Chapter 52: Starry Night Heart-to-Heart (Part 2): I’ll Plant a Qian Flower for You Part 2

Probably recalling that sense of frustration from back then, Shang Shan scrunched up her little face and poked the desk with her finger. “No…”

But she perked up right away. “But going to look and not finding anything is different from not looking at all!”

“I only compromised with you in the end because after exhausting all my efforts, I realized it was the only right path. But you didn’t even think about saving her from the start!”

Mu Qian Tan finally understood the point of her awkwardness. She just wanted some attitude of trying to save someone—even a symbolic regret for a lost life, guilt, reluctance, anything. But she had acted too indifferent, like she lacked basic humanity.

“And,” Shang Shan added, “I even thought you wanted to keep hiding your strength and didn’t want to reveal your identity to save her, so you had to kill her. For the sake of not exposing your disguise over something so trivial, you didn’t care if someone lived or died…”

Mu Qian Tan closed the Trial Demon Ghost Record and cut her off. “One at a time.”

“First, couldn’t you tell that woman didn’t want to live anymore? Her family and friends all wiped out, living for centuries inside her enemy’s belly, watching her own daughter get slowly devoured bit by bit, powerless to stop it. Can you imagine how agonizing that life was?”

“If you saved her, were you extending her life or her suffering? Did you ever think about that?”

“You’re so insistent on saving people—did you ever consider if she even wanted to be saved?”

“Second, even if that woman didn’t want to die, if killing her was the way for her to escape and I discovered it, I would have killed her without hesitation.”

“Is life important? Of course. But is life equal? No. Out of countless lives, the most important is still my own. To me, I come before anyone else. Whether others live or die has nothing to do with me.”

Though the words were a bit harsh, her tone wasn’t heavy—like a casual conversation, cool and measured, but her voice was still inherently like icy spring water.

Shang Shan seemed frozen by the gurgling flow of spring water, her eyes unblinking. Only after her last sentence did she slowly and stiffly lay her head down and mumble an “oh.”

Yeah, she hadn’t even realized there were people who didn’t want to live.

She lay there quietly for a long, long time before hoarsely saying, “You’re… you’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that. I just thought she was suffering so much and still had to die…”

She trailed off there, unable to continue.

A firefly flew up from her hair and circled above her head. Her eyes were so moist they reflected it, sparkling brightly like crystal teardrops.

Mu Qian Tan rarely smiled, her voice very soft. “Are you living so happily yourself that you have the spare energy to shed tears for others’ misfortune?”

Shang Shan sat up and wiped her face. “I didn’t cry.”

She took a deep breath, then exhaled, repeating it a few times. The girl grinned again. “Well, now it’s a good ending at least. She must have reincarnated together with her daughter.”

Mu Qian Tan hummed in acknowledgment and leaned back in her chair, looking weary.

Sitting too long, the wound started throbbing sharply again, like her waist had been snapped by a staff. Fortunately, Jiang Min’s pill was effective—at least the bleeding had mostly stopped, nothing like bleeding out to death. But both her spirit and body were too exhausted; she didn’t know how long she’d need to rest to recover.

She needed a good sleep.

Just as she was about to chase her away, she heard the girl say, “What about you?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “What?”

Shang Shan said, “Is it because you’ve been through too much misfortune that you can’t face others’ happiness?”

If not for that face looking utterly without malice—pure to the point of seeming a bit foolish—Mu Qian Tan would almost think she was being sarcastic. Speechless for a moment, she said, “Time’s up. Hurry and go.”

Shang Shan whined, “I don’t wanna go.”

“Don’t make trouble. I don’t have the energy to beat you right now.” Mu Qian Tan gripped the window and glanced at the night view. “No one should have noticed you coming out, right? You can still make it back in time. The Yellow Sparrow might be a Curse Rank Demon—this trial result is enough to make your group stand out. Don’t waste the opportunity.”

“No, no, no, the Yellow Sparrow wasn’t killed by me; it was your achievement. If I claimed it, wouldn’t that make me a liar?” Shang Shan shook her head frantically and said firmly, “I already knew the consequences when I came out, and I accepted them, so I’m not going back.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “The trial results are voided. It makes me lose face.”

Shang Shan said righteously, “You said earlier that you don’t even see people, so how would it make you lose face! Now you’re changing your tune? No use, I remember every word you’ve said…. Ah, are you out of strength? Is the wound hurting? I almost forgot why I came!”

She suddenly remembered something and smacked her own forehead hard. She pulled out several bottles of medicine and some gauze from her bosom and piled them on the table. “How’s your injury?”

“It’s time to treat it. Get down,” Mu Qian Tan lifted her chin. Only after the other slid down from the windowsill did she close and lock the window. “Go back. Don’t bother me.”

The girl’s voice came through the window. “I can’t go back, and I have nowhere else to go. Can you take me in?”

Mu Qian Tan propped herself up on the table and stood, dizziness nearly toppling her. She realized then that she had overexerted herself. After steadying herself a bit, she said, “How could you have nowhere? Go find your beloved Feng Ling Immortal.”

Shang Shan said, “How did it become my beloved? It’s not, oh.”

“Is that so.” Mu Qian Tan moved away from the window, her back to it as she lowered her head and undid her belt and collar.

As she prepared to lift her gauze robe, her breathing paused. She gritted her teeth and yanked it open. The crusted blood clots that had dried at the edges of the wound and stuck to her clothes fell away with a clatter. Her face instantly paled. Only after exhaling that breath did her color slowly return.

“Cough cough cough…” She coughed softly, keeping her voice low. Immediately from outside, “Master! Have you used the medicine?”

Mu Qian Tan ignored her and gathered up her long hair herself, exposing her entire slender back.

Her skin gleamed smooth and lustrous, like flawless jade in the dimly lit room. The line from her shoulders to her waist flowed gracefully, narrowing further down. Above the slightly protruding spine ran a pattern of blue spiritual light along her vertebrae, faintly glowing at the nape of her neck.

The hideous wound was on the lower left side of her abdomen, pierced straight through to her back. Two finger-widths lower was a shallow dimple at her waist. The bloodstains and exposed red flesh were particularly gruesome, making it hard for anyone to look directly.

Mu Qian Tan stared at it silently for a moment and thought to herself: It seems my body isn’t as frail as compared to other cultivators. Relative to mortals, I should still be considered decent. Otherwise, with such a severe injury, I wouldn’t be standing here.

Outside, the muttering continued. “Master, Master.”

Rubbing one cheek with her fingertips, Mu Qian Tan removed her mask and tossed it into the storage pouch. She took out some wound medicine. “If you have something to say, say it.”

Shang Shan said, “Don’t despise me for talking too much. I’m not trying to bother you on purpose. I just want to clear things up so there’s no misunderstanding. Because I know if conflicts aren’t addressed or cleared up in time, they’ll only get worse later! Just like a wound. So you should tell me your own troubles too, okay.”

She first applied the medicine powder to the front wound, but it wasn’t quite enough. Mu Qian Tan took another from the table and suddenly remembered something. She casually asked, “How did you recognize me?”

The person outside fell silent for a moment before her voice rose a bit. “I’m very familiar with the shape of your body.”

The bottle tip nearly jabbed into the wound. Mu Qian Tan felt a chill. “Outline?”

“Oh yes! The outline! Um… and the scent.”

Mu Qian Tan rubbed away the bloodstains with her fingertips and said softly, “You really are like a dog.”

“Anyway, I can always recognize you at a glance. Don’t believe me? Try another disguise next time!”

“Scram.”

She finished treating both front and back, wrapping the gauze around layer by layer. This should have been a quite painful process, but with someone’s constant chatter filling her ears, it distracted her enough that she didn’t notice the pain much.

Outside, she kept going. “You have to listen to what I just said. Don’t ignore me! Toward you, I…”

The window suddenly opened. Mu Qian Tan looked down at her from above. Shang Shan’s voice dropped an octave under that indifferent gaze, and she finished her last sentence. “I’m completely open with you, but you never tell me your true feelings.”

Mu Qian Tan pulled out the “other people’s child” tactic. “Learn from Qin He. Her heart is like a vat that can hold anything. You don’t even have a ladle, so of course you’re completely open.”

A medicinal scent wafted continuously from the woman, mixed with a faint fragrance. Shang Shan swallowed and looked up. “I’m not a ladle in front of just anyone!”

“Is that so. What an honor.” Mu Qian Tan turned her head away and put away the incense burner. “Go back.”

The face revealed after removing the mask was slightly pale from excessive blood loss. Her long lashes cast shadows, dimming the light in her eyes. Her long hair cascaded like satin ink, dotted with a few flecks of firefly glow. She resembled a rare heartless beauty from a dramatic tale.

Shang Shan blinked and said sincerely, “You’re so beautiful.”

“….” Mu Qian Tan glanced at her faintly. “No matter how much you say, it won’t let you stay.”

“That’s not what I meant. I just…..” Shang Shan floundered, stumbling over her words. “Qin He is beautiful, the Sect Master is beautiful, Feng Ling Immortal is beautiful, and you are too, but… different….”

Light flickered in her eyes. She choked for a long time before finally saying, “What you said that day, I agree to it. I’ll plant an epiphyllum flower for you.”