"Three days have passed. I must go up there..."
"No."
Bai Zhier moved toward the door in a frantic rush, only to find her path firmly blocked by Fenghuang. She insisted on leaving. "Move aside."
"You cannot act recklessly right now—"
"Move!" The usually gentle woman had finally lost her temper. "Rest assured, whatever happens will not involve any of you."
"Can you just calm down for a moment?"
The atmosphere in the room was stifling. To make matters worse, Lin Jianghong decided to join the fray. She stood up and slammed her hand on the table. "We are people of the martial world, bound by loyalty! Miss Bai, I shall go with you. Let’s move."
Fenghuang pressed a hand to her forehead. "One won't listen, and now the second is following suit. This has nothing to do with you. Go sit back down."
"By what right do you order me around? Who do you think I am? I am the Martial Alliance—" Before she could finish, her acupoints were sealed. She was rendered both speechless and motionless. Only her eyes could still move, darting about with visible indignation.
"There, that’s better. Stay quiet," Fenghuang muttered. She was about to move the girl to the bed when she saw Bai Zhier attempting to slip away again. She lunged forward to block her once more. "Can you not just listen to my advice for once?"
"I don't have time."
As she uttered those four simple words, Bai Zhier swayed to the side just as she reached for the door. She narrowly avoided Fenghuang’s attempt to seal her acupoints. She let out a cold laugh. "Are you trying to practice your technique on me? Do you think everyone is a mere amateur?"
"Since you won't listen anyway, knocking you unconscious will do. To me, the method doesn't matter as long as you don't walk out that door."
"I have shown you respect because you are the Shaman Chief of the Miao Territory, but do not mistake my courtesy for fear."
"Going up there now is suicide!"
Bai Zhier waved her off, cutting her short. "I don't care. I am going to find Ruo'er."
"Find her? How? If she wanted you to save her, she wouldn't have forced us down the mountain that day. She said it herself: if she didn't come for us within three days, we were to leave on our own. Those two... I fear they have met a grim end."
"No! Ruo'er will be fine. She promised me that day; she will definitely come for me."
Fenghuang shook her head with a sigh. "Why must you persist? She already has the one she loves. Even if she does come back, she'll be bringing Nan Muxue with her."
"I don't care about any of that. I only care that Ruo'er is safe."
"Then you should stay put even more! You should know why she wanted you to go down while she went back for Nan Muxue alone. It’s because she wasn't certain of her own survival. She didn't want to drag you down with her. Going now is no different from throwing your life away."
Determination burned in Bai Zhier’s eyes. "Even if I die, I will drag Nan Menghua down to hell with me."
"Why are you so stubborn—"
"Listen to what? It’s been three days without a single word from Ruo'er. No matter what, I am going up that mountain."
"Don't you find it strange?" Fenghuang countered. "If they were dead, there would be bodies. We've been watching Baihua Palace for three days, and there’s been no news of their deaths. However, Nan Menghua hasn't gone into secluded meditation to practice her arts like she usually does every day. That means she isn't using Chu Ruo. Unless..."
"Unless," Bai Zhier picked up the thought, pausing to reflect. "Given Nan Menghua’s nature, she hates Ruo'er and her own daughter so much that she finds joy in tormenting them. Moreover, she needs to practice her heretical arts. If Ruo'er were in her hands, how could she let her go? If something had truly happened to them, she wouldn't even let their corpses rest in peace. Baihua Palace wouldn't be this quiet, as if nothing had happened. Unless... their fate is currently unknown even to her!"
Fenghuang nodded. "I knew you weren't stupid. You're just blinded by concern. You need to be rational."
"If that is the case, then I can't sit here and wait even more. Ruo'er might be trapped somewhere. Perhaps she is waiting for me to save her. If I don't go, what will she do?"
Fenghuang groaned. "I thought you'd calmed down after analyzing it. How can you still be so pig-headed and incorrigible?"
"This is my business. It has nothing to do with you."
"Chu Ruo wouldn't want anything to happen to you either..."
"If I can save Ruo'er, then all is well. If I cannot, I will never let Nan Menghua go. I will settle all debts, old and new, at once."
*Bang!*
The door was kicked open. Fenghuang prepared to meet an enemy, but Bai Zhier found herself staring into the eyes of the newcomer. Both spoke simultaneously.
"Shanshan?!" "Sister!"
"What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you! Father and I were both worried sick. Why else would you come out here if not for that brat Chu Ruo? I've been searching for you for a long time."
As the sisters spoke, Fenghuang scrutinized Bai Shan. After a moment, she suddenly attacked. "It's you!"
Confused, Bai Zhier instinctively moved to protect her younger sister, turning the situation into a two-on-one. "What is going on?"
Fenghuang’s expression grew increasingly grim. "And here I thought the Bai family were upright people, the 'Divine Physicians.' It turns out you're no better than the rest."
Insulted by the slur on her family's reputation, Bai Shan was ready to strike back, but her sister held her back. Bai Zhier frowned. "What do you mean by this?"
"What do I mean? Ha! Why don't you ask your precious little sister yourself?"
Bai Zhier knew her sister’s temperament all too well. "Shanshan, what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Didn't do anything? What a joke! You trespassed into my Miao Territory, stole our secret techniques, and even dared to enter our forbidden grounds. You call that 'nothing'?"
"Your people were simply incompetent," Bai Shan retorted. "Your Miao Gu arts are kept so secret, I was merely doing you a favor by spreading them to the world."
"So, when you disappeared for that period of time, you went to the Miao Territory?" Bai Zhier asked.
"Yes."
"Hmph! Why don't you ask her what else she did?" Fenghuang spat. "When she came to the Miao Territory and passed the three trials, we treated her with sincerity. She said she wanted to stay. She seduced my cousin—the one you'd call my 'younger male cousin'—and tricked him into teaching her the Miao Gu arts. Then she bit the hand that fed her, dared to break into our forbidden grounds, and even paralyzed my cousin! Ask her if that happened!"
Bai Zhier was clearly displeased by this revelation. Her voice turned cold. "Did you do that?"
Bai Shan only showed a hint of honesty when facing her elder sister. "He kept pestering me and wouldn't keep his hands to himself. What choice did I have? He taught me those Gu arts of his own free will; I didn't use poison to force him. Besides, that forbidden ground of yours was already tampered with when I got there. Someone had been there before me. I didn't get anything, so don't go blaming it all on me."
"If not you, then who?" Fenghuang looked at Bai Zhier. "Last time you came with Chu Ruo and the others, I respected you for being loyal enough to enter the forbidden grounds with them. It turns out your sister had already snatched the prize. No wonder you weren't afraid at all. And you call yourselves Divine Physicians? Bah! Hypocrites!"
"Say that again!"
Fenghuang cocked an eyebrow. "What? You think I can't take you? Want to try me?"
"Enough," Bai Zhier said, pulling her sister back. "In other words, while Ruo'er and I were in the Miao Territory, you were there the whole time and never came out?"
Bai Shan lowered her head, not daring to look at her sister. "I was afraid you'd make me leave if you knew I was there. But... but I helped you in secret! Otherwise, do you think Chu Ruo would have been lucky enough to be fine after picking the poisoned wine?"
"Oh," Fenghuang rolled her eyes. "How touching. Sisterly devotion for the sake of the person her sister loves."
"You," Bai Zhier addressed her sister. "I only ask you this: did you take anything from their forbidden grounds? If you did, give it back."
Knowing her sister’s temper, Bai Shan quickly grabbed Bai Zhier’s sleeve and explained frantically, "Sister, when have I ever lied to you? I really didn't. When I got there, the mechanisms had already been destroyed. How could I possibly have the skill to do that? Besides, if I had really taken anything, why would my poison techniques still be stalled? Those mechanisms were thoroughly wrecked; it could only have been done by one of their own Miao people."
Bai Zhier turned back to Fenghuang. "Shanshan is my sister. I know whether she is lying to me. If she says she didn't, then she didn't. As for the rest, I apologize to you and the Miao Territory on her behalf. You may make a request; as long as the House of the Divine Physician can fulfill it, we will not go back on our word."
"Oh, is that so? No need for your hypocrisy. I'll give her two choices: either return to the Miao Territory and marry my cousin, or gouge out her own eyes and cripple her own martial arts right now. Otherwise, if I have to act, it won't be so simple."
Bai Zhier had no desire to fight. Firstly, her heart was with Chu Ruo; secondly, she knew Bai Shan was in the wrong. She didn't want to battle, but Fenghuang was not about to let them go easily. Bai Zhier was forced to draw her golden needles. Fenghuang gave a disdainful sneer, Gu insects already appearing in her hand, ready to be thrown. Bai Zhier flicked a golden needle, unsealing Lin Jianghong’s acupoints, then released a cloud of white mist and fled with Bai Shan.
Fenghuang was about to give chase, but the newly freed Lin Jianghong stepped forward and grabbed her, complaining loudly, "Hey! You explain yourself! By what right did you seal my points? You—"
Having missed the window of opportunity, the sisters were already long gone. Fenghuang whipped her sleeve in frustration, while also having to deal with the headache of the chirping girl beside her.
***
"Sister..."
"Look at the mess you've made."
"I... I..."
"Forget it. I am going to Baihua Palace now. I will settle this with you afterward."
"We're sisters, let's go together! Two people are better than one."
"My trip this time isn't just to find Ruo'er. It's also to settle things with Nan Menghua once and for all."
"Then I definitely have to go with you. Besides, I know a secret passage into Baihua Palace."
Bai Zhier was skeptical. "How could you possibly know that?"
Bai Shan led her to the adjacent room. Inside sat a woman whose limbs had been severed and whose face was completely ruined. "This is..."
Bai Shan smiled. "We should get ready. We head up the mountain tonight, right on time."
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
苗疆 | Miao Territory | A region in southwest China often associated with shamanism and Gu magic in wuxia.
巫首 | Shaman Chief | Fenghuang's title; leader of the Miao practitioners.
医神 | Divine Physician | Literally "God of Medicine"; the title/reputation of the Bai family.
金针 | Golden Needles | Bai Zhier's signature weapon/medical tool.
蛊虫 | Gu insects | Venomous insects used in Miao sorcery.
武林盟 | Martial Alliance | A coalition of "righteous" martial arts sects.
静湖 | Jing Lake | The "Quiet Lake" where Chu Ruo and Nan Muxue jumped.
