Chapter 304: Chapter 304

Li Xun had a vague feeling this was just another one of Yin Wanderer’s little provocations. It almost seemed this woman liked watching him sink deeper and deeper into shitty moods. Not that she actually hated him or wanted him destroyed; she just… liked the sight.

Still, it was obvious that this time even she hadn’t expected how much steadier his mind had become. There was still visible surprise on her face, maybe even a flicker of respect.

“You’ve already figured it out too,” she said, her tone quieted. “If it were Ming Ji, she’s sharp inside and out, and has a sword style as famous as her personality. Even confined, she would be the type to fight to the bitter end and drag everyone down with her. Even inside the Dream, she would meet the sword with a sword. If Ming Ji is like that, then what about Mingru?”

Yin Wanderer seemed addicted to talking about the beauties of the Mingxin Sword Sect. She tossed Mingru into the conversation without a second thought.

Li Xun and Mingru weren’t anywhere near as close as he was with Ming Ji, but after a few decades, he still had a decent read on her. This fairy was considered the unrivaled beauty of Lianxia Mountain. She had grace like clouds and rosy light, so stunning it almost hurt to look at her. And her personality? The gentlest, purest thing imaginable. Basically the total opposite of Ming Ji in every single way.

So why was it that compared to how things had been “back then,” Li Xun still felt something was off?

He frowned, thinking it over. Yin Wander was smiling as she answered, “Mingru’s the type who looks soft on the outside but is steel underneath. In that kind of situation, she wouldn’t have the sharp edge that Ming Ji has, but she has her own kind of fierce integrity. She’d rather die than let her will be trampled. If she were caught by this Dream technique, she’d snap awake within a few breaths instead of ending up like this.”

She went on, “That’s why, back then, even when I was interested in them, I never actually made a move. It came down to this principle. With temperaments like theirs, entering the Dao and cultivating along the orthodox path works perfectly for them, making their progress twice as fast for half the effort.”

Setting aside the information she had accidentally let slip, Li Xun immediately caught the deeper implication in her words. “So what you’re saying is… Ying Ning doesn’t measure up?”

Yin Wanderer nodded. “Not just ‘doesn’t measure up.’ Look at her in the dream. Half resisting, half going along with it, sinking deeper until she couldn’t pull herself out. Just in terms of mental strength, she’s nowhere in the same league as Ming Ji or Mingru. For a cultivator, opportunity comes first, mental discipline second, and natural talent last. Even with great talent and rapid progress, when disaster comes, it won’t help you one bit without the mind to face it.”

Those words came from Yin Wanderer’s thousands of years of experience and insight. Basically the most authoritative judgment you could get. Deep down, Li Xun was already convinced by her. But when he thought about how this girl, from the very beginning to right now, had always looked at him with that pure, wholehearted admiration and respect… he couldn’t help hesitating anyway.

Yin Wanderer didn’t say anything more. She simply lifted her sleeve and dispelled the Soul-Shaking Dream Weave’ technique. Then she carefully straightened the girl’s slightly rumpled clothing. Ying Ning’s breathing soon grew steady again. As the blush slowly faded from her cheeks, her sleeping face became so clear and pure it was almost like crystal, stirring a kind of protective sympathy in anyone who looked at her.

But after seeing the way she’d been moaning so softly and seductively just moments ago, Li Xun found it damn near impossible to look at her with a calm, detached mind anymore. Even worse, that sudden leap from one extreme to the other made him think of someone.

No one else noticed the turmoil churning inside him, but Yin Wanderer did. She turned and smiled. “Exactly like what you’re thinking. If she’d kept cultivating in the Mingxin Sword Sect, give it a hundred years or so… she’d clearly become another…”

Qing Yin!

Tucked away in the corner, The Flying Fox let out a low, miserable moan. Its body curled up tight, folding in on itself, trembling nonstop under the cave’s cold, suffocating gloom.

“Brother Xun, something’s gone very wrong!”

Ling Ji’s panicked voice slammed into the cave. Yin Wanderer flickered like an insubstantial bubble and vanished with a soft pop.

Li Xun shot to his feet and stared as Ling Ji came sprinting inside. His face was pale, clearly rattled out of his mind.

“It’s bad! Senior Brother Shan tried to hug Senior Sister Qi. She slapped him, then took off down the mountain on her sword!”

…

No one knew when Zuowang Peak had filled with clouds, but the midday sunlight was long gone. Against the dim sky, streaks of sword-light became even easier to see. Qi Bi was burning with shame and rage. At this point she couldn’t tell east from west, letting her sword carry her wherever, as long as she could run far away and never look back…

You call that being husband and wife?

Sleeping in the same bed and calling each other “husband” and “wife” doesn’t make a marriage. To really be husband and wife, you need a home. A real home!

What the hell is a “home”? A husband, a wife, and some kids thrown together do not make one. They have to make a living, run the household, and build something that thrives. Only then does it become a home. And what about the two of you? You are cultivation partners. You are only together for the sake of cultivation, trading qi back and forth. That is all it is!

Aside from cultivation, he cannot give you anything. If you want a child, you ruin his path. The more you want it, the more resentful he becomes, and in the end you become the demon in his heart. A demon!

A demon. The word echoed and Qi Bi felt her head spin. At some point, her cheeks had already grown wet. She tried to stop her tears, but all she could do was press a hand over her mouth so she would keep the sobs from breaking out.

Shan Zhi’s words were like a knife carving into her chest, cutting through every comforting lie. She was terrified. She wanted to run, anywhere at all, as long as she could bury the wound again. If she could do that, it would be enough.

The sword-light grazed the treetops, slicing ahead through exploding branches and flying leaves. She had no idea how far she’d flown when it seemed like someone was calling her name. The voice kept calling, again and again, closer and closer until it became too clear for Qi Bi to ignore.

She stopped her sword flight and looked around in confusion. For a moment she could not find her bearings at all. Everywhere she looked was a blur of withered grass and gray trees. Sky and earth seemed to blend into the same dead color and she could not tell up from down or east from west.

It felt as if the world flipped in an instant. Her head spun and her sword qi scattered. The next thing she knew, she was falling out of the air.

“Senior Sister Qi!”

The voice calling her name kept getting clearer, sharper in her ears. Right as it sounded again, the clouds suddenly rushed in from all sides. With a bubbling rush of air, Qi Bi fell into a soft billowy cloud. Moist vapor filled her nose and made her mind even more foggy.

Sitting on that thick wad of cloud, Qi Bi stayed frozen for a good long moment before regaining a bit of awareness. She lifted her head. The man hovering in the air in front of her could only be Li Xun.

Their eyes met and, out of nowhere, she laughed. “Junior Brother Xun, did you come to ruin me too?”

The misery in her chest breaking loose. Tears poured down without restraint and her cheeks, just dried by the wind, were soaked again.

Li Xun frowned; for a moment he was completely speechless. He was absolute shit at handling stuff like this. Right now he’d rather throw himself into another brutal fight against all three sect leaders at once than have to face this woman whose mind and heart had just been torn open.

That guy really did not know when to shut up.

He cursed to himself a few times, but in the end all he could do was let out a quiet sigh. “Senior Sister Qi, let me take you back.”

A random, offhand sentence like that ended up working way better than any word of comfort. No matter how deep Qi Bi’s grief ran, she could not ignore that simple kindness. Her crying stalled for a moment, as if someone had cut the flow off, and she froze in place.

Meeting Qi Bi’s gaze, Li Xun looked a little awkward. He said nothing more, formed a quick hand seal, and guided the cloud beneath her, ready to fly down the mountain.

He had just lifted off when Qi Bi spoke again in a faint voice: “Where is Ying Ning?”

“She’s still asleep.” Li Xun answered said. “Senior Brother Ling Ji is up there watching over her.”

“Then we are going back.”

“Huh?”

This time Li Xun was genuinely surprised. He turned his head, but for a moment he couldn’t force a single word out.

Qi Bi wiped away the traces of her tears and forced her expression back into something resembling normal before meeting his eyes. “Ying Ning is very smart. If I went down the mountain first, there’s no way I could hide this from her. It’d just make her worry for nothing… Let’s go back.”

Li Xun stayed silent. It took him a long while before he finally nodded. “Do not worry, Senior Sister Qi. I already told Senior Brother Dan to descend from the other side of the peak and shut himself away to reflect. As for what happened, if you don’t want…”

He trailed off. Qi Bi already caught the rest of what he wasn’t saying. She let out a hollow laugh, and her eyes suddenly darkened. “Junior Brother Xun… how long have you all been hiding this from me?”

Li Xun’s heart gave a small jump. When he looked at her again, all he could see was the curtain of dark hair falling over her face. The sky wind tugged at the strands, sending them drifting and crossing in front of her eyes. Whatever was really going through her mind right then… he couldn’t be sure.

Right then Li Xun realized he’d fucked up again. Women’s hearts… how the hell are you supposed to read them.

He gave a bitter smile and didn’t try to defend himself. He just stood at the edge of the clouds and stayed quiet. Qi Bi didn’t ask anything more. She stayed kneeling, her head lowered, the curtain of her hair hiding whatever she was feeling.

This scene… it felt eerily familiar.

Li Xun watched in silence. His mind drifted and he seemed to lose himself. The wind in his ears turned into a different kind of howl. The cold seeped into his bones. In the darkness of his memory he could almost see two sparks burning beneath icy water.

Even though they were so damn close. Close enough to feel each other’s breath on their skin… Li Xun still couldn’t figure it out. Was what was inside her overflowing with regret and utter despair… Or was it something else entirely. A greedy pull, sucking the souls out of everyone around her, just so she’d never have to sink into that dark prison alone?

A sudden chill touched his forehead. Li Xun snapped back to himself and lifted his head. The sky was a dull gray. Flurries of snow drifted down, growing heavier and thicker until they formed a curtain. The mountain wind swept it from peak to peak until the whole world disappeared behind falling snow.

This snow came on fast…

Li Xun let out a long, heavy breath. Just now, the turbulence in his mind had gotten seriously dangerous. If the cold shock of the snowfall hadn’t snapped him out of it, who knows what kind of mess he might’ve ended up causing.

The sudden twist put him on alert. His cultivation had advanced too quickly, and on top of that the seeds of inner demons had taken root. Everything else he could handle, but in his current identity as Spirit Bamboo he had to be unbelievably cautious.

He looked at Qi Bi again. In just a few short breaths the snow had settled on her hair and shoulders. It only made her look more heartbreakingly lost, more fragile and desolate in the white haze.

Li Xun had never thought of himself as soft-hearted. But seeing this scene in front of him, he found he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

He sighed and formed another hand seal. A soft hum rose from the surrounding cloud wad. Primordial qi threaded and pulled, weaving into a hazy layer of warm air that wrapped around them. The drifting snowflakes met that invisible barrier and simply slid away. Qi Bi noticed the change. She lifted her head slightly, her eyes passing over Li Xun’s face before she lowered them again.

Just when Li Xun thought they were going to fall back into silence, he heard her quiet voice.

“Brother Xun, talk with me for a little while.”