But her great-uncle told her, "Zhi'er, no matter what happens in the future, you can cry if you're sad. But after you've cried, you still have to go on your way."
Second Uncle would always pat her on the shoulder and say with a smile, "Why do you think so much, little girl? As my daughter, Lin Erye, being pretty is enough."
Xuezhi mumbled incoherently in her sleep. Shangguan overheard her and realized she wanted water. So he went out and poured her some.
It felt like a year had passed.
Suddenly, several people jumped through the window, covered her mouth, and carried her out.
In her dazed state, she heard someone talking:
"Senior sister, if Shangguan Tou is nearby, we'll all die a terrible death."
"It's quite a distance to the water room from here, don't worry, let's hurry up." After carrying Xuezhi for a while, the man said again, "Feng Zi said we have to do it without anyone noticing, so why don't we just throw her down there?"
Shh...don't say names.
“We’re all going to die anyway, what’s there to be afraid of? This little brat is really annoying. She’s so foul-mouthed and said such disgusting things to that Mu Yuan. She deserves to die a horrible death… The river down there looks very deep and the current is quite strong. If she goes down there, she’ll have a hard time surviving. Let’s throw her in.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xuezhi's body plummeted through the air. Before long, she landed in the deep pool at the foot of the mountain.
The river water in early spring was still bone-chillingly cold, and the wound, once wet, immediately ached terribly. But she couldn't swim and was injured, so she was quickly swept away by the water, passing through a curtain of water and a mountain wall, only to find herself in a completely different world.
Just when Xuezhi thought she was about to choke to death, a force grabbed her collar and pulled her to the shore.
Xuezhi lay on the ground, coughing violently, but the man, oblivious to her plight, slapped her face.
"Hey, hey, are you alright?"
"Cough cough...Where am I?"
"Heavens! Second Valley Master, look! Come and see!"
At this moment, a voice said urgently, "You guys can handle this, why are you calling me? Get out of the way! Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Why does this girl have so many injuries?"
"Huh? It's a girl?" Just then, footsteps approached.
"Second Valley Master, are you... are you alright?"
"My goodness, this is my daughter! Quick, quick, quick, go and call Yin Ci for me!"
54
Xuezhi remained unconscious, her mind still filled with dreams of her childhood. When she was only six or seven years old, almost everyone said she and Chonglian looked exactly alike whenever they walked together. But now, when Xuezhi looked in the mirror, she could no longer remember what Chonglian looked like.
Time passed too quickly, and too much time had passed. All she could remember was her great-uncle's aloof and handsome appearance standing in the crowd. His face was so unique compared to others that it was almost inhuman. No one could see him without being stunned. Even Lin Yuhuang often looked at him and sighed, "Great beauty, how could you grow up to look like this?"
Thinking of Yu Huang, her second father, all that remained in her heart was regret and hatred. She regretted that she hadn't been good enough to him and had never been filial to him; she hated that he had abandoned her simply because he couldn't bear the death of Chong Lian and had gone to the ends of the earth alone.
In her dream, she was only five or six years old, and Yu Huang was a young man who had just become a father. She secretly stuffed two fat caterpillars into Yu Huang's clothes. Yu Huang, completely lacking in fatherly manners, pinched her face until it was distorted and glared at her fiercely. She didn't dare to back down and shouted, "Huang'er, are you scared now!"
Then Yu Huang abandoned her at Zi Tang Manor, where she stayed with Situ Xuetian. He didn't come to pick her up for several months. Later, whenever she saw her second father, tears streamed down her face like a waterfall. Her second father even pressured her at this time, asking if she missed him. She stubbornly said no, and her second father ran away again. Although angry, Xuezhi still often thought how wonderful it would be if her second father were still by her side.
In a daze, she slowly opened her eyes.
A misty haze enveloped her vision. Outside the bamboo door, amidst the cold smoke and the sound of flowing water, several small waterfalls cascaded down, obscuring her view like a blanket of snow. Yet, in the tranquil pool, lotus leaves floated. It was simply not the right season; the flowers had not yet bloomed, only fiery red carp swam among the round green leaves.
At the same moment, she realized it was another dream. She had had countless dreams like this.
Xuezhi struggled to sit up, when a man dressed in light blue fairy robes stepped into the room carrying a bowl. Upon seeing her, he was slightly surprised: "You're awake. Young people are indeed very healthy."
Just as Xuezhi was about to ask herself where she was, another person stepped into the door.
At that moment, even time seemed to stand still.
The man standing in front of the door was rather thin with a very well-proportioned frame. He looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was blind in one eye and wore an eye patch, but his features were quite handsome and pleasing. His brows also revealed a kind of heroic spirit and confidence that was rare among ordinary people.
He stepped over the threshold and walked towards Xuezhi.
Xuezhi's gaze followed him until he sat down.
He touched Xuezhi's bangs, his brows furrowing: "You brat, how did you get so many injuries?"
Upon hearing his unchanging youthful voice, Xuezhi didn't hesitate. She closed her eyes, threw herself into his arms, and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go no matter what.
"...Zhi'er?"
Xuezhi's tears could no longer be controlled and flowed uncontrollably.
"Zhi'er, Zhi'er?"
Upon hearing that seemingly innocent voice again, Xuezhi suddenly burst into tears.
The man in blue at the door said, "Big-eyed bird, you actually have another woman outside. And she's so young, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
Lin Yuhuang turned around and said fiercely, "Are you stupid? This is my daughter!"
"Your daughter?" the man in blue asked in surprise. "How come she's grown so much?"
"I'm already thirty-seven, how can my daughter not be this big?"
"You just turned thirty-six a few days ago."
Thirty-seven.
"Alright, alright, thirty-seven," the man in blue said. "I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it, but she really does look alike with Chong Lian. Especially her eyes, they're like a god's."
Lin Yuhuang glanced at him, but didn't reply. He then patted Xuezhi's shoulder and asked, "Zhi'er, have you missed your second father? Ah."
The final sound came from receiving a devastating iron fist from Xuezhi.
The man in blue looked at them in surprise.
"Huang'er, you're going to die!" Xuezhi grabbed Lin Yuhuang's hand, bit his arm, and said indistinctly, "You actually left me alone in Chonghuo Palace and ran away. Tell me, what reason do you have to run away? Are you even a father?!"
Lin Yuhuang hissed for a long time before saying urgently, "Do you think I wanted to run away? If you want to blame someone, blame your great-father. He told me to run away."
Xuezhi suddenly stopped biting and stared at him blankly: "Why?"
Lin Yuhuang said, "I'll tell you about this slowly. You should rest and recuperate in the valley for the next few days. Once you're better, tell me what happened recently. Sigh, how did she get so badly injured? It breaks my heart to see her like this." After saying that, she touched Xuezhi's cheek.
Xuezhi came to a truth: no daughter in the world can truly get angry with her father.
Recalling the bullying Chonghuo Palace suffered at the Weapon Ranking Tournament, Xuezhi threw herself into Lin Yuhuang's arms again and began to sob.
“I’m increasingly convinced that the great beauty’s decision was right.” Lin Yuhuang patted her back. “Look at this girl, she’s getting younger and younger. She used to be so fierce, but now she just knows how to act cute.”
After crying her fill, Xuezhi raised her swollen, red eyes and looked at Lin Yuhuang: "Second Father, which valley are we in?"
"Of course it's Moon Valley."
55 56 57
55
After a series of nonsensical conversations, Xuezhi finally figured it out: the legendary, mysterious Moonrise Valley was located not far from the corner beneath Shaolin Temple. The Bright River, known as the Divine River below Shaolin, was actually a tributary of the Heavenly Star River that encircled Moonrise Valley. The mountain walls below were thin, and dense aquatic plants covered the waterfall, leading many to believe it was a dead end. Unexpectedly, Xuezhi got entangled in the aquatic plants and stumbled into a small island within Moonrise Valley. Otherwise, she would likely have become food for a giant river fish.
The blue-clad man standing at the door was Xingchuan Immortal, one of the two great divine physicians in the world, whose real name was Yin Ci, but only a small number of people in Yue Shang Valley knew this name.
Yin Ci was picky, but he would treat anyone who came to him for treatment. However, he had his principles: he would not treat the dead; he would not treat the wounded in battle; and he could prescribe the same medicine at a rate more than twenty times higher than others. Even so, many people still sought him out, and just as few found him.
Xuezhi had met this divine physician when she was young and heard some stories about him. He had always possessed exceptional health and had cultivated countless internal energy techniques. His family initially believed he would become a martial arts grandmaster, but after he began practicing martial arts moves, they discovered he couldn't convert his internal energy into offensive power. After struggling like this for many years, he finally gave up and sought another path. Later, he discovered that this internal energy could be used to refine elixirs and open acupoints for others, so he began to develop his medical skills. Thus, a legendary divine physician was born.
Yin Ci had no fixed aspirations in life, but he was devoted to Chong Lian. After Chong Lian's death, he couldn't adjust immediately and had no choice but to follow Lin Yu Huang. Lin Yu Huang had very round and large eyes; if it weren't for his high nose bridge, he would look quite like a girl at first glance. Yin Ci wasn't used to calling him Young Master Lin, and since his close friends were all influenced by the former leader of the Nan Ke Lu gang who was missing his right eye, they called him Little Yellow Bird. So Yin Ci combined these factors and gave him a new name: Big-Eyed Bird.
After leaving Chonghuo Palace, the Big-Eyed Bird and the Immortal quickly conceived the idea of joining a new sect. Having no prior knowledge of such matters, they sought advice from friends. The first person Lin Yuhuang thought of was Lin Xuanfeng of Lingjian Manor. Lin Xuanfeng, who had just become the manor's lord, asked him if he had any plans to join. Lin Yuhuang, skilled in swordsmanship, immediately gave him a cold shoulder, saying, "Are you trying to make things difficult for me?" Lin Xuanfeng didn't want to keep him any longer, so he simply let him stay at the manor. Yin Ci, disliking crowded and gossipy places, drifted off to the vicinity of Shaolin Temple to cultivate in seclusion. Not long after Lin Yuhuang settled in, he met someone at the manor—the legendary Shangguan Xiaozhaojun, known for her arrogant personality, extraordinary background, slightly sinister appearance, but actually incredibly kind heart.
By then, Shangguan Xiaotou had been at Lingjian Manor for quite some time, mastering all the required martial arts. Furthermore, due to a familial connection with Abbess Ciren, she secretly taught him many Emei martial arts techniques. By combining the martial arts of both schools, Shangguan Xiaotou gradually developed his own unique style. Big-Eyed Bird, with his one eye, recognized the boy's extraordinary talent; though flamboyant, his words were incredibly sweet, so he began to personally instruct him in martial arts. Before long, Lin Yuhuang, once a respected and charismatic senior, became Shangguan Xiaotou's uncle. After their daily martial arts practice, the two would sit together and chat, discussing everything from the martial world to martial arts, except for matters concerning women, where their differing perspectives and cultural backgrounds were quite significant.
Lin Yuhuang asked, "What kind of woman do you like?" Shangguan Xiaotou replied that it wasn't important, as long as she liked someone. She added that if she married someone she liked, she would definitely become a good husband and father, a respectable man like the Imperial Advisor. Upon hearing this, Lin Yuhuang punched Shangguan Xiaotou on the head, saying, "Xiaotou, Xiaotou, how can you be so stupid? To be a real man, you shouldn't say things like 'I'll be good to whoever I like.' When looking for a woman, don't look at her inner qualities or say 'let it be,' appearance is the most important thing. No beautiful woman is unattainable for an excellent man. A man should be ruthless in love, decisive in destroying beauty." Shangguan Xiaotou looked at Lin Yuhuang with surprise and asked why. Lin Yuhuang sighed and said, "When you truly fall in love with someone and then lose them, your whole life is ruined. Since you're going to lose them anyway, you might as well find more women, live a carefree and idyllic life, and be admired by everyone."
From then on, Shangguan Xiaotou's views on love were completely overturned by Lin Yuhuang. Thus, under Lin Yuhuang's tutelage, a model young man was forcibly transformed into a charming and philandering heroine. Shangguan Xiaotou accumulated experience in practice, leveling up through experience, finally reaching an invincible level. However, long ago, Lin Yuhuang had said, "You can have all the women in the world, except one." Shangguan Xiaotou asked who it was. Lin Yuhuang replied, "Chong Xuezhi, the young master of Chonghuo Palace." He even threatened, "If you dare touch her, your next nickname will be Eunuch Shangguan."
Shangguan Tou immediately declared that he would never touch Chong Xuezhi.
Of course, Lin Yuhuang was quite tactful and subtle when speaking to Xuezhi, automatically avoiding saying anything inappropriate. Finally, Xuezhi sighed, "So it turns out that Sister Zhaojun's outrageous behavior was taught by Second Father..."
Lin Yuhuang turned around: "You know Shangguan Tou?"
Xuezhi nodded: "I was with him before I fell into the river."
Lin Yuhuang immediately stood up and said to Yin Ci, "That kid is at Shaolin? I'll go chop him up!"
Xuezhi said, "No need, no need, Second Uncle, he has always treated me like a younger sister and hasn't done anything."
Lin Yuhuang hesitated and turned back: "Really?"
Xuezhi thought for a moment, then answered somewhat insincerely, "Really."
56
Later, Shangguan Tou was expelled from Lingjian Manor and joined Lin Yuhuang in establishing Yue Shang Valley. Lin Yuhuang, no longer wanting to be involved in the martial world, had Shangguan Tou recruit disciples. Unexpectedly, Shangguan Tou's reputation was exceptionally good, attracting many men and women skilled in martial arts. Within a year, Yue Shang Valley had gained prominence among mid-tier sects, and within a few years, it had become one of the major sects, even appearing on the Weapon Ranking multiple times. However, Shangguan Tou was naturally playful, traveling the world and not managing the valley's affairs much. Only recently has he shown signs of settling down and focusing on being the valley master. Before this, the person handling the affairs of Yue Shang Valley was the island master, Jieyu, who held the real power of the second valley master.
Upon hearing the mention of Jieyu, Xuezhi immediately tensed up and asked Lin Yuhuang who that person was. Lin Yuhuang quickly changed the subject: "Zhi'er, you rest here first. In a couple of days, I'll take you around the valley. We can talk about anything else then. We can't say that Moonrise Valley is the number one sect in the world, but it's definitely the most beautiful sect. Shangguan Xiaotou may be a bit of a slacker, but he's not bad in that respect... By the way, why are you here?"
Xuezhi had no choice but to explain the whole story, except for what she had overheard while unconscious, specifically regarding Lin Fengzi's account. Afterwards, Lin Yuhuang slammed her hand down, angrily exclaiming, "I can't believe that damned nun would bully you like this!"
"I'm fine. It was on the stage, so it's normal to get hit. I'm just a little resentful that Sister Zhaojun rescued me. I even said that if I held on a little longer, I might be able to win."
"The old nun Ciren is at least third in the Heroes' Gathering, she's not easy to defeat. But Zhi'er, you've really grown up, not even crying like this, your second father is so proud of you!" After saying that, he patted Xuezhi's shoulder with shining eyes.
"But I really don't know what to do. After leaving Chonghuo Palace and that battle, it seems... I have nothing left to pursue." Xuezhi said dejectedly, "Do I really have to be like other girls, making marrying a good husband and serving him well my life's goal?"
"I'll have something to tell you in a few days, then you won't think that way anymore."
Xuezhi nodded, then said, "But, Second Father, that Jieyu..."
"Or are you thinking of getting married right now?" Lin Yuhuang asked with a smile. "Who is that person? It wouldn't be Shangguan Xiaotou, would it?"
"No!" Xuezhi's face flushed red. "No, you brat, don't talk nonsense!!"
"That's good. Uncle Immortal said that if you don't rest, you'll get wrinkles."
"Big-eyed bird, when did I say that..."
"Alright, alright, Uncle Immortal, let's go out first and let Zhi'er get some rest."