ATPnovel Chapter 571: Could This Tushan Jingci Have Come to Steal the Bride?
Chapter 571: Could This Tushan Jingci Have Come to Steal the Bride?
"Tushan clan, Tushan Jingci, has come to offer her wedding gift!"The male disciple's voice at Seeking Immortals Temple rang out loud and clear, carrying throughout the entire temple.
The instant everyone heard the four words "Tushan Jingci," their hearts all gave a sudden jolt.
Over these several decades, who did not know that Tushan Jingci's beloved was once her own page boy, and that this page boy's name was Xiao Mo?
Who did not know that Xiao Mo was the reincarnation of Tushan Jingci's beloved?
Only, in this lifetime, Xiao Mo had first entered the Buddhist order.
They had heard that Tushan Jingci had once disguised herself as an ordinary village girl and tried to approach Xiao Mo, hoping to bring him back to the Tushan clan.
But somehow, in the end, Xiao Mo had come to develop feelings for Gui Junmeng instead, and rather than returning with Tushan Jingci, he had abandoned the Buddhist path for the Daoist one and come to Seeking Immortals Temple...
And now, Tushan Jingci had come to Seeking Immortals Temple in person...
"Could this Tushan Jingci have come to steal the bride?"
For a moment, quite a few people found themselves thinking exactly this.
Moreover, no small number of the Human Alliance's cultivators found their fingers curling unconsciously, their eyes narrowing slightly, a faint, undisguised killing intent rising quietly in their depths.
After all, the Human Alliance and the demon alliance were now locked in a life-and-death struggle, and the Human Alliance's position had grown increasingly passive, hemmed in on all sides.
If they could seize this opportunity to strike Tushan Jingci down here...
For the Human Alliance, that would surely count as no small victory!
However, the moment they turned their heads and caught sight of the calm, still expressions on Gui Ning's and Tushan Xinhua's faces, that stirring impulse to kill could not help but be pressed back down, and no one dared to act rashly.
As the male disciple's voice slowly settled, a woman stepped into Seeking Immortals Temple.
She wore a robe of intense, fiery red, embroidered densely with gold thread in patterns of twin lotus blossoms and paired flying birds, the design winding and coiling from her shoulders all the way down, unbroken, spreading to the very hem of her floor-length skirt.
That long trailing wedding garment dragged across the blue stone floor, yet not a speck of dust clung to it.
At her waist, a brocade sash bound tightly around her slender, willowy waist, tracing out a full, rounded curve that rose and fell gently with her faint breathing, like a flower bud not yet bloomed, hidden beneath silk.
The woman's long, raven-black hair had not yet been fully gathered up, cascading down to her waist like a waterfall, the strands extraordinarily long and dense, gleaming with the deep, lustrous sheen of ebony wood.
A phoenix crown of fine spun red gold sat squarely upon her hair, and at its very center, a lifelike phoenix held in its beak a string of delicate golden tassels, hanging down over her smooth, unblemished forehead, swaying gently with each step she took.
Upon her brow, a plum-blossom-shaped gold foil ornament was affixed, setting off that patch of skin, fair and fine as jade, delicate as snow.
The corners of her eyes tilted up slightly, like a crescent moon just rising, her pupils black and deep, and within the shifting light of her gaze seemed to hide a thousand unspoken words, held back at the last moment. Her flawless features held not the slightest imperfection, and set against that fiery red wedding garment and exquisite red makeup, she was beautiful enough to strike the heart, impossible to look away from.
"This... this is Senior Sister Gui...?"
Someone could not help crying out softly in astonishment.
"No, no, wait, isn't Senior Sister Gui right over there..." another disciple quickly pointed toward the woman seated among the honored elders, still dressed in her wedding garment, her veil not yet lifted, his tone full of bewilderment.
Among the younger disciples of Seeking Immortals Temple, those who had never set foot on a battlefield, the moment they laid eyes on the woman in the wedding garment, nearly all of them began to doubt whether their own eyes were playing tricks on them.
This woman could no longer simply be described as resembling Senior Sister Gui.
She looked exactly like Senior Sister Gui, as though the two had been cast from the very same mold!
Among the honored elders, Tushan Xinhua looked at her other daughter, and could not help pressing her thin lips together tightly, a heavy sigh rising within her heart.
The thing she had feared most had happened after all...
In truth, in her heart, Tushan Xinhua had long guessed that a scene like this might come to pass.
After all, how could news of Xiao Mo's wedding possibly fail to reach Jingci's ears?
And how could she possibly not come?
Tushan Jingci, as though entirely unaware of her own mother and grandfather, walked forward step by step with composed, unhurried steps, her hands folded before her, her eyes fixed straight ahead without wavering.
Yueshi, Tushan Kankan, Tushan Doudou, and Tushan Yiyi followed closely behind Tushan Jingci, each of them holding an exquisite red lacquered wooden tray, covered over with red cloth.
Several decades had quietly slipped by, and those three little girls who had once peeked curiously from around corners had now grown into graceful young women, becoming Tushan Jingci's right and left hands.
They, too, had all heard of the tangled history between their Holy Woman and this "Xiao Mo."
Who knew how many times, behind his back, they had secretly cursed Xiao Mo for having eyes but no sight, for turning away from someone as wonderful as their Holy Woman, and instead breaking her heart.
They hated him so bitterly they could grind their teeth, wishing they could tear that man to pieces to vent their fury and yet, now that they had truly arrived at this wedding feast, they could not help feeling a certain unease rise within them.
Even though their Holy Woman had never said so outright, they could almost guess that her coming here today was most likely to steal the bridegroom away.
Along the way, they had already rehearsed countless times in their minds how they would help their Holy Woman win the man back. But now that the moment was truly upon them, their small hands could not help but tremble faintly.
At this moment, the main hall of Seeking Immortals Temple had fallen utterly silent, so quiet one could have heard a pin drop.
No small number of people found their breathing slowing involuntarily, their eyes fixed nervously on that red figure.
At last, Tushan Jingci came to a stop about ten paces from the couple standing at the front of the hall.
Within the temple's main hall, two extraordinarily beautiful women now stood.
Both of them wore wedding garments.
Tushan Jingci's gaze first lingered for a moment on the groom, the large red flower pinned to his chest, then shifted to the bride beside him, veiled beneath her red bridal covering.
At last, her gaze moved slowly to the red silk sash the two of them held tightly between their hands, and lingered there for a long while, unable to move away.
"Today is your day of great joy, young master Xiao, yet Jingci has arrived rather late. I hope you will forgive me, young master Xiao."
After a good while, the woman's thin, delicate red lips parted slightly, her voice clear as pearls falling onto jade, carrying an icy coldness, drifting slowly through the spacious temple hall.
"There's no need to be so formal, miss." Xiao Mo gave a respectful bow. "Miss Tushan has traveled a long way. You must be tired. Please, take a seat and rest."
"I haven't even offered my wedding gifts yet. How could Jingci possibly bring herself to sit down?"
Tushan Jingci shook her head gently, and slowly raised her arm.
That wide red sleeve slid down quietly along her arm, smooth and pale as lotus root, revealing a stretch of skin at her wrist, white as jade.
She gave a light wave of her slender hand, and Yueshi stepped forward steadily, carrying the wedding gift.
"These gifts are but a small token of Jingci's regard. I hope young master Xiao will not think them unworthy!"