Chapter 231
Chapter 231
My eyes reddened almost instantly.
When Feng Lishu died and I didn’t die with her, I’d allowed myself to cling to a sliver of hope.
Now it seemed it had only ever been a matter of time.
At that moment, the despair those white strands brought me was more overwhelming than ever before.
“I’ll take you back first.” Liu Junyan raised a broad hand and stroked my cheek. “To get back to Cangwu Mountain, you can’t go directly through the Phoenix Clan. It’d be best to enter by way of Hushan. I’ll go to Hushan and talk to the person there. Hopefully, we can get you back to Cangwu Mountain as soon as possible.”
I had to return to Cangwu Mountain and take a look.
I didn’t really believe going back would change much for me.
But if so many people had told me to return, there had to be a reason.
It was just that the matter had suddenly become much more urgent.
Liu Junyan had been to Cangwu Mountain before. He knew the route through the Phoenix Clan’s front entrance and into Cangwu Mountain.
But things were different now. I couldn’t return to the Phoenix Clan.
We could only enter Cangwu Mountain from the rear,
passing through the Paradise Beyond the World.
But the person at Hushan… We would have to find a way to negotiate with them. After all, it was their territory.
I buried my face against Liu Junyan’s chest and held him for a long while. Only after my emotions had gradually settled did I release him.
“All right. Let’s head back first.”
The atmosphere inside the car was stifling for the rest of the journey.
Leaning against my seat, I gazed out the window and thought about one thing after another.
I even began to wonder what would happen to the Pawnshop if my soul was utterly destroyed.
Would it affect Liu Junyan?
Could the Calamity Abbot Kongji had mentioned have something to do with me?
Before I knew it, we had arrived back at the Pawnshop.
After getting out of the car, the first thing I did was look up at the Hexagonal Palace Lantern hanging beneath the western side of the eaves.
It was brimming with the golden light of Merit.
Li Qingying came out to meet us. She opened her mouth to say something, then abruptly froze.
She had seen my white hair too. Her expression changed instantly. “Xiao Jiu… What happened to you? How did your condition get even worse after one trip to the Great Dharma King Temple?”
I didn’t know how to answer her, so I changed the subject. “How is Snow Phoenix?”
Li Qingying couldn’t say for certain either, so she took me to see her in a side room of the Main Courtyard.
After parking the car, Liu Junyan followed us over.
But Li Qingying stopped him. “Seventh Master, you shouldn’t come in with us. It wouldn’t be appropriate.”
Li Qingying had already told me over the phone that Snow Phoenix was about to assume human form.
The moment she said it would be inappropriate, we both understood what she meant. Liu Junyan said he would go check the West Room first.
Li Qingying and I went in to see Snow Phoenix.
The room was still bitterly cold.
Several large basins heaped with pristine white snow sat on the floor. In one of them, a delicate little face peeked out from beneath the snow, resting against the rim.
Her eyes were closed, and her features were beautiful. She looked exactly as she had when I first met her in the Paradise Beyond the World.
Her complexion was healthy too, her cheeks rosy. The snow covered her up to just below her collarbones, hiding her lower body and feet from view.
Li Qingying said, “I asked Uncle Huo. He said she should wake up soon, but he can’t be sure whether she’ll still be herself when she does.”
Uncle Huo was worried that the Ice Silkworm might have taken control of Snow Phoenix.
But Gu Yan had given me the Ice Silkworm, so I wasn’t worried that it would attack us for no reason.
Li Qingying asked, “Xiao Jiu, do you want to try contacting the proprietress? If you can reach her, maybe you could ask her to-”
“No,” I cut her off firmly. “Even if I can reach her, there’s no way she can rush here from Xiangxi right now. Sister Qingying, she’s in her hibernation period. It’s too dangerous.”
Li Qingying scratched her head. “We simply don’t know enough people who specialize in Witchcraft and Gu Sorcery.”
Witchcraft… and Gu?
For some reason, the moment Li Qingying mentioned “witchcraft,” something flashed through my mind.
It seemed to be one of the incantations the Grand Witch had recited.
Unfortunately, it slipped away before I could grasp it.
After Li Qingying and I left the room, I asked, “Where’s Fifth Master Hui? Did he go out on another errand?”
Li Qingying replied in exasperation, “Don’t get me started. I wonder who got so furious with Hui Shuchen last time that he swore he’d never have anything to do with him again? He said the next time they met, they’d be enemies rather than brothers, and he absolutely wouldn’t show mercy. But the moment Flower Mouse came with a message early this morning, he went scampering off after him.”
I frowned. Hui Moqiong wasn’t normally this indecisive.
Then again, those involved often had the hardest time seeing things clearly.
I could understand how difficult it was to sever the bond between brothers.
Some people would never turn back until they’d hit a wall — and fought until one side or the other went down.
We went to the West Room.
As we entered, we saw Liu Junyan standing before the shrine, facing the Copper-Coin Figure.
He stood tall and straight, holding the Prayer Beads in one hand while the other rested behind his back.
He simply stared at the Copper-Coin Figure in silence, lost in thought.
We didn’t disturb him. After entering the West Room, we sat down on the meditation cushions.
Two or three minutes later, Liu Junyan finally came back to himself and turned toward us.
His first question was also about Hui Moqiong’s whereabouts.
Li Qingying repeated what she had just told me.
Liu Junyan immediately said, “Something must have happened. Given Moqiong’s temperament, Hui Shuchen couldn’t have manipulated him so easily otherwise.”
Li Qingying looked puzzled. “Who else in the Gray Immortal Lineage could possibly have any leverage over Old Fifth Hui now? He’s just not being ruthless enough.”
Her words made my heart skip a beat.
Aside from Hui Shuchen, was there anyone else in the Gray Immortal Lineage who could control Hui Moqiong?
“There is someone,” I said thoughtfully. “Fifth Master Hui once told me that his mother gave birth to fifteen children in one litter. Other than him and Hui Shuchen, they also had a younger sister whose whereabouts remain unknown. No one knows whether she’s alive or dead.”
Li Qingying stared at me in disbelief. “You mean… Hui Shuchen might be using their little sister to threaten Old Fifth Hui?”
Was that possible?
I couldn’t be sure either.
I instinctively looked up at Liu Junyan.
His expression had darkened even further. “Do you know which way he went?”
“Toward Huicheng, I think,” Li Qingying replied.
Huicheng…
“I happen to need to make a trip to Huicheng as well,” Liu Junyan said. “I’ll contact his subordinates and try to meet up with him there. Qingying, take good care of Xiao Jiu.”
Li Qingying grew anxious. “Aren’t… aren’t we going together?”
She clearly wanted to go and shot me a meaningful look.
“Sister Qingying, you should go with Ah Yan,” I said. “I’ll stay behind and look after the Pawnshop and Snow Phoenix.”
My Souls were incomplete.
The power of Chan Master Dahui’s Sarira was steadily draining away. If I went with them to Huicheng now and someone with malicious intentions noticed something amiss, I would be in grave danger.
Worse, I would drag them into it too.
Li Qingying thought it over before finally deciding, “Seventh Master, you should go without me. I’ll stay here with Xiao Jiu. Old Fifth Hui is plenty capable. He won’t die.”
And so it was settled.
Liu Junyan immediately set out for Huicheng.
Li Qingying went to cook, while I began cleaning everything inside and out.
Before leaving for Cangwu Mountain, I wanted to put the entire Pawnshop in order and make sure every necessary instruction had been given.
Just in case I left this time… and truly never returned…