Chapter 66: A lack of self-awareness forges armor, but also creates a weakness. ...
A few days later, Shen Lixia and Qiao Yanshen were eager to go to the secret realm. As soon as they recovered, they found Xi Mengsi to say goodbye.
Simmons was a wanderer by nature. Now that the matter in the Southern Kingdom had been resolved and most of the foreign women had been settled by the disciples sent by the Wuji Sword Sect, she had no further plans. So she suggested that she go with the two of them to explore the secret realm and see if there was anything valuable.
Before Qiao Yanshen could speak, Shen Lixia quickly nodded in agreement, then winked at Qiao Yanshen, looking like she had her own plans.
In reality, she didn't have any plans. At most, since the two of them were weak, she would feel more at ease bringing along Simmons, who seemed to be a loophole in the cultivation world, so that the three of them could travel together.
However, at least this way they can avoid being alone together.
From the night they made their promise, their relationship seemed to be veiled in a warm, thin film, light as a wisp of smoke, soft and fragile to the touch, yet one dared not let it break. This subtle, almost tooth-aching atmosphere lingered whenever they were alone, causing Shen Lixia to grow increasingly anxious.
I want to be with her, but I don't want to get too close; I want to keep my distance, but I feel reluctant to part with her.
Too close and your heart will race; too far and loneliness will surge like a tide.
After reaching an agreement, the three of them rode at full speed, arriving at the edge of the First Domain without rest for a week.
This area is near the water, and many villages are built by people who make a living by fishing. While finding a place to stay, we happened to see fishermen preparing to set sail, while female divers, their shoulders bare, gathered the shellfish they had caught in the shallows and went back into the water. The wind carried a particularly strong salty smell, especially in summer, along with a rich sense of life.
Because the secret realm is located in the sea, many cultivators come here. Some rogue cultivators have also found a way to make money and stay here to provide these cultivators who are exploring the secret realm with boats and water-repelling beads and other magical artifacts that allow people to travel at sea.
While it could solve the problem for those who came unprepared, it also drove up the price exorbitantly. After the group had inquired around and found that the prices were not much different at several places, Simmons couldn't help but say angrily, "A bunch of mercenaries, how dare they triple the price of a small, broken boat!"
The "small, dilapidated boat" she mentioned was actually a low-grade immortal vessel, a magical artifact most commonly used by cultivators in waterways. Its hull was engraved with water-repelling talismans, allowing it to be controlled using spiritual power, independent of wind direction. While it wouldn't cost many spirit stones to buy at an auction house or within the sect, here it was worth three times that amount.
However, her anger turned into astonishment when she saw Qiao Yanshen pay with spirit stones without even haggling.
Where did the money come from?
Weren't we really poor back in Quebec? We agreed to be poor together, didn't we?
Since their time in the South, Qin Shiying had basically covered their expenses, rarely paying out of her own pocket. Seeing how readily Qiao Yanshen paid, Xi Mengsi didn't even have time to haggle before the two of them had already stored their magical artifacts in their storage bags and walked away.
She quickly followed, saying, "Fellow Daoists, even though you receive a sect stipend, you can't do this... You're just being taken advantage of."
Shen Lixia smiled at her, her eyes crinkling, and said, "Oh, how did you know my master gave me 100,000 spirit stones?"
“Li Xia…” Qiao Yanshen whispered beside him.
"How do you know that my master gave me several high-level magical artifacts?"
The woman in the navy blue dress remained expressionless, finally uttering a few words through gritted teeth: "Nobody asked you."
Shen Lixia, like a little bird with someone backing her up, even her tail feathers perked up. She proudly pulled Xi Mengsi over and, embracing her, said several similar things. The latter, unable to bear her boasting, reached out to tug at Qiao Yanshen's sleeve, but was carefully avoided.
Shen Lixia observed all of this and teased with a smile, "My senior sister doesn't like others touching her—"
Before she could finish speaking, a hand reached out and pinched her ear, the force not strong, but intimidating nonetheless. The woman's gentle yet helpless voice rang out, "Stop fooling around. Have you forgotten when your master instructed you in swordsmanship?"
The memory of losing the fight and being grabbed by the back of the collar and hung from a tree branch by a very tall woman flashed back, and the boy immediately fell silent.
"If I had known you each had 100,000 spirit stones, I wouldn't have come to this secret realm. The most valuable thing is right in front of us." Xi Mengsi sighed, pretending to be blinded by the blue light of the spirit stones, and exaggeratedly raised her hand to cover her eyes.
"Then you can go back." Shen Lixia raised an eyebrow and glanced at her sideways. "I'm just a tiny bit unwilling."
“Thirty thousand spirit stones would be enough to settle things with me,” Xi Mengsi said jokingly, unaware of the underlying meaning in her words and assuming that Xi Mengsi genuinely didn’t care.
Her ears were released, and Shen Lixia turned to stick out her tongue at her. "Dream on. Come along. This is a secret realm that has existed for a long time. Such an ancient place must have treasures."
Laughing and joking, they returned to the hut they had borrowed to rest in, where the innkeeper warmly invited them to eat. Several families gathered together to cook the fresh fish they had caught that day. A large pot was set up, and the fish soup bubbled and simmered. The women added seasonings, while the girls went with the immortals to get bowls of porridge. Steam rose from their hair, carrying a warm and welcoming scent.
They sat around the large pot. Due to their fasting, neither of them could eat anything, so they could only sit silently on the stools, immersed in the delicious aroma of the fish soup. Simmons, as if to retaliate for the words Shen Lixia had just uttered, was slurping her soup noisily from her bowl, making a sound that, though not loud, did not escape the boy's ears.
Shen Lixia said ominously, "Be careful not to get pricked in the throat."
The woman put down her bowl, laughed a few times, and went to ladle more soup, completely ignoring her sour grapes-like behavior.
Qiao Yanshen stared blankly at the firewood under the iron pot. This was a rare moment when she wasn't using every minute for practicing martial arts or other things. Her mind seemed to settle down in the women's conversation and the warm atmosphere. The sound of the surging sea seemed to have a faint rhythm as it lapped against the mudflats.
Suddenly, her sleeve was tugged. Her gaze followed the direction of the force and saw a pair of bright, golden eyes, like a cat begging for food from its owner for companionship. It was rare for it to suppress its unruly nature and it was pitifully waiting for something.
Qiao Yan couldn't help but chuckle as she took out a candy jar from her storage bag. A few days ago, to prevent the person in front of her from stealing any candy, she had confiscated all the candy on her person and put it under strict control.
Compared to what's in front of her now, a piece of candy really means nothing. Besides, those eyes are so similar to those of the stray cats she'd seen before; one glance, and her heart softens without her even realizing it.
She took out a piece of candy, twirling it between her fingers as if to feed it to Shen Lixia. The other woman blinked, deftly reached out and took the candy, putting it in her mouth and naturally avoiding the gesture.
The previously soft atmosphere turned somewhat strange again. Just as Qiao Yanshen was pursing his lips, thinking about what to say—or how to ask Shen Lixia what had happened these past few days—several girls surrounded him.
The slightly taller child at the front tugged at her clothes and gently shook them, "Sister..."
Before the woman in white, whom she had addressed as "sister," could finish her sentence, she took out a few pieces of maltose from the sugar jar and said gently, "Eat."
As the girls happily accepted the candy, Qiao Yanshen hesitated for a moment and added, "Your teeth haven't fully grown in yet, so you shouldn't eat too much."
Upon hearing this, the taller child seemed to remember something, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Sister, do you know the Immortal Master Wangshu?"
"Master Wangshu?"
"I heard that Immortal Master Wangshu visited our village a long time ago... The skills we have for fortifying boats and our knowledge of celestial phenomena are also passed down from our ancestors, taught to us by her. Immortal Master Wangshu was a cultivator who traveled throughout the Nine Realms..."
Qiao Yanshen silently memorized the name and let the girl continue talking until he was asked again, at which point he shook his head and said that he was not an old acquaintance of the immortal master she was talking about.
The girl lowered her head in disappointment and chewed the candy in her mouth.
"But you and my mother describe her so much like her, sister."
The next day, the weather was fine and sunny, perfect for setting sail.
They boarded the small boat, with one person sitting at the bow using spiritual power to propel the boat through the waves, while the other two kept watch for their surroundings at the stern.
What's unusual is that there were only fishing boats nearby, but no cultivators. The spiritual energy was weak, and once they entered the sea, they could not be sensed at all, leaving only the fluctuations between them.
Simmons leaned against the edge of the boat and looked around. Once they were far from the shore, all that remained were rolling waves, their spray like shattered silver inlaid on the layered seawater, and the distant cries of seagulls echoing from the sky.
The sun shone brightly, and the shimmering waves created a scene completely different from the land landscape I had seen before, instantly broadening my mind and making me feel as if I were not bound by anything.
Such a sight can be quite dull for one person to see alone. Remembering that Qiao Yanshen was steering the boat, Xi Mengsi turned to Shen Lixia and called out, "Fellow Daoist, come and see the sea!"
She called out softly the first time, and Shen Lixia didn't react. Xi Mengsi thought the sea breeze had carried her voice away, so she raised her voice, "Fellow Daoist, the sea is so beautiful!"
There was no response, and she awkwardly felt the sea breeze whipping her face.
Shen Lixia was lost in thought when her gaze fell on the woman sitting intently at the bow of the ship. She recoiled as if burned, only to drift back a moment later. The white sleeves of her dress fluttered in the wind, and her black hair was blown about by the air currents, like a splash of ink in the air, emitting a faint fragrance that masked the sultry saltiness of the sea.
It's as if just one glance is enough to cool you down and make the heat in your body disappear, leaving only a refreshing coolness.
Why? Why should we avoid it?
As the boy thought about it, a sour feeling inexplicably spread through him, making his bones feel weak and restless.
A hand suddenly reached out and waved twice in front of her eyes. Shen Lixia blinked, her eyes flickering, "What's wrong?"
Simmons found a seat next to her and leaned in seriously, "Fellow Daoist, you seem to have something on your mind."
She was reluctant to speak, but when Shen Lixia thought of what Xi Mengsi had done in Nanguo City, she hesitated for a moment, then made a hand seal to set up a soundproof array with her spiritual power, and bit her lip.
"Can you tell my fortune?" she asked.
Simmons narrowed his eyes, nodded and smiled, "If it can be calculated, I am naturally willing to help you, fellow Daoist."
Then she heard Shen Lixia say in a low voice, "I suspect I've been cursed."
Who cursed her? Since she came into this world, she either didn't make enemies, or all her enemies were dead. It couldn't possibly be those few young men who followed the dead and acted recklessly—with Yan Xueya around, she didn't think a few good-for-nothings could cause much trouble.
Simmons nearly choked, coughed a few times, and asked in surprise, "What do you mean by that?"
A hint of confusion flashed across the boy's face for a moment, then was quickly replaced by a complex and gentle expression. She reached out and gently pressed her hand to her heart, her usually clear voice now carrying a softness she herself was unaware of.
"It seems like something's different when I'm with my senior sister."
Even though they spend every day together, he feels he can never get enough of looking at her. He wants his wings to grow strong and his power to increase quickly, so that she won't have to suffer pain and shed tears again.
Yet, a subtle sting always pierces through all obstacles and goes straight to the heart, each breath feeling as if tightened by transparent threads, causing anxiety and uncertainty about her ever-changing distance.
It forged armor, but also created vulnerabilities.
The unbearable itch that makes you want to scratch your heart and liver is the unspeakable suffering of growing tender flesh. After meeting her, my life, which I had walked alone for a long time, underwent earth-shattering changes, and the empty places were filled.
Shen Lixia didn't know what this feeling was, or how to name it.
Just thinking about it makes the estrangement of the past few days surge up uncontrollably.
Her eyes welled up, as if she was about to cry again.
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Author's Note: Little Bird Girl is unaware of her own love...
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