IVYSCP - Chapter 83

Chapter 83

"I asked Gu Huai. She's quite certain the other half of this body's bloodline isn't Blood Demon." Ling Qingyue touched her own face, then squeezed her arms and shoulders, curious. "What exactly is this thing?"

Pei Yin couldn't hold back a light laugh. "Who talks about themselves like that?"

That ridiculous thought surfaced again. She asked quietly, "Tell me, could this body actually be the Formless Demon Lord's?"

Pei Yin raised an eyebrow at her. "?"

"How did you even arrive at that?"

"Gu Huai said so. The only thing besides Blood Demon blood that can demonize spiritual objects is the Formless Demon Lord. And she's so sure I don't have Blood Demon bloodlines, so that leaves the Formless Demon Lord."

Ling Qingyue had seen the Formless Demon Lord. She had died by her hand, after all. The impression was still deep.

The Formless Demon Lord wore a ghost mask, revealing only a pair of eerily spectral eyes. Inside them was utter desolation.

Demons didn't like wearing clothes. Even the Twelve Blood Demons, whose names alone struck terror, were the same. Their bodies were shrouded entirely in demonic qi. You could barely make out hands, feet, and heads. The exposed parts were all dripping flesh and blood, deeply unsettling. Only the Formless Demon Lord and one of her trusted aides wore clothes. The hands, feet, and necks they exposed were covered all over with demonic markings.

There were many rumors about the Formless Demon Lord's appearance and plenty of portraits too, but most depicted a demonic, spectral visage. Some even showed her with three noses and six mouths. In Ling Qingyue's imagination, however, the Demon Lord probably looked about the same as the Twelve Blood Demons.

Thinking of the Formless Demon Lord, Ling Qingyue shook her head repeatedly, trying to fling her out of her mind.

A hand settled on top of her head and rubbed.

A woman's clear, cool, gentle voice fell beside her ear. "Don't overthink it. The Formless Demon Lord was publicly executed by your honored master before the entire Hundred Immortal Sects. Her physical body was destroyed, her soul scattered. I witnessed it with my own eyes. The Demon Race hides many secrets. This body of yours may have another explanation."

Ling Qingyue's heart settled. She gave her a smiling, crescent-eyed look.

Not a word of their conversation leaked out. Behind them, Xue Zizai and Pei Xi could only see their lips moving.

Realizing they were once again discussing something she knew nothing about, Xue Zizai's brows darkened and she gave a cold snort.

Pei Xi glanced at her. "They have secrets and you're unhappy? You don't have secrets?"

She liked people with lots of secrets. The more secrets, the deeper and more numerous the dreams, and the more delicious they were.

Just thinking about it made her drool. Pei Xi licked her lips.

Xue Zizai said nothing. Seeing the two ahead start walking, she lifted her foot and followed.

The pair in front slew quite a few demonic creatures along the way. Aside from the initial swarming rush, the later creatures only dared to hide in the shadows at the sight of them. They wanted to rush forward and tear apart the person luring them, but they feared the person beside her. Just a raised hand could turn them into a handful of sand.

Ling Qingyue walked with her hands behind her back, leisurely and carefree. It wasn't her turn to fight anyway.

Soon they arrived before a dilapidated city gate. The inscriptions on the gate were already blurred beyond recognition, more than half buried under yellow sand.

Ling Qingyue looked up, her brows furrowing. "What... what... City?"

She was like a young child just learning to read, racking her brains over the three characters above.

Pei Yin enunciated each word clearly. "Rising, Moon, Prefecture."

Ling Qingyue looked embarrassed. Even her last wild guess of "City" was wrong.

Pei Yin explained with a light laugh. "It's normal you don't recognize it. This is script from the Western Regions."

Ling Qingyue turned her head in amazement. "You even recognize Western Region script?"

She was applauding in her heart. Pei Yin was good at everything!

Pei Yin's smile reined in a little. "I don't recognize it either."

The applause stopped.

Ling Qingyue tugged at her lips. "Then you said it so convincingly. Just making it up, huh?"

Pei Yin, seeing how quickly her attitude flipped, raised a hand and pinched her ear. "The Liuyun Immortal Sect is inside Rising Moon Prefecture. The books record it."

Ling Qingyue remembered the book Pei Yin had been reading on the skyship earlier. She'd been waiting for Pei Yin to finish and tell her about it, but then forgot because of the matter with Xue Zizai.

"Oh, I didn't read it."

Ling Qingyue said it with full self-assurance, then rescued her ear from Pei Yin's grasp and strode forward into Rising Moon Prefecture.

Pei Yin followed behind her and spoke slowly. "Rising Moon Prefecture is the largest city-state in the Western Regions, spanning three hundred li. The Liuyun Immortal Sect alone occupies two hundred li. When the Liuyun Immortal Sect was founded, they declared, 'The Dao encompasses three thousand paths, each with its own method.' Because the sect's cultivators are numerous, wielding sabers, swords, spears, and hammers alike, they even take in yao cultivators. As long as you hold the Dao in your heart, you may all seek entry to the Liuyun Immortal Sect."

"So this is the Liuyun Immortal Sect..."

A soft murmur came from behind, as if talking to herself.

Ling Qingyue turned her head and asked, "You know of it?"

Xue Zizai's expression shifted. She turned her head with a cold snort, refusing to engage.

Ling Qingyue exchanged a glance with Pei Yin. Neither spoke further, and silence fell around them.

Perhaps finding the atmosphere too awkward, the sulking Young Miss stiffly broke the silence. "The Liuyun Immortal Sect is very famous in the Mortal Realm."

Ling Qingyue's eyes swiveled toward Pei Yin, stealthily grinning.

Pei Yin's lips also curved up slightly.

Xue Zizai, not catching their silent exchange of affection, continued. "In the Mortal Realm, the Liuyun Immortal Sect's name spread even wider than those from Shangtianqiong. Spiritual qi in the Mortal Realm is thin. Even if someone with the aptitude for cultivation was fortunate enough to enter the Immortal Realm, most immortal sects would not take them. Only the Liuyun Immortal Sect didn't care about your background or where you came from. As long as you weren't utterly irredeemable, they accepted you. Before the Liuyun Immortal Sect was wiped out, many imperial clans and noble houses sent their children there."

So when word of the Liuyun Immortal Sect's annihilation reached the Mortal Realm, those imperial clans and noble houses who had sent their children were grief-stricken overnight. But for ordinary families, it was no different from hearing storytellers recount other Immortal Realm affairs. They'd just sigh inwardly that it would be hard for Mortal Realm folk to enter the Immortal Realm from now on.

"I see." Ling Qingyue responded to her.

Most of the buildings inside Rising Moon Prefecture had domed roofs, unlike the palace towers and pavilions of the Central Lands' immortal sects. Here, even structures not yet close to the Liuyun Immortal Sect's territory looked splendid and magnificent. But sealed for a hundred years, the jade bricks and tiles had lost their spiritual qi and grown dull. Their surfaces were coated with a layer of the surrounding yellow sand.

The closer they got to the Liuyun Immortal Sect, the more Ling Qingyue felt her heart meridians and blood surging. She forced it down, took out the medicine Gu Huai had given her, and held one in her mouth.

The pill carried a faint fragrance upon entering her mouth, but as it dissolved, a distinct, clear bloody taste emerged.

The effect was quite good, however, almost immediate.

Once the heat inside her body receded, Ling Qingyue turned her head and gave Pei Yin a reassuring light smile.

They soon arrived at the Liuyun Immortal Sect's territory. Calling it paved in gold and tiled in jade would not be an exaggeration. Gold, stone, and jade objects were everywhere. Even buried under yellow sand, they were dazzlingly conspicuous.

"The Liuyun Immortal Sect... is this rich?" Ling Qingyue blinked. She felt like she was looking at another Xue Estate, just a magnified version.

When immortal sects in the Immortal Realm built palace towers, they mostly used spirit stones for foundations. It was rare to see gold and jade from the Mortal Realm used for paving. Gold and jade were useless in the Immortal Realm. Daily transactions mostly involved spirit stones and such.

It wasn't just Ling Qingyue. Even Pei Yin was somewhat surprised that the Liuyun Immortal Sect looked like this. Pei Xi behind them didn't understand. She just thought these buildings weren't very sturdy. Pretty but useless.

Xue Zizai's eyes went wide.

She had once visited a neighboring country with her mother and met that nation's royal heir. That heir utterly adored fine jade and indulged in extreme extravagance, building herself a jade chamber of exquisite beauty. It was the most precious and luxurious house she'd ever seen in her life, yet it paled utterly before the sight before her eyes.

"Let's go."

Rows of jade steps ascended upward. Exquisite as they were, cracks already covered their surfaces. Blood had seeped into the cracks, staining the jade steps in somber darkness, lending them an eerie beauty.

Only after venturing deeper into the Liuyun Immortal Sect did they discover that not all buildings were piled from gold and jade. In an inconspicuous corner, several dilapidated huts huddled together, utterly out of place with everything around them.

These huts were hidden behind the disciples' dormitories. Ling Qingyue skimmed over on her sword and paused briefly, letting out a soft "huh."

Pei Xi brought Xue Zizai over as well.

Sometimes, being inconspicuous could make something the most conspicuous.

Ling Qingyue narrowed her eyes slightly. "Demonic qi flows everywhere else in the Liuyun Immortal Sect, yet this place is perfectly clean. Don't tell me demonic qi also 'disdains poverty and loves wealth'?"

Pei Yin laughed aloud. "Let's take a look."

After landing, Ling Qingyue stood on the boundary between the mud and the jade slabs, looking back and forth several times, puzzled. "Didn't they say the Liuyun Immortal Sect treated everyone equally? Who were these rooms prepared for?"

They searched around, even checking the dungeons. Although the dungeons weren't built from gold and jade, they still held golden locks and jade vessel ornaments inside. These few huts seemed completely walled off from the Liuyun Immortal Sect, so sharply demarcated it was blindingly obvious.

The wooden doors of the huts were already rotted. Just touching them, Ling Qingyue had no doubt that a little more force and she'd crush them to pieces. The doors didn't even have a latch.

Entering a room, the stale odor accumulated over time was heavier. The mingled smells of various sundries were not pleasant, but uniquely absent among them was the bloody stench that permeated the Liuyun Immortal Sect inside and out.

Those gold-and-jade houses had all been soaked through with blood. The demonic qi lingered indefinitely. There was no blood-qi or demonic qi here. Ling Qingyue twitched her nose and even caught a faint, clear bitterness, like medicine.

The Liuyun Immortal Sect had been annihilated a century ago. How could a medicinal scent still remain here? Had the original occupant of this room soaked in medicine?

"Qingyue."

Hearing Pei Yin call her, Ling Qingyue instinctively glanced around and saw that Pei Xi had taken Xue Zizai to search the neighboring room. Only then did she relax and walk over.

"What is it?"

"Look." Pei Yin pointed to a brazier burned pitch black. Inside the brazier were some ashes. Some of the ash had settled over a thin layer of yellow sand, then been covered in turn by more blowing yellow sand.

Ling Qingyue's gaze paused. "Someone came back after the Liuyun Immortal Sect was destroyed."

"Mm." Pei Yin nodded. "And stayed for quite a long time."

As she spoke, pale golden spiritual energy condensed in her palm. It flowed like water toward the brazier, swirling up the ashes within. Gradually, it began piecing together the ash fragments that were still intact.

In the blink of an eye, the ashes became torn, fragmentary pages.

Ling Qingyue recognized them instantly. "Sword manuals?"

Aside from several fragmentary pages of sword manuals, there seemed to be a letter mixed in. The letter was more than half burned, leaving only a few final lines and a signature.

"...Does Yanchun perhaps have someone she likes? Next month, after I ask the elders for leave, I'll return to Yuelou. At that time, would Yanchun bring her big sister to meet your beloved?"

"Shi Du left..."

Ling Qingyue rubbed her chin and nodded. "Seems this Shi Du was the room's occupant. She's still alive?"

"It would appear so for now." Pei Yin murmured. "Yuelou. I feel like I've heard it somewhere."

Hearing that, Ling Qingyue had the same feeling.

Their eyes met, gazes flashing, and they spoke in unison. "Xue Zizai!"

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