A dilapidated wooden hut stood on the barren mountain. Disciples of the Hengwu Sect who committed offenses were banished here, becoming Guardians of the Forest.
The forest guards were not allowed to leave the mountain until they died. For Hengwu Sect disciples, this was no different from an invisible imprisonment.
The house was dimly lit, dirty and broken, and there were spiders weaving webs in the corners. There were several wooden beds set up in the house, and the quilts on them were dirty and sticky, emitting a faint stench.
As dawn approached, a few men yawned and lazily climbed out of bed. Some walked to a corner to relieve themselves, others chatted noisily.
Regardless of their commotion, the young man in silver and white robes on the bed in the furthest corner remained with his eyes closed, as if sculpted from cold jade.
This was Bian Lingyu. He had been here for five days. The effects of the Soul Cleansing Pill had worn off, leaving him struggling to even walk. He could no longer use his bone spurs.
The morning light shone on him, like a gentle caress. Even though five days had passed, the men sharing the room with him couldn't help but stare, cursing under their breath, "Damn, this kid is too good-looking."
The weather wasn't particularly pleasant that day, the sky was overcast, threatening to unleash a downpour. The men left one after another, preparing to gather some mountain goods to trade with the villagers below.
These individuals who had committed errors were mostly not good people, nor did they possess much talent. Confined to the mountain, they still indulged in extravagance and pleasure, drinking and having fun. Time had etched its mark on their faces. Some appeared to be in their thirties or forties, while others were even older, over fifty.
Only one, named Zhao Qiang, appeared young and strong.
As the group walked further away, Zhao Qiang frequently glanced towards the village below. The others exchanged knowing smiles. "Zhao Qiang is thinking about that girl again."
Zhao Qiang's thoughts were exposed, and he laughed and scolded playfully, "Get lost."
"But Zhao Qiang's thoughts are in vain. I think that Ah Xiu has her eyes set on the one in the hut. Ah Xiu used to come and deliver things, but have any of you seen her come so frequently? Yesterday, I returned early and saw Ah Xiu even took the initiative to bring food for that kid, even asking if he needed help finding a doctor or washing his quilt."
Zhao Qiang's face darkened as he listened, and he snorted, "A sickly weakling, I'll deal with him sooner or later."
The others gloated inwardly.
Bian Lingyu was out of tune with them. In the five days since his arrival, he hadn't spoken to them, not even bothering to tell them his name, showing no intention of pleasing them.
He appeared cold and aloof, not interacting with anyone.
One of the disciples nudged Zhao Qiang, whispering something obscene in his ear. Zhao Qiang's eyes narrowed, and he grinned. "Looks like I don't even need to lift a finger. I knew it, with a face like that, those guys would definitely have their eyes on him. When the time comes, we'll just return a little later, give them some privacy, so as not to disturb their fun."
As their group disappeared into the distance, the sky brightened, and Bian Lingyu opened his eyes.
He sat in his wheelchair and went to the forest stream to wash up.
Spring flowers had yet to bloom, making the desolate mountain appear even more barren. Several bamboo figurines emerged from the ground, bowed to Bian Lingyu, and scattered to find fruit for him.
Bian Lingyu knew what Bian Qingxuan was trying to do. Having failed to break him from Shi Luoyi's side, she wanted to cook the eagle on slow fire to force him into submission.
But staying on the barren mountain wasn't considered unbearable for Bian Lingyu. In his childhood, he had been imprisoned by his mother in the Tianxing Stream (Heavenly Walk Stream), spending a hundred years facing a pile of skeletons, without food or water. He could survive such days, let alone now.
He had long anticipated this situation. Bian Qingxuan wouldn't resign until she had exhausted all her methods.
The bamboo figurine hadn't returned yet when Ah Xiu came up the mountain.
Although cultivators were not allowed to go down, the villagers below could come up to deliver goods or trade, as long as they didn't enter the deep mountains. The deep mountains housed spirit beasts and demonic beasts, which were dangerous for ordinary people.
Ah Xiu carried a basket. She had specially changed into new clothes, a green dress, and the basket contained breakfast made by her mother.
Her father was the village doctor. Since Ah Xiu reached marriageable age, she occasionally went up the mountain with other villagers to exchange medicinal herbs with the cultivators. She didn't have to worry about the cultivators harming her. The Hengwu Sect had strict rules. To prevent them from tarnishing the sect's reputation, if they dared to harm ordinary people, these cultivators who had already committed a crime would be immediately executed, their souls completely destroyed.
Ah Xiu's face flushed red when she saw Bian Lingyu from afar. She was not as shy as other girls in the village and was always carefree, but when she saw this person, her heartbeat couldn't help but quicken.
Her movements became gentler as she approached him. "My mother steamed buns this morning. They're made with this year's new wheat, they're very soft and fragrant. Would you like to try one?"
She offered him a bun, but Bian Lingyu said lightly, "Take it away."
Ah Xiu couldn't hide her disappointment and put the bun back in the basket. "I'll put the things away first."
She placed the wine the disciples had requested inside the hut. Seeing the filth everywhere, she felt a bit disgusted. Then, looking at Bian Lingyu, she offered, "How about I come and wash your quilt for you when the weather is clear?"
Bian Ling Yu replied, "No need."
Ah Xiu bit her lip. She had been rejected for several days in a row, but she couldn't get angry. She had never seen anyone with such temperament and appearance in her life. He was even more handsome than the nobleman in her father's books. She had always been somewhat confident in herself, after all, her appearance was considered top-notch in the village, and her father was the only doctor.
It wasn't until she saw Bian Lingyu a few days ago that she understood what it meant to feel ashamed of her own inferiority, struck by his ethereal beauty.
If Bian Lingyu were an inner disciple of the Hengwu Sect, she wouldn't even dare to have such thoughts! But those banished to the barren mountain, which one of them wasn't low in cultivation, waiting for death? The male disciples all hoped for a girl from the village below to take a liking to them, to leave them with descendants, to have something to look forward to in life.
Ah Xiu also knew Zhao Qiang's intentions, but she wasn't interested. However, if it were Bian Lingyu, she would willingly bear him many children, even if it meant staying on this desolate mountain with him for the rest of her life.
Unfortunately, Bian Lingyu had never given her a good look. At first, he wouldn't even speak to her, and she still didn't know his name.
Ah Xiu learned her lesson this time. "I'll leave the basket on the stone. Come and eat when you're hungry. I'll come back to see you at noon."
After saying that, she didn't look at Bian Lingyu and went down the mountain on her own. After all, the sect wouldn't take him back, and she had plenty of time to wear him down.
The bamboo figures returned one after another. Finding fruit in winter wasn't easy. Four out of the five fruits tasted very astringent. Bian Lingyu's expression remained unchanged as he ate the fruit, not even glancing at the buns Ah Xiu had brought.
After breakfast, he instructed the bamboo figures to go into the mountains and find the things he needed.
He had to refine the Soul Cleansing Pill himself. Otherwise, when the Zhu Yan descended, with his current body, he wouldn't stand a chance against that beast.
But Bian Lingyu also knew that if he took a large amount of Soul Cleansing Pill again, it would completely exhaust his frail body. Whether he would age or die, even he himself didn't know.
Bian Lingyu sat in the courtyard, quietly whittling bamboo strips. This was practically a path with a foreseeable end, but Bian Lingyu didn't feel any unwillingness or bitterness. He would calmly walk this path to its end.
Soon it was noon, and it was close to the time for Ah Xiu to come up the mountain again.
Bian Lingyu's five senses were now no different from those of an ordinary person. Hearing the footsteps approaching him, his hand movements didn't stop, and his eyes were cold.
He thought it was Ah Xiu again, but when the person finally stopped in front of him, his fingers tightened, and the dagger in his hand drew a bloody mark on his hand.
Shi Luoyi quickly squatted down in front of him: "Did I scare you? Why are you so careless?"
She formed a hand seal to stop the bleeding for Bian Lingyu. But for some reason, her blood-stopping technique didn't seem to have much effect on him. Shi Luoyi frowned and cast the spell several times, but it didn't work much.
Bian Lingyu withdrew his hand, letting it hang by his side. "It's useless. My constitution is special. It will be fine in a while. What are you doing here?"
Shi Luoyi had already taken in the surroundings of the wooden hut. Seeing the calm Bian Lingyu before her, anger in her heart just now turned into an unspeakable discomfort.
She explained in a low voice: "Lady Hua Zhen passed away a few days ago. Lady was kind to me when I was a child. I went to the Wei family to pay my respects, and then went to search for Chang Ming Zhu. I lost track of time, and when I returned today to see you, I realized it had been several days, and you and Bian Qingxuan had separated. Have you recovered from your previous injury?"
Bian Lingyu listened quietly until she finished speaking, then said, "I'm fine. Now that you've visited, you should leave. This is not a place you should come to."
His tone was not reproachful, and even had a calmness that was unexpected to her.
No longer carrying the anger he had towards her a few months ago, he had calmly accepted his fate, as if he had drawn a clear line. This caused Shi Luoyi to feel a little uneasy, "But we agreed that I would refine the pills for you."
"No need." Bian Lingyu watched as her skirt brushed against the dirty ground, then averted his gaze. He took out an old alchemy book from his robes and handed it to her. "Take this alchemy book. Refine it when you have time. When it's ready, give it to Ding Bai. Don't come here again."
Shi Luoyi stared at the worn alchemy book in her hand. She recognized it. Besides ordinary pill recipes, it even contained a page with the recipe for the Heart Demon Dispelling Pill, the one she had been searching for, although she wasn't sure if it was real. The "blood of a god" mentioned sounded like a fantasy.
Holding the alchemy book that carried Bian Lingyu's warmth, she subconsciously looked at him.
He had a pair of dark gray eyes. When he didn't smile, he appeared very cold and indifferent. Long ago, he used to look at her from afar with those indifferent eyes, and Shi Luoyi had never understood that gaze.
At this moment, under the dark sky, he looked down at her, and met her eyes. This time, Bian Lingyu didn't look away first.
Shi Luoyi's heart trembled inexplicably. She said, "Let me take you away. Even if Bian Qingxuan doesn't care about you anymore, you can't stay here. There are demonic beasts in the mountains. What if they eat you? You're not a disciple who committed a crime, nor are you a formal disciple of the Hengwu Sect. Tell me, is there anywhere you want to go? I'll take you down the mountain, or send you back to your old home. The world is vast, you can go wherever you want."
Bian Lingyu's gaze met her almond-shaped eyes, lingering for a long time, as if he wanted to memorize this glance. But in the end, he just calmly lowered his eyes, focusing on his wrist that had stopped bleeding, and said coldly, "Leave, Shi Luoyi. Don't worry about my business." He was walking a lonely and resolute path, and she couldn't care less.
He knew it was impossible, so he would rather not touch it again. She didn't understand anything, and it was better that way. At least at this moment, he could look at her calmly and as an equal.
This was the third time he had driven her away. In the past, Shi Luoyi might have really left.
Strictly speaking, they hadn't known each other for very long.
The life of a cultivator was long, often a hundred years. Shi Luoyi had not spent much time with Bian Lingyu, but each encounter was deeply ingrained in her memory. In the past, Bian Qingxuan was always by his side, which made her angry when she saw him. Shi Luoyi's initial impression of him stemmed from Bian Qingxuan.
But now it was different. When she thought of Bian Lingyu, her first impression was no longer the silent young man who stood beside Bian Qingxuan, silently looking at her and making her angry.
Instead, it was the man who quietly carved a peach wood sword under the moonlight.
He was sharp, calm, and aloof. These impressions formed another Bian Lingyu.
One who, at times, made her unable to suppress a few moments of tenderness. That's why she protected him and escorted him back to Bian Qingxuan in Qingshui Village. It was why she thought to bring him a snow lotus from the Ice Valley and didn't doubt him after being framed.
Now, even if he told her to leave, Shi Luoyi wasn't going to listen.
In the past, Shi Luoyi didn't care about him because Bian Qingxuan always took good care of him. But things were different now; Bian Qingxuan had thrown him here and wouldn't care about his life or death. If she really left, what would happen if Bian Lingyu was taken away by a beast?
In her heart, the moment Bian Lingyu stepped forward to testify for her, he became the second friend she had recognized in this lifetime besides Jiang Yan.
She didn't believe that she was so unlucky that every friend she made wanted to stab her.
Seeing him being stubborn like this, Shi Luoyi's hands itched a little. Did he actually know what terrifying things their kind, the sword cultivators who weren't good with words, would do when pushed to the limit?
Someone like Bian Lingyu, at first glance, had his own personality and ideas. She wondered if she could just knock him unconscious and take him away? Then she would settle him in a comfortable house, sell some of her own belongings, and have someone take good care of him for the rest of his life. It would be much better than staying in the mountains.
Shi Luoyi decided to kindly give him a heads-up. "If I do something to you now, you won't blame me, right?"
Upon hearing her question, Bian Lingyu paused, his cold gaze shifting back to her. Gone was the indifference from before, replaced by an unreadable expression.
A rooster raised by some cultivator in the bamboo forest ran over, darting past them and pouncing on a hen. The rooster was plump and strong, while the hen flapped its wings, dodging everywhere in panic.
Staring at them, Shi Luoyi suddenly had a realization. "That's not what I meant! I'm not trying to... In short, I'm not going to do that to you. Don't misunderstand! That kind of thing... it only happened once, it won't happen again. I've already sworn in my heart that I will never touch you again!"
Seeing his grip on the wheelchair tighten, it was no longer a question of whether she should knock him out, but whether Bian Lingyu would be unable to resist hitting her.
Embarrassed and anxious, Shi Luoyi raised her hands. "I'm leaving, I'm leaving now! Don't be angry!"
This time, she left as soon as she said she would, running far away in an instant. She didn't know why, but thinking of Bian Lingyu's expression just now, she suddenly wanted to laugh.
And she did laugh, turning her back to Bian Lingyu, revealing a lighthearted smile for the first time in days.
Shi Luoyi felt that Bian Lingyu was better this way.
Being irritable and unable to resist strangling her was far more reassuring than the decisive and indifferent expression she had just seen.
Just now, judging by his actions of giving her the alchemy book, it seemed like he was prepared to cut off all ties with her for the rest of his life. She hadn't expected a misunderstanding to break his facade. Shi Luoyi realized that he did care about that incident after all.
Perhaps because she had been a demonic cultivator, her sense of shame was far less than in her previous life. Thinking about how he cared so much in his heart, yet remained cold and indifferent on the surface, Shi Luoyi couldn't help but want to laugh.
This seemed very immoral.
But for Bian Lingyu, this incident happened a few months ago, while for Shi Luoyi, it had already been a lifetime. She had almost forgotten how she felt at the time, so how could she be like Bian Lingyu, constantly reminded of the bad things she had done?
She pretended to run far away, but secretly turned back halfway. Shi Luoyi was inherently stubborn. She wouldn't really ignore him just because he was angry. First, she had to ensure Bian Lingyu's safety, and second, she was a little curious. Bian Lingyu wasn't someone who didn't want to live, so why wouldn't he leave with her?
She could let him have his way in other matters, but when it came to life-or-death situations, she wouldn't give him a choice. She would wait for him to calm down, and then forcibly take him away. She had already done the worst thing to him, and he hadn't actually died from anger. Surely he wouldn't mind being knocked unconscious, right?