Staring at the pottery shards scattered across the ground, the slightly tipsy youth suddenly fell into a daze.
The little girl who had knocked the earthenware bowl down saw Xing Yan's reaction and immediately looked terrified.
"Brother, are you angry? ... It's all Qiong Rong's fault for being so clumsy and breaking something you treasured."
Qiong Rong reproached herself beside him, tears welling in her eyes again. As she spoke, she crouched down and picked up the shards one by one.
Though Qiong Rong was speaking, Xing Yan seemed deaf to her words, merely standing there lost in thought. Only when she crouched to gather the pieces and blocked his view did he suddenly come to his senses. Now his little sister Qiong Rong's voice was trembling, and she was on the verge of tears. Xing Yan immediately grew flustered. He hurriedly crouched beside her to help collect the broken pieces, gently comforting the heartbroken little girl.
"Heh, this was just an ordinary bowl! It wasn't anything Brother treasured. There's nothing to regret about breaking it!"
"Oh? Then why are you angry with Qiong Rong?"
"Ahem, that's because-uh! I wasn't angry at all! Brother just suddenly thought of something very troubling."
Ever since arriving at Mount Luofu, the youth had often studied the Daoist classics. On that full-moon night, he had also received enlightenment from the Strange Sword and learned how to extract the heaven and earth origin spirit. From then on, what had once been merely a way to earn his meals gradually became a genuine interest in Daoist cultivation. Whenever he was bored, Xing Yan would ponder the teachings of those scriptures. Before Qiong Rong came to Thousand Birds Cliff, he would often mull over things others took for granted, either to pass the time or to help