Ling Chou.
Zong Ci silently repeated this name that was once so familiar to him, and for a moment it seemed a little strange.
During the long period of time before Zong Ci entered the Nascent Soul stage, except for the occasional few years when he went down the mountain to train, he lived with Qingxuzi on the main peak of Taiyan Sect and practiced in peace.
Obviously, Yuanying can be considered a rookie, and if it were placed in other small sects, he could even become an elder or a peak master.
It just so happened that Zong Ci had entered the secret realm of a certain ancient great power when he was in the Jindan stage, and was targeted by a great power who had a long-standing grudge with Qingxuzi, who secretly plotted against him. Originally, he was doomed to die, but he did not expect that when he was on the verge of death, he accidentally used the meteorite fragment that could ignore space transfer, and finally escaped by a hair's breadth.
When Qingxuzi arrived, Zongci was covered in blood, his white clothes were no longer visible, his face was lifeless and grey, and he was dying. Qingxuzi was furious that his beloved disciple was injured, and he flattened the mountain of the powerful man with one sword, even crushing his soul, making him unable to reincarnate forever.
After that incident, Qingxuzi's desire for control became even stronger. Anything related to Lingyun, no matter how big or small, had to be reported to him in advance.
Although Zong Ci was helpless, he also knew that his master was doing this for his own good.
After all, the world of cultivation is one where the strong prey on the weak and the fittest survive. Many geniuses die before they have time to grow up. Even though Qingxuzi is the leader of the Taoist sect and his strength is unrivaled, he has made countless enemies and there are always places that he cannot reach.
Ling Chou appeared at this time.
He participated in the Taiyan Sect's recruitment that year. He was a perfect virtuous person with the same sect as Ci, and was the most outstanding in character and talent among all the new disciples that year. However, he rejected all the olive branches thrown by the elders and the peak master, and stubbornly chose Qingxuzi. He knelt for three days and three nights at the gate of Taiyan Sect, hoping to become a disciple.
I don’t know how many disciples of Taiyan Sect laughed at this behavior.
Everyone knows that the sect leader Qingxuzi has only one disciple, Lingyun, and that eldest disciple is also the junior uncle of the entire Taiyan Sect and is very respected in the sect.
A new disciple, relying on his good qualifications, is so ambitious and even dreams of reaching the top overnight
At that time, Qingxuzi had already resigned as the head of the sect and was concentrating on preparing for seclusion to break through to the middle stage of the tribulation. Naturally, such a small matter would not be heard by the old ancestor. Instead, Zong Ci inadvertently heard the whispers of the disciples in the sect.
"... That person is still kneeling there?"
Outside the affairs hall, the disciples gathered together and looked at the sect gate, pointing and talking.
"He's still kneeling! He's been kneeling for two days. He doesn't really think that this will make the ancestor show mercy, right?"
"That's right. A disciple who has just established his foundation, I don't know what he is dreaming about." Everyone burst into laughter. "He deserves to be rejected by those elders and peak masters. Now if the ancestor doesn't accept him as a disciple, I'm afraid he won't be able to find a master and can only be an outer disciple!"
Countless people clapped their hands, "Hahahahahaha, it makes people happy, it makes people happy!"
Zong Ci frowned and walked out. The disciples who had gathered together immediately quieted down when they saw him, and bowed their heads respectfully. The heated discussion just now also died down.
It happened to rain heavily that day, with thunder roaring and lightning flashing.
The white-robed swordsman stepped on the void, and the raindrops were cut through drop by drop by the spiritual power emanating from his body. Even in the rain, he could walk freely without getting wet.
He looked into the distance through the heavy rain.
At the foot of the endless white jade steps that stretched for thousands of miles, a handsome young man in black was kneeling on the ground, with wet hair hanging down from his cheeks, his back straight, and the half of fingers sticking out from his sleeves were white with cold, and were trembling unconsciously.
I don't know why, maybe it was because he remembered the time when he risked his life to worship Qingxuzi as his master, Zong Ci felt a little touched. So after he returned, he mentioned it to his master openly and secretly. It took some twists and turns during the period, but he finally succeeded in gaining this little junior brother.
When he first started, Ling Chou had a good and well-behaved personality, was down-to-earth and hardworking, and was very able to endure hardships. Although he looked very similar to Zong Ci, he always called him "senior brother" in a particularly sweet way.
Zong Ci liked this junior brother very much, but he practiced the ruthless way, so many emotions were subconsciously restrained and difficult to express. Also, because the difference in their cultivation levels was too great, and their cultivation paths were different, at the beginning, except that Ling Chou would obediently call Zong Ci senior brother every time he saw him, they didn't have much communication in private.
The most important thing is that with one more disciple, Qingxuzi won’t have to keep an eye on him all day long.
Of course, Zong Ci also felt that his master seemed to be intentionally distancing himself from him, but this was a good thing for him as he could take a breath. He could also sneak down the mountain from time to time to meet his friends to make tea, play chess, pick flowers and discuss Taoism, and his life became more and more comfortable.
Once, Zong Ci found an excuse to go down the mountain to drink with friends. He was drunk and missed the time. It was not until the moon was high in the sky that he suddenly woke up from the table and stumbled back to the sect.
Unfortunately, the wine that night was of the best quality, and it was said to be a special wine from the Western Regions, which guaranteed to make one drunk and give one a sweet dream. As a result, Zong Ci fell asleep in the spiritual spring in a daze, even forgetting to take off his clothes, and met with Zhou Gong.
Unexpectedly, Qingxuzi did not come back that night.
The next day, when Zong Ci woke up, he realized that he had accidentally walked into the wrong cave. A lantern hanging on the door not far away had the word "Yellow" written on it. His junior brother was sitting under a tree in a training suit, holding a sword, staring at him expressionlessly.
Capital Awkward.
Somehow, after this incident, the relationship between the two people began to gradually improve.
Ling Yun, who was gaining fame in the cultivation world, would often take time to instruct his junior brother whenever he had time. Whenever he went out on a mission, the junior brother would bring him a gift. Later, Zong Ci learned that the reason why the master didn't come back that night was because the junior brother covered for him. So, he was moved and their relationship progressed by leaps and bounds.
Many times, Qingxuzi went out traveling, and only the two of them, his fellow disciples, were left on the main peak.
Qingxu, who was the head of the sect at that time, was devoted to Ling Yun, the eldest disciple; on the contrary, the second disciple he accepted after stepping down as the head of the sect looked like someone he had picked up on the street. Compared with his master Qingxu, Zong Ci taught Ling Chou how to practice hand in hand more often.
Because they were afraid that Ling Chou might encounter any accidents while carrying out the mission, Zong Ci would sneak up on him as soon as his junior brother went down the mountain to protect his safety. Later, when their relationship became better, they became inseparable and often went on missions together. They punished evil and promoted good, dressed in fine clothes and rode horses, and enjoyed the rivers and lakes, traveling to many places on the mainland.
Occasionally, when they were in the mood, the two would take advantage of Qingxuzi's absence to set up a small wine table on the main peak and enjoy the moon, flowers and wine together. During their missions, they would sneak into the flower house and order a quiet room, drink tea and listen to the girls playing music. Or they would walk through the temple and listen to the mortals singing the legend of the two gods slaying demons and monsters.
During those years, Qingxuzi seemed to be intentionally staying away from the world and did not take the time to take care of these two disciples. He even had little contact with Lingyun, whom he once valued the most.
Gradually, as time went by, in addition to being brothers, they also became close friends who could talk about anything. Zong Ci regarded his junior fellow apprentice as his best friend. After all, there are many friends in life, but few can be completely confidant. Unfortunately, Ling Chou was one of them.
—He thought so until the night before Zong Ci became an immortal.
That day, Ling Chou set up a wine table under the peach tree as usual, poured two glasses of wine, and raised his glass with a smile.
"Tomorrow is the big day for Brother to ascend to heaven. Here, I would like to offer a toast to Brother first."
Tomorrow is the day of ascension. If the ascension is successful, they may never see each other again; if they fail to survive the tribulation and die in the thunder tribulation, it will also be a farewell forever.
Besides, who would be on guard against their junior fellow apprentice? Moreover, Zong Ci and he had such a close relationship.
In this context, the usually indifferent Sword Master in White also shed his former coldness and, contrary to his usual behavior, poured himself wine repeatedly until his jade-like face turned a light crimson.
At that time, Zong Ci had already reached the great perfection of the Tribulation Stage, and any alcohol had no effect on him. He did not care, but took advantage of the alcohol to say many things to his junior fellow apprentice that he could not say.
He said, "Brother, if I succeed in ascending, you must also practice well here. You are extremely talented, don't delay, we can meet sooner in the fairyland in the future. If I fail to overcome the calamity, it is also fate. There has never been an example of a successful ascension in the past and present. Since we have embarked on this path of cultivation, we must try. You know me."
He also said, "In fact, Master also cares about you, but Master is a person who practices the more extreme ruthless way, and many of his words are the same as those of Senior Brother, so he is not easy to reveal on weekdays. After I leave, you must respect Master well and improve your cultivation. Otherwise, if Master also ascends to heaven, and the two of us go to the fairyland, you will be left alone, and you may be found by your enemies, so don't let Senior Brother worry."
Zong Ci said a lot more, so much that he almost forgot it all.
They talked about this all night and drank all night.
When it was almost dawn, Zong Ci took out the storage ring he had prepared long ago.
"Junior brother, this is something I have prepared a long time ago. It is the only thing I can give you. Please do not refuse."
The ring contained the magic weapons and spiritual clothes that Zong Ci had accumulated over the years, as well as mountains of spiritual stones, elixirs, and spells. It had everything he could think of, from the transformation of the spirit to the Mahayana to the tribulation. In addition, he thought that he didn't have much else to keep as a memory, so he cut off a piece of his hair as a souvenir.
For some reason, at this moment, he suddenly felt that he was a little drunk.
No, how is that possible.
Zong Ci was just about to dispel this absurd idea when he heard the low voice of the person in front of him.
"I'm afraid you don't know the meaning of giving someone hair in the mortal world."
"What?" Zong Ci's slow brain was unable to react and he repeated it blankly.
The next moment, he watched as the bony hand cut off a piece of hair and tangled it with his hair.
In the world of cultivation, tying the hair is a necessary procedure in the ceremony of becoming a disciple, which represents the meaning of imparting the secret of longevity. Zong Ci also experienced it when he became a disciple of Qingxuzi.
But Ling Chou had deliberately mentioned the mortal world just now, and the meaning of the mortal world is -
Zong Ci looked up in surprise.
Ling Chou was sitting opposite him, the smile on his face gone.
Without knowing when, the distance between the two people became very close, so close that they could touch each other with just a raise of their hands.
Zong Ci could see the overwhelming hatred surging in those black eyes, the obvious struggle, the complexity of the interweaving, the heat and pain, the intersection and sorrow that he could not understand.
—There is also a small reflection of a swordsman in white.
"Junior brother, you...!!!"
He opened his mouth and was about to speak, but was horrified to find that he could no longer mobilize the huge spiritual power in his body.
Even the vision in front of my eyes gradually became blurred.
Zong Ci fell backwards in shock and disbelief, suddenly losing strength and being hugged around the waist again.
Ling Chou's deep, icy face was close at hand, and it carried a strange and obscure look that Zong Ci had never seen before.
His expression was unpredictable, and finally settled into an indescribable weirdness.
The cold, temperatureless hand brushed across the eyebrows and eyes of the White-robed Sword Master, tracing them carefully.
"Why... ... it's you."
Ling Chou's voice was very soft, as soft as the whispers between lovers, yet it was filled with boundless coldness, with his sword-like brows lowered.
This is all Zong Ci remembered in the last second before he woke up.
There is no doubt that he was stabbed ruthlessly by the person closest to him.
####
But now, the storyteller said that Ling Chou had betrayed his master and fell into the ghost realm.
In a flash, all the previous fragmentary clues seemed to flash through his mind.
The yellow cave on the main peak that looked like it hadn't been inhabited for a long time; Ling Chou's talent was obviously no less than his, but after his rebirth, he still had never heard of Ling Chou's name anywhere; and Qingxuzi's stagnant cultivation and sudden transformation into a child... ...
These clues came together and eventually formed the words spoken by the storyteller in the teahouse.
But Zong Ci couldn't understand why Ling Chou betrayed his master.
Ling Chou is much more obedient and well-behaved than him, the eldest disciple who gives his master a headache every day.
Qingxuzi is also the leader of the Taoist sect. After Lingyun Jianzun got into trouble, Lingchou became his only disciple. Even if we don't mention that Lingchou himself is also extremely talented and is definitely not an ordinary person, the fact that he became a disciple of Qingxuzi means that his future will definitely be bright and he will rise to the top. If Qingxuzi succeeds in ascending to heaven one day, Lingchou will be the one to inherit his mantle.
Even if we ignore the fact that Ling Chou gave him the Shen Hua Powder for no reason, Zong Ci couldn't understand why he would do such a thing as betraying his master.
All the noise in the teahouse seemed to be far away from Zong Ci. He didn't even realize that water was still spilling from the spout of the teapot until the scalding hot water rolled down the edge of the table and fell onto the hem of his clothes.
At the same time, the disciple in blue shirt opposite suddenly chuckled.
"Brother, your tea is tilted."
Zong Ci raised his eyes. For some reason, the pair of deep eyes opposite him made him feel inexplicably frightened.
Thanks to Liu Yuan for speaking up and pulling Zong Ci out of his trance.
After a while, he restrained his expression and put the teapot back on the table. His face was calm and he said, "My hand slipped for a moment. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Brother Liu."
After all, no matter what happened to Ling Chou, it had nothing to do with him.