Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Another Nightmare
“Junior Brother Fang.” Zhou Jin Yue raised an awkward yet polite smile. “I really do not know where Junior Sister Yu has gone.”

Fang Cheng Lang’s eyes dimmed. “I have disturbed Senior Sister Zhou.”

What was beyond Zhou Jin Yue’s expectations was that Fang Cheng Lang did not pester her. After getting her answer, he turned around and left.

Zhou Jin Yue looked at his back and shook her head.

Fang Cheng Lang returned to Lone Moon Peak in a daze.

Three days ago, Master Qing Yan had finally agreed to let him freely enter and leave the cave residence, and he had then had the thought of going to see Yu Zhao.

But when he went to Yu Zhao’s residence in the Inner Court, he found that it had long been empty.

He asked several inner disciples, but none of them knew where Yu Zhao had gone, so he could only go to Zhou Jin Yue with a sliver of hope.

He stood blankly on Lone Moon Peak’s training grounds, feeling that the vast mountain was so desolate it was frightening. He could no longer find the gentle warmth of the past.

He did not know if it was because he thought of Little Six day and night.

He had had another nightmare.

This time, some images had appeared in that dark space.

The person in the images was him and yet not him.

He was still the famed Gentleman Sword of the Five Elements Dao Sect, yet when he faced Little Six, he seemed like a completely different person.

When Little Six wanted to ask him for a flower lantern, he refused her without even thinking.

When Little Six brought him carefully prepared food, he did not even look at it and threw everything on the ground.

When Little Six asked him for guidance in sword arts, he struck her wrist with a single sword move, leaving her unable to hold a sword for a long time.

He watched again and again as the him in the dream rejected Little Six’s goodwill, and again and again as Little Six was so hurt she could not stop crying.

In the dream, Fang Cheng Lang constantly roared: [That is not me, that is not me!]

Yet no one could hear him.

He sank into a swamp called despair. He wanted to struggle, but could only watch himself sink helplessly.

First his fingertips, then his arms, and finally Fang Cheng Lang’s whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

“First Senior Brother.”

Fang Cheng Lang slowly lifted his head.

Cui Jue was standing in front of him, worry in his eyes.

Fang Cheng Lang tried hard to pull at the corners of his mouth to squeeze out a smile, but failed several times. He simply gave up and said hoarsely: “A’Jue.”

Fang Cheng Lang did not like using formal titles like Junior Brother and Junior Sister. He felt that calling others by their childhood names was warmer and sounded more like family.

“First Senior Brother, let us go and bring Little Zhao back.”

A hint of hope flashed in Fang Cheng Lang’s eyes, but it quickly faded.

He shook his head bitterly. “Little Six does not want to see us.”

“If she does not want to see us, are we just going to keep avoiding her? Then we will never be able to gain her forgiveness.”

Cui Jue could tell that First Senior Brother had already lost the confidence to win Little Six back, which was why he was so depressed and dispirited.

But he did not believe Little Zhao was a heartless person.

As long as they showed enough sincerity, Little Zhao might not be unable to come around one day.

It all depended on whether their sincerity was enough to move Little Zhao.

“Little Zhao is cultivating the Ruthless Dao.” Fang Cheng Lang said heavily.

Cui Jue’s pupils trembled.

[Ruthless Dao?]

[Impossible!]

Little Zhao was delicate and valued feelings deeply. How could she possibly choose to cultivate the Ruthless Dao?

His face was full of disbelief. “First Senior Brother, you must be joking with me.”

Fang Cheng Lang had known that Cui Jue would not believe it.

Cui Jue spent years in closed-door cultivation and alchemy. In recent years, he had only seen Yu Zhao a handful of times, so of course he had not noticed how much she had changed.

If someone had told him this four years ago, he would also have thought it was a joke.

Unfortunately, it was not.

Fang Cheng Lang’s silence made fear rise in Cui Jue’s heart as well.

He opened his mouth with difficulty. “Was it three years ago?”

Fang Cheng Lang nodded.

The calm confidence on Cui Jue’s face was gone.

He was a smart man. Before this, he had stubbornly refused to believe that Yu Zhao would give up their bond as senior brothers and junior sister. Now that Fang Cheng Lang had laid out the truth, he had no choice but to admit how determined Yu Zhao had been to leave.

The two of them looked at each other, unable to say a word.

After an unknown amount of time, the confusion on Cui Jue’s face faded, leaving only determination.

“First Senior Brother, no matter what, I still want to see Little Zhao once.”

He wanted to know what had driven Yu Zhao to make this decision, and he also wanted to know whether, in Yu Zhao’s eyes, he had been a very unqualified senior brother.

Under Cui Jue’s influence, Fang Cheng Lang could not help wavering as well.

He really could not accept cutting all ties with Little Six and never seeing her again in this life.

Cui Jue was cool-tempered and extremely clever. With him there, they might really be able to think of a way to make up with Little Six.

Fang Cheng Lang nodded heavily. “All right, I will go with you.”

After a brief discussion, the two of them decided to set out early the next morning.

Cui Jue thought that going out to temper themselves would take at least half a year, and if accidents happened along the way, there was no telling when they would return. He should prepare Junior Sister’s medicine for her in advance.

Fortunately, he had refined quite a lot of pills that nourished the body. He picked through his medicine cabinet, chose enough pills for two years, and sent them to Ye Cong Xin’s cave residence.

Ye Cong Xin had thought he was here again to ask about Yu Zhao and was just about to casually find an excuse to brush him off when she heard Cui Jue say that he was going out to train for a while.

Ye Cong Xin’s brow twitched.

Right now, on Solitary Joy Peak, the person with the highest favorability toward him was Cui Jue. He had also placed his first mission target’s wish on Cui Jue.

If Cui Jue was no longer on Lone Moon Peak, then his plan to gain Cui Jue’s favorability would fall through completely.

Using the corner of his eye, Ye Cong Xin secretly observed Cui Jue’s expression while pretending to be troubled: “Fourth Senior Brother has only just come out of seclusion and is already leaving again. I am so sad.”

Then he changed the subject and suggested that Cui Jue take him along to train outside together.

Cui Jue frowned. “Junior Sister, your body has only just started to improve. You really should not tire yourself too much.”

“It does not matter.” Ye Cong Xin tugged at Cui Jue’s sleeve and said softly, acting spoiled: “With Fourth Senior Brother there, Fourth Senior Brother definitely will not let me suffer.”

Seeing that Ye Cong Xin was insistent, Cui Jue could only speak the truth.

“Junior Sister, in fact, First Senior Brother and I are planning to look for Little Zhao. She is not in the sect now and we do not know where she has gone to train. We are a little worried, so we want to go check on her.”

The smile in Ye Cong Xin’s eyes faded.

She had thought that Cui Jue had not asked about Yu Zhao for a long time because he was planning to give up, but it turned out his heart was still set on Yu Zhao.

Since that was the case, she could not let Cui Jue have his way.

“Fourth Senior Brother, take me with you. I also want to do my part for Sixth Senior Sister. Or is it that you are actually blaming me too?”

As Ye Cong Xin spoke, his eyes reddened and he made as if he were about to cry.

Cui Jue hesitated for a long time, but in the end he nodded and agreed.

His feelings for Junior Sister were, more than love, closer to pity.

He still remembered that when he first saw Junior Sister, she had been about the same as Little Zhao when she had first entered the sect, thin and small like a little kitten.

Later, Little Zhao had gradually grown healthy under their careful care. Junior Sister’s appearance had stirred up his memories of the past, so he gave Junior Sister extra attention as well.

Actually, he felt this was very unfair to Junior Sister.

Because he only cared more about her due to Little Zhao.

To make up for the guilt in his heart, he kept refining body-nourishing pills for Junior Sister.

Looking at Ye Cong Xin smiling because of his promise, Cui Jue suddenly felt a trace of confusion in his heart.

With his long-term supply of pills, Junior Sister’s health had gradually stabilized, but it seemed he had not refined a single batch of pills for Little Zhao in a very long time.

Cui Jue stood there in a daze.