Xu Ziqing sat down again as usual. The previous game had not been finished, so naturally he intended to wait until his senior brother returned and continue it with him.
He studied the position carefully, examining the many stones on the board. Yet for some reason, he could not calm himself. He had wanted to think through several moves in advance, but his thoughts would not settle and instead grew increasingly confused.
A game of chess was meant to be a silent conversation between close friends. What pleasure was there in sitting alone at the board? Thinking this, he dropped the stone in his hand back into its container and looked away.
After sitting awhile, countless thoughts rose in Xu Ziqing’s mind. They tangled together like loose threads, and he could find no beginning among them. He only felt an inexplicable stifling sensation and did not understand why.
He could not settle his mind to play chess. Even when he considered meditating, his thoughts remained disturbed.
Xu Ziqing cultivated the immortal Dao, which emphasized peace and harmony with nature. Since he could not concentrate now, he decided not to force himself. His senior brother had told him not to go out, but surely walking around within the courtyard would do no harm. Feeling the vastness of heaven and earth might open his heart and disperse the strange sense of oppression.
Having made up his mind, Xu Ziqing opened the door and stepped into the small courtyard.
Bright stars filled the sky. Rare flowers and trees had been planted throughout the courtyard with exquisite care, and a delicate fragrance drifted among them. Each breath carried refreshing spiritual energy, soothing both body and mind.
After circling the courtyard once, Xu Ziqing unexpectedly remembered something from ten years earlier.
Back then, he had been only a child of a branch family of the Xu clan in the Haotian Small World. Though his status was not entirely lowly, he had remained a marginal figure. He had expected to spend his life in a farming village, never dreaming that by chance he would set foot upon the immortal path.
On the first night after leaving the farm to visit the branch family, had he not also stayed in a little courtyard?
That courtyard had been peaceful, but it was nothing like the exquisite, otherworldly place surrounding him now.
The young village boy, reborn in another life, had somehow become a personal disciple of a second-rank immortal sect in a great world, with cultivation at the peak of Foundation Establishment. The distance between his past and present status was as vast as heaven and earth. How could he not feel moved?
Less than a year after that first change, he had encountered hardship and met the man he had then called “Brother Yun,” now his senior brother. Recalling this extraordinary bond and the events of all the intervening years, he fell into a momentary daze.
Suddenly his heart stirred, and he lifted his gaze.
Beyond the courtyard gate, a white-robed man approached slowly. The evening light fell upon him, but did nothing to soften his distant, icy bearing.
Without thinking, Xu Ziqing glanced to either side. No one else was there.
The man entered and saw Xu Ziqing standing beside the flowers. He asked, “Has the game reached an impasse?”
As he spoke, his eyes softened slightly, and even the aura surrounding him seemed less cold.
Xu Ziqing smiled. “I was growing restless from thinking about it inside, so I came out to wait for Senior Brother.”
Yun Lie answered with a brief “Mm” and did not stop walking.
Xu Ziqing smiled again. “Now that Senior Brother is back, will you finish the game with me?” He stepped aside to let him enter.
Yun Lie said nothing, but returned to his original seat.
Xu Ziqing’s expression was gentle. When he looked at the board again, the pattern of play suddenly seemed perfectly clear.
The strange feeling of distress that had troubled him before was so thoroughly gone that he could no longer remember what had caused it.
They spent the night discussing their moves through the placement of chess stones. Xu Ziqing’s spirits rose, and Yun Lie raised no other matters. By the time their game finally approached its conclusion, dawn was breaking.
Neither had slept, but both were cultivators whose vigor remained undiminished. Even so, today was the estate mistress’s birthday, so the two fellow disciples quickly changed into more splendid magical robes in preparation for the banquet.
Sure enough, a servant was already waiting outside when they opened the door.
Knowing that his senior brother disliked unnecessary conversation, Xu Ziqing asked, “Is there something you need?”
The servant was a spirited-looking young cultivator. His eyes brightened when he saw them, and he hurried forward. “Greetings, two seniors.” He had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, which would have made him an important figure in the mortal world, but here in the estate he held only a servant’s position. “Envoy Rui instructed this humble servant to attend upon you and take good care of you. As you did not summon me last night, I have been waiting here.”
After Rui Rou departed yesterday, she had assigned servants to each small courtyard. But Yun Lie ignored such people entirely, and Xu Ziqing had been too unsettled to notice that this young man was waiting outside all night.
Hearing this, Xu Ziqing nodded. “Very well. We don’t need you to attend us. If the estate mistress summons us, simply inform us.”
He recalled his senior brother tipping the women at the city gate and wanted to follow that example. But he had not prepared anything and felt somewhat embarrassed.
After considering it, he sent Yun Lie a spiritual-sense message. “Senior Brother, what would be a suitable tip for him?”
Yun Lie considered briefly, then raised a hand and sent a ball of green light into the cultivator’s hands.
Xu Ziqing saw that it contained a flying sword. It was not a spiritual artifact but an upper-grade magical implement. He said, “You’ve worked hard waiting for us through the night. Take this for your own use.”
The young cultivator had received important guests before, but when he was given such a fine and useful magical implement, he was overjoyed. “Thank you both for this generous gift! This humble servant will certainly serve you well and never disappoint you.”
He was astonished inwardly. Disciples of a major immortal sect really were extravagantly generous. For doing no more than his duty, he had received such an excellent treasure. It was extraordinary!
Seeing the young man accept the gift with such delight, Xu Ziqing felt relieved that he had not embarrassed his sect. He gently tugged Yun Lie’s sleeve. “Senior Brother, shall we go out for a walk?”
Yun Lie did not object and accompanied him.
The young servant naturally did not dare follow them uninvited. He stayed obediently behind to guard the courtyard gate.
Once outside, Xu Ziqing acted on an impulse and did not release Yun Lie’s sleeve, simply pulling him along. When he realized Yun Lie made no attempt to draw his sleeve back, a smile curved his lips.
His feelings toward his senior brother had once been eight parts respect and two parts closeness. Now affection outweighed reverence, although it seemed that little time had passed between those states. All the bewilderment and unease of first meeting his senior brother’s physical self had faded. That he could tug Yun Lie’s sleeve like this also meant that Yun Lie had grown closer to him and no longer reprimanded him for such behavior.
The thought made his heart feel lighter.
Several quiet paths extended beyond the small courtyard, leading out of the Guest Arrival Residence.
Since they were taking a walk, Xu Ziqing thought they might as well venture beyond the compound and admire more of Ruyi Immortal Estate.
They strolled onward and soon passed through the courtyard gate.
Outside lay a relatively secluded mountain path. Looking up, Xu Ziqing could see another courtyard not far to the right, presumably guest quarters for another party.
He wondered which sect had been assigned lodgings adjacent to the Wuling Immortal Sect.
Xu Ziqing continued walking, lost in thought.
But before they had gone even half a li, he heard voices ahead.
Curious, he looked in their direction and saw a group of men surrounding a woman as they walked elsewhere.
On closer examination, the woman had almond-shaped eyes, rosy cheeks and a graceful figure, with a seductive charm in her expression. The men beside her were tall, sturdy and strikingly masculine. What was peculiar was that every one of them was merely a Xiantian-stage martial artist, not a single immortal cultivator among them.
Perhaps Xu Ziqing had been looking for too long. The woman soon turned her head, and their eyes met.
He saw light ripple through her gaze. Her shifting expression seemed wonderfully expressive, as though she had a thousand things to tell him and unending sorrows of affection to confide. He could not help feeling compassion for her.
Just as he began to lose himself in that feeling, a chill swept through his body and pierced him to the bone. He instantly regained his senses.
Only then did he realize that he had been surrounded by icy killing aura, which had shaken him awake so quickly. Naturally, the person releasing it was his senior brother.
Xu Ziqing was shaken, and his hand hurt. Looking down, he discovered that he had been gripping and twisting Yun Lie’s sleeve fiercely. The cloth was now wrinkled and unsightly.
Embarrassed, he wanted to release the much-abused sleeve, but feared doing so would further embarrass his senior brother. For a moment he did not know what to do.
Yun Lie spoke. “This woman cultivates the Great Art of the Pure Maiden’s Bewitching Heart. She can shake a person’s soul and captivate the mind with a smile or frown. You must take greater care.”
Xu Ziqing felt ashamed. He had stared curiously at a stranger, which was discourteous, so it was no wonder she had warned him. But he had believed his Dao heart fairly steadfast, yet another person had controlled him so easily. He felt deeply embarrassed. “Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I’ll certainly be more cautious.”
Yun Lie nodded faintly. “This woman is at Golden Core. It is natural that you cannot resist her. But with a firm mind and constant vigilance, you would not have fallen prey so easily.”
Xu Ziqing was still more ashamed. “Senior Brother’s instruction is correct.”
Yun Lie spoke this way because he disciplined himself strictly and valued his junior brother highly.
In truth, that woman was a Golden Core Perfected One, while Xu Ziqing had merely glanced at her. He had neither probed her with spiritual sense nor shown any lecherous fascination. Yet she had cast such a mind-bewitching technique on him, an unmistakable case of a senior bullying a junior.
If Xu Ziqing had not behaved properly and harbored no indecent thoughts toward her, and if Yun Lie had not awakened him with killing aura in time, the consequences of her technique might have been dire. Against a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, it could at minimum have planted an inner demon that would hinder future breakthroughs. At worst, it could have implanted obsessive desires within his soul, altering his personality and trapping him in the seven emotions and six desires with no hope of escape.
Poor Xu Ziqing thought he had done something wrong and deserved his senior brother’s reprimand. He had no idea he had narrowly escaped an extremely dangerous crisis that could have severely damaged the very foundation of his cultivation.
Only after Yun Lie finished instructing him and explained the consequences did Xu Ziqing understand the danger. He became more wary of the many female cultivators of the estate.
The female cultivator, meanwhile, gave a little “Eh?” when she saw Xu Ziqing regain his senses so easily. She looked at him again with a tender, lingering gaze, even more seductive than before.
This time Xu Ziqing was prepared. He steadied his mind and resisted somewhat longer.
But Yun Lie would not allow her to continue. He merely lifted his gaze, and an invisible force shot toward her.