(21)
It rained early in the morning. The peach blossoms on Xuanji Peak seemed to bloom even more exuberantly than before, leaning out askew and hanging down a branch of vibrant, fiery clusters of flowers.
A flash of sword energy slashed down the peach branch, and petals dripping with dew cascaded down, like a shower of rain.
Wu Moxun expertly twirled his sword with pride and sheathed it, raising an eyebrow at the person quietly tasting tea at the small table opposite him. “How is it—this ‘Surging Rainbow Sword Technique’ I just mastered?”
Fang Wenjie gave him a casual glance, set down the teacup in his palm, and answered with an indifferent, unrelated remark: “Someone’s coming.”
Hearing this, Wu Moxun looked along his line of sight in confusion. His expression suddenly turned cold, and he squeezed out a malicious sneer from between his teeth, mocking quietly, “I was wondering who it was. Turns out our little traitor has returned.”
On the mountain steps, Jiang Xing had a gloomy expression. Even though sunlight bathed his body, his entire being seemed shrouded in an icy cold aura that was hard to thaw.
One could tell at a glance that he was in a terrible mood.
Seeing him miserable made Wu Moxun feel immensely delighted, his face filled with unconcealable gloating.
He slowly walked up to Jiang Xing, blocking his path, and looked down at him superciliously. “Why have you returned looking so disheveled? Did your high-and-mighty Heavenly Spiritual Root best friend not accompany you?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Xing raised his eyes indifferently, completely silent as he stepped around him.
Ignored, Wu Moxun’s face turned green. He reached out, grabbed Jiang Xing’s shoulder, and pulled him back, saying in a deep voice, “Are you deaf? I asked you a question.”
Just as the words left his mouth, Wu Moxun’s expression suddenly froze. He saw a flush of red in the depths of Jiang Xing’s eyes, and his eyelashes seemed moist, as if he had just cried.
He was instantly choked up, and his hand was forcefully shaken off by the other.
Jiang Xing walked over to Fang Wenjie on his own, took out the spiritual core from his robe, and placed it on the small table.
Seeing the spiritual core, Fang Wenjie raised his hand to pinch it between his fingertips and inspect it, letting out a somewhat surprised laugh. “Impressive.”
That snake demon was not an opponent ordinary new disciples could deal with. No wonder the Sect Master was so fond of Zishu Bai—the Heavenly Spiritual Root truly lived up to its reputation.
Jiang Xing still didn’t say a word, turning around silently to leave.
“Stop right there.”
Wu Moxun stepped forward again to block him, sizing him up from top to bottom, and sneered, “What, did you suffer some grievance?”
Having his path blocked repeatedly, Jiang Xing finally ran out of patience. He raised his eyes to look at Wu Moxun. “Get lost.”
“Why should I get lost?” Seeing him respond, Wu Moxun not only wasn’t angered, but instead let out a low laugh. He raised his hand to put his arm around Jiang Xing’s shoulder, saying with deep meaning, “Had a falling out with your good brother, didn’t you?”
Although he didn’t know how Jiang Xing managed to complete that impossible task, their plan seemed to have succeeded by twist of fate.
Jiang Xing closed his eyes. If he hadn’t known for sure that he couldn’t win in a fight, he would definitely beat him to death.
Why did God always send a bunch of idiots to torture him?
“I told you long ago, what good outcome could come from going against me? Did you think relying on that Heavenly Spiritual Root would get you a meteoric rise? You’d be better off obediently following me…”
While Wu Moxun was still whispering those disgusting, persuasive words in his ear, Jiang Xing was on the verge of shoving him away when he caught sight of a figure rushing up the mountain steps out of the corner of his eye.
His movements abruptly halted, and his gaze turned cold.
Zishu Bai rushed all the way back to the sect, covered in the dust of travel. Upon seeing Jiang Xing, his eyes instantly lit up, completely ignoring Wu Moxun standing beside him.
“Jiang Xing!” He hurried forward, unable to wait. “I have something I want to tell you…”
Hearing his voice, Wu Moxun’s endless, long-winded speech stopped. He turned his eyes toward the newcomer and saw it was Zishu Bai, which sparked another surge of unprovoked anger in his heart. “Shut up! Can’t you see your senior brother is right here? Did you throw all rules and etiquette to the dogs?”
Zishu Bai finally noticed his presence. He froze for a moment and bowed to Wu Moxun. “Oh, greetings, Senior Brother.”
Having said that, he immediately turned back to Jiang Xing anxiously, saying softly, “Jiang Xing, I just figured a few things out…”
Wu Moxun could easily tell he was just going through the motions with him, and was furious. Just as he was about to draw his sword to give him a proper lesson, his wrist was gently caught by a hand.
“Why get angry at such a fool, Senior Brother?”
As the words fell, both Zishu Bai and Wu Moxun froze.
“In the past, I offended Senior Brother in many ways,” Jiang Xing spoke calmly, his eyes not giving Zishu Bai even a single glance, his voice faint. “Staying with certain people truly makes me feel deeply disgusted. Being with Senior Brother is much more comfortable and natural. I hope Senior Brother can overlook my past faults and forgive me.”
It felt as though his heart had been lightly slashed by a rusty, blunt knife—not enough to take his life, but a dull, lingering pain that ached continuously.
Zishu Bai stared at Jiang Xing in a daze. He wanted to say that he felt his pain, that he wanted to help him and share his burden.
But looking at Wu Moxun’s hand wrapped around Jiang Xing’s shoulder, he opened his mouth, yet everything remained stuck in his throat; he couldn’t say a single word.
He wasn’t stupid. He could tell Jiang Xing was intentionally drawing a line between them, preferring to apologize to Wu Moxun rather than say another word to him—determined to drive him completely out of Jiang Xing’s world.
However, he didn’t want to leave.
“Why didn’t you listen when I taught you earlier? Now that you’ve suffered a loss, you think of me,” the smugness on Wu Moxun’s face wasn’t hidden in the slightest. Seeing Zishu Bai’s soul-drained appearance, his mood instantly turned great. “This time I’ll show mercy and forgive you, but if there’s a next time, I definitely won’t spare you. Come on, I’ll show you the new sword technique I’ve been practicing.”
Jiang Xing followed Wu Moxun away with a cold, indifferent expression. That dark-colored lotus Taoist robe looked noble, aloof, and unattainable—standing next to Wu Moxun, they seemed so well-matched.
It was as if from the very beginning, they were the same kind of people, while Zishu Bai could never squeeze into their world no matter what.
It was over.
He and Jiang Xing were no longer friends.
It felt like a piece of flesh had been carved out of his heart. Zishu Bai silently watched Jiang Xing’s receding back. After a long while, he slowly turned his head and walked down the mountain along the wet, cold steps.
The injuries inflicted on his body by the snake demon began to throb with a delayed, piercing pain. Zishu Bai went to Pill Peak like a walking corpse to get medicine, where he happened to run into Yan Zhun, who was flirting with a senior sister.
Seeing Yan Zhun, he recalled how intimate the three of them had been before setting off, drinking alcohol, writing poetry, fooling around, and joking together in Kaihe City.
Zishu Bai received the medicinal herbs from another senior sister, watched Yan Zhun for a long time, but ultimately didn’t step forward to ruin Yan Zhun’s mood, leaving in tired silence.
Returning to the North Hall, he carefully applied medicine to his injuries and cleaned off the blood and dirt on his body, then lay down on the familiar, soft small couch. He had never slept on this couch before; turns out it was so short and narrow, unable to hold him at all. Zishu Bai had no choice but to curl up slightly and quietly close his eyes.
Father, Mother, Grandmother… I’m so tired.
Perhaps waking up from a sleep would make things feel easier. Due to the lingering effects of their divine consciousness merging, he could even dream of Jiang Xing in his sleep—a Jiang Xing who wouldn’t dislike him, nor distance himself from him.
The words he couldn’t say out loud, he would say them in his dream.
His breathing gradually grew shallow and steady, and the sky turned into dusk. The world became quiet and gentle, with only the soft murmurs of insects and birds to be heard.
A light, wet, greyish rain fell sparsely in the sky, and a blurry figure appeared on the mountain steps, appearing far yet near.
Parting the concealing clouds and mist, that figure gradually became clearer.
Zishu Bai froze in place, looking at the person holding a little cat, and called out softly, “Jiang Xing.”
The other person turned his head. His gaze was neither cold nor filled with disgust; he merely looked at him calmly.
He succeeded—he really did dream of Jiang Xing.
That cat was the little cat Jiang Xing had saved earlier. He remembered it: back then, he hadn’t learned many healing spells yet and accidentally turned the pitiful little cat into a big cat that looked like a wild boar.
For some reason, seeing Jiang Xing like this made Zishu Bai feel even more nervous instead.
Because he knew clearly that the Jiang Xing in reality would no longer look at him with such eyes.
The other person didn’t speak, merely sitting quietly under the tree, stroking the back of that little cat. The cat stretched comfortably, exposing its belly without any defense; everything seemed so tranquil and gentle.
He pinched his fingers, plucked up his courage, stepped forward, and sat down beside Jiang Xing.
“What is it?”
The familiar voice rang out unexpectedly. Zishu Bai’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and he turned his eyes to look at him, carefully deliberating his words.
As if sensing his nervousness, Jiang Xing said faintly, “Say whatever you want to say. I’m merely a trace of divine consciousness he left in your mind; he won’t know anything that happens in this dream.”
Pausing, he suddenly changed his tone and sneered softly, “In other words, you can do whatever you want to me.”
Zishu Bai was stunned, seemingly shocked by these words, unable to react for quite a while.
“I…”
He stammered, but the other person suddenly curled his lips and abruptly leaned closer to him, “So, what do you want to do to me?”
The sudden approach made Zishu Bai instinctively step back, his breath catching and his heart inexplicably starting to beat wildly. Those soft, bright red lips were only a few inches away from him, as if leaning in just a bit closer would allow him to feel their warmth.
“I won’t do anything.” He pressed his lips tightly and pushed Jiang Xing away, speaking with utmost seriousness, as if making some sort of vow to himself. “Even in a dream, I will never defile you. My feelings toward you are merely admiration between friends.”
Hearing this, Jiang Xing seemed to have heard some hilarious joke, letting out a faint sneer and saying casually, “Fine, fine, whatever you say.”
After saying that, he ignored Zishu Bai, focusing solely on picking out leaves caught in the wild cat’s fur in his arms.
The world was exceedingly quiet. Zishu Bai stared intently at him, and after a moment, slowly shifted his body closer to him.
“I want to talk to you.”
“Talk.” Jiang Xing didn’t even raise his head, still attending only to the cat in his arms.
Zishu Bai pursed his lips and said softly, “I want you to look at me.”
As his words fell, Jiang Xing paused slightly, raised his eyes to look at him, his tone carrying a slight touch of sarcasm, “Aren’t you quite good at giving orders?”
Having his thoughts called out, Zishu Bai said bashfully in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, no matter what you do, I won’t refuse you.” Jiang Xing gave a lazy yawn and said indifferently, “So can you hurry up and tell me, what on earth did you come to me for?”
Zishu Bai had so, so many things he wanted to say, to the point that he didn’t even know where to begin for a moment.
He picked and chose carefully, finally selecting the question he wanted to know the answer to most from the bottom of his heart: “Did you ever consider me a friend?”
“Nonsense.”
The boulder on his chest fell instantly, his tense nerves relaxed in an instant, and what surged up immediately after was an overwhelming wave of excitement.
Zishu Bai took a deep breath to calm his mood, whispering, “I have so many questions I want to ask you. I want to know why you said those things to Big Brother Lu’s child, whether you suffered grievances in the past, who hurt you, and…”
Hearing his words, Jiang Xing merely looked at him quietly. “Don’t you think you should ask these questions in person?”
Zishu Bai froze, and then heard the other continue, “Of course I could tell you the reasons directly and let you know everything about me—where I was born and raised, what I experienced, why I turned out like this… but then what?”
“Nothing will change. I will still dislike you, and you and I will no longer have any connection. Is that the ending you want?”
No.
Definitely not.
Zishu Bai gazed at him and said softly, “I will ask for the answers in person.”
Jiang Xing smiled faintly. “Sure, I won’t see you off then.”
Hearing this, however, Zishu Bai still remained in place, completely unmoving.
Jiang Xing looked at him in confusion, not understanding. “What, is there something else?”
Seeing an insect fly by, the cat in his arms excitedly jumped off Jiang Xing’s lap, happily chasing after the insect into the distance.
In the entire world, only the two of them remained.
“I’m sorry, I lied.”
The voice was extremely soft, almost inaudible.
Just as Jiang Xing was speechless and about to ask what lie he had told, the other person suddenly bent down and gently kissed the side of his face.
Like a dragonfly skimming the water, that kiss separated immediately after a brief touch—extremely restrained, cautious and enduring, so gentle that it felt like a soft breeze blowing past, leaving no trace behind.