Qian Renxue's Letter

Time quietly slipped away amid the grueling daily training.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Yun Chuan had finally adapted to training in a vest weighing several hundred jin, running one lap around Yellow Earth Avenue. At first, he had been so exhausted after one lap that he could not move; now, he still had plenty of energy left after finishing a lap. His progress had been astonishingly fast!

His training from here on could be expected to gradually increase in intensity. One lap would become two, then three... Until he reached a certain point, he would switch to an even heavier vest.

On this day, Yun Chuan was unusually granted a day off.

Training required a proper balance between exertion and rest. Even if his body could endure daily training, his mind would grow weary of it. Letting himself relax, loosening that tightly wound string in his mind, and taking an appropriate rest were all necessary.

Early that morning, after washing up, Yun Chuan had just opened his door, intending to take advantage of his day off to have a good look around Spirit City. But the moment he opened it, he found a servant who had clearly been waiting for some time. The servant held a letter in his hands, its envelope bearing four large words: "For Xiao Chuan's Eyes Only."

Yun Chuan froze for a moment. Then, seeing Qian Renxue's name on the envelope, a delighted expression appeared on his face. "Xue Jie sent me another letter." With that, he snatched up the envelope and shut the door.

Inside the room.

Holding the envelope, Yun Chuan went to the desk by the window, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He eagerly opened the envelope, took out a sheet of paper covered in delicate handwriting, and began reading quietly.

Most of the letter consisted of Qian Renxue's complaints. She said that her life undercover as the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire was incredibly boring, along with some everyday trivialities, and questions like whether he missed his sister.

Yun Chuan read every word carefully, savoring the emotions between the lines. A faint smile appeared on his face, and beneath the morning sunlight streaming through the window, he was so exquisitely beautiful that he seemed too perfect to belong to the mortal world...

Qian Renxue was around ten years older than him. When he had still been a baby, she often came to tease him and play with him. If nothing unexpected had happened, the two of them should have grown up together, becoming childhood sweethearts innocent of worldly concerns.

Unfortunately, when he was two years old, Qian Renxue had voluntarily requested to go undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire in order to prove herself to the Female Pope and earn her mother's acknowledgment. She had first plotted to kill Heaven Dou's First Prince, Xue Qinghe, then used a soul bone skill to disguise herself as him and take his place!

By now, she had been posing as First Prince Xue Qinghe and working undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire for four years.

Over those four years, Qian Renxue returned to Spirit Hall roughly once every three or four months. Each time, she could only rest for two or three days before returning to the Heaven Dou Empire. After all, the identity she had assumed could not disappear for too long. Otherwise, it would be easy for others to spot flaws and render all her previous efforts futile.

Writing letters, on the other hand, was not subject to such restrictions. She could write whenever she wanted, then have someone deliver them to him.

Sometimes, Qian Renxue sent him more than twenty letters in a single month. Other times, when she was busy, only one letter would arrive after two or three months. She would tell him about her recent circumstances and pour out her troubles to him. Yun Chuan also replied nearly every time, telling her about his own recent life and writing down his thoughts.

The two of them maintained their correspondence like this, each keeping track of the other's circumstances. Their feelings had not weakened in the slightest because of the distance between them. On the contrary, distance made the heart grow fonder. Moreover, some things were difficult to say face-to-face, but writing them down came with far fewer reservations. Thus, without realizing it, Qian Renxue had subconsciously developed a slight dependence on Yun Chuan, and her feelings for him were quietly changing.

Over the years, their bond had not weakened despite being separated by distance. Instead, they had grown even closer than before.

After carefully reading Qian Renxue's letter from beginning to end, Yun Chuan cautiously folded the paper and returned it to its envelope. Then he took a brocade box from his Storage Soul Tool and placed it on the desk. Opening it, he found it filled with a thick stack of envelopes. Every one of them was a letter Qian Renxue had sent over the years, all preserved here.

He placed the newly arrived letter into the brocade box, closed the lid, and stored it away in his Soul Tool again. Yun Chuan opened the drawer beneath the desk and took out a fresh sheet of letter paper. Then he reached toward the neatly hung row of writing brushes on the desk and finally chose a thin, slender one.

His hands were too small. Holding a larger brush would inevitably look awkward, and the characters he wrote would not look good either.

He dipped the brush tip into the ink that had already been ground and prepared. Holding the brush in hand, Yun Chuan frowned in thought for a moment before gently beginning to write upon the white paper:

—To the cutest, most beautiful, gentlest, kindest Xue Jie in the world.

Summer flowers bloomed in dazzling splendor, yet they could not compare to your beauty; the summer sun shone brightly, yet it could not rival your warmth; summer rain fell cool and endlessly, yet how could it compare to a light kiss upon your lips? My longing overflows—when will we meet again?

Not even the finest painter could capture your beauty; not even the most beautiful poetry could express my deep love for you. My beloved girl, I am willing to become an angel and watch over you forever.

It has been two months since your last return. To me, these brief sixty days have felt as long as sixty years. At last, I understand what the ancients meant when they said that one day apart felt like three autumns.

I think of you on the most beautiful nights, miss you with my deepest breaths, feel you in my most contented moments, and know in my most despondent moments that having you in this world is already enough.

My longing for you surges in like the tide every day, leaving me sleepless night after night. Whether the day is sunny, cloudy, or rainy, any day when I can see you is a sunny day; whether it is yesterday, today, or tomorrow, any day when I can be with you is a wonderful day.

I miss those carefree days we shared more than anything. Whether you are by my side or at the edge of the sky, simply knowing that there is a you somewhere in this world makes the whole world seem gentler and more peaceful.

How I wish I could go to the city where you are, feel the wind you feel, breathe the air you breathe, walk the roads you walk, see the scenery you live among, feel the warmth around you, hold you in my arms... (Several overly mushy lines omitted.)

...Meeting you has been the fortune of my lifetime; your kindness toward me always moves me to the point of tears; so, I have made this most important decision: to spend every moment of the rest of my life by your side!

After spending roughly an hour choosing his words and racking his brains, Yun Chuan had finally concocted a love letter overflowing with cheesy lines. He nodded in satisfaction. Then he reread it from beginning to end and immediately disgusted himself.

"Ugh~ This is way too mushy."

Yun Chuan rubbed his arm, which was covered in goosebumps. Even though he had written the letter himself, he was still disgusted by it. But there was no helping it—girls liked this sort of thing. Girls liked sweet talk.

He found the letter nauseatingly mushy, but girls might not see it that way.

He folded the painstakingly written letter, placed it into a blank envelope, then picked up his brush and wrote four large words on the front: "For Xue Jie's Eyes Only!"

Just like that, the letter was done.

Holding the sealed letter, Yun Chuan walked to the door and opened it. The servant who had delivered the letter was still standing quietly outside with his head slightly lowered. Every time a letter arrived, Yun Chuan would send a reply before long. This servant had grown used to it and simply waited outside the door.

"Deliver this letter to Xue Jie personally," he said, handing it over.

"Yes."

The servant solemnly accepted the letter with both hands, bowed, and then four soul rings emerged around him. Three of them lit up, and with a flash, he vanished from the spot.

But it was not teleportation, merely an illusion caused by his extreme speed.

Yun Chuan remembered that this man's martial soul had little offensive power, but he was exceptionally skilled at delivering letters. He had heard that the man came from the Speed Clan, but had been rejected because his martial soul had mutated. In the end, he had joined Spirit Hall.