Chapter 44 - 41: I Insist on Forcing It
The moonlight was brilliant tonight, bathing the land in a bright glow. Perhaps because autumn had arrived, the evening wasn’t hot; in fact, a cool breeze was blowing.
Not far from the inn was a residence.
"Young Master Brother, I did as you said. I stood at the village entrance holding that token, but it suddenly disappeared."
The speaker was a small, thin, and frail girl.
It was Bitter Girl.
No, she should be called Bai Wei now. This was the new name Xue Yanluo had given her.
Bai Wei, a plant with a bitter taste, small and lovely pale yellow flowers.
A figure emerged from the darkness, dressed in a long red robe with a White Jade Waistband, coughing up blood. "You did well. Thank you for your hard work, Bai Wei."
Xue Yanluo struggled to suppress the churning qi and blood in his body and patted Bai Wei’s head.
He and the Town Elder had barely escaped with their lives from Su Youwan. The Town Elder had lost a leg, and he himself had suffered severe internal injuries. Not only that, but the Yin Yang Qi he cultivated was now turning on him.
That was why it had taken Xue Yanluo several days to bring Bai Wei to this town.
Bai Wei nodded. "But Young Master Brother, the token is gone."
"It’s fine. Come, help me back inside."
The obedient girl helped Xue Yanluo back into the room.
"Ah!"
Bai Wei cried out in alarm. Someone else had appeared in the room without her noticing.
Xue Yanluo spoke up. "It’s alright. She’s not an enemy."
Only then did Bai Wei relax.
Xue Yanluo suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and muttered, "Such a formidable Destined Celestial Dao."
Bai Wei quickly grabbed a silk handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood from the corners of Xue Yanluo’s mouth.
The figure stepped out from the shadows.
Bai Wei cried out and covered her eyes.
"Oh, little sister, we’re both girls. Why so shy?"
The woman wore only a bodice on her upper body, leaving most of her snow-white skin exposed in the moonlight.
Xue Yanluo said coldly, "Stop flaunting yourself, Xian Qingqiu."
"You Yin Yang Person, you just don’t appreciate a woman’s beauty. So unromantic."
Xian Qingqiu sighed. "Xue Yanluo, you said Xia Lianxue lost all her Cultivation? From what I’m seeing, it looks like she’s reached even greater heights."
Xue Yanluo’s gaze darkened. "Hanyi had no reason to lie to me. She truly hates Han Shui, so she’s determined to eliminate Xia Lianxue, the one Han Shui left behind. As for Xia Lianxue’s recovery... you must have seen the man at her side. He’s extraordinary. It was likely him who helped Xia Lianxue return to the Dao Realm. You’d best keep a close eye on him."
For some reason, Xian Qingqiu’s expression suddenly turned icy. "So the Fairy from Miao Yu Palace is just as shameless as I am, sleeping with men for the sake of her Cultivation."
Xue Yanluo said, "I’m leaving tomorrow. This has nothing more to do with me."
Xian Qingqiu rolled her eyes coquettishly. "As you wish. My people from the Canglan Sect should be arriving tomorrow. This little delicacy from Miao Yu Palace... smells so very tender."
She gave Xue Yanluo one last look, then left the residence.
Only after Xian Qingqiu had completely vanished did Bai Wei speak. "Young Master Brother, you should lie down and rest."
Xue Yanluo grunted in affirmation and returned to his bed.
"Young Master Brother, is something about to happen?"
"Yes, but we’re not getting involved. I’ll take you back to the village tomorrow, alright?"
Bai Wei nodded, pleasantly surprised. She missed her mother.
~~~~~~~~~~
She dreamt of ice and snow.
Snow, enough to bury the world. As far as the eye could see, the world seemed to be nothing but a sheet of ice and snow.
’Cold?’
It wasn’t too cold, but she couldn’t see anything.
Xia Lianxue couldn’t open her eyes.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
An unending, rhythmic thudding beat against the ground. Hoarse, shrill cries that didn’t sound human rose and fell one after another, chilling one to the bone.
At a certain moment, Xia Lianxue felt the immense weight on her eyelids finally lift. She opened her eyes to see the mountains and plains covered in Snow Demons. And these ferocious demons were kowtowing to her.
These creatures of the Snow Mountain instinctively worshipped Power, and so they kowtowed to it, believing Xia Lianxue was their new queen.
The Snow Demons kowtowed themselves to death. Then, as if time itself was being drained from them, they rapidly turned into stone statues, forever kneeling in worship before Xia Lianxue.
The deaths of their companions didn’t stop the Snow Demons from kowtowing; on the contrary, it made them even more frenzied.
’I don’t want to be here.’
’I want to go back.’
Xia Lianxue couldn’t help but think this. She held out her hand, only to see a small, fair hand—chubby and soft.
’Am I a baby?’
This was how she had looked as a babe in swaddling clothes.
"Finally found you."
A voice drifted from the distance.
Xia Lianxue stared, trying to see who it was and why they were searching for her in this frozen wasteland.
The person drew near.
Xia Lianxue said in disbelief, "Han Shui Master!?"
The words reached her lips but came out as infantile babbling.
Han Shui Master annihilated the Snow Demons with a single sword strike and picked her up. "It’s time to return to the Palace."
Everything began to fade, twisting into indistinct shapes until nothing was visible.
As if at the dawn of creation, everything lost its color.
An abrupt shadow descended.
It was a vast shadow, and a voice from within it said, "I want to get out. Someone is still waiting for me."
Xia Lianxue placed a hand on her chest as a familiar feeling washed over her. She knew that if she couldn’t achieve Enlightenment, she wouldn’t be able to escape.
’But where am I?’
’Haven’t I already reached Enlightenment?’
The surrounding scenery formed like dabs of ink in an Ink-Wash painting, bleeding outwards and then fading with age. At a certain moment, she saw the paintings begin to rewind, reverting to their original drops of ink.
Finally, they coalesced into a small village.
A voice said, "Oh, him? He died of an illness a few months ago. His grave? It’s long lost."
A small burial mound appeared before her eyes.
Panic, helplessness, terror—all her emotions were like a jumble of overturned spice jars, their red and green contents mixing together into a suffocating concoction.
Xia Lianxue heard a cry.
"Let the Celestial Punishment come!"
"I will have it my way!"
A tall, straight bamboo shrank inch by inch, regressing into a shoot, and finally disappearing back into the earth.
Xia Lianxue felt like she was drowning. She couldn’t breathe. Water engulfed her, and the sensation of suffocation slowly closed in. She began to flail her arms wildly.
"Do Fairies sleep in, too?"
The words were like a rope, pulling her to safety. Xia Lianxue’s eyes flew open.
When she opened her eyes, she was met with Lu Changyuan’s gentle smile.
The lingering frustration from the nightmare vanished without a trace in the face of his smile. Xia Lianxue felt her heart grow calm.
Xia Lianxue sat up, her eyes still hazy with sleep. "Sir?"
Lu Changyuan smiled. "The sun is already high in the sky, Fairy Lianxue."
Xia Lianxue’s face suddenly reddened, and she nodded. "What about Xian Fairy?"
Lu Changyuan said teasingly, "She said her people from the Canglan Sect had arrived, so she went on up the mountain with them instead of waiting for us."
Xia Lianxue finally stood up and looked out the window. The sun wasn’t just high in the sky; it had already begun its descent. She had actually slept for that long.
"Sir, why didn’t you wake me!?"
Lu Changyuan concealed the unusual glint in his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "I saw that you were surrounded by the aura of the Dao as you slept. It looked as if you were achieving Enlightenment in your dreams, so I didn’t wake you."
In truth, there was more to it. Lu Changyuan had even tried to use the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique to wake Xia Lianxue, but it had been utterly useless, as if she truly were just in the middle of an Enlightenment.
Xia Lianxue said anxiously, "But the mountain ascent..."
"There’s no hurry. We can just climb the mountain tomorrow. For today, I’ll teach you the Autumn Sword first."
"Sir?"
Lu Changyuan beckoned to Xia Lianxue. "Once you have the Autumn Sword, I’ll be able to worry about you a little less."
A blush crept up to Xia Lianxue’s earlobes.
’Compared to ascending the mountain, learning the sword is more important, of course.’
’Yes, learning the sword with him is important.’