Chapter 25: Journey to Penglai (Part 4)

“Xu Qianqian? Why do I have such a faint impression of her?” Xu Qianyu conversed with the system.

She had slept for less than a quarter of an hour before waking up. Still feeling groggy, she didn’t immediately open her eyes. Instead, she drew energy into her body, entering a state of spiritual cultivation, communicating with the system through her thoughts.

“Xu Qianqian is the youngest daughter of Xu Binglai; technically, she’s your sister.”

“Her mother was Xu Binglai’s original wife and also a sword cultivator. However, she was born without a spiritual root, much like an ordinary person, so she didn’t cultivate alongside you. Moreover, she was weak and sickly, and shortly after the main story began, she died from illness.”

Xu Qianyu thought to herself that there was indeed some truth to this. Not long after she entered the inner sect, she seemed to have heard such news. That day, Penglai was draped in white veils, but it only lasted for one day.

The system continued, “However, Xu Qianqian cannot be said to have no connection to you at all.”

“Xu Binglai felt sorry for her lack of a spiritual root and was very lenient with her. Her mother was Xu Binglai’s original wife and also a sword cultivator. On one occasion, she fell victim to an assassination during a banquet and left behind her seriously injured young daughter. Therefore, her father and two older brothers doted on Qianqian. Unfortunately, her fate was still quite fragile.”

The system paused for a moment before adding, “Let me put it this way: she died, but this sense of debt and regret did not die. Later, when Lu You entered Penglai, Xu Binglai favored her a lot because she resembled the deceased Qianqian, possessing a pure and kind character, and like Qianqian, she had no spiritual root. It was inevitable that he would transfer his affections and regard her as a continuation of Qianqian.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Qianyu wanted to scold but held back, forcefully suppressing her urge to speak out against it.

She thought that Qianqian indeed lacked any talent for writing.

Xu Qianqian was her sister, yet she did not resemble her at all; instead, she looked like Lu You, which was utterly absurd.

Moreover, Qianqian was already dead; what use was it to treat Lu You well? Qianqian would no longer enjoy any of it. Xu Qianyu hoped that Xu Qianqian had not died; after all, once someone died, all that remained was a day’s worth of white veils.

“Later on, Lu You obtained a spiritual root, and her brilliance grew even brighter, bringing healing joy to Penglai. They truly regarded Lu You as family and the solace of all Penglai, and by that time, Xu Qianqian’s shadow slowly faded, leaving only Lu You.”

Xu Qianyu asked, “Didn’t they try to save Xu Qianqian?”

“Of course, they did. Although Xu Qianqian was an ordinary person, she could take the Transforming Clarity Beautification Pill to maintain the same age growth and lifespan as the cultivators. As the sect master’s daughter, she wouldn’t lack for spiritual treasures in Penglai. However, she was too severely injured during the assassination with her mother when she was young, and her frail child’s body couldn’t withstand it. The Elder Taishang came out of seclusion to save her and stopped the Transforming Clarity Pill, causing Qianqian to grow to the appearance of seventeen or eighteen within three years. He also infused her with a large amount of spiritual energy, and afterward, she relied on pills to barely survive.”

“Oh, the Elder Taishang is Xu Binglai’s father-in-law, Qianqian’s maternal grandfather.”

Xu Qianyu replied, “Is he the old bastard who wanted to assassinate me?”

The system responded, “…Yes, it’s him.”

Xu Qianyu made a sound of acknowledgment. Though she felt disgusted, she refrained from commenting.

It seemed that all grandfathers in the world were as protective as a mountain, as long as it wasn’t too extreme, it was reasonable.

But in the next moment, the system said, “However, without a spiritual root, the infused spiritual energy would leak out like water from a sieve, treating only the symptoms and not the root cause. The Elder Taishang, having nearly reached the Dao Monarch level, theoretically could manipulate spiritual energy to exchange a spiritual root for Qianqian, but it required a similarly aged and closely related spirit body to avoid overwhelming Qianqian.”

Xu Qianyu couldn’t sit still anymore: “Me?”

“Precisely,” the system affirmed, “The Elder Taishang was born in an era rich in spiritual energy when great powers roamed freely, and ordinary lives were as worthless as grass. He never regarded you highly. Moreover, in his eyes, you are still a wild seedling. Severing your spiritual root wouldn’t endanger your life; it would just mean you could never cultivate again. To him, exchanging your spiritual root for Qianqian’s life would still be a great favor. But due to the sect master’s obstruction, he eventually gave up. Besides, Qianqian’s body at that time was as fragile as a candle in the wind, unable to endure such turmoil. After that, the sect master and the Elder Taishang became sworn enemies.”

No wonder after that, her master treated her even colder. By then, Xu Qianqian was already dead. It was unclear whether he regretted having previously intervened.

Xu Qianyu fell silent for a moment before stamping her foot and cursing, “Why did you write such an ugly script?!”

“I’m sorry! I… I also really want to commit suicide,” the system replied.

Xu Qianyu was furious but then remembered something.

Not long after she entered the inner sect, aside from speaking with her senior brother, she didn’t really interact with anyone else. For several days, her senior brother had been away, and a person climbed in through the window, bringing her many toys and clothes, as well as a bowl of sweet soup, staying with her to talk and play. This person introduced himself as her second senior brother, Xu Jiansu. Although he had a bad temper, he was very nice to her, and the smile at the corner of his lips had a childlike innocence that left her feeling flattered.

However, within two days, Shen Suwei returned from autumn break. Upon entering, he saw her holding the sweet soup, ready to drink, and with one sword strike, he split it in half. The soup spilled all over her, and then he pointed at the other toys, saying, “Throw them out.”

Naturally, she was utterly confused and burst into tears. The warmth she had finally obtained slipped away like sand through her fingers, leaving her unwilling to accept it. Sniffling, she noticed that a large piece of broken porcelain on the ground still contained some soup. She scooped it up, primarily to provoke her senior brother. Shen Suwei coldly said, “You dare.”

In the next moment, she felt the biting cold sword aura wrapping around her wrist, as if she dared to bring it to her lips again, it wouldn’t be her bowl that would be cut, but her hands.

Her cultivation was no match for Shen Suwei, and she could only endure in silence, throwing down the porcelain shard and secretly hating him. That day during sword practice, she trained particularly fiercely, continuously being knocked down, only to get back up and attack again. She directly broke through from the seventh level of Qi Refinement to the eighth.

After training so hard, she slept particularly soundly that night. The next morning, her hatred had diminished a lot and felt less profound.

When Shen Suwei was combing her hair, she noticed a jade bowl on the dressing table. Inside the bowl was what seemed to be osmanthus sweet porridge, so she peeked at him through the mirror, but he said nothing, focusing intently as he dipped a horn comb in water and smoothed her long hair.

She stirred it with a spoon to confirm, and found white lotus seeds at the bottom of the bowl, which must have been grown from the lotus flowers in the Spirit Pool, much larger than those found in the mortal world. She had to take a bite. When she scooped again, she surprisingly found silver fungus and job’s tears.

Most people in the Xianmen (immortal sect) practice abstinence and do not indulge in the pleasures of food, so such exquisite dishes are rare. The richness of this sweet porridge was overwhelming, and she immediately leaned forward to drink, causing her hair to slip from Shen Suwei’s hands naturally.

He did not continue combing, merely holding her long hair loosely in one hand at the back of her neck, quietly watching her finish eating.

Xu Qianyu emptied a small bowl, feeling delighted, her lips curling upward as she looked up to smile at her senior brother in the mirror. That smile radiated from her brows and eyes, brilliant and dazzling.

Shen Suwei still did not speak but helped her tie up her hair bun, glanced at her, and then walked away, saying, “Come out to practice swordsmanship.”

From then on, every day there was a different sweet soup to drink, but Xu Jiansu was never seen again. However, with the sweet soup, it didn’t matter whether he was there or not.

The system said, “Xu Jiansu sent you that soup to alleviate the pain of stripping away your spiritual roots. He was indeed entrusted by the Elder. It’s not surprising, since among the entire Penglai, he cares the most for Xu Qianqian.”

Xu Qianyu was completely unaware that she had narrowly escaped danger. At that moment, she felt that Shen Suwei still had some conscience left: “Why didn’t you tell me, senior brother?”

“You were still young back then. If I told you, those who were good to you would have ulterior motives. If you lost your spiritual roots, it would be the result of your own desire for warmth. How would you trust people again in the future, and how would you face the world?”

The system interjected, “Now you know, right? Xu Jiansu is not a good person.”

Xu Qianyu coldly replied, “I already knew. He’s a lecherous man.”

The system responded, “He is not…”

Forget it, just think of him as a lecherous man.

“Now, do you have some idea?” the system cautiously asked. “What kind of world you are about to face.”

It really hoped Xu Qianyu would take things seriously, after all, its hope of going home was entirely dependent on her.

Xu Qianyu remained silent.

“Do you still want to go?” the system carefully asked.

“Of course,” Xu Qianyu said, somewhat displeased.

In her past life, everything felt like a dream viewed through gauze, vague and unclear. Those loves, pains, and fears had faded, as if she were watching another person’s life, a feeling of profound detachment.

But having come this far, there was no reason to turn back. Just the thought of the hardships to come made her a bit annoyed.

However, as Guan Niang said, if she treated it as a game, she could endure it; perhaps there would even be some fun.

“What level is that old turtle?”

“Let me think… probably ‘Zhenjun (True Monarch)’, just one step away from Daojun.”

“Then let’s set a small goal,” Xu Qianyu said, “to be like him.”

“????” The system was greatly shocked.

The young lady had been nurtured in the mortal realm for several years, and her confidence was truly remarkable. Although it had no hopes, Xu Qianyu’s transformation from being unwilling to go up the mountain to actively wanting to go was already a huge step forward; she needed encouragement.

The system adjusted its mood: “Everything is up to you. I believe you can definitely do it!”

Do I look like I’m acting?

*

Shen Suwei held two letters, recognizing that the handwriting and seal did not belong to Xu Bing, but were from the Elder Taishang, causing a chill to run down his spine.

He wondered if the butterfly carrying the message “find Qianyu” had leaked something. The Elder subtly reminded him with similar letters and equal-ranked message butterflies that everything about others, where they were, and what they were doing was under his control.

The Elder Taishang was the strongest in all of Penglai; if he valued Shen Suwei, it was no different from being with the sect leader. If he offended him, it would be a bad situation.

Shen Suwei looked at the girl sleeping under the tree. She was quiet now, not making a fuss—an excellent opportunity. Following usual logic, upon receiving this urgent letter, he should immediately take people back. He had that capability.

He wasn’t without annoyance after all the troubles along the way.

Xu Qianyu’s experience was pitiful, but there were many others in the world who were also pitiful. Cultivators are generally indifferent, detached from worldly affairs, and do not excessively empathize.

Shen Suwei remained expressionless as he glanced back at the letter.

He only ever did two types of things.

The first was things unrelated to him, such as Wang Duan and Du Yueyin. He could remain detached, keeping his thoughts unified and his spirit clear, striking decisively, unaffected by emotions. But regarding the Shui family, he owed them a favor and a gift of a sword, so that could no longer be considered unrelated.

The second type was things he deemed reasonable.

The Elder had once opposed searching for this girl, yet now he was urging a return. Combined with what he had faintly heard that day—“it’s to save Qianqian’s life…”—although he did not know the specific reasons, it inevitably led him to think of some bad possibilities.

It was reasonable for him to look for Xu Qianyu to save her life. Finding her and quickly returning to the sect was also reasonable.

But if it included the earlier line, “Qianqian is in critical condition,” then it was no longer reasonable.

With this thought, a sword energy suddenly burst forth from his fingers. The two letters began to curl and ignite from the top down. If they burned completely, the sender would know the message had been delivered. At that moment, the letters hadn’t burned to the first word when the sword energy suddenly froze into ice, freezing the letters from the bottom up.

Although the spiritual energy on the message butterfly was weak, there were ancient sect restrictions, making it difficult to reverse. The two forces clashed violently, causing the paper to tremble. In the end, he still managed to freeze them into two ice plaques, inserting them into the “realm.”

In that vast expanse of snow, the only striking colors were the candied hawthorn skewers stuck in the snow and the wooden box for mooncakes nearby, already covered with a bit of fallen snow, making them appear both small and lonely.

Shen Suwei glanced at those things that clearly did not belong to him.

Xu Qianyu was pulled directly out of her meditative state by someone, her eyes wide as Shen Suwei placed the wooden sword in her hands: “From now on, the sword should not leave your hand.”

He then handed her the candied hawthorn: “You can eat it now.”

She grasped the hilt, placing it on her lap, her heart racing as she sat up. It was hard to believe that her senior brother had woken her up in the middle of the night just to tell her to eat a candied hawthorn.

She hesitated, and once her mood calmed, she noticed the sweet scent and realized her dizziness was due to hunger. She began to nibble on the candied hawthorn.

After she finished eating, Shen Suwei led her to continue walking.

After a while, Xu Qianyu thought: Why isn’t he carrying me anymore?

She slowed down again.

Never mind; if he doesn’t want to carry her, then so be it. Carrying someone all the time must be tiring.

Xu Qianyu had practiced channeling Qi into her body for twenty days and could arrange her surplus spiritual energy quite well, so she didn’t need her senior brother to help her adjust her breathing. She had also become somewhat familiar with the people and things in Penglai. Throughout the journey, she had vented enough frustration at Shen Suwei; now, she had no resentment and thought it was time to return to Penglai.

However, having acted imposing all this way, she suddenly changed her mind but didn’t know how to express it. She pondered for a moment and said, “Walking like this is quite tiring.”

Shen Suwei looked straight ahead: “Then we can slow down, or we can rest.”

“No, no, no need.” Xu Qianyu panicked, suspecting her senior brother had given up on himself due to her torment.

She looked up to find a hint: “Where’s the spirit crane?”

Shen Suwei replied, “It’s above the clouds.”

Is he still not understanding?

“If we ride the spirit crane, how long would it take from here to Penglai?”

“Within a breath.”

Xu Qianyu managed to squeeze out a response: “…I don’t believe it.”

Shen Suwei said, “Then you can call it down and ask it yourself.”

Xu Qianyu suspected her senior brother was joking, but she couldn’t care less; she wanted to return as soon as possible. She raised her hand, but Shen Suwei suddenly grabbed her wrist and firmly brought it down.

“If you’re fine, don’t call it up and down; it will consume spiritual energy.”

Xu Qianyu turned to look at him.

Terrifying. It seemed her senior brother really had given up on himself.

Driving her senior brother crazy seemed quite easy. Just continuously disrupt his plans for a few days.

They continued walking at a slow pace. This was quite torturous.

Xu Qianyu suspected her senior brother wanted to return the favor.

“Who said I’m fine?” Unable to hold back, she stopped and raised her chin, saying, “Shen Xianjun, you should help me scatter everything in my storage spirit pouch. The remaining clothes and hairpins are things I like; let me keep them as mementos.”

There was also the riding outfit gifted by Guanniang.

“And then we’ll…” ride back on the crane.

Before she could finish, Shen Suwei interrupted her: “Give me that map.”

“I meant scatter it.” Xu Qianyu looked at him. Scattering it around the city would be quicker than burying it, right? Besides, she had buried ten boxes; that should be enough.

Seeing him reach out, she had no choice but to take the map out from her sleeve and hand it to him.

Shen Suwei accepted it without saying anything, turned around, and disappeared.

Xu Qianyu walked back and forth within the magic formation, waiting for a long time, feeling quite bored.

Looking up at the night sky, she saw a small dot the size of a sesame seed and waved at it.

That small dot quickly transformed into a little cloud, with the spirit crane flying at a low altitude, stretching its long neck towards her, as if carefully observing.

Xu Qianyu beckoned it with her finger.

When Shen Suwei returned, he saw the spirit crane obediently squatting on the ground, a garland of flowers resting on its head, looking straight ahead and not daring to move.

Sitting high on the spirit crane’s back was a girl in a riding position. She had her skirt tied slantwise to her back with the wooden sword secured, and her pleated skirt spread out on one side, shimmering with golden threads, revealing the pointed tips of embroidered shoes.

She was stroking the feathers on the spirit crane’s neck, murmuring, “Are you mad at me? I doubt you dare. We’ll meet again in the future, and I’ll feed you something delicious. Otherwise, I’ll pluck your feathers to make a feather duster. Got it?”

Shen Suwei: “…”

Xu Qianyu turned her face at the sound, her red hairpin swaying, her eyes shining with pride and mischief, a smile lingering on her lips as she arrogantly said, “Let’s go.”

Shen Suwei thought to himself, wasn’t it that she didn’t want to return before? How come she changed her mind at this moment?

Then he thought, it was indeed all an act.

She clearly wasn’t dizzy from riding the spirit crane.