IVYSCP - Chapter 111
Chapter 111
That evening, the Demon Lord hosted a banquet for her honored guests.
Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin were invited together.
Walking side by side, Ling Qingyue reached out with a touch of unease and took hold of Pei Yin's wrist. Her fingertips rested against the cool skin, and her spiritual energy flowed inward without resistance.
The spiritual energy within her meridians was not yet at full strength, but it had already recovered by more than half.
After her examination, Ling Qingyue did not withdraw her hand. She traced down from the wrist and pressed her palm against the woman's, then clasped it tightly without another word.
Pei Yin kept her gaze fixed ahead. In some fleeting moment, a trace of a smile was born deep within those cold, clear eyes, the warmth like a spring breeze covering over that keep-your-distance chill.
Ling Qingyue never once felt the gaze of the person beside her land on her, but their hands were gradually tightening, grip by grip. She had long since loosened her own strength. Whose grip was doing the tightening was perfectly obvious.
Ling Qingyue let out a soft scoff and murmured, to no one in particular, Pretending to be proper.
The instant she said it, the grip on her hand faltered, and then her fingertips were squeezed lightly, like a tiny show of protest.
Ling Qingyue squeezed back without missing a beat.
She hadn't said anything wrong.
The two of them squeezed each other's fingers all the way to the Yaochi Hall, where the banquet had been arranged.
Outside Yaochi Hall, attendants were waiting to receive them. When they saw the two arrive, they bowed respectfully with hands clasped, then led the way inside.
Yaochi Hall held mountains and waters, pools and trees, laid out much like the arrangements in some immortal sects beyond the Great Wilderness. Ling Qingyue glanced at it twice and then paid no further mind, preparing to continue playing with Pei Yin.
Just as she set her sights on Pei Yin's hand again, before she could even reach out, a familiar, cheerful voice reached her ears.
"Qingyue!"
Yu Liuli was waving at her from the far end of the corridor.
Ling Qingyue's attention was caught, and she waved back.
Yu Liuli's face lit up with a grin as she came running. She had been following the corridor obediently at first, but after two steps she decided it was far too long, so she cut straight across the covered walkway and flashed over to Ling Qingyue's side.
"Qingyue!"
Still beaming, Yu Liuli opened her arms wide and swept her into a full embrace, even lifting her clean off the ground and spinning her around in a circle.
Ling Qingyue: ...That's enough.
She pushed against Yu Liuli's shoulder and stole a glance at Pei Yin out of the corner of her eye.
The woman stood off to the side with her hands clasped behind her back, expression cool and detached, her gaze resting somewhere far in the distance, as though she paid them no mind at all.
Ling Qingyue's heart skipped. Silently, she pulled some distance between herself and Yu Liuli.
Yu Liuli had not noticed her deliberate movement. She hooked an arm through Ling Qingyue's elbow and tugged her forward. "Come on, come on, we haven't eaten together in so long."
As she spoke, she waved a hand at the nearby attendants and dismissed them.
"I'll lead them there myself."
Ling Qingyue nodded with no objection.
Yu Liuli seemed overjoyed, expressive and animated as she talked, and Ling Qingyue, watching her, felt happy too.
It was easy to see that Yu Liuli was very happy with Qiu Feng.
"Qingyue." Yu Liuli turned to look at her with a smile, and when she caught the brief flicker of unease in Ling Qingyue's eyes, she blinked, her smile pulling back a little. "Do you have something on your mind?"
Ling Qingyue smiled and shook her head. "No."
Yu Liuli looked at her doubtfully. "Really?"
"Really." Ling Qingyue raised an eyebrow at her. "What could I possibly have on my mind?"
An unfamiliar face, a familiar expression. It still made Yu Liuli pause for a moment. Her eyes shifted almost imperceptibly, and then she gave Ling Qingyue a pat on the shoulder, speaking with a pointed meaning. "It'll be fine. The bridge will straighten when the boat reaches it. Besides, you have Qiu Feng helping you sort out your troubles now, and Pei Yin is right by your side. Everything will work out."
Hearing her words of comfort, Ling Qingyue guessed she was referring to Lou Wudu.
But what Ling Qingyue was really thinking about was Yu Liuli and Qiu Feng. Qiu Feng had kept so much from Yu Liuli, and had even hidden from her the plan to let them take Yu Liuli away.
When Yu Liuli found out, how heartbroken would she be?
As they spoke, they arrived at Yaochi Hall. Qiu Feng was seated in the host's position. She beckoned to Yu Liuli, motioning for her to come sit at her side.
Yu Liuli pressed her lips together in a small smile, said a quick word to Ling Qingyue, and then trotted over.
On the other side, attendants had already come forward to show Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin to their seats. Across from them sat Yu Ting. The hall held only them.
Save for the attendants standing behind them to pour tea and wine, there were musicians in one corner of the hall playing instruments, and no one else.
The music was soothing and melodious. Ling Qingyue felt a small measure of relief. At least there were no sword-dance performances or anything of the sort. In the old days, so many immortal sect banquets always included a sword-dance display. Someone had even once tricked her into performing one on stage, and after she taught them a harsh lesson, that person never dared show their face in front of her again. After that, whenever such banquets came up, Ling Qingyue would take the chance to slip away. Better to stay out of sight and out of mind.
"The three of you have overcome no small trouble to arrive here. Guests are guests, and this lord should receive you with proper courtesy." Qiu Feng raised her cup and delivered the formal pleasantries.
Yu Liuli frowned and, beneath the table, reached over and gave her waist a pat.
Qiu Feng turned to look at her, puzzlement in her eyes.
Had she said something wrong?
Yu Liuli leaned close to her ear and whispered, "It's just the few of us. Qingyue is my close friend. Don't put on airs. It makes things feel so distant."
Qiu Feng cast her a plaintive look.
She was, after all, a Demon Lord of a region. Could she not even put on a little air?
But Yu Liuli was no longer looking at her. Cup in hand, she rose from her seat and moved from the host's position to the side table, settling down beside Ling Qingyue without any hesitation at all. She began pointing out the unique delicacies of the Great Wilderness spread across the table.
Qiu Feng, sitting utterly alone: ...
"This one is good too." Yu Liuli pointed at a plate of pitch-black fruit.
Ling Qingyue tasted one. She bit through the thin, crisp skin, and a clean, sweet flavor burst through her mouth. The cool, moist flesh was wonderfully refreshing.
Ling Qingyue nodded her approval to Yu Liuli.
Perhaps the greatest difference between the food of the Great Wilderness and the food of the Immortal Realm was the presence of spiritual qi within it. Food in the Immortal Realm grew bathed in spiritual qi. Beyond its own flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy, the most pronounced thing was the sensation of that spiritual qi. Many cultivators who had already abstained from eating would, if they chose to eat again, select foods rich in spiritual qi. But spiritual qi in the Great Wilderness was thin to the point of nonexistence. Food here grew freely between heaven and earth, its inherent flavors far more robust, never drowned out by the taste of spiritual qi.
Ling Qingyue and Yu Liuli put their heads together and set upon the dishes with abandon, stuffing a bite into each other's mouths, then another, paying no mind at all to the gazes cast their way from above and beside them.
At a certain moment, Pei Yin and Qiu Feng's eyes met. They both seemed to read the same sentiment in the other's expression.
Aren't you going to do something about this?
Can't. Both of them looked away at the same time.
With their stomachs half-full, Yu Liuli turned to Ling Qingyue and stared at her without blinking.
Ling Qingyue looked at her. "What do you want to say?"
Yu Liuli asked, "What happened to your body?"
There was worry in her eyes as she asked. If it weren't a truly difficult problem, with Pei Yin by her side, they would never have been forced to come to the Great Wilderness.
She and Ling Qingyue had the friendship of their youth, but given Ling Qingyue's current circumstances and the critical matters at hand, Ling Qingyue understood the difference between urgency and lesser matters. She would never have risked coming to the Great Wilderness just for her own sake.
Ling Qingyue glanced up at Qiu Feng. It seemed she really hadn't said a word.
Yu Liuli nudged Ling Qingyue's hand where it rested on the table, pressing her. "Out with it. Did you really think you could keep something like this from me?"
"There is a problem." Ling Qingyue made no effort to lower her voice. "Qiu Feng is also a half-demon. Have you ever seen her transcend her tribulation?"
Yu Liuli shook her head with almost no hesitation.
Ling Qingyue asked again, "You've never seen it, or..."
"There is no lightning tribulation." Qiu Feng cut her off. "Between heaven and earth there are the two qi, clear and turbid. Demons are born of the turbid qi and cannot endure heavenly lightning. For the demon race, cultivation does not involve tribulation transcendence."
Ling Qingyue lifted her eyes toward her. "But you and I are both half-demons."
So that was it. No wonder her own tribulation had been so impossibly difficult.
Qiu Feng met her gaze. "That is why you must strip away the other half of the demon blood within your body. You must transform completely from half-demon into a full demon. Only then can you evade the lightning tribulation. Otherwise... the next tribulation, the twenty-seven bolts of the Nascent Soul tribulation, is one you will not survive."
Ling Qingyue looked at the demonic markings spread across Qiu Feng's face and frowned. "So you are no longer a half-demon now?"
Qiu Feng nodded, admitting it. "Not long after entering the Great Wilderness, I performed the Blood-Splitting Demonization."
Beside them, Yu Liuli had gone still as she listened. She seemed to be casting back through her memories, recalling the time when she and Qiu Feng had first entered the Great Wilderness.
"Blood-Splitting Demonization?" Yu Liuli murmured softly. "The demonic markings on your face and body... they were from the Blood-Splitting Demonization? You told me it was the demonic qi in the Great Wilderness being too heavy and affecting you. You lied to me?"
Qiu Feng lowered her eyes, unable to look at her, equally unable to answer.
Blood-Splitting Demonization...
Would she end up looking like Qiu Feng, then?
Ling Qingyue frowned. Setting aside everything else, sooner or later she was going to confront Lou Wudu face to face. If she showed up with the body of a demon, who would even listen to her speak? Even if she had ironclad proof of Lou Wudu's deeds, the people of the Immortal Realm would only think to exterminate her, this demon.
Was this Yue Shouming and the others' plan, then? What was this supposed to be? Turn her into a demon just so she could dodge the lightning tribulation and not die, and then go kill Lou Wudu? And what about her? Just a blade for killing. The moment she became a demon, she would be a living target for all the hundred immortal sects to hunt down. No one would care whether she was Ling Qingyue or not. They would only know she was a demon who deserved to die...
No. It wouldn't be like that.
Ling Qingyue shook her head, shaking the thoughts away. Yue Shouming would never put her in such a position. She couldn't think like that.
From the corner of her eye, a pale, elegant hand reached over. A warm hand settled over hers. Ling Qingyue turned to look and met Pei Yin's gentle, pale-glazed eyes.
Her heart settled at once. Ling Qingyue gave her a smile.
Pei Yin had already told her. She would always be there.
The Blood-Splitting Demonization was set for three days later.
It wasn't only Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin who needed time. Qiu Feng and Yu Liuli needed time as well.
Three days. That was the final deadline given to them.
In the exquisitely appointed little courtyard rich with spiritual qi, Yu Liuli sat on a swing, lost in thought. So much so that she didn't even notice Qiu Feng until she was standing right in front of her.
"Liuli." A flash of pain crossed Qiu Feng's eyes as she crouched down and took Yu Liuli's hands.
Yu Liuli's eyes finally stirred, lowering to look at her.
Qiu Feng nearly looked away again, but then she heard Yu Liuli say, "Ah Qiu, is there anything else you've lied to me about?"
Qiu Feng opened her mouth. Her throat seemed to be blocked by something. Looking into Yu Liuli's eyes, she could not utter a single word.
After a long moment, she turned her head aside and spoke. "...No."
"You're lying." Yu Liuli exposed her without a shred of mercy. "You're lying to me."
Qiu Feng's whole body stiffened. She immediately stood up, about to leave. "I still have matters to attend to. I'll..."
"Back then, did you approach me on purpose?"
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