Mistress of the Underworld and Her Little Celestial Wife - Chapter 104

When Mu Yin woke up, she found herself in a strangely familiar place.

She sat dazed for a moment, her last memory before losing consciousness being Ah Qin appearing at the door of her study, dressed in the attire of a Five Skandha Sect disciple, waving at her with a faint smile.

How had Ah Qin gotten that uniform?

Had she harmed some poor, innocent disciple to obtain it?

Most importantly, where had Ah Qin taken her?

Frowning slightly, Mu Yin sat on the edge of the bed and surveyed the room. Nearly everything looked familiar.

The room wasn’t large. Beneath her feet was an exotic handmade carpet, while the table nearby held ceramics and ornaments with peculiar patterns. Even the woven tapestries hanging from the ceiling didn’t resemble anything from the Central Plains.

The sensation beneath her feet felt real enough Mu Yin was certain she wasn’t dreaming. This was reality.

When she pushed open the door and stepped outside, her eyes widened at the sight before her.

The sky was a shimmering gold, devoid of sun or clouds. The golden light stretched endlessly from above, extending far beyond her line of sight, so bright it made her eyes ache.

Mu Yin averted her gaze and realized she was standing in what seemed to be the courtyard of a palace, one she recognized all too well. It was the West Moon Kingdom from her dreams.

Had she returned to that endless cycle of dreams again?

Her expression darkened as she walked through the courtyard. Sure enough, she saw the familiar gardens and statues, Ah Qin’s bedchambers, and the winding corridors that all looked nearly identical.

There was no wind, no birdsong. Mu Yin wandered through the entire inner city but found no trace of life.

“Ah Qin?”

She called out, but only her own echo answered in the empty streets.

“Strange…” Mu Yin muttered, rubbing her chin. She couldn’t fathom why Ah Qin had brought her here only to disappear, but sitting idle wasn’t an option. She had to find a way out.

With no one around, Mu Yin easily left the inner city. As she walked along the familiar streets, she noticed the outer city was different from the West Moon Kingdom in her dreams.

The kingdom in her dreams had been prosperous, bustling with life and happiness. But now, it bore the scars of war, the closer she got to the city walls, the worse the damage became. When she reached the gate where she had first met Ah Qin, she saw that half of the wall had been reduced to rubble, blackened by fire.

The inscription “West Moon Kingdom” above the gate was now missing the last character, leaving only “West Moon.” The rest of the wall lay shattered on the ground.

This was what it meant for a kingdom to fall and a home to be lost.

Mu Yin tried to move forward, but before her stretched an endless expanse of golden light like an unloaded map in a game. Beyond the gate, there was nothing but gold, stretching as far as the eye could see.

She touched the gate and looked down at the golden earth beneath her.

Click!

A footstep sounded behind her. Turning, she saw Ah Qin standing a short distance away, hands clasped behind her back, watching her silently.

“Ah Qin?” Mu Yin turned her head to look at her from where she was crouched on the ground and asked, “You were here all along? Why didn’t you come out when I called you earlier?”

Ah Qin’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she replied in a soft voice, “I was afraid you wouldn’t want to see me. Actually, I’ve been following behind you ever since you woke up.”

Mu Yin withdrew her gaze and looked at the endless stretch of gold beyond the city gates. “What is this place?”

“You must have heard how I used my own power to hide the West Moon Kingdom in a place no one could ever find,” Ah Qin said, standing beside Mu Yin at the city gates, gazing at the sea of gold. “This is that place.”

Mu Yin turned to look at her and hesitated before asking, “What about the people of West Moon Kingdom? Are they gone?”

Ah Qin silently stared at the golden expanse, and after a long while, she finally said, “I don’t know.”

Mu Yin: “?”

“Didn’t you bring them here? How could you not know?” Mu Yin asked curiously.

Ah Qin turned to look at her and recounted what had happened.

“Although the people of West Moon Kingdom possessed cultivation talents that everyone envied, they still needed to replenish their energy simply put, they needed to eat,” Ah Qin said, lowering her eyes. “In this place where no one could find us, soil was a precious resource. After realizing this, the people gathered all the soil they could to try growing food.”

“But what they managed to grow was pitifully little,” Ah Qin continued. “Eventually, they developed the habit of eating only tiny portions at each meal, surviving on that for ten days or even half a month. Like this, they lived in this place without day or night for over a decade until the elderly and weak among them began dying one after another. Only then did they realize that this so-called ‘place no one could find’ was also a place they could never leave.”

Hearing this outcome, Mu Yin felt a pang of shock. She had thought that Ah Qin, who had fought so desperately to protect her homeland, would have secured a warm and happy ending for her people. She never imagined it would turn out like this.

The people of West Moon Kingdom had endured war, believing that Ah Qin’s sacrifice would bring them peace and freedom from conflict. Instead, they had faced starvation due to the scarcity of food.

Ah Qin’s expression remained calm as she said, “In the end, only twenty or thirty people remained in West Moon Kingdom. Unwilling to wait for death in the city, they decided to cross the kingdom’s borders in search of a way to survive.”

Mu Yin asked, “Did they walk into this golden expanse?”

Ah Qin nodded. “After my death, I watched over them constantly. I knew that no matter how far they walked, there would be no way out. The only fate awaiting them was death. One by one, they collapsed from exhaustion on the road. No one could leave this place. My soul was trapped in West Moon Kingdom after death, so I don’t know whether those who left survived or perished. Perhaps, someone among them truly managed to escape.”

After saying this, she turned to Mu Yin and asked, “Do you think I was wrong? If I had turned a blind eye to the Crown Prince of the Central Plains back then, or helped everyone flee instead of hiding West Moon Kingdom, would those people have been spared from death?”

“This isn’t your fault,” Mu Yin comforted her. “You couldn’t have anticipated such an outcome back then. You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

Ah Qin walked over and reached out, gently pulling Mu Yin into an embrace.

“Thank you for comforting me,” Ah Qin said softly. “It’s been so long since it happened that I’ve already come to terms with it. Back then, I was just a wandering soul, watching them struggle to survive here yet powerless to help. I truly did regret it.”

Mu Yin pinched the corner of her sleeve, then slowly raised her hand to pat Ah Qin’s back in reassurance. “Perhaps this is fate. People must learn to accept destiny.”

Ah Qin remained silent for a long moment before tightening her embrace, squeezing Mu Yin so hard she thought her waist might break.

“Ah Qin!”

“I don’t believe in fate.”

Ah Qin whispered into Mu Yin’s ear, “If I believed in fate, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”

Mu Yin’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

“Stay with me.” Ah Qin loosened her grip slightly to look Mu Yin in the eyes. “Stay in the West Moon Kingdom with me. The two of us could have this entire city to ourselves.”

When Si Lingqing returned, she found the normally quiet courtyard brightly lit.

It was nearly midnight, why were these people keeping the courtyard so brightly lit? How was Mu Yin supposed to sleep?

In a foul mood, Si Lingqing stepped into the courtyard and saw it crowded with people. Someone spotted her immediately and called out to those inside, “Madam, the young mistress has returned!”

Si Lingqing eyed them suspiciously. “What are you all doing in my courtyard so late at night instead of resting?”

Before the disciple could answer, Yu Luo rushed out of the room in a panic, followed closely by Hong Zhuang. Both wore expressions of deep concern.

Yu Luo grabbed Si Lingqing’s hand. “Where have you been? Why are you only returning now? Do you have any idea what’s happened? Mu Yin suddenly disappeared we still can’t find her, and no one saw her leave the courtyard. You need to do something!”

Si Lingqing paused briefly at this news, then smiled. “It’s nothing serious. She probably just went out to have some fun.”

“Where could she be having fun at this hour?” Yu Luo fretted. “I even had people check the mushrooms. Normally, Mu Yin would respond if she heard, but today there’s been no word from any of them. Something must have happened to her.”

“No response from any of the mushrooms?”

This struck Si Lingqing as odd. Though Mu Yin could be mischievous, she wasn’t the type to worry her elders like this. If even the mushrooms couldn’t reach her, something was indeed amiss.

“Don’t worry,” Si Lingqing reassured her mother. “I can find her.”

“How? I’ve already sent everyone to search the entire Five Skandha Sect, even the villages at the foot of the mountain. There’s no trace of Mu Yin.”

Si Lingqing said, “I placed a mark on her. No matter where she goes, I can find her.”

Yu Luo looked at her skeptically. Ever since her daughter’s resurrection, Yu Luo felt she had changed. The old Si Lingqing, though frail and somewhat aloof, had always been affectionate toward her mother.

But now, it seemed Si Lingqing cared for no one except Mu Yin.

Even though Yu Luo had her doubts, she knew the most important thing now was to find Mu Yin first. Anxiously, she said, “Try whatever method you can, quickly. It’s so late, I hope nothing bad has happened to her.”

Si Lingqing nodded, forming a hand seal before slowly closing her eyes.

From the very beginning, Si Lingqing had left a mark on Mu Yin. This mark would remain within her body, allowing Si Lingqing to sense her no matter where she was.

But after searching for a long time with her eyes closed, Si Lingqing still couldn’t detect any trace of the mark on Mu Yin.

This realization immediately darkened Si Lingqing’s expression. When she opened her eyes, a clear fury lurked in their depths. She turned to Hong Zhuang and asked coldly, “Who came to see Mu Yin today?”

Hong Zhuang’s face was also grim. She replied, “Only one female disciple from the Five Skandha Sect visited the courtyard today.”

“Did you see her?” Si Lingqing pressed.

Hong Zhuang shook her head. “I was busy with other matters at the time and didn’t see the disciple. She came in but never left. By the time we realized something was wrong, the young mistress had already disappeared.”

Ultimately, the blame lay with the lack of vigilance in the courtyard. No one had expected that someone with ill intentions would dare to enter the Five Skandha Sect and simply take Mu Yin away.

Seeing the dark look on Si Lingqing’s face, Hong Zhuang asked softly, “Young Miss… can’t you find the young mistress either?”

Si Lingqing frowned and said, “No matter where she is in this world, I will find her.”

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