and stance, she was fortunate enough to receive the method of breathing and exhalation, which was a way to cultivate internal energy, from this unassuming master. She was complacent and actually thought that she had made some progress in internal energy. It turned out that Shui Rong's words, "I have nothing more to teach you," were just a lie.
If the internal energy circulating throughout her body from her dantian was still just a trickle, then Shui Rong was like a vast river flowing across the sea.
A single palm strike unleashes surging waves and sweeping clouds and mist. A single palm brushes away a gentle breeze and soft ripples.
Jiang Ling'er finally understood what Shui Rong meant—
"The highest good is like water, which benefits all things without striving. It changes shape and adapts, and overcomes the strong with the weak."
She murmured to herself, her heart stirred. Subconsciously, she adjusted her breathing rhythm, one hand still tightly holding Chunhua's neck to prevent her from running away, while the other hand made a hand gesture, silently chanting incantations. At the same time, she followed Shui Rong's every move, urging her internal energy to circulate throughout her body. The twelve meridians that had been stagnant showed faint signs of loosening...
Shui Rong truly mastered the art of breathing and dancing with effortless grace. Within his body, the vast internal energy materialized into a hurricane, carrying frost, snowflakes, and misty clouds. As the tide rose, Hai Ruo let out a long exhale; as the tide receded, Xiao Lü breathed out a final breath.
How effortlessly and freely he moved, as if the vastness of the world was nothing more than a universe within his sleeve, which he could manipulate and turn at will.
Is this... the aura of a master...?
Jiang Ling'er was shocked and stared blankly. Suddenly she stopped and saw Shui Rong's body rustling as he pushed out a palm with both arms. Suddenly, the snow sea rose up to a height of 10,000 feet and crashed down on Pei Xuan like a tidal wave!
Jiang Ling'er's pupils contracted, and she exclaimed:
"careful!"
Even though her voice was shrill, the wind and snow completely drowned it out. But then, Pei Xuan actually…
They even have time to drink!
He tilted his head back and gulped down a mouthful of wine. The moment the wine jug dragged on the ground, the vast sea of snow swallowed him up!
As if her heart had been violently clenched, Jiang Ling'er stood up from behind Chunhua and shouted:
"Smelly……"
But in the next instant, the young Taoist was like lightning flashing in his hand, wielding the Heaven-Slaying Sword, and cleaved through the sea like a giant whale!
It was as if a corner of that day had been pierced!
Wielding his sword, he broke through the vast sea of snow, his sword energy surging, instantly cleaving the towering snowfield in two!
Drunken Swordsman.
The swordplay resembles that of someone drunk, unrestrained and free. It emphasizes sudden attacks and retractions, alternating between slow and fast movements, with fragmented steps and a swaying body, making the swordplay highly varied.
The sword is also known as the king of a hundred blades, capable of taking a person's head from a thousand miles away.
The Lingxiao Sect is renowned as the leader of the Northern Sword Sects. The young Taoist appeared unsteady on his feet, as if he were drunk, but in reality, he was as swift as the wind and as fast as lightning. Shui Rong was forced back step by step, and in an instant, the two exchanged hundreds of moves, each one deadly!
Jiang Ling'er was so captivated by the sights that she even forgot to breathe.
Watching two masters clash is truly... a huge win!
--
In the final blow, both of them were blinded by rage.
The frost flowers, wrapped in the chilling sword energy, collided with the vast, water-like internal force. After a deafening roar, the snow surged up like a wave, instantly engulfing Jiang Ling'er, who was closest to the frost flower.
Then the frost flowers in the sky vanished.
The hurricane swept through the mountains like the howl of a demon, leaving behind a vast expanse of white desolation.
Jiang Ling'er struggled quite a bit to get up from the snow, and then quickly dug Chunhua out of the snow.
But when she stood up in the snowdrift, she found that there was no one on the snow.
Not only was Pei Xuan nowhere to be seen, but Shui Rong was also nowhere to be seen, and even the sword energy that had been sharp and clamoring for slaughter had vanished completely.
Where...where are they?
That scoundrel Taoist priest...
Jiang Ling'er's heart clenched immediately. Just as she was about to go forward to look for him, a person suddenly stood up unsteadily from the snow.
Is it Pei Xuan x... or Shui Rong...?
When Jiang Ling'er saw that it was Pei Xuan, she was completely relieved.
--
Pei Xuan, sword in hand, walked step by step to Shui Rong, who was severely injured and vomiting blood.
"I have waited for this day for six whole years, six springs, summers, autumns and winters, a full two thousand one hundred and ninety days and nights."
I had rehearsed every move and technique I would use to kill him a thousand times over in my mind.
As soon as he finished speaking, the tip of the sword was already pressed against Shui Rong's throat.
This moment, this scene, had been rehearsed in his mind for two thousand one hundred and ninety nights.
It has finally come true.
Pei Xuan's condition was not much better than Shui Rong's. He was almost covered in blood, and three of his five fingers holding the sword were broken. He could barely hold the sword with two fingers and the base of his thumb.
Despite the severity of his condition, his face showed little emotion; his handsome features were pale, and he was even unusually calm. As if announcing a judgment, he said indifferently:
"Today I sharpened my sword nineteen times. Each sharpening represents the life of a fellow disciple. It is not worth exchanging their lives for the lives of nineteen disciples of Lingxiao."
Without hesitation, he thrust his sword into Shui Rong's chest, piercing the heart of one of the seven great masters of the Demonic Sect.
Shui Rong's prosthetic eye suddenly bulged out, staining the white ground with blood.
Blood filled his throat, and he made a labored "heh heh" sound as he swallowed, but he could no longer move an inch.
The young Taoist priest, exhausted, collapsed in the snow.
Suddenly, my ears twitched.
Faintly, a thunderous roar could be heard coming from the snow-capped mountains.
An avalanche is about to occur.
Their movements would inevitably trigger an avalanche, something Pei Xuan had already anticipated.
But he had no strength left.
Even if he still had a lot of strength left, he probably wouldn't be able to escape the avalanche.
Moreover, he came here with the determination to perish together with that old bastard Shui Rong.
Pei Xuanping lay on the snow, panting, gazing up at the starry sky.
Lying on the snow, he could feel even more clearly the thunderous roars, like the howls of wild beasts, rushing down from the snow-capped mountains. At the same time, images of his fellow disciples calling his name flashed before his eyes, images so familiar they almost brought tears to his eyes.
[Senior brother!]
[Senior brother!]
[Senior brother, you're here!]
I knew my senior brother would avenge us!
That's natural.
The young Taoist priest murmured silently, a smile playing on his lips.
He then closed his eyes and faced death with equanimity.
Finally, besides the sound of an avalanche hundreds of feet away, he also heard a familiar sobbing voice calling out to him:
"You shameless, scoundrel Taoist priest!"
"That damned Taoist priest! That stinking Taoist priest! Pei Xuan!"
"Where the hell have you been?!"
Pei Xuan found it hard to describe the first time he saw Jiang Ling'er; it was an overwhelming, chilling rage!
His phoenix eyes were bloodshot, almost as if he wanted to devour her, as he stared at her fiercely.
What are you doing here?!
"Are you alright...?"
Two voices rang out simultaneously. Jiang Ling'er paused, then froze, utterly bewildered.
Why are you so angry?
--
The situation was urgent, and Jiang Ling'er rushed forward without regard for the danger. She first turned over Shui Rong's body.
Upon seeing the wound that stretched across his entire chest cavity, almost entirely covered in blood, he paused for a moment, then let go.
He won't survive.
They buried themselves in their work and continued searching for the scoundrel Taoist priest.
But after taking a few steps forward with her head down, she suddenly stopped, gritted her teeth, and ran back, kneeling on the snow in front of Shui Rong.
Although he was a treacherous and wicked man, Shui Rong was one of the seven most notorious assassins of the Demonic Sect, deserving of universal condemnation. Yet, she could still teach him, even if it was just a move or two, even if he refused to drink the tea she offered…
He was also her mentor.
Even if he is a half-baked master.
Jiang Ling'er knelt before Shui Rong, placed the backs of her hands on her forehead, and kowtowed to him with utmost solemnity.
Shui Rongben's heavy breathing paused, and his bloodshot prosthetic eye stiffly and slowly fell on Jiang Ling'er. Suddenly, he laughed out loud, and then the laughter grew louder and louder. He had always been aloof and even dull-witted, so this loud laughter was very unlike him, almost like madness.
"I am an ungrateful and heartless old man, all alone, and I never imagined that when I am about to die, I would actually... actually..."
Before he could finish speaking, he breathed his last.
His eyes were wide open, and he died with his eyes still open.
Seeing this, Jiang Ling'er slowly exhaled a sigh of relief, then knelt deeply before Shui Rong's corpse before rushing deeper into the snowstorm to find Pei Xuan.
Even a martial arts master like Shui Rong lost his life, so what about that scoundrel Taoist priest...?
Could it be...?
Jiang Ling'er dared not think about it; her hands trembled at the thought. Fortunately, they soon found Pei Xuan, who was still alive!
When Jiang Ling'er finally found the young Taoist priest, her eyes were bright red, not only around the eyes but also around the tip of her nose. However, she hadn't expected that instead of being grateful, he would scold her!
Jiang Ling'er, feeling resentful, her eyes reddened even more, and she immediately retorted:
"I came to save you... Pshaw! I'm here to collect your corpse!"
Extreme shock and anger gave Pei Xuan's already exhausted body renewed strength. He took two steps in one and walked up to Jiang Ling'er. He wished he could split the girl's head open with one sword and see if it was full of mush!
"Why didn't you listen to me and stay put? Who told you to come and rescue me!"
"You saved me, I don't like owing favors, okay?! Ugh! Let's not talk about this now!" Jiang Ling'er gritted her teeth and stepped forward, grabbing Pei Xuan's arm and dragging him back. "Saving Chunhua is the priority!"
The young Taoist priest stopped abruptly.
Pei Xuan let Jiang Ling'er drag him by the arm until they reached Chunhua, who had collapsed to the ground.
Jiang Ling'er quickly let go of Pei Xuan's hand, squatted down next to Chunhua, found the position of Chunhua's heart, and pressed hard!
She had used this method to save Chunhua before, but now no matter how much she pressed or struck her heart, it was no use...
Chunhua's eyes grew increasingly unfocused... until she almost stopped breathing altogether.
"She's been like this since just now... Please save her!"
The young Taoist priest watched silently throughout, and after a long while, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse:
"...It's no use. Chunhua's fate is sealed. It's a miracle that she's managed to hold on until now."
Jiang Ling'er paused in pressing Chunhua's heart, suddenly remembering that Pei Xuan had indeed said that Chunhua was very old.
Her fate was sealed; she wouldn't survive the winter.
Upon hearing the young Taoist's voice, Chunhua suddenly stirred. Her eyes were already closed, but she instinctively sniffed around with her nose and finally found her master. She nuzzled the corner of the young Taoist's robe with the tip of her nose and then stopped moving.
Or rather, he was unable to move, lacking even the strength to breathe, with only increasingly heavy, painful gasps coming from deep within his throat.
Pei Xuan swayed slightly, and for a moment Jiang Ling'er thought he was about to lose his grip on the sword, but he only swayed and quickly regained his balance.
His face was deathly pale, devoid of any color.
Jiang Ling'er was a little hesitant... or rather, she couldn't bear to look at him.
Suddenly, even Jiang Ling'er, whose skills were not yet fully developed, heard a strange sound coming down from the top of the snow mountain, like a thousand horses galloping in.
Immediately afterwards, the ground began to shake.
She grew up in the south and had never seen or even heard of an avalanche.
Even people who have lived in the north since childhood may never have witnessed an avalanche in their entire lives.
Jiang Ling'er suddenly felt a tightness in her chest and a sense of panic, and quickly asked, "What happened?"
The young Taoist priest seemed not to hear, squatting in front of Chunhua with his sword, the tip pressed against her throat...
Jiang Ling'er's brow twitched sharply, and she said sternly, "What are you trying to do!"
The young Taoist priest remained unmoved upon hearing this, and simply said:
"She was in a lot of pain."
After just four words, a swift and decisive stroke brought the knife down. Jiang Ling'er thought that was the end of it; Chunhua was powerless to save her. Pei Xuan's intention was to end her suffering as soon as possible, which was not wrong.
But to everyone's surprise, Pei Xuan's sword didn't end there. Instead, the tip of his sword continued downwards, slicing straight into Chunhua's stomach!
Jiang Ling'er was utterly horrified as she watched the young Taoist priest, his face deathly pale, remove Chunhua's organs without a trace, and then crawl inside himself...
He glanced at her before crawling inside and said coldly:
"Come in if you don't want to die."
Jiang Ling'er's face was also shockingly pale; she didn't know why things had suddenly turned out this way.
She gazed at the sea of snow rushing down from the mountaintop like a tsunami, pursed her lips, and ultimately...
They crawled inside.
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The avalanche has begun.
Chunhua is a fully grown donkey, but it's still quite difficult for her to wrap around two adults.
Fortunately, Jiang Ling'er was slender, and the two of them hid inside Chunhua's belly like conjoined twins, so close that there wasn't a single gap between them.
In the dizzying spin, the tip of my nose... and not just the tip of my nose, almost every part of my body was covered in a bloody mess.
If it weren't for the hot breath spraying on the back of her neck, accompanied by a hint of alcohol, Jiang Ling'er would have thought she was a lump of dead flesh.
She thought the night would remain silent, but the person behind her spoke first.
"Talk to me."
He seemed to just need a listener, and without waiting for Jiang Ling'er's reply, he continued talking to himself.
First, let's recount their glorious past as "Little Immortals," the unparalleled genius of the Lingxiao Sect, surrounded by countless admirers. Then, let's mention the journey six years ago to protect the immortal child, when they were ambushed by Huo Wu. If it were just Huo Wu alone, it would have been fine, but unexpectedly, there was a second assassin lurking in the shadows.
Naïve and inexperienced, they were too naive, believing themselves invincible. Blinded by their own ignorance, they mistook the lurking assassins for kind villagers, poisoned them, and killed them effortlessly. The brothers who once fawned over him were now dead, their lives hanging in the balance, and they questioned him night after night:
[Senior brother, why did it turn out like this?]
【Why? 】
【Why? 】
Unable to answer, he resorted to drinking every day.
And how did he survive such a humiliating ordeal, having his senior sister stuff him inside a female donkey to escape death?
When they were slaughtering the donkey, it was incredibly intelligent and actually knelt down. The senior sister's hands trembled, but she still managed to cut open the donkey's belly. Only then did he and his senior sister realize why the donkey had knelt down.
She is pregnant.
These are spring flowers.
He and Chunhua hid inside her mother's body and escaped the massacre.
He had wasted his talent and failed his family and friends. He then vowed that the Frostbite Sword would never be drawn until the time came for revenge.
From then on, he began to travel the world, seeking revenge everywhere.
Six whole years. Unexpectedly, the assassin resorted to his old tricks, actually becoming a massage therapist right under our noses at Dagushan.
How ridiculous.
Oh, and he succeeded in getting his revenge.
That man had just died by his sword.
They deserve to die.
Pei Xuan's voice was unusually hoarse, and his hot breath sprayed onto a small patch of skin on the back of Jiang Ling'er's neck, sending shivers down her spine with every word he spoke.
The smell of alcohol was faint, yet it was particularly pungent in this cramped space filled with the stench of blood.
As he spoke, he suddenly burst into laughter.
Jiang Ling'er could feel the vibration in her chest.
He said he had let down many people in his life, failed his teachers' expectations, and betrayed the trust of his fellow students and all his fellow disciples. He even betrayed a mother donkey and a mother's kneeling pleas.
He originally thought he could take good care of Chunhua until she grew old, raise her to be healthy and plump, and let her die peacefully and be laid to rest.
At least that's what he could do, and the only thing he could do. He never imagined he couldn't even manage something so small.
They even said that she would ultimately suffer the same fate as her mother.
It was also to save this incompetent scoundrel.
This is...absurd.
It was so absurd that he couldn't help but laugh.
The young Taoist priest laughed, and his laughter grew louder and louder until tears streamed down his face. The tears splashed onto Jiang Ling'er's nape, almost burning her skin.
Jiang Ling'er wanted to offer comfort but didn't know where to begin... so she remained silent.
Silently, she turned around and hugged him.
And so, the night passed.
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The next day.
Having survived the avalanche, Jiang Ling'er and Pei Xuan crawled out of the snowdrift and dug out Chunhua's body, burying it.
Jiang Ling'er even erected a small monument for her.
As she erected the monument, the young Taoist priest, his face as pale as snow, watched coldly and suddenly said:
"Spring flowers will eventually die in this winter. Those who are destined to be rich will be rich, and those who are destined to be poor will be poor... Those who follow the will of Heaven will prosper, and those who defy the will of Heaven will perish. So there is no such thing as 'variables' at all."
As early as the second time Pei Xuan met Jiang Ling'er, he had already predicted that Chunhua would die in winter. It was Jiang Ling'er who used her inner strength to revive Chunhua, making him realize for the first time that fate is in one's own hands and that human effort might be able to reverse destiny.
But what if... he hadn't insisted on winning Chunhua back then?
If Chunhua had died then, she wouldn't have suffered like last night...
The young Taoist priest's pale lips were pressed tightly into a line. His handsome face was pale and gloomy, and his phoenix eyes were cold, as if they had gathered the fierce frost and snow of the Great Lonely Mountain.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling'er paused in her actions and gently touched the branches of the still-withered tree beside Chunhua's grave.
"The spring flowers may not survive this winter, but they will revive this spring, won't they?"
Pei Xuan's brow twitched, and he lifted his eyelids to stare intently at the woman squatting before Chunhua's grave, his voice still somewhat hoarse:
"……What did you say?"
This was a location Jiang Ling'er had specifically chosen, earnestly pleading with Pei Xuan to bring Chunhua's body to a place a mile away from Qing Shi Town.
The town of Qingshi is full of plum blossoms, which are the flowers that Uncle Shui likes, but she doesn't.
Jiang Ling'er stood up, stroked the tree trunk beside Chunhua's grave, and looked back at the young Taoist priest, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling:
"This is a cherry blossom tree, a tree that blooms only in spring. Don't be fooled by its bare appearance now; it will be covered in cherry blossoms in March..."
Seeing Pei Xuan looking at her coldly, Jiang Ling'er paused, swallowed hard, and then said, "It is said that it absorbs the flesh and blood buried beneath it... Life goes on and on, and when March comes, the spring flowers will turn into vast expanses of bright cherry blossoms. Spring flowers, spring flowers, spring flowers should be born in spring... Don't you think this... this is good!"
The young Taoist priest seemed to be infected by her joy, staring at her in astonishment.
Jiang Ling'er scratched her head as she spoke, a rare hint of shyness in her expression:
"From the very first time I met you, you kept talking about all that weird stuff like 'fate' and 'luck.' I don't understand all that nonsense you're spouting. I only know that destiny is hard to predict, but human nature is easy to uphold. Man proposes, God disposes."
As Jiang Ling'er finished speaking, the young Taoist's long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
"You're right. My father, the members of the镖门 (镖门 is a martial arts sect), your fellow disciples, our beloved relatives and friends, brothers and sisters—all of them died at the hands of the Demonic Sect because of escorting the Crown Prince… How can anyone not hate them?!"
After this ordeal, especially last night's long and unbearable night... Jiang Ling'er finally understood that she and Pei Xuan were actually no different.
They too lost important people, they too had nowhere to go, and they too wanted to see if the sacrifice of the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) and their deceased fellow disciples was truly worthwhile. They couldn't let them die in vain, could they?
"I will reclaim my title as the number one镖师 (bodyguard/escort) in the world! I will find Crown Prince Liansheng! I want to see with my own eyes whether the person who made my father and all the disciples of my镖门 (bodyguard/escort) pay with their lives was truly worth it!"
The resounding voice made Pei Xuan turn his head, his phoenix eyes gazing at her even more intently.
After Jiang Ling'er finished speaking loudly, she finally felt the anger that had been building up in her chest dissipate. She let out a long sigh of relief and secretly cheered herself up. Under Pei Xuan's gaze, she walked step by step to his side. For some reason, she felt inexplicably shy and acted coy, which was unusual for her.
“We’ve been through thick and thin together, you…” Jiang Ling’er said, already standing in front of the young Taoist. She clenched her fist, exhaled silently, then suddenly tilted her head back, looking directly at Pei Xuan, and extended her hand to him, speaking each word with utmost focus:
Would you... like to come with me?
Let's go to the prosperous land of Jiangnan together.
Let's go find that—
Worth it or not.
-----------------------
Author's Note: ① From Liang Yusheng. ② From Su Zhe's "Record of the Kuai Zai Pavilion in Huangzhou". ③ From Bao Zhao's "A Spring Day's Journey". ④ From Su Zhe's "Two Poems on Tracing the Tide, No. 1". ⑤ From Li Bai's "Song of General Sima". ⑥ From "The Mysteries of Ancient Sports Science".
today!
Holy crap!!!
I had a lot of fun writing this, but I don't know if you ladies enjoyed reading it!
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