Chapter 86: Once This Immortal Saves You, Don’t Even Think About Leaving Soot-Stained Peak for the Rest of Your Life!

Northfall Snow Mountain. By now, it was the afternoon of the following day.

The White-Robed Kensei returned from her search of the eastern slopes, eventually meeting the Black-Skirted Immortal (Mu Yanran) back at the ruins of the Divine Deer Shrine, who had just returned from scouring the west. They looked at each other, a silent exchange confirming their mutual failure. Both shook their heads. No sign of them.

“Yuyan… Actually…” Seeing the growing despair on the White-Robed Kensei’s face, Mu Yanran finally couldn’t hold back any longer. Last night, she’d deliberately withheld the real clue about He Yimo’s likely direction (towards Xizhou City) to buy Gu Wanglan more time. But she hadn’t expected the Spirit Boat to be so slow. By the time Chen Jianxin reached Wuji Sect, it was already dawn. Gu Wanglan had captured Chen Jianxin, yes, but now he was planning to wait until the blood moon rose tonight for the sacrifice.

At this point, Mo Yuyan had practically turned Northfall Mountain upside down. If Mu Yanran wanted to keep stalling her until nightfall, her only option was to finally ‘reveal’ the Xizhou City clue and send Mo Yuyan off on a wild goose chase in that direction.

“Senior Sister Mu,” the White-Robed Kensei suddenly spoke, breaking the heavy silence, her brow furrowed in thought. “I just had an idea.” She glanced back towards Wuji Sect in the distance, taking a sharp breath. “Do you think… is it possible… that He Yimo left earlier than the other disciples last night… and he’s actually been waiting for me back at Soot-Stained Peak this whole time?”

Hearing this, Mu Yanran practically broke out in a cold sweat. “Th-That… That’s certainly possible…” Her eyes darted nervously, but wanting to appear supportive (and perhaps subtly encourage Mo Yuyan to leave Northfall), she readily agreed with the Kensei’s guess.

However, Mu Yanran quickly added, “But! Although I didn’t find any trace of He Yimo on the western side… about ten kilometers from Xizhou City… I think I spotted some… suspicious footprints!”

“Suspicious footprints?” Mo Yuyan’s eyes widened, instantly latching onto the potential lead, looking at Mu Yanran with desperate intensity.

Mu Yanran’s lip twitched, but she pressed on with her fabricated story. “So, maybe… maybe we should head to Xizhou City first to check? There’s an Immortal Alliance SBranch there too. If we use Wuji Sect’s authority to request a search for a missing disciple, the Alliance members stationed there will definitely help us look!”

“That… makes sense.” With He Yimo missing for almost a full day now, Mo Yuyan was grasping at straws. She couldn’t fathom how He Yimo, without leaving any tracks she could find, could have possibly traveled hundreds of li to Xizhou City overnight. But with no other leads, any clue was better than sitting around worrying!

“In that case,” Mo Yuyan said, sighing resignedly, “I’ll have to trouble Senior Sister Mu to make the trip to Xizhou City!”

Mu Yanran breathed an internal sigh of relief and nodded agreeably. But just as she was about to turn and head west, she noticed Mo Yuyan starting to walk in the opposite direction – back towards Wuji Sect.

“Wait,” Mu Yanran called out, confused. “Aren’t you coming with me to Xizhou City?”

“I want to check Soot-Stained Peak first,” Mo Yuyan replied, her voice firm. “Maybe He Yimo really did go back there to wait for me. Maybe this is all just… a misunderstanding?”

“Uh…” Mu Yanran was momentarily speechless. She stared into Mo Yuyan’s determined eyes, her mind racing. Ultimately, she decided to trust Jiang Jinyue’s plan. Jiang Jinyue hadn’t explicitly asked Mu Yanran to keep Mo Yuyan occupied anyway; that had been Mu Yanran’s own initiative. Even if Mo Yuyan returned to Wuji Sect now, it probably wouldn’t interfere with Jiang Jinyue’s objective of ensuring Chen Jianxin’s… demise!

“O-Okay, fine,” Mu Yanran forced a smile. “I’ll head to Xizhou City first then.” She bid farewell to Mo Yuyan and turned away.

***

“Haaaah~” Yawn.

“Why isn’t Senior Sister Mo back yet?”

“And Young Master He… honestly! Always so mysterious. Never tells me anything straight, just keeps saying he’ll ‘explain when the time is right’… Humph!”

“All he does is lead me on! Never mind explaining things, he hasn’t even bothered to properly confess his feelings yet!”

“Even though he kissed me last night!”

“Siiiigh~~~”

“I wonder when Young Master He will finally open up his heart to me…”

At the summit of Soot-Stained Peak, a certain green-robed young lady sat slumped over a stone table in the small courtyard, radiating boredom. On the table before her, a green praying mantis was slowly stalking a small spring cicada. The girl rested her chin on her folded arms, her little pale-white ahoge drooping listlessly, her large, clear, jade-like eyes staring blankly as she yawned again.

Just as the mantis was about to strike the cicada, a yellow oriole suddenly swooped down from the sky above “Chirp!” With a flash of yellow, the bird snatched the cicada right out from under the mantis’s scythe-like claws. The mantis, enraged, waved its arms threateningly and gave chase. But the oriole simply circled around Yun Jin once, swallowed the cicada whole, then dived back down past Yun Jin’s face and, with another swift peck, left only the twitching lower half of the mantis behind.

Yun Jin jumped, startled, quickly sitting up straight and waving away the dust kicked up by the oriole’s wings. Following the bird’s departing trajectory with her eyes, she looked up… and her gaze caught on a distant, glittering speck in the sky – the silhouette of an immortal figure rapidly approaching.

“Senior Sister Mo?!” Yun Jin rubbed her eyes, confirming the figure’s identity. She scrambled upright, her mind instantly recalling the task He Yimo had given her this morning. Nervousness immediately replaced her bored expression, her face clouding with worry.

In mere moments, with a gust of chilling wind, the stunningly beautiful immortal in her white dress and black leggings landed gracefully on her sword right in front of Yun Jin.

“Yun Jin? What are you doing here?”

“Cough! Cough cough—!” Yun Jin squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden blast of icy wind. Mo Yuyan, realizing her abrupt arrival might have been unsettling, quickly raised a hand, conjuring a gentle breeze that instantly cleared the dust swirling around Yun Jin.

“Yun Jin,” Mo Yuyan asked again, her voice urgent, her sharp eyes fixed intently on the younger girl, “weren’t you with He Yimo? Where is He Yimo?”

Under Mo Yuyan’s intense scrutiny, Yun Jin flinched. Having never told a lie in her life, the poor girl was now faced with deceiving the Senior Sister she respected most in the world! But… remembering how serious, almost grave, He Yimo had looked that morning, like it was truly a matter of life and death… Yun Jin convinced herself this wasn’t really lying! Maybe… maybe she just didn’t understand the full situation? Maybe He Yimo really was caught in some dangerous, hidden crisis, and asking her to deliver this message was his only option?

Steeling herself, Yun Jin clenched her little fists, her expression turning firm. “Senior Sister Mo! It’s like this!”

“Last night, Young Master He and I were investigating clues in Northfall Snow Village… but as we were walking… I turned around, and Young Master He had vanished!”

“Afterwards, I searched everywhere for him… but finally, I received a message delivered by carrier pigeon—”

“After reading the letter, I didn’t waste any time! I borrowed a horse in Snow Village last night and rode back here to Soot-Stained Peak as fast as I could, non-stop, to wait for you!” Yun Jin started hesitantly, but gained confidence as she spoke, channeling her genuine worry and recalling the dangers she had faced with He Yimo. By the end, her face was scrunched up, looking like she was about to burst into tears right there in front of Mo Yuyan.

Mo Yuyan, naturally, didn’t doubt Yun Jin’s tearful account for a second. A cold glint flashed in her beautiful eyes. “He Yimo’s letter? Let me see it.”

“Here it is!” Yun Jin sniffled, wiping imaginary tears from her eyes with practiced flair, and produced the yellow envelope He Yimo had given her from within her robes.

Mo Yuyan took the letter, tore it open, and began to read. As she did, her icy, beautiful face grew paler and more distressed by the second. The letter explained that He Yimo had found clues left by cultists in Snow Village. Following them under the cover of night, he’d somehow triggered a hidden transportation array and ended up deep within the evil cult’s main headquarters…

He Yimo wrote that since he was already there, such a great opportunity couldn’t be wasted! He intended to stay undercover to discover their plans and wouldn’t be returning to Wuji Sect for now. But! Mo Yuyan shouldn’t worry! He had the life-saving jade pendant. If he discovered the truth or if his cover was blown and he was in danger, he would activate the pendant! Then, through the pendant’s connection, they could coordinate, launching a joint attack from both inside and out to completely wipe out this evil cult responsible for the Snow Village massacre!

And at the very end of the letter, He Yimo had thoughtfully drawn a little cartoon version of himself, giving a peace sign and a goofy grin, with a note saying something like: `Don’t worry, Senior Sister! I got this Snow Village mission in the bag this time! I definitely won’t let you down again!`

“THAT IDIOT—!!!” Reading the ending, Mo Yuyan’s body trembled uncontrollably. The emotions she’d been suppressing for so long finally erupted. She abruptly crumpled the letter in her fist and threw it violently onto the ground.

Yun Jin, startled by the sudden outburst, flinched back, trembling slightly and lowering her head. In all the years since Mo Yuyan had brought her to Wuji Sect, Yun Jin had only ever known her Senior Sister as the mysterious, aloof, unreadable Ice Queen. She’d never imagined a simple letter from He Yimo could make Mo Yuyan lose control like this. Yun Jin’s fear intensified. Because He Yimo had given her the task with almost no context, she hadn’t realized the potential severity. Seeing Mo Yuyan’s extreme reaction made her stomach clench.

`Could it be…` Yun Jin thought desperately, her face paling, looking fearfully at Mo Yuyan. `…Is Young Master He… really in serious trouble?`

Mo Yuyan, noticing Yun Jin’s trembling, immediately reigned in her own turbulent emotions and spiritual pressure. “It’s alright. This isn’t your fault,” she said, her voice softening slightly as she tried to reassure the younger girl. “Yun Jin, thank you for bringing this letter to me so quickly.”

As she spoke, her gaze fell on the crumpled ball of paper at her feet. She took a deep breath, bent down, picked it up, carefully smoothed out the wrinkled letter, and read through it again, searching for any missed clues.

“Northfall Snow Mountain…” she murmured, her cold eyes scanning the text. “Transportation array… Evil cult headquarters…” The pieces clicked into place. She remembered the cultist tracks she had found near Northfall! It was highly likely He Yimo had found the same clues last night, followed them, and accidentally stumbled upon the Waning Moon Cult’s hidden teleportation point near Northfall!

“Um…” Yun Jin spoke up again hesitantly. Mo Yuyan lowered her gaze. Yun Jin pointed a small finger towards the very bottom of the letter. “Senior Sister… there seems to be a little bit of writing down here too?”

“?” Mo Yuyan frowned and looked closer. Sure enough, tucked away at the bottom of the crumpled page was another tiny cartoon drawing of the black-haired youth. Mo Yuyan raised an eyebrow, spread the letter flat on the stone table, and smoothed it out with her jade-like hand. She saw the little cartoon figure peeking up from the bottom edge, grinning cheekily and pointing behind itself—

“?” Mo Yuyan was getting a headache from He Yimo’s ridiculous creativity. She couldn’t comprehend it. He Yimo was supposedly in mortal danger, deep within the enemy’s stronghold, yet instead of immediately crushing the jade pendant to call for help, he had the time to write a letter? And not just a letter, but one filled with goofy cartoon drawings designed to tease her?!

“The little person Young Master He drew… he seems to be pointing behind him… but there’s no writing there…” Yun Jin whispered beside her, unable to contain her observation. “I think… maybe he means for us to look at the back of the letter?”

Her words finally pierced through Mo Yuyan’s frustrated puzzling. The Kensei’s lips twitched. Of course. Why hadn’t she thought of that? A wave of humiliation washed over her, feeling like her intelligence had just been thoroughly insulted. She’d been staring at the drawing for ages, thinking it was some kind of secret distress signal… and he just meant ‘flip the page’?! Ugh!

“…” Mo Yuyan took another deep, calming breath and flipped the wrinkled letter over. On the back, was indeed another cute cartoon figure. This time, mini-He Yimo stood proudly, hands on his hips, tongue sticking out playfully, eyes sparkling with mischievous glee as he stared up at the reader (Mo Yuyan). Beneath him was a single line of text: `[If I achieve great merit for the Sect tonight, Senior Sister had BETTER remember the reward she promised me!]`

CRACK—BOOM!!!

Mo Yuyan stared silently at the cartoon, her face an icy mask. Then, without warning, she slammed her fist down onto the letter. A second later, the entire stone table beneath it exploded, shattering into two large pieces.

Yun Jin jumped violently but wisely kept her mouth shut, just sitting frozen on her stone stool, watching her Senior Sister demolish furniture with a single punch. An icy, heavy silence fell over the courtyard. The sun dipped below the horizon, and the second night began to descend.

“Heh… heheh…” After a long moment, a strange, choked laugh escaped Mo Yuyan’s lips. Her lips curved slightly upwards, but there wasn’t a trace of happiness in her eyes. It was as if the absurdity of the situation had reached a breaking point, pushing her past anger into a state of almost hysterical amusement. He Yimo had finally managed to exasperate her so thoroughly that she was actually… laughing.

“He Yimo…” she whispered, taking several deep breaths. Her emotions cycled rapidly – from fury, to breakdown, and finally, back to a chilling calm. It seemed she’d wrestled with her feelings and arrived at a state of grim acceptance.

“He Yimo…”

“He Yimo…” She chanted his name softly, repeatedly, like a mantra. But the life seemed to have drained from her beautiful eyes, the faint smile gone, replaced by the purest, unadulterated worry of a Senior Sister for her junior. Her mind drifted back, replaying fragmented memories of the past half-month they’d spent together on Soot-Stained Peak. Most of the time, she realized with a pang, she hadn’t been very kind to him. She was always lecturing him, mocking him with sarcasm, or supervising his sword practice with the cold, demanding standard of a genius… The only truly warm memory… seemed to be that last afternoon before he left, when she had gently touched his face, earnestly warning him to be careful. That one time… she had offered rare words of praise, a hint of tenderness, and promised him a reward if he did well on the Snow Village mission.

For a split second, Mo Yuyan paused. An image flashed in her mind: the boy’s face that afternoon, blushing slightly at her touch, looking surprised and flattered, his eyes wide with innocent yearning as he gazed up at her encouraging smile.

“So… all this time… was I pushing him too hard…?”

“Was he just… trying to earn my approval…?”

She blinked, unaware that her normally icy eyes now held an uncharacteristic sheen of moisture. A dull ache spread through her chest. Quickly, she turned her head away, taking a sharp breath to force back the stinging dampness in her eyes.

`[No matter how annoying he is usually… he’s still just a sixteen-year-old kid…]`

`[Back at the Grand Tutor’s Fu… besides his Little Aunt, no one ever really considered his feelings…]`

`[Now, here at Soot-Stained Peak… he’s probably just like all the other disciples… admiring me… wanting my attention… hoping for a little praise, perhaps another reward…]`

As these thoughts surfaced, the knot of confusion and anger in Mo Yuyan’s heart slowly began to unravel. She carefully picked up the crumpled letter, smoothed it out as best she could, folded it neatly, and tucked it securely inside her robes. Under the rising moonlight, the White-Robed Kensei swallowed hard, pressed her lips together, her earlier vulnerability evaporating. She stood up straight, her eyes regaining their cold, sharp focus, radiating killing intent.

“That foolish, lecherous idiot…” she muttered, her voice dangerously low, almost inaudible to Yun Jin beside her. “Risking his life… for some reward I casually mentioned…”

But her next words were spoken with chilling clarity as she raised her hand, summoning her sword, her entire being radiating fierce determination. “This time,” she vowed, turning and launching herself back towards Northfall Snow Mountain like a vengeful goddess, “when this Immortal saves you… you can forget about ever leaving Soot-Stained Peak again for the rest of your damn life!”

***

Wuji Peak, back mountain.

As night fell once more, the countless blood-red vines covering the altar in the center of the Mountain God Shrine began to stir, pulsing with renewed, sinister life. In the exact center of the altar stood a thick wooden stake. Chen Jianxin, beaten unconscious, blood trickling from his orifices, was bound tightly to it. Below the altar, Gu Wanglan meticulously arranged the materials for tonight’s sacrifice. The blood moon would rise in less than thirty minutes!

This time, Gu Wanglan wouldn’t hesitate. The Holy Maiden had given him strict orders, emphasizing the urgency. According to her decree, he should have killed Chen Jianxin and performed the sacrifice this morning. But… he just couldn’t bring himself to waste such a once-in-a-century Innate Sword Saint Physique! If he missed this chance with Chen Jianxin, Gu Wanglan knew his own swordsmanship would likely never reach its peak. He’d be doomed to live forever in Mo Yuyan’s shadow, never able to surpass her!

Compared to a lifetime of bitter suppression… Gu Wanglan would rather defy the Holy Maiden’s orders and wait for the blood moon to claim the Sword Saint Physique. Otherwise… without this chance to leapfrog his talent, what meaning was there left in living? To spend eternity as Mo Yuyan’s foil, merely highlighting her genius? What a joke! He’d rather die!

“Heh.” A sick, twisted chuckle escaped Gu Wanglan’s lips at the thought.

Unbeknownst to him, perched silently on a treetop just outside the Mountain God Shrine, the fox demoness who had been observing him also let out a cold sneer. “Two morons…” she muttered, finding the whole predictable drama utterly tedious. She shrugged, glancing up at the blood-red moon slowly ascending in the night sky.

“By my calculations, the sacrifice begins in about ten minutes.”

“Looks like it’s time for me to notify Mo Yuyan to come play rescuer~” Jiang Jinyue murmured, swinging her jade-like feet playfully as she leaned back against the branch. She snapped her fingers. Her mesmerizing eyes swirled into dark kaleidoscopes. A moment later, several tendrils of abyssal energy coalesced on her shoulder, forming into a single, eerie Messenger Raven (渡鸦 / Dùyā). Jiang Jinyue gently stroked the raven’s head, tied a small rolled-up scroll to its leg, and then let out a soft, melodious whistle.

“Go~”

The raven launched itself into the air. After a long glide, it landed silently on the courtyard wall surrounding the buildings atop Soot-Stained Peak. Its beady black eyes darted around, searching… but the white-robed sword immortal its mistress had tasked it to find was nowhere in sight.

“—?”

—