Seeing Yan Qige appear so pleased with Huayi’s attentiveness, Yusang became rather displeased. She reached out to pull Huayi’s hand away from Yan Qige’s wrist and dragged her outside, saying, “We haven’t seen each other for so long—we must have plenty to talk about. Let’s go outside to chat.”
“Hey, hey, hey, slow down! This dress is newly made. If you tear it, you’ll have to compensate me for it.”
Huayi was pulled outside by Yusang, protesting until they reached a corridor quite far from the warm pavilion where Yan Qige was staying. Only then did Yusang release her arm. After glancing toward the warm pavilion, she pulled Huayi into a nearby four-cornered pavilion and said, “Speak up—how is it?”
“How is what?”
“Yan Qige, of course. I saw you take his pulse just now.”
Huayi raised her chin and waved her silk fan, saying, “Oh, you do have sharp eyes. You sent me so many urgent messages, making me rush to this cold place, yet you don’t say anything pleasant or treat me with courtesy.”
Yusang was anxious in her heart and had no mood to bicker with Huayi. She shook Huayi’s arm and said, “Hurry up and tell me. I invited you here precisely because I wanted you to help me examine his current condition. Those mortal doctors are all at their wits’ end, and I’m truly out of options. You studied medicine and pharmaceuticals with Zi Feng, so you must be better than those mortal doctors.”
“Speaking of Young Master Zi Feng, why don’t you go and beg him to intervene? His medical skills are unmatched in this world—it would be difficult to find a second person with such abilities. Moreover, your relationship with him runs deep. No matter what, you should seek him out. My little bit of medical knowledge doesn’t even scratch the surface compared to his.” Huayi lowered her silk fan and looked at Yusang with furrowed brows.
Yusang’s expression became somewhat unpleasant. She released Huayi’s arm, turned to look at the accumulated snow outside the pavilion, and sighed helplessly, saying, “It’s a long story. I’ve made him unhappy.”
Huayi walked a few steps closer and stood shoulder to shoulder with Yusang, looking at the snow outside. After a moment, she said, “Yan Qige isn’t suffering from an illness. With my medical skills, forget about treating it—I can’t even figure out what’s wrong with him. If you truly want to save him, you can only go and beg Young Master Zi Feng.”
…
“But…” Yusang wanted to argue, but when the words reached her lips, she didn’t continue. She nodded to indicate she understood.
Noticing Yusang’s difficulty, Huayi smiled and used her silk fan to brush some snowflakes off the pavilion railing, laughing as she said, “Really, you could have chosen to fancy anyone, but you had to choose this one. Aren’t you just asking for trouble?”
“Where did I fancy him?” Yusang protested.
“Where? Are you unable to see it yourself, or are you pretending not to see? You were living a perfectly good life, yet you abandoned everything to collect soul artifacts and search for the Soul Collector. And now? You’ve stopped caring about the soul artifacts, and even though the Soul Collector is right within reach, you won’t take it. Instead, you’re running around seeking doctors and medicine for him. If this isn’t love, what is it?”
“I just… I just don’t want him to die.”
“Everyone dies. Mortals live for decades, demons for hundreds or thousands of years. Even gods, despite living longer, will eventually pass away someday. If he died like this now, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for you. While he’s alive, taking the Soul Collector would harm him. If he died this way, it would save you trouble…”
“Stop talking,” Yusang spoke up, interrupting Huayi’s words.
Huayi fell silent, watching Yusang’s deeply furrowed brows. With a slight sigh, she waved her silk fan and turned to leave. Yusang stood alone in the pavilion for about half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before returning to the warm pavilion. As soon as she entered, she saw Yan Qige putting on his outer garment. Upon seeing Yusang enter, he handed the fox fur to her.
“What are you doing?” Yusang asked.
Yan Qige handed the purple compass to Yusang. When she opened it, she discovered the needle was spinning rapidly. Yan Qige’s expression was indifferent, tinged with coldness, as he said, “Ever since we left the Western Region, this spiritual force has been following us. It was manageable before, but now it’s getting closer and closer.”
“Who could it be?” Yusang asked while tying the straps of her fox fur.
Yan Qige’s expression remained indifferent and somewhat cold as he pointed at the cosmos pouch at Yusang’s waist, saying, “Do you still remember the expert that Helian Yun mentioned?”
Yusang suddenly understood. Ever since leaving the Western Region, Yan Qige had begun falling ill, and she had devoted all her attention to seeking medical treatment, putting the matter of the soul artifacts aside. Now that Yan Qige brought it up, she remembered that there was still the unresolved matter of the mastermind behind everything.
“They’re here. Be careful.” Yan Qige pulled Yusang backward and summoned the Soul Collector, holding it in his hand. He curved his fingers to form hand seals and rapidly drew symbols in the air with his finger. Following the incantations, the Soul Collector’s light grew brighter and brighter. A blinding light flashed, and the window near the courtyard was shattered by spiritual power. A wintersweet tree outside broke with a crack, and a figure flashed through the courtyard. At the same time, Yan Qige’s lantern flew from his hand, and he retreated against the wall, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood onto the ground.
Yusang quickly rushed forward to support Yan Qige. When she touched his hand, she discovered his entire body was frighteningly cold, his skin as cold as a thousand-year-old ice.
“It’s him…” Yan Qige closed his eyes and moved his lips slightly. Yusang didn’t understand what he meant, but before she could ask again, he had already closed his eyes. Yusang called Yan Qige’s name twice and discovered he had fainted from the depletion of both qi and blood.
Supporting Yan Qige as she walked outside, Yusang stood in the wind and snow and began casting magic. The fierce wind whipped up snowflakes, howling as they gathered together, forming a tornado that approached Yusang. Yusang smiled at the tornado and took out her white jade brush, forcefully drawing a line that split open a gap in the eye of the wind, like a great door opening.
Yusang walked through that door. After a blinding flash of light, when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a cherry blossom forest blooming like brocade. A group of flower spirits dressed in colorful skirts emerged from behind the trees with smiles, bowing to Yusang and taking Yan Qige from her to place him on a circular sedan chair.
“Princess Yuwen, the young master is fishing by Taiye Lake. Princess, please come this way.” The flower spirit smiled and gestured gracefully to Yusang before floating ahead to lead the way.
Taiye Lake—that was the place where she and Zi Feng used to catch fish together. The divine tree of the Fengjian Clan grew there. Ever since the four Soul Keeper Elders who guarded the divine tree departed, the tree had withered. The Underworld Crossing Gate had closed, and after the Fengjian Clan’s destruction, the souls of the deceased clan members could not pass on to reincarnation. That place had become a desolate location filled with resentment.
Walking along a short path to the edge of Taiye Lake, she could see in the distance a thousand-year-old withered tree growing suspended above the water surface—that was the divine tree of the Fengjian Clan. It had once bloomed year-round with flowers that never faded through the four seasons. Each flower represented the soul of a Fengjian Clan member and was a beautiful symbol in the hearts of all clan members. Every day before sunrise, the divine tree would open the Underworld Crossing Gate, allowing clan members to send the wandering souls they had collected from the six realms to the underworld for peaceful rest and reincarnation.
But on the very day of the Fengjian Clan’s annihilation, the Soul Keeper Elders who guarded the divine tree departed from within the tree. They were absorbed by four objects that had been left beneath the tree and then scattered to the mortal realm. The divine tree withered, all its flowers and leaves fell and were devoured and submerged by the waters of Taiye Lake. The Underworld Crossing Gate could no longer be opened, so even the souls of the deceased Fengjian Clan members could not pass on to the underworld. They could only remain gathered in a single lantern, forming the wick and becoming the last Soul Collector of the Fengjian Clan.