"Your Majesty, please take care of your royal body. We shall take our leave."
Emperor Xue Ye leaned back in his dragon chair. After a few stifled coughs, his face grew even paler.
"Sect Master Ning... why not stay for a few more days? It would be a pleasure for to have a ga of chess with you."
Ning Fengzhi smiled and shook his head.
"I wouldn't want to disturb Your Majesty's rest."
Emperor Xue Ye let out a helpless sigh.
"Qinghe, escort your teacher on my behalf."
"Yes, Father."
The vermilion palace walls lined both sides of the path, dappled with light and shadow.
Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi walked shoulder to shoulder, discussing state affairs.
When they reached a secluded area.
Ning Fengzhi slowed his steps slightly and looked toward Sword Douluo Chen Xin.
"Uncle Jian, even you cannot discern anything about His Majesty's illness?"
Chen Xin's expression remained still as an ancient well as he slowly shook his head.
"Healing the sick is not my strength."
"Even that old monster is helpless—so it seems…"
Ning Fengzhi sighed, then suddenly turned to Xue Qinghe.
"Qinghe, I hear you are on very close terms with that Sword Wine who has beco famous in Heaven Dou City?"
Xue Qinghe nodded.
"I am indeed good friends with him."
"Teacher asking about Sword Wine—could it be that you wish to invite him into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
A perfectly asured smile hung at the corners of her lips.
"It is just that his nature is unrestrained. I fear he would not be willing to join any power."
Ning Fengzhi glanced at Xue Qinghe.
Why did he feel…
That his disciple's words carried a subtle undertone of sarcasm?
Had Li Zhexian already told Xue Qinghe of his past with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?
Were the two of them that close?
Ning Fengzhi's heart stirred, but his voice remained calm:
"I share so old ties with Sword Wine."
"This ti, upon entering the city, I also hoped to et him once again."
Xue Qinghe's smile did not falter.
"Then why not let this disciple lead Teacher there?"
"Your Highness is burdened with state affairs, you need not trouble yourself."
"But Sword Wine's residence is in a secluded place. It would be more proper for to guide the way."
——
The eastern outskirts of the Imperial City, far from the noise.
Xue Qinghe, with her guards, along with Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin, stopped in front of a courtyard.
The courtyard wall was not high. A plum tree stretched its gnarled branches and sparse shadows over the wall, giving the little yard a sense of otherworldly elegance.
Ning Fengzhi looked up, his gaze sweeping over the graceful plum blossoms. He nodded and praised, "Finding peace in the midst of chaos, a noble spirit reveals itself. It's a good place."
Hearing this, Xue Qinghe's smile deepened, her voice light.
"Indeed. Compared to the imposing atmosphere of a large sect's deep courtyards, this place is much more comfortable and carefree."
Ning Fengzhi: "…"
The five of them stood in front of the courtyard gate.
Xue Qinghe was about to step forward to knock, but Ning Fengzhi had already taken a step forward.
He gently flicked his sleeve and said softly, "It is I who am making this unannounced visit and disturbing his peaceful cultivation. The etiquette should be handled by ."
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
The knocking sound rang clear in the quiet countryside.
Creaaak—
The door swung open.
Daylight poured in, outlining the tall figure of a youth in plain white robes.
Ning Fengzhi's gaze fell upon the handso face that was unchanged, yet seed separated by thousands of mountains and rivers.
For a mont, he was dazed, almost as if he no longer recognized the person before him.
His throat moved slightly. After three seconds of silence, he called out the long-lost na.
"Zhexian… it has been a long ti."
Inside the door, Li Zhexian stood in newly tailored white robes, spotless as snow, his face adorned with a faint, asured smile.
He stepped aside, opening the way, and said with a smile:
"Sect Master Ning, Senior Chen Xin, and… Your Highness the Crown Prince, please co in."
Ever since the na "Sword Wine" had shaken Heaven Dou City—
Ning Fengzhi had played out countless scenarios of reunion in his heart.
He had imagined the youth's anger, mockery, smugness, even his accusations that they had once been blind.
But he had hardly imagined…
That it would be this calm, this light as drifting clouds.
The white-robed youth before him walked with composed steps.
As though all that had passed was but a breeze brushing across the plum blossoms.
Seeing Li Zhexian like this, Ning Fengzhi suddenly recalled that question Gu Rong once asked him: "Do you regret it?"
Back then, it had only stirred a faint ripple in his heart.
But now.
That ripple seed on the verge of turning into surging waves.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin had no ti for such thoughts.
His gaze was fixed on Li Zhexian, particularly noting the breeze that seed to linger at the youth's side.
In those ancient well-like eyes, a sudden gleam of sharpness flashed.
The one-month deadline had arrived.
If not for the wrong setting—
He would have already tested how far Li Zhexian had advanced in the Sword Dao.
Xue Qinghe trailed behind the others.
The mont she saw Li Zhexian's calm expression, the taut strings in her heart finally loosened.
Though he had told her he would face Ning Fengzhi with composure—
Only upon seeing this peace with her own eyes did she truly feel reassured.
The plum tree stood tall like a canopy, casting dappled shade.
Beneath it was a simple sandalwood table, with four round stools.
Li Zhexian guided Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin to the honored guest seats.
As for Xue Qinghe…
He cast her a knowing glance, signaling that she could sit wherever she wished.
The four sat down.
Li Zhexian poured clear tea for Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin.
As if speaking casually, he asked:
"Why do I not see Senior Gu Rong?"
Ning Fengzhi was looking up at the plum blossoms overhead. He lowered his gaze when he heard the question and smiled. "Your Uncle Bone needs to be in charge of the sect. He didn't co with us this ti."
At the sound of that long-lost "Uncle Bone"
Li Zhexian's hand, holding the teapot, paused almost imperceptibly. The tea rippled faintly within the cup.
Then it beca steady again, as if that montary ripple had never happened.
The cups were filled.
Li Zhexian put down the teapot.
His gaze fell upon Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin.
Deep within his eyes, a trace of complex emotion finally surged, unable to be suppressed. These two in front of him were once the great mountains he looked up to.
Ning Fengzhi's mastery of strategy, Chen Xin's solitary sword unmatched—both were realms he once yearned toward.
However, tis had changed.
His path had long since deviated from the trajectory of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
All the past events were like watching a fire from across the river, leaving only the sigh of a bittersweet feeling: things are the sa, but people have changed.
"Zhexian still rembers I like this."
Ning Fengzhi's gaze fell upon the chessboard already prepared on the table.
With a sweep of his sleeve—
The board unfolded between them.
"Zhexian, it has been long since we last played. How about a ga?"
"Sure." Li Zhexian agreed with a smile.
Black and white pieces intermingled, falling without a sound.
The ga was dense, but it held no aggression. It was more like an old friend catching up, quietly flowing between the lines of the board.
Ning Fengzhi looked at the chessboard, and a relieved smile gradually appeared on his face. "Zhexian, I was right about you after all..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the relaxed atmosphere imdiately froze. That was because... Ning Fengzhi had once said the opposite to Li Zhexian.
The white jade chess piece on Li Zhexian's fingertip hovered in mid-air and did not fall this ti.
A long silence.
Even the plum branches seed to droop lower under its weight.
Xue Qinghe glanced at Li Zhexian and quietly reached behind him to tug on the corner of his shirt, offering his comfort.
After a few seconds of silence, Ning Fengzhi's voice carried a hint of unspeakable bitterness. "Zhexian..."
"Would you be willing to return to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers