Zhu Xian: They've all been reborn

"What are you looking at!" Tian Buyi's voice exploded. "Kneel down right now!"

Jiang Xiaochuan's knees buckled, and he knelt down with a thud. The stone slabs on the ground hurt his knees, but he didn't dare to move.

"Master..." he whispered.

"Don't call me master!" Tian Buyi was so angry that his mustache stood on end.

"I don't have a disciple as daring as you! Going down the mountain on your own? Huh? And flying to Heyang City on a sword with someone? Do you know how dangerous that is? Huh? Do you know?!"

Jiang Xiaochuan lowered his head and remained silent.

"Speak!" Tian Buyi roared.

"I know..." Jiang Xiaochuan's voice was even softer.

"You knew that, yet you still went?!"

Jiang Xiaochuan fell silent again.

What could he say?

Did he say he wanted to go? Did he say Lu Xueqi would take him? Did he say candied hawthorns were delicious?

Anyone who says it will get beaten up.

Su Ru walked over and tugged at Tian Buyi's sleeve. "Buyi, it's good that the child is back. Don't scare him."

"Scare him?" Tian Buyi glared. "I'm doing this for his own good! If he dares to go down the mountain on his own today, he'll dare to run wild on Tongtian Peak tomorrow! I can't let him go undisciplined!"

As he spoke, he turned and walked towards Shoujing Hall. "Seventh Brother, come in here!"

Jiang Xiaochuan got up and followed him inside. His knees were numb from the hardening, and he walked somewhat awkwardly. Tian Ling'er wanted to follow, but Su Ru stopped her.

"Mother..." Tian Ling'er's eyes reddened again.

"It's good to teach him a lesson," Su Ru said softly, "otherwise he won't learn his lesson."

Inside Shoujing Hall, Tian Buyi sat in a chair, his face dark. Jiang Xiaochuan knelt below, head bowed.

"Speak," Tian Buyi said, suppressing his anger. "What exactly happened? Tell me from the beginning."

Jiang Xiaochuan told the truth honestly.

It describes how Lu Xueqi invited him, how she took him flying, how they went to Heyang City, how they played, and how they came back.

He spoke in great detail, even describing the taste of candied hawthorns. His voice trailed off towards the end.

Tian Buyi listened, his face growing increasingly dark. After Jiang Xiaochuan finished speaking, he remained silent for a long time. So long that Jiang Xiaochuan thought he was about to fall asleep.

"That girl Lu Xueqi..." Tian Buyi finally spoke, his voice a little strange, "Fifth level of Jade Purity?"

"She...she said it herself," Jiang Xiaochuan said softly.

Tian Buyi fell silent again. He picked up his teacup, wanted to drink, but then put it down. His fingers tapped slowly on the table, one tap at a time.

"Nine years old, fifth level of Jade Purity Realm," he murmured. "What kind of monster did Shuiyue pick up..."

Jiang Xiaochuan didn't dare to reply.

Tian Buyi tapped on the table for a while, then suddenly asked, "You like that girl?"

Jiang Xiaochuan was taken aback and looked up. "Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'huh'?!" Tian Buyi glared. "I'm asking you, do you like that girl? Otherwise, why would you happily follow her the moment she says she'll take you out to play?"

Jiang Xiaochuan's face flushed red. "N-no! I just... I just wanted to go down the mountain to take a look..."

"What are you looking at!" Tian Buyi slammed his hand on the table. "Isn't Qingyun Sect enough for you to see? Isn't Dazhu Peak enough for you to see? Do you really have to come all the way to Heyang City?"

Jiang Xiaochuan lowered his head again.

Tian Buyi looked at him for a long time, then sighed. The sigh was long and heavy, as if he had sighed out all the air in his chest.

"Alright," he said, his voice softening. "I understand that you're young and playful. But rules are rules, and you have to be punished if you break them."

Jiang Xiaochuan nodded. "This disciple accepts the punishment."

"You'll be locked up for half a month," Tian Buyi said. "You'll stay in your room and aren't allowed to go anywhere. Ling'er will bring you your food. Understand?"

"I heard you."

"Also, starting today, double your cultivation," Tian Buyi added. "Since you have time to go out and play, then practice more. How long have you been stable at the first level of Jade Purity? How much further are you going to reach the second level? You should know your limits!"

"Yes."

Tian Buyi waved his hand. "Get lost. Just looking at you makes me angry."

Jiang Xiaochuan got up and limped outside. As he reached the door, he heard Tian Buyi say again, "That girl...don't associate with her anymore."

Jiang Xiaochuan paused in his steps.

"Did you hear that?" Tian Buyi's voice hardened again.

"...I heard you."

Jiang Xiaochuan walked out of Shoujing Hall. In the courtyard, all the senior brothers had dispersed, only Tian Ling'er was still standing there. Seeing him come out, Tian Ling'er ran over, her eyes red.

"Did your father punish you?"

"Okay." Jiang Xiaochuan nodded. "Half a month of solitary confinement."

Tian Ling'er bit her lip, tears falling again. "It's all my fault... If only I had told my parents sooner..."

"It's not your fault," Jiang Xiaochuan said. "It was my own choice to go."

Tian Ling'er fell silent. She looked at him for a long time, then reached out and tugged at his sleeve. "I...I'll bring you food."

"Um."

Jiang Xiaochuan went back to his room. Xiaobai was lying on the bed. When she saw him come in, she jumped off the bed and rubbed against his leg.

Jiang Xiaochuan bent down, picked it up, and sat down on the bedside. He stroked Xiaobai's soft fur, and the panic and confusion in his heart slowly subsided.

"It's just solitary confinement," he thought. "Compared to my past life, this is nothing."

In his past life, he secretly ran away to play and was chased and beaten by his mother, running all over the yard. He was eventually caught and given a beating with bamboo shoots and pork. That was real pain.

Right now, I'm just confined indoors, with food and drink, and Little White to keep me company. It's pretty good.

He lay down and pulled Xiaobai into his arms. Xiaobai nuzzled his chin and then stopped moving.

Jiang Xiaochuan closed his eyes. But the images of Heyang City still lingered in his mind: candied hawthorns, steamed buns, storytelling stalls, crowded streets. And Lu Xueqi's face, pale and cold in the moonlight, yet with a light in her eyes.

He turned over and buried his face in the pillow.

I don't want to think about it anymore. Time to sleep.

……

Xiaozhu Peak, quiet room.

Master Shuiyue sat on a futon, while Lu Xueqi knelt below. Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting long shadows of the two figures.

"Speak," Shuiyue said, her voice cold. "Why?"

Lu Xueqi lowered her head and didn't say anything.

"Why are you so concerned about him?" Shuiyue asked again, "You sought him out time and time again, and even..." She paused, "...and even used your sword to carry him down the mountain?"

Lu Xueqi remained silent.

Shuiyue stared at her for a long time. Then she suddenly asked, "You like him?"

Lu Xueqi trembled. She raised her head and looked at Shuiyue. The moonlight shone on her face, and her eyes were bright, like two small flames.

"Yes," she said, her voice soft but clear, "I really like her, it was love at first sight."

Shuiyue was stunned. She hadn't expected Lu Xueqi to be so direct and decisive.

She looked at Lu Xueqi, at that still-childish face, at those eyes that were so firm they didn't look like a child's.

"Love at first sight?" Shuiyue repeated the words, her tone incredulous. "How old are you? What do you know about love?"

"I understand," Lu Xueqi said, her voice still soft, but each word was like a nail driven into the ground, "just like Master understands Uncle Wan."

Shuiyue's face turned pale instantly. She stood up abruptly, looking down at Lu Xueqi, her eyes swirling with shock, anger, and a hint of... panic?

"How...how did you know?" Her voice trembled.

"I heard it from my senior sisters," Lu Xueqi said, looking directly at Shuiyue without flinching. "They said that when Master was young, he and Uncle Wan from Tongtian Peak..."

"Shut up!" Shuiyue interrupted her sharply, her chest heaving violently.

She stared at Lu Xueqi as if she were a stranger.

After a long while, she slowly sat down, her hands resting on her knees, her knuckles white.

The room was deathly silent. The only sounds were the breathing of two people, one deep and one shallow.

"You..." Shuiyue began, her voice hoarse, "You and him are not the same."

"What's different?" Lu Xueqi asked.

"He..." Shuiyue paused, "He has ordinary talent and low cultivation. You...you are a genius, a pillar of the future. You are not on the same path."

"So what?" Lu Xueqi's voice remained calm. "So I can't like him?"

"It's not that it's impossible," Shuiyue said, "it's that we can't be together. The gap is too big; it won't work out."

"How will we know if we don't try?" Lu Xueqi said, the flame in her eyes burning even brighter. "Did Master and Uncle Wan try it back then?"

Shuiyue felt as if she had been pricked by a needle, and her body trembled. She looked at Lu Xueqi for a long time, then slumped back in her chair and closed her eyes.

"You..." she began, her voice weary, "Are you determined to bang your head against a brick wall?"

"You only know if it hurts after you get hit," Lu Xueqi said.

Shuiyue fell silent.

She closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair, looking as if she had aged several years in an instant. The moonlight shone on her face, making the fine wrinkles particularly clear in the light and shadow.

It was quiet for a long time.

"You've reached the fifth level of Jade Purity?" Shuiyue suddenly asked, her eyes still closed.

"Yes."

"How did you train?"

"I practiced it myself."

"What about the method of controlling artifacts?"

"I figured it out myself by watching my master fly on a sword."

Shuiyue opened her eyes and looked at Lu Xueqi. Her gaze was complex, containing shock, confusion, pride, and even a hint of...fear?

"You're too hasty," she said. "Cultivation is not child's play; an unstable foundation will lead to endless troubles."

"I understand," Lu Xueqi said. "I know what I'm doing."

Shuiyue looked at her for a while longer, then waved her hand.

"Fine," she said. "I can't control you. But you went down the mountain without permission and disregarded the sect rules, so you must be punished."

Lu Xueqi lowered her head. "This disciple accepts the punishment."

"You'll be confined for a year," Shuiyue said. "You're not allowed to step out of Xiaozhu Peak."

Lu Xueqi suddenly looked up, a flicker of fire in her eyes. "A year?"

"What? You think it's too short?"

"No..." Lu Xueqi's voice trembled slightly, "A year... is too long."

Shuiyue looked at her, at the panic and pleading in her eyes. Suddenly, the hardness in her heart softened. It softened into a puddle of water, bitter and astringent.

"Then it'll be a month," she said, her voice softening, "but you can't see anyone during that month. Especially him."

Lu Xueqi bit her lip, then nodded. "...Yes."

Shuiyue stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the moon outside. The moon was round and bright, illuminating the bamboo forest in a silvery light.

"Xueqi," she said softly, "love is the most hurtful thing. You're still young, you don't understand."

"I understand," Lu Xueqi said softly. "It's precisely because I understand that I don't want to miss out."

Shuiyue fell silent. She gazed at the moon for a long time, then turned and walked out of the quiet room. The sound of the door closing was soft, but exceptionally clear in the silence.

Lu Xueqi remained kneeling, motionless. The moonlight shone on her, making her look like a jade sculpture. She lowered her head, looking at her hands for a long time, then slowly clenched them.

It's only been a month.

She can wait.