Clear as Ever - Chapter 5

After cleaning my cave residence with a casual spell, I went to morning lessons feeling wonderfully refreshed.

Disciples along the way were discussing something with unusual excitement.

“They should be here soon. Now we’ll have a good show.”

“Inner disciples usually lead the exchange. There must be a reason they changed leaders at the last minute.”

Only then did I remember that another inter-sect exchange was about to begin.

Kunlun specialized in the sword, while Penglai excelled at medicine. The Myriad Manifestations Immortal Sect, true to its name, embraced every kind of path. Once every three years, it hosted an exchange conference to strengthen relations among the righteous sects and let disciples compare their skills.

It was only an academic exchange. What had everyone so excited?

I remained confused until I stepped into the classroom.

Every disciple turned toward me, their eyes glowing like ghost lights.

“What?” I asked, my scalp prickling.

An outgoing female cultivator could not contain herself. “Senior Sister Xie, how is your relationship with your fiancé?”

My engagement to Tu Qinyu was no secret, but no one had ever asked so bluntly.

“We aren’t particularly close,” I said after some thought. “For all I know, he may stop being my fiancé one day.”

Once the truth about the switched daughters emerged, our engagement would naturally be void. I was merely stating a fact.

Yet everyone stared as though I had revealed an earthshaking scandal.

Wait. They seemed to be looking behind me.

“We aren’t close, Xie Qingru?” came a cold voice edged with ice.

I spun around in surprise.

The young man at the door carried a sword on his back. He was handsome but glacial, his bearing as restrained and noble as the Kunlun jade at his waist.

It was Tu Qinyu—Kunlun’s foremost disciple and the man betrothed to me since infancy.

During my girlhood, Tu Qinyu had been the most special person in my life.

Junior Shishu was stern and distant. My fellow disciples kept me at arm’s length, and the elders complained that I was hopeless. My faraway fiancé, who regularly exchanged spiritual letters with me, naturally became the single bright point in my dreary life.

I told him my troubles, complained about the fierce elders, and described the moment snow fell from the pines of Bright Moon Cliff.

Tu Qinyu did not share as freely as I did, but he read every letter carefully and answered every little thing I mentioned. He wrote very little, yet even the sight of his neat, sharp handwriting made me happy. I imagined the young sword cultivator replying with solemn concentration.

The elders repeatedly told me he would become my Dao companion, the person closest to me in all the world.

So before we had ever met, years of anticipation had already rooted my love for him deep in my heart.

I believed we were the most important people in each other’s lives. Tu Qinyu would never ignore me, distance himself, or despise me. He would love me exactly as I loved him.

Then, five years ago, he comprehended his Dao atop a snowy mountain and carved his sword intent into Kunlun’s sacred wall.

The world marveled at his talent and proclaimed Kunlun’s future secure. Inevitably, people remembered our engagement.

“One is a peerless young sword immortal. The other is worthless mud that can’t be shaped into anything. Is there any reason to continue that marriage?”

Rumors that the sects would cancel our engagement spread everywhere.

I was so anxious I barely slept. I wanted to beg Junior Shishu for enough elixirs to turn me into a genius overnight.

I never dared. He would probably have confined me for half a year.

Unlike the elders, who constantly tried to force my growth, Junior Shishu did not demand great cultivation from me. He did, however, expressly forbid every shortcut.

Fortunately, before I did anything foolish, Kunlun’s straightforward sword cultivators finally heard the malicious rumors. To prove they had no intention of withdrawing, they sent Tu Qinyu himself to celebrate my birthday.

His gift was a Kunlun jade tablet with a special meaning. It formed a matching pair with the one at his waist.

“Kunlun has no intention of ending the engagement,” he assured the elders.

Standing nearby, I grinned helplessly and covered my burning face.

He had traveled all this way with a token of love and publicly vowed never to break our engagement. He must have adored me.

My fiancé was handsome, gifted, and faithful…

Pink clouds filled my head. I heard nothing else until the elders laughingly suggested, “Young people have more to say to each other. Why don’t the two of you walk around alone and deepen your bond?”

Dazed with happiness, I led Tu Qinyu around Bright Moon Cliff.

“That’s the snow pine I wrote about. Speaking of pines, would you like roasted pine nuts?”

I chattered without pause, desperate to release years of unshared nonsense. I was too delighted to notice his excessive silence.

Eventually I brought him to a heart-shaped sword-testing stone. I had swallowed my fear and asked Junior Shishu to find it after learning Tu Qinyu would come.

“I don’t know what you like. Whenever I ask, you say anything is fine, so I chose this as your gift.”

I fidgeted. When he did not react, I assumed he was stunned by the surprise.

Gathering my courage, I rose onto my toes and leaned toward the boy I had loved for years, hoping to kiss his cheek as I had so often imagined.

The next instant, he shoved me away.