Chapter Thirty-Nine: Severing Attachments and Abandoning Thoughts

After Lu Xue ate the snow pear cake I made, her face drained of color, and she coughed up blood before fainting. Master immediately cast a spell to seal her celestial veins, gathering her into his arms.

That pitiable beauty lay limp against him, her brows knit with a faint sorrow even in unconsciousness, two lashes like spirit-butterfly wings trembling with a crystalline tear, a touch of blush blooming across her pale cheeks. Her delicate nose and cherry lips, now stained with blood, appeared all the more alluring—a vision that, if not for the blood trickling from her mouth, would have seemed merely a drunken slumber.

Even I, witnessing such a sight, could not help but feel a pang of compassion...

I hurried over to check her pulse—she was poisoned! Poisoned!

How could there be poison in the snow pear cake I made?

Master pinched a bit of the cake in his palm, and a white flame rose in his hand. The cake glowed a luminous blue, and he frowned.

"An ancient, forbidden recipe—a poison to sever all attachments and passions." He gazed at Lu Xue's face, his eyes glistening, his expression mingling with too much—too much for me to discern: was it love? Pity? Grief? Or longing...

He set Lu Xue upright, sitting cross-legged to cast a spell with her, suppressing the poison within her body.

"Master, can you cure her?" I asked anxiously.

"This poison can be cured in others, but she..." Master fell silent.

In two thousand years, it was the first time I had seen him so hesitant, so uncertain.

I recalled that fourteenth senior brother had previously brought this severing poison to the kitchen for study—most likely he had carelessly let it leak. As for how it ended up in my cake, I could not tell, but there was no time to dwell on it. Saving Lu Xue was urgent.

"Master, there is more to this. Fourteenth senior brother is preparing an antidote—I will go find him!"

"Go," Master answered heavily, making no move to stop me.

I dashed out of his study and ran straight into Bai Ze, who was bringing documents for Master. Without stopping to greet him, I sped past.

"Yu Fei! Stop right there!" Bai Ze leapt to block my path, scolding, "You unruly disciple, do you think Yuqing Realm belongs to you alone? Such wanton behavior, with no respect for your elders!"

"I'm in a hurry to find fourteenth senior brother," I replied, "I didn't mean any harm. Mistress has been poisoned! I have to go!" I bowed hastily and turned to leave.

At this, Bai Ze's eyes widened in shock. He cast a barrier to block my way.

I hadn't expected him to use a barrier so suddenly; I crashed into it, staggered back, and landed hard on the ground.

He strode over, seized me by the collar, and roared like a wild beast, "What did you say? Speak clearly!"

"Senior brother, let me go! Mistress ate snow pear cake and was poisoned by the severing poison. Master is helping her resist the poison now—I need to help you make the antidote." I explained quickly, struggling to break free.

"Who poisoned her? Who gave her the cake? Who made it?" Bai Ze gripped my collar with one hand and my arm with the other, unconsciously using his full celestial strength.

If I didn't resist, my arm would be crushed. I gathered my own power to withstand his magic. "I made the cake. I don't know who poisoned it. I need to help make the antidote—don't stop me!" I tried to pry his hand away.

"Wretched creature! Don't think of escaping! You may have deceived the Lord, but you can't deceive me! If anything happens to her, you'll pay with your life!" With that, Bai Ze dragged me back into Master's study.

"Lord, how is Lu Xue? Yu Fei tried to escape," Bai Ze reported, tossing me to Master's feet. He glanced anxiously at Lu Xue, wanting to step forward but not daring to overstep, so he stood there, fidgeting with worry.

I forced myself up from the floor, my arm throbbing with pain—no doubt injured by Bai Ze's power. Master was wholly absorbed in channeling energy to Lu Xue, a white aura encircling her. Lu Xue seemed to be regaining consciousness, yet her face was stricken with sorrow, and she murmured, "Han Qing, Han Qing..."

Watching the two of them, grief welled up in my chest, clogging my throat and stinging my eyes with tears. After forty thousand years of separation, was their reunion fated to end in parting again? He cared for Lu Xue so deeply, and yet I had gotten in his way time and again.

"Senior brother, I wasn't trying to escape. My skills at detoxification are no less than fourteenth senior brother's—let me go help him make the antidote," I pleaded with Bai Ze. Meanwhile, I cast a spell to send a message via the Luminous Crane to fourteenth senior brother, but he did not reply.

"Let her go. Perhaps Chu Fang will think of another way," Master urged Bai Ze as he channeled energy into Lu Xue.

"Yes, Master!" I leapt away.

Bai Ze blocked me again. "Lord! Yu Fei has caused enough trouble already, and still you shield her!"

Master's gaze turned icy as he rebuked, "Bai Ze! You are growing ever more insolent!"

I brushed past Bai Ze, out of Master's study, and raced to the alchemy chamber, kicking the door open.

Fourteenth senior brother was inside, hair disheveled like a madman, staring blankly at the jars and vials on his desk, muttering, "None of these work, none at all..." The Luminous Crane was glowing on the side, but he paid it no heed.

"Fourteenth senior brother! Mistress has been poisoned! Is the antidote ready?" I grabbed him and shook him hard.

"What?" he mumbled, clutching a small bottle, eyes unfocused.

"Mistress was poisoned by the severing poison! Did you make it? Where's the antidote?" I pressed.

"Ah!" He snapped to attention. "Tell me—how did Mistress get poisoned?"

"I don't know! She ate the snow pear cake I made and was poisoned! Hurry and think of a way to make the antidote!"

Fourteenth senior brother stared at a small jar he'd brought from the kitchen, rushed to open it—empty!

"The poison? Where's the poison I stored here?" He was stunned.

"Forget about your poison! Save Mistress first!" I said, knowing there was something suspicious about all this, but there was no time to investigate.

"We need 'Entangled Fate, Heartless Blood.' That's the missing ingredient. Without it, she won't survive another incense stick's burning!" Fourteenth senior brother frantically searched the vials, which were filled with colorful liquids.

"Don't panic. Master is helping her; they may buy us some time. What is 'Entangled Fate, Heartless Blood'? I'll help you," I said.

"I've searched everywhere, but found nothing. In this world, even we celestial beings have feelings—where would heartless blood come from? So I guessed 'Entangled Fate, Heartless Blood' must be the sap of a vine plant, but I've tried them all, and it won't work," he muttered as he searched.

"How many haven't you tried?" I asked.

"Just two left. Everything else is ready—only the key sap is missing."

So we each tried one. In moments, fourteenth senior brother failed.

"That can't be! The sap from this detoxifying bloodvine should have worked! Why didn't it?" He was at a loss.

The honeysuckle vine sap I used also failed; the spell did not form a pill.

"How can it be made?" Fourteenth senior brother scattered the scrolls on the desk, searching desperately.

"Entangled Fate, Heartless Blood," I repeated to myself... Suddenly, inspiration struck, mingled with a tinge of sorrow. To dispel hatred, one must draw a sword against one's enemy. Could it be that this 'Entangled Fate, Heartless Blood' refers to the blood of an enemy? So, the creator of this poison truly meant...

"Senior brother, perhaps 'Entangled Fate' does not mean vine sap at all. The one who devised this poison was ruthless—perhaps only the blood of one entangled with her, an enemy, can save her," I suggested.

"But where is the heartless blood? Even between enemies, there are still feelings," he replied, stumped again.

"Among enemies, there is only heartlessness. Which enemy who poisons would then save her?" I explained.

Suddenly, fourteenth senior brother slapped his thigh, enlightened. "Yes! Yes! How could I have missed that! There is a way! Mistress can be saved! It must be the blood of someone she hates—Master's blood won't work. Let me think... let me think..." he muttered feverishly.

But as I spoke, my own heart grew heavy. What a ruthless ancient recipe—truly a poison of mortal enmity. To obtain heartless blood, one must be utterly devoid of hope. Fresh, living blood likely wouldn't work—it would have to come from a corpse.

Fourteenth senior brother's eyes shone. "Princess Changyang's blood! Yes! But—" He suddenly plopped onto a stool, despairing, "How could we get Princess Changyang's blood? She's in the Celestial Palace—there's not enough time. What should we do? Does Mistress have any other enemies? Junior brother, we must think, think hard..." He seemed at the brink of madness.

I stood silently at the desk.

If those entangled with Lu Xue—besides Princess Changyang, I suppose I count as well. There are ties in fate that cannot be unraveled. I once believed, as Master said, that I was chosen by Lu Xue to be Master's disciple. But I desecrated Lu Xue's grave, freed her enemy, took her home, ate her pears, and there was the kiss conjured by a bewitching spell. Such a fate is surely entanglement.

Moreover, Lu Xue's attitude toward me since her return said it all. Though I never regarded her as an enemy, she may already see me as one. Not to mention, the poisoned cake she ate was made by me...

It seems I must repay what I owe her...

I gritted my teeth. "Senior brother, if you fail once, is there still time for a second attempt before half an incense stick burns out?"

"There is. But we still don't have Princess Changyang's blood..."

"I have a way to get it. Make two batches of the medicine—desperate times call for desperate measures!" I urged.

"Alright." Distracted and anxious, he began to work again.

Standing behind him, I raised a dagger. In two thousand years of training, I had never wielded a suitable sword, but this small dagger had always been hard to part with—so handy to use...

I lifted the dagger, thinking, "Forty thousand years—you have waited for her forty thousand years. I will not let you down!"