Chapter 4

Chapter 4

On my fifth day of being confined in the Cold Jade Chamber, Shen Zhaowei arrived.

She didn’t walk in; she was forced in by Master’s sword qi.

When the stone door opened, she was a mess. Her hair ribbon was snapped, and her left shoulder was bleeding.

When she saw me, her eyes reddened for a fleeting moment.

In the next breath, she reverted to her usual caustic self.

“Still alive, I see.”

I leaned against the side of the couch, smiling at her.

“Did I disappoint you?”

“Quite a bit.”

She tossed a packet of candied fruit into my lap.

“If I’d known you still had enough energy to talk back, I wouldn’t have risked my life to bring this.”

I squeezed the oil-paper packet, my nose suddenly stinging.

Shen Zhaowei hated sweets more than anything.

But she remembered that I was afraid of bitterness.

Master stood outside the door, not entering.

Shen Zhaowei glanced at him, her tone turning cold.

“Immortal Venerable, I wish to speak a few words with my Little Junior Sister.”

Master said, “One stick of incense.”

“An hour.”

“One stick of incense.”

Shen Zhaowei let out a cold laugh.

“You’ve refined her into this state, and you’re still afraid a few extra words from me will kill her?”

Master looked at her.

His gaze was calm, yet Shen Zhaowei slowly fell silent.

In the end, I was the one who spoke.

“Senior Sister, one stick of incense is enough.”

The stone door closed again.

Shen Zhaowei stood still for a moment, then suddenly crouched down, burying her face in her palms.

“Ah Heng, I’m sorry.”

I said nothing.

Her voice was heavily muffled.

“I knew they were going to use you to activate the formation, but I didn’t know it would be today. I thought there were still three months left. I thought I could find a way.”

I unwrapped the candied fruit and put one in my mouth.

It was so sweet it tasted bitter.

“Who told you?”

Shen Zhaowei looked up.

“I found it out myself.”

She pulled a charred scrap of paper from her sleeve.

Only a few lines of text remained on the paper.

“Year of Xinwei: Spirit Bone girl. Furnace cracked, elixir failed.”

“Year of Renshen: Spirit Bone youth. Soul dissipated, seal temporarily stabilized.”

“Year of Guiyou: Abandoned infant of the Jiang Clan. Excellent bone structure; can be raised.”

That last phrase felt like a blade’s edge, making my eyes ache.

*Can be raised.*

It turned out that from the moment I was picked up and brought to the sect, I wasn’t being saved.

I was being raised.

Shen Zhaowei gripped the charred paper tightly.

“I also found out that a hundred years ago, there was another child born with a Spirit Bone who was raised in the back mountains.”

I asked, “What happened to him?”

She didn’t answer.

I already understood.

I asked again, “Does Master know?”

Shen Zhaowei looked at me.

Her expression was complicated.

“He knew before anyone else.”

The candied fruit in my hand fell onto the bedding.

Faint footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the door.

Shen Zhaowei immediately stuffed the scrap of paper under my pillow.

The stone door opened.

Master stood at the entrance.

“The time for one stick of incense is up.”

Shen Zhaowei stood up and walked out.

As she passed him, she paused.

“Xuanwei, if you have even a shred of humanity left in you, stop making her choices for her.”

Master did not look at her.

“Get out.”

After Shen Zhaowei left, he came in to clean up the overturned medicine bowl.

I watched his back.

“What was the name of that child from a hundred years ago?”

His hand stopped.

I said, “Don’t pretend you can’t hear me.”

The secret chamber was so quiet that only the sound of my breathing remained.

After a long silence, he said, “Xie Wuchen.”

I asked, “Who was he to you?”

Master turned around.

For the first time, a crack appeared in the way he looked at me.

“My junior brother.”