Tongyun trembled. Hu Xiaotian's words were full of wisdom. Although she knew she had done wrong, and her master had punished her severely, she had never managed to escape the prison of her own heart. Deep down, she still yearned for Shangguan Yunchong. She even believed that Hu Xiaotian was to blame for everything coming to this. Yet his words had awakened her as if from a dream. Tongyun possessed extraordinary intelligence; otherwise, she would never have become the High Priest revered by everyone in the Red Yi Tribe. But even the cleverest person had moments of folly. She, too, had stumbled over that single word: love.
Hu Xiaotian's words suddenly brought her to a realization: in the end, she was the one who decided her own fate. The same was true of Shangguan Yunchong. Whether he lived or died was not something Hu Xiaotian could decide. Once she understood this, it was as though she had crossed a chasm she had thought impossible to bridge. Relief washed through her. In that brief instant, much of her attachment to Shangguan Yunchong faded, and his image grew fainter in her heart.
The gu poison within her finally settled down. Tongyun slowly rose and looked at Hu Xiaotian, a faint smile actually appearing on her face. "Thank you for your guidance, Young Master Hu!"
Hu Xiaotian said, "You're too kind. Everyone has moments of confusion."
About two hundred li north of Fire Tree City, they began entering a region of overlapping mountain ranges. Late autumn had arrived, and the farther north they traveled, the colder it became. By the time they entered Western Sichuan, they had encountered frost several times. Though the journey was arduous, with Hu Xiaotian beside her, Long Xiyue felt these were already the happiest, freest days of her