Late at night, I awoke from a nightmare once again. The world was completely silent, with only the sound of the wind rustling through the bamboo leaves outside, like a gentle rain.
I threw on a robe and stepped outside. My body, initially warm and damp, was quickly chilled to the bone by the cool breeze.
I walked step by step towards the Blooming Flower Pavilion atop the mountain—I needed some peace. The roar of the waterfall would be just enough to drown out the unrest within me, while the surrounding silence only made the noise in my heart more pronounced.
Standing atop the Blooming Flower Pavilion, I gazed down at the countless mountains, one hand resting on the black jade carving of the Xuanbird, the symbol of Morning Mist Mountain.
In the past, I often carried Changpu up here. She would fearlessly treat the Xuanbird as a wooden horse, riding it and pointing in all directions, asking me what places they were and if I could take her there.
I always nodded, but there were too many promises and too much distance to cover—we never managed to visit all the places she wanted.
A cold gust of wind hit me, and I couldn't help but cough. The moonlight was bright, and in the distance, I saw a dark figure by the stream. I knew it was the Night Lady. She would occasionally come to the stream at night to wash clothes or collect flower dew before dawn.
All I did was eat a bowl of porridge she had made, and Yan Shang went out of his way to assign her to serve me—it seemed a bit excessive. I still couldn’t eat much, but the tea she brewed was quite good. Changpu used to insist on making tea for me too, but no matter how good the tea leaves were, they were always wasted in her hands.
I remember looking at a cup full of thick, mushy tea, unable to say a word, while she blushed and stuck out her tongue, laughing, "Sorry, Master, I put in too many tea leaves…"
A sharp pain stabbed through my heart, and suddenly, I longed to drink the tea she made.
But I don’t actually miss her.
I once thought that Changpu’s death would devastate me, after all, we had been master and disciple for so many years, and I had watched her grow up. But by the time I held her Life Stone, which had suddenly dimmed, I was already devoid of emotions. Apart from the initial blankness in my mind, I didn’t even furrow my brow.
For the first three years after she left, I was at peace—a peace I had never experienced before. My cultivation and spiritual power grew rapidly. But starting two years ago, thoughts of her began to creep in more frequently, and in the past three months, it had become unbearable—her presence had turned into a torment I couldn’t escape in my dreams.
I was deeply puzzled—what was happening to me?
The Night Lady reached the stream and looked around. Then, under the moonlight, she suddenly undressed. She wore nothing underneath, and her fair skin emerged from the black robe, her figure delicate and alluring. A flash of lightning seemed to strike through my mind. Though my face remained expressionless, my breathing became uneven. I hurriedly looked away, silently blaming my sharp eyesight for seeing too clearly. Despite the deafening roar of the waterfall, I could still clearly hear the sound of her cautiously stepping into the water, splashing it with her hands.
Descending from the Blooming Flower Pavilion, I sighed softly. After all these years, have I not faced enough temptation? Practicing the Nine Heavens Celestial Technique of Morning Mist Mountain, one of the greatest taboos is lust. To ruin my cultivation, various sects have tried every despicable trick, from seduction to drugging. When those failed, they even sent men to tempt me.
And now, here I was, feeling unsettled at the sight of a woman’s bare body? How pitiful I’ve become.
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