At dusk the next day, Xu Qiao took Jinshui to a small lake, still in the Baiyu Shan area. The light mist seemed to fade. Jinshui found a boat on the shore of the lake, and Xu Qiao led him there. The boat was decorated with fresh flowers, a few swans swimming around the lake. A beautiful place, with enchanting scenery around and cool weather. It should be a perfect place for a romantic date.
They had spent the last night together. Thanks to Shuqin's pure energy, Xu Qiao was able to show Jinshui that she was feeling better. Even though Jinshui didn't fully believe that she had recovered, he also didn't want anything to disturb their happiness, so he didn't ask too many questions to her regarding her condition.
Xu Qiao was wearing the embroidered white silk dress that Shuqin had given her, she put some powder on her face so that even Jinshui couldn't see her pale face.
There was a harp on the boat. Xu Qiao wasn't as good as Hanxue or Yunian in playing musical instrument, but she was Xu Chenghai's daughter, and during that time a girl from notable families were taught to play musical instruments. She played the harp for Jinshui.
"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao said to him softly, "Shuqin Guniang prepared all of this for us. How about for a while you don't think about anything, don't ask anything, be with me enjoying the view here while listening to music. We've come a long way to get here, we do deserve a little sightseeing."
Jinshui could only nod his head. The boat began to move on its own to the middle of the lake, following the flow of the water, really similar to the boat the two of them used when heading to Wuling City a few days ago.
Xu Qiao only played the harp for a while, then stood up and pulled Jinshui to her side. The boat also provided several types of snacks and wine, truly a complete excursion. Xu Qiao's face was filled with smiles, but Jinshui felt more and more that she wasn't his real Xu Qiao.
"Jinshui Gege, do you remember, the first time we met you treated me to drink buzui jiu, the wine that would not make anyone drunk, then we met the second time at a shop called buzui liao," Xu Qiao said again. "We're already together, if we can have another cup of buzui jiu, isn't it great?"
"Qiao-er, we're already together," Jinshui repeated her words gently, "Today I will take you to meet Wu Furen, you can't refuse anymore."
Xu Qiao stopped pouring the wine. Shuqin had told her many ways to enjoy this last day, not to mention any events or words that would hint at their future. Today's meeting had her in control and Jinshui just had to come along. But the request just now had shaken her heart a little as well. She knew Jinshui was sincere with her.
"We should enjoy this afternoon for now," she replied silently.
The boat was already in the middle of the lake. In her heart, Xu Qiao really wanted to be by Jinshui's side, in her last days and until the last moment. She really didn't want to say goodbye.
But she knew she had to part ways and spend the rest of her time without Jinshui. If she died in front of him, she knew he would not live well after, and possibly would prefer to die with her. If she left without saying goodbye, Jinshui would do everything to find her back.
Xu Qiao slightly thought about asking Han Budian to be the one to take her away from Jinshui. But Jinshui was the new Yumen leader now, and he might turn into a dangerous person if she openly betrayed him.
Her only option was to say a proper goodbye, without revealing any unnecessary details, and left Jinshui in misery and query condition. He might be angry and curious, but he would respect her decision, eventually.
"I miss Huofeng Lou," she muttered.
"We're getting married soon," Jinshui's words covered her voice. He could feel that Xu Qiao was going to leave him. He didn't want to know the reasons because he didn't want separation. "We have arrived here in Baiyu Shan, although we still have a long way to go, we are where we should be, and we will spend the rest of our lives here. I will have Wu Furen arrange our marriage. Qiao-er, if you don't want to become the next jiaozhu furen, you can still stay by my side, I will do whatever arrangements you like."
"Jinshui Gege, I..." Xu Qiao knew she couldn't. She really wished she could become Jinshui's wife, but she knew she wouldn't have enough time to give him happiness. She will soon begin to weaken again, feeling pain every moment, and unable to begin a new stage of human life.
"What is it with you?" Jinshui asked subtly.
"Jinshui Gege, didn't you once tell me, if one day I can't adjust to your position as Yumen leader, then I can leave you at any time," Xu Qiao said. "These words, are still valid?"
"What are you saying?" Jinshui of course still remembered his own promise. He had made this promise at Anning He Gu when for the first time Xu Qiao noticed that Jinshui had begun to assume the role of the next generation of Yumen leader. At that time Jinshui said that Xu Qiao still had a choice, if she couldn't adjust to the Yumen customs and wanted to return to being a simple Miss Xu, then she could leave him at any time.
But later when at Wansui Gu, during Jinshui's desperation for hearing the truth about his parents, he had asked Xu Qiao to pretend that the promise never existed.
"You have arrived here in Baiyu Shan, and completed the initial part of the mission of Yumen descendants, I congratulate you," Xu Qiao looked up at Jinshui and continued. She struggled to maintain the calm expression on her face. "You still have a long journey ahead of you, I think I may not accompany you anymore."
"What do you mean you may not accompany me anymore?" Jinshui asked in shock. "What is it with you? Haven't you also decided to be with me forever?"
"I once asked you to leave Yumen, but I knew that even if you could leave everything and live with me in Huofeng Lou, you wouldn't be happy," Xu Qiao said. "You belong to Yumen, I can't get in your way. We've arrived here, you've helped me avenge the death of my parents, I've also paid my debt of gratitude."
"Qiao-er," Jinshui started to feel dizzy.
Xu Qiao held his hands for a moment. "Hua Jiaozhu," she forced a smile, "we are in two different worlds. At this point, I can understand more what your Yumen Jiao is really like. I can't... won't be able to fit in with them. You are their leader... I moreover will not be able to adjust to you."
Jinshui fell silent and he was unable to give an answer. He really felt everything was spinning. Two different worlds were very precise words. From the beginning, both of them were in two different worlds, trying to be together, somehow one must give in to the other completely.
"I'm sorry," Xu Qiao continued, "I tried to enter your world, but I couldn't. You need someone who can support you, and I'm not one of them. I... I want to return to Huofeng Lou."
She let go of Jinshui's hand. The boat had returned to the shore of the lake. Xu Qiao stepped slowly, paused for a moment, closed her eyes to suppress her own feelings, tried not to look back or turn around, then ran away leaving Jinshui in a daze, alone.
--
Jinshui stepped onto the highest cliff. He didn't know what had brought him there. He walked in a daze, only knowing that his current self didn't want to meet anyone.
Xu Qiao's heart was broken when she had to choose to leave him rather than die slowly in front of him, while Jinshui's heart was empty because Xu Qiao declared that she couldn't adjust to him. Everything felt unreal.
Huang Yu had been following him secretly since Jinshui was with Xu Qiao on the boat on the small lake, constantly keeping an eye on him. Baiyu Shan was in a series of mountains; the ravines and valleys there were much steeper and deeper than those in Wansui Gu. Huang Yu knew Jinshui and was worried that Jinshui would act foolishly after hearing Xu Qiao's parting words, so he came after him, and a chess piece secret weapon was prepared in his hand.
Seeing that Jinshui was walking to the edge of the cliff, Huang Yu shot his secret weapon, aiming at the blood point on Jinshui's leg to take him down. One chess piece managed to hit the san yin jiao blood path in Jinshui's leg, the other two missed the intended targets.
Huang Yu was taken aback. He had learned the art of releasing this secret weapon from his mother before he learned from his master Chailang, then deepened it. His current ability can be said to be difficult to match, so far no one has been able to avoid or break it.
"I knew you must have followed me," Jinshui shouted without turning his head to find who threw the chess piece at him. "Were you the one who ask Qiao-er to leave me? Why?"
Huang Yu stepped closer. Jinshui was already on the edge of the cliff. It was clear that the knock on the san yin jiao had no effect on him. Huang Yu was extremely anxious. Of course, he didn't want the primary descendant of Yumen to commit suicide by jumping into the abyss just because of a broken heart, but Jinshui probably wouldn't hesitate to do that.
"I did ask her," he did not want to tell the truth. The most important thing was to keep Jinshui away from the cliff first. "You have denied the existence of a shengnu for her sake, which means refusing to master wuqing xue to its highest level and become the true leader of Yumen. Then I threatened her, if she doesn't leave you, then...."
Jinshui laughed desperately. "No one can threaten Qiao-er," he said, "she has openly followed us all the way here, not afraid of being tarnished by all kinds of rumors, how could it be because of a threat from you that she could turn out like that? I'm sure she knows enough too, if you've threatened her, she can simply report it to me, and I'll take care of you easily. Qiao-er has no family to worry about, in this world, there is only one stepmother she doesn't like. The only way to threaten her is to stick a knife to my neck. Of course, you don't have that much ability."
Huang Yu did not answer. That's right, Xu Qiao wasn't afraid of anything unless someone threatened Jinshui in front of her. This threatening reason was not enough. Jinshui would not believe a word of it.
"Unless she really wants to leave me," Jinshui's voice trembled. "She has her reasons, I don't know what they are, but the intention to leave is her own decision. Her own decision."
"That's right, she does have her reasons, but... believe me, she doesn't want to leave either. She.... Jinshui!"
Jinshui shot towards the abyss before Huang Yu went any further. His qinggong skills were extraordinary, his newly recovered legs did not prevent him from reaching the top of the cliff across there. Huang Yu was unable to catch up with him.
Just in a moment, Jinshui had vanished into the fog. His body didn't crash down there, but he ran, jumped from one cliff to another, ran, and kept away. All the inner energy he had was exerted on his feet, holding him back from falling even though he wanted to fall and crash into the bottom of the cliff.
He ran and shot until he found a fast-flowing river. Without a second thought, he threw himself into the water. Jinshui was of course not unable to swim, but for a few moments, he let his body be carried away. Letting the water wash over his head, letting the cold calm his brain, and he was carried away by the current.
The mountain ranges are endless. The scenery around looked really amazing. Cliffs and ravines were connected to each other, one might say that there was no path that humans can walk on. Several animals could be heard screaming in response, not afraid of the presence of humans they had never seen before. Jinshui thought, in a place like this, at worst he would meet another flesh-eating madman like Ma Yaolun.
He let the current of the river carry him down to a lower, shallower place. It started to snow, and Jinshui's body started shivering. His brain stayed conscious. Even though he didn't care anymore if he died, deep in his little heart there was still a little feeling that he was not willing to die because of a broken heart. So he slowly swam out of the river, laid down on the rocks, and let the coldness of the snow sink into the hollows of his bones.
He exerted his inner energy, warming himself after a while. Then slowly he fell asleep in the white blanket of frost.
When he woke up again, he was still alone by the river. The snow had stopped, and the sky was dark. He had been running for hours and let the stream carry him here, now another day had passed. He was still quite conscious, knowing that Huang Yu and the others must be worried about him and would do everything in their power to find him.
But he didn't want to be found yet. Xu Qiao left him, making it clear that she could no longer accompany him. Remembering her words, Jinshui felt his chest tighten uncontrollably. Fresh blood came out of his mouth. The pain was hurting his pure energy core and it felt unbearable. He crawled towards the river, soaking himself in the water again until the cold pierced through his bones.
He allowed himself to be in the freezing water for a long time and even ignored his empty stomach. When the coldness froze his brain again, at least he was no longer thinking about Xu Qiao. Soaking in the water was better than pondering on land, so he kept himself that way for the next three days. He didn't eat anything, just drank water occasionally and let himself freeze. When he was no longer able to withstand the cold, he used his internal energy to restore his condition, and so on.
On the fourth day, he didn't soak in the river anymore. He collected some wood and created a fireplace, and then caught two fish and grilled them. The two fish were apparently not enough to fill his stomach which had been left empty for three days. He caught more and roasted them again. The smell of grilled fish filled the area around the riverbank.
Jinshui had just finished his third portion of fish when he heard a clink like a moving chains. Oh no, he thought, even in this hidden and inaccessible valley there was another human. He still didn't want to meet anyone, so he quickly jumped toward a big tree and hid behind it.
Not long after, a human figure emerged from the forest, followed by a group of monkeys behind him. Jinshui stayed still up behind the tree, watching the human and group of monkeys take over the fish he had just caught. The human took a half-cooked fish, sniffed it a few times, then ate it greedily. The group of monkeys behind him watched by jumping, screaming, and clapping.
The human appeared to be an old man, possibly seven or eighty years old because his hair was all gray. He walked on his two legs, but half bent like the herd of monkeys. His attire was that of a crude farmer, still intact even though it was torn in some parts. He was still wearing footwear, although only from tree roots that were tied soberly.
Jinshui observed the old man. He could tell that the old man was not a madman even though he lived in a deep forest surrounded by a group of monkeys. The strangest thing was the chains that shackled the old man's hands and feet, making him unable to move or run freely, but still capable enough to survive on his own.
The old man finished his fish, then grabbed an uncooked fish. He skewered the fish right down the middle with a wooden stick, then grilled it over the still-burning fireplace. Obviously, he still knew enough how to cook food, was sane enough, and was still a normal human being.
One of the monkeys approached the fireplace, wanting to imitate grilling fish in the same way. But he apparently couldn't stab a fish right down the middle with a non-pointed stick, then grilled it with his bare hands. The old man snorted once at it, warning it, but the monkey remained stubborn. It put the hand holding the fish on the fire. The result, of course, was the fur that burned first.
The monkey screamed in surprise and immediately threw the fish in its hand, then ran in fear. Its friends followed it, running into the woods screaming boisterously. In an instant, all that was left there was only the old man who didn't seem to want to bother, still casually grilling fish and then eating it greedily.
Jinshui was sure that this old man was harmless. He came out from behind the tree and approached him. He couldn't see the old man's face because it was partly covered by untidy hair, but this kind of figure somehow seemed familiar to him.
"Are you still hungry?" he asked slowly. "Do I need to catch a few more fish for you?"
The old man did not answer and continued to be engrossed in his food. Jinshui saw that this old man was emaciated and looked still hungry, so he then exerted his wuqing xue inner energy, shot toward the river, and did several flips in a beautiful style. He caught two big fish at once, then threw them in front of the old man. Two other fish came after.
This show apparently attracted the attention of the old man. He suddenly stood up and shot toward Jinshui. Not wanting to attack, but participating in catching fish in the same way. But fish were very slippery and catching them was no easy feat, he was evidently not as proficient as Jinshui at this. Several fish escaped from his hands, he also looked unhappy and splashed water everywhere.
"It's not fun, it's not cool!" he exclaimed.
Jinshui gasped in surprise. This voice seemed familiar to him. He stopped fishing and approached the old man who was sitting on the bank of the river crying like a child. He tried to recognize the face of the old man. One possibility flashed in his mind. Was it possible that the old man was that person?
"If you want to eat, let me catch the fish for you, and you may help me grill it, what do you think?" he asked the old man.
"All right," the old man suddenly stopped crying, then stood up and returned to the fireplace. He picked up the fish that had been floundering on the bank of the river, then stabbed them with a stick and arranged them over the fire.
Jinshui followed the old man, then sat across from him and pretended to watch him cleaning and grilling fish, silently trying to recognize his face.
"This fish is very fat, must taste good," he said, trying to get the old man to speak again. But this time the old man didn't make a sound. He flipped the fish he was pointing to, then took another stick and covered it with the hot ashes of the fire. Jinshui studied him.
"Those flock of monkeys, are they your friends?" he provoked another question.
The old man did not answer, his attention was focused only on the fish in the fireplace.
"Are you alone here?" asked Jinshui again.
"It's cooked well," said the old man suddenly. He took the fish that Jinshui had pointed at, then handed it to him. He smiled, looking at Jinshui like a child sharing food with a good friend. "For you."
"For me?" asked Jinshui.
"For you, for helping me catch fish. You know what, I've been eating only fruit and dead rabbits for months."
This one long sentence was more than enough for Jinshui to recognize him. This old man was indeed Liangtian Jian Shen Zhang Zheliang, the man known as the Sword God more than thirteen years ago, and the one who killed his father.