"Senior Uncle Jin Yu, look! Wuliang Mountain is right in front of us…"
Sitting in the front passenger seat of the car, Jiang Ting Xia, with her lively and cute demeanor, pointed out the window at the ever-approaching Wuliang Mountain. She addressed Senior Aunt Jin Yu, who was seated behind her, dressed in a low-key, ancient-style long skirt. Jin Yu Tai wore a hat and a mask, which obscured half her face, but her deep, serene phoenix eyes hinted at her astonishing beauty.
Li Zi Hang, who was driving, had met Jin Yu Tai once before at the Emei Sect. He asked, "Senior Aunt Jin Yu, would you like to visit our Daoist temple?"
Jiang Ting Xia then inquired, "Is Abbot Wan at your temple?"
Li Zi Hang shook his head and replied, "No, my Abbot Senior Brother is always elsewhere in the Kunlun Mountains."
"Oh," Jiang Ting Xia turned to ask, "Senior Uncle, are we going up the mountain?"
Upon hearing that Wan Yun Ting was not at the temple, Jin Yu Tai said, "Let's go find him directly."
Jiang Ting Xia nodded, and Li Zi Hang understood. He drove directly towards Chen Qiu Yun's residence, a journey of over an hour from Wuliang Mountain.
Meanwhile, outside the small wooden house courtyard where Chen Qiu Yun lived, in the fields, Wan Yun Ting, wearing a vest that revealed his strong physique and shorts, was barefoot in the field. He held a hoe, turning the soil under the afternoon sun, his body covered in sweat.
"Have some water…"
Ji Ru Xue, wearing one of Chen Qiu Yun's coarse gray robes, still couldn't hide her curvaceous figure. For the past few days, she had been staying with Wan Yun Ting at Chen Qiu Yun's place. When she wasn't practicing Snow Mountain Sect techniques, she helped Chen Qiu Yun with farm work.
Wan Yun Ting took the bowl of water she poured and drank it all. He then gestured for her to pour a bowl for Chen Qiu Yun, reminding Ji Ru Xue not to overexert herself, as she was pregnant.
"Hehe, you care about me?" Ji Ru Xue was happy to be cared for by him and playfully cooed.
Wan Yun Ting rolled his eyes at her, wiped his sweat, and said, "I care about the child in your belly."
Ji Ru Xue's heart sank, and she said angrily, "I'll get rid of it right now…"
"Don't, I'm just kidding. What are you talking about, it's unlucky."
Wan Yun Ting quickly grabbed her, smiled, and told her to hurry and bring water to Senior Sister Qiu Yun.
Knowing he was joking, Ji Ru Xue took the kettle and bowl and headed towards Chen Qiu Yun. Suddenly, she turned back cautiously and said, "A car is coming!"
Wan Yun Ting turned to see Li Zi Hang's car and said, "Don't be nervous, it's my junior brother. Senior Aunt Jin Yu might be here."
As he spoke, the car slowly drove to the entrance of the small wooden house courtyard and stopped. Li Zi Hang and Jiang Ting Xia got out first. She opened the rear door, "Senior Aunt Jin Yu, you can get out now."
Following a cloth shoe embroidered with patterns, Jin Yu Tai stepped out, holding the hem of her skirt. Her hair was pinned up at the back of her head with a wooden hairpin, and a few strands of dark silk danced gently in front of her forehead.
Her incredibly stunning face, with a pair of phoenix eyes that were as serene as water yet profound and melancholic, slightly lifted as she surveyed the courtyard of the small wooden house, the meticulously organized vegetable garden filled with various vegetables.
"Is she the Fourth Elder of the Emei Sect?"
Ji Ru Xue narrowed her enchanting, fox-like eyes, looking from afar at the woman in the gray ancient-style long dress. She was as beautiful as a startled swan, exuding an ethereal aura. Although she looked quite old, the mature charm she possessed made Ji Ru Xue inwardly gasp. She couldn't help but turn to the man beside her and smile, "Could this Senior Aunt Jin Yu also be yours…"
"What nonsense are you talking about."
Wan Yun Ting turned and glared at her, put down his hoe, and walked over. "Senior Aunt Jin Yu, you've had a long journey. Please come in and rest."
Jin Yu Tai, gentle and virtuous, with a refined and cool demeanor, nodded slightly to Wan Yun Ting as a greeting. Her phoenix eyes also glanced at Ji Ru Xue, who was working in the field, and at Chen Qiu Yun in the distance, who was bending over and back, busy planting crops in her coarse cloth attire.
"Sister Qiu Yun, it's getting late, you should come back and rest too."
Wan Yun Ting called out to the field, then led Senior Aunt Jin Yu into the courtyard, to the door of the small wooden house, inviting Jin Yu Tai to sit down.
"Abbot Wan, where does my Senior Uncle live?"
Jiang Ting Xia, who was helping to carry Jin Yu Tai's luggage, asked.
Wan Yun Ting's expression froze. The small wooden house was originally just one room with a small living area.
It was already cramped when he and Ji Ru Xue moved in, and now with Senior Aunt Jin Yu arriving, there was no space at all.
"Put it here for now."
Wan Yun Ting took the luggage from Jiang Ting Xia and placed it aside. At this moment, Ji Ru Xue and Chen Qiu Yun also returned. Seeing Jin Yu Tai sitting quietly on a chair by the door, Ji Ru Xue narrowed her fox-like eyes and smiled, "Senior Aunt Jin Yu, I've heard so much about you."
Chen Qiu Yun's serene phoenix eyes also glanced at Jin Yu Tai and she nodded in greeting.
Jin Yu Tai nodded slightly to Ji Ru Xue in return. However, when her phoenix eyes met Chen Qiu Yun's, her gaze involuntarily sharpened, as if drawn by a certain aura about her. She spoke gently, "Sorry to intrude."
Chen Qiu Yun could also feel a familiar aura from Jin Yu Tai. She also said warmly, "You're too kind. It's just that my place is simple, you'll have to forgive the lack of elegance."
Jin Yu Tai rarely showed a smile, and this smile was so stunning that it made Wan Yun Ting's heart flutter. He had never seen Jin Yu Tai smile before.
"Simplicity is good," Jin Yu Tai said softly.
Chen Qiu Yun smiled and nodded slightly. Then, she brought a small table out from the small living room inside the house, began to boil water, and prepared to make tea. Jin Yu Tai, sitting beside her, looked at a red and black plastic bag on the table containing tea leaves. She opened it, sniffed it carefully, and then smiled, "Good tea."
Chen Qiu Yun, carrying the boiled water, said, "This is the Snow Chrysanthemum from Kunlun Mountain, a special tea found only in that area."
Jin Yu Tai nodded slightly. She watched Chen Qiu Yun brew tea very intently. Both her tea-making process and movements were very professional, earning a nod of praise from Jin Yu Tai, who had a deep understanding of tea ceremony. "You are very professional."
Chen Qiu Yun smiled and said while brewing tea, "I learned it specifically. You must know a lot about tea, right?"
Jin Yu Tai smiled and said, "I know a little, just for my own enjoyment."
Chen Qiu Yun understood the meaning, turned her head to look at Jin Yu Tai, and the two of them couldn't help but share a knowing smile.
Ji Ru Xue, standing to the side, looked stunned. She was surprised to see Jin Yu Tai and Chen Qiu Yun getting along so well, like old friends meeting after a long time.
She had been here for some time, but Chen Qiu Yun had always been polite and hadn't said much to Ji Ru Xue, other than offering guidance during work.
Yet, to her surprise, upon meeting Jin Yu Tai, they became like old friends, chatting and laughing, getting along wonderfully.
"Hey, look how happily they're chatting."
Ji Ru Xue came over and tugged at Wan Yun Ting, who was standing in the courtyard, planning to expand the wooden house.
Wan Yun Ting turned and looked at Jin Yu Tai and Chen Qiu Yun sitting by the door, drinking tea and chatting happily. He was also surprised but quickly smiled and said, "It's normal. They are both the same type of people, so they have things to talk about."
Ji Ru Xue nodded. Indeed, she felt a different kind of temperament from both Jin Yu Tai and Chen Qiu Yun.
The experiences of these two women were very similar, and on a certain level, they shared common hobbies, so it was natural for them to hit it off.
Jiang Ting Xia saw her Senior Uncle Jin Yu chatting happily with that impossibly beautiful woman and was quite shocked. She then said to Wan Yun Ting, "Abbot Wan, what should I do now?"
Wan Yun Ting was planning to build another wooden house to the left of the existing one for them to live in. He turned to Jiang Ting Xia and said, "You and Zi Hang should go back to the Daoist temple. Your Senior Aunt Jin Yu will probably be staying here for a while. You go back first, and let Zi Hang take you around for a few days. I'll ask your Senior Aunt Jin Yu when she plans to return to the Emei Sect."
Jiang Ting Xia nodded. "Okay, then we'll be going back."
Li Zi Hang also unloaded some supplies. These were the cured meats, rice, oil, salt, and other daily necessities and supplies he had bought in town when picking up Jiang Ting Xia and Jin Yu Tai.
"Let's go."
Li Zi Hang took Jiang Ting Xia to the car, waved goodbye to Wan Yun Ting and the others, and left.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jiang Ting Xia took out her phone and sent a WeChat message to her Senior Sister Zhou Ruo Xi, informing her of the situation. As Li Zi Hang drove, he glanced at her and said with a smile, "Senior Sister Ting Xia, why don't you come back and stay at the Daoist temple for a few days? I'll show you around."
"Mhm, that's the only way," Jiang Ting Xia nodded. Then, feeling Li Zi Hang's gaze, she couldn't help but cast a sidelong glance at him, causing Li Zi Hang to blush and feel awkward.
"Pfft…"
Seeing his embarrassed expression, Jiang Ting Xia found it amusing. She muttered, "Little kid, what are you thinking?"
Li Zi Hang, hearing her, quickly retorted, "I'm not a little kid, you know."
"Tch, you're two years younger than me, you're still a little kid…"
The two bickered and playfuly teased each other in the car as they drove back towards Wuliang Mountain.
Meanwhile, Wan Yun Ting, high in the mountains, held a small notebook and a pen, beginning to plan the design drawings for building the wooden house. Senior Aunt Jin Yu and Chen Qiu Yun, kindred spirits, drank tea and chatted about their lives and interesting stories, their laughter occasionally ringing out.
Ji Ru Xue found herself unable to join in, so she simply didn't join them for tea. Instead, she went to Wan Yun Ting to discuss the wooden house design, saying, "I really envy Sister Qiu Yun and Senior Aunt Jin Yu. They just met and are already chatting so congenially."
Wan Yun Ting glanced at her and continued sketching, "So you don't have any close friends?"
Ji Ru Xue's fox-like eyes curved into crescent moons, and she charmingly smiled, "Do you count?"
Wan Yun Ting's hand didn't stop drawing. "What do I count as? I mean your female friends."
Ji Ru Xue couldn't help but sigh with disappointment and say, "As the Divine Mother of the Divine Snake Tribe, everyone around me on Snake Island was fawning and flattering. I never had any close friends."
Wan Yun Ting thought about her past experiences and then smiled, saying, "That's true, but you don't really need friends anyway."
Ji Ru Xue was angered by his words and slapped his arm. "Hey, Wan Yun Ting, what do you mean by that? Are you saying I, Ji Ru Xue, don't deserve them?"
Wan Yun Ting wasn't afraid and continued drawing on the design paper. "A cunning and ruthless woman like you, who would dare to be friends with you? You'd leave them with no bones left."
"Hmph."
Ji Ru Xue snorted angrily and crossed her arms. "So, this is how you see me…"
"Isn't it?" Wan Yun Ting glanced at her.
Ji Ru Xue felt an inexplicable sense of loss and sadness. She glared at Wan Yun Ting resentfully with her enchanting, fox-like eyes and said, "So, no matter what I do, I can't change your opinion of me. Even if I'm carrying your child, it's the same, right?"
Hearing this, Wan Yun Ting raised an eyebrow. He was indeed wary and cautious of Ji Ru Xue!
After all, her past actions were truly chilling. Most importantly, he couldn't see through her true intentions, so Wan Yun Ting had no faith in her.
But unfortunately, she unexpectedly became pregnant with his child, firmly grasping his vital point.
"Heh, so that's how it is."
Ji Ru Xue let out a cold laugh and said nothing more. She turned and walked towards the fields. Chen Qiu Yun had also gone to the fields with Jin Yu Tai to work.
Wan Yun Ting watched Ji Ru Xue's retreating figure. Although he knew his words and demeanor were too unfeeling, he still had to be wary of this woman.