Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 45

Before long, Banxia came to Lou Jing’s room to examine her injuries.

Banxia was a woman of few words. She checked Lou Jing’s pulse, felt the bones, and bandaged her arm. From beginning to end, she gave only one instruction:

“The bone in your arm is fractured. Be careful not to move it too much until it heals.”

She left behind some medicine and departed.

After leaving Lou Jing’s room, Banxia went directly to Zhan Sanxiao’s study.

“Master.”

Zhan Sanxiao stood beside the brazier, rubbing her hands and holding them toward its warm red glow. A maid brushed the accumulated snow from her cloak.

Zhan Sanxiao asked, “How are her injuries?”

“An injury to the muscles and bones will take some time to heal. She looked dispirited. I fear the wound to her heart is even more severe.”

“She bears a great hatred and has survived the brink of death. The fact that she has endured until now shows how strong her spirit is.

“That fire may have been beaten down by the wind for the moment, but afterward, it will only burn more fiercely.”

Zhan Sanxiao gazed into the brazier overflowing with red light. Her eyes held a deep sorrow, though she laughed softly.

“For someone her age to exchange moves with Grandmaster is already remarkable. She has excellent foundations and a firm will, though her temperament is too sharp.

“She is an unpolished jade. Unfortunately, Lou Xuanzhi’s life was too short, and she only managed to carve half of it.

“For her to encounter me can still be considered a matter of fate.”

Banxia took her leave.

Not long afterward, someone entered the study without being announced.

He made no sound at all and seemed to appear inside like a ghost.

The newcomer held a folding fan with red ribs and gold-flecked paper. A long sword was strapped across his back. He wore flowing green robes, and an ivory-white cloth ribbon bound his hair.

His brows were elegant, his eyes long, and his figure tall. His face was excessively fair and handsome, giving him a somewhat feminine air, though his broad shoulders and prominent throat revealed that he was a man.

Zhan Sanxiao glanced at him and dismissed the maid.

Once only the two of them remained, the man bowed respectfully.

“Eldest Young Lady.”

Zhan Sanxiao displayed a rare urgency.

“Wenchou. Is there any news?”

The man frowned apologetically. Removing the sword from his back, he offered it to her with both hands.

“We searched everywhere inside and outside the cities and passes of the snowy region. This sword was all we found.”

Zhan Sanxiao’s gaze trembled.

She slowly reached toward the sword, then suddenly seized it. Blue veins stood out upon her pale hand.

She drew the blade.

Its body was snow-white, and two characters were engraved upon it:

Ice Spirit.

“The sword was found in a pawnshop. It had been pawned six months ago by a young beggar.

“Wuchou and Wusheng searched the entire city, but they could not find the beggar who pawned it.”

Unless the situation had been desperate beyond measure, how could a swordsman’s weapon ever leave their side?

Zhan Sanxiao became dazed.

“Half a year… without a trace of news…”

Wenchou lowered his head.

“The members of the Hundred Arts Sect have proven incompetent. Eldest Young Lady, I fear that she… has met with disaster.”

Zhan Sanxiao staggered backward and sat down beside the chair.

She murmured almost to herself, “The Qianyuan Sect’s peace had always been temporary. The moment Lou Xuanzhi died, all the demons and monsters she had suppressed emerged.”

At first, the person had merely failed to keep their appointment.

Zhan Sanxiao had inevitably felt disheartened for several days and had therefore set aside news from that direction.

Who could have known that this brief neglect would provide an opportunity for ghosts and monsters to dance freely?

Murderous intent burst from Zhan Sanxiao’s eyes.

Anger covered her face.

With a sweep of her hand across the table, she sent the teacup flying. It shattered upon the floor with a sharp crash.

She ground her teeth.

“How could I have been so foolish back then and respected her wishes?

“Even if I had needed to tie her up, I should have dragged her back!”

“Eldest Young Lady, please calm yourself. Your health must come first.”

Wenchou bent down and gathered the fragments of the teacup, releasing a sigh.

“You should not blame yourself.

“Qiu Zhaoyi is deeply suspicious and has never stopped doubting you. She only lowered her guard and accepted you because you were physically weak, unable to practice martial arts, and dependent upon medicine to remain alive.

“But if she discovered there was still…

“Moreover, that person possesses extraordinary talent and is a martial prodigy. Qiu Zhaoyi would never tolerate her.

“This place would be just as dangerous for her.

“Had you brought her back, not only would she have been unable to escape Qiu Zhaoyi’s punishment, but neither would you.

“Everything you have built throughout these many years might have been destroyed overnight.”

Zhan Sanxiao’s eyes darkened like a night sky beneath an approaching storm.

Her voice was heavy, each word deliberate.

“Search.

“Have all five branches of the Hundred Arts Sect—Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou—take action.

“If she is alive, I want to see her. If she is dead, I want to see her body.”

Wenchou said, “Qiu Zhaoyi is not easily deceived.

“Now that she has emerged from seclusion and resumed control of the Feihua Alliance, her eyes and ears are broader and sharper than before.

“If everyone in the sect moves at once, the disturbance will be too great.

“These are already troubled times. Our repeated actions may draw her attention.”

“When has she ever paid me little attention?”

Zhan Sanxiao closed her eyes, then opened them and looked coldly sideways at Wenchou.

“Long Chou is already dead.”

Wenchou hesitated.

He raised his eyes and glanced at Zhan Sanxiao.

“One arm on the left, one on the right. Although the left arm has already been severed, the right arm…

“If she did not interfere, our people would probably find it easier to act.”

Zhan Sanxiao’s expression stiffened slightly.

“…I will find a way to detain the Steadfast Star so that your movements will be easier.

“Go. Be cautious in everything.”

“Very well.”

He took his leave and drifted away like another gust of green wind.

Zhan Sanxiao remained seated in the room with her head lowered, one hand resting upon the sword.

The fire in the brazier gradually dimmed, interrupting the flow of warmth.

Her hands became stiff with cold.

After sitting there for a very long time, she released a long, sorrowful sigh.

Zhan Sanxiao summoned Banxia again.

Birds chirped outside.

Banxia held a small lacquered box. She opened its clasp, and the lid sprang upward, revealing a single pill inside.

She held it toward Zhan Sanxiao.

A moment later, however, she hesitated and withdrew her hand.

“Tower Master…”

Zhan Sanxiao reached out and pinched the pill between her fingers.

Her face was cold as she examined the pitch-black medicine, which was about the size of a fingertip.

Banxia’s eyes trembled.

She looked from Zhan Sanxiao to the pill.

“Tower Master, it was not easy to obtain the Jade Buddha’s Hand and finally restore your health somewhat.

“Although I can treat the effects after you take this medicine, enduring such an ordeal will inevitably damage your vital energy.

“Please reconsider…”

That night, Zhan Sanxiao developed a fever.

By the next day, she was too ill to rise.

She remained confined to bed for several days, drifting in and out of consciousness.

When Zhan Sanxiao opened her eyes again, the blue lamp inside the room had already burned out.

Someone sat beside the bed with her head slightly lowered and her eyes closed.

Zhan Sanxiao gazed at the figure amid the silent gray-blue darkness, tender waves stirring within her eyes.

She slowly lifted one hand and touched the tasselled ornament hanging from the ribbon behind the woman’s hair.

Black strands and snow-white tassels wound around her fingers, carrying an indescribable intimacy.

If only time could remain this quiet and allow her to stroke the woman’s hair to her heart’s content.

Shao Yan sensed the movement and opened her eyes.

Zhan Sanxiao quietly lowered her hand.

When she met Shao Yan’s concerned gaze, desolation surged through her heart.

“Didn’t you return home?”

Having slept for so long, Zhan Sanxiao’s voice was faintly hoarse and still heavy with drowsiness.

“I was halfway there when I heard you had fallen ill.”

Shao Yan held her hand and placed it back beneath the quilt.

“Your hands are always this cold. No matter what I do, I can never warm them.

“Hadn’t you only just improved a little while ago? Why are you sick again?”

“My health has always relapsed like this. It is not the first time.

“I have only delayed you. The alliance leader has emerged from seclusion and requires your assistance. This is precisely the busiest time…”

“You do not need to concern yourself with that.

“I have already issued the necessary instructions. The protectors of the cult will handle matters themselves.

“If they encounter anything they cannot decide, they will come here and report it to me.”

“Have you been guarding me all night?”

Shao Yan smiled but did not answer.

She had arrived through the snow the night before last.

At the time, Zhan Sanxiao’s fever had been severe. She had vomited every mouthful of medicine and porridge they tried to feed her.

Now she remembered none of it.

“Are you hungry? I will have someone bring porridge and pastries. You should eat a little.”

Shao Yan examined Zhan Sanxiao’s expression.

“Or are you still tired? Sleep a while longer. I will wake you when the sun has fully risen.”

Zhan Sanxiao answered indistinctly.

“Mm.”

Her consciousness floated hazily between waking and sleep.

She only felt sorrow within her heart.

Her sleep was therefore extremely uncomfortable, and her brows remained furrowed.

Hearing Shao Yan call, Banxia entered the room and checked Zhan Sanxiao’s pulse.

“She is improving, but I fear another relapse. We still cannot be careless.”

Seeing that Zhan Sanxiao was sleeping restlessly, Shao Yan said, “Light some One-Petal Heart Incense.”

Banxia replied, “We have used all of the One-Petal Heart Incense.”

Shao Yan frowned.

She had been looking at the person upon the bed, but her eyes shifted sideways toward Banxia.

She rebuked her coldly.

“Why did you not remind me sooner?”

“The Tower Master’s health had improved. She could sleep soundly at night even without the incense, so she said to set the matter aside until it was needed again.”

One-Petal Heart Incense nourished the spleen, stomach, heart, and lungs and helped a person sleep peacefully at night.

It was originally a secret medicine of Peach Blossom Medical Valley.

Peach Blossom Medical Valley had withdrawn from the world many years ago.

Several years earlier, Qiu Zhaoyi had become acquainted with a woman and obtained the formula for making the incense from her.

Knowing that Zhan Sanxiao had weak lungs and heart and could not sleep peacefully at night, she had sent the incense to her.

It was indeed an excellent incense.

It nourished the heart and lungs and allowed the user to sleep soundly.

Not long afterward, Qiu Zhaoyi entered seclusion.

Shao Yan did not know how long her master would remain secluded and feared that after Zhan Sanxiao exhausted her supply of One-Petal Heart Incense, there would be nowhere to obtain more.

She therefore asked Qiu Zhaoyi for the formula, prepared the incense herself, and sent it to Zhan Sanxiao.

Shao Yan said, “Never mind. I will send someone to bring more.”

Here, one person had fallen ill.

Elsewhere, another person had finally recovered.

The bone in Lou Jing’s arm healed even earlier than Banxia had predicted.

The moment it recovered, Lou Jing began practicing her sword in the snow.

Her blade whistled through the air, sending snowflakes rising and falling around her.

Every exchange from her battle with Yan Bumei flashed through her mind.

Lou Jing’s sword moved faster and faster.

A sharp crack suddenly rang out.

When she returned to her senses, she saw that she had severed a bare peach tree, leaving it collapsed upon the ground.

Her chest rose and fell.

Standing before the fallen tree, Lou Jing returned her sword to its sheath.

Her natural talent could not be considered the greatest.

Neither was her comprehension the strongest.

What placed her above others was her heart.

It was tenacious and unyielding.

This was hardly the first or second time she had suffered defeat.

Since childhood, she seemed to have grown up beneath such blows. After all, an excessively gifted Yu Jingqiu had always stood above her.

Whenever Lou Jing lost, she simply wiped the dirt from her face, cleaned the blood from the corner of her mouth, and began practicing again, hoping to win a few more moves next time.

Defeat was the hammer with which a craftsman forged a sword.

Each blow descended upon it.

The sword would not break.

It would only become tougher and sharper.

Yan Bumei’s strike had hit her heavily and ruthlessly, leaving her lost and dispirited.

But it had also awakened her.

She now clearly and profoundly understood the inadequacy of her cultivation.

She understood where she stood among the great experts of the righteous and unorthodox factions of the martial world.

There were many things she wished to do but simply could not accomplish.

Whether for self-preservation or revenge, what she needed above all else was power.

The Qianyuan Sword Art depended upon gradual accumulation. It would be difficult to make significant progress within a short period.

As for Shen Zhongyin’s Blazing Core Palm and internal cultivation method, she had originally practiced them only because she had no other way to survive.

Afterward, she had abandoned them.

Now, however, her mind had unexpectedly become clear.

Since she had already practiced them and taken that first step, why continue restraining herself?

In addition to cultivating her swordsmanship, she began studying the Blazing Core Palm and its internal cultivation method once again.

She planned to attempt another “escape” when the moon became full.