IVYSCP - Chapter 5
Chapter 5
When they returned for the evening meal, Ling Qingyue was fuming. She rattled off a basketful of complaints about the Xue family eldest miss, convinced the girl was deliberately making things hard for her and bullying her. In the end, she pulled a miserable face at Pei Si and said she would probably have to spend the whole night in the woodshed.
Who would have guessed that Pei Si would fix her gaze on her and ask with utter seriousness, "She bullied you, and you didn't hit her?"
Ling Qingyue: "...?"
If this were before, she definitely would have hit back. But right now, she was "Ah Xi."
The two looked at each other, then blinked.
The red mole on the side of Pei Si's neck heated. She came back to herself as if waking from a trance and nodded. "Alright."
Ling Qingyue caught the odd look on her face and asked quietly, "Are you... upset? I wasn't avoiding you, really. That Xue Zizai came looking for me to ask me to..."
"No." Pei Si smiled at her and picked up a mouthful of food for her with her chopsticks.
Ling Qingyue wolfed down a few more bites, her cheeks puffing out as she chewed, her eyes sneaking glances at the person beside her.
Pei Si ate with excellent manners. Her chopsticks only picked up a small clump of rice at a time. She took small, delicate bites, and even sipped her soup with pursed lips. Every gesture reminded Ling Qingyue of a white snow cat she had once kept—just as clean, just as lovely.
The only difference was that cat had a cold temperament and never cared to pay her any attention. Only when she fed it something good, like a heavenly spirit or earthly treasure, would it deign to spare her a glance or offer up a paw.
Ling Qingyue's mind wandered for a moment. When she came back to herself, a clean, pale paw was reaching toward her—no, a clean, pale hand.
Pei Si was holding a handkerchief, wiping the corner of her mouth.
Heat rushed to her face. Ling Qingyue ducked her head, wishing she could bury it in her rice bowl. Her heart pounded like thunder.
After the meal, Ling Qingyue cleared the dishes and boiled water as usual. She had been clumsy at it at first, but now she was quite practiced.
She still had not finished Pei Si's wood carving. She could have used spiritual energy to finish it quickly, but thinking that one wood carving a day was the promise between Ah Xi and Pei Si, she did not want to do a half-hearted job. Only something made by hand could be truly sincere.
Of course... this was not her own devotion. She was just helping out.
To make her excuse a bit more convincing, Ling Qingyue did not give Pei Si the wood carving that was meant for her. Instead, she gave her a small wooden sword about the length of a finger. Unlike the chubby little sword she had made for Lu Yao, this little wooden sword was delicate and exquisite, with patterns visible on its surface. It was clear that a great deal of thought had been put into it.
Ling Qingyue watched as Pei Si held the little wooden sword in her hand and traced her fingers over it for a long time. She thought Pei Si probably liked it.
Tonight, Ling Qingyue planned to absorb the second spirit stone and then practice a few sets of sword arts. She had been holding back for days.
After she saw the lamp go out in Pei Si's room, Ling Qingyue returned to the woodshed. To be safe, she even used her pitifully meager spiritual energy to lay down a formation, just in case anyone interrupted her.
Now that cultivators from the Piaomiao Sect were in the town, it was better to take precautions.
She watched as her fingertips moved with practiced ease, and a simple formation took shape. Ling Qingyue could not help but think again of that person who was so skilled with formations. Come to think of it, she had learned these trivial array techniques from that person.
The thought flickered and vanished. Ling Qingyue set about her real task.
The incantations and hand seals for absorbing spiritual qi were ingrained in her. Ling Qingyue closed her eyes, emptied her mind and body, and felt the spiritual qi flowing within her.
In the other room, Pei Si was also seated cross-legged, a formation likewise spread beneath her.
Soon, threads as fine as spider silk began to issue from the region of her heart, wisp after wisp, carrying an overwhelming pressure of spiritual power. Among them, a few threads were a strange, bloody crimson, faintly tainted with demonic qi.
Just as the crimson threads swam toward the spiritual platform at the center of her brow, two fingers precisely pinched them. Pei Si opened her eyes, a trace of struggle in their depths.
What she was doing was unjust, unfair to Ah Xi. Yet...
Her master's words suddenly resurfaced in her mind:
"Pei Yin, do you intend to sever your own great path of cultivation for the sake of that person?"
"If someday you fall into cultivation deviation, will you be able to face the Cangshan Grandmaster? Will you be able to face me?"
"To feel too deeply is not a good thing. From now on, turn to the Supreme Detachment Path. Obtain love, then detach from it. Dispel the obsession in your heart."
This moment was the best opportunity to dispel her obsession. Through emotion transference, she could answer the love tribulation that had fallen upon Ah Xi, and by means of this very tribulation, thoroughly forget that love.
Taking a deep breath, Pei Si guided those few strands of crimson thread toward the red mole on the side of her neck. In an instant, the threads grew excited, pushing and drilling in with reckless abandon. Pei Si's brow furrowed slightly as she endured the sudden, violent pain.
Obtain love, then detach from it. Obtain love, then detach from it...
To forget completely, she had to first remember.
"What's your name?"
In a daze, Pei Si seemed to hear a bright, clear voice ring in her ear.
Her mind was drawn back a hundred years, to Shangtianqiong.
For centuries, the position of Immortal Alliance leader had been held without fail by the Shangtianqiong Sect leader. With its many elders, guest cultivators, and experts, and tens of thousands of inner and outer sect cultivators, Shangtianqiong was the foremost among the hundred immortal sects.
Once every ten years, all the immortal sects would send their cultivators to study at other sects. After the study period ended, there was always a grand competition. So while it appeared to be a matter of study, in truth, each sect was secretly comparing itself against the others.
In the immortal realm, Cangshan held a special position. The Cangshan Grandmaster Baili Sheng had ascended thousands of years ago. Since then, the Cangshan lineage had been passed down to a single disciple each generation, cultivating the strange and unpredictable arts of formation arrays.
A hundred years ago, during another cycle of study, the Cangshan Peak Master Chu Qianshan, fearing that she might raise her one and only disciple to be a mute, sent her off to Shangtianqiong as well.
The first time Pei Yin stepped out of Cangshan, she got lost upon arriving at Shangtianqiong. She wandered aimlessly and ended up in a peach grove. In that grove, she saw a young sword cultivator training. The sword momentum was fierce, the sword moves ever-changing. The sword seemed to come alive in her hands. Pei Yin had never seen anyone wield a sword so beautifully.
Amid a flurry of pink-white peach blossoms, the youth's figure drifted with effortless grace, her sword shadows layered and indistinct.
"Hey!"
Pei Yin snapped back to herself and realized with a start that the person had already sheathed her sword and come to stand before her.
"Are you here for study too? I've never seen that kind of robe before. Which sect? It's pretty nice-looking."
The youth's brows and eyes were curved with a smile, her gaze bright. When she came closer, she brought with her the fragrance of peach blossoms. Pei Yin pressed her lips together. For the first time in her life, she was rude and did not reply.
Her master really had raised her to be a mute.
"I am Ling Qingyue of Shangtianqiong. What's your name?"
"Cangshan. Pei Yin."
That was their first meeting, a sword's startling flash deep within the peach grove.
The sky had not yet brightened when Ling Qingyue left the house. Xue Zizai had told her to deliver the swords to the Xue Estate at dawn. The eldest miss was diligent indeed, rising so early to practice the sword.
She first went to the shop to pick up the three wooden swords, then headed toward the Xue Estate.
She had never been there, but she knew it was the largest and most luxurious residence in the town. People said that what was paved on the ground there was not even bluestone slabs but gold plates made of actual gold.
Ridiculous.
Ling Qingyue scoffed inwardly.
When she arrived at the Xue Estate, a servant led her to the training ground. Ling Qingyue stared down at the glittering stone slabs underfoot in silence.
In the past, when cultivators from other immortal sects came to Shangtianqiong to study, Ling Qingyue saw them standing in a daze, staring down at the path under their feet. She had asked her senior sister, puzzled, what they were doing.
Her senior sister had replied, "They probably haven't seen a road paved with dark azure stone before."
Back then, she did not understand. What was so special about paving a road with dark azure stone? Did their families not have any?
Now she understood a little. The Xue family really did pave their roads with gold!
Ling Qingyue reached the training ground and found Xue Zizai and Lu Yao already there. Xue Zizai was dressed in neat training clothes and warming up, her hair tied up high, her face full of concentration. Gone were all the jingling, clinking accessories she usually wore.
"Ah Xi!" Lu Yao saw Ling Qingyue and cheerfully raised a hand in greeting.
Xue Zizai turned her head and huffed. When she saw the three swords Ling Qingyue was holding in her arms, she froze. "You... you actually..."
Xue Zizai abruptly shut her mouth. She could not say that, or else she would be admitting without being accused that she had deliberately made things difficult for Ah Xi.
Ling Qingyue smiled at her and handed the swords over. "The swords you asked for."
Xue Zizai took them and examined them carefully. She saw that they were indeed newly carved. Every mocking word she had prepared to say stuck in her throat, lodged uncomfortably in her chest, unable to go down or come up.
In the end, she could only glare fiercely back at her.
After she finished warming up, Xue Zizai turned around and found the person still there. She frowned. "Why haven't you left?"
Ling Qingyue smiled. "I just wanted to see whether the wooden swords I made are durable. If three aren't enough for Miss Xue, I'll be sure to bring a few more tomorrow."
Xue Zizai perked up at that, somewhat pleased. "That's a fair point."
"Senior Sister Lu, let's begin."
Lu Yao nodded and also picked up a wooden sword from the side.
She started teaching from the very basics: how to grip the sword, stance, and footwork.
Xue Zizai listened obediently at first. Then she grew impatient and demanded that Lu Yao teach her sword arts and sword forms.
Seeing her grip and stance, Lu Yao figured she must have trained before and had some foundation, so she nodded.
"Then watch closely. The sword art I'm going to teach you is the introductory sword art for sword cultivators of our Piaomiao Sect. It is called 'Flowing Cloud.'"
With that, Lu Yao deliberately slowed her movements and ran through the set once in front of Xue Zizai. Xue Zizai watched intently, her eyes following, her hands mimicking.
The second time, she still struggled to keep up. By the third time, she was already in sync with Lu Yao.
Lu Yao looked at her in surprise, admiration in her eyes.
Xue Zizai really did have some talent.
Catching Lu Yao's look, Xue Zizai lifted her chin with a smug air, thinking: Learning the sword isn't all that hard. Watch it once, move your hands a bit, and you've got it.
"Senior Sister Lu, are there any more powerful sword arts? I want to learn the most powerful sword art there is!" Xue Zizai looked at Lu Yao, her eyes shining.
Lu Yao frowned and tried to advise her. "Sword arts aren't divided into higher and lower. It depends on how they're used and who uses them. If you can master this 'Flowing Cloud' set..."
Before Lu Yao could finish, Xue Zizai muttered an interruption. "But I've already learned it."
Ling Qingyue raised her eyebrows.
How bold of her to say that.
Lu Yao was clearly irritated, her frown deepening. "You say you've mastered it?"
Xue Zizai nodded with complete confidence. "Yes, I've already mastered it!"
Ling Qingyue, still holding her sword, was watching the entertainment. For a moment, she forgot where she was and laughed out loud.
A sudden laugh broke across the training ground. Even Ling Qingyue herself fell silent.
"..."
Xue Zizai whipped her head around to look at her and asked icily, "Are you mocking me?"
Ling Qingyue looked up at the sky.
"You don't even know how to hold a sword! And you dare laugh at me!" Xue Zizai's temper flared. In two or three steps, she was right in front of Ling Qingyue, raising the wooden sword in her hand and aiming a strike at her arm.
"Smack—!"
The two wooden swords clashed. Ling Qingyue had reversed her grip and blocked Xue Zizai's strike.
On the other side, Lu Yao, who had been about to step in, slowly withdrew the spiritual energy she had gathered in her hand.
"You!"
Xue Zizai was even angrier now. Gripping her sword, she hacked and slashed wildly. She was not even holding it like a sword anymore; it was more like a stick she had picked up from the roadside.
Ling Qingyue blocked every blow, dodging as she cried out.
"Ai, why are you hitting people? Think you're so great just because your family has money?"
"Stop hitting, stop hitting. Ai, I think you've broken my arm! Ai, my shoulder! Ai, my hand!"
"You... don't push me. Even a rabbit will bite if you corner it!"
Lu Yao felt the urge to laugh. She could see perfectly clearly. Xue Zizai's sword hadn't even touched her.
Xue Zizai sneered. "Try biting, then. Go on."
At that moment, Ling Qingyue was facing away from Lu Yao. The corner of her lips lifted. Her wrist twisted and put out a sudden burst of force.
Before Xue Zizai could react, the wooden sword flew straight out of her hand and clattered across the ground, spinning several times before it stopped.
"...?"
Ling Qingyue covered her mouth in exaggerated surprise. "Weren't you the one hitting me? How come you couldn't even hold onto your sword?"
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