IVYSCP - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In the afternoon, a clear breeze skimmed the water's surface, raising ripples that set the reflection in the water swaying.

Ling Qingyue stared blankly at the handsome but unfamiliar face in the water.

This was not her face.

She should have been dead, fallen in the Immortal-Demon War on Cangshan Northern Region. Yet three days ago, for reasons unknown, she awoke in this body. Not only was she in the Mortal Realm, but her cultivation was completely gone.

This body's owner was named Ah Xi, a woodcarver with a newlywed wife at home named Pei Si.

Ling Qingyue found the situation deeply troubling. Fortunately, Pei Si had a detached temperament. Even after marriage, she showed no particular warmth toward Ah Xi. Word was that the marriage had come about because Ah Xi had saved her life. Just like in the storybooks, Ah Xi had rescued Pei Si from drowning, and Pei Si had offered herself in marriage.

But no matter what, Pei Si was Ah Xi's wife. Ling Qingyue, still uncertain how she had become Ah Xi, felt it best to avoid close contact with her. For these three days, she had spent the daytime in the woodcarving shop and found excuses to sleep in the wood room at night.

The dark sky now pressed steadily lower. A muffled rumble of thunder sounded, and then a cold raindrop struck Ling Qingyue's face.

The drops grew denser. Ling Qingyue ducked into the woodcarving shop before the downpour hit. She drew a deep breath. The air smelled of damp earth, but even stronger was the fragrance of greenwood in the shop.

Ling Qingyue sat back at the wooden table, picked up her carving knife, and began sculpting the wings of a white crane.

Ah Xi and Pei Si had an agreement. Ah Xi was to give Pei Si a small wood carving every day. To avoid discovery, Ling Qingyue had no choice but to fulfill this duty in Ah Xi's place. Fortunately, her years of swordsmanship practice had given her steady hands. Woodcarving was not difficult for her. In fact, her carvings even seemed a touch livelier than Ah Xi's had been.

The night before, when she had returned home, she had seen Pei Si practicing calligraphy in the study. The woman wore an elegant plain robe, her black hair simply and neatly bound behind her head with a jade hairpin. She was refined and cultured, with an otherworldly grace. Ling Qingyue had immediately thought of the immortal cranes at Shangtianqiong. So today, she decided to carve a white crane for Pei Si.

Outside, rain hammered down. A layer of mist rose from the ground, only to be scattered apart by someone rushing in for shelter.

"Ah Xi, you're still here! Let me get out of the rain."

The newcomer wore red robes that had clearly been soaked for some time, now clinging to her in a miserable mess.

Ling Qingyue set down the woodcarving and her knife, then rose and poured a cup of hot tea.

This person was Lin Zhao, a friend of Ah Xi's who often visited the woodcarving shop. At first, Ling Qingyue had worried about exposing herself through improper words or conduct. But Lin Zhao talked a great deal, and Ling Qingyue soon gleaned from her that Ah Xi was straightforward, cheerful, and warmhearted. That saved Ling Qingyue the trouble of deliberate pretense, because Ah Xi's temperament was somewhat similar to her own.

Lin Zhao accepted the hot tea with thanks, then came over eagerly to look at the carvings on the table. She praised them profusely. "Ah Xi, your skill is really getting better and better. This carving looks so real, like it's about to come alive."

Ling Qingyue turned and picked up a little dog she had carved the day before and offered it to her. "You like it? Take this one."

Lin Zhao's eyes darted to the white crane carving. She grinned. "That one's prettier. Give me that one."

"No," Ling Qingyue refused flatly. "This one is for Pei Si."

Lin Zhao had already guessed as much. She clicked her tongue. "You and Miss Pei really are so loving."

The words struck Ling Qingyue with a stab of guilt. She raised a hand to cover her mouth and coughed.

The rain had come fiercely and left just as fast. The sound of it faded. Lin Zhao got up to go, and without any formality, took the little wooden dog with her.

"I'm off."

Ling Qingyue nodded and reminded her, "It might rain again soon. Get home quickly."

Lin Zhao agreed with a smile. At the doorway, she saw a woman holding an umbrella coming through the alley. She turned back and winked at Ling Qingyue. "Ah Xi, you should get home quickly too."

With that, the red figure darted into the alley and ran off at full speed.

In the next blink, a plain white figure appeared beside the shop door. Ling Qingyue's breath caught. She stood up so abruptly that she knocked over the white crane carving. She hurriedly set it upright again, movements flustered.

"Pei Si, what brings you here?"

Pei Si's features were elegant and cool. She set her paper umbrella outside the door. Noticing Ling Qingyue's expression, she arched a brow slightly. "Why so nervous? I came to walk you home. Aren't you pleased?"

"No, no, it's not that."

Pei Si approached, and Ling Qingyue's legs nearly stepped back on instinct, only for her wrist to be caught and held.

"Ah Xi, we are already married." Pei Si studied her evasive eyes, a trace of confusion in her gaze. "Why do you always avoid me?"

Ling Qingyue lowered her eyes and did not dare look at her. Why else? Because I am not Ah Xi, and you are not my wife. Of course I have to avoid you. I've already taken over someone else's body to live again. I can't very well take her wife too. That would be beyond shameless!

Ling Qingyue stammered an explanation. "These past few days, I've been busy, just busy."

"Busy?" Pei Si swept a glance across the shop's woodcarvings. They looked exactly the same as they had on her last visit. Recognizing the excuse, Pei Si's confusion only deepened. She read storybooks and observed the people around her. Those newly married were usually inseparable and intimate. Yet she and Ah Xi had been married only three days, and Ah Xi was already avoiding her. Why?

"No one else should come now. Ah Xi, let's go home," Pei Si said calmly.

To refuse again would be too obvious. Ling Qingyue nodded and gathered her toolbox and the white crane carving.

They closed up the shop. As if the heavens meant to toy with Ling Qingyue, rain suddenly began to fall again. Ling Qingyue had not brought an umbrella, and Pei Si had only brought one. There was no avoiding it. They had to share an umbrella.

Pei Si glanced at the person whose entire side was outside the umbrella's cover. "Come closer."

Ling Qingyue shifted over a tiny fraction.

"Closer."

Another tiny fraction.

Behind her back, Pei Si's fingers came together. A faint glimmer flickered at her fingertips. The rain suddenly fell even harder.

Ling Qingyue secretly lifted her head and glared at the sky.

Then the hand at her side was caught, and with a gentle pull she was drawn beneath the umbrella. Ling Qingyue froze. She looked down at their clasped hands. The woman's hand was cool, soft, and smooth, like fine mutton-fat jade.

Ling Qingyue closed her eyes. Ah Xi, forgive me, forgive me. I truly meant no offense to your wife. Once I recover my cultivation and can leave this body, I will certainly apologize properly to you and Miss Pei!

"Where is today's carving?"

Pei Si asked, her fingertips lightly scratching the stiff palm.

Ling Qingyue was in the middle of a heartfelt apology and nearly flung her hand away in fright.

"It isn't finished yet. Once we're home, I'll finish it and give it to you."

The two walked side by side through the alley, passing a teahouse where a storyteller was recounting tales of the Immortal Realm. Many rain-sheltered patrons sat inside. There was a divide between immortals and mortals. The Mortal Realm's spiritual qi was too thin for cultivation, but if mortals possessed the talent, they could enter the Immortal Realm to train. This was no secret. The Mortal Realm was steeped in worldly bustle, life in every corner. To mortals, the Immortal Realm was wondrous and distant, filled with sky-commanding cultivators, unimaginable strange beasts and herbs, even divine weapons that could revive the dead. Like myths and legends, remote and unreachable, and they loved to hear about it.

"Legend has it, a hundred years ago, on the northern border of Cangshan in the Immortal Realm, immortals and demons fought a battle…"

Ling Qingyue listened closely, her footsteps slowing. A sidelong glance told her that the person beside her had also stopped. Two days ago, in the study, she had noticed several books on Immortal Realm wonders. That study was used by Pei Si, so Pei Si must enjoy these stories as well. So the two of them halted outside the teahouse to listen for a while.

The storyteller, old woman Ling, banged her gavel heavily and spoke with a mysterious air. "Guess, then! At whose hands did the villainous Formless Demon Lord meet her end?"

The teahouse buzzed at once.

"That needs guessing? Granny Ling, that story's so old our ears are tired of it. The Formless Demon Lord died at the hands of the Two Venerables. I could go up there and tell you a bit myself."

"Exactly. Immortal Venerable and Sword Venerable together killed the Formless Demon Lord. We've heard it eight hundred times already."

"Granny Ling, didn't you say you've got a niece in some Piaomiao Sect? Give us something new."

"Right, tell us something we haven't heard!"

The storyteller Granny Ling banged the gavel once more and glared at the loudest voices. "You all only know half the story. The Formless Demon Lord was indeed killed by the Two Venerables, but in that Immortal-Demon War, the greatest credit did not belong to them."

This had never been heard before. Someone asked curiously, "Then who?"

Granny Ling's brow smoothed. She puffed out her chest and paused to build suspense. "Do you know that the former Shangtianqiong Sect Leader had in fact two disciples? The first was Lou Wudu, who is now the Sword Venerable. But the Sect Leader had another disciple, also unparalleled in swordsmanship, a true prodigy of heaven."

Unparalleled in swordsmanship. Ling Qingyue, outside the teahouse, narrowed her eyes, a smile touching her lips. The praise pleased her greatly. Indeed, even her sword master had praised her swordsmanship.

"Who? Never heard of her."

"The Sword Venerable has a junior sister?"

"Granny Ling's making it up. I've read so many Immortal Realm tales, and I've never seen anyone like that."

Ling Qingyue: "…" Tch. So I died a bit early. How can they say there's no such person?

The crowd's curiosity had been thoroughly piqued by Granny Ling. They pressed her. "Who? Tell us, quickly!"

Granny Ling grinned and expertly delivered her closing line. "To know what happens next, come back next time for the telling." The teahouse erupted again, but Granny Ling refused to say another word.

Pei Si said, "Let's go."

Ling Qingyue glanced at her. Recalling how Pei Si always read storybooks, she wondered if Pei Si had also been intrigued by Granny Ling's tale. So she asked, "Would you like to know who Granny Ling was just speaking of?"

Pei Si pressed her lips together, and her tone suddenly turned cold. "No."

The words she had prepared were blocked. Ling Qingyue had to swallow them down, and she missed the way the hand holding the umbrella tightened, knuckles whitening.

By the time they reached the residence, the rain had stopped. Ling Qingyue prepared to use woodcarving as an excuse and escape to the wood room, avoiding staying with Pei Si. Pei Si held her hand and would not let go. "Come to the study. I want to watch you carve."

Ling Qingyue: "…" There was no escape. Ling Qingyue could only resign herself and follow, all the while frantically apologizing to Ah Xi in her heart. Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me… Ah Xi, rest assured, I absolutely have not the slightest improper thought toward your wife.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

NovelUpdates Table of Contents Next