The cave was quite special. The rocks inside seed to be mixed with so strange substance that, under the cold of the rain, emitted a multicolored fluorescence. This bathed the interior in a bizarre and fantastic light, like sothing out of a fairy tale. It was also relatively dry and suitable for resting. The ground was covered with so dry grass and fallen animal hair, a clear sign that animals had stayed here before.
"Senior Brother, this place looks even prettier than the blessed lands of our Immortal Mountain!"
The girl in the blue skirt looked around the small cave. She then cleared the dry grass on the ground, making two simple sleeping spots. After sitting on one, she pointed to the other for Su Xuan.
Faced with such an understanding girl, Su Xuan felt sowhat embarrassed to continue maintaining a stern face and feigning the proud and lofty deanor of Feng Zhengyuan. He sat down on the sleeping spot she had prepared for him. Noticing the girl shivering slightly, he tossed a pill to her.
"Thank you, Senior Brother!" The girl caught the pill, grinned at Su Xuan, and then said to herself, "Ever since I was injured that ti, my body has been really sensitive to the cold. Ah, I don’t know when it will be completely cured so I won’t have to worry you anymore, Senior Brother."
Su Xuan pursed his lips.
The girl glanced at the pill in her hand and said in surprise, "Senior Brother, this isn’t a pill from our Immortal Mountain, is it?"
Su Xuan frowned. "Seized from the Ten Cauldrons Sect."
"Oh." The girl opened her mouth, swallowed the pill, and said, "Senior Brother, when you go back, don’t say you destroyed the Ten Cauldrons Sect. Our master will definitely be unhappy."
"I know."
Su Xuan had already gathered from his conversations with the girl that his yet-to-be-t, convenient master was a kind-hearted man, while "he" was supposedly a cold, rciless, and foolish disciple. As for the girl’s injury, he didn’t know the details, nor was it his place to ask. It was apparent, however, that she had been injured recently, as her complexion had not yet fully recovered.
Suddenly, the girl stretched out both hands. With her palms facing a pile of dry grass, she conjured a ball of fla, and the cave was once again filled with flickering firelight.
"Senior Brother, you should rest early, okay?" The girl smiled at Su Xuan. "You talked a lot with today, so I won’t disturb you anymore!"
After saying that, the girl took out a patterned jade slip. She held it with both hands and began muttering, though Su Xuan couldn’t tell what she was doing.
Su Xuan stretched, lay on his side on the sleeping spot, and pillowed his head on his arm, pretending to sleep. Outside, the downpour showed no signs of easing; in fact, the drumming of the rain grew even denser. The air in the cave slled of rain, but there was also a pleasant fragrance wafting from the girl, intensified by the warmth of the fire.
After so ti, the girl finished her murmuring, lay down, and fell asleep.
Su Xuan then quietly sat up.
He couldn’t help but stare at the strange jade slip still clasped in the girl’s hand. What is this thing? Is it so kind of communication tool? Is she reporting our whereabouts to the Immortal Mountain? Then again, I’m not worried about her revealing what I did. She’s clearly very protective of .
Driven by curiosity, Su Xuan stealthily took the jade slip from her hand. After studying it with his enhanced vision, he suddenly realized what it was. It could be used to record things quickly—it was like a diary!
Su Xuan quickly figured out how to use it. He channeled a thread of True Qi along the slip’s patterns, and information poured into his mind in an orderly fashion, like a book’s table of contents. Su Xuan didn’t have a habit of prying into people’s privacy, but he was eager to learn more about the Immortal Mountain to avoid being utterly clueless upon arrival. Thus, he quietly began to "read" the jade slip.
An unknown amount of ti passed, and the sound of the torrential rain outside faded to a murmur, but the sky was still dark.
Having finished reading, Su Xuan quietly placed the jade slip back into the girl’s hand. Then he sat back on his own sleeping spot, rubbing his forehead. He had never expected the jade slip to contain a young girl’s diary, a collection of her mories.
From it, he learned she had been brought to the Immortal Mountain by her master when she was five or six years old. It wasn’t because she was exceptionally talented, but because her family’s circumstances were too tragic. Her ho had been ravaged by a flood, and her parents and grandparents were swept away by a mudslide. She alone had survived, left to weep bitterly at the sight of her destroyed ho.
He also realized that the girl’s feelings for him, her senior brother, were not romantic admiration, but unmistakable kinship.
In her diary, she called him "Brother" and their master "Grandpa." She completely regarded them as her family, which was heartbreaking.
"Brother ranked in the top ten in today’s sect competition. I’m so happy!"
"Brother was provoked by Senior Brother Liu today, got angry, and knocked out one of Senior Brother Liu’s teeth! Hahaha!"
"Grandpa Master had a quarrel with the Fifth Elder today; they almost ca to blows. I made Grandpa so delicious food for dinner to help him cool off..."
Such records were nurous.
The girl also wrote about the formidable Senior Sister Miao Tong, calling her the most beautiful senior sister in the Immortal Mountain. She wrote that her brother had a crush on Senior Sister Miao Tong and had even secretly written her love letters, but he never got a reply. Poor Brother...
The girl also recorded how she got hurt. So disciples had said her brother was not worthy of Senior Sister Miao Tong. She argued with them and ended up being struck by the Nine Layers of Profound Ice Palm.
She wrote that her injury didn’t matter, as long as her family wasn’t insulted.
Her final entry was:
"Brother talked with a lot today!"
"I’m so happy!"
Su Xuan, who also had no family, rubbed his aching chest and let out a long sigh. By now, the fire on the ground had long since burned out. The girl was curled up on her sleeping spot, shivering slightly.
Su Xuan waved his hand, conjuring a ball of blazing Undying Earth Fire to warm her. He then got up and stood at the mouth of the cave, staring blankly into the thinning rain.
Feng Zhengyuan’s lineage doesn’t actually hold a high position on the Immortal Mountain. Although the old master is the Second Elder, he’s a man who avoids worldly conflicts, preaches kindness, and is content with his lot. Under these circumstances, if I want to stir up so trouble and get expelled from the sect in a plausible manner, it shouldn’t be difficult...
He began calculating how he could smoothly leave the Immortal Mountain under the identity of Feng Zhengyuan. Leaving by being expelled was the most secure option, leaving no future complications. Then, he could return ho with peace of mind.
As for the life-saving elixir, there was no need to worry. The Huo Yun Furnace was already his. After purifying it, he could use it to concoct pills at any ti.
"Hungry..." the girl suddenly murmured in her sleep, her mouth falling slightly open.
Su Xuan turned his head to look at her, a mysterious smile appearing on his lips... a smile full of ill intent.
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