Chapter 6: Past Events (5)

In the Assembly Hall, Yun Heng had no idea that the fox who had just been chased out by the Jade Xi Sect Master had taken her junior sister along on the way, under the pretext of introducing her to another friend she had yet to meet.

“By the way, how did Fellow Daoist Zuo guess that Yun Que was me?” Wen Qiwu couldn’t quite figure out how she had been exposed.

“Ahem.” Zuo Lan suddenly coughed lightly twice, as if feeling a bit guilty. “If I tell you, you mustn’t get angry.”

“Before, I was a little worried about your situation, so I checked the location where the butterflies landed and confirmed you were in the Ask God Sect. You mentioned your cultivation was at the Void Refining Realm, and the Ask God Sect only had around thirty Void Refining cultivators in total. Plus, you had a very powerful senior sister. Putting all that information together made it easy to guess your identity.”

“Worried about me?” Wen Qiwu was somewhat puzzled.

“Worried that you’d charge headlong and confess your feelings to your senior sister, only to get rejected with no one to comfort you.” From those letters, Zuo Lan had noticed how much Wen Qiwu resembled her own younger, love-struck self. Back then, she hadn’t known to take a roundabout approach and had ended up crashing headfirst into disaster, losing everything and even making a fool of herself. She wanted to stop Wen Qiwu from repeating her old mistakes.

“But now I’m not worried anymore.” Zuo Lan covered her mouth and chuckled softly, winking at Wen Qiwu. “Although Miss Yun Que wrote quite boldly in the letters, in reality… you’re a bit more timid than I imagined.”

That wasn’t so bad. She was more measured and steady than Zuo Lan had been back then, and that Immortal Venerable seemed far better than that dog of a Lin Shu. If they ended up together, it would be a fine match.

Oh? Her face was flushing again?

Wen Qiwu’s cheeks burned with a mix of shyness and annoyance.

There were some thoughts she kept buried deep in her heart, not daring to share with anyone. Perhaps she had let a few slip during her letter exchanges with Zuo Lan, but even those were just the tip of the iceberg of her true emotions.

Timid? If not for this body holding her back, forcing her to suppress her cultivation at the Void Refining Realm, she should have already stepped into the Earth Immortal Realm by now. Her master had once said her talent was no less than her senior sister’s. Without this illness, she might have even reached the True Immortal Realm before age two hundred. Once she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her senior sister…

She would confess her feelings. Even if her senior sister refused, she would have the power to keep her, to show her that she was never just an obedient child!

But all of that depended on her living a long, long time. In her current condition, being with anyone would only drag them down. Wen Qiwu didn’t even know how long she had left—the Medical Immortal of Medical Immortal Valley couldn’t give her any guarantees.

The hidden danger in her divine soul could erupt at any moment. That was why she rarely ventured out from childhood. Her senior sister and the elders feared she might have a sudden flare-up outside with no one to save her, so whenever she went out, it was either with her senior sister or accompanied by Golden Immortal Realm elders. She didn’t want to trouble them, so she stayed obediently in the sect.

Each flare-up weakened her divine soul further, making the next one even more devastating. Now, even the Medical Immortal of Medical Immortal Valley couldn’t guarantee she would survive the next one.

Perhaps she had a few more years. Perhaps… she wouldn’t even make it to the Cang Sea Domain Secret Realm a year from now. This sensation of death creeping ever closer had ground down her spirit, burying those bold youthful ideas in the deepest recesses of her memory.

In mere moments, Zuo Lan watched Wen Qiwu’s face shift from a faint blush to pallor. Truly, a child’s face changed like June skies—say it shifts, and it shifts.

“In my opinion, you actually still have a chance…” Zuo Lan offered some encouraging words to comfort her.

But after hearing them, Wen Qiwu fell silent and shook her head.

“Have you given up?” Zuo Lan misunderstood her meaning. Her eyes sparkled as some new scheme came to mind, her expression excited. “The sea of bitterness has no end; turning back is the shore—ahem, what I mean is, why not consider someone else? Like that one… wait! Fellow Daoist Wen, you’re going the wrong way!”

Wen Qiwu’s mind wasn’t on this, so the Saintess chattered on, frustrated at failing to play matchmaker.

Zuo Lan brought Wen Qiwu to a pavilion in the back mountains of Hearing Dao Mountain. From afar, two female cultivators sat chatting. One wore a tender yellow dress and seemed innocently lively, while the other was clad in crimson tight-fitting attire, sitting like a sheathed treasure sword with a faint edge of sharpness.

“Sister Zuo, you’re finally here!” The girl in the tender yellow dress waved, then noticed Wen Qiwu beside Zuo Lan. “Who’s this?”

“This is the Fellow Daoist Yun Que you’ve been thinking about day and night~” Zuo Lan introduced them. “Qiwu, this is A Heng, the one you’ve often exchanged array insights with in letters. She’s the young city lord of Falling Star City—Wei Xiheng.”

“A Que!” Wei Xiheng shot to her feet, her eyes sparkling like the Golden Fur Flame Dog in the Beast Garden wagging its tail.

Their acquaintance was pure chance. Back then, Wen Qiwu had solved an array puzzle Wei Xiheng had left with Zuo Lan. Since then, this array-obsessed friend had frequently written to exchange her latest research.

“Fellow Daoist Wei.” Wen Qiwu’s expression softened. From the letters, she had sensed this A Heng was a cute girl, and seeing her now confirmed it.

She had only agreed to come because Zuo Lan mentioned A Heng was here.

Wei Xiheng rushed over and pulled Wen Qiwu aside, then shoved a string of jade slips from her storage ring into her hands. “I adjusted all the areas you mentioned for improving the Seven Kills Array. See how I did!”

“Such an array fanatic.” Zuo Lan sighed. The arrays they discussed were too profound for her to join in, so she sat with the red-clad woman, sipping tea.

The red-clad sword cultivator glanced at her, her expression complex as if wanting to speak but hesitating. She tried several times but said nothing. Zuo Lan ignored her, and so an odd, harmonious silence settled between them.

In the Assembly Hall.

The major sects had argued for days and finally hammered out a mutually acceptable distribution of benefits. With that settled, they could head to the Eclipse Secret Realm next.

Yun Heng sat silently in the main seat. The Eclipse Secret Realm was special—it required at least a Golden Immortal to keep the gate open. Entrants needed Eclipse Tokens, limiting time and numbers. A Golden Immortal could hold the gate for half a month, a True Immortal for a full month. As the only True Immortal among the sects, she had to go.

But thinking of Lu Qiaoyi and the Medical Immortal’s grave expressions after her junior sister’s last flare-up pulled Yun Heng’s thoughts back to Wen Qiwu’s condition. Others couldn’t see her worry; they only felt the Immortal Venerable’s aura growing more intimidating. Those arguing reflected if they had annoyed her with the noise and quieted down unanimously, smoothing the negotiations without realizing it.

The Assembly Hall gradually fell silent until someone from another sect stood to leave. Only then did Yun Heng notice they had reached an agreement.

Yun Heng planned to speak with the Medical Immortal of Medical Immortal Valley, so she rose to leave. As she did, she caught the Jade Xi Sect Master’s subtle movement—the woman quietly sent out a voice transmission.

“The Saintess is getting more like a thief by the day,” Xiao Tong remarked silently.

The Jade Xi Sect Master and elders didn’t know the Immortal Venerable would notice their conversation even after leaving, nor that her transmission allowed Yun Heng to lock onto the Saintess’s position.

Zuo Lan had just planned to sneak away when she felt herself locked by a terrifying divine sense!

Master, didn’t you notice your transmission was being tracked? Well, the gap between True Immortal and Golden Immortal was like heaven and earth—she truly wouldn’t notice.

“The Seven Kills Array has immense power, but the drawback is its internal instability—it’s far too easy to harm the enemy at great cost to yourself…” Her junior sister’s gentle voice rose nearby, soothing the faint killing intent rising in Yun Heng’s heart.

Yun Heng spotted her junior sister sitting with a girl in a tender yellow dress. She held an array disc simulating their discussed Seven Kills Array, with chaotic energy gathering unstably atop it.

Her junior sister made some adjustments on the disc. Once done, the energy stabilized immediately. The array’s hidden power remained astonishing, but now it wouldn’t harm the user.

The unfamiliar girl beside her widened her eyes in surprise. “It can be modified like that! A Que, you’re amazing!”

The issue had plagued Wei Xiheng for ages; now it clicked. Thrilled, she jumped up and hugged Wen Qiwu.

Her junior sister truly had exceptional talent in arrays. Hearing praise for her made Yun Heng feel proud by association. But the stranger’s next action made her lips press slightly.

She dared call her junior sister by her milk name? Her junior sister’s smile even carried a rare playfulness. Yun Heng didn’t know when Wen Qiwu had made such a close friend.

“With talent like A Que’s… why not join our Falling Star City directly!” Wei Xiheng cradled the array disc lovingly for a moment before her eyes lit up. In her haste to discuss arrays with Wen Qiwu, she hadn’t waited for Zuo Lan’s introduction, so she still didn’t know Wen Qiwu’s identity.

“Our city lord’s line all cultivate through arrays. We even have an ancestor who reached the Divine Realm. If you come to Falling Star City with me, I’ll take you into the Library Pavilion left by that Divine Realm ancestor! It has so many of her insights—no one else can even see them!” Wei Xiheng hugged Wen Qiwu’s arm. Zuo Lan wanted to warn her but was too late.

“Qiwu has already joined the Ask God Sect. I’m afraid she can’t fulfill your wish.”

A breeze carrying icy chill swept over everyone. Wei Xiheng followed the voice and paled at the sudden arrival, instinctively hiding behind Wen Qiwu.

The silent swordswoman hadn’t expected to meet Immortal Venerable Yun Heng here. She stepped forward in salute. “Lin Shuangyun of Dry Moon Sword Sect greets the Immortal Venerable.”

Yun Heng nodded slightly, but when her gaze swept over Zuo Lan, a faint gloom shadowed her expression, souring her impression of the other two as well.

The Saintess felt as if an invisible sword edge had scraped over her.

What a petty one! Zuo Lan shot Wen Qiwu an apologetic look. But unexpectedly, the one who should have been most guilty appeared utterly composed, even smiling warmly as she introduced A Heng to the Immortal Venerable.

Guilty? Wen Qiwu knew showing guilt now would only pour oil on the fire.

“Senior Sister, this is my friend Wei Xiheng. The Mysterious Silk Array we researched all night is her original creation.” Wen Qiwu stepped in front of her senior sister, blocking the Immortal Venerable’s line of sight. The other three immediately felt the pressure ease.

“We’ve only corresponded by letter and never shared our identities. A Heng didn’t know I was an Ask God Sect disciple, so she invited me to join Falling Star City.”

Yun Heng remembered now. That night, her junior sister had come to Cloud Mist Mountain with an unfinished array diagram. Though she dabbled in arrays, she wasn’t as proficient as the sect’s other two elders. But her junior sister said they were resting and didn’t want to disturb them, so she asked for Yun Heng’s help.

Just like when her junior sister was little, they sat on the bed’s edge. Her junior sister huddled against her with a fire crystal stone, researching the array together until sunrise, when she finally fell asleep in Yun Heng’s arms.

Zuo Lan noticed Wen Qiwu subtly hooking and shaking the Immortal Venerable’s fingertip in an inconspicuous spot—a little gesture unique to the sisters. The Immortal Venerable, who had arrived with sharp sword intent, gradually reined in her chill, her demeanor softening.

The Saintess reached into her sleeve and pulled out a handful of melon seeds. She felt she might have misjudged—Wen Qiwu wasn’t as “obedient” as she seemed on the surface. The Immortal Venerable might be wooden, but it was only a matter of time before she melted.