A max-level player in Jade Dynasty: Awakening the Innate Dao at the start.

The candlelight in the secret room was only the size of a bean.

The flame flickered inside the copper lamp, casting a dim, yellowish light that barely illuminated the area three feet in front of him.

Beyond that, it was a thick, impenetrable black, like spilled ink.

It swallowed up the corners of the walls, the beams, and even the piles of old bookshelves.

Tian Buyi stood with his back to the door, at the boundary between light and shadow.

His shadow, cast by the candlelight on the wall, stretched long and crooked, like a struggling wild beast.

The hem of the Taoist robe hung down.

He had his hands behind his back, his fingers unconsciously digging into each other until his knuckles turned white.

Zhang Xiaofan stood at the door, not going inside.

"Come in," Tian Buyi said, his voice muffled, as if it were squeezed out from underground.

Zhang Xiaofan stepped over the threshold.

The blue bricks beneath my feet were icy cold, and the chill seeped up through my shoes.

He walked to a spot three steps behind Tian Buyi, stopped, and remained silent.

Tian Buyi didn't say anything either.

The room was so quiet that only the soft crackling of the candle and the suppressed breathing of the two people could be heard.

Tian Buyi was breathing heavily, his breath rising and falling, causing the fabric on his back to tremble slightly.

A long time passed, so long that Zhang Xiaofan thought he wouldn't speak again, when Tian Buyi suddenly said:

"Xiao Fan".

"Disciple is here."

"What do you think...?"

Tian Buyi paused, then lowered his voice even further, "How have I been teaching you these past three years?"

Zhang Xiaofan was stunned for a moment.

He looked at Tian Buyi's back.

The figure appeared slightly hunched in the dim light.

Unlike the usual Dazhu Peak chief, who was always pregnant and had a loud voice,

He looks more like... a disheartened old man.

"My master taught me very well."

Zhang Xiaofan said in a steady voice,

"Without my master, I would probably still be cutting bamboo in the back mountain right now, and I wouldn't even be able to feel the Qi."

"Chop bamboo..."

Tian Buyi repeated those three words and then suddenly smiled.

That smile was bitter, like chewing a mouthful of bitter herbs.

"Yes, cutting bamboo. All the newcomers to Dazhu Peak start by cutting bamboo."

I was like that back then, as were your senior classmates, and you were too.

But……"

He turned around.

The candlelight shone on his face.

That round face usually had a stern, authoritative look on it.

But now it looks a bit loose, and the wrinkles at the corners of its eyes are deep, as if they were carved with a knife.

His eyes were bloodshot and red; I don't know if it was from staying up late or something else.

"But all I can teach you is to chop bamboo, lay the foundation, and pass on some techniques left by our predecessors."

Tian Buyi stared at Zhang Xiaofan with a very complicated expression.

"You are where you are today, reaching three levels in three months, eight levels in three years, not because I taught you so well, but because you worked hard yourself."

He took a step forward, and the candlelight deepened the shadows on his face.

"Xiao Fan, your talent is too high."

Tian Buyi's voice is a little hoarse.

"So high that I... I can't even see through it."

I don't know where your limits are, or how far you can go in the future.

I can only teach you step by step, giving you everything I know.

Is this enough?

He shook his head, answering himself:

"Not enough. Far from enough."

Zhang Xiaofan wanted to say something, but Tian Buyi raised his hand to stop him.

"Three years ago in Yuqing Palace, Cangsong snatched Jingyu away and gave you to me."

Tian Buyi continued, saying that every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"At that time, I felt that he was humiliating me, throwing me a piece of trash, waiting to see me make a fool of myself."

But now... now I understand.

He took a deep breath, his chest heaving:

"It's not him who's humiliating me, it's God who's humiliating me."

They gave me a piece of unparalleled jade, but I...

But all I'm good at is polishing ordinary stones.

That's too harsh a statement.

This made Zhang Xiaofan's heart tremble.

He looked at Tian Buyi, at the overwhelming sense of loss and frustration surging in his eyes, and suddenly he understood.

"Master," Zhang Xiaofan spoke softly, "I've heard a saying..."

"What did you say?"

"The master leads you through the door, but the practice is up to you."

Zhang Xiaofan looked at him with sincere eyes.

"Without a master to guide me through the door, I wouldn't even know which way the door faces."

In these three years, Master taught us not only techniques, but also principles, character, and…”

He paused, then said, word by word:

"It's like a father bringing a homeless child back home."

Tian Buyi's body jolted violently.

He stared at Zhang Xiaofan, his lips trembled, but he couldn't say a word.

The candlelight flickered in his eyes, reflecting a faint, glistening glimmer that vanished in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Xiaofan took two steps forward and stepped into the light.

The candlelight shone on his face, revealing a boy whose features still retained a touch of childishness, yet whose eyes held a calm composure as if he had experienced much in life.

"Master," he called again, "is there... something you want to say to your disciple?"

Tian Buyi's Adam's apple bobbed.

He turned around, walked to the stone table, and rested his hands on the edge of the table.

A thin layer of dust had accumulated on the tabletop; pressing a finger on it left several clear marks.

"My senior brother, the sect leader, came to see me today."

He spoke, his voice regaining its calm, but something seemed to be churning beneath it.

He said... he wants to find you a different master.

Zhang Xiaofan's pupils contracted slightly.

"Change masters?"

"It's not a replacement."

Tian Buyi pinched his brow and corrected himself.

"Yes... I'll be learning from others for two years for now."

The sect leader said, "Your talent is too high. He's afraid I... won't be able to teach you well and will hold you back."

When he said the words "cannot be taught well," he dug his fingers into the edge of the table, making a slight "crack" sound from his knuckles.

Zhang Xiaofan fell silent.

He watched Tian Buyi's retreating figure, which appeared particularly lonely in the candlelight.

Like a father who has worked hard to raise his son, suddenly told:

Your son is too promising; he needs to be sent to a better school. You can't teach him anymore.

suffocated.

Wronged.

There is also a deep-seated resentment.

Zhang Xiaofan can understand.

Tian Buyi had finally stood up straight because of him, but now the sect leader is sending away his most prized disciple with just one sentence.

Who would feel good about this?

But Tian Buyi still agreed.

Not only did she agree, but she also endured the frustration and came to talk to him in person.

A surge of warmth welled up in Zhang Xiaofan's heart. He walked to Tian Buyi's side and asked softly:

"Master, who is the person the Sect Leader was talking about?"

Tian Buyi shook his head: "I don't know. My senior brother didn't say, he only said it was a 'senior' in the ancestral hall."

Ancestral Master Shrine.

Zhang Xiaofan's mind went blank.

Wan Jianyi.

It really was Wan Jianyi.

Looking at Tian Buyi's forlorn profile, he suddenly had an idea.

"Master."

He spoke softly, "What if... it were Senior Uncle Wan Jianyi who would be teaching me?"

"Senior Brother Wan?"

Tian Buyi whirled around, his eyes wide, "Who did you say?!"

"Uncle-Master Wan Jianyi."

"impossible!"

Tian Buyi's voice rose, and his breathing became rapid, "Senior Brother Wan... he..." three hundred years ago...

He couldn't continue.

He stared at Zhang Xiaofan, something churning in his eyes—shock, doubt, and a barely perceptible, almost unthinkable, expectation.

Zhang Xiaofan didn't answer directly, but instead asked:

"Master, what do you think of the entire Qingyun Sect?"

Who else could earn the sincere admiration of the sect leader, who would also believe they were capable of teaching a disciple like this…prodigy?

Without a second thought, Tian Buyi replied, "Only Senior Brother Wan."

"Then what about Senior Uncle Wan now...?"

"He's dead." Tian Buyi's voice was deep. "He died three hundred years ago. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Did you really see it?" Zhang Xiaofan asked. "Did you see the body? Did you see it buried?"

Tian Buyi was stunned.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Memories flooded back like a tide—the upheaval three hundred years ago, when he was still young.

I only saw chaos from afar and heard people say, "Brother Wan is dead."

Then came the sealing off of the mountain and the silencing of dissent; all news about Wan Jianyi was suppressed.

He did not see the body.

No one has ever seen it.

"The feelings between the sect leader and Uncle Wan are quite complicated, aren't they?"

Zhang Xiaofan continued to guide him downwards.

"I both love and hate it, I both respect and fear it."

One thing is certain—he absolutely does not want to see Qingyun Sect lose a true genius.

I would rather not see someone like Uncle Wan...

It's really gone.

Tian Buyi's fingers began to tremble.

He stared at Zhang Xiaofan, his eyes growing brighter and brighter, like a spark ignited in the darkness.

"You mean..." His voice trembled, "...our sect leader...he might..."

"They may have secretly saved Master Wan and hidden him in the ancestral hall."

Zhang Xiaofan continued, "Firstly, to preserve the fighting strength of Qingyun Sect, and secondly... to save Uncle Wan's life."

Tian Buyi stopped breathing.

He stood there, motionless, as if struck by lightning.

The candlelight flickered across his face, cutting his expression into patches of light and shadow.

Shock, elation, disbelief, and a certain pent-up resentment that had been suppressed for three hundred years...

"Senior Brother Wan... is he still alive?" he murmured, his voice so soft it was as if he were afraid of waking someone from a dream.

Zhang Xiaofan didn't answer, she just looked at him.

Tian Buyi suddenly grabbed Zhang Xiaofan's shoulder, his grip as strong as an iron clamp:

"Xiao Fan! Tell your master the truth! Do you know something?!"

Zhang Xiaofan shook his head:

"This disciple is only guessing. But Master, please think about it—"

To be able to live in the ancestral hall, and to have the sect leader personally arrange it for you.

Someone that the sect leader feels is qualified to teach disciples...

Who else could it be but Master Wan?

Tian Buyi released his grip, took two steps back, and bumped his back against the stone table.

He kept his head down, his chest heaving.

The candlelight cast his shadow on the wall, and the shadow trembled like a flickering candle in the wind.

After a long while, he raised his head.

Her eyes were full of tears.

These weren't tears of sadness, but rather the kind of scalding tears that had been held back for too long and then suddenly released.

"Senior Brother Wan... is still alive..."

He repeated it again, this time his voice was steadyer, but he couldn't contain his excitement.

"He's still alive... sweeping the floor in the ancestral hall..."

He suddenly remembered his senior brother from many years ago, dressed in white, his sword gleaming coldly.

I remember his eyes, so clear and bright like stars, when he was instructing me on swordsmanship.

I recall him saying, "The sword is straight, and so must the heart."

That unwavering determination, as if it could cleave through all the fog.

For three hundred years, he thought that light had gone out.

But now...

"Xiao Fan." Tian Buyi grasped Zhang Xiao Fan's hand, holding it tightly.

"Go. Learn from him. Learn well."

Senior Brother Wan... he is the true pinnacle of swordsmanship in the Qingyun Sect for a thousand years.

Being able to follow him is your good fortune, an incredible stroke of luck!

He spoke with such passion that spittle flew from his mouth, but his eyes were full of light.

All that frustration and disappointment has vanished.

What replaced it was an almost fanatical excitement—like that of a devout believer.

He suddenly realized that the deity he worshipped was still alive and even willing to teach his son.

Zhang Xiaofan looked at him and breathed a sigh of relief.

It became.

"Master," he said softly, "aren't you sad anymore?"

"What's there to be sad about!"

Tian Buyi patted his shoulder forcefully.

"I'm happy! I'm happy for Senior Brother Wan! I'm happy for Qingyun Sect! And I'm happy for you too!"

He paused, his voice lowered, tinged with emotion:

"Sect Leader...in the end...he still can't bear to part with me."

He spoke very softly, as if talking to himself.

Zhang Xiaofan didn't respond.

He looked at the tear stains on Tian Buyi's face, and at those eyes that had regained their light.

Suddenly I realized that this is probably what it means to be a master.

They get jealous, feel frustrated, and are unwilling to accept defeat.

But when it comes to doing what's best for his apprentice, he can put aside all pride and grievances.

Simply because he is my master.

The candle crackled and popped again.

The light flickered, stretching and shortening the two shadows on the wall.

Tian Buyi wiped his face, took a deep breath, and his expression became serious again:

"Xiao Fan, you just need to know about this."

The matter of Senior Brother Wan is one of the biggest secrets of the Qingyun Sect.

You absolutely mustn't tell anyone, understand?

"Disciple understands."

"Okay." Tian Buyi nodded.

"Go to the Ancestral Temple at Chenshi tomorrow."

When you see Senior Brother Wan, please...please kowtow to me for me.

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked out.

When they reached the door, they stopped again.

He turned around, looked at Zhang Xiaofan for a long time, and then grinned.

The laugh was a little awkward—the tear stains on his face hadn't dried yet, and his eyes were red and swollen, but the laugh was genuine and hearty.

"Xiao Fan," he said.

Study hard.

Once you've finished your studies, come back and tell Master, Senior Brother Wan...

What is he like now?

Zhang Xiaofan bowed: "Yes."

Tian Buyi pushed open the door and went out.

The night wind blew in from outside, making the candlelight flicker wildly.

Zhang Xiaofan stood at the boundary between light and shadow, watching his master's figure disappear into the night.

The footsteps faded into the distance.

Then, a suppressed sob, which sounded like both crying and laughing, could be faintly heard.

It's very light.

So softly it sounded like I'd misheard.