novelraw Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8 : Change
Around dusk, while I was sitting cross-legged in my room, resting and recalling the Unnamed Book’s Enlightenment chapter, I heard a knock at the door.
I paused for two or three seconds, then got off the bed and opened it.
Su Wantian, looking exhausted but in clean clothes, stepped inside, frowning:
“Why haven’t you changed or bathed?”
“Too much hassle,” I said lazily.
“The bed’s not my problem to clean, and I’ve spent most of my life like this. Clean moments are rare.”
Recalling my past, Su Wantian nodded slightly and closed the door:
“Got time to chat?”
“I’m not asleep. Do I look like I have other plans?”
I sat back on the bed.
“Just don’t tell me you’re bailing on Tai Xuan Sect.”
Su Wantian raised an eyebrow:
“What if I did change my mind?”
“I’d kneel, call you Dad, and beg for travel money,” I shot back quickly.
“You’re… truly devoted to the Dao,” Su Wantian said after a long pause, settling on what sounded like a compliment.
“I haven’t changed my mind, but my father seems set on keeping me here. Still, I’ll keep my promise to you. Tomorrow, when we head out, we’ll find a chance to slip away…”
“I don’t care, but what about you?”
I cut to the point.
“Your parents are still thrilled you’re back. You’re just gonna run off? Can your conscience handle that?”
Su Wantian pulled up a stool and sat:
“I feel guilty, so I plan to come back again, whatever the outcome.”
“You’re not bothered by the hassle…”
I scoffed.
“Your dad’s not against you cultivating; he’s just mad at you. You two are so alike—awkward as hell. Saying what’s in your heart is like pulling teeth. Being honest like me is way better.”
Su Wantian sighed, his face taking on a sage-like, world-weary expression:
“That’s how people are here. Showing care, love, or longing feels like utter shame. I’m no exception.”
“Whatever.”
“Besides, even if I wanted to open up, I’d need preparation, a good day…”.
Su Wantian rambled on.
I couldn’t help yawning:
“By the way, can you get someone to bring a tub of hot water here?”
“Finally bathing?”
Su Wantian stood.
“You seem off, though. So quiet. Last night, you’d have fired back ten retorts for every word I said.”
“Hm,” I said, sparing words.
“I’m adjusting my mindset. I plan to use the jade bottle’s contents tonight.”
“…”
Su Wantian froze, then hurried:
“Didn’t we say rest a day or two first? You just escaped death today, and you look drained. Immortal Lady Yun said to make up your mind…”
“I said at noon, I’ve never lacked resolve.”
“Preparing more wouldn’t hurt…”
“Coward, you think everything waits for you to be ready?”
I glanced at him.
Your parents might wait for you to sort out your thoughts, but would that beast?
If a bandit burst in now and swung a blade at your mom, you’d yell. Hold on, let me prepare.
Would he wait?
“I get your point, but that example…”
Su Wantian paused.
“No, probably not.”
I hummed:
“Exactly. I learned long ago to treat every day as my last… Until I met Immortal Lady Yun, I had a few days without worrying about the future. Thinking about it, I’m not one to put things off.”
I craved change, power, and cultivation.
No parents, no ties, everything up to me.
Maybe the unfamiliar Xinyang City sparked a sense of crisis.
Maybe the six days of baths and trekking quietly gave me confidence.
Maybe Su Wantian’s clash with his parents made me let go of something.
I now had the genuine courage to charge at fate—and the calm acceptance of failure to match.
It was a subtle mindset, one I couldn’t fully explain, but my gut told me: now was the time.
Maybe another day I’d feel this again, but I never let chances slip.
It was like this when I stole Bo Qiuyun’s coins, when I begged Yun Qingping to teach me cultivation, and now, as I resolved to practice the Unnamed Book.
Su Wantian looked into my eyes, searching for weakness, hesitation, or fear to talk me out of it.
But he saw only calm, so he didn’t delay, turning to leave:
“Wait a bit.”
Within half an hour, two servants brought a bathing tub and five or six buckets of steaming water.
Su Wantian waved them off quietly, asking one last time:
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll guard outside to keep servants away,” he said, giving me a deep look as I started undressing.
“Call me if something happens.”
“Got it, got it… So naggy, are you a woman?”
I hopped off the bed.
The door clicked shut.
Without hesitation, I took the jade bottle, poured its colorful liquid into the tub, and jumped in.
“Damn… it hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!!”
The moment my skin touched the liquid, I screamed.
But soon, I lost even the strength to cry out.
The hot water mixed with the medicine turned into something fiercely corrosive.
My body sizzled horribly, my skin and flesh visibly dissolving.
Within seconds, my pupils dilated, my strength faded, and I sank into the water.
Hearing the commotion, Su Wantian spun around, hand on the door.
But recalling my calm gaze, he hesitated.
The sounds stopped.
He sighed deeply and sat by the door.
“I’ll trust you with this once.”
…
A sharp sword light descended, cleaving a towering mountain in two.
Amid rolling dust and scattering mist, Yun Qingping, sword in hand, hovered in the air, about to strike again.
She paused, glancing north.
“You decided so soon, Xun Qiu… Heh, until we meet again.”
In that pause, a dark shadow escaped the ravaged ground—a burly man, pitch-black with crimson patterns crawling over his body.
He laughed heartily, his voice echoing through the heavens:
“Not bad! Not bad! You’ve got some of the Tai Xuan Sect Withered Wood Sword Master’s flair. Worthy of being her sect sister! Come, take my fist!”
Mist swirled, silence fell.
As his voice reached her ears, his fist was already before her, its overwhelming force, capable of swallowing the world, crashing into Yun Qingping’s slender frame.
In a blink, she was crushed to ash, her flesh gone!
“Hm?”
The shadow, successful in his strike, looked surprised.
He turned sharply, seeing wisps of breeze reforming into Yun Qingping in the distance…
Squinting, he noticed that besides her sword, she held an ancient stone orb in her left hand.
An old legend surfaced in his mind, but instead of fear, he grinned:
“One of the thirty-six immortal artifacts, Drifting Wind Sea-Calming Pearl, lost for ten thousand years, and you found it!”
Yun Qingping’s expression remained cold, her lips barely moving, concise:
“Come again.”
“Good! Again! Today, I’ll see if your immortal artifact or my fist is stronger!”
The shadow’s voice roared, shaking the heavens.
Yun Qingping frowned.
Too loud.
It might be overthinking, but I hope this doesn’t reach Xinyang City…