A single sword stroke cleaved downward, shattering the sword qi that surged up from below.
Qin Zhihua staggered back, her black hair disheveled, her white dress stained with blood.
"Something's wrong with your condition."
The angel hung across the moonlit sky, her silver hair falling like a waterfall, purer than the moonlight itself.
Her gaze drifted downward. Radiant Runes flickered in her golden eyes, and the tear mole beneath them was strikingly lovely. "Your level is still beyond anything one could imagine for Sequence 5, but your True Qi is sleeping. It doesn't have its earlier vitality."
"If this goes on, you may stall at a high Sequence and never reach anything higher."
Qin Zhihua stayed calm in the face of Miss Angel's warning.
Ever since she had stepped onto the path of entering the Dao through love, she and Li Fei had been bound like branches of a single tree, flourishing and suffering together. Now that her beloved was jittery and on edge, there was no way she could stand aside.
"It's a small problem. It'll be resolved."
"But Miss Chloe, your sword seems heavier than usual too?"
Chloe fell silent for a moment, then asked back:
"Do you have friends?"
"Friends…"
Qin Zhihua's eyes grew complicated.
As the daughter of the Qin family, her childhood had been miserable. Swordsmanship from the cradle was only the start. Zither, chess, calligraphy and painting could not be neglected either, and countless rules of etiquette had to be worked into flawless bearing. Only then could she become a refined, graceful young lady of a great house and bring glory to her family's name.
Qin Zhihua had exceptional bone structure and a sharp, sensible mind, so her elders were very pleased with her. She became the most outstanding of her generation, even earning the Kong family's high regard and an engagement. But it also robbed her of any chance to play with children her own age.
Fortunately, she hadn't been twisted by the repression the way Consort Hui had. Instead she grew used to being the most prized and beautiful canary, and took it as her innate mission.
Only deep down, a sliver of longing for the sky had always lingered.
Later, a fox pried the cage door open a crack.
The engagement to the Kong family mattered, but every great house knew that the sea hid immense wealth, drawn from the barbarians at the far end of the Vast Sea.
The Qin family wanted a share too, but they never managed to gain anything and could only watch ship after ship laden with treasure dock at other families' piers.
That was exactly why they couldn't refuse the olive branch the fox held out. Whether it was a ticket into overseas trade or having a direct-line family member trained into an outstanding alchemist, either was worth no less than that single sheet of marriage contract.
So Qin Zhihua carried the engagement aboard a ship bound for Enlos, crossed the ocean, and put down roots in Loxibrook.
Margaret kept her promise. She raised Qin Zhihua into a rising star of the Alchemists' Guild, and the Qin Elegance Pavilion, which had once sold tea and silk, smoothly became Qin's Apothecary. Under the honorary president's fox connections it flourished, opening branch after branch. A fox this generous surely had more in mind than grooming a successor. If Miss Top Courtesan had arrived a few years later, there might well have been several litters of little foxes by now.
Luckily, Qin Zhihua had seen through the fox spirit's scheme. She remembered the fox's kindness, yet kept a certain distance.
In those years Qin Zhihua spent most of her time absorbed in alchemical research. Considerate and generous in her dealings, certainly, but she had never made real friends. Gwona counted as one, and her sister-in-law had once counted as half of one, though in the end the latter had gone her own way.
Then came the night of the fox's birthday. She couldn't wriggle out of her deeply indebted and thoroughly drunk master's grip, and accompanied the fox on a stroll… a tour, rather, of Loxibrook's thriving signature tourism and cultural industry.
The moment Margaret stepped into the Golden Tangerine Tavern, two vixens grabbed her by the ear and hauled her off. They were her mothers.
"Miss Margaret has already booked one of our new girls… She's from the East, just like you. Would you like to go up and sit for a while?"
And at Lady Gnaea's question, Qin Zhihua nodded as if possessed.
She had honestly only meant to sit for a little while.
The result…
Qin Zhihua thought of Grace, Ling'er, Ram… Did they count as friends?
If not, it was hard to explain how well they understood one another and worked together.
If so, they were too close by far. She had heard of sharing a dress, but never of sharing a girlfriend and even helping each other along.
The wistful feeling made her listless True Qi, dormant these past two days, twitch like a corpse springing up, then promptly go back to its nap, just like a young madam who refuses to get out of bed for school in the morning.
"I do."
In the end, Qin Zhihua gave an answer both vague and certain.
"Then do you think I'd look good in a skirt?"
Chloe immediately asked her second question.
Qin Zhihua was taken aback, but this time she answered without much hesitation.
"You're very beautiful, Miss Chloe. There's no clothing in the world that wouldn't suit you."
"You only need to follow your own heart."
A white feather drifted down from the night sky. Miss Angel sincerely sought advice from the far smaller human.
"But I have a friend, and she said…"
—Surely the friend you're talking about isn't my fiancée?
Qin Zhihua's grip on her sword tightened a little.
As someone who shared a bed with her, she knew perfectly well that the Vice Dean had a murky, ill-defined relationship with the fiancée back home.
The impeccably cultivated eldest Miss Qin said with a wistful air, "Perhaps in a couple of days your friend will decide skirts look nice after all? A friend's opinion matters, but it matters less than your own thoughts."
The advice from the newly appointed female teacher greatly enlightened the Vice Dean.
Over their recent contact, Miss Angel, sharp-minded but blank as paper in certain respects, had come to realize that this gentle, serene junior seemed more trustworthy than the mature, dazzling Senior Melodia. So she eagerly asked the next question that had perplexed her for so long, longing for an answer:
"Is there really no difference between friendship and love?"
"There is."
Qin Zhihua blurted it out, then steadied herself and smiled with perfect propriety. "Did your friend tell you this too?"
"Mm."
Chloe nodded lightly, her gaze a little lost.
One said there was no difference. The other said there was.
She trusted Li Fei, but Qin Zhihua felt just as reliable.
Whom should she believe?
Miss Angel thought it over seriously for a moment, and inspiration suddenly struck.
When she had stood just one step from [Grandmaster Combat], unable to touch that illusory, moon-in-the-water level, she had consulted several archangels. The answers she received varied wildly, and many of the views even contradicted one another.
Not until her elder sister reminded her that every grandmaster has a path uniquely their own. Even a road that seems to run away from the destination will, if you hack through every obstacle along it, reach the land of dreams sooner or later.
So Chloe had chosen the path that suited her best. She went straight into bloody battle with terrifying beings who had mastered [Grandmaster Combat], taking the "result" as her starting point and carving out a road of her own.
And now she would open a new road from the directions pointed out by Nicole, Melodia, Li Fei and Qin Zhihua.
While Miss Angel was contemplating friendship, Qin Zhihua felt needles on her back and shot a wary glance toward the Bai Manor.
Friendship and love must never, ever be confused.
"Friendship really is wondrous."
A few seconds later, Chloe seemed to have reached a decision and thanked her sincerely. "I understand now. Thank you for clearing this up for me."
"You're welcome."
Qin Zhihua settled her nerves and smiled lightly. "It seems Miss Chloe already knows how to get along with a friend."
"Mm. I plan to start by asking her to conceive the fruit of our friendship with me."
Chloe's eyes were perfectly clear. "I think it will help me understand friendship more deeply, the way fighting grandmasters lets me grasp higher supernatural knowledge."
She paused, thanked her again, and this time used an honorific:
"Thank you, Ms. Qin."
"…"
Qin Zhihua calmly covered her lower belly and turned to go. "I have something to attend to. Farewell."
Miss Angel blinked, feeling a little regretful and a little bewildered.
The regret was that she had wanted to invite Qin Zhihua, whom she felt she had known forever, to help her decide what kind of clothing would better suit the aesthetics of human females, especially the black-haired, black-eyed variety.
The bewilderment was that Qin Zhihua's True Qi, sluggish these past two days, had clearly flared back to life, radiating boundless potential.
…
The room was quiet, with only the faint rustle of turning pages.
Su Ling'er's head bobbed up and down as she dozed.
Beside her, the young madam studied on her own, utterly focused.
The phone screen suddenly lit up. Li Fei glanced over. Bai Mengtian had sent a photo.
Throbbing Warrior: [Tap to view image]
Do Not Disturb: Meh.
"Hm?"
Bai Mengtian frowned suspiciously.
This was already the second time.
Not replying to messages last night could be put down to a passing bad mood.
But tonight she was still acting uninterested, and that was definitely not right.
"Big problem," Bai Mengtian muttered. "I suspect Fei-bao has been mind-controlled!"
"She's only gone two days without replying. Nothing to worry about."
Kalida chuckled. "Maybe our Miss Philanthropist is out under the flowers and the moon with some adorable girl and has no attention to spare."
"But the problem is…"
Bai Mengtian held up her phone with a grave expression and zoomed in on the photo she had just sent Li Fei.
It was a picture she had taken herself, of the cover of an illustrated booklet.
The title was Because My Girlfriend Isn't Here Today. The composition was a classic: a beautiful girl mage studying Fireball, while the girlfriend behind her covered her mouth and snuggled up to a blonde beauty.
She had to admit the art was exquisite, and the subject was Miss Top Courtesan's second-favorite kind of cow: NTR. Her first favorite, of course, was group NTR.
"It seems the situation is quite serious."
Out of respect for the booklet, Kalida straightened her back a little and her expression turned earnest.
"A perfectly normal person has no reason to change her tastes overnight."
Bai Mengtian reasoned, "I have solid grounds to conclude that Fei-bao has been swapped out!"
The worry wasn't confined to Loxibrook.
In the Great Song, within the Golden Throne Hall:
"It is late. Court is adjourned."
Behind the beaded curtain, a woman in a gold-and-crimson phoenix robe sat bolt upright, dignified and composed.
She looked down on the court officials with no trace of warmth in her eyes. Her cold, striking face was clearer than frost and snow, like a plum blossom blooming in an icy wilderness, aloof and proud, with a breathtaking allure.
"This subject takes his leave—"
More than ten officials breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew respectfully. Su Wen, surrounded by her palace maids, headed for the Empress's palace.
After Miss Commander's departure, undercurrents surged through the court. The Empress Dowager not only had to rule from behind the curtain at the morning session, but also received ministers at noon and in the evening, lecturing and instructing them, doing everything she could to hold things together. Yet conscription, taxation, land… could the ins and outs of these matters be mastered in so short a time?
Su Wen could only lean on her legitimate standing and the lingering prestige of Miss Commander to maneuver among the myriad lords, striving for "stability" and pressing the Demon Suppression Bureau to speed up its slaying of demons.
The goal sounded simple, but carrying it out was fraught with obstacles. For her wife's path and her daughter's realm, that pure plum blossom had no choice but to roll in the mud of the court, her heart and strength worn thin.
As she entered the imperial garden, Su Wen gazed up at the stars. Perhaps she was recalling the cold, monotonous days of the past, or perhaps she was trying to pick out, among the myriad stars, the one where her beloved dwelled.
The palace maids followed behind with lowered heads, not daring to breathe.
In the past the Empress had worn a veneer of the gentle, virtuous mother of the realm. But ever since Miss Commander's ascension, she had changed entirely, as if torn in two. One half was cold and forceful, facing down the powerful, each with their own scheming. The other half, the warm one, she reserved entirely for the Crown Prince in her womb.
As the party reached the center of the imperial garden, a crisp, pleasant clink of metal suddenly rang out.
"In-law!"
Consort Xiang waved cheerfully, her silver bracelets jingling, bewitching and carefree.
"Don't be disrespectful to the Empress Dowager."
Consort Hui tried to restrain her, though her tone was far too soft, as gentle and demure as the woman herself.
"The Empress Dowager is our daughters' godmother."
Consort Xiang said it as a matter of course. "Those three children are bound to grow up together day and night. Isn't marriage just a matter of time?"
Su Wen instinctively rubbed her temple and said nothing.
Miss Imperial Physician and the two noble ladies all told the same story: the children had been conceived with potions by Consort Xiang and Consort Hui.
But the Empress Dowager was no fool.
She vaguely sensed that among the hundred-odd widows of the inner palace, those entangled with Miss Imperial Physician were surely more than one or two, and these two noble ladies before her were the prime suspects.
So who exactly the daughters they carried belonged to, Su Wen could not help but doubt.
"Empress Dowager, though this imperial garden is a riot of blossoms, a riot of color wearies the eye after long looking."
Consort Hui stepped forward gracefully and said in a soft voice, "In this consort's humble opinion, perhaps we could plant some camellias and add a bit more green to the garden."
Su Wen suspected this refined, well-read noble lady was hinting at something, but she had no proof.
"Granted."
Her crimson lips parted. She approved Consort Hui's suggestion and went straight back to her cold, quiet palace.
After bathing, dining and changing into a jade-colored nightgown, Su Wen leaned against the edge of her bed, savoring the rare stillness of the day.
Then she began her visualization. Without the visualization technique to nourish her spirit, the Empress Dowager's nerves might well have snapped these past few days.
—Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Su Wen's visualization was interrupted almost at once. She sighed softly and looked out the window, her mind unsettled.
Ever since she had come to know Miss Imperial Physician, her visualization technique had advanced by leaps and bounds. But these past two days, not only had her cultivation hit a bottleneck, even the immortal maiden in the mirror, who shared Li Fei's face exactly and was forever doubling over with laughter, looked listless and lazy.
She had perked up a little only this afternoon, then wilted again. That was when Miss Straight Girl had been coerced by Margaret and had her mouth stuffed full of fox fur. But that was, in the end, only a bodily transgression with no spiritual infidelity, and merely a transgression, not full-blown cheating, so the jolt to the ladies had been slight.
Such abnormal circumstances left Su Wen no choice but to worry about Li Fei's safety.
She reached out as if to pluck the star where Li Fei lingered, but grasped only air.
The Empress Dowager sighed, turned her eyes to the cold white moon, and softly recited the poem Miss Imperial Physician had written for her:
"People have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion; the moon has dark and bright, waxing and waning…"
Some could only worry and long from afar, while others could set out at any moment.
Knock, knock, knock.
The tapping on the window disturbed the young madam, who had been studying intently.
She looked up and found an exaggerated grimace pressed against the glass, its features squashed flat, both adorable and ridiculous:
"Surprise~"
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