Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 22

After Jia Yu left, Lou Jing stood frozen in place. Her heart sought to escape the events at the inn, as if avoiding a physical wound, yet someone repeatedly forced her to remember. They bombarded her mental defenses with hammers and steel spikes, using constant hints and blunt accusations to frame her as the heinous killer.

Lou Jing closed her eyes. Even the memory of the wind-blown pine needles—the deep green tips turning a dry, murky yellow—became vivid. It felt as if those needles were pricking her mind, a dense, sharp pain washing over her brain.

If Jia Yu continued his interrogation, she would go mad sooner or later.

Was Jia Yu seizing an opportunity to kick her while she was down out of personal spite, or was he acting on Elder Li’s orders? Did Wu Qingtian know? And how much did Yu Jingqiu know?

She had no way to gather information; she didn’t know what was happening in the outside world. Even the weather—whether it was sunny or rainy—could only be glimpsed through a single stone window high on the wall.

It had been many days since she had seen Wu Qingtian or Li Changhong. Since Yun Yao left that day, she hadn’t returned either. As for Yu Jingqiu, Di Hou, and Lang Ye, she hadn’t seen their faces once since she entered the cell.

What are they doing? Are they unwilling to see me, or unable to? Do they believe in their hearts that I am innocent?

This narrow cell was gradually squeezing Lou Jing’s heart until it felt suffocated. Her expression turned grim, and her suspicions grew. She felt as if the entire universe were covered by a massive shadow.

Left alone all day, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander, growing distrustful of even the smallest things.

In the middle of the night, as she lay on the bed in a state between dreaming and waking, she felt a shadow loom over the bedside. She snapped her eyes open to see the torchlight outside the cell flickering, casting a silhouette against the light. A figure stood before her bed.

Seeing her awake, the person put a finger to their lips and whispered, “Shh. I’m here to rescue you.”

“Rescue me?” Lou Jing studied the person calmly. This person’s face was utterly ordinary—the kind that would vanish instantly in a crowd. She didn’t remember ever seeing him. “Who are you?”

The person ignored her question. “If you stay here, your life will be forfeit.”

“How do you know my life is at risk?”

“Someone in the Qian Yuan Sect wants you dead. This incident provides the perfect pretext. Even if it isn’t your crime, it will eventually become yours.”

Lou Jing remained silent for a long time. There was still a spark of pride in her heart, so she said resentfully, “If I escape, won’t that just confirm my guilt? It isn’t my crime. I don’t believe everyone in the sect is so blind and corrupted that they can’t tell black from white.”

“If you flee, you can at least seek the truth. If you stay here, you only await death.”

Lou Jing suddenly raised her eyes, staring coldly at the man. Suspicion flared up again. She felt as if everyone was hiding something from her. Toward this suspicious person who had entered her cell in the dead of night to “rescue” her, she only grew more wary. “Were you sent by Shen Zhongyin?”

The man didn’t answer.

Lou Jing’s eyes narrowed, her gaze dark. “Or were you sent by someone in the sect to test me?”

Their gazes met. Lou Jing suddenly opened her mouth to call for help, but before a sound could escape, the man struck her mute acupoint. “Wu Qingtian went out to search for clues and will return tomorrow. Wait and see for yourself.”

The man channeled his true qi and unsealed Lou Jing’s internal energy. Before she could react, he vanished like a gust of night wind.

Lou Jing saw that his movements were like a ghost, unlike the techniques of the Qian Yuan Sect, but somewhat similar to Shen Zhongyin’s.

However, even if this person were truly sent by Shen Zhongyin, she wouldn’t trust him.

Lou Jing sat cross-legged on the bed, thumbs touching, her qi sinking to her dantian. She began to circulate her energy, reawakening her body which had been nearly “rusted” over by days of sealed power.

When she opened her eyes again, it was dawn. After a full cycle of internal energy circulation, she felt a long-awaited sense of physical relief.

At noon, the sound of many footsteps echoed outside the cell. Lou Jing listened to the sounds—some steady, some light—and knew it wasn’t Jia Yu’s group. However, her heart remained heavy.

She recalled what the man had said yesterday.

By the time the group stood before the cell, her heart had already sunk to the bottom of an abyss.

Standing outside the bars was Wu Qingtian, whom she hadn’t seen for days. To his left was Li Changhong. To Lou Jing’s surprise, standing behind Wu Qingtian was Lang Ye, who hadn’t shown his face until now.

When Lou Jing couldn’t see him, she was full of suspicion; now that she saw him, she felt his gaze was too piercing. She involuntarily lowered her head, filled with shame and embarrassment.

Lang Ye frowned. “A’Jing, why is your complexion so poor? Is your injury not yet healed…?”

Li Changhong interrupted, “Less small talk. Bring the witness to identify her.”

Witness?

Lou Jing was startled and looked up. From the crowd emerged an old man in brown robes with graying hair at his temples. Lou Jing remembered him—he was the innkeeper.

Wu Qingtian pointed at Lou Jing and asked, “Innkeeper, look. Is it her?”

The old man stole two glances at Lou Jing, his eyes flickering. He shrank back timidly. “It’s her, it’s her.”

Lang Ye’s voice was urgent as he asked, “Old man, are you sure you aren’t mistaken? Look again?”

The innkeeper shook his head. “The two of them stayed at my inn for six or seven days and never left. And… and…”

Li Changhong pressed, “And what?”

The innkeeper said, “That day, that man struck and killed an entire horse team on the road with one move. He looked like an evil ghost, a Rakshasa. He scared my waiter so much he fled in the night. How could I mistake such a guest?”

“Innkeeper, tell us exactly what you saw. Rest assured, now that you are within the Qian Yuan Sect, no petty villain can harm you.”

The innkeeper nodded. “The man… and this girl checked into my inn together. They seemed to be waiting for someone…”

Li Changhong asked, “What were they doing while they waited?”

The innkeeper said, “The man was teaching the girl martial arts in the courtyard. They kept talking about things like ‘Dan Yan’ and ‘Sea of Qi.’ I didn’t understand it much.”

At these words, the expressions on everyone’s faces shifted.

Li Changhong asked Lou Jing, “You claim you were held hostage by Shen Zhongyin. Since when does a kidnapper hand their weapon to the hostage? The Dan Yan Palm is Shen Zhongyin’s unique skill, yet he was willing to teach it to you. Given such a relationship, who would believe you were a hostage!”

Lou Jing was incensed, her body breaking into a cold sweat. “Shen Zhongyin is unpredictable; there’s nothing he wouldn’t do! He’s the one who insisted on teaching me the palm technique. I couldn’t exactly crawl into his head and change his mind!”

Li Changhong turned back to the innkeeper. “Innkeeper, how did she and that man get along usually? Was there tension?”

The innkeeper shook his head. “The atmosphere was peaceful. To me, they looked like father and daughter.”

Wu Qingtian pressed his lips thin. “Innkeeper, where were you on the day the fighting started at the inn?”

Li Changhong echoed, “Innkeeper, tell us in detail everything you saw and heard that day.”

The innkeeper recalled, “That day, the inn’s supplies were exhausted and the waiter was gone, so I went into town myself to restock. When I returned, I saw a fierce wind howling, nearly lifting the roof off my inn. I hurried inside to lock the doors and windows, and the wind suddenly stopped. A faint voice came from the backyard. Curious, I peeked through a crack in the door.”

The innkeeper stole another glance at Lou Jing and said, “This girl held a sword and slit the throat of a man in black robes and a jade crown with a single strike. Bright red blood gushed out. I was scared out of my wits. Fearing for my own life, I hid in the cellar for a day and a night before I dared to come out.”

It was as if a bolt of thunder had exploded on level ground. Lou Jing’s eyes widened in horror, her face ghastly white. “You’re making things up! You’re framing me!”

Li Changhong rebuked her, “He has no grudge against you. Why would he frame you?”

The last bit of warmth in Lou Jing’s heart vanished, as if she were submerged in freezing seawater. Her body went cold, and her eyes turned blood-red as she glared at Li Changhong. “Someone ordered him to do this!”

Li Changhong said, “This witness was found by your Senior Brother and Elder Wu together. Who could order him? Your Senior Brother, or Elder Wu? Lou Jing, things have come to this; let’s see how you try to quibble now!”

Lou Jing suddenly grabbed the cell bars, filled with a thousand grievances and ten thousand resentments. She roared at the innkeeper, “I never harmed you! Why are you trying to destroy me?”

Lou Jing shrieked, “Why are you trying to destroy me!”

The innkeeper seemed terrified; he stumbled back a step, trembling, and actually fainted.

The disciples nearby hurried to catch him and carried him out on their backs. Wu Qingtian said, “Take him to the main peak quickly. Have Elder Yu look at him.”

This was a critical witness. Wu Qingtian and Lang Ye were extremely concerned and followed after them.

Lou Jing sank to her knees, letting out a desolate, hollow laugh.

The jail fell silent again. Time seemed to stagnate. This place was damp and cold, breeding shadows of darkness. Lou Jing stared at the flickering torchlight, and resentment gradually took root, threatening to consume her.

At night, a rustling sound echoed in the corridor outside the cell—the sound of robes swaying in the wind. Someone had come, their footsteps nearly inaudible.

Lou Jing remembered the person of unknown origin who had unsealed her acupoints. She looked up, but saw another ordinary face. She still hadn’t seen this one before, but she recognized the person’s aura.

The person standing outside the bars wore plain robes. He held a long sword and tossed it through the gap in the cell door. “They have gathered all the witnesses, evidence, and motives for your murder of Lou Xuanzhi. Your guilt cannot be washed clean even by the Yellow River. The Qian Yuan Sect has already decided your punishment. Tomorrow, when Lou Xuanzhi is buried, they intend to execute you before his grave.”

Lou Jing heard his voice; it was very familiar. This was indeed the person who had unsealed her yesterday, only in a different disguise.

“If you are unwilling to flee, you will die regardless. You might as well follow your mother’s example and use this sword to slit your own throat to prove your innocence.”

Lou Jing glanced at the sword and remained silent. When she looked up again, the person was gone.

Lou Jing picked up the sword and drew it. The snow-white blade light reflected in her eyes.

Her nature was proud and defiant. She thought that if she were to suffer such an injustice and ultimately face execution, she would rather take her own life than endure the humiliation.

Lou Jing held the sword against her throat. Just as she was about to end it all, she suddenly paused. If I die like this, it will look as if I committed suicide out of guilt. She walked to the stone wall, wanting to write down her grievances, but felt that even the entire wall could not hold all she had to say.

In the end, only eight words remained in her heart:

The human heart is unpredictable; even ghosts and gods would fear it.

Lou Jing stood in a daze before the wall for a long time. The candlelight behind her projected her shadow onto the stones. She walked to the flame, reaching out her hand; the shadow of her hand enveloped the entire wall.

She sheathed the sword and shook her head. “No. I will not be as foolish as my mother!”

If she committed suicide, wouldn’t it just grieve those who loved her and gladden her enemies?

It wasn’t her crime. Why should she be the one to suffer for it?

Someone was stirring up trouble within the sect. Whether it was the heavens being blind or someone covering the eyes of heaven with a single hand, she refused to submit.

She would fight for this breath. Even in death, she would fight for it. She refused to accept this infamy.

In the cell, she could do nothing; she couldn’t even protect her own life. She had to wait for others to prove her innocence or save her life. In the past, she might have waited, but now, she trusted no one.

Lou Jing took the sword and walked to the cell door. Her gaze was as sharp as a hawk’s as she looked toward the end of the corridor.

Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself.