Always interrupted at the crucial moment

"Don't, don't, don't. Stop it."

"Let go of me!"

"If I let go, will you calm down?"

"I'm counting to three!"

"Whoa, we're not even married yet, and you're already trying to scare me with those three numbers?"

Outside Nanjing, Zhang Qingyuan and Li Qiuran were arguing, their belongings packed for the journey.

It was the fifth day after the capital had fallen. The two had attended Zhu Qizhao's enthronement ceremony, which had been exceptionally grand.

Only after the enthronement ceremony was Zhang Qingyuan's title officially conferred. Though Li Qiuran had not been much help, she had also been granted the title "Heavenly Yin Holy Maiden" by imperial decree.

After the ceremony, the two had gone to the prison to see Xiahou Jue, who had been captured and brought back.

The victor became king, the loser a bandit. Now a prisoner, he wore prison clothes.

Finally seeing his face, Zhang Qingyuan understood why he had hidden himself beneath a black robe. His looks really did leave something to be desired.

Under interrogation, Xiahou Jue had admitted before his death that he was one of the culprits who had destroyed the Heavenly Yin Mysterious Maiden Pavilion all those years ago.

When asked who the others were, however, he had kept his mouth shut. In the end, he had revealed only that one of them had become a monk and was now cultivating at Shaolin Temple.

Zhang Qingyuan had been thoroughly frustrated. Either say exactly who it was or say nothing at all.

Why did all these important figures have a habit of leaving things half-said?

After bidding Zhu Qizhao farewell, the two had set off on their journey.

Li Qiuran had bristled like a cat. The young woman now had her heart set on going to Shaolin, and nothing Zhang Qingyuan said could dissuade her.

Bearing a blood-deep vendetta, Li Qiuran was terribly agitated. Having finally learned something about another of the culprits, how could she stay calm?

"If you're afraid, let go of me and let me go alone!"

Listen to that. What savage words! How could I be afraid... All right, faced with Shaolin, I really don't have much confidence right now.

Holding Li Qiuran's wrist, Zhang Qingyuan continued trying to persuade her. "What good would going there now do? Would they admit it, or what?"

Li Qiuran's eyes were red, her voice choked. "Am I supposed to just watch those murderers roam free?"

"What else can you do?" Zhang Qingyuan was rather helpless too. "That's just how this world is. You're not a child anymore. You've been roaming the martial world longer than I have. Can't you see the true nature of this world yet?"

Faced with Zhang Qingyuan's rebuke, Li Qiuran glared at him, breathing hard.

"Never mind that you don't even know who the culprit is. Even if you did, what could you do? When has Shaolin ever listened to reason?

"I'm not saying you can't take revenge, just that you can't go right now. With your current martial arts, you can't even beat me. Shaolin Temple is known as the greatest sect under heaven, with twenty-one Grandmasters in the open. Heaven knows how many hidden experts they have. Going there like this would only invite humiliation."

"But... I really... really want revenge." Li Qiuran sank limply to the ground, tears flowing without end.

Li Qiuran recalled her childhood. She too had been an orphan, rescued by her master, and they had spent their days traveling everywhere.

"Master, what exactly are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for a band of thieves."

"What sort of thieves?"

"A band of thieves who stole our Daoist lineage and robbed our sect of its life."

Her master had always told her how glorious the Heavenly Yin Mysterious Maiden Pavilion had once been, how warm a place it had been.

Sadly, it had all been destroyed in a single stroke.

The woman who had carried her on her back, sword in hand and leading a horse, had died too.

Though she had never spent so much as a day at the Heavenly Yin Mysterious Maiden Pavilion, she had always carried on its final wishes.

Without her master, she might still have been a beggar.

Without her master, she might have become some wealthy gentleman's concubine, or even been sold to a brothel...

Li Qiuran cried silently, leaning against Zhang Qingyuan's leg, her tears soaking his trousers.

Helplessness. Desolation.

The peerlessly cool and beautiful Bamboo Green Fairy showed her vulnerability for the first time since the day her master was buried.

Zhang Qingyuan placed a hand on her head. Perhaps it could give her a little warmth.

After she had cried for a while, Zhang Qingyuan patted her head.

"All right, you'll still get your revenge." Zhang Qingyuan pulled her up and consoled her. "Your business is my business. Revenge isn't something to rush. Once I reach the Supreme Peak, I'll take you to Shaolin Temple and drag that bald donkey out. Then we'll hang him beneath Shaolin Temple's signboard and let his blood hiss out!"

"Pfft!"

Zhang Qingyuan's last remark made Li Qiuran laugh through her tears. Her tear-streaked face looked like a white lotus in full bloom.

Wiping away her tears, she said, "Who needs your help?"

"Aren't we dao companions?"

"Who's your dao companion?"

"Oh, so you're pulling up your trousers and denying everything now."

"You..."

Li Qiuran clenched her little fists, and Zhang Qingyuan turned and ran.

One in blue, one in yellow, they chased each other.

The two horses followed behind, the bells around their necks jingling...

After a bout of playful scuffling, Zhang Qingyuan saw that Li Qiuran had calmed down and thought, This silly girl is pretty easy to coax.

What he feared were the troublesome ones. Those who were stubborn and unreasonable were the hardest to deal with.

If Li Qiuran really were the troublesome, unreasonable sort, he would have no choice but to steel himself and be a scumbag.

As the saying went, with a virtuous wife at home, a husband committed no reckless deeds.

Fortunately, she was not the troublesome sort. Once she calmed down, she still had enough sense.

The two rode straight toward Taihang Mountain.

It was time to settle accounts with the Star River Sect.

"Your talent actually isn't bad. Do you know why your martial arts have been progressing so slowly?"

On horseback, Zhang Qingyuan could not keep his mouth idle. When traveling alone before, he could only pass the time reading scriptures, singing when he grew truly bored, or chatting with Baolai. Unfortunately, that foolish horse could not even play the straight man.

Now that he had company, naturally it was time to chat.

Li Qiuran looked at him questioningly. She wanted to know why too.

Zhang Qingyuan said, "Our Daoist martial arts, especially our internal cultivation methods, abhor restlessness and impatience above all else. Before, you were always thinking about revenge and couldn't calm yourself, so naturally your progress was slow. If you don't believe me, set your hatred aside for now and see whether your cultivation improves."

Talent was naturally important, but a person's state of mind was equally indispensable.

Some people were clearly very talented, yet easily suffered Qi Deviation. The reason was that they were too impatient while practicing, their minds constantly wandering, until all their efforts fell short at the final hurdle.

Restlessness, impatience, and an unsettled heart were taboos anywhere.

Because if someone could not truly remain calm, with a heart as still as water, they would often overlook things while working on something.

"Is that why you're always laughing and joking every day, never behaving properly even though you're a Daoist?" Li Qiuran gave him a sidelong look and asked.

What does that have to do with me?

That was my personality in my last life. Transmigrating couldn't change it.

Zhang Qingyuan concealed his slight embarrassment and continued, "Believe it or not, in High Antiquity, our Daoist tradition produced a genius whose talents could encompass heaven and earth. His name was Zhang Junbao.

"As a boy, he witnessed his master's death, then spent a long time in despair. Just like you, all he could think about was revenge. Only in middle age did he suddenly awaken to the truth and begin wandering playfully through the mortal world. Do you know what others called him?"

"What?"

"They called him the Sloppy Daoist. He was sloppy beyond belief. But he ignored worldly judgment and kept doing as he pleased. Using the half-complete martial art his master left behind, he created countless peerless martial arts. At forty, he was unrivaled under heaven, and he remained at the Supreme Peak for the next sixty years. Even the Shaolin monks had to respectfully address him as True Person Zhang."

"Which scripture recorded this? Why haven't I read it?"

The scripture's called The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber... Zhang Qingyuan answered inwardly.

"That's not important. What matters is that you understand the principle behind it. You can't always dwell on bitter suffering and deep hatred. Living in this world, you need to know how to enjoy yourself."

Li Qiuran gave a soft snort and turned her head away, ignoring him, but Zhang Qingyuan knew she had taken his words to heart.

"Do you know what I was thinking while you were crying earlier?"

"What?" Li Qiuran's interest was piqued again.

"I was thinking, what if you refused to listen and went to Shaolin alone? Unable to win an argument or a fight, you might finally poison Shaolin Temple in a fit of rage and lay all those monks low.

"Then all my hard work turning your reputation from the Zhuqing Demoness into the Heavenly Yin Holy Maiden would have gone to waste," Zhang Qingyuan said pensively.

"Am I that stupid in your eyes?"

"What if?"

"Cold Ice Palm!"

"Taiji Diagram!"

Palm met palm as the two pitted their internal power against each other.

Unwilling to lose, Li Qiuran slowly increased the internal power in her palm,

but unexpectedly,

in the next instant!

Zhang Qingyuan curled his five fingers,

clasping her hand.

Li Qiuran's face instantly turned red.

Zhang Qingyuan smiled smugly. Girls in this era really were easy to trick.

"Come on, let's go..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Qingyuan shoved Li Qiuran away with his palm. The instant she was pushed aside, a streak of Sword Qi sliced between them.

That was close!

Zhang Qingyuan turned to look ahead, his phoenix eyes narrowing. Who the hell is causing trouble now?