Affectionate Flowing Water (2)

After Su Miaoxi left, Chu Shihan stood alone before the window, gazing toward Misty Spirit Peak for a long while, lost in thought.

When he first gained a junior brother, he had been happy for a time.

During those earliest days, he had eagerly taken the initiative to approach his junior brother, trying to close the distance between them.

After the Heavenly Mystery Assembly ended, he had specially prepared a meeting gift—a wooden sword suitable for beginners, its hilt engraved with a calming talisman.

Yet when Shen Yuxi truly appeared before him, that person who had burned like a raging blaze during the trial seemed, the moment the assembly ended, to quietly cool down, returning to being that reserved, tranquil, indifferent youth. It was as though he carried his own barrier within three feet of his body, and people always avoided him, consciously or otherwise.

For that period, Shen Yuxi had lived with True Person Yu Qing in Clear Parasol Hall. For several months straight, he had been recuperating while cramming the basics of cultivation theory.

During his instruction, True Person Yu Qing discovered that although Shen Yuxi possessed extraordinary talent in cultivation, he knew very few characters, barely enough to manage daily life. As for the bewildering and intricate variant scripts in ancient texts, he knew nothing at all. So True Person Yu Qing began teaching him to read and write anew.

Before the halls and beneath the corridors of Clear Parasol Hall, one could always see Shen Yuxi standing quietly at True Person Yu Qing's side. He did not like speaking. Apart from opening his mouth to read aloud while studying under True Person Yu Qing, he would at most nod or shake his head when meeting anyone else. His expression was faint, his eyes empty.

Only when