Debriefing

In the early morning, Bai Qingxue changed into her True Disciple uniform and began her ascent up the stone steps toward the peak.

The morning mist had not yet fully dispersed, and dew clung to the withered branches on both sides of the path. Occasionally, her robe would brush against them, sending a few cool droplets pattering down.

The Shuanghua sword hung at her waist, swaying gently with her pace, its hilt's ice lotus patterns glinting coldly in the morning light.

The red mark on the side of her neck had already faded significantly.

Nevertheless, Bai Qingxue carefully pulled her collar up to conceal it, ensuring it remained hidden from others.

As her fingers brushed against her collar, her fingertips touched that patch of skin, still sensing a faint, lingering warmth that did not belong to her.

Whether it was left by Lu Xueqing or warmed by her own tossing and turning the previous night, Bai Qingxue could not tell.

She simply tugged her collar a bit higher and continued her climb.

The doors to the main hall stood wide open.

Cold air surged out from within, swirling together with the morning mist until the two became indistinguishable.

Bai Qingxue paused for a moment at the entrance before stepping inside.

True Lord Shuanghua sat upon a meditation cushion, clad in a frost-white Daoist robe. Her hair was as silver as snow, yet her face looked too young for someone who had lived for centuries.

Before her lay that same game of Go, with black and white stones scattered exactly as they had been during Bai Qingxue’s last visit.

Bai Qingxue knelt before her and performed a formal salute.

“Disciple Bai Qingxue has returned from Nanhuai to report for duty.”

True Lord Shuanghua gave a slight nod but did not speak.

Bai Qingxue briefly recounted her seven years in Nanhuai.

The anomalies in the ruins, the loss of earth vein spiritual energy, the stone chamber beneath the altar, the ice coffin, the loosening of the seal, and how she had used the power of the ice lotus to reinforce it.

When she mentioned the “seal,” True Lord Shuanghua’s eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Bai Qingxue paused, then drew the transcribed copy of the notes from her sleeve, turning to the page with Suxue’s entries.

“Disciple found this in the study within the ruins. It was left by the senior who guarded Nanhuai in the past.”

True Lord Shuanghua took the notes, her gaze falling upon the scribbled handwriting.

She did not turn the page, simply staring at that single entry for a long time.

Bai Qingxue then turned to the back, revealing the star map.

“True Lord, there is something I do not understand. This star map... I cannot make sense of it. The astral positions are incorrect; they do not resemble any star chart from any period in the Eastern Region.”

True Lord Shuanghua’s finger rested on the edge of the star map. Her fingertip paused there, lightly grazing the paper as if touching something tangible.

Silence filled the hall for a moment.

“This is not a star map of the Eastern Region,” True Lord Shuanghua said. “It is from the Northern Region.”

Bai Qingxue looked up. “The Northern Region?”

“The land where the Northern Demonic Sects reside,” True Lord Shuanghua’s tone was as cool as usual. “The Xuanyin Demonic Sect, the Northern Desolate Demon Court... various major powers have occupied that land for ten thousand years. Eastern Region cultivators rarely set foot there.”

Bai Qingxue looked at the star map. Those unfamiliar astral positions formed a pattern she did not recognize, like a door she could not open.

“After Suxue left the sect back then, the first place she went was not Nanhuai,” True Lord Shuanghua withdrew her hand from the star map and rested it on her knee. “It was the Northern Region.”

Bai Qingxue’s brow twitched slightly.

The notes said, “Ordered to guard the Nanhuai altar; forty-three years have passed since.”

Forty-three years—that referred to her time after arriving in Nanhuai.

But in the years before those forty-three in Nanhuai, Suxue had also been to the Northern Region?

This was something Bai Qingxue had not known, as it had not been mentioned in the notes.

“She brought this star map back from the Northern Region.” True Lord Shuanghua paused, her gaze drifting toward the morning mist outside the hall, as if looking at a place far away.

“There is a place in the Northern Region very similar to the ruins in Nanhuai. Suxue discovered this star map there, along with something else.”

Bai Qingxue waited for a moment, but True Lord Shuanghua did not continue.

“What was it?” Bai Qingxue asked.

True Lord Shuanghua retracted her gaze and looked at her.

Those eyes were calm, the same way they looked at the Go board or the mist outside.

But Bai Qingxue felt that when those eyes looked at her, they were different from how they looked at anything else.

She couldn't say exactly why. Perhaps they lingered for an extra heartbeat. Perhaps there was something in that heartbeat she couldn't understand.

Perhaps knowing that True Lord Shuanghua would not answer, Bai Qingxue chose to ask a different question.

“Why did Suxue go to Nanhuai afterward?”

Upon hearing this.

True Lord Shuanghua closed the copy of the notes and placed it beside the Go board.

“You should already know the reason,” True Lord Shuanghua said indifferently.

With that, True Lord Shuanghua picked up a white stone and placed it on the board.

The stone made a crisp click against the board, a sound that echoed clearly in the hollow hall, as if speaking on her behalf.

Silence reigned in the hall for a long time.

Cold air seeped out from True Lord Shuanghua’s person, condensing into fine ice crystals on the floor.

The ice lotus within Bai Qingxue’s body rotated slightly, resonating with those crystals.

True Lord Shuanghua withdrew her hand from the board and took a jade slip from her sleeve, placing it on the floor between them.

The jade slip was a pale bluish-white, its edges carved with intricate frost patterns, identical to the one used for the 《Mystic Frost Heavenly Heart Art》 years ago.

“The sect has decided to reopen the passage to the Northern Region in some time. After all, someone needs to investigate the clues Suxue left behind.” True Lord Shuanghua looked at her. “You have just returned from Nanhuai; I shouldn't be sending you out again so soon.”

She paused.

“But I have had this jade slip ready since the day you joined Xueji Peak.”

Bai Qingxue looked at the jade slip. After a moment of silence, she reached out and took it, saying respectfully:

“This disciple accepts the command.”

The moment her fingertips touched the jade, a faint chill spread from the surface, sharing the same origin as the ice lotus in her body.

It was the same temperature as the ice coffin beneath the Nanhuai ruins.

“Go,” True Lord Shuanghua said.

Bai Qingxue performed a salute, stood up, and retreated from the main hall.

The hall doors slowly closed behind her. The cold air was sealed within, and the morning mist surged from all directions, enveloping her in a hazy shroud.

Standing on the corridor, Bai Qingxue looked down at the jade slip in her hand.

The pale white surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting nothing.

Bai Qingxue could only grip it tightly in her hand, as if by doing so, she could take hold of something certain.