Love & Redemption

Today, there are three consecutive chapters ~~ Here's the second ~

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The Flower Pinning Conference reached its fourth day, and the number of spectators increased even further, many of whom were from smaller sects who had come to watch and learn. There were also local residents who enjoyed joining in on the excitement and arrived early to witness these most thrilling finals.

The first three rounds of competition had eliminated the vast majority of disciples, leaving only seven, plus Wu Tong who had luckily drawn a bye. In total, eight would decide their victories and defeats in these last two days and proceed with the flower pinning.

That morning, Xuanji had not yet woken up when she was dragged out of her room by her eldest senior brother, Du Minxing, and the others. Apparently, they wanted to get there early to claim good seats; otherwise, they would be squeezed at the back by the crowd and wouldn't be able to see anything.

"I'm so sleepy..." Xuanji sat in what was claimed to be an "excellent" spot—it was actually just a pile of rocks they were sitting on, comfortably and high. She hadn't finished her yawn when her body started to sway, tumbling left and right, and she bumped into Du Minxing, looking like she was about to fall back asleep.

"At least try to perk up a bit at this time," Du Minxing said with a wry smile. "There are disciples from our Shaoyang up there, and you should be cheering them on."

Xuanji rubbed her eyes and forced herself to sit upright, then suddenly noticed something was amiss. She looked around; her eldest senior brother, Second Senior Brother, and Sixth Brother were all sitting on the rocks, but Linglong was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Linglong? Where did she run off to?" she couldn't help asking. Linglong had been looking forward to watching the finals all this time.

The mention of that name was enough to turn Zhong Minyan's face into something resembling a bitter gourd. He sighed heavily and shook his head incessantly.

Speaking softly, Du Minxing said, "Did you two have an argument yesterday? This morning, when Min Yan and I went to call her, she almost doused me with a bucket of water and slammed the door without saying a word. No matter how we called, she wouldn't come out."

Could it still be because of yesterday's incident? Xuanji couldn't help but feel like sighing too and said lightly, "I'll go call her."

Upon seeing her jump down from the rocks, Zhong Minyan hurriedly followed, "I'll go too!"

Being slightly older, Du Minxing had picked up on some clues over the past few days. He immediately grabbed him, "Min Yan, you don't need to go. Please sit down."

Zhong Minyan didn't dare go against his eldest senior brother's words and reluctantly sat back down.

Meanwhile, Xuanji finally squeezed out of the crowd and made her way to Linglong's door. She found the ground in front of her door wet and the door itself firmly shut, just as her eldest senior brother had said.

With a slight sigh, she approached and knocked gently, "Linglong, it's me. Open the door."

It took a while before Linglong's voice came through, "Don't bother with me! Go away!"

Xuanji sighed, "Why are you mad... Is it because you don't want me to go to Little Yang Peak?"

After a lengthy silence, Linglong burst out crying, "Who said I'm mad! I'm not! Anyway... anyway, it's just that you don't want to be with me, you want to leave me! Go on your way! Don't bother about me!"

Who says she's a child? Linglong is clearly more childlike!

Xuanji pushed at the door, which was locked from the inside, and it wouldn't budge. She then sat down on the threshold, tucked both hands into her sleeves, and began to speak in a leisurely manner, "It's not that I don't want to be with you. But Dad doesn't like me staying on Shaoyang Peak; he gets mad whenever he sees me, and I get scared whenever I see him—it's even less fun that way. Linglong, I'm not like you; I have no interest in that swordsmanship or martial arts of any kind. Think about it, what a prestigious title the Sect Leader of Shaoyang Sect carries, yet he has such a useless daughter like me. It's embarrassing for both Dad and me. It's better to go to Little Yang Peak, where he can't see me, and I can't see him, and we'll both have peace."

"Then why do you hate learning swordsmanship and martial arts? If you're afraid of not being good at it, I can teach you! I'll teach you from the beginning, carefully! Don't go!"

Linglong sobbed even harder.

Xuanji pursed her lips and leaned lazily against the door.

The rising sun had already broken through the clouds, and myriad rays of golden light fell upon the mountain's summit. The boundless white clouds stretched on and on, layer upon layer, billowing and resting atop the mountain peaks before moving on, their destination unknown to anyone, and no one knowing when they might stop their indolent journey.

Perhaps they themselves didn't know where to go, what they wanted. Rootless and alone, they were free and at ease yet also very empty.

She remembered overhearing a private conversation between Daddy and Mommy once, talking about the two sisters. Linglong always received endless praise, but when it came to her, there were only sighs from both of them.

Just like that, for no reason at all, she became a symbol of shame.

Why wouldn't she cultivate?

Many people had asked her this question. She never answered, perhaps because deep down she found this kind of cultivation meaningless. Humans are humans, immortals are immortals, different reincarnations, different beings, with no good or bad, no high or low. They lived such lives, and in the end, the only memories they had were of cultivation, wasting the life that was meant to be human.

Chu Xuanji, you're like a heartless person—her First Senior Brother had said to her once, exasperated to the point of uttering this statement.

"Xuanji... why aren't you speaking?" Linglong asked timidly from inside the room.

She paused for a moment before replying, "Linglong, I've already taken a master and will definitely go to Little Yang Peak. So, I won't have many days left on Shaoyang Peak. Don't you want to accompany me during these last few days?"

There was no sound in the room.

She sighed quietly, stood up to leave, and had only taken a few steps when suddenly, the door burst open and someone rushed out, clinging tightly to her back while crying and saying, "Okay! I'll accompany you, I'll accompany you! It's always like this, you never care about me in your heart!"

Xuanji held her hand, speaking softly, "Then don't cry, you look terribly ugly when you do. Don't you want to go watch the finals? They must have started by now; if you miss the highlights, you'll complain later."

That hand hit her hard and then retracted. Xuanji turned around with a smile, to see Linglong rubbing her eyes, both of which were swollen like peaches. She didn't know how long Linglong had been crying. As she rubbed, she said resentfully, "You look so ugly when you cry! Naughty girl! Everyone else is sweet-talking me, only you bully me!"

Xuanji giggled, grabbed her hand, and gave it a little shake, "Stop talking so much! Let's go! Sixth Brother is so anxious he's practically turning white."

Linglong tilted her head up arrogantly and huffed, "What does his anxiety have to do with me! It would serve him right to die of it!"

Xuanji didn't agree or disagree, just curved the corners of her lips slightly.

By the time Xuanji finally brought Linglong back, the first two matches were already over. The masses of spectators, the noise booming like thunder, suggested that there must have been many exciting moments just now.

"It's okay, there are still two matches left," Xuanji said, seeing Linglong pouting in regret at not coming earlier and comforted her.

"Xuanji! Linglong! Over here, over here!" Second Senior Brother Chen Minjue, who had keen eyes, had seen them early on and was eagerly waving to get them to come over.

As soon as Zhong Minyan saw Linglong finally willing to come, he hurriedly jumped down to greet her but was stopped by her rolling of the eyes.

"Who starts dragging people out so early in the morning!" Linglong burst out with energy as soon as she sat down, "I was having such a good dream, and it was interrupted!"

Zhong Minyan teased, "What kind of good dream were you having? Was it about your dear Minyan big brother?"

Linglong spat at him, both reproachful and pleased, "Who'd dream of you, vain thing! I was dreaming of Xuanji! I went to Little Yang Peak with her; it was indescribably joyful."

Zhong Minyan joked, "What's so fun about the two of you? Add this young master to the mix, and that's what beautifies everything!"

Linglong scraped his face, calling him shameless. Their laughter and teasing finally dissolved the previous awkwardness.

Du Minxing chuckled, "So lively, yet you claimed you couldn't get up. Keep your voice down, though; the third fight is about to start."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the horns from all sides sounded at once, signaling the beginning of the third match. Linglong was tilting her head, trying to see who was entering the stage when she suddenly saw a red and a white figure leap up onto the platform simultaneously. The red was like fierce fire, the white like broken snow, truly eye-catching to the extreme.

The crowd below erupted in cheers; it was Yu Ning and Pian Pian competing in this match.