The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 26

“She refused to face despair while sober.”

Wen Qiwu stood frozen in her cage, her mind a complete blank.

She had prepared herself for the fact that her Senior Sister’s old wounds might not have healed, or that her current situation might be grim, but she never imagined she would see Yun Heng looking so utterly… possessed.

Yun Heng’s tone was casual, as if she were truly sitting in that empty seat. It was precisely this normalcy that made the scene so terrifying.

A single term flashed through Wen Qiwu’s mind: Inner Demon.

“A-Que” Yun Heng murmured softly.

“Chirp,” Wen Qiwu responded instinctively. Unfortunately, the woman lost in her obsession couldn’t hear the reply.

Though the room was silent, the howling wind and snow outside nearly drowned out Yun Heng’s voice.

“It’s my fault. Don’t be angry.” She reached out, carefully touching the empty space before her. “Did the cold wind hit you?”

The moment Yun Heng’s fingertips brushed against the phantom, the “person” shattered like a reflection in a disturbed pool of water.

Yun Heng’s hand froze mid-air, her expression filled with bewilderment.

The room held no light, no person waiting for her return, there was nothing.

“Chirp, chirp!” The little white puffball in the cage was frantic. How could she ever be angry over something so trivial?

Only then did Yun Heng vaguely realize there was another sound in her room. She turned her head, her hollow eyes landing on the small bird in the cage.

“Qingtuan?”

Wen Qiwu currently looked exactly like Qingtuan. Dong Shiyue had been too young back then to remember clearly, but Yun Heng would never forget.

Wen Qiwu looked up at her Senior Sister. For a moment, a flicker of light gathered in Yun Heng’s eyes, but it looked more like the despair leaking out of a soul about to break.

“You’re back?” Her voice was as light as a breeze, as if she feared a louder sound would shatter the vision. “Does that mean A-Que is coming back too?”

Yun Heng touched the soft head of the little white bird. Wen Qiwu instinctively nuzzled her fingertip.

That fluffy sensation was enough to soften anyone’s heart, but the light in Yun Heng’s eyes extinguished completely upon seeing it.

“You aren’t him. You aren’t him…”

Qingtuan had a volatile temper. He wasn’t even always gentle with Wen Qiwu, let alone others. When would he ever nuzzle someone’s finger? If he didn’t peck you, it was only because he was in a good mood.

With that one gesture, Yun Heng knew the little creature in the cage wasn’t Qingtuan, but another bird that looked remarkably like him.

Qingtuan would likely never return.

Over the past century, Yun Heng’s mind would occasionally become muddled. Perhaps it was the work of inner demons, or perhaps she was simply going mad. She often saw illusions, but she preferred to sink into them, because when she was sober, she had to face reality.

Her Junior Sister was gone. She wasn’t coming back.

A hundred years had passed. She had tried every method possible but failed to keep even a single strand of her Junior Sister’s soul. She was useless; she couldn’t save A-Que…

“Cough, cough” Yun Heng’s face grew paler as she began to cough, her thin frame trembling under the weight of her reality.

Blood seeped through her fingers, dripping onto the floor.

Her vision blurred. As a True Immortal with an Ice Spiritual Root, Yun Heng shouldn’t have been able to feel the cold, yet she now felt a “chill” brought on by the ebbing of her life force.

If she died, would she see A-Que?

The answer was no. A-Que’s soul had dissipated into the heavens and earth; her silhouette would not be found by the Naihe Bridge.

And… A-Que likely held resentment. She probably didn’t want to see her anyway.

Wen Qiwu was trembling violently as well. She saw blood soaking through the fabric at Yun Heng’s waist and chest. The moment her Senior Sister collapsed, a piercing Phoenix cry echoed across the peak of Cloud Mist Mountain.

Despite the raging blizzard, if any member of the Feather Clan heard the distress call of a young Phoenix, they would charge in regardless of the danger.

But Cloud Mist Mountain had long since become a dead zone where life was extinct. Her voice was buried by the wind and snow, failing to summon the birds outside.

Locked in the cage, Wen Qiwu’s powers were restricted. Her strength inside was less than that of an ordinary adult bird outside.

Having been ill for so long, she had gained some medical knowledge, but her current state prevented her from treating her Senior Sister, fetching a Medical Immortal, or even moving her to the bed.

Wen Qiwu hadn’t felt this powerless in a long time. She carefully threw her weight against the side of the cage, eventually successfully knocking it over and tumbling onto the floor.

Dizzy from the fall, she didn’t stop to check herself. She scrambled out of the overturned cage and rolled it toward her Senior Sister.

By the time she reached her side, the scent of blood surrounded them, making Wen Qiwu’s heart quiver.

An injury that could affect a True Immortal was bound to be severe. She pressed herself against her Senior Sister’s cheek and managed to feel a faint breath.

Don’t panic, don’t panic… Since she couldn’t find help, she had to find a way herself.

There was a trace of an undried tear at the corner of Yun Heng’s eye. Wen Qiwu wondered what heartbreaking thing she had seen in her unconscious state. She brushed away the tear, accidentally tasting its bitterness. Her own eyes stung with a sudden urge to cry.

She told herself to stay calm. What could she use while trapped like this?

She searched her mind and finally looked at herself.

A Phoenix is a celestial beast, born with the strength of an Earth Immortal. From feathers to bone and blood, they are supreme spiritual treasures.

Wen Qiwu immediately used her beak to Peck a small wound over her heart, drawing out a single drop of blood that shimmered with a faint golden hue.

She strained to stretch her small head out of the cage bars and fed the golden-red drop into Yun Heng’s mouth.

A Phoenix’s blood contains massive life force and fire-attributed celestial power. As it entered Yun Heng’s mouth, it transformed into pure energy that merged into her body.

Wen Qiwu couldn’t check the specific injuries, but her Senior Sister’s breathing gradually steadied. Her heart’s blood had worked!

Yun Heng’s cold, pale lips finally regained some color, and her body warmed. The tension in Wen Qiwu’s heart snapped; exhaustion immediately followed. Taking heart’s blood was a heavy toll, and she would need time to recover.

The white puffball pressed against her Senior Sister’s forehead and closed her eyes. In her rush to save her, she hadn’t thought much of it, but now… did that technically count as another kiss?

She… she did it to save a life. It was an emergency, so it doesn’t count.

If Wen Qiwu were in her human form, her face would likely be crimson.

Unable to actively heal the wound on her chest, she had to rely on her body’s natural self-healing. Before long, she fell into a deep sleep beside her Senior Sister.

The little Phoenix unconsciously radiated warmth, and the pitch-black room was no longer bone-chilling. The unconscious woman seemed to feel it, as a touch of softness gradually touched her brow.

Eventually, the howling blizzard subsided. Cloud Mist Mountain experienced its first peaceful night in a hundred years.

As the moon sank and the east glowed with pale gold, sunlight spilled into the room. The unconscious woman’s eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Yun Heng sat up. She looked at the dried blood on her hands and let them drop weakly.

The little puffball in the cage was still asleep. Yun Heng picked up the paper crane Dong Shiyue had left and listened to the message. Only then did she realize this little creature was a gift intended for her.

The girl meant well, but Yun Heng could barely look after herself, how could she raise another living thing?

She placed the cage on the nearby table as gently as possible, not wanting to wake the sleeping bird.

She then sent a message crane to Dong Shiyue, asking her to take the little one back. Dong Shiyue couldn’t win against the Sect Master and agreed, but since she had just left the sect, she wouldn’t be back for a while. She begged Yun Heng to look after it for a few days.

Shortly after, Dong Shiyue seemed to enter a secret realm, and Yun Heng lost contact with her.

Yun Heng sat silently in the room, which was rarely graced by sunlight. The little one in the cage seemed much better behaved than Qingtuan. Her hollow, numb gaze rested on the little Phoenix for a long time before she reached out to stroke her.

The little creature was warm, just like the temperature of her Junior Sister’s palm.

Dong Shiyue wouldn’t be back for about a month. Yun Heng could have sent the bird to Shangqing Mountain for Dong Shiyue’s master to raise, but she found herself absentmindedly petting Wen Qiwu for quite a while. In the end, she didn’t send her away.

Yun Heng placed some spiritual grain and fruit into the cage. Since Wen Qiwu hadn’t woken up, Yun Heng closed the cage door and left the room.

Beneath the main hall of Cloud Mist Mountain lay a dungeon. It had once suppressed a ferocious demon, but it had sat empty after the demon’s death—until a new “guest” arrived decades ago.

Walking through the dungeon corridor, Yun Heng pressed a hand to her chest. She felt as though the wound there didn’t hurt as much.

It was strange; not only her chest, but her other injuries seemed much better. Even during her sleep last night, she hadn’t been plagued by inner demons. Perhaps her illness was simply worsening, making her hallucinate her Junior Sister’s presence.

A piercing scream suddenly erupted from the depths of the dungeon. A dark, gloomy look crossed Yun Heng’s eyes. Ignoring the strange sensations in her body, she walked straight into the depths.

There lay a freshly drawn array, every rune seemingly carved in blood. In the center of the array stood an altar, where a distorted, hideous soul was shackled. The soul was taller than a normal man, and various human faces constantly flickered across its surface.

This was the Lord of Ten Thousand Souls, whom rumors claimed Yun Heng had hacked into a thousand pieces. The world thought he was dead, but he wasn’t. The array was constantly siphoning his power, the runes flickering with eerie colors.

The Lord of Ten Thousand Souls roared and cursed, occasionally begging for mercy, but the woman before him remained deaf to it all.

Yun Heng knelt to repair a worn section of the array. The red light reflected off her, making the Celestial Venerable of the Canswang Realm appear as though she, too, was tainted by evil.

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