Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The ringing bell was very pleasing to the ears, and its sound was as good as the zither music that was played at the Plum Meeting that day. Moreover, the ringing bell had its special benefit, offering the listeners a peace of mind. The air around the plum forest had turned tranquil, like the ripples on a lake being smoothed by an invisible hand. In addition to giving out peace of mind, the ringing bell had also expelled the residual energy of the formations, vanishing without a trace.
It was apparent that these formations had been forcefully disabled by the highly achieved practitioners of the Hanging-bell Sect; it meant that someone had already forced their way into the garden.
Since the Hanging-bell Sect and the Green Mountain Sect had a friendly relationship for generations, Zhao Layue was worried about the safety of that person. She reached out and grabbed Jing Jiuâs hands, and they rose up on the sword.
A flash of red sword light illuminated the old garden, trailing the ringing bell. A gust of gentle wind arose suddenly, and then disappeared instantly.
In the far end of the old plum garden there was a common-looking small lake, surrounded by unsightly plum trees; and an unattractive small nunnery was vaguely visible in the plum forest.
The path leading to the small nunnery outside the plum forest was blocked by two groups of people. The two sides were in the middle of a confrontation.
âWhy arenât we allowed to get inside?â
A middle-aged woman demanded, with a face full of chilling determination. Her seemingly thin and weak body exuded an extremely strong and dominating energy.
This woman was the representative of the Water-Moon Nunnery who came to the Green Mountain to observe the Inherited Sword Competition years ago.
Standing by her side was a young girl with an impatient expression on her distinctive and attractive face. She was the girl who had promised to give bells to Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue.
Blocking the path was an old eunuch. He was probably not the one who created those formations, but he was obviously keen on preventing the two practitioners of the Hanging-bell Sect from moving forward.
Emotionless, the old eunuch said with drooping eyes, âA royal family member is viewing the plum flowers in the forest, so please wait for awhile.â
The middle-aged woman sneered, âYou shouldnât think you can scare us by mentioning the presence of a royal family member. When has the old plum garden become a place exclusively reserved for the royal family?â
The young girl grew even more impatient, saying, âAunty Cui, there is no need to talk to them. Letâs just go inside.â
Lifting his head high, the old eunuch bellowed with an intimidating expression in his eyes, âWho dares!â
Upon these two words, the atmosphere of the forest became intricate, and a dozen figures moved forward. The energy given out by these men hinted that they were the royal guards.
At this critical moment, a gust of fresh wind blew over suddenly, triggering the ripples to emerge on the lake again, and tearing the abruptly appearing sword light into countless maple-leaf-like pieces.
Two figures appeared by the lake soon after the sword light disappeared.
Zhao Layue said, âWho dares!â
The same two words were more powerful coming out of the mouth of the old eunuch; in comparison, Zhao Layueâs utterance was weak and unimpressive, lacking intimidation.
Yet for some reason, both the old eunuch and the royal guards in the forest felt the two words uttered by Zhao Layue actually hard to deal with.
In other words, nobody dared to respond to her declaration.
Having said that, Zhao Layue realized that she was still holding Jing Jiuâs hands, and let them go immediately.
The old eunuchâs gaze fell on Zhao Layue and Jing Jiu, and thinking of the flash of the red sword light, he figured out the identities of these two. His expression changed abruptly, gesturing for the guards in the forest to restrain themselves.
Having seen Zhao Layue, the young girl let out a happy grin, and hopping to the side of Zhao Layue, she held up Layueâs hands, asking, âAre you supposed to be at the Plum Meeting?â
âI came to have a look,â Zhao Layue answered.
âYou have also acquired the information?â
The young girl said with an embarrassing tone, âOur sect has spent a great deal of money for this information. We promised not to leak the info, so I didnât inform you.â
Zhao Layue smiled and rubbed her head, indicating she didnât mind.
After having done that, Zhao Layue realized, to her surprise, that she had somehow adopted this affectionate behavior from somebody else, so she instinctively glanced at Jing Jiu.
The old eunuch was at the moment looking at Jing Jiu.
When his extremely beautiful face, as it was rumored to be, finally appeared in front of him in flesh and blood, the old eunuch recognized that the rumors of his beauty werenât an exaggeration.
To put it more accurately, he understood that the true extremity couldnât be described properly after having seen Jing Jiuâs face.
Even in his old age and as a eunuch, it took him some time and effort to pull himself together as he said with a bow, âPlease wait a minute, you two. Let this old servant informâŠâ
Having identified Zhao Layue and Jing Jiu, his attitude had changed, becoming much more respectful, and the old eunuch was about to ask the guards in the forest to inform the royal member. But before he could say the two words âroyal memberââŠ
Jing Jiu couldnât wait any longer.
Time was both the most insignificant and significant thing as far as Jing Jiu was concerned.
There were many things worth waiting for, like the first snowfall in the winter, the initial formation of the Dao Tree, the buildup of sand grains, and Shisuiâs returning; but he definitely couldnât wait for the informing of a certain royal family member.
Zhao Layue was exactly the same sort of person.
They were walking along the stone path toward the forest.
The old eunuch hesitated at first, but he didnât dare to block them, and he let them pass him.
The young girl of the Hanging-bell Sect walked into the plum forest while holding Zhao Layueâs hand, and she snorted at the old eunuch mischievously when passing him.
The stone path extended into the deep end of the plum forest, but soon they couldnât see the objects further away in the forest even though the trees were sparse.
There was a wall formed by the bamboo trees in the deep forest that blocked their view. The stone path went through the bamboo wall and led to the nunnery.
It was quiet and desolate on the other side of the bamboo wall. It looked like the old eunuch and those guards were not allowed to enter.
The middle-aged woman commented with an embarrassing tone, âThe words of the Green Mountain Sect certainly carry more weight.â
Zhao Layue said, âBig Sister Cui has exaggerated our importance. Itâs because our two sects act differently.â
The middle-aged woman understood what she meant, and thought Zhao Layue was indeed right in this point; but the woman didnât know how to respond.
The young girl, however, was unconcerned about the discretion, responding, âThatâs right. My mom keeps telling me, the mantra of your sect is too terrifying. You people always ask others if they have a death wish, and prefer violence when dealing with conflicts; and itâs upsetting that you guys always condemn others to death. So she warns me over and over again that I donât follow your suit.â
The middle-aged woman smiled wryly, about to explain a bit to Zhao Layue, but unexpectedly, Zhao Layue thought seriously about what the young girl had just said. âIt makes sense,â she claimed.
âBig Sister, are you going to change then?â asked the young girl, somewhat surprised.
After some more thoughts, Zhao Layue shook her head, âThough what you said makes sense, I canât change.â
With widened eyes, the young girl pressed with a curious stone, âBut why?â
Zhao Layue said, âBecause there are too many people in the world who want to die and deserve to die.â
The young girl noticed Zhao Layueâs distinct black and white eyes, looking attractive and powerful. She generated the feeling of admiration, or some kind of aspiration.
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There was a tree with blooming flowers in front of the nunnery; the tree and the fallen flower petals under it looked colorful and amazing.
Yet the scene didnât look as good as the beauty under the tree.
This beauty turned around and looked at them. Her eyes and brows were very pretty, merely inferior slightly to Jing Jiuâs; but more importantly, her expression was quite innocent, giving out a naĂŻve and charming air.
Such a beauty was the type favored by men.
Therefore, neither the young girl of the Hanging-bell Sect nor Zhao Layue liked her.
The middle-aged woman approached and greeted with a bow, âGreetings, your Highness.â
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The young girl whispered to Zhao Layue, âShe is the Royal Concubine Hu, favored by the Emperor.â
Zhao Layue was startled after hearing this, and couldnât help but look at that beautiful lady again.
It was then that the beautiful lady was looking at Zhao Layue as well.
The two gazes met each other through the falling flower petals blown off by the wind.