IVYSCP - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ling Qingyue felt her heart tremble.

Liu Qingtang, someone so single-mindedly devoted to training with her blade, so intent on walking the path to greater strength alongside her saber, had actually wanted someone to use her own blade to kill her.

Ling Qingyue tried to imagine it. Under what circumstances would she ever let someone use Jiuge to kill her?

She would have to have done something utterly heinous, something like betraying her master and ancestors, defying all morality.

"Ah..."

Liu Qingtang suddenly cried out in agony. She hung her head against the ground, her limbs beginning to convulse uncontrollably.

They had been acquaintances, after all. Seeing her in such a state, Ling Qingyue could not help feeling some pity.

Liu Qingtang's head snapped up, radiating killing intent. "The disrespectful must die!"

That phrase again.

The thought flickered through Ling Qingyue's mind. She had no time to ponder its meaning. Spiritual energy was already gathering in her palm, ready to strike Liu Qingtang again.

A flash of gold streaked through the edge of her vision. In the blink of an eye, Liu Qingtang's hands and feet were severed, leaving her unable to stand.

The spiritual energy in Ling Qingyue's hand dissipated. She glanced at Pei Si beside her.

She could not see through Pei Si's cultivation level. Very strong, yet somehow not that strong either.

Pei Si raised her hand. Spiritual energy flew from her fingertips, landing on various points across Liu Qingtang's body. Then the points connected into lines.

"Seal!"

A quiet word, and all of Liu Qingtang's meridians were sealed. To use spiritual energy, she would have to break through the formation sealed inside her body, but with her hands and feet severed, she was no different from a cripple now.

Watching from the side, Ling Qingyue's pupils suddenly contracted.

Setting a formation directly on a person! Pei Si's control over formation points and positions had truly reached a supernatural level.

Since when did the Immortal Realm have such a formidable formation cultivator?

Formations, Cangshan, and the surname Pei...

Such a coincidence?

Ling Qingyue gave Pei Si a thoughtful glance.

Hm... she recalled that Pei Yin had once said she took her surname from her master's master, her grandmaster, and that her grandmaster had been wandering the four corners of the world for several hundred years now.

Ling Qingyue's mood grew even more complicated.

Hm...

Hm...

Pei Si couldn't possibly be that wandering grandmaster of Pei Yin's, could she...

If so, she would be a generation higher than her own master!

No, no. That couldn't be right.

If Pei Si really were that grandmaster, her cultivation would be at least Tribulation Transcendence or Soul Formation. Dealing with Liu Qingtang would be as easy as pinching her fingers. But Pei Si had just coughed up blood. Her cultivation couldn't be at that level.

Ling Qingyue was lost in wild speculation when a hand brushed across her face, wiping away the blood that had accidentally splattered on her a moment ago.

Her lashes quivered. Unable to suppress her curiosity, Ling Qingyue adopted a casual tone and asked, "I've heard people say it's quite difficult to set formations on the human body. For you to be so skilled at it, you must have cultivated this art for a very long time."

Pei Si's fingers curled slightly. Her gaze lifted to Ling Qingyue's eyes, but Ling Qingyue was not looking at her. Her lashes were lowered, casting a ring of shadow beneath her eyelids.

She was suddenly asking this. Had she figured it out?

Did she know who she was?

A thread of panic and nervousness rose in Pei Si's heart. Her throat felt dry. She gave a vague answer. "Mm. Several hundred years."

Ling Qingyue's heart jolted. Several hundred years? Could she really be that grandmaster?

Her eyes shot upward, and she instinctively took a step back.

When that movement landed in Pei Si's eyes, it sent a chill from her heart spreading instantly through her entire body.

The hand she had raised froze stiffly in midair, looking so lost and wounded. Ling Qingyue naturally realized how obvious her step backward had just been, as if she were clearly drawing a line between them. She looked up at Pei Si and caught the bitterness and desolation that flickered through her eyes.

So the leg that had just retreated stepped forward again. The distance between them became intimate once more.

Ling Qingyue raised a hand and touched her own ear. It was burning hot.

She darted a quick glance at Pei Si's lips and noticed a faint trace of blood still not fully wiped away at the corner.

After a brief hesitation, Ling Qingyue reached out and brushed the corner of those lips with the pad of her finger. Pei Si lowered her eyes, gazing at her intently, gaze burning.

Ling Qingyue evaded the look and asked again, "Your spiritual energy fluctuates between strong and weak. Do you have an injury?"

She also recalled the time Pei Si had coughed up blood and collapsed. Back then, she had not known Pei Si was from the Immortal Realm and had simply thought she was angry. Now it seemed it was not so simple.

Pei Si could not say it was because she had used Emotion Transference on her, so she nodded along with her words. "An old wound."

An old wound? That meant it had never healed. What kind of wound could be so severe?

Worry colored Ling Qingyue's expression. Just as she was about to ask, Lu Yao arrived with the cultivators from Piaomiao Sect.

"How could Elder Liu end up like this..." Lu Yao's voice was hoarse. She still looked somewhat dazed.

Ling Qingyue sighed. "Let's bring her back first."

With her hands and feet crippled and her spiritual energy sealed, Liu Qingtang's struggles were useless. She simply glared fiercely at Ling Qingyue and Pei Si up ahead, muttering something about "the disrespectful" and "deserve to die."

Some cultivators had remained in town to guard the rotting corpses. The commotion had been considerable, and by now the townsfolk were craning their necks to look. A few bolder ones even approached to ask questions. A Piaomiao Sect cultivator patiently tried to dissuade them, but to no avail. Instead, the people grew even more brazen, flattering the Piaomiao cultivators while verbally insulting the rotting corpses on the ground.

The cultivators left behind naturally knew that some of those corpses were their own fellow disciples. Not knowing the cause of their deaths, and hearing these people insult them so, anger was inevitable.

"Shut your mouths!"

A sword left its sheath with a metallic ring. A cultivator beside her quickly reached out to stop her. "Junior Sister Gan, they don't know the truth. Don't be angry."

Junior Sister Gan's eyes had reddened. She glared furiously at those people, then turned away from them. That turn brought the group descending from the mountain directly into her view.

"Senior Sister Feng! Junior Sister Lu Yao! The two seniors!"

Among this group, besides Yu Ting, Senior Sister Feng had entered the sect the earliest. With Yu Ting gone now, Senior Sister Feng had naturally become their pillar of support.

The Piaomiao Sect cultivators clustered around. Watching them, Ling Qingyue felt an inexplicable urge to smile.

She had once been like this, too. Her master had been in Secluded Cultivation so often, she had loved to flit around her senior sister. One could say she had been raised by her senior sister.

"Isn't this Elder Liu?"

"Could this be another one made from a wood carving?"

"How did she end up like this?"

Listening to the hushed whispers around her, Ling Qingyue's heart sighed again.

She truly wanted to know what had happened to Liu Qingtang. But she had no bond with Liu Qingtang. Lu Yao and the others were Liu Qingtang's fellow disciples. It would not be proper for her to speak up directly.

These rotting corpses could not be brought into the town, and no one knew which immortal sects the cultivators among them came from. The bodies could not be disposed of casually. After Senior Sister Feng discussed it with several fellow disciples, they decided to build a shelter outside the town. They would guard the corpses and, once they found a way to break the restrictions of the barrier overhead, send word to the Immortal Alliance.

As for Liu Qingtang...

Senior Sister Feng spoke a few words into Lu Yao's ear. Lu Yao glanced toward Ling Qingyue and Pei Si, then gave a soft nod.

Ling Qingyue watched Lu Yao approach.

Without a word, Lu Yao first took out two large bags of spirit stones and offered them.

Ling Qingyue let out a light laugh. She was getting better and better at this. She took the Qiankun Pouch and looked inside. The spirit stones had likely been pooled together by these Piaomiao Sect cultivators.

"Need a favor?"

Lu Yao nodded and also smiled. "Senior, Elder Liu is still an elder of our Piaomiao Sect. We can't just have her guarding rotting corpses with us like this, so could we possibly... Senior, rest assured, I will keep an eye on her!"

Ling Qingyue glanced at that Senior Sister Feng. This senior sister thought things through quite thoroughly. Liu Qingtang was now deranged and dangerous, and the only ones here who could restrain her were herself and Pei Si. And Lu Yao was the only one here who could properly speak with them...

But it worked out perfectly. She could collect spirit stones and also take a look at Liu Qingtang's condition.

"Fine. Bring her to our courtyard then."

Lu Yao went back to report.

Ling Qingyue turned and handed both bags of spirit stones to Pei Si without a trace of reluctance. "You're injured. Make do with these for now."

Pei Si was caught off guard for an instant, then laughter rippled through her eyes. She extended her hand, and there in her palm lay that very piece of Spirit Jade Marrow she had once given away.

Back when Ling Qingyue had resolved to shed this physical body and go see Pei Si one last time, she had returned the Spirit Jade Marrow, placing it on the head of Pei Si's bed. No one had mentioned it since.

Ling Qingyue shot a glance at it. Her ears instantly flushed red.

Someone who could produce Spirit Jade Marrow would have no need for this handful of spirit stones. Not everyone was like her, unable to bring out even a single decent thing.

Come to think of it, the things she had given away: before, it had been mostly useless wood carvings; now it was spirit stones of no great use, and even those were a "benefit" offered by Piaomiao Sect.

Ling Qingyue felt utterly embarrassed. This was far too shabby to present, making her seem so petty and stingy.

"I, I..." Ling Qingyue raised a hand and rubbed her ear again. Her hair was tied behind her head and draped over the other shoulder, so her exposed ear was red in a way that drew particular attention.

"Shangtianqiong has a piece of thousand-year cold jade. I'll give that to you when the time comes."

When she said this, she did not register that she had not yet told Pei Si her identity in Shangtianqiong. Thousand-year cold jade was not something an ordinary cultivator could obtain.

Pei Si's brow stirred slightly. Thousand-year cold jade was a treasure for healing wounds. Ling Qingyue seemed quite confident her senior sister would give it to her.

Ling Qingyue then realized belatedly: Pei Si could produce Spirit Jade Marrow, so she certainly had no lack of healing treasures. So why did her old wound remain unhealed?

She wanted to know more but did not know how to ask. After all, a cultivator's injuries were not something usually revealed lightly, much less an old wound that had never healed over time. It could very well be fatal.

Cultivators of the Immortal Realm were always deeply guarded. Even with their own Dao Companion, they would not entrust their whole heart. Her senior sister had told her this. Back then she had not really understood, nor taken it much to heart. She had heard it and let it go.

Now she seemed to understand a little. Just like her and Pei Si. Though the two of them were already married, they had concealed their identities, and even after their identities were exposed, neither had shown any intention of fully coming clean.

"Alright." Pei Si answered, then pressed the Spirit Jade Marrow into her hand. "Hold onto it properly."

The small piece of Spirit Jade Marrow pressed against her palm. Ling Qingyue tasted a little sweetness.

Soon Lu Yao arrived with two fellow disciples, carrying Liu Qingtang.

After bringing her to the small courtyard, only Lu Yao remained. The other two fellow disciples returned to guard the rotting corpses.

Liu Qingtang kept struggling, though the movements were not large. Once in the courtyard, Pei Si seemed to mind that she was disturbing the gravel path. She gave her another formation, after which Liu Qingtang could only move her head.

Ling Qingyue laughed. She crouched down in front of Liu Qingtang and teased her with a blade of grass between her fingers.

"So fierce. Trying to bite people now?"

Lu Yao stood to the side, watching, too afraid to speak.

While Ling Qingyue teased Liu Qingtang with the blade of grass, watching her angry but helpless expression, she asked Lu Yao, "When did your Elder Liu pass away?"

Lu Yao had previously told her that they had come to carve wooden figures for their "departed" Elder Liu.

Lu Yao made a small sound of surprise and blinked, pondering her words.

After a moment, she answered quietly, "A hundred years ago."

Ling Qingyue turned her head to look at her, eyes full of doubt.

Liu Qingtang had "passed away" a hundred years ago? That would make it around the same time as herself, wouldn't it?

Pei Si, standing nearby, also turned her gaze over.

Lu Yao saw their confusion and nodded firmly to confirm she was not mistaken. "The Sect Leader is Elder Liu's senior sister. It is said that the Sect Leader has always believed Elder Liu's death was because of her. She felt deeply guilty toward Elder Liu, so a hundred years ago, after Elder Liu passed, the Sect Leader set a rule. From the moment a Piaomiao Sect cultivator enters the sect, she must recognize Elder Liu. She must be respected and honored."

"Then how did she die?" Ling Qingyue could not help asking.

Lu Yao shook her head. "I don't know. This is probably something only the Sect Leader knows."

Ling Qingyue stood and walked over to sit at the stone table nearby. A tiny frown creased her brow.

Pei Si noticed. "What are you thinking about?"

Ling Qingyue voiced the thought that had crossed her mind several times. "Did you notice that Liu Qingtang said 'the disrespectful' many times? She said it to us. What does that mean?"

"I noticed."

Pei Si saw that she seemed to have more to say and signaled with her eyes for her to continue.

Ling Qingyue's heartbeat quickened. Pei Si actually knew she had more to say!

"Liu Qingtang appeared suddenly, probably because of our trespassing. Trespassing without permission is disrespect. I originally thought Liu Qingtang was the same as those rotting corpses, but looking at it now, she isn't one of those kneeling people. She is the person assigned to watch over those kneeling in penance."

"Someone controlled her consciousness, turned her into a sharp 'blade,' suspended over the heads of those doing penance."

Listening at the side, Lu Yao's face had gone pale. Yet as she thought about it, it seemed to make sense.

Anyone could see that Elder Liu no longer had her own consciousness. She could not even recognize her own fellow disciples.

"Penance..." Pei Si said quietly. "Penance for what crime?"

Requiring so many people from the Immortal Realm, requiring cultivators from different immortal sects, requiring them to kneel there in rows, humiliated, and making Liu Qingtang watch over them constantly, not even letting them go in death.

Ling Qingyue rested her chin on her hand and looked toward the Back Mountain. "And why must it be here?"

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next