Meeting Murong Qingnü’s eyes as tempestuous waves surged within them, Chen Zui’s expression remained calm as still water.
“The intelligence of Zhizhou Tower never relies on just a single thread.
While looking into Senior Qi’s past, they uncovered this secret affair.
Although Zhizhou Tower’s dossier did not state clearly what this item was, it was something that rightfully belonged to Senior Qi.
Sect Master Murong, you have kept this item hidden for thirty whole years. It is high time it was placed in Senior Qi’s hands.”
Murong Qingnü let out a cold snort and took a step forward.
The dew that had gathered on the bluestone slabs overnight was instantly vaporized into white mist by an invisible surge of energy, rising in wisp after wisp.
Her gaze scraped across Chen Zui’s face like the edge of a blade.
“What right does a junior of the martial world like you have to speak to me like that?”
“On the grounds that Senior Qi was just about to undergo martial release and dissolve his Dao!”
Chen Zui cut her off.
“You claim time and again that Senior Qi owes Senior Xie a life.
Yet if Senior Xie has a spirit in heaven,
would she wish to see Senior Qi die before this mountain gate,
or would she wish for the item she entrusted you to deliver to safely reach Senior Qi’s hands?”
He took a step forward, the sole of his boot stepping onto the bluestone with a crisp clack.
“Villa Master Murong, you have hated Senior Qi for thirty years.
Out of those thirty years of hatred, how much of it was for Senior Xie,
and how much of it was you simply wrestling with your own stubbornness?
You know the answer better than anyone.
If Senior Xie truly hated him, she would not have shielded him from the Grand Shuo’s three thousand iron cavalry.
If Senior Xie resented him, she would not have thought to leave something behind for him before marching to her death.”
A sudden hush fell before the mountain gate.
It grew so quiet that only the soughing of pine needles in the wind, the trickling of water, and A-Tong’s muffled sobs remained.
Murong Qingnü stood where she was, the moonlight illuminating her aloof face until it seemed as pale as paper.
Her lips pressed into an extremely thin, taut line.
Chen Zui shifted his gaze away from Murong Qingnü’s face,
letting it fall upon the long saber named Suiyue in Qi Tianchen’s hands.
“As an outsider, this junior should not have interfered in the grievances between Mirror Water Villa and Furnace-Listening Pavilion.
However, this junior believes that before Senior Qi undergoes martial release and dissolves his Dao, Villa Master Murong ought to let him see this item.
For no other reason than because this was Senior Xie’s dying wish.
No matter how many years have passed, it ought to be placed into his hands before Senior Qi goes to his death.
This has nothing to do with forgiveness, nothing to do with grudges—it is solely a matter of righteousness.”
Standing in front of the transport wagon, Qi Tianchen’s long saber had drooped to his side at some unknown point.
He stared at Murong Qingnü, his lips trembling several times, his voice so hoarse that his original tone was almost unrecognizable.
“Little Qingnü... did Qingyi truly leave something for this old man?”
The night wind swept through the valley, swaying the colored glass lanterns flanking the archway.
Murong Qingnü stood where she was, the moonlight carving her aloof face as though it were sculpted from jade.
She fell silent for a long time, so long that the sound of the stream flanking the stone steps grew exceptionally clear.
Finally, she lowered her eyelashes, and within those amber eyes that were always sharp as blades, an exceedingly faint trace of shame surfaced for the first time.
“He is right.
I have hidden this item for thirty years.
Because I hated you, Qi Tianchen. You were not worthy of possessing it at all.”
She paused, her voice falling a few notches lower than before.
“Yet I truly had no right to make this decision on my Martial Aunt’s behalf.
However, after this item is handed to you,
if you do not dissolve your Dao and undergo martial release on your own, I, Murong Qingnü, will still not spare your life!
Follow me. Only you alone.”
Hearing those words, Qi Tianchen’s entire body shuddered.
A flicker of disbelief flashed through those turbid eyes of his.
He slowly sheathed the long saber.
“Grandpa Qi...”
A-Tong grabbed his sleeve, his face covered in tears.
Qi Tianchen reached out and gently patted A-Tong’s head.
His steps were heavier than usual, each fall of his boots on the bluestone slabs letting out a low, muffled thud.
Chen Zui stepped aside to clear the path. The moment his eyes met Qi Tianchen’s, he gave a slight nod.
Murong Qingnü turned around and walked up the stone steps. Her pace was not fast, yet she showed no intention of waiting.
Qi Tianchen followed behind her. One in front and one behind, the two slowly ascended along the stone steps illuminated by moonlight like a stairway to heaven.
Water gurgled on both sides of the stone steps, and bamboo shadows swayed gently.
Murong Qingnü’s moon-white robe fluttered faintly in the night wind, the hem damp with dew from the edges of the stone steps.
Qi Tianchen followed three paces behind her, never uttering a word.
His gaze rested on Murong Qingnü’s back, and in a daze, he seemed to see the shadow of another person.
Over thirty years ago, there had been the same moonlight, the same mountain path.
Xie Qingyi had walked ahead of him, glancing back with a smile as the mountain wind blew her hair loose.
She had said, “Qi Tianchen, if you can’t catch up to me, I might just run off with someone else.”
He had said, “If so, then no one in this world will ever be faster than me.”
She had laughed even more brightly and said, “You’re always so stubborn with your words.”
The moonlight back then had been just as bright as tonight’s, bright enough to illuminate every hidden corner of a person’s heart.
At the end of the stone steps lay a vast estate.
Upturned eaves and layered pavilions were adorned with colored glass lanterns throughout, their lights swaying gently in the night breeze.
Murong Qingnü did not linger in the central courtyard, heading straight through several courtyards.
Finally, she stopped before a moon gate.
Behind the moon gate was a bamboo grove.
Deep within the bamboo grove, a solitary grave could be faintly seen.
“Martial Aunt’s grave is over there.”
Murong Qingnü’s voice carried no trace of emotion.
She pushed open the moon gate, bamboo shadows swaying at their feet.
Qi Tianchen followed her into the bamboo grove, his steps growing slower and his breathing heavier.
The grave lay quietly at the center of the bamboo grove.
Before the grave stood a bluestone stele, engraved with a line of characters:
Tomb of Xie Qingyi, Seventh-Generation Disciple of Mirror Water Villa.
Before the stele lay a bouquet of long-withered white chrysanthemums, their petals shriveled into brown curls yet still retaining the shape in which they were arranged.
Qi Tianchen stood before the stele.
Moonlight leaked through the gaps between bamboo leaves, falling in dappled patches across his deeply wrinkled face.
His lips trembled, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down several times, yet he could not utter a single word.
Murong Qingnü did not look at him.
She walked over beneath an old bamboo stalk beside the grave, curled her right hand into a claw, and made a pulling motion toward the ground.
An invisible burst of energy shot out from her fingertips, overturning the earth and gravel to reveal a three-chi-square stone box beneath.
The stone box was bluish-gray throughout, its surface covered in dense inscriptions.
That was Mirror Water Villa’s unique sealing art, capable of keeping the contents within intact for a thousand years without decay.
Murong Qingnü lifted the stone box and set it down before Qi Tianchen.
She did not speak; she merely stepped back three paces with her hands clasped behind her back, turning her head away to gaze coldly elsewhere.
Qi Tianchen crouched down, his withered fingers gently caressing the stone box.
He recognized this sealing art—it was the very technique Xie Qingyi had excelled at most in those years.
He took a deep breath and slowly channeled internal energy into the surface of the box.
The inscriptions lit up one by one, then peeled away layer by layer like a blooming stone lotus.
The stone box opened.
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