Chapter 577: Aren’t You Going to Explain This?

10:08 p.m., Great Pure Palace. The night was deep; the new moon’s radiance poured through the clouds, spilling over the undulating mountains. It spread with the mountain mist like blue smoke—over sheer cliffs, dense canopies, and antique buildings—washing everything in a chill sheen. From afar came the soft sound of the Mountain-Guarding Divine Beast gliding across the moonlit water. 

At this hour, disciples were scarcely seen within the Great Pure Palace. On the mountain path behind the Chili Hall, rows of stone lamp-posts cast dim yellow firelight, linking into a line that led toward the Back Mountain. Fu Xinyi followed the serene, quiet path, climbing step by step, now and then casting tense glances over her shoulder. At length, after cresting the ridge and reaching a broken cliff near the Back Mountain, she stopped, carefully took out the Paper Cicada Immortal from her bosom, and hurled it with all her might into the chasm. …

Earlier, after being attacked by the Paper Cicada Immortal in the Qinghui Hall, harboring doubts about Lu Yibei’s identity, she had not followed Lu Yibei’s instruction to toss the Paper Cicada Immortal somewhere deserted. Instead, she temporarily kept it and immediately contacted her own Shifu. In her view, if Lu Yibei really was a thief impersonating the Headmaster’s Senior Martial Sister, then the Paper Cicada Immortal in her hand might serve as a clue and evidence to hunt him down. 

However, after she fully relayed the situation to Qingxiazi and waited uneasily for a long time, what came back was an unexpected answer. Qingxiazi told her, “The Headmaster neither said Senior Juejuezi is his Senior Martial Sister, nor said she isn’t. But after I informed the Headmaster of the matter, he actually grew so excited his face flushed and his body trembled slightly, and he asked me to tell you that the next time you encounter Senior Juejuezi, you must treat her with courtesy.”

“It seems that even if Senior Juejuezi isn’t the Headmaster’s Senior Martial Sister, she likely has a close connection to him. Xinyi, she is someone of the same era as the Headmaster. Next time you meet her, you must learn from her properly. This is a chance many would beg for and never obtain!”

…

And so, the impostor, catching Fu Xinyi completely off guard, became Senior Juejuezi; and the Paper Cicada Immortal she had intended to use as a clue and evidence turned into a scalding hot potato. After sending off her Shifu, she hurried straight to the Back Mountain. Watching as the Paper Cicada Immortal traced a parabolic arc through the air, fell steadily, shrank to a white speck, and at last was swallowed by the clouds and mist, vanishing from sight, she let out a long breath of relief. “Whoo—!”

If there’s any place in our Great Pure Palace that’s most remote and least frequented, it must be the Back Mountain. Throwing the Paper Cicada Immortal here should count as fulfilling the senior’s instructions, right? Next time I meet Senior Juejuezi, I’ll just ask her a bit about her cultivation methods! Fu Xinyi thought, stretching lazily, then cheerfully turned around and strolled back along the mountain path toward the Qinghui Hall. 

A long night—who needs sleep?! It was still early; she had to hurry back to the Qinghui Hall and continue studying. …

Not long after Fu Xinyi turned to leave, beneath the cliff, a palm-sized white figure, ghostlike, skimmed upward along the steep rock face and in a blink clambered up. With a soft whoosh, a pale little paper figure landed steadily on the open ground at the cliff’s edge. Gazing at the dense forest ahead, it lifted its short, stubby hand and scratched its big round head. Its bewildered, helpless look was like that of a child separated from its parents. A moment later, as if at last it had made up its mind, it let out a soft chirp—”Ji!”—then set off at a run, darting into the depths of the woods …

———

Pain! Searing pain! Wu Yutang did not know how long he had slept. When he woke in a dark, damp alley, a wave of agony nearly made him faint again—pain as if his body had been crushed by something. His gaze dropped to his own form, and his pupils shrank at once. In terror he found that his body had disappeared; only a head and an arm remained, connected by a thick strand of pallid mucus. 

Then, seeing the broken folding fan in his hand, he finally came to. He looked blankly around; in the oppressive silence, he closed his eyes and showed a bitter smile. So, I’ve become a monster… The thought had barely flashed through his mind when he suddenly felt something intangible shatter before his eyes. Illusory, chaotic whispers burst at his ear, bearing an irresistible allure that compelled his gaze, against his will, toward that arm—if it could still be called his.

The air around seemed to stop flowing, turning viscous and uncanny. The whispers came from the broken folding fan; at some point a black vortex had appeared upon it, from which countless phantom, misshapen limbs extended. Those illusory limbs climbed onto his head, burrowed into his body, sank into his consciousness, then tugged at his soul, dragging it into the deepest part of the black vortex. He was utterly unable to resist and could only let his awareness steadily fade. 

Gradually, a grotesque notion arose in his heart: the broken folding fan was the true master of this shattered body, while he was merely the fan’s vassal—perhaps even just one of its tools. Though he knew this thought was bizarre and abnormal, the power surging from those phantom limbs kept eroding his will to resist, as if driving that notion to take root deep within his soul. The light in his eyes dimmed bit by bit until only darkness remained. In the darkness, it was as if a warm and kindly light awaited ahead…

“Who are you, really? Why did you kill my senior brother?”

At the instant Wu Yutang’s consciousness was about to be completely lost, a crisp shout reached his ears, and his numb, vacant eyes suddenly regained a trace of clarity. Following the sound, he saw Huá Sāng’s back and froze for a moment, recalling many things. He remembered that when he first entered the Great Pure Palace, his Shifu patted his head and said, “From today on, you’re my disciple—my first disciple! As the senior brother, you must work hard and set an example for your junior brothers and sisters.”

He remembered that when the other peers ostracized Huá Sāng and he looked on coldly, he was scolded by his Shifu: “I know Huá Sāng may be a bit abnormal, but she is your junior sister! As the senior brother, you should protect her! Not just Huá Sāng—you should protect all your juniors!”

He remembered when Huá Sāng lopped off the head of the statue of the first Headmaster with a single sword and came to him seeking help to cover it up; he smiled and agreed, then discovered that Huá Sāng had secretly shifted the blame onto Fu Xinyi, and he pleaded on Fu Xinyi’s behalf in turn…

…

I really wanted to protect them well, to set an example for them, like a true elder brother. But they’re too outstanding. No matter how hard I tried, I could only watch them gradually catch up to me, surpass me, and finally leave me far behind. Shifu, did I truly do wrong? Yet with my limited talent, if I want to keep protecting them and continue growing stronger, I can only rely on external things, can’t I? Wu Yutang thought. Using his last shred of clarity, he forced his body to move, slowly raised his arm, and swung it toward Huá Sāng. ————

Seeing that the haunting—reduced to a head and an arm—floated up and raised its arm toward the back-turned Huá Sāng, Lu Yibei’s pupils narrowed slightly as she cried out, “Watch out!”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the haunting’s arm whipped up a terrifying wind pressure that sent Huá Sāng flying. The strike, for all its momentum, in fact flung her away without hurting her. Huá Sāng tumbled back, slammed into the alley wall, and her ferule fell to the ground with a clang. Having flung Huá Sāng aside, the haunting did not stop; in an instant it burst forward to face Lu Yibei. Coming for me? Lu Yibei’s heart tightened; by reflex, she raised the Pure Lotus Sword to guard herself.

The haunting paused before her, suddenly raised its arm, and slammed the damaged folding fan hard against the edge of the Pure Lotus Sword. “Clang!”

The first strike. Cracks appeared along the fan’s ribs, and a filthy, impure psychic energy fluctuation spread out. Seeing this, Lu Yibei was slightly stunned; she couldn’t comprehend the haunting’s behavior at all. “Clang!”

The second strike. The folding fan shattered, wood chips scattering. Something invisible to the naked eye exploded along with the fan, making muffled popping sounds, and a pale, viscous liquid splattered everywhere. Lu Yibei: “!!!”

Is this haunting committing suicide? Could it be that the folding fan was its entity? So that’s why, even though I practically destroyed its entire body just now, its psychic energy fluctuation barely diminished? In that instant, Lu Yibei suddenly believed what Huá Sāng had said—that this haunting was her senior brother. “Clang!”

The third strike. The now-empty arm came down, yet the edge of the Pure Lotus Sword felt as though it had struck something extremely hard. The blade shuddered violently, and Lu Yibei felt her tiger’s mouth go numb. Then, as a faint heat pricked her eyes, something in her vision—like a dream—shattered. Like an illusion, she heard a whisper. “He knows all secrets, for He peers—from wind, from water, from every molecule. There is no hiding, no deceiving, no escape. Flesh perishes, and He shall endure…”

The next moment, the extraordinary psychic energy fluctuation emanating from the haunting vanished as silently as a candle flame being blown out. “Thud! Thud, thud-thud—!”

Wu Yutang’s head fell to the floor and rolled into a shadowed corner. Beside him, Huá Sāng snapped back to her senses, scrambled forward on hands and feet, scooped the mangled head into her arms, then whipped her gaze toward Lu Yibei, eyes torn wide with rage. Lu Yibei: “…” Hey, why are you glaring at me like that? Your senior brother committed suicide! Isn’t this just like someone dashing into the street to kill himself and actually getting hit by a car? I can sort of understand how you feel, but if you’re really going to blame me for this, that’s a bit much, isn’t it? Lu Yibei thought. 

The moisture in the air thickened abruptly, suffocating. Huá Sāng stared fixedly at Lu Yibei, holding Wu Yutang’s head as she slowly stood and was about to step forward when, suddenly, a weak breath sounded from her arms. “Junior sister… th-this isn’t her fault, it was me…”

Hearing this, Huá Sāng froze, not immediately understanding what her senior brother meant. She looked down to see a strained smile squeezing onto that blood-smeared face. “I… I can’t go back anymore. If I keep going, I’ll only… only hurt others and myself. Strictly speaking, I should th-thank her…”

“Senior brother, you…” Huá Sāng frowned, her anger gradually guttering out. As she calmed, recalling his terrifying state just now and the chaotic, filthy psychic energy fluctuation pouring off him, she seemed to grasp something. Did I really misunderstand that young lady? “I’m sorry, I failed to set… set a proper example for you all. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with the Esoteric Society. They said… using external objects to enhance one’s strength doesn’t… doesn’t count as laxness, doesn’t count as sloth. I believed them, but… I was wrong. Borrowing and depending… aren’t the same…”

The Esoteric Society again? Hearing this, Lu Yibei frowned. There’s such a sinister group hiding in the Great Pure Palace, and nobody’s doing anything? Don’t tell me this is one of those plots where the Headmaster is actually the cult leader? If Fang Ji goes to investigate, isn’t he as good as dead? “……”

Esoteric Society? What is that? Huá Sāng wondered, baffled. She opened her mouth to press further, but found that Wu Yutang had already expended the last of his psychic energy. His life was completely spent; no breath remained. His eyes stared wide, unclosing in death. Staring at her senior brother, who had been lively not long ago and was now like this, Huá Sāng fell into a long silence. Then Lu Yibei stepped forward two paces and broke it. “Hey! You heard him, right? Your senior brother’s death has nothing to do with me!”

“I just happened to be passing by, saw him attacking that fainted girl over there, and stepped in. Strictly speaking, I’m a kind, helpful member of the public!”

Huá Sāng glanced at Lu Yibei, pondered for a few seconds, and said calmly, “Sorry, I was impulsive just now…”

Though she said that, she didn’t fully believe Lu Yibei. If this young lady had just happened by, how could she have seen those bizarre visions? There had to be more to it! “Understandable! Young people being impulsive is normal. I get it.” Lu Yibei waved magnanimously. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going.”

Whether she believed it or not, Lu Yibei had to scram. She never knew when that weird “frequency-hopping” phenomenon might occur; at this distance, it would definitely expose her! As for the Pure Lotus Sword fragment, she’d make plans later. She already knew Huá Sāng had it; getting it from her would be far easier than blindly searching the Great Pure Palace. Lu Yibei thought. Seeing Lu Yibei turn to leave, Huá Sāng suddenly remembered something. “Wait!”

“Hm? What else?”

“May I ask why you’re using our Great Pure Palace’s sword technique? The move you used just now was Heaven-inviting Splendor from the Taihe Gentleman Sword, right?”

When Lu Yibei thrust that final sword, Huá Sāng had seen it from afar. Heaven-inviting Splendor, my ass! That was Heavenly Symphony, okay? Lu Yibei tilted her head, weighing how to answer, when a buzzing suddenly rang in her ears. The Pure Lotus Sword and the ferule by Huá Sāng’s hand vibrated at the same time. Lu Yibei pressed a hand to the Pure Lotus Sword’s blade, trying her best to still its trembling. However…

She couldn’t control it at all! The Broken Sword in her hand felt like a peacock in mating season, desperately trying to entice that last fragment to merge with it. Huá Sāng looked at the ferule by her hand, then at Lu Yibei, tilted her head, and asked, “Miss Helpful Bystander, your sword seems to be seducing my ferule. Care to explain that?”

Lu Yibei: “…”