Passing the main hall and following the side path beside it, one could reach the living quarters of the Fangcun Sect.
Row upon row of houses formed a courtyard.
Beneath a crabapple tree in the corner stood a stone table.
The room with its door open facing that stone table was Li Xingyue’s residence.
The room was large but very simple.
There were no special decorations, not even a wardrobe or dressing table.
A small pot sat on the floor, with some medicinal herbs piled beside it.
Several wooden bowls rested on the table.
Because the windows were open to let in the breeze, there was no bitter medicinal smell in the room—only the faint, delicate fragrance of crabapple blossoms.
Once the two entered the room, Li Xingyue seemed a little reserved.
Seeing Su Zhan’s gaze first land on the wooden bowls on the table, she quickly went over and moved them aside.
Su Zhan watched silently.
There appeared to be some medicinal residue at the bottom of the bowls.
She did not know what they were for, but Li Xingyue’s face was indeed rather pale.
Her voice was soft and gentle, as if she lacked strength.
After hurriedly tidying the table, Li Xingyue produced a jar of sun-dried crabapple blossoms from somewhere.
She used her spiritual power to heat water and prepared two cups of tea for Su Zhan.
“The sect only has me left now, and no one has ever come to my room as a guest, so I’ve let things get a bit neglected…”
Li Xingyue explained in a small voice.
“None of the people who accepted the commission before ever came to Senior Sister Li’s room?” Su Zhan asked, watching Li Xingyue’s busy back.
“Never… The previous fellow Daoists only asked me for some information and never stayed long in the sect.”
Li Xingyue answered.
She turned slightly and tilted her head in confusion.
“Why does Junior Sister Su ask?”
“It’s nothing. Just a casual remark.”
Su Zhan shook her head.
She could not quite explain why herself, but after hearing Li Xingyue’s answer, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
It was good that only she had seen this sight.
If anyone else had seen it before, Li Xingyue would probably feel embarrassed… Yes, embarrassed.
Mm, it was just her habit of feeling secondhand embarrassment acting up again.
Su Zhan thought.
“This is flower tea I dried myself. The flavor should be quite nice. Junior Sister Su, please try it.”
Li Xingyue did not press further.
She dropped a dried blossom into a cup, added hot water, and handed it to Su Zhan.
Su Zhan opened her mouth.
She had originally planned to refuse and directly tell Li Xingyue that she had come to cancel the commission.
But when Li Xingyue placed the teacup in her hands, the words would not come out.
“Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Su Zhan held the cup, feeling its gentle warmth.
“So… Junior Sister Su, you came because of the man-eating demon commission?”
Li Xingyue sat down across from her.
She gripped the cup with both hands, fingertips overlapping.
After a moment of thought, she asked hesitantly, her tone carrying some uncertainty.
Su Zhan could not quite read the emotion in Li Xingyue’s voice.
If she said no, would Li Xingyue be disappointed?
So she answered instinctively.
“Yes.”
She nodded lightly.
“I see… But I already… I’m sorry, Junior Sister. This commission has made you come all this way for nothing.”
There was no expected delight or relief.
Li Xingyue simply showed an expression that said “as expected.”
After murmuring softly to herself, she apologized weakly to Su Zhan.
“The man-eating demon matter has already been handled. It has been suppressed and will no longer come out to cause harm.”
“I have already sent thanks to the sects that helped before, but I did not know that Junior Sister Su had also accepted the commission…”
Li Xingyue paused, then smiled self-deprecatingly.
“My messaging methods are too slow. The letter announcing the resolution probably hasn’t reached the Immortal Alliance yet. That’s why this misunderstanding occurred.”
Su Zhan raised an eyebrow.
So all her earlier worry had been for nothing?
If she told Xia Liu, the girl would probably feel much more at ease.
“It’s fine as long as it’s resolved.”
She comforted her softly.
“The scenery in Fangcheng is quite nice. My junior sisters and I have not come here in vain.”
Then Su Zhan took out a pouch of spirit stones from her robe and pushed it toward Li Xingyue.
It was half the commission fee—roughly equal to her monthly allowance.
She guessed that Li Xingyue had spent nearly everything she had on the commission, which was why the sect looked so run-down.
Returning the stones would mean the commission had nothing to do with her anymore, and Li Xingyue could use them to make things a little easier.
“Since the matter is already settled, please accept the full return of these spirit stones.”
“Junior Sister Su brought fellow disciples with her? Are they all in Fangcheng?”
Li Xingyue did not take the pouch.
Instead she asked another question.
This time Su Zhan caught the clear note of envy in Li Xingyue’s voice.
She suddenly remembered the silent halls and lifeless buildings she had seen when first entering the Fangcun Sect.
Perhaps she should not have mentioned her junior sisters.
“…Yes… They are all obedient children.”
Su Zhan said, averting her gaze from Li Xingyue.
She lifted the cup to her lips and took small sips.
Slightly bitter, slightly sweet, with a faint fragrance that lingered at the tip of her nose.
The tea tasted like the person who had made it.
“Junior sisters are always obedient in front of their senior sisters.”
Li Xingyue smiled, but as she smiled her eyes lowered and her voice grew softer.
“But if they had been a little more rebellious before… it would have been better…”
Li Xingyue pushed the spirit stones back toward Su Zhan’s hand, not giving her a chance to refuse.
She gently laid her hand over the back of Su Zhan’s and looked straight into her eyes, her tone gentle.
“I have already decided to give up cultivation. From now on I will simply drift through my days in the sect. These stones are useless to me. Since we have met by fate, I would like to give them to Junior Sister Su.”
Why?
Su Zhan wanted to ask, but then she thought: in this sect where she lived alone, what was the point of raising her realm any higher?
Su Zhan remained silent for a long moment.
She wanted to say something, yet she did not know what to say.
In the end she could only force out a single sentence.
“Senior Sister… one should not accept rewards without merit.”
“Is that so…”
Li Xingyue pressed her lips together.
She looked out the window, her gaze distant.
After thinking for a long while, she murmured softly.
“My junior sister loved the sugar-coated hawthorns sold on the west side of the city the most. Every time we went down the mountain she would pester me to buy some for her. The old uncle who sells them must still be there—he was only in his forties.”
“If Junior Sister Su is willing, could you help me run an errand and buy a few skewers?”
“Sugar-coated hawthorns?”
Su Zhan was stunned.
“Yes, sugar-coated hawthorns.”
Li Xingyue smiled at Su Zhan, then looked out the window again.
Her eyes lowered as if lost in memory.
“It has been a very long time since I last had any. When my junior sister was here, I always ended up eating whatever she left behind. At first I thought it was too childish, but after thinking it over, the only thing I want now is those sugar-coated hawthorns.”
A crabapple branch happened to hang over the table.
A few bell-like blossoms swayed gently in the wind.
If one were to sit by the table and nap in the afternoon, it would surely be comfortable.
Su Zhan stared at the stone table outside the window, momentarily lost in thought.
She suddenly wondered whether Li Xingyue, living alone here, would sometimes sit at that stone table during idle moments.
Would she stretch lazily, then bury her face in her arms and rest her head on the table, letting the afternoon sunlight filter through the branches onto her body?
Would she fall asleep amid the flower fragrance and breeze, the faint furrow between her brows finally smoothing out in a beautiful dream?
In this solitary life of hers, what did Li Xingyue think about?
Su Zhan did not know.
She wanted to know, but she did not dare ask.
Because she understood clearly that it was not something one could talk about with others—it was a wound that had only barely been sewn shut.
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