Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilderness Chapter 106: Ten Miles of Misty Rain

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A heavy rain fell from the sky, and the horse was lost.

Yu Ye and the siblings Yu Xin and Meng Qingqing found an inn in Nanqi Town to stay.

A courtyard with a few towering ancient trees, a two-story stone building, twenty or thirty guest rooms, and three taverns facing the street—this was the general layout of the Nanxiang Inn.

The three stayed on the second floor of the inn, each occupying a guest room. They had planned to rest for one night and then set out early the next day, but the relentless rain caused the river to swell, making travel impossible. They had no choice but to stay and wait for the rain to pass and the sky to clear.

Yu Ye was content to adapt, hiding away in his room to cultivate.

Yu Xin and Meng Qingqing went out daily, claiming to gather information and search for their lost fellow disciples. As disciples of Tiandan Peak, this was their rightful duty.

It was said that after the battle at Beiqi Mountain, only a dozen or so of the thirty-two masters from the Daze Sect survived. The vengeance of the Qi Prefecture cultivators had again brought disaster upon the Daze Sect. Now, the sect’s disciples were nearly all dead or wounded; even the survivors had retreated into seclusion, vanishing from the world.

These siblings refused to watch their sect decline and their legacy vanish!

Yu Ye felt the same way.

However, though he too felt guilt and self-reproach, he had no way to express his anguish.

The battle at Beiqi Mountain had been secretly orchestrated by him. Only Yan Chi, Zhong Jian, Tian Bao, and a few brothers in the martial world knew the truth. While it was ultimately a success, the consequences were beyond expectation.

He had thought the Qi Prefecture cultivators, having suffered losses, would restrain themselves. Instead, the Daze Sect faced even more brutal retaliation. In the end, he had underestimated the darkness of human nature.

Or perhaps these cultivators had no humanity at all.

A foundation-building cultivator who had lost all sense of humanity was enough to destroy the entire Daze Sect.

What right did Yu Ye have to save the Daze Sect?

He did not possess such ability.

The grand declarations of "With me here, the sect shall not perish" were nothing more than noble wishes. The cruel and merciless nature of this world far exceeded his understanding and imagination.

Now, though he had thwarted Nanshan’s attempt to establish an immortal sect, he and the Daze Sect were equally defeated. He could only hide in the inn, awaiting escape overseas.

“Huff—”

Inside the guest room, Yu Ye opened his eyes, dropping the fragments of spiritual stones from his hands, and exhaled a long breath.

After three days of cultivation, his lost true qi had fully recovered.

Outside the window, the rain still fell.

Yu Ye gazed at the hazy sky and listened to the pitter-patter of the rain, then took out another spiritual stone.

Suddenly, hundreds of characters appeared in his sea of consciousness—annotations, incantations, diagrams of hand seals—all derived from the "Heavenly Seal Technique’s" trapping art. The hand seals were various gestures formed by five fingers; combined with incantations, they could invoke magical powers.

At that moment, he heard Jiao Ying complaining—

“Ah, it’s been hundreds of years since I’ve worked this hard. After days of continuous study, I’ve finally comprehended the Heavenly Seal trapping technique. I’ve shared all the methods and secrets with you; you only need to follow and practice!”

A smile flickered across Yu Ye’s face.

He was busy traveling daily, dealing with various situations, leaving little time to understand mystical arts, so he had Jiao Ying assist him. This method was indeed effective. With Jiao Ying’s cultivation level, insight, and intelligence, deciphering the technique was twice as efficient. And she was still very young?

“You… you’re several centuries old?”

“Oh?”

“In the village, they say fifty is the age of knowing destiny, seventy is considered old, yet you’ve lived for several centuries. Aren’t you an elder then...?”

“Yes, young one, you should show respect before me, don’t be disrespectful!”

“Hmm!”

Yu Ye put away his casual attitude and responded politely.

Jiao Ying chuckled and said proudly, “Hehe, you’re studious, respectable, and teachable!”

Yu Ye sensed something amiss and quickly asked, “How old were you when you lost your physical body, and what was your cultivation level?”

“I was in my prime, just forming the Golden Core. Huh...?”

“The records say ‘in one’s prime’ is about in the twenties. Even if you were trapped in a dragon core for centuries, your soul and body should remain unchanged. You… you’re a Golden Core expert?”

“You little trickster, not talking to you anymore, hmph!”

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After her slip, Jiao Ying realized she’d been tricked, snorted, and fell silent.

Yu Ye sat on the couch, lost in thought.

To Jiao Ying, he had no privacy. Yet to him, she remained a mystery. He knew nothing of her origins. But he also understood that as time passed and their mutual dependence grew, the mystery in his heart would one day be revealed.

And Jiao Ying was a Golden Core expert?

A twenty-year-old Golden Core cultivator—unimaginable. For such a high-level cultivator to lose her physical body and be trapped in a dragon core, what had she endured back then?

Yu Ye remained silent for a long time, his emotions unsettled.

If foundation-building cultivators were mountains difficult to scale, Golden Core cultivators were unreachable peaks. Yet such an unattainable expert lived with him day and night, bickering and quarrelling, and he forced her to study the cultivation methods all day...

“Knock, knock—”

Someone knocked on the door.

Yu Ye composed himself and waved his hand. His magic lightly moved the door latch.

“Please come in—”

The door opened, and Meng Qingqing stepped inside.

“What do you want to discuss?”

Yu Ye asked in surprise.

The three lived side by side but rarely communicated unless necessary, and did not visit each other.

Meng Qingqing still wore the rustic farmer’s attire but had lost some of her vigour, replaced by a gloomy expression. She glanced at Yu Ye, then at the room’s furnishings, closed the door, and hesitated before saying, “My senior brother left early this morning...”

“Oh? Where did Yu Xin go?”

Yu Ye stretched his legs on the couch.

They had agreed to set out after the rain cleared, but someone left without notice.

“My senior brother wanted to inform you, but last night was too rushed, so he asked me to relay the message...”

“He left last night?”

The room was small, with only the two of them, and the closed door made the atmosphere a bit cramped and awkward.

Yu Ye wanted to stand but sat down again.

Meng Qingqing continued, “Last night, senior brother received news about our fellow disciples and hurried to verify it. When he set out in the rain, he specially asked me to tell you to meet at Huazhou Town in ten days—don’t miss it!”

“Why didn’t you go with him?”

“It was late, the storm fierce, and you didn’t know. We feared you’d blame us...”

“No matter!”

Yu Ye waved his hand generously. “Now that the sky is bright, you may leave!”

Without companions, he preferred to travel alone.

“Well…”

Meng Qingqing faced the window, shedding her straightforwardness, speaking hesitantly with a blush on her cheeks.

“Senior brother worried about you and told me to follow you, but I didn’t want to cause you annoyance, so...”

She raised her head, eyes filled with anxiety.

Yu Ye hurried to wave his hand, “That’s not true. How could I dislike a fellow cultivator?”

Meng Qingqing suddenly relaxed and smiled brightly at him, her eyes sparkling with hope. “In that case, let’s go for a walk?”

Yu Ye was stunned, “It’s raining!”

But Meng Qingqing had already risen cheerfully, opened the door, and clapped her hands eagerly. “Let’s go—”

A woman’s mind was truly hard to fathom. It was raining outside; where could they possibly go?

Yu Ye didn’t know how to refuse, so he reached for his bamboo hat.

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Stepping out of the room, soft rain was falling outside the corridor. Compared to the previous days, the rain seemed lighter.

“Follow me—”

Meng Qingqing beckoned and headed toward the nearby stairs.

Yu Ye had no choice but to follow.

Suddenly, a voice sounded in his consciousness—

“Young man, the lesson of Bai Zhi is near; take heed!”

It was Jiao Ying, speaking in a strange tone.

What was this Bai Zhi’s lesson? Oh, it referred to his past misfortunes. Though Meng Qingqing was a cultivator, she was still a woman with feelings. The two had nothing to do with each other and should not be compared.

“Mind your own business!” Yu Ye retorted silently.

But Jiao Ying wouldn’t back down and immediately shot back—

“Hmph, I’ve taught you the Heavenly Seal trapping technique. If you can’t master it within three days, don’t blame me for being unforgiving!”

Yu Ye’s heart tightened.

He was not afraid of Jiao Ying’s anger but feared that elder would ignore him.

Since parting ways at Wulong Lake in Spiritual Dragon Valley, Bai Zhi had been nowhere to be found. Where was she at this moment?

Descending the stairs, they reached the inn’s courtyard.

Meng Qingqing held an oilcloth umbrella and smiled, signaling, “Yu Ye, share an umbrella with me!”

Wanderers and sect disciples did not care much for formalities. Since the rain was heavy, sharing an umbrella was no problem.

But Yu Ye was neither a wanderer nor a sect disciple.

He strode toward the courtyard, raising his hand. “I have a bamboo hat to shield me. That’s enough!”

A few steps later, he crossed the courtyard and left the inn. The street was empty and desolate, shrouded in mist and rain.

Yu Ye didn’t know where to go.

Meng Qingqing followed behind, smiling softly. “This way—”

With that, she walked forward along the street. The oilcloth umbrella shielded her black hair and simple gown, lending her a rustic pastoral charm in the mist and rain.

Yu Ye silently followed.

After a moment, they reached the end of the street. Turning westward for several hundred paces, the surging river blocked their path. On the riverbank stood a small grass pavilion, quietly enduring the wind and rain.

Meng Qingqing entered the pavilion, dropped the umbrella, stretched her arms, and spun around as if dancing. She couldn’t help but giggle, then raised her voice toward the stormy sky—

“The wind is gentle and the rain heavy here, the mountains and rivers like smoke. Though the time is fine and the scenery beautiful, the dream of Dan Peak has shattered. The martial world fades away—look now at the vast sea and sky, Yu Ye—”

Yu Ye stepped into the pavilion after her.

Then she asked, “What feelings does this scene evoke?”

Yu Ye looked around, puzzled and silent.

She continued, “A hundred years of red dust dreams shattered, ten miles of mist and rain in a lifetime, the azure phoenix spreads its wings to the nine skies, the pure wind travels ten thousand miles.”

These sect disciples spoke with poetic grace and lofty meaning, truly admirable!

Once more, Meng Qingqing said, “Yu Ye, I offer you these ten miles of mist and rain, to repay your lifesaving deeds at Beiqi Mountain and Kunshui Town. How about that?”

Her words were bold, yet Yu Ye still did not understand.

He shook his head helplessly. “Fellow cultivator, it’s raining…”