Chapter 27

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Chapter 27: Title

Chengxian Restaurant

Suiyin claimed a second-floor window seat overlooking the churning Baijiang River – its milky rapids justifying the "White River" moniker.

Baijiang Township mostly housed Sanqing disciples’ kin and low-level cultivators content with earthly peace over celestial ambitions.

Xia Shi gazed at the eternal eastward flow from her customary seat, having witnessed this vista countless times.

"Fairies, what pleases your palates?" A rosy-cheeked server approached, smile brighter than spring blossoms.

"What’s recommended?" Suiyin propped her chin on interlaced fingers.

"Our winter-catch fish banquet!" The girl bent conspiratorially. "Baijiang catches brim with spiritual essence. Complimentary extra course if you order it!"

As she spoke, the girl kept glancing at Xia Shi with subtle excitement, as if recognizing her.

Suiyin noticed and asked, "Do you know her?"

The girl nodded.

Xia Shi frowned. "Why… I don’t recall you?"

"My name is Xia He!" The girl’s cheeks flushed. "You saved me, gave me this name, and convinced the Shopkeeper to let me stay."

"I’ve waited years to see you again!"

Xia Shi grew even more puzzled, with no memory of these events.

"Why didn’t that other savior come? I wanted to thank you both," Xia He added regretfully.

Xia Shi’s chest tightened. The memories she’d lost all involved that person. Though the face in her dreams eerily matched Suiyin’s, she couldn’t be certain.

Dreams, no matter how vivid, remained just dreams—unreliable.

Since Xia He mentioned another benefactor, it must be the one she’d forgotten.

…The one she’d been made to forget.

"Forgive me—I’ve forgotten much these past years." Xia Shi leaned forward. "What was the other savior’s name? Their appearance?"

Xia He tilted her head, then sighed. "It’s been too long. I only remember you calling her ‘Miss Pei’."

Pei…

Xia Shi had no friends surnamed Pei in the past.

"Xia He! We need help!"

"Coming!"

The girl rushed downstairs at the summons.

"Does Elder Wuwei truly not remember?" Suiyin wondered aloud. Was the elder becoming forgetful?

Xia Shi gave her a sidelong glance without answering.

Why pretend ignorance if she actually recalled?

Pei… Pei…

Xia Shi pressed knuckles to her temples, gaze drifting across Baijiang River as her thoughts wandered to Four Hundred Years Ago.

Her last visit to Chengxian Restaurant had been with Xuanhua.

Xuanhua likely wanted nothing to do with her now.

After the Qinghu Region incident, Qingyun City had withdrawn for a century. Only Xuanchen’s breakthrough to the transformation stage had saved the city from decline.

"Elder Wuwei?"

Xia Shi blinked, finding Suiyin cradling something round.

"What’s that?"

"The egg!" Suiyin produced the dragon-stolen egg. Its cracked surface had smoothed, glowing crimson with markings resembling ancient barriers.

"Look how it’s changed!" She shook the egg gently in both palms.

Xia Shi reached out to stop her, fearing the yolk would get scrambled from all the shaking.

"This isn’t a normal egg."

Suiyin set the egg down and poked it, making it sway.

"Right. Any egg that attracts thunder tribulations must be trouble. What a waste." She sighed, imagining how much egg flower soup such a big egg could make.

"Thunder tribulation? Where’d you get this?" Xia Shi detected something odd.

"From Valley of Subdued Dragons in Qingshou. Found it in a black dragon’s jaws. The beast couldn’t beat me and Lu Ciyou, so it tried to crush this egg to trigger thunder tribulation and kill us all. But we were faster." The girl’s proud expression begged for praise, any praise.

Xia Shi froze.

Was it all for that single word – "friend"?

…

"Aren’t we friends?"

"No. Never friends, Xia Wuwei."

Strange words flooded her mind. She clawed at the memory, but couldn’t recall who’d spoken them.

The frustration grew.

The deeper she dug, the more her consciousness felt ripped apart. Xia Shi finally understood – not forgotten, but sealed by someone stronger.

No use forcing it. She’d ask her senior sisters later.

"Elder, do you know what egg this is?" Suiyin leaned across the table, curious.

Xia Shi shook her head. "Never seen its like."

"You said it summons thunder tribulations. Stop messing with it, unless…" Xia Shi pointed upward meaningfully.

The uncharacteristically playful gesture startled a laugh from Suiyin.

"Alright, Elder’s orders."

Xia Shi hid her hands under the table, rubbing embarrassed fingertips.

As Suiyin pocketed the egg, a commotion erupted nearby.

"Blind idiot! Can’t even hold a tray!" A man’s roar shook the teahouse.

Across the stairway, a gray-robed man loomed over trembling Xia He.

"S-sorry! I’ll pay!" The girl kept bowing, tears falling like rain.

"Pay? With what?" He flicked his soup-stained hem. "This robe’s Kunlun silk! You couldn’t afford a thread!"

The shopkeeper rushed upstairs, shoving Xia He behind her. "Sanqing Fairy Lord’s finest spirit-nourishing elixirs. Priceless treasures."

"Sanqing?" The man recoiled like hearing filth. He slapped the elixirs away, sending them rolling. "Trash pellets! You mock me?!"

The shopkeeper’s expression stiffened, and her smile gradually disappeared.

"What does the customer want to do?"

The man pointed at Xia He behind her. "Hand that girl over. Since she caused trouble, she should clean up her own mess!"

Xia He shuddered, her voice trembling as she clutched the shopkeeper’s sleeve. "It wasn’t intentional! I heard a woman’s cries for help coming from him… that’s why I spilled the fish soup."

The shopkeeper reached behind her back to pat Xia He’s clutching hand.

"Don’t fear."

"Surrender her or I’ll demolish this place!" The man smashed nearby furniture with a wave of his hand, sending wooden splinters flying through the air.

Patrons fled from the second floor dining area, none wanting trouble from this relentless man.

"Help… anyone… help…"

The weak pleading grew distinct in the emptied hall – unmistakably a woman’s voice.

"That’s the sound!" Xia He pointed at the pouch hanging from the man’s belt. "From there!"

"Shut your mouth!" The man roared, phasing past the shopkeeper to seize Xia He by the throat with claw-like fingers.

"Release her!" The shopkeeper shouted, spiritual power flaring in her palm.

A sickening crack echoed as the man’s wrist suddenly bent backward, bones snapping. He collapsed to one knee howling.

"Who’s there?!" His wild eyes scanned the room before locking onto two women by the window.

A youthful-looking girl smiled innocently while her white-clad companion fixed him with a blade-sharp gaze.

"You."

The man blurred through space, reappearing before them.

When Xia Shi glanced up, his raised fist froze mid-swing as if trapped in amber.

"Help—"

The recurring cry held faint familiarity this time.

Xia Shi examined the spatial pouch at his waist – uncommon vessels for containing living beings. With a finger flick, she summoned it to her hand.

"What to do?!" The immobilized man bellowed. "That’s mine!"

"Yours?" Xia Shi shook the pouch. "Then explain this."

"None of your business!" He spat at them, only to have spittle blown back into his face by sword energy.

Suiyin cheerfully kicked his kneecap, drawing another pained scream.

As Xia Shi unsealed the pouch, winter-cold sword energy sliced through the air – her own attack. She dodged, but the pouch tore open, scattering contents across the floor.

A near-naked woman rolled out, her battered body mottled with scars both fresh and old, breath barely stirring in her chest.

The man used the burst of sword energy to leap out the window into Baijiang River, vanishing without a trace.

"Help…" The fallen figure rolled near Xia Shi’s feet, a blood-stained hand clutching at her hem.

"Lotus seed?" Suiyin picked up a white lotus seed from the scattered debris.

Xia Shi glanced at it. The seed carried both her sword energy and the essence of Ziyan Lotus. Only one person came to mind – Wen Zhishu from Lingyang Secret Realm.

She studied the collapsed woman. Through tangled hair, she glimpsed a profile thinner than Wen Zhishu’s remembered face.

Suiyin crouched first, sweeping hair from the woman’s bruised face. Though marred by bluish marks, the features became clear.

"Miss Wen?!" Suiyin gasped. She quickly supported the woman against herself.

The shopkeeper arrived with Xia He, who wiped her tears. "Thank you, savior. You rescued me again."

"Ah, it’s you." The shopkeeper eyed Xia Shi. "Fairy Lord hasn’t visited in years. Are you well?"

Xia Shi nodded. "Recall the person accompanying me when I first brought Xia He here?"

"Ah, yes!" The shopkeeper nodded. "That Fairy Lord was kind too."

"Her name? Appearance?" Xia Shi pressed.

The shopkeeper blinked. Weren’t they friends? Why ask about forgotten details?

"That Fairy Lord was called Pei Jiu, but her face…" The shopkeeper frowned, knuckling her temple. "Strange – I just remembered earlier."

After strained silence, she apologized, "Can’t recall now, Fairy Lord. If it comes back, I’ll send a portrait."

"Nevermind." Xia Shi surveyed the wreckage. Producing an elixir vial from her storage ring, she offered, "Take this restorative."

"No, no!" The shopkeeper retreated. "You’ve helped enough!"

Xia Shi set it on the table. "Payment for remembering Pei Jiu."

"Well… Next visit, I’ll recall properly."

Xia Shi turned to Suiyin holding the unconscious Wen Zhishu. "I’m taking her."

"Of course, Fairy Lord."