After holding each other in tender warmth and sharing a few quiet words, the ache of our separation was somewhat soothed. She then frowned and sighed, "A-Zhi, I... it would be best if I went to the room next door."
I giggled and scratched her chin. "What? Are you afraid to sleep with me?"
She gazed at me intently for a moment, the corners of her mouth curling upward. She narrowed her eyes and whispered, "Yes. I am afraid."
My heart hammered violently. My mind was filled with the reckless thought that I wouldn't mind if we did everything right then and there, but I immediately felt a wave of shame and knew I could never say it aloud. After a few more turns of thought, I acted spoiled and said, "Just... just sleep for a while. You rarely get any rest; it makes my heart ache for you. I’ll coax you to sleep, alright?"
Wei-daren couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright," she said softly. "I look forward to it."
I pulled her over to sit on the bed, smiling as I served her by helping her undress and removing her hairpins. I brushed her hair until it was smooth and then pushed her down to lie back. In the moment she fell back, her eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly and her hand moved as if she wanted to flip me over, but she barely managed to restrain herself. When I tumbled onto her, I thought *oh no*, and quickly used a high-level movement technique to scramble up. Still laughing, I rolled to her side, haphazardly pulled the quilt over us both, and burrowed into her arms beneath the covers.
She nodded meaningfully. "I see. So this is how you 'coax' someone."
I looked at myself lying in her arms, felt a bit choked up, and quickly backed out. I generously spread my arms and patted my shoulder, inviting her to lie on me instead. Wei-daren followed my lead with surprising docility, resting her face upon my shoulder. I then began to shamelessly knead and play with her face, chatting about this and that.
Though she tried her best to keep her eyes open to look at me a little longer, it seemed that being in my embrace allowed the exhaustion of the past many days to finally surge forth. She could not resist it and eventually closed her eyes, falling fast asleep.
***
The next morning, everyone spent their time idly. Near lunchtime, the heavy rain finally ceased, leaving only a faint, ethereal drizzle. However, visitors arrived at the villa. Hong Lu came to report, "Two Daoists from the Tianjun Sect seek an audience with the Master."
Zhu Yixin and I were sitting in the living room, each reading our own books. Wei Qingming and Qiao Songlin were playing a game of Go nearby, while Perfected Man Lu had taken his sister to town for a stroll. Wei Qingming held a white stone between two fingers, tapping it lightly against the edge of the board. With a half-smile, she said, "Invite them in." Then, she looked up at Qiao Songlin and said calmly, "Fourth Brother, I shall be back shortly."
Qiao Songlin stood up without a word, following behind her to guard against any ill intent from the visitors.
The newcomers were Guan Shanping and another male cultivator from the Tianjun Sect, Wu Puhe, who was in the late Cloud-Swallowing stage. As soon as Wu Puhe entered the courtyard and saw her, he hiked up his robes and knelt on the ground. Guan Shanping’s expression was gloomier than the overcast sky. He gritted his teeth, threw a high-topped box onto the ground, and knelt as well.
Aside from Wei-daren, everyone was stunned.
Last night, amidst the dense downpour, a graceful female figure had drifted silently into the quarters of the male cultivators of the Tianjun Sect at the Wujing Sect. A-Wan, draped in a waterproof raincoat made of magnificent kingfisher feathers, had stood poised in the courtyard of Guan Shanping and his companions, holding an exquisite box. When they appeared, she smiled as brightly as spring flowers and slowly opened the box with her slender hands. Inside was a bloody, hideous human head, along with a left hand, a right hand, a left foot, and a right foot, arranged in a grotesque fashion. They belonged to five different people.
A-Wan had closed the box with a smile, placed it in Guan Shanping’s arms, and vanished in a flash of assassin’s movement techniques.
It turned out that yesterday, Guan and Wu had hired a band of ruthless bandits from the underworld. They intended to take advantage of Wei Qingming’s duty escorting the Prince to create chaos and kill her—or at least wound her severely so she could not participate in the Tianshan Meet, thereby framing her for failing her escort duties. They were unaware of Wei-daren’s second identity; the agents of the Yingzhao Bureau had long since uncovered the plot. The itinerary was changed, and the Crown Prince did not leave the sect that day. Even so, the crime of treason could be turned back upon them with a single word from the Envoy-Commander.
The lackeys were cleaned up by her subordinates, but Wei Qingming had personally killed the five leaders, all of whom were in the late Cloud-Swallowing stage, three of them at the Great Circle of completion. The contents of that box had been taken from them. Since they had employed underworld forces, Wei Qingming responded in the manner of the underworld. The box contained a head and all four limbs, missing only the heart from the center of the body—signifying that unless the losers personally carved out their own hearts, this feud would never end.
Guan and Wu were kneeling to beg for mercy, hoping to find a way to survive without having to cut out their own hearts or end up in the Imperial Prisons.
Wei Qingming simply stood there, offering no words. Guan Shanping proposed many conditions, offering any wealth or treasures she desired, and added one more: "During the Tianshan Meet, I shall publicly confess my guilt and concede the match to you."
"You would have lost regardless; there is no need to 'concede,'" Wei Qingming said flatly, tapping her finger lightly against her chest. Her posture was incredibly calm and elegant. Her slender, pale finger against her crow-blue silk robe looked so pure and untainted by the world; it was hard to imagine how much foul blood it had been stained with—the most recent being only last night.
The two men looked troubled. Wei Qingming reached back and summoned two porcelain-white teacups, tossing one to each of them. She actually made a concession: she would not take their entire hearts, but a full cup of heart-blood from each would suffice.
Only then did the two breathe a sigh of relief. Wu Puhe managed a strained word of thanks, but Guan Shanping could not say a thing. He indignantly drew his sword, and both men stabbed themselves in the chest, forcing out their heart-blood. This was one of the most vital substances in a cultivator's body; losing a full cup would cause immense damage to one's cultivation foundation. In severe cases, it could permanently halt one's progress. It was certain that their rankings in the Tianshan Meet would drop significantly because of this.
Zhu Yixin wanted to rush out to watch, but I felt my presence would only add to the awkwardness and perhaps provoke further trouble or another fight. I held her back firmly, and we watched everything from the room using a visual illusion.
Once the cups were filled, both men were deathly pale. Wu Puhe, whose cultivation was shallower, was even swaying on his feet. Guan Shanping cast a cold, dark look as he threw the cup of heart-blood toward Wei Qingming; the other cup she summoned herself. She held the cups loosely in the air, her expression cold as she tilted them both, pouring the precious blood onto the ground simultaneously. Guan Shanping was so enraged he looked ready to draw his sword, but he forced himself to endure it.
Two jade talismans appeared out of thin air, catching every drop of the thick blood. They floated like two small boats, bobbing and spinning in the crimson liquid.
Once the blood was finished pouring, a fierce and dazzling True Solar Fire ignited between Wei Qingming’s palms, incinerating the two soiled cups into ash. Only then did she take the jade talismans between her fingers and close her hand over them. With so much of their heart-blood, she could impose any restrictive contract she wished. She could even crush the talismans at will, causing them to vomit blood from severe internal injuries. They would never be able to stir up trouble or cause waves again.
She tucked the items away with a faint smile and gave a refined, elegant bow to signal their dismissal before turning back into the house. Qiao Songlin followed her, and the two sat down again, resuming their game of Go as if nothing had happened.
On the way back to the sect that afternoon, Zhu Yixin seemed very excited by the event. She kept pestering Wei Qingming for details, asking what was in the box and why she did it. Wei Qingming patiently explained the rules of the underworld to her in polite, scholarly terms that were actually quite hair-raising. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Hadn't Fifth Sister read many novels? Weren't these things written in them? Zhu Yixin said she knew now, and once the Tianshan Meet was over, she would go home and buy books specifically about the underworld to read.
Qiao Songlin, however, was lost in thought. He likely had some suspicions about the power backing Wei Qingming and would probably understand everything after asking Lu Kaifeng that evening. Even so, their friendship remained untarnished.
The days flew by. Zhu Yixin truly pushed herself to advance. She stopped reading novels and playing cards, and even refused Yan Xiangjun’s invitations to go shopping for clothes. Finally, by mid-September, she successfully broke through. Though her spiritual clouds weren't large and her foundation wasn't very stable, Qiao Songlin showed a rare smile and praised her softly, making my teeth ache with jealousy.
I hadn't been idle during these two months either. I had pushed through the bottleneck of volumes six through eight, and the ten books on formation arrays Wei Qingming had assigned me were easily finished. If I were to return to the capital now as a formation master, I could be considered mid-tier, capable of earning nearly a hundred thousand a month. Several auxiliary techniques for strength and speed were also yielding great results. If I were to assassinate a Cloud-Swallowing opponent now—someone of Suo Tu's level—it would be as easy as taking something from a bag with the help of my illusions.
Qiao Songlin had long since meticulously organized intelligence on the formidable rivals from various sects, explaining them one by one to Lu Lingfeng, Zhu Yixin, and me. Though Wei Qingming was busy elsewhere, she kept this in mind and frequently sent supplementary information. However, unlike Qiao Songlin, who planned out every strategy for Zhu Yixin, she left me to my own devices. Knowing her intentions, I pretended to be angry. She laughed and said, "Fourth Brother does that because Fifth Sister rarely leaves home and her advancement was rushed. A-Zhi is so clever and has combat experience from the Nie family; these are things one should realize on their own. I cannot overstep my bounds."
Finally, she said, "A-Zhi’s talent will shine brilliantly even without me."
The Crown Prince was originally only supposed to stay for less than a month. After the National Sacrifice at the beginning of August, he should have returned to the capital. However, he had become addicted to learning the sword from Wei Qingming. About a week before the ceremony, he threw a childish tantrum and refused to leave. Wei Qingming played her role as a sycophant official perfectly, saying only, "I shall handle it." Miraculously, the Crown Prince was allowed to stay, and his stay was extended by two months, meaning he would also watch the Tianshan Meet.
Wei-daren must have reached out to her godfather across the miles, using experts from the Imperial Directorate of Astronomy and the Wujing Sect’s capital branch to claim the celestial omens had shifted. They suggested it was best to delay the sword-consecration ceremony until September. She also moved Consort Rong to whisper in the Emperor's ear to prevent the Prince's return—Consort Rong had a son of her own who was the Prince's rival. As for how the Empress mounted her defense, it went without saying. Likely, the Emperor was happy to see his consorts vying for favor and his sons motivating each other. In the end, Wei-daren actually pulled it off.
When she briefly described the process to me, I teased her, saying she would be a favored guest of the Eastern Palace and a future Imperial Tutor. However, I also seriously noted that the Prince was still young and it wasn't good to always indulge him. To my surprise, Wei Qingming became uncharacteristically somber. She sighed, "If by acting as a sycophant I can delay things for even a moment, I would bear the infamy of a thousand years without regret."
What was she trying to delay? When I asked further, she would not answer.
***
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