The night stretched like a thick velvet soaked in ink, heavy and pressing down on the upturned eaves of Qingyun Sect.
The window lattice of the Disciplinary Hall leaked faint candlelight, casting crooked and twisted shadows on the bluish stone courtyard walls.
Shen Qingmei curled up in the corner, her fingertips clutching a half-bloodied strip of cloth, her knuckles white from the grip.
The writing on the cloth was blurred by blood, but the words “Prime Minister’s Residence,” “Monster,” and “Save me” were barely legible.
This was the secret letter she had sent out through someone that evening, now returned to her untouched, with a crooked, stamped “Rejected” on the corner of the envelope.
“Trash! All trash!”
She cursed under her breath, slamming the cloth to the ground.
Dust kicked up past her ankles, and she suddenly covered her mouth, coughing violently.
The Disciplinary Hall was forged from Spirit-Sealing Stone. Cultivators imprisoned inside could not use their Qi, no different from ordinary people.
Three days ago, when the law enforcement disciples dragged her inside, the Beast-Taming Peak’s Peak Master glared at her through the iron bars: “Behave yourself. At the initiation ceremony, I will ask the Sect Leader to go easy on you. Don’t cause more trouble. If you keep shouting and making a fuss, our relationship with your father ends here.”
“Go easy on me?”
Shen Qingmei forced a smile more pathetic than crying.
She knew her situation all too well. As an illegitimate daughter, if her identity was exposed and she was expelled from Qingyun Sect, the Shen Family would deny her to save face. The best outcome was to continue hiding in the shadows as a private daughter.
As for the worst… Shen Qingmei dared not think.
She couldn’t even rely on the Prime Minister’s Residence. Zhang Qiming had sent a message this morning, saying only “The time hasn’t come, don’t act rashly,” without even revealing himself.
But she couldn’t wait.
The candle flickered, bursting with a flame that illuminated the madness in her eyes.
Shen Qingmei pulled a silver hairpin from her bun. It was a magical tool her Shen Father had given her when she left Changjing City. The hairpin’s origin was ancient—made thousands of years ago from Demon Blood, and reversed through a Reversal Formation, it had the power to calm spirits and ward off evil.
Gripping the hairpin, she unhesitatingly cut her palm, letting beads of fresh blood drip onto the floor, spreading into a strange rune.
This was a forbidden technique she had learned from the Prime Minister’s Residence: reversing the Reversal Formation of the hairpin back to its original state.
In doing so, the hairpin would gather only Demon Qi.
By paying a price, the caster could envelop the target in this Demon Qi.
Demon Qi… this was the one thing Qingyun Sect could not tolerate.
“Lin Nan,” she whispered, tracing the edges of the rune with her bloodied fingertip, lips stained with blood foam, smiling like a dying fox, “aren’t you trying to protect Shen Yuer? Then go die for her. Once you’re marked as a monster and killed, with Shen Yuer losing her backing, I’ll slowly take her down…”
Outside, the footsteps of a patrolling disciple echoed, iron boots clacking against the stone slabs.
Panicked, Shen Qingmei covered the blood rune with her skirt and blew out the candle, melting back into the shadows.
In the darkness, she could hear her heart pounding like a drum, thudding so hard it hurt her ribs.
She knew this forbidden technique had backlash—she might lose ten years of life force.
But compared to being expelled from the Sect and left to be slaughtered, this price was nothing.
As long as she could drag Lin Nan down with her and completely ruin Shen Yuer, she was willing to do anything.
The wind on the Reflection Cliff was colder than elsewhere, carrying the bitter scent of sandalwood and pine needles from the cliff below, threading through Lin Nan’s sleeve.
Shu Ying had given her a sword.
The sword was named Not-Seeing-Green. Its hilt intertwined white and pale green, and the sword tassel looked familiar—likely made by Shu Ying herself.
It was said that dancing with this sword would cause flowers to bloom all around, but if wielded to perfection, the flowers would wither, and so too would the lives slain by Not-Seeing-Green.
This was an almost Celestial Grade treasure sword.
Of course, by Danxia Sect’s standards, it could be called “from the Celestial Grade.”
Lin Nan was practicing swordplay with Not-Seeing-Green, silver arcs of light slicing through the air. The wind stirred the talisman papers scattered on the stone table by Shen Yuer, fluttering them in a rustling cascade.
“Be careful,” Shen Yuer reached to catch the papers, but her fingertips brushed the sword’s blade and recoiled instantly, leaving a pale white mark, “This sword is much sharper than your iron sword. Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Sharp is better,” Lin Nan replied.
As she sheathed the sword, the tassel swung, brushing against Shen Yuer’s hand.
“Is what was in that letter true?” Lin Nan asked.
“Yes. Cuicui was originally my maid, but Shen Qingmei stole her away.”
Shen Yuer carefully pulled a blue cloth bundle from her bosom and unfolded it, revealing a letter.
That morning, a letter from Changjing City had arrived outside Shen Yuer’s cave dwelling.
It was said that after Shen Yuer fled her arranged marriage, Changjing City had fallen into silence for days before a sudden upheaval occurred.
The few horse-drawn carts Shen Yuer had sent out were all found.
Because of poor management, Changge Hall in Jincheng was forced by the Shen Family Head to take the blame. On the same day, assassins from the Prime Minister’s Residence attacked, and Old Wang broke two legs and was stripped of his position at Changge Hall.
Even Shen Yuer joining Qingyun Sect had enraged the Prime Minister’s Residence to no end.
The day after this news spread, the Minister of Works personally came to the Shen Family, announcing a re-inspection of Changge Hall’s floating airships. Operations were restricted for a month, and any takeoff or landing had to be reported and approved by the Ministry of Works.
Since then, not only the airships but every aspect of Shen Family affairs was targeted.
All the halls complained bitterly to the Shen Family Head, begging for solutions, some even to petition the Prime Minister’s Residence.
“Isn’t this a good thing?” Lin Nan put away Not-Seeing-Green and sat beside Shen Yuer, who immediately pushed over a cup of hot tea.
“It’s a good thing,” Shen Yuer said with a troubled expression.
Though she said she had no ties to the Shen Family anymore, it was still the place where she had grown up.
At least… before Shen Qingmei appeared, even as a concubine daughter, she had lived like a young lady—fairly happy and content.
The Shen Family, under the Family Head’s guidance, had grown larger and larger, a true case of “watching him build a tall tower, then watching it collapse.”
The sudden incident was truly lamentable.
“Xiao Lin, do you think the Shen Family proposed giving a daughter as a concubine to climb the Prime Minister’s Residence’s ranks because they had already sensed something?”
That’s right.
Lin Nan tilted her head, suddenly recalling something.
While serving tea outside Changjing City, she had overheard many rumors—that the Emperor and the Prime Minister’s Residence coveted the floating airships, even trying to develop their own but failing.
The Shen Family had deep roots in this industry. The floating airship was the culmination of years of experience: exotic beasts, magical artifacts, cultivation techniques, navigation routes, and extensive connections.
It wasn’t something the Emperor or the Prime Minister could just make on a whim.
“Can’t do it themselves, so they try to steal it?” Lin Nan clicked her tongue, “How tyrannical.”
“So…”
Lin Nan suddenly raised her tea cup, meeting Shen Yuer’s confused gaze, “Since things have come to this, let’s toast first.”
“Toast to what?” Shen Yuer’s confusion deepened.
“To the Shen Family getting what they deserve.”
“Yay!”
With a clink, Lin Nan set down her cup.
She looked at Shen Yuer, whose sorrow still lingered in the corner of her eyes, and said, “After the initiation ceremony, I’ll accompany you to bring Cuicui back.”
“Okay!” The little girl nodded firmly, her eyes misting over as she looked at Lin Nan.