IVYSCP - Chapter 133
Chapter 133
The wind had risen.
The Shangtianqiong Sect, where so many immortal sects had once gathered, now lay silent and still. A faint, lingering scent of blood hung in the air.
Atop the Chunshan Dwelling, a woman with a full head of white hair sat in tranquility with her eyes closed, savoring a hard-won peace within her heart.
No one knew how much time had passed before she slowly opened her eyes and turned to the person beside her. A trace of a smile touched her lips. "You came."
"Mn." Gu Huai reached out and placed a white jade bottle on the table.
Yue Shouming looked at it, puzzled. "What is this?"
"Half a drop of Bai Ze's Tear. It can dispel the demonic qi within your body. It cannot eradicate it completely, but… it can extend your life by ten years."
Gu Huai had also suffered from the erosion of demonic qi all these years, though her condition was not as severe as Yue Shouming's. If she had used the entire drop of Bai Ze's Tear, her own injuries could likely have healed eighty or ninety percent, yet she had kept half of it.
"You don't blame me?" Yue Shouming asked softly.
Gu Huai sighed. "Blame you for what? For hiding the fact that Qiu Feng is Ah Mu all along? I was indeed a bit angry at first, but later when Ah Mu told me you never intended to push things to the extreme, that you never planned to make her sacrifice herself to Ling Qingyue, I thought about it and understood. You are not someone as cold-blooded as Lou Wudu; you wouldn't stop at nothing for revenge. Since Ah Mu is fine, and your sister was the one who saved her back then, how could I possibly blame you?"
Yue Shouming lowered her gaze, her thoughts unreadable.
Gu Huai stood up. "Alright, I've delivered the item. I still need to go help my senior sister lift the gu for those cultivators affected by the Gu Vines."
"One more thing," Gu Huai suddenly turned back and asked, "Since when did that grandmaster from Cangshan become part of your plan?"
Yue Shouming tugged at the corner of her lips but did not answer.
After Gu Huai left, Yue Shouming closed her eyes. A familiar presence reached her through her sense of smell.
She no longer possessed any spiritual energy and could not sense who was beside her, but in this very moment, she knew in her heart exactly who it was.
Two close friends who once could talk about anything now found themselves with nothing to say.
After a long silence, Ling Qingyue picked up the white jade bottle from the table and drew out the half drop of Bai Ze's Tear within, guiding it into Yue Shouming's body. Bai Ze's Tear could dispel demonic qi, but it could not repair years of erosion. Lightning-like markings slowly appeared around Yue Shouming's eyes, the Heavenly Punishment left behind by the Heavenly Divination Art.
Ling Qingyue's hand tightened around the bottle. Her voice came out hoarse. "Qiu Feng told me… your Heavenly Punishment was because of me?"
Yue Shouming let out a snorting laugh, just like the old days. "Yes, that's right. Impressive, isn't it? I actually managed to calculate it."
"Yes. Impressive." Ling Qingyue lifted her eyes and gazed steadily at Yue Shouming. "Xiao Yue, I've always believed we understood each other well enough. But there is one thing where I don't know if my thinking is correct."
The smile on Yue Shouming's face froze for an instant before she spoke with feigned lightness. "What thing?"
"The matter of Qiu Feng's sacrifice." Ling Qingyue drew in a soft breath and finished in one go. "Not long after Qiu Feng entered the Great Wilderness, she underwent Blood-Splitting Demonization. But in truth, every single one of those demonic markings on her body were sacrificial array runes. Conserving her strength for decades, all for the final act of sacrificing herself. And it didn't stop there, the location of the sacrifice was also exquisitely chosen. While in the storm zone, she used the yao beasts within to leave a mark on Pei Yin, so that at the moment of sacrifice she could trap her within an illusory realm. That illusory realm made use of Pei Yin's former nightmare. It was practically tailor-made for her. That place was the very birthplace of the Formless Demon Lord. Under the sacrificial array, the pull between the pieces of the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart was irresistible. Yet the sacrifice still failed…"
"I told Qiu Feng that you never intended to use her as a sacrifice from the start. You understood that I would never accept Qiu Feng sacrificing herself, and I understood that you would never use Qiu Feng as a sacrifice. That sacrifice was nothing more than a way to force me into having no choice but to become a half-demon."
Ling Qingyue let out a brief laugh as she spoke, then furrowed her brow, her eyes reddening as she asked Yue Shouming, "Am I right?"
Bai Ze's Tear had been the key that turned that sacrifice from success into failure. But Bai Ze's Tear was something one could search for but never hope to find. What if they had not had any Bai Ze's Tear…
Yue Shouming pressed her lips together, then tilted her head back and laughed. "Qingyue, you really do understand me."
Ling Qingyue blinked hard, forcing back the wetness, and said calmly, "When you return to the Yue Family, Liuli will see you off. You should apologize to her."
All the mirth on Yue Shouming's face faded completely. The world before her eyes was pitch black, with only a faint trace of two shimmering figures that seemed to grow further and further away.
After leaving Chunshan Dwelling, Ling Qingyue went to Langxuan Courtyard, the place the Shangtianqiong Sect had specially opened for Fuchuan to prepare medicines and treat the injured, where most people were gathered now.
After Lou Wudu's death, Wang Changming had stepped forward to pacify the various immortal sects. Though the exact details were not disclosed, every sect had disciples who had been controlled by the Gu Vines, inevitably leading to speculation about the rights and wrongs of it all. The most widely circulated account was that Lou Wudu had deceived her master and destroyed her ancestors, seizing the position of sect leader from Wang Changming. Which also happened to be the truth.
The moment she entered Langxuan Courtyard, countless eyes within turned to look at her all at once, carrying undisguised scrutiny and wariness.
Ling Qingyue simply pretended not to see it. Walking openly through Shangtianqiong with the appearance of a half-demon, even without lifting a finger, she posed no small threat to those cultivators.
Gu Huai was assisting Fuchuan in lifting the gu, and Lin Zhao, as Gu Huai's disciple, was also busy helping out. After learning that her enemy was dead, Lin Zhao had wept for a long time, mostly tears of joy amid sorrow.
"Ah Xi." Lin Zhao hurried over the moment she saw Ling Qingyue; she was still used to calling her Ah Xi.
"Your wounds aren't fully healed yet, why are you running around again? Master was looking for you just now."
Ling Qingyue thought to herself that she had followed Gu Huai to Chunshan Dwelling.
"I know. Go on with your work, I won't wander off anymore."
Lin Zhao only then relaxed and went back to delivering medicine to the cultivators.
Ling Qingyue passed through the long corridor and arrived at the quiet rear courtyard. In the yard, Meng Qi, her face flushed red, was trying to take the medicine Xue Zizai was handing her. But having just been detoxified, she could barely lift her hands. Xue Zizai frowned, hesitated, then pinched the spoon to feed her.
Meng Qi's eyes went wide with shock, and she rolled straight off onto the ground, muttering, "No, no, this won't do."
Xue Zizai's temper flared up in response. "This won't do, that won't do, you can't move, and I'm not allowed to feed you either. Are you really that afraid of me? It's not like I'm going to hit you."
With that, she set the medicine bowl aside and bent down to help Meng Qi up.
Ling Qingyue walked over, amused.
"Master…"
Meng Qi tried to salute upon seeing her, but Ling Qingyue raised a hand to stop her. "No need. You're injured, just lie down properly."
Xue Zizai didn't look at Ling Qingyue, her expression somewhat awkward. She picked up the medicine bowl again and brought the spoon to Meng Qi's lips, glaring ferociously. "Drink it!"
Meng Qi glanced at her cautiously, then opened her mouth and drank the medicine.
It was a bit hot, but she didn't say anything.
Only after finishing the medicine did Meng Qi hesitantly look toward Ling Qingyue.
Ling Qingyue raised an eyebrow. "Something you want to say?"
Meng Qi looked dejected. "Master, I… can I no longer cultivate?"
Under the influence of the Bloodburst Pill, her cultivation had been completely lost, and her meridians were severely damaged.
"Who said that?" Ling Qingyue reached out and grasped her wrist. After probing it for a moment, she said, "Nurturing the meridians back to health is difficult, but this is Shangtianqiong. What spiritual pill or miraculous medicine could we possibly lack? Besides, we have two disciples of the Medicine King right here. If they can't heal you, it would be a disgrace to their master's name."
Over the years, Lou Wudu had plundered quite a stockpile of fine things. No point letting them go to waste.
Meng Qi's eyes brightened.
"Alright, focus on recovering. Don't be impatient about your cultivation." As she spoke, Ling Qingyue glanced at the silent Xue Zizai beside her and gave her a kick.
Xue Zizai was about to explode in anger, but she swallowed her words just as they reached her lips and said stiffly, "What do you want?"
Ling Qingyue lifted her chin. "The mental cultivation method you practice is the same as Meng Qi's. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask her."
Meng Qi looked at Xue Zizai in surprise, with a hint of joy in her expression. "Junior, junior sister?"
Xue Zizai's face went through several changes. "I'm not."
Back then, she had shamelessly forced her way into becoming a disciple. Though Ling Qingyue had taught her mental cultivation and swordsmanship, she had never formally acknowledged this master-disciple relationship.
Meng Qi looked from Xue Zizai to Ling Qingyue, but said nothing more.
Xue Zizai's emotions were written all over her face, and Ling Qingyue could see them clearly.
Xue Zizai's temperament had changed considerably over this period, but perhaps it was because she'd been spending too much time with Meng Qi, that young miss temper of hers had bubbled up again. She wanted to formally become a disciple, yet her pride kept her from voicing it.
But Ling Qingyue wasn't so desperate for disciples that she would go around offering herself as a master unsolicited. After giving Meng Qi a few more instructions, she turned and left. A gaze impossible to ignore followed her from behind.
Pei Yin was recovering next door. She had still been soaking in the medicinal bath before Ling Qingyue left for Chunshan Dwelling; by now she should be finished.
Pushing the door open, Ling Qingyue found the woman dressed in a thin inner robe, turned sideways as she tied the sash at her side. Her neck, flushed a faint pink from the steam, and the ends of her hair, slightly damp, were scattered across her lower back.
"You're back?" Pei Yin's voice carried a lazy undertone, soft and gentle like a little hook.
Ling Qingyue walked over, pressed down on her hand, and with a hooked finger pulled apart the sash that had just been tied. "Let me see the wound."
Pei Yin had two extremely deep wounds on her back and side waist; even with the finest spiritual herbs, they would take quite some time to fully recover.
As the robe was pulled open, Ling Qingyue's gaze swept past her heart before slowly lowering to the position of her side waist. Pei Yin's waist was not lean and hard, but exceptionally slender. The sword wound slashed diagonally from under her ribs down past her lower abdomen. The gash had now healed, leaving only a faint pink scar.
Ling Qingyue reached out and touched it. The next moment, her fingertips were caught and held.
Pei Yin inhaled lightly. "Don't touch. It's a bit ticklish."
Ling Qingyue stopped touching it, resting her hand at the curve of the woman's waist instead. Her palm fit snugly along the line of her waist.
Pei Yin lowered her eyes to glance at it, then looked back at Ling Qingyue.
Ling Qingyue didn't think anything of it and even secretly scratched with her fingertips, drawing a sharp breath from the other woman.
"Immortal Venerable, I could have clearly dodged those two sword strikes. Why did you block them?" Ling Qingyue's tone turned dangerous. "Shouldn't we settle this account?"
She had waited until Pei Yin's injuries had healed somewhat before bringing this up.
Pei Yin knew she was holding anger in her heart and didn't try to explain right away.
No matter the explanation, it was because she had been worried that she had used her own body to block those swords.
"How do you want to settle it?"
Ling Qingyue gave a light snort, hooked her finger, and pulled the dharma robe from beside them, draping it over Pei Yin.
"Don't think I didn't know you sensed me coming back a long time ago and deliberately dressed like this. Immortal Venerable, what deep cunning. Here I am wanting to punish you, and you act like this. Do you want me to reward you instead?"
Pei Yin pursed her lips into a smile and asked again, "Then how do you want to punish me?"
Ling Qingyue thought about it seriously for a long moment, then shook her head. "Haven't thought of anything yet. Let's put it on account for now."
"Alright."
Two more days passed, and Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin made a trip to the Bamboo Courtyard. Ling Qingyue didn't want to go back to Chunshan Dwelling for the time being, so she had asked her master for the Bamboo Courtyard to be her new residence.
Ling Qingyue walked along the small path, the ends of her hair swaying with each step.
In the past, wherever she went, she always had her sword in hand. A couple of days ago, because she was not used to holding a sword, she had annoyed Jiuge, who had run back to the Sword Pavilion and hung itself on the wall.
"Do you like it here very much?" Pei Yin asked as she followed behind her.
Before the Bamboo Courtyard, Ling Qingyue walked along the bluestone path, hands clasped behind her back, her steps light and buoyant as she rose onto her toes, as if she had not heard the words.
Pei Yin watched her silhouette from behind. In a daze, it was as if she had returned to a hundred years ago.
Blinking her eyes, the person she had longed for, dreamed of, for a hundred years suddenly turned her head, a smile in her eyes and brows as she extended a hand toward her.
"Pei Yin, I'll go back to Cangshan with you."
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