I don't know when the sun had set, and the Tianshan Mountains were once again shrouded in darkness, making it difficult to see far away.
As the time grew later, the farther sky was already dotted with twinkling stars. It seemed that if I stood at the highest point covered in snow, I could easily reach out and pick the stars.
Tianyi's words shattered Zongci's anxious mood.
"What do you mean? Get down the mountain immediately?"
He frowned, "Where is your sect leader?"
Tianyi's expression remained calm, and he maintained a visibly distant attitude.
"The sect master has gone into seclusion and is not seeing visitors."
guest.
This word seemed to carry an indescribable power, drawing a clear line between the two, and instantly made the young man in white's expression turn cold.
Zong Ci was not a fool. He knew that such an unexpected change must have had a reason.
Not long ago, they were discussing their near future in the flower garden with great interest, and even made an agreement to travel together, agreeing that in the near future, they would travel around the world while healing their wounds.
The dignified leader of the Tianji Sect is certainly not the kind of person who does not keep his word. It is only because he has encountered an irreversible situation that he would end up like this.
But Zong Ci was not angry because of some sudden incident. In other words, he was not angry because Qian Yuexi suddenly encountered an accident and was unable to fulfill her promise to him.
What made him angry was the other party's concealment and failure to inform him.
This was not the first time. Last time, under the tomb of Longguyuan, Zong Ci also asked Qian Yuexi why she helped him do so much. But the leader of Tianji Sect avoided talking about it and was vague. He only admitted that he built the tomb and did not reveal much else.
"Please follow me, Master Zong."
Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Tianyi lowered his eyes, stretched out his arm, and motioned the other party to follow his direction.
At the steps behind Tianyi, other children from the Tianji Sect also walked over silently, holding deep purple colored glass lamps in their hands, with expressionless faces, just like the unmelted evening snow on the Tianshan Mountains. They lined up quietly and stood there, just like the procession of the Tianji Sect leader that Zong Ci had seen before.
Zong Ci suppressed the irritation in his heart and asked coldly, "What do you mean by this?"
The children answered respectfully, "Sir, the sect master ordered us to escort you down the mountain, serve you, and take care of your daily life."
The young man in white swept his gaze across the faces of each child like a sharp blade.
These people were exactly the same as when Qian Yuexi visited Taiyan Sect, and there were even two more. Zong Ci had reason to believe that the other party had sent the rest of the Tianji Sect to him.
Something is wrong. This is very wrong.
Everything was obviously weird, but the person who knew everything and controlled everything still kept him in the dark.
He understood the Tianji Sect's custom of staying away from the world, not interfering in the mortal world, and not revealing the secrets of heaven, but... ... was it so difficult to even explain it properly
Zong Ci stood at the door of the empty quiet room, looking intently in front of him, and suddenly rushed out like an arrow.
Tianyi was startled, and the coldness he had forced himself to pretend on his face disappeared instantly.
The young man in white was stepping on the snow, his clothes sweeping across the Silent Mountains, causing the snowflakes on the edge to splash into the air, as if he was going to break away from the top of the mountain in the next moment and fly up to the sky where he could reach out and pick the stars.
He was running like mad. Although he had no sword in his hand, he was as determined as if a sword had just been unsheathed.
No sword is better than a sword. He is the sword. He can break the mountains and rivers.
No one dared to step forward to stop him, especially when everyone knew that the person in front of them was the Lingyun Sword Master.
The children of Tianji Sect all have long lifespans and have experienced the era a thousand years ago when swordsmanship was at its most glorious and geniuses emerged in large numbers.
In that era, all the chosen ones were nothing more than a grain of rice competing with a firefly or the bright moon in front of Lingyun Sword Master, and were not worth mentioning.
Even though Lingyun Sword Master was still gone a thousand years later, and even though the one standing before them was only a young man at the third level of Qi Refining Stage, the cold sword energy that burst out from his bones still froze the group of Tianji Sect children at the Out-of-Body Stage, and even Tianyi, who was close to the Mahayana stage, in place, unable to move.
Even the swords worn by the little boy were trembling faintly, and they lowered their heads in submission towards the young man.
After Zong Ci's rebirth, he lost his cultivation and his body, but the path of swordsmanship has reached its end and this point will never change.
The children could only watch as the young man in white ran wildly all the way, bypassing the vermilion palaces and doorways, bypassing the deep and shallow corridors, bypassing the light-lit lotus lanterns, bypassing the shrine that stood silently in its place, and finally entered the main hall area.
"Sir, wait a minute—"
Tianyi's eyes suddenly shrank and he screamed in shock. He swept the whisk in his hand and a streak of light escaped from among the tens of millions of silver hairs.
The Tianji Plate is placed on the altar in the main hall, which is the location closest to the Heavenly Dao.
If Zong Ci stepped in at this point, he might even be killed on the spot. This was why Qian Yuexi repeatedly told them to stay in front of the quiet room and bring the person down from Tianshan immediately, and not to stay in Tianji Gate for too long.
Just because, the longer you stay, the more dangerous it will be.
No one can bear this consequence.
Almost when the stream of light was about to reach the young man, the surroundings of the towering crimson main hall suddenly flashed.
The next second, a light golden light rose from the ground and firmly enveloped this solemn, ancient and mysterious building.
As luck would have it, Zong Ci was blocked outside the golden light and could not move forward another step.
All the children from Tianji Sect breathed a sigh of relief.
Tianyi also put down the whisk in his hand, his emerald eyes filled with worry, and looked up at the back of the young man in white.
"Sure enough... you are inside."
Zong Ci stopped his movements and did not try to use his sword energy to break the barrier in front of him. Instead, he stood where he was and said calmly, "Qian Yuexi."
"As the dignified leader of Tianji Sect, is it so difficult for you to even meet with me?"
The courtyard was still silent and no one answered.
This secret sect, which has existed for who knows how many years, remains as silent as it has been for millions of years.
When they were chatting and admiring the snow in the pavilion, Zong Ci had asked him about it. Qian Yuexi said that it was because Tianshan Mountain was too high and extremely cold, and even the immortal cranes preferred to live in the cold pools on the lower level, and rarely flew to the mountaintops thousands of meters high. On weekdays, if there was nothing to do and there were few people on Tianshan Mountain, it would be dead silent here, as quiet as another world.
For many years, Tianji Sect had maintained this tradition. Only after Qian Yuexi became the Sect Master did he occasionally burn incense and play the zither. Later, he used a photo stone to record it and placed it near the shrine inside the sect. That’s why today Tianji Sect occasionally has the sound of bells and drums, and the sound of celestial music and the sound of the zither.
At that time, Zong Ci sincerely praised the song, saying it was beautiful. Even though he was not a music lover, he still found it quite pleasing to the ear.
But now, the symphony of the xiao and the chimes has reached its climax, and the ancient and profound music echoes on the snow, celebrating the arrival of night.
Zong Ci only felt the harshness and was so cold that his fingers tucked under his long sleeves were shaking.
"well."
The young man in white finished speaking word by word.
"Since you want me to leave, then I will leave."
The candlelight will go out, the mountains and rivers will dry up, and even the sun and the moon will eventually sink.
A thousand years ago, Lingyun Sword Master had everything, but now he has nothing.
What in the world can last forever? He should have thought of this truth long ago.
They had never met in their previous life and only met once.
The leader of the Tianji Sect always thought of this dead man and visited his grave every year.
Zong Ci had thought about it for a long time. He couldn't figure out why he cared so much about Qian Yuexi. Why could a look, a gesture, or a word from her easily open his emotions and heart
When he realized it, he no longer dared to make a promise easily because of his broken body. He could only be cautious and nervous, and stretched out a hope that he had never exposed to others.
In fact, if Qian Yuexi hadn't said it, Zong Ci might not have really gone down the mountain to travel. He had even already decided that he could stay in Tianji Gate for the last days of his life.
He just wanted to be with Qian Yuexi, that's all.
Brushing away those long-thought-out, stormy parts, in the end it was just a light and flirtatious test—
"Master... do you want to go with me?"
If that person is interested, they can go down the mountain together.
Zong Ci is not the Lingyun Sword Master who has been burdened with a serious illness for tens of millions of years. He should be a man dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse, riding his horse and waving the whip, riding his horse through the world, admiring flowers and visiting gardens, and enjoying the world of martial arts.
Qian Yuexi was not the aloof and unworldly leader of the Tianji Sect, but the gentle, elegant, and clean young man in white in front of Zong Ci.
He will cooperate with Qian Yuexi's treatment, and together they will travel across mountains and rivers, travel around the world, and play with shadows in the three mountains.
Although I only have one and a half years in this life, I still want to spend a good time with this person because of the regrets I have from my previous life.
Now, it's just my wishful thinking.
Every step the young man in white took hit the snow heavily, leaving behind icy footprints that looked like flowers blooming one after another.
He walked all the way to the stairs leading down to Tianshan Mountain, and the children from Tianji Sect followed him quietly.
Zong Ci stopped.
That day in Taiyan Sect Square, when Zong Ci passed by Rong Lian, he did not look back.
Also in the Taiyan Sect Square, when he was removing the immortal bones, he never raised his eyes to look at Qingxuzi even once.
But today, he couldn't help it after all.
The towering and cold palace was silent in the night, a flickering star hung on the eaves, and the shadows of the trees were rustling.
There was still no one in the shadow in front of the vermilion gate.
The young man stared at the bluestone brick for a long time, and his eyes ached slightly.
Tianyi took a step forward and gently put on him the crane cloak that Zongci had hurriedly forgotten to wear when he went out.
"Sir, it's getting late, let's go as soon as possible."
He urged in a low voice.
In a small pavilion on the cliff not far away, the agarwood lamp that had been lit for who knows how many years was still swaying quietly.
Someone picked up the wine glass that was being warmed nearby. It was the one that the young man had just used. Even someone who rarely drank alcohol finished the whole glass. The aroma of the wine filled the room, and not a drop of it could escape.
Zong Ci seemed to realize something and turned back suddenly, but he only saw the bamboo curtain lifted and there was no one there.
He clenched his fists, but finally set off silently.
After all, life is as insignificant as dust. When the story comes to an end, we never expect any happy ending, just companionship is enough.
But God is unwilling to give me even a little help.