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Chapter 63 Blasphemy
The only one he considered as a…… partner?
Shen Shu clenched his palm.
Could it be that as Ye Yunlan’s disciple, being with the other in Sky Sect for so many years, he was still not regarded as a partner by the other party?
He was not reconciled and wanted to ask questions. However, he suppressed them.
It was different.
There was a voice in his heart that told him coldly.
Disciples and partners were clearly different.
He looked at Ye Yunlan sitting at the table, his expression calm and distant. Even if he turned his head, his eyes didn’t really look at him but fell into empty space. It was as if he looked at places beyond his reach, vaguely revealing some memories and longings.
It was not him who made Ye Yunlan show such an expression.
He heard Ye Yunlan’s voice.
“… I met him at the end of my life.”
“He was very strong and in a high position. He wielded the power to control life and death, temperament unpredictable. Everyone was afraid of him.” Ye Yunlan paused, “It’s just that when he was in front of me, he was tolerant. When he was occasionally irritated and playful, he was like a child.”
“He taught me many things.”
“Without him, there would be no me today.”
“He once thought of marrying me. At first, I didn’t answer him.” Ye Yunlan looked down at the tea leaves floating in his teacup. The tea reflected his pale face, “Later, he died to protect me.”
“Those things, it’s been a long time.”
“But I haven’t forgotten it.”
Ye Yunlan’s voice had always been flat. After saying that, he sipped from the teacup, but Shen Shu seemed to have gotten a glimpse of something quietly hidden. Something so intense, but his words appeared indifferent.
Shen Shu heard his hoarse voice.
“That’s why Master said that he would never find a dao companion in this life? Is it because of this reason?”
Ye Yunlan answered quietly, “Yes.”
Shen Shu: “Disciple…understands.”
He suddenly felt that the cabin was smothering him. He got up and said to Ye Yunlan, “Master, I want to go for a walk.”
Ye Yunlan nodded and did not look at Shen Shu anymore. He seemed to feel a little tired and raised his hand to remove his hair crown. Then, he took off his outer robe and went to rest on the bed.
Shen Shu carefully closed the door for him.
Only when Ye Yunlan could not be seen in the door crack did Shen Shu put his hands on the door. He slowly lowered his head and his face sunk into the shadows.
His chest was impatient and depressed, and the wound in his soul still ached. Whenever he couldn’t control his emotions, an undercurrent would gush out of him.
He heard the sound of ghosts screaming. There were some shimmering shards inside. But whenever he wanted to see clearly, he would have a headache.
In heaven and earth, there seemed to be something preventing him from snooping.
Shen Shu hit the wall next to him.
…
The flying boat traveled for three days and stopped at Sky Sect’s Wendao slope.
The Six Peaks’ disciples swarmed out and returned to their own caves.
Yanhui Peak.
In front of the door, the wind chime made a crisp sound as Ye Yunlan pushed the door open and entered.
After one month of not being there, the bamboo building was still bright and clean. When he stepped in, all the outside frost disappeared, and he only felt the warm spring.
Around this bamboo building, Shen Shu had arranged all the formations that removed dust and kept it warm. Even if no one lived here, the formation would still operate as usual.
He looked around, then stepped into the study. He closed his eyes before he sat down and started to write with a pen and paper.
Shen Shu did not follow him into the house but took care of the flowerbed outside the house. He removed the weeds, loosened the soil, and fertilized things as usual.
Finished with everything, he looked up. Daylight shone, it was already noon.
Shen Shu got up to make a meal and brought it into the house. He arranged it neatly and heard Ye Yunlan’s voice come from the study.
“Shen Shu, come here.”
He glanced at the exquisite food on the table, raised his fingertips, and quickly carved a heat preservation spell on the table before entering the study.
Ye Yunlan pushed the letter in front of him.
“Please read carefully. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me.”
Shen Shu nodded. He picked up the paper to read, finding it to be a thick stack. On it were tricks and experiences to break through the Nascent Soul realm, all recorded in detail. The ink on it had not even dried yet. It was clear that Ye Yunlan spent the entire morning writing all this.
Shen Shu’s heart was slightly moved, but then he remembered that Ye Yunlan was no more than a Golden Core when he injured his cultivation base three years ago. Where did these experiences, insights, tricks, and methods come from?
He thought of the person from Ye Yunlan’s mouth who he had never forgotten and who had taught him so much. His face turned dark. —
—Furthermore, Ye Yunlan gave him this as soon as he came back. Was this not Ye Yunlan urging him to go into closed doors training and break through to Nascent Soul?
Shen Shu flipped through the stack of papers. He looked at the neat and beautiful writing. The more he looked, the more annoyed he became. He suddenly folded it and said.
“The content here is too profound, I may not be able to finish reading it for a while. How about Master give Disciple a day. And after Disciple finishes studying, Disciple will come and ask Master about it again.”
Ye Yunlan nodded lightly. “That’s okay. Before you enter closed-door training, you should understand all the ambiguities, so you can have at least a 30% chance to be promoted to Nascent Soul.”
Shen Shu folded the paper into his arms: “It’s already noon. Disciple had made the meal and placed it out. Why don’t Master enjoy his meal first?”
Ye Yunlan: “Okay.”
The two walked out of the study and sat at the low table. Although Shen Shu had already formed a core and logically had bigu pills, he still ate with Ye Yunlan daily.
However, he couldn’t taste this meal.
After tidying up the dishes, he returned to his own small bamboo building and threw the stack of papers away. He laid on his back on the bed, staring at the roof beams dazedly.
Suddenly remembering something, he reached under the pillow and took out a white silk fabric.
Even after a few years, there was still a faint fragrance lingering on it.
Ye Yunlan’s sharp rebuke from before seemed to sound in his ears again.
“Shen Shu, do you really remember that I am your Master? If you do then you shouldn’t forget. In the past three years, I’ve taught you what is morality, what is ethics, what is righteousness, what is shame, and what is respect for one’s Master— —” He sat on the bed, holding the silk fabric, and looked down for a long time.
Suddenly, he laughed hoarsely.
“Master, these things, Disciple has long… forgotten.”
Outside, the sun shone brightly.
With his legs bent, he hid in the corner’s shadow. Holding the silk fabric in his palm, he wrapped it around himself.
Closing his eyes in a daze, he seemed to be back to when he hid in the corner, eavesdropping. He lowered his eyes and panted. The frequency of it gradually coincided with the voice of the person in the door and window.
Not enough, he thought.
He opened the window and looked at the person standing in the snow-white fox fur. Pushing the window open, he walked in. He held the person’s hand tightly and suppressed all his struggles. He leaned over and gently kissed the tears from the corner of the other’s eye.
“Stop thinking about others,” he said.
“Think about me, okay?”
“Master… Master… Master…”
Shen Shu leaned on the corner of the wall, his chest rising and falling violently.
The red sun slanted west, the sun invading the shadows. Half his face was reflected, small droplets of water staining his eyelashes. Was it sweat or tears? It was unclear.
He raised his hand and slowly covered his face.
The next day.
Shen Shu took the stack of papers and went to ask Ye Yunlan for advice.
Ye Yunlan spoke very carefully, but he asked questions with even more care. Moreover, after solving one problem, he would still go back to it and test it before asking Ye Yunlan the next.
After half a month of dragging it out, the papers were explained thoroughly.
“Shen Shu, you should go into closed-door training.”
Ye Yunlan said suddenly while eating.
Shen Shu: “Actually… Disciple can break through the Nascent Soul without closed-door training, but the speed is just a bit slower.”
Ye Yunlan shook his head, “Breaking through the Nascent Soul is different from breaking through the Golden Core. As long as the Golden Core is sufficiently cultivated and the spiritual energy is solidified, it can be formed. The Nascent Soul is born from the heart, it is another you. You need to search your heart to find the opportunity.”
“And the most important thing is…”
Ye Yunlan’s eyes were light and clear,” Shen Shu, your heart is not at peace.”
Shen Shu was silent for a while. He knew that Ye Yunlan’s decision was unchangeable. He sighed secretly, and his chopsticks poked the white tofu in the plate, “Master’s words are true, but Disciple is still worried about something.”
Ye Yunlan constricted his eyebrows, “What are you worried about?”
Shen Shu’s chopsticks pierced the tofu. He picked it up and swallowed it. He looked straight at Ye Yunlan, he said: “Disciple is worried that after I enter closed-door training, who will cook for Master and who will take care of Master’s daily life?”
Ye Yunlan was taken aback and turned his face a little uncomfortably. He said, “Although I can’t cultivate, it’s not as if your Master can’t even take care of himself. Those things, you don’t need to worry about it.”
Shen Shu looked at Ye Yunlan suspiciously. Then, he suddenly asked: “Master, after I go into closed-door training, are you planning to survive on bigu pills? That thing is bitter, unpalatable, and not nutritious. How can it compare to white jade mountain spring tofu, sweet and sour pork ribs, stir-fried green bamboo shoots and sea cucumber, lotus pork jelly, and rock sugar bird’s nest porridge?”
Ye Yunlan’s complexion became more stiff every time he spat out a dish name. He finally couldn’t bear it, “Stop talking. Master has already said that you don’t have to worry about that.”
Shen Shu shut up obediently.
The two continued to eat.
Ye Yunlan picked up the bird’s nest porridge with rock sugar in the bamboo bowl. Picking up a spoon, he took a sip.
Faint sweetness and fragrance were in his mouth. The porridge was soft, and the bird’s nest was smooth, which made one can’t help eating one bite after another.
When the bottom of the bowl could be seen, Ye Yunlan’s eyebrows relaxed.
“Go to your retreat. When you form a Nascent Soul, I will have a reward for you.”
Shen Shu nodded and began to pack the dishes. His eyes did not leave Ye Yunlan’s face. Ye Yunlan was uncomfortable with him, so he got up and went back to the study. He took a few bottles of pills and put them in Shen Shu’s hand.
“These are Nascent Soul forming pills, they can help you advance to the Nascent Soul. The quantity should be enough for your formation.”
A Nascent Soul forming pill was a precious thing. It was something he could only exchange for a few bottles after accumulating a few years of sect merits. Before going to the Tianchi Mountain dao conference, he had already prepared it for Shen Shu in advance.
Shen Shu rolled up his sleeves. He washed the dishes and chopsticks clean, then carefully put the pills into his sleeves.
Ye Yunlan sent him back to his small bamboo building.
Before going into his closed-door retreat, it was necessary to place a barrier around the current residence to isolate all the outside world’s movement and interference.
Ye Yunlan watched Shen Shu slowly deploy the formation. Only after it was all arranged did he say something.
“Shen Shu.”
Shen Shu looked back and walked towards him.
He said: “If your cultivation goes well, you will have achieved success.”
Shen Shu fixedly looked at him, then suddenly took his hand.
His body was slightly stiff, but he didn’t get rid of it immediately.
Shen Shu looked at him earnestly, his eyes burning: “Master, wait for me to come out of closed-door training.”
Ye Yunlan turned his head and sounded a soft “en.”
…
Dawn broke.
Ye Yunlan woke up dimly, got up, put on his clothes, and opened the window.
When he walked out of the bedroom, the bamboo building was clean and tidy. But at a glance, there was no one. It was a little lonely.
He went to the well to fetch water for washing.
The barrel was very heavy, and he struggled to move it. His forehead sweated.
After washing, he turned around and went to the study to take out a book, reading quietly.
Then, he held a pen in his hand and left a comment on it.
Suddenly, the windows and doors creaked open.
A burst of light floral fragrance drifted in. Refreshing.
He raised his head and subconsciously said: “Shen Shu–” But he only saw a sea of gorgeous flowers outside the window. There was no one.
The windows and doors were opened by the wind.
Ye Yunlan was silent for a while. He got up and walked to the window.
He quietly looked at the sea of flowers for a long time.
The splendid sunlight fell on the sea of flowers. There were all kinds of flowers and plants competing for beauty, dazzling and dizzying.
Compared to three years ago, this sea of flowers was much bigger. With his eyesight, it was almost impossible to see the end with one look.
Among them, there were many kinds of flowers and plants. It was Shen Shu who visited the six peaks of Sky Sect in the past few years to find them and planted them here.
He suddenly felt a little hungry.
After thinking for a while, he remembered that he hadn’t eaten breakfast today.
So he took out a bottle of bigu pills, poured a few pills out, then took them with water. They felt bitter in his mouth.
…It was not as sweet as the bowl of bird’s nest porridge that Shen Shu made yesterday.
Ye Yunlan put the bigu pills on the table, showing a rare frown.
Then he sighed lightly.
Perhaps he should also learn how to cook.