Chapter Six: Where Does the Dust Settle? Part Two
Xiang Wan's hands were now chillingly cold. Zhou Wei placed the bed in his master's bedroom. He knelt beside the bed, curled up in a small space on the edge, tears streaming down his face.
But he still remembered the uninvited guest, so he set up a barrier around the inner room, making the entire room disappear. The visitor couldn't see the door to enter, only a wall. Just as Zhou Wei was helping Xiang Wan leave, he accidentally knocked her bracelet off the table. The bracelet was a token of the Kongyun Mountain Sect Leader and the two sect masters, usually given by the sect leader and then by the previous leader upon the successor. Xiang Wan became the sect master of the Kongyun Mountain Medicine Sect before she was forty, and these twenty beads were far older than Zhou Wei. He squatted down, picked up the old man from beside the chair, held it tightly in his hand, and stepped out of the room, ready to find out what happened next.
As Zhou Wei reached the kitchen door, he encountered the ghostly youth carrying a bowl of porridge. Before Zhou Wei could speak, his stomach growled, and the young Xiang Wan cheerfully pushed the bowl towards him. Zhou Wei stood beside Xiang Wan, finished the porridge, and the pain in his stomach subsided, causing him to waver in his resolve to exorcise the ghost. But the ghost had to be exorcised; since he couldn't bring himself to do it, he would have to seek help from other cultivators.
The cultivators of Kongyun Mountain had all received guidance and favor from Xiang Wan, directly or indirectly, and the elders had known her for even longer. It seemed that Zhou Wei was shifting the blame onto someone else. Thinking too much would only make things worse. After finishing her bowl of porridge, Xiang Wan noticed the water had been thrown into the basin beside her and said to Zhou Wei, "I've been cooped up in the study for too long; I feel like my bones are about to give way. Let's go for a walk. I remember there's a scenic spot on the outskirts of the capital. It's spring now, so a stroll wouldn't hurt. Let's go together. What are you holding in your hand?"
“This is a bracelet. When I’m upset, I turn on both sides of it and it calms me down a lot,” Zhou Wei said, putting on an act.
"That's great! Let's go out for a stroll together."
Overthinking can lead to mistakes, and Zhou Wei experienced this firsthand that day. He and Xiang Wan went to the outskirts of the city to climb a mountain. They started their ascent early in the morning and reached the summit. By the time they were descending, it was around noon. The weather was fine, and the plum blossoms on the mountain were mostly in bloom. To enjoy more of the scenery, they chose a different route down the mountain. However, the two, who were completely unfamiliar with the routes through the capital, were unaware that this mountain belonged to one person, and that person was waiting for them on their way down.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, the two were surrounded by a group of servants. From among the servants, all dressed in identical, dusty gray, emerged a woman in a red dress, her face covered in fine powder, her hair styled in a high bun adorned with a gold hairpin and red flower. She raised her hands and addressed the two, saying, "Do you two know that you have trespassed into the territory of the Qi Dynasty princess!"
The boys who grew up in the mountains had no idea what a princess was, but Zhou Wei couldn't use magic to escape in public, and Xiang Wan, now a vengeful spirit, certainly couldn't use cultivator's magic. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this before, and they were unsure how to react. So they stood silently side by side, wondering what the other side was up to. The woman in red, expecting them to at least kneel and beg for mercy, was also stunned to see them standing there motionless. Just as the woman in red was about to speak, another person approached from behind, saying the princess wanted to speak to them. Two servants then stepped forward and carried the two of them forward. Although Zhou Wei felt bewildered and didn't understand what was going on, escaping with Xiang Wan was no problem. However, Xiang Wan, now a vengeful spirit, might lose her body at any moment and begin to devour people's lifespans, and Xiang Wan herself seemed completely unaware that she was different from those around her. When Zhou Wei looked at Xiang Wan, he noticed her eyes were gleaming, as if she were looking for something new and interesting ahead.
They hadn't walked far when they saw the roof of a pavilion. A few steps further, they found the pavilion completely surrounded by people dressed similarly, with a figure in the center. This person sat in a chair, their hair adorned with a gold hairpin and jade ornaments, and their ornate dress cascading down the pavilion. It was only early spring, yet two other people stood behind them, one on each side, holding large green fans. Zhou Wei wanted to get a good look at the person sitting there, but was stopped quite a distance away. The first woman to speak stepped forward, knelt before the person in the pavilion, and said, "Your Highness, these are the two who have been trespassing here."
"Who are you, and why are you here?" After Zhou Wei told the woman in red to stand up, he heard a leisurely voice coming from the pavilion. Her tone was drawn out, and it didn't sound like she really wanted to know anything; she was just saying something casually after being silent for a long time.
"My name is Huaiyan. I'm just here to enjoy the spring scenery." Before Zhou Wei could figure out how to reply, Xiang Wan spoke up proudly.
Who is speaking?
“Your Highness, it’s the one wearing a robe, standing to your right.” A person in the pavilion approached the princess and pointed at Wan.
"The spring scenery on this mountain belongs to me alone. You have come here without any rules and regulations. To be allowed to enjoy the scenery without being summoned is tantamount to stealing my property."
"Drag them both away!"
“Wait, Your Highness,” Xiang Wan stretched out her arms and jumped forward, blocking the view. “Although I am unknown, I am a disciple of a reclusive physician in the countryside, and I am considered his prized student. I have cured many nameless ailments of the common people. Today, I can tell from afar that Your Highness suffers from an eye ailment. If you are blind, it will be inconvenient, and you will not be able to fully appreciate the beautiful spring scenery. If Your Highness permits, I am willing to cure Your Highness’s eye ailment to repay Your Highness for forgiving our mistakes today.”
Upon hearing this, the princess frowned and waved to the woman standing beside her. The woman then instructed the servants to release the two of them, and said to Xiang Wan and Zhou Wei, "The princess's illness is being treated by the imperial physicians. You two are so young; what abilities do you have that you claim your medical skills far surpass those of the imperial physicians?"
"If you cannot cure her, you will be guilty of deceiving me, and you know what the consequences will be."
“How could I dare to deceive the princess? I guarantee with my life that I can restore the princess’s eyesight within a hundred days.”
"Let's talk closer," the princess said, and the servants released the two of them completely.
In reality, the princess had simply consulted a doctor; the large crowd and servants all witnessed this. However, somehow the story spread, transforming it into a tale of the princess taking a man she admired while sightseeing and making him her concubine. Further embellishment led to the version where a commoner was abducted by the princess's servants while strolling the streets. The prince consort, already not close to the princess, rarely visited after their marriage. Upon hearing this rumor, he immediately went to stay with an old friend, no longer inquiring about matters concerning the princess. Zhou Wei, however, remained worried and, on the way to the princess's residence, quietly asked Xiang Wan, "Are you really planning to treat the princess?"
"I am a doctor, and it is my duty to treat patients. You don't need to worry. If I can cure you, we will both be safe and sound. If I can't cure you, escaping from the princess's residence within a hundred days is a piece of cake."
After returning to the princess's residence, Xiang Wan took the princess's pulse, while Zhou Wei held the medicine and watched from the side. The princess's close servants did not allow him to get too close, so he could only stand behind several people and watch Xiang Wan examine the patient. The two settled temporarily in a courtyard of the princess's residence. The servant who brought them explained, "This place was originally intended for the physicians of the residence, but they were all unable to treat the princess's eye ailment and were driven out one by one. The remaining physicians, fearing to anger the princess, claimed their skills were insufficient even before examining her. The princess was furious and sullen all winter. Her first outing was to encounter the two of you. You'd better pray for yourselves. This is your quarters. These two rooms are for living, and that one is the pharmacy, filled with the residence's usual medicinal herbs, and all the necessary tools for processing them. I will serve the princess; as long as we can cure her eye ailment, we'll be at ease. If you need anything, just ask the maids outside. There's no medicinal herb we can't find in our residence."
Xiang Wan truly took her illness seriously, completely disregarding the princess's orders to capture him that day. Zhou Wei avoided getting close to the princess, instead staying in the courtyard to observe medical texts and prepare medicinal herbs. As expected of the princess's residence, the medical texts were rare and unique, and all sorts of medicinal herbs were readily available. Not only Zhou Wei, but even Xiang Wan felt she had benefited greatly. Zhou Wei didn't dare stray too far, fearing this brief period of peace might be shattered at any moment in the future. A month later, Zhou Wei, having finished preparing the herbs, sat on a bamboo chair in the courtyard, fiddling with Xiang Wan's bracelet, lamenting his precarious life, uncertain of his fate, when Xiang Wan suddenly returned earlier than usual. She seemed somewhat dazed, unlike her usual self who would immediately approach Zhou Wei upon entering, asking how her medical studies were going. Zhou Wei, holding the bracelet, walked over and grabbed Xiang Wan's arm, as if waking someone who was too sleepy to keep their eyes open: "I've been feeling really tired all day, and I even accidentally broke a bowl, so I was called back."
However, in Zhou Wei's eyes, Xiang Wan's eyes were cloudy when he first returned, a sign that his cultivation as a demon was nearing its end. He had been observing Xiang Wan's reactions these past few days and found that he didn't consciously or unconsciously try to steal people's lifespans, but his human form was weakening, his cloudy eyes being the biggest evidence. But now Xiang Wan seemed to have recovered completely, and for some reason, as he prepared to retract his outstretched hand, he discovered that the other half of the bracelet he was holding was in Xiang Wan's hand.
Zhou Wei sensed something, so he let go first, stuffed the item into Xiang Wan's hand, and told her, "This is something I bought especially for you. You must always carry it with you. I had it blessed by a master at a Taoist temple outside the city. It will keep you healthy and you won't feel tired even if you don't sleep for days and nights."
"A blessing from a Taoist temple? Are you serious? And you're going to carry it with you all the time? That's a bit much." As Xiang Wan spoke, she unconsciously began to twirl the beads in her hands. Finding that the beads suited her perfectly, she agreed, "Since it's a token of your kindness, I'll accept it."
In the following days, Xiang Wan indeed appeared radiant. The princess's acting skills gradually improved, and she could see further away more clearly. The atmosphere in the manor improved considerably, and the current situation was much closer to the date Xiang Wan had originally promised. Zhou Wei was thinking about how to safely persevere until the princess recovered, while also considering how to deal with Xiang Wan's presence after leaving the princess's manor. He couldn't continue like this forever; his duties as a cultivator had already been neglected for several months, and continuing to lie to Deng Lin that they were both away and leaving her to watch over the Xiang family's courtyard alone was not a long-term solution. To solve the first problem, Zhou Wei thought of another item Xiang Wan had left at Kongyun Mountain: the incense burner. Xiang Wan only started wearing the bracelet after becoming an elder of Kongyun Mountain, while the incense burner was something she carried all the way from her hometown to Kongyun Mountain. It had been kept in her study since childhood, used for burning incense while studying. Three years ago, when she left Kongyun Mountain, Xiang Wan left it at Zuan'en Tower as her last token of affection. He used to be responsible for cleaning, and he personally placed the incense burner in Zuan'en Tower when he and his master left. If it were a case of the guard stealing it, he was ninety percent confident he could succeed. However, theft required caution, and Xiang Wan showed no abnormalities. Zhou Wei only considered it once in his mind and then stopped thinking about it. The real opportunity that prompted him to take action was some time later when he left the princess's residence and returned to the Xiang family. He told Deng Lin that he and his master would be staying away for a long time, and if she felt it was boring, she could go home and rest for a few more days.
“I also feel bored. There’s no one to talk to, and all the birds in the yard are gone. So I’m going home. I’ll come back in a few days. You and Mr. Xiang can come to my house to find me after you come back to stay for a while. By the way, do you know if Mr. Xiang has any old friends of many years?”
"Master's old friends should all be in Kongyun Mountain. However, his close friends who were the same age as him have all passed away. Although the elders in the mountain have all received guidance from Master, they cannot be considered his closest friends."
Although Zhou Wei listened carefully to Deng Lin's words, he didn't take them to heart. When he returned to the princess's residence, he went through a small gate to the courtyard and saw the woman in red beside the princess standing anxiously at the door with two other women. When she saw Zhou Wei, she quickly came over: "Go and see quickly, Doctor Huai has suddenly fainted."
It is said that when the princess woke up today, she suddenly discovered that her eyesight had returned to normal, and she could see into the distance just like everyone else. She then ordered that Xiang Wan be richly rewarded when she came to take her pulse in the coming days, and that Zhou Wei be rewarded as well. However, when the time came for the routine pulse-taking, neither of them appeared. So the princess sent someone to look for them. The person who came found Xiang Wan lying unconscious on the bed, clutching a bracelet, and Zhou Wei was nowhere to be found. The princess was about to order the imperial physician to examine Xiang Wan, but the physician, unaware of Xiang Wan's condition, felt it was inappropriate to delay the task. Before the physician arrived, Zhou Wei returned first.
Zhou Wei strode into Xiang Wan's room and found her lying on her side on the bed, trembling as if trying to sit up, but Zhou Wei stopped her before she could. Zhou Wei's hands were trembling because Xiang Wan was injured. Although she was holding a bracelet, her half-open eyes had become cloudy again. He knew that the past was the past, and now he had to face the next choice.
Should he watch Xiang Wan vanish into nothingness, commit an unjust act that would be condemned by all cultivators, or simply prolong his existence for a short time? Zhou Wei's hand clenched into a fist, still trembling slightly, but Xiang Wan's fingertips were even colder. When they touched Zhou Wei's wrist, Zhou Wei was startled: "Chang Qi, you're back from home... Where's Deng Lin... I hope she won't be unhappy leaving her alone... I don't know why I suddenly couldn't get up today, and I can't seem to wake up..."
"You're alright, just tired. A little rest will do you good. The princess's eyes are much better now, let's go back soon. Deng Lin is waiting for us..."
Unfortunately, before Zhou Wei could finish speaking, Xiang Wan fainted again. Fortunately, he was still in human form, so Zhou Wei knew there was a chance he would wake up. He helped Xiang Wan lie flat on the bed, quietly went out the door, and called to the three women still standing at the door, saying, "Doctor Huai also has an ailment, especially after exertion, which flares up. He will probably need to sleep all day to wake up. Fortunately, the old doctor who has been treating him for many years lives in seclusion not far away. Please keep an eye on him, don't let anyone into the house, and don't let anyone who doesn't know the situation disturb him. I'll go get the medicine to brew for him."
The three nodded in agreement and asked if they should ask the princess for a carriage. Zhou Wei said the mountain road was difficult to travel, and a carriage would be useless; it would be faster for him to walk. The three agreed, having seen Zhou Wei often and trusting the three of them. So, after leaving through the back door and reaching a secluded spot, they used magic to hurry back to Kongyun Mountain.
This matter cannot last, but as long as Xiang Wan can wake up, they can leave the capital together and return to the Xiang family, where he can see Deng Lin one last time and then personally end this wrong path.
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