In the Floating Pavilion, the transition between the old and new Shadow Guards is a significant event. Typically, a new Shadow Guard won't take over unless the current one is severely injured or dead.
However, there's an unwritten rule for every pavilion master. When they are about to ascend to the position and take charge of the pavilion's affairs, the current batch of Shadow Guards must be replaced.
Even if not all twelve Shadow Guards are replaced, the head of the Shadow Guards must be someone the new master trusts the most.
At that time, Du Yi was already seizing power from his father. Among the many things he did, one was to make Rong Zheng serve him by replacing her Shi Fu.
Even if it wasn't explicitly stated, the latter was aware and tacitly approved.
Because her Shi Fu once had a Shi Fu, and she inherited the mission from her Shi Fu.
On her deathbed, she saw her own end and also saw Rong Zheng's future.
Her disciple was so innocent and adorably honest. When her disciple had disciples of her own, would Rong Zheng walk the same fate as her?
Thinking of this made Rong Zheng's Shi Fu sad. So, she entrusted Rong Zheng with finding her own path.
Du Yi answered Rong Zheng truthfully.
He could have used countless evasive excuses, any of which would have prevented a deep rift between him and Rong Zheng.
But he chose to be honest with Rong Zheng.
"Xiao Zheng, this was the destined outcome from the beginning. Your Shi Fu knew this in her heart. She nurtured you wholeheartedly so that today, you could carry on her legacy."
Du Yi believed he was sincere enough, but the young Rong Zheng looked at him in disbelief, as if meeting him for the first time.
"Young Pavilion Master," she no longer called him by his name, "my Shi Fu was your only teacher in cultivation techniques. Every move you learned was from her.
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Shi Fu was extremely patient and gentle with you, teaching you ten times if you didn't understand once, and ten more times if needed. My fellow disciples and I would be punished with no food if we didn't learn in two tries. Did you know that?"
"That was only because... I am the pavilion master's son."
"Is that really what you think? When your father entrusted you to Shi Fu, he said to discipline you strictly. You should ask the old servant in the pavilion what hardships your father endured with his Shi Fu when he was young. Have you ever suffered like that?"
Rong Zheng's anger grew as she spoke, feeling both unworthy for her Shi Fu and sorrowful for herself.
"My Shi Fu had over ten years of friendship with you, over ten years of teaching and care, yet you are so cold-hearted.
I was just a little beggar you picked up into the pavilion, lucky to get a bowl of food from you. Young Pavilion Master, now you act like you care for me, but is it really for Rong Zheng, or for that kite that can't break free no matter how hard it tries?"
The young Rong Zheng questioned, her voice resonating, tears unknowingly streaming down her face like rain.
Du Yi looked bewildered. He couldn't understand why Rong Zheng was so insistent on distinguishing her identity.
Whether as a kite or as Rong Zheng, wouldn't she ultimately become the head of the Shadow Guards, facing life and death with him?
Standing outside the room, the adult Rong Zheng took a step forward.
She embraced her past self across the years.
"Don't ask, he won't answer you, no one will.
You were never chosen as Rong Zheng."
At that moment, Tao Mian understood why Rong Zheng insisted on retrieving her memories, even though she already knew Du Yi's death might not be simple, and they had a lost past.
She was haunted by Du Yi's last words before his death.
Oh kite, who will cut your string, who will return your freedom?
She mistakenly thought someone once cared for her, someone once did something reckless for her.
But Du Yi's words were only filled with regret.
I can't cut your string, I can't return your freedom.
Realizing this, Rong Zheng's heart was shattered.
What happened afterward was not worth detailing. Rong Zheng and Du Yi's relationship hit rock bottom, but she resolutely took up her Shi Fu's mantle.
She did it perfectly, except for a drastic change in personality, losing her past cheerfulness and optimism, everything else was flawless.
Her excellence also attracted Du Hong's covetousness. Du Hong knew that if he wanted to seize the position of pavilion master, he needed the support of the kite.
So he spent a fortune at the Thousand Lantern Tower to bring back the Forget Worries Powder. This powder was a good thing, erasing past grievances, allowing one to forget the most painful things.
Thus, Rong Zheng forgot Du Yi completely.
When the sharp blade was about to fall on Du Yi's neck, Rong Zheng was still puzzled why he always looked at her with such a complex emotion in his eyes.
Now, she finally understood everything.
Her Shi Fu was dead, and the one who caused her Shi Fu's death, Du Yi, was also dead, by her sword.
By a twist of fate, everything seemed to have come full circle.
Rong Zheng embraced her past self, looked up, and saw a flock of geese flying past the window, the chilly autumn arriving.
She wondered if the loquats in the courtyard were ripe.
"Little Tao," Rong Zheng suddenly spoke, "I want to eat loquats."
Tao Mian stepped forward and patted his disciple's head.
"When the dream is over, we'll go down the mountain to buy some."
Rong Zheng's eyes were wide open, empty inside. She looked at Tao Mian, yet it seemed she wasn't really seeing him, as if she couldn't forget the southward-flying geese.
"Little Hua?"
Rong Zheng and her past self leaned back to back, curling up her legs, hugging her knees.
She heard her ten-year-old self crying helplessly and desperately. Even though the other couldn't hear, she still had to say it.
"Don't be sad."
"Even if you were abandoned in the past, left behind now, in the distant future, you will be chosen by someone."
"That person is a bit lazy, can't cook, lives off the wind. Many tasks will need you to do. But he's a good person, he will accept you, at five, ten, fifteen, twenty-five years old."
"You have to cross the hardships in front of you, keep moving forward, a little further, and you will meet him."
"So, don't be sad."