Chapter 1

1.

"My master sent me here to find you, she said you would tell me everything." The young man, holding a bloodstained long sword, arrived at the Wang River teahouse when Liuxing was personally applying glaze to the newly made teacups, making them pure white and smooth, green and translucent, adding a coolness to the sweltering summer day.

Her movements didn't stop, each stroke exuding elegance and calm, her voice as always clear and soft: "Have you, upon arriving at the Fengxian town, heard the people in the town talk about the rules of the Wang River teahouse?"

"Tell a story, receive a cup of tea, ask one question, regardless of heaven and earth, ancient or modern. These, my master has already told me, so that's why I've come to find you."

He took steps closer, his footsteps so light they seemed to merge with the cicadas' chirping outside the window. When Liuxing turned around as he was five steps away, the clear moonlight earrings on her ear made a delicate clinking sound, and her face was filled with a smile: "Being with your master for so long, you haven't learned her slow-paced nature at all, and you're so eager."

His gaze, however, was fixed on her earrings: "Moonlight flower..."

Liuxing reached out and brushed against them: "A gift from your master."

His eyes darkened: "My master has never given me anything, even the moonlight flowers on the mountain, by the time I returned, there were only withered vines covering the slopes."

"She is just like that, what more do you expect?" Liuxing turned around and offered him the well-made teacup, and although it was newly glazed, it instantly dried and became translucent, as if it had been a finished product for a long time.

"Sit down, tell me about you and your master, your story."

2.

The day I first met my master, the sunlight was splendid, and the sky was clear and vast.

As I entered this legendary valley said to be home to immortals, struggling with a wooden sword in hand, she lay sideways on a large, smooth green stone, her hands holding a golden pair of scissors, gesturing towards her long hair that cascaded down like clouds.

I opened my mouth and let out a sigh.

She looked over at the sound, her delicate face breaking into a subtle smile, her eyes possessing the calmest and most reassuring peace I had ever seen in anyone.

Feeling embarrassed under her gaze, I raised my voice and called out, "I've come to visit Miss Jin Wu."

She continued to look at me, her gaze unwavering, and after a long while, she spoke slowly, "Who are you?" She paused again, then added, "What brings you here to see me?"

Each word was spoken with a leisurely cadence, soothing yet slightly frustrating.

I pressed down on the bleeding wound on my arm, running towards her. The fragrance of the unknown flowers beneath my feet dispelled the scent of blood, making the injury seem less painful.

"I've come to learn the art," I declared, not waiting for Jin Wu's response, I immediately knelt and performed the ritual of a student seeking a teacher, looking up to see her smiling at me, "Oh? Is that so?"

I nodded, full of anticipation for her answer.

After a long while, she finally spoke with a smile in her voice, "This highlander seems to know me quite well."

Jin Wu extended her hand to me, her back covered in scars, but her fingers were slender and long: "Do you wish to become my disciple?"

I clenched my fist: "Yes! If you don't take me in, I'll kneel here and not get up."

She chuckled and climbed off the large stone, her hair falling down and getting caught among the rocks. Countless flowers bloomed behind her, and a mist rose from the mountains, carrying with it a faint fragrance. She sat amidst the sea of flowers, like a dreamlike vision.

"Have you brought the tuition for learning?"

It was a long time before I realized that the flowers all around were called Moonlight Flowers, personally planted by my master over the years. It was also a long time before I learned that Master had a fondness for gold, but she was not good at naming things, so she didn't like being called Jin Wu girl. She preferred to be addressed as Jin girl. Yet, she had never thought of changing her name, and to this day, I still don't know the reason why.

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In the end, I couldn't produce the tuition, so I had to swear to my master that if I completed my training and left the mountain, I would go down to earn the tuition for her, and she readily agreed.

She said to me, "Yue'er, I have never taken on a disciple before, and besides knowing that you need to pay me tuition, I don't know much else. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

My master looked at me with a warm smile, her lazy demeanor making me feel restless. I respectfully looked at her: "No. Both of my parents have passed away, and our family is poor, so I want to learn a skill to make a living. As long as Master doesn't mind, I will study hard and live up to Master's expectations."

Jin Wu's expression remained unchanged, but there was a hint of surprise in her gaze: "I'm not asking about your background or your aspirations. I just want to know if there's anything else you should give me besides the tuition."

I pondered for a moment: "Even if there were other things, I would have to wait until I have completed my studies. After all, I have no money now, and if I did, I wouldn't have had to come up the mountain to learn the arts."

She nodded in understanding and then turned to leave with the wine gourd in hand.

She didn't ask why I was covered in blood and wounds on the day we first met. She seemed to have no doubts about my words. Perhaps, she thought that I posed no threat to her.

My master's hair is very beautiful.

I often see her row a boat to the center of the lake, lying in the boat, holding a bamboo umbrella, with a white canopy that covers her beautiful face. Her hair spreads on the water, half submerged and half floating, like black algae growing from the lake bottom, mysterious and beautiful.

I squat by the shore, watching her and picking soybeans at the same time.

My master said that if I didn't finish picking these soybeans before she woke up, I would definitely experience what it means to regret not doing something sooner. And indeed, I didn't finish.

She closed the bamboo umbrella, supporting her forehead with one finger, her raised eyebrow showing a beautiful curve, laziness mixed with a touch of sexiness.

"Can't even do such a simple thing, and you still want to learn the craft of the Jin family?"

I looked down: "The disciple was wrong. The disciple should not have been picking soybeans while watching the master, thus causing distraction and trouble."

She looked amused: "So, it's the master's fault?" She clapped her hands and stood up, her toes lightly touching the boat, her black dress trailing behind her, creating a fine ripple on the water's surface, and she came to stand in front of me in an instant.

"Next time, the master will not wash her hair while you are working. At that time, if you still can't complete the task, don't look for other excuses."

I nodded and asked, "What was the master doing just now... washing her hair?"

She held her wet, dark hair, tilted her head, and water droplets slid down her forehead, her temples still stuck with wet hair: "What else could it be?"

I said, "Hair isn't washed like that."

My master asked, "Then how is it washed?"

I was both surprised that someone didn't know how to wash hair and patiently explained, "Of course, with soapberry. The hair comes out fragrant and clean. Has the master never washed her hair this way?"

She shook her head.

I thought for a moment: "The master waits a moment, I'll go down to the market at the foot of the mountain to buy some soapberry."

She squinted her eyes, as if looking at me, or perhaps into the distance, for a long while before nodding. After that, I had a new task, helping the master wash her hair.

My master often said that the art of the Jin family's Qimen Dunjia is never passed on to outsiders. She probably said this to remind me at all times of the great sacrifice she made in taking me as a disciple, so that I would make up for this sacrifice in the future.

I stayed in the Moonlight Valley for four months. Although, in the master's eyes, I only learned the basics, it was enough to make a living when I returned to the mountain. So, I found a day to send me down the mountain and instructed me not to come back until I earned fifty taels of gold.

It seems that I was lucky, for the day after I left the mountain, I saw a notice posted by the county office in town, stating that they were recruiting experts in mechanical engineering to design a prison renovation. Naturally, I went and quickly designed a perfectly secure and sturdy prison.

The county magistrate invited me back to his mansion, saying that he had been in office for many years and had offended many powerful officials, and his personal safety was not guaranteed. If I could make his mansion as safe as a prison, he would reward me handsomely.

For the reward, I hid my skills, adhering to the belief of not tarnishing my master's reputation, and indeed made the mansion look as impenetrable as if an army could not breach it.

The county magistrate did not break his word; after presenting me with fifty taels of gold, he also specially took me to the treasury, generously allowing me to pick one treasure from within.

The precious jewels did not attract me, but thinking of my master, I still calmed down and picked the most valuable-looking treasure.

That's when I saw the hairpin. It was intricately carved into an openwork bluebird with its wings spread, too exquisite and luxurious to touch. I reached out and picked it up, hearing the county magistrate sigh painfully behind me.

This was the first tuition I earned, and it fulfilled my master's requirements. I thought my master would be very happy to see it.

However, upon returning to the valley, I did not find my master.

The world discusses Jin Wu, saying that she is a genius in Qimen Dunjia, a rarity in a thousand years. After the Jin family was massacred, Jin Wu's heart died, and she retreated to the Moonlight Valley, no longer concerning herself with the world, for over ten years. I have always known that my master is a very pitiful person.

But she can still smile every day as if nothing is in her heart, as if all past disasters never happened. I thought she planned to live alone in the valley for the rest of her life, accompanied by the moonlight flowers, never to return to the world.

However, it seems that this is not the case. My master has left the valley, and I don't know when she left or when she will return. Perhaps she will never come back?