Chapter 145 — Meeting

The others fell silent. The woman behind Wenpei was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Senior Sister, actually, the way I see it, whatever we can guess—the Sect Master and Master are people of what stature? How could they fail to guess it too? This time the Sect Master and Master deliberately agreed to Fenyin Valley's proposal precisely because they knew there was someone in Xueqi's heart..."

Wenpei whipped her head around and fixed her with a stare. The woman's expression shifted slightly; she sighed and said no more. Hearing her sigh, Wenpei herself fell silent a moment, then could not help sighing too. "Junior Sister Lin, in truth we all feel the same. Xueqi and the rest of us—though we entered the sect at different times, after these ten-odd years we have long been as close as sisters, and none of us wants to see her come to this. But... ah, I don't know what to say either. In any case, I think Master has always doted on Xueqi most of all, and in the end she won't make things too hard for her."

The other female disciples nodded in agreement, and the group walked slowly on, talking in low voices, sighs faintly mingled among them, until they gradually passed out of sight.

The bamboo shadows shifted, and suddenly a dark figure seemed to drift gently out of the deep darkness and land upon the mountain path. It was Mingli. In this place surrounded on all sides by deadly enemies, his face was faintly pale. He stood silent a long while, then slowly turned and gazed toward the rear mountain of Xiaozhu Peak. Beyond that bamboo grove, where the moonlight lay clear as frost, was said to be the Moon-Watching Terrace of Xiaozhu Peak—one of the Six Scenes of Qingyun.

The cliff hung suspended in midair, most of it jutting out over the void, with only its rear portion joined to the mountain. That night the moon was bright, hanging high in the sky, its clear radiance like water, like frost and snow, spilling down upon the mortal world and falling upon the Moon-Watching Terrace. Though it was not yet the dazzling moonlight of a full-moon night that legend said could illumine all of Xiaozhu Peak, still the gentle light upon the terrace made the whole cliff as bright as day. And the smooth rock of the ground, catching the light at countless angles, reflected a myriad of moons, making the scene all the more coldly, singularly beautiful.

When Mingli stepped onto the Moon-Watching Terrace, this was the scene that lay before him. And in that frost-white moonlight there was also a woman in robes white as snow, her back to him, standing at the front of the terrace upon the cliff, gazing out into the endless dark night, standing silently.

Mingli's face was impassive, but his eyes seemed to flicker with light, as though reflecting that beautiful moonlight. That figure in white, like a fairy standing in the moonlight, seemed to bear no trace of the mortal world at all.

As though sensing something, the figure stirred, and Lu Xueling's voice rose, cool and faintly weary. "Senior Sister, why have you all come back..."

She turned her head slowly as she spoke, but halfway through her words her voice suddenly died. On Lu Xueling's face, always so cold and placid, appeared an expression of utter disbelief. The figure of a man stood there in silence, gazing at her.

"Zhang..." Her lips parted slightly, but before the words came out her voice had already sunk low. "...Xiaofan."

Mingli stood where he was, motionless. The moonlight fell upon Lu Xueling's skin, white as ice and snow, almost transparent in its flawlessness, and lent her a beauty that struck the heart. From where he stood, he felt somehow afraid to draw near.

"Are you... all right?" A thousand words churned in his breast, but what finally came out of his mouth was only these few.

Lu Xueling gazed at this man, the man standing at the border between moonlight and shadow. The expression on his face was so complex, as though something within was tormenting him—and yet that figure was clearly right before her eyes! A figure she had imagined countless times in her dreams!

She lowered her head slightly, wanting to speak and yet holding back. Only after a long while did she say softly, "Since you've come, why don't you come closer?"

Mingli's body trembled. Little Gray, which had been following at his side all this while, had now vanished somewhere. A look of hesitation flickered in his eyes; to him, it seemed that even these few short steps required a great deal of courage.

Lu Xueling still stood there, silent as before. The mountain wind blew, and her white robes fluttered gently.

He took a step, walking upon the moonlight. Behind him, in the distance, the bamboo grove rustled; before him, the woman quietly lifted her head and gazed at him. Mingli stood before her.

Lu Xueling looked at him, and the first trace of agitation and alarm on her face quietly faded. Suddenly she said, "Do you remember what I once told you? The next time we meet, we shall be sworn enemies who cannot both live. You—" She looked at him and spoke slowly. "Why have you still come to see me?"

The corner of Mingli's mouth moved; his eyes flickered, and he suddenly looked away, no longer meeting Lu Xueling's gaze. Just as her face began to darken, the man before her slowly turned back, as though hesitating, as though struggling—and at last he said softly, "You... seem to have grown thinner..."

Lu Xueling's body gave a start, and once more a look of astonishment flashed across her face—but what followed was joy. Upon that skin white as frost and snow, there rose for the first time in her life a faint flush, like translucent red jade, bearing an endless tenderness and a shyness that clung and lingered.

Even if there were no tomorrow, even if the road ahead remained dark—if the heart were warm, perhaps one need not be afraid...

This beautiful, cold woman suddenly smiled, like the most delicate lily of the deep night, smiling soundlessly in the wind. Her white figure was a dazzling presence in the moonlight. Mingli held his breath.

Lu Xueling suddenly spoke, word by word: "I am very happy!" And then she went on smiling, her gaze soft as rippling water.

The night deepened, and the moon sank in the west.

Standing side by side on the cliff before the Moon-Watching Terrace, gazing out together at the darkness ahead, they felt the mountain wind pass by; their garments fluttered at the same moment, their figures bathed in the clear moonlight.

Gentle—that was the feeling of the wind upon the face!

In the boundless, dark vault of heaven, a few scattered points of starlight still glimmered quietly.

"The people from Fenyin Valley came to propose marriage to you?"

After a long silence, Lu Xueling said calmly, "Yes. Master and the Sect Master both agreed."

Mingli's voice betrayed no change; he said mildly, "On my way here, I heard your senior sisters talking. They said you were unwilling?"

Lu Xueling smiled. "Yes. I am unwilling."

Mingli turned to look at her, and what met his eyes was Lu Xueling's calm face, and a faint smile hidden in her brows. His heart suddenly surged—a surge that seemed to rise from the very depths of his being—so that even his body trembled slightly, and he could not help blurting out, "Come away with me—"

Lu Xueling's body quivered, and she looked at him. In her eyes, at this moment, he was clearly still the Zhang Qingyue of those days! That resolute, unyielding youth!

Where to?

Anywhere! To the ends of the earth!

A smile rose to the corners of her mouth, yet in her eyes a crystalline gleam flickered faintly, as though she were hesitating over something. But after a moment she at last said softly, "And what of Bili?..."