Yi Qing was indeed half-dead with anger upon learning all of this.
Her two closest disciples had been abducted, and now only a few remaining inner and outer disciples were left, waiting trembling at the sect entrance for her to emerge from seclusion.
“Fu Lingyi and Yun Lingyue… have both been…”
Venerable Yi Qing spoke haltingly. Normally, among the various side peaks, she managed the fewest affairs, even less than the sect leader, and she disliked taking disciples. Taking in Fu Lingyi was only done to repay a favor, out of necessity.
However, once taken in, they were disciples who shared the sect’s honor and disgrace.
Demonic cultivators had brazenly come to the Chongxiang Sword Sect and taken the two of them, without even a struggle. This had led to all sorts of rumors spreading wildly throughout the cultivation world.
It could be said that the Chongxiang Sword Sect had lost face completely.
Seeing Master Yi Qing’s sorrowful expression, the disciples who didn’t know better might have thought the two’s fate was sealed, with no hope of recovery. They looked at each other, kneeling and waiting for her to speak, unsure who should start asking.
In the past, Senior Sister Fu would have handled this, or at worst, Senior Sister Yun…
Feng Ruiyan, though an outer disciple kneeling furthest out, interacted with the two of them the most on a daily basis, so she felt the most injustice in her heart.
She quietly asked the person next to her, “What about the senior sisters? Let’s suggest to Master that we go rescue them.”
“You’ll go?” The person next to her was surprised and didn’t respond to her suggestion.
She indeed had this intention, but before she could speak, another soft, weak voice came from another group of outer disciples: “Master, Senior Sister Fu… will Senior Sister Fu be alright?”
Feng Ruiyan turned to look. Yu Xia was among the crowd, looking nervous. Her worry for Fu Lingyi was clearly visible on her face.
“Insufficient skill, insufficient skill,” Yi Qing shook her head, looking up at the drifting clouds, as if expressing everyone’s current state of mind.
“Master, we have to go save the senior sisters,” Yu Xia almost stood up. Seeing that no one else moved, she knelt back down. “If we delay any longer, the demonic cultivators will… they will…”
Everyone looked at her, then turned back to Yi Qing, their anticipation clear.
These disciples, especially the outer disciples, had heard of the great name of the Chongxiang Sword Sect and the titles of Baili Xianrong and Venerable Yi Qing before entering the sect, and had knocked on the immortal gate full of admiration.
Having been in the Chongxiang Sword Sect for so many years, they had only witnessed the demeanor of a few senior sisters, and had never seen any of the masters make a move.
Unexpectedly, Venerable Yi Qing just shook her head.
“Fu Lingyi is my most promising disciple… Oh well, oh well, this is all personal destiny.”
The disciples were shocked. Feng Ruiyan even spoke out, “What, what does that mean? Master, aren’t you planning to save the senior sisters?”
“The Chongxiang Sword Sect will have more disciples come in, and this world will have more talented individuals.” Venerable Yi Qing flicked her sleeves, stepped over all the kneeling disciples, and walked straight out of the courtyard. “It’s just a pity.”
“A pity for Fu Lingyi.”
Everyone slowly got up from the ground. Yu Xia couldn’t believe it and chased after, shouting, “Master! Master!”
The disciples discussed among themselves. Only the inner disciples, who already knew Venerable Yi Qing’s true nature, directed everyone back to their positions, not wanting to dwell on it further.
“Even if Master doesn’t save them, I have to go save the senior sisters!”
Feng Ruiyan was the first to step forward, standing before everyone. Normally playful, this time she was utterly serious, her face filled with grief and indignation. She raised her sword. “Does anyone want to follow me to attack the demonic sect!”
It was the first time Yue Jin was so angry at the Evil Envoy. She was furious, accusing her of saying nonsense to Fu Lingyi.
The Evil Envoy stubbornly stood as punishment in the hall, crystalline tears hanging on her wrinkled little face, refusing to admit she was wrong. “Hmph, I wanted to say it! She treated Venerable One like that, so I insisted on telling her!”
“You!”
“Alright, alright,” Wu Ju mediated. “Don’t cry. What’s said is said. Jin’er, stop being angry. Just let the Evil Envoy go and explain to Fu Lingyi.”
“How can I explain!” Yue Jin was on the verge of collapsing. Qingyuan Palace was getting quieter and quieter, until only the three of them were left in the vast hall. No one could give her advice. “Now she thinks I’m that kind of fickle person even more! Evil Envoy, it’s all your fault, I’ll never talk to you again!”
The Evil Envoy’s tears had been hanging, but upon hearing these words, she couldn’t hold back. Large, pearl-like tears rolled down.
It was a sight that made one’s heart ache.
But Yue Jin seemed to have a heart of stone, refusing to take back her words, causing the Evil Envoy extreme sadness. She cried and ran out.
Wu Ju sighed.
After that unhappy parting, several more days passed, and Fu Lingyi remained alone in her chamber.
The restriction Yue Jin placed couldn’t keep her confined. The surrounding low-level disciples were slacking off on their tasks and weren’t carefully watching, allowing her to sneak out freely without being discovered.
She brazenly left the palace. She had intended to look for Yun Lingyue, but instead unexpectedly found Yue Jin sitting on the mountain, lost in thought.
Qingyuan Palace was indeed built in an excellent location.
Setting aside the abundant spiritual energy on this mountain, even the cultivation of flowers and plants showed extraordinary care, as if someone had meticulously nurtured and looked after the entire mountain.
Winter had just passed, and the mountain was covered in white and blue interwoven flowers and plants.
And Yue Jin was sitting right in the middle of the white and blue, her red clothes particularly eye-catching. She sat with her knees bent, clutching a flower in her hand, pulling off the petals one by one.
A gust of wind passed, blowing the petals, causing them to flutter and scatter, dancing in the air like falling snowflakes.
Fu Lingyi suppressed her spiritual energy and slowly walked closer. Although she didn’t hide herself excessively, Yue Jin was too focused and didn’t notice her.
She approached the other person’s back, listening to her murmur while pulling off petals: “Angry, not angry, angry, not angry…”
“…Angry. Ah, why is it angry again? Start over.”
“Angry, not angry, angry, not ang—” Just as Yue Jin was about to pull off the second to last petal, the flower was snatched from behind. Before she could turn her head, her eyes were momentarily obscured by the hem of a plain robe. A thin veil blocked her view, and she could only vaguely make out a faint human silhouette, which seemed coated in a layer of light under the sunlight.
“This flower only has seven petals in total. If you start counting from ‘angry’ every time, of course it won’t change.”
The familiar voice sounded overhead. Yue Jin’s calm heartbeat suddenly quickened. She quietly waited for the layers of veil to fall, recognizing the person’s face through the gaps in the light.
Just like when they first met years ago, Fu Lingyi always seemed to descend before her like an immortal.
Her heart was moved that year, just as it was now.
But back then, she had mistakenly thought she was A’Ling…
Thinking of A’Ling, she also thought of what the Evil Envoy had said in front of Fu Lingyi and silently lowered her head.
In this situation, she truly had no face to show.
Unexpectedly, Fu Lingyi had a smile on her lips. She casually swayed the blue flower that had only one petal left. “Is the Demon Lord agonizing over who is angry and who isn’t?”
The four words “It has nothing to do with you” were stuck in Yue Jin’s throat. She didn’t choke them out. This dream had appeared with such difficulty, and she didn’t want to scare the person away even in a dream.
“Not talking? If you don’t talk, I’ll guess myself,” Fu Lingyi squatted down and brushed the petal against the side of her face. “Could it be about that A’Ling, the one your sect’s disciples mentioned…”
“No!” Yue Jin quickly argued, afraid she would misunderstand. “I wasn’t thinking about whether she was angry. I was afraid, I was afraid…”
“Afraid of what?”
“…Afraid you would be angry.”
She said it honestly this time. Perhaps the surrounding environment was too beautiful, making it seem so unreal, leading her to believe it was a beautiful dream.
If it wasn’t a dream, how could Fu Lingyi appear before her like this, smiling so gently?
“Of course I’m angry, because you keep doing things that make me angry.”
It was like a basin of cold water poured over her head. Yue Jin’s heart felt a little cold again.
“But,” Fu Lingyi liked to toy with her, watching her get disheartened only to reel her back in, “you’ve done too many things like this. If I dwelled on every single one, how could I possibly keep up?”
Fu Lingyi felt she truly had endless patience for Yue Jin.
From the very beginning when she found her in Qingyuan Palace, to returning to the Chongxiang Sword Sect , this person had not said a single truthful word.
Even though she hated liars the most, she still tolerated, accepted, and even yearned, yearned for even a little bit of her love.
Perhaps she was too humble, which allowed the other person to take advantage.
But ultimately, it was because her heart was soft.
This time was the same. As long as she saw that person’s bright, sparkling eyes, she forgot all her regrets and anger, only wanting her to keep looking at her, forever. Nothing else mattered.
Fu Lingyi sat beside her, plucked a flower, and handed it to her. “Let’s count from the beginning again. This time, start from ‘not angry’.”
The clear blue sky enveloped a few clouds, unable to completely block the sun, only casting intermittent shadows that drifted across the faces of the two individuals.
Yue Jin desperately wanted to slap herself to make sure this wasn’t a dream.
“How can you not be angry?” Once a person has doubts, they can ask anything. “How could you not be angry, Fu Lingyi? I was, I was so harsh to you… Wait, how did you get out? Wasn’t anyone watching you?”
Fu Lingyi found her talkative and didn’t want to answer every question. She just looked at her.
They had been entangled and indebted to each other since the past, and it was the same now. No one could say who owed whom more.
The scenery was perfect, just like times past.
And the words naturally came out.
“I know you have many secrets you won’t show anyone, especially not me.”
Fu Lingyi reached out and touched the back of her hand.
“It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re always here, those secrets aren’t important to me.”
Yue Jin bit her lower lip. At this moment, she desperately wanted to drag the Evil Envoy over and ask exactly what she had said to make Fu Lingyi like this.
Tomorrow, she would have to reward her properly.
“Yue Jin,” Fu Lingyi didn’t mind not getting an answer. After all, there was still one matter that hadn’t been resolved before that. “I have something I need to make clear to you.”
“About A’Ling, I… I actually…”
The Red Spirit Jade at Yue Jin’s waist rang out at an inopportune moment. Annoyed, she took it out, about to throw it away so it wouldn’t disturb the two of them.
Unexpectedly, the Red Spirit Jade didn’t stop. Instead, it opened on its own, revealing a large interface.
Song Yin’s face actually popped out from inside, staring at the two of them. “This humble one didn’t mean to interrupt your romantic conversation, but before that, this humble one must give a reminder.”
“The Chongxiang Sword Sect seems to have come knocking.”
Its war time