—This is Shen Yebai, reluctant to part.
"good!"
—This is Qin Moyu, who is very happy to receive a gift.
"What's so good about it! It's terrible! It's best if they never come again!"
—This is Master Xuanjing, who is so angry he's practically turned into a pufferfish.
Shen Yebai smiled and waved to Qin Moyu before leaving the courtyard.
Back at his residence, Shen Yebai paced back and forth in his room. Finally, he picked up a pen and wrote a letter, which he quietly sent out late at night.
...
Somewhere in the mountains, two people stood by the river. The man in the blue robe looked down at the fish that was determined to swim upstream but was repeatedly overturned.
"What do you think of this fish?" The man in the blue robe looked at it for a long time with his hands behind his back, and then suddenly asked.
"Foolish, overestimating yourself." The man in the straw hat spoke in a gentle voice, but his tone was full of disdain.
The man in the blue robe chuckled upon hearing this: "I guessed you wouldn't have anything nice to say, but I didn't expect you to be so ruthless. After all, isn't helping a good-for-nothing rise to power your favorite thing to do?"
Although he was ostensibly talking about fish, the man in the blue shirt clearly had something else in mind.
"You don't need to be sarcastic towards me. You'll help me no matter what, because you have no other choice." The man in the straw hat sneered and took off his straw hat.
If a timid person saw this, they would surely faint from fright—because after the man in the straw hat took off his hat, the area where his facial features should have been was completely flat, which looked terrifying.
When the faceless man spoke, he turned his head towards the man in the blue robe. Although he had no eyes, he inexplicably made people know that he was "seeing," and his gaze was like a venomous snake hiding in the dark, sticky and cold.
The man in the blue robe glanced at him, not surprised by his appearance, but sighed softly: "Yes, just like before when I instigated the war between the four continents for you, what is it this time? But if you're going to take action, there's no need to call me, it will only arouse that person's vigilance."
"Because this person is a bit tricky," the faceless man slowly uttered a name.
The man in the blue robe nodded thoughtfully after hearing this: "That little guy from the Guanlan Sect? He is indeed quite troublesome. I remember he was just one step away from breaking through to the Tribulation Transcending stage. He has made rapid progress and is a rare genius."
“But he must die,” the faceless man said calmly.
The fish swimming upstream were repeatedly overturned by the current, and their bodies were covered with tiny cuts from the pebbles.
"So—" The man in the blue robe felt too tired to stand, so he simply sat down on the ground and used his hand to stop the fish that had been overturned by the water again, kindly healing its wounds.
"You've come up with a new joke... uh, a new story?"
The man covering his face did not answer. He simply put his straw hat back on, looked into the distance, and began to mutter to himself, his obsession bordering on madness.
"It will be finished soon."
"Just a tiny bit short—"
"I will definitely succeed."
"No one can stop me."
"Nobody..."
"Yes, yes, you will definitely succeed." The man in the blue robe was used to his crazy behavior and stood up with a slight boredom. He looked gentle and friendly, but before leaving, he casually crushed the fish that had been snuggling close to him because of the treatment.
Crimson blood floated on the river surface, and the fish, already lifeless, still tirelessly swam upstream. A small array could be vaguely seen in their grayish-white eyes.
It turns out that it wasn't that the fish was so determined to swim upstream, but rather that someone forced it to fight its way upstream, even at the cost of its life.
Even from a distance, you could still hear the two talking.
"So we're going to Guanlan Sect now?"
"No, it's the Qingyun Sect."
...
Qin Moyu and Shen Yebai stayed at Guanlan Sect for almost a month. Leaving aside the chaos caused by Gu Jia discovering Qin Moyu and his various elaborate confessions, Qin Moyu learned a lot at Guanlan Sect during this month and it was time for him to go back.
Qin Moyu decided to leave Guanlan Sect, and Xuanjing Zhenren, wanting to give Qin Moyu a surprise, had already returned ahead of time, only telling Qin Moyu that he was going out to take care of some business.
Qin Moyu had no suspicions and smiled as she bid farewell to Master Xuanjing.
Before they knew it, it was the third day since Master Xuanjing left. Qin Moyu took advantage of Gu Jia's absence and slipped away with Shen Yebai.
To be honest, Qin Moyu didn't dislike Gu Jia. Gu Jia had a kind of well-protected naiveté, and his thoughts were always written on his face. If he could get rid of his habit of constantly thinking about confessing his feelings, Qin Moyu would be happy to be his friend.
On her way back, Qin Moyu even imagined how Gu Jia would cry and whine to Li Zhishan after he found out she was gone, and how Li Zhishan would helplessly coax her back. With Gu Jia around, Guanlan Sect would never have a moment of peace. She couldn't help but smile.
The journey was tiring, but the closer she got to her sect, the less tired she seemed to feel, leaving only the excitement of returning home. Qin Moyu had already planned how to tell the old Taoist about her experiences along the way, and how she would amaze him with her beautiful magic.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Shen Yebai had to leave. He wanted to ask Qin Moyu to wait for him, promising that he would be back soon.
But Qin Moyu was eager to return home, and told Shen Yebai to come to the sect to find her after he finished his business.
Shen Yebai hesitated for a moment, but then decided that the sect shouldn't be in any danger, so he agreed.
Qin Moyu then hummed a song as she went up the mountain. The trees on the mountain were very tall, with lush branches and leaves. The leaves were clustered together, and only a few rays of sunlight pierced through the gaps in the leaves, making the path up the mountain somewhat dark.
But Qin Moyu knew that once she got past this mountain road, the view would suddenly open up, and she would see a small, sunny courtyard with the Qingyun Sect sign hanging on it.
One step, two steps, three steps...
arrive!