The two of them chatted idly for a long while, and before they knew it, midnight had passed. A breeze stirred the mists, turning the moonlight—already veiled by a layer of clouds—even hazier.
Though people like them had long transcended mortal limitations, Lu Shiyuan still clung to certain ingrained habits. Much like her routine meals, if she didn’t retire at her usual hour, drowsiness would inevitably set in.
Just as it was doing now.
“Then I’ll head back first, Shang Si. See you tomorrow.” Lu Shiyuan winked at Shang Si. No sooner had the words left her lips than a pair of yawns overtook her.
“Very well.” Shang Si murmured softly in response.
She watched the woman’s slender silhouette fade gradually into the night, the lingering warmth in her eyes cooling bit by bit.
When she turned back, the moonlight—which had seemed so breathtakingly beautiful moments before—now felt somehow diminished, lacking its special allure.
Shang Si lowered her gaze, drawing her eyes away.
In the next instant, she splayed her five fingers wide. At the center of her palm floated a slender gray thread wreathed in black mist. Seeming almost sentient, it twisted and writhed in a desperate bid to escape, only to wilt under the oppressive aura of the woman before it.
This was the curse spell Shang Si had discovered lurking within Shen Guang while treating his wounds not long ago. It was no sophisticated incantation; anyone with even moderate cultivation would shrug off such petty trickery. Yet Shen Guang had been in critical condition at the time.
Plainly, it had not been meant for him.
Of the seven Sword Spirit Sect disciples, the other six had all perished, leaving only Shen Guang alive long enough for Lu Shiyuan to arrive and save him.
They could have eliminated every last one, yet they had allowed him the chance to send a sound transmission.
If anyone dared claim it was sheer “luck,” Shang Si would never believe it.
She was far more inclined to see it as a trap laid for Lu Shiyuan—especially since that final, desperate strike had been aimed squarely at her.
Had Shen Guang not thrown himself in its path…
One piece after another fell into place, revealing a premeditated scheme.
Shang Si had no inkling yet of what brewed in the shadows, but she knew full well that for months now, someone had been scheming against the woman who slept at her side.
The thought crossed her mind, and she gently closed her eyes—only to snap them open a heartbeat later. Spiritual energy erupted around her in a furious surge!
Her pupils darkened, gleaming with an otherworldly light. Forming a seal with her left hand, her fingertips aglow with motes of spiritual radiance, she tapped lightly at the thread in her palm. Her vermilion lips parted: “Release.”
The syllable dropped like ice, echoing the inexorable verdict of Yama upon a damned soul in the underworld court.
The word had barely fallen when the gray thread shed its torpor. Unbound at last, it streaked away like a loosed arrow, vanishing into the enveloping night.
Trailing it—not too near, not too far—was a faint, ethereal shadow.
~~~
The next day brought major stirrings in Yedu City. Nan Jin led his men in a ruthless sweep of the hundred li surrounding Yedu City, uprooting even the deepest-hidden nests.
Unsurprisingly, they netted a haul of spies planted by various clans, all dragged off to the Ye Capital Great Prison to await interrogation.
Lu Shiyuan slept straight through till late morning, blissfully unaware of the outside world’s upheavals. When she finally stirred, she felt utterly refreshed.
After a simple lunch, she first stopped by the Official Residence to check on Shen Guang’s recovery, then made straight for Dawn Splendor Hall to seek out Shang Si.
Unfortunately, her timing couldn’t have been worse.
“Miss, the Female Lord isn’t in the city today—she’s gone out on business.” Liuzhu offered Lu Shiyuan a warm smile before turning to replace the spent stick of sandalwood incense inside the hall.
She mentioned only that her lady had business abroad, saying nothing of where.
Lu Shiyuan pulled out the unusual Sound Transmission Talisman, channeled a thread of spiritual power into it, and sent Shang Si a brief message. In truth, though, she wouldn’t lay eyes on her until the moon hung high overhead.
They had agreed the night before to advance to the next phase of spirit vein repair this evening, so Lu Shiyuan arrived early at the Lotus Clear Pool, just as planned.
Nestled within Lianqing Palace at the rear of Supreme Splendor Palace, the Lotus Clear Pool complex featured dozens of bathing pools of varying sizes, all devoted to therapeutic hot spring soaks.
At Shang Si’s prior behest, attendants had dosed several pools with rare medicinal herbs ahead of Lu Shiyuan’s arrival. Now the water gleamed a rich brown, thick steam rising to carry the potent scent of drugs through the air.
A single whiff was enough to invigorate the senses.
Loath to squander such an ideal spot for cultivation, Lu Shiyuan settled by one pool’s edge, circulated her spiritual energy through a full minor circuit, and waited patiently for Shang Si. But scarcely had she finished when a soft sound echoed from the outer chamber.
“Shang Si?” Though mere half a day had passed, it felt like an eternity.
Without knowing why, Lu Shiyuan sprang to her feet and hurried forward a few steps. Then, as Shang Si rounded the corner, she halted, tempering the irrepressible delight that danced across her features.
“You’re already here.” Hearing Lu Shiyuan’s voice, Shang Si froze for a moment, then her cold, delicate features suddenly softened.
She gazed at the woman standing by the hot spring pool. For some reason, the frustration that had weighed on her all day lifted in an instant.
But Lu Shiyuan’s attention seemed fixed elsewhere. “Your dress…”
Shang Si glanced down. A faint bloodstain marred one corner of her skirt.
It was nearly identical to the one that had splattered Lu Shiyuan the night before. The dried blood triggered something repulsive in her memory. Her delicate brows knitted tightly, and displeasure welled up visibly in her eyes.
“Give me a moment. I’ll change.” With that, Shang Si turned slightly sideways and took two steps toward the inner chamber.
Lu Shiyuan nodded, assuming she was heading inside to change her skirt. She never imagined the woman would simply pivot, turning her back instead.
In moments, layers of fabric slipped away. The woman’s lithe figure was laid bare—her skin smooth as cream, her curves exquisite, her beauty utterly breathtaking.
It all happened so quickly that Lu Shiyuan had no time to avert or cover her eyes.
She felt her heart pound fiercely in that instant.
Perhaps it was the steam rising from the hot spring in the inner chamber, warming the air around them. Lu Shiyuan sensed a faint heat creeping into her earlobes.
Two voices warred in her mind. Reason screamed that she should turn away immediately, but her eyes remained glued to Shang Si, rooted in place.
Not until Shang Si retrieved a fresh outfit from her Spirit Ring, slipped it on, and turned back around.
Shang Si met Lu Shiyuan’s flickering, evasive gaze with her usual composure, a touch of bewilderment in her expression. “Are you unwell?”
“No!” Lu Shiyuan shook her head, denying it outright.
In a seemingly casual shift of her gaze, she lifted a hand to pinch her earlobe.
It did feel rather warm.
Unsuspecting, Shang Si gave Lu Shiyuan’s attire a quick once-over before speaking. “Perfect. You should change too. We’ll need to enter the medicinal pool to cultivate soon, and that outfit won’t do.”
“Here?” Lu Shiyuan blinked in surprise.
Right in front of you?
That can’t be right, can it??
She nearly blurted out the latter half of her thought. Her long, dark lashes quivered like raven feathers, her voice turning soft and hesitant, while a suspicious flush crept up from her neck.
Shang Si’s phoenix eyes shimmered like pools of autumn water. She blinked lightly, genuinely puzzled. “What else?”
