Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 257 255: Lin Qianyan's 100-Year Vigil for Young Master Pei

Qing Yueqiu knelt on the muddy ground, her silver-white hair, like strands of satin, spilling in disarray over her shoulders.

Tiny teardrops clung to her long, fair eyelashes, which had a pinkish tint, trembling with each breath. Yet, tears fell unceasingly, like liuli beads from a broken string, blooming into dark stains on her crimson skirt.

Those once-lively, ruby-like eyes were now shrouded in a gray mist, her pupils unfocused as they stared at some point in the void, as if peering through swirling sand and wind to gaze upon the Pure Love Illusion that would forever be beyond her reach.

"Sister Yueqiu?"

Pei Xiaohan felt an unprecedented sadness emanating from Qing Yueqiu. But she had no experience with romance; she had grown up sheltered in the Jade Pool Sacred Land, having almost never even seen a man... so she didn't recognize the almost despairing heartbreak in Qing Yueqiu.

She just assumed that Qing Yueqiu's injuries were too severe, or that her Divine Soul was wounded, preventing her from coming to her senses for the moment.

She frantically clutched the sleeve of her goose-yellow tunic, a jade bell on her wrist jingling.

The young girl leaned closer to Qing Yueqiu's pale face, her honey-colored, almond-shaped eyes filled with anxiety. "Sister Yueqiu, are you hurt somewhere? If you're not feeling well, you have to tell me! My master is a Great Cultivator of the Void Refining Realm from the Jade Pool Sacred Land! She can definitely heal you!"

Before Pei Xiaohan could finish, a fair, jade-like hand suddenly rested on her shoulder.

The girl turned her head and met Lin Qianyan's regretful, sighing gaze.

Lin Qianyan gently shook her head at Pei Xiaohan, signaling for her disciple to say no more.

Because… for some reason, she could understand the silver-haired girl's feelings.

'This silver-haired girl must have experienced some great, tragic regret in the Secret Realm.'

The light in Lin Qianyan's eyes flickered as she gazed at Qing Yueqiu's paper-thin back. An image flashed through her mind—a night a hundred years ago, during a torrential downpour.

That day marked the fifth year since her husband had been lured away by a Female Cultivator from the Yin Yang Sacred Land.

She was past the bloom of youth, no longer a bright, beautiful young maiden.

But even so, she had waited patiently for Young Master Pei to return, never once considering remarriage.

Even when the villagers said that Young Master Pei had clung to the high branch of an Immortal Family and would never again deign to look at a simple farm girl like her, they all urged her to face reality. While she was still comely, they said, she should quickly accept the marriage proposal from the son of a local dignitary…

Of course, Lin Qianyan didn't listen to outsiders. Only she knew the true depth of her feelings for Young Master Pei.

Before Young Master Pei left with the Fairy to cultivate, he and she had performed the wedding ceremony and privately pledged their lives to each other.

From that day on, Young Master Pei was her, Lin Qianyan's, husband.

Of course, she would wait for the day her husband came home.

Until her father found a Daoist who roamed the world, healing the sick and aiding in disasters.

The Daoist shook his head, gave her a bitter smile, and said:

"Child, you should forget that boy. He's not coming back."

"Because he didn't go to an Immortal Sect, but to a Demon Cave of debauchery."

Even now, Lin Qianyan found it hard to imagine how she had survived that nightmarish day, only that it had been pouring rain that evening.

The memory of kneeling under the old peach tree at the village entrance, drenched to the bone, was something she could never forget.

Because on that night, as purple lightning tore across the sky, she waited in vain for the man who had promised to break off a peach branch for her.

'And now, here is this person, like a Jade Puppet whose soul has been ripped out.'

'She must have lost someone important, too.'

Lin Qianyan didn't indulge in her sorrow for long before a feeling prompted her to look up. She saw a familiar figure flying toward them via Sword Control.

It was Elder Liu of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect.

Elder Liu hurried over and let out a long sigh of relief when he saw Qing Yueqiu sitting dazedly on the ground.

'Thank heavens, thank heavens! As long as she's alright!'

Then, he turned to Lin Qianyan and said gratefully, "Saintess Lin, thank you, thank you! I, Liu, truly owe your Jade Pool Sacred Land a great favor!

"This is Palace Master Pei's head disciple. If anything had happened to her here in Kunlun Mountain, I would have been too ashamed to go back and face Palace Master Pei."

Lin Qianyan hadn't expected Elder Liu to value the silver-haired girl so highly. She quickly replied, "The Jade Pool Sacred Land and the Xuanyuan Dao Sect have always been friends. It's only natural that we help each other. There is no need for such words, Elder Liu."

"Regardless, I owe you, Holy Daughter, a great debt. If there is an opportunity in the future, I, Liu, will surely repay it.

"As for this matter of the Kunlun Mountain Secret Realm going rampant, I, Liu, must return to the Sect to report it quickly, so I will not disturb the Holy Daughter any longer."

After speaking, Elder Liu secretly sent a mental transmission to Qing Yueqiu:

[Miss Qing, we should go. Your master specifically urged me to search for you everywhere. He's very worried. You should go back and report your safety to Palace Master Pei...]

"..."

Hearing Elder Liu's words, Qing Yueqiu's gray, hazy eyes trembled, and a flicker of life seemed to return to them.

She stood up somewhat stiffly and bowed to Lin Qianyan. Her chapped, crimson lips parted, and her voice was ethereal yet hoarse.

"Yueqiu thanks Saintess Lin and Miss Pei for the rescue. I was not in my right state of mind just now and made you worry. Please forgive my behavior."

Lin Qianyan shook her head slightly, her eyes filled with a saintly pity. "It is no trouble. I only hope you can move on from your heartbreak soon."

Qing Yueqiu just gave a pale, bitter smile and said no more.

With her eyes downcast, she followed behind Elder Liu, and together they used Sword Control to fly toward the Xuanyuan Dao Sect's Spirit Ship, preparing to return to the Sect.

Lin Qianyan watched Qing Yueqiu's frail back. A cold wind swept a withered leaf past her eyes, and in a daze, she recalled a line of poetry her husband had once recited.

"What in this world is love, that it drives one to pledge both life and death?"

The Jade Pool Fairy's beautiful eyes reddened as she once again thought of her husband's handsome face and talent.

'It's all my fault for being clumsy with words. I could only stand by and watch that young woman grieve alone. If my husband were here, he would surely have been able to console Miss Qing Yueqiu, wouldn't he?'

Beside her, Pei Xiaohan was unaware that her master was once again thinking about that husband of hers. She just asked with some concern:

"Sister Yueqiu seems so sad. What on earth did she go through in that Secret Realm? She's clearly so strong—she can kill a Nascent Soul-level Undead with a single sword strike."

Hearing this, Lin Qianyan just gently stroked Pei Xiaohan's head. "Xiaopei, in this world, there are many things that strength and cultivation realm cannot solve."

As the Jade Pool Fairy spoke, she thought of the hundred years she had been separated from her husband, and the sorrow and helplessness between her brows seemed impossible to dispel.

'Why? Isn't cultivation all about defying heaven and changing one's fate? How can there be things that strength can't solve?'

Pei Xiaohan's doubts were not dispelled, but she didn't continue questioning her master, because she felt that perhaps even her master didn't fully know the answer...

A young girl's train of thought is always winding and changes quickly. She dropped the subject and asked instead:

"Master, when we visit the Xuanyuan Dao Sect later, let's go find Sister Yueqiu. Sister Yueqiu always says her master is the number one Sword Immortal under heaven, but he hasn't even broken through to the Void Refining Realm. She's just bragging!

"Next time, I'll definitely let Sister Yueqiu see how amazing you are, Master!"

When Lin Qianyan heard the words "Sword Immortal," her heart skipped a beat.

"Are you saying that girl's master is named Pei Yuhang?"

Lin Qianyan recalled that Zhenren Qin Yin had also mentioned this name before. She repeated it under her breath, and the more she said it, the more familiar it sounded.