Vol. 1 - Ch. 41 - Senior Brother

Chapter 41: Senior Brother

The name Gu Xingzhi didn't stir much emotion in Ji Yaoge's heart. Perhaps she had already guessed that he would be the leader of the trial, or maybe she knew they would meet eventually. Apart from the initial surprise of hearing his name, she didn't dwell on it.

At Qiu Ye's enthusiastic invitation, Ji Yaoge and Bai Yan stayed in the Illusory Clear Void Mustard Seed for two more days. After exchanging all their goods for spirit stones, the items they had asked Qiu Ye to procure also arrived.

"Miss Ji, Brother Bai, all the pills you requested are here. Open them and take a look," Qiu Ye, having made a big deal, naturally treated them as honored guests, personally attending to them.

Ji Yaoge glanced at the two trays of porcelain bottles held by the attendant and smiled, "We trust your work, Master Qiu. No need to check." She accepted the bottles, most of which were for Bai Yan, with a few for herself.

"Refreshing!" Qiu Ye clapped his hands, and the attendant brought out a few more items. "Miss Ji, here is the rouge blood, the heavenly fire seed for refining, the green talisman..." He listed several items.

Rouge blood is a variant of iron ore containing thunder spirit, hence its red color. The purer the red, the higher the quality, hence the name rouge blood. The piece Qiu Ye found for her, though small, was of high purity, making it top-grade rouge blood. Given her current circumstances, she was satisfied with it. The heavenly fire seed was for forging; she planned to reforge her Broken Dawn Sword before entering Linghai. The green talisman was an upgraded version of the yellow talisman, capable of carrying more powerful spells. For a life-and-death adventure, she needed to be as prepared as possible.

There were also a few magical items: a black ice shield, tortoise jade armor, and a set of stone crack formation flags, all primarily for defense. For Bai Yan, there was a vine snake ruler and a spirit-absorbing gourd.

These items nearly exhausted the spirit stones they had earned on this trip.

——

Cultivation is a money-draining endeavor. Heavenly materials, magical weapons, spiritual herbs, and elixirs—all require money.

There's a saying, "Cultivation impoverishes three generations." Previously, she hadn't felt it, but today, after leaving Qiu Ye's place with their wealth significantly reduced, Bai Yan deeply felt it. And this was just the beginning; they were still Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their expenses would only increase.

Hearing Bai Yan's lament, Ji Yaoge just smiled. She turned her head and saw the wooden girl listlessly following behind, holding Ren Zhongping's hand, walking absentmindedly. For the past two days, she had been unusually silent. Normally talkative, her sudden quietness was unsettling. Ji Yaoge knew the reason and slowly walked to her side, asking, "Do you want to see Senior Brother Gu?"

The wooden girl looked up, her lips pressed into a line, her youthful face showing a maturity beyond her years.

"Don't you want to see him?" She countered Ji Yaoge.

They were originally one, now split into two. This conversation felt like a self-interrogation, a question and answer with oneself.

"What difference would it make?" Ji Yaoge found this phenomenon strange. Facing her own feelings from an outsider's perspective, she seemed more capable of pinpointing the problem. "Bai Yun is fake. If he could see through it, he would have come looking for me long ago. If he can't see through it, then for the past 198 years, it's been Bai Li Qing accompanying him. Two hundred years versus two hundred years, about the same time. Do you think he might have unknowingly fallen in love with the fake Bai Yun?"

The reason everlasting love is rare is because it only applies to mortals with limited lifespans. Cultivators face endless time, and no one knows where this aimless journey will end. Subtle changes over time can be terrifying. Time may not bring steadfast devotion but change... gradual, water-dripping-on-stone change.

Just like how her 200 years in Tiyu State diluted her feelings for Wanren Mountain. Time can erase many things and bring many things. Her feelings for Chixiu Palace were no less than those for the Wu Xiang Sword Sect…

Just like how Bai Yan had accompanied her for 200 years. If her spiritual essence hadn't been lost and her soul was complete, she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't fall in love with Bai Yan, even if the feelings might not be pure...

"You're too pessimistic," the wooden girl didn't refute.

"This is called being clear-headed," Ji Yaoge said. Similarly, even if she knew Gu Xingzhi had fallen in love with Bai Li Qing, she wouldn't resent him. There was too much unavoidable force between them. They were both innocent but powerless.

"Bai Yun, don't deceive yourself in front of me. I am you, and you are me. You can't hide anything from me," the wooden girl called out their original name. "You know why I left you. You say this is being clear-headed, but I think it's being heartless. Leaving Wanren Mountain, leaving the Wu Xiang Sword Sect, was something you planned long ago. Bai Li Qing just happened to appear at that time. When you planned to leave, you had already decided to abandon this relationship, hadn't you? After Bai Li Qing took over, you had many ways to tell Senior Brother Gu, but you didn't... It was your selfishness, not even giving him a choice." "Give him a chance? Do you think Senior Brother Gu would betray the sect and run away with me? He guarded me on Miao Zong Peak for fifty years! Have you forgotten those fifty years of imprisonment?" Ji Yaoge smiled coldly.

What does love matter? A relationship based on mutual exploitation, even if it becomes real, what then?

"Do you know why I suppress you? Because you're too unrealistic! You believe in your feelings, believe in his words, believe that being with him can make you forget the past and those unbearable memories, that you can truly become a member of a prestigious sect! But I don't believe it!" Bai Yan walked further ahead, and Ji Yaoge lowered her head, speaking to the wooden girl as if sharing an intimate secret, but her voice was chillingly cold. "I don't believe in their brainwashing, don't believe in the things they instill day after day. Those constraints and constant surveillance forced me to become the person they wanted, but I never forgot for a day that I have half beast blood in my veins!"

The wooden girl fell silent. As a complete soul, she had always struggled, struggling with sect ethics, between right and wrong, love and hate, trust and doubt. Those sharp contradictions never disappeared. She could only suppress them until, in the end, the soul representing love and desire separated from the body. They were both incomplete, each finding a way to survive.

"Why are you walking so slowly?" Bai Yan, seeing no one beside him, turned back and found Ji Yaoge and the wooden girl far behind.

"Coming," Ji Yaoge straightened up, her expression unchanged by the conversation.

"Give me one more chance," the wooden girl reached out and grabbed Ji Yaoge.

Ji Yaoge turned and saw the wooden girl looking down, her gaze on the ground.

"One last time. Tell Senior Brother the truth, and I'll willingly return."

"What if he doesn't believe you?"

"Whether he believes it or not, no matter his choice, I'll return, as long as you tell him!"

This chance was for herself, a final explanation for the past.

From any perspective, Ji Yaoge should refuse, but she said…

"Alright. I promise you."

——

Yuan Huan waited outside Deer Valley for three days without impatience. When he saw the group coming out, he only asked, "Is everything settled?" Ji Yaoge nodded and added, "Yes, but there's one thing... Senior Brother Ren originally came from Chixiu Palace. Many people there know him. Taking him back like this might not be appropriate." She glanced at Ren Zhongping—he was the murderer of the original body and had tried to harm her. Yet, after being imprisoned for 200 years, he had become a burden they couldn't discard. Perhaps regaining his sanity and fighting again would be better than carrying him around inexplicably.

Yuan Huan pondered for a moment, then raised a green hairpin in his palm. The hairpin's head was crafted from thin copper into a three-tiered palace, with flying eaves and painted columns, intricately carved to resemble the real thing.

With a flick of the hairpin, the wooden girl exclaimed, and Ren Zhongping disappeared. Yuan Huan handed the hairpin to Ji Yaoge, Bai Yan, and the wooden girl, who all leaned in to look.

Ren Zhongping had been shrunk into the palace, running around in panic, his voice unable to escape, but his fear was evident.

"Amazing," Bai Yan couldn't help but praise.

Yuan Huan looked at the three of them. Holding the hairpin for a while, he saw they were only interested in looking and not taking it. He tossed the hairpin into Ji Yaoge's arms. Ji Yaoge raised the hairpin, "This is..."

"This is a woman's item. I don't keep pets," Yuan Huan said righteously.

"A woman's item? Then why did you make it?" Ji Yaoge thought of Qiu Ye's Illusory Clear Void Mustard Seed and instinctively felt they were similar. This hairpin was likely his creation, and she muttered.

"What?" Yuan Huan didn't hear clearly.

Ji Yaoge had already removed the hairpin from her bun and replaced it with the new one, smiling slightly, "I said, I dare not refuse a gift from an elder. Thank you, Brother Yuan."

"..." Elder? Though the term was correct, why did he feel he had suddenly aged? Three thousand years should just be the beginning in an endless cultivation journey, right?

With the last matter resolved, Ji Yaoge could finally return to Chixiu Palace with peace of mind. From Deer Valley to Chixiu Palace, it took only half a day by sword. They arrived at Shuangxia Valley before dusk. The long-unseen sunset had just begun to burn in the sky above Shuangxia Valley. The mountain gate of Chixiu Palace stood right in front of the sunset, the ancient gate surrounded by clouds, the bold "Chixiu" characters exuding a profound meaning, devoid of any frivolity.

"We're here." Ji Yaoge led the group down from the clouds and put away her magical items in front of the mountain gate. After more than a month away, Chixiu Palace hadn't changed much, just quieter. They didn't encounter many people on their way in. Ji Yaoge, feeling strange, exchanged a glance with Bai Yan, who shrugged, equally puzzled.

"I'll take you to my cave," Ji Yaoge decided to take Yuan Huan and the wooden girl to her cave since they would be staying in Chixiu Palace for a while, and accommodation needed to be arranged. Fortunately, her cave had been expanded. Though not as spacious as the cave on Shigong Ridge,and it could barely fit two people.

Bai Yan interrupted her with a smile, "Your place isn't big, and it would be crowded with two people. How about inviting Immortal Yuan to stay at my place for a few days?"

Yuan Huan didn't mind and agreed indifferently. Ji Yaoge followed them. Bai Yan's cave was in the same direction as hers. They walked slowly, with Bai Yan introducing the layout and scenery of Chixiu Palace to the wooden girl, fulfilling his duty as a host. Yuan Huan followed, listening thoughtfully, his gaze examining the small sect. To avoid attracting attention, he had hidden his cultivation when they arrived at Deer Valley. Now, to outsiders, he appeared as an ordinary low-level cultivator.

After walking for a while, two people suddenly ran past them. Ji Yaoge called out to one of them, "Zong He!"

Zong He stopped and looked over, his eyes lighting up, "Senior Sister Ji! Senior Brother Bai!"

"You've finally returned!" He quickly ran over, his voice filled with surprise, his eyes glancing at Yuan Huan and the wooden girl, "Who are these two?"

"Two friends we met in the mountains. We got along well, so we invited them to the sect for a drink," Ji Yaoge pointed to Yuan Huan, "This is... Ah Yuan." She had to use an alias now. Then she pointed to the wooden girl, "This is Xiao Bai." Finally, she introduced Zong He, "My junior brother, Zong He."

Chixiu Palace had no strict rules, and disciples often brought friends back, so this wasn't unusual.

Zong He, naturally friendly, immediately put his arm around Yuan Huan's shoulder, "Brother Ah Yuan, Sister Xiao Bai, nice to meet you! Friends of Senior Sister Ji are friends of mine. Don't be shy in Chixiu Palace. I'll treat you to a drink someday!"

Ji Yaoge noticed Yuan Huan's expressionless face and thought he probably didn't like people getting too close. She forcefully removed Zong He's hand, but the wooden girl sweetly called out, "Brother Zong He," making Zong He almost want to give her his heart.

"Zong He, why is the sect so empty?" Bai Yan asked, wrapping his arm around Zong He's neck.

"Arghh Senior Brother... let go!" Zong He pounded his arm, coughed twice, and then remembered, slapping his thigh, "Empty? Everyone's at the back mountain, watching the excitement! You came back just in time. Follow me."

"What happened?" Ji Yaoge asked.

"I'll explain on the way," Zong He pulled them towards the back mountain. "The disciples from the three sects have been slandering Chixiu Palace and you outside. Senior Sister Yue Xiao heard it and got very angry. Coincidentally, that pretty boy from the Wu Xiang Sword Sect came to our sect and injured Senior Sister Yao. Now, Senior Sister Yue Xiao has taken people to teach him a lesson! Let those three sects see what our sect is capable of!"

"Pretty boy?" Ji Yaoge frowned, feeling uneasy.

"Yes! Senior Sister Yao Huang was hosting him. He looked decent and proper, so she had some thoughts. But after he touched and hugged her, he turned his back on her and injured her!"

"Who is this pretty boy?" Ji Yaoge asked as they walked.

"I think his surname is Gu... Gu Xingzhi, the senior disciple of the Wu Xiang Sword Sect!"

"What does Senior Sister Yue Xiao plan to do to him?" Ji Yaoge suddenly stopped, and the wooden girl widened her eyes in shock.

"Heh," Zong He laughed slyly, "He prides himself on being a gentleman, right? Senior Sister Yue Xiao prepared the Illusory Love Chapter of the 'Twelve Immortal Demon Dance' for him, with Luanhe Smoke and Hehuan Bell... Heh heh heh, if he's a man, he'll show his true colors. Gentleman, my foot! I don't believe he can withstand it. He'll make a fool of himself. Senior Sister Ji, just watch. We'll get revenge for you!"

"..." Ji Yaoge was speechless.

None of those were offensive spells, but... but... she suddenly felt sorry for Senior Brother Gu.

"What are those?" The wooden girl, unfamiliar with the sect's methods, asked anxiously.

"Those..." Bai Yan stroked his chin, "Do you know aphrodisiacs?"

The wooden girl nodded.

"Things a hundred times stronger than that," Bai Yan explained bluntly.

"..." The wooden girl was really dumbfounded.

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