The sun shone brightly in the clear sky.
On a platform a hundred feet high in the Marquis of Ruyi's estate, Si Qing held a cup of alcohol in one hand and placed his other hand on the railing, gazing into the distance.
One after another, the Flying Dragon Ships hovered in the air. Streaks of light flew over from the horizon.
The entrance to the marquis's estate was packed with people. They were all cultivators from various parts of the Ruyi commandery. They had come to congratulate him on becoming the Marquis of Ruyi and to participate in or observe the upcoming Exhibition Matches of the Nine Prefectures.
Si Qing turned around and let out a long laugh with his jackal-like voice. "Thank you all for rushing over from various places. Si Qing will drink first as a sign of respect!" He downed the alcohol in his cup.
A banquet had already been laid out on the platform. A group of cultivators sat there, consisting of both men and women, monks and laymen. Every single one of them possessed an extraordinary bearing. There were cultivators from the academy as well as cultivators from sects. There was only one standard for those who could sit there — Golden Core cultivators who had undergone the second heavenly tribulation.
Gu Yanying was among them too. She raised her cup and smiled. Si Bao ignored Si Qing and sat down with her. She asked about Qian Rongzhi. "How is she? Is she participating in the Exhibition Matches of the Nine Prefectures this time?"
Everyone raised their cups and congratulated Si Qing again.
Only then did Gu Yanying say to Si Bao, "Oh, her? She's cultivating right now!"
At this moment, Qian Rongzhi rowed a skiff in the Waterside Pavilion of Listening Wind, drifting through the sea of flowers. A gentle breeze blew by, and the sea of flowers rose and fell. The fragrance of flowers permeated the surroundings. It was like a paradise.
However, her face did not ease up at all. She scanned through the sea of flowers as she cursed Gu Yanying furiously inside.
All of this was because Gu Yanying had said before she left, "I want to eat lotus seed soup!"
Qian Rongzhi was forced to search through the sea of flowers. Originally, finding lotus flowers in such a vast expanse should have been an extremely simple matter, but this space remained in spring and summer the entire time, so the lotus flowers bloomed all the time. As for lotus seeds, they would only ripen in autumn and winter after the lotus flowers had withered.
Moreover, this sea of flowers was both real and illusory. Sometimes, when he saw a lotus flower, he would stretch out his hand and touch nothing. He couldn't even fly in the sky and use his divine sense to explore. He could only slowly row the boat and search.
She had been searching for a few hours and had not even collected a single lotus seed, but she could not give up just like that. She recalled how Gu Yanying hadn't taught her the slightest bit of the path of cultivation during her stay in the Waterside Pavilion of Listening Wind. Instead, she'd ordered her to do all sorts of chores. She couldn't even cultivate normally.
It was as if they were intentionally making fun of her, causing her to be trapped here for the rest of her life as a slave and unable to soar in the world. In that case, she would have to think of a way to leave this place as soon as possible.
However, Gu Yanying's final words dispelled this thought. "Your performance over the past few days has satisfied me. This will be the final test. If you can complete it, I will pass on to you the 'Illustrations of Naraka's Scripture'. If you can't, I will expel you from the school. You can go wherever you want!"
Qian Rongzhi could only continue her search patiently. Her mind gradually calmed down, and the thick fragrance of flowers seemed to have seeped into her body. The hell snake fell into a deep slumber once more, no longer joyfully feasting on her pain.
She truly did not feel pain anymore. It was not just the pain brought on by the hell snake, but also the anxiety, fury, jealousy, and hatred. All of them had been pacified. She had almost forgotten that living in this world was such a relaxing and joyful thing.
She stood at the bow of the boat in a daze. When she looked back, the Waterside Pavilion of Listening Wind had already disappeared. She was completely lost in this sea of flowers.
Her past memories came flooding back. Her mother was washing clothes nearby, exhorting her, "Be careful!" She turned a deaf ear to her mother, staring at a small fish in the clear and shallow stream, pouncing on empty air. Her father walked along the ridge of fields, carrying the fish he had caught from the paddy fields. She skipped behind him. The boy next door had secretly given her some soft candy. Later on, he had even come to visit her, his face full of awkwardness and disappointment …
Had these things really happened? Then why had she forgotten about them?
She vaguely understood that they had a great connection to this sea of flowers, but were these memories real? Or perhaps they were just illusions created by this strange sea of flowers. She did not dare to be certain. However, the rims of her eyes became somewhat moist, and she felt a strange sourness in her heart. This feeling was not painful, but rather like tears of happiness. Although bitter, it was also sweet.
In a daze, she saw a lotus flower in the distance wither at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, all that was left was a solitary lotus pod. Even the dark green stem had turned yellow and withered, as if it had used up all of its vitality in the long flowering period. Unable to support the weight of the lotus pod, the lotus pod fell into the lake with a plop.
Qian Rongzhi had no time to think about it. She jumped into the water to fish up the lotus pod. Because it was obscured by the endless lotus leaves, the lake was dark and gloomy. Moreover, it was unexpectedly deep. Flower stems stretched out from the pitch-black bottom of the lake, making it seem like an underwater forest.
However, this could not obstruct her vision. She saw with her own eyes where the lotus pod had fallen. Like a swimming fish, she circled around the flower stems and arrived there to fish up the lotus pod. However, the moment her fingertips touched the mud, her entire body trembled and her pupils dilated.
Flower stalks burrowed out of the mud and quickly grew. The power was so great that her entire body was lifted up. She rose up and soon broke through the surface of the lake. Lotus flowers bloomed one after another.
She suddenly understood. Sitting cross-legged at the bow of the boat, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the fragrance of the flowers to completely permeate her lungs.
Beside her, the lotus flowers began to wither. She allowed the lotus pods to fall into the deep lake water and stretch out from the mud. They bloomed once again, multiplying from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. They filled the surface of the lake and surrounded the boat. Layer upon layer, they completely drowned her.
Among them, faint sobs could be heard, which then turned into hysterical cries.
On the high platform, Gu Yanying's heart stirred. Her lips curled into a faint smile. At this moment, a gust of wind blew over the high platform, fluttering her clothes and long hair. All the cultivators present, including the monks who had become monks, could not help but be moved by her beauty. They secretly praised her. She truly was the daughter of the Hawk God after all.
Si Qing said, "Yanying, I heard recently that your subordinate, Li Qingshan, has done something major again. He killed three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the school of Painting in a show of strength."
Gu Yanying nodded. "I've heard that too, but it seems like the three of them set up an ambush beforehand to kill him, but they were too weak, so he killed them."
Si Qing said, "Then why don't we get him to explain everything? This is the Ruyi commandery. As the Marquis of Ruyi, I can't just turn a blind eye to this."
Gu Yanying blew on it. "Alright!" Afterwards, she said, "Li Qingshan, get over here. His highness the prince wishes to see you!" Her voice was not very loud, but it drifted away with the wind, reaching the ears of every single cultivator. They all looked at one another.
A while later, when Li Qingshan did not appear, Jia Zhen said, "Looks like the two of you still aren't respected enough! Speaking of which, he's even bold enough to not come on a day like today. That's pretty disrespectful. "
E Dan said, "I think he knows he's committed a great crime, so he's fled to avoid punishment? Commander Gu, you better issue a warrant for his arrest! "
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