“Sect Master Qiu.” Yu Jing suddenly appeared and stood in front of Jiu Hui and Zhi You. She bowed gently to the newcomer. “The last time I saw Sect Master Qiu was fifty years ago. After all these years, Sect Master Qiu is still as radiant as ever.”
Yu Jing gestured with her left hand behind her back, and Jiu Hui immediately understood. She took a few steps back, and seeing that Zhi You didn’t react, she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to her side.
“Junior Jiu Hui greets Sect Master Qiu.” She stepped on Zhi You’s foot.
Zhi You, please be more clever.
“Junior Zhi You pays respect to Sect Master Qiu.”
Zhi You looked down at his trampled foot and hid the unfinished snack in his sleeve.
Jiu Hui smiled in relief. Very good, he knew to hide it in front of outsiders.
“Pavilion Master Yu.” Qiu Hua returned the greeting, smiling faintly. “It’s fate that we meet. I came uninvited, so please forgive me, Pavilion Master Yu.”
“Sect Master Qiu, it is an honor for all of us at Wangshu Pavilion that you have graced our boat with your presence.” Yu Jing turned to Jiu Hui and said, “Jiu Hui, Zhi You, why don’t you hurry up and prepare some tea and snacks?”
“Yes, Master.” Jiu Hui and Zhi You retreated. They had the puppets prepare the table and chairs. Jiu Hui saw Zhi You taking out tea leaves from his storage ring and stopped him. “What are you doing?”
“The Qinglan School has a prominent status, but the tea leaves of the sect are too ordinary. I think…”
“Our Wangshu Pavilion is a small and humble sect, so how could we have such rare and expensive tea leaves?” Jiu Hui washed her hands and took out some fruit slices and peach blossoms. “Maybe Sect Master Qiu doesn’t like to drink tea.”
“Our sect has many fresh flowers and fruits. Serving them to guests shows our sincerity.” Jiu Hui reached out to take the boiling morning dew water from the stove. “Flowers bloom and fall, but it’s always spring. This is good enough. I’ll serve the tea, and you serve the snacks. Follow me.”
The flying boat sailed through the clouds, and Qiu Hua and Yu Jing sat facing each other.
Qiu Hua didn’t speak, and Yu Jing smiled gently at her, her attitude ingratiating but not servile. In Qiu Hua’s memory, Yu Jing had always been like this. It should be said that the people of Wangshu Pavilion were all like this.
She first met Yu Jing five hundred and eighty years ago, on the day she and Bu Ting were holding a grand engagement ceremony. Yu Jing followed behind the previous Wangshu Pavilion Master, her face flushed as she accepted the meeting gift her master had given her.
The second time she saw Yu Jing was five hundred years ago, when her master had already passed away for a year, and she had succeeded him as the Sect Master of the Qinglan School. At the succession ceremony, there were many guests, and at first, she did not notice Yu Jing. It was not until the end, when the guests were saying goodbye, that everyone congratulated her, and only Yu Jing told her to take care.
Later, they met a few more times, but each time was brief. There was only one Qinglan School in the world, but there were countless small sects like Wangshu Pavilion. She and Yu Jing were destined to have different statuses and identities.
To her surprise, Yu Jing’s cultivation had already reached the Body Integration stage. With such a cultivation level, she would be more than qualified to be an Elder in their Qinglan School. However, no one in the entire cultivation world had noticed this.
“Sect Master Qiu, please have some tea.” Jiu Hui brought the teacup to Qiu Hua, who smiled and said, “We’ve known each other for many years, but I didn’t know you had taken on two close disciples.”
She took out two magic weapons, handed one to Zhi You, and put the other in Jiu Hui’s hand: “Years ago, an old friend of mine was very fond of the flying swords I made. Now that my old friend is long gone, I don’t know who to give the flying swords I made during my free time to. You can take them and play with them.”
The flying sword in Jiu Hui’s hand was made of rare jade essence, and the body of the sword was engraved with many advanced protective runes. Such a flying sword was a dream come true for many people.
“You should thank Sect Master Qiu.” Yu Jing smiled. “Thank you, Sect Master Qiu, for spending so much on these two children. My two disciples have ordinary cultivation and mediocre aptitude. With such a powerful protective flying sword accompanying them, I can rest assured.”
“Thank you, Sect Master Qiu.” Jiu Hui performed a deep bow, but was stopped halfway by Sect Master Qiu. “You’re my junior, no need to be so polite. Sit down and have some tea.”
Yu Jing smiled without saying anything. She glanced at Qiu Hua’s hand supporting Jiu Hui’s wrist. The lofty Qinglan School’s Sect Master didn’t have much of a relationship with her, so the words “my junior” were probably too flattering.
Qiu Hua gently let go of Jiu Hui’s wrist, picked up the teacup, and took a sip. Her eyelids fluttered as he lowered them. “How old are you, Jiu Hui?”
“Sect Master Qiu, this junior will be eighteen in two months.” Jiu Hui pushed the snack to Qiu Hua: “Sect Master Qiu, try this snack. Is it to your taste?”
Qiu Hua finished the entire pastry and picked up the teacup again. “So young, very good.”
The tea was neither cold nor hot, the temperature was just right. She smiled at Jiu Hui: “The tea is delicious, and the snacks are also very tasty.”
“Are you all going to attend the Body Integration ceremony of Yin Ji from the Jiutian Sect?” Qiu Hua looked at Yu Jing. “It just so happens that my sect is also going to attend the ceremony. If Pavilion Master Yu doesn’t mind, we can go together.”
Yu Jing almost crushed the pastry in her hand. Qiu Hua was going to attend the Body Integration ceremony of the Elder of Jiutian Sect? What kind of chaos would happen in the world that would make Qiu Hua willing to go to Jiutian Sect?
“How could we dare to disdain it? It is our honor.”
Yu Jing took out a mirror from her storage ring and asked Jiu Hui, “Jiu Hui, we’re almost at Jiutian Sect. Do you think this hairpin looks good on me?”
The mirror flipped over, and Yu Jing accidentally let go of it, causing it to roll in front of Qiu Hua.
Qiu Hua picked up the mirror, held it up to her face, and chuckled softly. “Centuries have passed, and although my appearance hasn’t changed, my eyes have gained a hint of world-weariness. I’m not the same as I used to be.”
She returned the mirror to Yu Jing, who blushed and smiled in embarrassment. “I apologize for my rudeness, Sect Master Qiu.”
The mirror did not change. It was Qiu Hua herself, not a demon or evil spirit that had transformed and disguised itself.
“Everyone has a love for beauty, so how can this be considered rude?” Qiu Hua was unexpectedly gentle. “Is everything well with your sect?”
“Thank you for your concern, Sect Master Qiu. Everything is well.” Yu Jing took a sip of tea. It was the sect’s regular fruit and peach blossom tea. She smiled wryly.
“As you know, Sect Master Qiu, our Wangshu Pavilion is small and weak. We’re already using all our sect’s strength to guard Taolin City. I’m not afraid to tell you this, but this ten-thousand-mile flying boat costs hundreds of spirit stones a day. It’s just that Daoist Master Yin Ji is holding a Body Integration Grand Ceremony, so it wouldn’t be good for us to come on flying swords. It would make Daoist Master Yin Ji lose face.”
“Pavilion Master Yu has advanced to the Body Integration stage of cultivation, and I have yet to offer my congratulations.” Qiu Hua waved her hand, and several bottles of pills and a bag of spirit stones appeared on the table. “Please do not disdain my gift, Pavilion Master.”
“How could we accept that?” Yu Jing waved her hands repeatedly. “The lake is teeming with fish and shrimp right now. We can barely make ends meet by selling them. How could we let the Sect Master spend money on us?”
“All sects are connected by the same spirit, Pavilion Master, don’t stand on ceremony with me.” Qiuhua stuffed the elixirs and spirit stones into Jiu Hui’s hands. “Accept them on behalf of your master.”
“Thank you, Sect Master Qiu.” Jiu Hui accepted it and smiled broadly at Qiu Hua. “Sect Master Qiu is so kind. With the spirit stones you gave us, my fellow disciples and I won’t have to catch fish every day.”
“Children don’t know any better, this… this…” Yu Jing sighed in shame and annoyance. “It’s my incompetence.”
“You’re still a little girl.” Qiu Hua’s smile was extremely gentle. She took out another brocade bag filled with spirit stones. “Take this too.”
“Thank you, Sect Master.” Jiu Hui accepted it without hesitation.
Only Zhi You, who was sitting next to them, was thinking seriously. He had never encountered his Senior Brothers and Sisters when they went fishing every day.
He had been in the sect for three or four months, but he had no idea that the sect relied on selling fish and shrimp to make a living.
“Sect Master Qiu, Jiu Hui is just a child. How could she carry so many spirit stones with her?” Yu Jing’s cheeks were slightly flushed. “Please take the spirit stones back.”
“I won’t hide it from Pavilion Master Yu. The first time I saw Jiu Hui, I felt a connection with her.” Qiu Hua placed her teacup on the table, and Jiu Hui filled it up for her.
Yu Jing’s smile on her face faded slightly. What did this mean? Was she trying to steal her disciple?
“Perhaps it’s because I’m so charming. That day in Wenxian City, an Elder from the Wanhuo Sect also said that I was fated to meet him.” Jiu Hui put down the teapot and smiled innocently. “I think Sect Master Qiu is right too. If there was no fate, how would we have met above the clouds?”
“Indeed, it is fate that we have met.” Qiu Hua smiled. “Seeing Jiu Hui reminds me of a friend who told me that she would accompany me on a journey across mountains and rivers to witness the beauty of the world.”
Jiu Hui refilled Yu Jing’s teacup and turned to ask Qiu Hua, “What happened next?”
Qiu Hua gazed at the distant, rolling sea of clouds, her voice desolate. “Human hearts are treacherous. There’s not much goodness in the world.”
She lowered her eyes to look at Jiu Hui and gently closed her eyes. “Just now, I saw that you seemed to be very interested in the Immortal Cauldron?”
Jiu Hui nodded with a smile, “I’m a little curious.”
“Two hundred miles from the Qinglan School, there is a Zhenya Cauldron. If you are curious, I will take you to see it.” Qiu Hua opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the Zhentian Cauldron. “That is the Zhentian Cauldron. Do you want to go see it now?”
“Sect Master Qiu, we’ll be arriving at Jiutian Sect soon.” Yu Jing suspected that Qiu Hua didn’t want to take her precious disciple to see the cauldron, she just wanted to trick her precious disciple away.
“Since today is not a good day, let’s do it next time.” Qiu Hua frowned in disgust. The Jiutian Sect was really a jinx.
The flying boat landed outside of the Jiutian Sect, and the Qinglan School’s phoenix boat also stopped nearby.
Tao Er huddled in the corner and whispered to Tao Xiangyi, “Didn’t you say that the Qinglan School and the Jiutian Sect are enemies?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Jiu Hui suddenly turn her head to look at him.
He was so scared that he immediately shut his mouth.
Jiu Hui raised an eyebrow and mouthed something to him.
What?!carpreads.pages.dev
After Tao Er saw which two words Jiu Hui had said, he gritted his teeth, lay down on the ground, and began to roll around frantically, howling, “I don’t care, I don’t care, you promised me that you would take me to visit Wuyang City first, and I’m going now! I’m going now!”
Tao Xiangyi’s eyes widened in horror. “What are you doing, you little brat? Are you tired of living?!”
Qiu Hua looked at the wildly twisting, humanoid object in the corner of the flying boat and asked, “What is that?”
“That’s a child I have known all my life. He’s been spoiled since he was a child. Before we came, we promised to take him to see Wuyang City.” Yu Jing was worried about how to separate from Qiu Hua, and she was relieved when she saw the two Tao children suddenly go crazy.
Qiu Hua looked at Jiu Hui.
“Sect Master Qiu, why don’t you and your sect’s disciples go ahead first? We’ll catch up later.” Jiu Hui pointed at her head. “This child fell on his head a few days ago and is a little out of it.”
Qiu Hua looked at Jiu Hui and nodded slightly. “Alright.”
Jiu Hui bowed.
As soon as the people from the Qinglan School left, Tao Er, who was still crawling on the ground in the shadows, immediately got up from the ground, nodded and bowed, and approached Jiu Hui: “Immortal, do you think my crazy posture just now was standard?”
“You’re a quick learner.” Jiu Hui patted his shoulder. “Pretending to be crazy will only get you beaten up. Truly going crazy will help everyone avoid trouble. Xiao Er, you’ve improved.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Immortal!” Praised by Jiu Hui, Tao Er was beaming with joy. If he had a tail, he would have been wagging it wildly. “What’s the problem with entering the Jiutian Sect with the Qinglan School?”
“What if Jiutian Sect and Qinglan Sect fight, and we go in together with Qinglan Sect? How will the Jiutian Sect view us then?” Jiu Hui knocked Tao Er’s head. “Who can we afford to offend?”
Tao Er shook his head, he couldn’t afford to offend anyone.
“Quickly get out of the way, sects ahead! Don’t block the path of our Shenji School!”
Above the flying boat, a gigantic flying tower appeared, and it was about to crush the flying boat of Wangshu Pavilion.
Author’s Note:
Yu Jing: Everyone knows that we, Wangshu Pavilion, are very poor.
Little Garlic Chive: Everyone knows about us. Our Wangshu Pavilion is so poor that we can only sell fish and shrimp.
Zhi You: What selling fish and shrimp? When did you catch the fish?!