Qingsui never cared much for pomp and circumstance. The immortal attendants of Qingsui Manor weren’t numerous, and quite a few were from Lingze Mountain. When Jin Zhan summoned them to assemble before the hall, Xiang Su immediately spotted Huai Shu—his skin still just as rough.
When they were dismissed, Xiang Su called out to him: “Xiao Huai!” Among the manor’s immortal attendants, she was only somewhat familiar with Xiao Huai. Meeting now truly filled her with myriad emotions.
Hearing Xiang Su call out like this, Huai Shu stopped in his tracks. His bumpy, lumpy face suddenly turned completely red. He opened his mouth several times before stammering to ask: “Who are you?”
Bai Zhicao looked at him, understanding his feelings very well, and gave a dry chuckle. “This is none other than little gardenia! Now called Xiang Su.”
Xiao Huai stood there scratching his head in a daze, making “oh, oh” sounds, his face remaining red without fading.
Jin Zhan raised an eyebrow, extremely disdainful. Xiao Huai had been serving at Qingsui Manor for over a hundred years and had seen quite a few beautiful immortal maidens coming and going, yet his composure was still this poor! The moment he saw a pretty girl, he became foolish.
Speaking of Lingze Mountain, Huai Shu began sobbing and crying. Because he was ugly, the sight of him covered in snot and tears couldn’t be looked at directly.
Jin Zhan snorted through his nose. Only then did Xiao Huai remember to wipe away the snot and tears with his sleeve and report: “Vice Sovereign, I heard that Shenghuan Dijun will soon go to Lingze Mountain to retrieve the sword.”
Jin Zhan was shocked, his face turning deathly pale.
Bai Zhicao started crying even more. “It’s over, it’s over. Lingze Mountain’s final day has arrived—it can no longer be saved.”
Xiang Su didn’t care much whether Dong Tianyun retrieved the sword or not, but Bai Zhicao’s words made her heart churn tumultuously. Final day has arrived?
Her bedchamber was arranged next to Jin Zhan’s. After leading her into the room, Xiao Huai’s face turned red again as he fled like someone escaping disaster.
Xiang Su looked around. This was her first time living inside a house. She walked over and touched the bed, then lay down and closed her eyes. So this was what the comfortable feeling of “sleeping” was like.
However, she couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. Outside, the sky had already darkened. The moonlight wasn’t bright, and inside the room it was so quiet there wasn’t a single sound. After tossing and turning for a while, Xiang Su finally went to knock on Jin Zhan’s door. Jin Zhan hadn’t slept yet—there was light in his room. After he opened the door, Xiang Su looked curiously at the glowing thing. This must be a “lamp,” right? She wanted to go in for a closer look, but Jin Zhan blocked the doorway and inexplicably asked: “What’s the matter?”
“Jin Zhan, let’s sleep together.” Xiang Su blinked her large eyes pleadingly.
Jin Zhan’s fair, clean face flushed red with a whoosh. Not only did he not make way, he scolded her with a severe tone instead: “Don’t talk nonsense!”
Xiang Su felt very wronged. “In Lingze Mountain, everyone always ‘slept’ together. Even while sleeping, we could hear the sound of wind, the rustling of leaves. The room is too quiet. I… I don’t want to be alone either.” When she mentioned being alone, Xiang Su’s nose stung. Everyone had died, leaving only her struggling bitterly. That feeling was too terrifying—she couldn’t shake it off no matter what. She was especially afraid of loneliness.
Jin Zhan looked at her for a while, sighed, and made way.
He brightened the lamp somewhat. Xiang Su cocked her head to watch. When Jin Zhan looked up and saw her curious yet confused expression, he couldn’t help but helplessly quirk the corner of his mouth. “When the major matters are concluded, I’ll take you traveling to various places. As a wood spirit, this is essential.”
Major matters… did he mean Dong Tianyun retrieving the sword?
“Jin Zhan, is Lingze Mountain truly beyond saving?”
Jin Zhan was silent for a while before finally nodding his head.
“But…” Xiang Su became anxious. How could it be beyond saving? As long as they removed the sword and filled in the hole, even if it took an extremely long time, why couldn’t it be restored to its original state?
Jin Zhan interrupted her. “The Jifeng Sword’s power is probably the strongest among the Xuanyuan Three Swords. Otherwise, Bi Lian couldn’t possibly have evaded Dong Tianyun for three hundred years with it. Moreover, after Jifeng absorbed demonic miasma in the Nether Abyss, it perfectly counter-restrains Lingze Mountain. The power of Dong Tianyun retrieving the sword equals the power of throwing the sword. When the sword was thrown, Lingze Mountain’s immortal veins were already completely destroyed. When Dong Tianyun retrieves the sword, Lingze Mountain will probably… only be reduced to ashes and dispersed in smoke.”
Xiang Su couldn’t speak. No wonder Elder Sister Junshang was so dejected when she talked about restoring Lingze Mountain. She had known all along that Lingze Mountain was doomed. Thinking about it, she herself was really quite foolish—practically rubbing salt in the wound.
She had wondered why Elder Sister Junshang became even more distressed after hearing such encouraging words. So that was why… Forget it. She knew too little. The more she spoke, the more mistakes she made. These next few days, she’d better keep her mouth shut tight.
“I want to sleep on the inside!” Xiang Su swiftly jumped onto the bed, occupying the position she preferred. Being able to keep Jin Zhan company made her genuinely happy. Jin Zhan was family who had survived the great disaster with her—there was an indescribable closeness. It was the same with Bai Zhicao and even Xiao Huai and the others. Jin Zhan was steady and reliable, making him feel more dependable.
“Whatever.” Jin Zhan wore that half-mocking, half-satirical expression again. He gracefully adjusted his pristine white undergarment and lay down with his back to Xiang Su. Probably quite unwilling, he added: “Even for you, you must work hard at cultivation in the future. Your days of foolishly eating and sleeping won’t last much longer.” Very obviously, he had omitted “I’m tolerating you.”
Jin Zhan made the lamplight very bright. Xiang Su found it a bit uncomfortable and couldn’t accumulate any sleepiness for a long time. “Jin Zhan, turn around. Let’s chat.”
“I have nothing good to chat about with you.” Jin Zhan answered quickly. “Sleep early, get up early tomorrow. Don’t let people see that you slept here.”
“Are you afraid Elder Sister Junshang won’t be happy?” She asked without thinking. She clearly saw Jin Zhan’s back stiffen. She knew this much—after a male immortal and female immortal became husband and wife, they didn’t like other immortals getting mixed up with them.
“Go to sleep, or I’ll strangle you.” Jin Zhan squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.
Xiang Su became suspicious. Could Shui Xian still harbor improper thoughts about Elder Sister Junshang?
See, her quick mouth had caused trouble again. She reminded herself once more to speak less in the future. Just knowing things in her heart was enough. With her mouth settled down, before long she also fell asleep.
She didn’t need Jin Zhan to call her. Because she still wasn’t very accustomed to this “sleeping” method, she woke relatively early.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Jin Zhan sitting at the table, using the Yunji Mirror to examine himself over and over. Without even combing his hair, just looking at his eyebrows and mouth—who knew how long he’d been looking.
Xiang Su got goosebumps all over. Actually, she didn’t have any particularly strong awareness of male-female distinctions. Whether male or female, looking in the mirror like this… was really unbearable. As someone who didn’t yet have a magical artifact, seeing Jin Zhan waste the Yunji Mirror like this made even her heart ache. “Jin Zhan, could you find an ordinary mirror to look in?” She was determined to learn how to speak tactfully.
Jin Zhan’s eyes didn’t leave the mirror surface at all as he answered lazily: “The Yunji Mirror shows things more clearly.”
“You really shouldn’t have transformed into a male body.” Xiang Su said with heartfelt regret. “Wait, that’s not right either. If you became a female body, you couldn’t be with Elder Sister Junshang.”
Jin Zhan whooshed his eyes up, and a knife-like glare flew over.
Xiang Su was greatly alarmed. “It’s probably that my cultivation is too weak—I always can’t control my mouth!” She was truly too distressed!
She felt the veins on Jin Zhan’s forehead were popping out.
“This has nothing to do with cultivation!” Jin Zhan was speaking through clenched teeth again. It really sounded uncomfortable. Xiang Su climbed down from the bed, preparing to go out and hide.
“You’re going out like this?” Jin Zhan looked at her. That disdainful look in his eyes made her truly feel like she was a pile of withered branches and dead leaves. Sleeping had messed up all her hair. Fortunately, her hair was very smooth and looked sleek, not like Bai Zhicao’s hair that was always tangled together, looking like it hadn’t been washed in eight hundred years. “Come here. I’ll comb it for you.” Jin Zhan very unwillingly pointed his chin at her and even rolled his eyes at her. Nobody could tell it was actually him taking the initiative.
The Yunji Mirror really did show people very clearly. Xiang Su sat in the position Jin Zhan had just occupied, and Jin Zhan stood behind her combing her hair. She discovered her own eyelashes were quite long—viewed from the side, they were curved and upturned. The back of her head was struck with a hand chop by Jin Zhan as he scolded: “Don’t move around! What are you preening about?”
Xiang Su felt too wronged. In front of Jin Zhan, who could still deserve the words “preening”? She had wanted to glare at Jin Zhan, but the pair of hands nimbly dancing through her hair in the mirror suddenly captured her attention. So beautiful, and so graceful—simply not a man’s hands at all! She looked again at Jin Zhan’s expression. He seemed to really enjoy these grooming and dressing activities. While combing her hair, the corners of his mouth unconsciously carried some smile—more feminine than even Elder Sister Junshang. Watching him, Xiang Su really wanted to call him “Elder Sister Jin Zhan.”
“You and Elder Sister Junshang really are…” A perfect match! She hastily covered her mouth in horror. Here it came again—words had emerged from her mouth on their own again!
Jin Zhan’s hands trembled. Although she hadn’t finished speaking, he completely understood what she was going to say.
“Jin Zhan, is Su Bing at your place?” Bai Zhicao knocked on the door. Obviously he had already gone to Xiang Su’s room first. Pushing the door open and seeing them together, he didn’t find it the least bit strange or improper. “Hurry! We’re about to depart! Elder Sister Junshang has already left ahead.”
Without a word, Jin Zhan immediately put away the Yunji Mirror. Xiang Su’s expression also turned grave as she followed them, hurriedly gathering with the manor’s immortal attendants to depart in formation. Bai Zhicao secretly told her that actually they couldn’t help much by going, but gods and demons from all quarters had heard the news of retrieving the sword and were rushing to Lingze Mountain. Elder Sister Junshang couldn’t lose face—they were going to support her presence.
“Xiang Su, you absolutely mustn’t cause trouble.” Bai Zhicao said worriedly, making Xiang Su very displeased, as if she had no sense whatsoever.
“Xiang Su.” Before departure, Xiao Huai pulled her aside and asked with a grave expression: “Did you become this beautiful because you absorbed Dong Tianyun’s blood?”
Xiang Su’s throat felt like something was lodged in it. “How did you know?”
“I heard it when passing by the secret chamber.” Xiao Huai admitted frankly. “Don’t hide it from me. Just tell me—can Dong Tianyun’s blood make people beautiful?”
Xiao Huai was too earnest—so earnest she didn’t have the heart to criticize him.
“Yes.” Jin Zhan somehow walked up behind them and answered coldly in Xiang Su’s place. “With just her bit of immortal power, she’d probably end up looking like your sister.”
Both Xiang Su and Huai Shu were enraged. Just as they were about to curse him together, Jin Zhan snorted. “Is now the time to discuss this? Moreover, Elder Sister Junshang instructed that this matter shouldn’t be mentioned again.” He was somewhat troubled. Why had one more person inexplicably learned of it?
It had to be said that when Jin Zhan questioned people with cold voice and cold air, he had the bearing of a high immortal. Xiang Su and Huai Shu immediately wilted and silently returned to the formation.
When they reached Lingze Mountain, countless cloud platforms had gathered at the mountaintop. Various resplendent golden feathered garments and rainbow skirts stood on pristine white cloud edges, appearing even more dazzling and brilliant, with extraordinary presence.
Xiang Su turned her eyes. Among the cloud clusters, there was no Dong Tianyun or his black bird. As expected, he wanted to show off and arrive last.
Elder Sister Junshang had emerged from seclusion but didn’t come looking for the people from Qingsui Manor. She stood alone silently in the clouds, looking unwell with a rather wooden expression, not knowing what she was thinking about.
Flutter, flutter—the sound of wind. One could tell immediately it was the sound of the black bird flapping its wings. The assembled immortals stirred with commotion. Xiang Su deliberately lowered her gaze to look at her own feet, expressing her anger by not looking at him.
On this side, Dong Tianyun’s black bird didn’t cry out, but in the distance some unknown bird gave an ear-piercing long whistle. Though its power was much less than Kunpeng’s, Xiang Su’s ears still tightened for a moment, feeling she would go deaf.
That bird flew closer, carrying blazing golden light that was dazzling even in broad daylight. Xiang Su squinted to look. Although she really disliked such a showy immortal, this one arrived even later than Dong Tianyun with an even more ostentatious entrance, seemingly stealing Dong Tianyun’s thunder, which made her feel quite pleased.
“It’s her!” Xiao Huai behind her exclaimed softly with amazement. “Yinghuo Dijun’s daughter, Dong Tianyun’s future wife—Chilin.”
Yinghuo Dijun was the Fire Deity Sovereign. No wonder his daughter majestically rode a phoenix over. The phoenix was a divine bird of the fire spirit category.
Xiang Su struggled to see Chilin clearly in the middle of the golden light. She wore magnificent red garments and had extremely bewitching features, with a vermilion flame ornament in the center of her forehead. Although she looked younger than Elder Sister Qingsui, that arrogance of looking down on all things… she and the dead bird person really were a perfect pair! Both even rode birds!