Can You Stay with Me?

Li Shishi wrung out her wet skirt, letting the icy Seawater slowly trickle down her pale fingers. She combed her wind-blown hair, tidying it elegantly with a warm, jade-like sandalwood hairpin. Then, she glanced furtively at the two people embracing at the very edge of the coastline, and guiltily asked those around her:

"Rongyue, do you think it's too late for us to leave now?"

Jiang Rongyue's clothes were not wet by the waves that reached the coastline; in the past few days, the Heaven and Earth Qi had become accustomed to circulating on her body.

The girl was a little puzzled as to why her master's hair was damp, but out of respect for her teacher, she chose not to investigate further.

Just now, the sound of rolling thunder and the roar of a tsunami could be heard throughout almost the entire Qinglong Town.

But all of this vanished in an instant, disappearing completely without a trace.

The reason the two came to this place was because they sensed the extremely violent and vast Heaven and Earth Qi a few steps in advance, and wanted to witness how the Nine Nether Netherworld would leave this world.

But the Great Demon had been recorded in legends and survived for thousands of years was annihilated without resistance in half a minute, with only the previous roar faintly revealing its final echo.

Isn't that a bit lacking in prestige?

Jiang Rongyue had originally hoped to take this opportunity to see what her Grand Martial Uncle or master would actually do, but aside from the terrifyingly unified Heaven and Earth Qi, all she could witness was the exaggerated weather at sea.

Although such an unfathomable distance is enough to stir one's soul, the imperceptible gap still makes it difficult to muster the desire to pursue it, which is somewhat inconsistent with the initial intention of coming to observe the ceremony.

Upon hearing this, she paused for a moment before considering the question, and then said seriously:

"For now, just pretend nothing happened and go eat with Master and the others."

Li Shishi belatedly glanced at the sky, then looked ahead again.

The crescent moon cast its silvery glow across the night sky, making the ancient sword in the man's arms appear even more worn. Its style was remarkably similar to the swords at the waists of others. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the weapon given by the immortal seemed to be a mass-produced item, with no difference except for some details created by the passage of time.

She asked:

"Rongyue, look, the sword Susu is holding is exactly the same as yours!"

Jiang Rongyue responded without any surprise:

"On Mount Taixu, there are many weapons exactly like this sword; they are essential tools for cultivating one's spiritual essence."

"But once the essence of the sword is fully developed, it will shed its original form and take on a shape suitable for its host. At that point, it will be qualified to be named."

Li Shishi suddenly realized and said:

"I've heard that the [Red-Clad] woman, who has some connection with Sister Chi Yuan, acquired a divine weapon called Ruoshui after descending the mountain again. Could it be that that sword was actually formed through a transformation of its inner meaning?"

Jiang Rongyue responded:

"Yes, Ruoshui is now at Fuyun Temple, and Hongyi... is buried at Mount Taixu."

"Even though Master didn't formally accept her as a disciple, their relationship was practically that of master and disciple."

"I think it would be more appropriate for me to call him 'Uncle-Master'."

Li Shishi thought for a moment and said:

"Then there are clear restrictions on the qualifications for cultivating this kind of meaning, which explains why Sister Chi Yuan hasn't taken on many disciples..."

After she finished speaking, she thought of something else.

The aptitude required for the Void Sword Qi is difficult to quantify and is even more ethereal. In addition to talent for Qi techniques, it also requires conditions such as mental state and innate wisdom.

Even if the Immortal Chi Yuan truly wanted to recruit disciples widely, opening his doors to the entire Shenzhou, how many people could actually enter the Sword Heart Technique? Let alone obtain such a divine weapon and cultivate its profound meaning.

Based on the frequency of the inheritance left behind by the Immortal Chi Yuan, in a sense, people with such qualifications are probably much rarer than emperors who change every century or so.

The more Li Shishi learned about the Immortal Chi Yuan, the clearer she became about the distance between herself and him.

It is not a distance that can be barely quantified by factors such as lifespan, combat strength, reputation, ability, or appearance, but rather the difference and disparity resulting from the convergence of all these elements, leading to two different destinations and outcomes.

Dragons do not dwell with snakes.

Even without arrogance and prejudice, intangible differences can lead to one side getting hurt when they get closer to each other.

If a dragon finds joy only in breathing the Clouds of the heavens, yet bows down to the mortal realm, becoming covered in mud, how could a kind-hearted person possibly bear to see the dragon's disheveled state covered in dust?

Li Shishi had witnessed far too much suffering and separation caused by similar reasons since she was in the small Zhen'an Ward.

But if there is any hope of making amends amidst the turmoil of life...

But... what about the difference between immortals and mortals?

During the half-month she failed to master the Sword Heart Technique, she already knew the ultimate outcome of this journey to slay demons and monsters.

Not only herself, but Jiang Rongyue was too.

Just like the [Red-Clad] buried beneath Mount Taixu thousands of years ago, no matter how brilliant and astonishing that peerless swordsman was, no matter how much she was bestowed with divine weapons and embarked on her journey across the world, spending a brilliant life with her disciples constantly slaying demons and monsters, she ultimately became a silent corpse on Mount Taixu.

In the future, they will gradually fade away from the inheritance of later generations, undergoing a process of being forgotten as if their existence has been stripped away.

Thousands of years is enough time for too much to change; dynasties will fall apart, but people will continue for thousands of generations.

History and culture will undergo countless changes and revisions, leaving a Sea of Mist for future generations. Even if we delve into it with wisdom as a torch and sift through the complex information, we will still find it difficult to grasp the truth.

In unofficial historical records, the name of the person in red is still mentioned— Xiao Yun.

But what happens next?

Jiang Rongyue is the same, except that... she can usually stay with the other person for a very long time, until the end of their life.

As for myself, at most I can only accompany it for a part of the journey.

As the young girl stepped onto the myriad colorful clouds and heard the man's announcement to the entire Capital City, she already understood that one day she would be separated from him.

Even though she knew the ending from the very beginning of the story, she still didn't regret it.

Jiang Rongyue lowered her eyes to look at the silver bracelet, letting the sea breeze tousle her hair, and said softly:

"Now that this matter is settled, my master and Grand Martial Uncle can meet normally again. Under these circumstances, I don't know whether to return directly to Mount Taixu or continue my travels."

"Li Da..." She started to use the old title, but then remembered his persistent requests these past few days, and changed her question to, "What are Shishi's plans for the future?"

Li Shishi thought for a moment and replied:

"If the requirements for entering Mount Taixu weren't as strict as those in the folk tales, I'd like to go and take a look too."

"As for what's to come, I've only been out of the Capital City for a few days since Su Su took me there, so to be honest, I haven't thought it through yet, but I probably won't be going back to the Capital City to be Courtesan."

A hint of melancholy flickered in the girl's eyes, but she smiled brightly again and said:

"If this journey ends here, then my first goal is to see the world with my own eyes. Shenzhou is so vast; I may never be able to explore it all in my lifetime."

"As for what kind of person I want to become for the rest of my life, what I want to live for, and what I want to pursue, perhaps I can find some answers during my journey."

"As for now, I just feel that I should live a freer and more authentic life."

"Look, I was able to break free from the shackles that should have bound me for life thanks to the help of an immortal. From now on, I will naturally cherish this freedom."

"So I don't want to be like those women, bound and imprisoned by anything, ultimately gaining fleeting joy and ease, only to die a miserable death."

"I probably don't want to get married until I find all the answers I want to know."

She blinked and asked in return:

Where is Rongyue?

"Even if you become a disciple of Immortal Chi Yuan, it doesn't mean you can't do what you want to do, right?"

Jiang Rongyue replied:

"I started traveling the world when I was ten years old, and five years have passed since then."

"Unlike Shishi, apart from my mother's last words, I still haven't found any other answers in the past five years. I've been single-mindedly pursuing the Qi techniques left behind by my master, but I have no expectation of whether I can achieve this goal."

"Perhaps I've seen too much, or perhaps I've spent too long in the mountains, but I... am unable to understand some of the sorrows of the world, and it's also difficult for me to perceive joy from the things that exist in this world."

"Actually, I don't know what kind of life I want to live, or rather... I don't have that kind of yearning or desire."

"If I hadn't met my master in the Capital City, I probably would have remained in this state until I realized there was no hope of making any further progress in martial arts, at which point I would have simply accepted my fate."

She thought for a moment and continued:

"During my five years of travel, some men, for reasons unknown, took a liking to me and wanted to marry me."

Li Shishi became interested and asked:

"And then, were there any that made you particularly hesitant or tempted, Rongyue?"

Although she didn't want to get married, that didn't diminish her interest in gossiping about such topics.

Jiang Rongyue stroked the hilt of her sword at her waist and replied calmly:

"I don't quite understand that emotion, but judging from the results of judging the body's natural reactions using the State of Still Water, neither the blood flow nor the heart rate changes were shaken."

"Later, I felt it would affect my sword practice, so I refused all of them. Some of them were quite persistent, so I had to cut off a few of them."

"But thinking about it, if I feel that I no longer need to pursue martial arts, I might casually agree to something just to find something that can fill the void in my confusion."

Li Shishi pinched her cheek and complained:

"You can't just agree to something like this without knowing the consequences. You're going to be giving your whole life to them. What if you end up with a bad man?"

Jiang Rongyue glanced at the girl's speechless expression with a puzzled look, and answered seriously:

"Kill him."

Is this even allowed?

At this moment, Li Shishi vaguely sensed some cognitive bias, remained silent.

She felt that if the other party lacked even some basic knowledge, then it was absurd that they would kill several grooms on their wedding nights.

However, based on five years of travel experience, Rongyue does possess this level of knowledge.

Just imagining the scene of Jiang Rongyue not even giving the other party a chance to divorce if they made a slight mistake, but instead drawing her sword and killing them, made her smile slightly. Having witnessed the other party's swift sword-drawing movements several times, the image in her mind was incredibly vivid.

Li Shishi asked:

"Even if you enter Mount Taixu now, you will still encounter the limit of martial arts, right?"

"I've heard that the Void Sword Qi has four levels. You reached the second level in about half a month. In this life, you'll either reach the limit of your cultivation and have nowhere to go, or you'll be stuck at some level and unable to make any progress. When that happens, you'll still have to face the problem you mentioned before."

Jiang Rongyue gazed at the distant crescent moon, pursed her lips, and replied:

"Yes, I know."

"But Senior Xiao Xuan and Master said that I can treat Mount Taixu as my home, so I feel that I don't need to think about anything and it's okay to be the same as before. I just need to live with them until the end of my life."

"Just thinking about it like that makes me feel less empty inside."

"I really like this feeling, at least for now, and I feel like it would be fine if things continued like this."

A somewhat childish idea.

Li Shishi grabbed the girl's first thought upon hearing this, observing her eyes, which held a captivating charm yet were also filled with innocence.

But Rongyue, at fifteen, was already past the age of marriage; what's wrong with calling her a child?

She couldn't help but smile and say:

"That's great! I think living like that for the rest of my life would be wonderful."

The girl was joking:

"I was just thinking of taking you on a trip so that Su Su and Sister Chi Yuan could enjoy their life together. If you stay stuck on Mount Taixu and never come down, I'll be all alone."

Jiang Rongyue looked up at the person's slightly upturned eyes and the beautifully shaped lips when she smiled, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Li Shishi was indeed a beauty that she had heard about in various teahouses before she went to the Capital City.

But what truly captivated and stunned the girl was not her peony-like beauty.

Rather, it was her ideals and thoughts that seemed to transcend this dynasty. In her entire life, she had never met a woman who knew better what she wanted and was willing to take genuine action for it than Li Shishi.

Even Master, judging from Senior Xiao Xuan's words, hasn't truly lived for herself. Slaying demons and monsters is her duty and obligation, but what else?

--Until she reunited with Su Qing'an, Fu Hua never lived for herself.

Li Shishi is a very capable person.

Even if it couldn't block her sword strike, in Jiang Rongyue's eyes it was still an undeniable fact.

Unlike others like myself, whose chests are filled with emptiness like Jalana, who only know how to follow a predetermined path and crave sporadic warmth, Li Shishi possesses enough passion and courage to break through the barriers of thought to define living for herself, and she feels no regret about it.

If it's a woman like that, it certainly makes people curious to see what kind of ending she will ultimately face.

Jiang Rongyue said softly:

"I can accompany you on your travels down the mountain."

"If no one is watching and something bad happens to you, your Grand Martial Uncle will be saddened, won't he?"

She paused, then continued:

"In fact, with him around, regardless of whether you can enter Mount Taixu or not, he won't let you leave alone. The outside world is too dangerous."

"Recently, the government has been implementing policies on grain transport and recruitment, which is likely in preparation for war with the Liao Kingdom. The previous Martial Arts Gathering was probably held because of this. In the present Shenzhou, women born into such a powerful and dangerous family will have a lot of trouble traveling the world if they don't have the ability to fight a hundred men."

Upon hearing this, the girl carefully and gently hugged her uninjured left arm, smiling as she said:

"Then I'll thank Rongyue in advance."

I knew you were the best.

Jiang Rongyue turned her head away somewhat uncomfortably. She had never experienced being pestered by a girl before, and she couldn't communicate with her in the same way she would with a man. In the past few days, she had been completely restrained by Li Shishi.

For example, right now, the girl can't resist in any other way except by not looking at the other person. She can only silently endure the feeling of the soft body brushing against her arm and "swallow her anger".

In the distance, Xiao Xuan lay on the Soul Steel Sphere, looking rather adorable.

She drifted over slowly, blinked, looked at the two of them so close together, and tilted her head to ask:

"Shishi, Rongyue, what brings you here?"

Jiang Rongyue used this opportunity to withdraw her arm and replied calmly:

"We'll wait for Master and the others to go eat together."

"Senior Xiao Xuan, I made an appointment with the chef at Fu Lu Lou a few hours in advance to simmer the Dongpo pork and pig's trotter soup a little longer. If we don't go now, the flavor won't be as fresh."

Li Shishi added:

"I heard that the famous Chef Huang is in charge of cooking today, and you won't be able to eat here again after today."

Xiao Xuan's eyes lit up, and he said:

"Really? Yay!"

She turned to look at the two of them and said confidently:

"Chi Yuan ~~ Su Su~~, time to eat."

"Standing here like an idiot in the sea breeze, it doesn't have the same atmosphere as being in a restaurant."

Jiang Rongyue and Li Shishi watched as the Armed Puppet effortlessly uttered the urging they couldn't express in words, deeply realizing the meaning of mutual reinforcement and restraint. Yet, for some reason, they exchanged a glance and smiled.

The immortal parted her lips, gazing at the vibrant Xiao Xuan, at her first true disciple in the world, at the stunningly beautiful Courtesan, and at the myriad lights behind her. In a daze, she seemed to see old friends appearing among the shadowy lights, all revealing gentle smiles to her.

Fu Hua subtly tapped her chin, smiling as she formally bid farewell to something. She then took the hand of the person beside her, her fingertips slowly locking until they could clearly feel each other's warmth. Looking into the boy's eyes, she softly asked:

"Can you come with me, Su Qing'an?"

What was clearly just a simple question felt like a prelude to an oath and a somber melody at this moment. She pronounced the boy's name word by word, the notes she uttered like arcs of light falling on a sea of clouds, carrying an indescribable tenderness.

Su Qing'an gazed at the dazzling brilliance in her eyes, surpassing even the Ascended State, and whispered:

"Good."

You see, he can never refuse her.

Whatever it is.