Sixty-Six: The Pain of Wounds

"The Pavilion of Listening to the Tides" updates the fastest.

"Ninth Prince, you certainly have leisure. To invade the Witch Clan so brazenly in spirit form—is it that you truly fear nothing?" Jue Yi sat down on the couch, unconcerned that the little journal chronicling her thoughts over the years had just been read by Fei Ling.

Fei Ling closed the journal and turned, the hint of a smile on his lips. "If I were afraid, you, as clan leader, would hardly have come to seek my help. How fares the thousand stalks of Immortal Grass?"

"So it was your concern all along," Jue Yi replied, rising to her feet and heading outside toward the field where the Immortal Grass grew, indifferent as to how Fei Ling would follow. Pausing at the edge of the waist-high grass, she asked, "Would you like to see for yourself?"

Fei Ling reassembled his spirit form and leaned down, inhaling the scent of a single stalk.

"The Ancestral Continent truly is a blessed land," he remarked, straightening and gazing at the mountains beyond. Abruptly, he asked, "Since you are now the Witch Clan leader, why do you wish to eliminate the elders? Are you plotting to overturn the clan itself?"

Jue Yi turned to head back. "I have my reasons. No need for your concern, Ninth Prince. But I shall never forget—the Ancestral Continent is the land that gave me life, the Witch Clan are my people, and everything here is what I wish to protect."

"In that case, I will take five hundred stalks as our agreement. When you're ready, inform me, and I will return. Of course, I must trouble you, Clan Leader, to offer me a path in—this natural barrier is not so easily breached by just anyone. Once the matter is settled, I shall collect the remaining five hundred."

Jue Yi did not pause. Had it not been for fear of arousing suspicion in the clan, she would have handed all the Immortal Grass to Fei Ling without care. As for the natural barrier encircling the Ancestral Continent, Mu Yun had revealed its only hidden entrance to her the very night she became clan leader. That passageway was the heart of a formation, ever-shifting, so even if Fei Ling remembered it, it would be of no use. She did not object to his request for this very reason.

Unconsciously, Jue Yi wandered into the courtyard where Mu Yun and Bi Li resided. To this day, she could not reconcile herself with what her father Mu Yun and the ever-caring Bi Li had done that fateful night. So after assuming the clan leader’s role, she moved to another courtyard, keeping her distance from the two.

Standing at the doorway, she saw Mu Yun’s silver hair, still tied at the end with a ribbon as always. Bi Li sat across from him, the two seemingly engaged in a game of chess.

Seeing Bi Li’s pure smile, Jue Yi was startled, realizing she had long overlooked something. Yet she knew her father’s temperament too well—if she was stubborn, she had inherited it from him. Other than the mother she never knew, his heart could hold no other woman.

Jue Yi returned to her own quarters and sent the chosen date, through a phantom spirit, to the one in the Hall of Fleeting Life.

Ninety years. It had taken ninety years since that night for her to finally make those nine pay the price. The irony was, it would still be by another’s hand. Burying her head in the bedding, Jue Yi grieved. She told herself that once all this was over, she would lead the Witch Clan into a new era.

On the appointed day, Jue Yi revealed the passage to Fei Ling and waited for him at the end. She had to remain cautious—after all, he was from the Hall of Fleeting Life in the Demon Realm. Yet, for all her calculations, she had not foreseen everything. Fei Ling entered alone, yes, but as soon as he landed, he bound Jue Yi’s body, and, under her gaze, tore open the passage—wider and wider—until the entire natural barrier around them was destroyed.

Fei Ling walked up to her, tapped her nose, and smiled. "Thank you, our little princess." As his words faded, several men and women landed behind him.

She had thought she could hold this wolf’s leash, but now she found herself powerless to resist.

The others dispersed, while Fei Ling kept Jue Yi close as they made their way toward the Elders’ Court. Along the way, some Witch Clan youths questioned the scene, but each was instantly erased by Fei Ling’s hand.

"What do you intend to do?" she demanded.

"Why, avenge you, my little princess," Fei Ling replied, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, the gesture as tender as a lover’s whisper.

Jue Yi’s heart turned cold. Before they reached the Elders’ Court, the nine elders were already waiting outside, clearly alerted by the breached barrier and chaos on the Ancestral Continent.

The Grand Elder spoke. "Hall of Fleeting Life? How did you enter our Ancestral Continent?"

"It was the little princess who let me in," Fei Ling replied, tightening his hold and drawing Jue Yi closer.

She closed her eyes. She did not need to see the elders’ faces to know how bitterly disappointed they were. Though she loathed them for killing Feng Qing that year, the truth was, they had defended the Witch Clan for centuries, and now, it would all fall because of her... Jue Yi opened her eyes, and at the sight of Mu Yun and Bi Li rushing over, a fresh ache pierced her heart. After hearing her mother’s story, she had vowed to always protect her father, never to let him feel pain or disappointment again. Yet this vow was now broken by her own hand.

Mu Yun stepped forward. "Jue Yi, tell me why. Listen to the cries not far off—they were all your childhood companions. Why are you doing this?"

"Naturally, because she wants vengeance for her master, Feng Qing," Fei Ling replied with a laugh.

Jue Yi caught the deep helplessness and utter disappointment in Mu Yun, Bi Li, and even the elders’ eyes. Fei Ling caressed her cheek and whispered, "Watch closely. This is our agreement. I will kill them for you now."

He raised his free hand, conjuring a sword that shot into the air, splitting into nine phantoms targeting the elders.

Jue Yi tried to close her eyes, but could not. She did not know if it was Fei Ling’s spell or her own unwillingness. His sword played with the elders, always evading their attacks, wounding them when least expected. Mu Yun and Bi Li joined the fray, and soon the others she had seen earlier arrived as well. The tide turned swiftly; the elders, like unskilled youths new to cultivation, found themselves easily pierced in the heart, and gazed at Jue Yi in agony.

She thought herself numb, but when a woman's white sash ran through Bi Li’s waist and abdomen, memories surged: Bi Li, always gentle, had shown her every inch of the Ancestral Continent, prepared all manner of delicacies, and stolen mortal storybooks from returning clan members to read to her before bed...

"Jue Yi, live well... my little princess."

"Why are you crying? Didn’t you hate them?" Fei Ling tilted his head, wiping away her tears. At that moment, three others thrust their weapons at Mu Yun.

Jue Yi cried out, "No... no, let go of my father! Take whatever you want, just spare him!"

But she was a moment too late, or perhaps such words could never have stopped them. Mu Yun steadied himself on his sword, turned to look at her, and said, "Jue Yi, you were too hasty..."

With those words, his eyes closed forever.

Only then did Jue Yi weep aloud. Yes, she had been too hasty, unwilling to wait any longer, desperate to avenge Master Feng Qing. In her recklessness, she had sought out the Hall of Fleeting Life, inviting the wolf into her home, and tasted anew the agony of loss.

"Old Ninth, you didn’t waste your years as Feng Qing. Now you have not only the Azure Soul Lantern, but also the Celestial Jade Box from these old fools—a fine treasure indeed," someone remarked.

Startled, Jue Yi opened her eyes and stopped crying, just as a tightness seized her waist. She stood frozen, her chest burning as if a wicked flame spread through her limbs. She tried to steady herself with slow breaths, but it was useless. Through blurred vision, she saw only Bi Li and Mu Yun lying lifeless on the ground.

Ah, she remembered now. Her father and Bi Li were dead, killed by those she had brought. All the people of the Ancestral Continent were gone. And the man before her was the Ninth Prince of the Hall of Fleeting Life—her former master, Feng Qing.

Suddenly, darkness overtook her, and Jue Yi collapsed.