On the long causeway on the bank of Yunmengze, the palace official and Ning Yi stood side by side, the lake under the night was not calm, the waves were undulating, constantly lapping on the embankment, rolling up thousands of white waves, and the water vapor spread, bringing out the taste of the lake.

"When did I have a relationship with the Maiden Sect?" Ning Yi suddenly asked.

The palace official was stunned for a moment, and replied: "Mr. Ning officially became the guest of the Maiden Sect in the second year of Tianbao, if it is counted from the northwest to seize the sword, it should be the first year of Tianbao, and now it is the seventh year of Tianbao, and it has been seven years since it was counted. ”

Ning Yi shook his head and said: "It's not the first year of Tianbao, but the first year of Wude, that year, I met Wanxi, and from that day on, I had a relationship with the Maiden Sect. ”

Lin Wanxi, a disciple of the Maiden Sect, is also the person who has been thinking about Ning Yi for so many years.

Hearing this name, the palace official's expression was a little unnatural, and Wen said, "Senior Sister Lin...... Isn't she alive?"

Ning Yi said softly: "Alive." ”

The palace official's expression changed slightly.

Ning Yi sighed: "But she has become a different person completely, she is as smart as a baby, except for that skin, there is no resemblance to Wanxi back then." ”

Although the palace official had already expected such a result, he couldn't help but sigh lightly.

Ning Yi said: "I left her on an isolated island overseas, and then I returned to the Central Plains alone to fulfill my promise. It's irretrievable, but I still want to know what her past looks like. ”

The palace official asked, "Didn't Senior Sister Lin mention it?"

Ning Yi shook her head and said, "She didn't say, so I didn't ask." ”

The palace official hesitated for a long time before he said slowly: "Most of the disciples of the righteous path are from famous families, such as Yan Feiqing, Su Yuncheng, Yu Qingning, Xiao Shiyu and others, all of whom are from families, not to mention the Zhang family and the Shen family, which have been passed down from generation to generation, and the people in our ten sects have all kinds of backgrounds. As far as the disciples of the Maiden Sect are concerned, there are official ladies, and there are also prostitutes who are not in the stream, and the Mainu Sect does not take the initiative to accept apprentices like the righteous path, but wants to come to the door to apprentice by themselves. I still remember the journey of apprenticeship clearly, it was very long and very bitter, as if I had never walked such a long and bitter road in the future. ”

Ning Yi asked, "You apprenticed with her?"

The palace official sighed: "At that time, the twenty of us went to the Maiden Sect together, and we had to cross a grassland and a Gobi, it was very hot during the day, very cold at night, lack of water, lack of food, and sometimes we would encounter wolves. Especially at night, dozens or hundreds of pairs of green eyes, like ghost fire, they will stand up, put their front paws on people's shoulders from behind, and when people turn back, they will bite off their necks. For me now, a pack of wild wolves is nothing, and I can kill them with a hand, but for me at that time, it was a nightmare. Fortunately, heh, fortunately, there were many male disciples of the Nu Sect who were responsible for escorting us along the way. ”

Speaking of this, the palace official's face showed a bit of sarcasm: "Of our twenty women, eight died on the road, three of them were unharmed, and the remaining ten were ruined by these people. Later, I learned that this is a means for the Nu Sect to screen disciples, and the most unfortunate ones are left to fend for themselves and die in the Gobi steppe; those with medium qualifications will break their bodies, so that they can use their bodies to manipulate men with peace of mind in the future, and only the best qualifications can keep their innocence, of course, it is not to keep themselves like jade, but to sell them for a high price. ”

Ning Yi asked, "Were the ten women forced?"

The palace official shook his head and said, "If it is forced, these women cannot be allowed to sacrifice their bodies in peace in the future." So there's a means here. In the Gobi steppe, such a long road, the women are too weak to walk, and they don't want to die here, what should they do? They can only let these strong men take them with them, but this is all at a price, in that case, the women have to take the initiative to please those men, and when it is time to rest at night, some women are taken away, and what they have done, everyone knows. Also, everyone's water and food have a ration, just to ensure that they will not die, when there is a shortage of water, when there is a lack of food, they can't bear it, if they want to eat and water, they have to change their bodies, they don't force it, it's all voluntary. ”

Ning Yi was silent for a long time, and said slowly: "The palace girl is one of the three people who have kept their innocence. ”

The palace official smiled bitterly: "One is that I was still young at the time, my mind was relatively simple, and I didn't have so many distracting thoughts. Second, I'm really better than the others. In fact, I couldn't hold on many times, and at that time I thought, it's just a big deal, and after surviving the most uncomfortable time, the whole person gradually became numb, I didn't know thirst, I didn't know hunger, and I didn't feel tired, I just rushed. I sometimes wonder if I could not bear it at that time and gave in, would there still be today's palace officials? Can I still stand here and talk with the dignified 'blood knife'? Maybe I have become a prostitute who is as good as I can do, and if those women who have given in have not given in, will they be able to take my place today? In life, sometimes one wrong step will be a catastrophe. ”

Ning Yi sighed: "They are all hard-working people. Wanxi...... Wanxi, is she also going with you to the Maiden Sect?"

The palace official nodded: "Senior Sister Lin is worshipping the Maiden Sect with me, she is older than me, so she is Senior Sister, she ......"

Ning Yi looked at the vast lake: "The dead are gone, and the living are like this." ”

The palace official spat out a breath of turbidity: "After arriving at the Lady Sect, I was favored by the master, accepted as a disciple, and practiced the 'Yin Nu Gong' for a thousand miles, so I became one of the six concubines, and the elder Qing Hui Ji was responsible for taking care of me. But there are so many women, and there is only one palace official. As for the others, in this river and lake, all their flesh and soul have been consumed, and only an empty skin bag remains. ”

Ning Yi said slowly: "Li Zifu also said something similar, he was almost starved to death in the famine, and he couldn't remember who his parents were, and he was finally adopted by the old sword god. So he wants to change the way of the world, so he scolds me for reading the book in the belly of a dog, and what about you, do you think the same way? ”

The palace official shook his head and said: "I don't have such ambitions, and Li Zifu didn't think so from the beginning, he was too deeply influenced by Zhang Suqing, and it was difficult to turn back." ”

Ning Yi said: "After going through the matter of the corpse pill, I thought about it a lot and understood a lot of things. People can't be resurrected after death, and it's useless to be nostalgic for the past, so it's better to come out and do something practical, and it's not in vain to come to this world for a while. ”

The palace official asked, "What does Mr. Nanning mean?"

Ning Yi looked at the palace official: "After the promise between us ends, I may not continue to stay by the palace girl's side." ”

The palace official lowered his eyes: "Is Mr. Ning going to leave me too?"

Ning Yi said calmly: "It's not for the palace girl, but I don't want to have anything to do with the Maiden Sect anymore, so I can be regarded as making a break with the past." ”

The palace official wanted to keep a few more words, but when the words came to his lips, he felt that these words were really pale and weak, so he could only say: "In this case, there is no need to wait until the promise is over, and when the matter in Xijing is over, Mr. Ning can leave on his own." ”

Ning Yi nodded: "Thank you." ”

The palace official suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Sun Hu's matter ......"

Ning Yi shook his head and said: "I already know about this matter, it was originally because of the requirements of the Maiden Sect that I would accept him as an apprentice, since he can't live because of his own evil, then I can't complain about others." ”

The palace official said: "Then I can rest assured." ”

After saying this, the palace official sighed and walked slowly along the embankment alone.

Ning Yi stood in place, watching the slightly slender figure of the palace official go away, and there was blood surging in the depths of his eyes, which gradually disappeared and regained his clarity.

At the other end, Song Fuchen was standing, and when he saw the palace official coming alone, he asked, "Palace girl, where are we going next?"

The palace official said in a deep voice: "Wait to see the play." ”

Song Fuchen was stunned: "What kind of play are you watching?"

The palace official stretched out his hand and pointed in the direction of the Vortex Girl Mountain: "It won't be long before the Maiden Sect will make a move, the Maiden Sect and the Xuannu Sect, one is willing to fall, the other is pretentious, no one can look down on anyone, this is a big show." ”