"Please follow me, you three."
Zhaoyu spoke softly as she walked.
"You must keep close. Although Mount Taixuan has few residents, it is still an Immortal's abode, and quite spacious. Coupled with the mist that appears now and then, getting separated and falling into an illusion can be dangerous."
Just as she finished speaking, another gust of wind swept horizontally across, completely dispersing the lingering mist. The world instantly became crystal clear, as if the wind were deliberately contradicting her.
Lin Zhaoyu's hands, hidden in her sleeves, clenched together again. An inexplicable sense of foreboding arose within her.
Master's teachings extended beyond martial arts. Especially for her, Lin Zhaoyu. In the early years following the Immortal, the Immortal hadn't truly intended to 'take disciples.' Zhaoyu herself was already older when she joined, her potential limited. So, the Immortal taught her more... more about the world itself.
Some concepts she still couldn't fully grasp. For instance, she could understand the earth beneath her feet was a constantly spinning sphere, but couldn't comprehend why people weren't flung off. She could understand the world revolved around the sun, but couldn't fathom why it had to orbit the sun...
But she knew, even disregarding all these teachings, that so-called "superstition" was merely self-deception. Success depended on human effort, not ghosts or gods.
So what if the wind opposed her? What did it have to do with their plans? Could the wind possibly blow their secrets into Master's ear?
No, impossible. Utterly unrelated.
And yet, luck is an unpredictable thing.
From the appearance of these three Rakshas as variables, to the wind deliberately opposing her, though she couldn't pinpoint the reason, she felt a sense of panic, as if something unseen had already targeted them... Was it Master? Could Master, capable of creating the heart-searching illusion, truly be unaware of their thoughts and plans?
At the thought of this possibility, sticky cold sweat instantly crawled up her spine. The wind continued its opposition, pressing the clothes Master had personally woven against her back, making the dampness of the sweat even more pronounced.
"If we don't do this, our future selves will only suffer more."
Second Sister's annoying voice echoed in Zhaoyu's ear. Though she hated to admit it, perhaps... there was no turning back.
She walked onward, lost in thought, not looking back or speaking for a long time. She didn't need sight to judge the movements of those behind her; her proficiency in Taixuan Sword Ki might lag behind others, but observing surroundings through hearing was an essential skill for anyone in the Jianghu.
She continued forward in silence. The courtyards they passed weren't dilapidated, but lizards crawled all over the walls. Though the flagstones underfoot were swept daily, pale green moss still grew around their edges. The stones themselves were worn incredibly smooth; in the right light, one could even see their reflection...
These were traces of time, not just from the thirty springs and autumns she had followed Master. That span was far too short compared to the life Master had lived.
She remembered, on her first day following the Immortal up the mountain, these courtyards were much more run-down than they were now. She immediately took responsibility for cleaning, starting with the flagstones underfoot.
And then, from that day on, time seemed to freeze for these stones, these courtyards.
Through wind and rain, they remained unchanged. Zhaoyu sometimes even felt... that Master resembled these mosses, lizards, old bricks, and broken tiles more than her disciples. Their time was frozen at some moment long ago—thirty years past, thousands of years past, or perhaps, even further back.
But Master, as an Immortal, could remain unchanged. Bricks and tiles, being inanimate, could remain unchanged. But people... people inevitably change.
Taking a deep breath, she continued forward, passing through a semicircular archway. The crisp sound of clashing swords grew clearer.
"Second Senior Sister, watch out!"
The boy's voice was as spirited as ever, but Lin Zhaoyu frowned.
Yet, when she turned around, she still had to force a smile—though she was long accustomed to it.
"Those previous courtyards were a bit run-down. I'll take you to guest rooms further inside. It's a good chance to meet my junior martial brothers and sisters too. Master didn't say how long you'd be staying here, but it likely won't be short. Since we'll be seeing each other often, you should get acquainted..."
"Then we appreciate Ms. Zhaoyu's trouble."
Otto scrutinized her expression, making Lin Zhaoyu increasingly uncomfortable—Was my performance that obvious? Even this Raksha stranger noticed something wrong? Then Master... could she also...
Thinking back carefully, since earlier, she had made numerous mistakes, said many things she shouldn't have. Was this due to her panic, or was it... that deep down, she actually desired to alert Master this way? Or perhaps, did she desire to sabotage that woman's plan this way?
No, impossible, absolutely impossible!
Lin Zhaoyu clenched her sleeves tighter, turned again, and walked forward.
She could feel a meaningful gaze following her back—Damn Raksha! Fear and anger surged simultaneously. Fear was understandable, but who was the anger directed at? The Raksha? Master? Su Mei? Or herself?
Lin Zhaoyu couldn't figure it out, so she chose the most desperate path—stop thinking!
She unconsciously quickened her pace. Vera had to trot to keep up, but neither Raksha asked her to slow down. This only fueled her anger and fear further—
So it wasn't just Otto, even Kallen saw through it.
Then what about Master?
She bit her lip and continued forward, her heart growing colder.
"I'm sorry. You didn't have to die here, but now it seems..."
Before she could finish the silent thought, she had already reached the training ground.
If she had maintained her earlier slow pace, it might have taken longer. But precisely because she hurried, she arrived just in time to witness the scene—
Clang!
A golden longsword tumbled eight times in mid-air before embedding itself deep in the ground. The boy, whose features were so delicate it was hard to tell his gender, stared blankly at his empty hands until the red-haired girl opposite him tapped his head lightly with her horizontal wooden sword.
"Ouch!"
Though the girl had clearly held back eighty percent of her strength, the boy cried out exaggeratedly, then promptly clutched his head and rolled around on the ground.
"Ai... Little Ma'er, your sword form still lacks refinement!" Seeing his dramatic display, the girl placed her hands on her hips and chuckled lightly: "Tsk tsk tsk! Stop pretending, Little Ma'er. I barely used any force. What, trying the old trick again? Pretend to be hurt so I help you up, then snuggle into my arms?"
"As his Senior Sister, you never know how to go easy on Yanqing." Lin Zhaoyu tried her best to keep her voice steady. She quickly took two steps forward, then slowly helped her sixth junior brother up from the ground, patting the dust off his clothes before turning to face her second junior sister, Su Mei.
"Taixuan Sword Ki is inherently more suited for women. Yanqing is also seven years younger than you. For him to cultivate the sword form to this level is truly commendable; you should encourage him more often. Besides, Yanqing isn't a child anymore. While you usually interact like family, there's still a difference between sexes. Maintaining proper distance is important."
"Senior Sister is right!" Su Mei nodded vigorously, her smile unwavering. For some reason, though her face wasn't stunningly beautiful—pretty perhaps in the mortal world, but not outstanding on Mount Taixuan—her simple smile seemed to radiate an invisible energy, gently plucking at everyone's heartstrings.
Gulp—
Lin Zhaoyu turned her head in surprise, only to see Otto, the man, remain expressionless, while Kallen, the woman, swallowed hard, her eyes shining as she looked at Su Mei.
"Are all Rakshas this strange?"
Before she could ponder further, she heard another:
Gulp—
Lin Zhaoyu looked down. Her sixth junior brother glanced up at her innocently, then turned back to stare at Su Mei's smiling face, swallowing again.
"..."
Feeling the increasing pressure from her Senior Sister's grip on his hand, Ma Yanqing quickly lowered his head, staring intently at his own toes.
"Little Ma'er, why are you looking down?" Su Mei spread her hands: "Was Senior Sister wrong about anything? Among the seven of us, only Senior Sister has deeply researched sword forms. She says your form is good, who dares argue? And Little Ma'er, you really seem to have grown up quite a bit..."
Then she pretended to ponder, chin in hand, muttering to herself: "True, true. Wanxi, Wanru, Lingshuang, Suyī are only three or four years older than Little Ma'er. We must maintain proper distance in the future. Ai... A Senior Sister is like a mother, having raised us all since childhood. It's most appropriate for Senior Sister to look after Little Ma'er."
This time, Lin Zhaoyu completely lost control of the twitching muscles in her face.
The Immortal hadn't intended to take disciples. When Zhaoyu began practicing Taixuan Sword Ki, she was already old, past the optimal training age. Hopeless for Sword Embodiment or Sword God, she had barely grasped Sword Intent. So she could only delve into Sword Form—a choice forced upon her, nothing she could complain about. If Su Mei were merely hinting at that, fine... but why bring up age?
Among all the junior disciples, even the eldest, Su Mei, was fifteen years younger than her. In an era where girls married young, saying Zhaoyu was old enough to be mother to all her juniors wasn't entirely wrong. But...
Lin Zhaoyu quickly calmed down. She didn't know what was wrong with Su Mei today. Their relationship was usually decent; the "dislike" was mostly relative to others... No, more often it was just her own jealousy. But why was Su Mei repeatedly provoking her today?
Fortunately, Zhaoyu had always been good-natured. She quickly smoothed her emotions, pretending not to hear the barbs in Su Mei's words. Turning, she gestured towards Otto and Kallen, about to introduce them...
But Su Mei beat her to it again: "These three must be the guests Master brought back? We already know! Master came by earlier and told Wanxi and Wanru to tidy up the inner guest rooms. They should be about done now, right?"
Lin Zhaoyu's mouth twitched. For a moment, she didn't know what else she could do.
Su Mei spun around gracefully, beckoning to a girl sitting alone hugging her knees in a corner of the training ground: "Suyī, come here!"
Hearing her Second Senior Sister's voice, Qin Suyī trembled inexplicably. But after two or three breaths, she obediently stood up and walked to Su Mei with her head lowered.
"Suyī, take these three guests from Raksha to the guest rooms. Your Senior Sister and I have some things to discuss!"
Looking at her Second Senior Sister's smiling face, Qin Suyī buried her head deep into her shoulders, then nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Alright, go on now!" Su Mei ruffled her hair gently.
Lin Zhaoyu stood aside, coldly observing everything, never releasing Ma Yanqing's hand. Her gaze shifted to the last person in the training ground, a girl who looked about Qin Suyī's age.
The girl wore white robes, half of her dark hair as white as snow. Her eyes were closed tightly, left hand behind her back, right hand held horizontally before her, index and middle fingers pinching a yellowed leaf. Three steps in front of her stood an iron rod.
The rod was motionless, the girl motionless. Only her clothes swayed gently with the wind. But perhaps it was an illusion; the robes, which should have flowed like water, seemed stretched taut like a sword on the girl's body.
Zhaoyu watched, captivated for a moment. Using everything around as a sword—this was the Sword Embodiment she yearned for... yet it wasn't even this girl's limit...
When she came back to her senses, she realized the three Rakshas had already left with Suyī. Su Mei took two steps forward, standing close beside her, then looked down at their junior brother and said softly: "Little Ma'er, go keep an eye on the Rakshas, and your little junior sister."
Lin Zhaoyu, holding Ma Yanqing's hand, clearly felt his heart suddenly race. But before she could stop him, Yanqing wrenched his hand free.
"Watching the Rakshas is one thing, but why watch Suyī?"
"Oh, you don't know yet." Su Mei's gaze shifted from Lin Zhaoyu. Her right hand hung straight down, left hand cradling her right elbow, suddenly looking incredibly sorrowful.
"Suyī seems to have sensed something. Before Master returned, she was muttering to herself in the corner, wanting to warn Master."
"So? What did you do to her?"
"Nothing much. Just scared her a bit with some words, then told her some things... things she forgot many years ago."
"Forgot?" Lin Zhaoyu paused, initially not understanding Su Mei's meaning. When realization dawned, her face twisted violently: "You... you didn't... She didn't need to know those things!"
"Why not?"
Zhaoyu didn't know how to respond for a moment. After a long silence, she repeated numbly: "She didn't need to know."
"Perhaps. But now she does."
Lin Zhaoyu closed her eyes in pain: "Why, Su Mei? Master erased her memories precisely because she didn't want her to suffer like you... Didn't you yourself once advise her not to recall those forgotten memories?"
"That was then, this is now," Su Mei replied stiffly. "Besides, I don't believe she doesn't have the right to know who killed her parents."
"..."
Lin Zhaoyu pressed her lips together tightly and turned her head away too, watching the white clouds drift slowly through the mountains.
"Those two Rakshas figured something out," she said.
"I saw that, which is why I deliberately provoked you. I don't know how much you revealed, but hopefully, my little performance just now made that Raksha attribute your issues to me."
After that, there was nothing more to say.
Though they had been senior and junior sisters for over a decade, standing together now, they had nothing left to say.
Finally, Lin Zhaoyu spoke first again: "Yanqing is unwilling."
Su Mei shook her head: "I know he's unwilling, but he will definitely listen to me."
"..."
"Wanxi and Wanru have no choice either but to listen to me."
"What if Suyī still insists on informing Master?"
"She won't."
"How do we handle the Rakshas?"
Seeing her Senior Sister finally ask a relevant question, Su Mei glanced at her and said: "With them or without them, it makes little difference. Just minor variables. Naturally, there's no chance to act today, so let's aim for tomorrow morning. When truly facing Master, victory or defeat is decided in an instant. Whether they're willing to help Master is another matter. We just need the cover of the six others to deliver the fatal blow."
As Su Mei finished speaking, a flash of sword light appeared behind her. She turned with Lin Zhaoyu to look. Lingshuang stood motionless, the withered leaf still between her fingers. The iron rod three steps away had been sliced into exactly one thousand and twenty-four pieces of equal size.
Su Mei picked up a piece that landed near her feet. It was thin as dough skin, the cut surface smooth as a mirror.
Ding!
She flicked it with her fingernail. The sound was clear and resonant.
......
"Th... three... three... three of you, the gue... guest... guest rooms are just ah... ahead."
Otto remained silent, one hand cupping his chin, glancing sideways. Beside them was the main hall where the Immortal resided; their guest rooms were still some distance away.
After about another hundred steps, the girl leading the way trembled, quickly stepping aside, muttering something to herself, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Otto looked up. Two women with remarkably similar features stood at the courtyard entrance. One faced him directly, while the other stood strangely sideways, seeming to hide something. Her posture concealed half her face, making it momentarily impossible for Otto to confirm if they were twins.
Besides their striking resemblance, what was even more consistent was the shared look of sorrow in their expressions.
Of course, since arriving on Mount Taixuan, Otto had grown accustomed to such expressions.
Only... he seemed to sense something, seemed to smell a familiar scent...
"You two may rest in this courtyard for the time being. There are exactly two rooms inside; the bedding has all been prepared."
The woman standing straight spoke softly. Her tone was gentle, reminiscent of soft goose down blankets. But perhaps it was an illusion; amidst the softness, there was a stiff... lifeless quality.
Otto was about to offer thanks when Kallen suddenly grabbed his wrist.
Since the battle on the Kipchak Steppe, the two had rarely had physical contact. But before Otto could feel joy, he heard Kallen's sharp cry:
"Black Death!"
Otto froze, then immediately turned his gaze to the girl who had been standing sideways.
"Hm?"
Kallen, in her sudden panic, had naturally blurted it out in a language other than Shenzhou dialect. Wanru, Wanxi, and Suyī only heard a sharp cry, oblivious to its meaning.
Thinking for a moment, Otto suddenly stepped forward. Bowing first, he requested: "Miss, would you mind turning around?"
"Raksha, what do you want!" The previously gentle Wanxi instantly drew her sword, slashing a line across the flagstones before her, separating herself and her sister from the Rakshas into two different worlds.
Otto looked at the line, barely two finger-widths from his toes. He wisely didn't advance further, instead explaining patiently: "Forgive my presumption, Miss, but is your sister suffering from a strange illness? You may laugh, but back in Raksha, I am also a rather famous doctor. I have treated similar symptoms and saved many lives..."
He emphasized the last phrase heavily, perhaps unconsciously.
"So, I would like to examine your sister's symptoms. Perhaps I have a way to treat her?"
Clang!
The longsword fell to the ground. Otto saw the girl's eyes instantly mist over. The girl who had stood sideways slowly opened her mouth. One, two, three...
More and more tears rolled silently down her cheeks.
And Suyī, who had stood frozen nearby, after just one breath, disregarded everything and bolted back the way they came.
Kallen understood something, a faint smile touching her lips.
But Otto didn't. He stood rooted to the spot, not because of anything else, but because the moment he spoke those words, he felt a sigh of relief and contentment echo in his mind.
And then, the ever-present sound of the Void Archives' breathing...
Vanished.