Zhu Xian: They've all been reborn

……

"Linglong, my dear," Jiang Xiaochuan said, feeling much more relaxed after finishing the last bite of his rice, and he became more talkative.

"You're running this little shop in Heyang City all by yourself, with... uh, with Nianchuan. Isn't it tough? Haven't you thought about finding... a companion?"

He regretted asking the question as soon as he did; it was too abrupt.

But looking at Linglong's extraordinary face, he couldn't help but feel curious.

How could a woman like this raise a mentally challenged younger brother (?) to make a living in the secular world all by herself?

Linglong was clearing the dishes when she heard this. She paused, looked up at him, and a faint smile flashed in her starry eyes, along with something else that Jiang Xiaochuan couldn't understand.

"Companion?" she repeated softly, her tone revealing nothing.

"Let it be."

Some things cannot be forced.

It's nice to be alone and have some peace and quiet.

Although Nianchuan is simple-minded, he is very obedient and can help me with some chores.

Life went on like this.

She neatly stacked the bowls and chopsticks, walked to the window, and watched the occasional pedestrians passing by in the alley. "Heyang City is very nice, lively, and full of life. It's much better than where I used to live..."

"Where did you used to live?" Jiang Xiaochuan asked curiously.

"Yes, in the mountains. It's far away, very quiet, and there aren't many people." Linglong's voice was a little ethereal, as if she were recalling something.

"I've been staying here too long, so I wanted to come out and see the world. To see people, to see fireworks."

"Then...your family?"

"At home..." Linglong paused for a moment, her profile appearing somewhat hazy in the light and shadow.

"There aren't many people left. Just me and Nianchuan."

Jiang Xiaochuan felt a pang of sympathy, a sense of shared suffering rising within him.

He was an orphan too. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"It's alright." Linglong turned around and smiled at him, a smile that was clear, yet seemed to be veiled by a layer of mist.

"That's all in the past. Things are fine now. Occasionally, friends like you, young master, come to chat and have a meal with me, and I have something to look forward to."

friend.

Jiang Xiaochuan silently recited this word in his heart, feeling a little warm, yet also a little wistful.

He looked at Linglong. She stood by the window, the sunlight outlining her graceful profile. She was as beautiful as a painting, yet he always felt that the person in this painting might be blown away by the wind at any moment and return to her "far away and quiet" mountain.

"I'll come often from now on," he blurted out, "as long as Miss Linglong doesn't find me bothersome."

Linglong looked at him, her eyes sparkling, and her smile became more genuine: "I couldn't ask for more. You can come anytime, young master. There will always be something for you, even if it's just simple tea and rice."

After sitting for a while and drinking a cup of tea, it was getting late. Jiang Xiaochuan got up to say goodbye.

Linglong saw him to the door.

"Be careful on the road," she whispered.

"Yes. Miss Linglong, you should rest early too." Jiang Xiaochuan nodded, took a few steps, then couldn't help but turn back. Linglong was still standing at the shop entrance, her pale figure like a quiet lamp in the deepening twilight. Seeing him turn back, she nodded slightly.

Jiang Xiaochuan's heart stirred again, and he quickly turned around and strode out of the alley.

The inexplicable unease only subsided when he merged into the flow of people on the main street. He shook his head and flew back to the mountain on his sword.

……

By the time we returned to Dazhu Peak, it was already dark.

The Shoujing Hall was brightly lit, and the faint sounds of Tian Buyi's loud voice, Su Ru's gentle persuasion, and Tian Ling'er's defiant retort could be heard.

Jiang Xiaochuan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that his master, mistress, and senior sister Ling'er were "exchanging feelings" and had no time to pay attention to him.

He tiptoed back to his cabin.

Pushing open the slightly ajar door, I found the room dark, with only a sliver of daylight filtering in from the window, barely enough to make out the outlines of anything.

He closed the door behind him, about to breathe a sigh of relief, when his body suddenly froze.

There are people inside.

A familiar, refreshing plum blossom fragrance quietly permeated the darkness.

In the dim light, he saw a figure sitting quietly by the bed, back straight and motionless. The moon-white Taoist robe gleamed coldly in the gloom. It was Lu Xueqi.

She didn't speak or move; she just sat there, as if she had been sitting there for a long time.

Jiang Xiaochuan could even feel her gaze fixed on him, heavy as if pressing down on something.

He felt a sudden panic and instinctively tried to back out, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground.

Strange, why would I feel guilty?

I didn't do anything bad!

I just went down the mountain for a meal and to clear my head...

But looking at Lu Xueqi's silent figure, he felt inexplicably weak, and his palms started to sweat.

"Xue... Xueqi?" he stammered, his voice sounding particularly abrupt in the quiet room. "What are you doing here? Waiting... waiting for me?"

Lu Xueqi remained motionless.

After a long while, just when Jiang Xiaochuan thought she wouldn't answer or had entered a meditative state, she slowly and very softly spoke, her voice low and carrying a suppressed hoarseness that Jiang Xiaochuan had never heard before:

"where have you been?"

Jiang Xiaochuan's nerves were on edge.

"I...I went down the mountain to Heyang City to buy some things, and also...had a nice treat."

"Just having a treat," Lu Xueqi repeated, her tone flat and emotionless. "With whom?"

"Just... just me." Jiang Xiaochuan said, then immediately regretted it.

He didn't know why he had to hide the fact that he had gone to Linglong's place for dinner, but the words were already out and he couldn't take them back.

Lu Xueqi fell silent again.

The room was so quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat, thump, thump, growing louder and louder.

He saw her hands resting on her knees, her fingers slightly curled, the tips gleaming a cold white in the dim light.

"Jiang Xiaochuan." She suddenly called his name, not "Xiaochuan," but his full name.

The voice was still very soft, but it was like ice beads, hitting Jiang Xiaochuan's heart one by one.

"Hmm?" Jiang Xiaochuan's throat went dry.

Lu Xueqi finally moved.

She slowly stood up and walked towards him step by step.

The room was dark, and her face was not clearly visible, except for her eyes, which shone brightly in the dim light, like two clusters of cold flames burning.

As she approached, Jiang Xiaochuan noticed that her eyes... seemed to be red?

Although it was very faint, the red mark stood out starkly against her usually fair skin.

She walked up to him, stopped, and got very close.

He was so close that he could clearly smell the stronger plum blossom scent on her than usual, and a faint, almost imperceptible dampness.

It looked like...he had been crying?

This thought made Jiang Xiaochuan's heart clench.

Lu Xueqi...cried?

How is that possible?

"Heyang City," Lu Xueqi looked at him, her voice low and hoarse as she spoke each word clearly, "'Homecoming' Restaurant. That masked woman. It's her, isn't it?"

Jiang Xiaochuan's mind went blank for a moment, and he opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound.

She found out? How did she find out?

Was she following him? Or...?

"I..." He wanted to explain, to say that it was just a chance encounter, a meal, a chat, nothing more.

But looking at Lu Xueqi's red eyes and the unfathomable coldness in them, as if suppressing a raging storm, all the words stuck in his throat.

Looking at his flustered and evasive eyes, and at his slightly pale face due to his guilt, Lu Xueqi felt the pent-up frustration and bitterness in her chest that had been building up all afternoon, making her feel like she was about to explode, surge to its peak.

She recalled that in her past life, hundreds of years ago, he only had eyes for her and in his heart.

Although he's clumsy, cowardly, and occasionally soft-hearted for other women, he always ends up back by her side, hugging her waist, nuzzling her neck, and coaxing her in a low voice, saying, "Xueqi, I like you the most."

But what about this life?

He avoided her, feared her, and lied to her for other women.

The way that woman named Linglong looked at him was all too familiar to her; it was the aura of a kindred spirit, the unwavering determination to possess him.

A powerful, almost maddening impulse was tearing at her nerves.

Just like countless times in my past lives, in the most direct and primitive way.

Make him see only her, make him tremble, make him beg for mercy, make him forget all other women, make him completely and utterly belong only to her, Lu Xueqi!

The thought was so overwhelming, so real, that it instantly tensed her muscles, chilled her fingertips, and made her almost unable to resist raising her hand to touch him, to grab him.

Jiang Xiaochuan was so frightened by the sudden, almost ferocious possessiveness and the bone-chilling coldness that erupted in her eyes that he took a half step back, his back hitting the cold door panel.

Just as he thought Lu Xueqi was about to do something, she suddenly closed her eyes, her chest heaving violently.

When I opened my eyes again, the storm in them seemed to have been forcibly suppressed, leaving only a deep, weary coldness and that glaring red.

She looked at him for a long time, so long that Jiang Xiaochuan felt time had frozen.

Then, without saying anything, she simply shook her head very lightly and very slowly.

There was disappointment, pain, and a kind of weariness that Jiang Xiaochuan couldn't understand, a weariness that was almost desperate.

She stopped looking at him, turned around, walked past him, opened the door, and went out.

The moon-white figure blended into the night outside and quickly disappeared.

There were no questions, no arguments, not even a single harsh word.

But Jiang Xiaochuan felt that it was even more unbearable than being beaten or scolded by her.

It felt like a piece of my heart had been hollowed out, and a cold wind was blowing in.

He leaned against the door, slowly slid down to the ground, hugged his knees, and buried his face in them.

Inside the room, only the lingering fragrance of plum blossoms remained, along with an overwhelming silence.