IVYSCP - Chapter 51
Chapter 51
The barrier opened, and the people from Shangtianqiong and the Yue Family walked in side by side.
Ling Qingyue and Pei Si moved to one side. Ling Qingyue stared intently at Yue Shouming, her hand at her side already numb beyond feeling.
"Let go."
A woman's helpless sigh sounded by her ear. Ling Qingyue turned her head unconsciously to look.
Pei Si gently patted the back of her hand and said softly, "Loosen your grip."
Ling Qingyue released her hand. In her palm were fingernail marks dripping fresh blood.
Pei Si held her hand, blew on it lightly, then used spiritual energy to heal the wounds. The injuries closed at a visible speed, and the bloodstains faded away.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."
She meant the matter of Yue Shouming's eyes.
Yu Liuli had been banished to the Great Wilderness. Yue Shouming had lost her all-important pair of eyes. A hundred years without seeing them, and her two dearest friends were in such straits. The pain in her heart was already unbearable.
Ling Qingyue turned and gently embraced Pei Si, pressing her forehead against her shoulder to hide her stinging eyes. Her voice muffled, she said, "Just now in my heart I was cursing her for being blind."
Who could have known that Yue Shouming really was…
Pei Si: "…"
At least she hadn't cursed her out loud.
Pei Si raised a hand and rubbed her head, murmuring gently in reassurance, "She won't hold it against you."
Over on the other side, Nie Wenxiao had just finished arranging accommodations for Shangtianqiong and the Yue Family. When she turned her head, she saw the two of them hugging. Ah Xi looked thoroughly aggrieved, and the Immortal Venerable seemed to be comforting her.
"…"
Blocking Shangtianqiong outside the barrier and refusing to let them in without a toll, speaking rudely to the Hidden Moon Lord in public… how did she end up feeling wronged? And on top of that, the Immortal Venerable was indulging her.
Nie Wenxiao let out a sigh.
The debt of the Sect Grand Formation was something Piaomiao Sect would likely struggle to repay even in a hundred years. Let it be. Let them do as they pleased.
The farce dispersed, and Piaomiao Sect grew lively again. The various immortal sects met and exchanged greetings, but none dared to go and court ill fortune in front of Shangtianqiong.
Ling Qingyue lifted her head from Pei Si's embrace and saw Yue Shouming being escorted away under Cui Heng's protection. Cui Heng seemed to think Yue Shouming was dressed too thinly and feared she might be cold. She had taken out a heavy cloak and draped it over her.
It was the first time she had seen Cui Heng show care and concern for someone else.
Cultivators had Dharma robes protecting their bodies. Unless in exceptionally cold or fiery lands, they would not fear heat or cold. Yet from the way Cui Heng fussed over Yue Shouming, Yue Shouming's body seemed very weak. Even with a Dharma robe on, she still feared the cold.
Looking at Yue Shouming's unusually pallid complexion, Ling Qingyue asked Pei Si in a low voice, "Besides her eyes, is there something else wrong with Xiao Yue?"
Pei Si pressed her lips together. "I'll tell you when we return."
Ling Qingyue's heart sank. That meant there was more. What Yue Shouming had lost was not only her eyes.
Nearby, Chi Que saw the two preparing to leave and wanted to step forward, but Ying Ying held her back.
"What are you doing?" Ying Ying warned her in a low voice. "Going up to her now? You are the Sword-Holding Elder of Wushi Sect right now. Think more about Wushi Sect."
Chi Que held her sword, eyes lowered, her expression gloomy.
Seeing her like this, Ying Ying understood what she was thinking. She reached out and wrapped an arm around Chi Que's shoulders the way she used to, patting her as she spoke. "The Immortal Realm today is not what it once was. It's time to grow up. You have to see the situation clearly."
Chi Que: "…"
What was with that tone like an elder lecturing a junior?
She shook her shoulder to shrug off that hand, then lifted her leg and headed toward the quarters Piaomiao Sect had assigned to Wushi Sect.
Ying Ying clasped her hands behind her back and followed. Wushi Sect and Lingxu Immortal Palace happened to be on the same mountain peak, so they were traveling together.
After a couple of steps, Ying Ying cast a glance in the direction where the two figures had just vanished, a trace of contemplation in her eyes.
Perhaps it was time for the Immortal Realm's heavens to change.
Ling Qingyue and Pei Si returned to Water Cloud Dwelling and went straight into their room, closing the door behind them.
Once seated, before Ling Qingyue could even ask, Pei Si poured tea for them both and explained how Yue Shouming had come to be this way.
"Back during the Immortal-Demon War, Yue Shouming led the Yue Family in using the Heavenly Divination Art to calculate the timing and terrain. Unexpectedly, she was ambushed by three Blood Demons under the Formless Demon Lord. The Blood Demons were insidious and deliberately used poisoned blood to injure Yue Shouming's eyes. The blood of Blood Demons is inherently harmful to the soul, and they added an unknown poison on top of that. Even the Medicine King was at a loss for a time. The toxin invaded her meridians." Pei Si heard Ling Qingyue's breathing grow heavier and reached out to take her hand.
"And then?" Ling Qingyue's voice trembled.
"Her eyes are as you saw. Her meridians… half-crippled. Her lifespan has been diminished."
Ling Qingyue's hand shook. Even though Pei Si was holding it, she still knocked over the teacup beside her. Tea spilled across the table. She wiped at it frantically, her vision a blur.
"Ling Qingyue." Pei Si pulled at her hand, calling her name over and over. "Ling Qingyue, look at me. Leave it alone."
Spiritual energy swept over. The teacup righted itself, and the spilled tea vanished.
Ling Qingyue raised her head to look at her, the rims of her eyes and the tip of her nose both red.
A pang struck Pei Si's chest. Her fingertip brushed gently across the corner of Ling Qingyue's eye, wiping away her tears.
"Pei Si, why is everything different? Why is nothing the same anymore?"
Ling Qingyue had once imagined that after she returned to the Immortal Realm, she would give her master and senior sister a pleasant surprise, would startle Yue Shouming and Yu Liuli. Seeing her, they would surely be overjoyed.
But the reality was that the Immortal Realm, no longer plagued by the Demon Race, was not one where everyone pursued the Dao. Her own sect had become an entity that bullied other immortal sects. Her master was in seclusion recovering from injuries. Her senior sister's actions and conduct baffled her. Yu Liuli had been banished to the Great Wilderness, fate unknown. Yue Shouming had lost her sight and half her spiritual meridians. And her own "revival" was in truth a scheme, the intention of the one behind it unclear.
"Ling Qingyue, you haven't changed, and neither have I," Pei Si murmured softly.
Ling Qingyue looked at her through tear-blurred eyes. "What?"
What did she mean?
Pei Si gave a faint smile and did not elaborate.
Now was not the right time, and she was not ready to tell Ling Qingyue either.
Ling Qingyue sniffled. "Can Xiao Yue's eyes and meridians still heal?"
"Likely so." A thin layer of spiritual energy covered Pei Si's fingertip as she gently soothed the corner of her eye. "Your senior sister has been doing everything she can all these years to heal her injuries too."
Ling Qingyue made an "oh" sound, the resentment toward her senior sister in her heart lightening just a little.
After a moment, Ling Qingyue blinked and looked at Pei Si in confusion. "How do you know all these things so clearly?"
Wasn't she… supposed to have been wandering all along?
Pei Si's fingertip paused. She lowered her gaze and looked at her without speaking.
Pei Si had once said that she had always kept watch over her. But why did she know everything about the people and matters around her, as if she had been… there by her side watching the whole time?
Ling Qingyue looked into Pei Si's eyes, and her heartbeat began to quicken.
A pair of eyes like these, silently watching her. Since when?
Pei Si saw her staring into her eyes, and a thread of nervousness rose in her own heart. She raised her hand and covered Ling Qingyue's eyes, changing the subject. "Are you going to tell her?"
The change of subject was far too abrupt. Ling Qingyue laughed once, then composed her expression and gently shook her head. "Better not to drag her into this."
After realizing that her revival was not so simple, Ling Qingyue was no longer so eager to return to Shangtianqiong, nor to reveal herself to old friends so quickly.
She did not know what the one behind this ultimately intended to use her for.
"Then you'll stay in seclusion today?"
"Mn." Ling Qingyue nodded. She lifted a hand to wipe her tears, her eyes resolute. "I need to break through as soon as possible. I absolutely have to go to the Ancient Yao Forest."
Not only for the Dao Bonding Gift. This time Cui Heng was also present. In the secret realm, there was no way she wouldn't make a move against Piaomiao Sect disciples. The grudge between Piaomiao Sect and Cui Heng had ties to her as well. She could not allow Cui Heng to run rampant.
As her martial aunt, she also had the right to properly discipline this unruly martial niece on her senior sister's behalf.
Ling Qingyue went into seclusion. Pei Si sat in meditation in the courtyard, regulating her breathing. Lately Piaomiao Sect was crowded and chaotic. To prevent anyone from taking advantage of the chaos to strike at Liu Qingtang, Lin Zhao and Xue Zizai had already been moved to Medicine Peak.
Outside Water Cloud Dwelling, Piaomiao Sect disciples kept watch. Within, formations provided protection. Any stir, no matter how subtle, would be detected by Pei Si in the courtyard.
Sun and moon traded two rounds. Everything remained calm.
The bright moon hung high, its light cascading down like water. The faint clear glow fell upon the figure in the courtyard, as if draping her in a layer of thin gauze.
Suddenly, the sound of a flute shattered the tranquility.
The flute melody was long and lilting, carrying a hidden rhythm.
Pei Si opened her eyes. In the next moment, an anomaly arose from the formation in the East Courtyard.
Her figure merged with the moonlight. In an instant, Pei Si arrived at the East Courtyard.
Liu Qingtang, who had originally been deep in sleep under the effects of soul-calming incense, suddenly erupted. The person whose hands and feet were all broken rose up in a grotesque posture. As the flute music grew more and more intense, Liu Qingtang's expression became more and more agonized, until finally she went completely berserk.
The flute music was controlling Liu Qingtang!
Liu Qingtang lunged straight at Pei Si. Pei Si raised a hand to block while sending spiritual energy inside to probe. She discovered that the formation on Liu Qingtang's body had been forcibly broken open in places. Fortunately, the formation guarding her Spiritual Platform was still intact. But there were traces of another person's aura.
Someone had entered Water Cloud Dwelling!
The instant Pei Si realized this, a thunderous noise came from the West Courtyard.
Ling Qingyue!
Pei Si moved to pull away, but several vines suddenly sprouted from beneath her feet, binding her legs. Then Liu Qingtang raised her hand and summoned her blade back, hacking toward Pei Si without a word.
"Bang!"
Swords clashed and sparks flew. Ling Qingyue licked the trace of blood at the corner of her lips, trying to make out the person hidden in the black mist.
"So, you came for me after all." Ling Qingyue met the opponent's sword blows. "Since you're here, why not show your true face? What skill is there in skulking and hiding!"
Ling Qingyue had figured it out. The black mist did not want to kill her. It was probing her sword techniques all along. She had kept responding with Piaomiao Sect's sword techniques. Over the past few days sparring with Lu Yao, she had learned quite a few of Piaomiao's sword moves.
The black mist seemed to grow impatient. Its sword moves became faster and fiercer. Then, in a voice deliberately blurred, it barked, "Ling Qingyue!"
Ling Qingyue raised her gaze. The sword in her hand did not pause in the slightest. With a cold scoff she replied, "Ling Qingyue? Who's that? Never heard of her."
With a flick of her sword tip, Ling Qingyue drove the black mist to the edge of the pond. A beam of pale golden spiritual energy shot forward at extreme speed, piercing straight through the black mist. The black curtain dispersed in an instant.
Ling Qingyue sheathed her sword. In the next second she was embraced, her arms full of a pure fragrance.
Pei Si's heart and spirit were in disarray. Just as she was about to speak, a hand covered her lips.
"I'm fine."
When Ling Qingyue hadn't seen Pei Si earlier, she guessed that trouble had broken out next door as well. She quickly asked, "How is the East Courtyard?"
Pei Si's expression was grave. "Liu Qingtang was controlled again. The formation on her body was forcibly broken open. To enter Water Cloud Dwelling without a sound or trace, the cultivation of the one behind this is likely at the late Soul Formation stage or above."
That was why she had been so terrified just now. She had feared Ling Qingyue might face that person directly.
"What was that black mist just now?" Pei Si steadied her heart and asked.
The thing had scattered the moment she struck. Pei Si hadn't seen it clearly.
Ling Qingyue narrowed her eyes. "A wisp of divine sense. It came to probe me."
Anyone capable of suspecting her identity would have to be someone who had seen her since her revival, or even more precisely, someone who had seen her draw her sword.
Chi Que? Ying Ying?
No. If Chi Que had doubts, she would come and ask directly. Ying Ying was not the type to skulk in hiding either.
Then who could it be?
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