"Dayu married Tushan, the heavens were restless; Xia Qi slew his mother, and the heavens were pacified again."
Yin Tingxue followed closely behind Zhou Yitang, listening to this Sword Immortal-like figure murmuring softly to himself.
"Are you talking about... Xia Houqi killing his mother?"
She couldn’t help but ask.
Xia Qi, the son of Dayu, ascended to the Celestial Palace and obtained the "Nine Variations" and "Nine Songs" from the Heavenly Emperor. He was considered a virtuous ruler, yet he brutally murdered his mother, dismbered her corpse, and cast her remains across the lands.
"Precisely."
"What does this have to do with Chen Yi?"
Yin Tingxue was puzzled.
"Slaying the Three Corpses—Xia Qi killing his mother was him severing the Three Corpses."
Zhou Yitang spoke slowly, years of scheming deeply buried within his heart. At this mont, only this naive daughter of the Prince of Xiang could share a fraction of it.
"Dayu controlled the floods, passing by his ho three tis without entering. Xia Qi had only the Tushan Clan by his side, who raised him into adulthood. The bond between them goes without saying."
Yin Tingxue found herself a bit confused; she didn’t understand these cultivation thods practiced on the mountain.
"If that’s the case, didn’t he love his mother very much?"
"Precisely because of such intense love, after Xia Qi killed his mother, he was so consud by grief that it extinguished his will to kill, severing his Middle Corpse."
Zhou Yitang explained.
"If you’re trying to sever Chen Yi’s Three Corpses like this, wouldn’t you have to bring his mother here? That’s too terrifying."
Yin Tingxue shook her head and sighed.
Zhou Yitang didn’t respond, but in his heart, he thought:
He’s the Outer Heaven Demon; where in this world would he have a mother?
They continued walking, delving deeper into the underground palace. The sound of rushing water could be heard—an underground river. Standing by the river, Yin Tingxue saw sothing blue-green drifting in the water, like fireflies. Zhou Yitang told her that these were the souls of the Xia people.
"Where’s Min Ning?"
Yin Tingxue asked aloud.
"I’ll take you to see her now. Soon, Chen Yi will find her."
Saying this, Zhou Yitang crossed a stone bridge over the dark river, and Yin Tingxue followed him.
In the dim environnt, they walked for an unknown length of ti before Yin Tingxue was brought to the entrance of a cave by the Sword Armor. She vaguely heard breathing from within.
Then, Yin Tingxue saw Min Ning lying at the farthest corner of the cave, her eyes tightly shut, sleeping soundly.
Seeing her unscathed, Yin Tingxue breathed a small sigh of relief. Although they had only t a few tis, Yin Tingxue knew that she was a good person, and she had previously tried to save her from Chen Yi’s clutches, even persuading Chen Yi to let her go.
"He’s got good taste, I’ll give him that—climbing his way to the future seventh rank of the Martial Charts, the Master of the Spring and Autumn Sword."
Zhou Yitang propped his chin with one hand, saying:
"And yet, she’s also my martial rival."
Yin Tingxue was utterly confused; the only term she understood was "martial rival." Allegedly, "争道" (struggling for the Dao) originally referred to competing over chess moves. Applied to the Sword Dao, it ant two elite swordsn clashing head-to-head, vying to prove themselves and attain the true Sword Dao.
"Are you planning to fight her to the death?"
Yin Tingxue nervously tugged at her sleeves.
"There’s no need. The Sword Dao is lifeless, but those who walk upon the Sword Dao are alive."
Zhou Yitang spoke calmly:
"Is my sword, Zhou Yitang’s sword, ant for killing alone?"
Upon hearing this, Yin Tingxue couldn’t help but feel a growing admiration.
Looking at Min Ning, Yin Tingxue thought of sothing and asked instinctively:
"What’s your relationship with Chen Yi?"
"I’m his master."
"Master?"
Yin Tingxue’s curiosity was piqued; wasn’t it said that Yin Sword Mountain didn’t take in male disciples?
What followed was even more shocking.
"He betrayed his master and defiled the sect."
Zhou Yitang said with palpable hatred in his voice.
Yin Tingxue’s breath caught in her throat—"betraying master and defiling the sect" was a grave accusation. From the teachings of Confucian sages, the world valued "one day as a teacher, a lifeti as a father." Without parents, a master was like one’s parent. For Sword Armor to say that Chen Yi betrayed his master and defiled the sect, did Chen Yi not view his master as akin to his parent?
The more she thought about it, the more horrified Yin Tingxue beca. It was as if Chen Yi saw no value in principles or ethics.
Is this... the kind of terrifying person she was destined to spend her life with?
Yin Tingxue furrowed her brows in distress, preparing to ask more questions.
"Once this matter concludes, I plan to take him to Yin Sword Mountain. Will you co?"
Zhou Yitang spoke first.
"Take him to Yin Sword Mountain? That would an leaving the Capital City, but..."
Yin Tingxue had said she wouldn’t run away anymore, so naturally, she would follow Chen Yi. But no matter what, she didn’t want to leave the Capital City—this place still had her Yintai Temple.
"You don’t have to go."
Zhou Yitang said, thinking that if the Prince of Xiang’s daughter wished to stay in the Capital City, she could leave her so Silver and use her reputation to ask the Empress Dowager to pardon Yin Tingxue.
"I’ve already told him... I won’t run away anymore."
Yin Tingxue gently shook her head.
If Chen Yi recovered and sought revenge, everything would be ruined.
"Do you plan to give him children?"
Zhou Sword Armor sneered.
Hearing this, Yin Tingxue trembled slightly.
Am I really going to... give him children?
The re thought sent chills down her spine.
"No, I don’t even like him."
She hurriedly protested.
Having lost her mother at a young age, and being unable to marry due to her role as the Saintess in the Prince of Xiang’s Mansion, she only vaguely understood concepts of chastity from the occasional words of her governess. The idea of pregnancy had hardly even crossed her mind—until Zhou Yitang’s words struck her like a bolt of lightning, causing her to suddenly realize this possibility.
If I could get pregnant... could I stop it from happening?
Yin Tingxue worried deeply,
She didn’t want to bear his children.
"I don’t like him..."
The Princess of Xiang muttered again. In front of Chen Yi, she wouldn’t dare to say such a thing.
"You’ll co to depend on him."
The one-ard woman said indifferently.
"How could I?"
Yin Tingxue shook her head firmly.
"Let ask you this: who cooks the als? Who washes the clothes? Who braids your hair?"
The one-ard woman asked in an even tone.
At first, Yin Tingxue didn’t think much of it, but as she recalled everything in detail, she froze slightly.
Now that she thought about it, she seed to be relying on that wicked man more and more.
Especially after giving him her chastity.
Thinking of this, Yin Tingxue’s expression fell. She didn’t want things to be like this. If she could, she wanted to live on her own, free of this dependency; but she could no longer escape.
Seeing Yin Tingxue’s distressed expression, Sword Armor revealed a trace of wistfulness.
He was always this way—quietly and subtly kind to won, though the won might not know it.
She had heard that before she left the mountain to beco a nun, he had liked peonies. He had secretly planted peonies, spending most of his savings on the finest seeds. He had even neglected much of his cultivation just to prepare as a surprise gift for her one day.
Drifting between mories of the past and present, Zhou Yitang beca sowhat muddled and asked:
"Has he ever prepared any gifts for you?"
"Yes."
Yin Tingxue thought for a mont. Now that she thought about it, he had indeed given her a gift—although it brought back unpleasant mories, causing her to feel like crying.
"Oh?"
Zhou Sword Armor had asked absentmindedly, not expecting a definite answer.
"Was it for ?"
For a mont, a gleam flickered in Zhou Yitang’s eyes.
"No, it was for ."
Yin Tingxue said, touching the silver hairpin in her bun,
"Here, I’m wearing it on my head."
Zhou Yitang’s face froze, the brilliance in her eyes vanishing in an instant.
After a mont of thought, she cald herself.
Their entanglent was from a past life. In this life, they had only known each other for a few days. Just now, she had gotten lost in her mories and montarily forgotten this.
The underground river’s waters rushed by. Zhou Yitang tilted her head, listening to the sound, as though she could hear the streams on Cangwu Peak where Chen Yi once diverted water to irrigate flower fields.
At that ti, she saw that he was without father or mother and had saved her life. Boldly defying convention, she brought him to Cangwu Peak on Yin Sword Mountain and accepted him as her disciple.
Luckily, only she and Lu Ying lived on Cangwu Peak, and no one else in Yin Sword Mountain knew a male disciple had been accepted.
Ti passed quickly. She grew increasingly engrossed in seeking immortality and pursuing the Dao through her sword. Yet, along the way, she was unintentionally overco by inner demons. If not for him absorbing the backlash and injuring his own ridians, she would have long since perished.
Back then, her heart was moved, but she let it pass.
According to the rigid ethics of propriety, n and won were to be separated. Even married couples were expected to treat each other with respect, let alone a pair of master and disciple.
She knew he always obeyed her, bowing his head in submission. A casual question would reveal that he rembered every significant thing she had ever said. Though her personality was solitary and she often wore a cold deanor, he always responded with amusent and playfulness...
She truly believed she had let it go, yet she found herself irritated when seeing him getting close to other won.
So people are naive, thinking that nothing will ever change—that life is repetitive, the past can be revisited again and again, and master and disciple will always remain just that. But the only thing constant in this world is change.
And so, Chen Yi broke her sword...
The ambition of the wolf was laid bare. He coerced her into a marriage ceremony, sealed her Taoist skills and martial arts. He gave up his live-saving Sword and returned to his killing blade, dragging her away from Yin Sword Mountain to roam the Jianghu with him.
They wandered to many places and encountered many events. Only after her sword was broken did she realize how reliant she had grown on him—how much of her Sword Dao entangled with his existence.
"My unruly disciple..."
After a long ti, Zhou Yitang slowly opened her eyes and said:
"I hope he only has ."
Yin Tingxue scratched her head, unable to understand why Zhou Yitang would say such a thing.
Looking at Min Ning, then Yin Tingxue, Zhou Yitang softly asked:
"...How many does he truly care for?"
She knew he was lustful, but given the tangled fates already in place, if she cut off his ties with other won, he would undoubtedly be unhappy—perhaps even sever their bond entirely and leave her. Zhou Yitang understood what was at stake.
She considered herself a Daoist cultivator with the virtue to tolerate others.
Yin Tingxue lowered her head and began counting cautiously on her fingers.
How many won did Chen Yi care about? Yin Tingxue had never counted before. In fact, she secretly wished he would take on several more concubines so he would stop tornting her.
After carefully tallying, she counted Min Ming, Min Ning, herself, and Zhou Yitang. Because of Chen Yi’s notorious lust, she generously added one more for good asure.
Yin Tingxue tilted her head and stretched out her hand:
"Five!"
The air around them instantly turned icy.
Yin Tingxue saw Zhou Sword Armor’s face freeze over, a mask of frigid anger.
"Am I... wrong?"
The Daughter of Xiang was startled, afraid she had counted incorrectly. In a panic, she stretched out her other hand and said:
"Well, rounding up, maybe ten..."
Watching this scene, Zhou Yitang’s expression darkened ominously.
With only one arm, she couldn’t even count them all...
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