Chapter 73
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Chapter 73: Title
Mao hour. The sinking sun set clouds ablaze, fiery light filtering through cherry blossom groves to paint shifting patterns on the ground.
"Miss Wen?" Yan Li approached the solitary figure. "Canghai disciples brought dinner. It’s still warm."
The wind tugged at layered robes, making Wen Zhishu’s silhouette appear frailer against the pink sea of blossoms.
"Miss Wen?"
"Hmm?" Wen Zhishu turned, apology softening her gaze. "Forgive me. What did you say?"
Yan Li patiently repeated her words.
"Alright, thank you." Wen Zhishu half-lowered her eyes, glancing sideways into the distance. "But I’m not hungry yet."
"They move like two halves of one soul."
The abrupt remark puzzled Yan Li until she turned and saw the pair practicing sword forms beneath the cherry tree.
Pink petals swirled around the crimson and white figures. However Xia Shi shifted her blade, Suiyin mirrored each movement with seamless precision.
A perfect match.
"True." Yan Li sighed. "Their swordsmanship stands unrivaled."
"Does it…" Wen Zhishu’s soft chuckle brushed past Yan Li’s shoulder as she walked away, murmuring, "Still unrivaled after all this time?"
That word – "unrivaled" – always clung to true talents like morning dew.
Yan Li froze upon seeing Wen Zhishu’s strained expression. Praising natural genius before someone frail in body and weak in spiritual power… what cruel thoughtlessness.
She hurried after the retreating figure. "Miss Wen, my careless words…"
"No need." Wen Zhishu’s calm smile returned, eyes crinkling with practiced warmth. "You spoke truth. Their skill remains… unmatched."
The woman’s composure seemed flawless now – had Yan Li imagined that flicker of pain?
Lu Ciyou chose that moment to emerge, scanning their faces before grasping A Li’s hand. "Trouble?"
Few in the Nine Realms would recognize the Liujin Pavilion’s famously brash young master in this tender version smoothing her lover’s sleeve. Any cultivator she’d ever thrown through a wall would faint at the sight.
Wen Zhishu turned from their private moment, breath escaping as something between laughter and sigh.
Beyond the courtyard, twin sword energies whirled through the cherry grove. Petals churned in liquid spirals around Xia Shi’s blade as she parried Suiyin’s strike, pulling her disciple close.
"Master?" Suiyin’s eyes sparkled, cherry blossoms caught in her hair. "How was that?"
The old title caught Xia Shi off-guard. "Adequate."
"Adequate?"
Suiyin’s blade flicked. The petal storm shuddered, hung suspended, then cascaded over them both.
Xia Shi stood powdered in pink like some blossom-born fairy. Her lifted eyebrow prompted Suiyin’s instant (if insincere) pout of remorse.
A hidden finger-twitch summoned swirling petals that engulfed Suiyin in pink flurry. By the time she spat out cherry blossoms, Xia Shi was halfway across the courtyard.
"Master, wait!"
After their brief playfulness, the last glimmer vanished from the horizon. Moonless night pressed down with storm-promising clouds.
Thunder growled as Xia Shi and Suiyin pressed against rocks near Sea Devouring Tower. Though the tower served no purpose now, Canghai disciples still patrolled.
Suiyin rested her head against Xia Shi’s shoulder, breathing in the cold fragrance now tinged with cherry blossoms. A raindrop struck her nose. "Rain," she whispered.
The downpour came fierce and sudden, curtain-thick within moments. Through the watery haze, a hunched figure emerged – darting glances, soaked through.
At the meeting spot, Huashang wiped rain from her eyes. No sign of the afternoon visitor. She’d risked patrols for nothing! Stomping wet ground, she turned – then froze.
Two figures loomed behind her: white and shadow-dark like death’s heralds. The girl’s scream died in her throat, silenced by unseen force. Recognition flashed when she saw the dark-clad woman’s face. Her shoulders sagged with relief.
"You… you scared me!"
Suiyin tilted her head. "We look frightening?"
"N-no!" Huashang stammered. "You moved like ghosts!"
Xia Shi waved spiritual power to shelter the drenched girl. "Patrols approach. Hurry."
Huashang led them through pitch-black corridors to Jiang Yun’s spotless chamber. Her fingers found the hidden compartment. "Your prize."
Xia Shi frowned. Why would Jiang Liu trust a maid about the Glazed Purification Brush? The revealed object confused her – a child’s wooden toy.
"My lady’s treasure," Huashang begged. "Deliver it to her."
Xia Shi gripped the fake. The truth burned her tongue – this "gift" endangered Jiang Yun. Jiang Liu’s cruelty showed in his scheme: hiding the counterfeit in Fenghe’s keepsake, knowing Yun’s powerless hands couldn’t detect the substitution. The sect leader’s gamble relied on hidden love and fear.
They raced back through storm to Linfeng Courtyard where Lu Ciyou and Yan Li waited. Even drowsy Wen Zhishu stayed.
Xia Shi’s barrier snapped into place. "The Book of All Knowledge," she demanded.
Wen Zhishu smiled. "Take it."
She raised her hand to summon the Book of All Knowledge and thrust it toward Xia Shi.
Xia Shi’s hand froze mid-reach, her gaze flickering sideways before she muttered, "You do it."
"Alright."
Wen Zhishu spread open the tome. Golden runes immediately flooded the chamber, drifting slowly through the air like glowing dust.
"What do you seek?"
"All knowledge of the Glazed Purification Brush."
Though the celestial brush belonged to the Immortal Capital’s treasures – and the Book would surely obscure such secrets – perhaps clues lay in records of its two sister artifacts.
True to expectations, only one line appeared about the brush: A single stroke paints creation’s tapestry, shaping the cosmos.
Nothing more.
Xia Shi’s hopes dimmed. After all, this Nine Realms artifact couldn’t overreach its celestial betters.
"Thanks." She nodded at Wen Zhishu to close the book. "Keep it hidden. Canghai’s crawling with snakes these days."
Dawn came.
Jiang Feng dispatched lackeys at first light – hollow pleasantries masking his haste to herd them toward the forbidden area.
Under disciples’ watchful eyes, the five followed Xia Shi through twisting paths.
Lu Ciyou had sensed trouble brewing since moonrise. She pressed against A Li, fingers interlaced.
Before she could speak, cool breath warmed her ear: "Trust me?"
"Always!"
Their hands tightened. "I’ll shield you."
Heat flooded Lu Ciyou’s chest. She ached to claim those lips, consequences be damned.
Her A Li… too perfect.
Later. Not here.
Wen Zhishu lingered at the procession’s tail, head bowed. A prickling gaze burned through her. She looked up.
A masked man. Eyes like frosted blades.
Their stare-off crackled until-
"Young Master Yu."
Xia Shi slid between them, smile sharper than swords. "Got a staring problem?"
The noble scoffed, turning away.
Wen Zhishu clutched Xia Shi’s sleeve.
"Easy." Xia Shi murmured, watching Jiang Feng fiddle with bizarre contraptions at the stone gate.
Odd-shaped keys, perhaps. Forbidden mechanisms clicking into place.
The heavy stone door creaked open, revealing a swirling black vortex that threatened to suck people into another dimension.
"Elder Wuwei, this is Canghai’s Forbidden Area," Jiang Feng said, backing away nervously.
Xia Shi smirked at his obvious fear.
This place clearly held real danger.
"Leader Jiang," she said, "since this forbidden area guards Canghai’s ancestral treasures, shouldn’t its master join us outsiders?"
Jiang Feng’s face turned sickly green. "But…"
He clearly didn’t want to enter, but couldn’t refute her logic.
"Elder Wuwei speaks wisely," Young Master Yu chimed in. "The Leader should accompany us."
"V-very well."
What was supposed to be a sanctuary for Canghai’s leader alone now hosted over a dozen people – every high-ranking disciple Jiang Feng could muster.
The man truly prized his own skin.
Beyond the vortex lay an unexpected sight. While Canghai was known as the Nine Realms’ most fertile land, its forbidden heart proved to be a lifeless desert stretching beyond the horizon.
Water-aligned cultivators would find this place torturous. Sandstorms whipped across the barren landscape, while strange rumblings shook the ground. Searching for an unknown brush here felt truly hopeless.
"Move! Stop gawking!" Jiang Feng barked, kicking a disciple.
As the Canghai disciples scattered, the desert erupted. Several exploded into crimson clouds before they’d taken three steps.
Blood stained the yellow sand. The metallic stench hung thick – a dinner bell for ancient predators.
"Retreat!" Xia Shi shouted. But when they turned, the entry vortex had disappeared.
No way back.
