Despite how she presented herself, concern was clearly marked on her face. She immediately led them to the dispensary for rest.
"What happened?" Lady Yu asked Cangse Sanren seeing her weakened state.
"Yuan Yuan! I'm okay." Cangse Sanren gave her best smile.
"Night hunt? " Lady Yu asked again, composing her tone better this time.
"Lady Yu." Wei Changze bowed and contemplated whether to tell her about A-Mian or not.
"Is Sect Leader JIang alright?" Yu ziyuan asked out of impulse. She deeply cared for the man and knowing how Wei Changze was always by his side was reliving but now he wasn't.
Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren looked at each other. Maybe it was obviously written on their faces or they spent too much time together that they could each read other's thought.
"Nothing a good rest won't heal." Cangse Sanren asked her to calm down.
Yu Ziyuan sat down, giving a sigh of relief.
"What brings you here?" After the concern comes business.
"I missed Yuan Yuan so much." Cangse Sanren opened her arms to welcome the embrace which she was more than aware wasn't going to happen.
"And?" Yu Ziuan was used to her tactics.
"We need your permission to look into Toshokan." Wei Changze bowed asking for permission.
"Master Wei your situation must be dire to request such a thing." Her tone was cold this time. Yu Ziyuan might not hate them but she was more than aware of how to keep her sect save. She wouldn't even trust a fly. That might have been one of the reason why Meishan Yu Sect was powerful despite being powered by Female cultivators alone.
"I guess, Sect Leader Jiang would have to heal on his own. Let's go back Master Wei."
"..."
"I-I will ask permission from Madam Liu." Yu Ziuan said and left the room with cold feet.
It was quite the change of demeanor. Cangse Sanren was enjoying more than the situation led on to. Maybe Love could become the strongest weapon.
. . .
It was Wei Changze's turn to laugh. How could he let go of such a rare opportunity? Inside the Toshokan, the two came across a book, a treasure of sort. They were silently searching for the books on souls when Cangse Sanren pulled out a strange looking book. The art on it made her curious but her face turned beet red when she saw the content inside. Every Library has at least one of those books ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Cangse Sanren was raised on the Celestial mountain. The Daoist are taught to have no worldly desires and it included the desires of the body. If it weren't for Yaling Daoran, Cangse Sanren would have been oblivious to the concept of love. Even back then she thought love was strange, it made people attempt the unthinkable.
Under normal circumstance Wei Changze would have never shamelessly waved the erotic book to Cangse Sanren's face but how could he not take advantage now? She had been teasing and tormenting him since the beginning. He had to seize the moment.
Wei Changze flipped page by page, showing Cangse Sanren the glories of lust. With every page her face only turned red and she thought, having her soul sucked out made her powerless.
Cangse Sanren gasped when she saw something fascinating,
"Ah! I did that to you!"
What could she have done to Wei Changze? He looked into the page which was currently open and now it was his turn to turn red.
"So it's called a kiss huh!" Cangse Sanren took the book, she was avoiding seconds ago and started to skim through it.
For her it was just another remedy to deal with poison stuck in the gut but to the world it was a kiss. Just like Wei Changze heard from disciples how the woman carried him, the juicy detail of the kiss also slipped. Wei changze didn't believe that but his red face said otherwise.
Once again she had him cornered.
"A-Chen would love to know this." The moments of teasing had turned into nostalgia. She sat down on one of the desk, she took out her blade and trace the words chiseled on it. She would always give Xingcheng a peck on his chubby round cheeks with the color of peach.
"Your Shidi?" Wei Changze sat beside her. He was taken aback by the sincerity in her eyes.
"I wish you could see him, he has the prettiest eyes."
Maybe Wei Changze could believe her if he wasn't allured by those eyes.
"He was the one who named by blade." Cangse Sanren begun her journey in the memory lane.
That day was still clear as it was painful.
.
.
.
[Flashback]
"Niang told me that you are going away." The little boy ran as fast as his little feet could carry him.
"A-Chen come sit with me." Cangse Sanren patted the side of her futon, gesturing him to sit.
Xiao Xingchen's feet were as heavy as his heart but he managed to drag them to sit beside her. She pulled him over and made him sit on her lap.
"A-Chen, do you remember what Niang said?"
Xiao Xingchen nodded, and repeated what she said, word by word,
"The loneliness and being unloved is the worst poverty."
"That's right, Just like you and me, there are others who are lonely. I must go and help them." And that's what she did, never affiliating herself with any sect, while continuing her journey she had helped countless homeless children find new homes and saved common people from the spirits and ghosts.
"But you're sick."
She was indeed, having the deadliest weapon bond to her soul. Fragments of her life were slowly washing away and she had to break the bond with the Gate, for her sake and for the sake of world.
"When will you come back?" For him, she was more than a sister. How could a child live without his mother?
"A- Chen, If my path leads me back here then I would never leave you again."
"Will you not cultivate the path of Xian?"
"There's more than just the path of Xian, A- Chen. Give me your hand."
Cangse Sanren gave him the a tassel made of red threads and stone. Xiao Xingcheng gasped. Disciples aren't meant to carry anything that might evoke worldly desires. But their love for each other was already the most expensive desire to hold.
"This will serve as my memory."
It was a memento, Xiao Xingchen carried along with his Horsetail whisk.
"What about me? How will you remember me?" He had to make sure, his Shijie would remember him so she could come back to him.
Cangse Sanren chuckled, she placed a kiss on his cheek and suggested,
"How about I let you name my blade?"
Being an identity of the cultivator, a name was as much important as the blade itself.
"You think about it and let me know tomorrow okay?" Xiao Xingcheng nodded and left the room holding the red tassel with both hands.
"The loneliness and being unloved is a worst poverty.
The affiliation and being in love is the worst luxury." Cangse Sanren reminded herself.
XingChen was not familiar with the latter verse.
[Flashback ends]
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.
.
Yu Ziyuan brought their attention back to the task at hand. She had only just entered the Toshokan and sensed the gloomy atmosphere,
"I take it that you fail to look into the solution." Yu Ziyuan placed the books on souls beside them and the two looked at the pile they had to go through.
One by one they skimmed through the books, each with something distinct in their minds. There were somethings that caught their eyes and they learnt new things along the way But how could the words express what can't even be understood!
"We have to go, A-Mian will get worried." Wei Changze looked at the sun, closing the distance between horizon.
"I will come along." Yu Ziyuan said, placing the books back into their spot.
"Aww Yuan Yuan you're that worried about me." Cangse Sanren placed her arm around her and the other just rolled her eyes.
They mounted their blades and hit the road to Yunmeng. They were not even half way through when Cangse Sanren's blade begun to falter. Wei Changze gestured the two maidens to land.
"What happened?" For strong cultivators like Yu ziyuan, journey to Yunmeng was like a mere walk in the park. She couldn't understand the reason of sudden stop.
"The land appears to be too quiet, I must check the premises."
He could have made a better excuse, Cangse Sanren chuckled to herself. But she did need the break. Her Core was already drained back in the Tanzou Garden and her holed soul didn't help her recover fast. She sat under the tree and traced the words on her blade.
It was so hard for Xingchen to come with a name while making sure that his Shijie wouldn't forget him but he ended up with the words that expressed his feelings. 'Love You' 爱你.
. . .
Cangse Sanren didn't realized that she fell asleep under the tree and when she opened her eyes, she was already in Lotus Pier inside the cozy room. She got up and meditated to regulate the flow of her core. How much longer could she pull it off?
Long before there was a knock on the door and Yu Ziyuan entered along with few disciples. Cangse Sanren gave her wide smile to which Yu Ziyuan only rolled her eyes.
"You should have said that you were not feeling well. Master Wei had to carry you all the way."
"Ah!" Cangse Sanren gave an awkward laugh.
"Come and eat with us in the main pavilion." Yu Ziyuan pulled her up but Cangse Sanren couldn't get up and fell the moment she stood up. It took Yu Ziyuan some time to process the situation. She bent down to grab her and stabilized her,
" Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I'm fine." Cangse Sanren got up and the two went to the main Pavilion where Jiang Fengmian and Wei Changze were waiting.
Jiang Fengmian carefully examined her, checking her injuries but after confirming that she was alright, he lowered his gaze while Wei Changze didn't even look up.
"As expected of Sect Leader Jiang, you seem to be doing fine." Cangse Sanren had to thank him for his help. If he hadn't had a overprotective subordinate like Wei Changze, the two of them would have been dead.
They silently ate the meal would be a lie. Cangse Sanren kept teasing Yu Ziyuan, secretly hinting at her crush along with passing remarks on Wei Changze whenever he tried to speak.
It was noisy but it felt warm!
. . .
"Sect Leader Jiang, what seems to be the matter?" Cangse Sanren had the privilege to stay in the Lotus Pier until - according to Wei Changze - she recovered. She was practicing her swordsmen ship with Wei Changze when the disciple told them that Sect Leader Jiang was not feeling well. They rushed to his side in an instant. They found him staring into the distance with a letter in his hand.
Wei Changze took the letter from his hand and read it. It was from Sect Leader Lan. It wasn't too long but there was one line that stuck out
I conjoined the woman I love, yet I found myself in a maze.
Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren looked at each other. Wasn't it a good thing that Qinghen Jun got married how come, Jiang Fengmian looked so lost?
"A- Mian what happened?" Wei Changze sat beside him and held his (JFM) hand to show his support.
"Sect Leader Lan is in seclusion now."
Wasn't that a given though? The news spread around that Qinghen Jun lost his beloved Laoshi the same day he married Madam Lan. The cultivators focused on pitying him rather than questioning how his Laoshi died. But that itself turned out to be a blessing in disguise. If the world had known that Qingheng Jun wed the woman just to protect her from being punished. how the Lan name would be tarnished considering she was the one who really killed his Laoshi.
But the question was, why?
Jiang Fengmian looked at Cangse Sanren with eyes filled with indescribable emotions. Cangse Sanren almost hitched her breath.
"A-Mian, why don't we stride along the lotus lake?" Wei Changze pulled him up before even listening his reply. Cangse Sanren stayed behind knowing that it wasn't her place to comfort.
. . .
The beautiful thing about Lotus was that it grew out of mud. It reminded Wei Changze about himself. He was still young when he was recruited as one of the disciples at Yunmeng. He trained hard to be where he was and it wouldn't have been possible if he had decided to just curse his luck and mourn his almost extinct sect. His family encouraged him to work hard and stand with pride but the front liners are always stabbed. Yunmeng Sect was unlike other, they treated their disciples like a family than servants. He got a new family only to lose his original one.
The time doesn't heal people, it kills them.
"A- Chang, what do you think about Lady Sanren?"
Jiang Fengmian and Wei Changze decided to walk along the bank of the lake but somehow ended up rowing into the pond. Their boat was in the middle of the thousands of Lotus Flowers. It was enthralling, it was enticing and it was healing.
( Red Lotus Lake in Thailand © to the owner)
"Why do you ask? "
"I want to know your opinion. Do you think we can trust her?"
They were too far gone to be thinking about trust now. But if Jiang Fengmian was in place of Qingheng Jun, would he have also done the same? Would he have protected Cangse Sanren if she killed someone dear to him, someone like Wei Changze? Jiang Fengmian had been thinking aimlessly looking for a better explanation than just ' Love' and he couldn't imagine his life without Sanren or even without Changze. The thought itself hurt him deeply.
"A-Mian, If you really love her, you should tell her. Leave rest to fate."
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Sorry for Errors and thank you for reading.
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