Then, perhaps because of Xiaohua, Wen Li gradually started having conversations with Xu Changâan.
However.
These reasons are certainly not why Wen Li could come to âlikeâ Xu Changâan.
Just as Wen Li realized, so-called liking is nothing more than a product of curiosity and goodwill enhanced by repetition; the extremely rational Wen Li would never be driven by such inertia.
Her affection is definitely not cheap.
Miss Wenâs liking, the complexity of her emotions, certainly would not be simple; it must have been during their interactions and dialogues that Wen Li discovered the qualities in Xu Changâan that were worth her affection.
Thinking about this, Li Zhibai recalled the few words penned by Xu Changâan.
[Live for the ultimate blissful peace, experience the rising tide of the jade sea.]
That child Changâan... truly seems out of place with this world, and initially, the kind of calm as if born in a peaceful era that he possesses could be said to be the most fatal poison for a girl like Wen Li, whose background is decidedly different.
âSo...â Li Zhibai saw Wen Liâs slight distraction when mentioning Xu Changâan and couldnât help but think that Xu Changâan might have moved Wen Li because he embodies Changâan.
On this matter, Zhu Pingniang and Li Zhibai held different opinions.
She, unlike Li Zhibai, doesnât just let Wen Li go after teaching the basics of the world... Being one of the two who brought Wen Li into the Immortal Sect, Zhu Pingniang has been observing Wen Li just as much as Wen Liâs master has over the years.
Though she admitted Wen Liâs heart is old and barren, Zhu Pingniang believed Wen Li always retained a shred of girlish innocence within. This emotion Wen Li had never possessed before sometimes plays a role far greater than expected.
Therefore, Zhu Pingniang did not believe Wen Li was a lifeless person and held confidence that Wen Li would someday regain her girlâs heart... Hence, when Wen Li was able to use her privilege to obtain a Source Opening Pill for Xu Changâan, Zhu Pingniang found Wen Liâs girlish impulse amusing.
So... if Wen Li is a girl.
What else moves a girlâs heart more than words?
Unquestionably, Xu Changâan is someone who can speak well.
Though Wen Li is unmatched in Sword Dao, many times, the power of words outweighs even the sharpest sword.
This doesnât mean Zhu Pingniang thinks Wen Li is easily coaxed by sweet talk, but she feels that suitable words supplemented with everyday actions are just the most fatal of swords for a woman like her.
But then...
Beside Zhu Pingniang is another girl, unsure if she could be seen by Wen Li as a âlesson from the past.â
[Liu Qingluo.]
Compared to Wen Li, Liu Qingluoâs problems are far more severe; although Wen Li originated as a weapon on the battlefield, since ascending Muyu Peak, her life couldnât truly begin, considering she could not choose her existence as a Half-Demon Weapon.
Those tragedies, Wen Li can brazenly say, did not belong to her life.
After reaching the Immortal Sect, the life of a girl named Wen Li finally held meaning, allowing her to maintain a piece of purity in her heart.
Liu Qingluo, however, is quite the opposite.
Aside from her inability to control being sent to the brothel, everything else, including diligently practicing the piano and becoming a renowned courtesan while entertaining others with a smile... These were all her own choices.
Choices make it a life.
Therefore, that which Liu Qingluo views as disgraceful beyond recall undoubtedly belongs to her life and are things she cannot avoid.
If we say Wen Liâs advent on Muyu Peak was a ârebirthâ, merely with an old spirit.
Then after Liu Qingluo redeemed herself from Flower Moon Building, she was already "dead," because the era of "Liu Qingluo" the woman, for survival and a better livelihood, ended with ignobility.
But surprisingly, Qingluo still lives, and is rather well; even if seen but occasionally, she radiates a presence far exceeding her entire courtesan career.
Thinking of this, Zhu Pingniang gently rubs her forehead.
âWash the dirt clean, thereâs nothing the water in this world canât purify.â
Indeed.
That married man, that young man, used these words and his genuine manner to revitalize Qingluo, a girl truly on the verge of demise.
Even though this revival caused Liu Qingluo to never perceive anyone else again, Zhu Pingniang believes living is always better than dying.
Thus, Zhu Pingniangâs thoughts arenât hard to understand.
If Changâan could bring a dead girl like Liu Qingluo back to life... merely capturing Wen Li, hearing a âlikeâ doesnât seem unimaginable.
"Iâm beginning to understand." Zhu Pingniang, half-made-up face, shakes her head.
She had previously found it odd.
Though she understood Wen Li stopping her Sword Dao cultivation for her junior sisters, she always found that making such resolutions by Wen Li required... something more.
Now, with Wen Liâs self-disclosure, discovering Wen Li once doubted the existence of Sword Dao, the last piece of perplexing puzzle emerged.
She sighs.
Zhu Pingniang understands.
If Wen Li contemplated, sword merely tools, a means to an end, not worthy of being called Dao...
Then nowadays, Wen Li is seen by all Sword Cultivators as the future hope of Sword Dao, even its spokesperson... What does it make her?
This girl would never proclaim herself as Sword Dao, for she will never again be a weapon... then under these circumstances, those junior sisters mimicking her Sword Dao, instead weigh her down.
Zhu Pingniang must acknowledge the bravery of those girls who like Wen Li enough to learn her sword and follow her path.
Such an act, almost tantamount to pressing the weight of their life on others, is something Zhu Pingniang herself couldnât manage...
Wait.
Not entirely unmanageable.
Thinking from the other side, if she were one of those girls and Li Zhibai were Wen Li, sheâd willingly learn Wen Liâs sword, even if unsure to reach the same understanding, but then... that is Li Zhibai.
"Tsk..." Zhu Pingniang clicks her tongue.
She doesnât want to comprehend such feelings.
Does it mean her feelings for Li Zhibai, and those girls for Wen Li, are alike as distant and hopeless as the moon reflected in water?
Forget it.
If Wen Li considered herself as Sword Dao hope, then fine.
If Wen Li only saw Sword Dao as a tool for achieving her goals, then witnessing a group of junior sisters putting enormous effort and hope into her eyesâ "mere tool" would reap guilt, thinking she affected them.
Sheâd set the tool aside temporarily to safeguard the juniors...
This is all too natural.
Compared to the juniorsâ future, mere tool surely pales compared to a strand of the juniorsâ hair.
The difference lies in no one expecting Wen Li, who bears such Sword Intent and reached her status, would view Sword Dao as just a tool, hanging by the waist rather than within the heart.
Even for Wen Li, the swordâs presence isnât irreplaceable.
If those Sword Cultivators, desperate to prove the swordâs importance even over killing kin and friends, know Wen Li thinks sword isnât crucial, wouldnât each go mad?
Because sword isnât important, Wen Li wouldnât be astonished by her rapid advance in Sword Dao understanding these days; itâs just normal.
"So, what sword... even for Ah Bai still just ordinary blade, a tool." Zhu Pingniang finds it even stranger.
She had assumed it was Changâan altering Wen Liâs mindset.
But now it seems Wen Li hasnât changed her view of Sword Dao as tool; yet viewing her cultivation there are no issues...
Isnât right.
Very odd.
Wen Liâs viewpoint seemingly âdemeansâ Sword Daoâs dignity, yet she remains "Favored by Heaven."
Is this girl truly Sword Dao, or Daughter of the Celestial Dao?
Treating one of the Three Thousand Great Dao as tool but still excels...
Suddenly Zhu Pingniang thinks, Sword Dao is a heel.