The hood slipped down, revealing not the weathered middle-aged face or elderly features Xie Zhaolin had expected, but the delicate face of a girl who looked sixteen or seventeen.
Her features were soft and pretty, with a hint of childlike innocence still clinging to her eyes.
But right now, that face was flushed with an unnatural red that spread all the way to her ears. It was obvious that taking off the hood had taken every ounce of her courage.
She gripped the edge of the hood she'd just removed, her knuckles turning pale from the tension.
Xie Zhaolin felt a flicker of surprise. She'd never imagined that the sharp-eyed, terrifyingly perceptive refiner who even made Mo Yan wary would turn out to be this young.
What made it even stranger was that this nervous, almost stiff posture clashed completely with the calm sharpness she'd shown earlier. It made her look so different that Xie Zhaolin couldn't help finding it a little funny.
What mattered more, though, was the faint sense of familiarity in that face. She felt like she'd seen it somewhere, but the memory wouldn't surface.
The girl noticed Xie Zhaolin studying her and her blush deepened. She took a few quick breaths, trying to steady herself, but when she spoke her voice still trembled and stumbled badly.
"You… you… who are you? Are you… are you…" She didn't dare say the name. She only stared at Xie Zhaolin with clear, desperate eyes.
Xie Zhaolin understood instantly. The girl clearly thought she was someone close to Yun Qingyue, maybe even one of her disciples.
She paused, neither confirming nor denying anything, and simply replied in a calm voice, "Who do you think I am?"
That vague response only made the girl even more certain of her guess.
She let out a breath like she'd finally found a place to put down a burden she'd been carrying for too long. Her breathing quickened, her face turned bright red, and her words tumbled out without order. "I… I knew it! That kind of request… only… only she would…"
She clenched the hood tightly and spoke faster. "My… my name is Luo Xinglan! More than two hundred years ago, during the escort mission in Fragmented Star Plains, I… I was ambushed by the demons! It… it was Shi Yue Zhēnjūn! It was her! Her blood red Shiyue Ribbon swept across the battlefield like a burning sunset, and she killed five demon generals in an instant! She saved all of us!"
Her eyes shone like stars, as if she'd fallen entirely into that old memory. Her voice grew animated and vivid, even a little exaggerated. "Back then… that red glow was brighter than the evening sky and faster than lightning! Everywhere it passed, demonic qi melted like snow, and those ferocious demons didn't even get to scream before they… they turned into ash!"
She stammered her way through the story with overwhelming excitement, painting Shi Yue Zhēnjūn's entrance like the arrival of a god descending from heaven.
Xie Zhaolin listened quietly. If she weren't the person Luo Xinglan was describing, even she might've been fooled by that overly dramatic retelling.
She thought back carefully. The battle at Fragmented Star Plains… she did remember it.
She'd been ordered to rescue an important group under siege, including, apparently, a master refiner and his disciple. She'd used the Shiyue Ribbon at full power to end the fight as quickly as possible. The scene probably had been striking.
She examined Luo Xinglan's face again. That vague memory finally sharpened.
Right, the timid little girl sheltered in the middle of the formation had been this one.
She'd heard the others call her name back then. Luo Xinglan, the beloved disciple of some master refiner, sent on a mission to repair an important artifact.
She never expected that two hundred years later the girl's looks would barely change. She must've taken a rare beauty-preserving pill. Her personality, though…
Even after remembering who she was, Xie Zhaolin kept her expression calm and distant.
She wouldn't, and couldn't, admit she was Yun Qingyue.
When Luo Xinglan saw her expression didn't change, she grew uneasy. "Are… are you Zhēnjūn's disciple? Or… is Zhēnjūn… is… is she doing well? Ever since the news of her… her death… I…" Her voice trailed off with quiet sorrow.
"Master Luo." Xie Zhaolin addressed her with respect, though her voice gentled a little. "I've heard of Shi Yue Zhēnjūn's name and admire her greatly. Perhaps that's why, when choosing my life-bound artifact, I was unconsciously influenced. But as for being her disciple, please be careful with such claims."
Her words expressed admiration for Yun Qingyue, explained her use of the ribbon style, and clearly denied being a disciple, turning everything into coincidence.
Luo Xinglan froze, her excitement cooling. She looked at Xie Zhaolin's calm face with a mix of confusion and disappointment, then nodded to herself and muttered softly, "I… I understand… it has to be kept secret… of course it has to be secret…"
She'd clearly convinced herself that Xie Zhaolin was Yun Qingyue's successor, but couldn't acknowledge it for some hidden reason. To her, the denial became proof.
Xie Zhaolin watched her fill in all the blanks on her own and felt helpless. Still, she didn't bother correcting her.
Sometimes a beautiful misunderstanding was easier for everyone than the truth.
Right now, she cared more about the refining matter.
"Master Luo," she said, pulling the topic back, "about the artifact I wish to commission…"
Luo Xinglan snapped to attention. She nodded hard, cheeks still pink, but her eyes turning sharp with determination.
"I can refine it! I'll definitely refine it!" Her voice still trembled a little, but her confidence was absolute. "If… if it were any other artifact, I… I might need more time… but… but if it's a ribbon, I can… I can make the best one for you!"
Her tone carried something almost sacred.
Without waiting, she turned and hurried toward a side building that looked like a storage room. "You… you should come with me! I'll show you… show you something!"
Xie Zhaolin felt a faint stir in her heart and followed.
Luo Xinglan stopped at the door, quickly formed a few hand seals, and unlocked the barrier. Then she pushed the heavy wooden door open.
The creak echoed sharply.
A wave of scent rushed out, a mix of old wood, metal, and the faint fragrance of spirit herbs.
When Xie Zhaolin looked inside the room, she froze completely.