Chapter 230: If Life Were Only as First Meeting

The words fell silent, the courtyard remained still for a long while, and two slender figures slowly emerged from the corner of the moon gate.

One person wore a veil on his head, held a treasured sword, dressed in plain white robes, stepped over the moon gate, and then stood still.

Another person wore apricot‑yellow clothing, held a sword in the left hand, and clenched the veil tightly in the right.

Under the moonlight, the girl's bright eyes and white teeth were visible, her skin was fair and smooth, her demeanor charming, and between her brows and eyes there was a faint resemblance to Li Mochou of years past.

The girl entered the courtyard and fixed her gaze on Niu Dingtian in the pavilion, her apricot eyes holding a mix of joy and grievance, also hiding a trace of excitement and timidity.

"Brother Niu, do you still remember Mochou?" Li Mochou's voice was soft and melodious as she stared blankly at the figure in the pavilion and asked.

Niu Dingtian smiled, glanced at Lin Shinv by the moon gate, and said, "Of course I remember Miss Mochou; it's been four years, and she's even more beautiful than before."

Hearing this, Li Mochou's bright jade face flushed with a hint of shyness; she lightly bit her lower lip, looked at Niu Dingtian, and said, "Brother Niu, since you know Mochou's feelings, why did you cut off the reply, leaving me to wait bitterly in the Ancient Tomb?"

"Is Mochou so unworthy in Brother Niu's eyes that you'd rather marry someone older, someone already married, than marry Mochou?"

As she spoke, Li Mochou's eyes reddened, as if abandoned, and tears kept streaming down.

Niu Dingtian, seeing this, furrowed his brows and remained silent.

When Old Sun left Jiugong Mountain years ago, he had asked her to deliver a letter to Li Mochou.

He also feared Lin Shinv might see the letter, so its contents were merely concerned greetings, urging her to train hard and take good care of her junior sister.

Half a year earlier, after returning to Jiugong Mountain and receiving the letter again from Bao Xiruo, he wrestled with his thoughts but suppressed the idea of replying.

At that time, he felt rejected by heaven and earth, and didn't know how long he could linger in this realm, let alone have the mind for romance.

Therefore, aside from the few women he had promised before, he never considered taking more women.

He didn't expect that tonight this master‑disciple pair would come straight to his door.

Seeing Niu Dingtian in the pavilion silent as if tacitly agreeing, Li Mochou suddenly felt waves of unbearable heartache.

Recalling her purpose, she wiped her tears, summoned courage to look at Niu Dingtian, and choked out, "The master said that Ancient Tomb disciples may never marry, otherwise they will be expelled from the sect."

"Brother Niu, Mochou asks you now, are you still willing to marry me?"

Having said that, Li Mochou held back her tears, quietly stared at Niu Dingtian, and in her swirling eyes hid a hint of nervousness and anticipation.

Clearly she had prepared the plan that if you are willing to marry me, she would abandon the sect.

Niu Dingtian had indeed seen the expression in the beauty's eyes; had she asked six months earlier, he would have readily agreed, but now his heart wavered.

That fleeting hesitation was seen by Li Mochou in the moonlight, and her jade face turned pale instantly.

Unconsciously, tears streamed down, and the deformed veil in her hand fell helplessly to the ground.

From the initial love letter, to the long waiting, to this humble pleading, Li Mochou recalled feeling like a clown who constantly provoked dislike.

"You, Niu!"

"I hate you!"

Before Niu Dingtian could react, Li Mochou stubbornly wiped her tears, leaving only a resentful voice; the yellow figure darted out of the courtyard.

In the hazy moonlight, far away, Niu Dingtian clearly heard the beautiful woman's sorrowful cries.

"I originally thought you would keep her."

A breeze brushed by, lifting the veil on Lin Shinv's head; hearing it, Niu Dingtian looked, and in the cold‑elegant woman's eyes he sensed a faint, barely perceptible anger.

After all, with the disciple climbing the mountain, she had already prepared for the worst.

Just as the disciple said, you'd rather marry someone older, someone already married, than marry my disciple.

Even though she was usually indifferent, seeing the disciple's humble sorrow also unsettled her.

Niu Dingtian stepped out of the pavilion, walked to the moon gate, gazed toward the direction where Li Mochou vanished, and said wistfully, "Soon I will shatter the void, leave this world, and perhaps never return. Please, Headmistress Lin, convey an explanation to Miss Mochou on my behalf."

"Shatter the void?"

Lin Shinv was slightly startled.

Niu Dingtian lightly nodded, saying, "Above the post‑Heaven stage is called Pre‑Heaven, above Pre‑Heaven is called Celestial‑Man. The Celestial‑Man realm is not permitted in this world; one must shatter the void and depart, otherwise a thunder calamity will descend." After speaking, his divine thought expanded, perceiving Li Mochou by the Yangtze River's dock, and he turned to Lin Shinv, saying, "Miss Mochou is at the river dock; it's unsafe at night, so I won't keep Headmistress Lin."

"Farewell!"

Hearing this, Lin Shinv's complexion shifted slightly; after a slight bow, she swiftly darted down the mountain.

When two auras approached from afar, Niu Dingtian silently returned to Huang's room.

He stripped off his clothes and boots, got into bed, slipped under the quilt, greedily pressed his arms around the fragrant, soft body in his embrace, and fell asleep.

Three days later, at night, Guo Jing and Yang Kang returned to Jiugong Mountain one after another.

In the living room—

Seeing Guo Jing in full military garb and the fair‑skinned beautiful woman beside him, Niu Dingtian's face showed unmistakable surprise.

The girl's skin was extremely pale, as if long deprived of sunlight; the flickering lamps highlighted it, adding an ethereal aura.

When the uncle‑teacher's probing gaze fell upon him, Guo Jing's stern expression instantly faded, his face reddening as he said, "This is Miss Qin, I rescued her in Shanxi. She now has nowhere to go, so she followed me back."

"Miss Qin Nanqin, I have met the Duke of Xiangyang." Qin Nanqin slightly lifted her eyes, curiously glanced at the youth in the python robe, and bowed.

Regarding this male prince who raised troops for a northern expedition, she, like the common folk, had long heard of him like thunder.

"Qin Nanqin…?"

Niu Dingtian couldn't help murmuring to himself; hearing that familiar name, he seemed to grasp something yet couldn't recall what it was.

Guo Jing glanced at the girl beside him, scratched his head, and said hesitantly, "Uncle, Miss Qin is a good person; now there's war outside, perhaps we could just leave her on the mountain?"

"Do you like her?"

Hearing this, Niu Dingtian tapped his fingertips lightly on the table and asked.

His gaze shifted back and forth between the two, instantly reddening the cheeks of the young boy and girl.

"If you like someone, just say it boldly."

Niu Dingtian looked at Guo Jing and said meaningfully, "Otherwise, the world is fickle; after this village, there will be no such shop."

Guo Jing froze for a moment, as if recalling something, clenched his teeth, his face no longer reddened, his heart steadied, and he said firmly, "Jing'er likes!"

"If you like her, that's enough," Niu Dingtian laughed, "The gratitude for a life‑saving deed should be repaid like a spring; in my view, Miss Qin need not be a spring, but should offer herself in marriage."

Qin Nanqin finished listening, her jade‑white face like the evening glow on the horizon, the redness spreading to her neck, her hair hanging low, she said, "All the women rely entirely on the prince's decision…".

Since Niu Dingtian is the decision‑maker, the better the good thing happens sooner, so he directly set the two to be married three days later.

Three days later

Lanterns and streamers were strung on Jiugong Mountain for a modest wedding held for Guo Jing.

On the same day, Wang Ling and the Sect Edict were sent to all under his command: Guo Jing appointed Senior General of the Ascending Heaven Strategy Office and Deputy Commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Huang Yaoshi appointed as Military Advisor; Fen Tian was relieved of the Vice Sect Leader position, which was taken over by Yang Kang, one of the Five Wanderers.

Once this appointment was announced, even several wives sensed an unusual flavor.

But when Huang's young lady and the other women tried to inquire indirectly, Niu Dingtian only smiled without replying, further immersed in the tenderness with his wives.

Only Niu Qianer, who knows the reason, seemed absent‑minded all day; late at night, she alone recalled the past, the Sun‑Moon Villa of those years, silently shedding tears.

Half a month later, in early summer, news of unfavorable battles arrived from the north.

At that moment, the whole world's rejection of Niu Dingtian seemed to choke his throat.

That day, Niu Dingtian, after finishing breakfast with several wives and his sister Sha Gu, went to bathe and change, putting on a brand‑new black python robe.

When he appeared again, he held in his hand the long‑dormant Heaven‑Relying Sword.

Soon, a cry of an eagle rang across the sky, and the Divine Eagle carried Niu Dingtian northward.

There, it was the Tongguan direction, where fierce battles had been fought for half a month without gaining ground.

(End of chapter)