Childhood Sweethearts

Chen Lingxi waited for Wang Kong in Willow Street Alley.

He climbed onto a rooftop and looked toward a house in the distance.

The house was old and worn. Moss stained the base of its walls, weeds filled the gaps between the roof tiles, and the courtyard gate hung crookedly askew. The vermilion paint on the door had long since peeled away, leaving only wood grain split into deep and shallow cracks.

Chen Lingxi's eyes were filled with nostalgia.

The reason he took Willow Street Alley every time he went to the authorities was not because this alley was any closer than the others.

It was because, in his early years, Father Chen had entered officialdom and served as the Deputy Inquiry Officer of the Yuan River Prefecture Inquiry Office. The Chen family had rented a home here then.

The alley was not large, with only eight or nine households in all. The Chen family lived at the very end, the Xi Family next door, and the Zhao Family directly opposite.

The three households shared a single well, whose water was exceptionally clear and sweet.

He had lived here until he was five.

Though he had been young at the time, he remembered many things from this alley with perfect clarity—he remembered always running about and playing with the Xi Family's youngest daughter. She was a year younger than him, delicate as carved jade and snow, and she followed behind him all day calling, "Brother Lingxi."

In spring, they squatted in the corner counting ants. In summer, they went barefoot and splashed through puddles on the bluestone slabs. In autumn, they filled their pockets with plane-tree seeds. In winter, they huddled together to watch the snow.

Once, he had climbed a tree to raid a bird's nest, only to slip from a branch. His trouser leg tore open, a patch of skin scraped off his knee, and beads of blood kept welling out.

The Xi Family's youngest daughter had been so frightened that her face turned white. She tore apart her own handkerchief to bind his wound, then, after wrapping it, felt wronged and burst into tears with a wail.

Later, Father Chen received a promotion and entered the capital, and the family left Willow Street Alley.

The day they moved was the third day of the third lunar month. The willows at the mouth of the alley had just sprouted new buds, and fluffy catkins drifted across the entire street.

The Xi Family's youngest daughter stood before her own door, clutching a willow branch in her hand. Her eyes were red, but she did not cry.

He only looked back once before climbing into the carriage, and he had never returned again.

Later still, the Xi Family rose abruptly to prominence. Having rendered merit by presenting a treasure, Father Xi was appointed prefectural lord of Luyang. The two families remained on good terms for many years, letters passing endlessly between them.

By the time Chen Lingxi was seventeen, there were even rumors in the capital that the Chen and Xi families were about to join in marriage.

Naturally, that was utter nonsense. After all, Chen Lingxi had not seen the Xi Family's youngest daughter since he was five.

He only remembered that her name was Xi Yu.

His mother had even laughed then and said, "A fine name. In the future, she can be our Lingxi's wife."

Later, the Chen family suffered a great calamity. Their entire household was executed, while only a few young men under twenty who possessed scholarly credentials were spared and reduced to official slaves.

After many twists and turns, Chen Lingxi returned to Yuan River Prefecture. Only then did he hear that not long after they had left Willow Street Alley, a plague had broken out there, killing more than a hundred people.

It was said that black spots covered the bodies of the dead, their fevers would not break, and within three to five days, they would breathe their last.

The prefectural yamen had sent coroners to investigate, but after investigating again and again, they could find no cause. They only declared it an epidemic.

Thus, this once-bustling street alley fell into ruin. Some people had refused to believe in evil and moved in, tempted by the cheap rent, but they often fell ill and died within a year.

As more people died, no one dared approach again—this was far too strange. The people of Yuan River believed Baleful Intent ghosts had moved into the street. At its mention, they shook their heads and clicked their tongues, taking detours around it.

Yet Chen Lingxi was not afraid.

Every time he went to report to the authorities, he would bring Liu Changle here as well, treating it as a return to old haunts.

Strangely enough, the two of them had come many times and had never caught any illness. Liu Changle had once joked that perhaps the medicinal toxins in their bodies were too potent, and even Baleful Intent ghosts found them distasteful.

Chen Lingxi had laughed too, though he vaguely felt that was not the reason.

He was no longer the child he had been. Over the past two years, he had tasted every kind of hardship and seen the dangers of this world clearly.

Yet Willow Street Alley had always carried an indescribable warmth for him, as though the dead and the scattered had left something invisible behind.

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the long-ruined former residence. Half the roof of the Chen family's house had collapsed, exposing charred beams.

Then he looked next door—the Xi Family had once rented that house. The willow in its courtyard was lush and flourishing, at least ninety feet tall and likely more than two feet thick around the trunk.

"Hm?"

Chen Lingxi suddenly found it rather strange.

"Before, I always came and went in haste, never looking carefully.

But now that I look again... this willow is far too strange."

Chen Lingxi raised a brow.

That was because he and the Xi Family's youngest daughter, Xi Yu, had planted this willow together.

It had been on the day of Awakening of Insects. An old man selling flowers at the alley entrance had given him a willow twig, saying he had broken it from beside the river and that it would live if planted in the earth. Chen Lingxi had run home eagerly, found an open patch in the Xi Family courtyard, and dug a hole with a wooden stick. Just as he was about to plant it, the Xi Family's youngest daughter had run over and insisted on planting it with him.

One of them held the willow branch steady while the other packed in the soil, and then they carried over half a small bucket of well water to pour on it.

He still remembered how clumsy the Xi Family's youngest daughter had been while watering it. Half the water had splashed onto her own skirt, making her stamp her feet in anger.

It had only been fourteen or fifteen years.

The reason Chen Lingxi found the willow so unusual was that no matter how quickly a willow grew, it should not have reached ninety feet in height and two feet in thickness.

An ordinary willow would only grow as thick as the mouth of a bowl in ten years. To grow as thick as a waist in twenty years would already make it extremely old.

Yet the tree before him was not old at all. Instead, its branches and leaves were luxuriant, so green they seemed capable of dripping emerald.

"Can a willow really grow this thick and strong?"

A few doubts arose in his heart, and he could not help vaulting over several courtyard walls before leaping down.

He came before the willow tree. After hesitating for a moment, he stretched out a hand and gently touched the rough bark.

The bark was very cold. That chill seeped in through his palm and traveled upward along his meridians, as though something were probing the depths of him.

In that instant, Chen Lingxi suddenly sensed something. He only felt a mysterious force spreading through his palm.

That force was faint and minute, barely there, like smoke and like mist. It curled between his fingers as though it had yet to disperse, neither drawing close nor rejecting him.

He froze slightly. Seeming to realize something, he opened his Divine Chamber.

[Thorough Awakening Divine Ability: Essence Replenishment Progress 52%]!

Chen Lingxi immediately frowned, deeply astonished!

Over four days, under the breathing exercises of the [Six-Qi True Method], the Essence Replenishment progress of Chen Lingxi's Thorough Awakening Divine Ability had risen to 4.3%.

The progress had been exceedingly slow.

But now... merely from touching this willow tree, the Essence Replenishment progress of his Thorough Awakening Divine Ability had increased by so much?

"What exactly is strange about this willow?"

Chen Lingxi withdrew his hand and stood where he was, thinking for a moment.

"Should I send a thread of spiritual qi into it?"

He tried slowly urging the strand of spiritual qi within his dantian, intending to send a trace into the willow tree and investigate its secrets.

But the moment the spiritual qi reached his palm, he hesitated again.

"There are too many strange things in this world. Rashly sending spiritual qi into it is not wise. If there is danger, the loss will outweigh the gain."

He had learned this lesson in his previous life—do not be overly curious about things you do not understand.

He was only at the Second Level of Qi Circulation now and knew far too little. If he rashly probed with spiritual qi and disturbed something he should not disturb, the consequences would be beyond his ability to bear.

After considering it again and again, he ultimately withdrew his hand.

Forget it.

"This willow has always been in the alley. Once I can activate Total Perception next time, it will not be too late to investigate it."

Chen Lingxi vaulted over the courtyard wall and stood beneath it to conceal himself, continuing to wait.

At that moment, the void shifted!

On a mountaintop a thousand miles away, the sea of clouds surged like crashing waves, while rosy light dyed the clouds a pale gold.

A pine tree stood atop the mountain. Beneath it lay a slab of blue stone, upon which a young woman sat cross-legged.

She was extraordinarily beautiful, her brows like distant mountains and her eyes like autumn water. Her face was so fair it was nearly translucent, as though a flawless piece of mutton-fat jade had been steeped in moonlight.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing long and steady as she cultivated.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

There was not a ripple in those eyes. They were as still as a pool of dead water.

She lowered her gaze to the back of her right hand, where an extremely faint willow-leaf-shaped mark had emerged, faintly burning.

Her brows drew together almost imperceptibly, as though she had sensed something from that willow tree.

She raised her right hand, lightly pinching her index finger and thumb together in the air, about to flick her finger.

Yet halfway through the motion, she suddenly stopped.

Her brow relaxed. A trace of faint surprise flashed through her eyes before they returned to stillness.

That surprise existed for only a single breath before she concealed it completely, as though it had never been there.

"Chen Lingxi?"

She murmured to herself, her voice extremely soft.

The name lingered briefly on the tip of her tongue.

Of course she remembered him—Willow Street Alley, bluestone steps, a childhood playmate.

And after that? News later came from the capital that the Zhong Family had incurred the wrath of Heaven, and the Chen family had been implicated. Their entire household was executed, their only son reduced to an official slave.

After hearing it, she had merely shaken her head slightly. From then on, she had never thought of him again.

But at this moment, Xi Yu's eyes remained still, yet her movements suddenly stopped.

She slowly lowered her right hand, allowing the willow-leaf mark on its back to gradually fade until it disappeared without a trace.

She shook her head and said, "He is trapped in a cage, already lost among the common multitude... why waste the remaining mighty power of the [Undying Willow] for nothing?"

Her words were exceedingly calm, as though she were stating a fact unrelated to herself. There was no contempt, no regret, not even pity.

Their paths had already diverged. She had stepped onto the immortal path and was no longer an ordinary person.

So let it be.

She did not flick her finger after all.

The mountain wind passed through the pines, lifting a lock of dark hair beside her temple as she closed her eyes and entered meditation.

"The Death-Biting Flood Dragon coils around the Undying Willow, feeding it with blood for three thousand years. One day, a Heavenly Eye bears upon its branches, peering through Heaven and Earth's chapters of life and death."

The four-line verse rang once more beside her ears, every word distinct, its lingering echoes circling endlessly without fading.

"From today, I will cultivate in seclusion for one year, and then... ascend the tower once more."

Then she closed her eyes again.

Only the roar of the pines remained atop the mountain.

At that very moment, Chen Lingxi, thousands of miles away, finally saw the person he had been waiting for.

The instant his thoughts stirred, his body silently slid several steps back. Using a clump of withered wormwood by the corner of the wall to conceal himself, he lightly tapped his toes against the wall's base and flipped onto the roof like a night cat.

The roof tiles sank slightly beneath his feet, yet made not the slightest sound.

The Concealed Edge Method circulated quietly within him. Not a shred of his qi or blood leaked out. He lowered himself against the ridge of the roof, like a blot of ink melting into the shadows between the tiles, leaving no trace to be found!

The Concealed Edge Method truly deserved to be called mysterious and useful.

At the mouth of the alley, Wang Kong came walking over in the same disguise as before, his expression gloomy.