What can death energy do to me?
However, she had long since passed the age of wanting to argue with him pointlessly. She simply stood quietly by the wooden steps, waiting for them to pass before climbing the steps herself, without giving them a second glance.
After taking a few steps, Xue Jingnian was surprised not to receive any subtle eye rolls from her, so he couldn't help but turn around to look.
Seeing that she had already lifted her skirt and walked to the potted gladiolus placed at the bend of the wooden steps, her face was calm and undisturbed, without the slightest anger.
Xue Jingnian's expression darkened for a moment. He turned around and strode towards the gate with the crowd, still talking quietly with others, but the smile that was originally on his face had faded considerably.
Half of the second floor of the library was a book storage room and the other half was a quiet room. There were more people on the second floor than on the first floor. The first few quiet rooms that Yan Huanyue walked through were all full.
When she arrived at the fifth quiet room, she found it sparsely populated, with an old wooden sign on the door that read "Temporary Recitation Room".
She went inside, found a corner to sit down, added some spiritual energy to the candle wick to make the flame three times brighter, and turned to the "Spiritual Energy Slowing Chapter" to memorize it.
Memorize it once, and run it once at the same time.
The candles in the library were made of a special material that could burn for a whole day and night. When she looked up again, the quiet room was empty.
She took the pen, ink, and two sheets of paper from the table in the northeast corner of the quiet room, wrote the letter announcing the annulment, let it dry, put it in an envelope, and put it into her treasure pouch.
The place was exceptionally quiet, and there was no one else besides her, which was enough to allow her to relax her long-tense mind.
Once she began to relax, the figures of Fu Yinhuan and Yu Zhao, along with many old scenes, appeared before her eyes in turn.
She closed her eyes, and before her was a smear of blood she had once seen when she used her spiritual power to help villagers plow their fields in the countryside.
A snow-white sheep lay on the ground, its four legs bound, bleating mournfully.
The experienced butcher, wielding a gleaming dagger, swiftly plunged it into the heart through the throat with a "thud," then pulled the knife out with a swift motion. The blood had all pooled in the heart, with the knife only drawing out a tiny bit of blood.
Compared to the chaotic scene of blood splattering everywhere when the throat is slit, this is a more dignified and refined method of slaughter, which won't soil clothes or appear bloody.
She licked her lips, the burning sensation from the tea she had been drinking that afternoon spreading from the tip of her tongue to her throat, giving her a distinct sense of pleasure.
This winter, she also plans to slaughter a sheep for the Lunar New Year.
However, such a refined and sophisticated method was probably still too much of a relief for him...
After spending some time alone, she packed up her books, took the candlesticks, and prepared to go to the second-floor dining room to get some food to continue reading. However, she found that the dining room door was locked, and there were only a few lights left in the entire library.
The kitchen usually closes at 9 PM. She then went around a small hill and went to the potted pine tree under the south window on the second floor to take a look at the water clock.
It was already midnight, and she was startled to find that she had been able to concentrate on memorizing books for three hours straight.
Although she was required to memorize "The Chapter on the Slow Stop of the Movement of Spirits" several years ago, she can only recite about one or two crucial passages now.
Fortunately, she did have some basic knowledge, so Senior Sister Han wasn't trying to make things difficult for her by asking her to memorize this passage in one day.
But she was of average talent, and after memorizing for more than three hours, she could only stumble through the text and barely manage to run it through.
Many of the spells she can use now are incomplete, cobbled together from imagination, with the main goal being to be able to use them, but the power and effectiveness of their execution cannot be guaranteed.
She sighed, glanced at the water clock again, and prepared to go back to continue memorizing her lessons.
Turning his head, he was startled to see a distorted face filled with endless resentment reflected in the water container, which was already filled with water.
She gasped and took a few steps back, instantly covered in cold sweat. A woman emerged from a nearby quiet room with a candle and whispered, "What is it?"
Yan Huanyue put the book into her treasure pouch, braced herself, made a hand seal, and shuffled to the water container. She lowered the candlestick, glanced at it quickly, and saw that there was only her own reflection in it.
She relaxed and said to the woman, "I'm sorry, senior sister, I misjudged you and scared myself."
The woman smiled and said, "Oh, it's Baoying. What brings you to the library? Go back and rest early."
Yan Huanyue mumbled, "Yes, I'll go back... Senior Sister!"
She watched helplessly as her smiling senior sister was suddenly engulfed in flames by the candlelight in her hand, her skin cracking instantly, and her jaw shattering and falling to the ground.
Her upper lip, covered in blisters, was still slightly upturned, and her empty mouth asked her affectionately, "Baoying, you're so timid, do you want your senior sister to take you home and coax you to sleep?"
Yan Huanyue's heart pounded, her eyes widened, and in an instant, the person engulfed in flames in her eyes completely disappeared.
She was still looking down at the rippling water in the water container, her eyes reflecting the faint flame of the candle.
She hurriedly straightened up and stepped back, subconsciously glancing at the quiet room where the senior sister had just come out. She saw that it was dark there and no disciples were reading anymore.
The dripping of the water clock echoed in the empty second floor, lingering and swirling for a long time. The Xuan Tian Bagua (Eight Trigrams) on the dome rotated peacefully, casting down a shower of starlight.
She quickly burned her hand over the candle flame; it hurt.
She took out an old compass that had never been used before from her treasure pouch, wanting to see if there was anything strange about the place. But the compass needle spun around rapidly and suddenly pointed at her.
Yan Huanyue's face turned pale. Could it be because she was reborn after death, and the compass thought she was a demon?
But the next moment the compass started spinning erratically again, and after returning to its original position, it stopped moving.
Perhaps it broke because it had never been used since it was acquired.
She put away her compass and went to a quiet room on the north side, where a candle was lit. Inside, she saw three fellow disciples sitting.
She asked someone to use a compass to check the water clock. The senior brother followed her to check, but the compass needle did not move.
It seems she needs to get a new compass.
The senior brother even threw a spirit-detecting spell into the water container, but there was still no reaction.
"Junior Sister Yan, stop fooling around in the library in the middle of the night. Go back and rest so you don't miss tomorrow's morning class. Besides, what kind of evil spirits do you think would dare to come and cause trouble in the Tianyan Sect's library?"
Yan Huanyue said in a low voice, "Senior brother, I saw something strange when I looked in the water just now..."
The senior brother whispered, "Are you perhaps hallucinating from staying up too late? The library is dark at night, so it's common to misjudge things. Sometimes I stay up too late and my mind wanders a bit. Once my mind wanders, I'm easily startled. Alright, hurry back."
Could it be that she hasn't slept in a long time and has lost her focus?
Yan Huanyue couldn't quite comfort herself like that. She went back to their meditation room with her senior brother, reciting the Scripture of Circulation while keeping an eye on the outside world, taking a look out every now and then.
She followed her senior brothers and sisters as they left. When she came out of the library, she saw a clear moon and gentle breeze, and the spring rain had stopped.
She slowly turned around. Under the bright stars and moon, the majestic library stood silently, dark and deep.
What she saw at the leaky window might just be her hallucination...
"Huanyue... although you are usually lazy and indolent, you are the kindest-hearted person. Every year, when Wenshitang takes on farming and harvesting tasks, even though there is no payment, you always rush to do them..."
"Huanyue, if you knew that your flesh and blood could save people, you would definitely be willing, wouldn't you?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you in the woods. I was simply unable to look after you... I feel guilty and dare not let anyone see your death. You can blame me; it has nothing to do with Guiyi..."
"If Guiyi were alive, it would be you living, wouldn't it...? On Guiyi's behalf, I thank you. Now that you are both alone, I can protect you..."
Yan Huanyue silently watched the man beside the immortal cauldron, who was bathed in the firelight. He was dressed in a crimson robe and stood beneath the cauldron, looking up at the wisps of smoke rising from the dragon-shaped roof. He spoke to the smoke with a desolate expression.
Suddenly, he looked at her, and fear instantly spread across his face like countless writhing serpents. He quickly formed a magic seal...
Yan Huanyue felt as if she had been blown to pieces, every inch of her body bearing excruciating pain.
She suddenly opened her bloodshot eyes, her whole body being rapidly crushed by explosive pain that started from her very soul, leaving her drenched in cold sweat.
She looked at the open pages of the book on the table and forcefully suppressed the urge to tear the desk apart.
He turned and pounced on the ground, his ten fingers digging into the blue bricks like steel nails, shattering the bricks and carving out ten bloody marks.
Everything before her eyes became extremely distorted. Many people laughed, whispered, and wailed in her ears. Unable to bear the pain, she opened her mouth and silently laughed and cried along with them.
Sweat and tears streamed down his face, and dust covered his skin.
Gradually, the pain subsided, and she let go of her hands, collapsing weakly to the ground. The two memorial tablets were placed on the incense table in the distance, and she remained silent.
Her dark hair clung damply to her snow-white cheeks as she blinked her tearful eyes, gazing blankly at the morning light streaming in through the window.
The cool yet warm light was divided into pieces by the small wooden lattice on the window, falling onto her sleeves, square and neat, like a silent cage.
She stared for a long time, then slowly extended a finger with a broken nail and made a small cut in the shadow that framed the sunlight on the ground.
But in no time, the shadow imprisoned the patch of sunlight and moved to the side.
Warm tears slid down her cheeks; her rebirth after her soul was shattered seemed to be burdened with a heavy yoke.
Deathly aura...
Her soul harbored the deathly aura that had pursued her from her past life...
She slowly raised her sleeve to wipe away her tears, then slowly got up from the ground. First, she opened the window to let the morning light stream in, then went out to fetch water to wash and apply medicine.
She tore off the white gauze herself, wrapped her ten fingers together with her hands and mouth, and used her fingertips and palms to comb her hair. She didn't tie it up, but loosely tied it behind her head with a red ribbon.
She sat in front of her dressing table, looking at her reflection in the mirror—her eyes still red and her expression panicked. She smiled slightly, a smile that wasn't genuine, but enough to comfort herself.
She whispered to the not-so-strong girl in the mirror, "Don't be afraid. I've already died, what else can they do to me? There will always be a way to solve this."
.
Under a magnolia tree outside the Xinzizhai of Zhijingtang.
Gu Yuxiao, who was sitting on a high chair with names and signatures, put down his crossed legs, put down the roster in his hand, looked at the ten fingers wrapped up haphazardly in front of him, and clicked his tongue in amazement:
"Your anger should have subsided by now, right? Besides, if you're angry, you should direct it at Junior Brother Yu. Why have you been stubbornly arguing with your own ten fingers these past two days?"
Yan Huanyue withdrew her hand. "Senior Brother Gu, I am feeling uneasy and fear I may have a serious illness. I would like to ask for half an hour's leave to go to the medical clinic for a checkup."
Gu Yuxiao's eyes flickered, and he looked at her with some suspicion, tentatively asking, "Are you putting on an act for me again?"
Yan Huanyue stretched out her hand, "Then senior brother, take a look at it."
Looking at the white gauze soaked with blood, Gu Yuxiao was not a ruthless person after all. He waved his hand, brushed away the fallen magnolia petals on his body, and said, "Go, and have breakfast at the dining hall before you come back."
"Thank you, senior brother."
She took a few steps, and Gu Yuxiao glanced up at the misty pink figure, noticing the red ribbons swaying gently in the morning breeze behind her. Suddenly remembering something, he called out:
"Junior Sister Yan, the sect leader replaced the wooden table that you scratched yesterday with a better one for my master. You don't need to worry about my master punishing you."
The figure paused, turned back against the wind, and said, "Understood, Senior Brother Gu."
Gu Yuxiao got up from the chair and took a few steps toward her, lowering his voice slightly as he said, "I don't know what happened to your claws. I ran into Junior Brother Xue when I went to practice my sword at Broken Jade Waterfall before dawn. The injury is still on his face. Remember to avoid him if you run into him these next few days."
She had no time to think about Xue Jingnian right now, and in response to Gu Yuxiao's reminder, she could only nod and say, "Okay."
A note from the author:
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