The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 10

“A life-saving debt ought to be repaid.” The sentiment was sound, but Wen Qiwu’s voice carried a distinct edge, sounding almost as if she were speaking through gritted teeth.

She knew little of the Blue Phoenix Princess from the Shiling Domain, but the daughter of the Qianyue Sword Sect’s Master… well, thanks to Zuo Lan, she was quite well-versed in the people and politics of that sect. Or rather, the matter itself was inextricably linked to Zuo Lan.

That daughter was one of the few who knew the true history between Zuo Lan and the great sword master, Lin Shu. They had grown up supporting one another since childhood, only to reach a bitter falling out; one chose the Path of No Emotion, while the other turned her back on the Qianyue Sword Sect forever. After hearing the full saga of their love and hatred, the young girl seemed to have reached an epiphany. One day, she simply announced that she, too, had found someone to admire.

Zuo Lan had mentioned this in a letter once, offhandedly. As for who that person was, the look on Wen Qiwu’s face said everything.

“That girl from the Qianyue Sword Sect… did she only say she wanted to repay my sister’s life-saving debt?” Wen Qiwu asked, feigning casual interest as she looked at Lu Qiaoyi.

“Let me think…” Lu Qiaoyi drawled, intentionally dragging out the silence until Wen Qiwu grew visibly restless. “There shouldn’t be anything else.”

Lu Qiaoyi winked at her. “At the very least, she didn’t say she intended to ‘repay the debt with her own body’ by marrying into the family.”

Good, as long as she isn’t saying anything ridiculous…

Wait.

Lu Qiaoyi’s words suddenly sparked suspicion in Wen Qiwu’s mind. Why would the Elder say something like that?

Elder Lu was always sharp-eyed. Had she noticed something?

Wen Qiwu looked at Lu Qiaoyi with a touch of wariness. The Elder’s eyes held their usual gentle glow a soft, hazy light that made it impossible for others to peer into her deepest thoughts. It gave Lu Qiaoyi an air of unpredictable mystery.

“I’ve heard of that little girl from the Sword Sect… Cough, rest easy. The Sect Leader has no such intentions. No one can steal your sister away.” The Elder spoke as if she believed Wen Qiwu’s concern was born purely of sisterly devotion.

Wen Qiwu couldn’t quite pin down what Lu Qiaoyi was thinking. Her feelings were far from ordinary; if the Elder had truly discovered the truth, her reaction wouldn’t be this calm… Wen Qiwu eventually convinced herself she was overthinking it.

“Still, I heard the Master of the Qianyue Sword Sect plans to bring his daughter here personally to offer thanks once her wounds have healed…” Lu Qiaoyi watched Wen Qiwu’s shifting expressions with immense amusement.

“Little Bird? Where are you going?” Lu Qiaoyi called out, immediately following as Wen Qiwu turned to leave.

“To find my sister,” Wen Qiwu replied vaguely, her eyes darting away.

She fabricated an excuse to part ways with Lu Qiaoyi. Once she was alone, Wen Qiwu immediately released a message crane. The letter was a plea for help to Zuo Lan; if all went well, the Sword Sect’s daughter would soon be too busy to dream of visiting.

Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing that her intended accomplice had already been tossed into the Yuxi Sect’s Inheritance Tower by her own Master—an arrangement quietly suggested by Yun Heng. Consequently, Zuo Lan wouldn’t be receiving any mail for quite some time.

Just as Wen Qiwu was about to move on, she overheard the voices of two disciples nearby. She stopped in her tracks the moment they mentioned the Sect Leader.

“I’ve never seen the Sect Leader so furious. What on earth did Elder Zhu do?”

“It couldn’t have been a small mistake. I’m certain I heard him screaming. The Sect Leader ordered the Hall Master to use the Discipline Whip! I’ve been in the sect for centuries and I’ve never even seen that thing brought out. I managed to overhear a bit—apparently, Elder Zhu was colluding with outsiders, possibly even the Demon Realm!”

“Heavens… Elder Zhu has been with us for millennia. To think he would betray the sect…”

The Discipline Whip? A traitor?!

When the Hall Master had come to make the arrest personally, Wen Qiwu knew something was wrong, but she hadn’t expected Elder Zhu to be a mole. For her sister to be this enraged, what exactly had he done?

I should go see for myself, she thought. Then I can head back with Sister.

Wen Qiwu made her way up the mountain. The Hall of Punishment sat behind the Great Assembly Hall, far removed from the other buildings. Due to its nature, it was perpetually shrouded in a somber, heavy atmosphere.

But today, the air at the Hall was more oppressive than ever. A restless, violent energy was being forcibly crushed by a far more powerful force. As Wen Qiwu reached the main gates, the sheer weight of the aura made her feel as though she were being suffocated.

Low-level disciples had been evacuated from the area. The weakest cultivators remaining were at the Nascent Soul stage. When the two disciples guarding the gate saw Wen Qiwu, they forced a bitter smile and quickly opened the doors for her.

Guarding the gate today was an ordeal. They had to exert their full spiritual power just to resist the invisible pressure bleeding through the air. It was a mere aftershock of what was happening inside; if it continued much longer, they would have collapsed from exhaustion. They desperately needed someone to go in and calm the Sect Leader down.

In the entire sect, Wen Qiwu was likely the only one who could manage it. Fortunately, she had arrived just in time.

Wen Qiwu thanked them with a nod and stepped inside. According to the guards, her sister and the Hall Master were in the dungeons interrogating the traitor. The further she walked, the more she felt the jagged, brutal power of the Discipline Whip.

The whip was an immortal artifact forged by the first Hall Master. In the right hands, its power could rival that of a divine relic.

The Hall Master held the whip, standing before a blood-soaked Elder Zhu. Despite his condition, the traitor remained stubborn, admitting only to a single moment of greed where he traded for a cultivation manual with the Demon Realm. He denied everything else.

“I will ask you one last time: did Elder Jin’s death have anything to do with you!” Blood dripped down the Discipline Whip. The pale gold surface seemed to absorb the filth, turning a murky, ominous black.

This was the miraculous nature of the whip—its change in color served as proof of the man’s guilt.

“It had nothing to do with me! Truly! Sect Leader, I beg you to see clearly! I admit I wanted to move against Elder Jin, but he was dead before I could do a thing!” The bloodied man bulged his cloudy eyes, desperate to explain.

“When Elder Jin died, was there anyone who could prove you weren’t near him?”

The traitor froze. At that time, he had been lured away by a spirit beast; there had been no one at his side to witness his movements.

The interrogation hit a stalemate. The Hall Master turned to Yun Heng, looking for instructions on how to proceed.

Behind him, Yun Heng lifted her eyes, which were devoid of any emotional warmth. It was getting late. She had promised to be back before her sister took her medicine. Since the man was a confirmed traitor, there was no longer any need for mercy.

“Search his soul.”

It was the most efficient method, bypassings any lies the traitor might spin. While the process would leave the man’s spirit in ruins, she felt no need to worry about the comfort of a turncoat.

Whether it was the words “soul search” that sparked terror, or something else, the bloodied man suddenly convulsed.

BOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the dungeon. Demonic energy erupted with the force of a Golden Immortal’s self-detonation. It was so sudden that the surrounding disciples were caught entirely off guard.

Buildings were instantly reduced to ash. Many could only watch in horror as the shockwave surged toward them.

A split second before a massacre could occur, the explosive force suddenly froze in mid-air, and the miracle of total containment began to dissolve the threat.

However, during the chaos, a blood-drenched shadow was propelled forward by the blast. With his hair wild and matted like a vengeful ghost, Elder Zhu lunged forward. Knowing he couldn’t escape a True Immortal like Yun Heng, he threw himself directly at Wen Qiwu, who had just entered the Hall.

Wen Qiwu locked eyes with the hollow, vacant stare of the bloodied man for a single heartbeat. A cold shiver of primal dread raced up her spine. Is he even still conscious?

She reached for her weapon to defend herself, but before the man could reach her, he was skewered by a blast of sword intent.

Splurt! Blood sprayed through the air, but every drop destined for Wen Qiwu was blocked by Yun Heng.

The traitor was sent flying, crashing to the ground. Yun Heng had struck to kill; Elder Zhu’s soul was shredded instantly. There was clearly something wrong with him, and having him so close to her sister was a risk Yun Heng refused to take.

“Are you hurt?” Yun Heng’s voice lacked its usual calm. Her lashes trembled slightly, belying the sheer terror she had felt for her sister’s safety. In her panic, she had forgotten that a quick scan of her divine sense would have told her Wen Qiwu hadn’t lost a single hair.

“I’m fine,” Wen Qiwu reassured her quickly. She looked at her sister’s robes—in her haste to protect her, Yun Heng hadn’t spared a thought for herself. Splatters of the traitor’s blood stained her white dress, looking like filth upon a pristine moon.

Wen Qiwu immediately used a cleansing spell to wipe away the stains.

“Were you frightened?” Yun Heng’s fingertips brushed against Wen Qiwu’s pale cheek. The Immortal always felt as though her sister might break at a touch, and to have her nearly caught in a traitor’s desperate gambit was unacceptable.

Wen Qiwu smiled and shook her head. “I’m not a child. How could a little thing like this scare me? Besides, Sister was right here. There was nothing to fear.”

“But… was that Elder Zhu? Did he really betray us?”

Yun Heng looked at the corpse, her eyes so cold it was a wonder the body didn’t freeze solid. One might suspect she was considering whipping the remains.

“I detected traces of demonic energy within the sect earlier. After Elder Jin died, he finally showed his hand. I was about to search his soul, but those behind him must have sensed it and moved to silence him.”

“The ones behind him… one of the Demon Lords?” Wen Qiwu’s expression turned grave.

The Cangwang Realm was divided into six domains: Dongzhao, Canghai, Shiling, Wansen, Yuanzhou, and the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm was split among three Lords. Other than them, Wen Qiwu couldn’t imagine who would have the power to silently control a Daoist Master of the Wenshen Sect.

“Most likely. But he was silenced before he could speak,” Yun Heng said, her brow furrowed.

“Sister, let me try,” Wen Qiwu suggested.

After a moment of hesitation, Yun Heng nodded. As Wen Qiwu approached the body, the Immortal stayed a hair’s breadth away, ready to protect her.

A pale flame flickered in Wen Qiwu’s hand. She cast it onto the corpse; the light swallowed the body but caused no physical damage.

As the fire died down, it condensed into a single sphere atop the remains. Wen Qiwu applied a seal to the flame, and a twisted, distorted human face appeared within the light.

“Save me! Sect Leader, save me!” the face shrieked in terror. “It was the Myriad Soul Demon Lord! He forced me to be his spy! He has already broken through to the True Immortal stage, and his next move is to—”

Elder Zhu, desperate to prove his worth, suddenly let out a piercing, agonizing scream. Wen Qiwu was using her arts to stabilize his rapidly fading soul, but a surge of power from an unknown source suddenly snatched the fragment of the soul right out of her flames!

Wen Qiwu tried to pull it back, but protecting a soul on the verge of vanishing is difficult destroying it is effortless.

A burst of demonic energy erupted from the fire. Yun Heng immediately severed the spiritual connection between Wen Qiwu and the flames to prevent her from being corrupted. The fragment of the soul they had worked so hard to recover vanished into nothingness.

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