The twenty-fourth hexagram.
I cannot hold back anymore, and I will not endure it any longer.
The very first task Shi Li assigned to the three newly promoted disciples was that the next time they met him, they had to start scolding him right away, and whoever scolded him well would be rewarded.
Afterward, Shi Li left amidst the watchful gazes of the disciples and headed toward the Treasure Pavilion alone.
The Treasure Pavilion was guarded by a strict barrier, and only three people could enter: Yan Moxiao, Shi Chen, and the guarding elder.
Shi Li stood in front of the barrier, raised his hand, and made his soul imprint appear on his palm before touching the barrier.
The barrier emitted a flash of brilliance, and Shi Li swaggered right through it, as if the barrier had intentionally invited him in.
Shi Li’s guess was indeed correct; not only were his appearance and innate abilities identical to Shi Chen’s, but even their soul imprints were indistinguishable from one another.
When the other disciples saw Shi Li entering the Treasure Pavilion, they also firmly believed in his identity.
Shi Li rummaged through boxes and cabinets inside the Treasure Pavilion for a while, kept a flask of wine and a mirror on his person, and then walked out with calm and casual composure, with no one daring to stop him.
Having obtained the items he needed to take, Shi Li prepared to leave the Changming Sect.
Standing outside the mountain gate, he glanced once more at the cloud-shrouded peaks, feeling a complex mix of emotions for a moment.
Shi Li had grown up here since he was a child, and this place was his home.
He held feelings for this place, very complicated feelings where attachment, fear, and sorrow intertwined, making them difficult to untangle.
Just as he was about to leave, a thought suddenly arose in Shi Li’s heart, as he dearly hoped that everything here had remained unchanged.
Shi Li rode the clouds and departed, never looking back even once.
At dusk, Shi Chen and Yan Moxiao returned to the Changming Sect.
Among the disciples who came out to welcome them were three people Shi Chen had never seen before.
These three walked respectfully toward Shi Chen and started cursing the moment they opened their mouths.
“Young Master Shi Chen, if you don’t improve your cultivation level soon, even the sweeping disciples are going to surpass you!”
“Young Master Shi…”
Crack.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shi Chen rewarded one of them with a slap across the face.
“Are you out of your minds?” Shi Chen asked with a expressionless face.
The three instantly dropped to their knees, saying, “Young Master, this was precisely your order! You said we had to curse you every day, or else you would break our legs!”
Shi Chen and Yan Moxiao exchanged a glance, realizing something had gone wrong.
Shi Chen took a deep breath, his expression calm as he asked, “When on earth did I ever give such an order?”
“Just this morning!”
Yan Moxiao immediately understood who had been here.
“The sect barrier and the patrol guards really are just for show,” Shi Chen said, so angry that he spoke without thinking. “Shi Li walked in as if it were his own home, and you people actually let him slip away right under your noses!”
What angered him was not that Shi Li had people curse him, but rather that he had missed the opportunity to see Shi Li!
If he had known, he wouldn’t have gone out today and would have let Yan Moxiao go alone instead.
When it came to divination regarding matters related to Shi Li, Shi Chen’s deductions malfunctioned time and time again, which was thoroughly vexing.
“He even went to the Treasure Pavilion!” another disciple said.
Yan Moxiao and Shi Chen immediately went to the Treasure Pavilion, suspecting that with Shi Li’s current temperament, he might directly burn the entire Treasure Pavilion down.
Fortunately, he had not done so. The two of them tallied the items and found that only two treasures were missing: the Past-Preceding Mirror and the Dream-Delaying Drink.
“To help that demon recover his memories, he actually stole into the Changming Sect!” Shi Chen slammed his fist heavily against the wall.
“Allow me to ask bluntly, why was there no mention of a thief invading the house in your hexagram today?” Yan Moxiao asked.
“Uh…” Shi Chen certainly could not say that because Shi Li was the true young master, him taking items from his own home did not count as stealing at all, which was why he hadn’t foreseen it.
“Leaving in a hurry today, my deduction took place before he conceived the idea to steal, so the timing of the divination was wrong.” Shi Chen looked at Yan Moxiao and asked, “What is it, does the Sect Master suspect me?”
“Don’t overthink it.” Yan Moxiao pondered for a moment before saying, “This matter cannot be publicized, otherwise all the dignity of our Changming Sect will be completely lost.”
“Since he didn’t set fire to the Treasure Pavilion, it means he will still come back in the future, and there are still things he needs. Letting him succeed this time is precisely to make him come again next time.”
“We will set a trap and wait for the hare by the stump,” Yan Moxiao said, instantly understanding the plan.
On his way back to the Wanyou Valley, Shi Li deliberately waited for someone at the foot of the Changming Sect mountain.
Shi Li used spells to conjure a small tea stall. The first and only customer of the day was Zhou Man.
Shi Li had not forgotten how Zhou Man had “cared” for him back in the prison.
Zhou Man had been carrying a bundle and walking for a very long time, growing extremely thirsty. Seeing that the tea was cheap, he came over to sit at the tea stall.
A little while later, twilight would arrive. Faint wisps of steam rose slowly from the tea stove, and the hot water bubbled inside, looking overly leisurely.
“Patron, I see your forehead is shrouded in dark qi, which probably means a great disaster is about to befall you,” Shi Li said, turning his back to Zhou Man while wearing a coarse bamboo-cloth shirt as he prepared tea for him.
“What?” Zhou Man did not hear clearly, feeling that the voice sounded somewhat familiar, though he could not place it for a moment.
“Buy tea, get a free divination.” Lowering his head, Shi Li placed a bowl of warm tea in front of Zhou Man, then turned back around to fan the stove, asking, “Shall I cast a divination for the patron and calculate your destiny?”
“Go ahead and calculate.”
Zhou Man squeezed two copper coins out of his waistband, placed them on the table, and then picked up the tea bowl to gulp it down fiercely.
Shi Li’s lips curved slightly as he said, “Patron, I already have the hexagram in my heart. This is the Guimei Death-Junction hexagram, and you had better hurry up and prepare for your funeral.”
The more Zhou Man listened, the stranger it felt. He slowly raised his head and saw Shi Li’s cold, clear smiling face.
Shi Li’s pupils were as black as ink, quietly looking down at him as if gazing at prey that had fallen into a net.
Cold sweat poured down Zhou Man in torrents, as if a massive golden cymbal were inside his heart, clanging down abruptly!
Splash.
The tea bowl fell to the ground, porcelain shards scattering everywhere along with the tea water.
“You, It’s you!” Zhou Man collapsed beneath the bench and fainted away.
Shi Li withdrew his illusion technique, brought Zhou Man back to the Wanyou Valley, and casually tossed him into a pack of dogs.
“Eat slowly, his meat should be quite delicious.”
Behind Shi Li, the fierce hounds howled and swarmed forward, pouncing on Zhou Man.
As dusk gathered all around, Jun Yanye stood by the bank of the Ying River, gazing at the water flowing eastward.
When Shi Li was not around, he often came here to watch the water.
Jun Yanye felt that the phrase “time flows like water” made a great deal of sense. By watching the water, time simply rushed away in a gurgle, moving at the exact same speed as the current.
“I’m back.” Bouncing and skipping, Shi Li came up behind Jun Yanye and tapped him on the shoulder.
“What did you go do today?” Jun Yanye’s voice carried no discernible emotion.
“I went to feed the dogs,” Shi Li said with a smile.
“Is that chicken-stealing and dog-catching business?” Jun Yanye turned around, a pair of reddish-brown eyes gazing quietly at him.
Shi Li rolled his eyes and said, “That talisman wasn’t your thing either, so it doesn’t count as me stealing. It was something the two of us conspired to cheat out of someone, and then you snatched it, and then I took it back.”
Jun Yanye looked at Shi Li’s eloquent mouth, his pretty lips, and his slightly indistinct Cupid’s bow.
Bear with it.
“If you really need it, I can compensate you with another one tomorrow and draw it for you.”
I cannot hold back anymore, and I will not endure it any longer.
“Mph.” Shi Li was kissed by Jun Yanye, his lips bitten as he cried out in pain with muffled whimpering sounds.
Author’s Notes:
Jun Yanye picked up his brush and wrote this sentence in today’s romance diary:
If you don’t beat them for three days, they’ll climb up to tear the roof tiles off.