“Free pickings are free pickings,” Tian Fangfang said righteously. “Those materials are all good stuff, especially Emperor Shengning’s two eyeballs. Take them to Huajin Tower and they’re worth at least several hundred Spirit Stones.”
“That may be so,” Zanxing coughed lightly, “but won’t the ruler blame us?”
“Probably not.” Mu Cengxiao’s voice came from outside the door. “The royal scandal is now known to sect cultivators. Although Li’er Kingdom’s commoners don’t understand the truth, the royal family will probably be too ashamed to boast about Emperor Shengning’s ‘achievement’ of killing demon merfolk again.”
Zanxing looked up as Mu Cengxiao and Meng Ying walked in.
When did these two start going everywhere together? Just as she was thinking this, Zanxing heard Meng Ying ask: “Junior Sister Yang, do you feel any discomfort?”
“No.”
“You were too impulsive,” Mu Cengxiao reproached. “A demon’s primordial spirit simply cannot be endured by a mortal body. At best, it damages cultivation, and in serious cases, it can even cause death. You were lucky last night, only falling unconscious.”
“Has your cultivation regressed?” Mendong asked with concern.
Zanxing circulated the Yuanli within her body. Not only did she feel no discomfort, but her Yuanli was abundant, and her whole body felt light. Somewhat surprised herself, she said: “Not at all. Last night’s events don’t seem to have affected me.”
“Better be so,” Gu Baiying said irritably from the side. “If there were effects, I wouldn’t save you.”
This man was like he’d eaten gunpowder today, finding fault with everything. Tian Fangfang moved close to Zanxing and whispered, “Master Uncle is upset about Yinli’s matter. Junior Sister, please bear with him.”
Zanxing understood.
She changed the subject: “Master Uncle, when will the secret realm reopen?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?” Mendong asked. “Why so early?”
“It was Chihua Gate’s suggestion,” Tian Fangfang said. “That bastard Tan Tianxin wants to enter the secret realm first while disciples from other sects are injured, to seek opportunities without sharing the spoils. Cunning.”
Zanxing: “Master Uncle agreed?”
“Why not?” Gu Baiying scoffed. “Taiyan Sect’s people aren’t affected anyway.”
Zanxing remained silent. Although they had all sustained injuries to varying degrees last night, they were all light wounds that wouldn’t affect their ability to enter the secret realm.
And so the matter was settled.
Since Zanxing still needed rest, Meng Ying and the others left first. After they went out, Gu Baiying entered his room, and Mendong slipped in after him.
As soon as he entered, Mendong pulled Gu Baiying to sit in a chair and grasped his wrist.
Gu Baiying shook off his hand: “What are you doing?”
“You can fool others, but not me,” Mendong said, looking at him. “Master Uncle, fighting the merfolk last night made your spiritual qi stagnation much worse.”
Gu Baiying said nothing.
“Master Uncle!” Mendong became anxious. “This trip was originally planned because there wasn’t supposed to be anything in Li’er Kingdom’s secret realm requiring your intervention—that’s why Sect Leader Master allowed you to come along. Who knew we’d encounter such a powerful demon upon arrival? The more violently you circulate Yuanli, the larger the wounds in your spiritual meridians become. Nothing will happen for now, but if you act again next time, it will be very dangerous. You…”
“I know,” Gu Baiying interrupted him. “I just won’t act, then.”
Mendong sighed: “Why don’t you find a way to dual cultivate with Yang Zanxing?” He spoke with a worried expression. “Anyway, Ying Ying already made your scandal public that day. Now all the major sects know our Taiyan Sect’s standards are improper—we’ve lost all face. Might as well embrace the fall…”
Gu Baiying kicked him out the door: “Get lost!”
Mendong scrambled away in panic.
The youth sat in his chair, his vermilion hair ribbon as vivid as always. He looked down at his palm.
Where spiritual qi circulated, threads of pain were beginning to seep through.
…
After this, nothing particularly special happened.
Li’er Kingdom’s ruler was no longer as warm and enthusiastic toward the cultivators as initially, becoming somewhat distant. Zanxing could understand—anyone who suddenly had their family’s scandals exposed wouldn’t be able to face the other party naturally.
In the evening, Nie Xinghong from Yinfeng Sect came.
This person handed a small box to Zanxing, smiling: “This is a special Recovery Pill made by an elder from our sect. Last night, thanks to Fellow Cultivator Yang’s intervention in defeating that merfolk and saving our sect’s disciple from dire straits. When I heard last night that Fellow Cultivator Yang had fallen unconscious, I was very worried. We’re about to enter the secret realm soon, so I specially brought this Recovery Pill, hoping Fellow Cultivator Yang can recover her Yuanli quickly.”
Zanxing was polite: “Not at all, not at all. It was just a small effort, no need for such courtesy.”
“Not everyone has Fellow Cultivator Yang’s courage to let a demon’s primordial spirit possess them,” Nie Xinghong said sincerely. “Such righteousness makes me ashamed.”
Since he insisted so much, Zanxing was too lazy to refuse and accepted it: “Then I’ll respectfully accept rather than decline.”
Seeing Zanxing accept the pill, Nie Xinghong still wouldn’t leave. He opened his fan with a flourish and said suavely: “I previously knew that Fairy Meng Ying of Taiyan Sect was devastatingly beautiful, but seeing Fellow Cultivator Yang now, you’re naturally gorgeous too, picture-perfect in every way… Could I call you Junior Sister Yang in the future? You can call me Senior Brother.”
Zanxing: “…”
Before Zanxing could speak, the door beside them “banged” open. Gu Baiying’s face was so dark it could wring out water. He snatched the box from Zanxing’s hand, pushed Zanxing inside the door, and sarcastically mocked: “Late at night, talking about brothers and sisters—how disgusting?”
Nie Xinghong smiled and began: “Fellow Cultivator Gu, I…”
Gu Baiying threw the box at his face: “Get lost, lecher!”
With a “bang,” the door was shut again.
Nie Xinghong’s desolate figure lingered outside the door for a moment before slinking away.
Inside the room, Zanxing turned around to look at Gu Baiying, who was pouring and drinking tea at the table. He seemed quite angry, or perhaps genuinely disgusted by Nie Xinghong, drinking two consecutive cups.
Zanxing looked thoughtful.
As soon as Gu Baiying looked up, he met Zanxing’s gaze. He frowned: “What’s that expression? Yang Zanxing, I’m telling you…”
Zanxing walked up to him and pinned him against the wall.
Gu Baiying was stunned.
The youth’s back was against the wall, with a woman continuously approaching him. Her height was quite tall among the sect’s female disciples, but because Gu Baiying was tall, even looking up, she only reached his chest.
Zanxing looked up at Gu Baiying. Gu Baiying was stunned for a moment before finally coming to his senses. He asked: “What are you doing?”
“Gu Baiying,” Zanxing moved a bit closer, “don’t you feel anything?”
Gu Baiying was baffled: “Feel what?”
This person usually seemed fearless, always carrying his head high as if nothing could concern him or weigh on his mind. However, when he looked down with his eyelashes submissively lowered, he carried a rare gentleness from his usual demeanor.
His eyes were very clear, with light-colored irises that lacked depth, always carrying a crystalline clarity like a youth’s. Looking over with confusion at this moment made one inexplicably think of last night’s brilliant, dazzling starry sky.
So radiant, yet truly fragile.
Zanxing’s gaze fell on his high, straight nose, on his rosy, full lips, on his beautifully shaped, clearly defined chin… She looked up, slightly standing on her tiptoes, her lips like a butterfly about to alight on the most delicate petal of spring.
The youth started, suddenly pushing the person before him away with one palm, sternly saying: “Yang Zanxing, what are you doing?”
Zanxing was pushed back two steps. After steadying herself, she said puzzledly: “It didn’t ring.”
“What didn’t ring?” he asked.
“The Jiexin Bell,” Zanxing looked at him. “You constantly warn me not to dual cultivate, and when others show interest in me, you fly into a rage. Forgive my inability, but I really can’t think of any other reason.”
Gu Baiying’s expression changed slightly: “What reason?”
“You’re jealous because you have feelings for me—it’s all possessiveness at work,” Zanxing said, puzzledly. “Master Uncle, when you were just looking at me, didn’t your heart flutter?”
The room was silent for a full half an incense stick’s time.
After a long while, Gu Baiying pressed his temples and said through gritted teeth: “Who told you I have feelings for you?”
“Isn’t that it?” Zanxing rubbed her chin. “But your behavior is suspicious.”
She’d read about this kind of scenario in books when she was little.
“Of course not!” Gu Baiying said angrily. “Don’t be so presumptuous! Whose heart fluttered? Not letting you dual cultivate with random people is because…”
Zanxing waited seriously for his answer.
“Anyway, it’s not what you think!” Gu Baiying said with pent-up anger. “Yang Zanxing, stop thinking about such inappropriate things all day. Focus on proper cultivation—that’s the right path, understand?”
He stomped out angrily, saying as he walked: “Like you? In your dreams!”
Zanxing: “…”
The Jiexin Bell didn’t ring even once, so he didn’t like her. Zanxing thought about it and felt somewhat regretful. However, she still couldn’t figure out why Gu Baiying had such strong objections to her dual cultivation with others.
Though she had no plans for dual cultivation at the moment anyway.
At the Hai Hour of the night(21.00 – 22.00), the cultivators regathered at the imperial mausoleum. Due to injuries sustained fighting the merfolk last night, nearly half as many people entered the secret realm tonight compared to last night. The ruler opened the secret realm entrance on the Constellation Platform.
Gone were last night’s elaborate ceremonies, celebratory speeches, the princess in red robes, and the silver-tailed merfolk. The royal family avoided the cultivators’ gazes, like avoiding that shameful past they tried to bury.
Zanxing held Mimi and stood on the Constellation Platform. When the secret realm activated, she looked back once at Li’er Kingdom’s night sky.
The starry sky was magnificent, the Milky Way brilliant.
Just as always.
…
In the royal palace, the young imperial grandson yawned and put down his brush, having finished today’s calligraphy practice.
A maidservant walked to the dozing woman’s side and gently woke her: “Princess…”
Princess Lizhu woke up.
This was an ordinary day, no different from the past several hundred days and nights, yet she felt like she’d forgotten something important.
The maidservant draped an outer robe over her. Princess Lizhu said, “I just had a dream.”
In the dream, it was the year she first married into Li’er Kingdom. She was still young then, always waking in the night, missing the rough mountain winds of her homeland’s forests while in the exquisitely maintained gardens. She seemed to have met someone, a person with a blurred face, who promised to take her home, to swim back to her homeland.
She laughed: “How could one ‘swim’ back?” She wasn’t a fish in the West Sea.
That person seemed somewhat shy and laughed along, and while laughing, transformed into stars filling the sky.
The little imperial grandson ran over holding a blue conch shell and said, “Imperial Grandmother, can you give this to me?”
She glanced at the conch shell—its blue color was extremely beautiful, like the adoring eyes of a youth. Princess Lizhu smiled and nodded.
The little imperial grandson cheered and was led by his wet nurse back to the sleeping quarters to rest.
The woman lowered her eyes. She couldn’t remember when she’d acquired this conch shell, just as she couldn’t recall why the youth’s eyes would be blue.
She just felt, for no reason, a sudden profound loneliness. She didn’t know where this loneliness came from—as if the last person in the world who kept her company had left without saying goodbye.
The West Sea was vast, moonlight covered the water’s surface, and waves carried distant winds in rolling surges, making the paper scrolls on the table flutter slightly, making the undried ink marks shimmer beautifully.
It was a “Song of the Merfolk.”
“Merfolk dwell deep, weaving underwater homes, turning sideways up and down following swimming fish. Light silk with patterns indiscernible, night after night, clear waves connect with moonlight… Sometimes lodging temporarily in city markets, sea islands, azure and boundless without end. Weeping pearls to repay kindness, do not refuse, this year we meet, next year we await… Only then knowing myriad races all exist, hundred-foot deep springs frame windows and doors… Birds vanish in empty mountains, who looks again? One glance at cloud waves can turn hair white.”
End of the Merfolk Arc