Chapter 84: A Gentle Cage and Lingering Jealousy

Next came the acupuncture to stabilize her foundation.

Bai Zhileng produced another exquisite silk pouch, from which she drew several silver needles as fine as ox hair. As she spoke, she gently rolled up Shen Zhaoqing’s sleeve, revealing a wrist made overly pale from blood loss. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ she murmured. ‘It won’t hurt.’

Bai Zhileng’s fingers lightly pressed against Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist pulse. Her eyes closed, she carefully sensed the flow of spiritual energy within her.

‘Hmm, much more stable than yesterday,’ she commented. ‘It seems the medicinal bath was very effective.’

As she spoke, she picked up a silver needle and, with swift, precise movements, inserted it into an acupoint on Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist.

Indeed, it didn’t hurt.

Instead, a strange sensation of tingling numbness spread along her meridians, surprisingly comfortable.

However, as Bai Zhileng pressed the acupoints, her fingertips would ‘accidentally’ brush against the faint golden demonic tattoo on the inside of Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist—the mark of a prey left by the Demonic Princess.

Each time it was grazed, the demonic tattoo would subtly warm. Then, Bai Zhileng’s fingers would trace upwards along the meridians, pressing all the way to the Fengchi acupoint at the nape of her neck.

‘This is where the Divine Soul gathers, most prone to accumulating turbid energy.’ Her voice was a warm murmur beside Shen Zhaoqing’s ear, her breath caressing the auricle and raising a delicate gooseflesh.

Bai Zhileng’s fingertips gently circled on Shen Zhaoqing’s sensitive neck.

‘Do you know? Penglai has no winter; it’s warm as spring all year round. The island is filled with all sorts of flowers I brought back from the mainland. They never wither there, always vibrant.’

Bai Zhileng seemed to be talking to herself, yet also to Shen Zhaoqing.

‘There’s no conflict between immortals and demons there. Everyone’s daily work is to research alchemical formulas, or fish for a kind of ‘Silver Moon’ fish by the sea. They taste incredibly fresh. Zhaoqing, you love wine, and I have thousands of fine brews made from different spirit fruits, all personally crafted by me. You can drink as much as you wish.’

‘The island is very quiet. Besides the birdsong and the sound of waves, there are no cold sword cultivators constantly binding you with rules, no madmen sending murderous, strange things at a moment’s notice, and certainly no chattering little sparrows writing you letters on animal hides.’

Shen Zhaoqing’s heart plummeted.

She truly knew everything.

She knew not only Gu Chang’an and Ling Shuangjue, but also Yuange.

‘What are you thinking, Shen Zhaoqing?’

Bai Zhileng’s voice pulled her back from her chaotic thoughts. She had finished the acupuncture and was now wiping Shen Zhaoqing’s hand with a warm silk handkerchief.

Her movements were meticulous, not even missing the spaces between her fingers.

‘Nothing.’

Shen Zhaoqing withdrew her hand. She looked up, meeting Bai Zhileng’s eyes directly and intently.

What gentle eyes they were, like an unfathomable pool of autumn water—clear and serene, capable of reflecting all her disarray and unease, then encompassing and melting it all away.

‘Holy Maiden Bai,’ Shen Zhaoqing heard herself say. ‘When will my body recover?’

Bai Zhileng smiled at her question.

She was finally willing to ask.

This was a good start.

‘Soon.’

Bai Zhileng sat back down by the bed and, reaching out, once again gently tucked a wisp of hair from Shen Zhaoqing’s cheek behind her ear.

She performed this gesture with increasing familiarity and intimacy.

‘Your body is like a shattered porcelain vessel right now. It needs to be painstakingly reassembled, piece by piece, using the finest materials and the most exquisite craftsmanship. This requires time, and even more, an absolutely safe and undisturbed environment.’

Her fingertips traced along Shen Zhaoqing’s cheek, slowly gliding to her jawline, then gently, with an irresistible force, lifted her face, compelling her to meet her gaze.

‘So, until I say ‘it’s done,’ Zhaoqing must stay here obediently and not go anywhere, alright?’

The voice was soft and tender, like a lover’s murmur.

Shen Zhaoqing looked at the face so close to hers, her heart thumping uncontrollably.

She wanted to say, ‘No.’

But her body screamed at her to simply nod in silence.

‘Good girl.’

The hair on her head was softly ruffled in an act of appeasement.

Resistance was futile. In this ungentle, fierce cage, Shen Zhaoqing’s only choice was to comply.

At least, until she could accumulate enough strength and find a sliver of opportunity, she had to endure.

Bai Zhileng smiled with satisfaction. She released her hand and stood, picking up the empty medicine bowl.

‘Such a good girl.’ She leaned down and pressed a cool kiss on Shen Zhaoqing’s forehead. ‘Rest well. I’ll come see you again tonight.’

With that, she turned and left, her steps light.

The door to the warm chamber softly closed, and silence once again settled in the room.

Only the blood-red incense burner and the golden demonic eye at the head of the bed remained, silently confronting each other, each emanating its powerful and stubborn aura.

****

Shen Zhaoqing slowly raised her hand and touched her forehead where she had just been kissed.

A lingering chill remained there, along with a faint, elusive scent of cool medicine.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

****

Qingyun Sect, Outer Sect, the row of wooden cabins where junior disciples resided.

Moonlight, like mercury, spilled over the eaves, casting dappled shadows on the damp bluestone slabs.

Li Wuxia stood within one such shadow, like a fragile plant, neither poisonous nor fragrant, quietly growing in the night.

Her figure was slender, clad in a faded, washed-out Qingyun Sect outer sect robe. Her wide sleeves hung down, concealing her hands, which were always excessively cold. A thin veil of Mirage Silk covered her face, revealing only a pair of ink-blue eyes that now gazed unmoving towards the depths of the back mountain.

That was the Tingxue Residence.

Li Wuxia had stood there for three hours.

From the moon’s zenith to its descent behind the western peaks.

After recovering somewhat from the incident at Shangsi, Li Wuxia had just awoken when Shen Zhaoqing departed for the Northern Border. Now, Shen Zhaoqing had finally returned, only for Li Wuxia to hear news of her uncertain fate.

Fear and panic kept her awake night after night. Her identity as a Demonic Cultivator had already been exposed; she had knelt before Xuanweizi’s temple for seven full days, yet only by risking her life was she allowed to remain in the Qingyun Sect.

Just as she had managed to treat the scars on her face, her Senior Sister had been confined by a woman named Bai Zhileng.

Jealousy.

Insane jealousy, like countless poisoned needles, pierced inch by inch into her soul, making her tremble with pain, yet also finding a twisted thrill within the agony.

She couldn’t get in.

That Holy Maiden from Penglai Immortal Palace had isolated her Senior Sister from the entire world with a barrier.

Li Wuxia had once crept close to the Tingxue Residence under the cover of night, but when her fingertips touched the gently glowing barrier, she was repelled by an irresistible force.

Her spiritual energy couldn’t penetrate, and Li Wuxia dared not use any other methods.

She feared being expelled from the Qingyun Sect and never seeing Shen Zhaoqing again, yet she was truly maddened by jealousy.

Her senses, sharpened to an abnormal degree by cultivating the Qinghe Yinsha Scripture, allowed Li Wuxia to ‘see’ everything happening within the Tingxue Residence just by being near.

She ‘saw’ how that person touched the spoon holding the medicinal soup with her own lips, then fed the liquid, tainted with her breath, into her Senior Sister’s mouth.

She ‘saw’ how that woman’s fingers, under the guise of acupuncture, lingered on her Senior Sister’s fair skin. The places she touched were ones Li Wuxia herself only dared to fantasize about in dreams.

This drove Li Wuxia insane with jealousy.

Why?!

How could she, merely by taking advantage of her Senior Sister’s unconsciousness, and under the guise of a ‘healer,’ so rightfully ‘monopolize’ everything about her Senior Sister?

The life-saving grace, she had obtained it first!

Li Wuxia’s nails dug deep into her palms. The icy pain brought her boiling thoughts to a slight calm.

She couldn’t wait any longer.

She had to do something.