“Used it all up long ago.”
On the West Peak, several Talisman Cultivators with indifferent expressions answered casually, focused on the work at hand.
“Used it all up?” Yue Jin’s face fell, in a terrible mood. “Were you drinking this like wine, to use it up so fast?”
“Hmm… because there was never much in stock, we originally wanted to make some a few days ago, but Senior Sister Fu said there was no need for now…”
That disciple hadn’t finished speaking, when another person nearby interrupted: “Don’t babble. If Senior Sister Yun finds out you’re talking out of turn, she’ll definitely punish you.”
I see. So this was what they were waiting for. No wonder the refining method was explained so clearly before I came out. They want me to make some myself.
That young disciple who was just reprimanded hurriedly added, looking sheepish: “Sorry Sister, this really is all gone. If Senior Sister Fu needs it, we can make more…”
“…Never mind. Where is the Serpent Spring Spiritual beast?”
Yue Jin took a small dagger she’d gotten from someone else, stood in the Spiritual beast rearing area, and nervously swallowed as she looked at the Serpent Spring. It was at least three people tall, with blood-red eyes, resting on the ground, and intermittently flicking its tongue.
So big. Although I’d heard before this thing doesn’t eat meat, my heart still trembled a little.
The Serpent Spring Spiritual beast sheds its skin once a year, its body turns extremely golden and radiant. But if no one assists it, it will take an entire winter to shed.
To get it quickly, Yue Jin had no choice but to manually peel off the skin.
“Relax, relax…” She didn’t know if she was talking to the Serpent Spring in front of her, or to herself. She just kept repeating these three words, circled around to its side, aimed the small knife at its back and sliced hard!
Startled, the Serpent Spring let out a sharp, long cry, frantically shook its body, began slamming into large trees, and swung its tail forcefully.
Yue Jin was scraped, flung away, flying past many bushes before hitting the ground. Her entire body was entangled with branches and leaves, and covered in wounds.
She got up again, ignoring her wounds. Using immense effort, she only then managed with great difficulty to subdue this huge creature. She cut open its old outer skin and tore off a large, thin piece.
She rolled up her sleeves, tied her tattered outer robe into a knot, and dragged that piece of skin to the nearest clear spring.
This piece of skin was thin and easily torn. Just putting it in the water wasn’t enough; she had to constantly be careful it wasn’t washed away or broken by the flowing water.
Yue Jin awkwardly used branches to weave a net-like fence, stuck sharp stones into the spring bank, then put the Serpent Spring skin inside. She guarded it nearby, feeling sleepy.
First day. She found a large stone by the spring, brought a few bags of dry food and steamed potato slices, lay on the stone, legs propped up, gazing at the sky.
Second day. Every day she greeted the disciples who passed by, and whenever one came, she’d get them to watch it for her for a while. She herself would then run off to the dining halls of the various peaks, looking for some delicious food.
Third day. Mission accomplished. The skin had finally soaked into something hard like a tree trunk.
Yue Jin offered up the large stone she had been lying on, sunning the snakeskin on it for an entire day. At night, she used crushed stones to grind it, collecting it on a broad leaf.
The last step was to add three drops of Illusion Condensing Dew.
What was that?
The young disciple who passed by said that this is found every morning, when the first ray of sunlight shines down, condensed on Lotus Curtain Spirit Plants – that is, dew drops. It has a calming effect.
Alright. Still have to go collect it in the early morning.
When Yue Jin had mixed the ink, finished making it and brought it before Fu Lingyi, that person just faintly raised her head and glanced.
“You made this yourself?”
“Thank you, darling, but I’m actually already finished writing. It’s the same with the Rabbit Fluff Ink. However, it was still hard work for you.”
Yue Jin felt a surge of stifled anger, fury burning within. “Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“I couldn’t even see you. I thought you weren’t coming back these past few days because you were out having fun.” Fu Lingyi’s lips curved into a smile, walked over, leaned close to her face, and frowned slightly. “You’re covered in dirt, your clothes are still tattered. Come on, I’ll get you a change of clothes.”
“I like dressing like this!” Yue Jin was furious. She actually knew this would be the result; after all, this person was just deliberately making her angry. But the words spilled out of her mouth.
“Being tattered suits me best, anyway, I’m just a little mess! Probably have been since I was little, and it has nothing to do with you!”
“Making this awful ink is also something I love to do, and it has nothing to do with you!”
Fu Lingyi’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t intend to argue, just said softly: “Are you angry?”
“Angry? What is there to be angry about? Why would I be angry?” Yue Jin questioned in a rapid sequence, “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s that I didn’t ask. It’s that I got scratched by branches myself. It’s that I fell down myself. What would I be angry about? I’m happy, I’m going to happily go play now! Anyway, people like me just love to play!”
After speaking, she puffed out angrily and rushed out the door. She also viciously kicked a stone weight placed nearby on her way out.
Fu Lingyi remained in place, her smile hadn’t stopped. Rather, she smiled somewhat heartily, as if she genuinely found it funny.
Looks like she’s not without a temper.
Yue Jin walked aimlessly on the side peak. She picked up a blade of grass and idly swayed it in her hand, her gaze lowered, her thoughts not on the road beneath her feet.
She kept secretly regretting her recent behavior.
Isn’t she just like this? I knew it long ago. Why did I put on that show…? Haven’t lost enough face yet…
“What are you muttering to yourself again?”
Yun Lingyue’s voice sounded, startling Yue Jin so much she almost threw the grass away. She turned back, with a terrible expression. “Do you like me or something? Why else do you always show up when I’m talking to myself?”
Yun Lingyue pursed her lips. She wasn’t alone this time, with a white-haired girl beside her.
“Anyone in this world who could like you isn’t very sharp in the head.” As she said it, she realized something was wrong and quickly corrected herself. “I mean, if I liked you, I wouldn’t be very sharp in the head.”
Yue Jin snorted coldly. She was just about to unleash a few more sarcastic remarks, but seemed to remember something unpleasant and didn’t say it.
Taking advantage of the silence between them, that white-haired girl squeezed over, blocking between them: “Sister, who is this?”
Yun Lingyue’s expression immediately softened. She reached out and embraced the person who seemed frail and delicate, and spoke softly. “That is, that is Senior Sister Fu’s Dao Companion. You’ve met Senior Sister Fu.”
“Ah, it’s her,” that girl leaned her face closer. “Senior Sister Fu is beautiful, her Dao Companion is beautiful too. They really are a match made in heaven.”
Yun Lingyue rubbed her cheek, then turned her face serious, and sternly scolded Yue Jin: “You’d best not run around so much. If you make Senior Sister worried again like last time, I definitely won’t spare you.”
Yue Jin had a face full of disdain, and even made a face.
After Yun Lingyue finished speaking, she left with the person beside her. After only a short while, Wu Bei, who had been beside her, returned and pulled Yue Jin to an unoccupied place.
“Can’t you talk properly? ‘A match made in heaven?’ Why don’t you be a match made in heaven with her?”
Yue Jin couldn’t stand it for a moment. She didn’t even observe her surroundings, and was the first to burst into curses.
“You’re still talking about me?” Wu Bei retorted angrily, “Who secretly ran away without telling me? Who ran away but was ignominiously caught and dragged back!”
“That’s because it happened so suddenly, I didn’t have time to say, okay?”
“Heh. As if an opportunity could just fall from the sky. Since that’s the case, if you were so capable, you wouldn’t have come back. Why did you come back?”
“I didn’t want to come back either!”
The two argued over this until their faces were red. Wu Bei snorted and turned her head away, not wanting to deal with her.
Yue Jin also closed her mouth. She had too many troublesome matters, too lazy to explain further.
The silent atmosphere was extremely awkward. The two stood in the open space in the bushes, with nothing to say to each other.
“If you have nothing to say, I’m leaving.”
Yue Jin intended to leave, although she didn’t know where she should go. But she truly couldn’t handle this situation. Just as she hadn’t walked a few steps, Wu Bei called out to her: “What happened to your clothes?”
The tears where her clothes were ripped by branches were still there. She had no new ones to change into, and could only barely wear them.
When Wu Bei asked this, Yue Jin’s tears fell, much to her frustration.
“She, she bullies me every day, humiliates me, puts me in her courtyard and watches me,” she tried to control her crying, her fists clenched tight, but couldn’t stop bean-sized tears from falling, hitting the ground. “I haven’t slept properly for five or six days, just to make that awful ink for her. I gave it to her, and she said again, said again she didn’t want it. I, I haven’t felt this wronged in a long time!”
She cried non-stop, her voice broken and intermittent, panting, and tightly biting her lower lip.
Wu Bei saw this, and immediately felt a pang of sympathy. She hesitated for a moment, then reached out and patted her.
“There, there. I won’t blame you anymore. Crying in Qingyuan Palace, why are you crying in this unfamiliar place too? This time, there’s no Yue Yuanqiu to back you up.”
In the past, Yue Jin was always very pampered. As long as she shed a single tear, Yue Yuanqiu would give her anything she wanted.
Now, she could only get comfort.
Yue Jin’s eyes were red. She had cried for quite a while, venting the emotions she had suppressed all along.
“I’m going back. If I don’t leave now, Yun Lingyue will come back to find me,” Wu Bei said, stuffing a round oil-paper package that was still warm into her hand. “This is a crab roe bun from down the mountain. I specially saved it for you. I know you like them best. The dining halls here rarely have meat dishes, let alone greasy things. I just came to give you this.”
“Wu Bei…” Yue Jin wanted to cry again. She regretted the argument she’d had with Wu Bei just now.
After all, she was someone who had cared for her like this all along.
“Shush, don’t talk anymore. I’ll go out first. You leave after you finish eating. Don’t let anyone see you.” Wu Bei put a finger to her lips, quickly left, gradually disappearing into the forest.
In the bushes, the wind blew and shadows moved. Branches and leaves were sparse. Only one person sat on the ground, gnawing on the bun with a focused expression.
Just like before, when she ate her first delicious meal on a noble and luxurious cushion.
That winter, she lay by the tree where the dog was buried, allowing the heavy snow to fall profusely, piece by piece covering her curled-up body.
Hoofbeats echoed, someone gently picked her up, placed her on a warm and comfortable carriage, and stroked her forehead gently.
Yue Jin slowly opened her eyes. She saw a woman with skin like ice and bones like jade, wearing bright smoky purple silk, her gold and silver jewelry jingling. A cicada-wing-thin silk veil covered her face, making it impossible to glimpse her true appearance.
But those eyes held a smile, delicate and captivating.
Yue Jin’s mouth hung open in surprise, she just kept sighing inwardly. An immortal.
Good work 👏