It had been more than a week since, Cangse Sanren silently disappeared. Nobody knew why nor did she tell anyone. It happened on the same day when Wei Changze and Jiang Fengmian went on a stroll. They found a letter saying

' I am grateful for Yunmeng Jiang sect's hospitality. Since I'm fully recovered, I decided it was best for me to leave.'

But what made Jiang Fengmian worried and Wei Changze snap was,

'Something interesting caught my eyes and something tells me that our paths will cross again.'

The weeks in Yunmeng only grew busier as certain sect increased their visits. Madam Liu had increased her visits to Lotus Pier and Jiang Fengmian was having hard time because of it.

Meishan Yu sect started suggesting that it was time for Sect Leader Jiang to get married as well, since he was the only leader among big 5 sects who hadn't had a wife yet. Not only did they suggest but they also started advising him that Sect Leader Jiang needed someone strong to run the sect alongside. Someone exactly like Lady Yu Ziyuan.

Wei Changze was away on specific mission, Jiang Fengmian assigned him personally,

"You told me to trust my heart A-Chang and my heart says she's not the one behind it."

Wei Changze bowed and set out for his mission. The mission to find Cangse Sanren.

The way Cangse Sanren left Yunmeng Jiang was suspicious for many people and cultivators only give leery remarks on Yunmeng Jiang sect because of the new rumors.

Many cultivators claimed that they had witnessed the Queqia bridge close to Yunmeng. With the limited knowledge back then it was considered the bridge between life and death. But rumors didn't just end there, some cultivators claimed that they spotted a woman forcing people to cross the bridge, pointing straight to their deaths. The only person who they had seen using the Queqia bridge was Cangse Sanren.

Not that it was an evil trick. In fact, the bridge was cultivated as an alternative for Heavens Gate. Not all people could summon the gate and send the spirits back to Nine Realms. It was powerful to the point that cultivator didn't bother using it. With time many methods and spells were cultivated instead.

Sect Leader Jiang didn't pay mind to those rumors at first thinking it just the same, rumors but Wei Changze was visibly worried.

The Duo clearly had a connection!

Right after Wei Changze left, another rumor broke out. A Cultivator of Yunmeng Sect was seen crossing the bridge, Queqia bridge.

"How about we go?" Lady Yu elegantly placed her cup of tea on the table. Her every moment was precise and firm. Her long fluttering hair and air of confidence that she carried matched the glare in her eyes. She was indeed fine example of beauty and power. It would charm anyone. Anyone but him.

"Pardon, Lady Yu?" Jiang Fengmian didn't realize that he had been staring into his cup for long. But who could blame him? Days passed and Wei Changze didn't return nor did he send any information regarding the Situation. He prayed desperately for Wei Changze to return, possibly with smiling Cangse Sanren and prove all the rumors wrong, but when the life is on the clock, the sand falls rapidly.

"Sect Leader Jiang, I do not want to pry but if rumors are true then Young Master Wei is in danger." As if she read his thoughts. Yu Ziyuan got up with hiss of the Zidian. Jiang Fengmian got up abruptly following her lead.

There only clue was Xiang River. The lotus lakes were derived out of the Xiang River and it led to lakes in Meishan Yu Sect which were under the protection of XiangShuishen Deity.

Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan reached the Xiang River and found nothing out of the ordinary. They checked the premises and found nothing. That's why they found it even more strange. If they had encountered something, things could have been justified but there was nothing, no soul, no spirit no presence. It was too quiet.

"A-Chang!" Jiang Fengmian was drowning in worry. He didn't care if he attracted any evil or open any traps. He started shouting his friends name praying for a reply. Despite her cold composure, concern was plastered all over Yu Ziyuan's face.

"A-Chang!" Jiang Fengmian didn't care if he looked jumbled or untidy, he didn't even care to wipe away his tears. Rumors were true then...

Just few days ago he was imagining the possibility of losing Wei Changze but having come face to face with the situation was the finest state of devastation.

"Yuan Yuan!" came a voice, more like a shriek, it echoed in the emptiness of the forest. Yu Ziyuan had found a cave just on the foot of Buzhou Mountain. When the spark of her Zidian light the part of the cave, the person inside shouted her name.

Jiang Fengmian had heard it as well. His feet faster than his brain and in no time he was inside the cave standing in front of familiar figure.

"Yuan Yuan.." Cangse Sanren said weakly. She looked as if she would faint any minute. Her body was bruised and cuts were visible all over her. She was holding a body with her trembling arms, crying asking for help.

The scene broke him! Not only he found the love of his life in such a miserable the state but he also recognized the body in her arms.

"A-Chang!" subconsciously, Jiang Fengmian leaped towards his friend, shaking him to wake him up but there was no response.

Yu Ziyuan searched for his pulse and jolted, there was no pulse!

"Save Changze!" Cangse Sanren was sobbing, crying loudly while clinging into the cold body in her arms. The three of them were so shook that they didn't even know what to do. Their minds went blank and all the senses lost to dark void.

"Just what the hell happened?!" Yu Ziyuan shouted and when the other didn't stop crying, she slapped her, hard. Bringing her back to her senses. Not only it woke Cangse Sanren but also Jiang Fengmian who immediately grabbed Wei Changze and mounted his blade.

"T-take us to Lotus Pier! I need to save him!" Cangse Sanren was helped out by Yu Ziyuan, she supported her and mounted her blade.

The 4 of them reached Lotus Pier and many were surprised to see them. The Yunmeng Disciples didn't believe the rumors but they were not the only disciples who had witnessed this scene.

Cangse Sanren requested for all the blank talismans as disciples could find.

She laid the man straight on the blood array she created with her own blood and made a barrier out of talismans. It was also the first time people had witnessed a cultivator using blood to write on the talismans. Nobody really knew how to perceive the situation. What to believe and what not to believe.

"Lady Sanren." Jiang Fengmian placed his hand on her shoulder, even he was uncertain of what happened and what to believe.

"I need to save him, please!" Cangse Sanren didn't care If she sounded rude, talking to the sect leader in such a way. The only thing her brain supplied was to save Wei Changze.

[Flashback]

It didn't take long for Wei Changze to find Cangse Sanren, in fact it was too easy for him to find her. As if the paths were laid straight for him reaching for a single destination in mind.

"What are you doing?" Wei Changze caught the wrist of the lady who was trying to sneak inside a residence.

"Chang Chang" Shamelessly and informally she called the cultivator who let go of her wrist the moment she spoke. It was the first time, Cangse Sanren had addressed him like that and Wei Changze didn't understand why his body started to heat up.

"L-lady Sanren, do you realize that you are trying to sneak inside Cloud Recesses?"

"Aiya, that's why I've been sending My Dangdinghe, but since there's no reply I am going in."

Dangdinghe were spiritual birds, mostly cranes. These were also the birds who carried the Queqia bridge and here people thought that she was killing people for their souls, funny how rumors deviate so much from the truth.

"Lady Sanren!" Wei Changze was both relieved and shocked. How could someone be capable of so much yet was able to none?

"We should formally get permission to enter the Chambers." Wei Changze tried his best to made some sense into her.

"Chang Chang, Master Qiren didn't grow his goatee in one day. He would kick me out before I can even step inside." He certainly would.

"You have only yourself to blame." Wei Changze mouthed his thoughts.

"Alright Alright!" She hopped on the big wall of the Gusu Sect carefully speculating the area.

"Lady Sanren! I still think we should ask for permission first! What would happen if you get caught?" The woman was so dangerous, she could wreck whole Yunmeng sect in a day if she allowed any freedom. Wei Changze shivered at the thought.

"How about you stay here and guard the area?

Protect me okay!"

Cangse Sanren jumped inside without waiting for his reply but even he wanted to Wei Changze couldn't reply. Her last sentence put him on edge. She was smiling so brightly that nothing could outshine that. But why did her words sound so painful to him? Why did she always made him go weak? Why couldn't he remove her image from her mind. She was indeed dangerous!

Wei Changze slanted his back on the same wall, grabbing his heart attempting to slow it down. But its each beat only sung her name.

. . .

"I assume you are the one who sent these beautiful creatures." She twirled around, waving the Dangdinghe around her long slender fingers. Her honey colored eyes reflected light giving the perfect shade of Hazel. It was a pity that such a beauty was locked inside such a lonely cottage.

"If you knew I was here why didn't you send any replies?" Cangse Sanren was sitting on the window dangling her legs in the mid air.

"I'm afraid if I did something, you couldn't come inside." She had a point, not everyone was as clever as Cangse Sanren who would enter without undetected.

"Oh! You know I could be an assassin and take your life, you shouldn't invite strangers like that inside."

"But you aren't, besides something tells me that we will be connecting someday." Madam Lan mused, it was a gut feeling of sort. If only she lived long enough to see her words come true.

"Judging from your Danghinghe, you aren't an ordinary cultivator. How may I assist such a fine lady?" Madam Lan patted the side of her bed, motioning Cangse Sanren to join her.

"How could Someone capable of killing a Qiangbe, didn't escape such an anile prison?" Cangse Sanren hopped off the window and sat next to woman. She could feel her gentle aura that's why she didn't understand why she killed Qingheng Jun's Laoushi.

"You seem to be well informed." Madam Lan poured her a cup of tea while retaining her gentle smile.

"Of course, it's part of what I do." Cangse Sanren accepted the cup and took a sip.

The two maidens enjoyed afternoon light, sight of genitals and the aroma of the tea. They looked like friends since tender age but the truth was, they had just met.

"Maiden...-

"Sanren."

"Lady Sanran, Do you believe in Love?"

Love indeed!

Its not that she didn't believe in it, Cangse Sanren had different definition for it.

But one thing she was sure was that the Love wasn't meant for her. It was love that she lost part of her soul and it was love that she had to descend the mountain. It was all Love's fault that she was dying every day unable to stay close the people she held dear.

"If I say I'm afraid of it, would you believe me?" For the first time, Cangse Sanren's gleeful voice was emotionless. She had found someone she could open her heart to. Someone who felt the same way.

"Of course." Madam Lan reassured. She got up and walked towards the blue genital flowers that she had placed in her porch.

"You see, I am too, afraid of Love."

She uttered those words so softly that the slightest gust of wind could mask them but the effects of those words was so heavy that even a thunder storm would fail in comparison.

. . .

The man was resting so gently against the wall. The way he breathed perfectly aligned with the soft drift of the clouds. The flash of the sun shined through the shaft of his blade. For the first time, Cangse Sanren was seeing the man in different a light. For the first time, she wasn't afraid.

"Chang Chang!"

The soft whisper made his eyes flutter open. He didn't realize that he had ventured to the land of dreams. He was suppose to be on guard protecting the other yet he felt so light immersed in her thoughts.

"Lady Sanran!" He called.

The pair of eyes when met, erased everything around them. It was them and the songs sung by their hearts. She stood tall on the edge of the wall, he stood low ready to accept all the blows.

If he catches me I...

She decided to let go, decided to set free, giving her all of her to him. Trusting him even with her life.

He decided to accept, decided not to run away, embracing with all of his might. Giving her even his life.

For the first time they saw eye to eye.

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Sorry for Errors and thank you for reading.