In just a few moments, the resolve that had barely formed in Yun Jinghe’s eyes crumbled to dust.
She felt as though an invisible hand had tightened around her throat, leaving her lips slightly parted yet unable to utter a word.
“What’s wrong with you?” Shi Ying asked, puzzled. “Did I do something wrong?”
She recalled the scenes from her memories, thinking she might try again.
But Yun Jinghe suddenly seized Shi Ying’s wrist and yanked her away. “How dare you!”
Not just in Taicang Mountain, no one in the entire world would dare treat her with such disrespect!
This was the first time she had ever been so harsh with Shi Ying. The authority and killing intent she had always deliberately restrained now radiated from her, casting an invisible pressure.
Shi Ying, however, wasn’t frightened by this version of Yun Jinghe. She only felt pain in her wrist, the grip was so tight it seemed her bones might shatter.
She couldn’t help but try to pry Yun Jinghe’s fingers off. “What are you doing? I just touched you lightly, that’s all!”
The other sisters always liked doing this, why was it suddenly wrong when it came to Yun Jinghe?
“If you don’t like it, just say so. I won’t do it again. Why is everyone else fine with it, but you’re like this?” Shi Ying felt a surge of irritation.
Though frail, since her birth, she had never been treated like this. It had always been her making others cry.
To think she had gone to such lengths for this woman’s golden core, what a terrible deal!
Yet Yun Jinghe seemed deaf to her words, gripping her wrist relentlessly.
When Shi Ying got no response, she pushed Yun Jinghe away.
The shove caught Yun Jinghe off guard. She turned her head abruptly and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Shi Ying froze at the sight, staring blankly at her own palm. Since when had she possessed such strength?
Yun Jinghe had no time to dwell on anything else. Her face was deathly pale, her fingers clutching her chest as veins bulged on her forehead. Soon, cold sweat beaded at her temples.
Even in this state, she refused to let go of Shi Ying’s hand.
“What were you doing just now?” Yun Jinghe bit out each word, her tone laced with barely restrained fury.
“Kissing you,” Shi Ying replied with the same unbothered ease, as though it were the most casual thing in the world.
Seeing Yun Jinghe like this, Shi Yingmomentarily forgot the pain in her wrist.
Had Yun Jinghe really coughed up blood just from a kiss?
What if she kissed her a few more times? Would that do the trick?
The thought made Shi Ying’s eyes gleam, a bright smile spreading across her face.
Though now didn’t seem like the right moment Yun Jinghe might be blind, but the look in her eyes was terrifying, as if she wanted to devour her whole.
“You!” Yun Jinghe closed her eyes, swallowing back the blood rising in her throat. “Do you even know what that means?”
Without hesitation, Shi Ying answered, “It means I like you.” Especially your golden core.
Yun Jinghe’s breathing was erratic, her blood-stained lips a vivid crimson, making her appear even more striking.
“Are you okay?” Shi Ying ‘concernedly’ asked.
Yun Jinghe’s lashes trembled as she slowly opened her eyes, murmuring, “Do you truly understand?”
Something felt off, but she had never encountered anything like this before she had nothing to compare it to.
“Of course.” Shi Ying shook her wrist. “Can you let go of me now?”
She felt that Yun Jinghe didn’t seem as terrifying as before.
Yun Jinghe seemed to only now realize she had been gripping the other’s hand tightly. Her fingers stiffened slightly before releasing the slender, fair wrist, leaving behind faint blue marks from her grasp.
Her mind was in such turmoil that her spiritual veins had momentarily reversed, her qi and blood churning uncontrollably.
Yun Jinghe swallowed, her throat burning with pain, then stood up to leave. But the hem of her robe was swiftly caught by Shi Ying.
“Where are you going?”
“I—” Yun Jinghe looked toward the blurry, bright daylight outside. “I just want to take a walk. I won’t go far.”
After saying this, she pulled her robe free from Shi Ying’s grip and walked out without looking back, almost as if fleeing in defeat.
Shi Ying watched her retreating figure, thinking that since the woman couldn’t see, she wouldn’t get far. Besides, the effects of the waning moon hadn’t completely faded from her yet, so she didn’t bother stopping her.
Lowering her head, she rubbed her wrist with a pang of regret, certain it would bruise. She’d have to make sure to get payback for this later.
Once outside, Yun Jinghe walked forward almost aimlessly.
She didn’t know where she was going, she just knew she couldn’t stay in that place any longer.
Her unkempt black hair, untouched since the night before, cascaded down her back, fluttering slightly in the breeze, a few strands falling over her chest.
Yun Jinghe felt a tightness at the corner of her lips and remembered the blood still staining them.
She raised a hand to wipe it away, but the moment her fingers touched her lips, the memory of that soft sensation returned unbidden.
Her wiping motion became rougher, and she silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra she hadn’t chanted in a hundred years.
The cold of eternity, all things in stillness, the heart should be calm. Unshaken by change, free from delusion and anger, without desire or greed, without attachment or abandonment, without action or self.
“Unshaken by change, free from delusion and anger, without desire or greed.” Yun Jinghe repeated these lines under her breath, as if doing so could suppress the chaotic thoughts swirling inside her.
After reciting it a hundred times, she finally felt her emotions settle and began to take stock of her surroundings.
Though her vision was unclear, she could make out the general layout. There seemed to be a few houses nearby, contrary to Shi Ying’s claim that there were no neighbors.
But as she drew closer, she saw that the doors of the houses were all wide open, the interiors empty clearly uninhabited.
In that case, Shi Ying hadn’t been wrong.
She lingered for a long while before finally returning to the courtyard gate, a few fruits in hand that she had picked from a tree by the roadside.
The courtyard was silent. She stepped inside and faintly made out the figure lying on the bed.
Yun Jinghe stood quietly in the distance, her expression heavy. She wanted to find some excuse to leave, but her feet carried her forward regardless.
Shi Ying must have been asleep her breathing was steady and even.
Yun Jinghe exhaled in quiet relief.
Shi Ying slept until the afternoon, finally easing some of her exhaustion.
The moment she sat up, she saw Yun Jinghe sitting beside her again.
“When did you come back?”
Yun Jinghe silently handed her a fruit.
“Huh?” Shi Ying was puzzled.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“But I don’t like eating this,” Shi Ying refused her kindness.
Yun Jinghe pursed her lips and withdrew her hand. “Then what do you like to eat? What was it you mentioned this morning?”
Shi Ying couldn’t very well say she preferred to consume dreams, the heavier the emotions and desires, the better.
An idea struck her. “The lotus-scented chicken from Dream Immortal Pavilion.”
Yun Jinghe fell silent for a moment before replying, “Alright.”
Though she had no idea where this Dream Immortal Pavilion was, she would find it.
Shi Ying gave her a strange look. After going out, this person seemed to have recovered and had even become so agreeable.
But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Yun Jinghe had just reminded her that she needed to eat.
So she got out of bed and prepared to leave.
“I’m going out today.”
“Will you be back tonight?” Yun Jinghe lifted her gaze to meet hers.
Shi Ying thought for a moment. “Probably not.”
Yun Jinghe instinctively wanted to stop her, but she restrained herself and simply let Shi Ying go.
Only after Shi Ying had left did a faint glow of spiritual power quietly dissipate from her fingertips.
Half an hour later, Yun Jinghe also stepped out.
Following the traces of spiritual energy, Yun Jinghe eventually arrived at a broad road.
Just as she was about to move forward, an aged voice called out from behind her.
“Young lady?” The old woman’s tone was tentative. “Did you come from Nine Stars Village?”
Yun Jinghe turned to see a slightly hunched figure, accompanied by a younger woman whose posture and bearing marked her as much more youthful.
Thinking she hadn’t heard, the old woman repeated her question.
Yun Jinghe looked in the direction she pointed, the very path she had taken. There seemed to be only one road, with no forks or detours.
“Yes.”
The old woman gasped in shock. “Good heavens! Didn’t you see the notices posted outside? How dare you go there alone are you trying to get yourself killed?” Her voice was thick with concern.
Yun Jinghe frowned. “My apologies, I have poor eyesight. What notices were posted?”
The old woman clutched her chest in dismay. “Sweet merciful heavens! A young girl with bad eyes, wandering around alone, what is your family thinking?”
“Could you tell me what the notices said?”
“That village is haunted! Even the authorities couldn’t handle it. They made the whole village move out, no one lives there anymore,” the younger woman chimed in.
Yun Jinghe listened, suspicion stirring in her heart, but she said nothing more.
“You’re still young, don’t dismiss these supernatural matters. By the time you actually encounter something, it’ll be too late,” the old woman warned gravely before they parted ways.
Yun Jinghe thanked her for the concern and continued on her way.
The spiritual energy she had left behind was sparse, and its traces wouldn’t last long. She needed to follow them quickly.
After walking for about an hour, she finally spotted a city gate. There were no guards checking identification, so she entered with ease.
Having been away from crowds for so long, the press of people nearly obscured the faint spiritual traces on the ground.
She wandered the city for another half-hour before stopping at a place alive with laughter and chatter.
Gauzy curtains hung before the building, and the air carried a faint scent of perfumed powder.
Yun Jinghe followed the spiritual traces on the ground, they led straight to the open entrance before vanishing.
Inside the gate, pairs of women leaned against each other, their playful banter and laughter brimming with an air of intimacy.