The sky had only just begun to lighten, and Taixuan Palace was already bustling with people coming and going.
As the Executive Hall where every disciple of the Qiantian Sect came to receive and hand in missions, this place was always this lively and busy, day after day.
A Qing yawned as she stepped through the entrance, and when she ran into a few inner-sect senior brothers walking toward her, she immediately stepped respectfully aside, waiting until they’d passed before straightening up to continue inward.
She kept turning her head back, her eyes full of envy as she watched those senior brothers.
Envious of their outstanding talent, their renowned masters guiding them—even their disciple robes and identity jade tablets were things an outer-sect disciple like her could never match.
Still, being able to do odd jobs in the Executive Hall already made her luckier than many outer-sect disciples.
There was one other person as lucky as her.
“Xueyi?”
A Qing lifted her skirt and ran inside, spotting Cheng Xueyi wiping down the table behind the desk.
Though cultivators could clean a room spotless with a spell, that required a high-level technique. Cultivators skilled enough for high-level spells hardly had the time to spend in the hall doing such menial chores, so in the end it always fell to the lower-ranked disciples to clean things the old-fashioned way.
“You finished all this in just one morning?”
A Qing looked around in surprise, then said, a little embarrassed, “Sorry, it’s my fault for oversleeping—I wasn’t able to help.”
Cheng Xueyi put down her cloth and said gently, “You didn’t oversleep. I couldn’t sleep last night, and since I had nothing better to do, I figured I might as well come in early to work.”
Hearing this, A Qing felt both pleased and worried.
Pleased because she wouldn’t have to work and could slack off; worried because something about Cheng Xueyi seemed off.
Though Xueyi was normally good-natured—tolerant of anyone’s unreasonable demands, gentle as though molded from clay—A Qing had stood up for her a few times when she couldn’t stand by and watch, and from then on the two of them had become friends, always taking their shifts together.
B L A C K L O T U S Novel Chapter — BLACK LOTUS NOVELBut even though Xueyi’s words today sounded no different from usual on the surface, A Qing could faintly sense that her mood wasn’t right.
The exhaustion around her eyes was impossible to hide.
“You didn’t sleep last night and did all this work besides—you must be exhausted now. I’ll handle the rest of the chores, you go back and rest.”
Thinking it over, A Qing decided it must be lack of sleep throwing off her mood, and getting her to go back and catch up on rest was the priority. | Black Lotus Translation · Black Lotus
Cheng Xueyi didn’t refuse. She thanked A Qing and walked out through the main hall’s doors.
The sun hung high, and today was clear and mild—a truly beautiful day. Last night, seeing the moon full and round, she’d already expected as much. black lotus novel Novel Site | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
The sunlight was almost too bright, stinging her eyes a little—perhaps also because she’d spent the whole night staring at the moon, and her eyes hadn’t had the chance to rest.
Should she go back and sleep? She stood by the door, thinking idly, when she suddenly overheard some inner-sect disciples passing by, chattering about the latest gossip.
“Did you see that Fu Jinghua yesterday? Is she really as beautiful as the rumors say?”
Fu Jinghua.
Now that was a familiar name.
Ever since she’d joined the sect, she’d constantly heard people mention this name, and everyone who spoke of her did so with longing for her beauty.
“Everyone says she’s the number one beauty under heaven. I’d really like to see for myself if the reputation holds up.”
“Forget it, someone like you will never get the chance to see her true face in this lifetime. You’d probably get cut down by her brother’s Twin-Heart Sword before you even got within a hundred meters of her.”
“I don’t harbor any delusions of defiling an immortal maiden from the Palace of Desirelessness, I’m just admiring her purely and innocently—why would that warrant drawing swords on me? However proud and cold Fu Xiaoran is, surely he wouldn’t be unreasonable about it?”
“Who knows? I caught a glimpse of the two siblings from a distance last night—the number one beauty under heaven and her brother spent the whole night with the eldest senior brother at the Pavilion of Pure Bliss. Officially it was to discuss scriptures and the Dao, but Fu Jinghua didn’t stick with her brother—instead she paired off with the eldest senior brother, moving about so intimately that if the Sect Leader announced their engagement tomorrow, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.”
The ones speaking were all inner-sect disciples of the Qiantian Sect, dressed in fine robes with formidable cultivation—the “eldest senior brother” they spoke of could only be one person.
The Qiantian Sect’s eldest senior brother, Shen Nanyin, heaven’s favored son, divine in bearing, immortal in grace—the object of admiration and envy for everyone in the cultivation world.
A man like him, as lofty as a snow-capped mountain peak, standing beside Fu Jinghua—no one would ever say it insulted the immortal maiden of the Palace of Desirelessness.
Shen Nanyin.
He’d been with the Fu siblings last night.
Discussing scriptures and the Dao. All night long?
Cheng Xueyi had originally meant to leave, but now she suddenly had no intention of walking away.
She stepped directly in front of the inner-sect disciple who’d been speaking, looked him over, and called out his name.
“Senior Brother Shoudao, that’s not quite fair of you to say. Why does a man and a woman spending time together have to mean marriage is on the table? Didn’t you yourself just say they were discussing scriptures and the Dao, with others present as well? Your baseless speculation is deeply disrespectful, both to the eldest senior brother and to our senior sister from the Palace of Desirelessness.”
The group of fellow disciples had only been chatting idly, tossing out a bit of gossip for fun, meant to be forgotten as soon as it was said—who would have expected Cheng Xueyi to suddenly cut in like this.
Li Shoudao frowned as he stared at her. He did remember this female disciple—an outer-sect disciple who did odd jobs in the Executive Hall. Though her cultivation foundation was weak and she was young, she made up for it by being pretty and mild-tempered. In their usual dealings over handing in and receiving missions, he’d always given her a friendly face and looked out for her a bit. He never imagined she’d say something like this to him today.
Disrespecting the eldest senior brother and Fu Jinghua—that wasn’t a small accusation. If word of this got out, he’d be the one facing punishment.
Li Shoudao’s expression turned cold at once, and he snapped, “What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I’d make things up without having heard something first? Since I said it, it’s naturally because the Sect Leader really does have that intention—otherwise why would the Palace of Desirelessness suddenly send people to visit, and their sacred son and daughter at that? If it was really just discussing scriptures and the Dao, why weren’t more people there to join in? Why only the three of them?”
“Junior Sister Cheng is an outer-sect disciple—you’re not as informed about everything as we inner-sect disciples are. You’d best watch your words and not go slapping labels on people,” Li Shoudao said pointedly. “Best if you forget everything you heard today, along with what you just said yourself. Don’t go looking for trouble.”
He clenched his fist, spiritual energy visibly spilling out from it—the threat couldn’t have been more obvious.
Black Lotus Novel Reading — Black LotusCheng Xueyi fell silent. Satisfied that she knew her place, Li Shoudao pulled his fellow disciples along and walked off.
Shielding her eyes from the blazing sun with her hand, Cheng Xueyi stood there a moment longer before finally lowering her head and stepping down the stairs, heading toward the outer-sect disciples’ quarters.
Taixuan Palace sat halfway up the mountain, while the outer-sect disciples’ quarters were down at its foot—every day, her commute to her shift took a full two hours (TN: 一個時辰, roughly two hours). B L A C K L O T U S Translation | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
The road was long, and the closer she got to the outer sect, the fewer disciples passed by, yet Cheng Xueyi’s heart couldn’t settle down because of it.
Li Shoudao was a disciple under Daoist Lord Guangwen, and both Shen Nanyin and Daoist Lord Guangwen had sworn themselves to the Sect Leader.
The Sect Leader was currently in his Tribulation-Crossing stage this year, over two thousand years old, and rarely emerged into the world. All sect affairs were handled by these two direct disciples, with the eldest senior brother, Shen Nanyin, holding the greatest authority among them.
Given this relationship, it was entirely plausible that Li Shoudao really could have heard news from above about who was being matched with whom. Black Lotus Translations — Black Lotus Novel
This was going to be a problem.
Having kept watch alone all night, in the cold with thin clothes, Cheng Xueyi’s hands and feet were still ice-cold even now.
She had a secret—one that no one but her and Shen Nanyin knew.
BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Novel Chapters — Black Lotus NovelThat much-admired, powerful eldest senior brother of the Qiantian Sect, pure as the breeze and bright as the moon, untouched by worldly dust—he was precisely the reason she hadn’t slept a wink last night.
No one knew that someone as lowly as her, an odd-jobs disciple of the Executive Hall who wasn’t even qualified to go out on missions alongside Shen Nanyin, secretly met with him under the moonlight time and again, pouring her heart out to him.
Shen Nanyin truly lived up to his position as the Qiantian Sect’s eldest senior brother, and truly deserved the adoration and sighs everyone gave him. Not only was he handsome and his cultivation profound, his conduct was also measured and proper—even with his noble status as a Daoist Lord, he treated everyone the same regardless of rank, a gentleman among gentlemen.
He was the bright moon’s clear glow, the refined snow of spring—a precious bird perched high on the branch—yet he’d bowed his head for a small stretch of riverbank like her.
Cheng Xueyi had thoroughly enjoyed this. Over the past month, though she’d constantly lost sleep at night, she’d never once complained.
If even the eldest senior brother didn’t mind the exhaustion, it would seem she didn’t understand romance at all if she felt drowsy over such rendezvous.
But last night, he hadn’t shown up.
Not a word, not a single message—he’d simply, abruptly, broken their appointment.
She’d waited alone in the desolate moonlit grove behind the mountain until dawn, and he never came.
She’d been anxious and afraid, and this was the result she got.BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Novel Site | BlackLotusNovel
Going by how far they’d progressed before, if he’d come last night, the two of them should have taken things a step further—some physical intimacy.
And afterward, it would only have made sense for them to complete their cultivation together and become Dao companions.
But now, it seemed everything was over.
He’d never intended to become her Dao companion in the first place.
She wasn’t nearly as important to him as she’d imagined.Black Lotus Novel | BlackLotusNovel
Perhaps by some twist of fate, he’d spent some effort on her, finding her mildly interesting. But the moment heaven’s true favored daughter appeared, she was cast aside without a second thought.
A month of sleepless nights and careful effort, all wasted in an instant—she felt like a discarded plaything, tossed away once used. Forget getting so much as a single word of explanation—whether she’d even get to see Shen Nanyin again was now in question.
She’d actually met plenty of men like this before, and she’d been mentally prepared for it, but now that she realized Shen Nanyin might really be one of them, she still felt disappointed.
That face of his really had deceived her.
Black Lotus Novel Chapter — Black LotusCheng Xueyi stopped walking, standing on the weed-choked, crumbling stone steps—this was where the outer-sect disciples lived, worn down by years of neglect, the surroundings poor, as if separated from the inner-sect disciples living up on the peak by an unbridgeable chasm.
That chasm seemed to lie between her and Shen Nanyin too.
How infuriating.
She suddenly didn’t want to go back. She turned around and walked all the way to Taixuan Palace, and using the palace’s teleportation array and her status there, ascended to the True Martial Dao Grounds.
The True Martial Dao Grounds belonged to Daoist Lord of True Martial, Shen Nanyin—a place she’d never been to before.
In the past, she and Shen Nanyin had only ever crossed paths from a distance when he came to Taixuan Palace on business; as a mere odd-jobs disciple, she wasn’t even qualified to handle mission intake for the eldest senior brother.
That night a month ago, when she’d managed to meet the eldest senior brother out in the outer sect after dark—even now, looking back, it felt like a dream. | black lotus Novel Translations | BlackLotusNovel
The True Martial Dao Grounds were pristine and magnificent everywhere, though not extravagant, and hardly any disciples passed through, since Shen Nanyin had never taken on students and required no one to attend him even on his own grounds. | black lotus Novel Translations — BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
Black Lotus Novel Translation · Black Lotus NovelCheng Xueyi kept the Taixuan Palace jade tablet secured at her waist—without it, she truly wouldn’t have been able to come up here at all.
Now that she’d arrived, though, she almost wished she hadn’t come, because she’d indeed just witnessed exactly what Li Shoudao had described—Shen Nanyin and Fu Jinghua, moving as an inseparable pair.
On the True Martial Dao Grounds, there wasn’t another soul besides the two of them.
Fu Jinghua wore a robe of woven brocade feathers, her hair done up with jade hairpins and jeweled coils—anyone who’d ever laid eyes on her would never doubt her identity for a second. She truly deserved the title of number one beauty under heaven.
And the man beside her, Cheng Xueyi knew even better.
Raven-black hair, snow-white robes, a jade crown and gauze sash—Shen Nanyin stood tall and straight, broad-shouldered with a narrow waist, his legs long and slender. Whatever he did, he moved unhurried and composed, refined to the utmost degree. That misty, landscape-painting air about him was so striking that even Fu Jinghua beside him seemed slightly dimmed in comparison.
This was the man who’d spent every night with her for the past month, his meticulous, elegant bearing exactly the same as always.BLACK LOTUS Novel Translation
He was the first to notice someone had intruded, and the instant his gaze fell on her, the frozen lake of Cheng Xueyi’s heart let out a crisp, cracking sound as it began to thaw.
The way he made her feel in the daylight was completely different from how he made her feel at night.
Shen Nanyin’s gaze dropped briefly to the disciple jade tablet at her waist, and maintaining proper courtesy, he asked in a steady, clean tone laced with a certain wariness: “An Executive Hall disciple? Why have you trespassed onto the True Martial Dao Grounds?”
Like two extremes—the lover she’d once known so intimately now looked at her the way one looks at a total stranger, someone never before met.
