“Nan Feng, are you doubting Zhenxing Tower?” Bu Ting lifted the glass lantern, its light shining brightly, illuminating Nan Feng’s youthful face.
“This disciple dares not.” Nan Feng had some impression of that Shenji School’s head disciple. That day, the Demon Realm had infiltrated his sect uncle’s Body Integration grand ceremony. He had been pulled into the protective barrier by Jiu Hui. Later, in order to hide in the barrier, the Shenji School’s head disciple had given Jiu Hui five thousand spirit stones.
Having been in the same narrow enchantment, they were naturally different from complete strangers. Nan Feng even had a thought flash through his mind: since the four Elders of Zhenxing Tower had predicted the other party’s fate, why didn’t they try to save him?
“I don’t dare, it’s just that I have doubts.” Bu Ting lifted the lantern and walked into the octagonal pavilion, followed by Nan Feng.
“Is it wrong to do this?” Nan Feng was even more confused.
The wind blew snow into the pavilion, and Bu Ting’s face was as pale as snow. “When a person walks to the left, someone tells him that he will fall if he walks to the left. So he chooses the right path, but who would have thought that a group of jackals, tigers, and leopards would run out from the right and take his life.”
“Do you know why Zhenxing Tower is named ‘Zhen’ instead of ‘Guan*’?” Putting the glazed lamp on the table, Bu Ting brushed away the snow that had accumulated on the jade table. “Because they once thought that as long as they changed the occurrence of the prophecy before it arrived, the misfortune would not happen again.”
TN: Zhen is suppressing while Guan is observing
“Perhaps he regretted it countless times before he died. If he had known he would lose his life, he would rather have broken his leg.” Bu Ting walked to the railing and looked at the fish swimming in the pond. “No matter what you choose, you could make a mistake. No matter which path you take, you could invite misfortune. No one knows which choice will cost them more.”
“The flowers can bloom again, but people cannot turn back time.”
Snowflakes fell into the pool, but the pool contained the warming pearl that Bu Ting had thrown in, so no matter how much snow fell, it would not freeze these lazy fish.
“But…” Nan Feng knew that he shouldn’t say what came next, but he said it anyway. “A few days ago, the four Elders predicted that Zhenyao Prison would collapse and a great yao would come to wreak havoc on the world. Why did Master go to change that?”
“When choosing the left will result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of people, while choosing the right will only cost a few lives, this master will only choose the right.” Bu Ting’s tone was cold. “To me, this is not a choice, it is the only way.”
Nan Feng fell silent, for he understood his master’s meaning. But it was precisely because he understood that he felt so uncomfortable.
“Is there really no way to have both?” He looked up at the dark sky. “Why must there be a choice?”
Bu Ting looked at his unwilling disciple and began to recall his younger self. Had he also been this unwilling and furious?
“Since it’s a choice, there’s a chance of making the wrong choice.” Nan Feng said, “Maybe going left will break your leg, while nothing will happen if you go right.”
“You’re right, but the four Elders of Zhenxing Tower are unwilling to gamble, or rather, they are unwilling to gamble for a mere disciple of the Shenji Sect.” Bu Ting closed his eyes, concealing all the emotions in his eyes: “You must know that sometimes knowing your fate in advance may not be luck, but the cruelest punishment of fate.”
“Yuan Wo didn’t die as the prophecy foretold. Did he make the right choice, or was it a punishment from fate?” Nan Feng stared blankly at his master’s back. “No one intentionally changed his fate, and he didn’t know about the prophecy, but he survived.”
“Perhaps,” Bu Ting opened his eyes and looked back at him, “he was lucky enough to encounter a glimmer of life bestowed by fate.”
But he didn’t believe that fate would be so generous to a mortal.
“No, no, I don’t want to go this way!” Jiu Hui snatched the chess piece back and changed its position. “Only children make choices. I’ll just play dirty.”
As the Lunar New Year approached, the disciples of Wangshu Pavilion had no interest in cultivating. Instead, they gathered in the main hall to celebrate.
“Playing chess with you is such a headache. You don’t care about tactics or strategy at all. I’m not playing anymore.” Yu Jing threw down the chess pieces, her face full of disdain. “You’re not playing chess. You’re just randomly placing the pieces wherever you want.”
“Isn’t the point of being a person is doing things following your heart? Besides, you’re the master, so what’s wrong with letting your disciple win?” Jiu Hui put away the chess pieces with a smile. She leaned over to Yu Jing with a flattering smile and hugged her arm. “I know you’re much better than me, so it would be foolish of me to talk tactics with you. You can’t give up this game of chess, and the one who gives up loses, so that means I win, right?”
“First cry, then make a scene, and finally play dirty. Destroying the chessboard and making a mess, and even getting cats and dogs to help with the chaos, can also be considered a strategy.” The other Elders sat nearby, drinking tea and cheering. Elder Mo pointed to Zhi You, who was sitting silently in the corner: “You didn’t see it, but there was someone else secretly helping.”
“I think it’s not just Zhi You, but all of you who are helping.” Yu Jing picked up the teacup and took a few sips. This chess game was really frustrating.
“Jiu Hui is only eighteen years old. How old are you?” Elder Chang asked slowly while looking at herself in the mirror. “We’re not going to help an eighteen-year-old girl. Are we going to help you, an old lady who has lived for more than six hundred years?”
“Who are you calling old?” Yu Jing rolled up her sleeves and stood up. “I’m as beautiful as a flower, and my skin is still young. I think you’re just jealous of my thick hair because you’re losing yours, so you’re talking nonsense.”
The two sect siblings chased each other out of the hall, fighting fiercely until Elder Chang was knocked into a snowdrift. Only then did Yu Jing lower her raised sleeves and kick Elder Chang with the tip of her foot. “If you shout nonsense again, I’ll pull out all your hair.”
The tenderness and thoughtfulness that she showed Jiu Hui and Zhi You on the day they joined the sect turned out to be as fleeting as a reflection in a mirror, like a dream.
“Junior Sister, Junior Brother.” Chang He peeled an orange and squatted down between Jiu Hui and Zhi You. “Congratulations on finally discovering the true face of the Sect Master. You have no idea how scared I was when you first joined the sect and I saw the Sect Master’s gentle smile.”
“Master has always been gentle with me.” Jiu Hui snatched half of the orange from Chang He’s hand and took a bite, her eyes widening. “It’s so sweet. Senior Brother, give me the rest of it.”
“Don’t even think about it.” Chang He stuffed the remaining half into his own mouth.
“Ugh!” He covered his mouth and vomited. How could such a sour orange be sweet?
“Bah, bah, bah!” Jiu Hui pinched the uneaten orange and laughed out loud. “Senior Brother, if you had any sense of camaraderie, you would have given me the rest of the orange and you wouldn’t have gotten sour orange.”
“I was wrong, the sect uncle is indeed very gentle.” Chang He gritted his teeth and wiped his mouth. “She didn’t even beat you up when you were so thick-skinned. The sect uncle is too gentle!”
“You don’t understand. Your sect uncle may be fierce to you, but she’s very patient with Jiu Hui.” Elder Mo patted his leg and laughed out loud when he saw his disciple suffer a setback. “If she wasn’t gentle enough with Jiu Hui, she would have beaten her up when she insisted on regretting her move and released the cat to mess up the chessboard.”
“Master, who are you the master of?” Chang He’s facial features were all scrunched up in sourness.
“Talking about someone’s master in front of their disciple, you deserve to be sour like this.” Elder Mo said with a smile, “You should also think about it. If this orange is really sweet, why would she tell you it’s sweet? She would just reach out and take it away.”
Zhi You ignored Jiu Hui and Chang He’s banter. He picked an orange, slowly peeled it, and ate it in silence.
Chang He’s mouth was sour. Seeing Zhi You eat two orange segments, he stretched out his hand to him. “Junior Brother, give me half.”
Zhi You moved the orange a little further away. “Sour.”
“I don’t believe you. You can eat two segments of a sour orange?” Chang He snatched the orange and stuffed it into his own mouth.
“Ugh!”carpreads.pages.dev
Zhi You took out a handkerchief and leisurely wiped his fingers clean, his expression calm and innocent. “I told you before, the orange is sour.”
“Teehee.” Jiu Hui bumped her shoulder against Zhi You’s and took out a piece of candy from her storage ring. “Well done, have a candy.”
“You fool, you fool, how can you fall for the same trick twice?” Elder Mo was very amused by his disciple’s misfortune. “All these years, have you been living like a dog?”
“Woof woof woof.” The dog gnawing on a bone in the corner barked twice at Elder Mo. Don’t blame the dog; dogs don’t eat human brains.
Amidst the laughter and chatter, the cry of an immortal crane reached the hall. Several Elders waved their hands at a few disciples who had joined the sect less than a century ago. “Go and see if your family elders have sent letters via immortal crane.”
Jiu Hui put down the fruit she had been peeling and took two steps before turning back to look at Zhi You, who was still sitting there. She grabbed him by the arm. “Come on, Zhi You. You’re coming with me.”
After leaving the palace gate, several cranes on the snowy ground were eating small fragrant fish fed to them by several senior brothers and sisters. A crane with a small brocade bag hanging around its neck flew to Jiu Hui and nudged her skirt with its head.
“Many thanks, Immortal Crane.” Jiu Hui took out dried fish from her storage ring and poured a full plate in front of the crane. “You’ve worked hard all the way here.”
The crane gracefully flapped its wings and handed the brocade pouch hanging from its neck to Jiu Hui before lowering its head to eat the dried fish.
The brocade pouch seemed to be only half the size of a fist, but it had a space-expansion rune inside, so it could hold a lot of things.
The village chief’s letter of gratitude to her master and several elders, dozens of letters from her elders, the new winter clothes and shoes made by Aunt Jiao, the various dried fish made by Grandpa Long, the protective talisman drawn by Grandpa Bu, the various dried meats made by Grandpa Liu…
Jiu Hui presented the letter and gifts that the village chief had written to the elders and masters of each sect to her master and the elders.
After reading the letter, Yu Jing and the other Elders felt very complicated. The village chief’s words in the letter were very polite, even cautious, like a parent who was worried about their young child going to school and couldn’t help but be more polite in front of the school teacher.
Although the prepared gifts were not priceless, they were all chosen with care. In addition to the gift box for Yu Jing, an extra ten thousand spirit stones were prepared. The reason was that the New Year was approaching, and it was unknown what hobbies Jiu Hui’s Senior Brothers and Sisters had, so the money was given to Jiu Hui’s Senior Brothers and Sisters to buy things for themselves.
“Jiu Hui.” Elder Xi stroked the puppet materials given by the village chief and smiled kindly at Jiu Hui. “Are there any descendants in your village who haven’t joined a sect yet? Your senior brothers and sisters would love to have a junior brother or sister.”
“Sect uncle Xi, you forgot again. I’ve told you before, I’m the only junior in the village.” Jiu Hui pinched the brocade bag and smiled with curved eyebrows. Anyone could tell that she was in a good mood. “Master, all the sect uncles, this junior will return to her courtyard to read the letter. I’ll take my leave first.”
“Go on, go on.” Yu Jing shook her head with a smile. “You can’t sit still anyway.”
“See you tomorrow.” Jiu Hui happily dragged Zhi You away, leaving the hall full of laughter.
When Zhi You first entered the sect, he didn’t even like to say two extra words. After spending half a year with Jiu Hui, he knew how to tease his fellow disciples. Elder Mo took a sip of tea in a good mood: “I still remember the first time I saw him. He stood blankly not far from me, like a statue in the crowd.”
Someone bumped into him by accident, but he didn’t react at all. He was standing in the middle of the noisiest place, but he seemed out of place.
From sunrise to sunset, he watched as Zhi You approached several sect’s recruitment areas, only to be pushed out by the crowds. Finally, someone was willing to pay attention to him, but they found his aptitude to be mediocre and refused to accept him into their sect.
For a moment, he felt a pang of compassion and called Zhi You to his side to test him with the sect’s jade pendant. Although the jade pendant lit up reluctantly, it did light up. The jade pendant either lit up or didn’t, and this was the first time he had seen it light up so sparingly. It wasn’t until Zhi You took out a letter left by an ancestor that Elder Mo remembered that this ancestor had died saving the people of the city, so he took him in.
For the next few days, Zhi You followed quietly behind Chang He and Luo Yan. He didn’t ask questions or speak unless spoken to, and even then he would only say two or three words. If he hadn’t been made of flesh and blood, they would have thought that Zhi You was a puppet, not a living person.
“That’s good. It’s good to be more lively” Elder Chang, who had just taken a severe beating, was now sitting upright on a chair. “The path of cultivation is not easy to follow. When you’re young, take your time, walk steadily, and take in the scenery. When the road ahead becomes difficult, the path you took in your youth can be transformed into the courage to continue moving forward.”
“However…” he changed the subject, “there’s only one child in Jiu Hui Village who needs to be cultivated. It’s a pity.”
Everyone rolled their eyes. Were you feeling sorry for her? You’re just envious of the meeting gifts prepared by the village elders!
“This is for you!” Closing the courtyard door, Jiu Hui took out the carved wooden box that had been hidden in the brocade bag and had not been taken out.
“Me?” Zhi You looked at the wooden box that gave off a faint sandalwood fragrance. The person who carved the wooden box was very meticulous. Even the carvings in the gaps were polished clean and shiny.
“Yes, you.” Jiu Hui nodded. “The village elders know that you are my fellow disciple, and since Master only has two disciples, they said that you are also half their junior. These are the meeting gifts they prepared for you. Open them quickly and see what they have prepared for you?”
Zhi You reached out and gently touched the copper clasp of the carved wooden box. Under Jiu Hui’s curious gaze, he opened the wooden box.
The wooden box didn’t look big, but it was like a universe inside, and no one knew how many things were stuffed inside.
On top was a large cloak. Jiu Hui pulled Zhi You up and said, “This cloak must have been made by Aunt Jiao. Try it on.”
Zhi You was tall and slender. The long cloak draped over him made him look even more elegant and noble, as if he were a young master from a prestigious family who had stepped out of a painting.
“It’s so beautiful. When we go out to play on New Year’s Eve, you can put on this cloak.” Jiu Hui pulled Zhi You back to sit down. “Quickly, look and see what else there is?”
It didn’t matter if she didn’t look, but when she did, Jiu Hui couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow!”
Jade crown, jade pendant, jade belt, jade thumb ring, jade bow, jade flying sword…
Could it be that the Village Chief Grandpa took the entire village to dig up a jade mine?
When she opened the gift box prepared for her by her elders, it contained various jade hairpins, jade rings, jade bracelets, and jade armlets. She could almost be certain that the Village Chief Grandpa and the others must have gone mining.
Fortunately, there were still a dozen or so beautiful winter dresses and various cloaks and capes prepared for her by Aunt Jiao. She was so happy that her eyes disappeared as she tried them on.
“Aunt Jiao’s clothes are especially beautiful. All the clothes I’ve worn since I was a child were made by her.” Jiu Hui put on a big red cloak with a white fox fur collar and stood with Zhi You: “You’re wearing a snow-white cloak, and I’m wearing a red cloak. What do we look like?”
Zhi You stroked the soft fur on his cloak and shook his head slightly.
“Like white snow reflecting on red plum blossoms.” Jiu Hui thought of Zhi You’s talent in painting and smiled at him ingratiatingly. “Zhi You, could I ask you a favor?”
“What is it?”
Jiu Hui clasped her hands together. “Can you draw a picture of me wearing my new clothes? I want to send it back to them so they can see that I’m doing well and they can rest assured. Please, please.”
“Alright.” Zhi You carefully took off the cloak he was wearing and folded it gently. “Should I draw it now?”
“No rush, no rush.” Jiu Hui took out two letters from a thick stack of envelopes and handed them to Zhi You. “These are from my elders for you. It’s the first time I’ve been away from them for so long, so they couldn’t help but worry. If there’s anything offensive in the letters, just tell me and I’ll write back to them and give them a piece of my mind.”
Zhi You received the letter in a daze. It was the first time he had ever received a letter specifically written to him by an elder. He opened the letter and the first thing he saw was how the writer addressed him.
[Virtuous Nephew Zhi You, I hope this letter finds you well.]
The letter was not pedantic, nor did it give orders as an elder would. It didn’t even ask him to take care of Jiu Hui everywhere he went. It simply asked about his tastes and preferences, and whether he would like the gifts they had prepared.
[The winter wind is getting colder, I hope my dear nephew remembers to add more clothes and eat more meals.]
The other letter was written by Aunt Jiao, whom Jiu Hui often mentioned. In the letter, she explained that she had only made him a cloak because she didn’t know his measurements. She repeatedly asked him to tell Jiu Hui his measurements so that she could make him a new, well-fitting outfit.
After reading the two letters over and over again, Zhi You looked up at Jiu Hui, who was also reading a letter. If it had been in the past, he might not have understood, but now he realized that all of this was probably due to the elders that Jiu Hui had informed in advance.
They had never met him, so they could only act as elders in the letter. They gave him gifts, new clothes, and told him to remember to eat and dress warmly.
He had no elders, no one to write to him, no one to prepare gifts for him, no one to sew new clothes for him, but Jiu Hui and her elders made up for all of this for him.
Unfurling the drawing paper, Zhi You did not disturb Jiu Hui, who was reading and replying to a letter, and picked up a paintbrush to sketch Jiu Hui’s appearance.
Jiu Hui standing on a flying sword with her hands on her hips, Jiu Hui stepping on Prime Minister Wu’s back, Jiu Hui surrounded by cats and dogs, Jiu Hui covered in snow during a snowball fight, and Jiu Hui wearing a big red cloak.
After finishing the sketch, he saw that Jiu Hui was still reading the letters her elders had written to her. He picked up the scroll and quietly left Jiu Hui’s courtyard. When he passed the flower tree where Jiu Hui often lay and sat, he paused, returned to his room, and painted another picture of her lying in the tree looking at the stars.
He painted each painting with great care, enough care that anyone who saw the paintings would know how happy the person in them was.
After replying to her elders, Jiu Hui slept until noon the next day. When she got up and opened the window, the snow had stopped. The eaves and the trees were covered with still icy icicles, which sparkled in the sunlight.
“Zhi You?” She looked at Zhi You standing under the flowering tree. “What are you doing here?”
“Painting.” Zhi You walked up to Jiu Hui. “The painting you wanted, I’ve finished it.”
Jiu Hui took the painting and unrolled the scroll, only to find that it was a very long painting with many different versions of herself on it.
“You didn’t sleep all night?” Jiu Hui looked up at him.
“Last night, you kept flipping through the letters they sent. I know you must miss them a lot, and they are also thinking of you.” Zhi You placed a jade box in Jiu Hui’s arms. “Yesterday, it was the first time in my life that I received a gift from my elders. I didn’t know how to return the favor. Only these dried moonfish and moon essence were collected by me personally. Please help me send them back to my elders.”
Moon essence?
Jiu Hui opened the jade box, inside was a special glass bottle, filled with a bottle of moon essence, shimmering with a dreamy glow in the bottle.
Jiu Hui put the moon essence back into the jade box and closed the lid. “The essence of the moon, when consumed by humans, can prolong life. When consumed by beasts, it can open their intelligence and transform them into human form. When consumed by yaos or immortals, it can increase their cultivation.”
“Do you know that this bottle of moon essence is enough to drive countless immortal cultivators, yaos, and demons crazy?” Jiu Hui lowered her voice. “Quickly take it back. You really can’t give this thing away.”
“But all I can give you in return is this.” Zhi You didn’t understand. “Isn’t bad to be precious?”
“Of course, precious things are good.” Jiu Hui returned the moon essence to Zhi You and pointed to the moonfish in the box. “But true elders don’t need us to give back the most precious things in the world. People who need you to pay all the time all the places, are not elders or friends, but greedy plunderers.”
“Do you want to know what I’m planning to send my elders in return?” Jiu Hui led Zhi You into the house, where the gifts she had prepared for her elders were laid out on the table.
The flowers of Wangshu Pavilion, the peaches of Wangshu Pavilion, the first talisman she drew in Wangshu Pavilion, the small puppet doll she made with her own hands, the various snacks of Taolin City, and… the gem she had pried off the plaque of the Jiutian Sect.
Zhi You even saw a bag of hawthorn balls in the pile of gifts. He remembered that these hawthorn balls were a bit sour.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand.” Jiu Hui smiled at him. “I’ll teach you slowly in the future.”
The sunlight after the snow shone through the window and fell on her face.
Zhi You stared at Jiu Hui’s smiling face, forgetting to blink in a daze.
As it turned out, she could glow.
“Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, what do you mean by that?” Yuan Wo looked at Nan Feng and the two Jiutian Sect core disciples behind him in confusion. “I only went to Wenxing School on my flying sword the day before yesterday. Did something happen to Wenxing School?”
“Fellow Daoist, don’t overthink it. I just want to know if you encountered anyone else on your way to the Wenxing School?” Nan Feng observed Yuan Wo’s expression carefully.
“Who did I meet?” Yuan Wo frowned and thought for a moment. “I traveled quickly to the Wenxing School and didn’t meet anyone.”
“Are you sure you didn’t meet any?”
Yuan Wo rubbed the ring on his finger, shook his head with a blank expression, and said, “No, Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, what exactly happened?”
Author’s Note:
The first letter from the distant village: The weather is getting colder, please keep warm, eat well, live happily, and don’t get sick~