Chapter 69
The warm, delicate sensation from the dream still lingered on her lips. The blood in her body seemed to rush up her neck and into her head.
Xie Qingzheng looked at Mo Jiangxue’s profile, her hands clutching the hem of her clothes, a flush of heat rising to her cheeks.
Although it was just a fleeting dream, and although she could not control the dream and her body, to have done such a disrespectful thing to such a face still made her feel a pang of shame.
Xie Qingzheng pressed her lips together, turned her gaze away, and tried to push aside the strange feeling in her heart, to try and regain her rationality.
Even though she had the same face, Mu Ning was Mu Ning. She was from Gusu, and her accent was sweet and soft, a stark contrast to her master’s cool tone.
When her master spoke to people, it was mostly concise and clear, her instructions explicit, not as gentle as Mu Ning’s.
And from Mu Ning and Tan Yuan’s conversation, it could also be seen that Mu Ning and her master were two completely different kinds of people. Mu Ning was not a person of few words, just… she lived a little repressed, a little lonely… She was the head senior sister of the sect, bearing the earnest expectations of her masters, friends, and fellow disciples. When she wanted to rest for a moment, she could only hide in the deserted reeds, leaning on a small boat, drinking alone.
She didn’t know why she had this impression. It was probably a conclusion drawn by the Tan Yuan in the dream, and Xie Qingzheng had felt it. She let out a soft hiss, feeling a little sour.
In the eyes of a lover, the beloved is probably always special.
After sorting out her thoughts and distinguishing between the dream and reality, Xie Qingzheng calmed down. Her mind was clear, and her gaze fell back on Mo Jiangxue.
Besides waking up naturally, she had also discovered another way to get out of the dream—emotional fluctuations.
As long as her emotions fluctuated too much, her body could instantly wake up.
“Master.” She gently pushed her master’s shoulder, wanting to wake her up as well.
Mo Jiangxue’s brow moved slightly. She opened her eyes and saw the close-up face. She was in a daze for a moment, then her gaze cleared, and she sat up straight.
How did I fall asleep?
Xie Qingzheng: “Master, how did you fall asleep too?”
Mo Jiangxue raised her hand and rubbed her temples. “Perhaps it was because of the wine.”
Xie Qingzheng: “That wine was very strong.”
Mo Jiangxue hummed in acknowledgment.
When she had fallen asleep, it seemed she had dreamed of something, but her mind was a blank.
Xie Qingzheng frowned in thought. “Could it be that when I entered that dream, Master also entered with me? Besides the two of us in that dream, were there other people? If I don’t want to enter the dream, can I just not sleep?”
With her current cultivation, it was no problem for her to go without sleep for three days and three nights. But she was a little curious about the rest of the dream…
Mo Jiangxue raised her hand and smoothed her brow. “What are you thinking about?”
She sighed softly and shook her head. “Nothing.”
She was unwilling to say, so Mo Jiangxue would not force her. She just gazed at her, vaguely feeling that she had forgotten something.
What had she forgotten?
In the dead of night, the master and disciple returned to their respective rooms to rest.
Xie Qingzheng sat cross-legged on the bed, meditated, and drew qi into her body. After several cycles, the spiritual energy returned to her dantian.
The internal energy of the orthodox Xuanmen emphasized gradual progress. The introductory internal energy she had learned was the Xuanji Heart Method. This year, after cultivating the Ethereal Incantation with Mo Jiangxue, her cultivation speed had increased a lot, but she was still far from catching up to Mo Jiangxue.
She couldn’t even have the thought of advancing quickly when she was practicing, otherwise it would be easy to produce a heart-demon.
A spiritual cultivator needed to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the so-called “clear qi.”
As the saying goes, “outstanding people and spiritual places.” In a time of peace and prosperity, the common people were happy, and the mountains and rivers were full of spiritual and beautiful qi. In a chaotic world, the common people were not at peace, and things like resentful qi were easy to come by.
At present, the clear qi was scarce, and the turbid qi was abundant. Therefore, the cultivation speed of evil cultivators and ghost cultivators was much faster than that of spiritual cultivators.
Xie Qingzheng thought to herself: If spiritual cultivators could also absorb turbid qi to cultivate, but their state of mind would not become violent and bloodthirsty, then could evil cultivators and ghost cultivators coexist with the righteous path?
Was there a way to cultivate quickly and also restrain one’s state of mind?
She couldn’t think of one.
There must have been many ancestors who had thought about this path. If they could have figured it out, the situation between the righteous and evil paths would probably not be as irreconcilable as it was now.
Xie Qingzheng thought for a while, a little tired. She lay on the bed, thinking about whether to go to sleep or not.
In the end, curiosity won over caution. She closed her eyes, focused her mind, and before long, her consciousness gradually became hazy.
When she opened her eyes, she was still in that patch of reeds.
Mu Ning’s eyes were surprised. She turned her head to look at Tan Yuan.
Tan Yuan smiled. “This is the etiquette of our Miao people to express our gratitude.”
Xie Qingzheng let out a “bah” in her heart. “I’ve been in the Miao region for two months. How come I don’t know this etiquette?”
Mu Ning nodded, half-believing, and continued to row. After a while, she turned her head again to look at the ethnic minority girl in the boat.
The girl in the boat was also looking at her, her expression gentle.
Their eyes met. Xie Qingzheng could feel the lingering affection in Tan Yuan’s heart, and also the nervousness, shyness, and fear of not daring to meet her eyes.
After a long while, a smile appeared on Mu Ning’s lips, and she took the initiative to turn her gaze away.
Tan Yuan also turned her gaze away, her cheeks slightly red.
The small boat glided across the lake. On a nearby small boat, someone was singing, “The rain is light, the wind is fierce, the time of green plums. The willows of Yongfeng, no one all day, the flowers fly like snow. Do not pluck the slender string, the string can speak of extreme resentment. The heavens are not old, the love is hard to sever. The heart is like a double silk net, with a thousand knots…”
Tan Yuan did not understand the words written by the Han people, but she could understand the music.
She listened for a while, untied the hulusi from her waist, and played in harmony with the singing.
A crescent moon hung in the sky. The clear breeze rippled on the lake, the sound of singing, and the sound of silk and bamboo. Mu Ning turned her head again and looked at her.
Tan Yuan smiled faintly, and the sound of her hulusi trembled slightly.
Xie Qingzheng quietly savored that innocent, bewildering feeling—the shy joy of first affection. She no longer saw the Mu Ning before her as Mo Jiangxue. She was sincerely happy for the two of them in the dream. She even hoped that the dream would just stop at this moment.
This was a very beautiful dream, but in the blink of an eye, a change occurred.
When they returned to the hall, the sect master of the Yaoguang sect, seeing Tan Yuan and Mu Ning arrive together, and that their relationship seemed to be more affectionate, casually had Tan Yuan become Mu Ning’s disciple, with Mu Ning in charge of all of Tan Yuan’s affairs in the Central Plains.
Xie Qingzheng’s heart skipped a beat.
Mu Ning was taken aback for a moment, did not reply, and seemed to be thinking of words of refusal.
But Tan Yuan happily agreed, as if she were afraid that Mu Ning would refuse, and immediately performed the kowtow ceremony to become her disciple.
Seeing that it was a done deal, Mu Ning let out an almost inaudible sigh, and only then did she help Tan Yuan up and say, “Alright. From now on, I will be your master. You will follow me to the Wind Hall.”
The joy in Tan Yuan’s heart grew even stronger. She only felt that their relationship had become more intimate.
She didn’t understand why Mu Ning had sighed and even repeatedly promised, “I will be very obedient.”
“Although I am not very familiar with the etiquette of the Han people, I will work hard to learn.” She even, like a Han person, affectionately called out, “Master.”
Mu Ning raised her hand slightly and touched her head, her eyes complicated.
Xie Qingzheng felt the strong joy in Tan Yuan’s heart but couldn’t be happy at all. She thought to herself: With this discipleship, you’ve cut off your hope of being with her…
They were destined not to be together, but Tan Yuan was completely unaware.
She followed Mu Ning to the Wind Hall. She learned the etiquette of the Han people, and the introductory sword techniques and flute of the Yaoguang sect. She loved Mu Ning with all her heart.
She was just a young girl who had just experienced her first love. In front of Mu Ning, her expression, movements, and words were all a little reserved, not at all like the way she flirted with people now.
She didn’t know any sweet talk, let alone the means to please people. The spirit butterfly on her shoulder also did not yet know how to send people flowers. She would only write Mu Ning’s name over and over again on paper, and she would have to brew a sentence many times before she dared to say it.
Mu Ning clearly sensed her feelings of adoration but did not dare to respond and avoided her everywhere.
Tan Yuan still thought it was the Han people’s subtlety and restraint. Her gaze towards Mu Ning grew even more fervent, and her actions became more and more proactive.
Xie Qingzheng separated her own emotions from her body and tried to look at everything in the dream from a bystander’s perspective.
But her feelings were connected. She was truly experiencing all of this, and her joys, anger, sorrows, and happiness all changed with Tan Yuan. She even vaguely felt that these emotions were very familiar.
Xie Qingzheng thought of the first time she had met Tanluan, and Tanluan’s words, “The moment I saw her, I had a feeling of déjà vu, as if I had known her in a previous life.”
She suddenly understood—Tanluan was not seeing Xie Fuyun in her, but her former self, a young, sincere, and passionate person who loved someone she could not be with…
Then she thought of Tanluan’s words, “They were indeed in love with each other before, and they were very happy.” She couldn’t help but be curious: Did the two of them later make their feelings clear and get together? And did they have a “very happy” time?
Did “very happy” mean completely happy?
She felt it was not that simple.
She found that some people always liked to give some ordinary words some extraordinary meanings. If she were to understand them literally, she would easily make a fool of herself.
Author’s Note:
Young Tan Yuan: I’ve become a disciple! In the words of the Han people, this is called getting the moon first from the water tower!
Mu Ning/Little Xie: It’s over. Lovers have become master and disciple. Love has become familial affection…
