Chapter 13: Heart of the Bright Moon
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That sounded perfectly reasonable.
Even Sheng Ningyu could not think of a way to refuse.
The inexperienced young master Yuan looked moved as well. “Young Master Xie is truly considerate.”
Yet instead of handing the medicine to Xie Qianjing as requested, he said solemnly, “Saving lives and healing the wounded is simply a physician’s duty. This is the path I have chosen, so there is no need for you to take it to heart, Young Master Xie.”
That seemed reasonable too.
Sheng Ningyu nodded and said considerately to Xie Qianjing, “Young Master Yuan is right. You must be tired as well. Go rest for a while. I’ll leave this injury to the healers of Cloudwatch Palace. The disciples of Cloudwatch Palace are highly skilled physicians; treating this little wound of mine will surely be effortless.”
Xie Qianjing: “…”
He stared at Sheng Ningyu for several seconds, gave a slight nod, then turned and found a place to sit.
Sheng Ningyu: ?
She was rather at a loss.
Had she somehow offended him again?
Yuan Shuhe knew nothing of the silent exchange between the two. He took the medicine from one of his fellow disciples, ground several pills, then stepped forward without hesitation. With a grave expression, he began applying the medicine to Sheng Ningyu’s wound.
As he worked, he did not forget to instruct his junior disciples on what to do should they ever find themselves short of spiritual medicine.
Sheng Ningyu said nothing throughout. She let Yuan Shuhe tend to her, her gaze fixed elsewhere, her brows faintly furrowed as though pondering something.
Seeing this, Yuan Shuhe became even more careful, while the disciples of Cloudwatch Palace listened attentively to their senior brother’s teachings. For a moment, the scene took on a warm, harmonious air.
Sheng Ningyu was indeed thinking—but her thoughts had nothing to do with such harmony.
She could infer that before Xie Qianjing spoke, he had been standing behind her—behind and to her right.
It was an exceedingly sensitive and unusual position.
She still remembered how, when she had first emerged from the coffin, she had been unable to tolerate anyone coming near her right hand. Later, though she never showed it outwardly, whenever someone approached from behind on her right, she would be ready at any moment to strike back.
Even now, Yuan Shuhe was clearly only treating her wound and meant her no harm, yet Sheng Ningyu still felt a trace of discomfort.
But just now—Xie Qianjing had been standing so close, and she had shown no reaction at all.
In a mere few days, had she truly come to trust Xie Qianjing so deeply? Had she grown unaware even when he approached from behind on her right?
That was no good.
Sheng Ningyu examined her conscience. In the past, she had been careless about such matters. As a result, when disaster struck, she had not even known who the culprit was. She had lost all her cultivation and could only rely on half a spiritual bone to preserve a few threads of spiritual power. She had not even dared reveal her true name to anyone.
Xie Qianjing’s origins were unknown, his past shrouded in mystery. He was certainly not someone worthy of trust.
She needed to put some distance between them. That would be best for both of them.
“Finished!”
Yuan Shuhe bandaged Sheng Ningyu’s palm and tied it with a beautiful knot. “For the next few days, Fellow Daoist Ning, try not to use your right hand.”
He hesitated, but ultimately continued, “Fellow Daoist Ning, your right hand seems to bear a very serious old injury?”
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Sheng Ningyu had long since prepared an answer to that question. “I was injured by an old friend when I left my sect. One sword severed our old grievances. Young Master Yuan, rest assured. I am traveling to Spiritveil Quay this time in search of a chance at survival. That old friend knows of it and will not cause trouble for Cloudwatch Palace’s reputation.”
Yuan Shuhe’s face flushed red at once. He waved his hands repeatedly and hurriedly said, “Fellow Daoist Ning, you misunderstand! That was not what I meant!”
Beside them, Yao Youling came over with a grin. “What Senior Brother Yuan actually means is that, since Fellow Daoist Ning’s right hand is injured, you should be especially careful when using it. If you move improperly, you may very well develop a chronic condition, which could hinder your progress along the path of the sword.”
As he spoke, Yuan Shuhe nodded repeatedly.
Sheng Ningyu naturally believed that Yuan Shuhe meant her no harm, and she trusted Cloudwatch Palace’s reputation even more. Nevertheless, she maintained an uncertain expression. “Is that truly what this young fellow Daoist means? My identity is unclear, after all. If you are worried that I might bring trouble, I can understand…”
“How could that be?” Yuan Shuhe exclaimed.
Yao Youling added, “When the Chu family made things difficult for us earlier, it was all thanks to Fellow Daoist Ning’s help. No matter what kind of injury it is, Cloudwatch Palace will certainly be able to cure it!”
That was a rather bold promise.
They were young, after all, and believed only in a world divided cleanly between black and white, untouched by gloom or ambiguity.
Once, Sheng Ningyu had been one of them.
She looked at the youths and smiled, but shook her head as she cut straight to the heart of the matter. “I’m afraid my injury will not be so easy to cure. If it truly requires countless rare treasures, how could you expend them all on me alone? And if the treatment takes a long time, I have neither silver nor spirit stones. Would I then expect Cloudwatch Palace to pay for everything? Even if all of you are compassionate, I do not have a face thick enough for that.”
This time, not only Yuan Shuhe stood frozen in place—even Yao Youling was stunned. He scratched his head, trying to explain, but could not find the words.
Ji Qingwu, watching from the side, grew anxious. She shoved aside her useless senior brothers and loudly proclaimed, “Sister Ning, don’t listen to them! You saved me, so once we reach Cloudwatch Palace, you can live with me! I’ll treat you and give you spiritual herbs too! I’ll do it for the rest of your life!”
A lifetime was a long time, but even though Sheng Ningyu did not believe the promise, she could not help smiling.
The disciples of Cloudwatch Palace laughed as well, and the heavy atmosphere instantly vanished.
Swallowing back the words of refusal, Sheng Ningyu bent down, smiled, and tapped Ji Qingwu between the brows. “All right. Then I’ll wait for our little divine physician Ji to cure me.”
As they chatted and laughed, it was inevitable that they would bring up the puppet blight they had encountered earlier.
“…That is what the puppet blight is like—fine as needles, dense as woven thread, winding and twisting in every direction. It always catches people off guard.”
“Exactly! If it is discovered early and only a few puppet threads have invaded, there may still be hope. But once too many threads have entered and remain hidden, there is no saving the victim!”
“I wonder where this thing came from. I’ve heard that even demonic cultivators fear it!”
“Some demonic cultivation techniques counter it, though. They can detect it far more easily than we can.”
Everyone offered a comment or two. Sheng Ningyu occasionally responded, and in the process gained quite a bit of information.
The puppet blight really had appeared only after she was imprisoned in the coffin. It had existed for no more than a dozen years.
Sheng Ningyu chewed on a piece of dry rations and thought that the immortal cultivators of the present day truly lacked imagination.
What sort of name was “puppet blight”? It was nothing more than a mass of tangled threads.
Since the thing was so difficult to dislodge once it attached itself, why not weave it into clothing—or roll it into a ball, leaving only one tail exposed? When faced with an unruly demonic creature, one could simply throw it out to control the beast, keeping hold of the thread as a tether. It would save both time and effort.
She wondered how powerful the thing was in battle, and which would prove stronger against it—the puppet blight or the immortal cranes of Sword Pavilion. If she used it to fish in the Cold Jade Pool of Autumn Pond, would every cast hook a fish, making failure impossible?
As Sheng Ningyu pondered this, the subject somehow returned to the Chu family.
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“Speaking of which, Fellow Daoist Ning was truly bold earlier. You actually dared to block that young master of the Chu family.”
“Indeed! That young master of the Chu—”
Under Yuan Shuhe’s warning gaze, Yao Youling swallowed the rest of his words and muttered reluctantly, “But he really did strike viciously. I wasn’t wrong!”
Sheng Ningyu made no comment on the first remark, but at the second, she smiled and drawled, “Actually, the Chu family patriarch did not intend to hurt anyone just now.”
Hearing her speak in Chu Jinye’s defense, Yao Youling instantly bristled. “His talisman blasted a huge hole in the ground, and you still say he didn’t intend to hurt anyone?”
“If he had truly meant to strike viciously,” Sheng Ningyu replied, “you would not be standing here now.”
Yuan Shuhe agreed. “Fellow Daoist Ning is right. That attack was merely a warning. Junior Brother, the Chu family patriarch is already in the mid-stage of the Heavenly Balance Realm. If he wanted to kill you, it would be effortless.”
The Heavenly Balance Realm—only one level below the Heavenly Pivot Realm.
Back then, Sheng Ningyu had merely been in the early stage of the Heavenly Pivot Realm. At that time, aside from her master, there had been only five people in the entire world who had reached that realm.
After all these years, Chu Chang’an had reached the Heavenly Balance Realm as well. It was truly…
Too foolish.
Sheng Ningyu thought this with utter indifference.
Wonderful. Once she recovered her spiritual bone, she had gained yet another measure of confidence in slaughtering her way through her enemies and taking her revenge.
As the conversation shifted to the Chu family, the disciples of Cloudwatch Palace, all young themselves, exchanged meaningful glances and began sharing rumors and anecdotes.
“Though the Eastern Sea Chu clan is said to be the most powerful family among the righteous path today, didn’t they suffer from the puppet blight some years ago? Many people died back then. I heard that it was the current Chu family patriarch who eventually brought out a magical treasure called the Moonheart. He suspended it high above the Chu estate, and only then did the puppet blight stop troubling them.”
“As expected of the Chu family. They truly possess an abundance of rare treasures!”
“Haha, the Chu family does have countless treasures. They can even scatter high-grade talismans like water for amusement—but this Moonheart does not actually belong to the Chu family.”
Hearing the mystery in Yao Youling’s voice, Sheng Ningyu lifted the cup of water someone had placed beside her and asked obligingly, “Such an extraordinary treasure—who was kind enough to give it to the Chu family patriarch?”
Who could have been so blind?
Without this ridiculous Moonheart, perhaps some kind-hearted puppet might have taken the entire Chu family for a stroll. Then half of her revenge might already have been accomplished.
“Let me tell you the whole story!”
Yao Youling grew animated. He leaned closer to the others and said mysteriously, “Some say that the Moonheart is shaped like a full moon, symbolizing perfection and completeness. Others say it resembles a lotus, representing the noble character of both the giver and the recipient. It is said to have been formed from more than a thousand days and nights of gathered essence!”
The disciples of Cloudwatch Palace listened, utterly captivated. Sheng Ningyu could not very well dismiss them, so she followed along. “This treasure certainly sounds extraordinary. Fellow Daoist Yao, stop teasing us and tell us at once—who gave it to him?”
If she ever had the chance, she would have a little discussion with that gift-giver herself.
Yao Youling raised his chin and loudly announced the answer.
“This treasure was once the betrothal token given to the Chu family patriarch by his fiancée—the Brightmoon Sword Sovereign!”
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