“Chuntao!”
Peony broke free from Cui Mingcan and Li Tiankuo’s grip and rushed forward to hold Chuntao in her arms.
“Chuntao, Chuntao? Are you alright?”
Chuntao smiled gently at her. “I’m fine. She helped me draw my spirit back into my body.”
Then she turned to Bai Yuheng, whose face was pale but composed, and said gratefully, “Thank you, Immortal, for saving me and preventing me from turning to dust.”
Bai Yuheng took a deep breath, her brows knitting unconsciously. “I didn’t save you,” she said coldly. “You’ve harmed so many people. You deserve to die.”
Cen Ying supported Bai Yuheng, holding her cold wrist and checking her pulse.
Bai Yuheng continued, “You violated the laws of the Three Realms. You should be punished. Do you admit your guilt?”
Chuntao lowered her head submissively. “Chuntao admits her guilt.”
“Chuntao!” Peony cried out.
Chuntao gave her a comforting smile. “I’ll be fine.”
Bai Yuheng nodded slightly.
“May I speak with Peony for a moment?” Chuntao asked.
Bai Yuheng inclined her head in permission.
“Peony,” Chuntao said softly, “I’ve already avenged our grievance. I killed those people myself. You were only misled and coerced by me. This matter has nothing to do with you.”
Peony’s eyes filled with panic. “Chuntao, what are you trying to say? What do you mean?”
Chuntao lowered her voice. “Don’t worry, I won’t die—and neither will you. Just do as I said.”
While the two whispered, Cen Ying checked Bai Yuheng’s pulse again and gasped. “You’ve lost so much spiritual energy!”
Bai Yuheng waved her hand dismissively. “Chuntao can’t be allowed to vanish like this. I just spent some spiritual energy, that’s all. I’ll recover after a few days of cultivation.”
Cen Ying stomped her foot, frowning at Bai Yuheng’s indifference.
“Alright, alright, I’m fine,” Bai Yuheng said with a faint smile.
“Why did the immortal save her!?” Master He roared furiously. “That demon ruined my daughter’s wedding and killed my nephew!”
“Master He,” Bai Yuheng said calmly, “every realm has its laws—so does ours. Chuntao will be punished for violating the laws of the Three Realms and taking a life, but now is not the time, and it’s not my place to kill her.”
“You—!” Master He’s words faltered.
Cen Ying returned from checking He Huilan’s pulse. “Miss He is fine. She’s only frightened. She just needs to rest.”
Hearing that, Master He immediately turned his attention to his daughter.
The He family’s joyous wedding had turned into a funeral. People in town whispered but dared not ask too many questions—only that a demon had appeared that day.
That demon had destroyed the wedding and caused the death of a nephew. Although that nephew had been notorious for his cruelty, people still pitied the He family’s misfortune.
After several days, word spread that government officers were investigating both the tavern mistress’s hanging and the He family’s illegal salt dealings.
Salt smuggling, in any dynasty, was a serious crime punishable by death.
In the end, many corrupt officials and merchants were exposed—but that was a story for another time.
On a bright sunny day, before leaving town, Bai Yuheng and her companions learned that Peony was at Fang Linchun’s tavern. They decided to visit her together.
Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan were very curious about how Peony had escaped punishment for killing Gu Feng and others. They kept pestering Li Tiankuo for answers.
He only said coldly, “You two should mind your own business,” earning himself a beating from both of them.
But despite the scuffle, neither of them could overpower Li Tiankuo—until Cen Ying used poison and Cui Mingcan set up strange formations.
Four hands won over two.
Finally, exasperated, Li Tiankuo admitted defeat. “This matter runs deep. Knowing too much will do you no good.”
Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan clenched their fists.
Li Tiankuo sighed. “Chuntao took all the blame upon herself. Apart from Gu Feng—who was torn apart—everyone else was said to have died by accident. The madam and keeper of Yichun Brothel testified that Peony wasn’t there when it happened. So…”
“So, Peony is innocent?” Cen Ying asked.
Li Tiankuo nodded.
Cui Mingcan gaped. “Didn’t expect a demon like Chuntao to have such powerful connections.”
Cen Ying rolled her eyes. “You never listen properly! Chuntao was a thousand-year-old peach blossom demon once kept in the Emperor’s palace. Later she committed an offense and was cast out. Some loyal servants—perhaps bewitched or simply sympathetic—secretly saved her and abandoned her in that valley.”
Li Tiankuo nodded in agreement. “Those from the palace always have old connections.”
“Then why didn’t she use those connections to get rid of Gu Feng and the rest?”
Smack!
“Ow! What was that for!?”
Cen Ying gave him a hard flick on the head. “Are you stupid? She angered the Emperor and barely survived! Saving Peony was already a miracle. And Master He’s wealth wasn’t exactly clean—you didn’t notice how the investigators were just going through the motions? Use your head!”
Matters of mortal courts were beyond cultivators like them. Even if they were angry at the corruption, there was little they could do. Li Tiankuo, with his ties to officialdom, remained silent, lost in thought.
Bai Yuheng glanced at him holding his treasured sword close to his chest and said nothing.
Cui Mingcan pouted, refusing to talk to Cen Ying, and ran to Bai Yuheng’s side instead.
They soon arrived at the tavern.
Knock knock—
“Miss Peony, are you there?”
“I am. Please, come in,” came her soft but husky voice.
Peony had changed out of her pink attire into a plain white dress, a white flower pinned in her hair. Her face was pale and weary, but her faint smile was more beautiful than any makeup.
Bai Yuheng’s gaze softened. “We came to say farewell, Miss Peony.”
Peony pursed her lips, clearly still resentful.
Bai Yuheng didn’t mind and continued, “I also have a gift for you.”
Peony looked surprised. After everything between them, she hadn’t expected this.
Bai Yuheng extended her hand. A golden light shimmered in her palm—a small peach pit rested there.
“This is…?”
“This is what Chuntao left for you,” Bai Yuheng said, thinking for a moment before adding, “You can think of it as her, before she takes root again.”
Peony’s eyes, still red from crying, filled with tears anew. She took it carefully and choked out, “This is Chuntao?”
“Yes.” Bai Yuheng offered no further explanation.
Peony clutched the peach pit tightly, covering her face as tears streamed down. “Th-thank you… thank you so much…”
“No need to thank me,” Bai Yuheng said lightly. “Just… curse me less next time we meet.”
“Pfft—”
Peony burst into laughter through her tears. Afterward, she knelt down solemnly. Bai Yuheng hurriedly tried to lift her.
“Don’t.”
But Peony insisted. “I offended you all before. I sincerely apologize.”
She was about to bow when Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying both grabbed her and pulled her up.
“Peony, I think you’re really brave,” Cen Ying whispered, making her laugh again through the tears.
“I thought you all saw us as villains,” Peony said softly.
Bai Yuheng nodded. “Officially, we don’t condone what you did. But personally… they deserved it. You fought back. That’s courage.”
She didn’t say the rest — that using illusion to make the men destroy each other was clever, even brilliant.
If their sect’s mission hadn’t been to capture the demon disrupting the mortal world, they wouldn’t have clashed in the first place.
Peony smiled shyly. “Thank you…”
“No need! Friends meet by fate!” Cui Mingcan said cheerfully.
Peony smiled again, blushing faintly.
“What are your plans now?” Bai Yuheng asked.
“Please, just call me Peony,” she said with a smile. “I plan to travel with Qingyan, taking Linchun’s ashes and Chuntao’s seed to see the world—and maybe settle down somewhere peaceful.”
She stroked the urn gently. “Linchun and I always dreamed of leaving Furong Town. She’d brew wine, I’d sing in teahouses…”
Her voice trembled. “But fate had other plans.”
Bai Yuheng smiled softly. “Then I wish you fair winds and a smooth journey.”
Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan said together, “Safe travels, Sister Peony.”
Li Tiankuo nodded. “May everything go well.”
“Thank you.”
They all clasped their hands in farewell.
Peony walked them to the door.
Nearby, the tofu-seller lady who had once insulted her was watching from afar. When she saw them come out, she turned to leave—but slipped and fell hard.
“Are you alright, madam?” Peony reached out instinctively, then hesitated, remembering how the woman had despised her.
But suddenly, a warm, calloused hand took hers.
“Thank you,” the tofu lady said awkwardly, her face red.
Peony paused, then smiled brightly. “You’re welcome.”
The tofu lady scratched her nose nervously. “I’m sorry… about before. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.”
She had heard the truth and now saw Peony in a new light.
Peony waved her hands in fluster. “No need to apologize. People have their reasons for being cautious.”
Then she joked, “I hope my situation didn’t hurt your business! I’d feel terrible if people stopped buying your tofu.”
The tofu lady laughed loudly. “Impossible! My tofu’s too good for anyone to pass up!”
Peony smiled dazzlingly. The tofu lady looked away, flustered. “I—I should get back to work. Come by anytime—I’ll give you a thirty percent discount!”
Peony chuckled. “Thank you, madam.”
“Ah, neighbors shouldn’t stand on ceremony,” the tofu lady said, hurrying back to her stall.
“Let’s part here,” Bai Yuheng said.
Peony nodded.
“Fate is long. I hope we meet again someday.”
“Yes,” Peony said softly. “If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”
Peony returned to the tavern — where two people stood hand in hand by the door.
Her mixed emotions hardened into calm indifference. She walked past them coldly.
“Miss Peony, please wait.”
Peony turned, her voice icy. “What does Scholar Tang want?”
“I wish to pay my respects to Miss Fang’s ashes.”
Peony inhaled deeply, then sneered. “Scholar Tang brings his new wife to pay respects to a woman who meant nothing to him? How touching.”
Her sharp gaze landed on the pale-faced He Huilan. “Tell me, Miss He — are you truly willing to do this?”
He Huilan smiled gently. “I’m sorry, Miss Peony. I know everything now. It was my cousin, Gu Feng, who wronged Miss Fang. As his blood kin, it’s my duty to apologize on his behalf.”
Peony narrowed her eyes and laughed coldly. “Who knows if you’re sincere—or if you just came to torment her memory?”
“Please, Miss Peony,” He Huilan begged, kneeling. “Let me apologize to her.”
Tang Peiqian knelt beside her.
“Apologies are easy,” Peony spat. “But can they erase her pain? Bring her back to life?”
Her anger surged, and she turned to the tofu lady watching nearby, forcing a smile before slamming the tavern door shut.
Bang!
The two outside knelt and bowed deeply.
“Miss Fang,” He Huilan said softly, “I know an apology won’t earn forgiveness, but our family owes you one nonetheless.” She bowed again, hard enough that her forehead struck the ground.
Tang Peiqian followed silently, bowing with blood on his brow. His eyes wandered around the tavern — as if searching for a shadow bent over her work.
He had noticed her long ago — the diligent, quiet girl who never met anyone’s eyes, who always kept her head down.
He remembered how she worked tirelessly through the night and dawn, and how he’d selfishly given her that mask — and just as selfishly rejected her later.
He had studied since the age of four, and though talented, he had failed the imperial exams again and again. Only later did he realize his hard work had been used to benefit someone else — because he had no backing.
When Master He approached him, he was lost, desperate — and in the end, he made a deal.
He passed the exam, ranked first, and became Furong Town’s first scholar — and the He family’s son-in-law.
Everyone envied him.
But when he heard of Fang Linchun’s death, he couldn’t even remember what he’d thought.
Tang Peiqian pressed his bleeding forehead to the ground once more. The He family was now under investigation, his patronage gone — yet his heart finally felt strangely calm.
He held his wife’s hand tightly and thought: May you be reborn into a better life. No more suffering, no more loneliness. And may you never meet people like us again.
“Let’s go,” he whispered.
“Mm.”
Inside, Peony stood silently, watching them leave through the narrow crack of the door.
She held the urn containing Fang Linchun’s ashes close to her chest, standing there for a long, long time.