Watching the Mountain

Someone muttered under their breath, "Arrogant..."

But Ye Qingxue looked into his eyes.

There was no showing off, no frivolity—only a certainty that was almost naive.

She was silent for a moment before tucking the Jade Bottle into her sleeve. "Thank you."

"Don’t mention it." Ye Shan waved a hand dismissively, then turned, slung his arm around another disciple, and started discussing whether the cafeteria would be serving extra meat dishes that night.

Ye Qingxue stood where she was, her fingertips gently caressing the Jade Bottle in her sleeve.

’He won’t get hurt?’

She recalled how when she was Introducing Qi into the Body, her meridians had burned with pain for three whole days because her Qi had gone astray. She remembered practicing her Sword Formulas, her palms scraped raw and covered in layer after layer of scabs.

’This junior brother of mine... is he just clueless, or is he telling the truth?’

What confused Ye Qingxue even more was the change in her master, Nine Profound True Monarch.

In her memory, her master was always gentle and serene, like a deep pool, unruffled by wind or rain.

But ever since Ye Shan had come to Divine Sword Peak, her master’s facial expressions had become surprisingly varied.

For instance, one time, their master was in the courtyard explaining the key principles of Sword Qi Concentration. Ye Qingxue was listening intently, but Ye Shan was yawning at the side.

Nine Profound True Monarch glanced at him. "Ye Shan, do you have a question?"

Ye Shan blinked. "Master, I think concentrating it this way is too slow."

"Oh? And what brilliant idea do you have?"

"Just make the Sword Qi follow your heartbeat. One beat, one cycle of Sword Qi. So much simpler."

The hand Nine Profound True Monarch was using to hold his teacup paused.

Ye Qingxue thought her master was about to scold him, but instead, he put down his cup, took a deep breath, and then... actually began making calculations with his fingers.

After a long moment, Nine Profound True Monarch looked up, his expression complex. "You’ve tried it?"

"Yeah, I have. It works pretty well," Ye Shan said, looking completely innocent.

Nine Profound True Monarch was silent for a long time before finally waving his hand. "...That’s all for today. Go and practice on your own."

As the two disciples left, Ye Qingxue glanced back and saw her master staring blankly at the teacup on the stone table, the corner of his mouth seeming to twitch.

Another time, Ye Shan was learning a Body Technique called Flowing Clouds Chasing the Moon. Nine Profound True Monarch demonstrated it three times and asked if he had memorized it.

Ye Shan nodded. "I’ve memorized it."

"Perform it once."

Ye Shan rose to his feet. With light steps and fluttering sleeves, he performed the exact same movements as his master, yet his version had an added, indescribable freedom to it. It was as if he wasn’t learning a Body Technique, but simply taking a stroll among the clouds.

As Nine Profound True Monarch watched, he suddenly sighed.

Ye Qingxue asked in a low voice, "Master, did he do it wrong?"

"No." Nine Profound True Monarch shook his head, his tone tinged with helplessness. "It’s just that... he always seems to find the most effortless path within the established rules."

He paused, then added in a low voice, "This personality of his... I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing."

Ye Qingxue didn’t understand her master’s sentiment, but she could feel that when he faced Ye Shan, his usual unshakeable composure would occasionally show a fine crack.

And what seeped through that crack wasn’t anger, but a headache that bordered on indulgence.

The days flowed by like a babbling brook in a mountain ravine.

Ye Qingxue remained quiet, and Ye Shan remained dazzling.

He learned everything quickly: Swordsmanship, Arrays, and Talismans.

Once, during an Instructor Hall Elder’s lecture on Pill Fire Control, he raised his hand halfway through. "Elder, I think controlling the fire that way will make the furnace explode."

The Elder glared. "Have you ever refined pills?"

"No, but it just feels that way."

Sure enough, three days later, another disciple followed the Elder’s instructions, and the Pill Furnace exploded. Fortunately, no one was injured.

Afterward, that Elder ran into Nine Profound True Monarch and said with a wry smile, "That disciple of yours... he’s a little monster."

Nine Profound True Monarch just smiled, his eyes holding a hint of pride, and something deeper as well.

Ye Qingxue began to hear Ye Shan’s name more and more often.

"Ye Shan broke another record!"

"Ye Shan made his senior brother cry during their spar yesterday!"

"Ye Shan said the cafeteria’s Spirit Rice Porridge was too bland, so he secretly added honey and got chased halfway up the mountain by the steward..."

The chatter and gossip were everywhere, but she no longer felt like she was hearing it through a veil.

Sometimes she would deliberately take a detour past the cliffs on the back mountain where Ye Shan often practiced his swordsmanship.

The young man was always there, his sword flashing like snow, his figure as swift as the wind.

Occasionally, he would sense her gaze, pull back his sword, and turn to give her a wide grin. "Senior Sister, care to spar a few rounds?"

Ye Qingxue would always shake her head, but her feet would unconsciously pause for a moment.

She would watch the beads of sweat on his brow, the tips of his hair ruffled by the mountain wind, and those eyes that were always so bright and free of impurities.

The ripples in her heart seemed to be growing wider.

One evening, the sunset’s glow dyed the clouds over Divine Sword Peak a brilliant orange-red.

Ye Qingxue was under the corridor polishing her sword when Ye Shan popped up out of nowhere, holding two steaming hot roasted sweet potatoes.

"Senior Sister, want one?" he asked, holding one out to her.

Ye Qingxue took it, her fingertips flinching slightly from the heat.

The two of them sat side-by-side on the steps, quietly peeling the sweet potatoes.

The sweet aroma, mixed with the steam, drifted through the cooling evening breeze.

"Ye Shan," Ye Qingxue said suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"You learn so quickly, and you train so desperately... Is there an opponent you want to defeat?"

She asked softly, as if afraid of startling away the sunset glow before them.

Ye Shan took a large bite of his sweet potato, his cheeks puffed out. "Nope," he replied indistinctly.

"Then why..."

Swallowing the mouthful of sweet potato, Ye Shan turned his face toward her, a small piece of charred skin still stuck to the corner of his mouth.

His eyes reflected the vast, colorful sunset, shining with a searing brightness.

"Senior Sister, in this world, no one will be my opponent."

He said it so naturally, so matter-of-factly, as if he were stating that the sun would rise tomorrow.

A gust of mountain wind swept past, making the bronze bells under the eaves chime softly. In the distance, the cheerful clamor of disciples returning to their quarters could be heard as twilight crept, inch by inch, over the faraway mountains.

Ye Qingxue gazed at his profile and suddenly forgot to breathe.

In that moment, she didn’t think he was arrogant, nor did she think he was naive.

She just suddenly understood that the world this junior brother of hers saw was different from any she had ever known.

After finishing his sweet potato, Ye Shan clapped his hands and stood up. "I’m heading off, Senior Sister. There’s an assessment at the Instructor Hall tomorrow, so I’ve got to go review."

Ye Qingxue was taken aback. "You need to review?"

"Of course." Ye Shan looked back, his eyes crinkling into a smile. "What if someone is faster than me? Then I’ll just have to work even harder."

As he spoke, he leaped lightly down the steps, his figure in its green robes disappearing into the deepening twilight in the blink of an eye.

Ye Qingxue sat alone under the corridor for a long time, then gently clenched her fingertips.

The warmth of the sweet potato still lingered there, along with the slightly sticky feeling of caramelized sugar.

She lowered her head and, ever so faintly, the corners of her mouth curved into a smile.

’So the world isn’t just empty silence after all.’

’So when a pebble drops into a lake, it really does create ripples.’

’Round and round, they spread out slowly, without stopping.’

[To Be Continued]