Chapter 281: A Great Stirring (Part 1)
Liu Yun City, Xiao Sect’s back mountain, Thinking Gorge.
Xiao Lie had returned from hunting, holding a somewhat scrawny wild rabbit in his hand, a faint trace of joy on his face. He sat down, listening to the sound of his daughter practicing swords nearby, and began to prepare his catch.
After being confined here, in the initial period, the Xiao Sect would still deliver meals every day, and he could occasionally learn some of the sect’s recent news from the disciples who brought the food. Later, the frequency of deliveries decreased, and after three months, no one came with meals at all. Clearly, since they were to be confined for a full twenty years, and had no close relatives within the sect, no one could be bothered to care about them anymore. What little pity there was at the beginning eventually turned into leaving them to fend for themselves in the back mountain.
Fortunately, the back mountain was not completely barren. Within the area he was allowed to move, he could find some wild vegetables and occasionally hunt one or two tasty low-level profound beasts. This was how father and daughter managed day after day in the back mountain. Xiao Lie had once thought of taking Xiao Lingxi and leaving this place—he couldn’t let his daughter’s most beautiful years be locked away like this. But if they fled, they would surely be pursued by the Xiao Sect… After all, they were imprisoned here on the orders of the Fourth Young Master of the Xiao Sect. He wasn’t afraid of punishment for himself, even if they branded him a traitor fleeing the sect, but he couldn’t risk Xiao Lingxi.
During this time, Xiao Lingxi spent most of her days in focused cultivation. Besides that, there was truly nothing else for her to do. Undistracted training allowed her to make considerable progress, and her profound strength had now broken through to the ninth level of the Initial Xuan Realm.
“Ah!!”
A young girl’s cry suddenly came from outside. Xiao Lie stopped what he was doing and swiftly leaped out, seeing Xiao Lingxi sitting on the ground, her hand clutching her chest, the slightly rusted iron sword tossed aside.
“Xixi, what’s wrong?” Xiao Lie rushed over and asked anxiously.
Xiao Lingxi’s clothes were old and faded white but spotlessly clean. The wind and dust of the back mountain had not roughened her skin; instead, she had grown even more beautiful and delicate. Even in her worn garments, she seemed to radiate a kind of spiritual grace. But compared to before, she was noticeably thinner, and in her tender, beautiful eyes lay a faint trace of melancholy, making her resemble a wounded spirit—lovable, yet heart-wrenching and pitiable.
“I don’t know…” Xiao Lingxi shook her head gently, pressing her hand to her heart as her delicate brows trembled incessantly. “My heart… suddenly started hurting so much… so much… wuwu… it really hurts…”
“Your heart?” Seeing his daughter’s state, Xiao Lie felt a pang of pain. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Don’t stand up just yet. Maybe you’ve been practicing swords too hard. Rest a while, and it might pass.”
“Mn.” Xiao Lingxi obediently agreed. She tightly furrowed her brows, the pain seeming to seep from her very soul, piercing her bones. Accompanying the pain, Yun Che’s figure kept flashing before her eyes and in her heart. Suddenly, she began to cry. “Father… I’m not afraid of the hardship here… but… I miss Xiao Che so much… Where is he now… When he left, he didn’t have much money, and his body was so weak. Is he being bullied? Does he have enough to eat? Does he even have a place to sleep? Will he… will he… wuwu… wuwuwu… I miss him so much… I’m so worried about him…”
Xiao Lingxi covered her face with both hands and sobbed. From childhood to now, she and Yun Che had been together every day. Before that upheaval happened, they had hardly spent a single day apart. She had never even imagined being separated from him… But fate suddenly turned cruel, forcing them apart, and they had already been separated for a very long time. This separation made her deeply feel how painful an ordeal it was to live without him by her side. Her longing for him grew with each passing day, and she relied on frantic cultivation to distract herself.
But just now, the longing she had desperately suppressed burst forth like a flood under the sudden assault of heartache, so intense that she could no longer control her emotions. She cried miserably, her heartbroken sobs filling the air.
Xiao Lie let out a long sigh and gently comforted her, “Xixi, Che’er has grown up. He’s a real man now. Perhaps leaving the Xiao Sect is a good thing for him. Outside, he can gain experience and truly mature. Even if he has to endure some hardship or get hurt, it’s nothing.”
“Xixi, don’t cry. He will become strong out there. As his little aunt, you must be even stronger than him. When the day comes that he returns, you must let him see a you who is even more radiant than before. That will surely be the thing that makes him happiest… Che’er said he would definitely return within three years. As a grown man, I believe he will keep his word.”
Xiao Lingxi continued to sob. Hearing Xiao Lie’s words, she nodded vigorously, then slowly wiped away the tears on her face. But the surging longing and piercing pain in her heart could not be calmed…
Xiao Che… Where are you… I really miss you… I don’t ask you to come back to see us within three years… I only ask that you be safe… Be safe, no matter what…
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Tian Jian Villa, Sword Control Platform.
Xia Qingyue stood in her white attire, quietly facing the Punishment Heaven Sword. The sword wind on the platform howled, constantly lifting her long hair and sleeves, but it could not stir her gaze. She had been standing there for a long time, utterly alone, with only the countless flying swords keeping her company.
The sky gradually darkened. Dusk arrived quietly, and the sword wind began to carry a hint of chill. A gust of strong wind blew, causing her long hair to gently brush against her face. At that moment, behind her, a deliberately softened footstep approached from afar, disturbing Xia Qingyue’s tranquil heart.
Her gaze rippled slightly. Looking ahead, she softly murmured, “Husband… let Qingyue be your wife again in the next life… okay? In that life, Qingyue will be… a true wife… will that be okay…”
Her soft murmur was quickly swallowed by the wind, unheard by anyone. She turned around. Behind her stood a man dressed entirely in white, his bearing as graceful as jade.
Looking at Xia Qingyue’s immortal beauty, Ling Yun’s breath grew slightly unsteady. He smiled faintly and saluted her with a sword greeting. “Fairy Xia, are you also here to see off a friend?”
“No.” Xia Qingyue shook her head and said softly, “I am here… to see off my husband.”
Ling Yun’s entire body trembled. He abruptly raised his head to look at Xia Qingyue. Just as he was about to ask if he had heard wrong, he suddenly noticed the black cloth tied around Xia Qingyue’s left arm… a cloth that hadn’t been there before.
“Fairy Xia, you… what did you just say? Husband? Did Ling mishear? Or is Fairy Xia playing a joke on me?” Ling Yun spoke in the calmest voice he could muster. But his hands were already trembling faintly, and his heart was in complete turmoil.
Xia Qingyue did not answer him. She extended her jade-like wrist, gathered her long hair, and with a light motion of her left hand, a lock of her hair was silently severed. Then, as her jade hand rose, the hair scattered toward the center of the Sword Control Platform. Instantly, strands of hair were caught by the sword wind, swirling around the Punishment Heaven Sword in the middle, as if clinging to and accompanying something.
Xia Qingyue closed her beautiful eyes. A moment later, she soared into the air and vanished from Ling Yun’s line of sight.
Ling Yun’s entire body stiffened. He collapsed weakly to his knees, his pupils contracting and dilating repeatedly. This young master of Tian Jian Villa, once the strongest among the younger generation, now seemed to have lost his soul…
“They are husband and wife… Yun Che… is her husband… She is already… already married… Impossible… impossible… It must be a lie… impossible…”
Ling Yun muttered the same words over and over, the darkness in his eyes reflecting the collapse of his beliefs.
At the same time, his father, Ling Yuefeng, was also deeply troubled. He paced back and forth in front of the courtyard where he was staying at the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, his mind both worried about Chu Yuechan’s injuries and wildly speculating why she had reacted that way. He had never imagined that Chu Yuechan, always as cold as winter snow and as icy as a mysterious lotus, could lose control of her emotions to the point of spitting out reversed blood.
Given Chu Yuechan’s temperament, even if Xia Qingyue, now the top disciple of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, were to suddenly fall, her most likely reaction would be a suffocating silence… There should be nothing in this world that could provoke such a reaction from her.
Could it really be because of that fallen Yun Che… No! Impossible! Absolutely impossible! There must be another reason.
In his agitation, he did not notice that not far away, his wife, Xuanyuan Yufeng, was watching his every expression with cold eyes, her gaze growing colder and more disappointed.
At that moment, Ling Yuefeng’s patience seemed to reach its limit. Unable to endure any longer, he gritted his teeth and entered the courtyard, then pushed open the door to the room where Chu Yuechan was staying.
Chu Yuechan lay quietly on the bed, her face deathly pale. Chu Yueli stood beside the bed, her face full of worry and unease. An elderly, thin woman was pressing her fingers against Chu Yuechan’s pulse.
Grandmother Jiumu was over a hundred and ninety years old. In terms of seniority, she was several generations above Villa Master Ling Yuefeng. In terms of medical skill, she was said to be no less than Gu Qiuhong, known as the number one divine doctor of the Cang Feng Empire. However, she was indifferent to fame and fortune, never leaving Tian Jian Villa in her entire life, so few people in the empire knew her name.
“Grandmother Jiumu, how is Fairy Bingchan?” Ling Yuefeng asked with concern. Facing Grandmother Jiumu, his demeanor showed clear respect.
Grandmother Jiumu removed her withered fingers from Chu Yuechan’s snow-white wrist, picked up her cane, and hobbled forward a few steps. Her voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, and unpleasant to hear. “She is not seriously injured. The reason she fainted is simply that she suffered a great emotional shock. Extreme grief attacked her heart, causing a backflow of heart blood. She will wake up soon enough.”
“That’s good…” Ling Yuefeng nodded, but his heart remained in turmoil.
“However, she has been practicing ice-type profound arts for many years. Her internal organs are extremely cold. If this continues, I’m afraid the fetus in her womb cannot be saved.” Grandmother Jiumu said lightly.
Those final words struck like a thunderclap in the ears of Chu Yueli and Ling Yuefeng. Chu Yueli quickly said, “Impossible! Grandmother Jiumu, you must have made a mistake. My sister never interacts with men. She absolutely cannot have a fetus!”
“That’s right. Grandmother Jiumu, you must be mistaken this time. The fairies of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace never marry. Fairy Bingchan cannot possibly have a fetus.” Ling Yuefeng immediately added.
“Hmph!” Faced with their doubts, Grandmother Jiumu showed anger. She tapped her cane hard on the ground and said hoarsely, “I have practiced medicine for a hundred and eighty-nine years. What strange diseases or rare injuries have I not seen and treated? The people I have treated outnumber everyone you have met in your entire lives. Do you think I could mistake something as simple as whether a woman is carrying a fetus? Hmph!”