“Master, where on earth did you pick me up from?”
Lin Qingye sat upright. With mid-month approaching, her body was also growing somewhat weak, and her complexion at the moment was not looking too good.
The mountain gate of the Qingxuan Sect was some distance away from the demonic sect. If she wanted to arrive on time, she needed to set off a day early.
She was about to leave when she happened to run into her master coming out of seclusion, which prompted her to ask.
“Why bring this up all of a sudden?”
Lin Qingye’s master was named Chen Jing. True to her name, she was holding a white Go piece at that moment, cornering Lin Qingye’s black piece into a dead end.
“During my previous trip, this disciple encountered some matters related to the Canglu Kingdom. You once said you picked me up at the border of the Canglu Kingdom. I do not know the exact location, and I wonder if you know anything about my background?”
“The one who picked you back was not me. At that time, I was a bit younger, liked to travel around and make friends everywhere, and got to know a few people. The person who picked you up was named Huang Ling. She handed you over to me, only saying that your natural constitution was exceptional and that you were moldable timber. She was carefree by nature, unwilling to take in disciples and yet unwilling to let such talent go to waste, which was why she entrusted you to me.”
Lin Qingye frowned and pursued the question.
“Where is that senior now?”
“She is utterly wild. I have not seen her in many years either. Right now, she is probably throwing a drunken tantrum on some mountain peak.”
Chen Jing said this with absolute certainty, though a hint of anger lingered in the depths of her eyes. Clearly, she was not very happy whenever that person was mentioned. Lin Qingye did not ask any further.
“Qingye, the destruction of Canglu is a very complicated matter. Unless absolutely necessary, it is best not to get too involved.”
Yet the only thing she remembered was Canglu, so how could she choose to stand aloof and protect only herself?
“I know you have a rigid temperament, but have you ever considered that with your special bloodline, it is impossible for you to just be an ordinary person? The fate of Canglu was so tragic. On your path to exploring your background, your enemies might also track you down.”
Lin Qingye remained silent.
“Forget it. If you want to know something, go take a look at Zhesha.”
Early that morning, the library pavilion had finally been more or less repaired. Ji Mian disliked having people accompany her, so she went inside alone.
The library pavilion smelled heavily of dust. Even with a simple cleaning, there still lingered a stale odor accumulated from a long time of poor ventilation.
Ji Mian reached out to pull open the window and began exploring inside the library pavilion.
The books within the library pavilion were quite diverse, featuring quite a few rare editions by master writers, and all sorts of niche collections were extremely detailed. Following the classification, she tracked down a national history book.
This book recorded the developmental history of the four countries. Overall, it was relatively brief, giving roughly the same amount of space to each country, and Canglu even had much of its content reduced due to being destroyed too early.
These were all matters known to everyone, so Ji Mian searched through some unofficial histories of dubious truth. Most of what they recorded were imperial secrets. For instance, the affairs between the two empresses were fabricated to a rather absurd degree.
The ones she would write were nowhere near that melodramatic.
Ji Mian read like this until late into the night, forgetting to sleep and eat, treating it as reading folk tales and feeling it wasn’t half bad.
On this day, Ji Mian was holding an unofficial history book and savoring it carefully when Shui Huai suddenly walked in, glanced seemingly at the book cover, and said nothing.
Then, she handed over an invitation card about a foot long. Ji Mian took it, looked it over, and caught a whiff of a familiar scent. Inside, a series of diplomatic boilerplate phrases were written in beautiful regular script, followed closely by a signature: Jian Xiyan.
“This was sent by someone dispatched by the Jade-Faced General.”
Ji Mian’s fingers stroked the invitation card.
“Why haven’t I seen this thing before?”
“This is a personal habit of the Jade-Faced General; the demonic sect does not have such a tradition.”
Jian Xiyan was orthodox royal royalty, her family having served in the military for generations, with every single one being a master at leading troops and fighting battles. It was rumored that she was righteous and disdained associating with people like Ji Mian who cultivated through unorthodox, crooked ways. Why would she want to see her today?
There were quite a few people in the demonic sect cultivating through unorthodox methods, and the original owner was no exception. Ji Mian’s crimson pupils were not something she was born with; they had turned into their current state after being stained with the aura of blood from her postnatal cultivation.
In the end, it was hard to decline. Ji Mian took a carriage, bringing Shui Huai and a few junior attendants along with her.
The style of this carriage was also something she had never seen before. The creatures pulling it in front were not horses, but two very tall and robust antelopes. They ran very fast yet very steadily. Word had it that Chen Que had raised them, and finding them useful, she had popularized them throughout the demonic palace.
Speaking of Chen Que, Ji Mian let out another long sigh. She feared she would inevitably have to deal with her in the future, presenting yet another very troublesome person.
Ji Mian’s party disembarked in front of the Jinyin Pavilion.
The Jinyin Pavilion looked extremely imposing. Its location was not out of the way, and catching a glimpse of a corner from the outside, it was far more luxurious than Ji Mian’s sleeping chambers.
If Ji Mian remembered correctly, hibiscus flowers were supposed to be shrubs, but the hibiscus in Jian Xiyan’s courtyard grew extraordinarily tall. Slender branches climbed up the wall, gathering in cluster after cluster, with layer upon layer of curled petals squeezed into hydrangea-like shapes, blooming on the verge of breaking branches.
Ji Mian watched for a moment and walked to the entrance, but no one came out to welcome her. The manor gate was opened a crack, clearly intending for Ji Mian to enter by herself.
Shui Huai followed behind, very consciously stepping forward to open the door for Ji Mian. Her complexion was very unsightly, and her indifferent expression exuded sheer disdain and dissatisfaction.
The moment she reached out, a barrier-like presence seemed to be on the door, instantly repelling her a full five paces away. The impact targeted only her, while Ji Mian, standing to the side, was unaffected.
A figure walked out from the narrow crack of the door. Revealing only a vague silhouette through the doorway, the person seemed to glance at Ji Mian before speaking in an indifferent, cold tone to chase her away.
“Apologies. Jian has already stated that the Attendant Ling is not welcome here, and my word stands.”
Although Jian Xiyan apologized, she showed not the slightest intention of backing down. That made sense; Shui Huai’s status and standing could not possibly compare to imperial royalty like Jian Xiyan.
Only, judging purely by the information Ji Mian had gathered during this period, Jian Xiyan did not seem like the type to be arrogant and conceited based on her talent.
It seemed the bad blood between these two people was not small.
She did not wish to stir up conflict here, so she told Shui Huai to wait in the carriage and walked forward herself.
Sure enough, when Ji Mian pushed the door, she met with no resistance. In fact, before she even had to push it open, the door swung open to welcome her.
The moment she stepped inside, the door behind her automatically closed. Following closely after, several dark shadows leaped swiftly, darting in front of her in a blur. With extremely fast reflexes, she dodged sideways a few times, only to realize in mid-air that they were a few kittens.
The kittens pounced into empty air and landed on Jian Xiyan, who was standing behind Ji Mian.
It was only now, after a momentary daze, that Ji Mian managed to catch a glimpse of this person’s full appearance.
The person wore a pure white jade mask that tightly concealed the lower half of her face. In particular, she was currently wearing a suit of leather armor, which gleamed with a murderous glint under the gloomy daylight of the demonic sect’s territory. Beast-tooth bronze studs hung from the edges of the armor, and the breastplate featured a protruding image of a Pixiu beast with a giant mouth agape, as if it wanted to swallow Ji Mian whole in a single gulp.
Ji Mian felt an inexplicable panic, especially since Jian Xiyan stood half a head taller than her, bringing an overwhelming aura.
The Jade-Faced General, was she?
She really couldn’t tell.
“Ji Mian, won’t you come inside and sit with me?”
Ji Mian was left momentarily disoriented by her gentle tone and could only silently follow her into the pavilion within the courtyard.
It was evident that Jian Xiyan truly loved hibiscus flowers; even the flower bed housing the pavilion contained a cluster of them, growing shorter and blooming even more prettily.
“I heard you forgot quite a few things after waking up. I invited you here this time precisely to remind you not to forget our agreement.”
Jian Xiyan sat down and poured tea for her. After arranging the tea set, she reached out to pick up the little black cat that had just lunged at Ji Mian, her lily-white fingers combing through the pitch-black cat fur and scratching the kitten under its chin.
“An agreement?”
Ji Mian calmly sipped a mouthful of flower tea, using the motion to observe the eyes exposed beneath the other’s mask.
Jian Xiyan seemed to have no guard against her; she had baited the hook just as expected.
“I want you to help me find someone. As long as you can help me find her, I will agree to any condition.”
“She is very important to me.”
“It is just that my identity makes it inconvenient to leave the palace, so I must trouble you. If you set out toward the polar region, I hope you can give me a ride.”
Ji Mian tapped her knuckles on the table, secretly lifting a smile, picked up her teacup, and took another sip of the sweet, fragrant flower tea.
“Who on earth is she to you?”
“I do not know. I have searched for her for many years, holding only this single wish in my heart.”
Jian Xiyan had busy military affairs to attend to and had to head to the training grounds shortly after, so the two parted ways there.
Counting the days, tomorrow would be the fifteenth.
Ji Mian lay on the couch, holding a small calendar she had made herself.
She was finally going to see Lin Qingye again.
She had thought about it for a long time. Perhaps she could help Lin Qingye avoid some unnecessary trouble within a certain scope. Logically speaking, as long as the major plot points remained unchanged, there shouldn’t be any major issues.
She thought for a long time more, yet she really had no clue about her bizarre transmigrations into a book, so she stopped thinking about it, flipped over, and fell asleep.
Ji Mian’s greatest virtue was having a thick skin; no matter what happened, it never hindered her sleep.
Or as they called it, conserving strength and storing up energy.
When she woke up the next day, it was already bright outside. Sitting up, she saw a person dressed entirely in white sitting by the window. Holding a sword, her long hair tied back by a hair ribbon scattered with the wind, the sparkling morning light reflected brilliantly in her pair of beautiful eyes.
Seeing this scene, Ji Mian felt as though she had witnessed it many, many times before. An inexplicable urge welled up in her heart. She wanted to pursue it, she wanted to possess it.
Seeing her get up, Lin Qingye raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“Awoken? You slept quite soundly.”
Lin Qingye’s smile carried no other implication, making it a pleasing sight to behold. She had no idea how long she had been sitting here, as Ji Mian had been completely unaware while fast asleep.
Looking at her figure, Ji Mian inexplicably felt a sense of peace of mind. She greeted her with a morning wish.
“Care to have a bite together?”
Shui Huai had already brought in the breakfast. Seeing Lin Qingye, she showed no surprise, kept her expression as usual, and quietly left after finishing her duties.
“You really do have a thick skin…”
Lin Qingye sat beside her. The maids in the sleeping chambers had all been dismissed, leaving only Shui Huai guarding the door. Only then did she feel at ease dining here, testing the food for poison with a silver needle before reluctantly using her chopsticks.
“Why do you say that?”
“Have you never suspected that there might be a mole by your side?”
Ji Mian paused for a moment, expressionless, and then continued eating her meal.
Of course, she had suspected it, but with so many people around her whom she couldn’t even fully recognize yet, she had no idea where to even begin.
“That day, I took away the volume of the Book of Departing Life from Fu Ling’s hands.”
As Lin Qingye spoke, she produced a long wooden box.
It was also Ji Mian’s first time seeing what the Book of Departing Life looked like: a book with very plain packaging.
Yet on it, there was not even a trace of immortal magic.
Sure enough, Lin Qingye spoke in a cold voice.
“This is a counterfeit.”