We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?

Chapter 495: A Mountain Full of Peach Blossoms

"Jingci!""Is Jingci there?"

"Jingci!"

The day after the Hanshan Academy announced the list of those who had passed the Worthy examination, several young women were standing outside the bamboo gate of Tushan Jingci's courtyard, calling out one after another.

Hearing the voices outside, Tushan Jingci had just finished washing and dressing and walked out of her room, still carrying the faint, unhurried ease of early morning, a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"What brings all of you here today?"

Recognizing them as her companions, Tushan Jingci smiled softly and walked forward to greet them.

These young women were all Tushan Jingci's classmates. From their days on Qianxue Peak onward, they had studied together, and the bond between them was a genuine one.

"We have come to congratulate our newly titled female Worthy, of course! And while we were at it, we thought we would invite this Worthy to join us for a spring outing." Feng Shan, the daughter of the Sea Moon Sect's sect master, said with a smile.

"A spring outing?" Tushan Jingci lowered her gaze, a trace of hesitation in her expression.

"Come on, Jingci, come with us."

"Jingci, you cannot refuse again! Every time we asked you to come out before, you said you were studying for the examination. You cannot use that excuse anymore now!"

"That is right, Jingci. You just finished your examination and there is nothing pressing. Let us go out and enjoy ourselves."

Faced with her companions' warm and eager invitations, Tushan Jingci bit lightly at her lip, uncertain.

Her plan for today had been to go to the bamboo courtyard and stay beside Xiao Mo as usual but then again, she really had turned them down many times already.

And as a daughter of the Tushan clan, though she did not need to be especially close with others, she still had to maintain a certain degree of propriety. After all, her dealings with these young men and women also touched on the relations between their respective clans and sects.

Beyond that, they were genuinely good friends on ordinary days.

If she refused again today, it would truly be difficult to justify.

"All right then," Tushan Jingci finally nodded and agreed. "But where are we going for this outing?"

"Not too far at all, actually. Just to the back mountain of Qianxue Peak."

The young woman named Yuan Xing said with a smile.

"The spirit spring on the back mountain of Qianxue Peak is at its clearest and most vibrant right now, and it is not far from your courtyard either. It is really the ideal place."

Yuan Xing explained with a thoughtful air, her tone carrying a certain consideration.

She seemed to have understood that if the destination were too far, Jingci would most likely decline with gentle words, so she had deliberately chosen somewhere close by and as she had anticipated, the moment Tushan Jingci heard it was the back mountain of Qianxue Peak, most of her hesitation faded.

At the very least, once the outing was over, she could still make her way to the bamboo grove quickly and be at Xiao Mo's side.

"Then let us go." Tushan Jingci gave a nod and agreed.

"Come on then!"

Shi Yang laughed and linked her arm through Tushan Jingci's, and the other young women gathered around on all sides, walking with her in a cheerful, chattering group toward the back mountain.

Their voices and laughter carried all the way along the path, and before long they arrived at a mountain pavilion on the back slope of Qianxue Peak.

The pavilion had been built atop a great rock that jutted outward from the hillside, the situation rather steep and yet especially secluded and quiet.

Looking down from the pavilion, a stream ran clear and transparent below, winding its way between the rocks with a soft, musical sound.

The stream was about six zhang below the pavilion, and leaning out from the railing one could take in the whole length of the stream valley at a glance.

Not far to the east of the pavilion, a waterfall plunged straight down from above, its flow ceaselessly striking the jagged rock face and crashing into the pool below, throwing up sprays of white foam and filling the air with a fine, shifting mist, its sound grand and full but the distance between the pavilion and where the waterfall fell was just right, neither so close that the spray dampened your face and the sound deafened your ears, nor so far that the scene lost all its appeal.

Sitting in this pavilion, one could hear the clear, resonant sound of water striking stone in the distance, and looking up, one could just make out the magnificent sight of the waterfall descending from the sky. This arrangement lent the place a quality of ease and spacious tranquility that was all its own.

And even though the peach trees around the pavilion had not yet bloomed, the place still carried an air of elegant stillness that quietly settled the heart and mind.

And yet, when Tushan Jingci arrived at the pavilion, she discovered that today's outing did not appear to consist solely of her group of companions.

Chen Jue, Li Wen, Situ Kong, Wan Feng, You'er, and others had already been waiting in the pavilion for some time.

They were all classmates who had studied alongside Tushan Jingci in the Qianxue Peak study hall when they were young. After leaving Qianxue Peak, they had each gone to different peaks, some to Yunxiao Peak, some to Shangshu Peak, and on ordinary days they rarely had cause to gather together.

"You are finally here. We have been waiting quite a while."

Situ Kong and the others came forward, smiling as they greeted Tushan Jingci's group.

"Ha ha ha, a little waiting never hurt anyone. Besides, we did manage to bring Jingci along, did we not?" Yuan Xing replied with a smile, her tone carrying a note of satisfaction.

"That is true enough." Chen Jue, dressed in a blue robe, stepped forward, snapping open the folding fan in his hand and fanning it with an air of studied elegance. His gaze settled on Tushan Jingci. "That you managed to bring Miss Tushan along is no small achievement. The rest of us could certainly never have managed it."

"Among us, only three people passed the Worthy examination, and Jingci is the only young woman to have passed this time. Truly impressive!" Lou Huo came forward and offered his praise with genuine feeling.

"I only got through by luck." Tushan Jingci smiled softly and replied with a light word.

Though she appeared gentle and gracious, in reality she had not spared so much as a glance at any of the young men.

"Hmph. You all just need to know that our Jingci is impressive." Feng Shan took Tushan Jingci's arm, a note of pride in her voice.

"Come inside, Jingci. Everyone here today is among friends. We have all been classmates since we first came to the Hanshan Academy. It is rare that we get to gather like this. There is no need to stand on ceremony."

"I know everyone well enough. Why would I stand on ceremony? And it truly has been a long time since we have all been together."

Tushan Jingci smiled and walked into the pavilion alongside Feng Shan.

In truth, the presence of Chen Jue and the others did cause a flicker of displeasure in Tushan Jingci's heart.

She had been imagining an outing among her women companions, and having these young men added to the group left her a little uncomfortable but she did not let any of that show, and maintained on her face the proper courtesy and pleasantries the occasion required.

In any case, gatherings like this did not come around every day, and she would stay a little while and then leave.

Before long, jugs of good wine were set out on the stone table.

Yuan Xing and the others talked about various amusing things that had been happening at the Hanshan Academy lately, and then a game of floral verse-linking was started, filling the pavilion with laughter and lively chatter.

During the gathering, several of the young women would steal glances now and then at one or another of the young men, the quiet feelings of a girl visible in their eyes but the gazes of those young men fell, for the most part, on Tushan Jingci.

They each tried to distinguish themselves before her, whether through quoting poetry and discoursing on the Dao, or displaying their talents, or affecting an air of casual elegance, each one hoping to attract her favorable attention.

Tushan Jingci, for the most part, responded only with a soft smile and a polite word or two, and paid them no further mind.

Her gaze would drift from time to time past the assembled company, out beyond the pavilion, toward the direction where the bamboo grove lay.

This place was lively enough. But in all that liveliness, he was not here.

"We cannot possibly have a gathering like this without poetry."

Gu Hui'en smiled and looked around at everyone, speaking with a carrying voice.

"What if we each composed a poem, and then compiled them together into a collection? In years to come, when we open it and look back, it would be a fine and elegant thing to remember, would it not? What does everyone think?"

"An excellent idea!"

"I second that!"

"Then let us do as Brother Gu suggests."

"I have never seen Jingci compose a poem before. Today we will finally see her literary talent."

Gu Hui'en's suggestion met with immediate enthusiasm from all sides, and the atmosphere in the pavilion grew livelier still.

"Jingci, what do you think?" Feng Shan turned her head and looked at Tushan Jingci with expectant eyes.

She was naturally in favor of the idea herself, but felt she should ask Jingci's opinion first.

"Of course." Tushan Jingci smiled gently. Everyone's spirits were high, and she could hardly dampen the mood.

"Good. Then allow me to begin and set a low bar for the rest."

A young man named Yu Qiushui rose to his feet, clasped one hand behind his back, and paced slowly within the pavilion. After a moment's thought, he recited aloud, "The pavilion shelters in the green of spring hills, while clouds drift over a warm jade cup. The poem is done, but who will echo it? The birds of the grove dispute among themselves."

The moment Yu Qiushui finished, everyone's expression showed a faint, appreciative pause, as though something in the poem's atmosphere had moved them. Then they came back to themselves one by one and gave warm praise.

"A fine poem!"

"Truly a fine poem! Yu Qiushui, this verse of yours is genuinely good. Jingci, what do you think?"

Feng Shan turned to ask Tushan Jingci.

Tushan Jingci only smiled softly and replied with courtesy, "It is indeed."

"Ha ha ha, I was only setting the bar low. I have made a spectacle of myself."

Having received praise from the group, and from Tushan Jingci in particular, Yu Qiushui laughed and gave a bow, looking visibly pleased.

"Brother Yu's literary talent is truly remarkable. The rest of us can only make fools of ourselves by comparison."

After Yu Qiushui sat down, Chen Jue rose and took a few slow paces before reciting unhurriedly, "The winding path of the mountain pavilion treads through fragrant dust, while the misty gauze of the valley lightly wraps ten thousand trees in spring. To pluck a wildflower feels too rough a thing, lest startled birds take flight and flee from men. The wind bears the stream's resonance like speech just half-heard, and clouds drape the mountain's waist as though mimicking a frown. At dusk I write a poem on a moss-covered wall, and the depth and lightness of the ink is like the depth of the heart."

When Chen Jue finished his poem, those present showed a faint and unmistakable pause.

Who among those here did not know that Chen Jue had long been pursuing Tushan Jingci? And the poem he had just recited was ostensibly about scenery, but between every line feelings had been woven in, the whole thing nothing more than a roundabout expression of his admiration for Tushan Jingci dressed in verse.

Without prompting, everyone's gaze turned to Tushan Jingci to see how she would respond but Tushan Jingci's expression remained perfectly composed, her brow unhurried and undisturbed, as though she had not noticed anything in the poem at all. Not the faintest ripple showed.

"A fine poem. Chen Jue truly lives up to his title as a Worthy! With a poem like this, the rest of us do not know how we are to follow."

"Indeed, Brother Chen, with such talent, how could any of the rest of us dare to write a poem and embarrass ourselves?"

The others all joined in with praise, every one of them commending Chen Jue's exceptional literary ability but as for the layer of feeling concealed within the poem, not a single person said a word about it, by unspoken agreement.

"Many thanks for the kind words. Everyone else here writes far better than I do."

Chen Jue replied with a courteous word, but his gaze drifted of its own accord toward Tushan Jingci.

Tushan Jingci only picked up her tea cup and took a quiet sip. Those beautiful eyes of hers carried a faint, indefinite trace of something wistful, and she seemed to be thinking of something far away.

After Chen Jue's poem had offered his admiration in such a roundabout fashion, the other young men in the pavilion were naturally unwilling to be left behind. Each of them composed a poem in turn, more or less openly revealing their admiration for Tushan Jingci but without exception, Tushan Jingci responded to every poem with no more than the same light, courteous word or two of praise, and then said nothing further.

That faint, quiet aloofness of hers was like a thin layer of gauze, keeping everyone outside the world she inhabited.

"Jingci, it is your turn now!"

When it came to Tushan Jingci, Wang Yan looked at her with eyes full of expectation, her tone carrying a lively eagerness. She was clearly very curious to see what kind of poem this newly titled Worthy would compose.

Tushan Jingci could not find a way to decline, so she picked up her brush and dipped it in ink.

She tilted her head slightly and let her gaze travel past the pavilion's eaves to the mountain peaks in the distance, coming to rest on the peach trees, every one of which was still bare and without a single flower.

In those beautiful fox eyes, a trace of a melancholy and longing that could not be put into words drifted quietly to the surface.

She thought of the young man still in seclusion.

She thought of the words he had said to her.

She thought of the promise they had made, the one about spring and a mountain full of peach blossoms.

After a moment, Tushan Jingci drew her gaze back and set brush to paper, writing slowly and just as Tushan Jingci set her brush down and the others were leaning forward to see what she had written, a spring breeze carrying warmth within it drifted softly through the pavilion.

The branches and leaves of the peach trees along the edge of the pavilion rustled at the breeze's touch as though murmuring something low and secret.

"Jingci, everyone, look! Those peach trees!"

Shi Yang reached out and pointed at the peach trees along the edge of the pavilion, calling out in startled delight.

Everyone looked where she pointed.

The peach grove on the back mountain of Qianxue Peak, which had not produced a single bloom in three years, had, in the wake of that spring breeze, broken into a profusion of tender little buds from every branch and bough all at once, dense and full, still closed but swelling with life, as though this entire stretch of mountain had draped itself in pale pink, delicate and lovely.

At that same moment, at the foot of Qianxue Peak, outside the bamboo courtyard, Xian Xichun was sitting reading, and something stirred within him. He raised his head and looked toward the interior of the bamboo courtyard.

"Oh?"

He set down the scroll in his hand, surprise crossing his expression, and then the corners of his lips slowly curved into a smile.

"Three years exactly. Not one more, not one less."