IVYSCP - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After bringing her to the study, Pei Si left, and Ling Qingyue let out a quiet breath of relief. As long as they were not in the same room, that was enough.

She took out the wood carving and her set of tools, sat down, and began to carve in peace.

It was delicate work that tested one's patience, and in some ways, it was also a method of cultivating the mind.

Her cultivation had been completely lost. The spiritual qi of the mortal realm could at most help her break through into Qi Condensation, but it could not support Foundation Establishment. She would have to return to the Immortal Realm sooner or later, but she could not rush the matter. She had borrowed Ah Xi's body to be reborn, yet she still did not know whether Ah Xi's consciousness remained within this vessel. She needed to wait until her cultivation had recovered somewhat, and she needed to give Ah Xi a proper accounting before she could leave.

Before departing the mortal realm, she would also need to find a new body for herself.

Using another person's body always felt a bit strange. Ling Qingyue planned to first carve herself a wooden body out of timber. Once she returned to Shangtianqiong, she would seek out her master and senior sister and ask them to help her reforge a true body.

She was in the middle of carving the wings of a white crane when Pei Si returned, carrying a steaming bowl.

Pei Si set the hot soup beside her hand. "Ginger soup. You were caught in the rain. It will dispel the cold."

In the past, her body had always been shielded by spiritual energy, so the rain could never touch her. Even when she suffered minor injuries or illnesses, there had always been medicinal pills to cure them. For a moment, Ling Qingyue felt a little out of sorts.

She paused, then picked up the bowl and drank. The moment the ginger soup entered her mouth, a sharp, pungent heat rushed straight to her forehead. Ling Qingyue's face scrunched up. When she raised her eyes, she met Pei Si's gaze. After all, the woman had kindly boiled the soup for her; spitting it out now would be somewhat rude.

Ling Qingyue gritted her teeth and downed the rest in one breath.

Watching her eyes water from the heat, Pei Si felt the corners of her lips twitch upward, the movement nearly imperceptible.

"Cough, cough, cough." Ling Qingyue set the empty bowl onto the table. "Finished."

The next moment, a piece of sugar was slipped into her mouth. The sweetness melted between her lips and teeth, gradually pressing down the lingering heat on her tongue.

A slightly cool fingertip brushed against her lower lip. Ling Qingyue's face flushed red around the sugar cube. She lowered her head. "Thank you."

Pei Si listened to her say thank you yet again. Her expression impassive, she walked over to the side, pulled a scroll from the bookshelf, and leaned against the daybed to read it.

When Ling Qingyue finished carving the white crane, she stole a glance toward the daybed. Pei Si's features could not be called stunning. They were as plain and mild as a cup of plain water, which suited her temperament and bearing quite well. At first glance, one might think she was simply meant to look exactly as she did.

In the end, she was another person's wife. Ling Qingyue did not dare to look too long. Each time she would flick her gaze over and then quickly look away. The feature that left the deepest impression on her about Pei Si's face was her eyes. The pale color of her irises lent a touch of softness to that aloof, distant brow and those detached eyes, like a still, mysterious sky pool on a silent snowy mountaintop covered by a thin layer of frost. Yet in the brief moment when the eyes turned to look at her, they would suddenly become clear and luminous.

A very beautiful pair of eyes.

Pah, what nonsense am I thinking? Whether they're pretty or not is none of your business.

Ling Qingyue cursed herself in her mind, then rose to her feet holding the white crane wood carving and handed it over.

Pei Si set down her scroll and studied the carving carefully. The wood carving was startlingly lifelike, its bearing exceedingly proud. It did not look like any mortal crane.

For a moment, in a daze, Pei Si seemed to see that youth of long ago, riding a crane into the sky, chin lifted, smiling at her with smug pride.

It seemed she could barely remember what that person looked like anymore. Pei Si pressed her lips together, placed the wood carving aside, and picked up the book again.

Ling Qingyue saw this reaction and asked hesitantly, "You don't like it?"

Pei Si's face was expressionless. "I do not. I like it very much."

Ling Qingyue: "…"

Really? Was that true?

The air stilled for a moment. Pei Si suddenly spoke up to ask, "Tomorrow, what do you plan to give me?"

Ling Qingyue: "I haven't decided yet."

Pei Si lifted her head to look at her and asked, "Do you know how to carve human figures?"

Ling Qingyue nodded. Wood carvings of people and animals were not that different. Sometimes, carving a human figure was even simpler than carving an animal.

Pei Si said in a bland tone, "Then tomorrow, carve a wood carving of me."

Ling Qingyue felt that there was nothing difficult about it. She nodded and agreed. "All right."

The sky gradually darkened. For the evening meal, Pei Si made three dishes and a soup. Ling Qingyue ate with relish.

She had practiced inedia for a very long time, but now she was housed in a mortal body, so she was forced to eat. Besides, Pei Si's cooking was quite excellent. If not for the need to maintain some degree of proper distance between them, she would have genuinely preferred to eat all three meals at home, rather than gnawing on dry mantou bread in the wood carving shop at midday.

Once she had eaten her fill, Ling Qingyue took responsibility for washing the bowls and chopsticks. After tidying everything up, she quickly found an excuse to head to the wood cabin.

The wood cabin held a store of timber blocks and carving tools, as well as a wooden bed. Ling Qingyue had spent the past few nights here meditating and cultivating.

The spiritual qi of the mortal realm was thin. Although her meditation and cultivation over these past days had yielded meager results, she had still managed to accumulate a small amount of spiritual energy within her body nonetheless.

"Qi Condensation, first stage."

Ling Qingyue sat cross-legged on the wooden bed and let out a sigh, watching the crimson orb of light dancing at her fingertip.

How wretched. She recalled that when she had first begun cultivating, she had perceived the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and shot straight to the sixth stage of Qi Condensation in a single day. Now, after three consecutive nights of meditation and cultivation, she had only just felt her way to the first stage of Qi Condensation.

The Qi Condensation stage was divided into twelve sub-stages, with significant breaks every three stages. At the ninth stage, one could begin to perceive the distinction between the physical body and the soul.

In a little over a month's time, she would know whether Ah Xi was still here or not.

She should still be here. The day Ling Qingyue's consciousness had awakened had happened to be Ah Xi and Pei Si's wedding night. Ah Xi had gotten drunk and fallen into a deep sleep from which she had not woken.

Ling Qingyue thought to herself that her soul must have slipped in during that opening. Her soul was far stronger than Ah Xi's, which was why she could control this body so easily.

For now, she still needed to seize every moment to cultivate, so that she could free herself from Ah Xi's body as soon as possible.

Ling Qingyue closed her eyes. Just as she prepared to quiet her mind, focus her spirit, and circulate the meager spiritual energy within her body, she abruptly heard footsteps outside the door.

It was Pei Si.

"Thump, thump, thump."

Ling Qingyue scrambled off the bed and hurried to the wooden table. She picked up her carving knife and a piece of wood, making a pretense of being absorbed in carving.

"Come in."

The door swung open. Pei Si saw the person seated at the wooden table and walked over.

"Ah Xi." Pei Si had just finished bathing. The hair at her forehead was still slightly damp. Outside her undergarment, she had draped a large cloak.

"Tonight, are you still going to stay in the wood cabin?"

Ling Qingyue did not dare lift her head. She composed herself and gave a quiet "Mm." "This batch of wood carvings is urgently needed. I'll be working late these coming nights. The nights are cold. You go to sleep first, don't wait for me."

Pei Si acted as if she had not heard her. She sat down directly across from her, rested her chin on her hand, and spoke. Her voice was cool and clear, as if laced with the chill she had carried along the path. "Ah Xi, it seems you are not as fond of me as you were before."

Ling Qingyue's eyes shifted. These past days, she had only thought about avoiding impropriety and putting distance between herself and Pei Si. But Ah Xi and Pei Si had just gotten married, after all. If her own actions caused a rift between Ah Xi and Pei Si, wouldn't that be a grave sin?

She would likely have to remain here in the identity of "Ah Xi" for a little over a month more. She definitely could not come right out and say that she was not Ah Xi. Possession was a vile act that even in the Immortal Realm would be condemned by all. To say nothing of the mortal realm. Although she had not truly possessed anyone, given the present circumstances, if she tried to explain, no one would believe her.

Right now, she needed to urgently cultivate and recover her power, while also being careful to preserve the relationship between Ah Xi and Pei Si.

Too much intimacy was unacceptable, but too much distance was also unacceptable.

For a moment, Ling Qingyue felt troubled.

A long silence stretched with no answer. Her companion across the table seemed to grow a little impatient and rapped her fingertips against the wooden table, producing a dull noise. Ling Qingyue came back to herself and looked up to give Pei Si a smile. "How could that be? Truly, the past few days have just been somewhat busy."

"Mm," Pei Si answered coolly, showing no sign of leaving.

Ling Qingyue lowered her head to carve, then secretly raised her eyes for a glance toward the other side.

Still not leaving?

For the time being, no one spoke. Ling Qingyue's fingers tightened around the knife handle.

If it were only a matter of cultivating and training her sword, she could spend months alone without speaking to anyone. But whenever someone else was beside her, her words would multiply. Yet now that she was here with Pei Si, she suddenly had no idea what to do.

She had never had a Dao Companion before, nor had she ever had someone she liked. She did not know how, in Ah Xi's identity, she was supposed to interact with Pei Si.

But she had indeed been a little neglectful these past few days in her attitude toward Pei Si.

Ling Qingyue thought for a moment and then spoke. "The greenwood is all gone. Tomorrow, will you go with me to fetch more timber?"

Pei Si nodded, still showing no intention of leaving.

Ling Qingyue sighed inwardly and apologized to Ah Xi in her heart.

She rose, rounded the wooden table, and clasped the woman's wrist.

Pei Si turned her eyes to look at her. "What, not carving anymore?"

Ling Qingyue shook her head. Maintaining as natural an expression as she could, she shifted her grip to take the woman's hand. "No more carving. Let's go back. Your hand is so cold."

Give a suitable amount of closeness and care. She would first pacify Pei Si, then think about the rest.

The two of them returned to the bedchamber. Ling Qingyue did not avoid Pei Si as she had the previous two days. She undressed naturally, blew out the lamp, and lay down on the outer side. Beneath the quilt, her hand considerately rested on the back of the woman's cold hand, warming it for her.

Ling Qingyue had originally planned to wait until Pei Si was asleep before slipping back to the wood cabin to cultivate. But she had never expected that the moment she lay down, exhaustion would wash over her without the slightest warning, leaving her suddenly overcome with drowsiness.

On the blurry edge of consciousness, she heard a familiar, cool, and clear voice. "Sleep."

The person beside her was breathing slow and steady. The one on the inner side sat up and, in a flash, moved from the bed to the table.

A jade token appeared in her hand. In the Immortal Realm, jade tokens could be used for sound transmission.

A wisp of spiritual energy slipped into the jade token, and the token began to glow faintly within the dim room.

A gentle voice emerged from it. "Did Immortal Venerable find her?"

Pei Si answered with a faint "Mm."

"If the attachment does not dissipate, the Heart Demon will not be dispelled." The voice on the other end grew slightly more stern. "Immortal Venerable, your Fated Tribulation lies here."

"I know." Pei Si drew a deep breath and raised her hand to press between her brows.

A century ago, because of a single person, she had developed a Heart Demon. Her master, fearing her attachment was too deep and that she would suffer Cultivation Deviation, immediately ordered her to switch to cultivating the Supreme Detachment Path. A century had passed since then. She had already forgotten the things related to that person.

Yet not long ago, the Tianyan Yue Family had sent word that the Hidden Moon Lord had urgent matters to discuss. She had once shared a period of friendship as fellow disciples with the current generation's Hidden Moon Lord, Yue Shouming, so she made a trip to the Yue Family.

The Tianyan Yue Family was deeply versed in the arts of heaven and earth's evolution and could divine heavenly events, blessings, and calamities. Each generation's family head was titled the Hidden Moon Lord, being the family's greatest master of heavenly divination.

Yue Shouming told her that she had once acted on another's request and divined her Fated Tribulation.

Now, to break her Fated Tribulation, she had transformed into a mortal and entered the mortal world. Yet she had never imagined that amid the dust and customs of this mundane sphere, her heart, which had long been as still as untroubled water, would once again be stirred into ripples.

She was thinking of that person again.

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