IVYSCP - Chapter 116
Chapter 116
On the return skyship, Pei Xi was sound asleep in a small room, while the room across from hers was steeped in an eerie, heavy silence.
Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin sat on one side. Across from them sat Yu Liuli. Beside Yu Liuli, one seat remained empty, meant for Qiu Feng. But just as Qiu Feng lifted a leg to settle into it, a single glance from Yu Liuli rooted her in place. She stood there, frozen in the space between them all.
Ling Qingyue looked at the bound Qiu Feng, then raised her eyes to Yu Liuli, and finally shifted her gaze to Pei Yin beside her.
No one spoke.
Ling Qingyue pivoted her foot and nudged it gently against Pei Yin's leg.
Pei Yin, who had been drinking tea with lowered eyes, paused. She pursed her lips slightly and set her teacup aside, preparing to speak.
With practiced ease, Ling Qingyue commandeered the cup she had just set down. She diverted it toward her own mouth and took a sip, savoring the fragrance that clung to her lips and teeth.
Pei Yin cast her a sidelong glance, then spoke, her tone cool and detached. "When did the two of you begin laying out this game of chess?"
"What use is there in knowing now?" Qiu Feng sneered. "In the end, it was all for nothing."
Bang!
A palm slammed down against the table with a sharp crack.
Pei Yin's gaze snapped toward the sound. Ling Qingyue and Qiu Feng both startled, flinching before turning toward the source.
Yu Liuli's face was taut, her palm pressed flush against the tabletop. The veins and sinews stood out sharply on the back of her hand. Her gaze was dark and heavy as she fixed it on Qiu Feng.
Qiu Feng had never seen Yu Liuli like this. For decades they had lived together in harmony and affection. Toward her, Yu Liuli had always been gentle and endlessly patient.
"Can you learn to speak properly?" Yu Liuli asked, her voice icy.
Qiu Feng dared not retort. She nodded and murmured, "Yes. Yes, I can."
The Demon Lord who made the wider world tremble in fear was, in this moment, unbelievably obedient. Ling Qingyue's lips curved upward, and a soft laugh escaped her.
Only after she laughed did she realize she had failed to hold it in. Following that single laugh, Ling Qingyue coughed, feigning composure, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a cup of tea being pushed her way.
She stole a glance upward. Pei Yin was watching her with a faint smile.
Well, how the tables have turned. Just moments ago she had been laughing at Qiu Feng, and now Pei Yin was laughing at her.
Ling Qingyue shot Pei Yin a glare and used the act of drinking tea to shield herself from Qiu Feng's icy stare.
Retracting her disgruntled look, Qiu Feng finally spoke. "Over a hundred years ago, I suppose. I can't remember exactly how long. It was before the Immortal-Demon War, at any rate."
"When my remnant soul awoke within Yue Zhiwei's corpse, the first thing I saw was a madwoman. I was nearly killed by her."
When Yue Shouming saw a foreign remnant soul rising from her elder sister's body, she had almost no hesitation in believing this was her sister's murderer. She dragged the remnant soul out directly, intending to scatter it with a single palm strike.
"In the instant she moved to strike, she sensed that my remnant soul was protected by the Heavenly Divination Art, so she stayed her hand. At the time, I had no idea that the one who killed Yue Zhiwei was Lou Wudu. But it's a fact that she intended to use me to destroy the evidence. I am a half-demon, but half of my demon bloodline comes from the Formless Demon Lord. Such demonic blood is lethal to the soul of any cultivator with pure spiritual energy."
And perhaps because she was only half-demon, the process of Yue Zhiwei's soul being eroded away by the demonic blood was excruciatingly long and agonizing. She had watched, nearly with her own eyes, as she faded from this world, killed by the one she loved most.
"I told Yue Shouming. She didn't believe me. She even wanted to use Soul Searching on me. But I was nothing more than a remnant soul. In the end, she shut herself in her room and used the Heavenly Divination Art to question the Heavenly Dao over and over. She knew her Heavenly Divination Art was still immature, so for every question she would ask it a hundred times. I don't know what exactly she asked. I only know that she locked herself away for nearly three months. When she emerged, she was utterly shattered, unable even to stand steady, her entire being radiating deathly energy."
Hearing this, both Ling Qingyue and Yu Liuli stirred restlessly.
Heavenly Punishment! And Yue Shouming had suffered an extremely severe one!
"In truth, her eyes were already blind by then. Not only blind, but her meridians were half-wasted, and her lifespan was drastically shortened as well." Qiu Feng lifted her gaze toward Ling Qingyue. "She traded all of that for a single chance at revenge. That there was a chance for revenge, I was of course glad. But killing Lou Wudu was something neither I nor Yue Shouming could do. We needed a sword."
"But that sword was about to break."
In an instant, every gaze in the room converged on Qiu Feng.
The meaning of her final words was clear. Yue Shouming and Qiu Feng had known from the very beginning that Ling Qingyue would die in the Immortal-Demon War.
But how could such a thing be known in advance?
Only through the Heavenly Divination Art.
Yue Shouming had used the Heavenly Divination Art to calculate Ling Qingyue's fate of life and death.
Most likely, they had planned from the start to pull Ling Qingyue into their scheme, only to discover, unexpectedly, that she carried a fated death tribulation.
Ling Qingyue pressed her lips together, her fingers curling tightly inward.
It was highly likely that her death was also connected to Lou Wudu.
Qiu Feng did not continue. What had been said was enough.
Pei Yin tapped a finger lightly on the table. "Tribulation Transcendence. How is it done?"
Qiu Feng looked impatient, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Yu Liuli staring at her with dark, brooding intensity.
"..."
Qiu Feng drew a deep breath and repeated those same words: "If the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart is complete, cultivation is unaffected by lightning tribulation."
"And you? What method did you use to avoid it?" Ling Qingyue propped her chin on her hand and studied her. "That talk of blood-splitting demonization. Was it real or false? But just now, during the sacrificial ritual, the demonic markings on your face receded. I was watching. Those markings of yours seem more like a kind of talismanic script."
With Yu Liuli keeping her under constant surveillance, Qiu Feng answered every question she was asked, and with an exceedingly agreeable attitude.
"It was false. Those indeed weren't demonic markings. They were preparations I made for the sacrifice. The Demon Race worships strength. To survive in the Great Wilderness, you need to grow stronger. My demonic art wasn't cultivated step by step, either. Like the Formless Demon Lord, I devoured those other demons. As for how I avoid lightning tribulation..."
Qiu Feng smiled faintly. "Have you ever seen any demon undergo tribulation?"
A suspicion began to take shape in Ling Qingyue's mind.
Qiu Feng was a half-demon just like her. The only difference was that Qiu Feng cultivated demonic arts, while she cultivated orthodox cultivator mind-techniques built on a foundation of pure spiritual qi.
"So, as long as I cultivate demonic arts, I won't have to suffer lightning strikes anymore?" Ling Qingyue said it as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
Qiu Feng sneered. "You, of all people? Cultivate demonic arts and you become a demon. You come from the illustrious immortal lineage of Shangtianqiong. Would you really cultivate such a heretical art?"
"What other choice do I have? Do I have a second path?" Ling Qingyue blinked at her, then openly and without hesitation reached out and grasped Pei Yin's hand. She laced their fingers together and held them up before Qiu Feng's eyes, gesturing with her other hand as if to make certain Qiu Feng could see, afraid she might miss it.
Qiu Feng: "..."
What's the meaning of this? Suddenly holding hands? Flashing their affection?
"I'm not alone anymore. I've only just managed to come back and open our hearts to each other. I can't bear to die and leave her alone. Compared to cultivating demonic arts, I'm even less willing to choose the path of letting you sacrifice yourself. Besides..." Ling Qingyue paused briefly. "I think this is also the path Yue Shouming wanted me to take."
"If she had told me about the demonic arts method from the very start, I might have resisted. I would have searched for other ways to transcend the tribulation. But once the matter of the sacrifice was laid out in front of me, cultivating demonic arts suddenly didn't seem like such a big deal." Having said this, Ling Qingyue suddenly smiled.
Yue Shouming knew her too well. But by the same token, she also knew Yue Shouming.
Yue Shouming was not the sort of person who would let revenge blind her entirely. She could not go through with a sacrifice. Even more so when Qiu Feng was her ally on the path of revenge, she would never be so ruthless.
The smile lingered on Ling Qingyue's lips when she felt her fingers being squeezed, a firm, deliberate pressure.
She turned her gaze and met Pei Yin's eyes looking back at her.
There was something... off.
To call it a sense of grievance wasn't quite right. It was more like a stifled, pent-up feeling.
What was there to be stifled about? That speech just now had been a pure declaration of her heart. She had even blushed a little while saying it. Shouldn't Pei Yin be happy? Why was she looking at her like that?
Oh. She mentioned Yue Shouming. They share a certain tacit understanding.
In an instant, she found the source. Ling Qingyue didn't know whether to sigh or laugh. She squeezed Pei Yin's fingers in return.
Petty!
"Did you hear that?" Yu Liuli suddenly spoke, addressing Qiu Feng directly.
Qiu Feng turned to face Yu Liuli, her lips moving hesitantly. She was about to speak when the skyship came to a halt.
Pei Yin had applied a swift-travel talisman to the skyship, making the journey much faster than the trip out. They had already arrived at the Demon Palace.
Yu Liuli shot Qiu Feng a sideways glare, rose, and strode swiftly away.
Qiu Feng moved to chase after her, but she was still bound. She could only look to Pei Yin.
Pei Yin lifted a finger. The God-Striking Whip transformed into a streak of golden light and retracted into her palm. Qiu Feng vanished in a flash.
"Let's head down as well," Ling Qingyue said, making to go next door and wake Pei Xi.
Pei Xi had rendered great service today. Ling Qingyue was ready to reward her handsomely.
The hand she had just released was caught again and pulled back firmly.
Ling Qingyue stumbled and fell into Pei Yin's embrace, her waist encircled by a steady arm.
The sudden closeness left her dazed. Before she could open her mouth to ask, Pei Yin's face drew near.
"I want to confirm something."
"What... mm!"
Her lower lip was caught in a kiss, gently sucked and savored. A tingling, itching sensation threatened to spread from the nape of her neck all the way down to her tailbone. If she still had a tail, Ling Qingyue had no doubt it would have shot straight up.
Pei Yin's breath surged inward, extraordinarily soft and sweet. Ling Qingyue reached up and wrapped her arms around her neck, answering in kind.
After kissing softly for a little while, Ling Qingyue felt Pei Yin pull back. Then a fuzzy, nuzzling sensation brushed against the hollow of her neck, warm breath landing against the side of her throat.
Ling Qingyue steadied her somewhat disordered breathing. Her hand settled on Pei Yin's back, her fingers idly twining through her hair. She began to swallow, again and again.
"Qingyue."
Ling Qingyue heard Pei Yin call her name in that lovely voice of hers.
She made a soft sound of acknowledgment, though it seemed to catch in her chest. She wasn't even sure if the sound had truly come out.
"What did you confirm?" Ling Qingyue asked her.
Just now Pei Yin had said she needed to confirm something, and then she had kissed her.
What sort of thing needed to be confirmed through a kiss?
Ling Qingyue licked her moist lips.
Confirming whether she was sweet or not?
The moment the thought surfaced, Ling Qingyue nearly wanted to punch herself in the face.
Ling Qingyue, where has your face gone? What are you thinking!
It was a good thing those words hadn't slipped out of her mouth. Otherwise, wouldn't Pei Yin laugh her to death? Maybe from now on, after every kiss, Pei Yin would look at her with that sly, teasing smile, as if asking, Am I sweet?
Ling Qingyue felt this was precisely the sort of thing Pei Yin was capable of. The woman was wickedly mischievous beneath that polished surface.
After Ling Qingyue had struggled internally, crumbling and blushing on her own for a moment, she heard Pei Yin's voice, muffled against the hollow of her neck, very soft: "Confirming that you aren't my dream."
Ling Qingyue froze. Every trace of the shyness and embarrassment in her heart scattered clean away.
Pei Yin was holding her so tightly, as if terrified that she might dissolve in her hands like some illusory, untouchable dream.
A sharp ache bloomed in Ling Qingyue's heart. She stroked Pei Yin's face. With her other hand, she guided Pei Yin's hand to her own chest and pressed her palm flat against it.
Under Pei Yin's watchful gaze, she kissed her.
"I'm not a dream anymore."
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