Chapter 66
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Chapter 66: Title
Suiyin kicked pebbles beneath the ancient tree. Xia Shi’s bitter-orchid scent still haunted her nostrils. She’d nearly done it – nearly tasted those frost-pale lips.
Her foot sent a stone cracking into the trunk.
"Temper tantrum?"
Suiyin whirled to find Hongling leaning against the tree, arms crossed. Her gaze darted around the clearing.
"Looking for someone?" Hongling flicked Suiyin’s forehead.
"S-Sister Hongling." Suiyin’s throat tightened. "Is Aunt Yan…?"
Her heart lodged in her windpipe. After nearly kissing Xia Shi, seeing Aunt Yan’s right-hand woman here felt like finding scorpions in her bedroll.
She turned to head back to the cave entrance when a hand hooked her collar, keeping her rooted in place.
"What’s the rush when the Master’s away?" Hongling eyed her curiously.
At the news of Aunt Yan’s absence, Suiyin exhaled in visible relief.
Hongling’s interest was piqued. She tugged the girl closer. "What did you do? That afraid of the Master?"
Suiyin shook her head fiercely, gaze shifting sideways.
She clearly wasn’t telling the truth.
Hongling laughed, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Little Ah Yin’s learned to lie during her travels."
A blush crept up Suiyin’s cheeks at being exposed.
"Enough teasing." Hongling’s demeanor shifted. "Still haven’t found your sword?"
Suiyin presented the Wugui sword with conflicted eyes. "It chose me, but Aunt Yan was furious. This…can’t be right."
She searched Hongling’s face for answers.
Hongling froze upon seeing the blade. "How could Wugui accept you…?" Her voice trailed off before realization smoothed her furrowed brow. Noticing this, Suiyin pressed, "You know this sword, Sister Hongling?"
"It once belonged to a Fairy Lord from the Immortal Capital," Hongling hedged. "The Master was…close with him."
Before more questions could follow, Hongling urged urgently, "Find your true sword and leave the Nine Realms." The words still hung in the air as her figure vanished.
Suiyin stared at the empty space. Why would Sister Hongling be in the Canghai realm? What task had Aunt Yan assigned?
Turning absently, she froze mid-step.
"Xia…Master?"
Xia Shi stood revealed, her usual disguise discarded. Though the same person beneath, Suiyin found herself stiffening under that familiar-yet-altered gaze. She approached slowly, head bowed.
"Who was that?" The question came soft as snowfall.
Suiyin blinked up. "Huh?"
By the time she’d gathered her thoughts, Xia Shi was already turning away. "Keep your secrets."
Hidden in billowing sleeves, Xia Shi’s hands clenched. That stranger’s touch lingered in her memory – fingers brushing Suiyin’s hair, whispering of departure. Their easy intimacy spoke of shared history.
Jaw aching from tension, she forced herself to breathe. Why should Suiyin’s choices matter to her?
They returned to the cave where Lu Ciyou and Yan Li waited, packs ready. Lu Ciyou’s eyes darted between them before she ventured, "Should I address you as Xia Shi…or Xia Wuwei?"
Staring at Xia Wuwei’s face, she found it deeply unsettling.
Xia Shi forced a faint smile. “Just call me Xia Shi.”
The name Xia Wuwei bore too much weight from the past—she refused to carry it further.
For Four Hundred Years at the Sword Pavilion, Xia Shi had repeated this denial of her past nearly every day.
Every memory she revisited, every decision and word from those days now seemed flawed.
Utterly laughable.
She let out a light sigh and moved to exit the cave, only to be halted by a sudden barrier. A hand yanked her sideways, bringing her alarmingly close to another person.
“You alright?”
Suiyin’s breath brushed her ear. Xia Shi jerked her arm free and stepped back, putting space between them.
She remained silent, studying the shimmering barrier across the cave mouth. Suiyin’s hand dropped to her side.
Behind them, Lu Ciyou blinked in dawning comprehension.
Xia Shi was Xia Wuwei… Suiyin being Xia Wuwei’s disciple… Their shared divine connection…
Oh heavens…
Understanding flashed across Lu Ciyou’s face. She shot her friend a sympathetic look before impulsively seizing A Li’s hand, stroking the younger woman’s knuckles repeatedly.
Yan Li: “…?”
The barrier’s descent triggered an ancient voice resonating through stone:
“Who trespasses here?”
They turned to see dust cascading from a seated skeleton as spiritual power coalesced around it, forming the faint outline of a woman—a lingering consciousness.
Xia Shi clasped her hands in formal salute. “Xia Wuwei of the Sanqing Realm’s Thirty-Seventh Generation.”
The others hastily mirrored her gesture.
“Thirty-seven generations…” The skeleton’s voice rasped like wind through dead leaves. “So much time…”
“May we know your name, Elder?” Xia Shi pressed.
“Min Sheng. Of the Immortal Capital.” The words carried visible strain, followed by a dry chuckle. “My name means nothing now, yes?”
After all, she’d been the lowest-ranking Fairy Lord even in life—who’d remember the least of twenty-four immortals after centuries?
“We remember.” Four voices rang as one.
Though historical records only listed twenty, every cultivator of the Nine Realms knew the Immortal Capital’s fabled twenty-four. Yet if this truly was Min Sheng, why did her remains lie forgotten here? An immortal’s fall shook the Nine Realms—Lingyang Jun’s passing had birthed the Purple Mansion Secret Realm, drawing pilgrims for millennia.
“Why does Fairy Lord Min Sheng remain here?” Xia Shi asked.
The spectral figure tilted its skull. “You claim knowledge of me, yet need ask?”
She was dead, so naturally she’d be here.
Lu Ciyou silently added, "Shouldn’t you be in the Immortal Capital?"
After cultivators ascend to immortality, they’re forbidden from freely descending to the Nine Realms unless ordered. They must protect the mortal world within their domains, receiving worship and safeguarding their territories.
"Immortal Capital…?" Min Sheng hesitated before answering, "But I fell in battle a thousand years ago."
"Didn’t you know?"
Xia Shi stated flatly: "No records exist."
"No records!?" Min Sheng’s voice sharpened. "What of Tiansui? Yan Ge? Hua Lu? Xing Chuan…"
"What became of them?"
She rattled off over a dozen names, mostly renowned figures from the Immortal Capital.
"The Immortal Chronicles document these Fairy Lords’ pre-ascension deeds," Yan Li interjected. "But Tiansui and Yan Ge aren’t mentioned."
Min Sheng’s silence stretched long before she whispered, "These were my comrades who fell with me."
Four pairs of eyes widened. What catastrophe could claim nearly twenty Fairy Lords at once?
"A millennium past, when the Blood Demon ravaged the Nine Realms and demonic cultivators ran rampant, twenty-four immortals descended to suppress the chaos. It should’ve been manageable – until a traitor stole the golden seal, breaking our containment." Min Sheng’s consciousness flickered violently, spiritual power radiating her smoldering rage.
"Because of one betrayer! Over half our number perished. In the end, Tiansui – leader of the Immortal Capital – split her own Divine Bone to imprison the Blood Demon beneath Qinghu Region. Lingyang deserved death ten thousand times over! Without Tiansui’s sacrifice, that wretch would never have gained footing in the Immortal Capital! Yet she repaid kindness with treachery – do you comprehend? Splitting one’s Divine Bone destroys the soul itself!"
The group reacted differently: Xia Shi blanched at "Blood Demon" and "Qinghu Region"…
This current awakening likely connected to her own actions.
Yan Li’s grip tightened on Broken Stream. This blade’s former master was Lingyang – the same Fairy Lord who’d saved her when her meridians shattered. Yet according to Min Sheng…
Regardless, she owed Lingyang her life. She’d fulfill her promise.
Ancient history’s truths weren’t hers to judge.
"None of this is known?" Min Sheng’s fading consciousness pulsed weakly, her skeletal form becoming visible as her figure dimmed.
Her final words carried restrained sorrow. They say immortals shouldn’t care – yet here she was, having sacrificed everything for the Nine Realms, erased from history.
"Enough." Min Sheng chuckled bitterly. "The Nine Realms endure. That suffices."
Her consciousness vanished. The cave barrier dissolved. A breeze scattered her skeletal remains across the lands she’d died protecting.
No one mentioned the Blood Demon’s return.
"Move out."
Xia Shi strode forward, eyes downcast. The others followed.
She sealed the cave with the golden seal. Four solemn bows.
Their sword flight to Si Hai City passed in heavy silence. Even chatterbox Lu Ciyou stayed quiet.
Outside the city, recovering cultivators gathered to investigate. Others – former puppets – fled in terror.
"What are they looking at?" Lu Ciyou finally broke the silence, unable to bear it any longer.
"Let’s go see."
When they got closer, they saw several people hanging under the city gate, all wearing Canghai disciples’ uniforms.
Lu Ciyou stared at one person and searched her memory before suddenly clapping. "Isn’t that Jiang Ying? Jiang Feng’s disciple?"
She pointed at the lowest-hanging person.
A bystander chimed in: "Right. The new leader of Canghai Sect announced that Jiang Ying colluded with Golden Token Lord Jiang Wan and the Thirteen Ghost Domains to cause chaos. They executed Jiang Ying and issued a hunt order for Jiang Wan."
Another local holding goods muttered: "This is all Jiang Feng’s plot to seize power. Now that Sect Master Jiang Liu is severely injured, he’s taking over and finding scapegoats to cover his tracks."
Before he could say more, an arrow shot down from above pierced his throat, killing him instantly.
The crowd scattered like leaves, looking up in panic.
A cold-faced man stood on the city wall with his bow drawn, staring down at the people below.
"Disrespect the Leader? Die."
No one dared speak again. When the city gates opened, everyone hurried inside.
Only a few cultivators from other sects remained outside, hesitating to enter.
Among the entering crowd, Xia Shi spotted a familiar figure. She followed before Suiyin could stop her, all four companions getting swept into the city.
Si Hai City lay in complete stillness. Even street vendors conducted business in silence.
Xia Shi lost her target.
Standing at a crossroads, she frowned and clenched her fist.
That fleeting figure… it looked like Pei Jiu.
The same Pei Jiu from the portrait in Chengxian Restaurant.
