Chapter 1: First Encounter

Late summer, early autumn, a light rain arrived.

Five Paths Academy.

“Creak—”

A soft sound, the fence gate was gently pushed open from the outside.

The courtyard was empty, only a locust tree on the left side was lightly swept by a gentle breeze, dropping locust flowers all over the ground.

Behind the locust tree was a bamboo house, through the misty rain curtain one could vaguely see a woman lazily sitting by the window, sleeping with her head resting on her hand.

Si Tu Tang smiled faintly and walked towards that woman.

Come to think of it, Su Rong had entered this Five Paths Academy as a teacher at the same time as her, and it had been over a month now, yet she could never see through her.

She always had a faint emotion, appearing casual and indifferent, as if she truly had no interest in worldly matters.

She walked to the window and lightly tapped on the windowsill: “Su Rong? Wake up, Shan Zhang wants you to go down the mountain to meet someone.”

“Hmm?” Su Rong slowly woke up at the sound and looked up at the person outside the window.

Her half-open eyes seemed to be moistened by the misty rain outside the window, filled with a misty and lazy look.

Fine rain swirled in front of the window, the woman’s smoke-green sleeves swayed in the wind, yet not a drop of rain wetted her sleeves.

Si Tu Tang seemed not to notice and said again in a deep voice: “Shan Zhang’s nephew has lost both parents and is coming to seek refuge with Shan Zhang. I have classes today, so you need to go and meet him.”

There weren’t many idle people on the mountain, and she happened to be the only one, she knew that too.

Su Rong lazily straightened up, smoothed out the wrinkles on her sleeves, and said in a faint voice: “I understand.”

Si Tu Tang, still worried, added: “Shan Zhang said her nephew had some defects since he was in his father’s womb, so he falls ill easily.”

“Shan Zhang’s elder sister is a merchant from Tongzhou, he has traveled all the way to Chuzhou and may be even weaker, so take care of him.”

“Mm.” Su Rong nodded indifferently in response.

Seeing this, Si Tu Tang didn’t say more. She turned and left for the front courtyard to teach.

She thought that although Su Rong was casual in her ways, she was not one to break her word, and had never failed to keep a promise…

Su Rong pushed open the bamboo house door, saw the cold rain outside, turned back to the room to take an oil paper umbrella that was given during the Qixi Festival at the academy last time.

Her jade hand hooked the umbrella handle, opened the umbrella, and walked out the door.

The small path on the mountain was winding, but Su Rong’s pace was neither fast nor slow, very skillful.

She had been at the academy for over a month now.

Two months ago, Su Rong was driven out of the demon realm by her demon lord mother. After wandering around for a while, she came here.

Her mother complained that she always made her father worry when she was at home, so she simply threw her out so the two of them could enjoy some quiet days.

She even beautified it as helping her improve her character and gain some experience.

She didn’t really mind such things.

For her, whether it was the mortal world or the demon realm, it was just a place to live.

Life in the mortal world was lively and noisy, interesting at first, but became boring after a while.

The other six realms each had their own characteristics, she had also wandered around them, just not the god realm.

The god realm was a place with strict rules, which didn’t suit her personality.

This mountain academy in the mortal world, although somewhat boring, had easy and leisurely days, which was not bad.

Su Rong walked on the mountain path, occasionally one or two disciples passing by, respectfully saying: “Teacher Su.”

She nodded, walking past the disciples.

Su Rong only found out after coming here that the Five Paths Academy had deep roots.

The Que Feng Dynasty had only been established for a hundred years.

The founding Emperor came from a rural background. Later, when the world was in chaos, the Emperor led a group of sisters to revolt, unifying the fragmented continent into one country, naming it the Que Feng Dynasty.

And the Five Paths Academy was where the Emperor studied when she was a student.

Because of this reason, many students came here out of admiration, making the mountain quite populous.

At the waist of the mountain, there were stone steps built by kind-hearted people from the foot of the mountain, but none beyond that.

Shan Zhang intended to let the students experience some hardship, so she refused the goodwill of the kind people.

Su Rong descended the steps, the mountain fog was thick, and she vaguely saw a man in white clothes ahead.

She paused, waiting for him to come forward.

The man was dressed all in white, pure and otherworldly. Su Rong remembered Si Tu Tang saying that Shan Zhang’s nephew had lost both parents and was coming to seek refuge with Shan Zhang, so she thought it must be mourning clothes.

As he got closer, she saw that the man was soaked by the rain, his body trembling slightly, his face pale.

Su Rong had never seen such a foolish person, knowing his body was deficient, yet walking in the rain on the mountain.

Seeing that the man had noticed her, she opened her lips and asked: “Coming to seek refuge with Shan Zhang?”

Qing Xian was startled by the question, raising his head to look up.

The woman’s appearance was vaguely visible, perhaps because of the rain curtain, Qing Xian actually felt that her gaze was somewhat gentle.

He hurriedly looked away, only managing to glimpse the jade flute at the woman’s waist and her flying skirt.

However, why was that skirt not wet at all?

Before he could think more, he saw the woman come down the steps, walk to his side, and slightly tilt the umbrella towards him.

Qing Xian stared blankly at the woman beside him, her smile was faint, and the side of her face under the umbrella had beautiful curves.

Her shiny black hair blew onto his shoulder with the light wind, a faint fragrance of orchids barely perceptible.

Qing Xian’s heart stopped for a moment, then slowly accelerated.

He heard her say in a casual tone: “How did you come without even knowing how to use an umbrella?”

As she finished speaking, she turned her head to look at him, a pair of black eyes gazing over calmly, like a clear lake with no bottom, both cold and quiet.

Qing Xian retreated backward in some panic, his heel stepping on the edge of the stone step, about to fall down.

He instinctively wanted to use magic to stabilize himself, but felt a warm force across his waist, steadily supporting his body.

Before he could react, he had already been steadily placed on the stone step.

“I only heard that your body was weak, how is your mind also weak?” Su Rong’s smile was faint, obviously mocking him.

Qing Xian’s face turned red, only then realizing that the magic he had just tried to use had no response at all.

He put his hand to his side.

He had almost forgotten that all his magic had been sealed…

Even the wound on his back was faintly aching because of the movement just now.

He forced himself to stand straight and said to Su Rong: “Thank you.”

Su Rong no longer paid attention to him, only saying: “Keep up.”

The two walked side by side, keeping a very far distance. The oil paper umbrella was not big to begin with, and this way it was even less sufficient.

Su Rong, thinking of how mortal men cared about their reputation, handed the umbrella to Qing Xian: “You hold the umbrella.”

“Ah?” Qing Xian looked at the umbrella handle in front of him in confusion, not knowing whether to take it or not.

He had never received care from strangers in his life until now.

Firstly, because in the god realm, basically no immortal didn’t know him, and they would automatically avoid him when they saw him.

Secondly, no one around him thought he needed to be taken care of…

Qing Xian lowered his eyebrows and eyes, not speaking.

“What’s wrong?” Su Rong said helplessly, “Is your hand hurting?”

She had seen these delicate young masters in the mortal world during this period, and was somewhat used to it.

But Qing Xian shook his head, smiling somewhat uncomfortably, and took a step closer, shortening the distance between them.

“Together is fine,” he said softly.

His attitude was neither hurried nor slow, graceful and natural.

Seeing this, Su Rong actually took notice of him, seriously observing the man beside her for the first time.

His appearance was truly outstanding, but compared to those beautiful or delicate men she had seen before, he had more of a cold aura.

His eyebrows and eyes were like a painting, his temperament calm and cold. Even though his face was pale, his whole body exuded a dignified and graceful air that even a plain white outfit couldn’t hide.

He didn’t look much like a merchant’s son.

Su Rong didn’t think much of it, having heard that many merchants’ children had been traveling north and south with their mothers since childhood, perhaps they had been tempered and their temperament had become more refined.

She led Qing Xian up the mountain, hearing him ask quietly: “Does the mountain accept male students?”

“No,” Su Rong said flatly.

Like most academies in the Que Feng Dynasty, Five Paths Academy did not accept male students.

But he wasn’t here to study, so why ask these unnecessary questions?

“You’re different, Shan Zhang has already prepared a room for you, you can move in directly when the time comes,” Su Rong said.

Qing Xian looked at her somewhat puzzled, not understanding the meaning of her words.

He had been punished by the Mother Empress to the mortal world, and found himself lying at the foot of the mountain when he woke up.

So he walked up the mountain path, not expecting to really meet someone.

But why did she say a room had already been prepared for him? Could it be that someone had made arrangements for him in advance?

After a while, he laughed at himself again, who in the god realm would make arrangements for him.

Only Long Ling, but he was also being punished, so he probably couldn’t spare the time.

Although puzzled and confused, Qing Xian didn’t ask more.

He wasn’t good at socializing, especially with unfamiliar women.

Further up, there were no more stone steps, and the ground was full of mud after the rain. Su Rong didn’t mind herself, but she was a bit worried that the young master from the mortal world couldn’t stand the dirt.

Just as she was about to ask, she saw “Shan Zhang’s nephew” very ordinarily step into the muddy ground, without any of the delicacy she had seen in young masters before.

Seeing Su Rong looking at him, Qing Xian asked: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Su Rong shook her head, “The mountain path is not easy to walk, do you… need some support?”

Saying this, she extended her arm in front of Qing Xian. She was rarely so kind, perhaps because this person was quiet and not troublesome, so she was willing to help him a bit.

Su Rong thought to herself.

Qing Xian paused, even though the woman’s expression was very calm, he couldn’t help but feel his heart race because of her gaze.

“You don’t want to?” Su Rong asked again, seeing him not reacting for a long time.

Hearing this, Qing Xian quickly placed his hand on hers, as if afraid she would withdraw her hand.

After doing so, he felt a bit embarrassed and turned his head to the side.

Su Rong curved her lips, turned her hand to grasp his arm, and quickened her pace to lead him forward.

“That’s too slow, I guess Shan Zhang and the others are probably getting impatient,” Su Rong explained, glancing at the winding muddy mountain path ahead.

“Mm.” The response was faint, but fortunately Su Rong had good hearing.

Qing Xian followed behind Su Rong with a flushed face, not even paying attention to the path under his feet.

One foot stepped into a puddle, leaving mud stains all over the pure white hem of his robe.

He stopped awkwardly, looking at Su Rong somewhat at a loss: “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention for a moment.”

“It’s fine.” Su Rong waved her hand dismissively, handing him the umbrella, “Hold this.”

Qing Xian took the umbrella in a daze, and saw the woman crouching in front of him saying: “Get on, the path ahead will only be harder to walk.”

Qing Xian wanted to say he could manage, that he had walked alone on even more difficult paths, but looking at the somewhat thin back before him, he obediently climbed on.

“Hold the umbrella properly, don’t get wet,” Su Rong said.

“Oh.”

“Thank you.”

“Mm, remember to repay me,” Su Rong said, her tone casual, seeming half-serious and half-joking.

“How should I repay you?” Qing Xian asked seriously.

“When the time comes, ask your aunt to give me fewer tasks, preferably not assigning me such errands as picking up people,” Su Rong said with a smile.

“But I don’t have an aunt,” Qing Xian replied after thinking for a moment.

If he had an aunt, probably the position of Crown Prince in the god realm wouldn’t have fallen to him, after all, those immortals were unwilling to let a male inherit the throne.

If it weren’t for the fact that there was no one else to choose, he would probably have been deposed long ago.

Hearing this, Su Rong straightened up. Qing Xian’s body began to slide down uncontrollably, he instinctively wrapped his arms around her neck, and heard her ask,

“You’re not Shan Zhang’s nephew?”