Chapter 393: Mingxin

The cold, pattering sound of rain rang in his ears, and his skin shivered in the cold wind.

Pei Ye opened his eyes. Before him was a high, vast, and dim mountain cave. The water at the cave entrance was pulled into a curtain of rain, and outside the curtain were the vast and distant Cangshan mountains, surrounded by pale white mist.

His position had not moved, and the woman in white was still sitting beside him.

"【Heart-Slaying】 is only a matter of an instant; you didn't waste any time," Ming Qitian said softly.

Pei Ye seemed a bit sluggish, stiffening for a moment before saying in a low voice: ". Hmm."

"The next sword duel will begin in an hour. This is the time for the 'Ice and Snow Body' to run a cycle on its own," the woman said.

Pei Ye looked at the rain curtain, his vision staying on the scene of opening his eyes. For the first time, even the anger and pain seemed to have vanished from the boy, and everything seemed to be sinking down in a stunned and cold manner.

He turned his head sluggishly and said hoarsely: ". I'm sorry, I—"

His voice seemed to be pinched off by something in an instant. Pei Ye looked at the woman in trembling, his lips parting to produce a nearly silent, light, and hoarse change in tone: ". Miss Ming?"

The woman's current appearance was reflected in his trembling eyes. She was leaning quietly against the stone wall, with the open Cangshan rain curtain as a background, as if she were a goddess residing in Wushan, only on the verge of shattering.

The latest duel between Mingxin and Guxie, where both were defeated, had almost torn her apart.

Porcelain-like cracks climbed across her neck and had spread all the way to her pale, colorless lower lip.

Pei Ye's heart felt as if it were being strangled.

"Some necessary costs." The woman's pale face smiled slightly, and she said softly, "It seems we still have one more chance."

"." Pei Ye took a long time to find the feeling of breathing. His throat moved up and down constantly, and he controlled his body to stand up. ". Hmm."

He took out a porcelain bottle from his bag, the surface still stained with his dried bloodstains: ". There is still some wound medicine from Kongdong..."

He pulled off the lid and poured out all the remaining four or five pills. Ming Qitian on the stone shook her head and said softly: "You take them; this is not a wound, wound medicine is useless."

". Oh." He responded dryly, took two pills as instructed, and pressed the rest back into the bottle to store away.

The sky had become even dimmer. Pei Ye looked around somewhat blankly. At this time, the wind blowing in from the rain made his skin shiver with cold again. He subconsciously pulled at his hem, and the withered, old dry vines under his feet entered his eyes. He picked them up one by one and piled them together... only after picking up three or five did he react, his movements pausing.

In the silence, the boy suddenly threw the withered vines in his hand to the ground, leaned against the stone wall, and slowly sat down, covering his face and burying himself deeply between his two knees.

The wood cracked, bounced, and flew, ringing sporadically in the empty cave, gradually returning to silence.

For the first time in seventeen years, the boy... did not know how to face himself.

He had once been truly proud and confident.

After his dantian seed shattered, he still went fishing in the mountains, enjoying a life of finding joy in suffering. He had always believed that the moment the dantian seed was repaired, no one could stop him from getting back everything he once had.

After his hometown was shattered and he bore deep hatred, this deeply buried arrogance had never been shed. He believed without doubt that he would one day chop off the heads of those people, just as he had promised the old man—regardless of whether the enemy was called the Prince of Zhenbei or the Taiyi True Dragon Immortal.

He even naively thought he didn't have to pay any price for this goal other than "effort." He thought he could still enjoy perfect friendship, budding love, and a light and pleasant life on the road.

And then, just after taking the championship in the most high-spirited manner, he received a cold heavy hammer for all of this.

The enemy ruthlessly destroyed his fantasies, he was transferred to Xiangzhou by a vendor, and when he returned, everything was too late. The blood flowers from the girl's shattered arm in the rainy night made him unwilling to recall it to this day.

He had silently sworn in anger to tear apart everything the enemy had.

Silence, suppression, pain... The black cat asked him, "What exactly do you want to prove?"

He wanted to prove that he would not be defeated.

He wanted to prove that he would definitely be able to achieve final victory, definitely grind these villains into dust! He wanted to prove the correctness of those choices he made.

In the courtyard under the moon in Kongdong, he had revealed his heavy heart to the woman like a confession, regretting his childishness and carelessness. He had almost recast himself for it—Kong Lanting, Guan Qianyan, and Zhang Jingbi were all very good people, but he never said another word to them.

He had truly put in all his effort, nailing his gaze straight behind the enemy, only longing to use victory and blood to quench the hot thirst in his heart.

And now, this was the result of everything.

Everything he tried in Kongdong, his anger and counterattack, had no meaning.

He had long admitted that he was stupid and weak. But he had never so truly felt that he... was a piece of trash.

He couldn't do a single thing well.

He couldn't see through the enemy's schemes, couldn't protect the girl he loved, couldn't control his own emotions—everything from last night was still before his eyes.

He had tried his best, regardless of everything, to chase down that enemy, and they had clashed three times... Every time... he couldn't defeat that black robe before him.

First, he was ambushed in the Hidden Sword Pavilion, only a line away from death, and then he was escaped by the opponent in the killing trap created by the life of the Wu adult. Finally, he gritted his teeth and chased after him, only to hand over the Soul-Taking Bead to others.

Three duels, sword technique, adaptability, state of mind... He had completely failed in every single one.

This was the most brutal fact—you didn't fail because of carelessness, even if you tried your best, were filled with anger, and used all your strength... it was still the same.

You just couldn't defeat him.

The gap did not shorten because of Pei Ye's anger.

No one comforted him, and he absolutely did not show it, but the moment he was defeated in the 【Xiting Heart】, it was almost the most painful failure for the boy, and the pride he insisted on in his heart was smashed to pieces.

But he still didn't collapse.

He ran to Sword Belly Mountain to save the woman, brought her to this mountain cave... He raised his fighting spirit again for who knows how many times, entered her state of mind with the most serious attitude, and faced the legendary 【Guxie Heavenly Heart】.

Another cold failure.

And it was more thorough, more desperate. This was not a "sin of battle"; even if he came back ten thousand times, he could never truly block one sword from the woman.

The clear girl you wanted to save from your "first" meeting was just your own beautiful fantasy.

He was truly not afraid of his own failure.

From Bowang until now, he had been constantly suffering blows, and every time he could stand up again... but now it was not just Pei Ye's business.

They were huddled in a dead end, hanging by a thread... The woman had handed the only hope of her life to him. She had saved him so many times; this time, he only wanted her to live.

Slaying Mingxin, leading back Guxie—clearly the woman had already told him the only solution... but he still had to stupidly face the Guxie Heavenly Heart.

She had long known the result of this action.

That was why the woman hadn't intended to try at all, and why the girl kept asking him if he had really decided.

He had failed, as expected.

When he left the state of mind, the woman's fragile appearance before him had truly crushed him in an instant.

It was another consequence caused by him.

He truly didn't know what he should do.

He also truly couldn't find... what he should look like.

The boy held his face between his knees. He tried hard to suppress it, every tendon and bone in his body was exerting force, but intermittent, low, and hoarse sobs still leaked out.

The cave was extremely quiet, with only the vast mountains and cold rain pattering. In the many ten thousand years since its birth, it had experienced such cold rain that penetrated heaven and earth countless times.

So when the wind that had been circulating for ten thousand years blew into the mountain cave, a clear, leisurely, and small, melodious sound slowly rang out amidst the silent and suppressed heaviness.

It was more ethereal than the cold rain pattering in this autumn mountain, more gentle than the gentlest words in the world. When it blew into his ears, it was like wind that had been polished.

It blew straight into the boy's heart, gently stroking the cracked wounds, supporting the painful collapse, and smoothing the crumbling mind into silence.

Pei Ye raised his head in a daze. The woman in white was leaning and sitting at the edge of the cliff cave. The rain curtain blurred her face, and the clear breeze blew her hair. She lowered her chin, and her plain white hands held a jade-like flute to her lips. The one slightly further away was already covered in fine cracks.

She was quietly blowing, lowering her eyes. The Cangshan white mist and cold rain, the goddess's quietly raised flute sound, and the boy's wounded and heavy eyes—nothing in this scene was abrupt.

Pei Ye listened in a daze, as if a window had been knocked open in the deepest, most suppressed darkness, and his cold, heavy mind was gradually pulled up again by the flute sound... It was so sad and beautiful, like the bright moon that waxed and waned for a thousand years, like a story of eternal parting in sorrow; it was even more like a close friend who parted thirty years ago under the bright moon, like the longing in the quiet night after an eternal parting.

The heaviest sorrow in the bottom of his heart was awakened piece by piece by this flute sound. They were no longer heavy suppression, but lingering thoughts that could not be shaken off. The boy didn't know when he had stopped sobbing, but tears were flowing down quietly.

Suddenly, the flute sound changed.

It became rapid and drifting, like a night run in the forest, like the short chirping of birds. Pei Ye's mind was also tightened, and he held his breath deeply. Fate seemed to be falling violently, and also seemed to be fighting dangerously. Gradually, the flute sound became more and more rapid, drifting faster and faster. The pitch-black, deep night forest seemed to have no end, and the birds' dangerous, sharp chirping seemed to be about to tear his heart.

Pei Ye opened his mouth slightly, and all the heaviness in his heart was completely mobilized at this moment, rising from the depths of his heart, revealing its form from countless dark places, blocking his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, making him almost suffocate.

The flute sound could no longer be restrained, becoming more and more rapid and sharp. There was no need to understand music theory; even with just ears, one could hear that such a tune rushing to the extreme had no possibility of turning back, but it was still rushing forward constantly, and faster and faster, faster and faster...

Just in such flusteredness suppressed to the extreme, this short, sharp flute sound finally reached its extreme end, but the next moment was not a broken sound of changing keys... but a sudden fracture and silence.

Just when he could no longer endure such tormenting darkness, just when the expected destruction was about to happen happily... the woman suddenly stopped playing. In the wind and rain of the cliff cave, everything was silent, and all the emotions pulled to the high point fell down unexpectedly...

But only a half-breath pause later, the clear sword light that pierced the sky pierced through everything.

A sound never heard in this life, bright, long, and clean, the flute sound pierced and washed the boy's soul in an instant, making his whole body shiver. It was so high-spirited, so leisurely, that all the heavy darkness could no longer fall back into his heart. They turned into dark clouds lifted to a high place, pierced through in an instant by sunlight like a sharp sword.

Kunshan jade shattered, phoenixes cried.

The cliff-like tune never appeared again. It climbed straight to the nine heavens, and then the sharpness gradually faded, and the leisurely sound lengthened... The bright sword blade gradually turned into autumn water, softening bit by bit.

A song ended, the rain curtain was still murmuring, Pei Ye looked at the woman by the cave in a daze, suddenly feeling that he had inexplicably calmed down, and those heavy suppressions seemed to have gone to another world.

No one moved or spoke, only the sound of rain knocking. The woman looked at the distant mountains quietly, slowly put down the flute, turned back to look at the boy, and said softly: "Do you still want to listen?"

". Yes."

"Hmm."

The woman turned back, lowered her eyes, raised the flute, and leisurely, clear, and beautiful notes flowed from her lips again...

Pei Ye didn't know when the flute sound stopped. He only found that when everything fell into silence, his heart had also been appeased.

The pain was all brushed away. He leaned against the stone wall, his wounded and tired eyes looking at the woman in a daze, but he soon realized that he had to pull himself together again. Even though he was in a desperate situation, everything was not over yet.

The enemy was approaching, time was running out... He had to hurry and think of a way, until the woman sitting elegantly and quietly by the cave turned back and asked softly: "Do you want to learn the sword?"

". What?"

"Learn the sword." The woman looked at him. "Now we have time."

"."

Yes, Sima and Yi Duanzhi didn't know when they would arrive. They couldn't predict, and couldn't stop it; the sword duel between Mingxin and Guxie would begin in more than half an hour, but that was also a desperate situation that couldn't be changed.

So, since there was nothing to do in more than half an hour... do you want to learn the sword?

For the first time, Pei Ye... truly felt the moving experience brought by 【Bright Mirror Ice Mirror】.

His nose felt sore again. He lowered his head, pursed his lips, and said hoarsely: "Miss Ming, I am very uncomfortable..."

"Hmm."

"The two most painful times since leaving Bowang... were putting you in danger." The boy's voice was wounded, tired, and full of regret and pain. "I acted willfully, and failed to defeat Guxie, letting you... become like this."

"And before, I didn't protect the Soul-Taking Bead..." He moved his throat. "They took it from me, completing the last link to harm you. I ran into the mountains at that time, saw you—"

The boy's throat was hoarse here, seeming unable to continue. After a while, he said: ". I really thought you were going to die like that. I could only watch, unable to do anything. It was all because of my stubborn actions, stupid and weak. I am always doing wrong things. I—"

"But even so, you still didn't submit to Him, did you?"

". What?"

"Taiyi True Dragon Immortal."

"."

"He reached out to you, but I heard it, you told Him to get lost." Ming Qitian looked at him and said softly.

". If you died, Miss Ming... I would regret it for the rest of my life."

"But you would rather choose to bear this regret yourself."

"."

"Pei Ye." The woman looked at him earnestly and said softly, "That is the bravest and most noble act I have ever seen."

"."

"Being unable to accept things you can't do, unable to face the consequences caused by your own mistakes... and thus, when help from heaven reaches out, grabbing it regardless... is itself the act of a coward and a loser." The woman said softly. "But, you have never been defeated by yourself, have you?"

"In my eyes, you are never stupid or weak. You have always been doing the same thing."

"When you first met Piaoqing, you were indignant at her plight and abruptly intervened in matters that had nothing to do with you; during the martial arts competition, you hoped that Zhang Junxue could have a broader future, so you recklessly lost your temper with her; when you arrived at Kongdong, even though you said you bore deep hatred and wanted to do everything to make them pay the price... but when facing Zhang Jingbi, you were still willing to give up the clues you had obtained just to save him..." Ming Qitian looked at him. "Why don't you respect Zhang Junxue's choice—just as you don't respect my choice now—and must force yourself to be strong for others?"

"." Pei Ye looked at the woman in a daze, and sweet, warm springs seemed to surge from the deepest part of his heart.

"Because you are such a person full of enthusiasm." Ming Qitian looked at him, her voice soft. "You are always willing to carry responsibility on your own shoulders, even if it is not a pleasant thing; compared to self-preservation, you would rather be criticized after failure and suffer yourself—isn't that right?"

"I..." Pei Ye suddenly found that his body seemed to be trembling again, but it was no longer suppressed pain, but a precursor to breaking through something. "But... but, I..."

"You have been failing?"

"Yes, Miss Ming, I..."

"So what if you fail?" Ming Qitian looked at him peacefully and indifferently. "So what if you fail, Pei Ye. Do you care more about victory and defeat than your own heart?"

"Will you use the heart of victory and defeat to discipline your own actions?"

Pei Ye was shocked, looking at the woman before him in a daze.

Will you use the heart of victory and defeat to discipline your own actions?

Will you change your choices because you keep failing... Pei Ye?

In the trembling of his heart and mind burning hot, Ming Qitian looked at him quietly and gently: "I like seeing you like this, Pei Ye. Failure never represents anything. If you die, that is a brilliant life; if you luckily survive, we just stand up again."

"We will face the Guxie Heavenly Heart like this, and face whoever comes chasing, just making the choices we want to make."

"Having tried my best, and ultimately not succeeding... that is nothing."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 394 =====