“Qiwu is not in a convenient position to visit Falling Star City right now. If fellow Daoists wish to find her, you can come directly to the Wen Shen Sect,” the Immortal Venerable, having been appeased, allowed Wei Xiheng free passage into the Wen Shen Sect. However, the idea of her taking anyone away was out of the question.
“Oh, oh, thank you, Immortal Venerable.” Wei Xiheng was straightforward and didn’t realize she had just navigated a round of veiled conflict.
However, Yun Heng’s arrival made her feel a little awkward from the cold. The words she had been about to speak were silently swallowed, and the atmosphere turned a bit quiet.
“Qiwu, you still haven’t taken your medicine for tonight,” Yun Heng reminded her as the sky grew dark.
“Right, I almost forgot. If I don’t go back soon, Elder Lu will come to grab me. Ah Heng, you can come directly to Myriad Elixir Mountain to find me next time.”
“Okay! It’s important to take your medicine on time, hurry back!”
Wen Qiwu said goodbye to Wei Xiheng and nodded to the other two before leaving with her senior sister.
“That Immortal Venerable… is truly as her name suggests. I could barely breathe standing before her,” Lin Shuangyun sighed in relief. Still, she felt a thrill when she saw the Immortal Venerable. After all, who among sword cultivators wouldn’t want guidance from such a figure?
“Ah Que is actually a disciple of the Wen Shen Sect, and a personal disciple of the previous Sect Master. It seems I can’t just bring her directly into Falling Star City,” Wei Xiheng mused, resting her chin on her hand, still holding onto her earlier idea.
“Is there any way Ah Que can legitimately join Falling Star City?” she mumbled.
“There is.” Zuo Lan was still thinking about how the Immortal Venerable had told Wen Qiwu to go back and take her medicine. She realized Wen Qiwu’s health might be more serious than she imagined. Hearing Wei Xiheng’s soliloquy, she instinctively replied, “Become her Dao companion, marry her, and then it will be legitimate.”
“…” Zuo Lan suddenly realized she had said the wrong thing. Seeing Wei Xiheng’s face lighting up with realization, she walked over and tapped her head. “Forget it. Do you even know what a Dao companion means? Be careful the City Lord doesn’t break your legs.”
Though, before that, the Immortal Venerable’s sword might strike first.
…
Once they reached a secluded spot, Yun Heng stopped.
“Senior Sister?” Wen Qiwu sensed her senior sister had something to say.
Yun Heng looked at her junior sister’s innocent, clear eyes, and her firm suspicion wavered a bit.
“Qiwu…” she hesitated for a moment before asking, “Did you know the Saintess of Yu Xi Sect a long time ago?”
A faint flicker of light flashed in Wen Qiwu’s eyes. She sighed inwardly, knowing some things couldn’t be avoided. “Yes… we have known each other for a very long time.”
Yun Heng pursed her lips, a hint of displeasure appearing on her face.
“How long is ‘a very long time’?”
“When I first broke through to the Core Formation stage.” From the Core Formation stage onwards, cultivators needed to undergo heavenly tribulation and tests of their heart realm for each major realm breakthrough. In the illusory realm of her heart realm that time, Wen Qiwu saw her senior sister kiss her.
Although she successfully broke through then, that scene in her heart realm left her restless. From that moment on, she found her feelings becoming somewhat strange. Later, by chance, she began corresponding with Zuo Lan and gradually, she was finally able to analyze her feelings clearly.
Wen Qiwu lowered her head, instinctively rubbing the fabric of her clothes with her fingertips.
It was as if the Heavenly Dao had caught her by the wrist. Every time she broke through a major realm afterward, the scenes appearing in her heart realm trials were always about her senior sister, and each time they became more… explicit! It was said that the scenes appearing in heart realm trials are what the cultivator desires most in their heart. Wen Qiwu furtively glanced at her senior sister beside her, and then those scenes uncontrollably resurfaced in her mind.
“…” Wen Qiwu quickly expelled those intimate scenes from her mind. If she recalled them any further, she wouldn’t know how to stand beside her senior sister!
Wen Qiwu didn’t realize that a hint of shy bashfulness had appeared on her face as she recalled those past events, presenting the perfect image of a young girl in love. Yun Heng’s expression darkened. That was decades ago, wasn’t it? Yet her junior sister had never mentioned it to her.
Even the temperature of the Ice Prison had never made Yun Heng feel cold, but at this moment, she felt an inexplicable chill spreading from her fingertips upwards.
The last remaining warmth in the Immortal Venerable’s expression completely vanished. The vexation in her heart was tinged with an unknown ferocity. It must be that Saintess who had deceived her junior sister.
“Qiwu, haven’t I told you to stay away from her?”
Hearing her senior sister’s unprecedentedly cold and stern tone, the fingertips Wen Qiwu was using to grip the fabric tightened abruptly. A faint pain spread, and she looked up to see the disappointment on her senior sister’s face.
“Senior Sister…” Wen Qiwu’s usually pale lips trembled slightly. This was probably the first time she had angered her senior sister so much since she was little.
It was inevitable for other senior sisters to have minor frictions when interacting since childhood, but they had never had anything like this. Even when she made mistakes as a mischievous child, her senior sister would always patiently teach her to correct them.
But what had that Saintess done wrong? She had merely done what Wen Qiwu dared not do. Wen Qiwu’s mood was somewhat low, but she still mustered the spirit to explain to her senior sister that Zuo Lan was not like the rumors outside. Her character had no issues, which was why she had some interaction with her. Moreover, their exchanges were only through a few letters; they had never been close…
Her senior sister was simply worried about her being deceived or “led astray” by Zuo Lan. Wen Qiwu thought her explanation would appease her senior sister a little, but this time she had guessed her senior sister’s thoughts incorrectly.
The more she spoke, the angrier her senior sister seemed to become.
Yun Heng averted her gaze, fearing that the coldness in her eyes would scare her junior sister.
If what her junior sister said was true, and the world had a misunderstanding about that Saintess, should she allow her junior sister to interact with her? No, no… who knew if that person was faking it? Junior Sister Zhao from Myriad Elixir Mountain had returned crying after being similarly convinced.
At this moment, Yun Heng still didn’t realize that she simply didn’t want her junior sister to interact with Zuo Lan. Any other reason would be seized upon by her as an excuse to persuade herself.
It seemed as though only by doing so could she fill the emptiness in her heart.
They didn’t argue. Her senior sister’s last sentence wasn’t even a reprimand, yet on the way back, Wen Qiwu couldn’t speak to her senior sister again. That night, people from the major sects departed for the Solar Eclipse Secret Realm. She saw the birdcage hanging on her door; her senior sister had come, but without saying goodbye.
That Saintess was also taken to the secret realm. It was rumored that she hadn’t intended to go, but after the Immortal Venerable visited the Sect Leader of Yu Xi Sect, the Saintess’s master happily bundled her disciple off to the Solar Eclipse Secret Realm.
“A’Que? I’m going to call you Little Ancestor! Come on, take your medicine obediently.” Lu Qiaoyi saw Wen Qiwu’s overcast expression and coaxed her to finish the medicine before asking, “What’s wrong? Who made you unhappy?”
“I made Senior Sister unhappy,” Wen Qiwu replied with a low tone.
“You made your Senior Sister unhappy?” Lu Qiaoyi thought her ears were playing tricks on her until she saw Wen Qiwu’s increasingly dejected expression and was certain she hadn’t misheard.
“Don’t worry, your Senior Sister wouldn’t be angry with you. She has an icy face by nature and looks unhappy at everyone. I’ll go talk to her when she gets back!” Although both were juniors, Lu Qiaoyi favored the well-behaved A’Que more.
“This is truly my fault. Elder, please don’t tell Senior Sister.” Wen Qiwu sat up abruptly and grabbed Lu Qiaoyi’s arm when she heard Lu Qiaoyi was going to scold Yun Heng.
“Alright, alright, lie down quickly. I won’t tell your Senior Sister.” Lu Qiaoyi pressed her back onto the bed.
A few days after the team departed for the Solar Eclipse Secret Realm, Wen Qiwu’s complexion became even paler than before.
On the third day after Yun Heng’s departure, Wen Qiwu suddenly felt an abnormality in her soul. Originally, her illness only caused her soul to be weak and powerless, but that morning, she felt as if her soul was being roasted on a fire. The pain and the gradual sensation of being consumed by flames were slowly choking the life out of her.
“How are you feeling today? Has the pain subsided?” Lu Qiaoyi injected her power into the patient’s body to examine her. It was still a feeling of powerlessness, like sinking into a swamp; this was a manifestation of Spirit Scattering disease.
“I don’t know, I just feel like my soul is very hot,” Wen Qiwu shook her head feebly.
Lu Qiaoyi bit her lower lip until it turned pale. She realized this was the precursor to Wen Qiwu’s illness, and this time the reaction was more severe than ever before.
“A’Que…” Lu Qiaoyi sat by the bedside, looking at the person whose consciousness was gradually becoming blurred. Her slightly lowered eyes hid complex emotions that others could not understand.
“Don’t be afraid, I’ll find a way to keep you alive.”
After a few words with the Elder that day, Wen Qiwu forgot what happened next. She numbly endured the pain of being burned by flames. In a daze, she felt her soul fall into the fire. Pale flames enveloped her, and her consciousness and power were gradually drawn out by the flames.
Later, she faintly felt Elder Lu say something again. She was fed something, perhaps a special medicine. However, being fed the medicine not only failed to suppress the flames but instead nourished those pale fires!
Noisy sounds came from her surroundings, people speaking uneasily. Later, Wen Qiwu could no longer perceive anything.
Her consciousness was almost defeated by those flames. Fortunately, at the most critical moment, a wisp of cold immortal energy spread through her body. Senior Sister…
She couldn’t die yet, she didn’t want to die!
After her consciousness cleared slightly, Wen Qiwu felt someone holding her. The person’s embrace was somewhat cool, and there was a pleasant cold fragrance. Senior Sister had returned!
“Ah Que! Wake up, you can’t sleep…” If she fell asleep now, she would never wake up again.
[Sleep.]
[Don’t resist.]
Strange thoughts came from within the pale flames, entwining with her consciousness and soul, as if dragging her somewhere.
“Ah Que…”
The voice by her ear was slightly choked. Was it because of her condition that her Senior Sister was worried?
[Come back.]
No, I have to wake up.
[If you don’t come back soon…]
Get lost!
The flames entwining her flinched. Wen Qiwu finally found an opportunity to break free from them. As the flames disappeared, she felt her body become much lighter, and she finally had the strength to open her eyes. Her blurry vision gradually cleared, and she saw her Senior Sister’s slightly reddened eyes, but she lacked the strength to raise her hand.
There’s something going here sus
Nice work 👏