The cold wind flicked across Qin Siyi’s cheek as she walked back to Shan Yu with a bag of warmed sweets. The younger woman glanced at her quizzically, but still pretended like she wanted some. The bag remained mainly in Qin Siyi’s hands as the two women made their way to the next teleportation device.
“There’s nothing about Shizun,” Qin Siyi muttered.
“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Shizun likes to stay out of everyone’s eyes, so there’s no way that he would normally be spoken about,” Shan Yu said reassuringly.
Qin Siyi nodded numbly. She stuffed her face with another pastry and ignored the small smile that emerged on Shan Yu’s lips. Shan Yu pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped the powdered sugar from the corner of Qin Siyi’s lips.
Although the situation was dire, Shan Yu couldn’t help but admire Qin Siyi’s rare clumsiness. It was due to her distress, but it was endearing to say the least.
Qin Siyi glanced at Shan Yu in surprise. Her face flushed slightly when she realized what had just happened. She licked her lips and averted her gaze with little else to say. Shan Yu giggled and happily kept up with Qin Siyi’s quickening pace.
When the pair made it to the inn, they ran into two familiar faces.
“Da-shixiong!” Shan Yu shouted.
Gui Linghuo turned around at the familiar sound. He had already braced himself and properly caught the weight that flung itself onto him. Still, he had underestimated Shan Yu. He stumbled back three steps and would have toppled over if Yankui hadn’t caught them.
“Why’d you stumble?” Shan Yu snapped.
“You…because you’re grown now.”
“Are you saying I’m heavy?”
“Naturally, you’d be heavier than a child!” Gui Linghuo quibbled. He glanced around at the people who were watching them curiously and sighed. “Let’s head in first.”
“What are you two doing here?” Yankui asked curiously as the four people began to head to the back.
“We…missed Yunjing Pavilion,” Shan Yu awkwardly said.
Gui Linghuo and Yankui glanced at each other.
“What about you two?” Qin Siyi asked.
“I think we’re all heading back for the same reason,” Gui Linghuo said.
Qin Siyi and Shan Yu shared a glance as the four people met up with a servant of Yunjing Pavilion.
Their trip was momentarily stalled and they were taken to a private room. Once the four people were settled, they began to exchange the information that they knew. Qin Siyi had the most to share and the more she spoke, the graver Gui Linghuo’s expression became.
“So…Lord Ninglan might actually be in trouble…?” Yankui muttered. He glanced at the three martial siblings and felt a bit of pain in his chest. He hardly had anything to do with Half Moon Cult, but he still felt a bit of guilt.
Sensing Yankui’s discomfort, Gui Linghuo held his hand under the table and gave it a small squeeze.
“We don’t know that yet,” Shan Yu quickly said, her eyes darting between her two martial siblings. “It’s just a feeling, right? Not every feeling has to be right. Maybe we all just missed home or maybe we were thinking about some other event. It could be anything.”
“That’s…true,” Qin Siyi forced herself to say. She was silent for a moment before she perked up. “And if there really isn’t anything, then, we can just relax at Yunjing Pavilion for a while. Deng-shixiong has returned and Sect Master has woken up. We can spend some time with them.”
Gui Linghuo nodded calmly. He had a small smile on his face as he watched his martial sisters dance around awkwardly. He knew their concerns, but he didn’t say anything to burst their bubble. He could say he was fine however much he wanted, but he knew they would still worry.
After having a warm meal, the four people got into the teleportation array and made their last step back to Yunjing Pavilion.
Yunjing Pavilion was in an array that could easily regulate the weather. However, because everyone here was a cultivator and because Lin Cangyuan had always withheld that nature should be treated with dignity, he often allowed things to happen as they would.
Around other places in this time of year, maybe it would have already started snowing. But Yunjing Pavilion was too far south. Instead of snow, what the four people were greeted with was a thunderstorm upon arrival.
Shan Yu yelped and Yankui ducked under Gui Linghuo’s cover. Only Qin Siyi had half the mind to draw up a spell, shielding the four of them from the rain. She clicked her tongue and looked at the trio behind her with a hint of disapproval.
“It’s still Shijie who reacts the fastest!” Shan Yu said, singing her praises with a bright smile.
Qin Siyi rolled her eyes, but before anything could be said, a confused exclamation caught their attention.
The sound of wooden wheels rolling against the ground stopped behind them.
“What are you three doing here? And this is…”
Gui Linghuo, Qin Siyi, and Shan Yu turned around.
Perhaps it was out of habit, but the three looked a bit higher than they should have. Half a beat passed before Lin Cangyuan laughed, his handsome smile caught behind the back of his hand. He watched Gui Qinle’s three little disciples react in equally flustered manners, but he lightly shook his head.
“There’s no need to panic. You three just…” Lin Cangyuan paused a moment before sighing. A small, dreamy smile on his face. “You’ve grown a lot. How have you been?”
Shan Yu was the first to react. Her nose soured and she quickly left Qin Siyi’s protection. The rain against her back meant nothing as she flung herself onto Lin Cangyuan.
“Sect Master-shibó, you’re finally okay!”
Lin Cangyuan was stunned at first, but Qin Siyi and Gui Linghuo followed Shan Yu’s reaction.
It had been nearly a month since Lin Cangyuan had awoken, so all the reunions he had to experience had already been experienced. He hadn’t reacted very strongly at first, but upon seeing these three curl up into him, he couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.
Since he had spent so much time in Shuangye Peak while these three grew up, he understood their attachment to him. Not to mention, he had often been around their side during the war. Still, he hadn’t expected their reaction to be this strong. He was surprised and almost didn’t know how to react.
“Alright, alright. You’re all grown up now, so don’t act like babies,” Lin Cangyuan said, though his hands still worked to comfort them all.
When the three of them finally straightened, Qin Siyi couldn’t help but look at Lin Cangyuan’s lower half.
“Sect Master-shibó, your legs…”
“Hm? My legs?” Lin Cangyuan patted his thighs. “Everything’s fine. I can still fight without them. In fact, it’s nicer this way, isn’t it? When I teach classes, I don’t have to walk around anymore. I can just sit everywhere I go.”
The little joke made the three disciples smile, but their sadness was still quite obvious.
Lin Cangyuan smiled helplessly. His gaze landed on the young man behind them and he tilted his head so he could get a better view.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Zs cjwf lr Tjcxel. P vbc’a tjnf j regcjwf,” Tjcxel rtffqlrtis jvvfv.
Lin Cangyuan smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with not having a surname. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Yankui forced a smile.
“Don’t worry, I understand your circumstances,” Lin Cangyuan said reassuringly. “Yunjing Pavilion is your home for as long as you want. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—even if they belong here.”
Yankui’s eyes widened slightly. Shan Yu gave him a light nudge, breaking him from his surprise.
“Y-Yes! Thank you, Sect Master Lin.”
Lin Cangyuan chuckled. He then shifted his gaze to the other three and raised a brow. “So, what wind blew you all back? I heard that Sect Leader Shan had her own duties to attend to and Siyi was helping her. As for Linghuo…are you sure you should be here right now?”
Gui Linghuo smiled. “Sect Master-shibó is still well-informed.”
Lin Cangyuan shrugged. “Well, I had my studying to do.”
“My mother has a handle on things in the Zhengyan region,” Shan Yu explained.
“I’m well enough now to leave Kunlun, so there’s nothing to worry about on my end either,” Gui Linghuo said.
Lin Cangyuan hummed, but he waited patiently for the final reason to come out. Although it was “okay” for these two groups to leave their posts, their business was obviously not settled yet. That meant they had returned to Yunjing Pavilion for a reason.
“Sect Master-shibó, have you heard any news from our Shizun?” Qin Siyi finally asked.
“From Qinle?” Lin Cangyuan asked. He frowned and slowly shook his head. “I can’t say I—”
The loud rumble of thunder interrupted Lin Cangyuan’s words. He frowned slightly and was about to repeat himself when hurried footsteps stopped him once more.
“Shizun!” Deng Yenuo rushed to Lin Cangyuan’s side. “Shizun, news has come in from our northern post in the lower realm! For two days and three nights, the skies in the northern sea turned red and soot rained from the Heavens. They suspected that it had something to do with Whirlpool Prison, but the oceans were turbulent and they couldn’t risk sending anyone out there until this morning.”
Lin Cangyuan’s brows furrowed. “What happened?”
“Whirlpool Prison…he’s vanished.”
“What?!”
Yankui took a step back in shock. “He…no way.”
Yankui looked up at the gazes that had turned towards him. “There’s no way that…that thing could have gotten out. I remember he clearly told me he needed to wait for the next Blood Moon at least…this…”
“Deploy our disciples to the Northern Shores,” Lin Cangyuan quickly said. He frowned and then looked at Qin Siyi and them. “Why did you suddenly come and ask about Qinle?”
Qin Siyi pursed her lips, but soon told Lin Cangyuan all that she knew. The more she spoke, the more the group realized that those at Yunjing Pavilion barely knew what Gui Yin had been up to.
“That reckless fool!” Lin Cangyuan scolded, though the self-blame in his eyes were evident. “If what he says is right…then their next target would be him. How could he be so stupid?”
“What do we do?” Deng Yenuo asked.
“…Linghuo, you return to Kunlun and find Palace Lord Sun. There’s no way that man would have just let Qinle vanish under his nose,” Lin Cangyuan muttered. He turned to Deng Yenuo. “We are to approach this quietly, do not cause a stir.”
One wrong move and their plan would succeed. The entire cultivation world might as well turn on Yunjing Pavilion if anyone else found out that the great demon god, Qiao Ceng, had escaped from their prison.
“If Young Master Yankui is right, then this means they might have proceeded ahead of schedule. Qiao Ceng might be weakened,” Lin Cangyuan muttered. He turned to Deng Yenuo. “Gather a search party. We have to work fast.”
“What do we do?” Shan Yu asked.
“You two just go with your Da-shixiong,” Lin Cangyuan said calmly. He gave the three of them a smile. “If anything happens to you guys, Qinle will definitely have my head once he comes back.”
The words meant little, but still gave the four people a sense of comfort.
Despite just arriving, the four of them felt that they had no time to spare. Without bothering with transportation arrays, they immediately took to their swords and flew back to Kunlun. As they traveled, they realized that Yunjing Pavilion wasn’t the only area embroiled in a storm.
Wherever they flew, no matter the region, the skies had all blackened. It would be fine if it was one area and it would be okay if the amount of rain shifted as they traveled, but it remained consistent. And the lightning that appeared in the skies was clearly not normal.
“Could it be…Heavenly Lightning?” Qin Siyi shouted over the sound of the storm.
Gui Linghuo pursed his lips. “Let’s hurry.”
Despite traveling without rest, it still took the group two nights to arrive back at Kunlun. But when they arrived at Kunlun, they ran into another issue.
“What do you mean we can’t enter?” Gui Linghuo asked, his brows furrowed.
“It’s because you are human cultivators,” the spirit said, his chin tilted haughtily. “Therefore, you can’t enter.”
“We were just here a few days ago,” Gui Linghuo said.
“A few days ago isn’t today, now is it? Besides, while you two are recognizable faces, those two aren’t,” the spirit said, looking at Shan Yu and Qin Siyi. His brows furrowed. “How do we know what your motivations are for trying to barge into sacred ground.”
The four people were unable to argue. If they said anything out of line, they might end up bringing more trouble onto themselves.
“Then, if it’s just us two who go in, that’s fine, right?” Gui Linghuo asked.
“Without someone internally helping you in, I can’t let any of you in.”
Gui Linghuo could feel his blood boil. He had never had a good temper in the first place, but in the face of something so urgent, he felt that he should just kill the spirit in front of him now and deal with the consequences later.
Before Gui Linghuo could act, he felt a small tug at his side.
He glanced over at Yankui.
“We only need one person to find Yīfū, right?” Yankui asked.
Gui Linghuo nodded after some hesitation.
“I can do,” Yankui said, giving Gui Linghuo’s arm a reassuring pat. He turned to Qin Siyi and Shan Yu. “You three can wait for me at Chen Village. I’ll come find you.”
“You’re going by yourself?” Gui Linghuo asked, holding onto Yankui.
Yankui raised a brow as he pulled out the obsidian pendant that represented Huigu Palace. “Are you looking down on me?”
“No, but—”
“Then be obedient and follow your martial sisters,” Yankui said, pulling his hand from Gui Linghuo’s grip. He turned to the spirit with dark eyes and held up the pendant. “Is this enough? Or should I call out the entirety of Huigu Palace to welcome me?”
The spirit saw the pendant and shrank back slightly. He scoffed and undid the barrier, allowing Yankui to step past.
Without looking back, Yankui proceeded forward. He hoped Qin Siyi and Shan Yu received the hint and dragged Gui Linghuo away. It was clear that he was about to have another one of his episodes.
As soon as Yankui was far enough, he stilled and glanced back at the spirit still standing at the entrance of Kunlun. He hesitated a moment before retracing his steps.
“Hey, you.”
The spirit rolled his eyes and turned to Yankui. “What? What else do you need?”
Yankui’s eyes suddenly turned green. The little spirit in front of him trembled and dropped his weapon as Yankui stepped forward.
“Y-you—who are you?”
“My identity is not for the likes of you to question,” Yankui said. He drove his heel into the hand of the spirit, who was collapsed on the ground. He bent down and pulled another waist pendant from his clothes. He held up the wicked carving and dangled it in front of the spirit’s face. “Just answer a few questions for me.”
The spirit gulped, but quickly nodded.
“You work for us, right?”
“Y-yes, My Lord!”
“Whose division do you belong to?”
“L-Lord Luo! Luō Fùháo (罗付豪)!” the spirit replied, his voice trembling as he watched his hand slowly turn purple.
Yankui stepped off the spirit’s hand. “As you saw, I’ve been undercover for some time and my father has been too busy to keep me in the loop. Why did you make things difficult for those measly cultivators back there?”
“I-I’m not too clear about the details, My Lord. I was just told that cultivators should not be allowed in Kunlun for the time being. I-It’s a full lock down,” the spirit said. “Little spirits can’t leave and we’re not allowed to let anyone in.”
Yankui’s brows furrowed. He scoffed. “Fine, whatever. Keep doing your business then. And don’t tell your master I was here, lest he interfere with my business.”
“Y-Yes, My Lord.”
Yankui turned and left. He tucked the old waist pendant back into its original spot and frowned.
He wasn’t afraid that the spirit would rat him out. Although Half Moon Cult was composed of some powerful people, their internal structure was weak. There was no true loyalty between master and subordinates. If you paid the subordinates enough, or if you threatened their life well enough, they wouldn’t say a peep.
However, what little the spirit knew made Yankui uneasy.
Luo Fuhao was not a person to be toyed with. He was a dragon that had gone corrupt and slipped out of the Demon Realm. Yankui remembered meeting him only briefly when he was younger, but since then, he hadn’t heard anything about that man since. If he had his subordinates stationed in Kunlun, that might mean the man himself had integrated into this sacred land already.
Yankui’s gaze flickered towards the pristine path and shuddered uneasily. He shoved any unsavory thoughts from his mind first and proceeded into Kunlun. It was no use for him to just stand around and speculate on the inner-happenings of an organization he had never truly been a part of.
His steps were rushed as he made his way up the stairs. He barely greeted the friendlier spirits, who he had talked to briefly before. Their confused expressions made him feel a little guilty, but a person’s life was at stake—he didn’t dare tarry.
Yankui had just made it to the fourth set of stairs when an entourage of people stopped in his path. His brows furrowed slightly as he glanced up. The moment he did so, his pupils dilated. He nearly tripped over his own feet as he took a step back.
The man, standing at the top of the steps, looked down at him arrogantly. His brows furrowed tightly when he saw that Yankui hadn’t moved. His attendant stepped forward.
“What do you think you’re doing, standing in Lord Qiao’s way?!”
“My…my apologies,” Yankui lowered his head and quickly got out of the way. He kept his chin tucked to his chest as the man’s entourage moved past him.
When the man and his entourage reached the bottom of the steps, he could feel a set of eyes train onto his profile. He straightened and quickly left.
His hands were beginning to sweat and a chill covered his entire back.
That was…wasn’t that…
Yankui bowed his head and quickened his pace, but before he could make it too far, the unfamiliar voice called out to him again.
“Hey, you.”
Yankui pursed his lips. If that man was who he thought he was, then worse things might happen if he didn’t stop.
The young man’s footsteps slowed to a halt. He listened as the rustling clothes gave away the man’s position.
“Turn around.”
Yankui’s nails dug into his palm. He took a shaky breath. This was Kunlun. It was the sacred land of celestials. There was no way he could get murdered on the spot here…
Qiao Moyu watched with narrowed eyes as Yankui reluctantly turned around. He smirked and let out a displeased scoff. “Are you playing games with me, child? Lift your head as well.”
Yankui stared down at the place between their feet.
The attendant at Qiao Moyu’s side clicked his tongue. “Did you not hear my master? Lift your—”
“Whoa!”
Yankui’s lashes trembled. He felt a slender hand tug him back and when he looked up, he was faced with two backs. The woman, who was standing in front of him, gave his wrist a reassuring squeeze. The man in front of her was another unfamiliar face.
“Lord Qiao, even if someone didn’t listen to your request, you shouldn’t let your attendant go around hitting people.”
“…Lord Yue? Why are you here?”
Yue Weiqing raised a brow. The fan in his hand snapped open as he tilted his head and deliberately shifted in front of Yankui and Hu Ze.
“Why shouldn’t I be? I was born and raised in Kunlun. Besides, my Shizun still resides here. If I don’t return to Kunlun, where should I return to?”
Qiao Moyue forced a smile. “I didn’t mean it like that, Lord Yue. It’s just been so long since I’ve seen you. I was beginning to get worried that you’d forgotten your own home.”
Yue Weiqing laughed heartily. He lowered his head slightly. “Rest assured, Lord Qiao, even if I’ve forgotten everything about myself, I will not forget the Kunlun that raised me.”
Qiao Moyu mumbled a few perfunctory words, but his gaze flitted back over to Yankui.
Seeing that Qiao Moyu had shifted his attention again, Hu Ze moved as well. She hugged Yankui to her chest, so that only the top of his head peeped out. She met Qiao Moyu’s gaze and narrowed her eyes.
“It’s a pleasure running into both Lord Yue and Miss Hu, but you’ve interrupted my conversation with that young man, you see.”
“Conversation?” Hu Ze scoffed. She released Yankui, but still kept him securely tucked behind her. “I’ve never seen an amicable conversation where someone would command their servant to raise their hand to a child.”
“Command? When did I do such a thing?” Qiao Moyu raised a brow. He glanced languidly at the servant beside him. “Did I command you to do such a thing?”
A loud thunk followed his question. The attendant hammered his head against the pavement several times. “Forgive me, My Lord! Please, forgive me! This servant acted out of turn, I—”
Yankui flinched at the abrupt silence. Hu Ze held Yankui tightly behind her as Yue Weiqing let out a long sigh.
“Lord Qiao, don’t you know that blood shouldn’t be spilt on the stairs of Kunlun?”
“But it wasn’t,” Qiao Moyu said. He held out his hand for a handkerchief as his other attendants rushed forward to move the body. “Look. The stairs are still spotless.”
“Oh, so they are,” Yue Weiqing said with a slight nod. He sighed and clicked his tongue. “I just returned home from a long journey, yet this is the type of fiasco I was met with.”
“My apologies, Lord Yue. I’ve allowed you to see a joke,” Qiao Moyu said with a low bow of his head. His gaze flickered to Hu Ze. “In fact, it was nothing to get worked up over. The child…just looked like someone I once knew, so I wanted to talk to him.”
“Ah, is that so? So, there has been a huge misunderstanding!” Yue Weiqing exclaimed. He sighed and shook his head. “If we hadn’t interrupted, the little young master would have gotten a poor impression of you.”
“Little…young master?”
“You don’t know him?” Yue Weiqing asked with a raised brow. “He’s my martial nephew!”
Hu Ze schooled her expression, but she really wanted to scold this pretentious lotus spirit. Martial nephew? This kid’s Yīfū refuses to recognize Yue Weiqing’s Shizun as his own teacher, so how could he suddenly gain a martial nephew?
“Marital nephew?” Qiao Moyu echoed. His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t know Palace Lord Sun accepted a disciple.”
“That fuddy-duddy? How could he? This is he yìzǐ,” Yue Weiqing said. “I heard that he was coming back to visit Lord Sun, so I came to get him.”
“I see,” Qiao Moyu said. He finally tore his gaze away from Hu Ze and Yankui. “Then, he shouldn’t be the person I’m looking for.”
Yue Weiqing laughed. “I’m glad we’ve cleared up that misunderstanding. Besides, if there is a person Lord Qiao is searching for, I’m sure there are much more practical ways for you to search for them, rather than interrogating a poor child.”
“Naturally,” Qiao Moyu said. He dipped his head low again. “Now, please excuse me, Lord Yue and Miss Hu. I was actually on my way out.”
“Have a safe trip!” Yue Weiqing called out after Qiao Moyu. “Take care!”
The trio waited for Qiao Moyu to fully depart before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Yankui immediately cupped his hands together and bowed. “Thank you for helping me.”
“No problem,” Hu Ze said with a bright giggle. “Qing-ge and I were just sauntering around anyway. It’s not like we were doing anything important.”
Yankui pursed his lips. “But still…”
Yue Weiqing gave Hu Ze a resentful stare. “Nothing important…I suppose to you, it’d be nothing important.”
Hu Ze coughed lightly and nudged him. “Watch your words. We’re in front of a child.”
“Oh, my dear, if he’s really that man’s Yìzǐ I’m sure he’s heard worst things,” Yue Weiqing said with a small pout. He glanced at Yankui and gave him a frivolous wink. “Aren’t I right?”
“May I ask who…”
“My surname is Hu, given name is the single character ‘Ze’. I’m part of the fox clan,” Hu Ze said with a bright grin. “Or, rather, I suppose you could just consider me to be a rogue fox. This pretentious idiot here is named Yue Weiqing. He’s Lord Xun’s only disciple.”
Yankui’s eyes sparkled. “You’re Lord Xun’s disciple?”
“That is I,” Yue Weiqing said with a small bow of the head.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you! He’s spoken about you a—wait,” Yankui quickly shook his head. “I apologize, but I don’t have any time for pleasantries.”
Hu Ze and Yue Weiqing glanced at each other.
“What are you in such a rush for?” Hu Ze asked.
Yankui frowned. He wondered if he should trust these two people. Although they had just helped him, he wasn’t particularly familiar with them. In that case…
“It’s nothing. I just need to look for my Yīfū,” Yankui said sheepishly. “Gui-laoshi said he hasn’t been answering his letters.”
Yue Weiqing’s lips quirked up slightly. He looked the young man up and down and nearly laughed out loud. This little thing was quite guarded. Well, it wasn’t like that was a bad thing.
“What a coincidence,” Yue Weiqing said with a smile. “I was also supposed to head up to Huigu Palace. How about the two of us go together?”
so many differing feelings in this chapter again!! bittersweet happy at reunion and prompt parting and then nervousness;;;;;;
🥲 thanks for reading!