Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

"I'm sorry... I haven't contacted you in all these days since I came here."

Qin Xiao looked at the projection above the ring with some regret.

"It's okay. Isn't this normal? Of course you need to adapt to a new environment for a few days first. It's normal to forget." Qi Yulang on the opposite side shook his head slightly and did not blame Qin Xiao.

"How do you feel about this academy?" It was lunchtime, and it was natural for him to return to his room to rest.

Qi Yulang leaned on the soft sofa, his hair tips were wet, the towel around his neck was still steaming, and his pajamas were loose, as if he had just come out of the bathroom.

Qi Yulang held the teacup in one hand, looked up and asked him.

"It feels... pretty good." Qin Xiao asked Mo Hanyu to bring him food, and he ran to the empty training ground. He didn't expect that there were people sparring on the training ground. After hesitating for a moment, he chose to talk here.

"Oh? What's the specific situation?" Qi Yulang thought of his temper and couldn't help but ask more carefully, "How have you been these days? Tell me."

"Actually, it's nothing..." Qin Xiao told him, naturally covering up a series of things about Bai Ze. Anyway, he wouldn't understand even if he told him, so he simply used the term old friend instead.

Suddenly there was a noise in the field. Qin Xiao looked up and found clouds of dust rising inside, as if a fierce fight was going on.

Qin Xiao frowned slightly. He had just seen clearly. It was Miao Kaijie and Lan Huaiqiu. He had fought with Lan Huaiqiu before, and although he had never fought with Miao Kaijie, he knew the approximate degree.

The confrontation shouldn't be so intense...

Qin Xiao was a little confused. In his mind, Lan Huaiqiu would not be a match for Miao Kaijie, but he did not pay too much attention to it. After all, he was still talking to Qi Yulang.

"Is there something going on over there?" Qi Yulang obviously heard the voice over here and asked him.

"Classmates, let's spar..." Qin Xiao saw that he was interested, so he turned the ring over and moved closer, "Do you want to take a look?"

Qi Yulang didn't say anything because Qin Xiao had already shown him the scene.

The girl was in a mess, with her right arm raised, a long harp hanging in the air, as if she wanted to play it, but her body was entangled by sharp silk threads. The silk threads were straight and passed through all directions, seemingly in a disorderly manner, only intertwined at a certain point, but it was like a net that tightly covered the girl.

The girl's fingertips trembled slightly, as if she wanted to move the thread, and the taut silk thread in her hand immediately cut a bloody mark, and blood oozed out.

"Don't move, or you'll be cut into pieces." The young man not far away crossed his arms nonchalantly with a smile on his face, but the silk thread in his hand did not loosen at all.

"What do you think? Just admit defeat...you can't win." Miao Kaijie looked at her with a smile.

Lan Huaiqiu bit his lower lip, seemingly unwilling.

The two of them were in a stalemate for a long time. In the end, Miao Kaijie was the first to breathe a sigh of relief, shrugged his shoulders, and casually threw the silk thread back: "Okay, okay, I admit defeat, okay?"

As soon as the words came out, Lan Huaiqiu's expression became even more gloomy.

"...No need!" Lan Huaiqiu said stubbornly, "Why don't you continue? I can still--"

"Because there is no way to go on, little sister." Miao Kaijie said it like he was coaxing a child, but his words made people feel cold. "In the past, when I used this trick, as long as I did it to the extent just now, I would directly tighten it and split it into small pieces. Do you understand?"

"That is to say, if you didn't have a strong enough physique, you would have been torn into pieces by me just now. Do you understand?" Miao Kaijie spread his hands and suddenly pointed, "If you don't believe me, ask him."

Lan Huaiqiu turned around and happened to meet the eyes of Qin Xiao, who was a little surprised.

Qin Xiao slowly shifted his gaze and locked it on Miao Kaijie who was smiling heartlessly.

"Didn't you go to rest?" Lan Huaiqiu was a little nervous when he saw Qin Xiao and tugged at his clothes.

Miao Kaijie noticed her action and raised his eyebrows calmly.

"I'll go in a bit..." Qin Xiao stared at Miao Kaijie who showed no remorse, feeling a little itchy, "You guys continue."

"What are you going to do? I lost, I want to eat!"

"What do you mean you lost? Didn't you just say—"

"Yeah, yeah, that's what I said..." Miao Kaijie curled his lips, "But didn't I do that? And after all, it's just a competition, it won't be a big deal, if I lose, I lose."

"How can it be like this?!" Lan Huaiqiu frowned and said, "Losing is losing, winning is winning. I admit that you are very powerful, but..."

"I will try my best. I will definitely beat you next time... or the next time."

Lan Huaiqiu turned his head and spoke in a very low voice at the end.

"Okay, okay... we will win." Miao Kaijie still looked nonchalant and patted her head. "Then let's stop here for today. I'm going to eat."

"Wait, wait..." Lan Huaiqiu suddenly grabbed him, looked down, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

"I recently practiced a new song... do you want to listen to it?"

"New song? Hmm..." Miao Kaijie seemed to be thinking, but actually he was a little embarrassed.

He really wanted to go eat.

But Lan Huaiqiu looked as if he was shy and afraid, his face was flushed and his ears were pink, he nodded his head and lowered his eyebrows, his eyes wandered around unconsciously, as if he was afraid of being rejected.

"Well... okay?" Miao Kaijie finally sighed, then laughed and cheered, "Come on, play a song, and then we'll go eat after you're done."

"……Um."

Seeing that he agreed, Lan Huaiqiu smiled with pursed lips. He summoned the harp again, sat on the chair next to it, stroked the strings gently, and played the music.

When Qi Yulang heard the opening tune of the music, his expression looked a little strange.

Qin Xiao didn't understand any of this, he just thought it was a very cheerful song, mixed with tension and relaxation, as if...

Fishing song.

Qin Xiao nodded, thinking he had guessed correctly, and asked Qi Yulang: "Is this a fisherman's song?"

Qi Yulang glanced at him with a complicated look and told him to leave there quickly.

Qin Xiao was puzzled, but he did as he was told.

Although he felt that the two of them didn't pay much attention to him.

"What's wrong? Is there anything wrong over there?" Qin Xiao asked curiously.

"Nothing... It's the song that girl played, not for you." Qi Yulang looked at him, as if he was disappointed with his friend. "I remember I talked about the characteristics of this kind of song in class. Didn't you listen?"

Qin Xiao: ...

"I..." Qin Xiao slowly looked away, "I'm not good at this."

Qi Yulang snorted lightly, but didn't say much. He chatted with him for a few more sentences, and only hung up the phone after confirming that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He even asked for the address before hanging up.

Qin Xiao didn't know what he wanted the address for, maybe he wanted to come and take a look. Since he had good intentions, he didn't stop him and told him the address.

...although there may be some deviations.

Qin Xiao looked at the ring whose light suddenly went out, knowing that the call was disconnected, he put it away. Just as he was about to find the direction to return to the dormitory, a strong wind suddenly blew behind him, and he felt a chill.

Qin Xiao was startled and looked behind him. A huge shadow appeared, covering the sky for a moment.

Its broad wings stretched outward, its black fur was smooth and shiny, the markings on its face were majestic, its sturdy body stood upright, and its dark golden pupils were lowered, staring straight at him.

"...Qiongqi?" Qin Xiao frowned in confusion.

"I haven't seen you for a while. You've changed a lot." Qiongqi folded his wings and transformed into a teenage boy and fell to the ground. His black windbreaker was open, revealing his muscular chest muscles. His wheat-colored skin rose and fell with his breathing, and the white lines on his face were strangely beautiful.

"Are you okay?" Qin Xiao frowned and touched his face.

"Why are you here?" Qiongqi raised his eyebrows and teased, "Is it because of him——"

"Of course not." Qin Xiao glanced at him, "Because this place accepts evil cultivators."

"...Tsk." Qiongqi turned his head and couldn't help curling his lips, "The most boring answer."

Qin Xiao: "...What interesting answer do you want?"

"I thought you came here because you couldn't stand the loneliness or you were afraid that he couldn't adapt to being alone." Qiongqi snorted and laughed, "Why, after meeting Mo Ze, you have no interest in him anymore?"

"He is different from Mo Ze..." Qin Xiao touched his neck, "Do you know Bai Ze——"

"Of course I know." Speaking of this, Qiongqi's eyes flashed with ferocity, "To be honest..."

"His legs can't recover?" Qin Xiao had noticed Bai Ze's strange attitude before, so he could only ask Qiongqi.

"What? Ju Mang wanted to regrow his legs, but he refused." Qiongqi got angry when he mentioned this. "They said it would make him sober and he wanted to heal slowly... Do you think his head was damaged by those people? Can they pull it off and put another one in?"

"...It's useless to install another one." Qin Xiao didn't know what Bai Ze wanted to do, so he could only shake his head to reject Qiongqi's proposal.

"Why are you here...?" Qin Xiao looked at him.

"Come here to play." Qiongqi said as a matter of course, "I have nothing to do anyway, isn't Shebishi here too? He and that human opened this academy. Taotie was ready to come here after taking those kids for a ride, and he said he was bored, so he just wanted to stay here to play."

"It doesn't matter where you stay." Qiongqi shrugged and said.

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao couldn't find any fault with it for the moment and could only nod silently.

"By the way..." Qin Xiao thought of something, "Do you know where Fusang is?"

"The sacred tree Fusang?" Qiongqi was stunned, frowned, thought for a long time, and shook his head, "I don't know, I haven't seen it very often, and the number of times I have seen it in all these years is very few... But you can ask Ju Mang and Bai Ze."

"But why did you think of asking this? Is there something?" Qiongqi raised his eyebrows.

"Well... I want to pick a leaf." Qin Xiao did not hide anything and told him about Qin Jichen, "My brother needs it."

"But Fusang doesn't have the function of repairing souls, right? How did your brother know that?" Qiongqi was puzzled. "I don't know."

"Then... I don't know." Qin Xiao was a little suspicious when he heard him say that. He thought about it for a while and scratched his head. Without thinking too much, he said, "Let's talk about it later."

Anyway, he said there was no rush. Besides, Qin Jichen hadn't contacted him yet, and obviously he hadn't come out of seclusion yet. Those spiritual plants were enough for him to heal his wounds.

Thinking of this, Qin Xiao shook his head and continued to move forward.

Suddenly, he thought of something and looked a little strange.

He suddenly wondered what identity Qiongqi had in entering this academy. Whether it was a teacher, a student, or a magical pet... they were all extremely strange.

"Qiongqi, what are you doing in this academy?" Qin Xiao couldn't help but ask.

"Me?" Qiongqi glanced at him, rolled his eyes and thought for a while, "What's the latest name you humans use... mascot? What is it?"

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao: Although, he has never seen Qiongqi used as a mascot.

But if you think about it carefully, there is really nothing else other than this unexpected fit.

"What do you think of the other people in this academy?"

"Human? Hmm..." Qiongqi really thought about the question, "The Dean seems silly, simple-minded, and very strange... I heard from Shebisi that he founded this academy for his daughter, the child named Xia Wule."

"It seems that something happened to his kid, and he was dissatisfied with some humans, and he was unwilling to accept it, so he created this place."

"I like that kid named Xia Wule." Qiongqi narrowed his eyes, as if thinking of something interesting, "Very interesting, and the one named Miao something is also..."

“Miao Kaijie?” Qin Xiao recalled his appearance, and a few black lines flowed down his forehead, “It was too much trouble.”

"How could that be? It's obviously very funny." Qiongqi said with a grin, "The second one is the one called Lan Huaiqiu, they are really interesting."

"The two of them?" Qin Xiao raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Qiongqi also raised his eyebrows, but his expression was less surprised and more amused, "You didn't expect it..."

"What did you think of?" Qin Xiao frowned.

Qiongqi snorted and laughed, but said nothing more.

...Lan Huaiqiu's fingertips stopped and he slowly withdrew his hand. The long zither gradually dissipated and the sound also drifted into the air.

"Well... I've finished playing, do you... have any suggestions?" Lan Huaiqiu lowered his head tightly, not daring to look at Miao Kaijie's face, and couldn't imagine his expression after listening.

This piece of music...it took all her courage to play it, and she played it perfectly in front of him.

I just don’t know…what will he say, can he hear it?

Lan Huaiqiu didn't know, so he could only secretly raise half an eye and observe his expression.

“Hmm… Hmm, Hmm!” Miao Kaijie blinked, clapped his hands firmly, nodded frantically, and praised, “It’s really good, you are worthy of it, whatever you play sounds so good…”

"No...nothing." After hearing such slightly exaggerated praise, Lan Huaiqiu lowered his eyes and sighed in his heart.

He doesn’t know…the meaning of this song.

Fortunately...he didn't know.

Otherwise I don’t know how to face him.

Lan Huaiqiu thought about this, but his heart still felt sour, mixed with indescribable loss and frustration.

"Then let's go, shall we go eat?" When Miao Kaijie heard that everything was fine, his eyes lit up and he clapped his hands happily.

"...Well, let's go." Lan Huaiqiu smiled, with his hands behind his back as usual, and stood about half a step behind Miao Kaijie, maintaining a delicate balance with him.

Miao Kaijie seemed unaware and walked forward with big strides.

When the two arrived at the cafeteria, there was almost no one there. However, there were few people in the academy, so anyone who ate less would notice it, so they left the food in the thermal insulator for them to take.

Miao Kaijie was going back to the dormitory to eat, and so was Lan Huaiqiu. The two walked to the dormitory door and said goodbye to each other.

"……See you tomorrow."

There were no classes in the afternoon, and Lan Huaiqiu still had practice with Qiu Puyue, so they basically wouldn't meet in the afternoon or evening, so he said this to Miao Kaijie.

"Bye..." Miao Kaijie responded positively. Halfway through turning around, he thought of something and turned back with a smile, saying to her, "If you practice any more songs in the future, you can come and share with me. I don't have anything to do all day anyway."

Lan Huaiqiu paused and looked up at him.

Because of the second half of this sentence, I became a completely different person.

It seems to be glowing with a different kind of brilliance.

"……Um!"

In the end, Lan Huaiqiu said nothing, but nodded vigorously in response, his smile as bright as the sun.