chapter 46

The Brewing Honey Came Early

Upon hearing these words, the first reaction of the Senior Brother was: it's over, Junior Brother Pei has truly gone mad.

He was about ten years older than Pei Yujing and, in many ways, had watched him grow up. In his memory, Pei Yujing was always diligent in his studies and fairly respectful. Even when engaged to Zhan Yunwei, he had never shown any sign of impropriety in front of others.

Had the royal court not intervened, in two years Pei Yujing and Zhan Yunwei would have been married.

What Pei Yujing said today, however, clearly didn't sound like something he would say.

But Pei Yujing said it anyway, even though he knew it might be wrong.

Zhan Yunwei's shock was no less than the Senior Brother's. She furrowed her brows, realizing once again that she did not understand Pei Yujing as well as she thought she did.

She could tell by now that Pei Yujing had no intention of backing down.

This statement was so out of character, especially as it was directed at Yue Zhiheng. Zhan Yunwei couldn't help but glance at Yue Zhiheng's expression.

Yue Zhiheng slowly lifted his eyes, and his gaze finally met hers.

Although it was warm spring in Taoyuan, she suddenly felt his gaze to be freezing. This overly calm, detached emotion was something she had only seen once before—in that rainy night, when Madam Xuan had said he should die.

If fate is determined to be cruel to a person, even resentment cannot arise. People can fight for wealth, power, or even against death. But some things in life cannot be fought against.

When Zhan Yunwei met his gaze, the first thought that popped into her mind was the unconscious urge to explain herself.

But what could she explain? Yue Zhiheng had already said that, in his eyes, she was just a prisoner of the royal court. If she stayed by his side while still bearing the title of his companion, he would not tolerate betrayal. Yet, he had also made it clear long ago that once she escaped the royal court, there would be no connection between them.

She also realized that thinking about Madam Xuan at this moment was wrong.

Before coming to the secret realm, her second aunt had already used spiritual medicine to wash away the mark of their bond. Although Zhan Yunwei had never used spiritual energy to probe Yue Zhiheng's bond mark, she assumed he would have removed it by now. It was not uncommon for nobles of the royal court to wash away their bond marks after losing their "captured" companions from the immortal sects.

This thought felt odd—why would she want to explain her private matters to the Master of Che Tian's Manor?

She didn't know whether she should be angry at Pei Yujing's ramblings or reprimand herself for the unfamiliar thought that had just crossed her mind.

At the corner of the alley, peach blossoms had fallen to the ground, blown by the wind to Yue Zhiheng's feet.

Seeing that Zhan Yunwei remained silent, Yue Zhiheng walked forward. Taoyuan was already like a beautiful painting in the warm spring, with her in a pale pink robe, protected behind a divine sword by the person opposite her.

The alley was only two steps long, but his divine sword, like a wounding cliff, blocked their way.

When he had sworn a poisonous oath at sixteen, thrown away the sachet in his hand, and made the decision to sever all ties before entering the secret realm... all those emotions briefly turned into cold, lifeless ashes.

"If I had known it was her from the start, I would not have saved her."

Yue Zhiheng lifted his foot and crushed the peach blossom beneath it. His whip had already forced Pei Yujing and the others to retreat two steps, allowing him and Qu Lanyue to pass first.

His cold and resolute attitude was something even the Senior Brother of Penglai did not anticipate, to the point that Pei Yujing's words seemed to land on cotton.

By the time he raised his eyes again, Yue Zhiheng had already left with Qu Lanyue.

Zhan Yunwei heard his words, and with a slight pursing of her lips, she felt an inexplicable sense of suffocation.

On that winter day in the fourteenth year of Shengping, when Yue Zhiheng died, everyone had said that his heart had turned cold.

The only warmth he had ever shown was to the mute girl.

Zhan Yunwei was just relieved she hadn't truly tried to explain anything, or else, in Yue Zhiheng's eyes, she would have appeared utterly absurd and completely out of line.

She lifted her eyes to look at Pei Yujing. "Why did you say that, Senior Brother?"

Hearing the cold anger in her words, Pei Yujing remained silent for a long time before forcing out a bitter smile. "Are you angry with me?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you say it just now?"

"Senior Brother is still Senior Brother."

Just like how family will always be family, even though Pei Yujing might have misunderstood due to a moment of impulsiveness, after ten years of friendship, of mutual companionship and understanding, Pei Yujing was willing to act as a medium, using his skills to help her control spiritual energy. Since she had already escaped from the royal court, she should not—and would not—criticize him in front of someone who should have been her enemy.

"Yangyang, you always draw the line so clearly between right and wrong, but I'd rather you act impulsively," Pei Yujing lowered his gaze and said, "Even if… you slapped me."

At least, if there were still feelings for him, she shouldn't be so calm.

He admitted that today's words had been inappropriate, partly because of his resentment toward Yue Zhiheng, and partly because he wanted to know just how far Zhan Yunwei's feelings for him had faded.

But even if she were angry with him, reprimanding him or throwing a tantrum in front of him, nothing would hurt more than hearing her say, "Senior Brother is still Senior Brother."

He was not born pure and gentle—his sword and the immortal sect were burdens weighing down on him. He could only be forced to remain composed, devoid of desires or thoughts.

When he was younger, his master had ordered him to study Buddhist scriptures to cultivate his mind. He could never get into it and would always be punished.

The Buddhist scriptures said: all love and affection are impermanent, and difficult to last. Life is full of fears, and life is as fragile as morning dew.

His master said love was impermanent, only his sword could accompany him through his life. But he didn't believe it. He wanted to challenge it. He wanted to try.

Today, he finally understood the continuous, suffocating pain.

Yue Zhiheng had lost. But had he truly gained anything?

The cold sword path had backfired, and his dantian was in excruciating pain.

After walking a long distance, Qu Lanyue looked up and glanced at Yue Zhiheng.

Yue Zhiheng's Cold Detachment

Yue Zhiheng lowered his gaze coldly, swallowing the bloodlust rising in his throat.

Qu Lanyue twirled the handle of her umbrella. "As for love and affection in this world... it always comes down to the same few things, doesn't it?"

She reminisced about Zhan Yunwei's expression, and an involuntary feeling of pity stirred in her heart.

"You said something like that—aren't you afraid Zhan Miss might take it seriously?"

Yue Zhiheng's tone had been so indifferent when he said he wouldn't have saved her had he known it was her. At first, Qu Lanyue had also believed he meant it.

But if he really didn't care, there wouldn't be such a heavy fragrance of ice lotus in the air.

If it were up to her, Zhan Yunwei probably didn't have any feelings for her Senior Brother. As an outsider, Qu Lanyue could see clearly that Zhan Yunwei had furrowed her brow and looked at him with a gaze full of confusion and reprimand.

But when one is too close to the situation, they can't see things as clearly. Qu Lanyue didn't expect any of them to truly understand.

"Lord Manor Master, let me tell you a secret. Guess what I've discovered in the past few days?"

Yue Zhiheng couldn't be bothered to respond. He sat down at the small tea house in the village to adjust his internal energy.

In Taoyuan Village, it was best to get his state back to normal. His life was the most important thing right now, and he didn't want to deal with anything else.

"Don't want to listen?" Qu Lanyue's eyes glimmered, the faint, strange green in her pupils showing her intent. "You know my family, the Qu family, has the Soul Gaze technique, right? Guess what I saw on Zhan Yunwei."

Yue Zhiheng wasn't interested in her tricks: "If you don't want to say it, then don't."

The more indifferent he became, the more Qu Lanyue was determined to speak. She didn't believe Yue Zhiheng could remain unmoved. "No matter how Zhan Yunwei reacts, or what she says or does, you can't really blame her."

Using the Soul Gaze technique always caused a loss of cultivation. Qu Lanyue never abused it, but after spending these few days with Zhan Yunwei, she had sensed something strange about her soul. Upon closer inspection, she realized that while others had three souls and seven spirits, Zhan Yunwei was missing half of a human soul. This made her slower and more naïve in matters of love and resentment than ordinary women.

Even so, Zhan Yunwei still tried her best to understand everything in the world, her incomplete soul still trying to blossom flowers in a desert.

From what she could see, Zhan Yunwei had done very well. Why be so harsh on her? Why make her say such resolute words to deceive herself?

Qu Lanyue had observed carefully these past two days. That missing piece of the soul didn't seem like something stolen later in life—her father, the Mountain Lord, must have protected her well.

It seemed more like something she was born without, or something that had been severed in her childhood, perhaps even something Zhan Yunwei herself wasn't aware of.

This created a situation where, at other times, Zhan Yunwei might have been able to distinguish things clearly. But when others intentionally exploited her weaknesses, they couldn't make her angry. Without that half-soul, even if she felt sadness or grievance, it would dissipate quickly.

Zhan Yunwei was probably more open-minded than these men realized. Qu Lanyue thought about how Zhan Yunwei might have been a little frustrated, but unable to figure it out, and thus simply turned her thoughts toward how to save her brother. It made her want to smile.

After speaking, Qu Lanyue observed Yue Zhiheng's reaction. He likely hadn't expected Zhan Yunwei to be missing half a soul. He lowered his gaze indifferently, saying nothing.

For a moment, Qu Lanyue couldn't figure out what was going on in Yue Zhiheng's mind.

The spring breeze stirred the sign cloth on the small tea house, and for a while, as she smelled the bloodlust in the air, Qu Lanyue decided not to hold back anymore.

"If it were only a single missing soul, it could be solved by a soul summoning. But with half a soul… there's no solution. If it's born this way, or if it was lost in her childhood, we wouldn't know where to find it." She paused. "But luckily for Zhan Yunwei, it doesn't seem to have a significant impact on her."

Zhan Yunwei was currently going through the talismans and magical artifacts she had brought with her, the priority now being to save Zhan Shujing and the others who were trapped in Taoyuan Village.

She couldn't let her brother die in the secret realm.

But there was another matter that was causing her a headache. She was calmly calculating in her mind.

The Hua Si banquet was on June 15th. The Red Butterfly entered her body in the evening, and Yue Zhiheng had barely managed to suppress it before midnight.

That was June 16th. Counting forward a few days, by June 26th, the entanglement would reoccur for the second time, but the honey could only be obtained three days later.

Now, with things being this awkward with Yue Zhiheng, she couldn't possibly work with him to resolve the entanglement again.

Her face became strange, her expression cold as she thought about the matter. Not only could she not bring herself to do it, but Yue Zhiheng wouldn't be willing either.

However, if it wasn't solved, her life would likely be in danger, and Yue Zhiheng would lose his cultivation.

With the talent and cultivation of the Nine Layers Spirit Meridian, if she had it, she certainly wouldn't want to lose it so easily. Given that, Yue Zhiheng might just agree, right?

Zhan Yunwei supported her chin, feeling troubled.

Perhaps the next time they meet, she could have a private discussion with Yue Zhiheng. After all, one couldn't let strange emotions ruin one's life and cultivation.

Taoyuan Village wasn't very big. During the day, the villagers wouldn't let them into the houses, as if they would ruin the scene of this deceptively perfect painting. But at night, they wouldn't let them stay outside either.

After their last conversation, Pei Yujing seemed to have become much quieter.

When he met Zhan Yunwei's gaze, he would still smile gently, but it was as if a once brilliant sword had suddenly become much duller.

Zhan Yunwei resolutely avoided looking at him.

She knew that, in Senior Brother's eyes, he hadn't really done anything wrong. If anything, perhaps it was because he hadn't saved her in time when the royal court had her.

But what separated them wasn't just the distance of an ocean—it was an entire world of difference.

This matter needed time to heal, to become a habit. Once the wounds healed and the memories faded, perhaps things would be better.

Before Zhan Yunwei could figure out how to resolve the situation, an unexpected event occurred the following day.

Perhaps Intentional Avoidance

It seemed as though they had intentionally avoided each other. That night, Yue Zhiheng and the others stayed in the southern part of the village, while Zhan Yunwei stayed in the northern part, at a house belonging to an elderly couple with the surname Wang.

At midnight, Old Wang suddenly lit a lamp and, with a devout expression, walked out.

The sound of the door opening disturbed the group. Senior Brother pushed open the window, confused. "Why is every household lighting lamps and heading in the same direction?"

Zhan Yunwei instinctively thought, Is someone else lost in the village again?

Pei Yujing, always calm in serious matters, shook his head. "It shouldn't be. When the villagers kill, they don't act so ceremoniously. They've changed their clothes, bathed, lit lamps, and aren't carrying any weapons."

They had been chased by the villagers before, so they had some experience.

Zhan Yunwei thoughtfully looked in the direction they were heading—toward the densest peach orchard in the west of the village. She had a bold guess. "Could it be that the honey brewing started early?"

Senior Brother replied, "But didn't you say before that honey brewing wouldn't start until three days later? If we count today, it should still be two days away."

"We've asked them twice in total," Zhan Yunwei recalled carefully. "The first time, the village chief told me it was too early, that the village hadn't started brewing honey yet. The second time, he clearly said there were still three days left. If I'm right, 'brewing honey' wasn't really about brewing honey at all. If it started early, there's only one possibility."

She raised her gaze toward Pei Yujing. "When you all arrived last night, the Immortal Sect paid for two more nights' stay. Taoyuan Village must have gathered enough people."

And had they not asked about it, the village chief wouldn't have informed them of any changes.

Now, there was only one possibility left: Mingxiu and another junior disciple had been captured, which led to the honey brewing being moved up.