IVYSCP - Chapter 137
Chapter 137
"You're going to Cangshan?"
Wang Changming set down her brush and raised her eyes to the person before the hall.
Ling Qingyue nodded. "Master already commands respect and authority at Shangtianqiong. With Master holding the sect, there is no fear of them stirring up trouble. As for me, I am half-demon now. The outside world is already rife with gossip. If I stay at Shangtianqiong any longer, they are sure to come and make trouble for Master."
Wang Changming frowned. "You fear bringing trouble to Shangtianqiong, but you do not fear bringing trouble to Cangshan? Or do you believe Shangtianqiong cannot protect you now, that even your master cannot protect you, and only Cangshan can keep you safe?"
"Ah…" Ling Qingyue was stunned. She hadn't meant it like that at all.
"No, I'd go in secret. I wouldn't let anyone know. Master could just tell the world that Lou Wudu and I destroyed each other in mutual ruin…"
"Absurd!" Wang Changming's expression turned stern, anger already rising. "You are forbidden to go! Shangtianqiong is the place where you grew up. It is your home. You've only been back a few days and you already want to leave? What is this? Is there truly nothing at Shangtianqiong worth your lingering attachment? Do you not even want your master anymore?"
As she spoke, Wang Changming covered her lips and coughed, her face visibly paling.
Ling Qingyue: "…"
"If I go to Cangshan, it's not as if I won't come back." Ling Qingyue hurried forward, poured a cup of tea, and placed it at Wang Changming's hand. "Master's injuries have not yet healed. Please do not get so agitated."
Wang Changming shot her a glance. "So you do know my injuries have not yet healed."
She reached out and tapped the mountain of spiritual letters piled on the desk. "And you never think to share even a little of your master's burden. You only know how to infuriate me."
Ling Qingyue reached out, took Wang Changming's sleeve, and gave it a gentle shake. "Master, you know very well that I have no talent for this sort of thing. In the future, it will all be Master…"
As habit brought that person to mind, both their expressions flickered slightly.
Ling Qingyue forced a smile and was about to change the subject when Wang Changming suddenly asked, "Her soul is still in the Thunder-Fire Prison. When do you intend to deal with her?"
Ling Qingyue lowered her voice. "In a couple of days. Once she has endured the full one hundred and eight strokes of the Thunder-Fire Whipping."
Wang Changming nodded, then pressed her hand to her forehead with a light frown. Several vine tendrils and small leaves had already begun to sprout from the top of her head.
Wang Changming's physical body had now fused completely with the Gu Vine. She had survived as something akin to a half-Gu person. The vines upon her were still alive and would grow in response to her shifting moods.
Ling Qingyue felt a pang of heartache seeing this, but she had never dealt with such matters before and dared not attempt anything rashly.
Her eyes shifted. Ling Qingyue suddenly looked up, a trace of delight in her expression.
"Master." She hesitated before speaking. "Perhaps… I could help share some of the burden?"
Wang Changming looked at her, not missing the sly glint in her eyes. "You? What you mean is that you want Pei Yin to come and help."
Ling Qingyue was completely unabashed. "So what? What's wrong with that? I can just stay by her side and keep her company."
Wang Changming was truly suffering a headache. Although the Hundred Immortal Sects had all withdrawn from Shangtianqiong, they had already sent over a thousand spiritual letters about the events at the Ranking Tournament, about Ling Qingyue's resurrection and demonization, and about Lou Wudu.
After she had regained consciousness, she had also heard some news of the Immortal Realm over the past century. She knew that Pei Yin was honored as Immortal Venerable, and she also understood that Pei Yin's conduct had always been steady and reliable.
Add to that Pei Yin's current relationship with Ling Qingyue, and Wang Changming no longer hesitated. "Fine."
Ling Qingyue's eyes spun, and she stretched out her hand toward Wang Changming.
Wang Changming had a bad premonition. "What is it?"
"I want the jade token for the Treasure Pavilion." Ling Qingyue spoke with a beaming smile. "If I'm going to Cangshan, how can I possibly go empty-handed?"
After all, back in the day, the Dao Bonding Gift list Pei Yin had prepared had practically emptied Little Cangshan of all its treasures.
Wang Changming: "…"
"Ling Qingyue." Wang Changming narrowed her eyes. "The moment you come back, you want to take all the good things from this house and carry them off to someone else's home. As the Little Sword Venerable of Shangtianqiong, instead of thinking about how to bring someone back in marriage, all you think about is marrying out. Do you have no ambition at all?"
Ling Qingyue muttered quietly, "Isn't it all the same?"
Besides, she had long since promised Pei Yin that she would go with her to Cangshan. How could she go back on her word now?
Wang Changming gave a cold snort, feeling her headache only intensify.
Ling Qingyue lowered her head, prepared to be scolded, but when she waited a long while and still heard no sound, she secretly lifted her eyes to look. Only then did she discover that Wang Changming seemed to have been angered into full vine form, her tendrils and leaves shrinking down amid the pile of spiritual letters on the desk.
"…"
With a light sigh, Ling Qingyue had no choice but to go and find a flowerpot for her master and plant the length of vine into the soil.
Setting the flowerpot aside, Ling Qingyue sent a message to Pei Yin.
The air beside her froze for a moment, and a familiar cold fragrance brushed past her nose.
Ling Qingyue did not even look. She pulled the person beside her by the hand and pressed her down into the seat Wang Changming had just occupied. "Come."
Pei Yin turned her head to look at her, then noticed the flowerpot at the edge of the desk. Her gaze paused for an instant, and she nodded politely. "Senior Wang."
The vine tendril stretched out slightly as if in response.
Ling Qingyue sat sideways on the armrest beside her, casually picking up a spiritual letter. The letter unsealed, and words formed from the spiritual energy of various sects floated before her eyes.
By sheer coincidence, this particular letter was about Ling Qingyue. It stated that since Ling Qingyue had already undergone demonization, she was certain to become a great threat in the future, and demanded that Shangtianqiong send her to the Great Wilderness without delay.
Ling Qingyue curled her lip.
She was absolutely certain that if Shangtianqiong were not currently under her master's authority, and if she were not the sole successor of her master's lineage, this letter would likely not be demanding she be sent to the Great Wilderness, but rather calling for her outright execution.
"How should we reply?" Ling Qingyue looked at Pei Yin.
Pei Yin's expression was indifferent. She raised her hand, using spiritual energy as a brush, and wrote four words in reply: None of your business.
Ling Qingyue could not hold back and burst out laughing, her head dipping low.
In the Immortal Realm, identity was judged by one's aura. Who could possibly fail to recognize Pei Yin's spiritual energy?
She unsealed another letter.
This one was a spiritual letter addressed to the Immortal Alliance. It spoke of Piaomiao Sect. Though it did not directly name Ling Qingyue, it insinuated between every line that Piaomiao Sect was secretly harboring a demon, violating the greatest taboo of the Immortal Realm.
Ling Qingyue watched as Pei Yin replied: Go ask the Alliance Leader.
Instantly, wild and unrestrained laughter erupted in the great hall, so loud that the disciple guards outside the hall could not help but look inside.
Ling Qingyue laughed until she collapsed against Pei Yin, nearly unable to catch her breath. Tears streamed from her eyes.
The Immortal Alliance Leader had originally been Lou Wudu. After Lou Wudu's death, what Alliance Leader was there left to ask?
Once Ling Qingyue had laughed enough, she asked in confusion, "Why did I never realize before that handling these spiritual letters could be so entertaining?"
Pei Yin smiled and steadied her by the waist. "Would you like to try as well?"
Ling Qingyue hesitated for a moment.
Pei Yin very naturally shifted aside to make a little room for her.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them were squeezed together, replying to the spiritual letters, laughing as they replied. Neither of them noticed that the vine tendril inside the flowerpot beside them had long since wilted listlessly, as if wishing it could bury itself completely in the soil.
When they grew tired of laughing, Ling Qingyue draped one leg over Pei Yin's leg and slumped sideways across the seat, without the slightest regard for decorum.
After that, even though Wang Changming had to force herself to endure her weakened body, she never again asked the two of them to help.
Another two days passed. People from the Yue Family came to take Yue Shouming back. It was said that the one who had come was the newly appointed Hidden Moon Lord.
When Ling Qingyue arrived at Chunshan Dwelling, she saw Su Lan. She had previously wondered where Su Lan had gone. It was only after asking Yue Shouming later that she learned that before the Ranking Tournament, Yue Shouming had already ordered Su Lan to return to the Yue Family to protect the next Hidden Moon Lord.
Since Lou Wudu had been unable to obtain the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart for so long, she would surely have turned her attention to the Yue Family. It was a threat they could not afford to ignore.
Looking at Su Lan's familiar features, Ling Qingyue transformed into the appearance of Ah Xi and saluted her. "Aunt Lan."
Back in Linshui Town, it was Su Lan who had disguised herself as Aunt Lan to watch over and raise Ah Xi.
Su Lan gave a slight start, then nodded gently.
Ling Qingyue raised her eyes and shifted her gaze to the person beside Su Lan. It was a youth whose face was still young and tender. She looked somewhat familiar.
"Yue Xian?"
Yue Xian's eyes were rimmed red, as if she had been weeping for a very long time. Hearing Ling Qingyue call out her name, she hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and raised her hand in salute. "Greetings, Senior."
Ling Qingyue nodded.
This was the next Hidden Moon Lord designated by Yue Shouming, the most gifted child of the current Yue Family.
"Ling Qingyue!"
A shout suddenly rang out. Ling Qingyue looked down and saw that Yue Xian was holding a pot containing a familiar-looking spiritual plant.
Ling Qingyue smiled and greeted the spiritual plant. "Yue Teng."
"It's me! It's me!"
Yue Teng popped out from the spiritual plant, transforming into the shape of a little vine person.
Her condition was much better than when she had been in the Great Wilderness. It was plain to see that the Yue Family had treated her extremely well.
"I heard that you killed Lou Wudu and avenged my sister! I'm really so, so happy!" Yue Teng blinked her two little flower-like eyes at Ling Qingyue. "You're amazing!"
Hearing the joyful sound of her voice, Ling Qingyue could also tell just how happy she was.
Yue Shouming came out from Chunshan Dwelling. Her body had grown even weaker. Her white hair increased day by day. Yu Liuli supported her, her expression sorrowful.
The moment Yue Xian saw her, tears rolled down her face. "Family Head."
She ran forward quickly, wanting to throw herself into Yue Shouming's embrace as she had in the past, but she feared that she might be careless and hurt her. In the end, she could only stop before her, sobbing so hard she could barely speak.
"What are you crying for?" A faint smile rested on Yue Shouming's lips. "You're a grown-up now, and still crying like a child. How will you serve as Hidden Moon Lord in the future?"
At these words, Yue Xian grew even more distressed. "But I don't want to be the Hidden Moon Lord. I just want the Family Head to be well."
Yue Shouming's expression turned dazed for a moment. She recalled the words she herself had once spoken...
I don't want to be the Hidden Moon Lord. I just want my sister to be well!
If only...
Yue Shouming raised her hand and moved her fingers. "Xian Xian, come here."
Yue Xian was still sniffling. She stepped forward.
Yue Shouming touched Yue Xian's face and wiped away her tears. "As long as the Yue Family is well, I will be well. Do you understand?"
Yue Xian nodded through her choked sobs, but the tears would not stop falling.
Yue Shouming lowered her hand, and the moment her fingertips brushed the tip of the spiritual plant's leaf, she sensed a familiar aura.
It was the unique connection shared between practitioners of the Heavenly Divination Art. It was her sister's aura.
Almost by instinct, Yue Shouming wanted to seize hold of her sister's presence. With a trembling hand, she loosely gripped the stem and leaves of the spiritual plant.
"Sister...?"
While wiping away her tears, Yue Xian told her, "Family Head, it's because Yue Teng is resting upon this spiritual plant that it carries a trace of her aura."
"Yue Teng..." Yue Shouming murmured the name.
Su Lan's letters had indeed mentioned this vine. Like Qiu Feng, she was someone her sister had saved from Lou Wudu's hands.
Seeing this, Ling Qingyue nudged Yue Teng on the shoulder, signaling her to go over.
Yue Teng walked over to Yue Shouming, took her hand, and placed it on her own head.
Yue Shouming's eyes reddened, and she forced a smile to her lips. "This is good too. In the end, my sister is still here keeping me company."
"Let's go."
"Wait." Ling Qingyue called out to them. "Her soul still remains. Today she has endured the full one hundred and eight strokes of the Thunder-Fire Whipping. It is time for the soul-fusion."
The demonic blood soul fusion—this was something Lou Wudu had demanded for herself.
When Ling Qingyue led the group from the Yue Family to the Thunder-Fire Prison, there were already people waiting there.
Wang Changming, Pei Yin, Gu Huai, Qiu Feng, Xue Zizai, Lin Zhao, Meng Qi, and also Liu Qingtang and Nie Wenxiao, who had rushed over from Piaomiao Sect.
Yue Teng followed beside Ling Qingyue, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Wang Changming. Then, suddenly, she widened her eyes and pointed. "Those look like my vine roots."
"Uh... they are indeed."
Ling Qingyue thought for a moment, then explained the situation to Yue Teng in brief.
Yue Teng grew even angrier. "How could she use my vines to do evil!"
"Yes, she truly was rotten to the core." Ling Qingyue went along with her words.
Yue Teng looked at Ling Qingyue, then at Wang Changming. "Anyway, I don't need those vine roots anymore. They can go to your master."
Ling Qingyue smiled and patted her head. "Yue Teng is so kind."
Yue Teng shyly lowered her head. "My sister taught me everything."
Beneath the Thunder-Fire Prison, Lou Wudu's soul was almost transparent. From head to foot, it was covered in the scorched scars left by the Thunder-Fire Whip.
Shangtianqiong's Thunder-Fire Whipping was modeled after Heavenly Lightning. When it struck flesh, the wounds it left could not be healed by any medicine. When it struck the soul, the marks it left were even more indelible. Furthermore, the severity of the punishment could be adjusted according to the cultivation of the one being punished. A single stroke could be delivered with enough force to leave the punished unable to stand. Because of this, the Thunder-Fire Prison had always been reserved for disciplining disciples who had committed grave crimes.
Lou Wudu knelt at the center of the lightning-attracting array, six chains piercing through her neck, both hands, waist and abdomen, and both legs, forcing her to endure the whipping in a kneeling posture.
"Shi Du." Ling Qingyue called out her original name.
It was a long while before Lou Wudu raised her head. Whip scars crisscrossed her face, giving her a ferocious appearance. Her gaze swept across the faces of those present one by one. In the end, she shut her eyes and waited for the final soul fusion.
Ling Qingyue walked step by step down into the lightning-attracting array and came before Lou Wudu.
Lou Wudu opened her mouth and spoke in a faint, breathless voice. "Begin."
Ling Qingyue drew her fingertip across her left palm, summoning forth demonic blood. The blood transformed into a bloody mist that instantly enveloped Lou Wudu's soul.
The person who had not uttered a single cry while enduring the Thunder-Fire Whipping could not suppress the pained cry that burst from her lips.
As the soul dissolved bit by bit, a tear slid from the corner of Lou Wudu's eye. With her very last wisp of breath, she sighed, "So it was this painful after all."
Ling Qingyue looked at her coldly. "Saying such words at a time like this only makes you seem even more hypocritical."
Lou Wudu laughed in a low voice. "It's true. I am such a selfish, hypocritical person. Zhiwei and Yanchun both said so."
As the last trailing note of her voice fell to the ground, Lou Wudu's soul vanished completely. The chains crashed heavily onto the ground with a muffled clang.
Ling Qingyue did not linger. She turned and walked back up the steps. The Yue Family members had already left.
With their great vengeance finally achieved, Xue Zizai and the other two decided to return to Linshui Town for a visit. Ling Qingyue thought it over and decided to go with them. After all, the body she now inhabited had grown up in Linshui Town.
Only, they never expected that there was one person who had arrived at Linshui Town even earlier than them.
"Yu Ting?" Ling Qingyue was somewhat surprised.
Yu Ting was dressed in plain cloth garments. She held a carving knife in her hand and was carving one little wooden figure after another. A number of them already lay on the ground, all depictions of the people of Linshui Town. Her hands were already covered in knife scars.
"What are you doing here?" Lin Zhao's tone was hardly pleasant.
Placing the finished wooden carving down, Yu Ting lowered her gaze and picked up a new wooden block. "I've come to atone."
Xue Zizai clenched her fists and pressed further. "You said you didn't lay a hand on the people of Linshui Town. If you didn't do it, why have you come to atone?"
Yu Ting's hands paused. She raised her eyes and looked at her. "But I did not stop it."
She had not raised a hand herself, yet neither had she stopped it. She had watched with her own eyes as those people had their souls searched to death.
Linshui Town had been burned to the ground, wiped completely clean. Even if they wanted to erect cenotaphs for them, it was impossible.
The group gathered together and, carve by carve, cut a wooden figure for every single person. They placed graves for them at the site of each household.
Yellow paper offerings were cast into the sky, borne away by the wind.
Lin Zhao and Xue Zizai wept until they could barely make a sound. Although Meng Qi no longer had any living relatives, Linshui Town was still the place where she had grown up. She had been raised on the kindness of the whole town. Gazing at the grave mounds before her, her own tears could not stop falling.
The three of them knelt together on the ground, holding each other and crying for a long, long time.
Ling Qingyue's eyes and the tip of her nose were also red. She had already wept in secret. Pei Yin had even wiped away her tears.
When it was time to return to the Immortal Realm, Yu Ting did not go with them. She said she would stay and keep vigil over the graves of Linshui Town for a hundred years.
Before she left, Ling Qingyue asked Yu Ting a question. "Lou Wudu was such a suspicious person. Why did she never plant a Gu Vine inside you?"
Yu Ting had thought about this question before as well. After pondering it, she replied, "Perhaps she felt I could never pose a threat to her."
Ling Qingyue asked no more. She turned and boarded the skyship.
A person already dead—there was no need to pursue certain matters to the very end.
As the skyship sailed over the skies above Yuelou, Ling Qingyue looked down from above. The dense, tangled web of vines that had once been there had vanished entirely. Yuelou, hidden away for four hundred years, saw the light of day once more.
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