Immortalis

Death Hex Part Two

Nearly half a year had passed since Yang Wujian last returned to Longevity Palace.

Longevity Palace remained in the same location—a modest mining cave housing nearly forty residents. Men and women, young and old, all dressed in homemade coarse cloth garments, took turns going out on shifts every so often. Some adopted aliases to work as smugglers or escorts, while others sold self-cultivated herbs in woven grass baskets, using the earnings to purchase fresh supplies.

"Is it different from what you imagined?"

Noticing Shen Qingshi's dazed expression, Yang Wujian remarked, "After you fled Longevity Palace, we relocated about three times... Thanks to the Northern Xiang emperors' eighty years of excavation, Mingshan and Gu Yun always managed to find such places to settle."

"Do you move frequently?"

Shen Qingshi felt unusually disoriented.

Her childhood memories were hazy, but she vividly recalled the small Alchemy Room filled with screams and corpses—a veritable living hell.

Yet, fifteen years later, standing there in person, she realized Longevity Palace was merely a cold, secluded cavern, and the "enemies" she had long dwelled on were nowhere to be found.

Yang Wujian chuckled, "Everyone in the martial world seeks Longevity Palace. Staying in one place would be waiting for death. Haven't you noticed? Everything here is minimalistic. Aside from Gu Yun's Medicine Furnace for refining pills, nothing can't be packed into a basket."

Before meeting Mingshan, Yang Wujian showed Shen Qingshi around the palace. Eight members had gone to nearby towns that day, while the rest were either busy cooking or tending the only soil-filled herb garden. A few, mistaking Shen Qingshi for a new recruit, warmly offered to tailor clothes for her.

After much hesitation, Shen Qingshi finally asked, "Don't you usually..."

"You're wondering why no one practices the Longevity Heart Sutra, right?"

As if reading her mind, Yang Wujian instantly guessed her question.

He laughed, "Practicing the Longevity Heart Sutra burns one's lifespan. Many here aren't suited for martial arts—just mastering the first level costs them half their lives, and they rely on Blood Replenishing Pills to recover. You can't expect them to train obsessively day and night."

He sighed, "Almost all skilled martial artists in Longevity Palace perished fifteen years ago. Those left are just unfortunate souls. If the martial world's scrutiny intensifies, we'll likely have to move again soon."

Then, Gu Yun led him and Shen Qingshi to meet Mingshan.

If Gu Yun was like an elder sister to Yang Wujian, Mingshan was like an elder brother. Among the Ten Elders of Longevity, Mingshan and Gu Yun were the youngest besides Yang Wujian. In their youth, aside from occasionally seeking snacks from Baihe, Yang Wujian spent most of his time with Gu Yun and Mingshan.

Over a decade later, not only had Yang Wujian outgrown his restless childhood, but Mingshan had also transformed from a jovial young man into a palace master shadowed by gloom.

Seeing Yang Wujian return unscathed, Mingshan seemed relieved and sighed, "What's so great about the outside world that you wander for so long? If you pull such a stunt again, I'll confine you here to refine medicines."

"Don't, don't... I admit my mistake. Haven't I returned now?"Yang Wujian quickly begged for mercy, never expecting that infiltrating the Four Seas Alliance would cause so much trouble—and even result in bringing someone back with him.

"And this is?"

Mingshan's gaze soon shifted to Shen Qingshi.

Having heard from Gu Yun about Shen Qingshi's background, he hesitated and asked, "Miss, would you mind if I take a look at the mark on your back..."

Before he could finish, Shen Qingshi had already slipped half her garment off her shoulder, revealing the brand on her shoulder blade.

In this palace, everyone recognized that mark. Mingshan's expression immediately turned grave. "To think you actually survived..."

"She ended up in the palace by chance and became a Zhaoming Guard. But this time, to save me, she offended someone important and probably can't go back."

Yang Wujian didn't know what he was thinking.

Even though he had always been suspicious of Shen Qingshi, seeing Mingshan's troubled expression made him worry that Mingshan might harm her.

What a mess...

Just as Yang Wujian grew uneasy, Mingshan let out a deep sigh, stepped forward to adjust Shen Qingshi's clothes, and said, "You should hate us, yet you still saved Wu Jian. Miss Shen, I assure you, today's Longevity Palace is different from the past. But if you cannot let go of what happened fifteen years ago, once Gu Yun helps you detoxify, I will do everything in my power to make amends. However... there are still women and children in Longevity Palace who need care. I'm afraid I cannot offer my life to you in compensation. Please understand."

"..."

Yang Wujian never expected Mingshan to say such words.

He opened his mouth but ultimately couldn't speak.

It was only then that he realized—even if he hadn't helped Shen Qingshi escape fifteen years ago, perhaps Mingshan and Gu Yun wouldn't have blindly followed Guanri's orders forever.

Guanri's actions back then were never what the people of Longevity Palace truly desired.

"Palace Master, you speak too gravely."

After a long silence, Shen Qingshi finally spoke. "Although all these years I've been unable to forget what I experienced in Longevity Palace... without Yang Wujian, I could never have left fifteen years ago. He is very important to me, and I have no intention of harming him."

Shen Qingshi, always solemn and rarely smiling, spoke with utmost seriousness. At this, not only Gu Yun but even Mingshan's expression grew subtle.

"It seems you and Wu Jian have already cleared the air. That puts my mind at ease... Miss Shen, he grew up in Longevity Palace, wild and unruly, often speaking without thinking. Please don't take his words to heart."

"You two..."

Faced with Gu Yun and Mingshan's teasing, Yang Wujian felt rather helpless.

Shen Qingshi's temperament, though often meticulous and keenly observant, was a skill she learned from childhood in the palace—an instinct etched into her bones.

In other words, while Shen Qingshi was adept at feigning and acting, she knew nothing of genuine human emotions.

Thinking of this, Yang Wujian couldn't help but smile wryly. "Enough. Miss Shen won't understand your implications... She's tired from the journey. Let her rest. Later, it'll be my turn to talk with you two, won't it?"

Longevity Palace was small, and many caves were too damp and uninhabitable. Yang Wujian simply vacated his own stone chamber for Shen Qingshi. He urged her to rest well, watched her drink some calming tea, and then returned to the Medicine Furnace to meet Mingshan and Gu Yun.

"Hand it over."As soon as they entered, Gu Yun extended her hand toward him.

Yang Wujian knew he couldn’t hide it from her and returned the Phoenix Cry Morning Sun he had taken earlier, sighing helplessly, "Wouldn’t it be better to let her sleep? Even though it’s not the same place as fifteen years ago, returning here will inevitably unsettle her."

"Is it her who’s unsettled, or you?"

Gu Yun bluntly called him out, "You’re clearly worried that she holds a grudge against Longevity Palace and might leak its location. That’s why you didn’t hesitate to give her such a heavy dose of medicine."

"Aren’t… any of you worried at all?"

Yang Wujian suddenly felt something was off.

Although Gu Yun and Mingshan usually stayed in the palace and should have been more vigilant than him, for some reason, they seemed to have no guard up against Shen Qingshi.

In fact, they acted as if they had been waiting for Shen Qingshi to return all along.

Yang Wujian frowned, "She’s a Zhaoming Guard. Since childhood, she’s taken those medicines that made her heartless and unfeeling—she wouldn’t even blink at skinning someone or scraping their bones. Even though her blood has been cleansed and she’s regained some emotions, that doesn’t mean she’d spare Longevity Palace for my sake. What if…"

"Ultimately, Wu Jian, you’re afraid you’ve misplaced your trust in her."

Mingshan interrupted him, "You want to believe in her, but you’re afraid she’ll let you down. That’s why you’re so agitated."

"I…"

Yang Wujian knew his thoughts couldn’t escape the two who had watched him grow up. He sighed helplessly, "I just… don’t know what to do with her. If she really betrayed the Zhaoming Division and I don’t trust her, she’ll die. But if she’s just acting with the Zhaoming Division to deceive me, then bringing her back to Longevity Palace would be like letting a wolf in through the door."

Throughout the journey back, Yang Wujian had been trapped in this dilemma almost every day.

At times, he truly wished he could lock Shen Qingshi and himself together—only then could he keep her under his watchful eyes at all times.

"To put it plainly, if you didn’t care about her life, why would you even think about these things?"

Gu Yun smiled knowingly and hit the nail on the head, "Wu Jian, you grew up in Longevity Palace. Even when you were drifting outside, you always made plans for the palace. Now that you’ve finally met someone you don’t want to die, why not follow your heart and simply trust her?"

"…"

Yang Wujian was left speechless.

"You brat, I picked you up back then because you were handsome. But after all these years wandering the martial world, all you’ve attracted are those blind, wealthy young masters—annoying to look at. Now, at last, a girl shows up, and she’s even someone you personally saved. Don’t disappoint me."

Gu Yun shot him a reproachful glance, truly resembling a nagging elder sister at that moment. Yang Wujian couldn’t help but laugh, then added, "Gu Yun, you know her situation. Calling her a girl is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?"

"You’ve been a girl for so long yourself, and you’re still nitpicking about these things?"Gu Yun chuckled wryly, "What does the Stone Core matter? Do you care about that? To save you, she crossed swords with the master who raised her since childhood, carried you through encirclements while running a high fever, tended to you all night despite leg injuries, gathered herbs for you, caught birds and fish—and even when she knew you suspected her, she drank the tea you offered without hesitation... Wu Jian, do you truly believe someone could act to this extent?"

Yang Wujian froze momentarily.

If so, although Shen Qingshi was well-versed in the palace's scheming games, no one had ever taught her how to treat someone with genuine sincerity.

Then her behavior toward him and Zhou Huai these past days...

Seeing his hesitation, Gu Yun added, "Miss Shen is emotionally inexperienced, and only recently regained some awareness through Blood Washing. Not knowing how to express herself, she guards you like a child protecting favorite treats... Her feelings for you are as clear as one eye, Wu Jian. Even I can see it—can't you?"

"Not only that," Mingshan chimed in, "today she told me plainly: you matter greatly to her, and she doesn't want to harm you. Those words were sincere—I could hear it."

He continued, "In this jianghu, finding someone willing to protect you like this is rare. Wu Jian, Miss Shen has suffered much misfortune. Perhaps from the moment you saved her fifteen years ago, today's outcome was destined."

Yes, he had taken the first step.

Fifteen years ago, when he opened Shen Qingshi's cage and pushed her into that crevice, hadn't he known the Old Palace Master would demand his life for it?

Yang Wujian reflected—he must have known... He understood the consequences better than anyone.

Yet even so, he still wanted to save her.

Just like today: no matter what, he couldn't let Shen Qingshi die like that, even if it meant gambling something precious.

Thinking this, Yang Wujian let out a soft, bitter sigh.

"You're right," he finally said calmly. "Bringing her back was my choice... Whatever comes, I'll bear the consequences."