To Run or Not to Run, That is the Question (Part 1)

Qin Ran returned to Dan Peak and saw Li Shiyin practicing sword dance on the surface of Sword Washing Lake.

Before their marriage, his silly disciple loved wearing white robes because the flowing white garments made her look like an immortal, and she enjoyed being called a sword fairy. However, after their marriage, his silly disciple began wearing more elaborate clothes and started adorning herself with accessories.

At this moment, she wore an outer garment primarily in crimson red, decorated with pure white peonies, with a light-colored inner garment beneath. Her jade-colored belt complemented the white peonies on her outer garment, adding a touch of elegance to her ornate appearance. At her waist hung the sword-shaped token he had given her and the Universe Bag that reflected his straightforward male aesthetic. Her hair was styled in a married woman's fashion, adorned with a jade hairpin.

Her entire demeanor had transformed from that of a typical young girl's innocence and liveliness to that of a mature, elegant, and extraordinarily skilled swordswoman who appeared to be just an ordinary housewife. She could no longer be called his silly disciple; "wife" or "madam" better suited her transformed character.

Li Shiyin danced with her sword, each move perfectly paced, the transitions between techniques as smooth as Dove chocolate.

Her garments flowed with her movements, and her graceful figure moved freely throughout. She appeared to be dancing, like a butterfly fluttering among flowers, like a white cloud drifting beneath the pure moonlight, like a lotus flower in Sword Washing Lake swaying with hundreds of other lotus flowers in the wind.

If Qin Ran remembered correctly, Du Fu had written a poem about Aunt Gongsun's sword dance, saying "Swift as Yi shooting down nine suns, graceful as imperial dragons soaring in flight. Arriving like thunder's angry roar, ending like clear light settling on calm seas." Though Qin Ran had never seen Aunt Gongsun's sword dance, he knew that no matter how beautiful it was, it couldn't compare to his Li Shiyin's performance. It was also a shame that Du Fu never saw Li Shiyin's sword dance, or he would surely have written even more romantic and exaggerated descriptions... perhaps Li Bai would have too.

Li Shiyin danced with her sword, then stopped, standing on the lake's surface, looking down at the water in contemplation. When she became still, the lake's gentle breeze rustled her clothes, her celestial beauty and graceful figure resembling a jade statue standing on the water's surface... a living, breathing jade statue with a soul.

Looking at Li Shiyin, Qin Ran suddenly felt that words could hardly describe her.

"You are perfect, I wouldn't trade you for anything."

Li Shiyin thought for a while, seemingly having figured something out, and began dancing with her sword again to verify her insights.

As she danced this time, she noticed Qin Ran standing there and broke into a happy smile, her almond-shaped eyes filled with joy. Seeing him made her whole being radiate happiness from within.

"Master!" she called out loudly.

She continued her sword dance without stopping.

"How does this move look?" she asked.

"Beautiful," Qin Ran nodded and asked, "Is this a new sword technique you've comprehended?"

It seemed his silly disciple had gained some insights from her visit to the Boundless Sword Sect.

"Yes!" Li Shiyin was delighted, "Master, you could tell?"

"..." How could Qin Ran possibly understand Li Shiyin's current sword realm? He hadn't been able to comprehend it for a long time. He had merely guessed because these moves weren't part of her usual practice routine.

"Mm!" he responded.

"Then Master, you have to help name it!" Li Shiyin said, "Once this move is perfected, it will definitely be powerful."

"Alright," Qin Ran nodded.

To avoid disturbing Li Shiyin's practice, Qin Ran watched for a while longer before leaving Sword Washing Lake.

He arrived outside the wooden cabin and saw a large white tiger standing under an old spiritual locust tree, head tilted up, using its large mouth to search for locust flowers among the branches.

If outsiders saw this, they would surely exclaim how it was like a fierce tiger delicately sniffing roses!

But he knew very well that the silly tiger just wanted to eat some locust flowers. It was like a cow chewing on peonies.

The "fierce tiger" found a branch full of pure white locust flowers, opened its large mouth, bit and pulled, bringing the bountiful branch of locust flowers into its mouth. In the process, it also pulled down countless branches, leaves, and other white locust flower petals.

More fell to the ground than stayed in its mouth. It was quite a clumsy operation.

The white tiger turned its head with the white flower branch in its mouth, saw Qin Ran, and called out foolishly, "Papa!"

As it called out, the flower branch fell from its mouth, and it hurriedly lowered its head to catch it. Though it caught the branch, its whole demeanor was filled with silliness.

"Hehe..." it laughed stupidly with the branch in its mouth, padding over to Qin Ran with cat-like steps, and mumbled while showing him the branch, "Papa, help me make that thing, the fried locust flower with egg whites..."

Qin Ran gave its big head a slap and pointed at the scattered flowers and leaves on the ground, saying with a laugh, "How about I fry you instead?!"

Chasing the Wind looked back, unfazed, and smiled, "That works too."

"Clean up the ground..." Qin Ran really had no way to deal with this thick-skinned, fearless creature, "All you do is eat all day, eat eat eat, one of these days we'll eat you instead."

Chasing the Wind swished its tail, stirring up a breeze that scattered the flower petals and leaves everywhere, making the mess spread beyond just under the tree.

"I heard from Seven that tiger meat doesn't taste good."

Qin Ran gave it a kick, saying angrily, "Clean it properly! If you don't clean it well, you won't get any food today."

"Ah!" Chasing the Wind sighed. A cat's life is hard.

Qin Ran walked through the swirling flower petals and branches, went around the wooden cabin, walked to the riverside, and then headed towards the back mountain.

Chasing the Wind was playing with the wind and branches on this side, but when it caught sight of Qin Ran heading to the back mountain from the corner of its eye, it quickly called out alertly, "Papa, what are you going to do at the back mountain?"

Qin Ran couldn't be bothered to answer.

"Only Youyou is at the back mountain..." Chasing the Wind shouted again, "I'm going to tell Shiyin!"

A sock flew from behind the wooden cabin, heading straight for its mouth. It reacted quickly, catching the sock with its paw, sniffed it, and realized it was the sock Papa had just taken off.

The back mountain had many cave dwellings, one after another, like a honeycomb. Dan Peak had declined for hundreds of years, and perhaps only these "honeycombs" could prove that Dan Peak once had many inhabitants.

Qin Ran stood by the waterfall, sensing his surroundings, then leaped up and entered a cave dwelling near the waterfall, its entrance decorated with pink peach blossoms.

He knocked on the main door, which opened automatically. He entered, and the door closed behind him. In the main hall of the cave, papers were scattered everywhere, covered with mathematics and formation arrays, ranging from elementary to university-level mathematics, and from basic to advanced arrays. Papers were piled up in heaps, some scattered by the wind across the entire hall. It looked exactly like a male science student's laboratory.

Qin Ran found Tushan Youyou in one of the rooms in the cave.

While the outer hall was chaotic, Tushan Youyou's "boudoir" was neat and clean. Pink, cozy, and romantic, just like a young girl's room.

The room had a window through which natural light streamed in, and Tushan Youyou had placed a desk by the window where she studied.

Tushan Youyou's chair was a soft seat woven from bamboo strips, with a soft cushion underneath. If Qin Ran wasn't mistaken, the chair was woven by Zhang Junyi, and the cushion was a magical item given by Dong Zhongyuan.

"Hah! How dare you come to my place?" Tushan Youyou teased. She had lived on the back mountain for so many years, but this was the first time Qin Ran had ever visited.

She had apparently been writing something when Qin Ran interrupted her. Now that he had entered the room, she sat in her chair, holding a pen in one hand, twisting her waist to look back at him.

She was already a fox spirit, with beauty and figure surpassing even Li Shiyin's, and this twist made her appear even more enchanting and seductive.

Qin Ran walked to her desk and looked out the window, discovering that this spot offered a perfect view of all of Dan Peak, without the wooden cabin below blocking the view. Usually, Tushan Youyou must observe everything happening on Dan Peak from this vantage point.

"You've got a nice spot here," Qin Ran said, "I'm tempted to move to the back mountain myself."

"The cave dwelling next door is empty, I had cleaned it up earlier, planning to use it for storing array materials," Tushan Youyou leaned back in her chair, twirling her pen on the desk as she smiled at Qin Ran, "You could live next door, be my neighbor. I've heard that after human men get married, they have studies and guest rooms, and when they can't handle their wives' excessive demands, they make excuses to sleep in their studies. You've only just gotten married, and you're already at your limit?"

Qin Ran shifted his gaze back to the fox spirit and asked, "Are you still a virgin?"

"I'm a fox spirit," Tushan Youyou replied. "I've sampled at least a hundred men."

"I'm not talking about the men you've seduced and whose souls you've devoured," Qin Ran said. "I mean, have you actually slept with any men?"

"Oh?" Tushan Youyou shook her upper body, making her magnificent breasts wave like the ocean. Her face took on an alluring expression as she smiled, "Finally interested in me? Come right ahead, I've been waiting for this day for a long time!"

Qin Ran shook his head, leaning against the table, and replied, "I'm physically weak, I couldn't satisfy you. You should find yourself a robust man, preferably a Yuan Ying stage body cultivator - that would be more suitable for you."

"Those crude, lowly body cultivators, how could they be as interesting as a man like you?" Tushan Youyou said seductively. "Men are all more or less the same in that department, I've seen plenty. What's inside is what truly matters."

"Ah..." Qin Ran understood. "So that's why fox spirits prefer scholars. Since no man can satisfy you physically anyway, might as well find one with something in his head."

"Where did you get that idea from?" Tushan Youyou asked, puzzled. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"That's how all the supernatural tales write it," Qin Ran said.

"That must be the scholars' own fantasy!" Tushan Youyou accurately pointed out.

Not wanting to continue this pointless conversation, Qin Ran looked at her desk, which somewhat resembled his own, covered with books on arrays, mathematics, and materials.

Where Tushan Youyou's ample chest pointed, she had been writing the basic structure of an array, apparently a containment array.

"How's your Peach Blossom Array coming along?" he asked.

"It already has illusion effects," Tushan Youyou lay on the desk, her chest pressing against the papers, pointing through the window for Qin Ran. "That area, wherever there are peach blossoms, it's all part of the illusion array."

"Just illusion effects?" Qin Ran asked.

"For now, yes," Tushan Youyou said. "Later, I'll add containment and killing arrays."

She added, "If you don't object, I plan to plant peach blossoms all around your mountain protection array."

"Heh!" Qin Ran chuckled, "We'll see about that later!"

"By the way..." he asked, "You're not really a beast from the Land of Immortal Legacy, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Tushan Youyou said, "I am."

"You're a nine-tailed fox from the Demon Region," Qin Ran said. "Not the same species as the fox spirits from the Land of Immortal Legacy."

"You investigated me?" Tushan Youyou frowned.

Qin Ran looked at her and smiled, "Is that strange? It would be stranger if I hadn't investigated you."

Tushan Youyou realized this and oddly felt relieved - this was indeed typical of Qin Ran's style.

"What difference does it make where I'm from?" she asked.

"Why did you come to Lingnan Region?" Qin Ran asked. "And why aren't you planning to go back?"

"I don't want to go back."

"Your bloodline is very pure," Qin Ran said. "You're not an ordinary nine-tailed fox."

Tushan Youyou remained silent for a while, then looked at Qin Ran and asked, "So, what are you trying to say? That I'm harmful to Dan Peak? Are you planning to deal with me?"

Qin Ran looked out the window, suddenly sighed, and said, "No, I'm saying you can find an opportunity to go back now."