"Thank you very much, little sister. I would like to congratulate you first. Yes, it has been more than two years since we entered Lingshan. It's time for you to go back."
"Okay, then I'll borrow flowers to offer to Buddha, and I'll use your newly brewed strong wine to bid farewell to you today."
After Xiao Hua finished speaking, he stepped onto the big bed and sat cross-legged opposite Zou Shuniang.
"Thank you, Brother Xiao"
"By the way, these pots of high-strength spirit wine are made according to the secret recipe of our Qingyun Sect."
"But there are still a few elixirs missing in the mountains, so I used others instead. The efficacy is less than half of the original formula, but the alcoholic properties are enough."
"The effect of the medicine doesn't matter, as long as the alcohol is strong enough. I really haven't been drunk for a long time."
Xiao Hua waved his hand, summoned the two bone cups placed on the square table in front of him, opened a porcelain bottle, poured one cup and handed it to Zou Shuniang, and poured another cup for himself.
"Come on, little sister, let me toast you."
Xiao Hua raised his wine glass.
"Thank you, Brother Xiao."
Zou Shuniang raised her glass and took a sip, while Xiao Hua drank it all in one gulp.
The spirit wine was very fragrant and had a strong flavor. After one gulp, Xiao Hua felt a pungent smell of wine rising from his stomach to his throat. It seemed to be stronger than Erguotou, a high-grade wine in the world.
"Wow, it feels good, it feels so good, and the wine is good."
Xiao Hua finally felt the taste of strong wine again, and was extremely happy.
Zou Shuniang raised her cup and frowned.
"Brother Xiao, this kind of spiritual wine is different from ordinary spiritual wine. You can only drink one sip at a time. You have to let your body absorb it slowly to enjoy the alcoholic properties of this wine. Otherwise, your blood vessels may burst."
"Ah, there is such a thing, okay, then I will drink it slowly."
Xiao Hua also felt the surging power of the spirit wine, and quickly refined it. After more than ten seconds, he regained his composure.
"Little sister, don't blame me. I was a little impulsive that day."
Xiao Hua raised his glass and took a sip, taking the initiative to admit his mistake.
"What has passed has passed, don't talk about it, let's drink."
Zou Shuniang smiled and took a sip.
Time passed slowly like this in a somewhat awkward atmosphere,
The two of them exchanged polite words without saying a word, and both drank sips of wine. Maybe they didn't want to say something, or maybe they didn't have enough wine.
In less than half an hour, a bottle of high-strength spirit wine was finished.
Xiao Hua opened the second bottle. He was a little dizzy, but he could still stay awake.
Zou Shuniang's face turned red, and her eyes gradually became blurred.
After drinking for a while, Zou Shuniang suddenly turned her head and looked at the night sky of the small lake outside the cave, and began to speak slowly.
"Wan Lei is my senior brother. His parents are from the same hometown as mine. We grew up together and are childhood sweethearts. He is very good to me and has always taken care of me and protected me in this world."
"When I was twelve years old, Gang Leader Huang of the Taibai Qingyun Sect passed by our hometown and discovered that Wan Lei had a heavenly spiritual root with the earth attribute and I had a true spiritual root with both wood and earth attributes. He wanted to accept us as his disciples."
"Wan Lei's parents agreed, but my parents didn't agree. Gang Leader Huang gave me a qi-refining method and asked me to slowly practice it at home, and took Wan Lei away."
Zou Shuniang's thoughts seemed to have returned to the past, and her eyes on her red face became even more blurred.
Xiao Hua did not interrupt, but quietly listened to Zou Shuniang's story.
"A few years later, something happened to my family, and I became a miserable man with nowhere to go but to return home."
"Gang Leader Huang sent someone to take me to the Qingyun Sect, where I met Wan Lei. He was already in the foundation building stage."
When Zou Shuniang said this, she lightly brushed the hair on her forehead and continued.
"Wan Lei was very happy to see me, and I was also very happy. I felt like I had a family again and was no longer so lonely."
"But not long after, I found that the way Wan Lei looked at me changed. He no longer looked like the big brother who had always taken care of me and protected me. There was something else in his eyes."
Zou Shuniang still calmly looked outside the cave and spoke slowly, as if she was telling herself.
"Three years ago, Wan Lei asked Master to betroth me to him, so Wan Lei and I got engaged."
Zou Shuniang smiled bitterly when she said this, and tears began to flash in her eyes.
"Isn't that great? You have been childhood sweethearts since childhood, and he is kind to you. This is a good thing."
Xiao Hua said something insincerely.
"Yes, if it had been someone else, it would have been very successful, but it's a pity..."
"Haha, it's a pity that I have regarded Wan Lei as my brother and my relative since I was a child."
Zou Shuniang smiled bitterly again.
"Ah, this, uh..., maybe you will accept him as time goes by, after all, he is very good to you."
Xiao Hua had never experienced this kind of emotion, so he could only briefly comfort him.
"I thought the same way at first. I always thought I would change my mind over time."
"But every time I see the way he looks at me, I feel very uncomfortable. It's very, very uncomfortable."
"So I have been escaping and looking for excuses. This time I went to the mountains to search for Tanglihua and Lingmu alcohol for the sect. This was actually an excuse for me to escape."
"So that's it, then why don't you tell Wan Leiming or ask your Gang Leader Huang to help you get rid of it?"
Xiao Hua didn't understand.
Today is a modern society. Not only are you free to love and marry independently, but you can also divorce even if you are married. If you don't like it, just say it clearly, why should you endure it?
Zou Shuniang shook her head.
"I am now a rootless person with only one way to go back. The Qingyun Sect is my home. Master and she betrothed me to him precisely because she knew that Wan Lei and I were childhood sweethearts."
"But the problem is that you don't like him. If your master really loves you, he will definitely respect your opinions and consider your feelings. Can you beg her more?"
Xiao Hua was a little anxious.
Zou Shuniang shook her head again.
"I have begged, but it is a pity that the hidden world of cultivating immortals is different from the secular world. Once you enter the sect, you can only respect the master. Once some things are decided, they cannot be changed."
"Isn't it right? Is your master a fool? Do you insist on putting two people who don't love each other together?"
"That's it for ordinary mortals. It takes just a few decades to grind your teeth, but you are immortal cultivators."
"With your Celestial Spiritual Root and True Spiritual Root cultivation qualifications, you can live at least a few hundred years. Hundreds of years are scary to think about."
Xiao Hua began to feel sorry for Zou Shuniang.
Everyone knows that coercion is not sweet. If you really have to live with someone you don't love for hundreds of years, it will be a kind of mental torture.
"So during this period of time, I figured out that this is my destiny. I can hide for a while but not forever. I will eventually leave Lingshan, and I will eventually go back and face it."
"Since you can't change, there's no point in escaping. Okay, don't talk about me anymore, let's talk about you, Brother Xiao."
Mother Zou Shu finally looked away from outside the cave and looked at Xiao Hua.
"Me? Uh..., what do I have to say? I'm just an ordinary casual cultivator."
Xiao Hua was caught off guard by Zou Shuniang's sudden change of topic and didn't know what to say.
"Rogue cultivator? Then tell me how you became a casual cultivator and why you entered Lingshan Mountain?"
"And your Broken Spirit Son, the unique secret recipe of Qian Gu Sect, where did you get it?".
Zou Shuniang's eyes continued to be blurry. After finishing speaking, she raised her glass and took another sip.
"It seems that you have never believed that I am a casual cultivator. It doesn't matter. I can't get out anyway, so I can just talk to you."
Xiao Hua had no intention of deliberately concealing it, so he told Mother Zou in detail about how he and Huang Ming accidentally fell into the cave and became immortal cultivators inexplicably.
Of course, I definitely didn’t talk about letting the Minotaur go.
