About half a month after the True Disciple Ceremony, Liu Ningshuang summoned Bai Qingxue to the main hall.
Bai Qingxue walked up the stone steps toward the main hall.
Xueji Peak remained cold in late spring, but fresh green buds had already sprouted on the withered branches lining the steps, appearing exceptionally bright amidst the lingering snow.
The doors to the main hall were open. The scent of sandalwood drifted out, mingling with the mountain wind until it was almost imperceptible.
Bai Qingxue paused at the entrance for a moment before stepping inside.
Liu Ningshuang sat at her desk. Before her lay a golden silk scroll, its corners held down by green jade paperweights. The characters on the scroll were written in cinnabar, shimmering with a dark red luster under the sunlight.
The seal was not from the Xuantian Sect, but a pattern she had never seen before.
It looked like a bird spreading its wings, yet also like a half-bloomed flower.
“Sit.”
Bai Qingxue took a seat. Liu Ningshuang pushed the golden silk scroll toward her.
“This is a state letter from the Nanhuai State.”
Bai Qingxue opened the scroll and read it from beginning to end.
Nanhuai was a small country on the edge of the Eastern Region; Bai Qingxue had never even heard the name before today.
The letter stated: “Abnormal movements have occurred in the ancient ruins, and the earth veins are unstable. The mortal army dares not approach. We humbly request the upper sect to dispatch an Immortal Master to preside over the situation and stabilize the state.”
The duration of the mission was indefinite; she was to return only after the ruins were stabilized.
Bai Qingxue’s gaze lingered on the words “duration is uncertain” for a moment.
Uncertain.
That meant it could be a month, a year, or even longer.
Bai Qingxue closed the scroll and placed it back on the desk without saying a word.
“The sect has already decided,” Liu Ningshuang said in her usual indifferent tone. “You will go.”
Bai Qingxue looked at her.
Liu Ningshuang’s face bore no extra expression, as if she were discussing the most ordinary of matters.
As a True Disciple, traveling on behalf of the sect to appease subordinate powers was a fundamental duty.
“When do I depart?”
“In three days.”
Bai Qingxue nodded.
“Though the Nanhuai State is remote, these ancient ruins are no small matter.” Liu Ningshuang retracted her gaze, her tone remaining flat.
“The cause of the abnormal movements is still unclear. Once you arrive, stabilize the earth veins first. Do not enter the ruins recklessly. If anything unusual happens, send word to the sect immediately.”
“I understand.”
Liu Ningshuang took a green communication jade talisman from a drawer and placed it beside the scroll.
“Use this to contact us once you reach Nanhuai. A strand of sword qi is sealed within the talisman; you can use it for self-defense in a moment of crisis.”
Bai Qingxue picked up the jade talisman and probed it with her spiritual sense.
The interior of the talisman was carved with intricate layers of formation lines. At its center, a cyan-white strand of sword qi was sealed, compressed to the extreme like a star on the verge of exploding.
Bai Qingxue then placed the jade talisman into her storage bag.
“Do you have any other questions?” Liu Ningshuang asked.
Bai Qingxue thought for a moment.
“How much does the sect know about the ancient ruins in the Nanhuai State?”
Liu Ningshuang was silent for a moment. She pulled an old bamboo slip from beneath the desk, opened it, and pointed it out to Bai Qingxue.
The handwriting on the bamboo slip was blurred, the ink faded to a dark brown, and the edges were marred by wormholes.
“Ancient records only mention it once: Nanhuai possesses ruins of ancient cultivators. Their age is unknown, but they are suspected to be the site of an ancient sect. There have been no movements for thousands of years; this is the first time.”
Liu Ningshuang closed the bamboo slip. “Therefore, be careful once you arrive.”
“I understand.”
Liu Ningshuang waved her hand. Bai Qingxue stood up, bowed, and exited the main hall.
The hall doors closed behind her. Bai Qingxue stood on the corridor, looking down at the communication jade talisman in her hand.
The green jade surface had no patterns, as smooth as a tiny lake.
After watching it for a while, she put it into her storage bag and walked down the stone steps.
For some reason, Bai Qingxue’s heart was not entirely at peace.
It wasn't just because of the mission itself, but more so because of the timing.
She had only just become a True Disciple half a month ago, and then this state letter arrived.
Perhaps the sect had its own considerations. Perhaps this mission required the status of a True Disciple to command authority, and she happened to be the most suitable candidate.
After all, as a newly promoted True Disciple at the Foundation Establishment stage, she was not tied down by other affairs.
Perhaps the unease in her heart was simply because she was overthinking.
Bai Qingxue quickly suppressed those thoughts.
There was no point in dwelling on them.
What she needed to do now was pack her things and depart in three days.
Bai Qingxue walked back into her courtyard. The silver-white new buds of the old plum tree swayed gently in the wind, having grown significantly larger than they were half a month ago.
The tender buds unfurled from the branches, their leaves thin and translucent, shimmering with a silver-white luster under the sunlight.
Bai Qingxue stood under the tree and watched for a while.
This plum tree had bloomed the year she arrived at Xueji Peak.
Liu Ningshuang had said it hadn't bloomed for many years.
Now, it had not only bloomed but also grown new leaves. Silver-white leaves, the same color as her hair.
Bai Qingxue reached out, her fingertip touching a new leaf.
The cold sensation felt as though it shared the same temperature as the ice lotus in her dantian.
The leaf was very tender, trembling at the slightest touch, yet it glowed faintly in the sunlight like a tiny lamp that refused to be extinguished.
Bai Qingxue retracted her hand and entered her quiet room.
The quiet room was silent. The bedding on the stone bed was folded neatly, a bronze mirror sat face down on the table, and the Frost Condensation Sword stood in the corner.
Everything was as Bai Qingxue remembered it.
She had sat here for three years—cultivating, breaking through, lost in thought, and sleeping.
Now she was leaving.
Bai Qingxue sat on the stone bed, neither crossing her legs nor circulating her power.
She simply sat there, looking at the empty quiet room.
Her gaze swept across every corner.
On the low cabinet beside the stone bed sat the wooden box Lu Xueqing had given her. The Meridian Protection Pill was still inside; Bai Qingxue had neither used it nor returned it to Lu Xueqing.
In the drawer of the low cabinet, she still kept the tea cakes and jade slip sent by Ye Qingyao.
On the windowsill lay the fire dates Su Zhaoyan had given her long ago. Bai Qingxue had neither eaten nor thrown them away; she had simply left them there.
At this moment, it suddenly occurred to Bai Qingxue that after reaching Foundation Establishment, she was supposed to open her own cave dwelling.
When she left, how should she handle these things?
Bai Qingxue stood up, opened the drawer of the low cabinet, and took out Ye Qingyao’s tea cakes and jade slip.
The tea cakes were wrapped in oil paper; they had been opened once, and a small piece was missing.
The line of words on the jade slip was still there: “Sister Bai, I will wait for you to finish your seclusion at Qingyun Peak.”
Bai Qingxue rewrapped the oil paper and put it into her storage bag along with the jade slip.
She then walked to the windowsill and picked up the fire date. The crimson skin was no longer as bright as before; having sat for so long, the color had darkened, but the golden patterns remained.
She put it into her storage bag as well.
Finally, Bai Qingxue picked up the wooden box. It was the one Lu Xueqing had used to hold the Meridian Protection Pill. On the inner side of the lid, two tiny characters were carved: “Peace.”
These were two characters Bai Qingxue had never noticed before today.
The characters were carved very shallowly, and the strokes were uneven, as if they had been etched one by one with a fingernail or the tip of a needle.
Though clearly carved with great effort, the characters were so small that they wouldn't be noticed unless one was looking for them—so small it was as if the carver was afraid they would be discovered.
Bai Qingxue stared at those two characters for a moment before putting the wooden box into her storage bag as well.
Bai Qingxue stood in the center of the quiet room, looking around.
The stone bed, the low cabinet, the bronze mirror.
None of these things belonged to her.
She was merely staying here temporarily, just as she was staying temporarily in this world.
Now she was leaving for a place further away.
Perhaps she would return after a long time, or perhaps she would never return at all.
Bai Qingxue walked out of the quiet room and stood under the old plum tree.
Twilight had already crept over the mountain ridge, dyeing the entire sky a bluish-purple. The silver-white new buds shimmered with a cold light in the dusk, looking like a tiny sea of stars.
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