Chapter 62: Yi Tian
A small black cat sat in a dark, solitary chamber.
She Yuwei, seeing the cat, felt a headache forming. “Cat Master,” she whined, “I’m already here. Why are you still following me?”
Bai Jingxue, huddled in a corner, felt a pang of guilt. She had run away from home, though her laziness had prevented her from venturing too far.
Although the Ejian Sect had run out of functional alchemy chambers, the neighboring Spring Snow Sect had plenty. Luo Nianshang, the reclusive Sword Saint, had simply walked over to the neighboring sect.
Bai Jingxue shuddered, remembering Lü Qingyan’s behavior. What if the elixir interacted with something else next time?
It was best to avoid untested medications.
Lü Qingyan, who had accompanied Bai Jingxue on her self-imposed exile, emerged from behind the cat, approaching She Yuwei, her tail wagging. She seemed like a well-behaved dog.
She Yuwei was fond of furry creatures, even if these particular furry creatures were far more powerful than her, capable of crushing her with a single paw.
And her current predicament was partially their fault. But thanks to them, her punishment had been light. Just a few days of confinement and the unwanted attention of the sect elders.
Bai Jingxue licked her paw. Although Luo Nianshang’s elixir hadn’t worked as intended, Lü Qingyan, after recovering, had unexpectedly reached the Golden Core stage. That was the only silver lining.
However, she had been studying the relevant texts in the library and had even attended a few outer sect disciple classes. She knew that reaching the Golden Core stage usually involved a tribulation.
And they were demons. Demon tribulations were far more dangerous than human ones.
But there had been nothing. Neither of them had faced a tribulation.
Surely, they weren’t that lucky. Were they truly the protagonists of this transmigration story?
Bai Jingxue was skeptical. She was too deeply involved. She couldn’t allow herself to believe in such a perfect scenario.
She looked at She Yuwei, her gaze intense, as if she were a precious treasure.
Although she hated spoilers, if spoilers could benefit her, then the more, the better.
She Yuwei, unable to resist the dog’s cuteness, scooped Lü Qingyan up into her arms.
A Golden Core cultivator was considered a minor elder among the outer sect disciples. She Yuwei, at the Qi Gathering stage, usually had to bow and scrape before those elders.
But now, she was holding a Golden Core cultivator in her arms, and the dog, instead of being angry, was smiling at her. It was a wonderful feeling.
She felt a surge of inspiration. She wanted to write, but she had no writing materials. Her tools had been confiscated. She slumped against the wall, her spirit broken.
“I want to write!” she wailed. “What’s the point of living if I can’t write?”
Lü Qingyan, startled by her outburst, quickly retreated, settling beside Bai Jingxue.
“Wow,” she whispered, staring at the distraught She Yuwei. “I wish the author I followed in my past life was this passionate.”
Influenced by Lü Qingyan, Bai Jingxue had also become a fan of novels and manga in her past life. She had eventually started seeking out stories on her own.
But the author of the first story she had chosen had abandoned it.
Her bad luck had followed her into her new life. Whenever things started to look up, something would inevitably go wrong, shattering her hopes.
But this life was different. She had been incredibly lucky.
She sighed, remembering the past. “Yeah,” she said. “But I don’t want her to be the author I follow. She’s still obsessed with that tragic story.”
Lü Qingyan tilted her head. “Tragic story?”
She couldn’t read yet. Bai Jingxue had been reading those stories to her, though her voice had been flat and emotionless, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
Her monotone delivery had sucked the life out of those vibrant stories, earning her frequent complaints from Lü Qingyan.
But whenever Lü Qingyan complained, Bai Jingxue would get flustered and refuse to continue reading. Lü Qingyan would then have to spend a considerable amount of time coaxing her before she could hear the rest of the story.
She had no idea what this “tragic story” was about. Curious, she nudged Bai Jingxue with her nose. “What’s it about?”
Bai Jingxue, remembering the original ending, felt a headache forming. “A young demon, newly awakened, fell in love with a cultivator she saw by the sea,” she said. “She transformed into a human and went to find her, but she was ambushed and killed by the cultivator’s enemy.”
Her voice took on a bitter tone. “That enemy then used the demon’s bones to create a guqin, which he gifted to the cultivator. The cultivator, heartbroken, searched for her beloved for centuries.”
Lü Qingyan, listening intently, shuddered. It was truly a tragic story.
She covered her ears with her paws, her eyes widening with horror. “Wait,” she whispered. “Don’t her stories come true?”
Bai Jingxue nodded. There was someone out there who had experienced that exact fate. She thought for a moment, then a name came to mind.
Zhu Chi. She had been searching for her beloved for centuries, carrying a guqin. So far, this detail matched.
She Yuwei, meanwhile, was writhing on the floor, lamenting her inability to write. “My stories!” she wailed. “I can’t write tragedies, but at least let me write something! My inspiration is fading!”
Lü Qingyan, her eyes wide with alarm, whispered, “That’s some serious resentment.”
She inched closer to Bai Jingxue, perhaps intentionally.
Bai Jingxue didn’t move away. She sighed, those tragic scenes still replaying in her mind.
The whale demon’s final wish before she had been slain had been for her demonic aura to be cleansed, her body cast into the Demon Realm.
She had believed that the cultivator, who despised demon cultivators, would never set foot in the Demon Realm.
That way, the cultivator would never find her, would never know she was dead, and would eventually forget her.
But she had underestimated the cultivator’s love. But the little demon would never know.
And that wasn’t even the worst part. The one who had killed the whale demon had preserved the entire scene, a recording of the brutal slaughter. He had revealed the truth to the cultivator, who had already been struggling with her inner demons.
The cultivator, driven mad by grief and guilt, had succumbed to demonic influence, only to be hunted down and slain by the very disciples she had protected.
Bai Jingxue couldn’t bear to think about it anymore. Her head throbbed. If this story was destined to become reality, then she hoped the page she had torn out would change its course.
She couldn’t shake off her unease. She was at the Golden Core stage now. A quick trip outside wouldn’t be too dangerous, especially with Luo Nianshang’s bell.
She leaped onto the windowsill, then vanished.
Lü Qingyan, seeing the cat disappear, quickly followed, teleporting. “Jingxue, wait for me!”
They arrived at the Spring Snow Sect, Bai Jingxue’s mind focused on a single goal.
The story had mentioned that the culprit was the protagonist’s junior sister. She wasn’t sure if Zhu Chi was the real-life version of that tragic protagonist, but a visit to her junior sister’s room would confirm it.
She had dared to come here because the Ejian Sect had investigated all the other sects. Zhu Chi had many junior sisters, but after accounting for those who had died or left the sect, there were only thirty-one remaining.
Bai Jingxue, armed with their locations, began her search, Lü Qingyan trailing behind her.
Lü Qingyan, her sense of smell acute, seeing Bai Jingxue’s struggle, nudged her with her nose. “Was there anything special about that recording device in the story?”
Bai Jingxue paused, her memory excellent. She recalled a specific detail. Her eyes widened. “Fishy smell!”
This clue made their search much easier. They would have Lü Qingyan sniff at each room. If there was no fishy smell, they would move on to the next one.
Their behavior was strange, but the Ejian Sect and the Spring Snow Sect were close. Their sect leaders were on good terms. The Spring Snow Sect disciples recognized the cat and dog.
Luo Nianshang had been frequenting the Spring Snow Sect lately. They assumed the cat and dog were looking for their master and didn’t bother chasing them away.
They searched twenty rooms, finally finding what they were looking for in the twenty-first.
Lü Qingyan sniffed at the doorway, then wagged her tail excitedly. “It’s here,” she said, “but the scent is very faint. I’m not sure.”
Bai Jingxue glanced at the room. Only a disciple at the Nascent Soul stage or the peak of the Golden Core stage would be assigned such a spacious private chamber. They had to be careful.
The area was protected by a barrier, though it was far weaker than the one surrounding Luo Nianshang’s chamber. Bai Jingxue, at her current level, couldn’t break through it.
But she had another ability.
She closed her eyes, then opened them, the barrier’s structure laid bare before her.
She had managed to escape Luo Nianshang’s chamber when she was weaker. She was even more powerful now.
She found the two weakest points in the intricate web of spiritual energy, then swiped at them with her claws, severing them. The other strands quickly followed, the entire barrier collapsing.
Perhaps because the occupant had been so confident in her barrier, the door was unlocked. Bai Jingxue pushed it open, entering the room.
Lü Qingyan followed, sniffing the air, then dashed towards the inner chamber, pointing a paw at a statue on the left wall. “It’s there,” she said. “The smell is stronger.”
Meanwhile, in the Ejian Sect’s solitary confinement chamber, She Yuwei, bored, was brainstorming plot ideas. She had incorporated that tragic short story into one of her comedic novels, the ending now a happy reunion after the whale demon’s reincarnation.
But she hadn’t fleshed out the details, and the two stories didn’t quite mesh. The more she thought about it, the more dissatisfied she became.
She stood up, pacing her cell, her brow furrowed in thought.
She bit her nail. “It’s a happy ending now,” she muttered. “I might as well make the villain suffer more. And maybe give the protagonist some kind of power boost.”
She smiled, satisfied with her idea, then lay back down, her hands clasped behind her head. “But if this were real life, I wouldn’t want such a tragic thing to happen.”
She suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
“Maybe I should give them an even better ending.”
Bai Jingxue reached out a paw towards the statue, but before she could touch it, someone entered the room.
Yi Tian, sensing that her barrier had been breached, had immediately returned from the sect’s secret realm.
She stared at the cat, her heart sinking as she saw its paw reaching for the statue.
She approached cautiously, forcing a smile. “Isn’t this the Sword Saint’s cat?” she asked, her voice sweet. “Let me take you to her.”
Bai Jingxue, disgusted, swatted her hand away.
Yi Tian stared at her hand, her expression twisting into a mask of rage. “Did that stupid whale tell you?” she hissed.
Bai Jingxue, staring at the crazed woman, her fur bristling, realized something was wrong.
Very wrong.
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