IVYSCP - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Hearing the voice behind her, Xue Zizai hurriedly raised a hand to straighten her little braid, tidied herself up, then turned around with a smile and gave Pei Si a shallow bow. "Miss Pei."

She had learned this courtesy from Senior Sister Lu, who told her that in the Immortal Realm, one must bow when meeting seniors and fellow disciples. Yesterday she had cut a rather sorry figure in front of Pei Si, so today she had deliberately dressed up before coming.

The eldest miss stole a glance at Ah Xi out of the corner of her eye. The face was fair and clean, but the clothes were old and worn, the hair carelessly tied to one side with a band and slung over the shoulder. Compared to her, Ah Xi looked pathetically shabby!

With Pei Si's bearing, she had to come from a prominent family. She would never set her sights on Ah Xi. She was only with Ah Xi because of a life-saving debt. With this thought, Xue Zizai unconsciously lifted her head, as if she also wanted to surpass Ah Xi beside her in height. Unfortunately, even with her head raised, she still fell a little short.

Ling Qingyue saw her competitiveness and said faintly, "Perhaps you could stand on your tiptoes."

Being spoken to like that in front of the person she fancied, Xue Zizai's face flushed crimson. She glared at her. "You!"

Pei Si took two steps to Ling Qingyue's side and said softly, "Miss Xue."

In an instant, Xue Zizai's anger dissipated, and she was all smiles again for Pei Si.

"If your investigation is finished, then please take your leave."

The smile on Xue Zizai's face stiffened. Ling Qingyue snickered at the side. Seeing her grinning from ear to ear, a surge of temper rose in Xue Zizai's chest. She said bluntly, "Miss Pei, if you wish to repay a kindness, I can help you. I can give Ah Xi gold, silver, and jewels. You don't have to live such a hard life with her."

In Xue Zizai's heart, she had always felt that Pei Si was suffering by following Ah Xi.

Ling Qingyue stopped laughing at this. The eldest miss had no regard for face at all. Was fancying someone else's wife a matter of pride? And now she was directly trying to drive a wedge between Ah Xi and Pei Si! This would not do!

"What nonsense, what nonsense!" Ling Qingyue walked over and took Pei Si's hand directly, their ten fingers interlocking. The distance between them became intimate in an instant. "Pei Si and I are in mutual love!"

Xue Zizai sneered. "Ah Xi, shouldn't you take a look at yourself before saying that? Mutual love? Could Miss Pei possibly like you?"

"Then who should I like?" Pei Si's voice turned cold. Her fingers tightened slightly, returning the grip.

Feeling the pressure on her hand, Ling Qingyue raised the corners of her lips. She was not wrong. Ah Xi and Pei Si were indeed in mutual love.

Xue Zizai blurted out, "You should like me!"

After saying it, she felt a little embarrassed herself, but she could not lose in presence. She lifted her chin. "I'm prettier than Ah Xi. My mother has only me as her child. The entire Xue family will be mine in the future. I like you very much. If you also come to like me, then the Xue family will be yours too. You can live in the finest mansion, wear the finest clothes, and have any gold, silver, or trinket you desire."

The eldest miss's words, though still somewhat naive, were very sincere.

Pei Si tugged at the corner of her lips. "I hear you are soon to formally join the Piaomiao Sect. The path of cultivation can last a hundred or even a thousand years, yet a mortal's lifespan is no more than a century. You say you like me very much. Would you take me with you?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Ling Qingyue and Xue Zizai both looked at her simultaneously. What was the meaning of this?

Ling Qingyue thought of the many books on Immortal Realm wonders in the study. Did Pei Si want to go to the Immortal Realm too?

Xue Zizai could not answer. This was not something she could decide.

Pei Si spoke indifferently, "Miss Xue, Ah Xi and I are in mutual love. Some words must not be spoken carelessly, lest they give rise to misunderstandings."

Xue Zizai's expression shifted again and again. She hurriedly raised her hand in a salute, tossed out an "I've disturbed you," and walked around the two of them, leaving.

Ling Qingyue watched her retreating figure and asked the person beside her tentatively, "Pei Si, do you want to go to the Immortal Realm?"

If Pei Si truly wished to go, she did not mind extending an invitation, but that would have to wait until she restored her cultivation and returned to Shangtianqiong Sect.

Pei Si glanced at her, her gaze falling on the side of Ling Qingyue's neck. The fair skin was smooth and unblemished. "I merely wanted her to understand that her affection is only a passing whim." If Xue Zizai had to make a choice, she would never give up entering the Piaomiao Sect.

"Then do you want to go to the Immortal Realm?" Ling Qingyue wanted a definite answer.

Hearing her press the question again, Pei Si countered, "Do you want to go?"

Ling Qingyue fell silent. Why was she the one being asked now?

The two looked at each other. For a moment, neither spoke.

"Thump, thump, thump—" The main door was knocked on again.

Ling Qingyue blinked, smiled as she loosened Pei Si's hand, and said, "I'll go see who it is."

Pei Si pressed her lips together, her gaze complicated as she looked at her own hand. A loathing for herself suddenly rose from the depths of her heart. One moment she knew clearly that this was the mortal Ah Xi, and the next she was indulging the effects of Emotion Transference, projecting the feelings meant for that person onto an innocent soul. Pei Yin, how disgustingly vile you are.

Ling Qingyue trotted to open the door and found a haggard-faced woman standing outside. Ling Qingyue studied her features and found them somewhat familiar. "Ah Xi!" The woman's expression was nervous, her face full of worry. "Do you know where Lin Zhao went yesterday? She hasn't come back all night."

Now Ling Qingyue knew why she looked familiar. This was Lin Zhao's mother.

"I didn't see her yesterday. Did she go up the mountain to gather herbs?"

Lin Zhao's mother's eyes reddened instantly. Seeing this, Ling Qingyue hurriedly said, "Don't worry. In a bit, I'll go ask at the medicine shop for you."

Their two houses were not far apart. After Ling Qingyue escorted her back, she returned to tell Pei Si, then went to the medicine shop. The shop owner said Lin Zhao was supposed to have brought medicinal materials in exchange for medicine yesterday, but she never showed up.

Ling Qingyue thought for a moment, then turned on her heel and headed up the mountain. Lin Zhao was probably in trouble.

Linshui Town was backed by a stretch of rolling green hills. Most townsfolk only gathered dead branches and common herbs in the outer areas. Going deeper was left to the town's hunters. Ling Qingyue followed the mountain path. At first, the way was quite smooth. Once she climbed over a low hill, the road became narrow and rugged. The sunlight overhead was completely blocked out. The path ahead was dark, damp, and cold. A single glance was enough to make a person's hair stand on end with fear.

Ling Qingyue took out the wooden sword she had brought and cleared away the brambles and spiderwebs along the path. "Lin Zhao?" She called out, startling the birds in the deep forest into a flurry of movement.

"Lin—" Ling Qingyue's gaze stopped. She saw the flow of Spiritual Qi. Gray-white Spiritual Qi drifted and swam in threads and wisps. The Spiritual Qi of this mountain was moving toward one direction. Could it be Lin Zhao?

Ling Qingyue followed the direction where the Spiritual Qi gathered. Using tree trunks for cover, she saw a pool. There was a person in the pool. That person was meditating and cultivating, but the hand seals were wrong, the cultivation method learned was disorderly, and the cultivation effort was yielding half the results for twice the work. The Spiritual Energy within her body was turbid and chaotic. "Qi Condensation, fourth layer." Ling Qingyue murmured. To have cultivated to this level with such chaotic methods, this person's talent was not low. If this were the Immortal Realm, Ling Qingyue might have given her a warning, but right now she was still Ah Xi and could not do so. Forget it. She would wait until she left this place, and if there was a chance to meet again, she would offer some guidance then.

Just as she was about to quietly withdraw, the person in the pool suddenly took out a Spirit Stone. Ling Qingyue recognized it at a glance as the one she had lost. The wood carving thief!

The Ling Qingyue who had just been thinking of helping a moment ago narrowed her eyes, blurred her figure and appearance with Spiritual Energy, and suddenly shot forward.

Meng Qi had just taken out the Spirit Stone when her vision blurred and her hand was empty. "!" She looked up sharply and saw a person standing on a treetop not far away, shrouded in a white mist. She could not see the other's appearance clearly. Meng Qi burst out of the water, leaping up and vaulting into the air to stand before her. She stretched out her hand angrily. "Give it back!"

"Give it back?" The white figure's voice was also disguised, hoarse and low. She toyed with the Spirit Stone in her hand and asked lightly, "Is this yours?"

Meng Qi felt a twinge of guilt, but she could not give up such a pure Spirit Stone. A fierce glint flashed through her eyes. Meng Qi rushed before the white figure, her five fingers curling into a claw, striking out viciously. Ling Qingyue raised her hand to block with the wooden sword, and the corner of her lips lifted as she thought of the Flowing Cloud Sword Art moves she had reviewed yesterday. This was just the chance to test the power of this sword art.

Meng Qi watched the Spirit Stone right before her eyes. She was just about to grab it, yet always just a bit short. The Spiritual Energy within her ceaselessly clashed against her meridians, agitating her chest into a dull ache and her throat into a constant surge of metallic sweetness. "Still want it? If you keep going, you'll die." Ling Qingyue dodged her strike, and with a backhand movement, struck her on the Dazhui acupoint at the back of her neck with the wooden sword.

Meng Qi could tell this person was deliberately toying with her. Unwilling to give up, she advanced again. "Give it back!" Ling Qingyue watched the blood spilling from the corner of her lips. Risking her life for a single Spirit Stone?

When Meng Qi charged forward again, Ling Qingyue did not delay any further. She lifted a leg and kicked the person down, and Meng Qi crashed heavily into the pool. Her nose and mouth filled with cold water, unbearably miserable. As soon as she broke the surface, before she could even cough twice, she was yanked up by a tremendous force. Immediately afterward, heavy strikes landed on her body one after another, first on her chest, then her waist and stomach, then her four limbs and back. Her entire body felt as if it had been taken apart and reassembled.

That person beat her up, then casually tossed her to the edge of the pool. The Spirit Stone, now smeared with a layer of mud, rolled before her eyes. Meng Qi gritted her teeth and glared in the direction where the white figure disappeared. Was this person insane, suddenly appearing just to beat her up?

Ling Qingyue had vented her frustration. Although she had helped clear her meridians, it had also been a solid, real beating. She still needed to keep searching for Lin Zhao. Ling Qingyue decided to search like this since it was faster. The Spiritual Energy within her was not abundant, so she could not use instantaneous movement too many times. She could only leap between tree trunks. After two bounds, Ling Qingyue sensed something off. She whipped her head around and saw Lu Yao stealthily following her. She was speechless. At least she had not removed her disguise.

Seeing she had been discovered, Lu Yao did not bother hiding anymore either. She stepped out openly and gave a salute. "Junior Lu Yao of the Piaomiao Sect greets the Senior." She could not see through this person's disguise and guessed that the other's cultivation must be above her own. When away from home, calling someone stronger than you "Senior" could never go wrong.

Right now, Ling Qingyue was at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, while Lu Yao was already at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. But because the disguise technique had been learned by Ling Qingyue from Yue Shouming, it could not be seen through unless one was two great realms higher. Lu Yao was somewhat excited. "Senior's Flowing Cloud sword art is executed with divine perfection! Is Senior also from the Piaomiao Sect?"

"No." Ling Qingyue finished coldly and made to leave. Her Spiritual Energy was not much and could not maintain the disguise for long. But Lu Yao kept following right behind her, and she lacked the Spiritual Energy to shift away. No matter what, she could not shake her off.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ling Qingyue spotted Lin Zhao leaning against a tree. Taking advantage of her turn, she flicked out a strand of Spiritual Energy. Lin Zhao immediately cried out in pain. The sound drew Lu Yao's attention. When she turned back around, there was no sign of the senior.

Lu Yao sighed with regret, ruing the fact that she had not directly asked to seek the senior's guidance on sword art just now. Lu Yao sheathed her sword and landed. She saw Lin Zhao by the tree and walked over. "Are you from Linshui Town? What are you doing here?" Next to Lin Zhao was a medicine basket. She was covered in grass and dirt, a sorry sight. Yesterday, she had gone up the mountain to gather herbs, carelessly wandered deeper in, and tumbled down a slope, injuring her leg.

Lu Yao took the person down the mountain and met Ling Qingyue halfway. Ling Qingyue was utterly exhausted, wiping sweat while calling out Lin Zhao's name. Lin Zhao was moved for a moment. "Ah Xi!"

Seeing them, Ling Qingyue was overjoyed. "Lin Zhao! Finally found you!"

Lu Yao's gaze fell on the wooden sword in her hand, and she could not help but ask, "Ah Xi, where did you get this wooden sword?"

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