IVYSCP - Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Chu Qianshan had made some headway on the mark inside Liu Qingtang's spiritual platform and called Pei Yin over to look at it together. Formation arts placed greater weight on natural talent. Although Chu Qianshan was Pei Yin's master, she could not help but marvel at Pei Yin's gift for formations. Over the years, master and apprentice had reached the point where they could debate formations, and Pei Yin's views were sometimes even more original and well-rounded.
"Come in," Chu Qianshan said to Pei Yin, her tone neither warm nor cold. As she stood, she shot a fierce glare at Ling Qingyue.
Ling Qingyue touched her nose. She thought her own attitude had been perfectly fine.
Belatedly it dawned on her. Pei Yin had not returned to the East Courtyard, and Chu Qianshan had probably assumed she had tricked her good disciple into going over there again.
Thinking this, Ling Qingyue pivoted on her heel to leave, but Pei Yin caught her firmly by the wrist.
"Come inside with me." Pei Yin stroked the inside of her wrist with a fingertip.
After the intimacy of the night before, that light stroke sent a tingle shooting down Ling Qingyue's lower back. She glanced toward the main room and whispered, "Your master doesn't seem to want to see me. If I go in, she'll get angry again."
Pei Yin took a step closer. "If you hide from her like this, what will you do when you come back to Little Cangshan with me in the future? Aren't you going back with me?"
"Of course I am!" Ling Qingyue hurried to declare her stance. "I promised to go back with you. Even if, even if your master doesn't like me, I'm still going to follow you."
Pei Yin smiled softly, took her hand, and bent to kiss the side of her face. "So obedient."
Ling Qingyue immediately blushed scarlet. She looked around in a fluster, then said with mortified irritation, "What are you doing? We're outside."
Pei Yin put on an innocent face. "I didn't do anything."
Inside the room, Chu Qianshan heard every word with perfect clarity.
She could not take it anymore and barked at the door, "Will you come in already!"
A moment later, the two of them walked in side by side. Ling Qingyue's face was red and her eyes darted away, while her disciple, when she looked over, was completely composed, even carrying a faint trace of a smile on her lips.
Chu Qianshan narrowed her eyes. She suddenly sensed that something was off. Judging by the way Ling Qingyue was acting now, too timid to be bold, she did not seem like someone who would flaunt a kiss mark right in front of her as a provocation. Pei Yin, on the other hand…
Something caught in Chu Qianshan's chest, and she glared at Pei Yin with blazing fury.
Fine. So you were the one provoking me!
Pei Yin caught her look, smiled faintly, as if answering her unspoken accusation. Yes, it was me.
Chu Qianshan took a deep breath and said crossly, "Come over and look."
A diagram lay on the low table. Chu Qianshan and Pei Yin sat on opposite sides. Ling Qingyue poured tea for them beside them.
Not long after, Nie Wenxiao arrived as well. She sat cross-legged opposite Ling Qingyue.
Seeing that everyone was present, Chu Qianshan tapped a finger on the diagram on the table and slowly began, "After spending several days deciphering it with formation techniques, I found that this mark does not belong to the path of formations. You also mentioned that Liu Qingtang was once controlled by the sound of a flute. I suspect this is a type of gu."
Nie Wenxiao's expression grew grave. "Gu Techniques?"
Cultivators who practiced Gu Techniques did exist in the Immortal Realm. They often kept company with venomous insects and poisonous plants. But these methods were extremely prone to backfiring, so Gu Cultivators had dwindled over the years. These days, there were no Gu Cultivators of any real renown left.
Chu Qianshan mused, "To be controlled by a flute… this is a very ancient form of Gu Technique. It seems more like…"
She paused, then continued, "witchcraft gu from the Mortal Realm."
The Mortal Realm. The Mortal Realm again.
Liu Qingtang had been controlled at the Back Mountain of Linshui Town. And those hundreds of Immortal Realm cultivators had been crushed at the bottom of a pit, forced to kneel in penance…
Something must have happened there once. The person who harmed Liu Qingtang most likely came from the Mortal Realm.
They had thought that with Chu Qianshan's arrival at the Piaomiao Sect, the mark on Liu Qingtang's spiritual platform had a strong chance of being undone. But to learn it was actually a form of Gu Technique… Nie Wenxiao's eyes dimmed with defeat, the hand at her side clenching tight.
Pei Yin said evenly, "Gu Techniques all require a medium. So the medium controlling Liu Qingtang is the vine in her spiritual platform?"
Chu Qianshan nodded. "Almost certainly. That vine is not only in her spiritual platform. Too much time has passed, and I fear it has long since climbed into her meridians. It's fortunate that you sealed all her spiritual energy earlier. It was a lucky accident. The vine could no longer draw spiritual energy from her meridians, so it withdrew back to her spiritual platform and fell dormant. Otherwise, Liu Qingtang would probably have already…"
With Nie Wenxiao present, Chu Qianshan left the rest unsaid.
Ling Qingyue saw Nie Wenxiao's low spirits and asked, "So is there a way to undo this gu? Once the gu is removed, will Liu Qingtang be alright?"
Chu Qianshan shot her a glance and said flatly, "I have no solution. Why don't you ask your Immortal Venerable? She's so capable. Takes on any trouble there is. Solves any trouble there is."
Ling Qingyue fell silent.
Pei Yin fell silent.
Ling Qingyue shut her mouth quietly and inched a little closer toward Pei Yin.
Nie Wenxiao drew a deep breath. "I will go now to seek out a cultivator versed in Gu Techniques."
Perhaps she could also approach Linglong Pavilion. With Linglong Pavilion's reach and influence, finding a Gu Cultivator should not be a problem. Whatever price it took, she could pay it. She would save Qingtang.
Chu Qianshan nodded at her, her tone easing a little. "That can be done."
Having someone skilled in Gu Techniques come would be far better than a group of people who knew nothing about it guessing blindly.
After the discussion, Chu Qianshan called Pei Yin aside to speak with her alone.
Seeing this, Ling Qingyue gave Nie Wenxiao a look. Nie Wenxiao understood and followed her out into the courtyard.
"Sect Leader Nie," Ling Qingyue said bluntly. "I want to ask you for a favor."
"Find a few trusted disciples and send them to Linshui Town in the Mortal Realm. Have them investigate what happened there and in the surrounding areas over the past several hundred years, ideally anything connected to the Immortal Realm."
Nie Wenxiao's mind turned, and she understood at once why she was doing this. Without much hesitation, she nodded and agreed.
Ling Qingyue considered that there might already be people within the Immortal Alliance watching them, someone like Cui Heng.
"They can't go openly. They'll need a pretext."
Nie Wenxiao thought it over. "What if they committed a grave error and had their cultivation crippled and were sent back to the Mortal Realm? I could personally escort them there and act out the scene with them."
Ling Qingyue looked at her, startled and impressed.
A sect leader's mind really did turn fast.
Nie Wenxiao smiled politely, then her gaze dropped. She raised a hand to her lips and coughed. "Um…"
Ling Qingyue saw her hesitate. "What does Sect Leader Nie wish to say?"
Nie Wenxiao glanced toward the main room, leaned a little closer to Ling Qingyue, and said with dignified gravity, "I see that Senior Chu seems reluctant to accept… ahem. You and the Immortal Venerable had best be mindful in daily life. After all, Senior Chu is the Immortal Venerable's master."
Ling Qingyue more or less understood what she meant and muttered quietly, "I've been very well-behaved already."
Nie Wenxiao was silent for a moment, then waved a water mirror into existence in front of her and smiled once. "I'll take my leave now."
Ling Qingyue stared at her retreating back, puzzled. She did not understand what Nie Wenxiao meant by conjuring a water mirror for her.
Her eyes shifted to the figure reflected in the water mirror, and then her eyes slowly widened.
She stepped closer to the mirror and pulled apart her collar. Now she could see it clearly. A vivid red kiss mark was imprinted on her pale porcelain skin, strikingly conspicuous.
Ling Qingyue remembered that this was not the only kiss mark on her body. She had wanted to remove them herself with an art, but Pei Yin had kept holding her and kissing her, saying that since she was the one who made them, she should be the one to deal with them. Ling Qingyue, kissed into a dazed blur, had agreed.
Who could have guessed that Pei Yin would still leave one behind? And so she had been walking around right in front of Chu Qianshan with that kiss mark on full display.
Ling Qingyue had a pretty good idea now why Chu Qianshan's temper had been so fierce first thing in the morning.
The tips of her ears burned. Ling Qingyue was both angry and mortified. After removing the kiss mark herself, she went back to the West Courtyard on her own.
In the following days, Ling Qingyue spent her daylight hours ensconced in the Piaomiao Sect's scripture repository. Sometimes she checked on Xue Zizai's progress, teaching her mental cultivation methods and sword moves. At night, she inevitably shared a bed with Pei Yin. Pei Yin knew Ling Qingyue loved looking at her eyes, so she would hint at her feelings with looks laden with unspoken intent. Ling Qingyue would lie ramrod straight, eyes squeezed shut, refusing to look at her.
Partly she was still angry about the kiss mark Pei Yin had deliberately left on her that day. Partly the time for Pei Yin's meridian reforging was drawing near. This was no small matter, and Ling Qingyue did not want either of them to lose control at a time like this.
Once she was certain that Ling Qingyue's mind was firmly made up, Pei Yin had no choice but to lie down properly. She wrapped the person in her arms, kissed her, and closed her eyes.
Only after Pei Yin fell asleep did Ling Qingyue open her eyes to look at her. Then she leaned over gently to kiss her cheek.
The day Gu Huai finished refining the pill, rain fell on the Piaomiao Sect. The unbroken threads of rain stirred up mist among the mountains, weighing on everyone's spirits.
Ling Qingyue stood outside Water Cloud Dwelling, gazing out at the distant peaks of the Piaomiao Sect.
An arm wrapped around her waist, and a moment later a warm body pressed close against her. The cool, aloof scent of the woman enveloped her completely. Ling Qingyue breathed it in greedily.
The tip of her ear was kissed twice, and a soft, gentle voice sounded. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
She had heard those words so many times today. Ling Qingyue lowered her head and looked at the hand clasped around her waist. It was cool, pale, and slender, the fingertips flushed with healthy color. But when the meridian reforging began, would all that color drain away? Would this hand strain and tighten from the pain?
"Pei Yin." Ling Qingyue sniffled, her voice catching. "I hurt a little."
Pei Yin frowned and let go, turning her around to face her. "You're injured? Where does it hurt?" she asked urgently.
Ling Qingyue shook her head and took her hand, pressing it to her own chest, where a steady beat pulsed beneath it.
"It hurts here. The moment I think about you reforging your meridians, it hurts so much."
Pei Yin froze for a second, then her heart melted completely. She pulled Ling Qingyue into her embrace and stroked the back of her head.
Ling Qingyue buried her face against her, her eyes burning and stinging. She did not want to cry. The one who would have her meridians reforged was not her. The one who would feel the pain was not her. And yet she still felt pain, an unbearable pain.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Gu Huai's figure. Pei Yin coaxed softly, "Then go back to the West Courtyard first, alright? After I…"
"No!" Ling Qingyue cut her off. "I'm going with you."
Pei Yin looked at her red-rimmed eyes, knew how stubborn she was, and said nothing more. She took her hand and led her back into Water Cloud Dwelling.
Gu Huai took in the sight of them unable to bear parting and raised an eyebrow. "Go to the medicinal pool. It'll save you some suffering."
The moment Ling Qingyue heard the word "suffering," her vision misted over again.
Naturally, Chu Qianshan was also going. Pei Yin swallowed the medicinal pill and submerged herself in the medicinal pool. Gu Huai kept watch by the poolside, adding spiritual plants to the water from time to time.
Chu Qianshan's expression was equally grim. The silence was broken by the sound of stifled sobs. She slowly turned her eyes to Ling Qingyue beside her and asked, the corner of her mouth twitching, "What are you crying for?"
Ling Qingyue wiped away her tears and shot back, "Does Senior not feel any heartache?"
Chu Qianshan said nothing.
The pill began to take effect. Before the meridians could be reforged, the original meridians had to be completely broken. Pei Yin's Seven Gates and Three Acupoints were fully sealed, and this step she had to endure on her own. Every severance was an agony unbearable to ordinary mortals.
Pei Yin's expression started to change. Her brow furrowed. Her body trembled uncontrollably, sending ripple after ripple across the water's surface.
The weeping beside Chu Qianshan grew harder to stifle. Though a barrier around Pei Yin kept her unaffected, Chu Qianshan felt she was about to be affected herself.
She wanted to snap at Ling Qingyue, but when she turned and saw her weeping into a total mess, she ended up saying nothing at all.
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