BXBX NOVEL Chapter 88.1: Part 1- Illusion (I)
“Sen-…Sovereign Qingyan.” Meng Qi almost blurted out ‘senior,’ but she suddenly remembered that the man disliked being called so and quickly changed the address in time.
Meng Qi didn’t expect to see Yun Qingyan again so soon. She raised her head slightly and stared without blinking at the white-robed man in front of her. His face was still flawlessly handsome. A small ebony headdress tied up his hair. There was a faint smile in his eyes, which made his expression much gentler than usual.
Somehow, this person was not like Yun Qingyan that Meng Qi saw that day when he called her over and taught her about arrays. Today, he was more like the gentle person whom she was with in her previous life. In her memory, Yun Qingyan had always been her most respected person, the one she regarded as her Master and also the one who treated her the best in the world.
Meng Qi’s head was dizzy. For a split moment, she seemed to forget where she was now and what she was supposed to be doing. She just stood there in a daze, staring at Yun Qingyan.
Until the man stretched out his hand and shook it in front of her eyes: “Have seen enough?” There was a hint of laughter in his deep voice.
Meng Qi’s face suddenly became hot. She slowly turned her gaze away in reluctance. “Sovereign Qingyan, are you alright?” She remembered that the man seemed to be not in his best health whenever they had contact before.
“Yes.” Yun Qingyan nodded, “Thank you for your concern. I’m alright.”
“It’s good.” Meng Qi lowered her eyes again. When she saw Yun Qingyan turned around and began to walk, she hurriedly followed behind, maintaining a few steps of distance. Yun Qingyan always liked wearing white robes, and most of his clothes had very simple designs without any frills or extra decorations. Meng Qi’s gaze fixed on the plain hem of the simple-looking white robe, watching it slowly flutter with the man’s steps. Even this small gesture gave her a great sense of security.
Meng Qi followed Yun Qingyan. She even forgot to ask why the man suddenly appeared here, let alone to ask where he was taking her to. Not long after, they arrived by a river, crossed a small bamboo bridge, and then turned at an intersection. After walking along a low mountain path for a while, Yun Qingyan suddenly stopped and stepped aside.
Meng Qi glanced at him, then started forward to find that they had arrived in front of a valley. At the valley’s entrance were apricot trees in full bloom. Meng Qi took a deep breath. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and subconsciously walked towards the valley.
The valley was not particularly wide, but there were four bamboo houses inside. The bamboo houses were built open, and she could see the inside of the houses from the open doors and windows. In front of the bamboo houses, a medicinal field was built at the foot of the mountain. The field was divided into many different pieces, and in total, had twenty to thirty kinds of medicinal plants planted. Some of the plants were in full bloom; their flowers were beautiful and lovely.
Even without approaching the field, Meng Qi could tell the names of the plants growing there with her eyes closed. The medicinal field was originally built by her. Most of the plants were transplanted here by her own hands, carefully cared for, and finally survived because of the abundant spiritual aura in this valley.
That’s right.
At first glance, Meng Qi already felt the abundance of spiritual aura in this place. So abundant, in fact, that the aura seemed to almost manifest into a substance. Cultivating in this valley could get twice the result with half the effort. Even someone with a poor aptitude like her could greatly improve the speed of her cultivation.
“Here…” Meng Qi murmured. Her eyes swept across the overly familiar place. Among the four bamboo houses, one was specially prepared for her to refine medicine. Even more, this place also had a spiritual spring, right on the back of the mountain top. The spring water there was naturally imbued with a spiritual aura, which gave a tremendous boost when used to refine medicine.
In Meng Qi’s previous life, she lived in this valley intermittently for almost three years. It was here that she learned about Lihuo Great Fire Array, Star Array, and Four Poles Great Array. It was also here that she, together with Yun Qingyan, enthusiastically conducted the research about the process of imbuing spells into refined pills, which greatly improved the pills’ original effect.
Meng Qi closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the scenery before her eyes remained the same. The rims of her eyes turned red. She desperately blinked her eyes a few times, trying hard to not lose her emotion in front of Yun Qingyan.
“Sovereign Qingyan.” Meng Qi turned her head toward Yun Qingyan, who stood silently on the side. Her lips trembled. “This place…”
“You don’t like this place?” Yun Qingyan smiled softly and walked into the valley. He leisurely went to the bamboo house on the far left, where he used to live before. “Meng Qi.” Yun Qingyan said gently. “You have worked hard these few days. You must be tired. Take a good rest.” After speaking, he entered the house and closed the door with a flick of his sleeve.
“Yes.” Meng Qi replied in a low voice. She looked at the closed door with some reluctance before turning around and going to the bamboo house next to Yun Qingyan’s.