After seeing Chao’er off, Jiaoyue Peak received an uninvited guest.
It was Chunlan, the girl who served Peak Master Qin.
‘That maid.’
He had seen her outside the small house that night. Although it had only been a fleeting glance, he remembered her panic-stricken face.
She had seen him emerge from that small house with his robes in disarray, the corners of his eyes red, and his lips slightly swollen.
Shen Mo put down his brush and closed the Account Book.
“Let her wait in the side hall for a moment,” he said. “I’ll be there shortly.”
“Yes.”
The disciple in charge of reception withdrew.
Shen Mo sat in his place, staring at the stack of account books before him.
The light from the window filtered in, making the handwriting flicker between light and shadow.
He suddenly remembered the words Qin Shuying had said that night — ‘You can’t escape.’
He couldn’t escape.
He gave a bitter smile. He rose, straightened his robes, and pushed the door open to leave.
In the side hall, Chunlan sat upright. She held a cup of tea in her hands but had not taken a single sip.
Today, she wore a set of blue cloth garments, and her hair was combed neatly, making her look more composed than she had that night.
However, her eyes still couldn’t hide her feelings. As soon as she saw Shen Mo enter, she stood up in a flurry, nearly knocking over the teacup.
“Lord… Lord Shen.”
She performed a greeting, her voice tight.
Shen Mo sat opposite her and gestured for her to sit as well.
“Has Peak Master Qin sent you here with instructions, Miss Chunlan?”
Chunlan sat down, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the teacup.
“The Peak Master sent this servant to deliver something to the Lord,” she said, keeping her head low and not daring to look at him. “And… there is also a message to convey.”
Shen Mo did not speak and simply waited.
Chunlan took a palm-sized Jade Box from her sleeve and offered it with both hands.
The Jade Box was smooth and lustrous, glowing with a faint green light. It was clearly a high-quality item. Shen Mo took it and opened it. Inside lay a jade slip, and beneath the slip was a feather.
The feather was snow-white, with a faint gold at the tips, and it shimmered with a fine halo under the light.
Shen Mo recognized it. It was a feather from that Cloud-Soaring Crane.
His heart twinged slightly.
“The Peak Master said…” Chunlan’s head dropped lower, her voice growing smaller. “She said the crane has been in better spirits these past few days and is able to eat some food. The feather was recently shed, so she asked this servant to bring it for the Lord to see.”
Shen Mo looked at the feather and said nothing.
“The Peak Master also said…” Chunlan paused, as if gathering the courage to say the rest. “She said the Lord must… go to Heavenly Sword Peak to see it within three days. It… it misses the Lord.”
She spoke those last few words very softly, as if afraid of startling something.
Shen Mo remained silent for a long while. He closed the Jade Box and placed it on the side table.
“I understand,” he said. “Thank you for making the trip, Miss Chunlan.”
Chunlan looked up, caught his eye for a split second, and then looked down again. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed her words.
Seeing her hesitation, Shen Mo suddenly asked, “Is there something else?”
Chunlan bit her lip and struggled for a moment before blurting out a sentence.
“Lord,” she said softly, “the Peak Master… she has never been so concerned about anyone before.”
With that, she pushed the door open and left.
Shen Mo sat where he was, watching the door close. After a long time, he looked down at the Jade Box beside him. He opened it and took out the feather.
The feather was light, possessing almost no weight in his palm. He brought it closer and caught a very faint scent — it was the scent from her body that night, cold and crisp, like a pine forest after a snowfall.
He placed the feather back into the Jade Box and closed the lid.
Outside the window, snowflakes finally began to fall. They were fine and dense, falling without a sound.
…
Shen Mo continued to rise at 3:00 AM every day to manage the spirit fields, calculate the accounts, and instruct the disciples.
He performed his duties impeccably. Because Chao’er had gone to the Secret Realm, he appeared even more cold and lonely, like a jade statue enshrined in a temple — so dignified that no one could find a single flaw.
But Lin Jingzhe knew that this jade statue was empty. Or rather, there was something hidden inside. Unfortunately, she could find no evidence.
Three days later, an opportunity arrived.
The sect issued an order — each peak was required to send someone to the Luoxia Mountains in the East Continent’s North Realm to gather a spirit herb called “Blood-Congealing Grass.”
This spirit herb only grew in winter and had an extremely short blooming period. If they missed it, they would have to wait another year.
Jiaoyue Peak’s quota wasn’t large, but someone still had to go.
Reasonably, such a task should be assigned to disciples. But when Lin Jingzhe found Shen Mo, she said something else entirely.
“The place where Blood-Congealing Grass grows is often frequented by demonic beasts,” she said, standing before Shen Mo with a serious expression. “Although I am at the Golden Core Stage, my ability to identify spirit herbs is far inferior to yours, Lord Shen. You have managed the medicine fields for seven years; no one in the entire Jiaoyue Peak can match your familiarity with spirit herbs.”
Shen Mo looked at her and did not speak.
Lin Jingzhe waited for one breath before continuing. “I would like to ask the Lord to accompany me. With the Lord there, the identification of the spirit herbs will be foolproof. I will be responsible for protection, while the Lord only needs to gather the herbs. We will return in three to five days.”
As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on his face, not missing even the slightest change in expression.
Nothing changed on Shen Mo’s face.
“The Sect Master said that Blood-Congealing Grass can be exchanged for Artifact Refining Spirit Liquid. That is a top-grade material for refining lifebound treasures. If we can harvest it, it would be perfect for Chao’er.”
Shen Mo was silent for only a short moment before asking, “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Fine.”
That was his only word.
Lin Jingzhe was stunned for a moment. She had thought he might try to deflect, find an excuse, or use the “busy affairs of the peak” to refuse. She had even prepared several arguments, both soft and firm, certain that one of them would make him agree.
Yet he had agreed without asking a single question.
Looking at his calm face, Lin Jingzhe suddenly felt an indescribable sensation in her heart.
“Does the Lord not wish to ask me why I insisted on you going?”
Shen Mo looked at her. That look was very faint, as if he were looking at nothing at all.
“You gave your reasons,” he said.
Lin Jingzhe was choked for words. Those reasons were indeed hers. But she knew they were merely a pretense. Any disciple with some experience could identify Blood-Congealing Grass. The reason she insisted he go was —
Because she wanted to test him.
From the first moment she saw him, she felt that this man was not quite right. His eyes were too still. They were like a pool of stagnant water, but beneath that stagnant water, something was clearly moving.
It wasn’t fear or avoidance, but a deep, heavy thing that she couldn’t understand.
It was as if he were hiding many things. It was as if he were holding back many words. It was as if he were being crushed by something, crushed for far too long, to the point where he could barely breathe, yet he was still holding on.
Lin Jingzhe wanted to know what exactly was underneath.
…
“Since the Lord has agreed, please rest early.” Lin Jingzhe withdrew her gaze, her tone turning a few degrees colder. It carried the respect a disciple owed a Lord, but lacked the warmth it should have had. “I shall take my leave.”
After Lin Jingzhe left, Shen Mo sat in his study for a long time.
Outside, the sky gradually darkened. The twilight crept in from the distant mountains, swallowing the light in the courtyard bit by bit. He did not light a lamp, sitting there in the gloom, watching the shadows outside the window lengthen.
Lin Jingzhe wanted to test him. He knew it.
No matter how grand her words sounded, they couldn’t deceive his eyes. He had lived on this peak for seven years and had seen far too many testing gazes — the looks those female cultivators gave him held contempt, scrutiny, and a sort of playful mockery.
Lin Jingzhe was different from them; her look held more curiosity and suspicion. She wanted to see what kind of person he really was.
Shen Mo leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes.
Seven years.
He had put on an act for seven years, hidden for seven years, and lived like a transparent person. Everyone said he was virtuous, that he was considerate and proper, and that he was the most qualified husband.
No one knew what he thought about when he couldn’t sleep at night. No one knew what he felt when he watched the disciples playing and laughing.
No one knew that in the moment Yun He had pinned him to the chair, his only thought was death.
He had hidden it well. So well that sometimes he himself forgot what the real Shen Mo was like.
But recently, those hidden things seemed impossible to keep concealed.
Chao’er’s eyes. Qin Shuying’s hand. And Lin Jingzhe’s scrutinizing gaze — it was like a blade, wanting to cut open his skin to see what was hidden inside.
He suddenly smiled. It was a very bitter smile.
If they wanted to go, then they would go.
He was tired. He was too tired to explain, too tired to hide, and too tired to cautiously conceal himself under those testing gazes.
He had too many flaws, so many that he no longer knew which ones to start hiding.
Qin Shuying. Chao’er. That egg. And that night, when he had knelt before her, his mouth open —
Shen Mo closed his eyes, suppressing those images.
If she really wanted to catch him in a lie, then let her. If she really wanted to know what kind of person he was, then let her know. He had nothing left to lose.
The Luoxia Mountains, the demonic beasts… another person might be afraid upon hearing those things, but hearing them now, he felt a faint sense of anticipation.
Only by leaving Jiaoyue Peak, leaving Yunyin Mountain, leaving Yun He’s sight, and leaving Qin Shuying’s coercion —
Only then could he catch his breath. Even if it was only for a few days. Even if the place they were going was colder and more dangerous than here.
At least there, the wind was free.
Another reason he was fearless was his understanding of Lin Jingzhe. She had been raised by Su Wan’er since she was in swaddling clothes. They were master and disciple in name, but their bond was more like mother and daughter.
Being with her, he was safe in both body and mind. She couldn’t possibly do anything to her mother’s husband, could she?
At most, she would ask some difficult questions. He would just have to deflect them.
The problem currently giving him a headache was that Peak Master Qin’s three-day deadline was up.
Tonight was going to be very difficult to endure…