Love & Redemption
Chapter 41 - 1 When We Meet

Chapter 41: Chapter 1 When We Meet

Today’s first update.

*********************************

After entering winter, Shouyang Mountain had witnessed three or four heavy snowfalls, enveloping all seven peaks in a silvery-white gown, pristine and glittering.

Although the snowy landscape was beautiful, it made movement quite inconvenient. Occasionally, newly admitted disciples would step into the void and fall, sustaining injuries.

Early this morning, He Danping led a dozen young disciples to clear the accumulated snow in front of the courtyards on Shaoyang Peak. The swept snow was piled up by the path, over a man’s height, indicating the magnitude of the recent snowfalls.

In recent years, the Shaoyang Sect had admitted quite a few new disciples. The Min Generation were no longer the juniors, as a new generation had emerged beneath them, and they proudly assumed the roles of senior brothers.

Given the severe snow accumulation on Shaoyang Peak, the dozen disciples led by He Danping seemed insufficient. Hence, she instructed Chen Minjue, who was guiding a new disciple by the side: "Min Jue, go to the entrance of the disciples’ courtyard on the front mountain, fetch a few more, and clear the Martial Arts Arena. Otherwise, once the sun comes out and the ice forms, it’ll be inaccessible for a while."

Chen Minjue, now a young man in his twenties, had always liked to act older and would often stroke his chin, which had been devoid of a beard. Now that a goatee had finally sprouted, he found it unattractive and had made it his daily priority to shave it. Yet, his habitual gesture was hard to break.

Immediately, he stroked his smooth chin again and smiled, "Aunt, wouldn’t it be better to have Sixth Junior Brother do it? He’s just come out of seclusion and must be quite free."

He Danping glared at him, her expression a mixture of amusement and exasperation, "You know your junior brother has just finished his seclusion, and you still have the audacity to be lazy. Fine, go call him. I suppose Linglong is with him; let them lead others to clean the Martial Arts Arena."

Chen Minjue chuckled, scratching his head as he walked away.

Since the end of the Flower Pinning Conference four years ago, Master had shifted from his former strict and pragmatic style to personally teaching disciples with high potential, regardless of their ranking. Not only had the eldest senior brother been taught the most profound mental method, the Yang Que Technique, in advance, but even this Sixth Junior Brother, Zhong Minyan, had been favored. He had learned the Yao Hua Swordsmanship and also many spells and Immortal Techniques from Aunt.

In contrast, he, the Second Senior Brother, had become the least spectacular among the Min Generation, still only skilled in Sword Control. He hadn’t learned a bit of the Immortal Techniques.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t jealous. Sometimes, waking up suddenly in the night, he would sigh over his limited talents and the partiality of his Master and Aunt, which made him constantly scheme against Zhong Minyan. However, deep down, he was genuinely happy for his junior brother. After all, they were all from the same sect; what did seniority matter?

A year ago, Master had imparted the Yang Que Technique to Zhong Minyan ahead of schedule and, fearing that mundane matters would distract him and impede his training, had ordered him to seclude himself in Mingxia Cave at Sun Peak for cultivation.

The reputation of Mingxia Cave was well known among the Shaoyang Sect. Four years ago, their junior sister Xuanji had spent a few days inside and had emerged visibly shaken and distressed. However, aside from being a place for punishing errant disciples, Mingxia Cave was also an excellent location for dedicated disciples to seclude themselves for training.

Zhong Minyan indeed proved his mettle by spending a whole year in seclusion there, emerging only three days ago with his hair matted and unkempt. It was said that he had surpassed the toughest initial barrier, and his power had grown tremendously. Just how formidable he had become, however, remained unknown to them.

As Chen Minjue made his way to the back mountain’s separate courtyard, it was clear to him that Zhong Minyan would definitely not be in his own courtyard but would be with Linglong, enjoying their time together.

As the years passed and the children grew, their once naive and carefree nature gradually became more reserved and restrained. Only Linglong and Zhong Minyan remained carefree, laughing and joking as ever. It seemed that their Master and Aunt were quite happy to match them as a couple, and almost everyone in Shaoyang Peak recognized them as the golden boy and girl. Thus, no one really gossiped about it, and discussion usually revolved around when they would officially tie the knot and their wedding plans.

True enough, as soon as he approached Linglong’s courtyard, he could hear the joyful laughter and chattering voices inside, unaware of what game they were playing but clearly enjoying themselves immensely.

Chen Minjue pushed the door open with a smile, "You two are always having such a leisurely time. What jokes are you sharing? Let me in on the fun."

The two inside looked up together; it was indeed Linglong and Zhong Minyan. Dressed in casual home wear and sitting by a brazier, they were playing chess. On seeing her second senior brother, Linglong immediately waved with a bright smile, "Second Senior Brother! It’s great that you’ve come! Why don’t you join us for a game?"

Now at the age of fifteen, Linglong had matured beautifully, her petulance replaced by a hint of girlish charm. Her long jet-black hair was casually tied behind her ears, adorned with two thumb-sized pearls, her red lips and welcoming smile making her truly a stunning beauty.

Seeing her invitation, Chen Minjue, far from being shy, walked over, glanced briefly at the chessboard, and touched his chin, commenting, "This game... looks like Junior Sister is about to lose."

Linglong snorted, "Hardly. I refuse to believe I can’t beat Sixth!"

Picking up a white piece, she searched the board for a long time, realizing that her position was weak from all directions. Even placing her piece wouldn’t make much of a difference.

But Linglong naturally had a temperament that refused to admit defeat, and the more others said she would lose, the more she denied it. She looked for a while and simply tossed a chess piece towards the southeast corner, pouting, "Just put it here, see how you can counter that!"

Chen Minjue sighed with regret, "Oh, how could you place it here! Such a pity, you could have regained the lost ground!"

Linglong exclaimed urgently, "Why didn’t you say so earlier!"

She stole a glance at Zhong Minyan, hoping he hadn’t noticed, and reached out to take the piece back. But as her hand stretched out, someone lightly struck it, and Zhong Minyan across from her looked up at her with a smile that was not quite a smile and said, "A move once played, cannot be taken back."

Linglong regretted it to death but still wanted to save face, so she simply crossed her arms and stubbornly said, "Which eye of yours saw me regretting it? You’re framing me!"

Zhong Minyan did not bother with her, glanced at Chen Minjue, and said, "True gentlemen do not speak while observing a game of chess, Second Senior Brother, you should not remind her."

Chen Minjue laughed and said, "I was never a gentleman to begin with. Speaking of which, you should stop playing; there’s work to be done. The master’s wife sent me to find you."

Linglong, about to lose, was eager to cheat and quickly jumped up asking, "What’s the matter?"

"The heavy snow in recent days has blocked the roads. The master’s wife is worried about ice forming in the Martial Arts Arena and wants you to take some of the new disciples to clear it."

Hearing this, Linglong immediately put on a heavy robe and donned a fox fur hat, then turned around and waved to Zhong Minyan, "Come on! What are you waiting for? Let’s go clear the snow!"

Zhong Minyan smiled helplessly, could only get up and follow her to the doorway, muttering, "When we come back, let’s continue that game of chess, if you lose, you’re going to the kitchen to cook tomorrow."

It turned out the two of them had made a bet over the game of chess, the loser would have to cook the next day.

"Who’s afraid! We’ll continue when we come back! I’ll definitely win!" Linglong was verbally unyielding.

Chen Minjue listened to their bickering from behind and could not help but laugh. Seeing Zhong Minyan pass by, he noticed he had grown taller than him by half a head, which somewhat moved him, thinking how just a year ago this boy wasn’t as tall as him and now he had grown so much.

Zhong Minyan had been a handsome boy since childhood, and with his cleverness and sweet talk, he was greatly favored by their master and mistress. Now at nineteen years old, he had just reached the age of his coming-of-age ceremony. That day, when he came out of the Mingxia Cave, he hadn’t looked closely, but seeing him up close today, he seemed dashing with a youthful vigor—he was a nineteen-year-old young man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, spirited and lively, a ’jade tree facing the wind...’.

Chen Minjue felt increasingly jealous, and was about to say something sarcastic when he suddenly remembered something, saying instead, "Right, the master mentioned the other day that with the end of the year approaching, he plans to send some disciples down the mountain for training. In the next few days, our uncles and grand-uncles will take the suitable-aged disciples to Shaoyang Peak, and I heard that Xuanji will be there too."

When Xuanji’s name was mentioned, Zhong Minyan let it pass, but Linglong immediately got excited, turning back to ask anxiously, "Really?! Is my sister coming?"

"Yes, the master said so. But whether she will definitely be there is not yet confirmed."

Linglong, thrilled, almost jumped up.

Ever since four years ago when Xuanji went with Aunt Hong to Little Yang Peak, she hadn’t seen her at all. Although they gathered annually for New Year at the Shaoyang Sect, due to the vast number of people, she always missed meeting Xuanji. Coupled with the doubling of her training and no longer being able to wander off to other places as before, they had been apart for a full four years without seeing each other once.

Now hearing that Xuanji might come to Shaoyang Peak, she jumped about excitedly, grabbing Zhong Minyan’s hand and repeatedly saying, "Xiao Liuzi! Xuanji is coming! Did you hear that? My sister is coming!"

Zhong Minyan patted her shoulder, gently saying, "I heard it, let’s go clear the snow first, we can talk about this later."

He took Linglong’s hand and walked towards the Martial Arts Arena. Suddenly, a face as delicate as snow, with trembling lashes and an eternally nonchalant expression, surfaced in his mind.

Four years... it had been that long.

He wondered what kind of person had this girl, whom he neither loved nor hated, become?