get away
As Mu Han was holding the Qingling Jade to regulate his breathing, his fingertips suddenly stopped—the spiritual light emanating from the jade revealed the evil altar hidden behind Qinglang Mountain.
He stood up, his movements still somewhat unsteady, but he still stuffed the Elder's Token into Su Qing's palm: "I need to destroy the altar, otherwise the remaining evil spirits will keep multiplying."
"Wait for me here, I will return within three days." Su Qing watched his figure disappear into the forest, her fingers clutching the elder's token, feeling an emptiness in her heart.
She waited in the cave for two days, but Mu Han did not come. Instead, she felt a strange palpitation. It was as if something was pulling her, and her feet turned back towards Qinglang Mountain uncontrollably, finally stopping in front of a rocky slope she had never set foot on before.
The slope was overgrown with weeds, with only a blue stone slab embedded in the soil, and a faint smell of blood seeping from the cracks in the slab.
She had just crouched down to take a closer look when a sudden, tearing pain shot through her old back wound. Her vision went black, and she stumbled and crashed into a flagstone slab. The slab flipped over with a "crack," revealing a bottomless abyss beneath. Before she could grab onto anything, she plummeted down the slippery stone wall.
In the falling wind, past scenes suddenly exploded in her mind: the ruthlessness of her grandmaster when he held up his staff and wrapped it around her wrist, the greed when the Bronze Sparrow Dagger pierced her back, the resentment of the Qinglang Mountain disciples when they cursed her as a "jinx," and... the determination of Mu Han when he stood in front of her, his moon-white Taoist robe stained with blood.
"If I could do it all over again..." In her hazy state, her fingertips still clutched the warm elder's token, "I must protect my master and expose those people's true colors..." At the bottom of the cave, there was a shallow pool of water. When she fell into the water, the water suddenly shimmered with golden light.
Golden light enveloped her body, and the wound on her back no longer hurt. Even the chaotic spiritual energy within her body gradually calmed down. She closed her eyes, letting the golden light envelop her. The disappointment, grievances, and resentment of the past slowly faded away as her consciousness dissipated—it turned out that the palpitation she felt earlier was not a pull, but the power of rebirth within the earth, echoing her unfulfilled obsession.
The pool water at the bottom of the cave shimmered with golden light, and the moment it enveloped Su Qing, the excruciating pain from her back wound vanished abruptly. However, her consciousness was as if it had been drawn into a vortex—the firelight of Qinglang Mountain in her past life, Mu Han's blood-stained Taoist robe, and Tongque's dagger were finally nailed to a scene etched into her very bones: when she was ten years old, Yin Yi led her into the sacrificial cave.
The sunlight outside the cave was completely blocked by the heavy stone door, and only the flickering candlelight on the wall cast distorted and eerie shadows of the two people.
The air was filled with the strange smell of burning herbs, and the bluestone slabs underfoot were covered with an unknown, slippery slime. Every step felt like walking on cold snake scales.
She gripped Yin Yi's clothes tightly, her fingertips turning white from the force, and pleaded softly, "Father, I'm scared, can we not go in?" But Yin Yi didn't turn around; the temperature of his palm was as cold as ice. He simply held her hand and led her deeper into the cave.
He stopped beside a stone platform engraved with strange patterns and placed her hand on the cold stone surface—the platform had been hidden for countless years, and the chill seeped into her bones from her fingertips. She could even feel the dried, blackened marks remaining in the tiny grooves of the surface. “For the peace of the Silver Prince’s Mansion, you must stay.”
His voice was devoid of warmth; the hem of his dark brocade robe brushed against her instep, like the cold vines hanging from the cave wall. With that, he turned and left. No matter how much she cried out or reached out to grab him, she only saw his resolute back and the moment the stone door slammed shut, the last flicker of candlelight swallowed by darkness. She was left alone in the cave, the candlelight crackling, her shadow flickering on the walls like a menacing ghost.
She huddled in the corner of the stone platform, listening to the indistinct, whimpering sounds coming from the depths of the cave. She didn't dare to breathe loudly, and could only bite her lip tightly until she tasted blood, which barely suppressed the sobs in her throat.
The fear of being abandoned by her loved ones and trapped alone in the darkness was like countless cold hands gripping her heart, causing her to be awakened by that darkness in her dreams even years after escaping the Silver Prince's mansion. When she opened her eyes again, the familiar scent of ambergris lingered around her nose, and she was lying on soft brocade bedding.
She sat up abruptly, and what came into view was a celadon vase with a small chip on the carved dressing table—an item she had secretly hidden after breaking it when she was a child, which Yin Yi had found and repaired. This was the Silver Prince's Mansion, the place she had fled from for ten years.
"The young lady is awake!" A maid in a light green dress rushed in carrying a bowl of medicine, wiping her eyes with delight. "You've been in a coma for three years, and the prince has been watching over you for half an hour every day. Today, we've finally waited for you to wake up!"
Three years? Su Qing clenched the elder's token in her palm, the faint glow of the jade body digging painfully into her fingertips, which trembled uncontrollably—the chill of the cave from her memory still seemed to linger in her bones. Before she could process this news, steady footsteps sounded outside the door, and a man in a black brocade robe pushed open the door and entered. His dark hair was tied up with a jade crown, and fine lines appeared at the corners of his eyes, but that face, those cold, hard eyes, were exactly the same as the figure in her memory who had thrown her into the sacrificial cave.
“Yin Yi…” Su Qing’s voice trembled, her teeth chattering uncontrollably, and cold sweat from her palms soaked the patterns on the Elder’s Token—even after ten years, even after experiencing life and death, just seeing this face would instantly engulf her with the fear of being thrown into the darkness back then, making her instinctively want to shrink back. Yin Yi paused, his hands trembling slightly as he walked to the bedside.
He looked at Su Qing's pale face, at the lingering fear in her eyes, at the way her knuckles turned white as she clutched the Elder's Token, and his voice was low and muffled, carrying a hint of barely perceptible panic: "Qing'er, don't be afraid, I..." Su Qing abruptly looked away, not daring to look at him again.
The memory of the resounding crash of the stone door closing, the wailing sounds from the cave, and the cold touch of the stone platform surged up like a tide, making her chest tighten and her breathing rapid. But when she caught a glimpse of the bloodshot in his eyes, the jade pendant in his hand that matched the pattern on her elder's token, and his cautious way of holding it up but not daring to hand it over, those sharp fears gradually subsided. She had been in a coma for three years, and he had watched over her for three years.
Perhaps the "heartless" decision to send her into the sacrificial cave back then truly concealed a hidden story she was unaware of.
"Three years ago, was it you who saved me?" She took a deep breath, forcing herself to look away, pinching her palm hard with her fingertips to suppress the trembling in her heart, and trying to keep her voice steady—she was no longer the child who would only cry in the cave. Having experienced the betrayal and life and death of Qinglang Mountain, she was determined to find out all the truth, including the secret of the sacrificial cave and the conspiracy of Qinglang Mountain.
Yin Yi gently placed the jade pendant in her palm. The two jade pendants came together and instantly emitted a bright white light, dispelling some of the fear in her eyes: "When the guards found you in the bamboo forest behind the palace, you were covered in blood and barely alive."
The imperial physician said you were poisoned by an evil spirit and could only be kept alive by elixirs... I wait for you to wake up every day." He paused, his tone filled with lingering fear, and even his voice softened a bit, "Thankfully, you're alright." Su Qing looked at the jade pendant that had been put together, its shimmering white light as warm as the sun she had basked in on Qinglang Mountain years ago.
She gripped the jade pendant tightly, the fear in her eyes gradually fading, replaced by a cold, resolute determination. Regardless of the hidden story behind the sacrificial cave incident years ago, the most important thing now was the Qinglang Mountain disciple-acceptance ceremony three days later—she absolutely could not allow the tragedy of her past life to repeat itself. She looked up at Yin Yi, her voice clear and firm, without the slightest tremor: "Father, I must return to Qinglang Mountain in three days."
This time, I will personally expose their conspiracy, and I also want to know why you sent me to the sacrificial cave back then.
Upon hearing the words "sacrificial cave," Yin Yi of the Silver Prince's Mansion clenched his fists, wrinkling the cuffs of his dark brocade robe, and the panic in his eyes could no longer be concealed. He silently took half a step forward, then stopped abruptly, his voice even lower than before, as if shrouded in an impenetrable fog: "Back then... I never intended to abandon you." Cold sweat soaked the Elder's token on Su Qing's fingertips, the icy jade patterns digging painfully into her palm.
She didn't speak, but looked up at Yin Yi—the darkness in the cave ten years ago, the sobbing, and the chill on the stone platform still lingered in her bones, but the bloodshot eyes of the man in front of her made her unable to completely shut up. "The Silver King's Mansion has guarded the seal under the sacrificial cave for generations, and every twenty years it has to be reinforced with the fingertip blood of a child with pure blood."
Yin Yi's gaze fell on the jade pendant in her palm, the bright white light reflecting the bitterness in his eyes. "When you were ten years old, the seal was at its weakest, and you were the only one in the manor who met the requirements. Before I sent you into the cave, I hid some dry food under the stone platform and set up a protective array, thinking that I would take you out in three days at most after I dealt with the evil cultivators on the outside."
"Evil cultivator?" Su Qing finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly. She remembered that when she stayed in the cave for three days and was so hungry that she was gnawing on the moss on the stone platform, she did touch the oil paper package. However, at that time, she was filled with the fear of being "abandoned" and did not think much about it.
“They are evil cultivators who are eyeing the seal.” Yin Yi’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his tone became more ruthless. “I was ambushed by them as soon as I came out of the cave and was unconscious for half a month.”
When I awoke, I rushed into the cave despite my injuries, only to find bloodstains on the stone platform and half of your torn garment lying on the ground—I had searched for you for three years, until three years ago when a guard found you unconscious in the bamboo forest behind the palace, clutching this half of the Elder's Token in your hand.
Su Qing was startled. The elder token in her palm seemed to instantly warm up—three years ago? She remembered that she was reborn after falling from the Qinglang Mountain cave. How could she have been saved by Yin Yi three years ago? She looked down at her hands. Her skin was delicate, without the thick calluses left from practicing swordsmanship. The wounds on her body had also disappeared without a trace. This was clearly what she looked like three years ago, before she experienced the tragedy of Qinglang Mountain!
"You mean...you saved me three years ago?" She looked up at Yin Yi, her voice filled with shock. "Then now...it's been three years since you were sent to the sacrificial cave."
Yin Yi reached out, wanting to touch the top of her head, but fearing she would resist, he only gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "You have been in a coma for three years. The imperial physician said you were injured by evil spirits and have not been able to wake up."
"It took me three years of investigation to discover that the evil cultivator who attacked me back then was colluding with the grandmaster of Qinglang Mountain—they wanted to take advantage of your weakness when you were reinforcing the seal, to seize your bloodline power, and break the seal beneath the cave."
Su Qing's heart clenched—it turned out she wasn't reborn before the tragedy at Qinglang Mountain, but ten years ago, three years after Yin Yi saved her! In other words, the conspiracy at Qinglang Mountain had begun even before she joined the sect; and the chaos caused by evil spirits in her previous life was merely the final step in her master's and the evil cultivators' plan.
“You can’t go to Qinglang Mountain.” Yin Yi’s tone became serious. “Your grandmaster made you join Qinglang Mountain not to teach you cultivation, but to seize your bloodline after your spiritual power increased. In your past life…” He paused, a trace of pain flashing in his eyes, “I later found out everything that happened to you in Qinglang Mountain in your past life.”
"It's my fault for not protecting you properly, causing you so much suffering." Su Qing gripped the Elder's Token tightly, the fear in her eyes gradually replaced by a cold hatred. The betrayal of her past life, the flames of Qinglang Mountain, Mu Han's blood-stained Daoist robe, and the images of her being stabbed by Tong Que and cursed by her disciples flashed before her eyes. This time, she would not only protect the seal of the Silver King's Mansion, but also make her grandmaster and Tong Que pay the price for their actions in her past life.
Yin Yi had just nodded in agreement when Su Qing suddenly clenched the jade pendant, her face turning deathly pale—she had forgotten the most important person! In her previous life, at this time, Master Mu Han should still be on Qinglang Mountain, but after her rebirth, she was only focused on sorting out the past and hadn't confirmed her master's whereabouts.
"No, I have to go find my master!" She abruptly threw off the covers and tried to get out of bed, but her ankles, weakened from lying down for so long, caused her to stumble and almost fall. Yin Yi quickly supported her, noticing the panic in her eyes and the trembling in her voice: "Master? Is it Elder Mu Han from Qinglang Mountain?" "It's him!" Su Qing gripped Yin Yi's arm, her fingertips turning white from the pressure. "At this time in my past life, he was still teaching me how to draw talismans, but now... I've been awake for so long, and I haven't heard a single word about him."
There's definitely something wrong with Qinglang Mountain. Could he be trapped by Grandmaster and the others? The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. In her past life, Mu Han protected her, and his back was clawed so deeply by evil spirits that the bone was visible. In the end, his identity was exposed because she was stabbed by the Bronze Sparrow. In this life, she knew about the conspiracy in advance. If her master got into trouble because she didn't warn him in time, she would never forgive herself.
"Ah Li, don't panic." Yin Yi suddenly changed his address, his voice softening—this was the name she was called before she was sent into the sacrificial cave, a name he had only dared to call in his heart for years. Now, seeing her flustered, he subconsciously uttered it aloud. "The Prince's guards are everywhere in the capital, and there are spies on Qinglang Mountain as well. We'll have news within half a day. You've just woken up, and your body is still weak. Drink your medicine first, okay?" The name "Ah Li" struck Su Qing's ears, and she was suddenly stunned, her eyes instantly welling up with tears.
This name had never been called since she fled the Silver Prince's mansion; she had almost forgotten it herself. But hearing it from Yin Yi's lips now, with its familiar warmth, calmed the panic in her heart somewhat.
“But Master…” She still couldn’t let go, her fingers gripping the Elder’s Token until her knuckles turned white. “In our past life, he was so badly injured protecting me. If he gets hurt because of me in this life, I…” “No, he won’t.”
Yin Yi interrupted her, his tone firm, "I've already sent people to investigate. The secret guards are reliable; we'll have news soon. Drink your medicine first, otherwise how will you have the strength to go find your master later?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
