“Also, also it’s nothing…” Her words made Yue Jin feel guilty. She glanced at Fu Lingyi’s expression, then lowered her gaze. Fiddling with her sleeve cuffs, she looked completely at a loss.
Why wouldn’t she ask? Could it be that this strange atmosphere between them isn’t because Fu Lingyi suspects her? She couldn’t quite tell anymore.
“The night is deep and the dew is heavy,” Fu Lingyi said, cutting short her awkwardness. She simply waved a hand, making it clear she wanted her to leave. “You should go rest.”
Yue Jin stood by the door. She actually still wanted to say something, and hesitated: “I, I’ll still go down the mountain tomorrow. So besides food, is there anything else you want?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she regretted it a little. The money she was using was all hers, yet she was asking her what she wanted. It was worse than borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha.
“No.”
“Then, then if I see anything fun down the mountain, I’ll come back and tell you.”
“No need. I still need to cultivate.”
Her words were completely blocked. Yue Jin felt helpless. In her mind, she was thinking about what she could say next to break the deadlock. The weather was bitterly cold, and the wind blowing in made her rub her palms together.
Fu Lingyi summoned spring water, brewed tea, and motioned a cup towards her. “Come over and drink a cup of hot tea. Warm yourself up.”
She was taken aback by the unexpected kindness. She went over and picked up the teacup, leaning forward awkwardly. The person opposite sighed almost imperceptibly: “Don’t stand anymore, sit down.”
Yue Jin obediently and quickly sat down, incredibly well-behaved.
There was no charcoal burning in the main room, but suddenly a faint warmth emanated. It must have been Fu Lingyi seeing she was cold and using a spell specifically for that. She felt very constrained at that moment. The two of them sat facing each other stiffly, like strangers meeting for the first time.
“Is there something you want to say to me?” Fu Lingyi watched the person opposite drinking tea in small sips. She pursed her lips and asked, her eyes fixed on her.
Yue Jin choked a little. She coughed twice and put down her teacup.
“I, I…” She wanted to ask her why she had been different lately, not like before, why they could never exchange more than a few words. But when the words reached her mouth, they changed into: “I have nothing to say. It’s just, just…”
“I, I, you leave so early every day. You don’t need to make porridge for me. I’m afraid of troubling you.”
“Alright, then I won’t do it anymore.” Fu Lingyi nodded, without much emotion.
That’s not what she meant.
“No, I mean…”
“Go back.”
Fu Lingyi said those three words softly, weighing heavily on Yue Jin’s heart.
She didn’t know how she got up, or how she returned to her own room.
All she remembered was a hazy, endless night.
Fu Lingyi watched the person leave. She could feel Yue Jin’s dejection.
But…
She lowered her head and looked at the oil-paper package on the table. The mung bean cake, which she herself had taken a small bite from, was still on top.
These past few days, while busy with sect affairs, she had still kept a constant watch on Yue Jin’s every move. She knew she was bored and had been wandering everywhere. She also knew she had run down the mountain and played around everywhere in Lin’an City. She even knew she had bought the mung bean cake for her with a heart full of joy, revealing that couldn’t-hide proud expression. She knew it all. She had followed her. She had seen it all with her own eyes.
So she couldn’t help but ask, asking her if she had something to say to her.
But Yue Jin still refused to admit it.
Fu Lingyi sighed. She folded the oil-paper package neatly and put the mung bean cake away.
Actually, she was reluctant to treat her like that… But she had to harden her heart.
Yue Jin sat alone through the night. In the latter half of the night, she dozed off slumped over the table. She seemed to feel someone standing behind her. When she suddenly woke up, she found there was no one else in the room but her.
It was already broad daylight.
Yue Jin’s stomach rumbled with hunger. This time, there really was no porridge on the table. So Fu Lingyi entering her room and standing behind her might have been her imagination.
“Why did I say that last night? Now look, I don’t even get porridge to drink,” she said dejectedly, leaning back. She rubbed her stomach, her face full of indignation. I really don’t know how to talk.
“Of all things to say, I had to add fuel to the fire.”
She thought back for a long time, trying to understand the reason for Fu Lingyi’s actions. Instead, she recalled what Yu Xia had said to her a few days ago.
Fu Lingyi hates the Demon Lord. She hates her.
It’s just hatred. She didn’t really care. After all, she had hated many people in this life, so being hated was only proper.
But thinking about it, Fu Lingyi had only been like this after returning from the Disciplinary Hall. Perhaps it was because she had been implicated by her, suffering in the Disciplinary Hall, and that’s why she didn’t want to bother with her.
If she doesn’t want to bother with me, then fine.
“This is so annoying!”
“Fu Lingyi is so annoying!”
If that’s the case, then why was she so kind to her just before?
Yue Jin stood up, tossed aside all her thoughts, and stormed out, slamming the door. Now that there was such a perfect opportunity, and Fu Lingyi didn’t care where she went, why stay here if not to escape? There was nothing here worth lingering for anyway.
This time, the mountain path was much easier to travel than her first escape attempt. It wasn’t a small path, and there were no messy branches blocking the way. Nor were there any annoying cultivators down the mountain asking tricky questions.
She wouldn’t choose the water route. Now that her spiritual stones were plentiful, she could ride an immortal crane or a horse.
As soon as she reached the foot of the mountain, a Qingyuan reporting on Wu Bei’s progress flapped its wings and flew towards her. There were restrictions on Chongxiang Mountain, so it had been specifically set to be received after she descended.
“Successfully infiltrated Yaoguang Pavilion. No harvest yet.”
Three full days had passed. Yaoguang Pavilion was like a wall that didn’t leak wind; not a single piece of secret information could be leaked.
Even if all four of them investigated together, was it still impossible?
Yue Jin crushed the paper crane (Qingyuan) and threw it into a neglected corner. She went to find an immortal crane to hurry towards Yaoguang Pavilion as quickly as possible.
Not long after she left, Fu Lingyi came out from her hiding place and picked up the paper crane.
“Restore.”
She chanted the incantation. The crushed and crumpled paper crane restored itself to its original state, revealing the writing on it.
Although Qingyuan was a unique transmission artifact of the Qingyuan Palace, for some reason, her mother had always possessed this artifact since she was young, and had taught her how to use it.
After reading what was written on it, Fu Lingyi clenched her fist. Her sword reacted, unsheathing itself, and carried her away as she soared on her sword.
She hadn’t guessed wrong. She had indeed regained her memories.
You fooled me so thoroughly, Yue Jin.
Wu Bei and Eyin posed as fellow disciples and infiltrated Yaoguang Pavilion. Meanwhile, Wu Ju and Shan Shi used illusion techniques to stay there as visiting outsiders.
But the people at Yaoguang Pavilion were completely preoccupied with business. They didn’t care about each other at all, and even the elders prioritized money. They had been here for so long not because they couldn’t find any loopholes, but because it was fundamentally all loopholes. It was leaky on all sides.
“Hmph, this crappy place has nothing! How much longer do we have to stay here?” One moment, Eyin had been laughing and chatting with other disciples, as if she were part of the inner circle. The next, she returned to her room and immediately dropped the facade, so angry she could barely speak.
Wu Bei rubbed her temples: “I want to ask that too. This place doesn’t look like it has any clues. Could Yue Jin have gotten it wrong?”
“That’s impossible,” Mentioning Yue Jin, Eyin seemed to transform into a different person, filled with longing and trust. “Her Holiness wouldn’t be wrong. Perhaps the culprit hid all traces long ago. How is the investigation into the weapon going on their side?”
“Ji Peilan isn’t in the pavilion these past few days, so more restrictions have been placed on her residence. The two of them are posing as senior sisters from Huang Yi Valley, but haven’t found an opportunity yet.”
“Huang Yi Valley? What place is that? Never heard of it.” Eyin frowned. She had very little knowledge of the righteous path sects.
Wu Bei explained: “It’s a sect that only recently rose to prominence, specializing in the sword path. Its cultivation mechanism is somewhat similar to the Chongxiang Sword Sect ‘s. They don’t interact much with Yaoguang Pavilion, so choosing them was the best option.”
“Tch, what’s good or not good about it? We haven’t made any progress yet! How are we supposed to report to Her Holiness? It’d be better if I went to Her Holiness myself…”
As the two of them were speaking, a Qingyuan drifted lightly over to deliver a message:
“Jin’er has arrived at the foot of the mountain. Go and pick her up. Wu Ju, stay.”
“Her Holiness is here!” Eyin’s earlier gloom vanished. She was extremely excited. She hadn’t seen Yue Jin in a long time. She rushed out of the room and ran down the mountain path.
Wu Bei followed behind, inwardly grumbling. Wu Ju’s calculations were so accurate, couldn’t she just calculate who did it? It would save them from doing useless work here.
Eyin dashed down the mountain. Watching the figure in plain clothes walking towards her from afar, she went straight over and hugged that person’s waist.
From the woods behind them, a faint sound of branches snapping could be heard.
Yue Jin was momentarily stunned by the impact. After confirming for a moment, she said: “Eyin?”
“It’s me, Her Holiness! We haven’t seen each other in so long.” She rubbed her fuzzy head against Yue Jin’s face. She tilted her head up and smiled brilliantly. “I finished my last mission! I’ve been obediently doing this mission too. And I haven’t bullied anyone in a long time! When Shan Shi was doing bad things, I even stopped her!”
Yue Jin curved her lips into a smile and ruffled her hair: “That’s good. That’s how our Qingyuan Palace should be.”
“Mn!”
Eyin chuckled, blushing as she acted spoiled in her embrace, unwilling to come out: “Her Holiness, you look good in red, and you look good in this color too. But just now, when you walked over, you seemed a bit unsteady… What’s wrong? Is your leg injured?”
“It’s fine. It’s almost healed.” Yue Jin stopped her hand that was reaching to probe. The hot spring in the backyard had helped her injured leg recover a lot; aside from a slight limp, she was no different from a normal person.
Eyin’s expression fell when she heard this. She looked very concerned: “You were really injured? Does it still hurt?”
“I don’t feel anything. Let’s go up the mountain quickly. If we keep dragging this out, others might see us.”
“Okay.” She straightened up and stood by Yue Jin’s side. She thought about linking arms with her, but then changed her mind and decided to reach out and take her hand.
Before she even touched her fingers, Eyin felt a sharp sting on the back of her hand, startling her into pulling her hand back. Threads of blood seeped from the back of her hand, as if she had been cut by a sharp blade.
“What’s wrong?” Yue Jin looked at her, asking with concern.
“Mn? It’s nothing, Her Holiness. I was just momentarily distracted.” Eyin put her hand behind her back, smiling and shaking her head.
She lowered her eyes and looked behind Yue Jin, towards the quiet woods. Leaves rustled, but there was no trace of an aura. Among the fallen leaves on the ground, however, one had a sharp edge and was stained with blood.
Yue Jin didn’t pay it much mind: “Oh right, before we go up the mountain, could you cast an illusion spell on me? I have a bit of a history with this Yaoguang Pavilion, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to get in.”
“I can, yes, but why doesn’t Her Holiness do it herself? My cultivation ability isn’t as good as Her Holiness’, and it’s easier for me to be discovered.”
“Because I have no cultivation.”
Eyin raised her head and blinked: “What?”
“I have no cultivation.”
“What!”
After the two of them had completely left, Fu Lingyi walked out from the woods behind them. She formed a hand seal and chanted, conjuring a plain, unremarkable face for herself, and entered Yaoguang Pavilion as well.
Nice work 👏