Chapter Ninety-Five: A Disciple is Hard to Come By

  The sudden movement of the fortune teller startled Shen Baiying. He quickly looked up and saw that Bu Suanzi had already rushed out of the teahouse door and was blocking a young woman's path.

  The woman wore a cyan silk skirt, holding an ancient black wooden zither in her arms. Her figure was slender and elegant, with a head of raven-like black hair that wasn't adorned with any hairpins or ornaments, but simply tied back loosely, accentuating the slenderness of her waist. Just by looking at her back, one could tell she was a rare beauty.

  Shen Bailian looked him up and down, then stepped forward and walked over to Bu Suanzi, saying: "Senior, this young lady is actually your senior disciple?" He thought to himself in surprise: Master Guaxian is so incredibly talented, yet unexpectedly took a timid and delicate woman as his disciple. The actions of a superior being are indeed profound and unfathomable.

  But Bo Zhongzi smiled and said, "Not now, but it will be in the future."

  Shen Bailian was taken aback, and before he could figure out why "not now, but in the future", he heard a clear and melodious voice say: "This senior must have mistaken me for someone else. I am not your disciple, please make way."

  The woman with the zither turned her head, and it was indeed she who had spoken. From behind, she already seemed extraordinary, but now that he saw her face-to-face, she was even more beautiful, with a slender figure and delicate features. However, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and there was a hint of worry in her eyes, as if she had an endless supply of sorrow hidden within. After finishing her sentence, she bowed slightly to Bo Suanzi and Shen Bailian before continuing on her way. But Bo Suanzi not only didn't let her pass but also took another step forward, blocking her path once again: "Good disciple, don't go! Master has been waiting for you, having calculated that my one and only disciple would appear here. I've come from afar to Chenzhou, waiting and waiting, and finally, I've found you. I won't let you go now that I've recognized you. Your eyes are clear and bright, with a hint of golden light between your eyebrows, and an air of dignity on your face. You have the mark of a heaven-born talent, and your innate abilities are exceptional. You're the perfect disciple sent by heaven to this old man! Quickly kneel down and kowtow a few times, and we'll find a quiet place for Master to impart all his knowledge to you. This will be a worthy passing on of my legacy!" As he spoke, he stroked his long beard, narrowed his eyes, and gazed at the woman's face with a satisfied smile.

  The girl holding the zither frowned even more tightly, shook her head lightly: "Senior's kindness, Qin Ji has accepted. But Qin Ji is dull and stubborn, afraid of not being able to bear Senior's expectations, please go find someone else." Shen Bailing heard from the side, thinking: So your name is Qin Ji, no wonder you're carrying that heavy wooden zither, only don't know how good your zither skills are.

  "Many people want to be my apprentice, kneeling and kowtowing thousands of times, speaking a million words to curry favor, but I don't even give them a glance. How is it that today you, a mere young woman, dare to reject me? Don't you look down on the reputation of 'Guā Xiān'?!" As he spoke, he stroked his long beard, spitting as he enumerated his various extraordinary skills, implying that if Qín Jī didn't agree to become his apprentice, she would be the biggest fool under heaven. His agitated demeanor was completely different from his calm and composed self when advising Shěn Bǎi Líng earlier. Shěn Bǎi Líng could only stare in shock, her mind unable to use the phrase "the actions of a superior person are unfathomable" to excuse this elder's behavior any longer.

  But no matter how much Bo Suanzi boasted, Qin Ji just shook her head and refused. Shen Baiying saw that she was gradually revealing a hint of impatience between her eyebrows, and hastily advised: "Senior, this Miss Qin Ji may have other urgent matters at hand, even if you want to take her as an apprentice, it's better to let her finish her urgent business first." Qin Ji heard him making excuses for herself and looked at him with gratitude.

  The old man shook his head: "What urgent matter is more important than the little old man accepting an apprentice? Good apprentice, since you don't want to kowtow, just bow and it will be considered as having paid respects. As long as you follow me in cultivation for a few years, I'll teach you to transform your body!" Shen Bailian thought to herself: It's that they didn't want to pay respects, not that they didn't want to kowtow, so why did the old man reverse cause and effect? It was really laughable.

  Qin Ji sighed and said, "Gua Xian senior, I'm not looking down on you, but as a married woman, my priority is to take care of my family and children. How can I possibly become your disciple and follow you around?"

  Shen Bailian was taken aback, he saw Qinji young and unmarried, her hair not yet coiled up, so he thought she was an unmarried woman, just now addressing her as "young lady", unexpectedly the beauty already had a husband, but since she had a husband, why did she dress so plainly, completely unlike a married woman?

  Baoyu, however, didn't take it to heart and chuckled as he stroked his whiskers: "So that's what you're worried about? In that case, there's nothing to worry about. Judging from your facial features, I'd say your husband will die young, and you won't have any children either - a fate completely free of encumbrances! What is there to be anxious about? Come with me."

  When he said that, Qinji's face changed and she said in a cold voice: "Gu Xian, I respected you as an elder and treated you with courtesy. If you curse my husband like this, I won't let it go easily." As she spoke, there was a clanging sound, and the empty hand now held a shining long sword. Shen Bailong saw clearly that the sword had been hidden in a secret compartment at the bottom of the qin, which couldn't be seen in daily life but could be drawn out with just a stretch of the hand when needed, a clever design indeed.

  But Bu Suanzi was nonchalant, her small eyes calmly gazing at her face as she said leisurely: "If your husband were in good health, why would you be afraid of what others say? It's just a pity that he is different from you, not only completely unskilled in martial arts, but also very weak. Although born into a wealthy family, he doesn't have the fate to enjoy blessings. How laughable that this ordinary man dares to try to bind you within the deep courtyard with him, subjecting you to the constraints of etiquette and moral teachings! Good disciple, if you hadn't suffered enough grievances, why would you leave him? Since you've already suffered enough, why bother about a person destined to have no fate with you?"

  Before he could finish speaking, Kotone's eyes had already revealed an extremely shocked expression, and the sword in her hand was also slightly trembling, apparently what Bōsatsu said was not false.

  "Besides, this person is already dead, even if you want to serve him, it's impossible."

  Qin Ji's body shook, and her face suddenly turned pale. She looked at Bo Suanzi with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. The hand holding the sword suddenly rose, and the sword flashed in the light. A swift and fierce sound echoed above their heads as Qin Ji suddenly threw the long sword towards the two people behind them. Shen Bailian was taken aback, then raised her head to look back, just in time to see a green silk shoe lightly touching the tip of the sword. It turned out that Qin Ji had also jumped up with the sword, using its momentum to propel herself backwards. When she landed steadily in the middle of the street, the sword flew back to her front. Qin Ji slightly shifted her body and raised the zither from her bosom. The sword inserted itself into a hidden compartment on the zither's surface with a soft "ding" sound, the timing so precise that it was almost imperceptible.

  "Good work!" exclaimed Shen Bailian.

  Qin Ji didn't turn back, she just hugged her zither and kept walking, rushing towards the west of the city. Bu Suanzi wasn't anxious at all, he just looked at her back, his eyes full of a sense of inevitability. Shen Bailian asked beside him: "Senior, this Qin Ji girl... isn't she your destined disciple? Why aren't you chasing after her?"

  "Since it's fate, why force it? Wait until she sees through the worldly dust and has no more attachments, then she can learn my magic."

  Shen Bailian furrowed her brow, thinking to herself: "Could it be that Guaxian intentionally said those words to make Qinqi see through the red dust? With his abilities, it's not surprising he could see into Qinqi's fate... But if it was to take her as a disciple, having to reveal all the hardships in her destiny would be too much, too excessive..."

  "Are you not thinking that I'm being too ruthless by forcing this on a woman?" But Gu Xian saw Shen Bai Lian's face was calm and unruffled, not only did she not mind, but also smiled and said, "Do you know that when heaven bestows precious treasures, it must be balanced with something else? People like her who are born with the heavenly eye are hard to find, one in ten thousand. But if they possess the Heaven Piercing Treasure, a strong aura will naturally emerge, how can ordinary people suppress it? Moreover, love is a thing that harms people and oneself, and will also block the heavenly eye. That's why our kind, although we have a long lifespan, are destined to be lonely and solitary until old age." As she spoke, her eyes gradually revealed a hint of coldness, "If you don't let go of everything in your heart early on, how can you obtain the clear and transparent heavenly eye?"

  Shen Bailian was taken aback, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say. Thinking of this senior fellow's calm demeanor, it seemed that he had long since let go of everything. But how could one know if this calmness was not earned through the hardships he experienced in his youth? He might be able to see through the workings of heaven, but his face was disfigured, and he wandered alone in this world. Perhaps he had seen through everything about himself long ago. What joy could be found in living like this? Thinking of herself, her heart felt even more desolate: She had lived a life of confusion, unable to distinguish between good and evil, or even whether she was human or demon. Her mother had taught others to kill her, yet she coexisted with her enemies, receiving their kindness, but ultimately unable to repay them. The Qinghua Sect and the Huanming Realm were sworn enemies, yet she hesitated, unable to make a choice between the two... Reflecting on herself, she realized that she had unintentionally killed her fellow disciple, wronged Suoyu and Xuanyue, and caused her mother's sister to lose her daughter... What was the point of living this life?

  "Stop your foolish thinking!" Bo Zhang shouted, seeing Shen Baiyun gradually falling into a trance-like state with a confused and self-pitying expression on his face. "You demons always think in extremes, no wonder many of you fall into the devil's trap and few become immortals! In life, there are often things that don't go as planned. When it's time to be happy, be happy; when it's time to be sad, be sad. Don't dwell on things afterwards, or you'll never have peace." He paused for a moment, seeing Shen Baiyun still looking dazed, and shook his head. "Forget it, forget it. Your fate is not yet sealed, and even if I said all this, you probably wouldn't understand. But my good disciple has been gone for so long, she must have already figured out the truth as I said. Let's go take a look." With that, he pulled Shen Baiyun's wrist and walked forward.

  Shen Bailian followed him all the way to the west of the city, where there were many residential areas and rich households with high gates and large courtyards. Bu Suanzi seemed familiar with the road, leading the way through twists and turns until they arrived at a mansion outside the wall. Before they even approached the main gate, an old voice sighed: "Qin Shaonai, when you left with a note that day, Master and Mistress were furious and vowed not to let you back in again. Now that Young Master is dead, why have you come back begging?"

  "Look, isn't it just as I said?" Bozhanzi asked Shen Bailian.

  Shen Bailian let out a soft sigh and turned the corner with him, and indeed saw Qinji standing at the gate of the mansion, her face filled with shock, pain, and bewilderment. After a long while, she asked in a hoarse voice: "Qin...Qin Yi, is he really...I don't believe it! Let me see him, just once, I know the old lady doesn't like me, but I won't disobey her again. Just let me take a look at Qin Yi and make sure he's doing well, then I'll leave. Qin steward, please let me see him!" Her voice was hoarse by the end, revealing the depth of her sorrow.

  The old man standing inside the door sighed and said, "If I had known it would be like this, why bother at first? Mrs. Qin, the young master was raised by me, his body was originally not good, why should I curse him to deceive you? The young master has actually passed away three months ago, if you don't believe me, you can ask around the whole city, that day all the people in the Chen's mansion sent off the young master's funeral procession, the whole city of Chen saw it, how could this be faked?"

  Qin Ji listened, and the last thread of luck in her heart disappeared. Suddenly, a wave of grief poured down from the sky, pressing down on her, making her sway, and before she knew it, she had fainted.