Ming Li had stayed at the Star-Gazing Platform for several days without coming out. Song Tianjiu lived in fear every day, dreading that she would call him in to cut star threads.
Cheng Jingbai and the other Ice Wastes Earth Ghosts, along with some Bei Dou disciples, went ahead to the Northern Border Ghost Plains to scout the path.
Winter was gradually passing, though the weather remained gloomy, with both day and night consistently foggy, but no more snow fell.
No one knew exactly when, but winter snow had already ended.
Just as Qing Ying entered the courtyard, she saw Xiang An’ge’s handcrafted puppet spirits carrying various implements, running back and forth across the yard. With their small, twiggy limbs, they looked very fragile when running, and she always feared they might fall.
But the puppet spirits were much more agile than she had imagined.
Xiang An’ge held a sharp, small knife, gesturing it at the face of Dong Yeyun, who sat straight before him. As his blade gently landed on Dong Yeyun’s face, in Xiang An’ge’s eyes, though no blood appeared, he had already cut through the flesh beneath the skin, exposing the bone.
Only Xiang An’ge could see it, only Dong Yeyun could feel it—the cold blade tracing along his bones.
Xiang An’ge’s hand movements were quick, and he used many tools. The puppet spirits lined up in an orderly fashion, passing him what he needed.
Qing Ying stood quietly in the courtyard, feeling the waves of star power spreading out, and glimpsing the green light that flickered on and off in Xiang An’ge’s hands—his Yin-Yang Dual Meridian Healing Technique at work.
Dong Yeyun closed his eyes. In the healing technique, his consciousness became blurred, unable to sense his surroundings.
Qing Ying stood quietly at the side, her gaze following the puppet spirits’ movements. Suddenly, she heard Xiang An’ge ask lazily: “What is it?”
“Senior Sister wants you to go to the Star-Gazing Platform,” Qing Ying said softly, afraid of disturbing him.
Xiang An’ge said he knew.
Qing Ying was about to leave when Xiang An’ge called her back: “Have I ever told you that you shouldn’t overuse star power?”
Turning back, Qing Ying thought, “This is bad.” Like a mouse caught by a cat, resigned to her fate, she obediently turned back: “You have.”
Xiang An’ge focused on his work, not looking at Qing Ying, speaking casually: “Then what do you mean by exhausting yourself every day with excessive use of star power?”
Qing Ying’s gaze shifted from Xiang An’ge to Dong Yeyun, her eyes slightly dimmed as she hung her head: “I want to become stronger, able to protect those around me, to help Senior Sister and Senior Brothers more, and not be a burden to them again.”
So she practiced spirit techniques intensely every day, depleting all her star power, fighting until exhaustion, desperately striving to master higher-level spirit techniques.
Qing Ying said, “I’m not blindly pursuing power. I’ll ensure I don’t shatter myself in the process.”
Xiang An’ge said, “No one is forcing you to do this.”
“No one forced me to do this, which is why I achieved nothing before,” Qing Ying sniffled, lowering her eyes and speaking softly. “I couldn’t save Senior Brother at the Pit, nor help fellow disciples of Yao Guang Court resist enemies at the Northern Border Ghost Plains, nor return when Bei Dou was attacked by Nan Que, nor did I get to see Master one last time.”
During those five years as a puppet, time passed very slowly for Qing Ying.
The dominance of her Spiritual Court Meridian prevented her from dying completely, and her gradually recovering consciousness clearly remembered what she had experienced.
Qing Ying sat by the window each day, watching day break and night fall, the cycle repeating thousands of times. She heard Nan Que’s Quiet Spirit Bell, saw Zhu Que State’s bright lights at night.
In those years, Nan Que flourished. During the four-regional examinations, she heard Nan Que’s people cheering loudly for victory; heard Cui Yaocen and Cui Yuanxi arguing; heard Jiang Ying and Cui Yuanxi exchanging sweet words; heard about Bei Dou outposts being completely expelled from the south.
She heard in Cui Yaocen and Cui Yuanxi’s arguments that Academy Head Yu Heng had died in Yumei’s Divine Luminescence Illusion, killed collectively by disciples whom Yumei controlled, because he couldn’t bear to harm them.
She heard how Academy Head Tian Quan died in Nan Que Zhen Su Academy Head’s Divine Miracle ability. Academy Head Tian Quan fought alone against several Seven Meridian Full Realm cultivators before facing Zhen Su Academy Head, and before his physical body was completely shattered, he never let the attackers take a single step into Tian Quan Court.
She heard that her admired and revered Senior Sister had died in the distant Northern Border Ghost Plains, heard that Earth Ghosts from the Pit had replaced her Senior Brother as undercover agents at Bei Dou, leaving her Senior Brother abandoned in the Pit.
She heard Nan Que’s disciples despising and mocking the now-fallen Bei Dou, bullying and oppressing Bei Dou disciples encountered in the south during their training.
Even if everyone else could forgive Nan Que and reconcile with them, Qing Ying couldn’t. Her hatred ran deep in her bones; that intense emotion, even through countless lifetimes, could never be forgiven.
Qing Ying gradually shifted from tenaciously seeking a way to live to despair, even when sensing Zhou Zixi’s shadow, she humbly begged him to end her life.
She had finally found hope for living again, but moments of happiness remained few and far between.
More prevalent was her sense of estrangement from the world and regret over lost time.
These words Qing Ying dared not say even to Ming Li and Chen Zhou, but because Xiang An’ge was the person who accompanied and guided her back to herself, she could openly express her thoughts.
Qing Ying’s words left her eyes stinging, a pressure in her nose forcing tears to sparkle in her eyes. Just as she was about to wipe them away, she heard Xiang An’ge say: “Take this.”
Flying toward Qing Ying was the small knife from Xiang An’ge’s hand.
Qing Ying caught it, bewildered, as Xiang An’ge stood up and said: “The Instrumentality Spirit Disc is currently merging with him. Next, we need to overlap his Spiritual Court Meridian with the Spirit Disc, requiring a large amount of star power to run along the disc for engraving. Each stroke cannot be wrong, and must be repeated three hundred and sixty times. He only has this one chance.”
“Wait, wait, wait! Why are you giving me such an important task?!” Qing Ying was so shocked that her hair stood on end, hurriedly using star power to hold the knife and carve along the phantom lines on Dong Yeyun’s face, following the Spirit Disc.
Xiang An’ge stood up, stretching his somewhat stiff neck: “Didn’t you want to do something?”
Qing Ying was anxiously sweating: “I’m sorry for being dramatic earlier! Take it back quickly!”
Xiang An’ge said: “Rather than practicing spirit techniques you can’t handle yet, why not do something that will show results soon?”
Qing Ying: “I was wrong! I won’t let myself shatter before I’m fully recovered!”
Xiang An’ge: “I just said, he doesn’t have a second chance. Whether he can speak again depends on whether you can endure these three hundred and sixty carvings.”
Qing Ying wanted to turn and look at Xiang An’ge, but hearing this, she forcibly restrained herself, concentrating on carving where Dong Yeyun and the Spirit Disc overlapped.
Xiang An’ge strolled away, his back to Qing Ying, saying: “You’re not as useless as you imagine, and there’s no need to think that way.”
Qing Ying remembered these words but had no energy to deeply reflect on them, focusing only on the task at hand.
The puppet spirits stood guard in the courtyard. When the blade in Qing Ying’s hand developed cracks from the star power, the queued puppet spirits would hand her a new blade. This continued repeatedly, from dawn to dusk, time passing quickly.
Stone lamps in the courtyard lit up one after another. Qing Ying was so focused, not daring to make the slightest mistake, that she didn’t even notice the passage of time. When the last phantom line of the Spirit Disc was carved and disappeared, the three hundred and sixty repetitions completed, the Spirit Disc and Dong Yeyun completely merged.
The puppet spirits raised their twig claws to applaud her, a silent celebration.
Qing Ying stared at Dong Yeyun, only daring to sigh in relief after confirming that the Spirit Disc was no longer growing new phantom lines. She slowly lowered her already sore arms, finally simply falling backward onto the corridor floor, breathing a light sigh.
She had done it.
This combination of Yin-Yang Dual Meridian Healing Technique and Instrumentality was her first time attempting it. Her back was completely soaked with cold sweat, and the hair at her temples had formed strands due to perspiration. Qing Ying didn’t relax for long before sitting up and waving her hand in front of Dong Yeyun’s eyes.
“Wake up.”
Dong Yeyun’s floating consciousness gradually returned as the Spirit Disc overlapped, enhancing his perception of surroundings. His unfocused eyes fixed on Qing Ying, gradually regained vitality.
Qing Ying stared at him somewhat nervously, still waving her hand in front of Dong Yeyun’s eyes: “Can you see?”
Dong Yeyun instinctively replied: “I. Can. See.”
Qing Ying: “…”
Dong Yeyun: “…”
Qing Ying’s ears were still echoing with the sound of Dong Yeyun just speaking. Although it was much hoarser compared to before, it was still better than him not being able to speak for five years.
It worked! She hadn’t made a mistake! She had done it!
Qing Ying’s face broke into a wide smile as she fell back on the ground again. She looked up at the stars in the sky: Master, look, I’ve helped him speak again!
Dong Yeyun was even more surprised than Qing Ying. He reached up to touch his throat, feeling the existence of mouth and tongue through the Instrumentality, and called out with stiffness but a hint of a smile: “Qing. Ying.”
Qing Ying tilted her head to look, showing a number to the seated Dong Yeyun: “How many is this?”
Dong Yeyun: “Seven.”
Qing Ying then pointed to the courtyard: “What’s that?”
Dong Yeyun looked where she pointed: “Puppet. Spirits.”
He spoke slowly, not yet able to say long sentences, only able to shorten what he wanted to express.
Qing Ying pointed at things, and Dong Yeyun answered, each sound bringing more joy to her eyes. She happily took out a voice transmission talisman: “I need to tell Senior Sister and Senior Brother! And also…”
Her words suddenly halted halfway. Qing Ying began to recall Xiang An’ge’s parting words.
Dong Yeyun looked at the suddenly silent Qing Ying in confusion. The puppet spirits ran around, even plucking flower petals from the courtyard garden to shower over the two, determined to create a celebratory atmosphere.
Qing Ying sat up again, looking expectantly at Dong Yeyun: “I feel like Xiang An’ge was testing me. I was just being a bit emotional, and he made me finish the job. If I hadn’t carved the Spirit Disc properly, you wouldn’t have had another chance to speak.”
Dong Yeyun still looked at her in confusion: “Didn’t he. Trust that. You could. Do it. That’s why. He gave you. The finishing touch?”
Qing Ying: “We’re not at a level of mutual trust for something this important, are we?”
“It’s okay,” Dong Yeyun said. “I. Trusted. You. Could do it.”
Qing Ying was stunned hearing this.
Suddenly, she realized the meaning of Xiang An’ge’s final words.
You weren’t like this before.
Not a burden to her Senior Brothers and Sisters, but their junior sister, the helper Dong Yeyun, would bring along to get even after losing a fight; the person who could skillfully resolve conflicts between this pair of siblings, making them reconcile.
This is something even your Master couldn’t do, something only you could accomplish.
You’re not incapable of doing anything, so there’s no need to think that way.