The Protagonist's Name Is He Shutong

"And then... I pretended to be your traveling master's dao companion and stayed in Chuyun City to experience the mortal world... right up to this day."

He Shutong spoke softly, her beautiful eyes glancing at You Su every now and then, as if trying to discern the changes in the young man's heart from his expression.

After recounting her traumatic experience, He Shutong was genuinely worried that her image in the eyes of the young people would be severely damaged.

"So, Mistress was so cold before... because she practiced the Ice Heart Technique?"

You Su frowned, not with disdain or incomprehension, but with deep heartache.

So he really did think I was cold-hearted...

"That's right. But... the Ice Heart Technique has been neutralized now, and I'm no different from an ordinary person."

He Shutong hesitated for a moment, but still chose to explain.

"How was it resolved?" You Su asked with concern.

He Shutong lowered his eyes slightly, naturally unable to tell You Su directly that it was his fault, so he could only conceal the truth:

"Once the trial is successful, the problem will naturally be resolved."

Upon hearing this You Su nodded, without asking further questions, but seemed to be muttering to himself:

"That's great... So Mistress wasn't being deliberately cold... I thought..."

The sound was faint, but it could not escape the ears of Void Glimpse Venerable.

He Shutong blinked her beautiful eyes, feeling as if the softest corner of her heart had been touched.

Instead of blaming or criticizing her, the young man was actually relieved that it wasn't because he hadn't performed well and failed to win his Mistress's favor, but rather because of the passive nature of her Cultivation Method.

"After listening... you don't have anything to say?"

He Shutong's eyes flickered, and she asked tentatively.

This painful experience had been kept deep in her heart and she had never shown it to anyone before. You Su was the first person she had voluntarily told her about.

Therefore, she wanted to know what the boy thought of her.

You Su pondered for a long time.

In this chilly December, the Crimson Immortal Flower flowers exude warmth, coaxing the originally cold pond water to become warm.

The pool water enveloped You Su completely, and the rich Mystic Qi within seeped into his body through his pores, while He Shutong waited for the boy's answer at the other end of the pool.

You Su had a vague illusion that the warm pool water was an extension of his Mistress's embrace, and that she was embracing him.

She was as cold as she once was, and now she is just as gentle.

"My Mistress is a pitiful person."

You Su gave his evaluation, and then quickly explained:

"I didn't mean anything by it, I was just talking nonsense, please don't take it to heart, Mistress."

There's no reason in this world to say that Void Glimpse Venerable pitiful. If it were someone else, they would probably have been punished for great disrespect long ago.

He Shutong was slightly taken aback, finding the word so fitting for her, and a bitter feeling welled up inside her.

"It's just casual conversation, no need to be so formal. Why... why do you think that?"

"If we could start over, would Mistress stick to the Way of the Sword she chose, or would she listen to her mother and learn the literary path she doesn't like?" You Su asked rhetorically.

In fact, He Shutong had thought about the answer to this question many times, and each time she regretted it. If she hadn't stubbornly chosen what she liked, perhaps everything would have been different.

But that seemingly firm answer faltered under You Su's question.

"I... I don't know either."

He Shutong vaguely sensed that if she were to express regret, it would likely make You Su despise her even more...

"Is your Mistress feeling very guilty?" You Su continued to ask.

However, the tone of the question was not like that of a junior asking a respected elder, but rather like that of a doctor examining a timid patient.

"Um..."

"The Mistress should indeed blame herself," You Su suddenly said.

He Shutong's expression froze, her red lips moved slightly, and she looked completely astonished.

She thought You Su would say something comforting to console her, but she never expected that the young man also thought she was unforgivable.

Thinking of this, she felt a lightness in her body, as if she had lost her soul.

"It was because my Mistress secretly learned the forbidden art of Bingxin that her emotions gradually diminished, leading her to run away from home for decades and even miss her mother's funeral. She also ruthlessly shattered her master's wish to continue the family line before her death, a wish that had been granted to her by the master who had taken her in. Furthermore, she personally killed the Jade Quiet Venerable, who had sacrificed his life to save her. She also failed to fulfill her responsibilities as a master to her only disciple. All of this can be said to be the result of my Mistress learning Bingxin's forbidden art."

Upon hearing this, He Shutong froze on the spot, then leaned against the smooth white stone by the pool as if all her strength had left her.

The bitterness in her heart was fully stirred up by You Su. This supreme female immortal who lived on the mountaintop actually recalled the urge to shed tears two hundred years ago.

"However, Mistress is at fault, but the fault does not lie entirely with Mistress," You Su said in turn.

He Shutong looked up, as if she had grasped at the last straw, gazing at the boy with hopeful eyes.

"The first birthday celebration is just a custom. Who can guarantee that what the child picks will be suitable for her? It's too arbitrary to assume that whatever a one-year-old child grabs will accompany her for life."

"Although your master's Mistress didn't mention your name, you must come from a prestigious family. Your Mistress was born with the expectations of her parents, and I think Mistress tried very hard to meet those expectations. That's why she didn't hesitate to learn the Ice Heart Technique, which has rapid progress but huge side effects, just so that her mother could be a little more proud when she talked about her."

He Shutong slowly sat up again. She had omitted many details in her previous account, but she hadn't expected You Su's prediction to be so accurate. It was as if, in this vast world, the boy was the only one who understood her.

"But what child grows up exactly as their parents envision? That's not a child; that's just a beautifully crafted porcelain doll molded by parents. I think that's why my Mistress abandoned her studies for swordsmanship. A sword is a sharp weapon, Mistress also hoped to have a sword that could break through the shackles her mother had forcibly imposed on her."

You Su spoke slowly and deliberately, concealing the sympathy in her tone.

"So I don't think you need to regret it. It's perfectly understandable for a Mistress to choose what you like. After all, nobody knows what the future holds. Even if you had persisted in studying literature, you might not have had a better life than you do now."

Looking back on He Shutong's unbearable memories of the past two centuries, the biggest problem actually stemmed from her family of origin. She shouldn't blame herself so much and place all the responsibility on her own shoulders.

He Shutong remained silent for a long time, never expecting that he would be enlightened by a boy nearly two hundred years younger than himself.

"That's right, even if I had to start all over again, I would still choose to learn swordsmanship."

He Shutong's tone was firm, her sword mind clear, and she felt that her fusion with the Lotus Root Heart had deepened. She shouldn't have blamed the Way of the Sword that had accompanied her for a hundred years.

"Although Mistress's wife passed away with some regrets, it was also Mistress who brought Junior Sister into the sect and made her the successor of the Yang Sword; Mistress personally ended Jade Quiet Venerable's suffering, but she also guarded the Xuanxiao Sect for a hundred years as the Thirteenth Peak Master; and there's Senior Sister, who had no complaints against Mistress, and Mistress still had plenty of opportunities to improve the master-disciple relationship. In that case, isn't it a case of suffering before sweetness? Mistress should indeed feel guilty, but she should also turn that guilt into strength to make amends to those people and things that she considers important."

You Su had never spoken so much to his Mistress before, and he unconsciously talked a little too much, but He Shutong didn't care at all. Instead, she fell into deep thought because of You Su's words.

For a long time, she had been trapped in a self-destructive pain, believing that she was the cause of all the tragedies.

But as You Su said, instead of getting caught up in who was at fault, it's better to take concrete actions to make amends.

And that's exactly what she did, but there's one thing that can't be made up for—

Her mother.

She loved her dearly when she was young, but resented her as she grew older. Later, when her anger subsided, she wanted to see her again, but found that there would be no more days to meet, leaving only a sense of loss in her heart.

"In this world, there are things that can never be undone..."

He Shutong murmured to himself in a mournful voice.

As if guessing what the woman was thinking, You Su asked:

"Has Mistress never returned home again?"

"Um..."

You Su thought about it and realized it made sense. How could someone like Mistress go to see her after hearing those words before her mother's funeral?

She must have thought, just as those gossipy women said, that her mother hadn't forgiven her for leaving without saying goodbye until her death, and she guessed the rest of the family felt the same way.

Therefore, she was even more ashamed to go home. As a sinner, how could she dare to face those who were once her closest relatives?

You Su smiled bitterly to himself. His Mistress appeared to be a cold and aloof sword immortal, but in reality, that was just a disguise for her cowardice and inferiority complex.

Are they still alive?

He Shutong paused for a moment before gently nodding her head.

"They are also monks."

It seems that although the Mistress doesn't dare to go home, she still cares about her family quite a bit behind the scenes...

"Even your Mistress, who practices the Ice Heart Technique, unconsciously walks to your front door. How could your mother not understand you? Whatever your concerns, talking them out face-to-face is the best solution."

He Shutong was well aware of this principle. She reached out her slender hand, scooped up a handful of water, and then sprinkled it onto the surface of the pool, her eyes gentle as she said:

"Many things, if left unsaid, will fester in my heart and cause me great discomfort. Talking with you has made my thoughts much clearer. Thank you."

You Su was somewhat flattered. He could tell that his Mistress had indeed felt some relief, but the knot in her heart regarding her family was still untied; otherwise, Mistress wouldn't have made that helpless gesture of cupping water earlier.

After her heart was broken, Mistress was trapped in the Lotus Birth Pool, unable to see her family even though she longed to.

You Su suddenly felt a sense of responsibility.

The process of refining this Destiny Item is still unknown, and if she has this worry in her mind, how can Mistress concentrate on the refining process?

So he sat up straight in the water and said:

"I'm very happy to chat with my Mistress. Mistress... may I ask you one more question?"

"Just ask me anything you want, there's no need to be so formal with me." He Shutong's gaze was gentle and tender.

"Mistress... could you tell me your name?"

My name?

He Shutong was slightly taken aback; the boy's seriousness puzzled her.

Through the mist, her eyes reflected You Su's face.

The boy's face was resolute, and he was looking at her earnestly.

She didn't know why, but her real name, which she hadn't actively revealed for nearly two hundred years, flowed out naturally from her lips, like a treasure box that had been opened on its own by a wise ruler.

"My name is He Shutong."

The sparse paulownia tree in the poem "A crescent moon hangs over sparse paulownia trees"—what a beautiful name for my Mistress's wife!

You Su thought to herself.

Gazing at the clouds drifting across the mountain peak, You Su kept thinking about his Mistress's name.

As she pondered, a suggestive smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

Ji Lingruo secretly hid behind a large rock, suspiciously observing her senior brother who had been acting strangely ever since they went to the Lotus Birth Pool yesterday.

What's wrong with this person?

The girl tiptoed behind the boy, trying to hear You Su's whispered murmurs more clearly.

"He Shutong... He Shutong..."

Who is He Shutong?!

"Cough cough!"

Ji Lingruo deliberately coughed loudly twice, put her hands on her hips, and asked reproachfully, "Tell me! Who is He Shutong!"

You Su was startled and clutched her chest, looking shaken.

"Junior sister, why are you so reckless?"

"I'm reckless? You used to notice me when I was within three meters of you, but today I've been standing behind you for ages and you haven't noticed. Tell me! Who is this woman?!"

Ji Lingruo's pretty eyes widened as she aggressively pressed for an answer.

"Can't it be a man?" You Su asked, feigning helplessness.

"Do you really believe you would be so obsessed with thinking of a man's name?"

When it comes to catching someone in the act of adultery, Ji Lingruo is not so easily fooled.

"If you don't tell me who it is, I'll get angry!" the girl threatened.

You Su couldn't possibly admit that he was lost in thought about his Mistress's name, so suddenly an idea struck him, and he said:

"Junior sister, do you still remember when we were in Chuyun City, we talked about our life on Mount Henggao? We would continue writing books and make a lot of money to buy a house in Henggao City?"

Upon Ji Lingruo's eyes, as if she were also recalling the time when she was full of hope for the future.

"I remember, I thought you'd forgotten..."

"How could I forget, Senior Brother? I was just thinking about that new story. He Shutong is the name of the female protagonist in this new story, and I'm still working on her plot."

"Real?!"

Ji Lingruo blinked her beautiful eyes. "So, you already have a new idea?"

Seeing his junior sister's unwavering faith, You Su hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should tell the truth or continue lying.

Sensing the girl's hopeful state, he couldn't help but hesitate.

Or how about going with the flow... we could name the female protagonist after the Mistress and write a book?

In this way, it wouldn't be considered deceiving my junior sister, and I could still fulfill my promise to her.

"That's right, the inspiration came suddenly last night, so I've been racking my brains to come up with ideas."

"Yay!"

Ji Lingruo joy. She had read all the books written by You Su until they were worn out, and felt that none of the storybooks circulating on the market were as good as the ones her senior brother told.

"However, we should be careful with the surname He, as it is one of the three great immortal families in Henggao City," Ji Lingruo reminded her.

You Su raised an eyebrow and asked again:

"Junior sister, are there many people with the surname He in the Central Continent?"

"How would I know? But the most famous one is the He family of Henggao City."

You Su nodded slightly, secretly noting down the matter of helping his Mistress resolve her inner conflict.

"By the way, Senior Brother! What's the title of this book?" Ji Lingruo tugged at You Su's sleeve and asked eagerly.

You Su actually had no inspiration and didn't know how to deal with it.

Just then, a large eagle cried out from the edge of the mountain, You Su immediately held up his index finger and said:

"Let's call it... The Return of the Condor Heroes!"