Chapter 124

The next day.

Qing Zhouxue, storage ring in hand, made a special trip to Lingsu Peak under the pretense of heading to the training grounds.

But today seemed ill-timed; Master Liu was not on the peak at the moment.

Qing Zhouxue wandered around the vicinity. Several young disciples by the roadside recognized her and blinked curiously at her.

"Master is indeed away; she probably won't return for a while. Senior Bai is in the alchemy room refining pills."

One of them pointed her in the right direction. Qing Zhouxue headed straight over and happened to see the door slightly ajar as Bai Su stepped out from within.

Bai Su wasn't particularly surprised to see her, and was about to fetch some medicine for Elder Yun when her hand paused—she recalled that Qing Zhouxue had been there just a few days ago.

"Senior, there's something I'd like to ask for your help with."

She took out the box of pastries stored in her ring.

"What's this?" Bai Su asked in surprise, taking it and looking closely—it was just an ordinary box of snacks.

"I cultivated that pot of 'Inch Grass' recently. When this pastry fell into it, the grass actually withered," Qing Zhouxue said with a furrowed brow. "Can you find a way to test whether it's poisonous or not?"

"Inch Grass?" Bai Su said. "Alright. There is a method."

"But this... who gave this to you?" Bai Su asked in surprise. "Did you buy it yourself outside? Sometimes, when people make food, the things they mix in might also harm Inch Grass, but not necessarily humans."

"I hope I'm overthinking it," Qing Zhouxue said, lowering her gaze to the box of pastries.

Senior Bai said that if the dosage was small, it might take several days before she could report the results.

When Qing Zhouxue returned to the peak, she saw her junior sister lying prone on a chair in the front courtyard, holding a few blades of grass and weaving them around her fingers. In moments, she had bent them into a grass grasshopper. She was so focused that she didn't seem to notice Qing Zhouxue standing behind her, not even turning her head.

As a cultivator, her vigilance was truly lacking.

Qing Zhouxue thought so.

If it were anyone other than Yun Shuchen who came this close, she would already have drawn her sword and struck back.

No matter how one looked at her, she seemed like just a newly trained disciple.

But Qing Zhouxue knew that many things couldn't be judged by appearance alone. She wasn't usually this suspicious of others, but her master's health couldn't afford any mistakes, so she had to be overly cautious.

She silently turned and left, remembering how her master had smiled last night and said, "I'll eat yours."

Qing Zhouxue actually took it to heart, pondering what to learn to make. As she turned, Yu Ying glanced back at her.

When she approached the stove, A Jin, who had been dozing nearby, suddenly pricked up a pair of pointed ears, its cat eyes watching Qing Zhouxue warily.

Its back instinctively arched, fluffing itself into a fur ball. "What do you want to eat?"

"Master wants some pastries," Qing Zhouxue said calmly, pinching a handful of flour. A cat paw suddenly tapped the back of her hand. "Little junior's senior sister can make them."

"She wants me to make them."

The calico cat stared blankly, raising its paw as if beckoning fortune. It was probably questioning why its owner would make such a reckless choice. Under its emerald gaze, Qing Zhouxue's hands were fit for holding a sword or turning pages, absolutely not for lifting a spatula.

It still remembered vividly being fed by its master's senior disciple many dishes with strange flavors that were failed attempts.

That texture still stuck in its throat.

To spare its master's delicate stomach from harm, that day A Jin risked its cat life to guide Qing Zhouxue through the process, ultimately allowing Yun Shuchen to eat something that looked normal and was only a bit bland.

But now it was about to happen again.

The cat's fur bristled one by one.

Yun Shuchen returned in the evening and found Qing'er's gift on the dining table.

"You made this?" she asked curiously. "You learned quickly. Is it tasty?"

Yu Ying had already tried a piece. She glanced at her composed senior sister, then turned back with a complicated expression.

Qing Zhouxue cleared her throat and blocked her master's hand as she reached for it. "...Master."

"Better not eat it."

But the appearance was indeed quite appealing—pure white, like snowballs piled in winter, yet far smoother and finer than that.

If she hadn't said anything, it might have been fine, but those words sparked a perverse rebelliousness in her master. At least it looked good—how bad could it taste?

Yun Shuchen pushed Qing Zhouxue's hand aside and bit into the white mass.

For a moment, she felt her teeth ache, but the pastry didn't budge.

Then she pinched it and squeezed hard—still nothing.

Yun Shuchen finally noticed something off. She picked up another piece between two fingers, held it in her hand, and knocked it against the edge of the table. The seemingly soft ball still didn't budge. She applied a bit more force, and it actually left a subtle dent in the wood.

"..." Yun Shuchen was silent for a moment, then said, "Not bad."

"Huh?"

Yu Ying was stunned. Her senior sister's cooking skills truly opened her eyes—how was this 'not bad'?

"This object is soft on the outside but firm within," Elder Yun said calmly, setting it back down, sitting, and picking up her chopsticks to take a bite of something else to steady herself. "It surprises one, but then forces one to reflect: all things in heaven and earth have no fixed form; one cannot judge by appearances alone. The softest can become the hardest, just like the two poles of yin and yang, which wax and wane above all things, never monotonous or uniform. Though it may be somewhat inadequate for filling the stomach, Qing'er must have a deep understanding of the Daoist classics—not bad."

Qing Zhouxue's chopsticks trembled slightly, and she said nothing.

Today, Yun Shuchen also brought up a matter she had been busy with for the past few days. The secret realm had already been scouted by a few elders who went ahead; the demon beast guarding it seemed to have high cultivation, having reached the early stage of Mahayana. After much discussion, they concluded that it wasn't suitable for any inner disciple to go treasure-hunting there, as it was too dangerous.

But Yun Shuchen seemed intent on going alone.

"In the next few days, you two should..." Yun Shuchen took a sip of tea, and before she could finish, she heard Qing Zhouxue say, "I'll go with Master."

"What are you going for?" she said helplessly. "I'm going to get that Demon Core to prepare for the tribulation."

Seeing that Qing Zhouxue remained silent and showed no sign of giving up, Yun Shuchen thought for a moment. "Alright then."

Yu Ying, seeing that even her senior sister was going, wondered if she'd be left alone all by herself. So she blinked and asked, "Can I go too?"

Yun Shuchen's gaze fell on her, and she smiled. "Your senior sister might be able to help a little, but with your cultivation base..." She raised an eyebrow. "But that's fine too. You're young, and it's good to broaden your horizons."

With that decided, they would set out soon.

That night, Qing Zhouxue went to bed late, having inventoried the items she would bring. Since her master said the demon beast was highly cultivated, she decided to bring along all the magical tools and pills she could.

"Stop fussing," Yun Shuchen said, drowsy from the shadow Qing Zhouxue cast as she moved about before her.

"I made plans with them today. I might have to wait a bit before sleeping," Qing Zhouxue said, taking a storybook from the shelf. Suddenly, she vanished, leaving only a smooth jade bracelet floating in the air before gradually settling into Yun Shuchen's palm.

Yun Shuchen toyed with the jade bracelet, puzzled. Why go to the Small World of Heaven and Earth so late?

Qing'er was becoming more and more elusive.

Yun Shuchen had no choice but to slip the bracelet onto her wrist, turn over, and go to sleep, waiting for her.

After a flash of white light dispersed, the small courtyard conjured by her master appeared before her. From the water flowing slowly by the courtyard, several beautiful silhouettes emerged.

A group of merfolk were playing and splashing in the water, sending up sudden bursts of spray from the tranquil surface.

Since they had moved to this stretch of water, with Qing Zhouxue regularly feeding them fresh cooked meat and being able to taste just about everything except human flesh, they had become so content they forgot their homeland, and their temperaments had grown gentler.

In fact, merfolk could speak, though not very well, but they could generally understand human speech.

As soon as they saw the white-clad figure approaching, they gathered and swam toward the shore. Whenever they saw this woman, it meant either meat—or...

Storybooks.

Qing Zhouxue sat cross-legged on the shore, looking composed. She silently counted the figures by the water's edge. "Is everyone here?"

A woman with scales glinting at the corners of her eyes propped her chin on the bank and nodded quickly. Their fish tails raised slightly in excitement, beating a trail of white foam behind them.

Qing Zhouxue spread open the book in her hand—it was "Overstepping Beneath," one of Yue Changge's classic works. Apparently, Senior Yue had later written another book, revising the ending and gifting it to her master, but Qing Zhouxue had no idea where it had been put.

Qing Zhouxue had never read the revised version; all she had was this copy of the turbulent, heartbreaking tale.

In a calm, even voice, she narrated the story of Qiu Yuebai and Xiao Chengyu. The disciple's extreme obsession with her master, suppressed over years, twisted into a mix of love and hate. Caught between these two clashing emotions, she felt like a disassembled shadow puppet, and ultimately, draped in resplendence, she walked despairingly toward the abyss. In her nights of passionate entanglement with Xiao Chengyu, she didn't feel fulfilled but rather a bewildering emptiness.

And as for Xiao Chengyu, even at the end, no one knew how she truly viewed Qiu Yuebai.

Perhaps, from beginning to end, she never really looked at her.

The merfolk listened intently, their tails stirring the water with much softer splashes. When it reached the part where Qiu Yuebai was struck by Xiao Chengyu's palm, yet still smiled through the pain and left with feigned indifference... a series of sobs rose up.

A mermaid's emotional tears flowed from her scales shimmering at the corners of her eyes, and as soon as they touched the water, they turned into bright, luminous pearls.

The pearls didn't fall into the water; instead, they were lifted by spiritual power and collected into Qing Zhouxue's palm.

These weren't tears shed from intense pain or fear—those would have flaws, and they were only a monotonous white, even grayish and dull.

Pearls willingly shed by merfolk, once condensed, carried a healthy, translucent red, like the lovely blush on a young maiden's cheeks when her heart first stirs with love.

Qing Zhouxue had a small porcelain bowl beside her, and she casually tossed the pearls inside, where they clinked with a crisp sound.