Heretic Immortal 4

Chapter 4

Ghost Village (III)

Carrying her, Mo Jiangxue rode her sword through the air, speaking slowly, “Yin and yang are distinct. Those ghosts have lingered in the mortal realm for too long. Their spiritual energy is depleted, and they can no longer create and maintain the illusions of their former lives.”

Thus, she was able to see the dilapidated state of the village, and the tragic state of the woman at the time of her death.

“Rumble!” Several claps of thunder echoed through the sky, followed by flashes of lightning.

The young girl’s face was drained of all color. Terrified, she nestled in Mo Jiangxue’s arms. The intense sensation of falling forced her to cling tightly to the woman’s neck, not daring to loosen her grip in the slightest.

Amidst the lightning and thunder, a torrential downpour swept in.

When they landed again, they were back at the halfway point of the mountain.

She stood under the peach tree in the courtyard, her hands braced on the stone table, her legs trembling uncontrollably. She looked around in a daze.

The sky was as dark as thick ink, streaked with lightning that tore through the heavens. Rain fell in dense sheets, drumming against the trees and the ground with a pattering roar.

The rain and mist blurred her vision. When she finally saw the scene not far away, she was so shocked her jaw dropped.

West Mountain was collapsing, the earth splitting open. Flowers, grass, and trees were all broken. The ground, as if being violently torn apart by an invisible pair of hands, was rent with countless gruesome fissures.

In the midst of the storm, innumerable white skeletons crawled out from the cracks, advancing towards them in a vast, menacing horde, making strange gurgling sounds.

In the gloom, the woman in white stood with her qin on her back, her expression unruffled.

Hundreds, thousands of skeletons shrieked piercingly, surging forward like a tide. Mo Jiangxue stood under the peach tree, her fair hand plucking the strings. The qin’s music was clear and cold. Beams of light radiated from the strings like ripples in water. Wherever the light touched, the skeletons instantly crumbled to dust.

A flock of panicked chickens, ducks, and geese in the courtyard rushed under the stone table, huddling at the young girl’s feet.

Though she was so frightened she hardly dared to breathe, she still squatted down and extended her arms, sheltering the squawking flock.

At this moment, she truly wished she were blind again, unable to see these horrifying things!

The qin’s music grew more urgent and high-pitched, filled with a murderous aura. Squatting under the stone table, she listened for a moment, and it felt as if the blood in her veins was flowing backward. Her face flushed red, and her heart pounded erratically.

The music paused for an imperceptible moment. Mo Jiangxue glanced at her, picked a peach blossom petal, and held it between her fingers. Infusing it with spiritual energy, she flicked it, striking the girl behind her left ear. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she instantly lost consciousness…

When she woke again, there was no sound of people.

She could faintly hear the croaking of frogs and the chirping of cicadas. The scent of damp earth filled her nose. There was a slight pain behind her left ear. She rubbed it and turned over. The dry grass beneath her rustled. She opened her eyes to a dim, hazy view. It seemed she was in a cave.

Everything she remembered felt like a nightmare. She touched her cold hands and feet.

They were still there.

She was still alive. But what about those “people” in the village?

And where had that woman gone?

The cave was dark, with only a faint light filtering in from the entrance. She climbed up from the pile of dry grass and felt her way towards the mouth of the cave.

Having just regained her sight, she was not used to it. She kept feeling as if she were missing her bamboo pole, and walking felt awkward.

She supported herself against the cave wall and staggered to the entrance. She scanned her surroundings and saw that outside, the moonlight was bright, and the night was filled with the chirping of insects. Green mountains and trees surrounded them—

She was in a valley.

The woman in the veiled hat sat cross-legged at the cave entrance, her eyes tightly closed, her lips pale. The soft moonlight shone on her cold, beautiful face, making her seem even more detached from the mortal world.

Previously, she had offended this immortal by calling her a kidnapper. Now, having been saved by her and having witnessed her incredible abilities, she pressed her palms together and bowed respectfully and piously, as if praying to a Bodhisattva.

“Bodhisattva Big Sister, thank you for saving my life.”

Mo Jiangxue’s brow furrowed slightly, as if she hadn’t heard.

Is… is she healing? Is that why she can’t pay attention to me?

The young girl closed her mouth and fell silent, but her stomach rumbled twice.

She clutched her stomach and looked around. There were tall trees everywhere. Even if there was food, she wouldn’t be able to reach it.

She hesitated for a long time, unable to muster the courage to leave the cave to find food.

Fortunately, there was a small stream not far away. She walked over and gulped down several mouthfuls of water to quench her thirst and hunger.

The stream was clear and flowed gently. She looked down and saw her reflection in the water—her face was grimy and tear-stained, her body covered in mud. She looked just like a beggar.

She washed her face, then took off her clothes and washed the mud from her body.

As she was cleaning herself, she belatedly realized that the scrapes from her falls no longer stung. She checked her entire body but couldn’t find a single wound.

Most likely, that immortal healed my injuries as well…

Filled with gratitude, she remembered Mo Jiangxue’s pale lips. She picked a large leaf, washed it, rolled it up, filled it with some clean water, and brought it back to the cave entrance.

She knelt before Mo Jiangxue, holding the water in one hand. With the other, she dipped her fingertips in the water and carefully moistened the pale lips.

Her fingertips gently brushed across the soft, full lips. Moistened by the water, the pale, colorless lips gradually became soft and damp, slowly regaining a hint of their original color.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed fine beads of sweat on the woman’s forehead. She carefully wiped them away, one by one as they appeared.

After a long time, the woman’s forehead stopped sweating.

She breathed a sigh of relief, sat down to the side to rest, and looked at the jade qin and the long sword.

Both the qin and the sword were leaning against the stone wall. In the moonlight, their bodies emanated a faint, cold light.

She remembered that before she went down the mountain, Mo Jiangxue had said she came to Wen Family Village to retrieve a sword, a sword that was about to break its seal.

This must be that sword.

The hilt of the sword was inlaid with seven red gems, and its blade was covered in dense black patterns. Near the hilt, two small characters were engraved on the blade.

It had been a long time since she had seen written words. She squinted, unable to recognize the characters at first. She reached out and touched them, and only then did she identify them as the two characters “Tianxuan.”

She had lived in Wen Family Village for so many years, yet she never knew there was such a sword as Tianxuan in the village.

She had lived in Wen Family Village for so many years, yet she never knew that the people who raised her were so-called ghosts…

She raised her head in a daze. The moon in the sky was round and large.

The last time she had clearly seen the moon was when she was very young.

She remembered that back then, she thought the house was too dark and liked to light many candles to brighten the room. Whenever she lit a candle, her aunty would show a pained expression. At the time, she thought her aunty was just pained about the cost of the candles. Now, thinking back, her aunty must have been afraid of the light.

After she went blind, she no longer needed candles. But she often had nightmares. Whenever she woke up in the middle of the night, wailing, her aunty would appear silently, take her into her arms, pat her on the shoulder, and comfort her in a low voice.

She couldn’t remember her mother’s face. Whenever she thought of the word “mother,” the image that came to mind was her aunty’s…

A dull ache spread through her heart, a mixture of emotions churning within her—sadness, helplessness, and confusion, but no longer fear.

After a long time, tears soaked the hair at her temples. Her eyes were sore, as if she couldn’t shed another tear. She raised her hand and messily wiped her wet cheeks.

Suddenly, she heard a soft gust of wind by her ear. She subconsciously turned her head.

The woman in white had stood up at some point. With a light tap of her toes, she soared into the air, leaping onto a branch like a snowflake. She picked a string of wild fruits, then floated lightly back down and placed the fruits in front of her.

Her stomach was rumbling with hunger. She smelled the fresh fragrance of the fruit and wished she could grab them and fill her belly immediately. But being watched so silently, her heart pounded like a drum, and she didn’t dare to move.

Mo Jiangxue averted her gaze, sat down cross-legged beside her, and said, “Eat.”

The pressure and nervousness of being watched subsided. Only then did she whisper her thanks, pick up the wild fruits, and begin to wolf them down, not forgetting to leave half for the other.

Mo Jiangxue said, “You eat them all.”

She hesitated, then ate a few more, asking as she ate, “Bodhisattva Big Sister, are you sure you don’t need to eat some?”

Mo Jiangxue closed her eyes to meditate, her words as precious as gold. “I cultivate the Dao, not Buddhism.”

She was no Bodhisattva.

The young girl didn’t quite understand the difference between Buddhism and Daoism. It seemed there was a City God Temple and a Bodhisattva Temple in the village, both long abandoned.

After a moment’s hesitation, she changed her address. “Immortal Big Sister…” Then she cautiously inquired, “Where are you from?”

“Penglai of the East Sea.”

“Penglai… I think I’ve heard Aunty mention it. It’s… it’s a legendary immortal island in the sea.”

“Mm.”

Mentioning her aunty, she remembered that the villagers who had raised her were all ghosts. Humans and ghosts walked different paths. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to see them again… As she thought about it, an unbearable sorrow welled up in her heart, and tears once again blurred her vision.

Mo Jiangxue noticed, opened her eyes again, and asked in a cold voice, “What are you crying for? Are you hungry again?”

She held back her tears and said, “I’m not hungry, I’m not crying because I’m hungry… Please don’t mind me for talking so much, but I have one more question.”

“Ask.”

“There are good people and bad people. There must be good ghosts and bad ghosts, too. The ghosts in Wen Family Village raised me; they are all good ghosts. Can you please not destroy them?”

She had read in books that immortals and Daoist priests all captured ghosts and eliminated demons. She was worried that this immortal before her would eliminate all the ghosts in Wen Family Village.

Mo Jiangxue replied coolly, “Their souls are about to dissipate. When my spiritual energy has recovered a little, I will go and deliver them, allowing them to return to the cycle of reincarnation. You are not to cry anymore.”

“Okay, I won’t cry…”

She mumbled and wiped the tears from her face, but then she smelled a faint scent of blood.

Looking up, she saw that Mo Jiangxue had walked to the stream and, as if no one were around, had taken off half of her robe, revealing her left shoulder. She scooped up water from the stream and washed off the hemostatic herbs on her shoulder.

In the moonlight, the skin on her shoulder was so white it seemed almost transparent. As the clear water flowed over it, it was like washing a piece of crystal-clear, cold jade.

Unfortunately, the jade had a flaw. A gaping wound was on it, constantly seeping black blood, looking gruesome and terrifying.

The young girl stared, stunned. In a daze, she remembered the village doctor saying that black blood from a wound was a sign of poisoning, and the poison had to be sucked out to save the person’s life…

She hesitantly stood up, walked over, and stammered, “Immortal Big Sister, you healed my eyes and promised to deliver the villagers. I have nothing to repay you with, so let me suck out the poisoned blood from your wound… I don’t know if this blood will poison me to death. If I die, remember to bury me back in Wen Family Village…”

Her heart was filled with sorrow, but her face wore an expression of heroic sacrifice. As she spoke, she bent down, about to suck out the poisoned blood for Mo Jiangxue.

Mo Jiangxue glanced at her sideways, reached out, and blocked the small, naive, and overly imaginative head, a faint smile appearing on her lips. “That won’t be necessary.”

The smile was extremely restrained, just a slight upturn of her lips, and it vanished in an instant.

This wound was inflicted by a poison corpse. Ordinary medicine could not completely heal it, which was why it kept reopening and bleeding.

Mo Jiangxue circulated her internal energy, forcing the poisoned blood out of her body. When the blood turned red, she then cast a healing spell.

The gruesome wound healed bit by bit. She washed it again with water, then put her clothes back on.

So, this is how immortals remove poison… The young girl sheepishly sat back down.

After a while, she asked Mo Jiangxue, “Immortal Big Sister, do you know how the people of Wen Family Village died?”

She had seen a sword plunged into her aunty’s chest. Were they murdered?

Mo Jiangxue shook her head. “I don’t know. I was only entrusted to retrieve the Tianxuan Sword.”

The young girl asked, “Why is there a sword in the village? And why are there… so many bodies in the mountains?”

Mo Jiangxue said, “This sword is a treasured artifact of an immortal sect. It was sealed in Wen Family Village seven years ago. The skeletons in the mountains are cultivators who were afflicted by malevolent energy. They were sealed in the mountains along with it seven years ago.”

The young girl listened, confused. “Then… can I still go back to the village in the future?”

Mo Jiangxue said calmly, “The village’s barrier and the seal have been broken. The malevolent energy is too strong. If you continue to stay there, I’m afraid you won’t live long.”

Where would she go then?

After a moment of bewilderment, she asked cautiously, “Immortal Big Sister, can you take me as your disciple? I want to learn those powerful immortal arts too.”

Her body had that strange ailment of alternating heat and cold. If she learned those immortal arts, she wouldn’t be afraid if it acted up again in the future.

Moreover, she had no memories before the age of seven, and after that, she had always stayed in Wen Family Village. She didn’t know what the outside world was like and was afraid of being alone and adrift.

Although this person before her always looked as cold as ice, she was meticulous in her thoughts. She could vaguely sense that this person was not only very powerful but also kind-hearted.

But Mo Jiangxue shook her head and said calmly, “I do not take disciples.”

“Why?”

“I prefer quiet.”

“I… I won’t be noisy. I can be even quieter in the future…”

“I don’t like having people around.”

Doesn’t like having people around? I can’t very well turn myself into a non-person…

The young girl couldn’t think of a reason to refute that. She lowered her eyelids, hiding the disappointment in her eyes, and slowly reined in her desire to be taken in. “Okay, it’s alright.”

She had thought that since this person had healed her eyes, brought her out of Wen Family Village, and talked with her so much, she would be willing to take her in.

Such things couldn’t be forced. She was also unwilling to beg. If she wouldn’t take her, then so be it…

She hugged her knees and sat in the moonlight, lost in a daze. Before long, she thought of the “people” of Wen Family Village again, and her vision blurred. Not daring to make a sound, she glanced at Mo Jiangxue and secretly wiped the tears from her eyes.

Just as she was grieving in secret, she suddenly heard the faint sound of a qin.

Turning her head, she saw Mo Jiangxue with her head lowered, playing the qin.

Under the bright moonlight, the woman’s exquisitely beautiful face looked even more otherworldly, just like the cold, frosty moonlight itself. Her sleeves fluttered like snow or smoke, and her ten slender fingers plucked the strings, the music flowing from her fingertips.

The qin’s melody was clear and serene, no longer murderous and cold, but tinkling like a clear, flowing stream. It was soothing and pleasant to the ear, and the sorrow in her heart seemed to be smoothed away by the babbling water.

The piece was called “Leaving Sorrow,” and playing it could make one forget their sadness.

The qin was named “Ninth Heaven.” It had delivered and slain countless demons and evil spirits, but this was the first time it was used to coax a child not to cry.

The author has something to say:

Naive Young Girl (ready to die a noble death): I must repay your kindness! I will suck the poison blood for you! If I die from the poison, remember to bury me in my hometown!

Calm Immortal (reaches out to block): I appreciate the sentiment. Stop. That won’t be necessary.

Translator’s Notes

1. Bodhisattva Sister (菩萨姐姐): The girl’s address for Mo Jiangxue. “Bodhisattva” is a figure of great compassion in Buddhism. “Jiejie” (姐姐) means “Big Sister.” The girl is using the most reverent and kind term she knows, combining religious respect with a familiar, personal address.

2. Tianxuan (天璇): The name of the sword. Tianxuan is the Chinese name for the star Merak, which is part of the Big Dipper constellation.

3. Penglai (蓬莱): A legendary immortal island in Chinese mythology, said to be located in the East Sea. It’s often depicted as a paradise where the inhabitants are immortal.

4. Nine Heavens (九霄): The name of the qin. In Chinese cosmology, the sky is divided into nine levels or regions (the Nine Heavens). “Jiuxiao” refers to the highest, most remote part of the heavens.