“What? He’s gone?”
When he had come to Lord Fang, intending to ask him to launch an investigation, he received this unexpected reply.
Lord Fang nodded. “Yes. Just before the rankings were posted today, he came to me. He didn’t even ask about his ranking, simply requesting to leave the Undying Spirit Mountain.”
“Didn’t he give a reason?” Jiang Chen was deeply frustrated, with a vague sense of loss.
“He did not,” Lord Fang sighed with a wry smile. “This person is quite strange. I told him he ranked seventh this time, qualifying him for entry into the Earth Spirit Zone. Yet, he was utterly indifferent, as if he didn’t care about the ranking at all.”
“Could he have been threatened?” Jiang Chen couldn’t help asking.
Lord Fang thought back for a moment, then shook his head. “It didn’t seem like it. He was very calm, though his resolve to leave was firm. It didn’t appear to be coercion. Rather, it was as if he had seen through something and was voluntarily choosing to leave.”
Jiang Chen’s mouth was filled with bitterness. For a moment, he was dumbfounded.
From beginning to end, he only knew the other was called Xiao Fei and was a girl disguised as a young man.
If not for that unexpected night, Jiang Chen might have only felt it was a pity—someone who ranked seventh just up and left.
But after that night, a sense of apology had lingered in Jiang Chen’s heart. Although Xiao Fei had always insisted that she had dragged him down, that he had fallen into a trap because of her, and that she owed him for that night… Jiang Chen was not the kind of person to take advantage and then act smug.
“Forget it. If she’s left, she must have her reasons. If fate allows it, we will meet again. If not… well, that’s just how it is.”
Jiang Chen sighed inwardly. Though he tried to console himself this way, he was ultimately not a callous person. On his way back, he still felt a sense of melancholy.
He didn’t know that as he returned, from the bushes nearby, a slender figure had been watching Jiang Chen all the way from the examiner’s district back to his courtyard.
The figure was none other than Consort Dan. At this moment, her delicate body trembled slightly, and her nose twitched softly, clearly struggling to contain her emotions.
“Jiang Chen, the fact that you would so anxiously search for ‘Xiao Fei,’ someone you only met by chance, shows what a truly righteous and affectionate man you are. But I must go now. I cannot accompany you into the Earth Spirit Zone. I hope… your journey ahead is smooth, that you cleave through all obstacles, and that all the arrogant geniuses of those so-called sects are trampled beneath your feet. Consort Dan believes that within the Sixteen Kingdoms, all those called geniuses will pale in comparison to your brilliance!”
Consort Dan murmured softly to herself. She watched until Jiang Chen’s back disappeared before turning resolutely and walking down the mountain.
…
Jiang Chen returned to his courtyard. He stood for a moment in the corridor outside his door, gazing at the gutter beneath the eaves where water flowed gurgling.
Jiang Chen remembered that Xiao Fei used to like standing here in this corridor, watching the flowing water.
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Jiang Chen’s mind, and he laughed freely.
“We cultivators follow a path already ordained by heaven. Why should we trouble ourselves like common folk? Xiao Fei left, I remain here—this is the path each of us has chosen. What is there to sorrow or worry about?”
Jiang Chen experienced a sudden epiphany, his mood instantly brightening. After this moment of clarity, the world around him seemed tranquil, all his emotions carried away by the murmuring water.
“Exactly. Each follows their own Dao. If our Daos align, we will surely meet again. If they do not, we simply cannot walk the same road.” With this realization, Jiang Chen’s mind became utterly peaceful.
Laughing heartily, he turned to go into his room.
Just then, from outside the courtyard walls, a hearty laugh rang out: “Young friend Panshi, what has you laughing so heartily? Hearing such laughter, it sounds like the laugh of one who has achieved great enlightenment.”
The voice belonged to none other than Lord Fang of the Xuan Spirit Zone. They had only parted recently, yet Lord Fang had come in person for a visit?
“Lord Fang graces my humble abode with his presence. This truly brings honor to my simple courtyard.” Jiang Chen smiled and stepped forward to greet him.
Jiang Chen held Lord Fang in high regard.
At least, within the sect, he was one of the few figures who was still relatively fair.
“What’s wrong? Not welcoming?” Lord Fang chuckled.
“I wouldn’t dare. Lord Fang, please come inside.” Jiang Chen ushered Lord Fang into his room.
The two sat cross-legged. Jiang Chen, without any false modesty, immediately produced a jug of Nine Hua Jade Dew Wine and two Ancient Vine Cups, and began to pour the wine.
The moment the wine was poured, Lord Fang’s eyes changed instantly. He blurted out, “This… this is Nine Hua Jade Dew Wine?”
“Lord Fang is truly a connoisseur. Please.” Jiang Chen raised his cup.
Lord Fang’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. His gaze fixed intently on the Nine Hua Jade Dew Wine, looking as if his eyes might fall out.
Watching his state—lips slightly trembling, nose twitching nonstop, his entire demeanor changing at once—it was as if his soul had been snatched away.