IVYSCP - Chapter 99
Chapter 99
From Liu Qingtang to Linshui Town, then to Liuyun Immortal Sect, and now learning the truth of Yue Zhiwei's death: one matter after another, Ling Qingyue stripped away the image of that capable, responsible, refined, and gracious senior sister from her memories.
"She will die."
Ling Qingyue said it to herself, and an even greater panic surged up from inside her.
Master.
Master must already be in danger. Only that kind of Lou Wudu would not go to such pains to search for medicine to treat Master's injuries. In the past she had witnessed at Liuyun Immortal Sect, Master and Shi Yanchun once shared a bond, true or false, and that past was not pleasant, all of it manipulation. Lou Wudu knew this. She came to Shangtianqiong as a disciple with a heart full of resentment, and Master likely knew nothing of it.
Tears fell, cold as they traced down her cheeks.
She was not crying for Lou Wudu.
She still remembered when she was young, whenever she and Yue Shouming got into trouble together and were caught by the elders and sent before Senior Sister, in the end it was always Sister Yue who stepped in to protect them, eyes curved in a smile as she coaxed Senior Sister, and then even secretly winked at them.
She had thought at the time, Sister Yue is so wonderful. She and Senior Sister are such a perfect match.
Ling Qingyue lifted her head and gazed up at the half-mountain-high stone statue before her.
She was crying for Sister Yue. Crying that she had loved the wrong person, loved someone with a beast's heart in a human face, losing her heart and then her life for her.
A soft fingertip brushed across her cheek and gently wiped her tears away. Through the watery haze, Ling Qingyue looked at Pei Yin.
In this moment, she truly wanted to thank the careful thought and deep understanding of the one who had arranged her revival.
That person had sent Pei Yin to her side. It was the most correct step of all.
If the one behind all this was targeting Lou Wudu, wanting her to know everything Lou Wudu had done, then without Pei Yin beside her, she truly might have collapsed in spirit.
She blinked to stop the tears, and Ling Qingyue recalled the real reason they had come to Great Sorrow Valley.
They had followed Yu Ting and Xue Zizai.
She asked the little vine person, "Recently, besides us, has anyone else come here?"
The little vine person answered very quickly. "No."
Ling Qingyue gazed at her steadily. "It seems there has been."
The little vine person was shocked at once. "How do you know?!"
Ling Qingyue raised her hand and pointed at where her eyes were. "You are very clever. You know that when people lie, the eyes are the easiest to give them away. But hiding your eyes directly makes it too obvious that you're covering something up."
The little vine person could not take human form. To make herself look more like a person, she had placed facial features on her own head, two little flowers as eyes and a leaf as a mouth. When she answered just now, she had directly hidden her eyes so no one could see them.
"You know Yu Ting, don't you." Ling Qingyue's words did not sound like a question.
The little vine person made her two flower eyes reappear, then reached out a hand and pointed at the incense burner in front of the statue. "She came to offer incense to Sister."
Ling Qingyue had intended to ask for traces of Yu Ting and Xue Zizai, but she had never expected to learn something like this.
"She offered incense to Sister Yue? She knew Sister Yue?"
The little vine person nodded and said, "Sister once saved her. She willingly became Sister's hidden guard. Although Sister didn't agree to let her do it, during the month Sister was here, she often brought spiritual herbs back to help Sister recover her health. But she always came and went without a trace. I didn't see her much."
The little vine person was not lying. Yu Ting and Yue Zhiwei had such a connection. Then had Yu Ting been concealing her identity while working for Lou Wudu?
When Yu Ting took Xue Zizai and lured them to Great Sorrow Valley, it was to make them learn the truth of Yue Zhiwei's death. Was there a connection between Yu Ting and the one who had arranged her revival? Were they part of the same scheme, or two different parties acting separately?
Ling Qingyue's heart leaned toward the former. If they were two separate parties, it would be far too coincidental, and their coordination was too seamless.
Ling Qingyue asked, "Do you know where she went after offering incense?"
The little vine person said, "She said she was going to Wuding River."
Ling Qingyue exchanged a glance with Pei Yin.
There was a strong possibility that Yu Liuli and Qiu Feng were at the Wuding River.
"Good."
Before leaving, Ling Qingyue gave the little vine person a handful of spirit stones, enough to last her a while. She also asked whether she would be willing to leave the Great Wilderness with them later and go to the Yue family. The little vine person nodded excitedly. She wanted to see her sister's home, and even more, she wanted to see with her own eyes the person who had caused her sister's death die without a burial place.
Ling Qingyue made an agreement with the little vine person. Once they finished dealing with things here, they would return to the Great Wilderness to bring her out with them.
The little vine person watched them board the skyship and shouted, "My name is Yue Teng! The name Sister gave me!"
Ling Qingyue smiled and nodded, waving to her. "Yue Teng, goodbye."
Yue Teng waved back at them. "Goodbye! I'll wait for you!"
At the same time, on the banks of the Wuding River.
Yu Ting sat on a rock, her gaze indifferent as she watched the surging black-red river water. The river before her eyes seemed like a living thing, growing hands, feet, and fangs, greedily eyeing anyone who attempted to cross it.
It seemed that with the slightest carelessness, the thick river water would coil around a leg and drag it down alive, devouring it until not even the bones remained.
But Yu Ting sat right by the river, allowing the water to churn up onto the bank and barely graze the tips of her shoes.
Beside the rock, a cowering figure kept retreating backward, face full of terror and dread.
"You really want revenge, don't you." Yu Ting suddenly spoke, her gaze still fixed on the surface of the Wuding River. She did not seem to be speaking to the person beside her.
Xue Zizai stiffly lifted her head to look up. Her throat was so dry and sore it hurt. These past days, she had never stopped cursing, but Yu Ting had paid her no mind, letting her curse. Sometimes, perhaps when she grew tired of hearing it, she would cast a spell to shut her up.
"I will definitely kill you." Xue Zizai spoke fiercely, her gaze as sharp as a blade piercing straight through the woman.
Yu Ting curved her lips and lowered her eyes to look at her. "Kill me? You think I am your enemy? If not for me, you would have been soul-searched and your body burned to ashes just like those people in Linshui Town. I was the one who forcibly cleared your meridians and then threw you into Ling Qingyue's courtyard. Only then could you survive, could you have the chance to cultivate, could you have the chance to take revenge. In that sense, I am your benefactor."
The anger on Xue Zizai's face froze slightly. She paused dully for a long moment before saying blankly, "Ling Qingyue? Who is Ling Qingyue?"
In truth, she already had the answer in her heart, but she could not help asking all the same.
Yu Ting bent slightly at the waist and looked into her eyes with a smile. "You don't know? Ah Xi is the former Little Sword Venerable of Shangtianqiong, Ling Qingyue."
Xue Zizai pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Yu Ting continued, "Want to know who your enemy is?"
Xue Zizai's mind was in chaos. She only heard herself ask stiffly, "Who is it?"
"The present Sword Venerable of Shangtianqiong, Lou Wudu."
Xue Zizai's face went pale.
She had not been in the Immortal Realm for long, but she had already heard the Sword Venerable's name many times. Sword Venerable Lou Wudu, inheritor of the previous Sword Venerable's legacy, was the pinnacle of swordsmanship in the present age. There was no one who did not fear her, no one who did not respect her. A large part of why Shangtianqiong could behave so brazenly was that every immortal clan feared offending this Sword Venerable.
If the Linshui Town massacre was the work of this Sword Venerable, then how could she talk about revenge? She might never be able to take revenge in her entire life.
Xue Zizai's expression crumpled into despair. Slowly, she curled herself into a ball.
Yu Ting heard the sound of her weeping, desperately suppressed. She turned her gaze back to the Wuding River and spoke slowly. "A hundred years ago, the title of Little Sword Venerable fell on Ling Qingyue, not on Lou Wudu. Do you know why?"
Without waiting for Xue Zizai to answer, Yu Ting went on as if speaking to herself. "Because Lou Wudu's swordsmanship was not as good as Ling Qingyue's. Her talent was not as good either. If Ling Qingyue had not died in the Immortal-Demon War, sooner or later, Ling Qingyue would have surpassed her."
"If Ling Qingyue is so formidable, why have you made no progress at all as her disciple? Has she not taught you?"
Xue Zizai raised her head and moved her lips as if to speak, but no words came.
She had taught her. Only, she had taught her not to be impatient and had given her one sword move to practice for an entire day.
Seeing her like this, Yu Ting actually laughed, a scornful sound. "That figures. Lou Wudu is her senior sister. Their bond as martial sisters is wonderful. If she knew what her senior sister had done, she might even forgive her. So why would she teach you real sword arts to use against her senior sister?"
Yu Ting saw Xue Zizai's hands clench and lowered her gaze, veiling the emotions in her eyes.
Yu Ting curved her lips and spoke again. "If you want revenge, bitter cultivation is not the only path. There is a shortcut."
Xue Zizai moved.
"This Wuding River once drowned nine of the Twelve Blood Demons. By jumping into the Wuding River and enduring the agony of being completely remade, you can then cultivate demonic arts as a half-demon body. Do you know who the demon lord of the demon territory on the other side of the Wuding River is? Also a half-demon. Within the Great Wilderness, no one dares act wildly before her. Cultivating demonic arts can make your cultivation soar. Your situation is the most suitable for cultivating demonic arts." Yu Ting's voice was seductive. "Once your demonic arts are fully mastered, you can personally kill Lou Wudu, avenge Linshui Town, avenge the Xue family, avenge your mother."
Xue Zizai stared fixedly at the black-red churning water and actually slowly stood up.
Yu Ting watched her, and the hand at her side tightened.
She watched as Xue Zizai lifted her leg. Just as she was about to reach out and pull her back, Xue Zizai suddenly spun around and, with a speed Yu Ting had not anticipated, seized her hand and threw her off.
As Yu Ting pitched toward the Wuding River, she saw the unrestrained delight on Xue Zizai's face.
"If this thing were really as formidable as you say, then why are the people here still trapped and unable to leave? You're lying to me." Xue Zizai said, "You did save me, but don't think you can just wash your hands of it! And what you said about Ling Qingyue, I don't know what her relationship with her senior sister is like, but from these past few months I've known her, even if it were her senior sister, she would never forgive or overlook it."
With that, Xue Zizai turned and ran. But she had not taken more than two steps when a rope suddenly wrapped around her waist and yanked her back with force.
Yu Ting had not fallen into the river. She was standing steadily in midair, looking at Xue Zizai with a half-smile. "You've got a bit more brains than before."
Xue Zizai flew into a rage at those words, struggling and glaring at her.
In the short time they had been lingering at the Wuding River, guards had already relayed word back to the Demon Palace.
Several demonic cultivators crossed the Wuding River and arrived before them.
The lead demonic cultivator sized the two of them up, then raised a hand to gesture at the opposite bank of the Wuding River. "You two, the Demon Lord requests your presence."
Yu Ting nodded and tugged on the rope in her hand. "Let's go."
Just as the demonic cultivators led them across the Wuding River, Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin arrived just in time to see their figures.
"Halt!"
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