Song Yu Zheng noticed his puzzled look. His lips twitched but he just patted Zhi Guan’s shoulder. “Don’t think too much.” In this case, it really was better if he didn’t get it. Otherwise, who knew if it wouldn’t irreversibly damage the relationship between him and Lu Wei? Since they wanted him to join their sect with his sister, they couldn’t let that happen!
Zhi Guan simply shrugged his shoulders when Song Yu Zheng didn’t seem to care further and paid it no further heed. In fact, it also couldn’t be blamed on him that he had no idea what Lu Wei had meant: He had been an only child whose childhood had been interrupted by the war early on. After that, it had only ever consisted of traveling here or there to escape the battles and find a new place to call home. Then, he was already taken into the sect and all his focus was on cultivating his sword arts. Where exactly would he pick up such things?
And all of that was without mentioning that he personally couldn’t care less about the looks of a woman. He only cared about two things: Did she have a sword? And if so, could she use it well? In that case, he’d be happy to spend as much time with her as he could!
Of course, that was not to say that Zhi Guan didn’t also care about the senior and junior martial sisters of the sect. But that was because he felt responsible thanks to his Master’s teachings. He didn’t have other thoughts.
The four disciples took up strategic positions to ensure that nobody who wasn’t Mu Qing or Zhi Guan’s supposed sister could walk past and disturb the potential couple. Well, of course, in Zhi Guan’s case, he took his position so Mu Qing and Xi Ju Hai wouldn’t be disturbed while talking about the secret plans of the demonic faction but it wasn’t like any of the other three knew about that.
In the meantime, Liu Bao Ru and Mu Qing had arrived at the door to the room where Xi Ju Hai was waiting.
Mu Qing stopped in his tracks, not daring to reach out and actually open it. It had been so long. He didn’t know what he should say when he finally saw her again.
The anger his Ah Hai should have felt when she found out about his Master’s betrayal of the sect and what that might mean regarding his own disappearance … he could imagine. So her reaction to seeing him again, it likely wouldn’t be happiness. It would also be deserved but … it was hard to imagine.
They had parted on good terms back then since nothing had happened yet. He still remembered her smile and how they had joked with each other. Then, halfway through his mission, he was pulled away from the world of the Teng Yong Sect that he was familiar with.
It had pained him but that probably couldn’t compare to the pain Xi Ju Hai had felt. And at the end of the day, he had still made the choice to stay on. If he truly was a righteous person, he should have rather put his own life on the line fighting for his beliefs and his sect than allow his Master to do those things.
But he hadn’t. He had silently watched and done what he could still square with his conscience, only refusing to do what went past that. But deep down, he had always known that his Master cared little about his opinion. If he refused, somebody else would be sent, and those tasks would still be completed one way or another. What he had done was simply window dressing.
Behind him, Liu Bao Ru raised her brows. Her opinion of Mu Qing had been low after his Master’s betrayal came out. In her eyes, she had watched her friend suffer for a man who simply wasn’t worth it. But … she had seen based on Mei Chao Bing that sometimes, there was more to it than you could see. Maybe the same was true for Mu Qing. For Xi Ju Hai’s sake, she really hoped so.
She cleared her throat and motioned at the door. “It’s not going to open itself, senior martial brother Mu, and we don’t have much time.”
Mu Qing nodded and finally pushed open the door. He couldn’t see Xi Ju Hai immediately but after taking a few steps in, he found her standing to the side. Looking at her … she still looked exactly the same.
Well, of course, her face was the same. They were both cultivators, after all, and aging slowed down after reaching the upper limit of the Qi gathering stage. Now, they were both nascent soul-stage cultivators so how could her appearance have gone through any major changes?
But this wasn’t just about her appearance. No, it was about what she did with it. And even after looking for signs of change, he couldn’t find any in that regard.
Her black hair was still done up the same way, bound with a simple ribbon in the color of her robe instead of bothering with a jade crown like most of the other disciples. The robe was slightly showier than usual but he recognized that this was the one he had gotten her so it didn’t seem odd either. Her back was still as straight as all those years ago and her smile … well, it also hadn’t changed.
Before Mu Qing realized what was happening, tears had gathered in his eyes and he had rushed over, pulling her into his arms just as the tears fell. He knew she was probably angry and if she wanted to scream at him or hit him, he wouldn’t stop her. But right now, he just couldn’t help himself from wanting to be close to her and make sure that she wasn’t just a figment of his imagination but that he had really managed to meet her again.
Song Yu Zheng noticed his puzzled look. His lips twitched but he just patted Zhi Guan’s shoulder. “Don’t think too much.” In this case, it really was better if he didn’t get it. Otherwise, who knew if it wouldn’t irreversibly damage the relationship between him and Lu Wei? Since they wanted him to join their sect with his sister, they couldn’t let that happen!
Zhi Guan simply shrugged his shoulders when Song Yu Zheng didn’t seem to care further and paid it no further heed. In fact, it also couldn’t be blamed on him that he had no idea what Lu Wei had meant: He had been an only child whose childhood had been interrupted by the war early on. After that, it had only ever consisted of traveling here or there to escape the battles and find a new place to call home. Then, he was already taken into the sect and all his focus was on cultivating his sword arts. Where exactly would he pick up such things?
And all of that was without mentioning that he personally couldn’t care less about the looks of a woman. He only cared about two things: Did she have a sword? And if so, could she use it well? In that case, he’d be happy to spend as much time with her as he could!
Of course, that was not to say that Zhi Guan didn’t also care about the senior and junior martial sisters of the sect. But that was because he felt responsible thanks to his Master’s teachings. He didn’t have other thoughts.
The four disciples took up strategic positions to ensure that nobody who wasn’t Mu Qing or Zhi Guan’s supposed sister could walk past and disturb the potential couple. Well, of course, in Zhi Guan’s case, he took his position so Mu Qing and Xi Ju Hai wouldn’t be disturbed while talking about the secret plans of the demonic faction but it wasn’t like any of the other three knew about that.
In the meantime, Liu Bao Ru and Mu Qing had arrived at the door to the room where Xi Ju Hai was waiting.
Mu Qing stopped in his tracks, not daring to reach out and actually open it. It had been so long. He didn’t know what he should say when he finally saw her again.
The anger his Ah Hai should have felt when she found out about his Master’s betrayal of the sect and what that might mean regarding his own disappearance … he could imagine. So her reaction to seeing him again, it likely wouldn’t be happiness. It would also be deserved but … it was hard to imagine.
They had parted on good terms back then since nothing had happened yet. He still remembered her smile and how they had joked with each other. Then, halfway through his mission, he was pulled away from the world of the Teng Yong Sect that he was familiar with.
It had pained him but that probably couldn’t compare to the pain Xi Ju Hai had felt. And at the end of the day, he had still made the choice to stay on. If he truly was a righteous person, he should have rather put his own life on the line fighting for his beliefs and his sect than allow his Master to do those things.
But he hadn’t. He had silently watched and done what he could still square with his conscience, only refusing to do what went past that. But deep down, he had always known that his Master cared little about his opinion. If he refused, somebody else would be sent, and those tasks would still be completed one way or another. What he had done was simply window dressing.
Behind him, Liu Bao Ru raised her brows. Her opinion of Mu Qing had been low after his Master’s betrayal came out. In her eyes, she had watched her friend suffer for a man who simply wasn’t worth it. But … she had seen based on Mei Chao Bing that sometimes, there was more to it than you could see. Maybe the same was true for Mu Qing. For Xi Ju Hai’s sake, she really hoped so.
She cleared her throat and motioned at the door. “It’s not going to open itself, senior martial brother Mu, and we don’t have much time.”
Mu Qing nodded and finally pushed open the door. He couldn’t see Xi Ju Hai immediately but after taking a few steps in, he found her standing to the side. Looking at her … she still looked exactly the same.
Well, of course, her face was the same. They were both cultivators, after all, and aging slowed down after reaching the upper limit of the Qi gathering stage. Now, they were both nascent soul-stage cultivators so how could her appearance have gone through any major changes?
But this wasn’t just about her appearance. No, it was about what she did with it. And even after looking for signs of change, he couldn’t find any in that regard.
Her black hair was still done up the same way, bound with a simple ribbon in the color of her robe instead of bothering with a jade crown like most of the other disciples. The robe was slightly showier than usual but he recognized that this was the one he had gotten her so it didn’t seem odd either. Her back was still as straight as all those years ago and her smile … well, it also hadn’t changed.
Before Mu Qing realized what was happening, tears had gathered in his eyes and he had rushed over, pulling her into his arms just as the tears fell. He knew she was probably angry and if she wanted to scream at him or hit him, he wouldn’t stop her. But right now, he just couldn’t help himself from wanting to be close to her and make sure that she wasn’t just a figment of his imagination but that he had really managed to meet her again.
