Chapter 23: Mercy

Moonlight bathed the secluded courtyard, lending a thin layer of frost to the azure bricks and black tiles alike.

When a disciple on night patrol passed by the courtyard gate and peered inside, all he glimpsed was that ancient tree with its branches snapped and scattered. There was no sign of anyone in the yard—Shang Si had vanished somewhere.

At almost the same moment, near the village at the foot of the mountain—

Yun Feng and his two companions trailed behind Lu Shiyuan. Using the Sword Spirit Sect’s unique tracking technique, they had followed the trail to a small grove seven or eight li outside the village. There, Lu Shiyuan’s secret art revealed that the traces split off in two completely different directions: one plunged into the woods, while the other veered along a path skirting the grove toward the river.

After a brief discussion, the four decided to split up and continue the pursuit. Naturally, Lu Shiyuan stuck with Yun Feng.

The two darted into the dense, shadowy woods, their toes skimming over fallen leaves and twigs as they sped forward. In Lu Shiyuan’s vision, the demon’s passage left behind faint golden, winding traces.

“This demon is cautious,” Yun Feng called out from beside her. “The trail is spotty and fresh—it must have doubled back to cover its tracks on purpose, but not thoroughly. If we hurry, we should catch up soon.”

No matter what kind of demon it was, committing such a basic blunder suggested its cultivation wasn’t high.

Seeing her so focused, Yun Feng kept pace right behind her.

They tracked through the woods for more than half an hour without emerging from the trees. At last, Lu Shiyuan sensed something off. She halted and examined the marks on the ground closely, arriving at an unexpected conclusion. “Senior Brother Yun Feng, I think we’ve been had by this demon.”

“I was too naive,” she said, brushing the dirt from her fingertips and rising to her feet. In the darkness, her voice carried a hint of frustration. “I thought it was some naive little demon with shallow cultivation, which was why it was so easy to track. But these were left on purpose to throw us off.”

It was no wonder she felt this way—Yun Feng had specifically asked for her help, and now not only had she been useless, she’d wasted the entire evening.

But Yun Feng showed no sign of reproach.

Instead, he comforted her gently. “In that case, my junior brothers are probably on a wild goose chase too. Don’t beat yourself up, Junior Sister Lu. The disciples who came to report earlier already warned us this demon was extremely cunning. If tonight doesn’t work, we’ll try again another day.”

Yun Feng’s temperament was as soft as water. Though he was one of the top talents of the younger generation, he carried none of that youthful arrogance. He was one of the few people Lu Shiyuan could spend time with without feeling annoyed, and his words offered her some small comfort.

The two retraced their steps along the path they had come, returning empty-handed. They weren’t in as much of a rush as before.

Moonlight filtered through gaps in the branches, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Yun Feng occasionally glanced sideways at that captivating face. Under the moonlight, Lu Shiyuan looked like a fairy descended to the mortal world—pure, aloof, and otherworldly.

A young man’s affections were hard to hide. After turning the words over in his mind a couple of times, Yun Feng seized the rare opportunity to speak.

“Junior Sister Lu.”

Lu Shiyuan turned her head almost instinctively, her dark hair swaying. “Hm?”

Yun Feng paused for a beat, then quickly averted his gaze. As they walked, he asked, “The other day, I overheard my master and martial uncle mention in passing that the Ye Lord brought you to Kunlun to ask my Great-Grandmaster for medicine. They say your injuries can be fully healed—is that true?”

“Something like that,” Lu Shiyuan replied. She wasn’t sure how to answer, so she gave a vague response.

Ever since she had rejected Shang Si’s kindness to her face last time, the two hadn’t brought up their argument in the half month since. It was as if that day had never happened—not to mention how, in her haste to pursue the demon not long ago, she had accidentally snapped the Sound Transmission Talisman.

Shang Si had been in a foul mood tonight already. Would she be angry with Lu Shiyuan again?

For some reason, with just a few words, Lu Shiyuan’s thoughts had circled back to her.

But her casual chat with Yun Feng continued. The young man let out a soft breath and suddenly halted, half-turning to face her. In the dim moonlight, he could make out the features of the girl he admired. “Then, Junior Sister, if you truly recover one day… you won’t stay in Yedu anymore, will you?”

As the last word of Yun Feng’s question faded, Lu Shiyuan stopped as well and turned to look back at him.

She had been asked this question more than once.

Back when she was preparing to leave Yedu, both Hua Qiu and Shang Si had posed similar queries. But no matter who asked, Lu Shiyuan had never given a definitive answer.

Yedu was an existence caught between righteousness and evil—hardly orthodox in the eyes of most upright folk in the Mortal Realm.

They feared it, shrank from it… but held no respect for it.

In most people’s eyes, Yedu was nothing more than a stopgap replacement, thrust into position after the successive collapse of the Immortal and Nether realms. Though it had never committed any atrocities, Yedu’s overbearing and aggressive ways over the years had naturally sown seeds of discontent in many hearts.

Yun Feng, standing before her, was a prime example. His prejudice against Yedu had led him to prejudge Shang Si as no good sort.

Lu Shiyuan had no desire to discuss her personal affairs with Yun Feng any further. She smoothly changed the subject, saying softly, “We’ll talk about the future another day. It’s getting late—we should hurry back up the mountain.”

No sooner had she spoken than a fierce gust of wind whipped up around them, sending the fallen leaves at their feet swirling into the air. Both of them sensed something wrong at once.

“Careful!” Yun Feng warned in a low voice, his hand already gripping the hilt of his sword.

Just as Yun Feng was about to draw his blade, the Azure Frost Sword in Lu Shiyuan’s hand stirred as well. The sword trembled faintly in her grasp, blue light coiling around it, as if sensing the approach of something.

But as its master, Lu Shiyuan could tell that the spirit sword’s reaction wasn’t born of tension. This meant the newcomer was friend, not foe.

The realization had only just flashed through her mind when a red shadow streaked past them both, slapping Yun Feng’s sword hand back with force. Shang Si whirled around and positioned herself in front of Lu Shiyuan, her beautiful eyes lowered demurely, her dark hair drifting about her.

“A Si?” Seeing that it was none other than Shang Si—the very person she’d been thinking of a moment ago—the wariness in Lu Shiyuan’s eyes melted away like rippling spring waters. “Why did you come down the mountain too?” Surprise colored her words unmistakably.

In the quiet woods, Shang Si gave a soft hum, then raised her gaze to meet Lu Shiyuan’s. “To find you, naturally. Or did you think I’d rest easy with you lingering around an outsider?” Before she spoke, she shot Yun Feng a sidelong glare.

The two locked eyes for a brief moment, and Yun Feng, steeling himself, bowed to her. “Ye Lord.”

Who could have foreseen that one second he was sounding Lu Shiyuan out on personal matters, and the next Shang Si had appeared out of nowhere?

Shang Si ignored him entirely. Instead, she naturally took Lu Shiyuan’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze in her palm as she chided, “It was just a matter of tracking down a few little demons, and yet you two wandered this forest for ages only to come away empty-handed. Unbelievable.”

“…” Lu Shiyuan parted her lips, but found no words to argue.

The facts spoke for themselves; she had nothing to say.

A moment later, Shang Si released her hand and flashed her a mysterious smile. “Come with me.”

Having spent so much time at Shang Si’s side, Lu Shiyuan could read the deeper meaning behind her words or a single smile in an instant.

For example, the moment Shang Si said “Come with me,” she knew her companion must have already uncovered leads on the demons before tracking her down.

The pair, who had been set to return empty-handed, thus changed course and followed Shang Si through the grove to the front of a dilapidated Moon Elder Temple.

The ruined temple was eerily silent all around, save for the chirps of birds and insects. No other signs of life stirred.

The site lay some five or six li from the village where the common folk lived. No demonic aura lingered nearby, and Lu Shiyuan had even used a secret technique to probe before entering. She and Yun Feng had both figured the place was merely remote and uninhabited—nothing more amiss than that.

But trailing Shang Si inside, they discovered two Nightingale Demons in hiding: one gravely wounded, the other with shallow cultivation.

The uninjured female demon showed no fear at their entrance. Instead, a strange joy lit her face as she rose to greet them. “Benefactor, thank you for your lifesaving aid. Once Qing Fu recovers, we’ll leave this place and trouble the villagers no more.”

She curtsied and knelt in one fluid motion.

It took Lu Shiyuan a moment to collect herself before she realized that the Nightingale Demon’s “benefactor” must be…

“A Si?” Lu Shiyuan tugged at Shang Si’s skirt sleeve, seeking an explanation. “She just said you saved…?”

“Yes, yes, I saved them.” Shang Si claimed responsibility before Lu Shiyuan could even finish.

She extended a pair of slender hands, weaving a spell to lift the kneeling female demon from the ground. Speaking warmly to her, Shang Si said, “Go tend to your wife first. I’ll give you the items I promised shortly.”

“This little lady obeys the benefactor.” The female demon thanked her profusely once more, then cast timid glances at the two people beside Shang Si before withdrawing cautiously.

So timid and cowardly—she hardly seemed the type to do evil.

Lu Shiyuan fell deep into thought.

After the nightingale demon had gone a little farther away, Yun Feng—who had been holding his tongue until then—spoke up with some agitation. “These past few days, the villagers have kept hearing cries in the dead of night, and livestock has been vanishing without a trace. No need to say it—it must be the work of that nightingale demon we just saw. But from your actions back there, Ye Lord, it seems like you mean to let them go?”

Cultivating immortality and upholding the righteous path was an idea etched indelibly into the minds of most sect cultivators.

No sooner had Yun Feng finished than Lu Shiyuan spoke as well, her voice laced with simple puzzlement. “A Si, what’s really going on here? I’ve never seen you… save someone out of the blue like that.”

In her memory, Shang Si was a decisive sovereign. Yedu sent resentful spirits her way every single day, and someone like her had no room for overflowing sympathy.

Three years ago, if not for Lu Shiyuan’s intervention, Shen Guang would surely have met his end.

Yet this Shang Si, whom Lu Shiyuan had always seen as utterly heartless, now uttered words that upended every impression: “These two nightingale demons are lovers bound together, and they’ve never taken a single human life. I couldn’t bear to see them torn apart by the boundary between life and death, so compassion stirred in me.”

“You…” Compassion?

Lu Shiyuan perhaps found the notion amusing. She pressed her thin lips together, fighting the upward curve at the corner of her mouth, but Shang Si noticed anyway.

Shang Si’s gaze drifted lightly over, settling on her face.

Lu Shiyuan’s expression turned awkward in an instant. She couldn’t laugh, nor could she quite manage not to.

Abruptly, she smoothed it away. Reaching out, she caught Shang Si’s sleeve and let her soft hands glide naturally down its length into the other woman’s palm. She curved her lips upward. “Then… saving people is a good thing. Having compassion is hardly wrong. Since you’ve given them your word, why don’t we go check on the other nightingale demon’s injuries first before we decide anything.”

Real warmth bloomed in her palm.

Everything about Lu Shiyuan’s actions was just as it had always been. And yet, to Shang Si, it all felt utterly different.

There was a solid roof overhead, but in those eyes, Shang Si glimpsed a scatter of tiny, shimmering stars.

Her beautiful eyes lowered slightly. Crow-feather lashes fluttered down. Her other hand—the empty one—lifted almost on instinct, coming to rest lightly against her own chest.

There it was again. That familiar rhythm of beats.

In and out with every breath, it even skipped once, unbidden.

Shang Si blinked slowly, her gaze lifting once more to the woman standing before her.

She thought she understood now why she had acted so out of character tonight. It was hers.