Chapter 14: Blood Soul, Ice Spirit (1)

Soft jade pillows, smoke-gauze curtains, the sunset light was warm, quietly revealing itself through the gaps in the layers of complex yellow silk palace curtains. A tranquil, gold-like shadow covered Qie Lan's skin, which was like congealed fat, her dense eyelashes, her straight and delicate nose, and her soft red lips. Beneath the Luan-patterned quilt and brocade blanket, the beauty slept quietly, her expression as peaceful as a dream.

A slender hand gently lifted the gauze curtain. The silk tassel of the Kui Dragon jade ornament on the pale green collar flickered slightly, then hung still and silent. Someone paused and stared, their gaze sweeping lightly over this stunning face. After a long while, a sigh drifted low.

Whose gaze was as soft as water, whose breath was as elegant as spring, whose smile was as clear as the moon and wind, whose embrace was so warm, so safe...

"Mother..." A blurred murmur escaped her lips, sounding like sleep-talking. Following the slight furrow between her brows, Qie Lan opened her beautiful eyes. The sudden light fell upon her brows and eyes, and her heart gave a start, waking her up abruptly.

There was no sound around her. This was a quiet grand hall. A circular phoenix couch made of a single piece of white jade was placed in the center, with snow-white brocade blankets on it. Jade hooks hung slightly from the four corners, and apricot-colored light gauze curtains were adorned with pearls and beautiful jade, spreading out in layers. They trailed along the jade steps decorated with Luan patterns all the way to the clean and bright floor. Amidst the light, curling shadows of agarwood incense, it felt only tranquil.

Through the layers of hanging curtains, quiet light shone through the exquisite window lattices. Qie Lan discovered that her battle robe had been changed into clean, soft silk clothing. Subconsciously, she reached out to touch her wrist, and the Moonlight Spirit Stone was still there. She furrowed her brows slightly, looked around, got up, and stepped off the phoenix couch.

The jade floor was unusually warm. As her toes touched it, a soothing warmth permeated her skin. Qie Lan raised her hand to brush aside the crystal curtain and walked out barefoot, stepping on the quiet light and shadows of the setting sun. The fragrance of magnolia was ethereal, and the sound of flowing water could be heard from deep within the grand hall. Turning past a screen of mutton-fat white jade, she found herself in a bathroom. The hot spring water was warm, flowing from who knows where, trickling over the shallow jade steps, making the surroundings feel extremely quiet.

In the large space, there seemed to be only this sound of water, and only she was there. Qie Lan paused by the pool, feeling that it was disturbingly quiet. Just as she was about to turn around, she suddenly felt something strange in her heart!

As soon as this thought stirred, she arched her dark brows, raised her palm and sleeve, and without turning her head or bending her waist, her slender white clothes emerged like clouds from a mountain, cutting through the mist and exotic fragrance, striking directly at the person behind her.

Only a soft cry of "Ah" was heard, and a shadow of clothing flashed past the corner of her eye. The person retreated rapidly, barely avoiding the palm strike.

Qie Lan's palm strike missed, but she did not stop. Her slender hand, like a blade, cut obliquely at the other person's arm, and at the same time, she saw clearly that the person was a young woman.

Seeing the palm wind strike, the woman was forced to respond. Her wrist flipped, and beneath her plain clothes, her fingers tapped like orchids, brushing toward Qie Lan's palm.

As their palms met, a soft force in her palm seemed to exist and yet not, rippling slightly. The two passed each other's hands, Qie Lan's sleeves shook lightly, she spun to the left, and her right-hand cloud sleeve suddenly brushed toward the woman's shoulder.

The woman could not dodge in time. As she stepped sideways, her slender waist twisted sharply, and she seemed to attach herself to the fluttering long sleeve, spinning continuously several times. However, she did not expect Qie Lan's left sleeve to fly up, carrying a powerful wind, and strike her face.

In her desperation, the woman tapped her toes, bent her waist slightly, and actually borrowed force from the soft long sleeve. She flipped out of the double-sleeve pincer attack and landed lightly several steps away. She leaned forward and said urgently, "Princess, please stop!"

Qie Lan saw that she was holding a jade tray, inside which was a set of snow-silk ice-silkworm brocade, adorned with an exquisite and elegant ice-jade magnolia hairpin, all neatly arranged without a single disorder. She couldn't help but praise, "What beautiful footwork! Who are you?"

The woman was in a green silk dress, with clear brows and bright eyes, looking gentle and approachable. Hearing this question, she raised her head in the twilight light and smiled beautifully. "Just some minor skills, Princess, you overpraise me. Li Si is just a medical handmaiden by the Master's side. I offended you just now in my haste; I hope the Princess will forgive me."

Qie Lan's eyes flickered, sweeping over the grand hall that was gradually sinking into darkness. "Is this the royal city?"

Li Si nodded and said, "The Princess is now in the Lantai of the Changming Palace. This Lantai is built on a hot spring sea, so it is like spring on all sides. The Master specifically ordered a Lan Pool fragrant bath to be prepared here for the Princess." She got up and put down the tray in her hand. "This is the clothing and accessories the Master personally selected for the Princess, and he asked me to bring them over and see if the Princess had woken up."

Her voice was sweet and melodious, carrying a gentle and moving quality. Even knowing she was an enemy, one could not help but feel no dislike for her words and smiles. Qie Lan watched her quietly for a while, then suddenly said coldly, "I want to see him."

Li Si lit the palace lanterns on all sides one by one and said with a smile, "The Master is currently in the Liwen Dian next door. The two palaces are connected by a flying bridge and a covered walkway, very close. After the Princess bathes and changes, I will take the Princess there."

The mist filled the Lan Pool, flying flowers drifted and rippled, and exotic fragrances floated. Qie Lan slowly sank into the water, her long hair swirling like silk and curtains, a mass of ink-black richness, flowing along with the slightly red lamp shadows in the pool upon the misty water waves. In a trance, it was like a piece of silk stained with blood, rising and falling, entangling, wanting to deeply envelop people. She closed her eyes quietly and pondered. The scenes before she fell into a deep sleep surfaced in her mind—the iron hooves of the army, the flashing swords and shadows, gradually turning into the scene of the fall of the Jiu Yi tribe's capital three years ago.

The memory woven by slaughter and blood had been separated by nearly a thousand days and nights, yet every time she closed her eyes, it surfaced with unusual clarity. Scorched stones and broken wood, devastation everywhere, corpses scattered and broken, the gaps in the walls just like the broken and fractured city walls, declaring the tragic end of countless lives.

Blood like a river, overturning the darkness, staining the night. Under the thick smoke, in the mountain wind, the smell of blood permeated, the intense killing intent, the lingering sounds of fighting, and the desperate screams of her tribesmen before they died—every bit, every drop, was bone-deep pain, an irreconcilable hatred!

Qie Lan suddenly opened her eyes, and the sharp light in her eyes made her beautiful face in the mist suddenly as cold as snow. Never had she been so close to her enemy!

Li Si's voice sounded from outside the screen. Qie Lan's gaze revealed cold intent, and she slowly rose from the water. Crystal clear water droplets slid off her jade-carved skin, falling silently under the crimson gauze lamp.

The Liwen Dian was situated on higher ground. A mysterious stone flying bridge spanned the Lantai and wound up the mountain, hidden among dozens of waterfalls of various sizes, with no beginning or end. Layers of waterfalls cascaded down like curtains, and a silver gauze palace lantern appeared and disappeared, traveling deep into the water curtain, gradually heading to higher ground.

A piece of snow-white sleeve, like water waves, like light clouds, the palace lantern was soft and bright, shining through the thin gauze like cicada wings to reveal Qie Lan's cold and beautiful side profile, reflecting the clear light flowing on the magnolia hairpin carved from cold jade.

Entering this place where the royal carriage was stationed, Qie Lan soon discovered that there was not a single palace slave or guard in the entire Liwen Dian, and it was unusually quiet. The bright moon was in the sky, and points of light were refracted from time to time from deep within the waterfalls. In her ears, she could only hear the sound of water crashing, dense as weaving.

After walking for a while longer, she saw a palace pavilion rising into the air, actually built outside a steep cliff, half-hidden in the water waterfall.

It seemed that the sound of a zither was sent from afar in the breeze.

The sound of flowing water all around was incessant, like beating heavy drums, yet the zither sound remained unusually clear. Every string, transparent and clear, seemed to turn into every clear water droplet amidst the three thousand flying waterfalls, cascading in layers, clear and crystalline. In the dashing places, the flying flow splashed pearls and jade; in the extremely quiet places, the clear water purified the sand as it passed through the streams and mountains.

Water like a curtain, wind like mist—for a moment, one could not distinguish between the zither sound and the flowing water, whether it was heaven or the human world.

Li Si stopped in front of the hall, leaving Qie Lan alone to pass through the crystal curtains swaying with fragmented light, continuing to move forward. The breeze blew gently, the gauze on her skin was cool, and her silk clothes were like water, as if she were still walking amidst the sky-filling water curtain. The palace was extremely deep, as if there were no end, yet the zither sound was right in her ears, like soul-snaring magic music, leading people forward step by step.

The beaded embroidered shoes had been left outside the curtain, and her bare feet were as breathtakingly beautiful as their owner. Her white skirt half-covered them, revealing and yet hiding, more capable of expressing the moving grace of a woman than any language or glance.

Qie Lan took the last step on the sandalwood floor with a rich, light fragrance. The zither sound stopped leisurely, not a beat off. The lingering sound circled the beams and did not dissipate. She slowly raised her eyes and saw the person from behind the crystal curtain.

He was also in white, sitting quietly beside the ancient zither. The jade curtains hung low, and deep and shallow light and shadows fell on his face, making his features unclear.

Qie Lan bowed, her dark hair swaying gently by her neck with that low, graceful movement. "The Jiu Yi tribe's sinful woman, Qie Lan, pays her respects to the King."

A sigh came from behind the curtain. "Eight hundred years ago, the Baidi played the zither to create a melody, and the Mysterious Goddess Ruyi danced and sang. The two ended their love with this melody; the Mysterious Goddess flew to heaven and became an immortal, and the Baidi entered the world, and thus the human world began. Has the Princess ever heard this legend?"

Qie Lan replied submissively, "The sinful woman has heard it. The Baidi Wukui opened heaven and earth, established the Nine Domains, taught the common people, and coordinated Yin and Yang. He was an ancient sage and the master of the human world. And that Ruyi was originally the Saintess of the Netherworld. Because she felt the Baidi's love, she was willing to mend the sky with her own body, saving the common people from catastrophe. Her essence and soul turned into nine-colored spirit stones, scattered in the human world—these are the Nine-Turn Linglong Stones. The Baidi bestowed the nine spirit stones upon the nine tribes, sharing the world together. Later, he ascended to the peak of Jingyun Mountain and played this melody again. A hundred birds flew together, colorful clouds swirled, and when the melody ended, he feathered into an immortal, and this melody became a unique sound in the world. Before the Baidi left, he abdicated to the sage Zichu, and the nine tribes assisted him. The eight hundred years that followed were the Yong Dynasty."

The person seemed to smile and continued, "In my spare time recently, I flipped through the remaining scores in the palace, followed the strings and laws, and supplemented them into eighty-one major keys and thirty-six equal tones, finally playing this melody. It's just that the melody is finished, but the dance is hard to repeat, which is inevitably a slight regret. What a pity!"

Qie Lan was silent for a very short moment, then said softly, "Since there is already a melody, the dance is not difficult."

"Oh?" The jade curtain refracted the light and rippled, sweeping past her eyes. "I forgot, Jiu Yi tribe women are good at singing and dancing, unrivaled in the world."

Qie Lan raised her head slightly, her eyes rippling, autumn water full of emotion. With just one glance, it was soul-snaringly beautiful.

"I am willing to dance for the King."

Two or three zither notes trembled low across the strings. The woman in white clothes and black hair stood on one foot with her palms together, her bright eyes lowered quietly, looking like a lotus saintess, solemn and dignified.

The clear sound was like flowing water, her slender fingers were as beautiful as orchids, and her long, soft sleeves emerged like clouds from a mountain, swirling and falling rapidly around her body. Her feathered clothes and white gauze flew and spun, the jade person stepped to the song, dancing gracefully. Every turn, every light return, perfectly matched the notes between the strings. One person produced jade under her fingers, and the other flew flowers under her sleeves.

Seven-Silk Ice Strings, splashing pearls and shaking jade, startling the swimming dragon.

Nine Heavens Flying Immortal, floating in the air, clouds born from the movement.

Slanting the skirt, half-raising the sleeve, the willow-waist bent lightly with no strength; gathering the moth-brows, glancing back lightly, gazing at the King with affection.

Qie Lan tapped her toes, and her graceful figure suddenly spun like flying snow in the wind, spinning lighter and faster. Layers of sleeves bloomed like wonderful lotuses, and her head of beautiful hair also flew freely.

Moonlight, zither sound, bright light, flower branches, light gauze, charming shadows—all intertwined with this stunning dance to become a dazzling light. Suddenly, the spinning person leaped into the air, and without warning, turned into a beam of white light, carrying a short, sharp whistle, piercing through the jade curtain!

Just in this flash of lightning, the jade curtain rose without wind, flying out, and the jade hairpin, turned into a deadly weapon, was blocked head-on.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 15 =====