After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 15

The paper crane unfolded quietly, revealing Wu Ruo’s voice, accompanied by the chatter of two young girls in the background. The surrounding noise was chaotic, likely from a bustling marketplace.

Wu Ruo mentioned she wouldn’t be returning today and asked Luo Qingyi if there was anything she needed brought back, though her tone carried a hint of awkwardness. The two youngsters beside her clamored playfully, teasing Wu Ruo into adding a blown kiss at the end, which flustered her into a lengthy explanation.

“Nothing. When you return, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Luo Qingyi left her message with the paper crane, which fluttered its wings and flew away. She planted the wooden sword into the soil, then pulled it out, carving intricate and shifting patterns into the ground.

After surveying the entirety of Miaojiang, she slowly channeled her spiritual energy, imprinting powerful talismanic seals at sixteen key points of the formation.

This array was none other than the Supreme Origin Sect’s grand protective formation, a technique only cultivators of the highest mastery could deploy. It would shield Miaojiang from external threats and conceal it within the cultivation world, like a ghostly labyrinth, leaving outsiders unable to find their way in.

She had no obligation to do this. But Wu Ruo had saved her when she fell from a cliff after a qi deviation and had treated her with immense kindness. Luo Qingyi intended to repay this debt to avoid entangling karma and hindering her path to ascension.

By the time she had completed half the formation, it was already deep into the night. Her body wavered slightly from the excessive expenditure of spiritual energy.

Out of habit, she returned to Wu Ruo’s cottage. Only as she lay on the bed did she realize that in the past, when she overexerted her spiritual power, she would simply meditate overnight beneath the snow-laden pines of Snowpeak Summit, restoring herself to full vitality by dawn.

Yet now, she had unconsciously sought the warmth of a house and assumed the supine position, far less effective for cultivation.

Habits were truly terrifying things.

The late autumn night sky was an abyss of pure black. Listening to the wind, she rose and stepped out of the courtyard, settling herself at the cliff’s edge to meditate and regulate her breathing.

This habit, could not be allowed to remain.

The cold autumn wind remained silent as it swept down to the foot of the mountain, where Wu Ruo, having descended earlier, was still awake. The lovelorn saintess bathed in the desolate night sky, lost in thoughts of what she had seen and heard in the temple after coming down the mountain.

Earlier, Chuncao and Lanting had wandered off elsewhere. Out of the corner of her eye, Wu Ruo had caught sight of a red-tiled temple and, without thinking, walked inside.

A towering bronze statue stood solemn and dignified, lifelike yet with indistinct features. It seemed to dissolve into the boundless darkness. At the center of the hall, a single bright candle burned, its faint flame growing stronger as Wu Ruo approached.

“About her!”

Wu Ruo knelt before the altar, pouring out her heart. She clasped her hands together, offering an apologetic smile.

“My wish is too absurd. I’ve disturbed the deities.”

She gazed up at the candle’s flickering light, its dancing flame exuding a solemn and mystical aura, forever compassionate toward mortals.

Plink.

The candlelight turned cold. Amidst the distorted beams, Wu Ruo looked up in surprise.

A wooden plaque had fallen before her without warning. A red string was tied to its top, but its surface was blank, devoid of any inscription. The back, however, was covered in intricate patterns, appearing eerily ominous.

The temple around her remained silent and empty, devoid of any presence. Only the candle on the altar dimmed once more, leaving behind a faint, flickering glow.

“You are the chosen one. I bestow this wishing slip upon you. If you ever face a dilemma, seek me out to make your wish.”

The voice, unlike any human sound, inexplicably echoed in her mind before vanishing without a trace.

Only Wu Ruo’s figure remained, concealed in the darkness, stunned and bewildered.

She clenched the wooden plaque, unsurprised by such supernatural phenomena. Instead, she steadied herself and let out a self-deprecating smile.

“Make a wish, huh!”

The next day, Wu Ruo rose early as usual. After completing her tasks in the valley, she returned to Miaojiang with her two young followers.

As she approached the entrance, the guards on duty were clearing away scattered debris on the ground. Upon seeing her, they all gazed at her with admiration.

“What’s going on?”

Before Chuncao could finish her curious inquiry, one of the guard sisters spoke up: “The Holy Maiden’s formations were truly prescient! Last night, around midnight, intruders attacked. None of us noticed, but your formations saved us!”

Wu Ruo froze, staring in astonishment at the foul-smelling black lumps on the ground. With a single breath, she recognized them as high-level demonic cultivators.

Her formations were merely average, designed only for passive defense and containment, lacking any formidable offensive power. So, the one who had annihilated such a large number of demonic cultivators in a single strike was Luo Qingyi.

To be more precise, it was Luo Qingyi restored to her peak strength.

Kneeling on the ground, she closed her eyes to examine the fatal wounds on the demonic cultivators, then pulled out a sharpened mengzi wood stake embedded in one of their hearts.

The aura was icy, carrying the crisp chill of mountain snow, its internal energy profound beyond measure, far surpassing the power Luo Qingyi had wielded while amnesiac. There was no doubt it was her doing.

Holding the stake, Wu Ruo’s hand trembled slightly. Fear, relief, guilt, and a hint of something else.

She should be happy. How fortunate she was Luo Qingyi had saved her before, and now she had protected her homeland from demonic cultivators. Bringing the injured Luo Qingyi home that day had been a stroke of brilliance. What incredible luck!

“Ruojie, what’s wrong?”

“Shh, be quiet. Thankfully, the Holy Maiden’s friend was here, that immortal lord protected our tribe. The teacher must be blaming herself. Don’t say anything.”

The murmurs of Chuncao and Lanting drifted past her ears, but Wu Ruo no longer heard them. She moved mechanically, reinserting the wooden stake into the demonic cultivator’s corpse, her eyes clouded with confusion.

In her absence, Luo Qingyi had guarded her home. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Yet her heart lay still, barely maintaining its rhythm, secretly clinging to an impossible hope.

Had Luo Qingyi regained her memories along with her peak strength? Would she leave?

With a heavy sigh, Wu Ruo stood up, only to notice a desiccated female corpse nearby. The girl’s face had rotted away, her body reduced to a shriveled husk, making identification impossible.

Likely a sacrificial victim of the demonic cultivators.

For some reason, Wu Ruo felt an inexplicable familiarity with this corpse, yet no matching figure came to mind. Puzzled, she re-examined the surrounding damage and realized the formations she had set up at the Miaojiang entrance had been shattered by the demonic cultivators.

This was the array perimeter Wu Ruo had set up earlier, mage to the array.

The long hand was still intact, but the short one, how was it also unharmed?

Just as she was about to reach out and adjust it, a voice stopped her: “Don’t touch.”

“Wow! Shiniang, you’re here! Did you take care of the demonic cultivators here?”

Before she even turned around, Wu Ruo heard Chuncao’s voice. Her fingers trembled slightly before she forcibly withdrew them into her sleeve, though her movement to turn around was unbearably slow.

Her sleeve became her shelter, allowing her fingers to curl up freely beneath its cover, sparing her the need to reveal her timidity.

Her motion played out like a slow-motion scene, the angle of her turn painstakingly gradual, yet she knew she would eventually have to face the person she had been longing to see.

” Qingyi,” she said.

Luo Qingyi gave a faint “Mm,” though it was unclear whether it was in response to her or to Chuncao’s excited chatter. The sword cultivator had regained the icy detachment of their first meeting. Though she carried no sword, her posture remained as upright as ever.

She looked at Luo Qingyi, and Luo Qingyi looked back. Their gazes met slowly in the air, like wildflowers blooming in the frozen gardens of the northern deserts.

Those ink-dark eyes held only calm, undisturbed serenity, a distance that drew a clear line between them.

Wu Ruo found herself speechless, her mind blanking for a moment before she managed to force out a stiff phrase: “Th… thank you.”

“It was nothing.”

As Luo Qingyi walked slowly out of the Miaojiang gate, empty-handed, Wu Ruo’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

She suddenly remembered, on the message paper crane, Luo Qingyi had told her that upon her return, there was something she needed to say.

This was probably it.

“You!” She hesitated, then softened her voice. “You remembered?”

The morning sky should have been bright, yet her world inexplicably dimmed. She averted her gaze, unwilling to look at Luo Qingyi’s face any longer, silently awaiting the verdict.

“Mm,” Luo Qingyi replied.

She no longer resembled the close companion who had shared her bed and daily life these past days. Instead, she was once again the formidable sword cultivator, dignified and aloof, just like their first meeting.

This was the Luo Qingyi she knew and yet didn’t know.

A strange premonition settled over her, as if Luo Qingyi’s presence here wasn’t accidental, but rather a final departure, one from which she would never return.

And Wu Ruo had no way of stopping her.

“Are you?” Wu Ruo bit back her words. Thankfully, Luo Qingyi was patient, waiting silently for her to finish.

What could she even say?

That she had brought her a gift? But Luo Qingyi carried nothing with her now. As a grand sword cultivator, she had no need for trivial offerings from a mere gu cultivator like her.

Beg for her to teach her some techniques to protect her tribe? Most sect methods in the cultivation world were only passed down to disciples, never to outsiders, let alone someone who might not even qualify as a friend.

She wanted to ask Luo Qingyi what she meant to her, but the words stuck in her throat, impossible to voice.

In the end, she simply stepped closer to Luo Qingyi. When the other woman didn’t stop her, Wu Ruo still had enough self-awareness to forgo a hug. Instead, she lowered her head slightly, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Could you wait one more day before leaving? We’re all so grateful to you after all, you saved our entire tribe. Everyone, well, it’s all thanks to you.”

Her voice grew softer, then suddenly mustered a burst of courage as she finally spoke louder: “Would you like to see the fireworks here?”

She couldn’t bring herself to look directly into Luo Qingyi’s eyes, yet her heart hung suspended, adrift in a disorienting sea, anxiously awaiting the other’s response.

Across from her, Luo Qingyi gave a slight nod, her every movement now carrying an indescribable dignity that made her seem untouchable someone to admire from afar but never approach.

Then came the faint reply: “Alright.”

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