Chapter 16
The courtyard was covered in winter snow, which dampened the hem of my clothes and clung to the ends of my hair.
At dinner, Fu Xiang sat at the same table with Yin Qiu and Man Jiangxue. After dinner, Fu Xiang went to her room to sleep early. Man Jiangxue then escorted Yin Qiu back to her room. The two talked for a while, and then Man Jiangxue said, "Then you should rest well. I'm leaving."
Yin Qiu looked dejected: "Will my martial uncle come to see me tomorrow?"
Man Jiangxue said, "Come whenever you have time."
Yin Qiu pushed open the door without a word, her eyes quietly reddening.
“Make sure you’re covered up well at night,” Man Jiangxue turned to look at her. “Remember to close the doors and windows, or you’ll have nightmares if you catch a cold.”
Yin Qiu looked down at the tips of her shoes, her voice soft: "I know..."
As Man Jiangxue stepped out the door, she saw Yin Qiu about to follow and said, "I won't see you off. Go to sleep early."
Yin Qiu forced back her tears and turned her head away, saying, "Oh..."
Man Jiangxue took in her suppressed emotions but didn't say anything. She closed the door and left quickly.
Yin Qiu followed her figure as she walked around the room until she reached the window. Through the crack, she saw that Man Jiangxue had already left, and Yin Qiu couldn't help but shed tears. She then sat back on the bed, lost in thought.
The disciples' quarters were simply renovated, with few furnishings, but the table, chairs, and bed were all there. However, they lacked a sense of human warmth, and given the current cold winter season, they seemed rather desolate.
Yin Qiu sat there blankly for a while, looking around in a daze. Finally, she fetched some water to wash up, took off her clothes, and huddled under the covers.
The world seemed to fall silent for a moment. There was no one moving around outside. Only the rustling sound of falling snowflakes, accompanied by the intermittent sound of the wind, echoed endlessly between heaven and earth.
This was the first night that Yin Qiu had spent alone with Man Jiangxue since they met.
Accustomed to the warm embrace of Manjiangxue, and to her presence in his midnight dreams, the warmth and familiar fragrance were now gone, suddenly filling Yin Qiusheng with a deep sense of insecurity.
It was as if she had never met Man Jiangxue. Just a few days ago, she was serving tea and water in the Su family mansion, and suddenly she was thrown into a completely unfamiliar place. It was as if the past few days had been just a dream. With Man Jiangxue's departure, the dream shattered. The bewilderment and fear that had been suppressed because of Man Jiangxue suddenly surged out like a flood at this moment, irresistibly occupying Yin Qiu's heart.
The dim candlelight flickered slightly, casting a trembling flame on the wall and reflecting Yin Qiu's tear-streaked face.
Forcibly suppressing the sadness in her heart, Yin Qiu forced herself to fall asleep, but opened her eyes again after half an hour.
"Mother..." Yin Qiu called out softly into the cold, quiet room.
A moment later, she murmured almost inaudibly, "Master Aunt..."
Another half hour passed, and Yin Qiu still couldn't fall asleep. She wiped away her tears, put on her clothes, got out of bed, and quietly pushed open the door.
During dinner, she asked Manjiangxue where Jingyue Peak was. By now, it was completely dark, and there weren't many lanterns lit in the disciples' courtyard. Yin Qiu used the light to try her best to identify the direction of Jingyue Peak, and cautiously looked around. Seeing that no one was passing by, she carefully avoided being seen and ran to the gate.
The winter night was bitterly cold with wind and snow. Yin Qiu forgot to wear a robe and shivered in the cold wind, but walked steadily.
The mountains of Jingyue Peak were partially hidden by numerous buildings and palaces. Yin Qiu squinted and tried to walk quietly, hiding as she went.
A group of patrolling disciples approached from the front. Yin Qiu was startled and almost bumped into them. She quickly turned around and squatted down by a flower bed to hide herself.
The disciples kept their eyes straight ahead and heard no sound. They all passed by Yin Qiu without noticing her presence.
Yin Qiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As they left, she hunched over and moved slowly, but after only a few steps, she heard someone shout behind her, "Who goes there!"
Yin Qiu was so frightened by these words that she almost lost her mind. Terrified, she hurriedly turned around and said, "I..."
What are you doing, sneaking around like that!
The patrolling group of disciples immediately turned back, and the girl in the lead looked at Yin Qiu with a cold gaze: "Which peak are you from!"
Faced with the piercing gazes, Yin Qiu trembled even more violently, her face pale as she said, "I'm sorry... I got lost."
"Liar!" The girl took the opportunity to sized her up. "You're wearing a new disciple's robes; you should be sleeping in your room right now. What are you doing out here?"
Yin Qiu was both flustered and afraid. She was so intimidated by the girl's aura that she didn't dare to breathe. For a moment, her throat tightened and she couldn't speak.
"I'm asking you a question!" the girl shouted again. "If you don't answer clearly, I'll take you to the torture chamber!"
Upon hearing the words "punishment hall," Yin Qiu knew it was a place where people were beaten and punished. Already emotionally turbulent, she was now completely at a loss and didn't know how to explain. In her anxiety, her eyes welled up with tears, and she burst into tears on the spot.
"Uncle-Master... I want to see Uncle-Master..." Yin Qiu was extremely helpless, and large tears fell down her cheeks.
Perhaps seeing how pitifully she was crying, the girl softened her tone, raised the lantern and shone it on Yin Qiu's face, and said, "Why are you crying? Which senior uncle are you looking for?" After she finished speaking, she paused and then said, "Didn't your teachers teach you any rules? No one is allowed to leave the disciples' courtyard and run around at night."
"I just arrived today, I don't know yet..." Yin Qiu wiped away her tears, looking at her with a terrified expression.
“We’ve recently caught quite a few spies that the Ziwei Sect planted in the palace,” the girl said seriously. “Your actions are suspicious, and crying won’t help. Come with us to the Hall of Punishments, and we’ll find out more about you.”
After speaking, the disciples picked up their swords and headed towards Yin Qiu.
Yin Qiu staggered backward, tears streaming down her face, "No...don't grab me..."
·
"Wait." Suddenly, a faint voice sounded from behind.
Yin Qiu was practically pressed against the wall when he heard this, so he turned around. The patrolling disciples also looked in the direction of the voice and saw a graceful figure in cyan emerging from behind the archway.
Ye Zhilan, holding a lantern, faced the crowd and said, "You may all leave now. I summoned her."
The girl quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Senior Sister."
The disciples released Yin Qiu and followed the girl in bowing.
"It's all a misunderstanding," Ye Zhilan said calmly. "Let's continue our inspection."
With her speaking, the patrolling disciples naturally stopped asking questions, respectfully took their leave, and went out the door.
"Why are you out here instead of sleeping in your room?" Ye Zhilan asked Yin Qiu.
"I...I want to see my martial uncle..." Yin Qiu was still in shock, keeping her head down.
"Your martial uncle has been with you all day, how can you be so insensible?" Ye Zhilan frowned.
Seeing that her complexion wasn't good, Yin Qiu couldn't help but panic a little and whispered, "I can't bear to leave my martial uncle, I'm scared to be alone..."
"Do you know the way?" Ye Zhilan asked.
Yin Qiu hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
“If I hadn’t run into you, you would have been taken to the torture chamber for interrogation,” Ye Zhilan said.
"I didn't mean to..." Yin Qiu rubbed the hem of her clothes, not daring to look up.
"Not on purpose?" Ye Zhilan stood ramrod straight, her tone lecturing. "You were able to sneak out of the disciples' quarters and come here; you must have been extremely careful the whole way. What else could it be but on purpose?"
Yin Qiu was speechless, unable to refute her scolding, and could only fall silent.
“There are rules in the palace, and even if you are Uncle Shen’s daughter, you cannot ignore them,” Ye Zhilan said. “Besides, Jingyue Peak is not a place that can be reached in just a few steps. Uncle Shen is probably asleep by now. She has been traveling a lot to escort you back and has not had a good night’s sleep for days. If you really have some feelings for Uncle Shen, you should be considerate of her. Why disturb her peace?”
Yin Qiu stared blankly, her eyes red, and said, "I just miss her so much..."
The wind was biting and the snow was falling heavily. Yin Qiu was thin and frail, standing in the wind as weak as a fragile blade of grass.
Ye Zhilan looked at her for a while, then sighed for no reason. She took off her outer robe and draped it over Yin Qiu's shoulders, saying earnestly, "I know you have no parents and now regard your martial aunt as family. It's not wrong for you to want to see her, but you can't just sneak out like that. If I hadn't happened to run into you, you would have been arrested and tortured as soon as you entered the palace. How would you stand in the palace after that? What would others think of you?"
Yin Qiu was so ashamed that she couldn't stop sobbing.
"Alright, wipe away your tears," Ye Zhilan said, taking Yin Qiu's hand. "Let's go."
Yin Qiu wiped her eyes with her sleeve, but seeing that Ye Zhilan was not leading her towards the disciples' courtyard, she couldn't help but ask, "Where are we going?"
"Didn't you want to go find your martial uncle?" Ye Zhilan glanced at her sideways.
Yin Qiu was surprised, and her heart leaped with joy, but she stopped in her tracks and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Maybe we should just forget about it..."
Ye Zhilan asked, "What?"
Yin Qiu sniffed and forced a smile, saying, "You're right. I was so inconsiderate. My martial aunt works so hard; I shouldn't have bothered her."
Ye Zhilan looked pleased and asked, "Have you made up your mind?"
Yin Qiu nodded and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again."
Ye Zhilan hummed in agreement and said, "Then let's go back."
The two returned to the disciples' quarters and entered the room. Ye Zhilan stayed by Yin Qiu's bedside for a while, and only after Yin Qiu's breathing became steady and he fell asleep did she extinguish the candle and gently push open the door to leave.
Hearing the door slowly close, Yin Qiu opened her sore eyes and cried for a while in the darkness, suppressing her cries, before finally drifting off to sleep in the middle of the night.
·
The next day, at Mingguang Hall.
"I heard from Zhilan that the child ran away last night to look for you." Xie Yijun held the teacup, the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist tapping against the cup, making soft sounds.
“I’ve heard about it.” Man Jiangxue sat to one side, her gaze falling on the disciples sweeping snow outside the hall.
"It seems she considers you her mother?" Xie Yijun said with a smile.
"I suppose you're new here and haven't settled in yet," Man Jiangxue said. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Xie Yijun dismissed her disciples and said, "Now that the person has been brought back, I think we should release the news as soon as possible. If Mandong is still alive, she should come back to see the child after hearing about this."
Man Jiangxue glanced at her sideways but did not reply immediately.
“It’s not hard to guess what the Ziwei Sect’s intentions are,” Xie Yijun said. “Nangong Min wants to use that child to lure out Mandong. According to the reports from his disciples, the Ziwei Sect seems to be looking for something. I guess what they want is related to Mandong.”
Back then, Shen Mandong pierced Yin Xuan's heart with a sword, then personally set fire to the Ruyi Sect, and afterwards abandoned the newborn Yin Qiu and vanished without a trace. The reason for this remains unknown, and no one knows why she did it.
Although the Ruyi Sect had been breached by the Ziwei Sect, not all of its members had perished. As a renowned martial arts sect, it was believed that some highly skilled disciples would survive. Furthermore, the Yunhua Palace quickly dispatched its people to assist the sect after learning the news, and successfully repelled the Ziwei Sect.
Under those circumstances, Shen Mandong should have gathered and comforted the remaining Ruyi Sect disciples, recuperated, rebuilt her family, and sought revenge against the Ziwei Sect in the future. However, she chose to set fire to the mountain and resolutely left for distant lands without leaving a single word, which was truly strange.
“I still believe that Mandong is alive,” Xie Yijun sighed. “I just don’t know why she did what she did, or why she hid in the martial arts world and refused to show herself. Only by meeting her in person can we find out the truth.”
Incense burned in the incense burner on the altar. The snow had stopped today, and the slightly brighter daylight shone through the palace gate, illuminating wisps of intertwined and swirling blue smoke.
Man Jiangxue stood close to the incense burner, her whole body enveloped in the soft smoke. She was slightly lost in thought, silent, her lowered eyes revealing no emotion.
Xie Yijun put down her teacup, tapped the table lightly, and said, "I just can't shake this old habit of spacing out. You should give me some advice."
Man Jiangxue reached out and brushed away the smoke, her voice calm: "You are the sect leader, it's your decision."
Xie Yijun said, "What are you saying? I asked you to come here to discuss this matter. Why don't you at least share your thoughts?"
Man Jiangxue took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the dagger. Without looking up, she said, "I also believe that my senior sister is not dead, but since she has not come back to recognize us for ten years, there must be some hidden reason. Besides, she was able to abandon Yin Qiu, who was still an infant, back then. It is not necessarily true that she will reappear for her sake now."
Xie Yijun pondered for a moment and said, "That may be true, but back then, Mandong's only wish was to get married and have children. She didn't want to be a swordsman; she just wanted to be a good mother. Perhaps she couldn't accept the Ruyi Gate incident back then and left in anger, but ten years have passed. Even the greatest hatred should have subsided by now. No family feud is more important than one's own flesh and blood. Doesn't she want to see what her child looks like?"
Man Jiangxue said, "I can't guess what Senior Sister is thinking. But you are single-mindedly focused on finding her. Even if she really comes back, what then?"
Xie Yijun paused slightly, then sighed, “Back then, Master wanted to pass the position to her, and even on his deathbed, he couldn’t forget her whereabouts. Although I harbored resentment towards Mandong for a long time, I have to admit that if Ruyi Sect hadn’t had that incident, I wouldn’t have become the sect leader. If she could come back, I would naturally step down and give way to her. This is also Master’s wish.”
“Senior Sister is not cut out to be the sect leader,” Man Jiangxue said. “Neither am I. Only you are qualified for this position.”
After saying this, the two fell silent.
After a long pause, Xie Yijun said again, "No matter what, the news still needs to be released. After all, there's the Ziwei Sect eyeing us covetously from the outside. We can't be without a countermeasure, Zhilan!"
Upon hearing the call, Ye Zhilan immediately appeared at the palace gate.
"Instruct your disciples to spread the news of Yin Qiu's return to the palace," Xie Yijun said loudly.
"Yes, Master." Ye Zhilan accepted the order.
"Wait," Xie Yijun said again, "tell them that Yin Qiu is seriously ill and his life is in danger. We hope that many famous doctors will come to Yunhua to treat him and save his life. Do it immediately, the sooner the better."
Ye Zhilan looked surprised, but didn't ask any further questions. She bowed and led a group of disciples down the steps.
“Our only child is about to die of illness,” Xie Yijun said in a deep voice, standing with her hands behind her back. “If Mandong were really alive, I don’t believe she could be so heartless as to ignore her.”
Her move was intended to force Shen Mandong to show herself.
“In that case, I’m afraid the Ziwei Sect won’t be able to keep quiet either,” Man Jiangxue said.
"If you're so capable, come to Yunhua Palace and snatch him away," Xie Yijun laughed contemptuously. "What exactly is Nangong Min looking for? I'll leave that to you. Go and find out."
"So how do you plan to deal with the renowned doctors who have come to inquire about your situation?" Man Jiangxue asked.
“Just find a sick girl,” Xie Yijun said. “Not many people have seen Yin Qiu, so I’ll just say who it is.”
Man Jiangxue hung the dagger back on her waist, stood up and said, "Alright."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
