Time flew quickly, moments shifting and changing, and the dao companion ceremony was right before their eyes.
Yun Lingyue had been preparing for a long time, and finally, it was time to finish up. She held her forehead, directing disciples to hang red silk, exquisitely decorating the entire side peak.
Feng Ruiyan flew around on her sword in the sky, her hands sore from carrying the red silk, still having to hang it on branches.
“Senior Sister Yun, if we hang more, Mount Chongxiang will become Red Mount Xiang!”
“Let it become Red Mount Xiang. Senior Sister said this dao companion ceremony is fully prepared, nothing must go wrong.”
Yun Lingyue stood on the ground, waving her hand, flipping through the name list before her: “Qingfeng Valley, Yuxing Gate, Yaoguang Pavilion, Zhuyue Sect… oh right, and Linghua Sect, they will all send people to attend. If something goes wrong, it will be too embarrassing for our Chongxiang Sword Sect .”
“What does that have to do with hanging silk!”
Feng Ruiyan shouted, her voice scattered by the wind, drifting away, making Tao Lan giggle on the ground.
Shui Yiqiu couldn’t settle down to cultivate. She could only gaze at the sky, taking in the layers of red.
“Ah, Daoist Friend Fu, truly love-struck…”
At this moment, Fu Lingyi was nervously counting the days.
The auspicious day for their marriage was in three days, aligning with cosmic timing, with the sun and moon shining together, able to bless every new couple to grow old together.
Of course, as cultivators, they wouldn’t actually grow old.
Now, it was early spring and they were tying the knot; these good things together only made Fu Lingyi feel more apprehensive.
In three days, she would gain the dual cultivation technique and become one in heart with Yue Jin.
Thinking of this, a hint of shyness bloomed in her heart.
She shifted her gaze to the dressing table, remembering Yue Jin always told her she didn’t bother with her appearance, so she hesitated for a moment, then picked up the hairpins from the dressing table, looked in the mirror, and inserted them into her hair one by one.
“Fu Lingyi! Are you there?”
Yue Jin burst into the bamboo house from outside, without knocking. Fu Lingyi hurriedly pulled the headwear off and placed it on the table, looking nervously at the person who had arrived.
Yue Jin looked at her messy hairstyle, very puzzled: “You… just woke up?”
Fu Lingyi quickly formed a hand seal, restoring her usual neat look, looking a little annoyed.
She saw me looking such a mess…
“Let’s not talk about that,” Yue Jin didn’t dwell on it, just hurried her, “Don’t you still have things to buy? Let’s go down the mountain quickly.”
To prepare for this dao companion ceremony, everyone was busy without stopping. Fu Lingyi had made a long list of items needed for procurement early on, always felt it wasn’t enough, and kept adding to it.
Yun Lingyue couldn’t spare the time, so the two of them were in charge of buying everything.
“Hanging decorations, invitations, what’s this, scented sachets? What are these for?” Yue Jin dragged Fu Lingyi around the base of the mountain, studying the list she had made.
She didn’t know the purpose of any of them.
“These are all very important, we must buy them.”
Fu Lingyi looked at her, her expression soft, her tone firm.
“Okay, I’ll go east, you go west,” Yue Jin turned and walked west, “This way it’ll be faster, we’ll save time.”
Fu Lingyi grew anxious: “You’re not coming with me?”
“Just for a little while, just separating briefly to buy things.”
Yue Jin saw her unhappiness, immediately went over, cupped her cheek, and coaxed her: “In three days, we’ll be getting married. After that, you’ll be sick of me, there won’t be enough time. Why are you clinging so tightly now?”
“How could I ever be sick of you?” Fu Lingyi replied unwillingly. She didn’t want to separate for even a moment. “You talk nonsense, I never will.”
Yue Jin gazed into her deep eyes, clearly understanding the affection held within.
She glanced around, then hooked her arms around Fu Lingyi’s neck, and kissed her on the corner of her mouth.
“Just this once, don’t expect it again.”
Fu Lingyi looked at her figure walking away, still standing there in a daze.
Yue Jin kissed her willingly, and right in front of everyone.
Happiness felt like climbing branches, climbing up her body step by step, finally enveloping her completely.
Sweet like ripe sugarcane.
Yue Jin wiped her slightly flushed face, but didn’t realize the action only made it redder. She walked forward, buying things along the street, constantly getting distracted.
She had told herself not to get lost in it, but now she was sinking deeper and deeper.
Walking all the way, she finished buying everything she needed. Yue Jin checked the list, confirmed nothing was missed, and planned to meet Fu Lingyi to return to Mount Chongxiang together.
Song Yin stood in the surging crowd, waving the Heaven’s Mystery Disk in her hand at her.
“You’re here again?” Yue Jin raised an eyebrow, displeased by her unpredictable appearance.
She still hadn’t dealt with her for what happened last time.
“The Chongxiang Sword Sect has a joyous occasion. Linghua Sect is among the invited sects. What is it, Daoist Friend Yue, can’t I even come for a celebratory drink?”
Song Yin smiled sweetly, standing by the low wall.
Yue Jin walked past her, continuing on: “Suit yourself.”
“The one-month deadline is approaching. Do you truly not care?”
These words were abrupt, but Yue Jin guessed Song Yin could calculate such things, so she didn’t question it much.
Her wedding ceremony with Fu Lingyi was imminent; she didn’t want other matters to interfere.
“Since Baili Xianrong wants to destroy Yaoguang Pavilion, then you should go and warn their people,” Yue Jin coldly snorted. She worried Fu Lingyi might grow anxious waiting. “With just me, how could I possess such ability?”
“Even if I recover my cultivation, I won’t be able to cultivate to the Ninth Heaven realm anytime soon. If I fall into cultivation stagnation again, what am I supposed to do?”
With her back to Song Yin, she asked question after question, every word sharp and precise.
She knew very well this wasn’t something she alone could solve. Besides, she wasn’t some savior. Song Yin always singled her out; she didn’t know what her intentions were.
Finished speaking, she continued walking, without the slightest pause.
People strolling by were shoulder to shoulder. Through the bustling sea of people, Song Yin’s voice carried, reaching her ears without missing a word.
“You don’t want to know how Yue Yuanqiu died?”
Yue Jin’s eyes widened. Scarlet crept into her vision. She felt her chest pounding in pain, as if her soul were trying to escape.
Slowly, she turned back, looking into the distance, at the person who had been watching her.
“Say that again?”
Yue Yuanqiu was dead.
But she hadn’t been killed; she’d ended her own life.
Ten years ago, an Immortal-Demon War broke out. Demon cultivators killed Venerable Sheng Ming of the Chongxiang Sword Sect —Venerable Yi Qing’s sister. This caused immense outrage among the world’s sects, who launched a crusade against the demon sect Qingyuan Palace.
At that time, Fu Qingxian was the Sect Leader of Chongxiang Sword Sect . She strongly opposed issuing a declaration of war against Qingyuan Palace.
Venerable Yi Qing was enraged and retaliated, accusing her of acting on impulse, being indecisive, and not caring about the lives and deaths of others.
After all, it was widely known that Qingyuan Palace Master Yue Yuanqiu was Fu Qingxian’s former direct disciple.
As was Baili Xianrong.
That year’s disciple selection had produced two geniuses, both taken under Fu Qingxian. But she valued only Yue Yuanqiu the most.
Until one day, Yue Yuanqiu left Chongxiang Sword Sect . No one knew why.
Everyone only saw her reputation soar. She joined Qingyuan Palace, and eventually became the Palace Master.
Fu Qingxian kept silent about the matter from back then, and never spoke a bad word about her.
Everyone believed her reluctance to conflict with Qingyuan Palace was because she still held affection for their past relationship.
But prejudice between people runs deep, and contradictions gradually accumulated. The Immortal-Demon War was unavoidable.
At that time, Yue Jin was only fifteen years old.
She didn’t understand why Qingyuan Palace was full of gloom, why Wu Bei, who used to joke and play with her happily every day, became heavy-hearted, and why Wu Hen had left and never returned.
“This isn’t something we did,” she’d asked, such childish words, such innocent thoughts.
Everyone just looked at her, not knowing how to explain what accumulated resentment and prejudice were.
Later, Yue Yuanqiu had called her, and told her she was going to travel far away.
Ten years passed. Yue Jin had always held the belief that she was just heartbroken, that she had left the world’s strife, and was living well in a remote small town, anticipating a reunion someday.
“How could she possibly end her life?” Yue Jin stood before Song Yin, her eyes brimming with tears, but she stood firm, refusing to let them fall.
“She was someone who lived so freely, who cared so little about the outside world. She was… she was the person least likely to die by suicide in this world!”
“Tell me, why?”
The commotion was too loud. Passersby glanced sideways, whispering.
Song Yin understood her suffering, her tearing heart at this moment.
But she had to keep speaking.
“She used a sword to end her life, a very broken, old sword, still stained with blood.”
This was the day after Yue Yuanqiu left Qingyuan Palace.
Yue Jin’s hands clenched into fists, then loosened, trembling uncontrollably. She didn’t want to hear, but she felt compelled to listen.
“Before she died, she asked the Heavenly Dao a question.”
“What is cultivation for?”
Song Yin no longer looked tired or weak. Her face was solemn, her expression serious as it had never been before, as if unveiling a long-sealed secret.
“The Heavenly Dao could not answer her, because the Heavenly Dao simply is the Heavenly Dao. All things in the world—flowers and grass growing in cycles, demonic beasts preying on the weak, turning into spirit pills, turning into dust, reincarnating as humans—all have a predetermined fate.”
“The Heavenly Dao also had no way to tell her why people fought each other.”
On the vast earth, with scattered rocks flying, alone on the peak of a remote mountain, Yue Yuanqiu held the sword across her throat, in utter despair.
No one could answer her words, and no one could tell her why her most beloved and respected former Master Fu Qingxian, and her close subordinate Wu Hen, had fought to mutual destruction, resulting in no survivors.
She didn’t understand.
Didn’t understand the Heavenly Dao’s arrangements.
So she stood there as if the world were ending, and died by suicide.
Yue Yuanqiu’s death was too tragic and profound, too oppressive and filled with helplessness.
So…
“The Heavenly Dao issued a sigh.”
Song Yin released the Heaven’s Mystery Disk. The spherical pieces rolled together, spinning and overlapping, causing the entire plate to shake and merge, becoming a chaotic sphere, floating in the air.
“I am that sigh.”
Yue Jin didn’t understand, tears flowing silently: “What?”
“The Heavenly Dao would not give anyone the slightest gift, but it left a sigh only for Yue Yuanqiu. This was its sole act of mercy. That is how I came into this world, seeking the fated person, to answer Yue Yuanqiu’s final question.”
The sphere seeped into Song Yin’s body. Her entire being began to change. Her sleeves tightened, her shawl extended backward, her flowing skirt hem shimmered with light.
She opened her eyes, her gaze swirling like sparks.
“I cannot help you in any way. I can only tell you this much. Whether you act is up to you.”
“But don’t forget, Yue Yuanqiu died because Fu Qingxian and Wu Hen died. That is why she ended her life.”
“And those two did not fight to mutual destruction. Someone else truly interfered. I believe you can guess who.”
Alright! The sweet daily life ends here, the exciting part is about to begin.
Of course, it will be sweet again later~
Nice chapter