Regarding Shen Qingshan, in Fang Jie's memory of the twelve years they spent together, this woman seemed to possess a dual personality. When she was quiet and cold, she was like a block of ice, capable of freezing a person's heart with a single glance. And when she was alluring, she was perhaps more fiery and seductive than any prostitute in a brothel. But this depended entirely on her mood, and even more so on who she was with.
It seemed only young Fang Jie had the luck to see this unknown side of Shen Qingshan.
Perhaps the Shen Qingshan in front of Fang Jie was her true self, or perhaps it was just a way for her to relieve stress. She displayed her enchanting and seductive side, so wanton it made one's lips dry, but this side could only ever be seen by Fang Jie, because… Fang Jie had always been a child.
After three and a half years apart, Shen Qingshan realized she had overlooked something.
Fang Jie was no longer a child. Although he was only fifteen years old by academic standards, in the Great Sui Dynasty, fifteen was considered an adult male. In Shen Qingshan's words, Fang Jie was the kind of well-developed man. At fifteen, he was already half a head taller than her, broad-shouldered and with a physique that would make any woman's heart flutter. He also possessed a clean-cut, refreshing face, making him the type of man girls adored.
In fact, the girls at Hongxiuzhao often chatted and joked with Fang Jie when they had nothing else to do. They would even slip their delicate hands inside his clothes to touch his six-pack abs, completely oblivious to the fact that a weapon was always lurking not far beneath those abs.
When Shen Qingshan realized that Fang Jie was no longer a child, she even felt a pang of regret for the flirtatious things she had casually uttered earlier.
So, she became quiet.
And the quiet Shen Qingshan exuded a chilling coldness.
However, Fang Jie wasn't afraid of the icy Shen Qingshan; on the contrary, he preferred her this way.
"So, Xiang Qingniu really is a Taoist with some background?"
Fang Jie muttered to himself.
Shen Qingshan asked, "Who is Xiang Qingniu?"
"If I'm not mistaken..."
Fang Jie smiled and said, "That seemingly unreliable, outrageously fat guy is the one you mentioned sending a message to Master Xiao via carrier pigeon. For the leader of the Qing Le Mountain Yi Qi Temple Taoist sect to send someone to meet him, is that fat guy really as high-ranking as he claims?"
He paused and sighed, "But why don't I still believe it..."
Shen Qingshan looked Fang Jie over carefully, then couldn't help but ask, "Can you tell me how you've managed these past three and a half years?"
"Concerned about me?"
Fang Jie countered. Shen Qingshan frowned slightly, then said coldly, "I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."
"Split personality."
Fang Jie muttered to himself, then shook his head and said, "Speaking of which, if you hadn't made the decision to separate back then, I would never have had these three peaceful and stable years. Although I've left that border town and am about to enter Chang'an, the most magnificent city in the world, I still think that place, Fan Gu, was really good. If I could live a peaceful life in that small town, I would rather stay there."
After saying this, he suddenly asked Shen Qingshan, "How many are left?"
Fang Jie's words jumped so drastically that Shen Qingshan didn't react immediately. After a moment of silence, she understood what Fang Jie was asking, so she answered seriously, "All five are still here."
"That's good."
Fang Jie let out a long sigh, leaned back in his chair, and said softly, "If anyone else died, I would really feel guilty."
"You don't feel that way now?"
Shen Qingshan asked. Fang Jie smiled and replied earnestly, "Really, no."
This answer somewhat surprised Shen Qingshan, causing her expression to change slightly. She had always thought Fang Jie was a timid, cowardly, even shamefully mediocre young man; such people, regardless of gender, tend to be sentimental. It was indeed surprising, even infuriating, that a sentimental person felt no remorse towards the group of people who had sacrificed themselves to protect him for fifteen years. "I'm grateful, but I don't feel guilty."
Fang Jie looked up at the roof of the teahouse and said, word by word, "I know you'll feel uncomfortable hearing me say I feel no guilt, you might even want to kill me, right? But I really don't want to lie to you, no guilt means no guilt... Although I don't know why you all gathered around me to protect me in the first place, or even who I am, I'm certain of one thing... you weren't protecting me out of any affection, but because you gained something from it."
He paused, then smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, this might sound hurtful, but I think what I'm saying is the truth. You should have known before joining the team that protecting me was very dangerous." "You're constantly at risk of losing your lives. The person who entrusted me to you must have made that very clear, otherwise you would have left long ago because you couldn't bear the constant danger."
"You're staying to continue risking your lives because that person must have promised you great benefits."
He asked, "What interests me more is what promises that person made to you?"
Shen Qingshan's face instantly turned grim. After taking several deep breaths, she gradually regained her composure. Looking into Fang Jie's eyes, she replied calmly, "It wasn't a promise, it wasn't benefits, it was a threat."
...
...
Shen Qingshan was a cultivation prodigy, reaching the eighth rank in less than ten years. Such a person would be cherished as a priceless treasure in any sect. Her senior sister, Mu Xiaoyao, was an extremely rare perception-type cultivator, as rare as an endangered species.
For two such stunningly talented female disciples to exist, their sect must be incredibly powerful, inspiring awe. That's why Fang Jie was curious about what kind of person or force could threaten the two of them, to the point that even their sects dared not stop them or refuse.
From Shen Qingshan's tone, Fang Jie could tell that she had deep concerns about that person… even fear.
There were truly few people or things in this world that could make an eighth-rank expert fear them.
"Perhaps…"
Shen Qingshan looked into Fang Jie's eyes seriously and said, "It won't be long before he comes looking for you, because… you've ruined his plan."
"Plan?"
Fang Jie was puzzled.
"You're a useless piece of trash who can't cultivate."
Shen Qingshan said. Fang Jie frowned slightly, somewhat annoyed, and said, "You don't need to remind me of this every half hour. I know it better than anyone else."
Shen Qingshan rested her chin on her hands, seemingly recalling the past: "Actually, his deadline for us was to protect you for fifteen years, because after fifteen years he would find a way to bring you back to his side. Although I don't know what that method is, I'm certain that you'll be under his control when you're fifteen. And what is it about you that would make someone like him go to such lengths to protect you? I can't think of anything."
"However, he told us before that after fifteen years he would let you return to his side, and at that time our mission would end." The threat he posed to us will be gone. Fifteen years have passed… He didn't come to take you away, and you didn't voluntarily return. This can only mean you disrupted his plan."
Shen Qingshan was silent for a moment, then smiled self-deprecatingly, saying, "This is also what I admire most about Senior Sister and Daquan. After your fifteenth birthday, according to the agreement, your life and death would have nothing to do with them. After that day, even if you died in front of them and they stood by without doing anything, they wouldn't be punished. But they didn't leave you; they've always followed you and protected you. This probably has nothing to do with their so-called mission."
Hearing this, Fang Jie's heart was suddenly filled with emotion and sorrow.
Guilt and warmth.
The former was the emotion he had just said he wouldn't have. Since arriving in this era, Fang Jie had always observed people and things with a detached attitude, forcing himself not to develop any real feelings of dependence on anyone. But at this moment, after Shen Qingshan said these words, he couldn't help but ask himself, if their positions were reversed, would he, like Daquan and Mu Xiaoyao, still stay by his side?
Yes! This was an answer that didn't require any hesitation.
"This doesn't feel good," he suddenly said, somewhat helplessly.
"What?" Shen Qingshan asked.
Fang Jie rubbed his increasingly furrowed brows and sighed, "It makes me feel like I have attachments in life and regrets in death. With such feelings, I'm afraid I'll become more and more foolish."
He asked Shen Qingshan, "Why are you telling me this? Haven't you always looked down on Da Quan and Mu Xiaoyao?"
"Looking down on them is one thing," Shen Qingshan said calmly, standing up.
"Facts are facts. Those who belittle others in words and thoughts because they look down on them are the most despicable."
"If you were forced to, you would kill them but still not insult them, right?"
Fang Jie asked.
Shen Qingshan didn't answer and turned to leave. Just as she reached the entrance of the teahouse, she suddenly did something that made even Fang Jie blush.
She stopped at the door, her voice suddenly sweet and alluring as she said to Fang Jie, "It's a promise... you'll come to keep me company tonight. I've prepared you for this. The night is short, time for makeup application, for waiting by the window... don't make me impatient."
...
...
After Shen Qingshan left, Fang Jie didn't get up. He remained seated by the teahouse window, watching the large dog arguing with an old man selling dogs on the street, and watching Mu Xiaoyao, dressed in a fiery red dress, standing gracefully by the roadside waiting for him. Thinking of Shen Qingshan's words, he felt a warmth in his heart.
...and also confusion.
Fifteen years—a time limit.
...What kind of time limit?
...He carefully tried to find clues in his fifteen years of life. Shen Qingshan had no reason to lie to him; if she said these things, they must have happened. So Fang Jie tried to find something useful in his memories, but after images gathered in his mind, he found nothing noteworthy.
...Fifteen years.
...Those who protected him.
... His own bizarre life on the run.
A mysterious and terrifying mastermind.
Why all this?
These questions piled up, and Fang Jie's mind grew increasingly chaotic. He forced himself to stop thinking and find the root cause. In that instant, a sudden flash of insight struck him, as if he had found a direction.
"I don't know what you have that's worth him going to such lengths for."
Shen Qingshan's words seemed to point him in the right direction.
"Yes… what is there about a cultivation failure like me that's worth you going to such lengths for? Someone trying to control me at the very beginning of my second life… what are you planning to do? What do you want from me?"
This wasn't something that could be figured out immediately with careful thought, so Fang Jie didn't intend to waste time in the teahouse. He got up and left to look for Mu Xiaoyao and Daquan on the street.
And just then, watching Daquan arguing with the old man selling dogs, he suddenly noticed something else. His curiosity about this made him temporarily forget his own troubles.
"Alright then!"
The old man selling dogs looked at the large dog earnestly and said, "If you can tell me where this plate came from, I'll not only return your money, but I'll also give you the plate."
The large dog smiled contemptuously and answered almost without thinking, "It's…"
But he stopped abruptly just as he was about to speak, a fleeting glint of wariness in his eyes: "I don't know. Consider the money as money I gave you to buy a coffin. I don't want it."
When he looked at Fang Jie with the wooden box containing the four puppies, his expression had returned to calm, showing no trace of his previous unease. As he walked, he chuckled and said to Fang Jie, "Should we wait until these puppies grow up before eating them, or should we eat them tonight?"
Fang Jie ignored him, went over and took the wooden box, placing it in front of the old man. In front of the old man, he picked up the dirty plate and examined it closely, then slowly said, "Ouch...crack...tap."
The old man instinctively looked down at the ground and reached out to catch the plate, only to see Fang Jie snap it in two with a crack.
"You!"
The old man pointed at Fang Jie, speechless with anger.
Fang Jie smiled and said, "What, angry? Go ahead and unleash your dogs on me."
After saying this, he turned and walked away, suddenly lowering his voice as he passed the large dog, "I suddenly feel...you have an even bigger story than me?"