Outside Bai Qingxue's courtyard gate.
A series of hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the stone steps all the way to the courtyard entrance.
Shen Yao appeared, panting heavily. Before she could even get a word out, she bent over, hands on her knees, taking a few moments to catch her breath.
At that moment, Bai Qingxue was sitting beneath the old plum tree, wiping down the Frost Moon Chant.
Hearing the commotion, Bai Qingxue looked up, glanced at Shen Yao, and then lowered her head to continue wiping the Frost Moon Chant.
“Martial Aunt Bai!” Shen Yao finally straightened up, her eyes shining bright. “Do you know you've become famous in the sect? Everyone is saying you used a flute to freeze the entire sea back in Yuzhou City!”
As she spoke, Shen Yao gesticulated, drawing a large circle in the air with her hands.
“My cousin is on duty at the Affairs Hall, and he said some people over at Tianshu Peak are betting on whether you can freeze the entire peak of Xueji Peak too...”
Hearing this, Bai Qingxue flipped the flute over, pressing her finger pad against the other side of the instrument as she continued to wipe it down. Its jade surface gleamed with a warm, gentle luster in the afternoon sunlight.
Bai Qingxue wiped it very slowly, from head to foot, unhurriedly.
Shen Yao spoke a few more sentences, and seeing that Bai Qingxue had no intention of replying, she stood there for a while but still continued to chatter away.
It was as if Bai Qingxue's response—or lack thereof—did not affect her enthusiasm in the slightest.
...
The next morning, Bai Qingxue was stopped on her way to the cold pond.
Three disciples stood on the stone path leading to the cold pond. The leader wore an azure Daoist robe, with a decent-quality spiritual sword hanging from his waist. He had a proper, handsome face and a smile playing on his lips.
Behind him stood two disciples of similar age, one on his left and one on his right. Their positions seemed deliberately arranged, blocking about seventy percent of the stone path's width, forcing anyone who wanted to pass to walk right between them.
“Martial Aunt Bai,” the leader took a step forward and bowed with cupped hands, his movements standard and polite. “I am Zhou Yuan of Tianshu Peak. I have long admired your profound mastery of ice-attribute spells, Martial Aunt. I apologize for the intrusion today, but I would like to ask for your guidance.”
When Zhou Yuan said the word “guidance,” his tone was very formal, and his cupped-hand salute made his posture seem beyond reproach.
However, the two disciples behind him exchanged a look, suppressive smiles tugging at the corners of their mouths before Zhou Yuan suppressed them with a sharp glare.
Bai Qingxue stopped.
The Frost Moon Chant rested horizontally at her waist, the sunlight reflecting off the flute's body.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuan's smile widened slightly as he took another half-step forward.
“Regarding the basic application of ice-attribute spells, I heard that you have unique insights into the condensation of ice crystals, Martial Aunt. This disciple wishes to broaden his horizons.”
Having spoken, Zhou Yuan waited for Bai Qingxue's reply.
Yet Bai Qingxue remained silent from beginning to end.
Zhou Yuan waited for a moment.
Although the smile remained on his face, it was already starting to stiffen.
He turned his head, exchanged another look with the two disciples behind him, and then turned back.
“Martial Aunt?” Zhou Yuan called out once more.
Bai Qingxue raised her hand, her fingertips dangling casually.
Suddenly, a wave of spiritual power seeped from her fingers, spreading silently across the ground.
Frost began to form on the bluestone slab right in front of Zhou Yuan's feet. The layer of frost spread outward from the center, growing thicker and denser as its edges curled upward and closed together.
An ice lotus took shape exactly three inches in front of his feet.
Its petals layered upon one another, their edges as thin as a cicada's wing, each one distinct and clear. The ice lotus gleamed with an eerie blue, cold light under the sun.
Zhou Yuan froze.
He looked down at the ice lotus. It blocked his path forward perfectly; if he took another step, he would step right on it.
The thin ice at the edges of the petals shimmered in the sunlight, looking incredibly fragile.
Yet Zhou Yuan did not dare to move forward, for his senses were screaming at him that if he dared take another step, it would not end well for him.
Just like that, Bai Qingxue bypassed Zhou Yuan and continued forward.
The hem of Bai Qingxue's robe brushed past Zhou Yuan without making the slightest contact.
The Frost Moon Chant swayed gently at her waist with her steps, tapping rhythmically against her thigh.
As Bai Qingxue walked between the other two disciples, they instinctively stepped aside, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to pass.
In this manner, Bai Qingxue walked up the stone path toward the cold pond, her footsteps gradually fading into the distance along the empty mountain trail, eventually swallowed by the sound of flowing water.
Zhou Yuan stood frozen in place, staring down at the ice lotus.
The two disciples behind him crept closer, stopping by his side to peer down at the flower on the ground. “Senior Brother Zhou... can we still follow her?”
“Follow her for what?” Zhou Yuan's voice was colder than before, stripped of his previous forced warmth.
“Follow her to ask how to grow flowers?”
The ice lotus remained on the stone slab for the entire day. Even when dusk fell and the evening shadows lengthened, the petals were still perfectly distinct, showing no signs of melting.
Some passing disciples squatted down to look, while others reached out to touch it, only to be pulled back by their companions.
Others tried to copy it, attempting to condense an ice flower in front of their own feet. However, their spiritual power dispersed before it could even take shape, leaving behind nothing but a circular patch of uneven white frost on the stone slab, looking like a bowl of cold water had been carelessly splashed onto the ground.
The next morning.
When Bai Qingxue went to the cold pond again, there was only one person on the stone path.
Zhou Yuan was standing beside yesterday's ice lotus. The lotus was still there, the edges of its petals gleaming with fine, cold light in the morning sun, still exactly three inches from the tip of his boot.
He wore a clean Daoist robe, his hair crown pinned more neatly than the day before, and the spiritual sword at his waist had been replaced with one of even finer quality, its scabbard inlaid with an aqua-blue spirit stone that shimmered in the morning mist.
Seeing Bai Qingxue approach from the end of the stone path, he did not step forward with a smile as he had yesterday. Instead, he stood in place, waiting until she was within three paces before bending at the waist.
Unlike yesterday's cupped-hand salute, Zhou Yuan bent his back completely, lowering his posture to the absolute limit.
“Martial Aunt Bai.”
“This disciple, Zhou Yuan, wishes to enter your tutelage. Please accept me as your disciple, Martial Aunt.”
Bai Qingxue stopped.
She looked down at his bent back, then raised her eyes to glance at the ice lotus behind him.
Sunlight spilled through a gap in the mountain ridge, shining upon Zhou Yuan's hair crown and making the aqua-blue spirit stone glint brightly.
In that moment, the air fell completely still.
But soon, a voice broke the silence.
“I do not take disciples.”
Having spoken, Bai Qingxue walked past Zhou Yuan, the end of the Frost Moon Chant brushing against his sleeve.
Zhou Yuan straightened up and turned around to watch her departing figure.
Bai Qingxue continued along the stone path, her silver-white hair gleaming with a cold light in the morning sun. She walked past the stone road at the edge of the cold pond,
and squatted by the water's edge, reaching out to test its temperature. Her figure was slightly obscured by the morning mist, looking like a trail of frost about to dissolve.
Zhou Yuan stood where he was. The ice lotus behind him remained, the thin ice of its petals reflecting an eerie blue cold light under the sun.
He withdrew his gaze from Bai Qingxue's back and let it fall upon the ice lotus. Then, he slowly bent down and extended his index finger, tracing the outline of the petals from half an inch away without actually touching them.
Zhou Yuan straightened up and turned to walk down the stone path, though a trace of bewilderment lingered in his eyes.
Evening.
When Bai Qingxue returned to the courtyard, there was an extra bag of pine nut candy sitting on the stone table.
The pine nut candy was wrapped in greasepaper, the string tying it closed fastened in a neat knot. Its corners were uncreased, looking as if someone had carefully protected it all the way before placing it on the table.
Bai Qingxue walked over and untied the string. Inside were pale golden candies dusted with a fine layer of sugar, shimmering softly in the twilight.
Looking at the pine nut candy before her, Bai Qingxue inexplicably picked one up and popped it into her mouth.
The fragrance of pine nuts dissolved on the tip of her tongue, its sweetness faint as it slowly seeped into the back of her throat.
Such a familiar taste...
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