Her delicate face glowed beneath the silver light, her skin fair as jade. Her long legs, pale and smooth, seemed carved by heaven itself.
She plucked a dew-kissed flower from the bed, raising it gently to her nose.
The sight made Zhang Xiaofan's heart stir. He stepped quietly into the courtyard, approaching her.
"This flower was blooming so beautifully," he said softly, standing behind her. "Why did you pick it?"
Bi Yao turned, her lips curving into a smile when she recognized him.
"Oh, it's you.
Always meddling, aren't you? Day or night, you never fail to interfere."
She twirled the flower between her fingers, her voice playful yet sharp.
"I picked it because I wanted to. To smell its fragrance is a blessing....perhaps one earned over three lifetimes."
Zhang Xiaofan raised a brow. "But by picking it, you've ended its life. Where is the blessing in that?"
Bi Yao narrowed her eyes.
"You're not a flower. How would you know?"
"You're not a flower either," Zhang Xiaofan countered calmly, "so how would you know?"
Her eyes widened. "You....! You're not me, how do you know I don't know?"
For a moment, their words tangled like threads in a loom, neither willing to back down.
Zhang Xiaofan almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it, but he simply shook his head, glancing at the flower in her hand.
"Look at it carefully," he said quietly. "There's still dew clinging to its petals.
That's not dew...it's the flower's tears, crying from the pain of being plucked."
Bi Yao blinked at him, startled by the strange seriousness in his tone. For the briefest moment, her heart skipped.
Then, she lifted her chin defiantly.
"Hmph. Always lecturing me. Who gave you the right to meddle in my affairs?"
Zhang Xiaofan didn't answer, only met her gaze steadily under the moonlight. For an instant, time seemed to pause....the two standing face to face, a flower caught between them, as if the night itself held its breath.
"Flower tears?"
Bi Yao stared at the flower in her hand, then suddenly laughed.
Already stunningly beautiful, her smile bloomed like a red spider lily....brilliant yet tinged with sadness.
"This is the first time I've heard a grown man say that dew is the tears of flowers," she chuckled. "You're killing me with laughter…"
Zhang Xiaofan shook his head.
"Laugh too hard, and your front teeth will fall out."
Instead of getting mad, Bi Yao tilted her head curiously.
"Hey, what's your name?"
"Zhang Xiaofan."
"Zhang Xiaofan?" She sized him up, unimpressed.
"Just like your looks....ordinary. Nothing special at all."
Then she smiled faintly.
"But being ordinary… isn't always a bad thing. It can be its own kind of happiness."
Zhang Xiaofan nodded.
"That makes sense," he said, even giving her a thumbs-up.
Bi Yao then raised the flower in her hand and asked playfully:
"Tell me....who's prettier? This flower, or me?"
Zhang Xiaofan didn't hesitate.
"I never lie. You're beautiful… and this flower isn't even one-tenth as beautiful as you."
Bi Yao laughed happily, but deep inside, sorrow flickered in her bright eyes.
She leaned against the porch, gazing at the flowers.
"Ever since I was young, everyone only praised my beauty. You men… all the same."
Zhang Xiaofan looked at her back and murmured:
"People praise you because of your status. It's flattery. But me.....I only told you the truth."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving only his back in her sight.
Bi Yao watched him go. Ordinary, yet… strangely unfathomable.
Lowering her gaze, she whispered to the flower in her hand:
"At least… there are people in this world who cherish your tears."
"Flowers cry when they're sad. And people… cry when they're sad too."
Just then, Aunt You approached.
"Aunt You, how's the situation?" Bi Yao asked.
"They're indeed Qingyun Sect disciples," Aunt You replied. "One of them is Qi Hao of Longshou Peak. Skilled, and clearly the leader. The other three....I don't know them."
"I know one!" Bi Yao pointed. "That guy who was chatting with me earlier....his name is Zhang Xiaofan. Just ordinary."
"Zhang Xiaofan… ordinary?" Aunt You frowned. "Sometimes, the ones who look the plainest are actually the most dangerous."
But Bi Yao shook her head.
"He didn't seem powerful to me. He just said I was beautiful."
Aunt You sighed, glancing at the flower in her hand.
"This flower… used to cover Fox Mountain. Ever since your mother passed…"
Bi Yao's face darkened.
"Aunt You, don't mention him in front of me."
"Biyao," Aunt You said gently, "you're your father's only daughter. He loves you more than anything."
"If he really loved me," Bi Yao's voice trembled with anger and grief, "why wouldn't he see me all these years?
If Mother were still alive, maybe our family wouldn't be like this…"
Aunt You sighed. She had raised Bi Yao for years and knew well the pain she hid beneath her smile.
"Biyao, rest early. Tomorrow we head to Kongsang Mountain. Be careful...don't act recklessly again."
"…Got it."
The next morning, Zhang Xiaofan, Lu Xueqi, Qi Hao, and Zeng Shushu mounted their swords and flew eastward.
Four streaks of rainbow light cut through the sky beneath the scorching sun.
As always, Zeng Shushu held his folding fan and explained as they flew:
"Kongsang Mountain lies three thousand miles east.
Harsh, barren, full of monsters. Eight hundred years ago, it was the stronghold of the Demon Sect's Blood Refining Hall."
Then he turned to Xiaofan with a grin.
"Xiaofan, are you scared?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not," Zhang Xiaofan answered simply.
"Haha! You're awesome!" Zeng Shushu mimicked the slang he'd learned from Xiaofan, giving him a thumbs-up.
Zhang Xiaofan ignored him, only asking:
"Shushu, we've been flying for ten days. How much longer?"
"Not far now," Zeng Shushu replied, closing his fan. "I wonder if the people from Fenxiang Valley and Tianyin Temple have arrived already."
But Zhang Xiaofan suddenly frowned.
"Something's wrong. This place feels strange. We're near Kongsang Mountain....everyone, be careful."
"Yes." Lu Xueqi nodded firmly.
Suddenly...screee!
The sky filled with a massive swarm of bats. Their eyes glowed blood-red, their fangs bared. Tens of thousands of them darkened the night sky.
In a wave, the bats rushed at the four disciples.
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