“The harvest this time was simply too great!”
Lu Zheng looked back at Mount Qingqi and could not help sighing with emotion.
Shen Ying nodded, then shook her head. “It was, after all, a life-saving favour. Still, Brother Yi truly is a forthright person.”
“Someone without that kind of character would never have become friends with Hu Yijun,” Lu Zheng remarked.
“That is true.” Shen Ying gently touched a jade tablet at her waist. It was a greeting gift from Yi Qingtian. It could calm the mind and also ward off mental assaults.
…
By now the two of them had already taken their leave of Yi Qingtian and descended Mount Qingqi.
Yesterday Lu Zheng had refined nine Silver Feather Azure Aurora Swords. In the evening he and Yi Qingtian had drunk themselves into a stupor. Early this morning, Yi Qingtian had insisted on pressing ten catties of spiritual tea upon Lu Zheng and the jade tablet upon Shen Ying.
Lu Zheng and Shen Ying could not withstand such warmth, yet they did not dare linger longer. If they stayed any more days, Mount Qingqi might as well become their second home.
So they gave him the address in Tonglin County, bid Yi Qingtian farewell, and flew down the mountain.
Yi Qingtian accompanied them the whole way, only turning back after they had crossed a small river.
Lu Zheng and Shen Ying rode on, covering another dozen li until Mount Qingqi had faded from sight. Only then did they voice their feelings.
Of course, Yi Qingtian’s generosity had another reason: Lu Zheng and Shen Ying’s strength had proved they were worthy of receiving such gifts.
If they were ordinary people, even if Yi Qingtian wished to be generous, they would have no use for them…
“I truly never imagined that devil was actually a direct disciple of the Ancestor of Heartless True Desire,” Shen Ying said with some wonder. “We actually managed to slay such a fiend in a single battle?”
“Hey, hey, wake up! If Brother Yi had not held it back at the start and then contributed heavily later, the two of us alone would never have been its match.” Lu Zheng waved a hand in front of her eyes.
Shen Ying rolled her peach-blossom eyes. “Yet if not for us, Brother Yi would probably not have survived that tribulation either.”
To this Lu Zheng had nothing to say. The light of destiny had already proved everything.
“So our strength has already reached the level where we can intervene in battles between millennium great demons?”
Lu Zheng was speechless. “Wake up, wake up!”
“Hehe, your concubine knows!”
Shen Ying gave a charming laugh, her peach-blossom eyes shimmering. “But after such a great victory, may your concubine not bask in glory for a moment?”
Lu Zheng nodded repeatedly. “You may, you may!”
Shen Ying’s eyes curved into crescents. She looked at Lu Zheng with a gaze full of extraordinary light. After sensing that no one was around, she leapt lightly and floated onto his horse.
“Dear Lu~~~”
…
Having slain a millennium-old devil in one battle, Shen Ying was thrilled. Yet with Yi Qingtian present on Mount Qingqi, she had restrained herself. Now, with no one in sight, she naturally let go.
The two of them went from atop the horses to the ground, from the grass to beside the trees, from the rocks to the riverside. In the end they missed the inn.
Only when the sun sank in the west did Lu Zheng pitch the tent and light a fire to cook.
Shen Ying’s seductive eyes were limpid, her breath orchid-sweet, her jade-like face flushed, her figure soft. She radiated the aura of a fully ripened peach.
This time it was Lu Zheng who could no longer hold back. They ate supper hastily, then returned together to the tent.
The night passed wordlessly, filled only with whispers beneath the stars.
…
After leaving Mount Qingqi, apart from travelling, Lu Zheng spent time each day using his own sword qi to temper and nurture the nine flying swords.
As the tempering continued, the swords’ power kept rising, and their connection with Lu Zheng grew ever deeper.
A deeper bond brought two benefits.
First, wielding the swords became more natural, like moving his own fingers and limbs. The same strike consumed less mana the deeper the bond. Conversely, expending the same amount of mana produced greater power the deeper the bond. It was a continuous process of increasing both might and endurance.
Second, the deeper the bond, the harder it became for an enemy to sever the link between Lu Zheng and his swords. Capturing or seizing the swords became almost impossible. It was said that once the bond reached a certain level, even if man and sword were separated between the main world and a cave-heaven paradise, the swords could tear through the barrier between realms and return to their master.
Lu Zheng rubbed his chin, wondering whether, if he returned to the modern world without bringing the swords, they would be able to break through the worlds’ barrier on their own.
The jade seal in his mind: “…”
Neither Lu Zheng nor Shen Ying was in a hurry, so they travelled leisurely, stopping whenever they wished. From Luzhou they reached Junzhou, crossed the Jin River by boat, and once more entered Lingbei Province.
…
The walls of Tonglin County appeared in the distance.
Lu Zheng stroked his chin. “It doesn’t feel like we were away very long, and now we’re already back?”
Shen Ying laughed softly. “We went to Feather Mountain to seek the scripture and to Mount Qingqi to slay a devil. How can you say it feels short?”
“Those were mere trifles!” Lu Zheng waved dismissively, then added thoughtfully, “The main thing is that when I’m with you, time simply flies. Whoosh, and it’s gone.”
Shen Ying bit her lower lip gently, eyes sparkling. She wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him.
“You always know how to say things that make a girl happy!” She suppressed the excitement in her heart. Though she complained, the smile in her eyes could not be hidden.
“Big Brother Lu! Sister Shen!”
A cheerful cry rang out. The curtain of a nearby carriage was pulled aside, revealing Du Yueyao’s small face.
“Stop the carriage, stop!”
She told the driver to halt, leapt down lightly, and ran over beaming. “You’re back!”
“You went home too?” Shen Ying smiled and pulled Du Yueyao closer.
Du Yueyao nodded repeatedly. “I went back the day before yesterday and only returned today.”
“Perfect. Let’s have dinner together tonight,” Lu Zheng said.
“Yes, yes!”
Du Yueyao dismissed the driver to go on alone and followed Lu Zheng and Shen Ying, chattering about what she had done these past two days.
She did not ask about their journey, knowing she would hear everything at dinner.
The three first went to the horse dealer, sold the two horses back (at a slight loss), then turned toward Benevolent Heart Hall.
It was already the hour of You; Benevolent Heart Hall was about to close.
“Dear Lu? Sister Ying? Yueyao?”
Liu Qingyan was tidying up. Seeing the three arrive, she hurried forward, joy she could not conceal on her face.
“Come on, let’s go home!”
Lu Zheng stepped forward, took Liu Qingyan’s hand, then reached out and pulled her close.
Liu Qingyan’s cheeks flushed crimson. She gave a soft push, yet smoothly leaned into his embrace.
Thus Lu Zheng walked home with a beauty on each arm and a little sister trailing happily behind.
…
Old Doctor Liu finished packing the bedding, frying pans, stove, and other items in the back hall, then came out carrying his medical kit. He looked left and right.
“Where’s Qingyan?”
…
At the evening reunion meal, Lu Zheng concealed the matter of slaying the devil on Mount Qingqi. He only said that, for Hu Yijun’s sake, Yi Qingtian had been extremely generous and given him more than enough Bi Luo Qing Xia.
Apart from that, he recounted their experiences along the way: the noble-titled yet evil-cultivating Xu Xiuzhu, the not-very-powerful yet chivalrous Three Saints Heavenly Master, and so forth. Everyone listened with rapt attention.
After dinner, Shen Ying whispered a few words into Liu Qingyan’s ear, then used the excuse of worrying about matters at Peach Blossom Ridge and returned alone.
That night, Liu Qingyan, face scarlet, changed into a pale white gauze dress and, infinitely shy, entered Lu Zheng’s bedroom by herself.
Truly:
Moonlight pure as washed silk, a hidden fragrance of red pills drifts in the night.
