Yun Cuo’s three days of seclusion in the Ice Cave did not go well.
A place of severe cold, completely black and silent. The purpose of the three days’ seclusion was to cultivate one’s character, test the cultivator’s endurance towards difficulties and harsh environments, and occasionally release some illusions.
These illusions were very subtle, they can be easily broken with just a poke, and what will happen is unknown. The incoming disciples knew beforehand that such a test would occur, so there were not many who truly fell for it.
Unfortunately, Yun Cuo happened to get stuck in this.
Murong Jinchuan stood at the entrance of the cave, using magic to explore Yun Cuo’s cultivation status, frowning. For the sake of protecting his disciples’ privacy, he never takes the initiative to explore where their inner demons or what their concrete manifestations are. The only thing he knows is that every time the illusion appears, Yun Cuo will interrupt the cultivation once. This cycle repeats itself, and it is slow to get better.
The gatekeeper looked at him, trembling. “Sect Master, Yun Shixiong still has half a day left before he can get out of the gate, are you planning…… to do it now?”
Murong Jinchuan’s face darkened as he withdrew the magic weapon that could show the disciple’s cultivation status from his hand. “If he practices like this, he won’t be able to recover for another thousand years. Let him come out now.” He said.
The gatekeeper remembered Xue Huai’s instructions and knew that the person in front of him was Xue Huai’s grandfather—He suggested, “Then, Sect Master, I’ll switch him out right now. You go sit there first, and I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
“No need. I need to tell him now, you can go back and rest.” Murong Jinchuan frowned, waved his hand to break through the restriction, and told the person inside, “Come out ba.”
The boy guarding the door was not going to leave nor stay, he turned back three times and looked inside carefully. He had already begun to ponder, “If he doesn’t deliver it, will he be beaten to death by Xue Shixiong?” and “If he doesn’t deliver it in time, will he be beaten to death by Yun Shixiong?” As he was pondering, he met Murong Jinchuan’s cold gaze.
The head of the sect extended his hand expressionlessly and said, “What is that thing? Let me take a look.”
The gatekeeper: “……”
When Yun Cuo walked out of the cave, Murong Jinchuan continued to maintain a very unpleasant expression.
Perhaps he knew that he had “ulterior motives” towards his own precious grandson, Murong Jinchuan always had this expression on his face. Yun Cuo is under his tutelage. Although he always comes and goes alone, he also cannot help but hear his fellow disciples’ evaluations of this “obnoxious old man.” It was said that this old man has a sharp tongue but a tofu heart.
During class, he taught them harshly and exuded the authority of a master. However, as soon as he left the academy, he immediately became a kind grandfather. Although still serious, he was kind to people and even allowed the little girls to pull his beard and play with him.
Madam Murong is a very popular master among students. When she came back from delivering meals to Murong Jinchuan, she would also make some special snacks of the Fengyu tribe along the way and distribute them.
Due to the limited availability of snacks, most of the cheaper ones were given to Murong Jinchuan’s personal disciples and the sword cultivation class that happened to be taught by Murong Jinchuan. Yun Cuo just happened to account for both, and he was the one who benefited from the old lady the most on weekdays.
“You’re out? Come with me to eat first, and I’ll talk about your problem.” Murong Jinchuan waved at him when he saw him coming out.
At noon, Yun Cuo looked at the sky and stood still. “Shifu, let’s talk here.”
Murong Jinchuan could see through what he was thinking at a glance: “Young people, don’t be impatient. The food garden is already closed.”
The food garden is closed, so he didn’t have a chance to have lunch with Xue Huai this afternoon.
Yun Cuo followed Murong Jinchuan.
This is the time for the cultivators’ lunch break, and Murong Jinchuan was obviously waiting for him because he wanted to have a private conversation with him. Just like the day of honoring the master, the old man had a brief conversation with him and asked him why his cultivation was so high, why he didn’t go anywhere with his full cultivation, and just wanting to practice here.
He told him with the pre-planned reasons, that it was for the mind-viewing technique and for his demon mother.
The Murong old lady was waiting for them at the mountaintop, she warmed the food with magic and watched them eat, then also sat down.
The two elders were not constrained to seek out Yun Cuo to speak. They all know that he is naturally quiet and indifferent to their concerns, so they only casually discuss the past.
The old lady liked Yun Cuo very much. While picking up the dishes for him, she smiled and said, “You can’t let go every time you see us, what’s there to be embarrassed about? If you don’t like the food I give you, just leave it there.”
Yun Cuo said, “It’s not, the dishes you picked for me are all what I like.” After finishing, he began to gulp down the rice.
He has always been clumsy when expressing his emotions. When it comes to Xue Huai, he just wants to give him all the good things in the world. When it comes to Murong Jinchuan and his wife, not only because they are Xue Huai’s family, but also because they are such a gentle elderly couple, it’s a little more intense than it is for anyone else. He hadn’t experienced much love in his life, and before he had a chance to learn to love people, he had first learned to take everything by force and to fight for everything by force.
Now he knows that he can’t be like that.
The Murong old lady likes to nag when she has nothing to do. Murong Jinchuan listens with a smile and does not interrupt.
Xue Huai’s grandmother said that in the past, when Xue Huai’s mother was still a little girl, she learned swordsmanship from her father, which was ancient and supernatural. At that time, she brought food over, and the father and daughter ate head-to-head, comparing who ate the fastest.
She said, “In the past, cooking was for the old man and my girl, but now it’s Xiao Huai and you. Xiao Huai’s taste follows ours, he eats light and refreshingly. The whole Immortal Realm is on the light side, so you’re usually not used to eating in Xianzhou, what should we do?”
Upon hearing this, Yun Cuo’s heart was slightly burning.
Yun Cuo said, “I’m accustomed to eating them.” Now that he can cook, he can tell the elderly that he wouldn’t be hungry, but his subconscious answer is like this, indicating that he’s not a sweet-mouthed person.
After dinner, the old lady tidied up the dishes and brought them back to the mountain for cleaning. Murong Jinchuan restrained his smile and held a cup of tea in his hand. He looked up and asked, “Do you know why I came to find you today?”
Yun Cuo whispered, “For the trial this time.”
“You also know it’s for this trial? Your immortal cultivation has already reached the level where karma is not involved, and your demonic cultivation is at the sixteen levels. And you can’t even get past a low-level trial of the Foundation Establishment Stage! Does that sound like a good thing to say?” Murong Jinchuan slammed the cup onto the table, and the tea splashed down. “I don’t care what you see inside, but what did I tell you when you first arrived? Be cautious and calm, now see what you’ve accomplished.”
Yun Cuo said, “Shizun, I know my mistake.”
“What’s the use of knowing your mistake? You’ll do it again next time!” Murong Jinchuan said in a deep voice. “Starting today, I’ll add another subject, come to me to learn how to practice calligraphy and play chess. Practice calligraphy without being impatient and play chess without losing one’s mind. Go ahead, if there’s something effective, I’ll give it to you later.”
Yub Cuo said: “Apprentice understood.”
Yun Cuo originally thought that Murong Jinchuan would promise him some magic weapon or secret collection, but when Murong Jinchuan showed it to him, he realized it was not.
That is a heavy jar of Xiushan jade, with the top, body, and bottom clearly written “Xue Huai gifted to Yun Cuo.”
His eyes widened, and subconsciously he was about to reach out for it, but Murong Jinchuan slapped his hand.
Murong Jinchuan said expressionlessly, “What did I just say?”
Yun Cuo behaved well and didn’t say anything. He silently put his hand back, but his eyes still followed the jar with reluctance.
Xue Huai sent him something.
In that moment, ecstasy engulfed his limbs, leaving him unable to think of anything else.
What could it be?
He walked with the agony and joy of grabbing his heart and lungs, and then heard Murong Jinchuan say, “Go back and write a self-reflection for me. I want to see if you kid has seriously considered it.”
Only then did Yun Cuo barely calm down and reply, “Okay.”
Murong Jinchuan stopped him again and asked in a deep voice, “Wait a minute. According to your unsteady state of mind, I’m afraid you haven’t made a single bit of progress in the mind-viewing technique.”
After a moment of silence, Yun Cuo whispered, “That’s right.”
When he was just reborn, he practiced the mind-viewing technique three times, and he went astray all three times. The first time he narrowly survived, he woke up on his own. The second time was when the silly cat bit him right through the tiger’s mouth, and he woke up. The third time was when Xue Huai came to wake him up.
He is a very foolish person. Without Xue Huai, he doesn’t know where to come and go. Without him, he can’t do anything. He knows that it is not right, but the more anxious he is to find out the truth of his previous life, the worse the effect.
He is so stubborn in wanting to investigate the cause of Xue Huai’s death, and he wants to witness the last moment of Xue Huai’s previous life with his own eyes—in this way, the charge of guilt would lock itself up forever.
In the past, while practicing the mind-viewing technique, he would always encounter that snowfield he couldn’t avoid; it was there, but he couldn’t get close. It always remind him who he lost. Now that he has retrieved him, he no longer encounters this nightmare but a different scene instead.
He always sees the shadow of Xue Huai’s past life again.
A voidy shadow stands quietly there. The appearance of not saying anything is that of the person he has loved for two lifetimes.
He looked at him with a disappointed expression in his eyes, as if blaming him for his recklessness and incompetence. Seeing that gaze, he lost all his courage and dared not even reach out to touch him.
He is selfish, cowardly, and despicable. He uses cunning to deceive him and keeps all his known secrets from him. Before he knew that Xue Huai was also reborn, he agonized over his inability to make amends and apologize to him personally. When he realized that the person next to him was really the him from the past life, he suffered even more.
If anyone else were to practice the mind-viewing technique, it would probably be better than him. He has supreme cultivation, but he cannot use it, he’s like a tower made of spring grass, where a gentle breeze can shatter him.
Murong Jinchuan is right. He is the type of person who completely does not know how to control his own power. Gold and jade on the outside, while his inner world is a vain and empty interior. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is lackluster.
He whispered, “…… There is a way.”
Murong Jinchuan looked at him and shouted, “What can you do? No matter what, hand over the reflection tonight. I want to see what else you kid is hiding.”
Yun Cuo then excused himself.
He wanted to meet Xue Huai early, so he went down the mountain and rushed to his own Jian Xiu dormitory—he hadn’t been back much, basically, and had stayed at Xue Huai’s place most of the time.
To say that he is impatient, he doesn’t seem to be impatient either. He is very capable of calming down, he is the kind of person who, even if you place a candy at the end of a mountain, he would still climb over to get it.
But if he were to take another path and exchange it for another flavor of candy, he wouldn’t even want to take the first step. No matter how much persuasion is perfunctory, he will not turn back until he hits the south wall.
It didn’t take him long to finish writing his reflection, and he rushed up the mountain to hand it over to Murong Jinchuan.
Upon seeing it, Murong Jinchuan initially thought it was good. Yun Cuo reflected very well and had a good understanding of his own problems. However, when he saw the ending, his nose was crooked with anger.
This stinky kid has written a lot of rules and regulations, to the effect that “Although I have many problems now and my martial arts often go astray, as long as Xue Huai is by my side, there won’t be any problems.”
Murong Jinchuan waved his hand to drive him away. “You leave, you leave. What kind of self-reflection is this? Write a new one for me tomorrow.”
Yun Cuo stood still and looked at him innocently, “Shizun.”
Murong Jinchuan: “?”
He saw Yun Cuo’s gaze stick to a jar on the table behind him, and he immediately understood.
He was so angry that he blew out his beard and glared. He turned around and grabbed the jar, threw it into Yun Cuo’s arms, and said disdainfully, “Give you, give gou, go, go, don’t come here to get in my way.”
He looked as if he were getting very angry and had a headache. He didn’t want to look at him again and waved his hand to make him leave quickly.
Yun Cuo firmly caught it and then said calmly, “Thank you, Shizun.”
His voice sounded cold and indifferent, but his eyes were filled with joy that could not be hidden.
This happiness was so obvious that when he walked out of the mountain gate, the gatekeepers looked at each other and whispered, “What did the Sect Master say? The Young Immortal Lord was mad with joy.”
It was late in the afternoon when he descended the mountain.
Yun Cuo’s footsteps stopped outside Xue Huai’s room.
He had excellent hearing ability and could hear that someone was inside, as well as the faint breathing of Xue Huai lying in bed. Yun Cuo hesitated a bit—Xue Huai slept so early today?
He hasn’t been here for three days, and he wondered if Xue Huai is eating well or not.
If he had a proper meal, then who was accompanying him to eat? Xue Huai is such a carefree and easy-going person who cares about food and likes to find like-minded meal pals.
Although he hadn’t even seen the shadow of the unknown “meal pal,” he felt an indescribable taste in his heart: sour, sweet, and empty.
Even if he came out early without telling him, according to the normal three-day calculation, today should also be the day for him to leave the seclusion, and Xue Huai wouldn’t be unaware. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given him this jar of things—he hasn’t been willing to open it yet.
Yun Cuo whispered, “Sleeping this early, you don’t even want to wait for me.”
After saying that, he gently opened the door and walked in.
Xue Huai was nestled in the blanket, holding a phoenix velvet pillow in his arms, while leaning against the gluttonous ghost that had shrunk into a ball behind him, sleeping soundly.
He reached out and tucked in the corner of the blanket for Xue Huai, covered the bald head of the gluttonous ghost with a piece of flannel, and also tucked in the blanket for the bird-shaped phoenix velvet pillow.
After completing all of this seriously, he turned around and entered the small kitchen, creating a barrier to block the sound. He made breakfast for Xue Huai in advance and warmed it with magic.
It seems that Xue Huai hasn’t thought of him in the past three days—but when he thinks of that jar, he’s not so sure.
That’s what his precious Xue Huai gave him!
Xue Huai gave him a gift!
He wouldn’t even touch this jar if he died—because Xue Huai send it, he had to put it away completely. Even if there was a jar of air inside, he wouldn’t allow it to dissipate because it could be considered the air sent to him by Xue Huai.
After thinking for a long time, he was still afraid that Xue Huai would find someone else in the room when he got up tomorrow and felt disturbed, so he chose to go out and go back to sleep.
After all, in the past, no matter how much he made progress, it was all with Xue Huai’s knowledge.
He closed the door gently, fearing to startle the room full of sweet scents.
The author has something to say: Grandpa: this disciple can’t be saved anymore.
