Chapter 177 – The Green Mountain Cannot Be Covered

Outside of the Upper Capital, the western mountain to the north, then came to the green and ghostly mountain. This mountain may seem unusual, but in the hearts of the world, is quite unusual, because this is the TianDaoDao door is located, bitter lotus master’s disciples and grandchildren, will be in this place to learn training, out of the mountain after the sword pointing to the world, help the world to help the poor.

Today, the green mountain is not all gloomy sad, all of the sky together disciples with uneasy look at the top of the black building, clenched fists, pursed lips, eyes show fear, did not say a word. From time to time, there were people who passed by on that stone path, heading towards the top of the mountain, but all of them were sullen, not even looking at these Heavenly Dao disciples.

The people who went up the mountain were many, the hierarchy was very high, including many princes and nobles in the Shangjing city, ministers and famous generals, such as Mr. Zhuang Mo Han single-handedly trained the Taifu Lord, such as Changning Marquis, such as the prefects in the various ministries and temples, and about half of the number of them, all of them were the students who had gone out from the mountain back in the day, and today, they were all back to the mountain.

In addition to the Uesugi tiger leader aimed at the southern border area, resistance to the South Qing Yanjing and Cangzhou conquest of the northern camp of the two sides of the attack, the North Qi dynasty and field, those who are talented and powerful characters, are because of this matter gathered in the green mountains, in other words, the North Qi’s capital, the center of the political center, today, completely shifted to the green mountains above.

The disciples of the Heavenly Dao guessed what had happened at the top of the mountain, because only that big event would have alarmed so many people, and their faces grew sadder and sadder.

By noon, His Majesty the Emperor of Northern Qi, dressed in civilian clothes, stepped onto the stone path of the mountain, beside him was Wolf Peach, behind him was Daoist He, and the guards were scattered under the stone path of the green mountain, not wearing dragon robes, not posing as the imperial chariot, but just grimly, hurriedly and inexorably marching up the mountain.

Tian Dao disciples kneeling on both sides of the stone path, feel even more miserable, knowing that the guardian of Da Qi, the world’s closest to God, that master ancestor, will be leaving this world.

On the Great Eastern Mountain. Emperor Qing’s overbearing true qi, which he had cultivated for decades, was poured into Master Bitter Lotus’ body with a kingly momentum. What had been cultivated and stored for decades was like a sea of water, instantly bursting through Master Bitter Lotus’ aged body.

Being on the back of the tiger back to the northern qi territory, the bitter lotus master sitting in the green mountain in the middle of the door, not a word, not into the grain of rice, face calm, the skin on the body but gradually began to crack, revealing the blood veins and sinews inside, began to disintegrate, it looks very horrible.

Fortunately, a large soft robe, covered in this great master’s body, did not let the disciples serving at the side feel more sadness.

From early in the morning, there was a steady stream of visitors from the capital city, with princes and ministers paying their respects as disciples. After meeting Master Bitter Lotus, they knew in their hearts that this should be the last time they would meet the State Master.

The second disciple, Mu Peng, who was still not allowed to have peace and quiet before his death and had been tensely regulating his master’s breath, had a somewhat hostile and vicious look on his face, but he couldn’t say anything about it, because this deathbed summons was Master Bitter Lotus’s order.

Each one of them was only seen for a few moments of time, and it was only when they met with the Tai Fu that Bitter Lotus said a few more words.

Bitter Lotus had guarded this kingdom for decades, and today he would be leaving, and even though his mind was clear about life and death, there was still something he could not let go of-exactly this kingdom. Today was his final farewell to this kingdom, as well as his final account.

Regardless of whether the Patriarch died or not, his words would definitely have a great impact on this kingdom. Therefore, he would use his last moments to speak a few words to these courtiers who manipulated the court of Northern Qi, in order to lay a more stable foundation for His Majesty the Emperor’s future rule.

Bitter Lotus looked at a military general in front of him and subconsciously fell into some sort of contemplation. There was no problem with His Majesty’s ability, he was just still a bit young, although Shen Chong had been executed and Uesugi Tiger had returned to the throne, but if he really died, would he be able to grasp the power of the military?

That military general is the main envoy of the Privy Council, after getting a few words of explanation from the State Master, he did not hear any sound, and could not help but raise his head in fear and look. In the kingdom of Northern Qi, no matter if it was the royal family or the great generals, for Master Bitter Lotus, there was always infinite reverence, because Bitter Lotus was different from Ye Liuyun of Southern Qing, who had spilled his influence and ability into every crevice of the Northern Qi court from the very beginning.

The second disciple of Heavenly Dao, Mu Peng, came close to his master’s ear and whispered, “His Majesty and the Empress Dowager have both arrived, should we summon them in?”

In the entire world, only Bitter Lotus was qualified to use the word summon to the Emperor and Empress Dowager.

Bitter Lotus calmly shook his head, the crack of skin at his neck slightly touching his shirt, tearing pain. This kind of severe pain was undoubtedly something that humans simply could not endure, yet he acted as if he did not feel anything, only frowning slightly.

Mu Peng knelt on the left side of his master’s face, looking at the bloodstains on the back of his clothes, his heart mourned greatly and he couldn’t help but cry.

This crying, kneeling in front of Master Bitter Lotus, the Privy Council’s main envoy was also in grief, coupled with the fear for the future of Northern Qi, his eyes were wet, kneeling and crawling forward two steps, kowtowed three times in front of Master Bitter Lotus, gritting his teeth and said: ”General Uesugi is in the south, and I am in the Upper Capital, unless we die, we will not allow the dynasty to be harmed in the slightest way . . even if we die, we will definitely protect His Majesty’s safety!”

Bitter Lotus gave him a look with tender eyes and said gently, “It has also been twelve years since you left the mountain, the future of my Daqi requires you to use your heart and life.”

The Privy Council’s main envoy kowtowed again, gritted his teeth and stood up to leave, his eyes were already slightly red when he left the house, and he could not help but sigh when he saw His Majesty the Emperor with an iron face outside the door.

Beiqi emperor has been waiting outside the house for a long time, at this time looking at the subject’s slightly red eyes, heart thumped, like sinking into an endless abyss, raised his steps and barged over to the house.

Wolf Peach beside him pulled his sleeve, the Emperor of Northern Qi turned back, coldly glared at Wolf Peach, Wolf Peach actually subconsciously gave birth to a trace of Ruyi – although His Majesty followed him to train in martial arts, but there was never any talent in the martial arts, however, the emperor’s might was increasingly prevalent.

“You few come in.” Master Bitter Lotus’ voice, clear and faint, traveled outside the room. The Emperor of Northern Qi straightened his clothes and with a straight face, he turned back to carry the Empress Dowager’s hand and walked into the house. At this time, within the mountain top heaven a door, in addition to sitting on the ground, has been like a dead wood in general, bitter lotus, only a few of his closest disciples, plus the emperor and the empress dowager two people.

Really like dead wood, although there is a wide soft robe to cover the body of this great master, but all the people who see the bitter lotus, the heart is a cold, seems to be through the thin layer of the robe, see the state master body like a drought field general withered cracks, as well as …… faint blood marks at the collar.

Such a heavy injury, it is true that manpower can not be undone, the Emperor of Northern Qi’s heart was cold, did not make any false pretenses, cleanly kneeled in front of the bitter lotus, kowtowed to the other side of the last head, said, “uncle ancestor.”

All people in the world worshiped the emperor, and the emperor did not worship anyone in his life. However, in his entire life, the young Emperor of Northern Qi had worshipped Bitter Lotus twice and kowtowed twice.

The first time was when he was very young, at that time of the year, when the late emperor was in his first mourning, the empress dowager hugged the little emperor and sat on top of that beautiful palace main hall in the upper capital city and kowtowed to Master Bitter Lotus, and Bitter Lotus kept them mother and son safe for more than a decade and preserved the royal family name of Beiqi in war, and allowed the little emperor to grow up.

And this second kowtow was the Emperor of Northern Qi bidding farewell to his uncle. In his heart, there had always been some sense of separation and fear for this deified uncle, yet more than that, he was still grateful.

The empress dowager sat beside Bitter Lotus, weeping with her head bowed in silence.

“Well, who will not die?” Bitter Lotus slightly lowered her eyes and said softly, “I’ve already lived for so many years, and I’ve already been considered to have picked God’s favor quite a bit. Everyone is going to die, and the one from Southern Qing is no exception.”

The truth on the Great Eastern Mountain, bitter lotus did not personally say, just by the upper Sugi tiger guessed a little, reported to the Palace of the Upper Capital. At this time, listen to the bitter lotus master so say, North Qi emperor heart chills, know really so, South Qing that peer …… powerful to this.

Looking at the emperor’s face, Bitter Lotus faintly said, “Are you afraid?”

The Emperor of Northern Qi tightly closed his lips, not knowing how to answer. His whole life, is the South Qing Emperor as the goal of struggle, and even vaguely regarded the other party as an idol, only thinking that one day, he will certainly knock down the other party, however, now found that more than ten years of the South Qing Emperor’s stoicism, but all is a falsehood, such a far-sighted monarch, compared to their own, too much older and more skillful.

Not to mention the fact that the other party was still a Great Master.

“Being afraid is also a very normal emotion.” Bitter Lotus said quietly, “When his finger nudged my brow, even I …… felt a trace of fear. This person’s emperor’s mind, patriarchal strength, there is not a single weakness or empty door in his body, but the most terrifying thing is his perseverance. For the goal of sweeping across the four fields, he was actually able to plan for decades, single-mindedly, and never had any deviation.”

“Such a character is not like a human being.” Master Bitter Lotus smiled and gave Emperor Nanqing a comment, “The world all fallaciously claims that I am the one closest to God in the world, who knows that the southern one’s emotionlessness, hatred, love, and separation is the true God.”

“Could it be that …… for Nanqing, we really don t have any way out?” Trembling voice asked this sentence to come, is the wolf peach, he knows that his majesty heart also want to ask this question, just as the emperor, can not open his mouth.

“A person who has reached the peak in all three aspects of martial arts and worldly power as well as wisdom, such a person is naturally impossible to defeat.” Bitter Lotus was a little tired, closed his eyes and said, “Trying to defeat him from the outside is basically impossible.”

The Emperor of Northern Qi was still kneeling in front of Bitter Lotus at this time, two emotions flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly leaned down and worshiped, “Uncle Ancestor, I …… want to go to the temple of the …… gods.”

Divine temple!

These two words came out of the emperor’s mouth, the whole room was quiet, none of the six people answered. Wolf Peach and his third senior brother, White Sam, looked at each other, both seeing the shock in each other’s eyes, while Wooden Pong gently supported his master’s body and glanced at His Majesty in surprise. In an instant, the emotions in the eyes of these three great disciples of Heavenly Dao turned to seriousness and vague excitement. Yes, in today’s world, no one can defeat the Southern Qing Emperor, yet …… there is still the Divine Temple. With the posture of an immortal, against a mortal, is there no way?

The divine temple is vague and ethereal, just a myth or a legend, but these six people in the room know clearly in their hearts that after Sean’s death, the only one who knows that the divine temple does exist and knows where it is located, there is another one.

It was none other than Bitter Lotus!

The Emperor of Northern Qi had never died of the idea of sacrificing to the divine temple so as to gain the support of the arcane power, and back then, he had been so determined to get Sean back into captivity that he had even gone so far as to engage in a frontal confrontation with the power of Bitter Lotus’s faction just because he wanted to know about that secret that was in Sean’s mind.

“Temple?” Master Bitter Lotus slowly opened his eyes and looked at His Majesty the Emperor who was kneeling in front of him.

The Emperor of Northern Qi had expected his uncle’s eyes to be very stern and angry, because the only person in the world who had ever been to the Divine Temple was him, and he was also the one who had always gone out of his way to hide the true existence of the Divine Temple from the entire world. However, Bitter Lotus’s eyes only showed a faint mockery, and a hint of an extremely complicated smile. He knew that, including his own disciple, in the face of the powerful Southern Celebration Sovereign, everyone had subconsciously developed the idea of being unable to defeat the other party, and only then would they pin their hopes on the vague and ethereal divine temple.

“I know where the divine temple is.” Bitter Lotus slowly closed his eyes once again, “But I won’t tell you.”

Everyone beside him looked shocked, thinking that if you are going to take this secret into the yellow earth, then how can the Da Qi kingdom be preserved?

Bitter Lotus closed his eyes and said softly, “The temple …… is just a pair of eyes, it has always been out of the world, why bother to disturb.”

Not waiting for the crowd to reply, the corners of Bitter Lotus’ lips revealed a self-deprecating smile, “Besides, do you guys think that the temple is really omnipotent?”

He opened his eyes and stared at His Majesty the Emperor in front of him, saying in a serious tone, “Don’t put your hopes, on a thing that doesn’t exist in hope.”

“Your Majesty …… Before I went to the Great Eastern Mountain this time, I had a meeting with the Four Gu Swords once, and I have made sufficient preparations for the situation at the top of the mountain.” Bitter Lotus looked at him and said quietly, “Do you know what we guessed Emperor Qing’s last card is?”

The Emperor of Northern Qi shook his head in some confusion. Although he was the supreme being on earth, he was still terrified of such strange existences as the Grand Master and the Divine Temple.

“Four Gu Swords and I thought that Emperor Qing’s final backer was the people from the Divine Temple.” Bitter Lotus smiled gently. While the others in the room were shocked, could it be that the Emperor of Qing had a secret connection with the Divine Temple?

Bitter Lotus smiled and said, “If it was just the divine temple coming, then it would not be enough to fear, the fear is that the divine temple has broken its own rules, but then the Emperor of Qing doesn’t have the ability to do that either.”

There is no one in the world who understands the temple better than Bitter Lotus, although his understanding is only the shallow layer outside, but he understands that person, it is enough. The Temple of God did not interfere in the affairs of the world, but if someone did come to help Emperor Qing, then that blind man in black on the mountaintop would definitely be on the other side of the Temple. This was the reason why Bitter Lotus never worried about this matter.

“There is no divine emperor in the world, nor is there a savior.” Bitter Lotus sighed sadly, thinking of what that little fairy had said to him and Sean many, many years ago, “When you reach the realm of the great masters, you will realize that the temple of the gods is actually nothing more than that, an existence that does not appear in the world, what is the difference between that and a dead thing.”

Although he was about to die, but in his light words, he revealed an extremely calm, cool and accurate assessment of the divine temple.

“Then what should we do?”

Although the fire in the heart of the Emperor of Northern Qi was still burning, and would not be dissuaded from searching for the Divine Temple just because of Master Bitter Lotus’s two words, he knew that he couldn’t ask any more questions because Uncle Bitter Lotus didn’t have much time.

“When a person cannot be knocked down from the outside, one can only hope that something is wrong within him.” Bitter Lotus said softly, “If the Southern Qing wants a large army to go north, it will take at least three years, and His Majesty will have to think of every possible way to drag this out for a longer period of time.”

“Stall the time?” The Emperor of Northern Qi repeated in his mind, his brow furrowed, this was only a cure.

“The longer we drag this out, the more favorable it will be for us, because no one knows what will happen on the Southern Qing side.”

“You mean …… Fan Xian?” The Emperor of Northern Qi looked at Bitter Lotus’ aged features in surprise, pursed his thin lips, and shook his head firmly, “Fan Xian is not enough to change Emperor Qing’s mind, and no one can. …… And he is, after all, a native of Qing, and it is always unlikely that he will stand on the side of my Da Qi.”

“Who knows?” Master Bitter Lotus looked at him with a calm look, “Fan Xian was originally different from anyone else.”

“He is Emperor Qing’s illegitimate son, and …… Emperor Qing trusts him.” The Emperor of Beiqi expressed the opposite opinion very stoically, “What I can give him, Emperor Qing can give him more …… Besides, even if he voted for me, it’s unlikely that he’ll do any damage to the world’s power.”

“But you forget that he is also the son of the Ye family’s young lady.” Bitter Lotus’ smile looked a little weird, “And you’ve always still underestimated Fan Xian’s role. Don’t always think of him as a Poetry Immortal, a Southern Qing prince, a powerful minister, these seemingly important figures. His most important identity is actually the son of the Ye family’s young lady, and he has inherited and mastered many very important things.”

The Emperor of Northern Qi was shocked in his heart and looked up at Master Bitter Lotus in dismay, his heart turning over in huge waves. He heard the meaning of what his uncle’s words said, but simply couldn’t believe it. Being able to share the benefits brought about by the inner treasury in Jiangnan through Fan Xian’s hands was already the best situation the Emperor of Beiqi could imagine, but to hear what Uncle Ancestor meant …… was …… actually expecting Fan Xian to move the entire inner treasury to Beiqi?

“Something like a Grand Master can be used to mess up a country, but it cannot be used to conquer and build a country.” Bitter Lotus said mildly, “Emperor Qing is never going to single-handedly pick the world. Military power, national power, you can’t have one without the other, and when wars are fought to the end, it is still national power that is relied upon.”

“Unless Emperor Qing runs to the Upper Capital to be the enemy of ten thousand people ……,” Bitter Lotus’s smile appeared amused, “But he is a person who is so serious and so looking forward to writing a glorious name in history, how can he be as crazy as the Four Gu Swords .”

Emperor Bei Qi’s lips were a little dry, still unable to trust Bitter Lotus’ judgment. Fan Xian Fan Xian, why would he come to vote for himself when he’s not a prince for good reason? Could it be because of that agreement between Master Aunt Haitang and him? But who would believe that an empty agreement could make Fan Xian pay such a large price.

The others were silent, listening to the conversation between Bitter Lotus and the Emperor of Northern Qi. Bitter Lotus looked at the emperor and said softly, “But even if you are counting on Fan Xian, you can’t show anything in these last two years.”

“Understood, I will immediately start making arrangements to lay my hands on Fan Sicheng.”

Bitter Lotus nodded, his heart was filled with relief, His Majesty was indeed too intelligent, he only slightly mentioned it, he knew what he should do so as not to arouse the suspicion of Emperor Nanqing.

“Earlier, I said to stall for time.” Bitter Lotus bowed his head and said, “After I die, Mu Peng, you will immediately go down the mountain and go to Southern Qing.”

The crowd looked at Bitter Lotus in surprise, not knowing why he was specifically assigning tasks to his second disciple Mu Peng at this time, although there were not many Heavenly Dao disciples, of the four disciples, Mu Peng had always been the most low-profile, the weakest link, with nothing to rely on except for his medical skills.

“You live in the mountains all year round, not many people in the outside world know what you look like.” Bitter Lotus gently coughed twice, but covered it with his hand, not letting the blood spurt out, looked at the second disciple beside him and said in a harmonious voice, “I want you to go to Nanqing, you don’t have to do anything, just find a way to cure Chen Pingping’s illness.”

Cure for Chen Pingping? Everyone was even more shocked. What is that Chen Pingping, the Qing Emperor’s closest and most loyal subjects, whether it was thirty years ago, or just happened in Kyoto East Mountain, Chen Pingping played the biggest role in the middle of it, heard that this Qing Emperor’s old black dog’s body is getting worse and worse, and it looks like he can’t live for a few years, the people of Beiqi and Dongyi are all joy in their hearts……. And the Bitter Lotus masters, they even let his own disciple with superb medical skills to cure him!

Bitter Lotus stared sternly at Mu Peng: “No matter what, I want you to guarantee that Chen Pingping will be able to live, and won’t die naturally because of illness or something like that!”

These were very heavy words, and although Mu Peng was uncertain in his mind, he still bowed his head and agreed. Everyone else in the room looked at Bitter Lotus, seemingly wanting to hear an explanation, but Master Bitter Lotus was silent.

This is the last move that Bitter Lotus sacrificed before his death, after stabilizing the internal dynasty of Qi, he cast his eyes to the south, there are two moves that have already been thrown out first, and Chen Pingping’s side, is the sticky one that he closed his hand.

Master Bitter Lotus is not the Emperor of Qing, he did not weave a decades of shocking big picture, but only based on a long, long time ago, for that little fairy’s knowledge, these decades of career on the human nature of the prying eyes, as well as for the matter of the Great Eastern Mountain, certain slightly out of the game of the existence of the game, and extremely keenly captured a glimpse of light.

He was using guessing, he guessed that the internal of Qing Guo, behind the immediate calm, there was still a hidden old trouble that tore the hearts of the people. And if Chen Pingping died of illness and natural old age, then Bitter Lotus’s guesses about human nature would not serve any purpose, so he had to make sure that Chen Pingping could live well until a certain day in the future, when a certain person didn’t want him to live anymore.

All things seemed to be arranged, Master Bitter Lotus had no more expectations for this world, he closed his eyes and seemed to be about to fall asleep.

The empress dowager forced to hide the sadness and fear in her heart, said with a trembling voice: “How will the Taoist sect be disposed of in the future?”

Tianyi Road door is deeply planted in the country dynasty, bitter practitioners are traveling in half the world, vaguely, with the South Qing Qing temple system also has some contact, such a large force, after the death of bitter lotus, in the end how to arrange, this is also the most important thing. Just at this time there are three major disciples of Bitter Lotus in the door, these three people in the way of identity, unable to open their mouths to ask.

Master Bitter Lotus still had his eyes closed, seemingly a little tired, and said softly, “The Dao Sect is handed over to Haitang.”

Everyone bowed and answered the order, the three great disciples including Wolf Peach were not surprised, the emperor and the empress dowager were also clear that many years ago, Master Bitter Lotus had already made this decision, and everyone had long since treated Miss Haitang as the next generation leader of the Heavenly Dao.

Just where is Haitang today?

Everyone has questions in their mind, it is said that last night Haitang was still on the mountain, but at this time is nowhere to be found, when Master Bitter Lotus was dying, this most beloved disciple, this successor of Heavenly Tree Road, but did not accompany the master’s side.

“Haitang is going to run some errands.” Master Bitter Lotus closed his eyes and said softly, “During these three years, she won’t be coming back ……The affairs of the Heavenly Dao will be left to Wolf Peach, and this green mountain will be left to ……your little sister.”

This sentence he said to the Wolf Peach trio. Although the outer matters of the Heavenly Dao were handed over to Wolf Peach, the green mountain …… was the foundation of the Heavenly Dao. Junior sister? The three Wolf Peach disciples looked at each other, could it mean …… Miss Fan?

Beiqi emperor eye pupils shrink, immediately understand the meaning of this sentence, the heart began to prepare, how to make this thing work – suppress Xia Mingji, but let Fan Ruo Ruo’s name shines in the Castle Peak above, the state master really good means, the more this is done, the more the South Qing emperor suspected that Beiqi deliberately provoked, but will not be Fan Xian suspicion, for the Beiqi The more he does this, the more the Southern Qing Emperor suspects that Northern Qi is deliberately stirring up trouble, but he will not be suspicious of Fan Xian.

Only until now, the Emperor of Beiqi still could not believe that Fan Xian would one day come to his own country with an incredibly generous dowry.

After delivering all the mundane matters, Bitter Lotus closed his lips and did not say another word. He quietly felt the passing of life within his body, and while he was slightly perplexed, there was an additional trace of slightly joyful realization, and all of the passing of these years seemed to float before his eyes, and those images finally stopped decades ago, resting on that piece of snow that seemed to have no end in sight.

In his last moments, Master Bitter Lotus remembered the scavenging vultures that screeched shrilly and strangely in the sky, the subordinates who had fallen to their deaths on the road.

The never-ending darkness, the shimmering light inside the tent in the darkness, the silent Sean, and the human arms that had been neatly yards of themselves at the edge of the tent.

That black and blue temple built on a mountain, incomparably majestic.

The blind man who killed his way out of that temple.

The little girl who ran out of that temple.

Human flesh wasn’t very tasty. One had already lived for so many more years, and knowing what a divine temple looked like, what was there not to be satisfied with? A generation of great masters, Bitter Lotus, thus immersed in memories, passed away with a complicated smile.

On top of an ice field in the northern part of Beiqi, a girl wearing clothes made from animal skins was greeting the people in her tribe in the barbarian language. The girl’s face was red and full of smiles, but her eyes showed a faint touch of sadness and confusion.

The snowstorms for several years in a row made it impossible for the northern barbarians to survive in this wilderness. So the tribes that the famous general of a generation, Uesugi Tiger, had spent several years unable to subdue, began to bypass the high veins of the sky and move towards the warmer south.

Already many clans had settled in the grasslands to the northwest of the Kingdom of Qing, only they had paid the price of many lives to be accommodated by those distant relatives.

And there were still some clans, as well as the old, weak, women and children, surviving in the icy wasteland in the north. Perhaps it was because the clans had decreased so much that the few prey items actually supported these people to survive.

Just a short while ago, a girl who was said to be a lost member of the Kharna tribe came to these tribes and began to follow the big guys in hunting and herding sheep. Everyone liked this girl family, because she was very diligent, she was very capable, even the strongest horse to her hands, only obedient, even the most ferocious beasts, seem to be afraid of hurting her and fled far away.

The simple and straightforward barbarians just didn’t like the way this Kharna girl walked, because in such a difficult environment, that method of walking three steps at a time just seemed like too much of a waste of energy.

Everyone agreed that she had a nice name though, Songzhi Xianling – as if it meant some sort of flower in full bloom.