Chapter 5
The entire Qingxiao Hall was bathed in sunlight, so bright it was almost dazzling. This was especially true of the woman seated above everyone else. Her snow-white fox fur appeared even whiter, while her black robes seemed even darker, making her translucent skin and picturesque features all the more striking.
When Wen Zhiyu spoke, her tone wasn’t particularly harsh. There even seemed to be a faint hint of persuasion in her words.
Regardless of what Wen Zhiyu was really thinking, Jiang Qisi was determined to undergo the trial by fire today.
Her eyes were bright as she looked directly at Wen Zhiyu, meeting her gaze without flinching. With the resolve of someone prepared to face death, she declared, “I’m certain.”
In the hall, Tang Xingyue stood among the crowd, casting a worried glance at Jiang Qisi before turning to look at Wen Zhiyu. She was visibly torn.
Seeing this, You Anlian, who stood beside her, couldn’t help giving her a light smack on the back of the head. Smiling, she asked, “What’s wrong with you? You seem so distracted. Are you close to that woman?”
Caught off guard by the smack, Tang Xingyue pouted and rubbed the back of her head, complaining, “Sister You, what was that for?!”
You Anlian crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, gesturing toward Jiang Qisi in the center of the hall with her chin. “If you’re so worried about her, why don’t you plead for mercy on her behalf?”
Tang Xingyue froze for a moment, lowered her eyelashes, and muttered something under her breath. Did You Anlian think she didn’t want to? But considering Sister Wen’s feelings, how could she bring herself to ask?
You Anlian glanced at her, shook her head, and turned to examine Jiang Qisi, a flicker of interest crossing her face. She hadn’t been at Taiyan Sect these past few days, so she hadn’t known what the former Sect Master looked like. Now that she was seeing her for the first time, she certainly was “extraordinary.”
After Jiang Qisi declared her certainty, Wen Zhiyu fell into a prolonged silence.
All this time, the belief that had sustained her was her determination to take revenge on Jiang Qisi. And most of that hatred stemmed from a personal grievance. If it were proven today that Jiang Qisi hadn’t murdered her father, how was she supposed to face her in the future?
As Wen Zhiyu remained silent, the entire Qingxiao Hall gradually fell quiet as well.
Fortunately, she didn’t keep Jiang Qisi waiting for long. After raising her eyes to study her for a moment, Wen Zhiyu lifted one hand. A lotus-shaped flame suddenly appeared above her slender, pale palm.
The flame burned fiercely, its red petals surrounding a yellow center, forming the unmistakable shape of a lotus flower.
Jiang Qisi couldn’t help marveling at the sight. This world really did take things literally. They called it the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, and it actually looked like a red lotus!
Before she could finish admiring it, Wen Zhiyu extended her delicate hand, sending the red lotus drifting gently toward her.
The lotus was beautiful, and it floated toward her at such a leisurely pace that Jiang Qisi found it difficult to feel afraid.
Instinctively, she reached out to catch it.
The instant the red lotus landed in her palm, the flames raced up her arm and spread through her limbs and every part of her body. In the blink of an eye, Jiang Qisi was completely engulfed in karmic fire.
She staggered, enduring the searing pain of the flames. Forcing herself to stand straight without bending her knees, she gritted her teeth and declared, “I, Jiang Qisi, swear before the Heavenly Dao today that I did not kill my master, nor have I committed any of the acts mentioned by those present! If even a single word of this is a lie, may the karmic fire immediately consume me, destroying both my body and my Dao!”
After finishing her oath, she could no longer endure the pain and dropped to her knees with a thud.
She had clearly taken a pain-relief pill beforehand, so why did it still hurt this much?
Jiang Qisi didn’t realize that her body was currently in such terrible condition that even the effects of a pain-relief pill were limited. Had she known this beforehand, she probably wouldn’t have approached the whole ordeal so carelessly.
“Sister Wen!” Seeing this, Tang Xingyue anxiously turned toward Wen Zhiyu and pleaded, “That’s enough! Please stop! If this continues, she’ll die!”
Wen Zhiyu stared at Jiang Qisi, who knelt on the ground enveloped in flames. Her pitch-black eyes seemed to contain two fiercely burning fires of their own. Her jade-white face was terrifyingly cold, and her fingers tightened around the golden hand warmer resting on her lap. She gave no response.
Through her increasingly muddled consciousness, Jiang Qisi heard Tang Xingyue’s voice. She didn’t look in that direction, merely letting out a soft sigh before speaking weakly. “Little Healer, thank you for speaking up for me. But I was the one who requested this trial by fire.”
“If I cannot prove my innocence, how could I possibly face Sect Master Wen or the tens of thousands of disciples of Taiyan Sect?”
Although everyone present knew perfectly well what kind of person Jiang Qisi was, their expressions couldn’t help becoming complicated at that moment.
They had heard that all the meridians throughout her body had been crippled and her spiritual roots destroyed. Even if she could prove her innocence, ordinary mortal flames alone would cause her considerable suffering.
How agonizing must it be to burn in the Red Lotus Karmic Fire? Yet she had gritted her teeth and endured it without uttering a single cry. Such strength of character and endurance were truly admirable.
Jiang Qisi had no idea what the crowd was thinking.
She drew a deep breath, struggling to remain conscious, then curved her lips into a smile. Her peach-blossom eyes, surrounded by flames, shone with an almost frightening brightness.
She said, “I won’t lose.”
Indeed, if the Red Lotus Karmic Fire had truly found her guilty, she should have been reduced to nothing the moment she finished swearing her oath. Yet here she was, still standing perfectly well… Ahem, kneeling perfectly well.
Didn’t that mean she’d won?
Sure enough, just as she had expected, the flames engulfing her gradually died out.
Feeling the lingering pain throughout her body, Jiang Qisi broke into a broad smile, genuinely happy for the first time.
She had won!
She no longer needed to worry about suddenly being hacked to death, nor did she have to fear Wen Zhiyu secretly plotting her revenge.
Jiang Qisi closed her eyes. Unable to control her body any longer, she toppled forward, her consciousness sinking completely into darkness.
Seeing Jiang Qisi close her eyes and begin to collapse, Wen Zhiyu’s fingers abruptly tightened around the golden hand warmer. She instinctively started to rise, intending to do something, but just then, a petite figure forced her way out of the crowd and rushed toward the fallen woman.
Wen Zhiyu immediately sat back down, her expression darkening.
You Anlian approached her, glancing thoughtfully at the two women in the center of the hall before saying, “You don’t need to worry. Little Xingyue is quite skilled at medicine. I’m sure she’ll be able to cure her.”
Wen Zhiyu cast her an indifferent glance and replied casually, “I’m not worried.”
You Anlian rubbed her chin and studied her for a moment before shrugging. “All right, you’re not worried.”
Jiang Qisi remained unconscious for an entire day before slowly waking up.
When she opened her eyes and saw the familiar bed curtains above her, she looked momentarily dazed.
Tang Xingyue was dozing beside the bed, her elbow resting on its edge and her chin propped in her hand. Jiang Qisi shifted her gaze from the canopy overhead to Tang Xingyue, her eyes still somewhat vacant.
She was thinking back on the strange dream she’d just had.
In the dream, she was wearing the robes of Taiyan Sect’s Sect Master, sitting beside a window with her brows furrowed in contemplation.
On the desk in front of her lay two objects: a piece of emerald-green jade shaped like a ring-shaped pendant, and a book with a blue cover and no title.
She stared at the two objects for a long time before letting out a heavy sigh.
Then she stood up, placed the ring-shaped jade pendant inside a small white box, and instructed a disciple to take it away.
Afterward, she picked up the blue-covered book, walked to the innermost side of the study, and casually tossed it onto the highest shelf of a bookcase.
Having finished these tasks, she lingered for a moment, her gaze resting in that direction, before slowly turning and leaving.
The sensation of having no control over her own body was extremely strange.
Jiang Qisi couldn’t help wondering if she was dreaming.
The next instant, control of her body suddenly returned.
She frowned.
Was this a dream within a dream? Or was it reality?
Before she could figure it out, her vision blurred, and the scene abruptly changed. She was now sitting in front of the desk.
The book that “she” had hidden earlier was lying neatly in front of her.
At that moment, a possibility suddenly occurred to Jiang Qisi.
Perhaps this was the Divine Book that the Third Elder had been so desperate to find. And the ring-shaped jade pendant from earlier must have been the Sect Master’s Token.
In the original novel, the Divine Book had only been described as a supreme treasure containing knowledge of everything under heaven. It encompassed all things in the world, and anyone with a question could find the answer within its pages.
To Jiang Qisi, that sounded pretty much like the modern Qiandu search engine.
Although she knew she was dreaming, Jiang Qisi was still curious whether the scene before her could reproduce the Divine Book’s actual abilities.
She was certain that the memories she had witnessed were things the original owner had genuinely experienced. Naturally, the contents of the Divine Book should also be authentic.
Jiang Qisi reached out and opened the book, only to discover that it was a wordless Divine Book, its pages completely blank.
Unwilling to give up, she picked up a writing brush, dipped it in ink, and began thinking hard.
Based on her extensive experience reading novels, perhaps this Divine Book required her to ask questions herself.
After pondering for a moment, she carefully wrote down her first question, stroke by stroke.
[O Divine Book, Divine Book, who is the most beautiful person in the world?]
[Divine Book: …]
Jiang Qisi bit down on the handle of her brush and frowned deeply.
This Divine Book didn’t seem particularly intelligent.
So she changed her question and tried again.
[O Divine Book, Divine Book, which came first in this world, the chicken or the egg?]
[Divine Book: …]
[Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?]
[Do two-dimensional creatures exist? How do they survive? Are higher-dimensional beings gods? Where is the boundary of the universe? And while we’re at it, how many dimensions do you exist in?]
[Divine Book: …]
Perhaps these questions were simply beyond the Divine Book’s ability to answer, Jiang Qisi thought.
Suddenly, she remembered the condition of her own body.
She was just about to ask whether there was any hope of curing herself when, before she could finish writing, she woke up.
She was still feeling regretful when she noticed Tang Xingyue’s eyelashes fluttering. The girl slowly opened her eyes.
Seeing that Jiang Qisi was awake, she couldn’t help exclaiming in delight, “You’re awake?”
Jiang Qisi nodded and struggled to sit up.
Tang Xingyue hurriedly helped her into a sitting position against the headboard, chattering away. “Sister Jiang, you nearly scared me to death! That enormous mass of fire…”
Noticing Jiang Qisi lowering her gaze to the burns on the back of her hand, Tang Xingyue paused. She patted her chest reassuringly and said, “Don’t worry! Your injuries look frightening, but they’re actually quite easy to treat! You’ll be fine in a month or two!”
Jiang Qisi touched the hideous wound on the back of her hand, then couldn’t resist reaching up to feel her own cheek.
Although it no longer hurt, she could still vividly remember the burning sensation on her face. Judging by how nervous Tang Xingyue was, the situation probably wasn’t very promising.
“Do you have a mirror? I’d like to see my face.”
Tang Xingyue hesitated. “Sister Jiang, you’d better not look. Just bear with it for a while…”
Seeing her reaction, Jiang Qisi thought she’d really been disfigured.
But when Tang Xingyue brought her a mirror, she discovered that there was only a small burn mark on her chin.
Such a minor wound could easily be concealed with a little rouge and face powder.
Her face wasn’t a problem, but the injuries on her body were considerably more serious.
She pulled open the collar of her robes and took a look, then casually covered herself again, seemingly unconcerned. Her expression remained perfectly relaxed.
Tang Xingyue had been clasping her fingers together, waiting for Jiang Qisi to burst into tears so she could comfort her. Instead, seeing how calm and untroubled she appeared, she couldn’t help saying admiringly, “Sister Jiang, you’re amazing. Most women in this world place great importance on their appearance. I thought…”
“What did you think?” Jiang Qisi asked with a smile. “After everything I’ve been through, do you really think I’d be afraid of a little disfigurement?”
What a joke!
She had even survived the threat of death. Why would she be afraid of disfigurement?
Of course, if she had really become so ugly that the sight of her was a public nuisance, then she might genuinely feel sad for a while.
But with such minor injuries, what was there to be upset about?
“I thought…” Tang Xingyue pursed her lips in embarrassment.
Seeing Jiang Qisi gazing at her so gently, her delicate face couldn’t help turning slightly red.
Jiang Qisi had a beautiful pair of peach-blossom eyes. Whenever she smiled at someone, those eyes seemed filled with tender affection, almost as though they could speak.
She herself was accustomed to it, but Tang Xingyue, whose cheeks had already turned pink beneath her gaze, only grew increasingly shy.
After Tang Xingyue finally left with a flushed face, Jiang Qisi rubbed her chin and began recalling the dream she’d just had.
If the Divine Book really possessed such extraordinary abilities, perhaps there was still hope for her body.
After all, if one had the opportunity to cultivate immortality, who would willingly remain an ordinary mortal?
In that case, her first priority was to find the Divine Book.
She narrowed her eyes, her peach-blossom eyes curving into a mischievous smile.
If she wasn’t mistaken, the place she’d seen in her dream should have been the Sect Master’s study in Taiyan Sect.
And the current master of Taiyan Sect was Wen Zhiyu.
If she asked to take a little look around Wen Zhiyu’s study, surely Wen Zhiyu wouldn’t refuse…
Right?
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