Blood Moon Hunters - Chapter 269

“Gurgle, gurgle…”

Leng Shuangrong and Leng Yueyan talked for more than an hour by the splashing waterfall, which had seriously undone some of the knots in Yueyan’s mind.

“You’re not much of a talker, and I’m always concerned that you’d hold all your feelings inside. If you can’t get away from those emotional entanglements, they could possess you like demons.”

“I feel so ashamed to have made you worried.” Leng Yueyan apologized with her head down.

Leng Shuangrong slowly shook her head and continued, “You’re born among the mortals, so you’ll naturally be confused with their feelings. That’s a process you have to go through both as a mortal and a cultivator. No need to blame yourself for it.

“But don’t let those mortal entanglement bother you too much; sometimes you have to look on the bright side.”

“Thank you for guiding me. I won‘t allow myself to be trapped in romance. I’m waiting on his words to make the final decision about our relationship,” Leng Yueyan answered while nodding her head.

“Do you know the background story of the scenic spot ‘The Fairy Playing Zither’ on Mount Huang?” Leng Shuangrong asked.

Leng Yueyan nodded. “There is a human-shaped rock on the peak to the left of the Clouds Pavilion at the Xihai gate. And another rock laid before the former one that looks like a Chinese Zither. The human-shaped rock looks like a beauty, and the rock in front of her looks like her Phoenix Zither to be played.

“She is sitting by the zither and leaning herself down to strum the strings. It’s called ‘The Fairy Playing Zither’ because it’s said that she was a fairy from heaven who used to be a zither expert.

“The Heaven Emperor allowed her to take a trip to the mortal world, but she was so fascinated by the scenery here that she played the zither here and forgot the time. The Emperor was so pissed off and punished her by turning her into a piece of rock. She lost the privilege to go back to heaven forever.”

“That’s what those folks say. Do you know how it really happened?” Leng Shuangrong asked.

“I have no clue,” Leng Yueyan replied. She genuinely had never heard that story before.

Leng Shuangrong sighed and continued, “The one in the story was actually one of our Founder Masters. She wasn’t there for the scenery; she was there because of a man.”

“How did that happen?” Leng Yueyan opened her eyes widely, seeming quite surprised.

“I’ll explain it to you. Let me tell you her stories,” said Leng Shuangrong, trying to recall something by looking up into the sky.

Leng Yueyan immediately raised her spirits and get ready for the story. The story was a tragic one, and the young Founder Master was called Yun Zhiyi, a worldly powerhouse at that time.

Her zither skills were as exquisite as her cultivation skills. Many young talents were attracted by her but she ignored all of them. That was because she already had someone to love. The man was also a genius back then, and his name was Xiang Yixi.

The two fell in love at last. One of them played Chinese Zither, while the other knew how to play the lute. Sometimes, their Taoism concerts could even bring the withered land back to life.

The harmony of the zither and the lute was later used as a symbol of inseparable love. Unfortunately for them, the dark turmoil soon came upon the world.

Xiang Yixi led all the young talents to resist the catastrophe. He left his lute to Yun Zhiyi upon leaving, telling her that he would be back someday to play it with her again.

On the eve of the war’s end. Yu Zhiyi accidentally snapped a string of her zither while she was playing. The second morning, bad news arrived, saying that Xiang Yixi and the other 3,000 people did not survive the war.

The dark turmoil had been stopped at the cost of their lives. It was a narrow victory. Since then, Yun Zhiyi wept day after day, sitting on the peak of Mount Huang, playing the zither.

The zither sounded so dismal without the lute. All creatures on the mountain were soaked in tears. The melody went on and on, echoing through the mountains day after day.

Yun Zhiyi gave up on her cultivation and retired from her position as the Headmaster. She left the whole world behind and kept playing the zither on the mountain. A hundred years had passed, and the man never returned.

Her heavy feeling of missing him brought her sickness and haunted her until the end of her life. When she grew old, she was afraid that Xiang Yixi wouldn’t be able to recognize her aging face, so she tried her best to rejuvenate herself.

Before she died, she turned herself into a piece of rock, wishing that she could stay on the mountain forever. She wanted to wait for Xiang Yixi to come back to the peak where they once played the melody together.

That was how the beautiful scene spot came into being. Few people knew the tragic romance behind it.

“How do you feel about this story?” Leng Shuangrong asked.

“Love is the most difficult thing to read in the world. Why does God always have to be so mean to lovers?” Leng Yueyan asked, searching for something in the sky.

“Then how do you feel about the relationship between you and Ning Zhe?” Leng Shuangrong kept throwing questions at her.

Leng Yueyan turned around in order to not be looked in the eyes. She said slowly, “If he abandoned me for his purity, I’ll definitely leave him in this life and the next one; if not, we can continue our romance.”

“OK.”

Leng Yueyan smiled gently. She picked up the cup and took a sip. The slight bitterness took over her mouth, which was then replaced by a light sweetness.

Then as she put down her teacup, Leng Shuangrong asked, “What have you tasted in it?”

“You’ve always been the smartest tea maker. I’ve never tasted bitterness in your tea, but today’s tea was bitter at first and then sweet,” Leng Yueyan answered genuinely.

Leng Shuangrong put down the teacup and explained, “That’s the spiritual tea I specially cultivated. It was planted and sourced out by myself. I call it ‘Over the Winters’. It takes 50 years for it to sprout and be picked. The perfect timing is to pluck the sprouts within one day.

“If you miss that perfect day, the leaves wither. It tastes bitter at first and then sweet, no matter how good the tea maker is.”

Leng Yueyan hesitated for a while then asked, “Are you implying something? What does the name ‘Over the Winters’ mean?”

“She spent 50 years waiting for him to come back; that was 50 cold winters. Now it has been hundreds of years. I hope someday her winter could be over and her man would be back,” Leng Shuangrong said, looking into the teacup.

Leng Yueyan had fully read what she was implying. She understood what she was trying to teach her. Rumor had it that Leng Shuangrong used to be a warming woman and an easy-going beauty.

It all began when she ran into Yun Jinghong in the Palace of the Human Emperors. Their paths crossed after that. Having been together for a long time, they came to have tender feelings for each other.

Everyone around thought that the two were a perfect match, and they believed that they would make a cute couple. The first and the second inheritor from the Imperial Clan and the Sect of the Nine Heavens; people believed the two with similar backgrounds would leave a romantic story.

But at that critical moment, Yun Jinghong somehow provoked Leng Shuangrong. Ordinary people would just apologize to be forgiven, but Yun Jinghong had disappeared ever since.

Leng Shuangrong waited anxiously in the mortal world. The man had never come back. 50 years passed, and when he showed up again, he was covered in wounds.

It turned out that he was protecting the Human Race by fighting demons everywhere. Leng Shuangrong suggested that they fight together, only to be refused by him. That made her furious.

She hated him because she still cared for him. She wanted to go with him because she saw how badly he had been injured. However, Yun Jinghong loved her so much that he didn’t want to put her in danger.

On the night they met, he cast a sleeping spell on her and left her a note. Then he set off again. Just like that, he came back every 50 years.

Leng Shuangrong was left in the Sect of the Nine Heavens alone. Time flowed like churning water, and this time, it had taken him 300 years to show up again. This time, he brought another stunning genius.

He hadn’t left her ever since, maybe because he started to feel tired. He wanted to shed blood for the Human Race, but he didn’t have that much power.

He decided to stay and put an end to all the mistakes he made, and made up for what he owed to Leng Shuangrong. Through all these years, the two had always kept in touch.

The formidable Leng Shuangrong had grown out of herself. People felt that she had become a different person. Her ice melted down, and the warming woman was back.

“Master, you…” Leng Yueyan frowned in confusion.

She was more gifted then Leng Shuangrong. It was easy for her to make out the woman’s intention.

Leng Shuangrong smiled calmly and replied, “I’m trying to tell you that your relationship with Ning Zhe is like a cup of ‘Over the Winters’. It might taste bitter upon sipping, but it will get sweet soon.

“Your first life was bitter, and that lasted for 30,000 years. This is your second life, and it’s time for you to take another sip.

“Maybe it’ll still bitter be at first, but you have to taste it carefully and calmly. You’ll find the refreshing sweetness… well, I hope you could. You should cherish each other’s love because love doesn’t drop by very often.”

Her words made Leng Yueyan fall silent in contemplation. The green leaves in the cup floated and sank, and the tea water mirrored her confused face.

She had been drenched in thought for quite a long time. Leng Shuangrong had already finished her tea. She put down the cup and said, “It’s about time.”

As soon as she said that, a golden ray went across the sky and arrived here. Leng Yueyan raised her head soon after she felt the familiar spiritual strength.

She cast a spell with her hand and let the golden bird land in her hand. Within an eye blink, a wisp of spirit mind went into her mind sea. The golden bird transformed into a jade bamboo hairpin.

“Master…”

Leng Yueyan turned around to look at Leng Shuangrong. The latter had already gone miles away. She waved her hand without turning back. “We’ve finished the tea, and it’s the time for us to face it.

“You can leave first. I know enough about the thing in the Pure Land. I’ll go to Kunlun Mountain as soon as I hear the result from you. You won’t have to come back.”

“OK.”

Leng Yueyan saluted her master and rose into the air. She broke the dimension and flew directly to the place they had discussed, which was the Muni Valley.

This was a national 4A-level scenic spot. Muni Valley currently had two major landscapes: Zaga Waterfall and Erdao Lake. There were also some large depression lakes, including Mirror Lake, Swan Lake, Rhino Lake, and so on.

Under that waterfall, Leng Yueyan saw a man in white who stood with his back to her.