The last time Cheng Xueyi saw Shen Nanyin, it was right after he told Zhang Yi he wouldn’t be coming by anymore.
These past few days she’d stayed at Bishui Palace day and night, and true to his word, that gravely injured man hadn’t shown up again.
She often found herself wondering—when Shen Nanyin said “starting tomorrow, I won’t be coming”—who exactly had that been meant for? Zhang Yi, or her?
She couldn’t shake the feeling it was because of her presence there that he’d deliberately stayed away, avoiding suspicion on purpose.
Otherwise, injured as badly as he was, wouldn’t it take a full seven days of recovery before he was truly back on his feet?
Working from that guess, Xueyi figured Shen Nanyin wouldn’t show his face here again until she’d successfully fused the Fire Spirit Dragon pill and left Bishui Palace.
Fine, let him stay away then—cultivation and recovery were the priorities right now, and she had no energy left to spare on anything else.
Who would have guessed his absence would last all of three short days.
Cheng Xueyi was in so much pain a cold sweat broke out across her body, blood smeared on her chin and clothes, and yet she still had it in her to tease him: “Eldest Senior Brother, didn’t you say you wouldn’t be coming by, starting tomorrow?”
Without a word, Shen Nanyin scooped her up and, in a few strides, carried her to a sickbed and set her down steadily.
Lying on the comfortable bed, Cheng Xueyi’s arms stayed locked around Shen Nanyin’s neck, refusing to let go, so the man who’d meant to straighten up found he couldn’t.
He had no choice but to turn his gaze down to her face, taking in every bit of her teasing amusement.
Trembling all over from the pain, and she still had the energy to needle him like this.
Behind Shen Nanyin came a distinctly different sharp intake of breath. He glanced back and saw Yu Buran staring at the two of them, utterly disbelieving.
He pried Cheng Xueyi’s hands loose—she truly had no strength left to speak of, and if he wasn’t going to spare her any face about it, she had no way to stop him.
Still, his movements were gentle. Even as he pulled her hands away, he didn’t just drop them—he guided them down and settled them properly on the bed.
Cheng Xueyi’s eyes drifted half-shut as she watched him rise and cross to the other side, standing beside Yu Buran.
Hazily, she could make out his voice from over there.
“Master ordered me to come confirm your condition. If you’re still unable to rise within seven days, next month’s inner-disciple selection will be handed over to me to arrange.”
This competition was something Yu Buran had fought hard for, for a long time—all so he could recruit more talent for his own use.
He was young, and had already taken on a pile of disciples, yet not a single one of them was worth much.
Shen Nanyin was his opposite in every way—not only did he take no disciples now, he didn’t seem to plan on it in the future either.
He couldn’t care less what Eldest Senior Brother thought. Someone meant to become Sect Leader had to build up their own strength, didn’t they? The more disciples, the better, naturally. Yu Buran figured he had to be beating him on this front at least—how could he stand to lose control over the selection now?
He struggled to sit up, but his will outstripped his strength. He choked and coughed, trembling in wretched disarray, and still couldn’t manage to rise even a little.
“No need to force it.” Shen Nanyin said, right on cue. “You still have seven days. Try again later.”
The matter Jingci Fazong had assigned him was finished, and by rights he should have left immediately—but with Cheng Xueyi covered in blood like that, there was no way he could really just walk off and leave her be.
Shen Nanyin frowned slightly, turned back to her bedside, and used the Clearing Dust Technique to wipe the blood from her body clean first. What remained on her face that wouldn’t come off, he looked at quietly for a moment, then turned and left.
Cheng Xueyi’s gaze didn’t follow him out. She was struggling badly to breathe right then, her chest tight.
She lay on the bed, fully aware of her own condition—she wasn’t going to die, it was just that the Fire Spirit Dragon pill and her demonic body were clashing, and the turmoil stirred up inside her was far worse than she’d expected. She’d need some time to settle before she’d feel better.
She’d caught most of what Shen Nanyin said to Yu Buran—she supposed that counted as his way of answering her teasing, in his own fashion.
He’d left only a few days ago and had already come back, though it was only because he’d been ordered to. B L A C K L O T U S Translation · Black Lotus Novel
To be fair, he really did understand Yu Buran well. Jingci Fazong hadn’t necessarily needed him to inform Yu Buran about the change in who’d handle the selection—they’d just wanted him to confirm first whether Yu Buran was even still functional.
This man had run into disaster in Heart-Devouring Valley, and though he’d woken up, his vital energy had taken a severe hit, his cultivation realm had dropped, and worse, he still couldn’t move or speak. Getting across to anyone what exactly had happened to him was next to impossible—he had to be anxious and frustrated to the core.
To keep him from giving up on himself and letting inner demons take root, Shen Nanyin had shown up at just the right moment to needle him a little. As someone who always loved comparing himself to Eldest Senior Brother, Yu Buran would surely force himself to rally and fight his way back.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when a sudden warmth touched her face—a warm, damp sensation that pulled Cheng Xueyi back to herself through the pain and tightness in her chest. Her gaze shifted, and there was Shen Nanyin, who’d come back after all.
…She’d thought he’d left.
Turned out he hadn’t. He’d only gone to wet a handkerchief, and had come back to wipe the last traces of blood from her face.
The warm, damp cloth pressed gently against the corners of her mouth and her lips. Cheng Xueyi watched Shen Nanyin with his sleeve rolled back, her gaze fixed on his pale wrist.
A man’s wrist, and yet it could look this fine, this delicate—and it really was pale, startlingly so. She was close enough now to see the blue-green veins beneath his skin with perfect clarity.
Vast spiritual energy spread slowly out from those veins—that was the source of his body-guarding force.
He really was strong. Injured this badly, and he still carried protective spiritual energy this powerful.
Killing this man would be no easier than killing someone from Jingci Fazong.
Once the blood was wiped clean from her face, Shen Nanyin put away the handkerchief and moved to rise and leave. Cheng Xueyi’s hand shot out and snatched it from him.
There was her blood on it. It looked harmless enough now, but there was no telling whether, once taken away, someone might notice traces of demonic energy left behind—better to just keep it herself.
“It’s dirty now, Eldest Senior Brother, don’t bother with it. Let me throw it out.”
She forced the words out, struggling to sit up from the bed, and the world spun in front of her eyes again—it took a good while before it settled.
She looked ahead again. Shen Nanyin was still there. He hadn’t left.
He asked her a question: “Why fuse the pill and refine it alone, without waiting for Elder Su to return?”
Shen Nanyin knew Elder Su wasn’t at Pucao Pavilion right now—that was exactly why he’d chosen this moment to come.
With Elder Su gone, it usually meant Cheng Xueyi, who’d been staying close by her side lately, was gone too.
Who’d have thought Cheng Xueyi wasn’t just here—she was also attempting to fuse and refine the pill alone. Sheer recklessness.
“The Fire Spirit Dragon cultivated for a thousand years—its pill nourishes, but it’s dangerous too. You’re barely past Qi Refinement. How could you fuse a pill like this with no one guarding you?”
Shen Nanyin’s words came out fast—rare for him. This man was always unhurried, doing everything at an even, measured pace, and yet here he was speaking this quickly. It left Cheng Xueyi momentarily stunned.
After a moment she said, “Intruding here already left me embarrassed enough. I was supposed to take the pill today, but Elder Su happened to have an important spirit herb ripening today, and she had to guard it for a full day and night. I didn’t want to trouble her further, so I thought I’d try it myself.”
Shen Nanyin only knew Elder Su was away—not why.
Hearing the reason now, he paused, then gathered spiritual energy at his fingertip and tapped it once against Cheng Xueyi’s brow. She immediately felt much better.
The pain eased, the dizziness faded, and she could finally take a proper look at the man in front of her.
“Lie down and rest. Don’t try this on your own again. Wait for Elder Su to come back.”
Shen Nanyin left with just that and walked off. Cheng Xueyi figured he surely hadn’t been listening properly—she’d told him Elder Su might not make it back today, and that she had to take the pill today regardless. Did he even understand that?
Still.
Cheng Xueyi reached up and touched her brow. She was an outer-sect disciple, cultivating Qiantian Sect’s outer-sect mental cultivation method. What Shen Nanyin cultivated was the sect’s highest inner-sect technique—the Ice Heart Sword Formula.
The Ice Heart Sword Formula was the very foundation upon which Qiantian Sect was founded. Even Jingci Fazong, at the Tribulation-Crossing stage, had only cultivated it to the ninth level. Shen Nanyin wasn’t even a hundred years old, and he’d already reached the ninth level too.
He also had a Water spirit root—spiritual energy condensed from water into ice, tapped against her brow. Cold, yes, but it had numbed the pain too, leaving her clear-headed and calm.
Just like when she was little and got hurt, and her mother would tap her brow the same way.
…The same kind of spiritual energy.
Cheng Xueyi drifted for a moment, then thought of the gentle, careful strength in his arms when he’d carried her, and the light, careful touch when he’d wiped her face.
Her dantian had stopped hurting, but now her head had started to ache. Cheng Xueyi decided to listen to Shen Nanyin, just this once—even if she didn’t wait for Elder Su to come back, she’d rest a while first. | B L A C K L O T U S Novel Translation · Black Lotus
She’d meant to only lie down for a moment, then get up and try again herself.
Elder Su was guarding the spirit plant—even if she could make it back, it wouldn’t be until the dead of night, right at the very last moment before the day’s turn.
But she’d barely lain down for a little while when Elder Su came rushing back, travel-worn and hurried.
“Silly girl, why didn’t you wait for me before doing something so reckless? Let me see where you’re hurt, quickly!”
She hurried to the bedside in a fluster, lifting her skirts. Cheng Xueyi stared, dazed, as she sat down, and asked, puzzled, “Elder, why are you back so soon? I’m fine, really. Please don’t let me hold up the herb’s growth—I heard it only ripens once every fifty years. If something goes wrong, wouldn’t you have to wait another fifty years?”
“Look at the state you’re in, and you’re still worrying about that? Lie down, quickly. Nanyin’s watching the herb for me at the back mountain—there won’t be any mistakes.”
Shen Nanyin.
He’d gone to the back mountain to help Elder Su guard the spirit herb.
He hadn’t misunderstood her words after all—he’d already planned, when he said what he said, to go relieve Elder Su.
Cheng Xueyi fell silent, obediently following along as Elder Su circulated her energy to help heal her injuries.
Once she’d recovered, and the two of them truly began refining the Fire Spirit Dragon pill together, Xueyi couldn’t help but ask, “Elder, is Eldest Senior Brother helping you watch the herb until nightfall?”
“Nightfall? He’ll be there until tomorrow morning, until I go back to take over. With him there, we can go about our own business without worry. I’d meant to hold out until the very last moment of the night watch, then rush back just in time to help you take the pill—that wouldn’t have thrown anything off. Who knew you’d take matters into your own hands out of worry for me, and put yourself through all that suffering.”
Elder Su went on, musing, “That Nanyin child really is thoughtful and thorough about everything, I tell you. I often envy the Sect Leader, having a disciple like him—hand him anything and you can rest easy, just wait for the good news. If those girls under me could be even half that considerate, I’d go light a few sticks of incense in gratitude.”
Cheng Xueyi settled back onto the meditation cushion, forming hand seals with her mind elsewhere.
“He’s put his whole heart into your matter too, you know. Ever since he came back to the sect, he hasn’t slept a single night. Injured badly as he is, that alone would be enough, but he’s still gone about handling all the sect affairs that piled up while he was away, without even changing out of his robes. These past two days he’s made several trips to Yujing Shenzong, and gone to Heart-Devouring Valley once more besides.”
“And now he’s staying up another night to guard the herb for me on top of it all, no rest again.”
Elder Su let out a long sigh, watching Cheng Xueyi’s expression—she seemed a little distracted, but not exactly moved either. Hard to tell what she was thinking, or whether she’d even been listening at all.
Cheng Xueyi had, of course, heard every word, and listened with unusual focus at that, catching onto the few phrases she cared about.
Yujing Shenzong. Heart-Devouring Valley.
His trip to Yujing had to be about the matter of Shuixiao falling to demonic corruption. Before, he’d been rushing to secure the Moon-Mending Grass, and even though it concerned the demonic race, he’d had no time to spare for it. Now that he had a little breathing room, he was surely going to press Yujing Shenzong for a definite answer.
And then there was the strange upheaval at Heart-Devouring Valley, the fall of the Demon-Suppressing Tower—on the surface these things seemed unconnected, but there was no telling whether he might suspect a link between them and start stringing the threads together to investigate.
Cheng Xueyi wanted to know the reason behind all this too—she was curious how far his investigation had gotten. She’d better hurry and get close to him again.
He really was too capable. Give him three days and he might well uncover what would take someone else three years to find.
Mind made up, Cheng Xueyi closed her eyes and cultivated in earnest. This time, with Elder Su present and having already been through the pill-fusing process once, everything went smoothly, without further incident.
Deep into the night, she woke from her meditative trance. Elder Su checked her meridians, confirmed the pill had been fully accepted by her body, and that she was ready for the next step, then rose to head for the back mountain.
“I’d best hurry and relieve Nanyin. With things going smoothly here, he can leave a little earlier—even half an hour’s nap when he gets back would do him good.”
As Elder Su murmured on, Cheng Xueyi helped her up and offered, seizing the moment, “Elder, you’ve guarded me all day—you must be exhausted. Let me handle the herb. I’ll go relieve Eldest Senior Brother, and thank him properly while I’m at it.”
Su Chenmeng had meant to let Cheng Xueyi rest too, but then she thought of the look on Shen Nanyin’s face when he’d urged her to hurry back to Pucao Pavilion, and paused mid-step. “All right, go on then. Be careful, and if anything feels off, send word back immediately.”
Cheng Xueyi agreed to everything at once, picked up the specially made carrying case for storing the herb, and set off.
Passing by Yu Buran’s sickbed, she found him lying there with his eyes wide open, alert. Noticing her pass by, he shot her a loaded look—the kind of disdainful, contemptuous glance that made Cheng Xueyi deeply uncomfortable.
Shen Nanyin might tolerate Yu Buran. She wouldn’t.
Cheng Xueyi “accidentally” stumbled, catching herself—rather forcefully—on the patient in the neighboring bed, propping herself up on him. She heard his bones creak audibly, and put on a look of lingering fright. “I went dizzy again just now—thank goodness Daoist Lord Guangwen was here. You’re all right, aren’t you, Daoist Lord?” | Black Lotus Novel Archive | BlackLotusNovel
She patted Yu Buran’s shoulder with false concern, watching him tremble, drenched in sweat, and withdrew her hand, satisfied.
“Looks like you’re fine. I’ve got things to attend to, so I’ll be off. Make yourself comfortable, Daoist Lord.”
Cheng Xueyi drifted off, light as air, while Yu Buran pressed his lips tight in fury.
Noticing Elder Su passing by, Yu Buran immediately shot her a look of indignant accusation. Elder Su gave a light cough and pretended she hadn’t seen a thing.
Yu Buran: …… Never again in this life would he go anywhere near the women of Bishui Palace.
There was a small, separate path leading to the back mountain of Bishui Palace.
The path was lined on both sides with spirit herbs of every variety, growing lush and crowded together, their leaves swaying at ease in the moonlight.
Above, a bright moon and scattered stars; below, the crystalline glimmer of spirit plants drinking in the moonlight. Anyone walking this path, however gloomy their mood, would find their spirits lifting.
Cheng Xueyi found her own mood brightening steadily as she walked.
Her dantian was filled with warmth. She’d only just fused the Fire Spirit Dragon pill—hadn’t even begun refining it yet—and already her body wasn’t as cold as before. Even her spirit root, the one she showed for others to inspect, seemed to have grown purer and stronger along with it. Everything was moving in a good direction; she really did have reason to feel a little happy.
It was quite a distance from Pucao Pavilion to the back mountain. It took Cheng Xueyi the better part of an hour to arrive.
She’d thought the scenery along the way was already beautiful, but reaching the back mountain and seeing the vast spirit-herb garden beneath a sky full of stars, the night and the glow of the ground echoing each other in splendor—there was someone standing there under the moonlight whose radiance outshone even the spirit plants, and next to him, she felt, none of it amounted to much at all.
Shen Nanyin had promised to guard the spirit herb for Elder Su, and he was doing exactly that, wholly focused, without a shred of distraction.
Though still not fully healed, his energy remained undiminished, and until Cheng Xueyi’s footsteps drew near, his eyes never left the herb.
Cheng Xueyi crept up quietly behind him, her gaze brushing over the hem of his robe, damp with dew from the spirit plants—droplets clinging to the fabric, ready to slide off without soaking through, as if he were dripping water himself.
She let her eyes travel up along the hem of his robe—over his hair, black and flowing past his waist, his straight back, his broad shoulders.
“Junior Sister Cheng, don’t come any closer—mind the trap.”
Shen Nanyin spoke suddenly, and Cheng Xueyi’s steps halted. She looked down, and sure enough, there was one of Elder Su’s traps, set to guard against thieves from within the sect.
Bishui Palace held countless treasures, each one something any cultivator would want—guarding against insiders stealing was more than necessary.
The very reason Elder Gongming had given Elder Su a ticket to the first session of the Ghost Market was because a disciple under her had once made off with something from Bishui Palace.
“There’s a quarter hour left before the herb ripens. Junior Sister, hand me the case, then go sit off to the side and wait.”
Cheng Xueyi’s grip on the case tightened. “Eldest Senior Brother isn’t leaving? I’m fine now, really. Elder Su sent me to collect the herb—please, go back and rest.”
Shen Nanyin said, “Guarding the herb here counts as rest enough in itself. I’ve kept watch this long already; the last stretch makes no difference.”
Having come this far, might as well see it through to the end—it was only a quarter hour more, no need to burn through more spiritual energy with a second person here, especially one who’d only just fused a pill.
Since he’d said as much, Cheng Xueyi didn’t press the matter further, and reached out to hand over the case.
The two of them were already standing quite close. Shen Nanyin only had to reach out to take the case.
Except what landed in his hand wasn’t the case’s handle—it was something soft, a woman’s hand.
Shen Nanyin turned back sharply, and there in the moonlight and the glow of the spirit herb, he saw Cheng Xueyi’s face, radiant.
“Eldest Senior Brother, I fused the Fire Spirit Dragon pill—my body isn’t as cold as before anymore, and my hands aren’t so cold either. Won’t you feel and see?”
He didn’t respond, so she took hold of his hand herself, and slowly, finger by finger, laced her hand together with his warm, dry one.
“Eldest Senior Brother, is my hand warm?”
