Chapter 688: Chapter 550: Sikong Temple

The night was deep, and moonlight spilled silently from the sky. The brilliant glow flowed like water through the mountain forests, wrapping all of creation in a faint, silvery sheen.

In a small courtyard on the mountainside of Moon Spring Peak, three little fox-eared girls lay side-by-side on a bed. Their three little fox tails swished back and forth, flicking restlessly at the quilt.

Tushan Hanhan clutched a sheet of Xuan Paper, reading it over and over.

For Tushan Hanhan, who loved to read—especially poetry—the more she read the words on the paper, the more her heart filled with joy.

And what was written on this sheet of Xuan Paper was the very poem from the Holy Daughter’s page.

After the three little ones had been sent out, Yue Shi had made a private copy for Tushan Hanhan, the best-behaved of the three. She had told Tushan Hanhan, "You can only look at this yourself. You can’t show it to the other two."

This was to be the punishment for Tushan Doudou and Tushan Yiyi.

And just as expected, after they returned, Tushan Doudou and Tushan Yiyi were dying of curiosity.

Tushan Doudou scrambled to the edge of the bed and poked out her fluffy little head. Her pair of fox ears twitched as she tried to inch closer for a curious look.

But the moment she moved, Tushan Hanhan spotted her. Tushan Hanhan pouted at her and unceremoniously turned her back.

Tushan Yiyi also crept over to Tushan Hanhan’s side, trying to sneak a peek.

But Tushan Hanhan decisively pressed the paper with the poem to her chest, clutching it tightly.

"Hanhan, please just let us see..." Tushan Doudou pleaded, grabbing Tushan Hanhan’s small hand and shaking it back and forth.

"Yeah, Hanhan! Just give us one little look. We’ll buy you pastries later," Tushan Yiyi chimed in.

"No." Tushan Hanhan shook her head firmly. "Sister Yue Shi said I’m not allowed to show you."

"Please let us see! We’ll wash your clothes for you for the next six months!" Tushan Doudou, not ready to give up, upped the ante.

Tushan Yiyi froze for a second, then turned to look at her best friend. She couldn’t help but wonder, ’Isn’t that a little extreme?’

However, when Tushan Yiyi saw Hanhan hesitating, she wavered for a moment before hardening her resolve. She nodded emphatically and declared, "Doudou, forget six months! We’ll do your laundry for a whole year! All of it..."

"Besides, Hanhan, we’re sisters! We grew up together! Sisters are supposed to share the good times and the bad. How can we keep secrets and hide things from each other? And if you show us, we’ll never tell a soul."

Tushan Doudou gazed at her, her big, watery eyes blinking, full of sincerity and earnestness.

"That’s right! We’re sisters for life, we’ll never be apart!" Tushan Yiyi quickly chimed in, adding to the persuasion.

"Well..." Pestered relentlessly by her two sisters, the stubborn resolve in Tushan Hanhan’s heart began to soften, little by little.

"But you two never study hard. I’m afraid you won’t even understand the words in this poem," Tushan Hanhan said with a helpless sigh.

"That’s okay! Just read it to us, Hanhan," Tushan Yiyi and Tushan Doudou said, seizing the opportunity when they saw she was giving in. They continued to plead with her, one after the other.

"Then... okay, fine..." Tushan Hanhan finally relented and nodded lightly. "I’ll read it to you."

With that, she took out the sheet of paper Sister Yue Shi had copied for her, sat up straight, cleared her throat, and began to read in a serious voice:

"’Having known all the sorrows of partings to the world’s end, / I did not speak of my return, to find flowers so withered and strewn.’"

Tushan Hanhan recited the poem, her voice full of emotion, enunciating every word.

Although Tushan Doudou and Tushan Yiyi didn’t quite understand the meaning of the verses Tushan Hanhan recited...

...they both felt, for some inexplicable reason, that the poem was truly beautiful.

"’Beneath the flowers, we gaze at each other, speechless. / By the green window, spring and the sky fade into dusk.’"

Tushan Hanhan continued to recite word by word, her voice as clear and crisp as pearls falling onto a Jade Plate.

As Tushan Yiyi and Tushan Doudou listened, their little heads began to sway gently from side to side.

Visions seemed to bloom in their minds: dappled flowers, a verdant window lattice, and a gentle spring scene, bursting with life.

"’Waiting to tell of my Xiang Si by lamplight.’"

"’A wisp of new joy, a thousand threads of old regret.’"

After reciting this line, Tushan Hanhan paused, not continuing any further.

"Hanhan, are you finished already?" Tushan Doudou asked, blinking with curiosity.

"Hanhan, I feel like the poem isn’t over yet," Tushan Yiyi said, shaking Tushan Hanhan’s hand. "Hurry up and keep reading..."

Tushan Hanhan looked down at her two little sisters, took a deep breath, and slowly, deliberately, recited the final line—

...

"’What is most fleeting in the mortal world: / a youthful face that leaves the mirror, a blossom that leaves the tree...’"

Beneath the Moon God Tree, Tushan Jing Ci slowly raised her head. She whispered the words to herself, gazing quietly at the divine tree her Tushan clan had revered for generations.

At her feet, a vast Array was already complete.

Its intricate lines, like a spider’s web, spread out in all directions from the base of the tree, wrapping around it in layers and shrouding the entire Moon God Tree.

Tushan Jing Ci slowly raised her left hand.

A dagger sliced across her palm. The cold blade parted her skin, and crimson blood began to flow from her clenched fist, falling drop by drop into the Array.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.