Her Letter

Chao Xian City.

The immortal and the young man strolled together on the bustling street.

It was midday, and the sunlight shone brightly on the green tiles and red walls, creating a radiant scene.

The eaves that jut out abruptly on the street and the shop signs and flags that flutter high are particularly eye-catching. Along the way, one can see a steady stream of carriages and pedestrians passing by.

Su Qing'an mingled with the lively and joyous atmosphere, gazing at the serene and contented smiling faces, and feeling the gentle warmth constantly emanating from the Mona consciousness. Suddenly, he felt as if he were surrounded by thousands of bonfires in the midst of a frigid winter, and he was speechless.

Within just a few minutes of arriving in the city, the two were able to glean from various signs the sense of security the people felt living in Chao Xian City.

This was simply unbelievable in a time of war when people's hearts were gradually becoming restless and the country had been weak for a long time.

The boy, gazing at the scenery, was reminded of a poem by Liu Yong.

[A strategically important location in the southeast, a metropolis of the Wu region, Qiantang has been prosperous since ancient times. Willows and painted bridges, wind-blown curtains and emerald screens, a hundred thousand households in varying heights. Clouds and trees encircle the riverbanks, raging waves roll like frost and snow, the natural barrier stretches endlessly. Markets are filled with pearls and jewels, households overflow with silks and brocades, vying in extravagance.]

Although Chao Xian City is not as prosperous as Hangzhou in this poem, one can vaguely glimpse its potential to have the same future.

Su Qing'an could roughly guess the methods and means by which the other party had created this situation.

This is a small town located near Mount Taixu, which naturally possesses fertile ground for the integration of the Immortal Chi Yuan into the culture. It is an excellent environment that has been accumulated over the years and coincides with the doctrine of the [Pilgrimage to Immortals].

Jiang Rongyue only needs to utilize this point to govern, and she can easily obtain an initial foundation as solid as an iron barrel, thereby beginning formal development.

As for the other reasons, we must look at the battle that allowed the world to discover the existence of [the Immortal].

That Great Demon named Zhujiu Yin first trampled on the deterrent power of the secular army, and then completely overturned the dignity of the Great Song and the upper limit of the martial arts world.

Afterwards, when people witnessed the natural barrier left behind by Li Shishi after she killed Zhujiu Yin with the One Sword Sinks the River, they naturally knew that this unparalleled style far surpassed the conquests of ordinary dynasties.

[Chaoxian] quickly rose from a mysterious martial arts force to a unique entity, truly transcending the mundane world. Residents closely associated with it naturally believed that even in the coming chaos, this city would remain a pristine and undisturbed Pure Land.

As their reputation grew through continuous demon-slaying and monster-eliminating activities, even some merchant caravans and wealthy individuals vied to establish more advanced markets in Chao Xian City, and took on numerous new city construction projects, all in an effort to secure a way out in the chaotic world.

This series of chain reactions snowballed, enabling [Chao Xian], who had nothing, to achieve enormous worldly success within a few years.

Therefore, Fu Hua and Su Qing'an were able to see the prosperous and peaceful state of Chao Xian City today.

Even knowing the method to reach this outcome, the boy deeply understood how many complicated and thorny things Jiang Rongyue would have to deal with from her perspective. She was practically stepping outside the boundaries set during their discussion, leading to an extremely awkward development.

Su Qing'an believed that if she were to let go and disregard those convoluted rules, Chao Xian City would probably be so prosperous that the Liao Kingdom, the Great Song, and even the Jurchen Tribe who had not yet established the Jin Dynasty would send envoys to pay homage regularly. At that time, all the regimes in Shenzhou would become puppets under the sword.

This is what is meant by "beyond the scope of the curriculum".

Jiang Rongyue could achieve a similar result without using any of the Void Sword Qi, discarding the [Demon Slayer] sword, and without relying on the name of the Immortal Chi Yuan, purely relying on her own power.

Although she has gained greater power, she is bound by the shackles imposed upon her by the immortals of the previous era. She willingly bears these shared shackles and constraints, and can only achieve the smoother development of her power through this roundabout means.

The resulting predicament can probably only be addressed by using [foresight] to compensate for the limitations of that ability.

But what will be the cost?

Su Qing'an wasn't entirely sure, but he understood that it wasn't some wonderful gift from a savior, but rather a coincidence bestowed by heaven, a twisted and deformed accident.

That is neither gentle nor worth expecting; everything gained comes at a mysterious price.

Sensing the various messages in Udu-dust's response, the immortal frowned and said:

"Most of the people in the city are not members of [Chaoxian]. It seems that the number of members in this world-renowned force is even smaller than expected. The residents here have hardly seen Rongyue in the past two years."

"Even among members of the organization, those who wield considerable influence within the city, communication with them involves a multi-layered, spiderweb-like process that ultimately converges in her hands. We have no evidence to prove that she is indeed in [Chaoxian]."

Su Qing'an made a suggestion:

"Where's Xiao Xuan? Even without the help of Udu-dust, as Armed Puppet, she should have the ability to communicate with you to some extent, right?"

"I remember that after Mei perfected Ein's invention, she wrote a function into the system that could transmit information by identifying the frequency wavelength of Honkai Energy."

Fu Hua was silent for a moment, then replied:

"I don't know if Xiao Xuan has this ability. Before she fell asleep, from the day she was born, we had never been apart for a long time, so..."

So even if she had this function, she wouldn't know the corresponding wavelength code, right?

Considering that the Tome of Cangxuan was not a product left over from the previous era, but rather a companion created by Cang Xuan Chi Yuan using existing materials and environmental conditions, there is indeed no point in continuing this topic.

Su Qing'an tilted her head back to look at her profile, and considerately changed the subject:

"Hmm, perhaps it's in your Heart Seal? Let's go back to Mount Taixu and talk about it again; we can't find any information here for now."

Seeing him like this, the girl couldn't help but reach out and pat his head, then sighed again:

"Under normal circumstances, Rongyue has no need to hide herself like this. She doesn't have any clear enemies or enemies who can harm her. Judging from the recent trends of [Chaoxian], she has been mainly cultivating the Qi Techniques you left behind, and occasionally dealing with some minor Demonic Calamity."

"It is clear that enhancing her reputation through slaying demons and monsters is one of the paths she has chosen."

"Unless there are special reasons, there is absolutely no reason for her to remain hidden from the world."

Su Qing'an let the other person stroke his head. He believed that matters of the heart should be reciprocal, so he couldn't just allow himself to ambush her with a kiss while preventing Chi Yuan from touching his hair.

Moreover... compared to this behavior, the boy's previous bad habits of taking an exceptionally long time to comb her hair and flap his wings were clearly far worse.

Therefore, he simply made a reasonable judgment based on the available information:

"The reason Rongyue didn't take the initiative to act is probably because after her Senior Sister Shishi left, it's not good for her or others to continue to portray herself as invincible."

"In that case, there's not much point in taking action, since her abilities can only be deliberately limited to what people in the martial arts world believe the [ Yue Maiden Sword] could achieve before."

Jiang Rongyue had never encountered an enemy she needed to take seriously, nor had she fought against some of the most famous figures in the martial arts world. Therefore, most people in the martial arts world generally considered her to be a second-rate martial artist and a first-rate swordsman, far inferior to someone at the extraordinary level of Great Demon.

Her past resume was already quite impressive, which is probably one of the reasons why she deliberately sought someone to cover up her past with even more dazzling achievements.

The girl said softly:

"But she still had no reason to continue hiding her whereabouts."

Su Qing'an said:

"Yes, but the reality is that even after using Udu-dust and Manas Consciousness to gather information about residents in border cities, we haven't been able to find a single trace of them in recent years."

The boy gazed at the faintly visible, layered, bluish-gray mountains in the distance, remained silent for a moment, and then said:

"Rongyue's physical condition may be more serious than we thought."

The immortal remained silent upon hearing this, but the finger that was stroking the boy's head paused for a moment. She did not want her first disciple to suffer any accident because of her mistake.

If Jiang Rongyue were to get into trouble, Fu Hua would feel she couldn't escape blame.

If it weren't for her own sake, that girl wouldn't have chosen to shoulder such a responsibility, much less build the now world-renowned [Chaoxian] in such a difficult way and with such a goal.

Even though Jiang Rongyue had accomplished something that neither of them could do under these rules, allowing the Immortal Chi Yuan to obtain the rudimentary form of power out of thin air without even touching on areas he disliked.

From each perspective, it's a good thing that fulfills everyone's wishes.

But if the price would be her personal safety, Fu Hua would rather not have it.

She clearly desires the convenience and strength of the group to protect those important people in the future, so how can she abandon the fundamental principles for the sake of the superficial?

The Immortal Chi Yuan does not easily get involved in worldly affairs, but once she has, there is no reason for her to sever ties or ignore them.

The girl pursed her lips, her lips rippling with a color more vibrant than the blue of mountains.

No matter how prosperous [Chaoxian] may become, how could it possibly be more important than Jiang Rongyue herself?

Regardless of how long or short they spent together, he was still her apprentice.

Therefore.

The two did not waste too much time in Chao Xian City and went directly to Mount Taixu.

As initially expected, due to the excessive time span of five years and the presence of the feathers left behind by the Immortal Chi Yuan within their Sea of consciousness, neither Li Shishi nor Jiang Rongyue left behind any relevant information.

In their view, as long as the immortal returns, the Udu-dust in their Sea of consciousness will automatically send a prompt, and they can go directly to Mount Taixu to reunite. There is no need to leave their information behind periodically, which is time-consuming and laborious.

Su Qing'an could understand this approach; rather, it's more accurate to say that he and Fu Hua initially shared the same idea.

However, the unexpected appearance of Udu-dust disrupted this plan.

The young man gently stroked the red rope that encircled the entire Fuyun Temple, remaining silent.

The continuous ringing of bells rose and fell, mingling with the murmuring sound of the Cloud Cliff Sea falling from the horizon, creating a rather desolate atmosphere.

Outside the temple, the mountains stretch endlessly, Chuyun Pavilion stands as always atop the mountain wall, while below, the deep abyss is shrouded in mist, obscuring the appearance of the river.

The sea of clouds, resembling a moving whale, reflects the sunlight in ever-changing, layered patterns, as beautiful as ever.

But at this moment, these seemingly pleasant scenes only amplify the surging emotions and thoughts in one's chest.

Five years have passed.

In an era when the average lifespan was only forty years, it was far too long.

This is enough to cause someone to miss out on too many significant events in a person's life, as well as many irreplaceable moments and times.

Su Qing'an was about twenty years old when he calculated his age. He might have originally felt a little awkward calling Li Shishi "elder sister," but now Li Shishi, who was sixteen years old back then, was already twenty-one, a year older than him.

Jiang Rongyue is already twenty.

Perhaps in a post-modern era where technology is increasingly advanced, this age would still be considered youthful.

But for women of this era, it is by no means a simple transition or a gradual increase in numbers.

If it weren't for the fact that both of them had somewhat unusual personalities, Su Qing'an would probably have had to be prepared for this reunion to be one where the other was already married with children.

Fu Hua sat on the wooden floor of the courtyard veranda, looking at the several tightly sealed letters in her hand, and the wax seals still on them, and said to the boy beside her:

"Take a look."

The two of them had already searched the entire room.

Aside from the red ropes wrapped around the pillars and the bells that jingled in the wind, there were also letters left behind by the two individuals on the table.

However, judging from the date on the signature, it was probably more than a year ago.

Li Shishi wrote almost one letter a year, totaling four letters.

Judging from the special qualities and frequency described on the letter, this former Courtesan had probably resigned herself to never seeing him again in her lifetime.

Based on this detail, and considering the latest noteworthy dates, perhaps if the two of them continue to stay at Fuyun Temple, they will be able to see each other leave a letter this year and reunite.

Of the five letters in total, Jiang Rongyue only accounted for one-fifth.

This is a letter she left behind five years ago; it seems she hasn't left anything else besides it, so expecting to find her current location from it seems unrealistic.

Although the two did not deliberately leave their whereabouts, one can probably learn about their recent situation from the few words left in the letters.

The young man took the letters left by Li Shishi and said softly:

"Good."

If he wished, he could directly use his Manas consciousness to detect the ink and writing inside, summarizing all the information at once, which was highly efficient.

However, at this moment, Su Qing'an, as if to respond to and respect the feelings expressed in the other party's letter, was unwilling to do so. He broke the wax seal and began to read the first letter.

[Time flies, and the first snow has already fallen. I still vividly remember the Lantern Festival that Su Su showed me that day.]

Looking back now, your farewell was too hasty; it always makes one feel that you might be back tomorrow.

[But this illusion that the separation would end in ten days or half a month shattered as the New Year's snow fell again, and still no one came to the temple. I suddenly realized that perhaps this really would be a long separation.]

[It's funny, but now that I'm constantly practicing martial arts, I'm starting to feel a longing to write lyrics again, like I used to.]

[But leaving it in the letter felt somewhat inappropriate, so I let it go.]

[Moreover, I believe we will meet again someday. Let the longing and sorrow of that time dissipate and be released then.]

In the first year, Li Shishi's letters were written in a lighthearted tone, occasionally revealing glimpses of her previous teasing manner, exuding a playful and girlish charm.

The first letter was quite long. She said that she had started to help Jiang Rongyue establish [Chaoxian]. The initial team consisted of villagers from Mount Taixu. She briefly explained the reasons and excuses the other party used to gather the villagers. She also subtly suggested that Fu Hua should not be angry about Rongyue's actions, and drew a rough smiley face next to this sentence.

It seems that he put into practice some of the things Su Qing'an had instilled in him before, which for a moment made people feel somewhat amused.

However, this rather interesting detail, in the present day, reveals a sense of the weight of time and a touch of melancholy.

Su Qing'an pursed her lips and opened the second letter.

It was probably written during the New Year, and there was a dried gardenia petal inside, whose faint fragrance could still be smelled.

The boy reached out and cupped the petal in his palm, then lowered his eyes to look at the delicate handwriting on it, carefully examining each word.

[This is the second year since you left. It seems that my martial arts and Qi cultivation have reached a bottleneck, and it just so happens to be this age. I guess I'll never be able to master the Sword Heart Technique in this lifetime.]

[But Rongyue spent the New Year with me, so it was still a happy time.]

[It just so happens that I've recently become increasingly unable to ignore the strange things about myself, so in order to find the answer to this question and understand my true feelings, I want to come out of retirement sooner rather than later.]

[I don't think I've ever encountered such a complicated and agonizing situation in my life. I hope that my travels around the world will bring me some gains.]

But... one day, I will make my own choice.

Su Qing'an didn't understand for a moment what she was feeling depressed about, but as she pondered this, she noticed that she was still holding a piece of paper that was overlapping with it between her fingers. When she opened it, she saw two short lines of words.

[After finishing writing the letter inside the temple, a gardenia, seemingly from nowhere, drifted down and landed on my table. It's usually found quite far from Fuyun Temple.]

[Gardenias in winter, I suppose, only appear on Mount Taixu? I'm sharing this surprise and unexpected joy with those of you who may never see it. No matter what day it is in the future, I hope Susu and Sister Chi Yuan will be happy.]