The Celestial Labyrinth: Love Across Ten Continents

Leave

The day we returned to Qingyuan Mountain, it was drizzling at the foot of the mountain and snowing heavily on the top of the mountain.

Seeing the familiar icy lake and the flourishing apricot blossoms in Zhiyanzhai, Ban suddenly felt as if he had never seen it before in another world.

As soon as Xue Suanni got home, she started to have fun, rolling around in the apricot forest, causing petals to fly everywhere and another dazzling red snow. Fengyi patted her on the shoulder: "Why are you standing there in a daze? Aren't you going to come into the house?"

Ban nodded silently but did not move.

Is it really okay? She continues to stay here and pretend that nothing has happened? Without Qingling Zhenjun and the relics of the gods, she is just one of the luckier creatures among the millions of living beings, who is reborn in another world - leaving everything in the past behind, is that okay?

She herself was not sure whether this choice was right or wrong.

"Something seems to be wrong with you since you came back from the Fairy Magic Conference. Did something happen?" Feng Yi tilted his head and raised his hand to push up all the bangs in front of her forehead, forcing her to look into his eyes.

Ban quickly took a step back and whispered, "I'm fine. But Second Senior Brother, don't be so frivolous!"

Feng Yi narrowed his narrow eyes slightly and smiled: "That was Second Senior Brother's fault, Junior Sister Ban, don't take it to heart." His voice was light, and although he was smiling, there was no smile in his eyes. He let go of her hand and took two steps back. This was also the first time he called her "Junior Sister Ban" seriously, which was very polite.

Ban immediately became anxious: "That's not what I meant! Second Senior Brother, you are such a fool!"

Feng Yi looked at her, sighed, and said with a half-smile: "It's true that if you get close to her, she will be disrespectful, and if you stay away from her, she will complain. She's very difficult to raise."

Ban knew that he was saying that "only women and villains are difficult to raise", so she pouted immediately: "Second Senior Brother is the one who is difficult to raise! I have never seen anyone as difficult to serve as you."

He laughed loudly at these words, and then stepped forward to hold her shoulders, pushed the door open and sent her into the house. He leaned against the door frame and said lazily, "Then I can't disappoint Junior Sister's expectations, so I have to be more difficult to serve. You have become more stupid since you came back from the Immortal Law Conference. Did you meet True Lord Qingling? Didn't he forgive you and won't let you go home?"

Ban's shoulders slumped, and he lowered his head in silence for a long time before he said, "I... am afraid I can't go back. Actually, it's not bad to stay here, and I can even become an immortal..."

Fengyi touched her head and said nothing.

Ban forced a smile: "It's nothing. In fact, I've been here for more than a month and I've gotten used to it. I like Qingyuan very much, and I also like Master and my fellow brothers. It's pretty good, really."

Feng Yi stared at the colorful apricot blossoms outside the door for a while, and suddenly whispered, "You...are you not angry when someone else plays with your fate like this?"

Ban looked up in surprise: "But... he is an immortal, what can I do..."

Feng Yi smiled slightly: "Yes, immortal."

After saying that, he turned and floated away.

Ban stayed in the room. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, but he just couldn't remember what it was.

Second Senior Brother… He is from the Ten Continents, right? He should have never been to her world, but what he said… what did he say just now? “Only women and villains are hard to raise” – she stood up suddenly, pushed the door open and chased after him, shouting anxiously: “Second Senior Brother! Wait a minute!”

Ban chased Feng Yi all the way to the apricot forest, but couldn't find her. He turned around and tried to go back to look for her. Suddenly, he heard Feng Di's voice: "Ban, why are you yelling so loudly just after you get back?"

As he spoke, he walked over with a slightly reproachful look on his face.

She asked anxiously, "Big Brother! Have you seen the Second Brother?"

Feng Di was stunned for a moment: "Feng Yi? I just saw him flying out..." He saw Ban running to chase him again, and couldn't help but frown and hold him back: "How can you catch up with him? Didn't I tell you to come back to meditate and practice? Why are you still running around! At this rate, you can't catch up with him even if you practice for a hundred years! Hurry back to the house!"

Ban was most afraid that he would frown and ask him to practice at any time, so he had to find an excuse: "Yes... it was Master who asked me to find him for something!"

Feng Di frowned even deeper: "You lied to my face! Master is in Yuhua Hall of Yimu Peak and has not returned to Zhiyanzhai. How can he tell you to do something? You have become more and more impetuous recently. Go back quickly!"

Ban was extremely helpless and could only walk away muttering something.

After walking a few steps, Feng Di called out in surprise: "Master!... Why are you here?"

She turned around in astonishment, and saw the glittering master standing in the apricot forest, with an expressionless face, staring at her. She was confused, and instinctively knelt down with Feng Di to pay her respects: "Disciple greets the master."

Grandmaster Jin Ting said calmly, "No need to be polite. Feng Di, please step aside for now. I have something to say to your junior sister."

Although Feng Di was confused, he did not dare to disobey the order and had to say yes. He retreated to the outside of the forest, but did not dare to go far. He held his breath and listened attentively to the movement inside.

Ban was worried, not understanding why the Grand Master suddenly came to find her. She looked up and took a peek, only to see him standing there motionless, not moving or speaking, staring at her with eyes that she couldn't read. This situation made her even more panicked and confused, and she had to repeatedly think about whether she had done anything to embarrass her Master recently.

After an unknown amount of time, Master Jin Ting suddenly sighed, turned around, put his hands behind his back, and said calmly, "I didn't know about your joining Qingyuan at first. If I had known your background in advance, I would never have allowed Mu to accept you as a disciple."

Ban's heart sank, and he murmured, "It has nothing to do with Master... It was me... It was me who asked him to take me in..."

"Whether he accepted you or you begged him, the result is already like this. There is no point in saying more." Grandmaster Jin Ting shook his head, turned around, and looked at her with a scorching gaze, as if he could see into her internal organs. "Mu has great potential. I have accepted countless disciples over the past thousand years, some left, some died, and many achieved mediocre results. He is the only talent that I value the most. When he opens an altar to announce to the gods one day, he can be directly included in the Nine Heavens Immortal Class. Therefore, I will never allow him to do anything that would lose his status."

Ban lowered his head, and after a while, he said softly: "Taking me as your apprentice...will it embarrass Master?"

Grandmaster Jin Ting did not answer, but said calmly: "True Lord Qing Ling... As a True Lord, although he failed to ascend to the Ninth Heaven, all the gods have to give him some face. Not to mention whether what he did was right or wrong, it is not the turn of the juniors to comment. Even if he was wrong, it was his own calamity, and it has nothing to do with others. This is the way of heaven. If you deny or even go against the way of heaven because of your petty sense of right and wrong, you will only fall into the devil. This deity will not agree, let alone approve."

He looked at Ban. She lowered her head and said nothing. Her ten fingers were tightly twisted on her belt, which turned bluish-white.

He sighed: "This is also your own calamity. It is not enough to rely on the protection of heaven or earth, and it is even more impossible to rely on Mu."

After a pause, he continued, "Qingyuan has stood firm for a thousand years and has flourished till now. I will not allow it to be damaged for anyone or anything."

Ban knelt for a moment in a daze, then slowly kowtowed to the ground, saying in a trembling voice: "Disciple...disciple..." She didn't know what to say, let alone how to say it. The yellow sky was above, the thick earth was below, and she was just an insignificant and tiny grain of sand. She couldn't fly up, and couldn't drill down.

There is nowhere to escape.

Master Jin Ting took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Qingyuan has never owed you anything, and you have never been ashamed of Qingyuan. From now on, you and Qingyuan have nothing to do with each other, please leave."

"Grandmaster!" Feng Di, who was eavesdropping outside, could no longer hold back and shouted. He rushed into the apricot blossom forest, knelt in front of him, and said anxiously, "Grandmaster, please think twice! Ban has never made a big mistake, and she practices very diligently every day. She may not be a bad person in the future. If you let her leave like this, won't the world laugh at Qingyuan for being intolerant?"

The Grand Master of Jinting said calmly, "I have made up my mind, no need to say more. Feng Di, send the guest away!"

"Grandmaster!" How could he accept this!

“Feng Di!” The voice of the Grandmaster Jin Ting suddenly became stern, and his brows knitted together, “Don’t forget why you came to Qingyuan in the first place! You want to become an immortal, but you can’t help but interfere in the mundane affairs of the mortal world, and become tainted with vulgarity. How can you become an immortal?!”

Feng Di was speechless for a moment.

Master Jin Ting glanced at him and said, "What do you think? Do you want to leave with this girl, or stay? It's your choice!"

Feng Di's face turned pale and blue, and he couldn't say a word. The ancestor waved his sleeves and said, "Go down! Go to Lingyan Cave on Sanmu Peak and reflect on yourself for three days!"

Feng Di took a breath and exhaled slowly. After a long time, he whispered, "Sorry, Ban..." He turned and left.

Ban knelt for a while, and could not hear any sound except her own heartbeat and breathing. She slowly stood up and whispered, "I'll go pack my bag and leave right away."

"No need. I have already had the things packed up and placed them at the gate. You can go get them yourself." Master Jin Ting spread his hands and said, "Come here. I will take you out."

Ban walked two steps silently, but couldn't help but murmured, "Master... I mean Mr. Mu, can't we say goodbye to him? And... Brother Fengyi."

The Grand Master of Jinting said coldly: "Farewell and meeting are all worldly affairs, don't bother them anymore."

Ban nodded woodenly, placed his hand in his palm, closed his eyes, and felt that all the voices in his heart stopped.

The cold wind blew past her face in just the blink of an eye. When she first entered the sect, it only took the blink of an eye to get from the main gate to Zhiyanzhai, but her mentality was completely different.

The middle-aged nuns and their companions were still standing at the main entrance, and the high platform in the air was still full of people who wanted to become disciples. Ban saw his gray bag lying on the long table in front of the door, no one cared about it, like a pile of discarded garbage.

When Master Jin Ting appeared at the gate, everyone knelt down hastily to greet him. For a moment, all they could see were backs.

He said calmly, "Everyone, stand up. This girl is leaving Qingyuan. Bai Ting, you can give her some travel expenses, which is also a token of Qingyuan's kindness."

The middle-aged Taoist nun named Bai Ting was full of surprise, and it was obvious that she didn't believe that Ban was going to leave Qingyuan. She had only been a disciple for a few days? But the master had ordered her to do so, so she quickly took out her purse and handed it to Ban along with the bundle, whispering, "Junior sister, cultivation is indeed hard, but you don't have to give up halfway! Think about it carefully!"

Ban didn't say anything. He just held his bag in his arms, but didn't take his purse. In full view of everyone, he turned around and walked down the stairs.

Someone called her from behind: "Husha." The voice was gentle and clear, like a spring breeze. But to her ears, it was like a violent blizzard. She trembled all over and almost dropped her bag to the ground.

She slowly turned around and saw a man standing at the steps of the main entrance. He was wearing white clothes and had black hair. He had a handsome appearance. It was Mu.

The vision in front of her gradually blurred, but his figure became clearer and clearer. She blinked, and two tears rolled down her cheeks. She trembled and said, "Master..."

Mu walked up to her and wiped her tears with his hand, but he didn't look back and said in a deep voice: "Master, why do you have to do this?"

Master Jin Ting frowned and said, "Ridiculous, why don't you go back quickly! Haven't you understood what I taught you?"

Mu smiled slightly: "Who told you behind your back? You are so thick-skinned. To be fair, did I really do something wrong? Is letting her die the right thing to do?"

The ancestor of Jin Ting raised his thick eyebrows, and was about to fly into a rage, but for some reason he suppressed his anger and said coldly: "He can become a true lord for a reason. Just like you and I are immortals, it is also a reason. She wants to leave now, which is even more reasonable!"

Mu smiled and said, "What a truth! To watch someone in danger and not to help is a truth, to make the same mistake over and over again is also a truth, to knowingly commit a crime is still a truth! Thank you, Master, for your teachings. Today I finally understand what the Way of Heaven is!"

"Mu! Kneel down!" The master suddenly became furious.

Mu touched Ban's head and said softly, "Don't panic, don't be afraid, just stay here and don't move."

Ban shook his head, pushed his hand away, took two steps back, knelt down and whispered: "I am an unworthy disciple, stubborn and lazy, unable to continue Qingyuan's practice, I have to say goodbye today... Take care, Mr. Mu!"

After she finished speaking, she kowtowed three times, stood up quickly, and without daring to look at him again, she ran down the platform for her life.

The wrath of Jin Ting Patriarch had not yet subsided, and he said grimly, "Go in!"

Mu stared at the foot of the mountain in a trance for a while, then turned back to look at him, smiled, and said softly: "Master... I am sorry that I am ignorant and cannot agree with your principles."

He walked into the main entrance gracefully, and everyone knelt down to make way for him. No one dared to breathe a sigh of relief.