A heavy snowfall suddenly occurred in Zhaoge City in the summer.
The snowfall lasted for three days.
The temperature dropped abruptly, and a thin layer of ice formed on the surface of the lake.
Jing Jiu went to the Zhao Garden.
During the day, he covered his face with a conical hat.
At night, he stared at the stars in a daze.
The snowfall stopped, and the clouds dispersed. The stars in the sky were suddenly stained with a blood-red color. It was not an ominous sign; it was because Zhao Layue had arrived.
The small boat sank slightly, and the sound of breaking ice could be heard. It was a sound she made on purpose.
Jing Jiu turned his head around and said, "She's here."
Zhao Layue uttered "hmm" and sat down by his side. She held his hand and placed it on her face.
Hundreds of lights appeared in the night sky. They were not shooting stars, but sword lights.
The Aoyama Sect came to Zhaoge City to welcome back their Master Sword Justice.
Though they had left, and the wind and snow had stopped, they still needed to bring back the solemnity and cleanliness.
Jing Jiu pulled back his gaze from the night sky and asked, "Where is Nan Wang?"
"She stayed in Aoyama to guard the place," said Zhao Layue softly as she put down his hand. "She seems to be very sad."
Nan Wang was the Young Sister of Taiping Zhenren. Now that the two Big Brothers who loved her the most were gone, what should she do?
She was already a figure in the Heavenly Arrival State, and nobody in the world dared to offend her. But what should she do?
…
…
Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue left Zhaoge City. They didn't go back to Aoyama directly, but went to the outskirts of Dayuan City.
They walked past the stream full of lotus flowers, the stone path in the mountains, and the old wooden bridge after they saw the old wooden bridge. They arrived at the Three-Thousand Nunnery.
The nun of the Three-Thousand Nunnery was the successor of the old Grand Preceptor, so she did not recognize Jing Jiu. However, since he was not wearing a bamboo hat, the nun could guess their identity from his face and Zhao Layue's short black hair. She hurriedly and respectfully welcomed them in.
There was a stream under the bridge, and the place where the cottage used to be was now a forest. There was a grave in the forest. It looked a little lonely, but it was not lonely.
The nun knew the relationship between Jing Jiu and the nunnery, as well as his relationship with the Three-Thousand Nunnery. Seeing his gaze fall on the grave, she was worried that he would be unhappy, so she hurriedly explained, "This is the grave of Benefactor Li. Seven years ago …"
Jing Jiu indicated that there was no need to say more. He led Zhao Layue to the grave and said, "This is the Young Master Li I told you about."
Young Master Li's name was not written on the tombstone, only four words.
— Different paths lead to the same destination.
The first two words referred to the different paths of immortals and mortals.
The last two words meant that we would eventually return to the Great Dao.
The Young Master Li would still die after taking the magic pill.
Lian Sanyue was the strongest swordsman in Chaotian, but she would die as well.
Zhao Layue suddenly said, "I think the person in the painting in his house … is Lian Sanyue."
Many years ago, the Young Master Li's family was in decline. A painting he had treasured for many years was stolen by his so-called friend, and Gu Qing sent someone to bring it back. She had seen it on the Shenmo Peak.
In the painting, there was a starry night and fog on the cliff, and a girl holding an umbrella in the fog.
The girl's eyes and brows were as straight as a line, and her expression was mild and indifferent.
Jing Jiu didn't say anything, nor did he try to find the painting.
The painting was a heirloom of the Li family. If the girl in the painting was Lian Sanyue from hundreds of years ago, it might explain why the Young Master Li loved her so much.
Of course, this explanation was not necessarily correct, and it was not necessary.
…
…
This was the first time Zhao Layue came to the Three-Thousand Nunnery.
She walked across the small bridge and arrived in front of the nunnery hall. She saw the round window and the view of the lake outside the window. Like everybody else, she felt much calmer now.
Then, her line of sight moved down and fell on the bed in the nunnery hall.
Bai Zao was still sleeping soundly on the bed. It was unclear when he would be able to absorb all the fairy energy in his body.
A great deal of the natural worm silk on her body had fallen off after one hundred years, exposing her face.
She furrowed her thin eyebrows in her dream, looking as lovable as ever.
"It's good to sleep like this," said Zhao Layue.
"Yes," said Jing Jiu. "She's still alive after all."
Zhao Layue turned to him and asked, "Where did she leave?"
"Right here," said Jing Jiu.
The morning sunlight came from under the eaves of the house.
This was the place where Lian Sanyue had left.
Zhao Layue came over and hugged him. "It's okay. I won't leave," she said while patting his back softly.
Jing Jiu lifted his right hand and patted her back.
…
…
Soon after, they went to White Town. They landed in a courtyard by the edge of the snowland and met He Zhan and Sensei. Zhao Layue ate two barbecued fish, and Jing Jiu looked at the pear tree a few times. As they walked out of the courtyard and walked on the field covered with mud and snow, Zhao Layue suddenly said, "Gu Qing grew up in a large clan, so there are some things he doesn't understand."
He Zhan and Sensei had been together for several decades, and Liu Shisui and Ying Xiaohe had been together for more than one hundred years. They didn't get married, nor did they have any ceremony. They didn't care about what others thought of them, since they couldn't see them anyway, so it was less troublesome.
Jing Jiu said, "He thinks too much, so it's easy for him to make things troublesome."
This was the first time they had discussed what had happened to Gu Qing. Zhao Layue didn't quite understand, asking, "Is this kind of thing so interesting?"
Many, many years ago, when they were looking at the Zhai Xing Tower in Shangzhou, she had asked the same question.
Jing Jiu said, "Liking, disliking, liking both, and disliking you can form many combinations. Sometimes it's quite interesting."
"I understand liking," Zhao Layue said, "but the love in the books often makes people lose their minds and feel so much pain that they want to die. I don't understand why."
"The so-called love is the attraction between a man and a woman, the calmness and the promise brought by intimacy."
Jing Jiu said, "The promise is like a shackle, with a sense of ceremony and pressure. It's like cooking meat, where the taste is stronger. Of course, breaking the promise is also very attractive to humans. All in all, like what I said earlier, all kinds of combinations are interesting."
Zhao Layue shot him a glance and said, "You speak as if you know a lot."
"This kind of thing isn't complicated," Jing Jiu said. "It's easy to understand after thinking about it."
Zhao Layue asked after some thought, "Doesn't that mean it's still boring?"
"Yes," Jing Jiu agreed.
As they were talking, the two of them had arrived in front of a simple Buddhist temple.
This was where the Zen Master lived in White Town.
It was quiet in front of the temple gate. Two or three monks came in and out of the temple in silence. A middle-aged monk suddenly halted his steps and looked at Jing Jiu.
Jing Jiu also felt this monk looked familiar, and somehow he felt a sense of intimacy with him.
The middle-aged monk looked at Jing Jiu's face and was taken aback for a moment. Then he came back to his senses, his eyes full of surprise and delight.
Jing Jiu also recognized him. He was the young monk whom he had met a few times. However, more than one hundred years had passed and his face was covered with hardships, so Jing Jiu didn't recognize him immediately. Moreover, the old monk wasn't by his side.
The middle-aged monk was about to say something, but he covered his mouth reflexively. Then he remembered that his Master was dead and nobody wanted him to practice the Vow of Silence anymore. He couldn't help but cry out in sorrow.
He didn't say anything from the beginning to the end. Jing Jiu guessed what had happened just by looking at the change in his expression. He reached out his hand and patted the monk's shoulder.
The middle-aged monk cried even more sadly.
For some reason, Jing Jiu had always liked this pair of master and disciple. Knowing that the old monk had passed away, Jing Jiu couldn't bear to see him cry so sadly, so he patted him with his palm.
Zhao Layue widened her eyes, wondering if he thought life was so bitter that he wouldn't feel sad if he was beaten to death.
Jing Jiu's palm landed on the top of the middle-aged monk's head.
The middle-aged monk fell to the ground, snoring loudly.
"Thank you very much." Zen Master walked out from the gate of the courtyard and glanced at the middle-aged monk, thinking that it was really hard to predict the fate of fortune. Who would have thought that this ordinary junior could receive the Enlightenment of the Immortal Jingyang?
Jing Jiu said, "Don't thank me. It has nothing to do with the Guocheng Temple. It's just that I like this kid."
"Why?" asked Zen Master.
Jing Jiu said after some thought, "Maybe it's because he likes to talk?"
"Didn't you dislike me for talking too much back then?" asked Zen Master.
"It's still the same now," said Jing Jiu.
"Men," sighed Zen Master.
"Shouldn't I be the one to say that?" asked Zhao Layue.
…
…
Though the number of believers was still small, the North Divine Army and the Cultivation practitioners of various sects needed the daily necessities, so the city was crowded with the traveling merchants from the south. No accumulated snow could be seen on the streets, but the ground was muddy after being stepped on.
Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue passed through the city and walked on the slanted stone path. They could vaguely see the patch of red cliff and the upper part of the small temple in the distance.
"Did you really wake up seventeen years ago?"
"I lied to him."
"But you heard everything Gu Qing told you."
"Hearing it doesn't mean I woke up. To put it more precisely, my spiritual soul was in the Green Sky Mirror at the time."
"… Oh, I think many things have happened in the Green Sky Mirror."
"One hundred years is indeed a long time, but there aren't many stories. I've been cultivating most of the time. It's just that the kid of the Zhang family came to disturb me from time to time, which is a bit annoying, like what happened to Gu Qing."
"Is the Eldest Young Master Zhang still alive?"
"Actually, he's in good health, and he's thinking of going to the ocean to find that strange golden fish."
"As a matter of fact, is there really no way to bring the King of Fire Carps back to Aoyama?"
"Unless we can bring the fire source under the Cold Mountain with us."
"Why bother? Why don't we just occupy the Cold Mountain?"
While they were chatting, the color of the red cliff became clearer and clearer. The small temple also revealed itself completely.
Stepping over the doorsill and entering the temple, Jing Jiu stood there quietly for a while while looking at the chubby Buddha statue with a smile on his face.
The broken parts of the golden Buddha statue looked like they were bleeding. The color of the blood had faded a long time ago after so many years. The iron broadsword of one hundred feet in front of the Buddha statue was still full of cracks, and it was unclear when it would regain its sharpness.
Jing Jiu walked to one end of the iron broadsword and placed his right hand on the blade of the broadsword facing upward, and then walked toward the other end.
The sparks between his palm and the blade of the broadsword sputtered all the way.
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