Chapter Forty-Three Return Journey

  Ling Jing and Ling Long entered the mansion, then carefully unfolded their lightness skills to shuttle through the mansion. It seemed that Ling Long was quite familiar with this place, leading the way, but in a short while, the two arrived at the wine cellar of the mansion.

  Ling Jing looked at the numerous wine jars in the cellar and smiled, "There are quite a few fine wines here. It seems that the master of this mansion is also a connoisseur of wine."

  "Alright, let's stop being sentimental, Ling Xiaoyao. Let's just borrow his wine and make a quick getaway."

  The two of them looked at each other and smiled, each carrying a jar of fine wine. They left the mansion and headed out of town.

  The cool night was like water, the faint moonlight spilled onto the ground, casting a thin layer of silver light over the dark night. Ling Jing and Ling Long arrived at a vast expanse outside the city, where the ground was covered with lush green grass. As the night breeze swept by, it stirred up layers of green waves.

  Ling Jing sat down on the ground, with soft green grass beneath him. A bright moon hung above his head, and a gentle breeze blew, filling his nostrils with a faint, delicate fragrance that he knew was the scent of Ling's body. Every time he caught a whiff of her subtle perfume, he felt a thrill in his heart.

  He skipped a beat in his heart and suddenly smiled: "Linglong girl, are you not tired of standing all the time?"

  She gave him a glance that was like a smile but not quite, stretched languidly, and the beautiful lines of her figure were revealed to Ling Jing's eyes. Her slender waist could be grasped in one hand, and although she was dressed as a man at the moment, the coquettish intent on her face couldn't be hidden no matter what. With just one raised eyebrow and one smile, she could unknowingly stir the heartstrings of those around her.

  Ling'er then sat down beside Ling Jing, only a palm's distance away from him. Ling Jing was still slightly dazed, and in his heart, he felt that this woman was like a seductress, any ordinary movement she made seemed to give people a charming feeling, truly a enchanting demon who could charm people to death.

  Linglong saw him staring at her in a daze and suddenly whispered slyly in his ear, "Fool, does it look good?"

  "Ah?" Ling Jing finally came back to his senses, a hint of embarrassment on his face, dryly laughed twice, suddenly patted the wine jar open, turned his head to one side, and started pouring wine into his mouth in large gulps.

  Linglong saw him look embarrassed and suddenly giggled "heh heh" twice.

  Ling Jing heard a silvery laughter by her ear, and suddenly let out a bitter smile, helplessly shrugging her shoulders: "Is it that funny?"

  Linglong thought for a moment and said, "It's just that funny." As she spoke, she couldn't help but giggle again.

  Ling Jing said somewhat dejectedly: "Go ahead and laugh, if you keep laughing, I'll drink up that whole jar of wine too."

  "You little scamp."

  Ling Jing also hummed a sound, seemingly after standing together with this woman, except for being teased by her at the beginning, afterwards it was always him being teased by her, making him really think he was like a little kid.

  At this time, he turned his eyes and suddenly became very curious. He looked at Linglong's head and said: "Don't move, there is something on your hair?"

  Her face showed a look of puzzlement, but she saw that Ling Jing had already stretched out his hand and was reaching to touch her head.

  Ling Jing took advantage of the opportunity to grab the silk ribbon tied to Ling Long's hair, suddenly pulled it hard, and burst out laughing.

  The black hair escaped from the constraint of the hair band, suddenly scattered, and fell on the delicate shoulders. The evening wind blew, and the hair strands also followed, dancing lightly.

  A faint flush of annoyance suddenly appeared on Ling's face as she gazed at the hairband in Ling Jing's hand, and she said sternly: "Give it back to me."

  Ling Jing stuffed the blue silk ribbon into his bosom, then spread out his hands and said with feigned innocence: "Miss, I don't know what you're talking about."

  Linglong shot her a cold glance and said, "Immature little devil."

  Ling Jing burst out laughing and joked a couple more times, drinking with Ling Long while occasionally letting out hearty laughter.

  ......

  On the second day, when Ling Jing woke up from his sleep, he found that there was no one beside him. He rubbed his still slightly aching head and looked at the empty grassland beside him, feeling suddenly lost and disheartened.

  The laughter and voices of last night still seemed to linger in his ears, but the charming and sentimental woman had already disappeared without a word. He sighed, lay down on the grass, took out the blue silk ribbon from his pocket, held it up to his eyes, and became slightly distracted.

  Until now, he still hasn't figured out Linglong's origins. Last night, he had wanted to ask her about her background many times, but was always sidetracked by Linglong making excuses. So far, all he knows is that her name is Linglong, and whether this is actually her real name, he can't be sure.

  A strand of hair fell on his face, and a familiar fragrance wafted between his nostrils. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but in his heart, he wondered if, with the world being so vast, this girl would really disappear without a word, leaving no news of herself, and whether he would ever have another chance to see her again?

  For a moment, I felt quite disheartened.

  ......

  Afterwards, Ling Jing returned to the inn and met up with Yue Buqun and others. Yue Buqun ordered people to carry Lin's couple coffins and hired a boat to head north.

  After several days passed, everyone finally returned to the Jade Maiden Peak of Mount Hua. The coffins of Lin Zhen Nan and his wife were temporarily placed in a small temple on the side of the peak, waiting for a suitable day to be buried.

  Gao Minggen and Lu Dahu had gone ahead to report, the rest of the twenty or so disciples of Mount Hua came down the mountain to pay their respects to their master.

  Ling Jing also came to Huashan Yuniangfeng for the first time after crossing over. Although he had a deep impression of this place in his previous memories, it was not what he saw himself. At this moment, all he saw was that the trees on the peak were quiet and elegant, the birds were chirping, the water was flowing, and four or five large houses with powder walls were built on the mountain slope, high or low, which was really a place with unique scenery.

  At this moment, a middle-aged beautiful woman walked up slowly, and Yue Lingshan rushed into her arms, saying in a delicate voice: "Mother, I almost died of longing for you."

  Ning Zhong then gently patted Yuelingshan's back and said, "You went out and probably only thought about having fun yourself, how could you have thought of your mother?"

  Yue Lingshan wrinkled her nose and said, "It's not like that."

  Yue Buqun walked forward and whispered a few words to Ning Zhongze, but just a moment later, she furrowed her brow.

  The disciples also followed and went forward to pay their respects to Ning Zhong, while Ling Jing hid behind the crowd, seemingly a little afraid of being with this beautiful woman.

  Ning Zhong swept his gaze across the crowd of disciples, seemingly searching for something. At this moment, he finally spotted a figure at the back of the group and cleared his throat before suddenly smiling and saying: "Jing Er, why do you look unhappy when you see your master's wife? You're actually hiding so far away."

  Ling Jing chuckled and rubbed his nose helplessly as he walked forward, bowing his head to say: "Master's wife."

  Ning Zhong suddenly frowned, stretched out her delicate hand and pinched his cheek, scolding: "You little rascal, at such a young age you already know how to cause trouble. You don't even know your own martial arts abilities, yet you insist on trying to surpass others. That Tian Boguang has been evil for many years in the Jianghu, can a child like you really handle him?"

  "Ow, ow, ow!" Ling Jing's face contorted in pain, and he said, "Master, you could at least go a bit easier on me."

  Ning Zhong snorted coldly and said, "You little brat, this time you must be properly taught a lesson by your master, or else next time won't you cause even more trouble?"

  Ling Jing stood aside helplessly, while Ning Zhong spoke to him in a tone that he naturally didn't dare to refute. At this time, however, he heard the snickering sounds of his fellow disciples from time to time, as if they found it extremely amusing to see him being scolded by their master's wife.

  He felt a bit depressed in his heart, and at this time he suddenly heard Yue Lingxuan whispering in his ear: "It hurts, hehe."

  He gave Yue Lingxuan a displeased glance and turned his head away with a light hum.

  Lin Ping's eyes saw that everyone on Mount Hua was laughing together, while Shifu and Yue Lingxuan were clearly only paying attention to Lin Jing, being cold and distant towards him as a new disciple. A hint of gloom flashed in his heart, and his gaze at Lin Jing and Yue Lingxuan also began to flicker.

  This is the last chapter of this volume, ending with Ling Jing and Ling Tiao's emotional play. It feels okay to write, but I don't know how everyone will feel after reading it.

  Recently, there have been too many trivial matters, and my mood hasn't been great. When writing, I've always felt restless in my heart. Now I realize that when many things pile up together, it's really frustrating and helpless inside.

  Finally, I've also seen New Smiling Proud Wanderer. Among the characters, I only like Dongfang Bubai... For those who have doubts about certain plots, isn't this sentence enough?

  ;