Chapter 124
Ji Wanshu stood under the eaves, holding his sword, his lowered gaze fixed on the wet floor, as if lost in thought.
Busy figures filled the courtyard as disciples rejoiced at Yin Qiu's awakening, preparing hot water and meals. The once quiet house suddenly became lively, except for the area around the east wing, which remained deserted.
Bai Ling packed her bags and prepared some travel expenses. After coming out of the room, she saw Ji Wanshu waiting outside, so she went up to her and asked, "Senior Sister, are you traveling with me or are we going our separate ways?"
Ji Wanshu seemed inexplicably absent-minded, and after a long silence, she asked, "Which way are you going?"
Bai Ling said, "Neither you nor your martial uncle said who is in charge of the transfer of disciples in the palace, so I can't guess and I dare not guess. I can only secretly check with Senior Sister Lu. I'll also go to Cang County to see how Meng Jing is doing. Why don't you go back to the palace, Senior Sister?"
Ji Wanshu fell silent for a moment, then said, "No one in the palace knows that I have come out of seclusion. You should go back. I will investigate Huaiwei's situation."
Bai Ling thought it made sense. In addition, Ji Wanshu and Lu Huaiwei had known each other for a long time and had some relationship. It would be better for Ji Wanshu to investigate than for her. So she replied, "Then it's decided. I'll go visit Meng Jing first and then return to the palace. When are you leaving, Senior Sister?"
Ji Wanshu glanced at the east wing and said, "You go first, I have something to do."
Bai Ling followed her gaze, hesitated for a moment, and then sighed, saying, "Senior Sister, Xue Tan has already told you what you want to know. Although he doesn't know why Wen Chaoyu came to rescue Xiao Qiu, my intuition tells me that Wen Chaoyu doesn't seem like one of those vicious people from the Ziwei Sect. After you find out the whole story, you should release her. I think Uncle hasn't made things difficult for her these past few days, so he must know what's going on. Otherwise, Uncle wouldn't have allowed you to treat her like a distinguished guest."
Ji Wanshu was already in turmoil, and Bai Ling's words only made her more agitated. She said coldly, "I know what to do. Don't interfere in Wen Chaoyu's affairs."
Bai Ling had little contact with Ji Wanshu in the past. She had only heard that Wen Chaoyu had once been an undercover agent in the palace and was also Ji Wanshu's master, but she did not know anything else about the two of them, nor did she know why Ji Wanshu wanted to keep people locked up here. That's why she made this suggestion.
Sensing the aloofness Ji Wanshu exuded, Bai Ling felt resentful and said no more. After respectfully bidding farewell, she left the house alone with her bundle on her back.
The gloomy winter sky was unclear, much like Ji Wanshu's mood at that moment. She sheathed her sword and walked to the east wing, but hesitated to push the door open and instead stood in the corridor for a long time.
When several disciples arrived with hot water, saying it was for Wen Chaoyu's bath, Ji Wanshu turned back and went to the kitchen with a sullen expression.
·
Later, Wen Chaoyu finished her bath in the room.
She was confined to this room for seven days, so she couldn't go to the bathhouse. Yunhua's disciples brought her hot water, and Wen Chaoyu bathed in the tub behind the screen.
It was deep winter, and although it had passed the snow season in Weicheng, there was no snow in the city. But the cold here didn't come from snow, but from the wind. Especially in the days following the heavy rain, the cold wind blew day and night. If there was no charcoal fire in the house, people had to wrap themselves in quilts to get by. Otherwise, it was not much different from living naked in the courtyard.
The charcoal brazier under the window had gone cold last night, and Wen Chaoyu didn't ask anyone to bring a new one. Fortunately, there was a small stove next to the low table that was barely burning out, providing some warmth. Wen Chaoyu took off her outer robe and sat down by the stove in her thin undergarments, changing her dressing with trembling hands.
She wasn't seriously injured that night in the bamboo forest. She maintained a safe distance while fighting the man, preventing him from hurting her much. However, the shockwave generated when Yin Qiu broke the formation still affected her somewhat. Compared to her external injuries, Wen Chaoyu suffered more internal injuries, but compared to the injuries she had sustained in previous years, they were insignificant.
She lifted her collar to her chest and looked down. There were several sword wounds there, all inflicted by Ji Wanshu. But compared to these, the old wounds from the past were more numerous. The scars looked like crumpled paper, clinging tightly to her skin, making her look rather pitiful.
But Wen Chaoyu was already used to it. The old wounds were nothing to worry about, and she didn't care. Although there weren't many new wounds, they still hurt when they rubbed against her clothes. After taking a bath, the wounds had become wrinkled and the edges had turned white. Wen Chaoyu glanced at them, reached out and took the medicine bottle from the table. Just as she pulled the stopper off, the door opened.
Wen Chaoyu quickly dropped the medicine bottle and immediately closed her wide-open collar.
She looked up and saw Ji Wanshu push open the door and enter expressionlessly, carrying a food box in his hand.
Although she knew the food was being carried, Wen Chaoyu still asked knowingly, "What are you doing here?"
With a "tap," Ji Wanshu placed the food box on the table, then bent down to pick up the medicine bottle that had rolled to the ground and placed it next to Wen Chaoyu. She didn't speak or look at Wen Chaoyu. After doing this, she walked to a wooden chair not far away and sat down, her gaze falling on the courtyard outside.
She didn't close the door.
A biting wind swept across the corridor in an instant, making Wen Chaoyu shiver. She clutched her clothes with one hand, not daring to button them up under Ji Wanshu's watchful eye, even though Ji Wanshu wasn't looking at her at all.
"Close the door." Wen Chaoyu was a little angry for some reason. She didn't know what was making her angry, but as soon as she saw Ji Wanshu, her mood suddenly turned sour. Of course, she hadn't been in a good mood since she had been locked up here for the past few days.
Upon hearing this, Ji Wanshu glanced at her and then used her palm to close the door from a distance.
When Wen Chaoyu saw her close the door and then shift her gaze to the roof beam, she thought to herself, "Am I really that ugly? You can't even look at me once?" Her already bad mood worsened even further.
"If there's nothing else, please leave," Wen Chaoyu said coldly, not even looking at Ji Wanshu, as if she was being petulant. "You've disturbed my dressing change."
Ji Wanshu kept looking at the roof beams and counting the wormholes on the wooden pillars, and said, "Replace it."
Wen Chaoyu said, "How can I exchange you?"
Ji Wanshu said, "Exchange it with your hands."
Wen Chaoyu sneered: "Nonsense, I know I'm good with my hands, but not with my feet."
“I have no objection if you want to use your feet,” Ji Wanshu said. “Do as you please.”
Hearing her icy tone, Wen Chaoyu felt a surge of anger well up inside her. She snapped, "You have to take off your clothes to change your dressing. Don't you understand the principle of 'don't look at what's improper'? Get out of here right now!"
“I don’t understand, and I’m too lazy to understand,” Ji Wanshu finally turned her gaze to Wen Chaoyu. “Take it off if you want, what are you afraid of?”
Wen Chaoyu, still gripping the collar, couldn't help but yell, "Are you crazy?"
Ji Wanshu remained silent.
She fell silent, and Wen Chaoyu also fell silent. The two stared at each other, looking at each other with different expressions.
Neither side was willing to give in.
After a long silence, Wen Chaoyu finally spoke again: "Are you leaving or not?"
She was only wearing a thin undergarment. The room was still unusually cold even with the doors and windows tightly closed. She was so cold that she wanted to shiver, but she didn't want to show weakness in front of Ji Wanshu, so she kept pretending to be calm and endured it. Seeing that Ji Wanshu remained unmoved and sat there, Wen Chaoyu's already limited patience was about to run out.
Outside, it was pitch black. A few lamps were lit in the courtyard. Wen Chaoyu had blown out all the lamps in the room while taking a bath, leaving only one behind the screen. Ji Wanshu seemed to blend into the darkness. Her eyes, as always, were cold, yet at this moment they appeared exceptionally deep. She looked at Wen Chaoyu as if she were shrouding Wen Chaoyu in her abyss.
What lies beneath the deep darkness, Wen Chaoyu had no idea.
All she knew was that Ji Wanshu's gaze towards her tonight seemed to have changed somewhat, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what those changes were.
In short, Wen Chaoyu felt quite uncomfortable being looked at by Ji Wanshu.
The room fell silent again. After a long while, Ji Wanshu said, "I'm not leaving." Before Wen Chaoyu could reply, she continued, "You can do whatever you need to do. You can pretend I don't exist."
Wen Chaoyu said irritably, "You're a perfectly alive person, sitting right across from me. How can I pretend you don't exist?"
"Does my existence have any meaning?" Ji Wanshu said. "In your eyes, I should have never existed."
Wen Chaoyu was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but she controlled her emotions well. After a pause, she said, "Unless I'm blind." After saying this, she finally said helplessly, "Stop it. I'm cold. Do you want me to freeze to death?"
Ji Wanshu lowered her eyelashes in the dim light, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "I don't want to. You can change."
Wen Chaoyu glanced at her, and after confirming that Ji Wanshu was no longer looking at her, she immediately turned her back, opened her collar, and began applying ointment to herself.
She was shivering from the cold, her lips and teeth chattering. At this point, she didn't care if Ji Wanshu noticed her disheveled state. She let herself tremble uncontrollably as she applied medicine to all her wounds with trembling hands. Finally, she buttoned up her collar one button at a time, and when she turned around, Ji Wanshu's eyes were still fixed on the ground.
Wen Chaoyu wanted to remind her, but she swallowed the words back.
What should I remind her of? Should I remind her that she's dressed and ready to be looked at?
Is she also sick?
Wen Chaoyu remained silent for a moment with a complicated expression, ignoring Ji Wanshu's reaction. She rolled up her sleeves and continued to apply medicine to the abrasions on her arm as if no one else was around.
Hearing the commotion, Ji Wanshu knew that Wen Chaoyu was already dressed, but she didn't look at Wen Chaoyu for a long time. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on the floor, as if she was thinking about something. It wasn't until a small, bright green medicine bottle rolled to her feet that Ji Wanshu turned her eyes and came back to her senses.
Wen Chaoyu sat by the small stove, her expression calm, as if she hadn't noticed that a medicine bottle was missing from the table.
At that moment, she was not only blind, but also deaf.
Ji Wanshu leaned back in her chair and looked at Wen Chaoyu. She didn't make any move, but just watched Wen Chaoyu's hands, which were like sieves, struggling to apply the ointment. She then watched Wen Chaoyu use the same hand to open the food box and shake the food out like dice.
Her hand trembled particularly badly, whether from the cold or the pain from her wound, she didn't know. In any case, her fingers stiffly gripped the chopsticks, and she tried to pick up food several times, but couldn't eat a single bite.
Then she threw down her chopsticks, looked up at Ji Wanshu, and said in an unfriendly tone, "Are you leaving or not?"
Ji Wanshu suddenly felt like laughing.
But she couldn't smile.
She lowered her hand to pick up the medicine bottle, got up and walked towards Wen Chaoyu, then knelt down in front of her.
·
When did you become left-handed?
Upon hearing this question, Wen Chaoyu's face showed a hint of unease. She met Ji Wanshu's gaze and said indifferently, "None of your business."
Ji Wanshu glanced around the room and quickly noticed several small throwing knives on the dressing table. She put the medicine bottle back in its place and asked, "Why don't you use your old knives anymore?"
Wen Chaoyu still said, "None of your business."
The small stove flickered on and off, and the charcoal fire was about to go out as time passed. The warmth it provided was negligible and couldn't do anything. The person in front of her was still shivering; she was still very cold.
After Wen Chaoyu uttered those words, Ji Wanshu fell into a brief silence. After a short while, she took off her coat and draped it over Wen Chaoyu's shoulders.
As she leaned closer, she smelled Wen Chaoyu's scent: a fresh scent of soapberry mixed with a bitter medicinal smell, and a faint, lingering fragrance.
She had already put on her clothes, but she didn't quickly withdraw her hand. She lowered her head and gently sniffed Wen Chaoyu's neck.
The soft outer robe provided a pleasant warmth, just enough to dispel some of the chill. Wen Chaoyu paused, glancing sideways at Ji Wanshu's slightly closed eyes and her clearly defined profile. Wen Chaoyu said, somewhat bewildered, "I just took a shower, I don't smell."
Ji Wanshu slowly raised her eyes, met her gaze for a moment, and then lowered her head completely, burying it in Wen Chaoyu's shoulder.
Warm breath sprayed through the fabric onto her skin, and she could clearly feel the tip of her nose touching her, with a cool touch. Wen Chaoyu's expression changed drastically because of Ji Wanshu's sudden action, and a look of doubt flashed in her eyes.
She wondered with suspicion: Did I not wash it properly?
Even if it wasn't washed properly, there's no need to get this close to smell it, is there?
What's wrong with this?!
If she could actually smell it, wouldn't she lose all face?
Wen Chaoyu was shocked and reached out to push Ji Wanshu away as if facing a formidable enemy. However, Ji Wanshu held her hand in his palm. Wen Chaoyu struggled twice but could not break free. In the next moment, Ji Wanshu gently pushed her down and she fell backward to the ground.
The low table was covered with soft satin, so you could sit or lie down. However, the satin wasn't very thick, and it was a bit uncomfortable to lie down on. Wen Chaoyu felt a weight on her chest, and Ji Wanshu pressed down on her as well. She held Wen Chaoyu tightly with both hands and buried her head in the side of Wen Chaoyu's neck, not moving away even a little.
The warm breath made the skin there slightly damp. Wen Chaoyu couldn't move, and the hair on her body stood on end from the two people's current position. She bent her leg and nudged Ji Wanshu's waist, saying somewhat hastily, "What are you doing? Get off me!"
Ji Wanshu remained completely still.
"What's wrong with you?" Wen Chaoyu said impatiently. "What did you come here for today?"
Ji Wanshu ignored her, her hands slowly moving upwards along Wen Chaoyu's wrists, as if gently caressing her. The warmth of her palms was so obvious that it masked the coolness of the surrounding area. Wen Chaoyu stiffened, staring at Ji Wanshu in astonishment: "You..."
“Your skill is reduced by half,” Ji Wanshu’s deep voice rang in Wen Chaoyu’s ear, “and your right hand is broken as well.”
The two unexpected sentences startled Wen Chaoyu.
"Is it Nangong Min?" Ji Wanshu raised her head and looked directly into Wen Chaoyu's eyes.
Wen Chaoyu remained silent.
"Is it because of me?" Ji Wanshu asked again.
Wen Chaoyu looked conflicted, her lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.
She didn't know how to answer.
“I’ve captured your confidant Xue Tan,” Ji Wanshu said calmly, his face expressionless. “He said that Nangong Min crippled half of your cultivation and broke one of your hands. For the past five years, you’ve been staying in the Blazing Fire Pool without coming out. He won’t tell you what the Blazing Fire Pool is, so he sent me to ask you personally.”
At that moment, Wen Chaoyu lost the courage to look Ji Wanshu in the eye. She turned her head away, but Ji Wanshu grabbed her chin and pulled her back.
What is the Fiery Pool?
Wen Chaoyu had no choice but to close her eyes.
As darkness fell, Ji Wanshu's shadow still lingered before her eyes. Wen Chaoyu felt suffocated by her presence, her tightly furrowed brows revealing a hint of pain.
Seeing that she was determined not to speak, Ji Wanshu's gaze turned deep again. She stared at Wen Chaoyu's still somewhat pale face and said softly, "Whenever your Ziwei Sect deals with members who have been punished for their sins, you take them to a sinkhole and throw them in. There is a naturally formed pool at the bottom of that sinkhole filled with lava. If a person falls in, they will be dissolved into dust and their body will be left without a trace, right?"
Wen Chaoyu's eyelashes trembled slightly.
Although she didn't reply, Ji Wanshu had already gotten the answer from her expression.
·
Ji Wanshu was right; the bottom of that pit was indeed a pool of raging fire.
Actually, the pool wasn't very big, not even comparable to the fish ponds in ordinary people's homes. People would only be thrown into the pool if they were extremely unlucky. If Nangong Min wanted to kill someone, she usually didn't need to go through all that trouble; a single sword strike to the throat was much easier. She would only throw someone into the fiery pool when she wanted to torture them.
The abyss is bottomless, with no man-made steps. Those with good lightness skills can barely land safely by using the trees on the mountainside to avoid being smashed to pieces. But even so, there is nothing below. Even if they don't die from the fall, they will starve to death.
Wen Chaoyu didn't know whether Nangong Min wanted to torture her or was reluctant to kill her directly. In any case, this was the rule of the sect. If someone attempted to retire, they would have to go to the Fiery Pool. If they were still alive for three to five years, they would no longer be under the control of the Ziwei Sect and would be able to regain their freedom for the rest of their lives. In a sense, Nangong Min had given Wen Chaoyu a chance to escape.
She lost half of her cultivation and an arm, which made her already serious injuries even worse. Nangong Min personally sent her to the sinkhole, but she didn't push Wen Chaoyu down. Instead, she had a rope tied around Wen Chaoyu and lowered her down the sinkhole little by little. She even had people guarding her up there, providing her with food and clean clothes every day.
Wen Chaoyu spent nearly five years in the fiery pool.
Many times, she thought she was going to die. She lay on the ground unable to turn over, unable to reach the food offered to her, and her injuries could not be treated with medicine. Below her was scalding lava, and even the wind was hot. Every day felt like a year. Countless times she tried to jump into the pool to end her life, but just standing up took all her strength.
Later, while suffering from a persistent high fever, she stumbled to the edge of the fiery pool. Someone pulled her back just in time, brought cool water to her lips, and cried as they said, "Guardian...Guardian? The leader sent me to take care of you. Please pull yourself together and don't try to kill yourself!"
Wen Chaoyu was delirious with fever and had no idea what day it was. She thought she was hallucinating, but when she struggled to open her eyes halfway, she clearly saw Xue Tan's face with tears streaming down his face.
After Wen Chaoyu recovered from her serious illness and was able to walk freely, she remembered to ask Xue Tan, "Did the sect leader say why he sent you?"
Xue Tan spread the food in his hands on the stone, thought for a moment and replied, "I can't remember the exact words of the sect leader, but the general idea is that she doesn't actually want to kill you. She just wants to take this opportunity to make you think things through. If you leave in the future and your heart is still not in the sect, then she will not force you. You can go wherever you want, and she will not stop you."
That day, Wen Chaoyu remained silent for a long time by the raging fire pool.
Nangong Min was a person who kept her promises. She did what she said she would do. Five years later, Wen Chaoyu was taken out of the sinkhole. Nangong Min did not come to see her. Instead, Qin Zheng came.
Qin Zheng said to Wen Chaoyu, "You may leave or stay as you please. The sect leader has already done more than enough. You are the only person in the history of the Ziwei Sect who has walked out of the Fiery Pool alive. I shouldn't say more, but I am indeed jealous of you and envious of you for receiving such kindness from the sect leader. If you become a traitor for someone from Yunhua Palace in the future, even if the sect leader doesn't hold it against you, I will find a way to take your life."
Even now, several months after Wen Chaoyu left the Fiery Pool, she has not seen Nangong Min once.
But how could she tell Ji Wanshu all this?
Should we tell her bluntly that Nangong Min sent her to the Fiery Pool and made her survive there, and that after she came out, she was determined not to leave the Ziwei Sect and to repay Nangong Min for the life he gave her forever?
How could she possibly bring herself to say it?
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