I descended from Manhua Pavilion, my steps slightly unsteady. I told my master that I wanted to go to Shu. Disciples there had sent word that someone resembling my junior sister had been spotted.
My master refused, saying that with the eldest senior brother away subduing demons, the sect could not be left unattended for even a day.
I had never disobeyed him before, but how could I ignore something related to my junior sister’s whereabouts?
Yet my master coldly tossed out her Life Verification Stone and said, "Yan Shang, she’s already dead. It’s been so many years—why can’t you face reality? You’ve searched everywhere, north, south, east, and west. Have you found her?"
I stared blankly at the small purple stone and shook my head. It was just a stone, nothing more. How could it prove that my junior sister was dead? No one could prove it, and no one had found her body! Maybe she had just run away in a fit of mischief or anger toward me. Maybe she was injured and lost her memory, forgetting the way back to Zhaowu Mountain...
Clutching my junior sister’s Life Verification Stone tightly, I walked down the mountain, nearly crushing it to dust in my grip. For a moment, I was tempted to hurl it off the cliff but restrained myself.
Such Life Verification Stones were given to every disciple upon enrollment in the sect. They were enchanted and marked with the disciple’s blood. If something happened during demon-slaying missions or other tasks, the sect would know whether to send rescue or retrieve a body.
But my junior sister’s Life Verification Stone had dimmed five years ago when she disappeared. Refusing to believe it, I had held the stone time and again, praying to the heavens. Yet in the end, it became nothing more than an ordinary stone stained with blood that could never be wiped away.
I walked to the White Bamboo Forest and sat in my junior sister’s old room for over an hour. The Life Verification Stone in my palm was smooth and warm, as if it had been caressed often. My master might seem indifferent, but in truth, he was the most heartbroken. After growing accustomed to my junior sister’s cooking, he could barely eat afterward and withdrew from sect affairs. I had searched everywhere for news of her, only to return with disappointment time and again. With the wound constantly reopened, how could he not be grieved and angry?
On the table lay the white jade statue my junior sister had carved for my master’s birthday—about a foot tall, nearly complete, with only the face left unfinished. Back then, she had endured so much hardship to quarry the jade and had carved it for days and nights without rest, yet in the end, she never had the chance to present it.
The sound of "Second Senior Brother! Second Senior Brother!" echoed endlessly in my ears, and I nearly shed tears again. This little girl I had picked up from the mountains and raised with my own hands—this fatherly, brotherly bond—was something my master could never understand.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Ye Niang holding a tray of tea. I waved her off, saying it wasn’t necessary.
"I’ll be away in Shu for some time. Take good care of Master. I’ve noticed his complexion hasn’t been the best."
Ye Niang nodded, her eyes downcast as always—she never dared to look directly at anyone. Our conversations were always like this, each of us gazing elsewhere, the atmosphere strangely awkward. I knew she bore no resemblance to my junior sister in any way, yet whenever I saw her, I couldn’t help but think of Changpu.
Yes, Changpu. Years ago, while out slaying demons, I had found her amidst a sea of irises and named her after them—Hua Changpu.She had been frail since childhood. Spending a day and night in the wilderness allowed cold to seep into her bones, and she was fortunate that her master had always taken great care to nurse her health. It wasn't until she was two that she could walk, yet her mischievous nature meant I often carried her on my back to play. The disciples in our sect adored her—except for the eldest senior brother, who never got along with her. The two were always bickering. However, those joyful days vanished without a trace after my junior sister disappeared.
The master abandoned his duties in the sect, and the senior brother rarely returned. There were even rumors that he was secretly expanding his faction outside, buying off disciples in an attempt to replace the master.
As for me, I had only one wish—to find my junior sister and bring her back.
III. Du Zhong
Late at night, I woke from another nightmare. The world was silent, save for the sound of wind rustling through bamboo leaves outside, like a light drizzle.
I threw on my robe and stepped out. The stifling heat clinging to my body was instantly chilled by the wind, the cold seeping into my bones.
Step by step, I made my way up to Manhua Pavilion. I needed solitude. The roar of the waterfall could drown out the turmoil in my heart, but the surrounding quiet only made the voices within me clearer.
Standing atop the pavilion, I overlooked the mountains, one hand resting on the black jade-carved xuan bird, a symbol of Zhaowu Mountain.
In the past, I often carried Changpu up here. She would ride the xuan bird like a wooden horse without hesitation, pointing in every direction and asking me what places they were and if I could take her there.
I always nodded, but there were too many promises and too much distance—we never got to finish them all.
Another cold breeze swept past, and I couldn’t suppress a cough. Under the bright moonlight, I spotted a dark figure by the mountain stream in the distance. I knew it was Ye Niang. She sometimes came to the stream at night to wash clothes or gather flower dew before dawn.
I had merely eaten a bowl of her porridge once, yet Yan Shang had gone out of his way to assign her to serve me—it was truly an overreaction. I still had no appetite, but the tea she brewed was excellent. Changpu used to clamor to make tea for me too, though no matter how fine the leaves, they were wasted in her hands.
I still remember staring at the cup full of thick paste, speechless, while she blushed, stuck out her tongue, and laughed, "Sorry, Master, I put in too much tea..."
A sharp pang struck my chest, and suddenly, I longed for a cup of tea brewed by her.
But the truth was, I didn’t miss her.
I had thought Changpu’s death would devastate me. After all, we had been master and disciple for years—I had watched her grow up. Yet, as someone long devoid of emotions, when I held the suddenly darkened Life Verification Stone, my mind went blank for an instant, and I didn’t even furrow my brow.
For the first three years after she left, I was calm—unprecedentedly so. My cultivation and spiritual power surged. Only in the last two years did I suddenly begin to think of her frequently, and these past three months, it had grown worse, haunting my dreams like an inescapable demon.
I was puzzled—what was happening to me?
Ye Niang reached the stream, glanced around, and then, under the moonlight, suddenly shed her robe. Beneath it, she wore nothing. Her luminous, delicate body emerged from the dark fabric, alluring beyond measure. A bolt of lightning flashed through my mind. Though my expression remained impassive, my breathing grew unsteady. I averted my gaze hastily, cursing my sharp eyes for seeing too clearly. And despite the deafening roar of the waterfall, I could still distinctly hear the careful sound of her stepping into the stream, the splash of water as she cupped it in her hands.Descending from the Manhua Pavilion, I let out a soft sigh. Hadn't I faced enough temptations over all these years? Practicing the Nine Heavenly Stars Technique of Chaowu Mountain strictly forbade indulgence in feminine charms. Various sects had employed all manner of despicable means—seduction, drugging—to ruin my cultivation. Seeing me remain unmoved, they'd even sent men my way.
And now I was flustered by the sight of a naked woman? How far I'd fallen.
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