"Does this path truly lead to the Underground Palace? What if it's a dead end? What if there are traps ahead..." Muttering echoed through the corridor.
The group advanced with their Magical Artifacts illuminated. The boundless darkness and bone-piercing cold were enough to erode confidence and fray nerves.
Someone from Green Cliff couldn't help retorting, "If Senior Brother Song meant you harm, you'd have died ten thousand times over!"
"I'm not doubting Brother Song's intentions. I'm saying what if we're unlucky, or if Brother Song misremembered the route..."
"Fellow Daoist Song risked his life to protect us, and you speak ill of him?"
Ziye Wenshu, leading at the front, heard the exchange with bewilderment.
They were simply walking - why were they so anxious and seemingly about to start quarreling?
Suddenly, ethereal flute music drifted through the air. The gentle melody captivated the group, and the arguments gradually subsided.
Miaoyan took out a Mermaid King Pearl and set it floating overhead to light their way.
She began playing "Flower Moon Descending Clouds," the flute notes flowing like petals falling in the wind.
Unlike the harsh light from Magical Artifacts, this soft glow accompanied by the clear flute music held a peculiar power to soothe restless hearts.
The Sound Cultivators of Celestial Sound Sect found Miaoyan's behavior strange. She never used to play the flute, considering the short flute undignified, and she was too proud to perform casually for others.
They used to mimic Fairy Miaoyan in everything they did and said. Miaoyan had been perfect as a measuring standard - never crossing lines, never making mistakes, never changing. If even Miaoyan had changed, many would lose their benchmark and wonder where to turn.
Anxiety rose in their hearts, but the music gradually smoothed it away, leaving only melancholy.
The group advanced in silence until a massive, pitch-black gate blocked their path.
"The Underground Palace entrance!" Excitement surged through them as they looked expectantly at Ziye Wenshu.
Miaoyan lowered her flute and signaled her distracted companions to stay close.
Ziye Wenshu pushed forward with his Snow Blade, forcefully opening the gate.
A gale swept through. Miaoyan felt the world spin violently as she lost control and plummeted downward.
Moments later, she opened her eyes to her companions' astonished gasps.
In an instant, darkness receded like the tide, replaced by night wind carrying the scent of grass and moisture.
Miaoyan tilted her head back and took a deep breath, realizing for the first time how brilliantly the moonlight shone - so bright it almost hurt.
A crimson stream meandered ahead, its banks lush with fragrant grass. Clouds drifted overhead while fireflies danced among wildflowers.
Having been confined to cramped spaces with only pale ice in sight, the female cultivators felt their hearts surge at this sudden vista of boundless sky and earth:
"So the entrance was a random teleportation array. I wonder where the others were sent. We parted in such haste without proper farewells."
"Where could be better than this? This shows Senior Sister Miaoyan is blessed with great luck. Following her, we always escape misfortune..."
Amid the cheerful chatter, a cold laugh cut through: "My luck seems even better."
The familiar voice instantly silenced the merriment. As a figure emerged from behind a large rock by the stream, their hearts collectively sank.
Footsteps and the rustle of robes closed in from all sides like death knells.
Miaoyan's face turned pale: "It's you."
Their group appeared disheveled with torn white robes after the ice cave earthquake.
Across the stream stood thirty-some figures also wearing Celestial Sound Sect robes - but these were impeccably groomed, brimming with Spirit Qi, and carried themselves with unshakable composure."They aren't dead... Could it be that Elder Wangshu already..." Muxia's words were cut short as Miaoyan silenced her with a look.
The stream was narrow, its waters clear and shallow—easily crossed in five or six steps.
On either bank stood two groups of female cultivators facing off, magical artifacts in hand. One side had red-rimmed eyes burning with fury, while the other wore cold, detached expressions as they looked down from their superior position.
He Qingqing stood at the forefront, bathed in moonlight. The reeds along the stream swayed at her feet in the gentle night breeze.
She was as beautiful as a peony under the moon, yet her presence turned the fresh, tender night wind cold and sharp.
Unlike the grief and anxiety of those around her, Miaoyan only asked, "What has become of my master?"
He Qingqing remained silent, as if the question was beneath her, and glanced at a young female cultivator beside her.
That cultivator laughed loudly and said, "Wangshu has committed the grave crime of treason and has been imprisoned in the Lotus Peak water dungeon! Her accomplices have all been executed! Fairy Miaoyan, where have you been hiding all these days? You've been quite difficult to find..."
"Enough," He Qingqing interrupted her coolly. "Send the signal so the others know to stop searching and come here."
"Yes!" The female cultivator raised her sleeve, and a red firework shot into the sky, exploding with a bang.
Muxia and the others erupted in exclamations, quickly adjusting their formation to shield Miaoyan at the center.
Liaohua urgently transmitted her voice: "Everyone, use all your Explosive Talismans and self-destructing magical artifacts—aim them all at He Qingqing!"
Miaoyan shook her head. "No."
"Senior Sister, there's no time to hesitate!"
"As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood. Senior Sister, with the Immortal Sound Token in hand, you are the rightful successor to the sect leader. There will be a chance to make a comeback."
He Qingqing laughed, as if savoring their despair and struggle:
"We were once fellow disciples. I don't wish to be merciless. Miaoyan, I'll give you a chance—hand over the Immortal Sound Token in exchange for your master Wangshu's life!"
But Miaoyan replied, "I want to speak with you alone. Just the two of us."
Everyone on both sides of the stream stared at her in shock and suspicion.
Liaohua cried out anxiously, "Senior Sister, this is a fight to the death! What more is there to say?"
"Are you afraid?" Miaoyan's gaze remained fixed on He Qingqing.
"Let's go," He Qingqing agreed readily, as if confident and unafraid.
Splash.
Ripples spread across the water as Miaoyan waded through the stream, shattering the jade-like surface, and stood before He Qingqing.
He Qingqing waved her attendants away and led Miaoyan behind a large rock by the stream.
In this secluded space, hidden completely by the boulder and surrounding trees, a single Talisman could block any prying eyes.
Suddenly, Miaoyan spoke: "I know it is you who have lost."
He Qingqing's face darkened. "You're deceiving yourself!"
"I'm not bluffing. You appear to have steady breath and abundant Spirit Qi, but you dare not speak much, afraid that with each word, your wild and uncontrollable Spirit Qi will leak out and be detected. My master planned meticulously, catching you off guard—it's impossible for her to have failed. Even if she were defeated, she would never surrender willingly, and Jiangyun would never spare her life. The only way you could offer her in exchange for the Immortal Sound Token is if she were already dead. You had the signal sent deliberately, saying and showing it all for my benefit. In truth, only your group managed to escape, didn't you?"
Miaoyan's tone was calm.
He Qingqing listened as she spoke methodically, her expression shifting rapidly as if recalling painful memories she wished to forget.
In the end, He Qingqing laughed. "Miaoyan, you truly are Miaoyan."
Before the words faded, she summoned Jiangyun's Nine Heavens Lute and said coldly, "It's true I'm injured, but subduing you defeated remnants will be more than enough."Her fingers had already touched the strings, but she suddenly stopped because Miaoyan said, "The Celestial Sound Token, I can give it to you."
He Qingqing was stunned.
"Master raised me. If she had lost, I would naturally avenge her and uphold our sect. But she won, which is truly good..." Miaoyan sighed. "Since she won, she can train a second Miaoyan."
"What do you mean?" He Qingqing held her qin, unmoving.
"I've had enough of being Miaoyan." Miaoyan sighed. "Put away this qin. No matter what method you used to suppress your injuries, you paid a price. You shouldn't fight me anymore."
A normal person would have tried to hide their traces and quietly heal at this point. But He Qingqing insisted on taking risks, seeking to turn the tables in desperate situations.
He Qingqing thought, who is this person? Is she really Miaoyan? What happened to Miaoyan?
"Aren't you afraid I'll take the Celestial Sound Token and immediately seek revenge?"
"My master must have people hunting you down. If you want revenge, I'm afraid it will take many years." Miaoyan looked at her tense, anxious fellow disciples. "You can leave the Celestial Sound Sect and go anywhere. If you want to return, you must spare their lives and spare my master. The Celestial Sound Sect shouldn't shed any more blood. The hatred between our two sects should end."
"Do you really think so?" He Qingqing didn't believe her.
Miaoyan took out a jade-white token, opening her palm, her gaze burning: "If you agree, take it and leave. If you don't, we'll fight right now!"
"Aren't you leaving yourself an escape route?" He Qingqing felt complicated emotions.
Miaoyan lowered her head and said softly, "When I came to the secret realm this time, I met someone. His current fate is unknown, but I will find him, and from then on, we will live under assumed names and leave the Cultivation World."
He Qingqing felt not joy but absurdity: "Have you gone mad?!"
What kind of person Miaoyan was, she knew all too well from their years of confrontation.
"I'm not mad. I've only just become clear-headed." Miaoyan said.
He Qingqing mocked, "It's just a pity Wangshu can't see you like this. She worked tirelessly, determined to match you with a cultivation partner of unparalleled talent, cultivation, background, and status, yet you say you want to leave the Cultivation World with some man."
She couldn't help but laugh, laughing with extreme relief.
"Have you ever looked at the moon?" Miaoyan suddenly asked.
He Qingqing looked up: "It's not some rare sight. You can see it just by looking up. Who hasn't seen it?"
The spring moon hung over empty mountains, the night cool as water. Wisps of floating clouds drifted, occasionally obscuring the moonlight.
"Not just seeing, but truly looking." Miaoyan said.
He Qingqing's heart stirred, inexplicably recalling the peach blossoms at the entrance of Song Courtyard in Huawel Sect, and Chen Hongzhu sitting on the steps watching the moon.
The two stood side by side by the stream, quietly watching the moon and drifting clouds for a moment.
"Only after meeting him did I truly see the moon." Miaoyan said. "Easier to find priceless treasure than a true soulmate."
He Qingqing noticed a piece of black cloth tied around Miaoyan's wrist and found it strangely familiar.
"It's him?!" He Qingqing exclaimed in surprise.
The same fragment of a Magic Robe, she had once held in her hand too.
Back then, she was still very young, having narrowly escaped death, daring only to grasp that person's scabbard or sleeve.
The sleeve was as black as the scabbard, like that person's deep pupils, without a hint of impurity.
"It's him." Miaoyan nodded.
She remembered that He Qingqing had joined the Celestial Sound Sect from Green Cliff, and that Song Xun was a friend of Ziye Wenshu, who in turn was He Qingqing's life-saving benefactor.It must have been Ziye Wenshu who gave He Qingqing Song Xun's "Wind and Snow Array Entry Tune." No wonder He Qingqing recognized Song Xun.
When He Qingqing first heard Miaoyan mention the term "kindred spirit," she feared Miaoyan would discover the true composer, Song Qianji.
But now that Miaoyan wanted to retire from the world with Ziye Wenshu, though He Qingqing found it utterly absurd, she felt even more relieved.
This was good—Miaoyan would never learn who the real composer was.
"This is your choice. I choose the Immortal Sound Token." He Qingqing reached out her hand.
The token was pure white in color and icy cold to the touch, like snow atop a mountain peak.
"You have a brilliant mind and a resilient character—you could have lived very well. But the path you've chosen is fraught with countless hardships. I wish you safety," Miaoyan said.
After a moment of silence, He Qingqing replied earnestly, "You've worn masks for so long, never showing your true self—you should have been driven mad by your own pretense. But you no longer wish to live like this. I wish you freedom."
"Farewell," Miaoyan turned away.
"No, we should not meet again."
Miaoyan saw the bright moon hanging in the sky and heard He Qingqing's voice from behind: "Not meeting is for the best."
Others did not know what they had discussed. How could two people on opposing sides have a conversation?
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Miaoyan finally emerged first.
Muxia and the others, like lost birds, fluttered anxiously: "Senior Sister Miaoyan, are you alright?"
Miaoyan smiled gently.
It was a smile from the heart, casting a radiant glow upon her face: "Don't call me senior sister anymore."
Having said this, she turned and left.
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