Li Zhibai remembered that when she walked out of the Sword Hall, she could still see some sun, but now, leaving the Qinling Family, all she saw was a curtain of rain.

She held an umbrella, raised its surface, and quietly watched the distance.

Without using her cultivation, she couldn't see Beisang City, couldn't see the Flower Moon Building, couldn't see Tong Jun.

People are always short-sighted.

At least that's how Li Zhibai saw herself. She felt that like Chang'an, she sometimes had little to show for herself.

The layers of dark clouds stacked in the sky, obscuring the sun, and the color-mixed rains seemed like ink dropped into clear water, gradually spreading.

This beautifully gloomy sky reminded Li Zhibai of how Tong Jun's black hair dispersed in water.

Tong Jun... hasn't returned for a long time.

Indeed.

As Beisang City serves as one of the array hubs of the Chaoyun Sect's Mountain Protection Array, Tong Jun, as the Array Guardian, couldn't leave on a whim. Otherwise, she'd have come back to see the Immortal Talent that appeared under her watch.

Li Zhibai thought that as long as a third Qiankun Realm didn't emerge in Qing Province, the existence of the Mountain Protection Array wasn't of great importance.

She occasionally came back to have a look.

Standing in the rain, Li Zhibai looked distantly at the large array being prepared on Celestial Bright Peak, with rain curtains adorning the distant White Jade Street.

Nearer were buildings and some scattered disciples watching the excitement, which made the whole Celestial Bright Peak seem quiet and cold.

Li Zhibai felt that even after joining Chaoyun, she should have lived on Celestial Bright Peak, as it was quiet here.

Like Ms. Yun, she was a person who loved tranquility and thought Mu Yu Peak was somewhat noisy.

Especially when Tong Jun was on the mountain, coming to her every few days, clearly without needing to sleep anymore... yet always indulging her, having breakfast together, bathing together, going to bed together.

In the beginning, Zhu Tongjun was a sister who was cold to outsiders and gentle and serene in front of her, not the later Zhu Pingniang.

But thinking back now, Li Zhibai realized that her belief that Tong Jun clung to her out of guilt for 'tricking' her to join Chaoyun was naïve.

So it turned out that since then, Zhu Tongjun had been trending towards 'regressing' into Zhu Pingniang.

She always felt the Tong Jun she learned about from others was a bit unfamiliar.

Many people, sometimes, just realize they've had enough of their current life and want to live differently.

Wasn't Li Zhibai a sheltered Miss who attended tea parties daily... until one day she abruptly entered a Daoist temple and became a fake Kun Dao Female Crown?

Tong Jun simply arrived at this phase later, so for her closest friend's changes, Li Zhibai was always the first to accept it without any intention of discouraging.

Zhu Pingniang...

Throughout ancient and modern, things have been peaceful.

There is nothing wrong with it.

[Having wine with Tong Jun.]

She changed her name and sent herself wine, implying—she was still the former Tong Jun in front of her.

——

Li Zhibai stood in the bamboo grove, quietly watching those who were preparing the array, her gaze glancing over at the Hehuan Bell and Liu Qingluo.

It was indeed the wine she brewed.

Perhaps it was the enchanting tear mole at the corner of the girl's eye, or perhaps she could see some delicate emotions in Liu Qingluo, who Tong Jun also regarded as a daughter... Li Zhibai immediately figured out what that Qin'er, who brewed the excellent tea, misunderstood.

"Tea Clears the Heart."

Li Zhibai laughed, thinking that Qinling was drinking tea, but it couldn't clear any heart.

There's more than just love in the world.

Saying this to Qinling, a child full of thoughts about Tong Jun, she would find it hard to understand.

Being mistaken by Qinling as Tong Jun's sweetheart filled Li Zhibai with helplessness, but as an elder, it's awkward to explain.

So, it's all Tong Jun's fault.

If you want to drink with me, just say so directly. If I'm free, I won't refuse. Why use cunning little tricks by gifting me Jade Dew Wine... No wonder the girl at home misunderstood.

Perhaps the misinformation made Qinling associate this jar of 'Jade Dew Wine' with Golden Wind and Jade Dew, mistakenly thinking Tong Jun was confessing—Li Zhibai wasn't sure if Zhu Tongjun was deliberately teasing her, causing a misunderstanding on purpose, but it seemed likely.

But Li Zhibai also asked Yun Qian and learned that the Jade Dew Wine brewed by Liu Qingluo didn't have an equivalent 'Golden Wind Wine.'

So, it's not a wine implying emotions.

This wine is for drinking alone.

It seems, although Xu Chang'an always shared the Jade Dew Wine with Yun Qian, this doesn't define the wine—because the brewer already defined this Jade Dew Wine.

Liu Qingluo was a single person.

So this is a wine for one person.

Li Zhibai could even envision Tong Jun, an embroidered shoe hanging off her toes, one leg on the table, holding a wine glass and swaying.

So, when Li Zhibai unsealed that jar of Jade Dew Wine and discovered the seal left by Tong Jun on it, she could only smile helplessly in hindsight.

Next time she saw Tong Jun, she'd definitely complain why she drank alone secretly.

And precisely because it was a wine for drinking alone, after unsealing it, she gave it to Qinling, not passing any sentiment, just because she preferred tea, so she gifted it for Qinling to drink—Qinling did indeed drink alone, without any intention of sharing with anyone.

But that silly Qin'er couldn't figure out the matter, forcing herself to believe that whatever was between her and Tong Jun was 'love,' which left Li Zhibai helpless.

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