Chapter 21 p3
Xie Qingzheng wanted to say more, but unexpectedly, Elder Jin Suchen also came to visit after hearing the news of Mo Jiangxue’s emergence from seclusion.
The three disciples Jin Suchen had carefully cultivated had all become souls lost to the Tianxuan Sword. Now that the Tianxuan Sword’s malevolent energy had been removed by Mo Jiangxue, she wiped her tears and repeatedly sighed that the heavens had eyes.
She brought a box of thousand-year-old spirit mushrooms, saying they were to replenish Peak Master Mo’s qi and blood.
Xie Qingzheng came forward to accept it on her behalf.
When Jin Suchen saw her, she snorted coldly, placed the spirit mushrooms on the table, cupped her hands to Mo Jiangxue, and left with a flick of her sleeve.
Xie Qingzheng’s expression did not change as she put away the immortal herbs.
In these three years, she had quietly observed the passing of the seasons on Ethereal Peak, and her heart had been tempered to not be so easily moved.
Elder Jin “hated evil as if it were a personal enemy.” From beginning to end, she felt that it was all Xie Fuyun’s fault. It was all Xie Fuyun’s fault for stealing the Tianxuan Sword back then, for not taking good care of it, and for consorting with the demonic evils of the demonic cult, allowing them to refine the Tianxuan Sword into an evil sword, which was why the Xuanji Sect had not had a moment of peace for seven years and had been plagued by misfortune.
Seven years ago, a great scourge had been removed, and now, a small scourge like her had come.
She saw the look in Elder Jin’s eyes as she looked at her, as if she were classifying her as a demonic evil. It seemed she felt that like mother, like daughter, and wished that someone like her, with a “prior conviction” of having a killing intent and controlling the Tianxuan Sword to injure someone, would leave the Xuanji Sect as soon as possible and not dirty the grounds of the Xuanji Sect.
But in front of Mo Jiangxue, Jin Suchen didn’t dare to say much about her.
This must be what they call “judging a person before serving the dish.”
Xie Qingzheng had originally thought that the senior masters of the cultivation world were either like her master, cool and otherworldly, but not without a chivalrous and benevolent heart; or like Sect Master Xiao, gentle as jade, sophisticated, and considerate of all aspects, offending no one; or like Elder Mu, looking down on everyone, but not without the air of a grandmaster.
She never expected there would also be someone like Elder Jin…
As if anticipating that there would be more visitors, Mo Jiangxue said, “Let’s go. Back to Ethereal Peak.”
She glanced at the box of thousand-year-old spirit mushrooms that Jin Suchen had brought. “Leave this for the Sect Master. She expended a lot of true qi healing me.”
Xie Qingzheng said, “Oh,” put down the box of spirit mushrooms, slung the Tianxuan Sword on her back, and helped Mo Jiangxue out of the quiet room.
“Master, I’ll ride the sword.” After a pause, she added, “I promise I won’t fall!”
Xie Qingzheng stood on the flying sword, and Mo Jiangxue stood behind her, her hand resting on her shoulder.
Even through the light robe, she could still feel the cool touch on her shoulder.
As they flew through the sea of clouds and mountains, Xie Qingzheng was suddenly filled with emotion.
She thought back to that year, when she first rode a sword through the clouds. She had nestled fearfully in Mo Jiangxue’s arms, her heart in a daze, not knowing if everything she had experienced was a nightmare—
She had dreamed of a cold, otherworldly immortal. The immortal had told her a ghost story, healed her eyes, made her see the most terrifying scene in the world, and had even taken her soaring through the clouds…
Time waits for no one, time flows like a river. Now, it was she who was taking this immortal, riding a sword.
After flying back to Ethereal Peak from Zixiao Peak and landing, Mo Jiangxue looked around. Nothing had changed from three years ago.
She asked Xie Qingzheng, “You didn’t go anywhere in these three years?”
Xie Qingzheng nodded. “Mm. I just stood under the plum tree every day, listening to the flowers bloom and fall. At first, I was really bored to death, but later, I slowly got used to it.”
The blooming of flowers, the falling of leaves, the drifting of snow—the sound of each season was different. It was quite interesting. As she listened, her heart grew quiet.
A cultivator is, in fact, a cultivator of the mind. Perhaps it was because of attaining emptiness and maintaining stillness that her cultivation progressed extremely quickly. Senior Sister Min He said she was the fastest to form a Golden Core among her peers.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast she was, she didn’t know when she would be able to catch up to Mo Jiangxue.
Xie Qingzheng asked, “Master, can you teach me some methods to quickly improve my cultivation?”
Fine snow began to fall on the mountain. Mo Jiangxue turned and went back into the hut, saying slowly, “I had you listen to life and death, prosperity and decay for three years. Have you still not understood the principle of ‘more haste, less speed’?”
Xie Qingzheng followed her in, her tone very troubled. “I understand. But understanding is one thing, and reality is another. If I could achieve unity of knowledge and action, then I probably wouldn’t be so troubled.”
In these years, she had not only watched the blooming and falling of the plum blossoms, but had also read all the books in the collection on Ethereal Peak, gaining a lot of knowledge.
Mo Jiangxue said, “Proceed step by step, follow nature. Don’t think about taking shortcuts. If your Dao heart is unstable, it is easy to go astray.”
Knowing that asking further would yield no results, Xie Qingzheng looked at the wind and snow outside the window, changed the subject, and said with concern, “Master, do you think it’s too cold on this mountain? Why don’t we move to the foot of the mountain?”
Building a few bamboo huts in the bamboo forest wouldn’t be bad either.
Mo Jiangxue knew what she was worried about and shook her head gently. “No need. The Sect Master has helped me suppress the poison. It shouldn’t relapse for a short period of time.”
However, with the evil curse on her, her cultivation would stagnate. No matter how much spiritual energy she absorbed and refined, it would leak away like sand in an hourglass.
She fixed her gaze on Xie Qingzheng and said seriously, “Starting tomorrow, you will learn music from me.”
Her sect had always been passed down through a single line. The young girl before her was of good character and talent, and her aptitude was exceptionally high. She was indeed suitable to inherit the lineage. From now on, she would teach her everything she knew.
If one day, her time really came, the Daoist arts and secret techniques of her sect would not be lost.
Xie Qingzheng hesitated. “Master, why don’t we wait a couple of days? You can teach me when you’re feeling better…”
She had already waited for three years; she wasn’t in a hurry for a day or two.
Mo Jiangxue said nothing, just looked at her quietly, her expression cool.
Xie Qingzheng didn’t dare to disobey any longer. She bowed and said seriously, “Disciple will obey Master’s command.”
Then her face broke into a smile, and she looked at Mo Jiangxue with eyes full of reverence. “Master, you are so good to me. You’re thinking of teaching me as soon as you come out of seclusion.”
With the pure heart of a child and a deep, filial reverence, Mo Jiangxue could not bear such sentimental words. Cool and indifferent, she replied, “What’s so good about that? I am merely fulfilling my duty to teach you.”
Xie Qingzheng’s eyes were soft. She smiled again and said nothing more, but in her heart, she thought: You are very good to me.
And it was a very pure kind of good.
She knew everything about her, yet she treated her as before.
The senior sisters of the Xuanji Sect were also very good to her, but that kindness was built on a lack of knowledge.
The righteous and the evil could not coexist. If they knew that her mother had once been an outcast of the immortal sects, had once taken the Tianxuan Sword, and had even consorted with the demonic evils of the demonic cult, would they still treat her the same? Or would they, like Elder Jin and Elder Lan, “hate evil as if it were a personal enemy”?
She didn’t know.
In these three years, she had rarely gone down the mountain to play with the senior sisters. She was afraid that one day, when the senior sisters learned of her background, they would regret being so good to their little junior sister…
On the second day after Mo Jiangxue came out of seclusion, she officially began teaching.
She only taught for half a shichen each day, and she never taught anything a fourth time.
Xie Qingzheng had a good aptitude for learning and could remember things after just one or two tries. After memorizing them, she would silently practice a few more times on her own, very tactfully, so as not to disturb Mo Jiangxue too much.
She studied the xiao and practiced the sword during the day, and sat in meditation to refine her qi at night, giving herself almost no time to rest and relax.
In her leisure time, Mo Jiangxue would either play a tune on the qin, its melody indifferent, or practice calligraphy at her desk, occasionally looking up at the fine snow and red plum blossoms outside the window, at a certain figure in the plum grove, her robes fluttering, as graceful as a startled swan.
After some time like this, when she practiced calligraphy, she would call Xie Qingzheng over to help grind the ink.
The master practices calligraphy, the disciple grinds the ink. This was a natural duty. Xie Qingzheng had previously thought that her master was more at ease and quiet on her own, which was why she didn’t disturb her too much.
Now that her master was taking the initiative to ask for her help, she couldn’t be happier.
Mo Jiangxue had a reputation for having the “heart of a musician and the courage of a swordsman,” but it was only after they truly lived together day and night that Xie Qingzheng understood that her master was truly knowledgeable and proficient in everything—qins, chess, calligraphy, painting, pipas, shengs, xiaos, the art of war, yin-yang, and feng shui…
She sighed, “How many years will it take for me to learn everything you know, Master?”
Mo Jiangxue said lightly, “Day by day, year by year. Learn slowly.”
After a pause, she added, “Alternate between work and rest. Only then can you last.”
Xie Qingzheng nodded, and in the next instant, she suddenly understood: her master calling her over to help grind the ink was probably also a way of making her rest for a moment.
A warmth spread through her heart.
The next time Mo Jiangxue played the qin, Xie Qingzheng very consciously stood to the side, listening respectfully.
When she heard a piece she had learned, she would untie the Yanyu Xiao from her waist, place it to her lips, and play in harmony with the qin.
From then on, in the Ten-Li Plum Grove of Ethereal Peak, the xiao brought the frost of the heavens, and the qin gave birth to the waves of the sea. Master and disciple were together day and night.
Half a month later, Mo Jiangxue’s body had mostly recovered.
Xie Qingzheng dug up a jar of wine from under a plum tree. “When Senior Sister Min He was out on her travels, she brought back three jars of Nu’er Hong for me. I can’t drink much, so I buried the wine under the plum tree, thinking I’d drink it with you when you came out of seclusion, Master.”
Senior Sister Min He had always been a warm-hearted big sister. As if sensing that she had something on her mind, she would take the initiative to come to Ethereal Peak when she had free time to chat with her and relieve her boredom.
“Oh, right! The dishes to go with the wine were made by Chef Huang of Weiming Peak!”
She made a point of mentioning this, lest Mo Jiangxue complain that her cooking was terrible.
A jar of clear wine, a few small dishes. Master and disciple sat opposite each other under the plum tree, having a few small drinks and a light chat in the gentle breeze and fine snow.
The task of pouring the wine naturally fell to the disciple. Xie Qingzheng poured a full cup and handed it to Mo Jiangxue.
The fingers that took the wine cup were long, slender, and white. She brought the wine to her lips and drank the cup in one go.
Xie Qingzheng rested her head on her hand, watching Mo Jiangxue drink, and saw a bit of the free-spiritedness of a wandering hero.
In a daze, she remembered hearing Senior Sister Min He say that her master was a reclusive cultivator from Penglai. When she first entered the mortal world, she had roamed the four corners of the earth, a righteous and free-spirited hero. With just a qin and a xiao, she had defeated ninety-seven Golden Core stage masters in a single day, making a name for herself in one battle.
In the past, when she heard those stories, Xie Qingzheng’s heart was filled only with admiration and a desire to become her disciple. Now, thinking back, there was a bit of envy.
She yearned for it. After a few cups of wine, a blush appeared on her face, and she slurred her words. “Master, tell me about your travels… What interesting things are there outside?”
She had not left the sect since she came to the Xuanji Sect and was truly curious about the outside world.
Mo Jiangxue said slowly, “Exorcising evil spirits, delivering souls, saving people. Nothing particularly interesting.”
“But I’ve never been out to see… I don’t know what the outside world is like…” Xie Qingzheng was getting drunk, her face growing redder, and she became more talkative. “Master, tell me about your past. You know everything about me, but all I know is that you are a reclusive cultivator from Penglai and a guest elder of the Xuanji Sect. If one day, you finish your training and go back to Penglai to cultivate, I don’t even know if you’ll take me with you. Master, take me with you. I want to stay by your side forever.”
Mo Jiangxue took a sip of wine and said calmly, “The path of cultivation is long and arduous. You should not rely on me too heavily.”
Xie Qingzheng gave a soft “oh,” poured wine for Mo Jiangxue, and then poured a large cup for herself.
Although they had become master and disciple, and although they spent their days and nights together, her master’s attitude towards her was still serious, neither cold nor warm, full of distance. She didn’t even want her to rely on her too much.
She was a little sad.
But then she thought of how good her master was to her, and her heart warmed up again. She made up her mind to be good to her master for her entire life.
She muttered to herself, “Why am I thinking about things so far in the future? What I should be thinking about now is cultivating quickly, transferring your curse back to myself, and… and… finding that villain who cursed me… and asking that villain if they were the one who killed my mother and the people of Wen Family Village…”
Mo Jiangxue listened quietly, saying nothing.
After a few cups of light wine, Xie Qingzheng’s face was burning red. The clarity in her bright eyes gradually faded. Her head nodded, and she groggily closed her eyes and fell asleep on the table.
Mo Jiangxue put down her cup, her gaze resting on her. She waited for a while, but she didn’t wake up. She stood up.
In a daze, Xie Qingzheng felt a pair of arms lift her up horizontally.
She heard the faint sound of boots stepping on the snow, smelled a cool scent, and her cheek was pressed against cold fabric.
A cold fragrance filled her embrace, indescribably soft and comfortable.
She murmured a few words in her sleep, wanting very much to open her eyes for a look, but she gradually fell into a deep sleep…
The next day, in the morning.
Xie Qingzheng got up and rubbed her head.
She really couldn’t hold her liquor. A few cups and she was out. She hadn’t even been able to drink to her heart’s content with her master.
The image in her mind stopped at the moment when master and disciple sat opposite each other, raising their cups to drink together. After that…
After that, was it her master who carried her back?
It must have been. It couldn’t have been this fox that dragged her back.
Xie Qingzheng pinched the ear of the still-sleeping spirit fox, took her Yanyu Xiao, and went to find Mo Jiangxue for her lesson as usual.
But just as she stepped outside, she saw Mo Jiangxue in a white robe, with her long qin and jade xiao, and even wearing her white veiled hat.
Xie Qingzheng saluted and asked, “Master, are you going out?”
Mo Jiangxue nodded. “Mm. A town has a plague and poison corpses. You will go with me to take a look.”
