The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 4

“The Great Assembly Hall is just ahead. You can manage the rest of the way on your own,” Wen Qiwu said, pointing toward the majestic building that had finally come into view. At this distance, even a young child could hardly lose their way.

Zuo Lan followed behind her, her fox-like eyes swimming with feigned grievance. There was a faint, suspicious red mark on the back of her fair hand, looking very much like she had been swatted.

Zuo Lan had initially thought this was a soft, adorable little thing, but she hadn’t expected the girl to have such a sting. She massaged the reddened skin, lost in thought.

If my senses are correct, she mused, this girl is only at the Void Refinement stage, an entire major realm below me. Yet, when she struck out just now, I couldn’t even dodge it? Moreover, that physical strength was immense; a simple swat had actually caused pain to a cultivator at the Dao Integration stage. Could she be a body cultivator? Her spiritual sense seemed a bit weak, though; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been dazed by the bells even for a second.

“I have matters to attend to. I’ll be taking my leave now,” Wen Qiwu said, pointedly ignoring the lingering resentment in Zuo Lan’s gaze. Given how suspiciously the woman had closed the distance, Wen Qiwu felt she had been incredibly restrained by only swatting her away instead of putting a hole in her hand with an arrow.

“Fellow cultivator, please wait!” Zuo Lan suddenly blocked her path again with a bright smile. “We’ve walked all this way, and I still don’t know your name.”

“My surname is Wen.” Wen Qiwu took a cautious step back, looking like a small herbivore encountering a cunning fox that was closing in for the kill.

“So it’s Fellow Cultivator Wen! How unfortunate—my Master just sent a transmission saying the negotiations at the hall haven’t reached an agreement yet. It’s getting late, so the elders have decided to continue tomorrow. It seems I don’t need to go there after all~” Even though she saw the wariness in Wen Qiwu’s eyes, Zuo Lan stepped forward, her eyes curving with a fox-like craftiness.

“This is my first time at the Wenshen Sect. If it’s convenient, would you be willing to show me around Mount Yunwu? I’ve heard for years that the scenery there is unparalleled…”

In truth, scenery was just scenery at best, a backdrop for more interesting things. Zuo Lan thought she knew the Wenshen Sect well, yet she had never heard of them hiding a beauty like this at the Void Refinement stage.

The girl reminded her of a certain rumor. Driven by curiosity, Zuo Lan had tested her, and the green-clad woman’s reaction was so endearing that Zuo Lan had accidentally let her “old habits” slip.

Saintess! Get your hands off her!

Zuo Lan suddenly heard a familiar voice transmission. Sensing immediate danger, she leaped back a step, though she didn’t forget to pout via telepathy: I was just helping her pick a leaf off her clothes. Don’t be so fierce!

Heh.

Zuo Lan quickly learned what that cold laugh meant. She rubbed her arms as frost began to crystallize on the grass around her. Even as a Dao Integration master, she felt a sudden, piercing chill.

A woman in white appeared before them. The faint, flowing patterns of “Dao Brilliance” on her robes marked her as the Sect Leader of the Wenshen Sect. Zuo Lan only dared to steal a quick glance; the moment she saw those indifferent, emotionless eyes, she immediately lowered her head.

“Greetings to Immortal Yun Heng.” Zuo Lan instantly became a model of perfect etiquette. There were a few beings in the Cangwang Realm that one simply did not provoke, and the woman standing before her was at the top of that list.

“Qiwu, let’s go,” Yun Heng said, sparing Zuo Lan only a brief, icy glance before looking away.

Is Sister in a bad mood? Wen Qiwu wondered.

“Okay.” Wen Qiwu quickly took two steps to stand at her sister’s side.

As the Immortal departed, Zuo Lan finally caught her breath, only to find herself under the stern gaze of her own sect elder.

“Saintess… next time you see that one, please just walk the other way.” The woman who had accompanied Yun Heng was Xiao Tong, an elder of the Yuxi Sect. She had intended to find an opening to discuss the Solar Eclipse Realm with the Immortal, only to find her own Saintess “getting cozy” with a young lady again. For a moment, she truly thought the Immortal was going to draw her sword!

“I’ve long heard that Immortal Yun Heng has a sickly junior sister who has been raised within the sect and rarely shows her face. Elder Xiao, that Fellow Cultivator Wen is the one, isn’t she?” Zuo Lan tugged at Xiao Tong’s sleeve. Instead of sounding deterred, her voice was full of renewed interest.

“My name is Xiao, not ‘Small’… Yes, that is indeed her. So, whatever wicked ideas you have brewing in that head of yours, keep them buried deep!” Xiao Tong, usually as silent as a wooden post, rarely spoke so many words at once.

But when she looked at the Saintess, she saw the woman’s eyes twinkling.

“Elder, I was thinking—”

“No. You weren’t,” Xiao Tong interrupted flatly.

“Just hear me out! If I strike up a friendship with that Fellow Cultivator Wen, maybe Immortal Yun Heng will agree to cooperate with us for the Solar Eclipse Realm expedition~”

Xiao Tong turned and walked away without a word.

“Elder? Where are you going? Our quarters are that way. Why are you heading for the main gate?”

Xiao Tong sighed. “I’m going back to our sect early before the Immortal decides to kill you and catches me in the crossfire.”

“…It’s just making a friend! Elder, where is your mind? Besides, she’s already given her heart to someone else.”

Xiao Tong looked at Zuo Lan with suspicion. “You can tell someone is in love after a single meeting?”

Zuo Lan chuckled, though the mirth didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I could explain it to a blockhead like you, but you still wouldn’t understand.”

What a shame… The Saintess saw a reflection of her younger self in that girl. Such a raw, unshielded affection given to a person like Yun Heng—she feared Fellow Cultivator Wen was in for a world of hurt.

Meanwhile, Yun Heng had brought Wen Qiwu back to Wanya Mountain. The mountain was rich in spiritual energy and felt like eternal spring, making it the perfect place for a patient to recuperate.

Yun Heng didn’t speak during the walk. Though she was never talkative, Wen Qiwu could sense a trace of genuine displeasure in her silence.

“Sister…”

Yun Heng felt a feather-light touch on the pinky of her right hand. She turned to see her junior sister looking worried, perhaps even a bit nervous.

Yun Heng’s gaze softened immediately. Her temper was reserved for the people of the Yuxi Sect; her own sister was innocent and naive. She needed to make sure that Saintess stayed far away from Qiwu.

The Yuxi Sect had come to ask for favors. She hoped the encounter was a mere coincidence and not a calculated move by that woman.

“Did that Saintess give you any trouble?” Yun Heng asked, worried her sister might have been bullied by that “fox.”

“No, not at all. She was just lost and asked me to lead her to the Assembly Hall.” Wen Qiwu shook her head.

“Lost?” A Dao Integration master getting lost on a single mountain? Was her divine sense just for show?

“If she approaches you again, you don’t need to acknowledge her.” Yun Heng was now certain the woman’s intentions were impure.

Wen Qiwu nodded absently, her mind drifting. While today was their first face-to-face meeting, it wasn’t their first interaction. The Saintess likely didn’t realize that Wen Qiwu was the pen pal she had exchanged letters with several times. In fact, Wen Qiwu had realized her feelings for her sister largely because of the Saintess’s “guidance.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“About Zuo Lan…” Wen Qiwu’s heart skipped. She had been distracted and accidentally spoke her thoughts out loud. She quickly corrected herself. “Thinking about the rumors about her.”

Rumors…

Yun Heng’s brow furrowed slightly.

“I  heard she prefers women. They say she once pursued Immortal Lin Shu of the Qianyue Sword Sect, and there are all sorts of messy stories… but it’s probably just gossip…” Wen Qiwu knew exactly how much of it was true, but seeing the dislike in her sister’s eyes made her heart tremble. She suddenly didn’t dare wonder if what upset her sister was the “preferring women” part of the rumors.

“The rumors are true,” Yun Heng said, her voice unusually stern. She almost never forbade Wen Qiwu from doing anything, but on the matter of the Yuxi Saintess, she was unyielding. “Stay away from her. Do you understand?”

A fellow disciple from Wanya Mountain had once described that woman as a classic example of someone whose “affection is as fleeting as it is intense.”

As the words fell, Yun Heng felt the warm hand she was holding give a slight, sharp shiver. She almost thought she had imagined it.

“Are my hands too cold?” Yun Heng softened her tone and moved to let go, but Wen Qiwu tightened her grip, refusing to let her sister pull away.

“They aren’t cold,” Wen Qiwu said, forcing a practiced smile to mask the bitterness in her heart.

“Chirp!” A white, fluffy ball with a hint of green suddenly dropped from the sky, nearly colliding with Yun Heng. But a bird at the “Mind’s Eye” stage stood no chance of ambushing a True Immortal. Before it could even touch her, it was caught firmly in Yun Heng’s hand.

The bird’s feathers puffed out as it chirped indignantly. Unfortunately for the bird, it wasn’t Wen Qiwu; its cuteness didn’t work on Yun Heng.

This bird was named Qing Tuan. It had flown into the sect from the outside long ago and stayed at Mount Yunwu. Wen Qiwu had been pecked by it many times as a child, and the bird often vanished for days at a time.

“So that’s where you were.” Wen Qiwu had been looking for it for days. As she looked at the bird, she quietly tucked her emotions away.

Yun Heng didn’t notice anything amiss. She reached into her storage pouch and pulled out a newly crafted birdcage. She popped Qing Tuan inside, latched the door, and handed it to Wen Qiwu.

“The cage I promised to make for you. It can hold anything below the Golden Immortal stage.”

“Golden Immortal?” Wen Qiwu was stunned. “Qing Tuan is only at the Mind’s Eye stage. Isn’t a cage like this a bit… wasteful?”

“It’s not a waste. Think of it as an extra defensive artifact for yourself.” Yun Heng spoke as if she were giving her a simple toy. In truth, Wen Qiwu had many such “toys.” If others saw her collection, they would likely weep with envy.

“I’ll teach you how to use it when we get back. Also… did Elder Lu steal your chestnut cakes while I was gone?”

Wen Qiwu nodded immediately, lodging a playful complaint. “She made me save two pieces for her.”

The corner of Yun Heng’s mouth twitched upward in a nearly invisible smile. “I have to leave for the Solar Eclipse Realm soon. I’ll be gone for a month. I’ll prepare extra cakes in advance; hide them well so she doesn’t find them.”

Her sister was standing so close. That seemingly cold voice held a tenderness reserved for her and her alone. Wen Qiwu’s fragile emotional defenses crumbled again, and her heart began to beat uncontrollably once more.

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