Immortalis

Tong Xue: Seven

After much effort, they finally learned that the child also bore the surname Yu, with the given name Yu Qiao. Although Yu Xiahe never used his real name outside, facing Zhou Huai—this "mother" who had been "lost and found again"—Yu Qiao eventually revealed the temperament of a seven-year-old child. Between sobs, he confessed everything.

It turned out that Yu Xiahe was already pregnant when she left the Lu family.

After giving birth, for some unknown reason, she changed her appearance and surname and returned to Westwind Town, where she raised the child. From time to time, she also taught Yu Qiao some martial arts, including the Yu family’s exclusive secret technique, Cotton Needle Finger.

Yu Xiahe had once said that Cotton Needle Finger was the closely guarded secret of the Huai River Yu Clan, much like their unique Centipede Vine. Only three people in the world could use Cotton Needle Finger: Yu Chaolin, Yu Dongxue, and Yu Xiahe.

Yu Qiao knew that his grandfather Yu Chaolin and his uncle Yu Dongxue had already passed away. Now, on the seventh day after Yu Xiahe’s death, Zhou Huai had inadvertently used Cotton Needle Finger. To Yu Qiao, there was only one possible explanation left.

His mother had returned to see him.

Yang Wujian, after understanding the whole story, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After some thought, she came up with a plausible explanation: "Your mother came back to see you, but there’s a boundary between the living and the dead. After going down there, she’s forgotten many things. Yu Qiao, can you tell us how your mother actually passed away?"

Yu Qiao sniffled: "Mother died of illness. For some reason, she suddenly developed a fever a few days ago, and it wouldn’t go down. I went to get medicine for her, but it didn’t help."

"Suddenly fell ill?"

Shen Qingshi, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, said: "Could it be poisoning?"

Yu Qiao sobbed: "But the doctor said it didn’t seem like poisoning. Mother usually only sold pancakes on the street and had no enemies."

"Whether it’s poisoning or not, we’ll only know after an examination."

As Shen Qingshi stepped forward, Yang Wujian, afraid he would immediately lift the coffin lid, grabbed him and said gently: "Yu Qiao, when ghosts return to the human world, they cannot look in mirrors. To recognize their former appearance, the coffin must be opened... Will you let your mother take one last look at herself before she returns?"

"But..."

Zhou Huai, afraid of corpses, was about to protest when Yang Wujian’s fierce cat-like eyes silenced her. She steeled herself and said: "Look, we can look. I’ll look, alright?"

After all, Yu Qiao was only seven years old. Convinced by Yang Wujian’s explanation, he nodded repeatedly. The three of them then went to open the coffin.

Expecting a corpse that had been lying for seven days, Zhou Huai prepared to cover her face and nose. To her surprise, when Shen Qingshi slapped open the coffin lid, Yu Xiahe’s body inside appeared as if she had just died, without the slightest trace of decay.

"How can this be?"

Zhou Huai was astounded. A corpse that hadn’t decayed—could there really be ghosts?

Yang Wujian frowned, her mind instantly flooded with images of overlapping, pale-white skeletons of young girls. Those who had once died as Flesh Conduits in Longevity Palace, for some reason, often remained undecayed, their eyes still open, as if unwilling to depart with unresolved grievances.

As a child, the hellish scenes in the Alchemy Room had terrified Yang Wujian, leaving her sleepless for many nights. It was also why she ultimately couldn’t bear it and freed the young girl locked in the Black Iron Cage.

"Perhaps it’s poisonous. Be careful."

Yang Wujian immediately covered her mouth and nose, not forgetting to tie a white cloth over Yu Qiao’s face as well.It was initially just speculation, but now it seemed Yu Xiahe had truly been poisoned to death.

"What kind of poison could prevent a corpse from decaying?"

Zhou Huai's muffled voice came from behind his handkerchief.

Consider how many emperors throughout history had placed pearls in their mouths after death, hoping to preserve their bodies—yet this age-old challenge appeared to have been effortlessly solved right before their eyes?

Shen Qingshi also noticed the peculiarity. Covering his face with a cloth, he climbed into the coffin and reached out to check. Yu Xiahe was indeed dead, but her limbs were as stiff as dried branches. She didn't seem to have been dead for seven days; instead, it was as if she had only passed away a few hours ago.

"Are you certain your mother died seven days ago?"

Shen Qingshi asked Yu Qiao, causing the child to burst into tears again: "But I saw Mother take her last breath with my own eyes..."

Shen Qingshi examined Yu Xiahe's oral cavity and subcutaneous tissue, finding no red spots. He tested with a silver needle, but no poison was detected. Instead, Yu Xiahe's corpse was unusually rigid to the touch, as if pressing on a stone.

"This is no ordinary poison."

Shen Qingshi finally concluded.

Working in the Zhaoming Division, he was all too familiar with corpses, but he had never encountered a case like Yu Xiahe's.

Rather... it seemed something in his memory...

Shen Qingshi pressed his forehead. Cao Zhao had once told him that he had ingested numerous poisons as a child, and coupled with the sheer horror of those experiences, his memories had become disordered, making it impossible to recall.

"What's wrong with you?"

Yang Wujian noticed his strange expression and, fearing he might have been contaminated by something unclean, immediately channeled a surge of internal energy to lift the heavy coffin lid weighing over ten pounds from the ground and slam it shut.

"This corpse is abnormal. It cannot be buried; it must be cremated."

Yang Wujian glanced at the terrified Yu Qiao and rephrased her words: "Your mother probably misses you too much to leave. Keeping her in this world will prevent her from reincarnating... It's better to set her free."

Her reasoning was sound.

After careful thought, Yu Qiao, tears streaming down her face, finally nodded.

Soon after, Zhou Huai paid to have the coffin transported outside the city. At a secluded foothill, firewood was lit, and as Yu Qiao watched her mother's body gradually vanish in the flames, she fell to her knees with a thud.

"Mother passed away suddenly and left a few belongings. Let's burn them too, so she can rest in peace and be reborn into a good family."

Yu Qiao brought out a wooden chest she had dragged along. Yu Xiahe had very few possessions: aside from some old clothes, there was only a pearl hairpin, a letter, and a few pieces of parchment as thin as cicada wings.

Yang Wujian immediately noticed the letter addressed to Yu Qiao. Guessing that Yu Xiahe had passed away too suddenly to teach Yu Qiao how to read, she said, "This letter was left for you by your mother. You can't read yet, can you? Shall I read it to you?"

Seeing Yu Qiao nod, Yang Wujian pulled out the letter. After reading a few lines, her expression suddenly changed.

This was... Yu Qiao's origins.

In the letter, Yu Xiahe wrote that the Yu family had suffered many misfortunes. She and Yu Dongxue lost their mother at a young age and were frail and sickly since childhood. Fortunately, Yu Chaolin was a good father. To care for his two children, he never remarried and sought medicinal herbs from all over to nourish Yu Xiahe's health. As a result, she developed a deep understanding of pharmacology from a young age and, turning misfortune into advantage, became quite skilled in the art of poisoning.Originally, the Yu family lived quite comfortably. Though the martial arts Yu Chaolin practiced were unorthodox—consisting mainly of ambushes and disguise techniques—by crafting and selling concealed weapons, the siblings never went hungry or cold since childhood. Yu Dongxue excelled at Bone Shrinking, while Yu Xiahe specialized in disguise. Their skills were decent; they couldn't claim to dominate the martial world, but at least no one could bully them.

This good life continued until eighteen years ago.

That day, before leaving home, Yu Chaolin clearly told them he was going to find a birthday gift for Yu Dongxue.

After all, though Yu Dongxue was skilled with concealed weapons, he deeply loved swords at heart. For this reason, Yu Chaolin wanted to find a fine piece of iron to forge a sword for him.

However, neither sibling expected that would be the last time they saw Yu Chaolin.

When their father had been missing for half a month, the news they finally received was the widespread rumor in the martial world that Yu Chaolin had taken his own life in the Hero's Tomb.

For Yu Dongxue and Yu Xiahe, their world collapsed. They refused to believe their loving father would suddenly commit suicide. They attempted several times to enter the Hero's Tomb to search for him, but unfortunately, the well-like cave was dark and terrifying, its depths unknown. Anyone who stepped inside would lose their senses, forcing them to give up.

Later, through inquiries, the siblings learned that Yu Chaolin had indeed been searching for good iron to forge a sword that day. He disappeared for several days midway, and when he was seen again, it was in the bamboo forest outside the Hero's Tomb.

It was there that he asked for the location of the Hero's Tomb, left behind the words "family misfortune," and then took his own life.

Afterward, people in the martial world said that though Yu Chaolin was skilled with concealed weapons, he had no choice but to seek iron to forge a sword for his son. The heartache behind this was unknown to outsiders, and he likely succumbed to despair and ended his life.

The siblings had no way to refute this. From then on, they could no longer stay in the Yu family. Yu Xiahe, disillusioned with the world, decided to withdraw from the martial world. But Yu Dongxue refused to accept the stigma. He firmly believed that if he trained hard enough, he would eventually be able to descend into the Hero's Tomb, find his father's body, and clear both their names.

Stubborn by nature, and since people claimed his love for swords had caused Yu Chaolin's death, Yu Dongxue defiantly went to the Boundless Sword Manor to study swordsmanship. He stayed there for two years.

Yu Xiahe maintained secret correspondence with her brother. From his letters, she learned that he had met a young man on the mountain who was often bullied by other disciples due to his poor health. This reminded Yu Dongxue of his frail sister in childhood, so he couldn't help but look after him and even planned to stand up for him if the opportunity arose.

This young man was Lu Wenxiu.

Yu Xiahe had heard this name many times in the letters and once thought that when her brother came down the mountain, she would definitely meet him. Unexpectedly, fifteen years ago, Yu Dongxue's letters suddenly stopped.

With Yu Chaolin's tragedy fresh in mind, Yu Xiahe immediately had a bad premonition and rushed to the Boundless Sword Manor. There, she learned from the disciples that Yu Dongxue had suddenly fallen ill with a fever and had passed away not long before. His illness was strange, and the Seven Swords, fearing it might be a plague, had no choice but to cremate the body.

Losing her only remaining family member without even a final farewell, the bad news struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving Yu Xiahe in unbearable agony.

Years earlier, Yu Chaolin had died under mysterious circumstances, and now it was Yu Dongxue's turn...Yu Xiahe simply could not resign herself to this outcome. She then recalled her brother mentioning Lu Wenxiu in his letters. Upon inquiry, she learned that shortly after Yu Dongxue's sudden death from a fever, Lu Wenxiu had also succumbed to madness and had been sent down the mountain.

Without delay, Yu Xiahe went to the Lu residence, only to be told that Lu Wenxiu was gravely ill, his mind addled, and he kept raving incoherently. It seemed impossible to get any answers from him in such a state.

After making extensive inquiries, she finally discovered that when Yu Dongxue died, not only had Lu Wenxiu gone mad, but four sword-bearing attendants had also vanished from the mountain, their whereabouts still unknown.

That night, using the stealth techniques Yu Chaolin had taught her, Yu Xiahe crept onto the roof of the Lu family house. There, she heard Lu Wenxiu incessantly shouting:

"They're all dead! I'm next!"

Even someone as naive as Yu Xiahe could guess the truth by now.

Whether it was the disappearance of the sword attendants or Yu Dongxue's death, it was likely all connected to Lu Wenxiu.

Naturally, Yu Xiahe had no intention of letting him off. Not long after, she disguised herself as a physician come to treat Lu Wenxiu. Seizing a moment when no one was around, she removed her mask, revealing a face strikingly similar to Yu Dongxue's.

In an instant, Lu Wenxiu dropped to his knees, desperately kowtowing to her and repeating the same phrase over and over:

"Great Hero Yu, I wronged you! I shouldn't have poisoned you! I know retribution is inevitable—the four of them have already faced divine punishment. Please, take me as well! Let me atone with my life!"

In that moment, Yu Xiahe understood everything.