Chapter 6 The Sorrow of Wind and Snow (Part 1) What is real, what is fake...?
Qiu Tong's feelings towards Lin Feiran have always been complicated.
In her previous life, Lin Feiran used every means to frame and harm her in order to drive her out of Daohe Palace, as if she would take away some treasure from her, and always appeared hysterical.
Qiu Tong didn't care at all. Apart from Wei Changzai, that little Taoist priest, she didn't need or care about any Taoist temples, teachers, or fellow disciples.
She is the youngest fox princess of Canglang Mountain. Her father, King Qingping, is renowned, and her mother is highly accomplished. Her family is harmonious, with nine brothers and sisters working together. The current Demon Lord, though eccentric, is a carefree and uninvolved figurehead who doesn't like to go out. The fox clan can be said to dominate the region.
She was pampered and lived a happy life since childhood. If it weren't for the need to treat her mother's illness, she would never have come to Daohe Palace.
...Of course, they wouldn't run into Wei Changzai either.
Qiu Tong regarded Wei Changzai as the only gain from her journey.
She always believed that evil people would eventually get their just deserts, so she was happy on the day Lin Feiran was expelled from Daohe Palace. But at that time, she didn't think about or care where Lin Feiran would go after leaving Daohe Palace.
After everything was settled, when she and Wei Changzai were traveling around, they encountered Lin Feiran hiding under the Three Bridges.
Qiu Tong still feels a pang of unease when she recalls her appearance back then... perhaps mixed with a little bit of pity.
Unlike her simple surprise and sympathy, Wei Chang fell into a nightmare after that day. He returned to Sanqing Mountain, sat facing the wall, sealed his seven orifices, and never woke up again.
Perhaps the reason Heaven gave her a second chance at life was to save Consort Wei.
But after spending the last two months with Lin Feiran, Qiu Tong noticed that Lin Feiran was different. Not only did he not bully her, he even took the initiative to break off the engagement. She had wondered if Lin Feiran had also been reborn.
If she were reborn, Lin Feiran would definitely overthrow the Daohe Palace, instead of being in this ignorant and unaware state.
Qiu Tong thought that since Lin Feiran hadn't made any mistakes in this life, it wasn't too late. She might as well persuade her to go down the mountain and live out the rest of her life in peace. But Lin Feiran would definitely not listen, and if she let her go so easily, who would compensate for the suffering she had in her previous life?
Just as she was feeling troubled, Qiu Tong heard some news.
“My birthday gift will definitely be one of a kind.” She raised her hand to form a hand seal and asked Lin Feiran again for confirmation, “Are you sure you want to break off your engagement with Senior Brother Wei? To tell you the truth, there is really nothing between us right now.”
Lin Feiran lowered her eyes and replied after a moment: "Wei Changzai likes you, that's his own choice, and I've made my choice too, it has nothing to do with you."
Wei Changzai is the apple of Daohe Palace's eye, while Lin Feiran is a useless person who can't advance in cultivation. Everyone was already dissatisfied with this marriage, and making a scene won't change anything; it will only make the situation more tense and awkward.
If she lets go peacefully and quietly, she might still be able to stay in Sanqing Mountain and eat a bowl of Elder Qingyu's noodles on her birthday.
The two locked eyes, and the atmosphere suddenly fell silent.
"Forget it, there's no point in asking anymore." Qiu Tong hooked her little finger back, forming an array in her palm.
At this moment, she no longer had the innocent and lively expression she had shown before; instead, she possessed an indescribable maturity.
Qiu Tong wanted Lin Feiran to watch this show, not entirely to cause her pain or to vent her anger.
What she wanted even more was to save Wei Changzai from that fate of severing his seven orifices, and for that she could only start with Lin Feiran, the source of the problem.
Qiu Tong pursed her lips and looked up at the person opposite her: "I'll just ask you one question, do you want to leave Sanqing Mountain?"
Lin Feiran looked at her without answering, but they both knew the answer.
Pale-colored characters condensed from her palm, rose into the air, and disassembled and reassembled, evolving into a magic circle.
"This is a secret technique of my clan. I went through a lot of trouble to hide the mark in the Elders' Hall. Please accept this token of my appreciation."
As soon as the words were spoken, the array glowed slightly, and a human voice could be faintly heard from within. At first, it echoed, but gradually it became clearer.
Lin Feiran recognized it immediately; it was Elder Taihui's voice.
*
"...Master, you have finally emerged from seclusion. I'm afraid we can't persuade Lin Feiran anymore, and this engagement will inevitably have to be dissolved." Taihui stood up and bowed.
It was Zhang Chunhe, the head of Daohe Palace.
He didn't show much emotion, just nodded slightly: "Let it be done. It was originally meant to compensate the child. If she doesn't want it, we don't need to force her."
Qingyu frowned slightly, gripping the jade ruyi tightly in her hand, and said with great regret, "Feiran is too impulsive. He doesn't know what opportunity he has missed."
Another person in the room tilted his head to admire his newly dyed nail polish and said slowly, "Why are you all speaking in such a cryptic way? I don't quite understand."
This person, with cloud-like hair and a beautiful face, wearing a golden robe, with his long hair tied up and three plum blossom hairpins adorning his hair, casually leaned back in his chair. He was none other than Nong Yue, the newly promoted elder of the medical profession.
Since Xunfang's cultivation level plummeted, an elder position became vacant, and Nong Yue filled it. Therefore, she was the only person present who was unaware of this.
Taihui looked at her, frowned, and his beard twitched slightly: "Now that you have been promoted to elder, Your Excellency should be more careful. Sitting slumped in the chair is not proper."
Nong Yue scoffed and ignored her. Qing Yu, on the other hand, abandoned her dignified demeanor, frowned, and sneered, raising her voice to mock, "Instead of criticizing others, you should look at yourself. Chief, yesterday Tai Hui was overcome with greed and actually stole two Three Yuan Emperor Pills and swallowed them without permission!"
Zhang Chunhe looked at him quietly, and Taihui immediately panicked: "At that time, Feiran was suspicious of the medicine and was unwilling to take it, so I took it to show her. I had no other intentions!"
Zhang Chunhe withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes slightly, and changed the direction of the whisk on his wrist: "If this matter succeeds, in addition to what was previously promised, each of you will also receive a bottle of Three Yuan Emperor Pills."
Taihui was immediately overjoyed. Although he did not make any big moves, he could not hide his joy.
Qingyu gave a cold snort, but her expression was much better.
On the contrary, Nong Yue didn't seem to care much: "Oh my, Chief, you've really gone all out. So what exactly is it?"
Zhang Chunhe nodded slightly to her: "Venerable Nongyue is learned and knowledgeable, and has mastered the art of medicine. I have invited you here to ask for your help."
Nong Yue spoke cryptically, "The head physician's skills are not ordinary. What illness is it that even you cannot cure?"
Zhang Chunhe was very modest: "It's not an illness. Although I am skilled in alchemy and herbal medicine, when it comes to actual practice, Your Excellency is more skilled."
Nong Yue asked, "What kind of surgery?"
“Take the bone.” Zhang Chunhe looked at Nong Yue and said slowly, “The sword bone that is about to be nourished.”
Nong Yue sat up straight and straightened the plum blossom hairpin in her hair: "When a person is born, a spirit bone is born. The head monk wants me to retrieve the bones of a living person. This is no small matter. I must tell you the whole story."
"I've brought you here today to tell you this matter." Zhang Chunhe raised his eyes, his expression clear and upright. "As fellow cultivators of the Dao, you should know that only those with both spiritual veins and spiritual bones are considered to have excellent aptitude."
"I have never seen such a child in my life as having such excellent spiritual veins and such high comprehension. It is only a pity that he does not have a companion spiritual bone. Otherwise, it would be as easy as taking something out of a bag for him to reach the state of unity between heaven and man."
Nong Yue raised her eyebrows: "Spiritual bones are rare, but they are not uncommon among the disciples of Daohe Palace. Pei Yu has one, ah, but it's not a sword bone. The head disciple is referring to his little fiancée who always keeps her head down?"
Zhang Chunhe nodded: "More than ten years ago, when Taihui went down the mountain, he met General Lin and saw the young Feiran. Coincidentally, Taihui was practicing the Supreme Heart-Cleansing Technique at that time and developed a pair of 'wise eyes that can recognize pearls'. He saw at a glance that she had the root of sword bones."
"As you know, spiritual bones are rare, but sword bones are even rarer. A person born with sword bones will naturally have a sword heart. With the nourishment of sword bones and sword heart, and supplemented by spiritual veins, they will surely attain the Great Dao."
Nong Yue looked at him with a half-smile, but said nothing.
"Because of this child, we became friends with General Lin, hoping that she could enter the palace to cultivate in the future. If she had enough comprehension, she could become my disciple. It's just a pity that after she broke through to the Sitting Meditation Realm, for some reason, her spiritual meridians became blocked and she had difficulty gathering spiritual energy. I'm afraid she will have difficulty breaking through to the next realm."
Nong Yue understood: "Sword bones are one in a million, but they need to be nurtured and grown slowly. Do you want to transfer them to Changzai when the sword bones are fully grown?"
Taihui excitedly chimed in: "Sword bones are more than one in ten thousand. In all these years, I've only seen one like her. If you move a sword bone when it's about to be formed, it will only damage your bones and muscles but not your life. But if you move it after it's fully formed, it's not that simple."
Seemingly realizing that his words had been too harsh, he added, "I don't want Fei Ran to die because of this either. Even if she breaks her bones, Dao and Gong are willing to take care of her."
Nong Yue glanced at the crowd: "Do many people know about this? Does she even know herself?"
Zhang Chunhe looked at her seriously: "This matter is known only to a few of us, and only to a few of us. As for Feiran, she doesn't need to know. Taking the bone won't harm her life, and besides, she prefers to stay in Sanqing Mountain. After the marriage, we will protect her for the rest of her life."
"After a cup of birthday wine, she will wake up to a new life. Why bother telling her and causing her unnecessary worry?"
Nong Yue sighed, rubbing her forehead, "It seems this child can't escape this fate."
Qingyu objected, saying, "Based on my understanding of her, after the annulment of the engagement, Feiran will sooner or later have the idea of leaving the mountain. She will no longer stay in Daohe Palace."
...
As the sky began to lighten and a sliver of dawn broke through, a golden glow spilled down, gilding the garden houses, which had been covered in snow all night, with a bright golden edge.
After discussing it all night, the elders finally dispersed.
The sound of the door closing still echoed in my ears, thumping against my eardrums.
Lin Feiran sat motionless at the table. She sat there all night, like a puppet, except for her eyes, which reflected the candlelight with an obsidian-like black pupil.
Qiu Tong watched her nervously from the side, afraid that she might not be able to handle the shock and might go crazy and draw her sword at her.
She took a step back: "I didn't make this up, nor was I trying to provoke you. I just want you to know the truth and leave this place, and stay away from Wei Changzai."
Lin Feiran did not respond, her head was down, and Qiu Tong could not see her expression.
Don't you feel any reaction or pain when you hear about this?
As far as she knew, Taihui and Qingyu were Lin Feiran's closest relatives.
She looked at Lin Feiran: "You..."
Thank you.
Lin Feiran's voice was very low; if the room hadn't been so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Qiu Tong wouldn't have been able to hear those two words.
Qiu Tong blinked at her, her thoughts a jumble of emotions: "You're welcome?"
For some reason, looking at Lin Feiran like this, she didn't feel as happy and carefree as she had expected.
Lin Feiran did not sit down again. She stood up, supporting herself on the edge of the table. After listening all night about how she was skinned and dismembered, she seemed to have no problem. She simply got up and walked out.
With a few sharp clatters, the sky-blue shards of porcelain fell from her palm onto the polished wooden floor, mingled with specks of blood, casting faint shadows.
Along with the spilled medicine, there were also fragrant pills scattered all over the ground.
It was a bottle of Three-Element Emperor Pills stained with blood.
Lin Feiran walked out of the door in silence, his back straight. After a few steps, he suddenly bent down and leaned against a pillar, clutching his chest with one hand. A mouthful of blood, sweet and metallic, suddenly gushed out.
The pristine snow in the courtyard was suddenly stained with bright red stains.
In a dizzying moment, she collapsed in the snow.
The azure sky reflected in my eyes remained pure and gentle, and the fine snow falling was white and soft. But as you got closer, you could see the icicles hidden among them, sharp and pointed enough to cut straight through everything in sight and cut out the mud hidden under the snow.
Everything in my eyes seemed to slow down.
When she was nine years old, her father passed away. She was all alone in the general's mansion. She was young and weak and had no relatives. It was Taihui and Qingyu who rushed to the general's mansion, took her back to Sanqing Mountain, and comforted her carefully.
They accompanied her through these ten years, encouraging her to move on from the past.
Lin Feiran was very intelligent when she was young. Among her group of disciples, she was the first to successfully enter the Xinzhai realm of meditation, even Wei Changzai was two months behind her.
She was naturally gifted with swordsmanship and practiced diligently, making the fastest progress in her swordsmanship. Furthermore, due to her open-mindedness, she broke through to the state of oblivion a year later.
During the day, she would practice and play with Ji Changying and Wei Chang. When she got tired, she would go to Elder Qingyu's place for dinner. She was leisurely and carefree all day long.
At that time, she did not understand that those who cultivate Taoism are ultimately still human.
In Sanqing Mountain, the only exceptions are direct disciples.
Gradually, she began to sense a variety of complex emotions from the other disciples: envy, disdain, disgust, resentment, and alienation, like surging undercurrents flowing beneath the daily peace.
Once the news spread that her spiritual meridians were blocked and she was unable to make progress, all the hidden malice was unleashed.
Some felt sorry for her, some mocked her, and some were happy. For a time, she became the "fun" everyone talked about over tea, and her name became a synonym for useless, climbing the social ladder, sucking up to powerful people, and flying high only to fall hard.
They said that the elders must have foreseen this, which is why they had not accepted her as their personal disciple.
She also said that she had secretly taken Taihui Qingyu's pills, which was why she made progress two months faster than Wei Changzai.
She also said that anyone who befriends her must be just as shameless as she is.
Such cold words gradually spread to those close to her; whoever went in or out with her would become the subject of ridicule that day.
Gradually, she was left alone, with only Consort Wei, whom no one dared to speak of.
Lin Feiran knew, of course, that this was a form of silent oppression. She had tried to resist, but due to damage to her spiritual veins and low cultivation level, such resistance only provoked even more intense anger.
They took Lin Feiran to the small pine forest under the pretext of practicing swordsmanship. When they returned, her disciple's sword was mostly chipped, her clothes were covered in mud and snow, and there were footprints on them.
There weren't many teachers in Daohe Palace, and they spent their spare time meditating on the Dao. In their eyes, this result meant that she was less skilled than others. She would have suffered more injuries from killing a few more demonic beasts, so it wasn't worth getting distracted.
Lin Feiran also gave up the idea of filing a complaint.
In order not to cause trouble for Taihui and Qingyu, or to avoid gossip for Wei Changzai, Lin Feiran began to keep her distance from them, stopped going to the Elder Hall for meals, remained silent about the marriage agreement, and became increasingly reserved and taciturn.
Later, she got up even earlier and practiced even more diligently. Although she was only at the stage of meditation, her swordsmanship improved by leaps and bounds. With the help of magic, after winning a few times, those people only dared to grumble and dared not make a move again.
She didn't tell anyone about these things, but simply endured them out of habit and processed them on her own.
Perhaps she didn't want to trouble the two elders, or perhaps she didn't want to disturb Wei Changzai's cultivation, or perhaps she was afraid that their reaction would be the same as those unreasonable teachers, thinking that she was making a mountain out of a molehill and that she was not as skilled as them.
But sometimes, she also secretly hoped that they could see her silent cries for help.
But no one saw it.
...
Did you really not see it?
Taihui was the head of the sect at Sanqing Mountain, leading all the teachers and serving as the standard-bearer among the disciples of Daohe Palace. Did he really know nothing about this?
Wei Changzai had been with her for many years, yet he had never noticed the distant and disdainful attitudes of others.
Lin Feiran was unaware that she could no longer see these people clearly.
All she knew was that what she perceived as growth was nothing more than being raised like a pig in the Daohe Palace, waiting for the day she would be fat and delicious to be put on the chopping block. Even though they knew that taking her bones would damage her spiritual veins and make her unable to lift a sword again, no one cared.
She's a useless person who can't advance in the realm. As long as she doesn't die, what does it matter if she can wield a sword?
What about Consort Wei? Was he doing this for the same reason?
He reluctantly agreed to Jian Gu's confession because of his feelings of discomfort, and spent time with her despite his discomfort. Therefore, when he met his true love, he did not hesitate to choose her and abandon her.
Because she already had a destined love, she quietly watched the mayfly fly away without trying to hold it back.
The snow on the eaves melted, turning into dew that dripped from the corners of the eaves, pattering onto her face and the corners of her eyes.
The sharp snow fell into her unblinking eyes, cutting them painfully.
She heard shouts beside her, and when she turned around, she heard heavy footsteps, as if many people were running towards her.
But who really came for her?
What exactly is real, and what is fake?
A note from the author:
The next chapter will be updated at 8 AM tomorrow.
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