Chapter 22
The Grand Minister's mansion was quiet and peaceful.
Birds build their nests on the branches, and the chicks can be vaguely seen peeking out, their big black eyes staring anxiously at the place beyond the nest.
The mother bird flapped her wings and flew back. Hearing her chirping children calling out, she gently stroked the feathers on their heads.
In the side hall in front of the corridor, A-Lu and Ye-Min stood at the door, while Yang Yuan sat alone a little away from the dining table, both looking at Ai-Yi, who was as calm as still water.
"After recovering from her injuries, Liang Siqing left alone. Not long after, the Tianyi Sect repeatedly attacked the stronghold, and several villages adjacent to the ancient ruins were not spared."
Unexpectedly, Liang Siqing didn't leave at all. She found Wu Menggui and begged him to find a way to capture me, offering the court's support in exchange.
A-Lu frowned, crossed her arms, and continued listening to Ai-Yi recount the whole story.
Ai smiled and continued softly:
"I went to provide support with a group of senior brothers and sisters, but we fell into a trap. To protect me, the senior brothers and sisters stayed behind to hold off the zombies, but they were still captured."
A breeze blew outside the foyer, carrying the scent of hibiscus planted in the corridor. Ai closed her eyes, inhaling the delicate fragrance.
Images flashed through her mind, and she felt as if she could reach out and return to that place.
"ah!!!!!"
Ai opened her eyes with a scream, but the thick smell of blood immediately filled her nostrils. She tried to move her limbs, but all she heard was the rattling of the chains.
It was a dark and damp cell. A dozen feet in front of me was a rickety table with a stone underneath it.
On the table lay a pile of broken bottles and jars, filled with a black liquid containing scorpions and wasps. Next to them were a stack of iron chains and bronze weapons. She struggled to turn her head, but was terrified by a piercing scream.
A member of the Tianyi sect fed the centipede in his hand into his senior brother's mouth and then sealed his mouth shut with a red-hot iron.
The senior brother turned his head in anguish and saw Ai Yi.
His face was a bloody mess, but his eyes were still intact. He smiled at Ai Yi, his eyes crinkling, and slowly shook his head, telling her not to be afraid.
Ajeru, don't be afraid.
He then used the remaining internal energy in his body to sever his meridians and died in front of Ai Yi.
Ai stared blankly at her dead senior brother. Although she was also injured, she tried her best to reach out to him, but she was restrained by the chains and could not move.
"Senior brother, senior brother..."
Tears then slowly streamed down her face.
When the Tianyi sect members saw the Five Poisons disciple die from unbearable pain, they took him off the shelf, dragged him by the legs, and threw him away like a piece of trash.
Footsteps approached her. Ai bit her lip, trying not to cry out. She turned her head and saw several people dressed as Tianyi Sect wizards walking towards her and stopping in front of her.
"Beast!!!Beast!!!"
"You bunch of beasts!!!"
Ai roared at them with all her might. Her body, bound by chains, lurched forward violently, making the chains rattle.
"Wow, you're shouting so loudly, looks like you're not seriously injured."
The group looked at each other, then made way for Liang Siqing to walk up to Ai Yi.
"Don't touch it. I don't want to ruin this skin. It might be useful later."
Ai looked at her with tears streaming down her face, and as she approached, she spat in her face.
Liang Siqing closed her eyes and slowly wiped the drool off her face with a handkerchief from her waist.
"I think I just told you not to move around."
Suddenly, Liang Siqing stuffed a handkerchief into Ai Yi's mouth. Several wizards rushed over and held her down. One of them, who was standing behind Liang Siqing, opened a medicine bottle on the table behind him and handed it to Liang Siqing.
"Didn't you say that I could come and get whatever I wanted myself?"
"Then give me your flawless face!"
Ye Min was getting impatient. Ai Yi stopped halfway through the story, so after a moment, he immediately pressed for an answer:
"And then what happened? What became of you?"
After opening her eyes, Ai lowered her gaze and looked at her hands hidden under her sleeves. She reached out and slowly pulled up the long, thick sleeves.
Ye Min stared at the arm that he thought was a slender hand, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
Upon seeing it, he was so frightened that his legs were trembling.
Ai's arms were covered in bluish-green and dark purple patches. And at the joints, there were prominent, bulging blood vessels, as if they were just stuck under the skin and could break out at any moment.
She slowly lowered her sleeves again.
"This is the aftereffect of the skin replacement. I have long practiced the art of insect poisoning, and my flesh and blood have long been infused with various toxins. Her delicate skin, that of a good young girl, simply cannot withstand such severe erosion."
Ye Min suddenly felt his stomach churning, and waves of nausea surged upwards from his abdomen, pulling at his throat. He couldn't help but gag, immediately covering his mouth and running out the door.
A-Lu glanced at Ye Min's retreating figure, sighed, and followed him out.
Suddenly, only two people remained in the lobby.
Yang Yuan put down her teacup, slung her zither over her shoulder, and walked to the spot where A-Lu had just stood. A chilly wind blew in from outside, brushing against her equally cold face. Yang Yuan felt that the atmosphere of this mansion was colder and more oppressive than the free wind outside.
"Who did this?" Yang Yuan asked.
Ai stood up, placing her hands in front of her abdomen. She walked to Ai's side.
"Who did it, and what does it matter? As long as I wear this person's face, I am still the daughter of the Minister of the Imperial Treasury. It's just a change of scenery and a chance to broaden my horizons."
Ai Yi turned to look at Yang Yuan, glanced at her white hair, and sighed softly.
“Your white hair is not caused by poison. Even if Alena were here, she couldn’t cure it.”
“It’s alright.” Yang Yuan lowered her eyes. “It saves us a lot of trouble.”
Two girls, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, talked about these things as if they were old news.
Ai Yi pondered for a moment, then looked at the sky, which had cleared from being overcast.
“I’ve heard about the major events in the martial arts world. But after thinking about it, since you’re now a member of the Evil Valley, it would be a bit troublesome to find a way to tell you the news. I’ll send a message to Tang Yu, and he will keep you informed of the situation I’ve been gathering.”
These words made Yang Yuan tremble, and she almost lost her footing.
"I'm very sorry about Xue Hua."
Yang Yuan stood still, her hands clenched into fists beneath her light green sleeves.
"There's no need to bring up the past."
Ai shook her head.
“Yang Yuan, people are born, grow old, get sick, and die. There are many things we cannot predict. Everything is fate. He may be the one who is destined to help you through this tribulation. Only when he gets through it can you get through it.”
Yang Yuan turned her head to look at the corridor in front of her, scanned the area, and then turned her gaze back to her.
I believe in myself, not in fate.
Ai smiled and shook her head.
“Fate… has never been in our own hands.” She looked at her fingertips. The thin calluses that once covered them could serve as proof that she had once been a member of the Five Immortals Sect, but now her fingertips were as smooth as jade, and there was not a trace of her former self.
Yes, she had thought about going back late at night.
Back in that treehouse amidst green hills and clear waters, surrounded by towering trees, Alena must have finished washing clothes, completing her sect's chores, cleaning up a mess, and preparing a meal, waiting for her and Tang Yu to return for dinner.
Her senior brother taught her how to cultivate Gu techniques, while her junior brothers and sisters playfully went to see the nectar left behind by the stole crossbow. Her senior sister mended her clothes, and a flute melody echoed through the mountains and fields, making her feel carefree and at ease.
There's no going back, never going back.
"Does it hurt?" Yang Yuan asked.
Ai shook her head.
"Whether it hurts or not is irrelevant."
Yang Yuan remained silent.
"Speaking of which, when I met you in Yangzhou that day, I guessed why you had come."
Ai turned to face her and took out a jade pendant from her sleeve.
"This is a pair that the Ming Cult disciple found. I found the jade piece in the bell on that woman. It took me a lot of effort to get it. The name on the jade piece is Liang Siqing."
Yang Yuan took the piece from her hand. It had no name on it, and the edges were unevenly cut. The jade was soft, but it was not lapis lazuli; it was Hetian jade.
Furthermore, the jade pendant is decorated with relief carvings of ginkgo leaves.
"What's strange is that the craftsmanship of this piece is different from that of the jade piece."
I inquired around and found that only the blacksmiths at Cangjian Manor could make jade pendants of this style. The large expanse of ginkgo leaves above is also a common design of theirs.
But this thing is so eye-catching; it seems they want to draw your attention away from the jade piece and towards me.”
Yang Yuan gripped the jade pendant tightly and asked a question.
"Besides us, have any other people come here recently?"
Ai thought about it seriously for a moment and then answered:
"Speaking of which, there really is one."
"He was a swordsman. He was probably a disciple of some sect in the martial arts world. He was masked and didn't reveal his name. He was dressed in purple clothes with some fur, so he was probably from the north. After entering the gate of the Minister of the Imperial Treasury, he only handed the wet nurse this jade pendant, didn't say anything more, and left."
Yang Yuan frowned. "Didn't you say anything?"
Ai thought for a moment and recalled:
"He seemed to whisper something as he left..."
A-Lu and Ye-Min went to Yangzhou City, supposedly to gather some information. Yang Yuan didn't respond, so Ai-Yi promised them to remember to come back and rest early.
Everyone kept the news that Liang Siqing was Ai Yi firmly in mind. Ye Min even swore that he would keep this secret.
Late at night, after discussing some matters with Ai Yi, Yang Yuan returned to her room alone.
She entered the room, the candlelight illuminating it brightly. She took the zither from her back and placed it in her bosom. After inspecting the body and strings, she was about to put it on the table when suddenly her eyes widened, she froze, picked up the Dongxianyin zither again, stood up, and faced the inner chamber.
"What brings you here, sir, to trespass on the residence of the Minister of the Imperial Treasury?"
The figure behind the screen made a blurry outline in the candlelight. Yang Yuan noticed his presence and shifted slightly, causing the candlelight on the side closest to him to suddenly go out.
Yang Yuan, with her excellent hearing, recognized the sound of the knife returning to its sheath.
"Don't be alarmed, young lady. I'm just here to retrieve an old item and will be leaving immediately."
It was a man's voice.
"I wonder how valuable this item is that it would trouble the people of Ba Dao Manor to personally visit the mansion of this court official at night."
"It's pointless to say more, young lady, don't meddle in such trivial matters."
Just as Yang Yuan's fingers approached the strings, she heard the man's voice again.
"Miss, you'd better not provoke anyone. This matter has nothing to do with you. Too many people are eyeing this thing; be careful not to get yourself into trouble."
Yang Yuan's hand stopped an inch from the strings. Just as she was about to ask a question, she was drawn to the sound of a sudden knock on the door. The man took the opportunity to open the window and escape.
The person knocking realized something was wrong and immediately pushed the door open and rushed in.
A-Lu looked at Yang Yuan, who was holding the zither, took the knife from her waist, and checked the surroundings of the room for anything unusual. She immediately asked:
Are you alright?
Yang Yuan shook her head. A Lu was worried and wanted to chase after her. Just as she took a step, her clothes were suddenly grabbed, and she froze on the spot.
"Never mind."
Yang Yuan whispered.
"No need to waste time."
A-Lu stood there without turning around. The piece of clothing that Yang Yuan was holding seemed to be a hindrance. If Yang Yuan hadn't called out to him then, she might have felt disappointed.
"Just stay here for a little while, that's fine."
A faint smile appeared on Alu's lips.
"Um."
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