I was reborn after cheating on the aloof and powerful man.

Chapter 96 8 Everyone

Fei Xi slightly raised her head, letting the skillful hands in front of her tie the ties of her emerald brocade and feather cloak.

"Grandpa Miao, where are we going later?"

Early in the morning, Fei Xi had just gotten up and finished washing up when she heard a knock on the door.

As soon as the door opened, Old Master Miao led two unfamiliar maids carrying clothes and jewelry over to help her get ready, saying that he was taking her out today.

"Our Shuohan Peak is great in every way, but unfortunately it's just a white snowscape all year round. Aren't you tired of it, girl? Today, Grandpa will take you to see what it means to be a masterpiece of nature."

"There's a Luoxia Weir on Beitian Peak in the Tianshan Mountains. At sunset, the sunset glows like brocade, a truly magnificent sight. I guarantee you'll love it, girl."

Before Fei Xi could ask anything more, a charming voice suddenly interrupted, "This servant has been there, Miss Fei. When you arrive at Beitian Peak, this servant will guide you."

"I remember that your original name was Chunyu. Are you a descendant of Chunyu Ting of the Taixu Sect?"

"Does the senior know my grandfather?" Shi Shu's eyes lit up as she asked enthusiastically.

"Ha." Old Miao chuckled but didn't reply.

The newly arrived attendant was about to say something more when the attendant who had brought Fei Xi a hand warmer glared at her, and she awkwardly shut her mouth.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Old Miao limped slowly out of the room. Just as he stepped out, he remembered something, turned back, and gave instructions to the two maids who were about to follow him:

"I'm taking Fei'er out for a while. After you two have settled in, don't linger in the room. You don't need to do anything these next few days; just familiarize yourselves with the surroundings. I'm sure your elders taught you the rules before you came. You are not allowed to enter the master's study or bedroom without permission."

"Yes, senior, where is our master now? Aren't we here to serve him?"

"The master is out and has not yet returned, so you two are not needed to serve him for the time being."

"But……"

Shi Shu wanted to say something more, but Shi Mo glared at her again. This time, Shi Shu was no longer convinced and glared back. She didn't believe that Shi Mo didn't want to see the legendary master.

Fei Xi followed Elder Miao out of the house, neither of them paying any attention to the smirks of the maids behind them.

"Girl, isn't that strange? Those maids clearly have their own names, so why does Grandpa call them Shishu and Shimo?"

"Grandpa Miao, were the former Miss Shishu and Miss Shimo from the Eight Great Families you mentioned?"

Upon hearing this, Old Miao knew that the clever girl beside him had guessed most of it correctly.

“That’s right. Every three years, the eight great families send a batch of servants to Tianshan to serve the masters of Tianshan. New servants go up the mountain and old servants go down the mountain. This has been the rule of Tianshan for many years.”

Fei Xi had many questions in her mind. She was curious about why there was such a strange rule, and what the Eight Great Families she kept hearing about were.

But Fei Xi knew that these matters involving the secrets of Tianshan were not something an outsider like her should inquire about.

She could certainly ask, but she was afraid that if Elder Miao told her, she would be punished.

Old Miao could naturally see the girl's hesitation, and a warm feeling rose in his heart. He continued with a touch of nostalgia:

"Thirty years ago, although our Tianshan Mountain did not interact with people from the outside martial arts world, our Shuohan Peak was not as deserted as it is now. It was quite lively back then."

"The mountain was filled with servants and herds of cattle and horses. Although the former master and the eight great families were nominally master and servant, they treated them like brothers. But later... alas, they turned against each other, brothers quarreled, and their hearts were like loose sand, easily scattered by a gust of wind, and they could no longer be of one mind."

"After the master took over Shuohan Peak, he disliked having too many people, and he also disliked the Eight Great Families for changing their allegiance like reeds in the wind during the internal strife in Tianshan. If it weren't for the fact that serving the master of Tianshan is an unchanging rule that has been followed for thousands of years, I'm afraid the master would never allow the members of the Eight Great Families to set foot on Shuohan Peak again."

"So, Senior Bian only allowed the eight major families to send two people up the mountain, and they had to come down when the time came?" Fei Xi suddenly had a thought that flashed through her mind, too fast for her to grasp.

"Hmph, greed knows no bounds. The Eight Great Families were disloyal first, and the master hasn't even settled accounts with them yet, but they've already started plotting against the master." Thinking of the two beautiful maids on the mountain now, Old Miao couldn't help but feel angry.

The master never asked the eight great families to send their daughters to serve as servants. What the eight great families were planning was as clear as day.

After glancing at the girl beside him who was deep in thought, Old Miao swallowed back what he was about to say.

He had been young once too, and he understood a thing or two about the thoughts of young women. If he were to say what he was about to say, it would only upset the girl.

The old man changed the subject and continued:

“Dai, Zhang, Guo, Li, Lin, Su, Chen, and Chunyu, these are the eight families who are loyal to the Lord of Tianshan.”

"Huh?" This surname... A strange light flashed in Fei Xi's eyes. She raised her hand to calculate, "Qian, Kun, Gen, Dui, Kan, Li, Zhen, Xun, the eight major families correspond to the eight trigrams?"

"On the peaks of Tianshan, amidst golden pavilions and silver towers, descending from the high heavens, stepping on the radiance of the sun and moon... This is a children's song passed down between the heavenly and earthly kingdoms, telling of the ancestor of the Tianshan lineage, Xianren. Legend has it that he used his divine power to open mountains and cleave paths, introducing the ice and snow of Tianshan, which created the divine rivers Wujiang and Yujiang that irrigate the two kingdoms of heaven and earth."

"It is said that the ancestor was like an immortal who could abstain from grains and did not need to eat. He stayed in Tianshan and refused to come down the mountain. People have been going up the mountain to look for the ancestor, but they have never been able to find him."

"Later, one day the ancestor appeared before the people and successively took in eight servants. He then divided these servants into two sides and taught them to subdue the various tribes at the foot of the mountain, thus establishing the two kingdoms of Heaven and Earth. Once, the emperor wanted to attack the two kingdoms of Heaven and Earth, but hail fell from the sky and froze all the invading enemy troops to death on the battlefield. Since then, no matter how the dynasties in the Central Plains changed, no one has ever dared to come and annex the two kingdoms of Heaven and Earth."

"Two countries, Heaven and Earth? Grandpa Miao, I've never heard of these two countries before. Where are they? Are the eight servants that your ancestor took in the current Eight Great Families?" Fei Xi had been traveling the world with her master Wei Jiucheng since she was a child to treat her injuries, and she considered herself quite knowledgeable.

But she had never heard of two countries bordering China.

"The eight servants that the progenitor took in are the eight great families of today. It's normal that you haven't heard of the two countries of Heaven and Earth. Like the Tianshan Mountains, they don't need to communicate with the outside world and can be self-sufficient. Therefore, apart from the rulers of the Central Plains and some powerful ministers, other people would not know that there are two countries on the other side of the Tianshan Mountains unless they accidentally stumbled in."

"boarding!"

Fei Xi was about to ask more questions when she suddenly heard a cold voice coming from inside the carriage.

Unbeknownst to her, she had already followed Elder Miao outside and stopped in front of a magnificent carriage.

Fei Xi shut her mouth, smiled and greeted Elder Miao and Elder Li in front of the carriage, and then climbed onto the carriage using both hands and feet.

The carriage was spacious and bright, and the windows were not covered with the usual silk curtains, but with precious glass inlaid on them.

The car was covered with a thick mink fur carpet, on which sat a small tea table, and a purple clay teapot on a bamboo stove was bubbling away.

The aloof and handsome swordsman sat upright in front of the tea table, glanced coldly at Fei Xi, then turned his head away, seemingly too lazy to look directly at the scene before him, as if his eyes had been hurt by what he saw.

Fei Xi got up from the soft mink carpet, snorted, and sat down on the side of the coffee table, turning her head away without saying a word.

She didn't know martial arts, and since the carriage was so tall, she could only climb on to get in.

Moreover, she holds grudges; compared to fear, she felt a strange sense of injustice after that sword strike the day before yesterday.

As soon as Fei Xi was seated, the carriage slowly moved forward. Old Miao did not come in; he seemed to be sitting outside, driving the carriage with Old Li.

The only heat source inside the carriage was a small stove, yet for some reason, Fei Xi felt waves of heat hitting her as soon as she entered.

Outside, it was freezing cold. Although Fei Xi wasn't dressed like a ball like before, she was wearing even more layers of warm clothing.

Once inside the carriage, the warm, spring-like interior was hit by waves of heat that made her chest feel parched. Her still-recovering body had no tolerance for the heat and simply couldn't bear it.

Fei Xi placed the hand warmer on the coffee table, tugged at the ribbon, and easily untied the bow that Shi Mo had skillfully tied. Then, she took off her warm emerald brocade cloak.

As Fei Xi pondered where to best place the cloak...

"Don't you really want your hand anymore?" The cold, indifferent voice seemed angry at her reckless behavior.

Again!

With a loud "smack," an even more furious sound rang out from inside the carriage:

"I don't need your help!"

Fei Xi was so angry that her face turned red, and tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall.

The swordsman opposite him removed the cloak that had been thrown at his face, and for the first time, his usually aloof face showed a stunned expression, as if he had not yet recovered from the bold move of the junior in front of him.