Chapter Forty-Six: The Mistress's Scheme

Heaven and earth spun, water and fire merged, mountains turned to valleys, rivers flowed backward, winter thunder rolled, summer snow drifted down, yin and yang reversed, the cosmos exchanged places...

"Whose crying is so grating, whose cursing cuts straight to the heart, and who is shaking me so I feel dizzy?"

It hurts so much... Blinding light... So many faces...

A chorus of cheers!

"Little Crow! Quick! Call for your elder uncle!" A pair of beautiful eyes gazed at me... I slowly raised my hand, reaching for his cheek, and touched it! I actually touched it!

"Spring Breeze! You’re so handsome!" I smiled, thinking to myself.

Spring Breeze grasped my hand, feigning annoyance. "You wretched Little Crow! You just woke up and already want to pinch my face?"

I smiled faintly, looking at Spring Breeze and the others... Where is Master?

"Where’s Master?" I wanted to ask Spring Breeze, but my throat ached terribly, and I couldn’t make a sound.

Clutching my throat, I tried again, but still no voice came out.

"Where is Master? He just injured himself! Is he alright?" Anxious, I struggled to sit up and look for him.

"Your master is in the Sunset Cave, meditating to recover," Spring Breeze replied.

I tried to get up to see him, but my whole body ached.

"Don’t move! You’re the most foolish! Always insisting on toughing things out alone! Now you can’t even speak!" Spring Breeze pushed me back onto the bed.

I pointed to my mouth and waved my hand.

"You really can’t talk?" Spring Breeze exclaimed.

I nodded.

Spring Breeze pried my mouth open to inspect, then grinned. "Don’t worry! You’ll be fine with me here. Just rest and you’ll recover. Do you know how much magic I expended to heal you? How long will it take me to recover my strength? You’ll have to pay me back!" He started pestering me for compensation again.

But I had no mind for jokes now—I needed to know how Master was. Gripping his arm tightly, I looked into his eyes, silently begging, "All my golden leaves are yours, just let me see Master."

Spring Breeze met my gaze, then quickly turned away, opening his folding fan to hide his face. In a low voice, he said, "Little Crow, don’t look at me like that..."

"Uncle, don’t hide—it’s obvious you’re crying!" Eleventh Senior Brother exposed him.

Spring Breeze kicked Eleventh Senior Brother. "I was scared by her ghastly, near-dead look, that’s all! Out! All of you! And what took you so long to reach Immortal Cliff? Is Jade Void Palace as far as my South Sea Hundred Flowers Island?"

"I thought it was another drill by Master and Uncle. I figured Little Junior Brother was just planting trees. If we’d known sooner, of course we would’ve come to help," Eleventh Senior Brother said, frustrated.

I was stunned, thinking, "That’s odd. My message by carrier bird clearly said I was under attack and needed reinforcements. Why didn’t they know?"

"A drill, my foot! The Netherworld has been stirring up trouble, your master and I have been run ragged, who has time for drills! All of you are a bunch of fools—he handpicked you and taught you for so long, yet you can’t even defeat a minor Netherworld lackey! You couldn’t even protect Little Junior Brother!" Spring Breeze complained.

"Uncle, it’s not that we’re stupid. That Netherworld minion was too strong—fighting him was like sparring with Master himself, we couldn’t last more than a few moves," Twelfth Senior Brother explained.

Fifteenth Senior Brother helped me drink some water. I glanced at the door, then at the crowd, signaling to him with my eyes. He understood and ushered everyone out, leaving me to recover in peace.

Spring Breeze fussed over me, telling me to rest and behave, his nagging like that of a grandmother.

As their voices faded away, I struggled out of bed, endured the pain, and transformed into my true form to fly straight to Sunset Cave. I realized that Master must have used the Soul Capture technique to save me. He’d said before that it was a forbidden art, extremely dangerous, with severe backlash. I had to know how he was!

Arriving at the rear mountain’s Sunset Cave, I hid in a tree nearby and watched.

I saw Dongfang Mo kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly and calling out, "Master..."

My heart clenched. "Why is he so grief-stricken!" I was about to break through the cave’s barrier in fright when I heard Master’s voice from inside...

"Go now. From now on, take good care of Fei’er. Bring that woman here." His voice was slow and weak.

"Yes, Master!" Dongfang Mo kowtowed and left the cave, wiping away his tears.

That woman? Did Master mean Lu Xue? He actually referred to her like that?

Perched in the tree, I peered into the cave but couldn’t see Master. I wanted to go in, but feared disturbing him, so I waited among the branches. Soon, Dongfang Mo brought Lu Xue to the cave entrance.

"Dongfang Mo! Let go of me! Who are you to restrain me! I’m your Master’s wife!" Lu Xue, restrained by Dongfang Mo’s spell, spoke with brazen arrogance.

"If you have something to say, speak to Master." Dongfang Mo shot her a cold look and shoved her to the cave entrance.

Hearing this, Lu Xue hurried to the entrance, anxiously shouting inside, "Han Qing, Xue’er knows you’re upset that I stopped you from saving your disciple. I did it because I love you! That Soul Capture forbidden art is so perilous—it could cost you your life!"

Master gave no reply.

"Disciples can always be replaced if lost. Is a trivial, dispensable disciple really worth it? We’ve only just reunited after forty thousand years—if anything should happen to you… what would become of me?" Lu Xue wept sorrowfully.

"Who says she’s trivial and dispensable?" Master appeared at the entrance, pale and haggard.

Lu Xue rushed toward him, but the barrier stopped her.

"You look so worn—are you gravely hurt? Xue’er will take care of you, I promise!" Lu Xue pleaded, pressing herself against the barrier.

"No need! You have no place in Jade Purity Domain," Master said coldly.

Lu Xue was shocked, unable to believe these words came from him. Tears slid down her flawless cheeks, making her look pitiful beyond measure.

"Han Qing, didn’t you say Jade Purity Domain was Xue’er’s home? Why are you driving me away…"

"You tell me," Master retorted sharply.

Lu Xue collapsed to her knees, apologizing repeatedly. "Xue’er was wrong, I shouldn’t have stopped you! Han Qing, you’re good to your disciples, and I’ll treat them kindly too. I was careless before, I didn’t take good care of Fei’er!"

Master stared down at her. "You made her plant trees as punishment, sowed discord before me, coerced her with rumors to force her down the mountain, threatened me with your own life—what else should you have done? How else could you be more considerate?"

"Han Qing, I know nothing of what you speak. Don’t wrong me… The injustice of forty thousand years ago still haunts me," Lu Xue cried, looking utterly aggrieved.

"How do you explain this?" Master raised his hand, holding two feathers. One was the Heart-Linked Feather I’d given him, the other an ordinary feather meant for the senior brothers.

With a spell, he released both feathers, and they spoke my message. But the messages differed—the one for the senior brothers had been altered, mentioning only the Netherworld attack, omitting 'I am Yu Fei' and 'waiting for reinforcements'!

Lu Xue’s eyes darted nervously. "Han Qing… what do you mean… I don’t understand…"

"You changed the carrier bird’s message, deliberately leaving her isolated and unaided!" Master fixed his gaze on Lu Xue.

"It wasn’t me… Han Qing… I was locked inside my chambers. How could I have caught the carrier bird?"

"You waited until Dongfang Mo left after delivering your meal, left the door unlocked, transformed into a white goose to seek out Fei’er, but instead encountered and caught her message bird—intentionally harming her!" Master declared.

Seeing she couldn’t conceal the truth, Lu Xue snapped, her voice laced with fury, "Yes! I caught the four carrier birds and altered her message! I harmed her because she kept bringing you trouble! She’s a curse! Last time, she snuck down the mountain, and you and Bai Ze went to the Netherworld to save her—you were wounded by the Netherflame Blade while protecting her. Did she even know? Now she left again, and you risked your life with Soul Capture to save her, suffering agonizing backlash—does she care? You dote on her, love her, and when you two embrace and kiss—do you know what they say outside?"

"What people say outside is none of your concern. How do you know Bai Ze and I were hurt?" Master’s eyes sharpened as he questioned her.

Lu Xue faltered, stammering, "Rumor had it you were holding a little immortal maid, covered in blood…"

"How do you know that blood was mine!" Master’s voice rang out, icy and stern.

"I—I guessed…" Lu Xue’s gaze wavered, her voice growing faint.

"How do you know Bai Ze also went to the Netherworld to save Fei’er?" Master pressed.

"I…"

"How do you know Bai Ze was also injured? Speak!"

"Bai Ze told me himself after I arrived," Lu Xue hurried to explain.

Master questioned no further, but fixed her with a gaze sharp as a blade, seeming to pierce her very soul.

Perched in the tree, I felt wretched. After all these centuries, I only now learned that Master was wounded saving me, that using Soul Capture brought tormenting pain!

"Your heart is full of her, but do you remember the Xue’er you failed to save forty thousand years ago? Do you still cherish the past?" Lu Xue cried, voice filled with resentment.

"If not for the memory of old times, do you think you’d still be alive? Tell me how you impersonated Xue’er—confess!" Master thundered.

Lu Xue was struck as if by a bolt from the blue, staring in disbelief at him behind the barrier. "I am Xue’er! I’m your Xue’er, Han Qing! I’m not an imposter!"

At this, I almost fell out of the tree.

After all this turmoil, she wasn’t even the real Lu Xue! Another substitute found by Spring Breeze! I suddenly felt not just wronged, but seething with anger! That Spring Breeze—always meaning well but making things worse! If I’d known she was a fake, why would I have suffered her slander? Why worry about ill-fated destiny, or leave the mountain for their 'privacy'?

The fake Lu Xue, tears streaming and face full of grievance and fury, stared at Master. "Xue’er admits it! I admit everything! I even admit to colluding with the enemy forty thousand years ago—what more can I confess? I don’t like Yu Fei, but you can’t just deny me! Yun Xiao! Didn’t you promise to create a paradise for Xue’er atop Kunlun? And now Jade Purity Domain won’t even tolerate me? You pity Yu Fei’s tragic end, but did you ever wonder if Xue’er closed her eyes on the execution platform forty thousand years ago?" The fake Lu Xue grew more and more hysterical as she spoke.

Master’s face grew paler, his brows knotted in pain, and he clutched his chest. "I know all I need to know. Dongfang Mo, take her away. Jade Purity Domain will not harbor her—send her back to where she came from! Have your uncle lock her up on Hundred Flowers Island and keep her under strict guard!"

"Yes," Dongfang Mo replied.

"No! Xue’er won’t leave! Han Qing, you are fickle and heartless!" Lu Xue collapsed, wailing and rolling on the ground, making such a scene that even the ever-gentle Dongfang Mo was at a loss for what to do.