Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Trembling with fear, Qin Wushuang had already floated to the cave entrance with the speed of lightning. He fixed his gaze to look to the outside and saw a girl in bare feet dressed in all white frowning slightly. It was as though she carried a matter that was gnawing at her consciousness. Despite her marvelous look, she revealed an expression carrying the pangs of illness.
Inwardly, Qin Wushuang felt a pain inside his stomach. It was her, it was truly her!
When they exchanged gazes, exactly like it happened a few years ago, the gaze of Shui Ruolan still appeared to be pure and glittering. Only, in between her brows, there was less peace and content like she used to have in the past. Instead, there were traces of grief and tiredness.
This was the reason for Qin Wushuang’s feeling of pain.
Thinking back, this Shui Ruolan was carefree and without worries. Even when she talked about her grandfather’s death, her tone had sounded quiet and natural.
That frame of mind was unpolluted by the secular world. Yet currently, her grief and distress had destroyed her once beautifully quiet and contending qualities.
In Qin Wushuang’s perspective, this brutal harm was incomparable.
“Brother Qin, I knew that you would be back.” Shui Ruolan revealed a light smile.
“You… Ruolan, you knew it was me?” Qin Wushuang was completely stunned.
The grief in between Shui Ruolan’s brows was swept away and some slightly embarrassed joy had replaced it.
“Brother Qin, follow me quickly!” Shui Ruolan waved her hand.
Qin Wushuang did not doubt her and followed behind Shui Ruolan. After they had walked a while and arrived at a rather remote place, Shui Ruolan had become slightly calmer. Inside those pure eyes, there still revealed unsuppressed joy as she said with a stuttering tone, “Brother Qin, I thought I would never see you again in this lifetime.”
“Ruolan… You… You still became a disciple to the Emei Daoist Sect.” Qin Wushuang gave a helpless sigh. “Ruolan, the things the Emei Daoist Sect has done is to be underwhelmed by people.”
Shui Ruolan said with a dim complexion, “Brother Qin, do you know everything?”
“Ruolan, when I saw the Emei Daoist Sect using a scheme to deal with these foreign martial artists, I truly did not wish to relate you with the Emei Daoist Sect. Really, the Emei Daoist Sect is not good for you. I only hoped that you would be that innocent young girl from the Bowl Valley, aloof from the world and free of worries.”
Shui Ruolan weeped. She bit her lips lightly and kept shaking her head.
“Brother Qin, I am sorry, I disappoint you. Brother Qin, I know that you are a good person. However, I truly don’t know everything that has happened. Brother Qin, do you trust me?”
Upon seeing Shui Ruolan’s actions, Qin Wushuang’s heart softened. As he had judged countless people, he knew that Shui Ruolan would not lie. He gave a long sigh. “Ruolan, initially I didn’t mean to blame you. Only, I feel the actions of the Emei Daoist Sect harm the peace of the world.”
There was a puzzled look within Shui Ruolan’s expression. “Brother Qin, my teacher took me to the Emei Daoist Sect and she treated me well, and always allowed me to do what I wanted… By the way, Brother Qin, that day at the Bowl Valley, how did you leave afterwards?”
Qin Wushuang shook his head with a bitter smile. “Is that lady from that day your teacher?”
“Yes, later I asked my teacher about your whereabouts. Teacher berated me to not think about you. She said that you are scared of dying and had already escaped. Brother Qin, I know that you are no such person. Teacher is doing it for me because she said it deliberately so I would not think about Brother Qin. However, my grandfather once told me that when a person resides in your heart, the more you want to forget about him, the more you will remember him. Brother Qin, wouldn’t you say so?” Shui Ruolan’s tone sounded somewhat dazed.
Even after a few years of changes, Shui Ruolan still appeared innocent. Only, there was less of the initial shyness and more joy.
Such joy had allowed Shui Ruolan to speak the words she had not dared to speak about during previous occasions.
“Ruolan, you…” When Qin Wushuang heard Shui Ruolan’s words all of a sudden, he was rather surprised. He didn’t expect that despite after so many years, Shui Ruolan had thought about him this much!
Qin Wushuang had thought about Shui Ruolan due to a form of care to a beautiful good. He did not wish the Emei Daoist Sect to guide Shui Ruolan in the wrong direction.
He never expected that Shui Ruolan would keep him in mind constantly. Qin Wushuang was not an idiot, of course, he knew there contained a bursting deep affection from Shui Ruolan’s faint description.
“Brother Qin, I know that you are worried about me becoming corrupted by the Emei Daoist Sect’s principals, you are afraid of me turning into a treacherous and murderous executioner, right?”
“Ruolan, I only wanted to say that the life of the Bowl Valley suited you. Any other form of principals that try to change your life is a form of persecution to you. In my eyes, you will always be that serene orchid, that kind doctor from the Bowl Valley.”
Shui Ruolan was stunned as she murmured, “However… the Bowl Valley, I can no longer go back. Those villagers, those people are all dead. Brother Qin, I can no longer return to the Bowl Valley. Every night I dream of brewing herbs at the Bowl valley, picking up herbs in the mountain… Yet when I wake up from the dream, I am inside this cold abyss. Brother Qin, the teacher treats me well; however, life here is not what I wanted.”
“Ruolan, if you want to return to the Bowl Valley, I can take you!” Qin Wushuang said.
Shui Ruolan’s expression changed abruptly as she shook her head frantically. “No, Brother Qin, I don’t want you to take me! I will not return to the Bowl Valley.”
All of a sudden, Shui Ruolan had moved emotionally as fear filled her eyes.
“Ruolan, you…” Qin Wushuang walked closer.
Shui Ruolan shrieked and took a few steps back with fearful expression. “Brother Qin, do not come any closer.”
Qin Wushuang shook his head helplessly and took two steps back. “Ruolan, I do not hold vile intentions.”
“Brother Qin, I…” Shui Ruolan shook her head with disappointment and did not speak a word. Suddenly, she said, “Brother Qin, go quickly, leave this Ten Thousand Flower Valley, I will take you!”
“Ruolan, you will not come with me?” Qin Wushuang could not refrain himself from asking.
“Brother Qin, don’t ask me this anymore. Follow me, hurry!” Shui Ruolan’s expression had become extremely terrified all of a sudden as she urged him emotionally. She took Qin Wushuang and hurried to the north side at a fast speed.
When they arrived close to a pile of disordered stone forest, Shui Ruolan said, “Brother Qin, I am going to activate the defense mechanism. Fly towards the north and soon, you will get out of the Ten Thousand Flower Valley. You must hurry! That divine beast has already returned!”
Qin Wushuang was moved inwardly and Shui Ruolan already scrambled into the disordered stone forest. After a moment, Shui Ruolan ran out. “Brother Qin, I have activated the exit on the north side. Go quickly!”
Qin Wushuang said, “Ruolan, you are really staying at the Emei Daoist Sect?”
The expression of Shui Ruolan was somewhat distressed, yet she nodded with determination. “Brother Qin, I am sorry, I cannot go with you! Teacher treats me well.”
“Ruolan…” Qin Wushuang realized that he was speechless. If it was possible, he even wanted to use brutal force. Yet, he could not.
This was Shui Ruolan’s choice, what else could he say.
“Brother Qin, if you do not go, if the Senior Sister finds out that I let you go, the Chief will kill me,” Shui Ruolan urged.
Qin Wushuang still showed some hesitation. Shui Ruolan had become heartless and turned around to scuttle into the stone forest. With a few ups and downs, she disappeared.
The white figure had displayed incomparable speed like a disappearing ghost. Qin Wushuang was dumbstruck. Even until this moment, he still could not believe that initially, that young girl who had no knowledge of training had achieved such strength in a few short years! However, he had seen it with his own eyes!
Qin Wushuang felt incredibly uncomfortable and disappointed. Upon knowing that Shui Ruolan was forcing him to leave, he could only organize his thoughts and move at a rapid speed to the north side.
He urged the Purple Cloud Ying Yang Wings and dashed out of the Ten Thousand Flower Valley in one breath.
Initially, he should have been happy to have escaped; however, Qin Wushuang could not feel the slightest excitement. Upon thinking about Shui Ruolan’s choice, his resentment to the Emei Daoist Sect grew thicker.
When Shui Ruolan saw that Qin Wushuang had left, she jumped out of the chaotic stone forest. As she looked towards the north side, tears streamed down from her cheeks. Inwardly, she muttered, “Brother Qin, don’t blame me. Teacher once told me that if I were to like any men of the world, she would kill him by any means. I do not want to harm you. If Teacher knew that I let you leave, she would surely find you with her divine skills. Brother Qin, would you understand my intentions?”
Shui Ruolan had grown up at the Bowl Valley and was extremely pure. Qin Wushuang was almost the first foreign guy she had come into contact with. Each of his movements had influenced her greatly.
Especially when Qin Wushuang went to the Tortoise King Mountain for the villagers, it had increased his impression on Shui Ruolan. Then, Qin Wushuang had just returned from the Tortoise King Mountain when he happened to saved her…
All different kinds of reasons had deepened Qin Wushuang’s image inside of her. Only until after she was brought to the Emei Daoist Sect, the strange environment and the strange faces all made her suffocate. She experienced profound fear and exclusion. And she realized that the person she longed to see again in the world was only Qin Wushuang, a stranger that she had met by chance.
The accumulated days and nights of yearning had in fact, planted the root of love. Especially for an innocent girl as Shui Ruolan, once she was moved, she would think of Qin Wushuang in all aspects, regardless of life or death as her faith.
The moment when Qin Wushuang charged into the cave, Shui Ruolan’s fire of yearning had completely lit. How could she activate the final defensive attack and kill Qin Wushuang?
Even for a stranger, with Shui Ruolan’s soft personality, most likely she would not have activated the prohibition. She could not even kill those murderers that had murdered the villagers of the Bowl Valley, not to mention others?
Of course, she could not explain this to Qin Wushuang. She did not wish to create a burden on Qin Wushuang and could only argue that it was because her teacher was being good to her.
In fact, from beginning to end, Shui Ruolan had never blended with the Emei Daoist Sect and she never wanted to. Just when she was lost in thoughts, suddenly a burst of light shot from behind her.
Ruo Ping Fairy dropped before the chaotic stone forest. Upon seeing Shui Ruolan’s dumbstruck appearance, she could not refrain from asking, “Junior Sister, what are you doing here?”
After she finished asking this question, the expression of Ruo Ping Fairy had changed all of a sudden. She walked quickly into the stone forest and shouted, “Junior Sister, you’ve opened our defenses in the north?”
Shui Ruolan did not deny this and only gave a slight nod. She did not like this Ruo Ping Fairy. Ever since the first day she had entered the Emei Daoist Sect, although this Senior Sister had treated her respectfully on the surface, in fact she would find troubles to her whenever she wanted. She just disliked her.
“You… Do you know what you’ve done? Shui Ruolan, you rely on the liking of the Chief and act however you want? You let the fruit thief go?” Ruo Ping Fairy’s expression had become somewhat distorted.
Xin Wuji hid in the dark and when he heard these words, anger emerged from his heart. For a time, he did not care about concealing himself and scuttled to appear. “What? Qin Wushuang has run away?”
Ruo Ping Fairy said angrily, “Shui Ruolan, you just wait and see how the Chief will punish you! Wuji, let’s inform the divine beast quickly and chase after Qin Wushuang! We must not let him run away!”
Xin Wuji said urgently, “What’s the point of telling the divine beast. By the time he gets the news, that guy will have run away without a trace! Fairy, I am going first!”
After he had finished, he rolled his body in the middle of the sky and disappeared into the void.
