“My Peaceful Life With the Heroine I Once Fought”

Chapter 7: An Invitation and a Choice

Three days passed like falling leaves—quiet, graceful, and a little too fast.

By the fourth morning, Jingyang Village stood still once more as Qin Yuxian's carriage reappeared on the dusty road, gleaming under the pale sun. His appearance this time was calmer, but the energy he brought seemed heavier. He came not with just words—but a scroll bound with a jade seal, stamped in the name of the Imperial Council of the Eastern Provinces.

Yu Zhen stood in the yard, flanked by Lan Yueran and Madam Yue, watching the carriage doors open.

Qin Yuxian stepped down, holding the scroll with both hands.

"This isn't just from your father," he said, meeting Yueran's eyes. "The Summit has changed."

Yu Zhen raised an eyebrow.

Yuxian turned to him. "There's a new agenda. A cultivator from the countryside—someone unknown to the major sects—has caught attention."

Yu Zhen said nothing.

Yuxian continued. "You've been named in the letter, Yu Zhen."

---

Yu Zhen opened the scroll that evening after dinner.

The family had been quiet since Yuxian left it behind. Even Yu Lian—usually full of jokes—sat still, sipping sweet soup and glancing at her brother every few minutes.

By candlelight, Yu Zhen read silently.

Lan Yueran watched him from across the room.

"What does it say?" she finally asked.

Yu Zhen looked up. "They want to test me."

"Test you?"

"Apparently, someone reported my swordplay at the river last month. And the way I—" he paused "—'shattered the earth with a single strike'."

Yueran frowned. "You weren't even trying."

"I know."

He placed the scroll down. "They want me to appear before the Eastern Council. As a guest candidate for their Five Mountain Trials."

Yueran's breath caught.

"That's an invitation only offered once every generation."

Yu Zhen nodded. "And now it's being offered to a village boy."

She met his eyes. "Are you going?"

---

The question lingered between them for hours.

Yu Zhen sat beneath the old peach tree after midnight, alone but restless. His fingers toyed with the edge of the scroll, rolling and unrolling it with soft creaks.

Lan Yueran found him there.

"You're thinking too loudly," she said, sitting beside him.

"I didn't ask for this."

"I know."

"They want a show. A rising star from nowhere. A mystery to parade."

"Maybe. Or maybe they feel something different in you. Because there is."

He didn't respond.

She looked at him. "Do you want to go?"

"No."

"But?"

"…But I can't ignore it either."

She nodded. "Because you still feel it inside you. That pull."

Yu Zhen finally looked at her. "Do you?"

Lan Yueran lowered her gaze. "Every time I draw my sword."

---

The next morning, Madam Yue placed a wrapped bundle on the table. Dried rations, medicine powder, and a clean robe lay folded within.

Yu Lian handed him a simple wooden pendant. "For luck," she said, not meeting his eyes.

Even Yu Hao, the youngest, clung to his leg. "Big Brother, don't let those capital people bully you."

Yu Zhen smiled faintly. "I'll return soon."

Lan Yueran stood beside the gate, holding her sleeves tightly. "I'll go with you," she said.

Yu Zhen blinked. "You don't have to."

"But I want to."

Their eyes met.

Then he nodded.

---

The journey to the provincial capital took three days by carriage. Qin Yuxian remained mostly quiet, occasionally glancing at Yueran but never asking questions. It was clear now—whatever hopes he once held had begun to crumble.

By the second night, they made camp near a riverbank, where moonlight shimmered like silver on the surface.

Yueran approached Yu Zhen as he practiced with a wooden blade near the trees.

"Still preparing?" she asked.

"I haven't held a real sword in years."

"You fought bandits with a stick last month and made them weep."

He smirked.

She watched him for a moment longer. "If you go to the trials… and they realize what you really are…"

"They won't," Yu Zhen said quietly. "Not unless I choose to show them."

"And if they push you too far?"

"I walk away."

She nodded. "And if you can't?"

He turned to her. "Then I protect you first."

---

On the third day, they arrived at Dengwei City, a sprawling capital built into the cliffs, with waterfalls that flowed into canals crisscrossing between towers. Banners bearing the marks of the Five Great Sects flew from the walls, and cultivators in ceremonial robes moved like flowing clouds through the streets.

Yu Zhen looked up at the vast arena built into the side of a mountain.

"So this is where they hold the trials."

Lan Yueran stepped beside him. "Yes. It's where legends are made. And where people fall."

Qin Yuxian approached, now dressed in his clan's full regalia.

"You will meet the council tomorrow morning," he said. "They've prepared a public audience."

Yu Zhen raised an eyebrow. "Public?"

Yuxian nodded. "They want to see what kind of person you are."

Yu Zhen smiled faintly.

"Then I hope they're ready for disappointment."

---

That night, Yu Zhen and Lan Yueran stayed in a quiet guesthouse just outside the outer sect walls. As she brushed her hair in the candlelight, Yueran spoke without turning.

"If they ask who you are…"

"I'll say I'm Yu Zhen," he replied.

"And if they ask where you come from?"

"I'll say I come from a village with peach blossoms and terrible rice."

She laughed quietly.

He stepped behind her and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm not going to let the past define this life."

She turned to face him.

"But it's still a part of you."

"Yes. But so are you."

Yueran hesitated—then reached up and held his hand against her cheek.

"We'll face it together, then."

Yu Zhen nodded.

"Together."