At first I just wanted to break up

After the engagement, the two families quickly set off back home.

During this period, the adults were busy communicating the good news with relatives and friends, and the two families also began to prepare to return home to visit relatives.

When no one was around, Li Xuanxuan only had Xie Shixun by her side who listened to her completely, and she lived a very happy life.

However, when the Xie family set off first and the Li family was about to leave, Li Xuanxuan's mother suddenly fell ill.

At first I thought it was just a common cold, but what I didn't expect was that it turned out to be a serious illness.

They invited many doctors to see them, but they were all helpless.

By the time Xie Shixun received Li Xuanxuan's letter and used a magic circle to return before his parents, he was already breathing his last breath.

Before she died, she watched Xie Shixun kneeling beside her bed, holding her hand, and listening to his assurances that he would treat Li Xuanxuan well, and only then did she close her eyes.

From the time her mother fell ill to her death and finally to her funeral, Li Xuanxuan followed closely behind her father, accompanying her mother step by step on her final journey.

Behind Li Xuanxuan was Xie Shixun's company.

After coming back, Xie Shixun accompanied Li Xuanxuan and persuaded her father to rest, then accompanied Li Xuanxuan back to the room, but he could not say a word to persuade her to rest.

He didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only stay by her side and do whatever she wanted to do.

He even felt a little regretful. If only they hadn't returned to their family, if only they hadn't left first, if only he could have endured all this for her...

When Li Xuanxuan came back from her distraction, she saw Xie Shixun's expression and easily guessed what he was thinking. She couldn't help but let out a faint smile. She reached out and gently patted Xie Shixun's forehead, who was squatting in front of her, and said with a smile:

"What are you thinking about? Don't think about it."

Xie Shixun raised his hand and grabbed Li Xuanxuan's wrist, saying only: "Xuanxuan, I will always be with you, and I will never let you suffer like this again."

Li Xuanxuan chuckled when she heard this: "Birth, aging, illness and death are common to all people, and there will be a disaster in the end."

Xie Shixun's eyes gradually settled down: "What about cultivating immortals?"

"Xiu Xian?"

After Li Xuanxuan repeated the word, she suddenly laughed.

This time, her smile was somewhat sad.

  Tears suddenly fell from her eyes, and her hands tightly grasped Xie Shixun's sleeves, her voice choked and sharp:

"do you know?"

"I tried, I tried!"

"I combed her body over and over again, but it was no use! No use!"

After Li Xuanxuan finished saying these words, her face was already covered with traces of tears, and her breathing was fluctuating violently, which made Xie Shixun unable to think any more. He could only quickly reach out his hand to her back to help her breathe more smoothly.

But it was too late. The next moment, Li Xuanxuan vomited blood.

"Xuanxuan!"

Xie Shixun rushed forward in fear and hugged Li Xuanxuan, "What's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"

As Xie Shixun spoke, he summoned his spiritual power to protect Li Xuanxuan, but the next moment, white light flashed around them and the two of them disappeared from the spot in an instant.

When he fell to the ground, Xie Shixun was not distracted for a moment. His attention was always on Li Xuanxuan. "Xuanxuan, are you okay?"

Li Xuanxuan scratched the soil beneath her, then looked at the grass next to her. Words flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but mutter, "This, looks like a medicinal herb?"

The two of them stood up together and found that there were indeed medicinal fields all around them, and there was a thatched hut not far away.

The two walked in and saw that there was a bed, a table, a chair, and other shelves with books and sundries.

  This is obviously a separate space, but how did they get in?

As soon as the thought came to her mind, Li Xuanxuan reached out and held Xie Shixun's hand. After silently reciting something in her heart, the two of them returned to Li Xuanxuan's room in an instant.

After coming out, Li Xuanxuan looked down at the orchid jade pendant tied around her waist. It was stained with her blood. She pulled it off and handed it to Xie Shixun: "This should be it."

After Xie Shixun took it, he tried it by himself and found that he could indeed go in and out freely, even carrying things.

After coming out, he handed it back to Li Xuanxuan: "Would you like to try it?"

Li Xuanxuan shook her head.

"Take it. It will be more useful to you."

Xie Shixun frowned when he heard this: "Xuanxuan, this is our engagement token."

Li Xuanxuan lowered her eyes and said nothing.

Xie Shixun reached out and closed Li Xuanxuan's hand holding the jade pendant, and took her to the bed: "Rest first, we'll talk after you've fallen asleep."

Li Xuanxuan could only nod.

She hadn't had a good rest for many days, and with Xie Shixun beside her, she felt inexplicably at ease, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Xie Shixun refused to give in to the ownership of the jade pendant. Li Xuanxuan could only give in and let him take the useful books. As for the herbs, neither of them knew anything about them, so they didn't pick them at random.

After Li Xuanxuan's mother passed away, her father thought deeply and decided to move back to his hometown.

Since the Li family has moved away, the Xie family doesn't want to stay any longer. Besides, Xie Shixun will be taking the imperial examination soon, so it's time for them to go back.

Although the two families no longer lived in the same place, they never stopped exchanging letters, sending gifts during festivals, and visiting each other.

After Li Xuanxuan returned to the Li family, she lived a carefree life with her cousin Li Sisi as her companion.

But not long after, her father received a letter from the Xie family, informing them that—

Fortunately, Xie Shixun got the opportunity and is about to give up his official career and go up the mountain to seek the truth!

On the night that Li Xuanxuan learned the news, she met Xie Shixun who had rushed over overnight.

At that time, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, swinging her feet.

Xie Shixun was not surprised to see that she was not asleep. He just handed her the pastries he had brought to her from afar.

Li Xuanxuan didn't reach out to take it. She just looked up at the boy who had grown taller and said, "Xie Shixun, you've become stronger."

Xie Shixun smiled when he heard this.

He squatted down and let him look up at the girl beside the bed: "Xuanxuan is really amazing, she can see it at a glance."

After Xie Shixun finished speaking, he still handed the pastry in his hand forward.

This time, Li Xuanxuan did not refuse.

Seeing that she had started eating, Xie Shixun stood up and poured her a glass of water, then pulled a chair and sat next to her, watching her eat and drink.

Li Xuanxuan saw that he had been looking at her, and since he came in, he didn't seem surprised that she didn't sleep, as if he was sure that she would wait for him, and she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

She wanted to turn her body away, but after thinking it over, she decided not to move and just gave him the cake in her hand.

Xie Shixun did not refuse either.

After the two of them finished eating the cakes, Li Xuanxuan handed the cup back to Xie Shixun, then sat down on the bed with her legs folded, and asked seriously:

"Xie Shixun, why did you suddenly change your mind?"

If Xie Shixun really wanted to ask, he would have thought about it as early as when he saw those books, or even earlier, when he first came into contact with runes. He would not have waited until now.

Xie Shixun was not surprised that Li Xuanxuan asked this. Or perhaps, he knew it, so he traveled day and night to see her.

He knew that he would have to tell her sooner or later, but when it came to saying it, Xie Shixun still hesitated.

  He didn’t know whether he should tell Li Xuanxuan?

As soon as his eyes met Li Xuanxuan, Xie Shixun knew that she had already made the decision before he set out.

And his Xuanxuan would wait for him all night, obviously feeling the same as him.

With his eyelids slightly lowered, Xie Shixun spoke softly: "Xuanxuan, do you know where our two families used to live, how is it now?"

"Gone?"

"you know?"

"I don't know, but since you're asking, it should be gone."

After hearing this, Xie Shixun's originally heavy mood suddenly relaxed a little. He nodded and confirmed:

"It's gone."

"But I burned it with my own hands."

  Li Xuanxuan tilted her head and asked silently "why?"

“Because someone has searched for it.”

When they moved out that day, both families took away everything they could because they knew they would not be coming back for a long time.

But that day, Xie Shixun suddenly thought of that place again.

He followed his intuition, went back quietly, and indeed found some strange places.

"Is he a cultivator?"

If it was just an ordinary thief, Xie Shixun would not have been so vigilant. In addition, he decided to become a Taoist, so Li Xuanxuan made this guess.

  But why should Xie Shixun also devote himself completely to this just because the other party is a cultivator?

unless--

  The two sides are hostile!

Knowing that they would inevitably face off, Xie Shixun's behavior of seeking to become stronger can only be explained.

  But why the hostility?

The only person who has been associated with "cultivating immortals and seeking the truth" recently is the strange man in the cave.

If it was just a fight for opportunity, it wouldn't have to go to this extent.

Xie Shixun looked at Li Xuanxuan thinking and said with a heavy expression: "Maybe they came earlier."

Li Xuanxuan's hand suddenly trembled.

She raised her eyes to look at Xie Shixun, and after moving her lips a few times, she asked with some difficulty:

"My mother's death has something to do with them?"

"Not sure yet."

After Xie Shixun finished speaking, he squatted in front of Li Xuanxuan again. He reached out and held Li Xuanxuan's hands tightly, and said firmly: "Xuanxuan, I will check it out."

Xie Shixun didn't say anything else, but Li Xuanxuan understood: he would help her.

but……

Li Xuanxuan suppressed her trembling hands and held Xie Shixun's hand. At this moment, she was confused, but she still realized:

"Xie Shixun, did I harm you?"

There was guilt in Li Xuanxuan's words.

  After hearing this, Xie Shixun straightened his back without hesitation, stretched out his hands, and hugged Li Xuanxuan directly:

"No."

Xie Shixun answered with absolute certainty.

  Later, they talked about something else, but Li Xuanxuan couldn't remember it clearly. She only remembered what Xie Shixun said to her at the end. He said:

He will always be with her.

Xie Shixun's journey up the mountain to become a disciple went smoothly. Although he used the secret methods in the book left by the strange man to hide his own cultivation, he was talented after all. He soon showed his talent and became the sect master's direct disciple.

After that, his original communication through letters was changed to having someone contact him personally.

That man's name is Xie San.

Every time, Xie San would come to the Li family to see Li Xuanxuan first, and hand over the delicacies and rare treasures that his master had specially collected for the eldest daughter of the Li family, a thick letter that he had never missed, and he would also dictate his master's daily practice routine.

After receiving the thin reply from the eldest daughter of the Li family, he went to the Xie family again. Sometimes he would receive a letter from home, and sometimes he would just say a few words saying "I am safe and don't worry."

Li Xuanxuan also pieced together the progress of Xie Shixun's investigation from his letters.

Yes.

Even if the letter was brought by Xie San himself, Xie Shixun would not write it clearly in it.

The good news is that the investigation has been progressing; the bad news is that the people involved here are becoming more and more important, and are vaguely pointing to the sect leader.

Under such circumstances, it is absolutely impossible to say that Li Xuanxuan is not worried about Xie Shixun.

But all she could do was to protect herself and her father.

Unfortunately, she couldn't practice it no matter what.

However, Li Xuanxuan did not give up completely. Instead, she asked various masters to teach her martial arts, and she did learn a few self-defense techniques.

One day, when Xie San came to deliver a letter as usual, when Li Xuanxuan saw the person, she found that it was not Xie San.

"You are just a mortal, but you can actually see through my disguise. I guess Senior Brother Xie must have given you the magic weapon!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the person in front of him turned into a young girl.

"you are?"

  The visitor did not answer Li Xuanxuan's question, but only looked her up and down, and then sneered:

"Are you Brother Xie's fiancée?"

“You’re really unworthy!”

Li Xuanxuan couldn't help but laugh when she heard that. She asked back, "Then is Miss Ying worthy of him?"

"You know me?!"

Li Xuanxuan smiled and said, "The apple of the eye of the Yingtian Sect leader. Am I right?"

Li Xuanxuan also picked up her pace when she spoke, and when she finished speaking, she just walked past the people and sat in the host seat in the reception room.

The visitor was not concerned about Li Xuanxuan's behavior at the moment, but only asked curiously and expectantly: "Brother Xie, did you mention me?"

"Never."

After Li Xuanxuan responded, she asked without waiting for the other party to speak again, "Don't you know the girl's name?"

Although she didn't hear the answer she wanted, Ying Lingfeng still raised her head high and said dignifiedly:

"Ying! Ling! Feng!"

Li Xuanxuan didn't care about her attitude, she just nodded, then waved her hand and said, "Please sit down."

Ying Lingfeng subconsciously wanted to sit down next to her, but at the critical moment she quickly came to her senses, widened her eyes and said angrily: "I will sit if you ask me to?"

Li Xuanxuan readily agreed: "Then Miss Ying, please stand."

"you!"

Ying Lingfeng was so angry that she pointed her index finger at Li Xuanxuan, but Li Xuanxuan remained unmoved and just continued to sit upright.

After Ying Lingfeng lifted it for a while, he swung his arm and destroyed all the tables and chairs on the other side.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

  But Li Xuanxuan, who was sitting in the main seat, was not frightened at all, let alone moved, until Ying Lingfeng spoke again:

"You are Li Xuanxuan, right?"

"I'm here today to ask you to break off your engagement with Senior Brother Xie as soon as possible! Because you're not worthy of him!"

Li Xuanxuan raised her eyes and asked again, "Then is Miss Ying worthy of him?"

After hearing this, Ying Lingfeng raised her chin slightly and said, "Of course!"

"Even if you grew up together and were childhood sweethearts, so what? You still don't deserve him! Because you are just an ordinary person, and we are immortal cultivators!"

"My father is Ying Tian, ​​the leader of Tianyuan Sect, the number one person in this world! I, Ying Lingfeng, will be the next leader, and I am also a proud daughter of heaven!"

"So what if Senior Brother Xie has talent? My Tianyuan Sect is not short of geniuses. You are nothing but ants in front of my Tianyuan Sect!"

"But if Senior Brother Xie can be lucky enough to become my husband, his status will naturally rise!"

"How can you give me these?!"

At this point, Ying Lingfeng once again looked Li Xuanxuan up and down: "I see that you are plain-looking, and you don't have the talent to cultivate immortality. If you don't want to lose your life because of wanting something you don't deserve, I advise you to let go as soon as possible!"

Ying Lingfeng turned around after she finished speaking, and after taking two steps, she suddenly remembered what she had forgotten to say, so she turned back and said:

"I forgot to tell you that as long as I'm here, you can't go to Tianyuan Sect!"

As she spoke, she pointed her index finger at Li Xuanxuan and said word by word: "Get out of here!"

After saying this this time, she finally turned around and left.

After Ying Lingfeng left, the reception room fell into silence. Li Xuanxuan, who was sitting in the main seat, also lowered her head, and the expression on her face could not be seen clearly.

Until the real Xie San arrived.

"Miss Li?"

"What's going on here?"

  Xie San looked at the mess on the ground and was very confused. But before he could think about it, he heard Miss Li ask him:

"Did you bring a letter this time?"

Upon hearing this, Xie San immediately straightened up and said, "Miss, my master is out on a sect mission these days, so it's not convenient for me to write a letter, but my master asked me to--"

"No need to say anything, just go to the Xie family and deliver the letter."

Xie San paused. He thought Miss Li was angry, so he quickly took out the package and explained, "Although the master didn't write a letter, he prepared a lot of things. These are--"

"Hey! Miss! Miss!"

Without waiting for Xie San to explain or persuade her to stay, Miss Li had already stood up and left. Xie San could not hand over the things to other members of the Li family, so he could only leave in dismay.

Originally, Xie San thought that this was just a special case, but he didn't expect that in the next two or three times, even if he brought letters from his master, the eldest lady of the Li family would not accept them. In the end, he didn't even see her.

This made him secretly feel indignant for his master.

What Xie San didn't know was that Li Xuanxuan really refused to accept it on purpose at the beginning, but after a few times, she couldn't see him anymore.

Because her father was ill.

Ever since she learned that her mother's death might be related to the immortal cultivator, Li Xuanxuan has been keeping a closer eye on her father.

She was very sure that her father's illness had nothing to do with Ying Lingfeng.

However, not long after the other party came and left, her father fell down, which made Li Xuanxuan feel more hatred towards the cultivators.

But Li Xuanxuan actually knew that her father was sick from missing her.

He missed his mother so much.

Over the years, the only one who supported him was himself, which was why Li Xuanxuan did not dare to leave.

Not long after Xie Shixun went up the mountain to seek the truth, he brought elixirs for the two families to strengthen their bodies.

If it weren't for this, her father would have died earlier.

Although she knew what was going on intellectually, seeing her father lose weight overnight and even become bedridden, the first thing Li Xuanxuan thought of was to ask Xie Shixun for help, because if there really was an elixir, then at least... at least...

It would allow her father to stay with her for a while longer.

But Li Xuanxuan's father also said: He is too tired...

Moreover, he also strictly forbade Li Xuanxuan to tell the Xie family or Xie Shixun about this.

It was only at this time that Li Xuanxuan realized that her father had heard everything Ying Lingfeng said that day. Moreover, as early as when Xie Shixun decided to seek immortality and cultivate Taoism, her father was already worried about their future.

Before leaving, Li Xuanxuan's father made a decision that was completely opposite to his wife's.

He asked Li Xuanxuan and Xie Shixun to cancel their engagement.

After waiting for her father's funeral to be completed, Li Xuanxuan locked herself in the room for three days and three nights.

When she came out again, she packed the little things Xie Shixun had given her into a package, and gave it to her uncle along with an orchid jade pendant and a letter of withdrawal of engagement, to be given to Xie San when he came again.

Then, she left Qinghe City. (End of this chapter)