SQLJBFDTW Chapter 44

Chapter 44 Jade Cluster (1): The Eldest Disciple Watches the Developing Romance

The spring rain fell all night. Chao Jianxue saw Yu Wei meditating before he closed his eyes, and when he slowly woke up, Yu Wei was already outside practicing his sword.

Although speechless, Chao Jianxue accepted Yu Wei’s perfectionist personality. Unlike him, who would avoid hardship whenever possible, Yu Wei seemed to have a masochistic tendency, pushing himself to the extreme.

He leaned on the windowsill, propping open the window. The sky was gloomy, but the rain had stopped. The crabapple blossoms were scattered all over the courtyard, a mass of wet, ruined red.

Yu Wei’s sword swept across, scattering the damp leaves in the courtyard. Countless crabapple petals danced and twirled with his sword, flitting past his sharp eyebrows, his robes and high ponytail moving up and down.

Spiritual light surged around him, highlighting his ethereal beauty. His sword dance seemed to command everything in the world.

What a breathtaking scene of morning sword practice.

Chao Jianxue’s view was blocked by a petal blown by the wind, and he finally snapped out of it, slowly yawning and starting to change and wash up.

When he walked to the main room, breakfast was already laid out on the table. The hot tea was even kept warm with spiritual power. Chao Jianxue took a sip and immediately recognized it as Yu Wei’s spiritual power.

They were already so familiar that they could recognize each other’s aura from residual spiritual power.

When the time came, Ying Liuzheng, who had agreed to go with them yesterday, didn’t show up. The two had to go ahead to see Madam Ying, who personally took them to Fallen Flower Valley.

In wealthy families like this, they traveled by carriage, accompanied by a group of disciples from the manor.

Madam Ying kindly said to them, “I can only take you to Lotus Wonderland. Whether you can board a Leaf Boat depends on yourselves.”

Chao Jianxue nodded. “That’s enough. Thank you, Madam Ying.”

The journey was long. The carriage had wind-manipulating magic mechanisms. Once they left Dream Butterfly Manor, they immediately soared into the clouds. In the blink of an eye, the vast green mountains and rivers were all within sight.

Madam Ying sat in the same carriage with them, chatting idly as she looked at the sparkling water veins below.

“It’s strange, the Yu Clan hasn’t sent any news for hundreds of years. If Lotus Wonderland didn’t appear on time every year, I would have thought the Yu Clan had left Dongyuan.”

Chao Jianxue thought that the Yu Clan hadn’t even replied to the Sect Leader’s letter. This Yu Clan had truly become hermits of the Xuanzhen Realm.

Madam Ying suddenly thought of something and said wistfully, “To be honest, the Yu Clan once had a marriage agreement with my Ying family. At that time, a divination was performed, and it was predicted that the future eldest son of the Yu Clan would have a connection with the Ying Clan. So, they sent a token early on to the heir of the family, Ying Stringsong, wanting to form a marriage with the child of the future Ying family head. Unexpectedly… the matter came to nothing.”

Hearing her say this, Chao Jianxue became curious about what happened in the past and asked, “I heard that something happened to Dream Butterfly Manor back then. What were the causes and consequences?”

“You are juniors, so it’s normal that you don’t know.”

Madam Ying gave only a simple explanation. It turned out that Ying Stringsong was dissatisfied with the marriage arranged for her by the clan. She left Dream Butterfly Manor with only a letter. When she returned, she was a lifeless corpse. Even the demon clan that killed her had followed her trail to Dream Butterfly Manor, wanting to exterminate them.

Hearing this, in a flash of insight, Chao Jianxue remembered a past event briefly mentioned in the Chronicles of the Xuanzhen Realm, and the more he thought about it, the more similar it seemed.

It was said that a woman from a large clan eloped with a demon. As a result, the demon was wild and untamed, became demonized, and killed his lover, and was so deeply corrupted by the demon that he wanted to harm the woman’s entire clan.

It was also because of this incident that the great demons in Fumo Pass were ready to make trouble, and demon energy was released to stir up trouble, and absorbed the demon’s demonic energy almost breaking through Fumo Pass.

At that time, several lords rushed to kill the demons. Lord Qishan chased the demonic energy all the way and killed the demon with one sword at the gate of Fumo Pass, nailing the overflowing demonic energy, which led to his volunteering to guard Fumo Pass.

And the complete break between the human race and the demon race was also due to this incident.

Could it be that Dream Butterfly Manor was the place where this incident occurred?

The Ying family didn’t want their family affairs to leave a mark in the history books, so they hid the names in the chronicles, so their juniors naturally didn’t know.

He exchanged a glance with Yu Wei, whose expression of realization was exactly the same as his, which further confirmed his guess.

The carriage traveled for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense and arrived at the well-known Fallen Flower Valley.

Peach blossoms covered the mountains, as pink as a fairyland.

In a shady spot, in the dense forest, they followed Madam Ying for a long time. First, they heard the majestic sound of flowing water. As the path turned, they saw a rushing waterfall before them, like the water of the Milky Way from the nine heavens.

Madam Ying pointed to one of them and said, “Go through this waterfall, and you’ll reach Lotus Wonderland.”

The group parted ways. It was already very benevolent of Madam Ying to personally come and see them off to the entrance. Chao Jianxue bowed gratefully.

Madam Ying looked at him, her eyes seemed to have words that were not yet spoken, but in the end, she only said, “Take care.”

The two passed through the waterfall, and now Chao Jianxue had the ability to keep himself dry, still clean and refreshed.

Behind the waterfall was a crack that could barely allow one person to pass through, and they could faintly see the light on the other side.

Chao Jianxue was in front, and Yu Wei was behind. Just as the two were about to squeeze through the opening, a person suddenly rushed in from the waterfall in a panic, drenched and soaked to the bone.

It was Ying Liuzheng, who had disappeared earlier.

He said, “Hurry, let’s go! My mother won’t let me out. I sneaked out.”

Yu Wei frowned. “This is a matter between my senior brother and me. It has nothing to do with the Third Young Master Ying.”

Moreover, it would be difficult to explain if something happened if Ying Liuzheng went with them.

Ying Liuzheng looked at Chao Jianxue aggrievedly and said, “I want to go in with you and see if there’s anything I can do to help. Don’t send me away…”

Chao Jianxue glanced at Yu Wei. Yu Wei’s face was very bad. It was rare to see him showing his displeasure so openly, as cold as ice in the middle of winter.

“Uh, my junior brother is right, Third Young Master Ying should go back.” Chao Jianxue swallowed the “agree” that was about to come out.

Ying Liuzheng didn’t give up. “Although my cultivation is not enough, I’m still a member of the Ying family! The Yu Clan might be more willing to lend you the magic weapon if they see me!”

Without thinking, Yu Wei directly and coldly said, “We don’t need it.”

He turned and flew out of the waterfall. Ying Liuzheng immediately widened his eyes in disbelief.

As expected, in just a moment, Madam Ying received the news and came through the waterfall to catch him.

“Ying Liuzheng! What did I tell you? Get out here.”

Unfortunately, Ying Liuzheng’s cultivation was not good enough, and he had no power to resist. He could only watch himself being dragged away from the waterfall, and the opportunity to be alone with beautiful people and cultivate feelings flew away.

So, he looked at Yu Wei with hatred in his eyes. Why did the heavens kill him and break up his good marriage!

Finally, the surroundings were quiet, and there was only the deafening sound of the waterfall. Chao Jianxue’s mood was relaxed a lot by this interlude. He let out a long sigh and said to Yu Wei, “Let’s go.”

“Hey, it’s rare to see you being so impolite. Do you hate the Third Young Master Ying?” He teased with a smile.

Yu Wei said directly this time, “He has bad intentions.”

Chao Jianxue squeezed into the crevice. “He saved us time and effort. Even if he has that kind of feeling for me, what does it matter? He’s not a bad person, and it’s not a bad thing to be liked.”

“So, Senior Brother accepts same-sex relationships?” Yu Wei’s voice followed closely. The two were very close, but because the gap was narrow, it was difficult for Chao Jianxue to turn his head. He could only feel the wind blowing on the side of his neck, causing a tingling sensation.

He nodded this time. “I can try.”

His palm became hot. It was Yu Wei’s hand grabbing his. Chao Jianxue was startled. His palm was so hot.

“It’s so hot. Are you going to have a relapse here? Hang in there, Junior Brother!” He said fearfully.

Yu Wei seemed to twitch the corner of his eye and opened his lips and said, “No.”

After walking for a while, it was finally clear. Before them was an endless expanse of green leaves connecting to the sky, making people look very small. The vast green and red of the lotus flowers spread out into a painting that could not be seen to the end.

Chao Jianxue stepped on the water shadow, supported by spiritual power, and walked blankly on the water for a while.

“This, how do we find it?” Where did the rumored Leaf Boat come from?

Ripples of water rippled out in circles. Yu Wei walked to his side and said, “This is a hidden formation.”

There was an unbloomed lotus flower at each of the five pinholes around them. As long as they picked them, the true form of the Leaf Boat would appear.

Chao Jianxue was too lazy to ask him how he knew. Junior Brother always knows everything.

They went to the five directions to pick the flowers. The lotus petals were soft and delicate. When they were picked, they turned into spots of light, and then at the broken branches, a snow-white lotus bud grew and slowly unfolded its petals.

When the two of them had picked all the lotus formation eyes, the water surface rippled in circles that gradually expanded. After blinking, a jade-white boat stopped in the lotus bushes, without ropes or paddles.

Chao Jianxue followed Yu Wei onto the boat, half believing, half doubting. It moved forward on its own without wind.

Countless lotus leaves were pushed aside from both sides, like layers of veils being lifted.

Yu Wei’s expression was apprehensive. He suddenly said, “Actually, I know what the Lotus Cluster Leaf Boat is. The Yu Clan’s ancestors once obtained a fairy artifact that could create a secluded fairyland. The Yu Clan settled this fairy artifact in Dongyuan, which is how the Lotus Cluster Leaf Boat came to be. After the boat passes the lotus pond, the shore is the fairyland where the Yu Clan has lived and grown for generations.”

“Oh.” Chao Jianxue quietly watched the scene before him.

“How do the Yu Clan reproduce their offspring? Do they marry within the clan?”

Yu Wei said, “No. The Yu Clan is not unable to leave the realm, nor are they unable to bring people back to the Lotus Cluster Leaf Boat.”

So, they were just a bit secretive about their whereabouts.

Chao Jianxue’s expression was still faint. Yu Wei looked at him and hesitated to say, “Actually…”

Before he could finish speaking, Chao Jianxue’s expression suddenly changed.

His gaze went past Yu Wei’s shoulder, and seeing the scene before him, he said in shock, “This is what you call… a fairyland?”

Yu Wei’s expression changed slightly, and he turned his head.

The Yu Cluster fairyland, once filled with blooming lotus flowers and a gentle breeze, was now a fiery red ruin. The collapsed palaces were submerged under water, reflecting the crimson sky, like a hell visited by Asuras.