Chapter 83
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Chapter 83: Title
After returning from Lingyang Jun’s temple, Suiyin sat alone beneath the corridor, worry etched on her face as she mindlessly twisted a foxtail weed.
“What troubles you?” Lu Ciyou approached, settling beside her.
The woman who usually clung to Xia Shi like a shadow seemed uncharacteristically withdrawn today.
“Is this gloom about Xia Shi?”
Suiyin kept silent.
“Ah, it is.” Lu Ciyou clicked her tongue and slung an arm over her shoulder. “Speak plainly.”
Suiyin wound the foxtail stalk around her finger.
“How… how could someone lack a next life?”
“No next life?” Lu Ciyou answered bluntly. “Total spirit destruction.”
*Snap.*
The weed stem broke. Lu Ciyou frowned at Suiyin’s ashen face.
“We met a Fortune-teller today. She cast a cursed hexagram for Xia Shi.”
“Regarding?”
“Her next life.”
Lu Ciyou snorted.
“Next life divination?” She eyed Suiyin like she’d grown horns. “You’re sulking over this charlatan’s trick?”
“Even in the Nine Realms, no true Fortune-teller would gamble on such predictions. You’ve been swindled.”
“No!” Suiyin’s voice turned urgent. “I recognized her from Yunze! She’d sought to read Xia Shi’s fate before. Now she appears in Lingyang City—this isn’t chance. She channeled spiritual energy during the ritual!”
Lu Ciyou froze.
Harnessing spiritual energy in the Mortal World? Only an immortal could—
But even immortals avoided meddling with afterlife destinies. Such acts invited celestial punishment.
“There you are.”
Qingxue’s raspy voice interrupted as she shuffled over with the pitch-black cat.
Both women rose in respect. Suiyin schooled her features before asking, “Does Senior Qingxue require us?”
The elder’s back curved deeper than yesterday as she gestured weakly. “Tomorrow brings Lingyang City’s Lantern Festival. Lingyang cherished it dearly. Will you craft sky lanterns? The young Fairy Lords have begun—materials await.”
Suiyin and Lu Ciyou headed to the front yard, where Xia Shi and Yan Li were being taught lantern-making by a little girl Suiyin recognized from earlier that day. Assorted colored papers and bamboo strips lay scattered around several lopsided sky lanterns.
Suiyin approached Xia Shi, passing her materials while the girl patiently demonstrated bamboo weaving. Spotting Lu Ciyou, Yan Li scooted aside with a smile. "Lu Ciyou."
Lu Ciyou snorted but sat down. Yan Li offered her a freshly made lantern. "For you."
"Hideous," the young lady declared, icy disdain in her voice. Yan Li withdrew the rejected gift, only for Lu Ciyou to snatch it back abruptly.
"Pathetic craftsmanship." Lu Ciyou inspected the lantern with contempt before seizing more supplies. "Watch how it’s properly done!"
Yan Li’s initial surprise melted into a soft smile.
Nearby, Suiyin and Xia Shi mirrored the girl’s instructions. "Remember Lingyang Secret Realm’s Lantern Festival?" Xia Shi bent a bamboo strip into shape.
"Of course." Suiyin’s fingers brushed the half-formed lantern. "We lit them together."
"That was the realm’s illusion." Xia Shi secured the final joint and offered the completed lantern. "Let’s make real memories this time."
After hours of work, Lu Ciyou shoved the finest lantern into Yan Li’s arms. "Study proper technique." Yan Li attempted to reclaim her first clumsy attempt, but Lu Ciyou clutched it possessively. "Gifts aren’t reclaimed!"
Xia Shi and Suiyin jointly inscribed their single lantern, reserving it for the morrow’s festival.
Lingyang City glowed under countless lanterns. Households displayed statues of Fairy Lord Lingyang, freshly garlanded with incense and ribbons. Qingxue guided them to the deserted riverbank after the main lantern release.
"What wish will you write?" Xia Shi offered Suiyin the brush.
"Spoken wishes wither." Suiyin’s brush hovered over paper.
Xia Shi chuckled, inscribing her own message opposite Suiyin’s characters. Twin wishes ascended together when their lantern caught fire, drifting skyward like paired stars.
Their shoulders pressed together as their eyes gazed into the distance.
Xia Shi suddenly turned and pulled Suiyin into her arms, murmuring, "Be happier. Some matters aren’t worth believing completely."
Suiyin gave a soft "mn," but her emotions remained subdued.
A cool breeze swept along the riverbank, chasing away the day’s stifling heat.
"Tomorrow we’ll search for the Heavenly Gate. Since the Glazed Purification Brush remains with me, the Thirteen Ghost Domains will surely target the Sanqing Realm."
Though Lingyang City was pleasant, it wasn’t meant for people like them.
"Alright."
Suiyin never refused Xia Shi.
A blurred shadow suddenly shot across the water surface, striking Suiyin with a palm strike infused with spiritual energy.
The crack of shattering bones reached Xia Shi’s ears as her grasping fingers caught only empty fabric.
"Suiyin!"
"Such concern for her?" A woman’s velvet voice hissed by her ear. "Have you forgotten how your heart was pierced long ago?"
"Traitorous objects shouldn’t exist."
Xia Shi’s hand gripped her sword’s hilt – too slow.
The Heartless Sword clattered away as rope lashed around her wrists. The woman clamped onto her throat from behind.
Lu Ciyou and Yan Li noticed the disturbance but found their path blocked by a shimmering barrier.
Only one being could wield spiritual power in the Mortal World.
"The Fortune-teller?" Xia Shi choked out.
The same Fortune-teller who’d foretold her next life yesterday.
"Fortune-teller?" The woman tightened her grip, forcing Xia Shi’s head back. "You regained your memories yet forgot my mastery lies in formations, not divination?"
Recognition flashed. Xia Shi spat through clenched teeth: "Pei! Jiu!"
"Indeed." Pei Jiu chuckled.
The choking hand released. Xia Shi scrambled toward Suiyin struggling to rise nearby.
"Suiyin…"
Blood stained Suiyin’s lips, her face ghostly pale. That spiritual power-charged strike had been fatal.
Pei Jiu approached lazily, sounding amused. "Still breathing? Chen Ci’s crafted vessels never disappoint. Almost makes me covet you."
"Pity the Divine Bone’s essence resists harvesting."
Chen Ci – the legendary healer.
Suiyin’s spirit nearly fled her body from the blow, saved only by the jade bead Aunt Yan had left her.
"Go! Hurry…" Suiyin pushed Xia Shi’s hand, her eyes locked onto Pei Jiu.
Pei Jiu tsked, icy gaze fixed on their clasped hands.
The hand gripping the thin rope suddenly yanked—
Xia Shi was dragged forward, her wrist now dripping blood that soaked through the binding cord.
"Xia Wuwei? Xia Shi?" Pei Jiu’s free hand caressed Xia Shi’s cheek, murmuring tenderly, "Why abandon ‘Xia Wuwei’? Afraid that name would bring back memories? Memories of me?"
Xia Shi jerked her face away, snarling, "Yes! It sickens me. Everything connected to you reeks of lies!"
"Doesn’t matter. Remembering me is enough – however you choose."
Pei Jiu’s smile widened as her gaze swept the room, finally settling on Qingxue.
Through the chaos, Qingxue kept whispering to the statue, her sky lantern crammed with scribbled words.
She lit the lantern with trembling hands, watching it lift skyward.
Before it could rise, an invisible force wrenched Qingxue backward. The lantern fell, flames devouring flower-paper and bamboo strips.
"What to do!?"
Xia Shi struggled against Pei Jiu’s grip, powerless without her spiritual energy.
Qingxue collapsed to her knees, milky eyes finding Pei Jiu.
"You came."
Pei Jiu’s eyebrows shot up. "You recognize me?"
Her current form bore no resemblance to her past self – how could a mortal know her?
Qingxue smiled faintly, ignoring the question.
"Lingyang’s gone. Why trap me here for a thousand years?"
"She stole the golden seal to grant you Longevity." Pei Jiu sighed. "You saved me, called me friend. I owed Lingyang this… though half a seal only preserves your withered state."
Tears traced Qingxue’s wrinkled cheeks. "I curse the day I saved you."
Kindness birthed a viper.
Without Pei Jiu, Lingyang might’ve escaped Immortal Capital’s wrath. No millennium wait. No joke of a promise.
Pei Jiu shrugged, flicking her wrist.
Qingxue dissolved into glimmering stardust.
Dead all along – mere soul clinging to resentment.
From fading sparks, Pei Jiu summoned a golden seal.
As it materialized, Lingyang City’s night shattered like glass.
Nine Realms’ spiritual energy flooded the collapsing mortal realm.
Fake. All fake.
Xia Shi stared as power surged through her meridians – undeniable proof.
They’d never left the Nine Realms.
"Lingyang City" was merely a place Pei Jiu had disguised using the golden seal to block spiritual energy.
She’d done it deliberately, having watched everything from the shadows.
Xia Shi gripped Pei Jiu’s collar with her bound hands, eyes bloodshot.
"You knew I’d activate that cursed formation! You knew I’d remember! You knew I’d trigger the teleportation array!"
"Correct." Pei Jiu smiled, thoroughly enjoying Xia Shi’s unraveling. She leaned closer until their breaths mingled. "Do you know who taught you the art of formations?"
"Me."
