Chapter 82

Human beings have seven emotions and six desires, all bestowed by the Emotion Root.

Miao Xunqin squinted, recalling the matter. "Now that you mention it, there are indeed some suspicious points. When she came to the Taichu Sect at the age of eight, she had almost no Emotion Root at all. Whether it was caused by external factors or innate, I cannot tell. But this child has too many unique traits, and this one is hardly remarkable."

Yun Shuchen realized she had lost her composure, releasing Miao Xunqin's wrist and letting her sleeve fall to conceal the force she had been exerting. "How can this be insignificant? Humans have ears, nose, mouth, and tongue—to hear wind and rain, to smell flowers, to taste all flavors. A missing Emotion Root..."

It would be like an invisible blindness—having eyes but unable to take in anything, no different from a walking corpse.

"I haven't finished. Over the years," Miao Xunqin looked at Yun Shuchen, "she seems to have grown a bit—scarcely visible—regrowing the Emotion Root like a sprout pushing through the soil. What comes next is uncertain."

Perhaps that was true.

When Qing'er was younger, her expression was more wooden, her little face perpetually cold. But as the time they spent together increased, she was indeed like a glacier gradually thawing, her expression loosening considerably. There were even a few moments when Yun Shuchen could recall the sight of her faint smile.

So the Emotion Root had been quietly sprouting like a tender seedling.

If she only needed to wait—her youth was eternal, and she had a long lifespan to spare—enough to afford the patience.

With this thought, Yun Shuchen felt somewhat relieved, and the fleeting thoughts that had drifted were finally settled.

"Is there any way to help it along?"

"I don't know." Miao Xunqin considered for a moment. "For cultivators, it's better to have a calm and even temperament. Your disciple's rapid progress and smooth breakthroughs are not unrelated to this."

But Yun Shuchen frowned, lost in thought.

"This is not entirely a bad thing; why are you so tense?" Miao Xunqin sat back in her original position and said calmly, "Do you like her?"

Yun Shuchen was taken aback by the remark that hit the mark. She looked up in shock, meeting the medical immortal's scrutinizing gaze. She let out a light cough, did not deny it, and after coming to her senses, simply smiled.

Miao Xunqin gave a slight nod. "Qing Zhouxue's spiritual root is very suitable. Do dual cultivation as soon as possible; don't delay your illness. Women belong to yin, and midnight is the best time of day, facing southwest. Moreover, your constitution is weak, so it shouldn't last too long. It's best if you..."

The figure of the woman in front of her began to shatter, turning into countless specks of starlight, and disappeared without hesitation. In the air, a faintly irritated voice remained: "Elder Sister, I naturally know."

"...Conduct it multiple times a day."

Miao Xunqin, still facing the empty space, said the last sentence coldly.

*

When Yun Shuchen returned, Qing Zhouxue was comprehending sword techniques in the courtyard.

As soon as she approached, Qing Zhouxue caught the faint, bitter medicinal scent of Lingsu Peak that lingered on her master's robes.

"Master?"

She unconsciously walked over and took her hand. "Are you feeling unwell today?"

Yun Shuchen looked at her, silent for a moment. Qing Zhouxue received no response and tightened her grip slightly, her brows knitting slightly.

Yun Shuchen took in her changed expression and only then said, "I didn't go to Lingsu Peak for my health. I just had some matters to discuss with your Senior Uncle Liu."

Yun Shuchen tilted her head and asked, "Aren't you training with your fellow disciples?"

"Junior Sister Ruan has gone down the mountain to travel and hasn't returned yet. She probably intends to use her full three-month limit."

"Mm, she's quite fond of fun." Yun Shuchen smiled. "When will you take to having a bit of fun too?"

"When Master went down the mountain back then, you did not indulge in leisure, but went to subdue demons."

Speaking of this topic, Qing Zhouxue remembered that great demon who was still alive and well, and could not help but ask, "Why is Miao Shun still alive now?"

"Her?"

Yun Shuchen removed an outer robe. "Rather than take her life, it was better to keep her for use. I made a deal with her back then."

"Is it..."

Qing Zhouxue seemed intensely interested in all matters concerning her, showing a faint tendency to probe to the bottom of things.

Yun Shuchen sighed inwardly and handed the robe to her. "Alright, it's nothing interesting, and it's not something that can be explained in a few words."

She seemed reluctant to mention the events of that year.

When Qing Zhouxue sensed this, she nodded with a soft "Mm," then said, "Master, last night..."

"Stop there." Yun Shuchen said calmly, "Don't bring it up."

Her disciple was blocked twice in a row, completely losing words. After a moment of silence, she spoke again.

"Master, I recently comprehended a new sword technique." She took a half step back and stood with her sword behind her. "Would you like to see it?"

Under the shade of the trees, sparse and mottled light drifted into Qing Zhouxue's eyes. Those eyes, black as ink jade and clear to the bone, reflected a hint of sparkling light.

She was clearly not smiling, her brows and eyes perfectly level, looking at her with solemn seriousness. But Yun Shuchen somehow sensed Qing'er's happiness, enough to come share it with her at the first moment.

Although Miao Xunqin had also admitted she did not know how to make the Emotion Root grow faster, the situation was ultimately moving in a good direction.

If she talked with her more and spent more time with her, would it improve?

Yun Shuchen said softly, "Alright."

But Qing Zhouxue said the courtyard was too small and she could not fully display the technique; they needed to go up the mountain. She thought for a moment, went into the inner room, took out a thicker outer robe, draped it over her master's shoulders, and covered the exposed section of her neck so it was completely sealed.

"The wind is strong at Yimeng Cliff; you need to wear more."

At this time, summer had turned to autumn, and the leaves all over the mountain were golden yellow. Though there were no edible fruits, the sight filled one's heart with a sense of abundant harvest.

Yun Shuchen took in the scenery. It stirred some memories of old days. Back then, the Taichu Sect was just a negligible small sect, not yet concerned with elegance and refinement. A large patch of mountain walnuts had been planted for food. Whenever this season came, a few fellow disciples would lose all focus on cultivation, and while the master was away, they would pick the walnuts and crack them open with their sword hilts to eat, or casually chanting incantations, use spells meant for subduing demons to open walnuts.

When one grows older, one tends to recall the past; this is probably a common ailment. Yun Shuchen lightly brushed aside the scenes buried in her memory, then turned her gaze back to her disciple's upright and beautiful figure.

If not thinking of anything else, she would think of her.

In recent days, her emotions had been rising and falling, truly tugging at her sinews and bones. This situation was precisely what she had tried hard to avoid from the very beginning. Yun Shuchen stepped on the withered yellow leaves underfoot and let out a barely audible sigh. In the end, she had still walked down this path.

Her master's wife had also sighed before, saying that whether it was toward people or matters, when Chen'er's heart was deeply invested, she was prone to attachment. Among the disciples under the master, she was the most intelligent, but not broad-minded enough; in the future, she would likely cause trouble and suffer for it.

That remark somehow reached Yun Shuchen's ears back then. At the time, she had not taken it to heart. But some years later, she was kneeling in the Chunqiu Hall. Her master asked her three times, and she raised her head and answered three times, "They deserved to die."

That was the first time the founder had lost temper at a disciple, his hands trembling with anger.

In her master's eyes, there was anger, pity, and most of all, deep disappointment.

Now thinking about it, her master's wife's prophecy had been all too accurate.

Both for the past and for the present.

Qing Zhouxue had already begun to dance with her sword. But after only a move or two, Yun Shuchen suddenly understood why her disciple had brought her here.

At eighteen, she had danced with her sword against a mountain of white snow.

The techniques she used back then were quite similar to what she saw now, largely almost identical.

Qing Zhouxue's hands and sword moved quickly, but in a converging manner, never breaking beyond the space around her body. The pure white frost she condensed in the air, just like that snowy dusk, swirled around her in a flurry, like a wind-blown veil, forming a natural barrier.

Then came the disciple's ethereal voice from within the wind and snow: "Master, try attacking me from this direction."

Yun Shuchen casually plucked a blade of grass, wrapped it in spiritual power, and let it fly loosely toward her. The moment it left her hand, the leaf became as hard as a steel needle.

The snowflakes surrounding her scattered and gathered again, like countless butterflies, using gentle force to deflect the flying leaf.

"This can be used as defense?"

With one step, she came to a standstill, and the snowflakes fell off completely. "That is my intention."

Yun Shuchen stepped on the scattered white specks across the ground, walked over, and lifted her sleeve to brush away the stray snowflakes on Qing'er's head. "Using softness to overcome hardness is quite good. Stronger than other Ice Spirit Root cultivators."

"Others?"

Yun Shuchen, with great focus, wiped a tiny piece of snow off her eyelashes with her fingertip, and only then smiled, "A few days ago, I found a book called Records of Demon Subduing, a popular cultivation fantasy among the folk. It depicts an ice spirit root sword cultivator who goes from being a little good-for-nothing to a formidable figure who defeats all comers."

Qing Zhouxue looked at her without blinking. "Is it good?"

"It's all over the place, but amusing enough." Yun Shuchen mused, "However, whenever that sword cultivator defends himself, he always condenses three feet of thick ice around him with great elegance and sneers, 'In all martial arts under heaven, only the unbreakable prevails.' I always find it odd. Only today, after watching you practice swordsmanship, did I see the light."

"...Master, why is that?"

"Think carefully. He encloses himself in ice, unable to move an inch, unable to shift a step. This..." She curved her lips, "Isn't it a wonderful skill that every little turtle knows?"

"Fortunately, snowflakes are loose but not leaky, agile and free, far from being like that."

Yun Shuchen released her, "But try it again."

Qing Zhouxue nodded. As she twisted her sword tip, snowflakes once again swirled around her. At the moment of utmost cold, Yun Shuchen unhurriedly raised her hand, and the water gathered in her palm surged all at once toward Qing Zhouxue.

Water meeting extreme cold turned to ice.

Qing Zhouxue froze all over, completely encased in a layer of ice, forced into a turtle-shrinking move.

Trapped inside, she could not see her master, but could only hear her laughing.

"..."

When she finally smoothed her robes and struggled free, she thought seriously and said, "Master, this technique indeed has some flaws."

"Don't be discouraged," teasing one's disciple seemed to be an amusing pastime; Yun Shuchen was quite pleased and said gently, "It's just a reminder that you should use it carefully against water cultivation. The rest is already quite good. At your age, I might not have been able to devise such a method."

But Qing Zhouxue shook her head. "Master was very clever in youth, far surpassing me. This is not empty flattery; I saw it with my own eyes that day."

She showed no sign of distress at being inferior, as if she thought her master was the most formidable person in the world, and it was perfectly natural and open to be lesser than her.

Qing'er's gaze toward her always carried unreserved trust and admiration, elevating her high.

Few could be unmoved by such a gaze, and Yun Shuchen was no exception. But as her heart softened for a moment, she quietly thought: She has met so few people; don't you know that in your own heart?

Walking back together with Qing Zhouxue, the two stepped on the golden autumn leaves they had trodden on the way there, the leaves rustling under their soles.

The vast Heyi Peak was so quiet and lonely it could not hold another person.

Yun Shuchen normally disliked noise. But as she walked along in silence this time, she suddenly felt it was indeed a bit too quiet. When she was present, it was fine, but if she went off to do something else, such as traveling or going into seclusion, and her disciple, who disliked going down the mountain, was left alone, she could only be solitary with the cat.

Qing Zhouxue would share whatever she spotted; she kept every move and action in her heart.

Was this not because of her, but because... in her disciple's meager life, she had no other choice but her?

Yun Shuchen slightly furrowed her brows, and remembered Miao Xunqin's words today: her Emotion Root was slowly growing.

If her seven emotions and six desires were thus to flourish day by day, she would surely want to see the world, to witness the mortal world's rolling red dust.

Should she see a vast world and meet all kinds of people, perhaps young talents and close companions, would Qing'er still stay by her side, never leaving an inch?

She...

Yun Shuchen's thoughts were no different from those of last night. Only in the haze of desire could one reveal one's deepest, most selfish thoughts.

On one hand, she knew her emotion root was incomplete and naturally felt disappointed, but precisely because of that, she secretly harbored a hint of relief—even if it was not her, it would not be someone else.

Qing'er had said she only had her, Yun Shuchen remembered it clearly.

Involuntarily, her hand, holding Qing Zhouxue's, tightened without conscious thought.

Qing Zhouxue seemed to sense her master's silence. "What's wrong?"

Yun Shuchen came to her senses and lowered her eyes. "Nothing."