Chapter 234 — Parting

Nearby Zhou Yixuan shook his head and muttered, "Good heavens. I raised her for ten-odd years, and in the end no one speaks up for me when I am called no good, while another is called a good man. Truly…"

Before he could finish, Jin Pingyue swept a murderous glare his way, and the rest of Zhou Yixuan's words went straight back down into his belly.

When night fell, because Xiao Wan was in low spirits, the party did not travel far. Jin Pingyue had in fact been passing this way and had happened to discover Xiao Wan and the others here, which was why she had come down to meet them. She had meant only to exchange a few words before hurrying on, but now, worried over Xiao Wan's mood, she lingered as well.

By evening, however, under Jin Pingyue's repeated coaxing and teasing, a smile had finally returned to Xiao Wan's face. Jin Pingyue then whispered something secretly into her ear—what it was, no one could tell—but in the eyes of Zhou Yixuan and the Wild Wolf Daoist, that Jin Pingyue, all startling charm, leaned close to Xiao Wan and whispered to her, making the girl—whose spirits had only just begun to recover—flush red and pale by turns, and now and then she let slip words of bashful coyness. It was unlikely to be anything wholesome.

After talking this way for some time, Jin Pingyue rose and stretched. "Well then, I should be going."

Xiao Wan seemed to have expected all along that Jin Pingyue would go; there was no surprise on her face, but her reluctance was plain. Holding Jin Pingyue's hand, she said softly, "Elder sister, when shall we meet again?"

Jin Pingyue smiled faintly. "Don't worry. Great as heaven and earth are, we two sisters are bound to meet again by fate."

Xiao Wan gave an "Mm," nodded, and said, "Then let me see you off a little way."

"Very well," said Jin Pingyue, and taking her hand, walked outward. Zhou Yixuan and the Wild Wolf Daoist wished for nothing more than this woman's quick departure, and so did not stop them.

After they had gone some distance, the two young women chattered on a while longer. Jin Pingyue laughed. "All right, this is far enough. Otherwise your grandfather will be scolding me again."

Xiao Wan nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something. She hesitated, then said, "Elder sister, I recall you seem to be in the same sect as… as him, is that right?"

Jin Pingyue started. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Xiao Wan said in a low voice, "That… that Miss Bili—what is the story there? Could you tell me?"

Jin Pingyue sighed. "Little sister, it is not that I mean to scold you, but though that man is somewhat out of the ordinary—and even I, his elder sister, regard him differently from other men—still I would advise you to let it be. His life has been all hardship. If you press closer to him, you will only make things hard for yourself."

Xiao Wan shook her head. "I—I never really thought about wanting anything. I only want to know a little more about him."

Jin Pingyue shook her head slightly, sighed, and after a moment's thought gave Xiao Wan a brief account of things past. As Xiao Wan listened, her expression gradually darkened, and when she heard how Bili's soul had been imprisoned within the Hehuan Bell, and how Ming Li roamed the ends of the earth solely to find a way to free that soul, her face had very nearly turned black.

Jin Pingyue naturally noticed the change in Xiao Wan's face, but took it only for a young girl's sentiment. "Well, that is roughly how it is," she said gently. "Little sister, take an elder sister's word and do not let these things weigh on your heart. You have a long road ahead of you yet."

Xiao Wan seemed somewhat distracted; her face was grim as she nodded at Jin Pingyue and said, "I understand." With that she hurried off back the way they had come. Jin Pingyue was rather surprised, and before long a sound of quarreling drifted from the distance—it seemed Xiao Wan had started arguing with Zhou Yixuan again.

Jin Pingyue could not help laughing. If she had the spirit to quarrel, the little girl must be feeling somewhat better—youth, after all. She shook her head slightly, as if feeling herself a little old; but very quickly that plainly damnable notion was kicked out of her head.

Transforming into a purple halo of light, she leapt up and rode the wind. Less than half an hour later she had alighted atop the silent city wall of He Yin, save that a man already stood there—tall and broad, hands clasped behind his back, dressed in Daoist robes. It was none other than the Cang Yan Daoist.

Jin Pingyue smiled at him with all her charm. "Daoist priest, I have kept you waiting so long. I am truly sorry."

Cangyan Daoren slowly turned around and said blandly, "You have been delayed a long while."

Jin Pingyue's expression did not change. She smiled and said, "The sect master did tell us to proceed with caution, after all, and not to rush for results—did he not?" Her smile was seductive, and within it lurked an indistinct, unnameable depth of meaning. Softly she laughed and said, "Or is it, Daoren, that toward Canglan Mountain, so close before your eyes, you feel a kind of eagerness to return to your old haunts?"

Cangyan Daoren gave a cold snort and said nothing, only turning to gaze into the distance. Jin Pingyue smiled faintly, walked to his side, and followed his gaze in the same direction.

Far away, the towering, majestic Canglan Mountain loomed in and out of view amid wreaths of cloud and mist.