Senior Sister Bai Yueguang is incredibly strong.

Chapter 18 Emerging from Seclusion

A plum blossom petal fell into the spring, creating ripples, and Luo's heart, too, was moved by the water.

She looked around blankly; it was the height of summer before she went to sleep, but when she woke up, the world was covered in snow.

"Awake?"

Xie Jing was the first to arrive.

"Master?" Luo stood up from the water and found himself lying on a smooth stone in the center of the warm spring. "How did I get here?"

Luo Zai Shui felt a little guilty looking at Xie Jing's expressionless face, and was about to explain, "Master, I..."

She seemed to hear a soft sigh.

Are you still sleepy?

Luo shook his head.

"Come, let me take your pulse."

"Oh."

As she stood up, Luo Zai Shui felt a little apprehensive. The warm spring was not large, but it was unfathomably deep. In the past, when her spiritual energy was abundant, she could jump directly to the shore, but now she was not sure if she could jump across.

"Don't worry, you should be able to use your own spiritual power now."

Xie Jing seemed to have guessed what she was thinking and directly reminded her.

Luo Zai Shui tried to mobilize her own spiritual power and found that it was much smoother than before, as if she had returned to her prime. She was overjoyed and lightly leaped down in front of Xie Jing.

"Master!"

Before she could even share her joy, Xie Jing poured cold water on her.

"Don't be too happy yet. Your illness will relapse sooner or later. Be prepared."

Luo Zai Shui's gaze darkened slightly, then returned to normal: "A blessing in disguise, it's good this way, I can spend the New Year with Master this time."

"A blessing in disguise, a blessing in disguise!"

Xie Jing squeezed out each word through gritted teeth.

Luo Zai Shui felt a little guilty, so she could only quietly follow behind her master and listen to his instructions.

A warm, large hand landed on his head: "You can't do that again, or we'll worry."

"I understand, Master. I've caused everyone trouble this time."

"Let's go, your Uncle Lu is still waiting."

"it is good."

……

Lu Da withdrew his hand from taking the pulse, and Xue Xin, who was guarding the medicine pot, pricked up his ears.

"There are no major problems now, but we still need to be careful. A broken tendon is no small matter, and you need to take good care of yourself. I'll go and write you a prescription, and Xue Xin will go and get the medicine. It's best not to use your spiritual power recklessly these days."

Luo Zai Shui noted everything down, and the noise from her junior brothers and sisters outside the door made her feel very at ease.

"Elder Xie, hello Senior Sister Luo."

The disciples who passed by greeted her one by one.

"Hey, let me tell you, that's Senior Sister Luo, who set up the formation with Senior Brother Chu to kill the evil spirit."

"My God, they are really amazing. They are slaying evil spirits at the age of 10. I wish we were as good as our senior sister."

Luo Zai Shui looked at these unfamiliar faces with some confusion: "Who are they...?"

Xie Jing replied with a smile, "Among the newly joined disciples, there are a few with good talent. You can give them some pointers when you have time."

"Me?" Luo Zai Shui's eyes widened slightly. "How could I have that ability? That disciple should already be in the late stage of Qi Refining and about to form his core."

"But in actual combat, even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to defeat you."

Luo Zai Shui smiled self-deprecatingly: "Master still thinks too highly of me."

"Alright, don't think about it so much. Go and get some rest." Xie Jing saw her to the courtyard gate. "They're waiting for you. Talk to them for a bit. I'm leaving now."

Jian Muyi and the others waited early in front of Luo Zaishui's courtyard: "Senior Sister, you've finally come out of seclusion!"

They seemed to have grown quite a bit taller. Jian Muyi and Ji Tinghan were already half a head taller than her, and even Su Wusi was about the same height as her.

"Senior sister, I miss you so much! I was so worried about you when you suddenly went into seclusion. I bought you your favorite osmanthus cake, please try it."

Jian Muyi kept chattering away, and Luo Zaishui smiled and took the things from his hands: "Let's go inside and talk, it's quite cold outside."

Ji Tinghan took out the herbs he had found one by one from his storage bag: "Senior sister, this one replenishes qi and blood, this one calms the mind, this one replenishes spiritual energy..."

Su Wusi appeared much more composed, perhaps this was her true nature: "Senior sister, these are some treasures I found for you. Carry them with you for self-defense..."

Luo Zai Shui glanced at the expensive gifts they had brought: "Where did you get all this stuff?"

Jian Muyi answered first: "It was Junior Sister who led us down into the secret realm and found it!"

After listening, Luo Zai Shui frowned and looked at Su Wu Si. It was obvious that she had come with the memories of her past life, but this kind of treasure-hunting was too conspicuous and might cause trouble.

"Take these things back and don't show them to outsiders, or hand them over to the sect leader and senior uncles to handle."

"Why?" Jian Muyi asked, puzzled. "We went through so much trouble to find this."

Ji Tinghan and Su Wusi understood what Luo Zaishui was worried about, so Su Wusi had no choice but to explain: "Senior sister, we wore masks when we went down into the secret realm, so no one will know that we took the treasure in the secret realm."

Luo Zai Shui sighed, "The bigger the tree, the more the wind blows. It's better to be careful. You can take these things back. I don't need them, but you might find them useful someday."

"Senior sister..." Su Wusi wanted to persuade her to accept these things again, as this was the only way she could protect her senior sister.

"Cough cough cough..." A gust of cold wind blew past the window. Ji Tinghan heard Luo Zaishui coughing and hurriedly got up to close the window.

"Cough cough cough..." Luo Zai Shui covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief. "You guys take these things and go back first. I... cough cough cough... I'll rest for a while. Wu Si, stay here. I have something to tell you."

Ji Tinghan wanted to say something more to Luo Zaishui, but Jian Muyi pulled her away: "Come on, let's go, don't delay Senior Sister and Junior Sister from talking. Once they're done, Senior Sister can rest too."

As Ji Tinghan stepped out of the courtyard, he looked at the tightly closed windows and asked, "Don't you want to know what they're going to say?"

Jian Muyi scratched his head: "It's just some private stuff that girls don't feel comfortable sharing with us, what's there to be curious about?"

Ji Tinghan frowned deeply: "I think they're hiding something from us."

"How could that be?" Jian Muyi waved his hand. "If they really had something to hide from us, they would have told us long ago. If they're not telling us now, it's probably because the fewer people who know, the better. They'll tell us eventually, so what's there to worry about? Senior Sister and the others would never harm us."

"Too……"

"Let's go, let's go practice our swordsmanship. Senior Brother is in seclusion, I must catch up with him during this time!"

"Cough cough cough...you say..."

There was blood on the handkerchief, something Luo Zai Shui hadn't expected.

"Senior Sister!" Su Wusi's voice trembled with tears.

Luo Zai Shui leaned on the table, her face pale: "Tell me, if you take them to the secret realm and affect other people's luck, will it affect you?"

Su Wusi didn't expect that her senior sister was most concerned about whether her influence on others' luck would affect her. With red eyes, she shook her head: "No, senior sister."

Luo Zai Shui was still a little worried: "Really not?"

"No, Senior Sister, really no." Su Wusi threw herself into Luo Zaishui's arms. "Senior Sister, I just wanted to find something to protect you. I didn't dare take the senior brothers to dangerous places, and I didn't let the Wen family discover our whereabouts."

"Senior sister, you've been in seclusion for so long. I'm so scared. I'm afraid you won't wake up like before. I don't know what I can do every day. I can only numbly practice my sword. Senior sister, I'm so scared..."

"Cough cough cough..." Luo Zai Shui gently patted her back, "It's alright, it's alright. Don't go to dangerous places again. I'm fine now, I'm all right."

Looking at the somewhat thin girl, Luo Zai Shui felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. She was still just a child, so why was she carrying so many burdens in her heart?

"By the way, where's your senior brother?"

It seems I haven't seen him since I woke up.

Su Wusi's nose was red: "Senior Brother also went into seclusion after Senior Sister."

Is that so?

Luo Zai Shui felt a mix of emotions. Perhaps it was the regret of not seeing him, but she knew she would see him once he came out of seclusion, so what was there to regret? Or perhaps she just missed him.

"Senior sister, do you miss your senior brother?"

Su Wusi's words revealed what she was thinking.

Luo Zai Shui smiled and shook her head: "Once he comes out of seclusion, I can see him every day. What's there to think about?"

Su Wusi tilted her head, feeling that her senior sister was being a bit hypocritical when it came to matters of the heart: "But since you can't see your senior brother right now, it means you miss him."

"Perhaps." Luo Zai Shui looked out the window and suddenly remembered the scene of that person practicing swordsmanship outside her courtyard years ago, and unconsciously curled the corners of her mouth.

"Senior sister, I won't disturb your rest any longer. I'll take these things back and give them to Master to handle. He's the best at dealing with these things."

"it is good."

Su Wusi got up to leave, taking with him all the miscellaneous things they had brought, leaving only the box of osmanthus cake, which added some strange work for the sect leader.

The snow fell silently under the cover of darkness.

Before Luo Zai Shui even opened the window, she could already smell the cold snow outside.

The room has a heat-preserving array, so it's not very cold.

However, the sound of a long sword cutting through the air seemed to be mixed in with the sound of wind and snow.

Hearing the familiar sound of swords, Luo Zai Shui suddenly pushed open the window.

The biting wind, mixed with snowflakes, covered her face, but she still managed to see who was outside the courtyard.

He held a long sword in his hand and was dressed in black. In Luo's world of water, only black and white remained. His magnificent swordsmanship made her temporarily forget the cold of the harsh winter.

"Junior Sister!" Shi Ming sheathed his sword, hurried to her courtyard, and closed the window for her. "It's windy outside, be careful not to catch a cold."

Luo Zai Shui hurriedly went to open the door for him.

When Shi Ming entered, he brought with him the chill of the air outside and a faint fragrance.

Luo Zai Shui poured him a cup of hot tea: "Wasn't Senior Brother in seclusion? How come you've come out so soon?"

Shi Ming used his spiritual power to dispel the cold air in his body and handed a blooming plum blossom hidden in his storage bag to Luo Zai Shui: "I came out after half a year of seclusion without any gains. On the way down the mountain, I saw that the plum blossoms were in bloom, so I thought I would come and see if you had come out of seclusion."

Luo Zai Shui smiled as she accepted the plum blossoms Shi Ming brought her: "I'm much better now, thank you for your concern, Senior Brother."

She turned around and placed the plum blossom in the vase, where it stood alongside another blooming red plum blossom. Shi Ming recognized it as the plum blossom he had sent last time.

"The plum blossoms on the back mountain are in full bloom. If the wind and snow lessen, we can invite Xue Xin and the others to go admire the plum blossoms." Shi Ming sipped his tea with a slightly uneasy expression.

Luo Zai Shui suddenly thought of the scene outside the window just now, and her eyes lit up: "Senior Brother, I haven't seen plum blossoms in the cold wind for a long time."

She had always thought that the most beautiful thing was the plum blossoms that were broken and withered in the biting cold wind, that splash of red against the white snow. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen them in a long time.

Shi Ming refused without even thinking: "No, you're not fully recovered, how can you go and catch a cold?"

Luo Zai Shui's bright eyes suddenly dimmed. Yes, she couldn't be willful and trouble everyone anymore. If she got sick, they would have to run around taking care of her again.

Shi Ming knew her best and knew that she loved to see plum blossoms in the cold wind. However, he couldn't take her out now, so he could only comfort her by saying, "The snow will stop the day after tomorrow, and it won't be too late to take you to see them then."

"Okay, thank you very much, Senior Brother."