Chapter 131:
Atop Mount Taicang, Thousands of Kinds of Dust Settle
IN AN INSTANT, the heavenly officials’ expressions grew even more unreadable than Pei Ming’s.
A white-clad cultivator acknowledged the greeting. His bearing was calm, relaxed, and graceful.
It was Xie Lian.
Every member of the group greeted him, their words and expressions extremely careful, polite, and courteous.
“Your Royal Highness…”
“Your Highness.”
Xie Lian greeted everyone similarly politely and stepped forward with a gesture of welcome. “Lord Rain Master.”
The Rain Master had arrived before the makeshift conference hut. She held the Guardian Steed’s reins as she inclined her head to Xie Lian in greeting.
There were countless giant boxes of produce on the big black ox’s back; they were the purpose of the Rain Master’s visit. Apparently, these fruits and vegetables had the incredible effect of nurturing spiritual powers when consumed. When the heavenly officials were told of this, a group went over excitedly to divide up the bounty into shares.
Part of the crowd didn’t move, however, and Xie Lian was in their number.
“I’ve brought something else for Your Highness,” Lord Rain Master said.
Xie Lian smiled. “Ah, thank you in advance! What is it?”
The Rain Master reached into her sleeve and took out a small package wrapped with a band of white cloth. The moment she opened it, Xie Lian’s eyes brightened.
“Thank you so much, Lord Rain Master! I’ve been searching everywhere!”
Feng Xin came over to look. “Rare fantastic silk!” he commented. “This is great—now you can finally fix that thing of yours!”
Xie Lian rummaged around in his sleeve and fumbled out a torn white silk band. “Yes, finally, we’ve found material to fix Ruoye!” he said joyously. “I’ll go patch it up right now!”
But Feng Xin stopped him. “Patch it up? You?! Forget it; what can you patch? Ask someone else to help you.” Then he turned his head and shouted, “Mu Qing! Come and get to work!”
“What? What are you trying to say?” Mu Qing asked coolly as he dragged his feet over. “Are you telling me to stitch it up?”
“Isn’t that your area of expertise?” Feng Xin said.
Mu Qing humphed. “And isn’t using people yours? Treating me like a servant you can order around again; tomorrow you’ll probably tell me to sweep the floor.”
Xie Lian laughed. “Never mind, never mind. I’ll do it myself.”
But Mu Qing had already taken the strips of white silk from his hands and, with a roll of his eyes, went to search for a needle and thread.
After that, Pei Ming came over to greet them as well. He had a mind to give the black ox a pat, but the ox loudly chomped his teeth and almost broke Pei Ming’s fingers the second he tried. Seeing he wasn’t welcome, he left in a hurry.
“Has General Pei’s arm still not recovered?” Lord Rain Master inquired.
“Not yet,” Xie Lian replied. “When he made that agreement with Rong Guang to use the sword Mingguang, he had to pay with an arm on top of an apology. In the end, Rong Guang’s resentment had dispersed enough that he didn’t follow through with collecting the limb. It left General Pei some face, but he was still badly injured.”
“I see,” Rain Master said. “No wonder General Pei looked so off.”
That’s definitely not why he looks off, Xie Lian thought.
Pei Ming simply could not get over the fact that the Rain Master had saved him time and time again at both Mount Tonglu and in the great fires of the Heavenly Capital. He was taking it very hard. He was a big man, a strong man, and thought that he dominated the heavens and the earth, and he couldn’t bear to look even remotely bad in front of a woman—especially not a woman with whom he shared such a complex and difficult history. He could accept even Xuan Ji’s behavior more easily than that. In any case, he couldn’t let it go, and it bothered him most whenever he saw the Rain Master—that was why he looked off.
However, the Rain Master had no idea what all the fuss was about, so she always smiled at him politely in greeting. The two of them were on two completely different pages; it was inexplicably absurd.
“Oh, yes. Your Highness, how is Xuan Ji?” the Rain Master asked.
“Xuan Ji’s locked up at the foot of the mountain,” Xie Lian replied. “Do you want to go see her?”
✦ ✦ ✦
After the great battle, all the nefarious creatures across the land that had escaped their seals were temporarily detained in an interim dungeon set up at the foot of Mount Taicang. Xie Lian led the way, but they heard rough voices cursing up a storm before they even came within sight of the dungeon.
Pei Xiu and Banyue sat at the dungeon’s entrance, both wearing blank expressions. There was a serious lack of people to help right now, so the two of them had been sent to assist the Upper Court by guarding the dungeon. Kemo was among those imprisoned within, and as they say, the eyes blaze especially red when enemies come face-to-face. He now spent his days lambasting them nonstop, hurling endless abuse. However, the two of them simply sat side by side like wooden dolls, pretending they couldn’t understand what he was saying.
When Xie Lian and the Rain Master approached, they rose to their feet to greet them. “Your Highness, Lord Rain Master.”
The Rain Master passed a box of produce to them, and Xie Lian said, “Thank you both for your hard work. Lord Rain Master wants to see Xuan Ji.”
Pei Xiu hesitated for a moment. “Xuan Ji…”
Xie Lian noticed his discomfort. “Is something the matter?”
The two entered the dungeon. When they arrived at the cell where Xuan Ji had been detained, they were both stunned. There was nothing there—all that remained was a ragged, torn red bridal robe.
“Xuan Ji dissipated last night,” Pei Xiu explained.
How incredible—Xuan Ji’s resentment had dispersed. Not long ago, the woman’s obsession had still been so deep that she had tried to choke Pei Ming to death and refused to let go.
“Perhaps she finally thought things through,” Xie Lian remarked.
Perhaps she thought through how she had become such a vindictive, despicable madwoman over the past centuries—so different from the person she once was, a heroic general and dignified lady of a prestigious house. Perhaps she thought through what she had lost and what she had gained. Then, gripped by shame and embarrassment, she probably didn’t have the face to think any further.
All this time, she had tried to change the heart of the man who had deserted her—tried to stir his feelings, tried to threaten his life. Now, finally, she realized the truth of the matter, and understood that there had never been a chance to turn things around. Not even from the very start.
To remain in this world, she’d relied on her vexation and her unyielding refusal to accept Pei Ming’s decision. The moment she thought things through, there was no longer any reason to stick around. It was all so meaningless when she finally thought about it.
The Rain Master sat down on the spot to perform a service for Xuan Ji’s passing. After all, Xuan Ji had been the only other person left from the fallen Kingdom of Yushi.
It would have been impolite of Xie Lian to disturb her, so he left her to it.