These few words were like a massive stone thrown into still water.
Ling Muxue jerked her head up, her dull eyes suddenly bursting with a startling brilliance, as if she had grabbed hold of her last hope: “You still have Nirvana Elixir on you?! Hurry! Take it out! I’ll agree to anything you want!”
She hurriedly took a step forward.
“I already said, the bottle His Majesty granted me has indeed been used up.”
Lu Qiancha shook her head again, her tone resolute.
“You!” Ling Muxue, agitated by the repeated answer, felt her blood surge, rage at being played welling up to her head. Her voice was tight with suppressed frustration: “So you’re just toying with me on purpose?!”
“Ah, Your Highness, please calm down.”
Lu Qiancha raised her hand unhurriedly, making a downward pressing gesture, her voice calm and controlled, “Please, compose yourself and listen to me explain.”
Ling Muxue’s chest heaved violently, her tightly clenched fists turning white at the knuckles from the force.
She stared at Lu Qiancha, and finally, all the tension drained from her, leaving her eyes bleak and weary: “…Go ahead. I’m listening.”
Only then did Lu Qiancha begin to speak slowly, describing an interesting discovery: “In the process of dissecting and studying the Nirvana Elixir, I detected a most fascinating property within it.”
“It not only grants the user a surge of vitality akin to rebirth, but at the same time…”
She paused slightly, her tone carrying a hint of amusement, “it also draws a portion of the user’s pure spiritual power, using it as nourishment to quietly nurture within the user a ‘Nirvana Elixir Source’.”
“In other words, this substance is not a one-way gift, but rather establishes a wondrous symbiotic cycle—mutual Nirvana, achieving one another. From one dose, a second may be born.”
When she finished, Lu Qiancha looked steadily at Ling Muxue, silently leading and waiting.
“So…”
Ling Muxue was no fool. Her thoughts immediately followed, her slender brows tightly knit as she thought along those lines.
“As long as we master a specific method of extraction, in theory, we could continuously refine new Nirvana Elixir from the bodies of those who have already taken it?”
She seized upon the key point at once, but was quickly confronted by a more practical problem.
“Setting aside how difficult it is to find such a person, where would we even find the means to extract it? Such a secret art…”
“Ah, Your Highness.” Lu Qiancha sighed softly, interrupting her doubts, a perfectly mysterious smile appearing on her face.
“This Secret Extraction Method, though I am unworthy, I have already managed to deduce.”
She changed the subject, her gaze becoming meaningful. “But as for the candidate…”
“The candidate? All those who’ve taken Nirvana Elixir are important ministers or pillars of the military with illustrious achievements! Where am I supposed to…”
Ling Muxue’s voice abruptly cut off, a name flashed through her mind—so fitting, so terrifying, her very soul trembled at the thought—Mu Feng.
Yes, if not for him, none of this would have happened; if not for him, she would have had the Nirvana Elixir to save Sun Niang; if not for him, she wouldn’t be in such a state; if not for him, Zhuzi and Xiaoshan wouldn’t be dead, if—
“Crack—!”
A sharp, shattering sound, as if some invisible shackle in her soul had completely snapped, echoed clearly through Ling Muxue’s mind.
At the same time, a hatred as pure and scorching as volcanic lava, mingled with searing pain and icy delight, burst out of the depths of her heart like a beast freed from its cage, instantly sweeping away all reason.
It was him! It was all his fault!
As long as she could catch him, extract the Nirvana Elixir from his body, Sun Niang could be saved! The blood debt of Zhuzi and Xiaoshan could be avenged!
Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! He must die!!
Ling Muxue clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug deep into her palms, drawing blood without her noticing.
When she raised her head again, all the vulnerability, confusion, and despair in her eyes had vanished, replaced by an icy killing intent that seemed to freeze everything.
Her voice was as if cut from the coldest ice of the netherworld: “I will bring that person who took the Nirvana Elixir to you, unharmed.”
“When that time comes…” She paused, her voice dropping low, twisted with a dark promise, “please, you must skillfully carry out the extraction.”
“As for what happened that day…” Ling Muxue’s gaze slid past Lu Qiancha, a complex look flickering and vanishing, her tone carrying a touch of awkward apology, “I’m sorry.”
With that, she didn’t wait for Lu Qiancha to respond, but turned decisively, her cold killing intent unrelenting, striding quickly out the palace doors.
Watching Ling Muxue’s figure, wholly consumed by hatred and eager to rush to her hunt, Lu Qiancha merely closed the door calmly.
A faint, nearly indifferent curve appeared at the corner of her lips.
The path to immortality is long, desolate, and endless.
Now and then, to personally lay down the bait, watching coldly as old affection turns into the blade of betrayal, triggering a marvelous drama of friends turning against each other, kin slaughtering kin, and rivers of blood—this, too, could be considered an interesting way to pass the time.
“Qiancha—!” Xun Xue’s gentle voice called from the table. “Breakfast’s getting cold. Come and eat while it’s hot.”
“Got it! Coming!” Lu Qiancha answered crisply, shutting the door with a snap.
The light and shadow around her shimmered, and in an instant, she shed her boyish disguise and turned back into a soft, fluffy wolf cub.
She trotted over with her short little legs, “da-da-da,” bouncing happily to Xun Xue’s side.
Next, the little wolf cub kicked off with her hind legs, somersaulted nimbly, and landed precisely in Xun Xue’s warm, soft embrace, snuggling into the most comfortable position.
Lu Qiancha raised her little head, rubbing her fluffy ears affectionately against Xun Xue, wheedling in a soft, sweet voice, “Mother, won’t you feed me?”
“Yes.”
Xun Xue’s eyes filled with doting affection. She reached out and gently rubbed Lu Qiancha’s softly trembling wolf ears, which quivered slightly as she acted spoiled. “Mama will feed you right now.”
The gentle touch made the little wolf cub narrow her eyes in comfort, a low, satisfied purr rumbling in her throat like a cat being stroked.
“Hehe… Mother is the best.”
Lu Qiancha giggled twice, then shifted a little in Xun Xue’s arms, sitting up straight and proper, her back stiff, sapphire-like eyes sparkling as she gazed at Xun Xue, full of anticipation, waiting obediently to be fed.
Just then—
Quiet as a shadow, Ling Wanbai had, at some point, approached as well.
Without a change in expression, she stretched out her tiny hand, firmly holding a small wooden spoon.
She scooped up a spoonful of steaming porridge from the bowl on the table and, with a steady arm, moved the spoon directly to Lu Qiancha’s mouth.
Her voice, as always, was utterly flat and calm, “I want to feed little sister too.”