The stone steps of Xueji Peak were covered in a thin layer of morning dew, making a soft, crunching sound under their boots.
Bai Qingxue walked up the stone steps. Her silver-white hair fluttered and fell in the mountain wind, and the Frost Moon Chant swayed gently at her waist with each step, occasionally tapping against her thigh with a faint click.
Ning Qinghan followed behind her. Her bare feet stepped on the damp, dew-slicked stone slabs, her toes curling slightly as if she hadn't yet fully adjusted to the morning chill of Xueji Peak.
Keeping two paces back, her gaze swept across the dew-laden withered grass on either side of the steps, but she remained silent.
As they reached the courtyard entrance, Ning Qinghan stopped.
The gate to Bai Qingxue's courtyard was open.
At that moment, Lu Xueqing was sitting on a stone stool beneath the old plum tree. Before her sat a pot of tea and two cups.
A thin wisp of steam drifted from the spout of the teapot, curling up into the morning mist.
Clearly, Lu Xueqing had heard their footsteps.
She looked up, her gaze first landing on Bai Qingxue for a brief moment before passing over her shoulder to rest on Ning Qinghan behind her.
At the same time, Ning Qinghan was also looking at Lu Xueqing.
The two shared a brief, silent exchange of looks at the courtyard gate.
Soon, however, Ning Qinghan averted her gaze and looked down at her bare feet, seemingly taking a sudden, deep interest in a grain of sand stuck between her toes.
“You two talk,” Ning Qinghan said.
Then she turned and veered onto the small path beside the side room that led to her own quarters.
Bai Qingxue stepped into the courtyard.
Lu Xueqing had already withdrawn her gaze and was looking down, pouring tea into a cup.
The tea poured from the spout, tracing a pale golden arc in the air before hitting the bottom of the cup and splashing into tiny droplets.
She slid the cup to the empty spot across from her. The bottom of the cup made a soft clack against the bluestone table, and she looked up at Bai Qingxue.
“Sit.”
For some reason, Bai Qingxue felt that Lu Xueqing seemed a bit more assertive today.
Sitting down across from Lu Xueqing, Bai Qingxue lifted the cup and took a sip.
The tea was neither too hot nor too cold, perfect to drink. The leaves had been brewed in just the right amount, balancing bitterness and sweet aftertaste in equal measure.
It tasted exactly like every cup she remembered having here.
Lu Xueqing also raised her own cup, but she hesitated to drink.
She merely held the cup, feeling the warmth seep through the porcelain into her fingertips. Her eyes were fixed on the tea, as if looking at something that required absolute focus to understand.
“Junior Sister Bai, word of what you did in Yuzhou City has already spread through the sect,” Lu Xueqing said. “They say you sealed off the entire shallow water zone, and that no sea beasts will dare approach Yuzhou City for at least ten years.”
Bai Qingxue's hand holding the cup remained perfectly steady, and her voice was just as calm.
“It is not that exaggerated.”
Lu Xueqing did not reply.
She lowered her head and took a sip of tea, her throat twitching slightly as she swallowed, as if forcing something down.
Then she set the cup back on the stone table, slowly tracing her finger pad along the rim.
“It seems,” Lu Xueqing said with a trace of reluctance, “your cultivation has improved quite a bit again.”
“Yes.”
Lu Xueqing's finger paused on the rim. She traced it once more before withdrawing her hand and resting it on her knee.
Silence stretched between them for a moment, broken only by the sound of the old plum tree's withered branches swaying gently in the wind.
Lu Xueqing refilled Bai Qingxue's cup.
As the tea poured into the cup, the rising steam blurred her features.
“You brought her along this time too?”
Lu Xueqing's tone suddenly became very casual, as if she were merely asking in passing.
Bai Qingxue's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
When Lu Xueqing asked those three words, her voice was softer than before.
She did not look up at Bai Qingxue, her eyes still fixed on the teapot, as if studying the fine, dense cracks on its surface.
The cracks were faintly visible in the sunlight, spreading from the rim to the base like marks steeped into the clay by time.
Holding her teacup, Bai Qingxue fell silent for a moment.
“She helped me.”
Lu Xueqing's fingers tightened slightly on her knee, then relaxed.
She nodded, as if accepting the explanation.
“So you only brought her along because she was useful, right?”
Hearing this, Bai Qingxue frowned slightly, sensing that something was off with Lu Xueqing's words.
However, Lu Xueqing did not press further. She lifted her cup and took a sip. The tea had already gone cold, and its astringent taste slowly spread across the back of her tongue. She set the cup back down, its base making a soft click against the stone surface.
“I can be useful too,” Lu Xueqing said softly.
Bai Qingxue looked at Lu Xueqing.
Lu Xueqing's profile looked somewhat pale in the morning light, her lowered eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes.
Her finger still rested on the rim of the cup, her finger pad pressing against a tiny chip.
The cup had been used so many times that a shallow groove had worn into its edge.
Lu Xueqing's fingertip lingered in that groove, not moving for a long time.
The silence stretched even longer than before.
The withered branches of the old plum tree swayed gently in the wind, and a few curled leaves finally fell, spiraling down onto the stone table next to the teapot that had ceased to steam.
“Senior Sister,” Bai Qingxue said, setting down her cup.
The bottom of the cup made a soft clack against the stone.
Lu Xueqing did not look up, but she withdrew her finger from the rim and let it fall back to her knee.
It was as if she were waiting for something.
“I truly never thought of leaving you behind.”
The words came out abruptly, as if Bai Qingxue herself hadn't fully decided whether she should say them.
Yet once they were spoken, she showed no sign of regret. She simply sat there quietly, letting the words hang in the air between them.
Lu Xueqing's fingers slowly clenched against her knee, then relaxed.
Her lips parted, her throat twitching slightly. Then she lowered her head, picked up the half-cold cup of tea before her, and took a sip.
As she swallowed, her eyelashes trembled.
“I know.”
Lu Xueqing cast her eyes down, as if trying to confirm something. She reached for the teapot and gave it a gentle shake, only to realize it was already empty.
She set the teapot back down, its base hitting the table with a very faint clack.
“I just sometimes feel,” Lu Xueqing said, her voice dropping to a whisper, “as though... I am always one step too late.”
Bai Qingxue did not answer.
Instead, she pushed the plate of pastries, which had been placed on the stone table at some point, toward Lu Xueqing.
Lu Xueqing glanced down. It was a plate of pine nut candies, wrapped in greasepaper that was slightly wrinkled at the corners.
She remembered leaving that package of candy here last time. She hadn't expected Bai Qingxue to still have it.
Lu Xueqing picked one up, unwrapped the paper, and popped the candy into her mouth.
The fragrance of pine nuts dissolved on the tip of her tongue. The sweetness was faint, slowly seeping into the back of her throat.
Yet the sweet fragrance could not stop the bitterness rising in Lu Xueqing's heart at this moment...
‘And yet...’
‘I was clearly the one who had always stood by your side.’
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