At the foot of the mountain, a peach grove swayed in the wind.
Lin Zhao built a bonfire, set up a rack, and placed a piece of black carp meat to roast. He smiled and said, "Little Jiu'er, roast your own meat. I'll go make you a gift."
"Okay!"
Su Qing Jiu carefully roasted the meat by herself.
Lin Zhao then rose and went to the side of the peach grove, observing the peach trees closely. He could discern the quality of the peach wood, with most of it ranking between 1 and 5. Dismissing the ordinary, Lin Zhao searched the entire grove and finally found a section of peach wood only as thick as a finger behind a large rock on an inconspicuous tree. It was a grade 10 peach wood, perfect.
He immediately cut off the piece of peach wood with his Swift Thunder Sword. Returning to the campfire, he summoned Ming Yue from the Sword Holding Lake and used it like a small knife, carefully whittling the peach wood. After peeling off the bark, the grain underneath shimmered with a dazzling light, resembling emerald jade. Lin Zhao continued to carve with great care.
Su Qing Jiu sat to the side, watching Lin Zhao busy himself with a smile. She even rested her cheek on Lin Zhao's arm, her little face bobbing with his movements.
It had been like this since childhood. Little Jiu'er adored Brother Lin Zhao. Her favorite thing was to stay by his side. When Lin Zhao practiced martial arts at night, Little Jiu'er would bring her homework to write under the moonlight, accompanying him.
As for the peach wood, from Su Qing Jiu's perspective as a sword immortal at the peak of the twelfth realm, it was quite ordinary. Although Lin Zhao had gone to great lengths to find it, to Su Qing Jiu, it was merely peach wood with a slightly stronger spiritual energy. Having traveled extensively, she considered such quality not even a treasure.
But anything made by Brother Lin Zhao, she would surely love.
Yet, Su Qing Jiu tilted her head and watched for a long time, unable to discern what Lin Zhao was carving.
...
Eventually, Little Jiu'er, leaning on Lin Zhao's shoulder, fell asleep. After a long while, Lin Zhao gently woke her with a smile, "Little Jiu'er, the fish is almost burnt!"
"Ah!?"
Su Qing Jiu hurriedly took the rack off the fire. Indeed, it was slightly charred. Her pretty face flushed slightly, "Brother Lin Zhao, I'm sorry. I suddenly felt a bit sleepy and fell asleep."
"It's fine."
By this time, Lin Zhao had already carved the peach wood into the desired shape: round at one end and pointed at the other. He alternated holding the wood over the flame, and soon, the originally greenish peach wood was imbued with a warm, jade-like fiery hue. Su Qing Jiu now understood; what Lin Zhao was making was a peach wood hairpin.
Little Jiu'er had grown up. She could no longer run around wildly with her hair down. As the mistress of Mount Changming, how could she be without a hairpin? Although, the hairpin Su Qing Jiu wore in her hair was already a high-grade magical artifact.
"Brother Lin Zhao."
Su Qing Jiu narrowed her eyes and smiled, "A hairpin for me?"
"Yes!"
Lin Zhao nodded, "Wait, it's not finished yet. Almost done."
"Mhm mhm."
Lin Zhao examined the hairpin repeatedly. It was already quite beautiful, nearly matching the 3D models of ancient hairpins he had found online. The carving was exquisite, yet it seemed to be missing something. Just giving Little Jiu'er a hairpin felt incomplete. He should inscribe characters on the end to show more sincerity.
So, Lin Zhao smiled, thinking that it was indeed time for inscription, but for that… he probably shouldn't use the flying sword Ming Yue. Ming Yue's aura was too aggressive. For carving, he should switch to another flying sword with a strong literary aura.
He raised his hand and summoned the flying sword Hao Ran from the Sword Holding Lake. Hao Ran was the tip of the Han Niu sword, now close to level 3 after being ground with the Qing Xin Stone for many days. Furthermore, this was the sword of Mr. Qin, the Confucian Sage. Using the tip of Han Niu sword for inscription would surely be more suitable than any engraver in the world.
He held Hao Ran like a carving knife and meticulously engraved two characters on each side of the hairpin.
On one side, he carved "Ping An" (Peace).
On the other side, he carved "Shun Yi" (Smoothness and Ease).
This was exactly as Lin Zhao wished: Little Jiu'er should have a life of peace and all things should go smoothly.
However, Lin Zhao didn't notice that as he inscribed the hairpin with the tip of the Han Niu sword, a wisp of golden artistic conception flowed from the sword tip into the hairpin, making it seem even more extraordinary.
"Done."
Lin Zhao offered the hairpin with both hands and smiled, "I don't know if you'll like it, but this is the best I can do with my skills."
"How could I not like it?"
Su Qing Jiu accepted the hairpin, then raised her hand to her hair, removed her high-grade immortal artifact hairpin, and inserted the one made by Lin Zhao. She then smiled slightly, "Does it look good?"
"Of course, it looks good."
Lin Zhao smiled, "My Little Jiu'er has always been beautiful, and naturally, she's even more so as she's grown up."
"Mmm…"
Su Qing Jiu nodded gently and raised her hand to stroke the tail of the hairpin. A warm, lustrous feeling spread through her. Unable to suppress it, her eyes welled up, and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Lin Zhao's neck, tears streaming down her face.
She had missed Brother Lin Zhao so much over the years that even now, she could hardly believe he was alive and by her side. It was only upon touching the hairpin that Su Qing Jiu truly confirmed that it was all real. She had dreamt of Brother Lin Zhao being alive countless times in her dreams, and the feeling of her dream coming true now made her weep uncontrollably.
"Little Jiu'er."
Lin Zhao gently patted her back and said, "Why are you crying?"
"Because…"
Su Qing Jiu cried, "Because Sister Wu Zhi has returned to the eleventh realm, and I've done everything I needed to do. I should go back to guard Mount Changming, but Little Jiu'er can't bear to leave Brother Lin Zhao…"
"It's alright."
Lin Zhao smiled, "This parting is for a better reunion next time, isn't it?"
"Mhm."
Su Qing Jiu choked out, "But I still feel so sad…"
"It's okay."
Lin Zhao gently stroked her hair and softly said, "Little Jiu'er is grown up now. You can't do this anymore. Little Jiu'er is a young lady now, how can you cry in my arms so easily? Back then, the teacher at the study hall also taught us about the separation between men and women. Did you forget? What the teacher taught must be remembered…"
"Mhm."
Su Qing Jiu pulled away from his embrace, wiping her tears, and said, "Actually… I remember many of the great principles the teacher taught, I just can't always follow them. Like the separation between men and women, but in my eyes… I miss Brother Lin Zhao, and I just want to lean in Brother Lin Zhao's arms forever. If the teacher feels it's wrong, then when the teacher is reborn, they can spank my hand, and Little Jiu'er will have no complaints."
"Spanking is so painful."
Lin Zhao couldn't help but laugh, "And it's not just the teacher who says so; I think so too. Little Jiu'er is a young lady now, and you should be different from when you were a child."
"Oh…"
Su Qing Jiu softly said, "In the future, Brother Lin Zhao will teach me the principles from the books. When Brother Lin Zhao's realm is high enough, I can teach Brother Lin Zhao about sword techniques and sword intent. However, Brother Lin Zhao is so intelligent, I'm sure you'll become a renowned Great Sword Immortal without my teaching."
"Don't say that too early."
Lin Zhao felt a little embarrassed. According to Little Jiu'er's words, his current realm was too low, and he wasn't even qualified to be guided by her, which was somewhat damaging to his ego.
"Stop talking and eat the grilled fish."
He handed a piece of grilled fish to Su Qing Jiu.
Su Qing Jiu immediately put her hands behind her back and leaned forward, just like when she was a child, "Brother Lin Zhao, feed me!"
"You…"
After feeding her a bite, Lin Zhao leaned against a peach tree and smiled. With Little Jiu'er by his side, his only remaining worry was Little Shi Tou. He had no idea how that little fellow was doing, not a single piece of news.
...
Late at night, the hour of Zi.
In a pavilion at the mountain peak villa, Wu Zhi slowly opened her eyes. Golden light surged from her body, and a pure sword qi shot up into the sky. The entire aura of the Xue Yu Tian Chi seemed to be frozen at this moment.
Wu Zhi had formed her Sword Heart and returned to the eleventh realm!
At the same time, at the foot of the mountain, Lin Zhao was bidding farewell to Su Qing Jiu.
"Brother Lin Zhao!"
Little Jiu'er soared into the air and stood on a flying sword. She cupped her fists towards Lin Zhao and smiled, "I'll come to see you again in a while. Farewell, Sword Immortal Lin!"
Lin Zhao stood on the ground, looking up and cupping his fists, "Farewell, Heroine Su!"
Little Jiu'er giggled.
Lin Zhao waved his hand, "Go quickly. Be extra careful on your journey, as this area is all demon territory."
"Mhm!"
Su Qing Jiu ascended on the wind. Her hair danced in the breeze, and at the base of her bun, a peach wood hairpin shimmered with a radiant glow, even containing a hint of the Great Dao within the light!
Lin Zhao had never mentioned Huang Ting Yu's matter to Little Jiu'er. He felt the time was not right, and he was afraid of putting Little Jiu'er in danger. He would wait a little longer, until Little Shi Tou returned to Xue Yu Tian Chi, and until Wu Zhi broke through to the twelfth realm. At that time, no matter how deep the foundation of the Qing Liang Sect was, he would have to make another visit.
...
The next morning.
Mist swirled along the mountain path. Lin Zhao, Wu Zhi, and Chu Yu sat in a row in the pavilion, eating breakfast – vegetable and egg noodles, slurping them down.
Not far away, two figures were ascending the mountain path. The shorter one was Tong Yu, her hands behind her back, a faint sword intent already flowing from her. She was practicing the sword stance taught by Lin Wan Hua. The other was Wang Yue, Chu Yu's newly accepted disciple. She was practicing the martial artist's stance of the戎马拳法 (Rong Ma Quan Fa - Martial Horse Fist), which Chu Yu had recently taught her. She looked the part and truly possessed the physique and exceptional comprehension of a martial artist.
Wang Yue was sixteen, quite a bit older than Tong Yu, but both were young girls at heart. Moreover, both carried the burden of the bloody depths, so they quickly hit it off and became inseparable on the mountain.
"Master!"
Wang Yue turned and gave Chu Yu a standard martial artist's bow.
"Continue, don't mind me."
Chu Yu gestured with her chopsticks.
Wu Zhi smiled slightly and said, "Having a disciple… seems quite good. Should I also find a disciple?"
"You can, if you wish."
Lin Zhao smiled, then said with some exasperation, "Just… don't only take female disciples. It makes our mountain peak villa too 'yin' and lacking in 'yang'... Chen Ben has been practicing martial arts down the mountain and never comes up. What's his deal? Is he afraid of seeing Tong Yu and Wang Yue?"
Chu Yu chuckled, "Perhaps. That boy Chen Ben is too simple and honest. He'll definitely never find a wife in the future."
"So pitiful."
Lin Zhao continued slurping his noodles, completely forgetting that he himself didn't have a wife either.