Dawn's first frost. The sunlight after the snow was exceptionally clear and piercing, carrying with it a cold purity. It offered no warmth on the skin, yet it was utterly pure.
The sunlight slanted across Xiao Ruoching's face, seeming to penetrate her very being and casting a long shadow.
Xiao Ruoching's eyelashes fluttered. It was as if she were waking from a long dream, countless past scenes emerging in her mind—images of her previous life.
In her dreams, she hugged her knees, shivering and hiding in a corner, watching as her kinsfolk fell into pools of blood.
The shouts of battle, the savage roars, echoed relentlessly in her ears.
She could see her mother's eyes, wide in death, and her tightly pursed lips. Her mother was gently shaking her head at her, signaling her not to come out.
The burly man was only a few meters away. She could see the savage teeth his grin revealed and the cold glint of his longsword in the sunlight.
Then, Xiao Ruoching saw Su Bei for the first, and then the second, time.
Blood splashed on her face, dyeing her neck red, as he gently reached out to her...
The same scene replayed twice, and she couldn't tell which time her master had smiled more tenderly at her.
Realizing she was dreaming, Xiao Ruoching finally focused on the man's face before swinging the sword in her hand.
Then, faintly, she seemed to hear that familiar, gentle voice echoing near her ear.
Two people were talking, a man and a woman.
Xiao Ruoching's eyelashes trembled. She moved unconsciously, a throbbing pain shooting through her head.
Xiao Ruoching's heart suddenly clenched; she seemed to have fainted amidst the roar of the terrifying Dao Integration Beast.
Just as she was about to get up, her heart lurched. It was as if she had heard a conversation that shook her to her very soul.
"Since we've met by chance, and I quite enjoyed talking with you, I shall grant you a stroke of fortune..."
Then, that familiar male voice spoke without hesitation, kind and gentle as a spring breeze, caressing her heart.
"Su Mou has long been indifferent to seeking immortality. Fate governs life and death, and wealth lies with Heaven; I no longer yearn for fortune..."
"If Miss Nan is willing, why not bestow this fortune upon Su Mou's disciple."
Xiao Ruoching froze, her breath catching in her throat. It was as if she had heard the most unbelievable words in the world.
The words echoed in her mind: ...why not bestow this fortune upon Su Mou's disciple.
The dream and reality began to merge. Her body trembled slightly. She feigned sleep, but her ears perked up, eyelashes fluttering, as she eavesdropped on their conversation with a maelstrom of emotions.
Ji Nanjue's gaze fixed on the man before her, as if trying to read something in his eyes.
It was indeed too unusual. In all these years, Su Bei was the first person to refuse a fortuitous opportunity placed right before him.
Yet Su Bei's earnest expression didn't seem like false modesty. Ji Nanjue regarded him with her cool gaze and said calmly,
"This fortuitous opportunity could be extremely valuable to you..."
The light in Su Bei's eyes intensified!
This jump down Unrepentant Cliff was definitely the best choice I've ever made in my life!
Such a heaven-sent opportunity for myself... if it's channeled to that prodigal disciple of mine, how much feedback will I get?
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Suppressing the thrill in his heart, Su Bei stood with his hands clasped behind him. He let the cold wind whip at the hem of his robes, their rustling somehow making him appear even more nonchalant. He met Ji Nanjue's eyes and chuckled lightly.
"Miss Nan, to be honest, my original intention in coming down Unrepentant Cliff was to find some opportunities for my disciple..."
"But not only did I fail to find anything, I ended up getting my junior martial sister and disciple injured."
"Su Mou only has this one disciple; I don't want to let her down."
"She possesses the greatest talent in the Twenty-One Provinces. It's just a pity she ended up with an unremarkable master like me. So I thought, even if I must give my all, I want to help her future path extend even further."
"At least, she shouldn't end up like me, her master..."
"She should see further, and her heart should embrace a vaster sky..."
Su Bei didn't say more, though he had ten thousand sentimental phrases prepared in his heart.
But blurting them all out at once would have seemed too deliberate, too artificial.
This plain, simple narration was more likely to stir the heart of the woman before him.
A bewildered look lingered in Xiao Ruoching's eyes as she listened to her master's incredibly plain words. For some reason, she felt her ears burn, and a cherry-red blush spread across her cheeks, so vivid it seemed almost liquid.
Her chest heaved erratically, and two lines of tears silently traced paths down her cheeks.
Her master... he really wasn't the same master anymore.
Of the two figures intertwined in her dreams, one had just shattered with a deafening crack, completely dissipating from her heart, leaving no trace behind.
Faced with such a tremendous, heaven-sent opportunity, he hadn't hesitated for even a moment.
Her master was no unremarkable master.
Regret, complexity, guilt, loss, anticipation, joy, bewilderment—a torrent of emotions surfaced in Xiao Ruoching's eyes.
Why was fate so inscrutable? Why did it let me meet the right person at the wrong time, in the wrong place?
If he's ... how can I ever take my revenge?