The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 5

Wen Qiwu currently resided right next door to Lu Qiaoyi. Since the other elders and disciples of Wanya Mountain lived further away, her living environment was exceptionally peaceful and secluded.

In her small courtyard, there was a stone table where Wen Qiwu sat. The birdcage holding Qing Tuan sat atop the table, beside a pot of freshly brewed spiritual tea. Wen Qiwu leaned her chin on her arms, looking somewhat listless.

Inside the small kitchen attached to her courtyard, a thin wisp of smoke rose. Her senior sister was personally cooking for her. In the entire Cangwang Realm, she was likely the only one privileged enough to receive such treatment from the Immortal simply because she was the junior sister Yun Heng had raised with her own two hands… and nothing more.

“Qing Tuan.” Wen Qiwu poked the bird’s little head, her expression clouded with melancholy. “Am I being too greedy?”

The more one treasures something, the more one fears losing it. Wen Qiwu’s feelings were like fine sand held in her palm; she feared that the tighter she gripped, the faster they would slip through her fingers. Moreover, if Elder Lu’s new prescription failed, she was essentially a dying woman. She shouldn’t be asking for so much.

The bird looked at her, then suddenly puffed out its feathers in an inexplicable burst of agitation. From its tiny eyes, Wen Qiwu almost seemed to read five words: Get a grip on yourself.

“Qing Tuan?”

The bird suddenly swelled in size, looking like an angry cotton ball, and snapped its head forward to peck sharply at Wen Qiwu’s fingertip.

“Hiss…” Wen Qiwu instinctively pulled her hand back. Though Qing Tuan was only at the Mind’s Eye stage, everything about it was bizarre. That single peck made her, a Void Refinement cultivator, feel both pain and a strange numbness. She began to wonder if the little guy had venom on its beak.

Before she could inspect the wound, a pale, cool hand took hold of her fingertip. Wen Qiwu looked up to see her sister’s lowered lashes; the sudden flutter in her chest made her forget the stinging pain in her finger.

Yun Heng inspected the red mark with a gravity that made Wen Qiwu feel as though she had suffered a life-threatening injury. Her sister’s hands were still dusted with a bit of flour; she must have rushed out the moment she heard the commotion without even wiping her hands.

“Does it still hurt?” Yun Heng gently rubbed the spot where the bird had nipped her. Her sleeve slipped back slightly, revealing a string of fire-crystal jade beads on her left wrist. The brilliant red beads made her skin look even paler and more translucent.

This was the only vibrant color the Immortal ever wore—a gift Wen Qiwu had spent a great deal of effort grinding and polishing for her when she was a child.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Although her sister’s hand was cool, the spot being rubbed felt increasingly hot, drowning out the lingering ache.

“I was careless.” A layer of frost coated Yun Heng’s gaze as she looked at the birdcage. Sensing it had messed up, Qing Tuan let out a soft “ji” and promptly turned its back to them.

Yun Heng picked up the cage, her expression suggesting she was seriously considering putting the little creature into a stew pot.

“Sister!” Wen Qiwu quickly grabbed Yun Heng’s arm, diplomatically indicating that she did not wish to have “Bird Soup” for dinner.

A trace of helplessness flickered across Yun Heng’s cold features.

“I need to add an extra seal to the cage to restrict its power, lest it forgets its manners again.” Restricting Qing Tuan was only part of it; Yun Heng felt that using the cage as a defensive tool still had flaws. It wasn’t safe enough for her sister, so she needed to go back and refine it further.

“The cage is fine as it is, no need to change it. You’re busy enough with the Solar Eclipse Realm…” With the Sect Leader and all the elders tied up in meetings, Wen Qiwu didn’t want to be a burden over such a small matter.

“It’s just a minor adjustment, no trouble at all.” The matters of the Solar Eclipse Realm could wait. Based on Yun Heng’s experience, those sects would likely be bickering for days. It was the perfect window of time for her to perfect this artifact before she had to leave.

Her sister carried the cage away. Qing Tuan chirped a protest, but it was useless.

Wen Qiwu couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at the dejected bird. Then, she unconsciously rubbed her finger, where the phantom touch of her sister’s skin still seemed to linger. She bit her lip, her complex emotions dissolving into a soft sigh.

Flutter… A faint vibration of wings sounded in the air.

Wen Qiwu looked up to see a pale purple butterfly gliding down. It was an exquisite creature. While the Wenshen Sect had many similar spirit insects, Wen Qiwu’s expression changed the moment she saw it.

She instinctively snatched the butterfly out of the air and hid it in her sleeve, taking a sip of tea as if nothing had happened. She controlled her facial expression well, but her trembling lashes betrayed her guilt.

This wasn’t a real insect; it was a message spell, much like a paper crane. Someone out there felt that cranes were too common for their taste and had modified the spell into these flashy butterflies.

These message butterflies were the unique signature of one person in the entire Cangwang Realm: the Saintess of the Yuxi Sect.

They hadn’t corresponded in a long time. Why was Zuo Lan messaging her now?

Her sister had just told her to stay away from that woman, yet here she was, secretly intercepting a letter barely a turn of the head later. Wen Qiwu, who had always prided herself on being “obedient” in front of her sister, felt a wave of guilt.

In their letters, Wen Qiwu and Zuo Lan used pseudonyms; Wen Qiwu went by “Skylark.” When talking to Skylark, Zuo Lan was usually a bit more restrained or at least more serious than she appeared in person. Worried it might be something important, Wen Qiwu slipped back into her room and pulled out the butterfly.

Normally, the butterfly would turn into a letter when spiritual energy was applied, but this one remained unchanged.

Is there something wrong with it? Just as Wen Qiwu was about to take it apart, the butterfly began to emit a voice that was saccharine-sweet.

“Fellow Cultivator Wen~”

Wen Qiwu’s hand jerked. For a terrifying second, she thought Zuo Lan had figured out she was Skylark. But as she continued to listen to the woman’s oily attempts at small talk, she realized this message wasn’t intended for Skylark at all.

Most rumors portrayed this Saintess as a demonic flirt, but in reality, the only person Zuo Lan had ever truly pursued was that master from the Qianyue Sword Sect. Zuo Lan never did anything without a motive; she likely wanted a favor.

As a sickly Void Refinement cultivator who rarely left the sect, Wen Qiwu had nothing Zuo Lan would want for herself. Therefore, Zuo Lan’s target or rather, the Yuxi Sect’s target, was her sister.

Wen Qiwu breathed a sigh of relief and, without a second thought, tossed the butterfly out. This was the first time she had ever gone behind her sister’s back to do something strictly forbidden. She needed to get this thing far away from her; she couldn’t even look at it without feeling like a traitor.

Wen Qiwu ignored several consecutive messages. That is, until one day, the butterfly spoke without warning, asking if she was in love with her senior sister.

The question was so blunt it didn’t even give Wen Qiwu a chance to throw the thing away.

“Cough, cough, cough!” Wen Qiwu, who was currently drinking her medicine, sprayed half a bowl of bitter liquid onto the floor. The ingredients were rare spirit herbs; that half-bowl alone was worth more than the entire net worth of most cultivators.

But she didn’t care about the wasted medicine. She grabbed the butterfly and crushed it into dust with a burst of spiritual energy.

Zuo Lan’s voice had been loud. If her sister had been nearby, she surely would have heard. Wen Qiwu’s heart hammered against her ribs. It took her a long time to remember that her sister was still at the Assembly Hall, locked in negotiations with the other nine sects.

Zuo Lan had been kicked out of the Assembly Hall by her own Master and the elders. Immortal Yun Heng’s glare had been truly freezing; clearly, the Immortal was still bothered by Zuo Lan’s attempts to “get cozy” with her sister. To ensure the cooperation went smoothly, the Master had decided to remove her “eyesore” of a disciple from the room.

Fine then. Zuo Lan hummed a nameless tune as she left the hall. She could be quite petty when she wanted to be, and after being blasted by Yun Heng’s cold aura, she felt a sudden urge to tease the little junior sister.

Sure enough, after sending that specific butterfly, the “Miss Wen” who had been ignoring her finally sent a reply.

That Miss Wen was trying her best to mimic her sister’s “keep your distance” attitude, but she only managed the form, not the spirit. Instead of scaring off someone as “ill-intentioned” as Zuo Lan, it only made Zuo Lan want to poke her more.

“Want to know how to take that next step with your sister?” Zuo Lan decided to leave the boring negotiations to the elders. She had a different goal in mind, though she had to move stealthily. If the Immortal ever caught her, she would become the biggest laughingstock in the Cangwang Realm.

“I can teach you~”

Zuo Lan didn’t receive an immediate reply this time, but she wasn’t worried. She was certain that Miss Wen would eventually come looking for her.

Halfway down the mountain, she stopped. She felt a sudden chill down her spine. Her instincts screamed danger, the same way they had when she was once ambushed by a man-eating beast from behind.

Zuo Lan turned around, her hand already reaching for her life-bound weapon. To her shock, standing behind her was the woman who always looked so sickly.

She appeared frail, and her cultivation was a full realm lower than Zuo Lan’s, yet Zuo Lan felt a genuine threat to her life.

…As expected of Yun Heng’s sister. Can’t let my guard down for a second.

“Have you reached a decision, Fellow Cultivator Wen?” Zuo Lan blinked playfully.

Wen Qiwu’s expression was dark. After a long silence, her lips parted to say something Zuo Lan hadn’t expected: “I have no such intentions. I suggest you stop your reckless speculation.”

“Is that so? Because I still have about a dozen letters from a certain someone, written to me all about her senior sister…” Zuo Lan reached into her storage bag, acting as if she were actually going to pull them out.

Wen Qiwu gasped. Seeing the probing look in Zuo Lan’s eyes, she realized she had been played—it was a bluff, but her reaction had already confirmed everything.

“So it is you, Miss Skylark~” Zuo Lan looked delighted. Before meeting, she had suspected the mysterious Skylark might be Yun Heng’s sister, and it turned out she was right.

“Oh my, Skylark, Skylark… using your sister’s surname for your alias, yet you still claim you have ‘no such intentions.'” Zuo Lan mimicked Wen Qiwu’s somber tone for those last few words. If she got slapped for that, she’d have deserved it.

Wen Qiwu’s face turned scarlet. It took all her willpower not to summon her Nine-Tribulation World-Falling Bow. It was a legendary artifact, and it hit quite hard. She let out a long sigh.

“I ask that Fellow Cultivator Zuo act as if she knows nothing of this.” Wen Qiwu didn’t bother denying it anymore. She lowered her eyes, a trace of melancholy flickering through her gaze. She told Zuo Lan she had business to attend to and prepared to leave.

“You’re just going to walk away? Aren’t you afraid I’ll ‘accidentally’ let it slip?” Zuo Lan was genuinely surprised. Every line of those dozen letters had radiated intense, burning affection, yet Wen Qiwu’s current reaction was quite unexpected.

Wen Qiwu turned back, her clear eyes filled with a quiet sincerity. “I believe in your character, Fellow Cultivator Zuo.”

If it had been a weak threat or an attempt at intimidation, Zuo Lan might have kept teasing her. But the girl’s blunt declaration of trust actually made Zuo Lan feel a bit embarrassed.

“Ahem. Well, I won’t say anything. But are you serious about what you said? About you and your sister…”

Wen Qiwu didn’t answer. Perhaps she didn’t know the answer herself.

“Fine, forget it for now.” Sensing the girl’s gloom, Zuo Lan tactfully changed the subject. “Want to go meet a friend of mine? Don’t stay cooped up in your room all day; even a healthy person would get sick from boredom.” Zuo Lan knew Wen Qiwu was unwell, but she didn’t realize it was a terminal condition.

Wen Qiwu was silent for a moment before reluctantly declining.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s because of Immortal Yun Heng, isn’t it?” Recalling the freezing aura she had just endured at the meeting, Zuo Lan understood completely. She mimicked wiping away a tear and complained to Wen Qiwu, “She was so mean to me at the Assembly Hall just now.”

Wen Qiwu’s lashes fluttered. Her protective aura weakened slightly. Thinking of the many misunderstandings the world had about Zuo Lan, she softened her voice in consolation. “Sister… she just has some misunderstandings about you…”

Seeing her being so kind, a trace of genuine affection rose in Zuo Lan’s eyes. What a good kid. No wonder Yun Heng kept her on such a tight leash. Suddenly, she wanted to spirit the girl away even more! The look on that Immortal’s face would be absolutely priceless!

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