Chapter 44: A Love Letter

On this day, Huang Rang received a letter.

She thought it might be from Xiancha Town or the Celestial Court. In the past, due to her humble identity and her disposition, she didn’t have many close friends she cared about. However, when she opened the letter, she found that it was from He Xijin.

Huang Rang was surprised because she was not very familiar with He Xijin. She wondered what business required him to write to her.

Her eyes moved down to read the contents of the letter.

He Xijin began with some greetings, then asked about her progress in cultivation at the Yuhu Immortal Sect. Halfway through the letter, he mentioned his main intention. He earnestly reminded Huang Rang not to neglect her breeding for the sake of cultivation.

He also mentioned the scarcity of good seeds among the common populace and included an item with the letter. When Huang Rang opened it, she found it was actually a silver note.

The amount on the silver note was considerable, and he said it was a gift to congratulate her on finding a renowned master. However, in the world of immortals, there were few places where money was needed. It seemed that he genuinely wanted her to continue breeding with this sum of money.

Huang Rang couldn’t help feeling puzzled. She had encountered many people who sought fame and reputation, and she herself had once been one of them.

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After speaking, she handed over He Xijin’s letter. Of course, there was also the silver note.

Xie Hongchen took the letter and quickly scanned its contents. Then he said, “Senior He has always been concerned about the suffering of the people. His words in the letter also show his appreciation for your talent. What do you think?”

Huang Ran replied, “I joined the master’s sect to contribute what little I can to this world. If the master permits, I will find time to continue breeding. But of course, cultivation is still my priority, and I will not lose sight of that.”

Look, if she doesn’t become his wife, he is actually quite magnanimous.

Huang Rang added, “However, to engage in breeding, I need land. I’m afraid there is no suitable place on Emerald Peak. I request permission to lease some land outside.”

Though she said this, Xie Hongchen certainly wouldn’t let her lease land. He said, “There are not many disciples of the Yuhu Immortal Sect, and it wouldn’t be difficult to allocate a piece of farmland from other peaks. Why bother seeking it far away when you can find it nearby?”

Huang Rang smiled and replied, “You’re right. I walked around yesterday and found a place that’s quite suitable. Today, I wanted to be bold and ask the Master for it.”

“Where?” Xie Hongchen always seemed to have trouble focusing on her when talking to her, and his mind seemed to be preoccupied with various thoughts.

Huang Rang whispered, “QiLu Terrace.”

As soon as these three words were spoken, Xie Hongchen felt a surge of emotions in his chest, as if something wanted to burst out.

He was in a daze for a long time, to the point where Huang Rang thought she had revealed some flaw.

But then Xie Hongchen said, “Alright.”

It was as if this place was naturally meant for her.

With his permission, Huang Rang felt elated. She made her way to QiLu Terrace, the most remote location within the entire Yuhu Immortal Sect. At present, it has no walls or buildings.

It was simply an empty place, not overgrown with wild grass, but it felt desolate.

In the fading sunset, Huang Rang reached out and, across more than a hundred years of dreams, touched the memory of the triangular pavilion. Very good, very good.

In the following days, she personally started to dig out BaiLu Pond, according to her memory. Then she cultivated the rest of the area into farmland.

Her days in Xiancha Town had made her proficient in such tasks, and her foundation in martial cultivation endowed her with abundant physical strength. As an earth spirit, she naturally loved the soil.

Huang Rang even felt that this was the life she had desired and that the cultivation of the sword immortal was just a nuisance.

She enthusiastically turned the soil and developed the land, not paying attention to the presence of someone standing in the distance.

Xie Hongchen stood on the stone steps, watching the busy figure clearing the land from afar.

The weather was hot, and there were no other people around. Huang Rang took off her outer garment and rolled up her sleeves, tying up her pants to her knees. Her forehead was covered in fine sweat beads, but her eyes burned with fervor and brightness.

Xie Hongchen didn’t know why he came here, but his steps seemed to have a will of their own, and unknowingly, he ascended the long stairs.

QiLu Terrace was an isolated platform, not belonging to any peak or leading anywhere else. Who would ascend such a high platform with no way forward?

He stood there for a long time, but in the end, he didn’t walk over. Huang Rang was a woman, and she was his disciple. One day as her master, a lifetime as her father .Seeing her disheveled appearance, it would indeed be inappropriate for him to approach her like this.

He could tell that Huang Rang loved breeding. The passion carved into her bloodline was hard to hide.

Then why did she insist on cultivating the sword immortal and make things difficult for herself?

He couldn’t understand. Ever since he met Huang Rang, there had always been mysteries surrounding her in his heart. He turned around and slowly descended the long stairs. The stone steps of QiLu Terrace were paved with mountain rocks and were winding and long.

He walked a few steps but inexplicably turned back. He had a feeling that at the end of the stone steps, someone was silently watching him with warm and soft eyes.

Yet, as the evening sun gradually faded, there was only mountain mist and a gentle breeze.

The feeling of walking alone was too terrifying; Xie Hongchen felt as if he had fallen into a delusion.

He began to avoid thinking about this person and decided to leave the sect to travel.

Every time intrusive thoughts arose, he would go on a journey. As the sect leader, he always had many things to do and many places to go.

Who could interfere with his whereabouts?

The next day, Huang Rang learned that he had left the mountain for a journey.

—In the fifth year of Chengyuan outside the dream, after they got married for only three days, Xie Hongchen went on such a journey. Without telling her, he left without a set return date.

Huang Rang didn’t ask. She wasn’t someone who liked to be entangled. If she asked this and that, he might get impatient.

Huang Rang was alone, married into the immortal sect, with a lowly background, without a family to rely on, and no one she knew around her. The only person she recognized as her husband silently left the mountain. She stayed alone in that isolated place, making some pastries every day and visiting her fellow disciples in the sect.

She took off her wedding clothes, and those disciples didn’t recognize her. She had to smile and strike up conversations with everyone, remembering each person and trying her best to make them remember her.

There were so many disciples in the sect, from outer disciples to inner disciples, from seniors to juniors. Some appeared older or younger than they were, and if she made a mistake, she would mess up their names and seniority.

After a few setbacks, she felt discouraged and stayed hidden on QiLu Terrace, no longer wanting to go out.

But she knew that this wouldn’t work. She recorded everyone she knew in a book, carefully noting their identities, temperaments, and preferences.

Gradually, she made fewer mistakes.

During Xie Hongchen’s three-month journey, he traveled to various places, eradicating demons and vanquishing evil, earning immense merit and gaining fame among the people.

By the time he returned to the immortal sect, Huang Rang could recognize every person in the sect.

She did her best to hide her inconspicuous identity as a “spirit from Xiancha Town” and “Huang’s daughter.” With a gentle smile, she became the almost perfect wife of the sect leader, facing her returning husband without a trace of complaint.

And now, in the dream, Xie Hongchen sets out on another journey.

Huang Rang was busy, practicing diligently every evening with a worried expression on her face, and during the day, she worked on the farmland at QiLu Terrace. When the soil was properly conditioned for breeding, Huang Rang had to choose the first breed to cultivate.

If she really had to choose, she would cultivate the Nian Jun’an breed. This flower of false sentiments and hypocrisy was most suitable to grow here.

However, after thinking about it, Huang Rang chose another variety.

The Imperial Palace in the Capital, the Yuanrong Tower.

When Li Lu visited Di Yiqiu before, he only brought official documents. But now, when he went there, he also had to bring a few peach or mulberry leaves to feed that caterpillar. That bug had a good fate; even though Qiu Shengbai threatened to crush it every day, it kept growing fatter.

Now, it had become a plump and content caterpillar.

When Li Lu entered, Qiu Shengbai stopped him.

He discreetly glanced at the prisoner’s cell and saw Di Yiqiu facing the wall, his back still swollen, with blue veins pulsating behind his ears, looking very frightening. Li Lu was shocked to see this and had to ask, “What happened this time?”

Qiu Shengbai looked through the medical records and said, “The fusion of the chief’s body with the venomous snakes went well, so I changed a bit of his blood for him.”

“Changed his blood?” Li Lu was taken aback.

Qiu Shengbai said, “To change his physique, naturally, we have to change his blood.”

Li Lu looked at the person in the cell again; even someone as composed as him was enraged. “He’s only nineteen years old and has never been cultivated as an immortal. How can he endure the blood of venomous snakes? If His Majesty needs it, why not use people like us…”

Qiu Shengbai sighed. Not waiting for him to finish, he said, “Deputy Li, the blood of venomous snakes is a precious gift from His Majesty.”

Li Lu knew that Qiu Shengbai was afraid he might say something disrespectful again, but he felt suffocated with his anger still trapped in his chest. He said, “Such a gift… such a gift…”

Qiu Shengbai hurriedly interrupted, “Deputy Li!”

Li Lu could only remain silent. He looked through the fence and saw the caterpillar pepper lying on the twin snake fruit trees, so he handed it some mulberry and peach leaves. The creature hugged the tender leaves and happily ate them.

Li Lu squatted on the ground, looking over. Di YiQiu in the cell appeared inflated and terrifyingly swollen. Because he couldn’t sit down at all, he could only lie down or stand. He chose to stand.

He hadn’t turned around all this time, so he didn’t know if he could hear the conversation outside.

Li Lu’s nose tingled with a hint of sourness. He wanted to say some comforting words, but when those words reached his lips, they felt feeble and pale.

What would Miss Ten say in this situation?

Li Lu suddenly thought about this. With this thought, he really wanted to go to the Yuhu Immortal Sect again to find Huang Rang. However, the sect didn’t look favorably upon the Celestial Court, and Huang Rang was now Xie Hongchen’s direct disciple. If he kept going to look for her, it might lead to her being reprimanded or suspected by the sect.

That night, when Li Lu returned to the Celestial Court, he suddenly received a letter.

The Celestial Court received many letters, but very few were sent directly to him.

Li Lu opened the letter, and his heart immediately raced. Inside was another envelope with beautiful handwriting that said, – To Di Yiqiu.

It was a letter written by Huang Rang to the Chief!

Li Lu was even more excited than when he received his first love letter. This girl was truly clever. If she sent the letter directly to the Chief, no one else would dare to open it, and it would have to be kept for him. But if she sent it to him, he could deal with it immediately.

Li Lu looked around and, in the end, chose a secluded corner to secretly peek at the envelope of the letter.

He couldn’t help but hold it up to the light—if there were any sappy love words inside, that would be perfect.

He secretly hoped, but he didn’t dare to open it privately, so he put it in his pocket and impatiently waited for the next day.

The next day, as soon as the palace gates opened, Li Lu hurriedly entered the palace to deliver the letter.

Inside the Yuanrong, Di Yiqiu still didn’t turn around. Li Lu stood behind the fence and said, “Chief, Miss Ten sent you a letter. I didn’t dare to open it privately, so I hurriedly brought it to you.”

Inside the room, Di Yiqiu remained motionless, and Li Lu couldn’t see his expression. He knew that Di Yiqiu didn’t want others to see his current appearance, so he said, “The letter has been delivered. I’ll leave now.”

Di Yiqiu still didn’t speak. He waited until Li Lu had walked away before finally glancing at the letter.

Qiu Shengbai was sitting at the entrance of the first floor of the Yuangrong tower and saw this, so he said, “If you don’t want to read it, let me read it to you.”

Only then did Di Yiqiu laboriously walk over, but his body was exceptionally large, and he couldn’t squat down at all. Qiu Shengbai handed him the letter, and his hands trembled as he clumsily opened the envelope.

Inside was a sheet of paper with elegant handwriting that said, – Di Yiqiu, guess what seed this is?

Di Yiqiu shook the envelope and found a black seed inside. The seed was plump, resembling… the core of a pear but much larger. Di Yiqiu spread the seed on his palm and stared at it for a long time.

Seeing this, Qiu Shengbai naturally became curious and asked, “What is it? Should I plant it for you, Chief?”

After hearing this, Di Yiqiu finally handed the seed to him. Qiu Shengbai chuckled and asked, “Do you want to write a reply?”

A reply?

Di Yiqiu was briefly stunned, and Qiu Shengbai encouraged him, “Oh, it’s a young girl after all. She must be shy to send such a letter. If she doesn’t even receive a reply, she might be disappointed. Who knows, she might even cry over it!”

Di Yiqiu lowered his head in silence for a long time before hoarsely saying, “Paper and brush.”

Ah, Qiu Shengbai tore a page from his medical records and gave him brushes and ink. At first, Di Yiqiu couldn’t hold the pen at all. He tried and tried until his hand became a bit more agile. He finally wrote his name on the paper.

The three characters “Di Yi Qiu” on the ground were laid out crookedly, so shoddy that one couldn’t bear to look at them.

However, the handwriting on the paper was still as vigorous and forceful as ever.

Just like before.

Qiu Shengbai took the paper and then looked at the ground with a smile slowly freezing on his face.

These three simple characters were a young man’s desperate attempt to maintain his dignity in front of his beloved.

Young hearts are full of emotions, and age brings more sentimental musings. Qiu Shengbai carefully sealed the paper and immediately sent it out for him.