As Chen Weichen walked back, he thought about what Lu Hongyan had just said and finally understood where Ye Jiuya's indifferent attitude towards him came from.

Perhaps he felt that a wisp of an old friend's soul resided within him.

For a moment, he felt that he was very despicable.

"Ah Hui, if one day Xiao Dao is gone, and her soul shatters into ten pieces--" Before the young master could finish, the servant boy jumped up as if his clothes had caught fire, "Young master, how can you let Xiao Dao's soul shatter when all is well!"

"This is the only way to make you understand," the young master said with a smile, "Those soul fragments are very hard to find-- but you encountered a girl who is completely different from Xiao Dao, not only does she look different, her temperament is also far apart, she doesn't hit you or scold you, and calls you 'Darling Wen, Darling Wen' obediently every day."

Wen Hui waved his hands repeatedly, "I don't want that, my heart belongs to Xiao Dao, even if she calls me husband I don't want it."

"Listen to me," the young master said, his eyes filled with the haze of dawn, "But this girl happens to remember everything Xiao Dao remembered, as if a large part of her soul had entered this girl's soul, do you want her?"

"Ah?" Wen Hui made a pained face, "Then is she still herself?"

"How will you treat her?"

"I..." Wen Hui pondered in distress for a while, "I'll take care of her for now."

"And then?"

"If there's really no other way, I suppose we could make it work." Wen Hui said this without much confidence, "But if she calls me husband in a fake voice every day, it would really pain me to hear it, I truly don't know if I should respond or not."

"But in the end, after you two spent most of your lives together, the girl confesses that she actually doesn't have Xiao Dao's soul, that she deliberately deceived you so you would willingly take care of her and make do with her, what will you do then?"

The servant boy widened his eyes, already unable to face this complex situation. No matter how he thought about it, it was very painful. After a long while, he squeezed out a sentence, "Young master, are you teasing me?"

"Who can predict the waves of tomorrow, teasing lasts but a few days," the young master's back view swayed forward in the morning breeze, "I originally intended my heart to reflect the bright moon--"

The servant boy scratched his head, feeling that his young master had become increasingly crazy in recent days.

He took out the pink handkerchief he always carried with him, looked at the embroidered peach blossoms on it, and thought of that willful girl he grew up with since childhood. He smiled foolishly and tucked it back into his bosom, "How can a perfectly good soul shatter just because you say so-- the young master just loves to spout nonsense all day."

The carriage, enhanced with immortal powers, galloped all the way through the desolate wilderness. Finally, they saw a city of considerable scale.

Only at times like this did Wen Hui feel his young master had some use-- the young master knew quite a lot about the mortal world after all.

"Back then, several powerful vassal states in the northern frontier united to trample the old capital. The previous emperor fled south in panic and his followers scattered. More than half the civil and military officials of the court perished. Among them, General Yan rebelled, led his troops to establish his own power base, occupied territory, and declared himself king, becoming what the southerners call the 'Yan rebel bandits'. The northern barbarians are not good at governing, and in a few decades turned a vast and beautiful land into a place of miasma. On top of that, they indulged in the wealth and riches they plundered, their troops became lax, and were attacked and divided up by the other vassal states, completely shattering their dreams of the dragon throne."

The young master explained to them, "But in recent years, the Yan faction has gradually risen, and although they still carry the air of unrighteous bandits and occasionally engage in pillaging, they at least have the foundation of plotting for the imperial throne in the past, and can be considered to have some semblance of order-- look at the flag on the city wall, this place is a city of the Yan faction."

Soldiers in shiny armor guarded the city, but life within was bleak; the inns and shops were deserted, with more than half the storefronts on the street shuttered.

It seemed the leader of the Yan faction saw military strength as his primary asset in these chaotic times and put little effort into governing.

After a long journey, they finally stayed in a proper inn.

After bathing, Young Master Chen entered the room with wet hair draped over his shoulders, "Swordmaster Ye, hair."

Ye Jiuya didn't move.

So Chen Weichen kept looking at him, "Hair."

The man finally raised his eyelashes slightly, his voice indifferent, "Are we very familiar?"

"Of course we are very familiar." Chen Weichen blinked, "Swordmaster Ye is clear about it in his heart."

This young master had probably grasped an incredible weakness of Ye Jiuya's, certain that he wouldn't do anything to him, and just as Wen Hui said, could only "take care of him for now". He boldly sat on the bed, looking like he intended to stay and not leave.

Ye Jiuya finally reached out his hand, passing through the damp soft hair, his energy flowing slowly. Before long, the moisture was gone, leaving behind a faint scent of soap as worries slipped away from his fingertips.

Chen Weichen said with a smile, "Thank you Swordmaster Ye."

As he wished, he lingered in the room for a while longer before taking his leave to sleep in his own room.

Before leaving, his gaze held quite a bit of reluctant attachment, as if he was being driven out the door with grievances.

Ye Jiuya coldly glared at him with arms crossed.

Chen Weichen held onto the doorframe and looked back.

In the end, it was Wen Hui who despised his young master for truly lacking backbone and dragged him back.

The candlelight burned to its end, the flame jumped a few times, making a thin "tsk" sound before the last flame was also extinguished in the scalding translucent wax.

Moonlight penetrated the half-open window in the silent city and fell upon the immortal's body in the room.

For those who had practiced martial arts and swordsmanship since childhood, the way they stood and sat had become a habit engraved in their bones. His posture was relaxed and straight, with no discernible flaw; even his silhouette under the moonlight was tall and sharp.

His fingers slid over the black hilt of the Jiuya sword. The famous sword was spiritually aware and let out a brief clear ring.

"You were once connected to his spirit," he said to the long sword, "Why do you not ring?"

The long sword rang again, the sound weaker this time.

"You also cannot recognize him."

The night breeze passed the window. He slowly closed his eyes and spoke no more.

The room was silent.

The next morning, after purchasing some items in the city, the group set out again.

Midway, they passed a village and saw a farmhouse where they went to ask for water. On the field ridge overgrown with weeds stood a young woman wearing coarse cloth clothes. The hand holding the hoe had already developed calluses, while the other hand wiped at her tears.

"Madam," Wen Hui approached first, "We are passing travelers, is there water?"

The young woman sized him up with hesitation, seeing he didn't seem to be a villain, and nodded, "There is." The house was a thatched hut, extremely low and simple, with occasional sounds of an old woman's coughing and wheezing coming from inside.

The young woman poured water for them and filled up their water bags, speaking softly, "Sir, I heard from the villagers that further south, the terrain is treacherous, and you won't see anyone for days."

"It's alright," Chen Weichen knew this was a well-intentioned warning and said to her, "We have our ways."

Then they heard the old woman's wailing from inside, "Son, my son..."

The young woman hurried over to comfort her, but the old woman's hoarse crying grew louder, "Ah Qing, you... you haven't gone to find a good family yet, don't worry about me..."

"Mother, you're confused," the young woman's voice was choked with tears, "What men are left in the village?"

When she came out, her eyes were still red. She smiled apologetically at the guests, "That is my mother-in-law; she's not very lucid."

No more words were needed. It was clear that her husband had been conscripted into the army with no news, leaving no sons or daughters behind, only a sickly, confused old woman and a young wife to manage their livelihood and tend to the barren land.

Thinking back to the prosperous times of the past, there were rules exempting newlyweds and those in mourning from conscription. Now, those have all vanished, from young boys to old men, none can escape.

Lu Hongyan lightly tapped her toes outside the door, her red dress fluttering. With Shattered Kunlun's surging sword energy, she used immortal powers, exerting just the right amount of force. In a few rises and falls, all the soil in the field that had only been half-turned was loosened, saving the young woman several days of hard labor.

The young woman realized the identity of these travelers and let out a sob, not knowing whether it was reverence or fear. Her voice trembled, "Immortal..."

Leaving this place, in the carriage, Wen Hui cautiously asked, "Sir, why didn't you give her some silver? Before, in Yue City, you would have..."

"Where could she spend it?" The young master sighed, "Only the old, weak, women and children are left in this village. They can barely feed themselves, and the market has long ceased to open. Even if they wanted to buy grain, there's nowhere to go. Besides, in a few days, it will be time to collect the autumn taxes. If the soldiers who come to ransack and search discover any extra resources, next time they will only double it - only what Lady Lu did can truly help this young woman."

Lu Hongyan held her sword and looked at the wild crows outside, "I also lived through troubled times once."

Xie Lang had a pensive look, "Can't save the world, can only leave the world. The mortal realm has already fallen to this state, I can understand why Marquis Chenshu abandoned Confucianism and entered Daoism."

He frowned, "Strange, truly strange. The fortunes of the human realm, how did it come to this?"