"Did you defeat him?"
At the edge of the stone cliff, Min Ning was practicing her sword alone, when a sound suddenly ca to her ears.
She turned her head and caught sight of the silhouette of a white-robed female crown flitting gently through the velvety darkness of the night.
Min Ning halted her sword montum, her legs positioned in a forward lunge, gaze fixed straight ahead, her sword held firm and steady.
"You ask whether I defeated him? I don't know. But... to convey one's heart through the sword is enough."
To convey one's heart through the sword… those brief four words sounded simple, but Chen Yizhen was hardly the sort of person who was easily persuaded. In Yin Weiyin's eyes, he never was. He always yielded to gentleness over force. Were it not for this, she herself would not have suffered so much back then.
Yin Weiyin stepped closer and spoke calmly:
"Drawing swords against each other will only leave a thorn in the heart."
She had spent much ti and endured countless hardships to dissolve the thorn lingering in their hearts.
Min Ning was now repeating that sa path. She should have felt glad, but her heart remained unsettled, as if she were kicking at stones. Was this the innate compassion among won? Yin Weiyin gathered her robes and let her dark brows drop slightly.
Softly, she uttered, "Could you not follow his lead?"
Min Ning's eyes shifted subtly.
Seeing no reply from Min Ning, Yin Weiyin continued under the dim evening sky: "With Tingxue, even if there was resistance, deep down, I still followed his lead."
He was the kind of man who always yielded to gentleness over force and rarely accommodated others. Enduring so much under his waywardness, Yin Weiyin's Dao heart remained steadfast. Whether willing or unwilling, she had no choice but to follow his lead. Otherwise, she'd face endless suffering… Having weathered so much, she could only maneuver in secret. Yet on the surface, she inevitably deferred to him. Precisely because of this, understanding grew between them, enabling dual cultivation. The two of them were destined to beco the golden boy and jade girl, their ascension to immortality seemingly inevitable—even tempting fate.
After a long pause, Min Ning finally spoke:
"Why must one follow his lead?"
Her words left Yin Weiyin astonished.
Min Ning gently brushed her sword's surface and murmured, "I've already ceded many steps for him. Why must my heart also follow his lead?"
Yin Weiyin snapped out of her daze, realizing for the first ti that there existed won who did not follow his lead.
He was so domineering, and even with her iron-clad Dao heart, she had been worn down to the point of death. Yet Min Ning refused to submit. Yin Weiyin could not understand; wasn't she, like herself, in love with Chen Yi?
Min Ning's voice resonated serenely: "Since I love him, there is no reason I must follow his lead."
Yin Weiyin recovered herself and scoffed lightly: "Then how can that still be called true love?"
In the silent night, Yin Weiyin gazed at Min Ning, but the latter did not reply, standing quietly amidst the rustling shadows of the dark forest.
"What do you an this isn't true love?"
"How could it be?" Yin Weiyin challenged.
Her own kind of love followed his lead, carefully negotiating in silence, all while outwardly yielding. That, Yin Weiyin believed, was true love. No wonder Min Ning refused to comply—it was likely back in the Capital City that she had been rely feigning interest. After leaving the Capital, she had embraced freedom but still clung to a thread of lingering sentint. Deep down, perhaps she'd already cast Chen Yi out of her thoughts entirely.
Yin Weiyin pressed on: "Reflecting on the past year, aside from shortly after you left the Capital, you've hardly ntioned him at all."
"Hardly ntioned… yes," Min Ning admitted.
When she'd left the Capital, she used to bring up Chen Yi frequently, to the point of annoying Zhu Yu. But the more ti passed, the less she ntioned him.
Ordinarily, the longer one is apart, the deeper the yearning should grow.
Yin Weiyin felt such yearning. She said, "At first, I paid it no mind. But as ti went on, I found myself missing him more and more."
"I'm different from you."
Min Ning fell into silence for a mont, her gaze fixed on her sword. Light reflected in her eyes,
"I don't need to constantly yearn for him. It's enough for to think of him occasionally."
Yin Weiyin was slightly taken aback. The words echoed in her ears, stirring an unexpected turmoil within the female crown's heart.
A peculiar sentint arose, indescribable and unbidden. Yin Weiyin stood frozen in place, silent.
Min Ning's eyes held a tinge of nostalgia as she went on: "The happiest days I had with him weren't the fleeting pleasure of the night before we left the Capital, nor the promises we made atop the garrison tower. It was in Huaisui Village, the day he used the technique I taught him, 'Wind-Slicing Rain-Cleaving Sword.' I strode over and kissed him without thinking… Do you rember that mont?"
"...Of course I rember."
"Back then, I didn't understand why I was so happy. Even now, I don't know why—I can't figure out the reason," Min Ning let out a clear, unrestrained laugh. "The only thing I know is that I want to love him like I did in that mont forever."
Yin Weiyin had nothing to say.
They were not the sa sort of person.
To argue further was aningless. They had never been alike. Yin Weiyin's love was ever-changing, from disdain to affection, from enemies to Dao companions. But Min Ning's love was unwavering.
As Yin Weiyin was about to leave, Min Ning stopped herself and unexpectedly spoke:
"You all think in such convoluted ways, as if winning or losing this duel would determine everything once and for all."
The female crown tilted her head, puzzled and confused,
"Isn't that the case?"
Min Ning shook her head, her gaze lowering as her eyes stretched far into the distance:
"Of course not. But… I want to ask you for a favor."
Yin Weiyin furrowed her brows and asked:
"What do you want to do?"
Min Ning saw she had taken the bait and replied without hesitation:
"I want to lend you a set of clothes. Tomorrow, follow my instructions."
...…
At the break of dawn, soft light suffused the air, heavy black clouds yet to gather, sword sheaths swayed between the shifting shadows of the trees.
Chen Yi's thoughts remained troubled, sweat unbeknownst to him soaking his back. Though it was early morning, a faint air of twilight hung over him.
He glanced at Min Ning from ti to ti as she walked with a light, brisk pace.
The rushing sound of water grew louder, sweeping into their ears. Parting the leaves, they saw it: a thousand-foot waterfall plunging down, a trendous white thread connecting heaven and earth.
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