The two of them parted ways before their respective rooms at the inn, Ji Mian falling asleep in bed with a heart full of lingering apprehension.
The next instant, a rush of wind swept past her ear, the shadows of the trees outside the window mottled, and the chirping of insects ceased. Ji Mian watched with wide eyes as the window beside her was forced open, and then she lost consciousness.
Listening to the somewhat noisy commotion next door, Lin Qingye felt a heavy, sinking pain in her heart, a persistent sense of unease.
After seeing that person today, Ji Mian’s state had been off all along. Feeling truly uneasy the more she thought about it, she got up to knock on the door. After three or four knocks, no one answered from inside.
Frowning, she used her sword to flick open the door latch, anxiously searched the room a circle over, and discovered that it was completely empty.
There were marks on the bed indicating someone had slept there, yet there were no excessive, messy creases.
Ji Mian had been taken away without putting up any resistance.
Why?
Lin Qingye’s expression turned somewhat cold, but she abruptly caught a whiff of a sweetish scent.
When entering the palace today, Lin Qingye had thought this was the internal affair of the Demonic Cult itself, so she hadn’t followed inside. Waiting outside the entrance, she had caught this exact strange odor.
The main gate wasn’t closed. Lin Qingye had glanced inside and failed to find Ji Mian’s figure, but had instead been distracted by the clusters of lilacs filling the courtyard.
The scent she smelled back then was identical to the lingering odor here.
Gazing at that bundle of blankets, she felt an inner fire surge up. Thinking it over and still worried, she threw on her outer robe and hurried out in a rush.
Ji Mian had felt unable to sleep just a moment ago, but now that she had passed out and come to, she felt an intense, pervasive ache all over her body. Struggling for a bit, she discovered she was leaning against a very soft chair.
She finally regained her wits and looked around this location.
This was an ordinary-looking small wooden cabin. For some reason, it was rather cold, the surrounding timber emitting crisp cracking sounds from time to time, and plumes of cold mist visible between breaths.
The owner of the house appeared just as she finished looking around, carrying a small brazier over and bending down to add some charcoal into it.
Ji Mian clutched her neck and raised her head for a glance. The figure was exceedingly familiar, the cloak she wore still bearing the insignia of the Xuanwu Sect, wasn’t this precisely that sect leader?
“Leader, it was this subordinate who was presumptuous. Are you alright?”
Ji Mian was startled by this form of address, yet she still couldn’t make out the person’s face clearly. However, she felt she had heard this voice somewhere before.
“Who on earth are you…”
“You might have forgotten, Leader, but this subordinate has met you once. Perhaps you will recognize this face.”
The young girl right before her was just about to remove the hat from her head when a sudden, urgent rush of wind swept close by.
Before she could react, the person before her retreated several paces away. With a sweep of her wide sleeve, Ji Mian watched a dart fly out from her concealed cuff.
Lin Qingye rushed forward to protect her, only to be struck in the shoulder by the flying dart. The arrowhead sank halfway in, and fresh blood continuously seeped out through her white garments.
Lin Qingye let out a muffled groan, yet still braced herself to shield Ji Mian behind her, sweat instantly beading on her forehead.
Ji Mian was shocked. The moment she reacted, Heian instantly took form in her hand. Without a shred of hesitation, a streak of scarlet sword qi lashed out. Because of her extreme panic, it perhaps veered slightly, landing only half its force upon the young girl before her, but that was already sufficient.
The girl flew backward along with the force, bending at the waist to narrowly evade that ferocious sword qi.
Ji Mian’s palm was shaken raw and bloody by the ferocious sword qi, she tilted her head to spit out a mouthful of blood, then extended the tip of her tongue to lick it away.
She found herself strangely infatuated with this taste, she wanted more…
Ji Mian likely had no idea how crazed her expression was at that moment. Her red pupils emitted a dim glow, like blood flowing, darting, and surging within them.
Lowering her head, she picked up Heian, completely ignoring the wounds on her hand.
“Ji Mian.”
Lin Qingye stood up, watching her appearance. Whether startled or not, her expression was somewhat dazed, her lips slightly parted beneath her mask.
“Calm down.”
At this call, Ji Mian regained a portion of her pain sensation. Failing to maintain her grip on Heian, the weapon dropped down once more.
The young girl’s hat hadn’t been removed by her own hand, but rather knocked off by that streak of sword qi, revealing a face that Ji Mian found intensely familiar.
“My elder sister shares a fine friendship with you. Do you not recognize this face?”
“What is your… name?”
“This subordinate goes by the name Si Li, and my elder sister is Si Luo. Greetings, Leader.”
Ji Mian furrowed her brows, as though genuinely probing for a matching fragment within her chaotic memories.
Her aggressive momentum instantly shrivelled away.
Ji Mian stood with her mouth open, unable to speak, feeling rather uncomfortable as she looked at Lin Qingye’s wretched state.
Yet since this matter happened to involve her own affairs, it had culminated in a massive blunder, and Lin Qingye had even been injured.
Ji Mian pursed her lips, frowning as she looked at Lin Qingye’s still-bleeding shoulder.
A thousand words remained unspoken.
Lin Qingye was slightly stunned.
“Since nothing is the matter, I shall be heading back first.”
Lowering her gaze, she nodded. Her emotions seemed to have grown despondent, her retreating figure appearing lonely. With her shoulder injured, her gait was adjusted to accommodate it as she departed without a sound.
She looked like an abandoned pet.
Ji Mian watched her retreating figure vanish, somewhat lost in thought and constantly worrying over her wound, only recalling the person before her after a long moment.
“So, what did you want me for?”
“You cooperated with my master to arrange for me to be sent here, in order to coordinate with your actions. This subordinate has come this time to inquire about your arrangements. Imprisoning Huo Ran is no trivial matter, and I’m afraid it cannot be a long-term solution.”
Ah?
What did she mean by Ji Mian arranging it?
Furthermore, Huo Ran’s imprisonment was also arranged single-handedly by her? What was the meaning of this?
“When did I ever discuss this with your master?”
“That I do not know. This subordinate is merely acting on orders and is unaware of the inner details. Perhaps you can chat with my master, you might just find what you are looking for.”
“However, Si Luo’s affliction can no longer be delayed, and I hope you can make a decision as early as possible.”
“What illness has she contracted?”
“The blood poison of the Lihuang clan.”
The Lihuang lineage originally originated in Zhesha, and the precise cause of its appearance remains unknown, in short, such a group of people suddenly emerged. Within their bodies flowed multiplied nutrients, making them an exceptional tonic for those who practiced martial arts, especially those cultivating demonic arts.
Practicing demonic arts easily invites backlash. After all, acting contrary to the Dao and defying the laws of nature naturally cannot come without a price.
Most individuals perish in their youth, or else have their reason consumed by rage and turn deranged. Who knows which madman once captured people possessing this bloodline, drank their blood, and cultivated through dual practice?
Suddenly, all symptoms of their backlash vanished entirely.
People possessing this bloodline belonged to semi-demons, neither fully human nor ghost, making them prone to covetous desires and bringing forth strife.
In particular, the purer the bloodline, the more susceptible they were to running a high fever on a specific day, especially upon turning eighteen, when no medicine could cure them and they could only rely on their physical constitution to hard-out endure it.
Ever since Huo Ran assumed power, individuals possessing this bloodline had become exceedingly scarce.
“Huo Ran has been refining medicine in secret all these years. Although it’s unknown what she intends to use this stuff for, right now only she can help Si Luo. She just turned eighteen, so this toxin flare-up has been extremely severe…”
A carrier pigeon flew in through the window.
Lin Qingye was not lightly hurt, that flying weapon hadn’t been thrown with restrained force and had pierced very deep. Lin Qingye pulled out the dart, enduring the pain as she stopped the bleeding with the herb ointment she carried on her person.
She removed the slip of paper tied to the pigeon’s leg.
The slip was dainty, a string of small seal script written upon it. Lin Qingye gazed closely at the slip, abruptly furrowing her brows. The carrier pigeon had yet to fly far, its silhouette fading away toward the west against the darkening sky.
To the west lay the territory of the Demonic Cult.
She picked up the blood-stained dart from the table once more, searching for any conspicuous insignia, but found none.
This was simply an ordinary dart.
She sighed in a low murmur, but at that moment, her chamber door was knocked upon.
“Enter.”
Lin Qingye hadn’t locked the door, figuring Ji Mian would likely come looking for her. Seeing that person sneaking in stealthily, the pent-up irritation in her heart dissipated quite a bit.
To call it irritation was admittedly somewhat unreasonable.
She sat upright without moving, simply watching step-by-step as Ji Mian shuffled closer.
“Lin Qingye…”
Ji Mian gazed at her with cautious care, then glanced back down at the wound on her shoulder.
Lin Qingye let out a soft hrumph, acknowledging her presence while her hands continued their uninterrupted work treating her own wound. The shoulder area was inherently inconvenient, and her movements were awkward, yet she stubbornly refused to speak up.
“I think you need someone deft-handed to give you a hand.”
Ji Mian stepped forward and snatched the ointment jar right out of her hand. Fearing she might tick Lin Qingye off, she patted her like smoothing down a cat’s fur.
Lin Qingye, however, fixed her gaze intently on Ji Mian’s hands.
“You? Deft-handed?”
“Which word in that description remotely applies to you?”
Holding the jade bottle, Ji Mian scraped the ointment inside a few times, her hand still trembling slightly as she extended it out.
“Every single word applies wonderfully.”
Si Li hadn’t held back her strength. Ji Mian hadn’t noticed earlier, only knowing that Lin Qingye was sweating from the pain, but now she realized just how startlingly gruesome this wound truly was.
A bloody crater sat on her shoulder, the bleeding had stopped, but plenty of smeared blood still stained the edges. A purple ring haloed the outer perimeter of the injury.
“I’m sorry, I was hauled away by her abruptly too, I didn’t mean to keep it from you. She even knocked me out cold.”
Ji Mian imitated a hand-chop motion.
Gazing at this blood-soaked wound, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.
Her brows knitted tightly together, as though the injury were on her own body. The force in her hands grew much lighter, punctuated by her occasionally hissing in sympathy and blowing gently against the wound.
“Ji Mian, I also need to leave on a trip.”
“Are you taking revenge on me?”
Lin Qingye rolled her eyes at her and retorted flatly:
“I am not nearly as childish as you.”
“I simply have some personal matters to handle.”
“You’re really not doing this on purpose?”
Lin Qingye yanked the clothing back up over her shoulder, acting as though she were done talking to Ji Mian. Naturally unwilling to drop it, Ji Mian forcefully dragged Lin Qingye’s garment back down, pulling down quite a bit extra in the process and exposing the undergarment beneath.
Lin Qingye: …
Caught entirely off guard by this rough handling, Lin Qingye lost her composure slightly, the tips of her ears turning close to blazing red as she feigned an expressionless facade while pulling her clothes back up to cover herself.
“Would you say I am justified in considering this as you acting indecently toward me?”