Chapter 635

Since ancient times, the Spirit Realm has been like a bird flashing across the sky; when you look up, you can no longer see any trace of it, as if it were merely an illusion, but the shadow it cast just now had indeed flashed across his eyelids.

Legends in the palace are just like this. The maids and eunuchs have no cultivation and cannot see that magical, magnificent world, but traces will spread on their own within the collective consciousness of the crowd, merging with their needs to evolve into versions passed down by word of mouth.

Last time, Meng'er told him that legend had it Wei Qingju left a secret passage for the palace servants, and that was how Pei Ye had thought of it.

The little maid didn't realize how much the Ming Ming Niangniang was struggling to save herself at that time.

But he didn't need to argue about such things, because the young girl looked full of interest. Although he had only been here for a few days, Pei Ye already understood that being able to have something you like to do in this palace was truly precious.

Moreover, the Spirit Realm did indeed exist.

Once he killed Yu Sicheng, or at some juncture when things had settled down, there might be a way to take her to a place like the Phantom Tower to have a look, fulfilling the dream she had worked so hard to pursue by climbing over walls.

But "washing away Qilin blood" was not it.

From any angle, this was just a dream, a boundless dream shared by the young girl who lost her mother because of her awakened Qilin blood and her maid with the severed limb.

Not to mention whether such a method existed in the world, even if it did, it was not something a maid could obtain through the hardship of chiseling ice.

"And then, once we find it, the master and I will explain it clearly to the Ming Ming Niangniang." After a quiet moment, Meng'er said, "Tell her we don't have Qilin blood, and she won't oppose it anymore, and will let us leave the palace... Prince Yongji also said that regardless of whether the master has Qilin blood, he will marry her."

Pei Ye did not answer. Meng'er took a deep breath, held her face, struggled to lift her body, and left, sincerely thanking the two before she went.

Pei Ye watched her leave. By now, the night had completely fallen, and the cold, chilly wind blew through his clothes, carrying the faint fragrance of flowers from the Qiongju Garden in the east.

Pei Ye had never paid much attention to this marriage. Who Yongji married had little to do with the current situation, but with just a little thought, he could see seven or eight parts of it. Of course, this Prince of Yan was willing to marry a true descendant, but besides him, who else would be willing?

The big figures who could decide things all had their own considerations in this matter. The Ming Ming Niangniang represented the interests of the Five Clans, and of course, she would not let the Qilin blood flow out.

Was there any power in the imperial court? Besides the Five Clans, there was the newly emerged Yuan Party.

And... Pei Ye glanced at the red-clad figure beside him. She, too, would not let the Prince of Yan's desire to facilitate this matter succeed; that was their most direct enemy right now.

Li Xizhou watched her go for even longer than he did. When she turned back, Pei Ye thought she was going to say a few words to thaw the atmosphere, but she only looked at Pei Ye in silence for a while, as if swallowing some words back into her mask, then with a flick of her skirt, she turned and walked ahead.

At night, Pei Ye was still cutting purple bamboo in the Mind-Spirit Realm, chatting with the little cat about the case. This was almost the content of their nights for the past few days.

When information accumulates to a certain limit, connecting them is often effortless for the young man. Even though he never claimed it, he was accustomed to hiding many deductions and guesses in his belly, but he indeed possessed a keenness and insight that surpassed ordinary people, especially with the blessing of 【Zhunshou】. If his confidence in being the "second sword" was a joke, then a clear and calm mind was certainly a truly hidden sword that went unnoticed by others.

Although he had only been there once, he felt his deductions about the Mirage Realm and the Luoshen Palace were not far off. What truly left him without a clue was the other matter he mentioned to Li Xizhou today—he was certain that in order to enter the Luoshen Palace, Yu Sicheng had to rewrite his own body, but how was this to be done?

The Merfolk and the 【Green Wind Envoy】 were both unable to enter before the Hanging Current; "rewriting" could not use them as targets.

But where could Yu Sicheng find a creature that could enter? Perhaps only the Luoshen Wood Peach.

But there was actually a problem here: the method of implanting the Luoshen Wood Peach into the body did not work.

He didn't know why it didn't work, but Pei Ye had seen it with his own eyes. Yu Sicheng had long since obtained the Luoshen Wood Peach, but during their exchange at the Hanging Current, he had shown no excessive adaptation or agility.

He still had to rely on those yellow pupils to see.

Pei Ye felt it was highly likely because Wei Qingju had already seen through the methods of the 【Green Wind Envoy】 before she died.

You cannot expect to invade her Luoshen Palace again using the same method that assassinated her. Pei Ye felt that if he were Wei Qingju, who controlled the Water Realm, the action taken would be very simple.

In the past, the Mirage Realm only allowed humans it accepted to enter temporarily, but many water demons and scaled clans lived and wandered here daily. Humans who rewrote themselves into their flesh and blood naturally deceived the boundary markers.

Then, simply banning all scaled demon creatures would suffice.

Not to mention certain half-human, half-scaled beings, who were even less permitted to step half a step into the Hanging Current.

In this way, the Luoshen Palace naturally became "avoided by water spirits."

Even if you opened the door and ate any number of Luoshen Wood Peaches, you would not gain the qualification to roam within.

Pei Ye was long puzzled by this matter. He told Li Xizhou that entering the Luoshen Palace was divided into two steps: "putting on clothes" and "opening the door," but it seemed Yu Sicheng had no possibility of completing either step.

He tilted his head to look at the black cat, but the black cat couldn't give him any inspiration either.

"Don't stop your hands," it only said.

The next morning, when Pei Ye opened his eyes, his mind was still delving into this matter. He ate and washed absentmindedly, and then Qu Xin removed the bandages. The terrifying wounds from the previous days had already turned into a few shallow pink marks.

"You can go and bring back new ones again," the cold young girl said.

Pei Ye rolled his eyes slightly at her. He had to wait until he obtained the Qilin Fire before seeking a chance to go to war with Yu Sicheng; the truly expected time point was after producing a piece of the 【Great Edict】.

Judging from yesterday's deductions, both of these matters were chasms for Yu Sicheng. Before there was any wind of it, he would not be too impatient.

The more stable he was for a day, the more information he could obtain.

He sat up and put on clean new clothes. Tonight was the agreed-upon private imperial banquet. He tilted his head to look at the young girl washing her hands: "Are you going or not?"

"Not going, I have to take care of the patient."

"You might meet new patients at the banquet," Pei Ye said casually.

"Who are you talking about?"

"I don't know, but it's inevitable, isn't it? I'll keep an eye out for you; the princes and princesses must all be very wealthy."

"A physician of Mount Taishan does not accept high salaries," Qu Xin said flatly.

Pei Ye's hand, which was buttoning his clothes, paused. He frowned at her: "When I asked you a question while treating my wounds before, you either pretended not to hear or scolded me; I didn't even dare to talk to you much. These past two days, whenever Li Xizhou is present, you can answer one question with ten, and your answers are so analytical. If you weren't looking to do imperial business, how could you be so patient with me?"

"... How can you think of me like that?" Qu Xin said blandly. "I am going to do imperial business, but I am also sincerely good to you. I am a founding member of the Pei Ye Fan Club—"

Pei Ye raised his palm to stop her and put on his outer robe: "Then there's no one else in this palace, why are you spouting 'not accepting high salaries'?"

"That's not a lie."

"That's not a lie? If you don't accept high salaries, why did you extort so much silver from me before?"

"You are a Seventh Life cultivator, one of the top experts in the world's pulse realms. Saving your life only cost twenty-three taels of silver; is that high?"

"..." Pei Ye was silent for a while and said earnestly, "That doesn't mean you don't want to accept high salaries; it's just that I'm poor."

Qu Xin's hands paused, and for the first time, her apricot eyes widened slightly. Pei Ye lowered his head to put on his boots and strode out.

Although it was a small private banquet, it was clear that the palace hadn't held an event in a long time, or perhaps the Qilin bloods were just high-spec whenever they gathered. Pei Ye walked out of the Zhu Jingdian and saw from afar many rows of palace servants coming and going by Taiye Pond, making the palace seem a bit more lively.

He leaned on the railing as usual, thinking about things. After about a moment, his ears suddenly moved, and he turned his head subconsciously, slightly stunned.

Outside the Zhu Jingdian, under the tree by the Zhu Chi, a small figure in a red padded jacket was holding a broken little fishing rod, looking at him. She didn't speak, just wiping her tears and sobbing with a hitch.

Pei Ye subconsciously pushed himself off the railing, reached out, and walked over quickly: "... Wuyan, why are you here? What's wrong?"

Her little fleshy hands rubbed her red-rimmed eyes, her bangs stuck to the corners of her eyes, and the wind made her face flush with a cold red. Seeing him come over, the tears she had been holding back began to fall in large drops.

"What's wrong, what's wrong?" Pei Ye cupped her little face. "Don't cry,"

"Pei, Brother Pei, I've been looking for you for several days... I couldn't find you... I thought you had left..." Li Wuyan choked, wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and handed him the little fishing rod in her arms. "The fishing rod you made for me also broke... I can't... I can't fish anymore..."

At the mention of her sorrow, she couldn't wipe her eyes clean, so she threw herself into the young man's arms and began to cry.

"..." Pei Ye didn't understand for a moment whether she was reluctant to part with him or afraid she couldn't fish. By rights, he had only played with her for three to five days.

He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her head: "Didn't I tell you I had things to do these past few days? I taught you, you can fish by yourself. If the rod is broken, just have someone fix it for you."

However, Li Wuyan just shook her head while buried in his arms, unable to say anything. After a long while, her sobbing eased, and she said muffledly: "Brother Pei, you, you fix the little fishing rod."

"Alright." Pei Ye pulled his hand out to take a look. Actually, the tip where the string was tied had snapped. He had made this little fishing rod very simply, and it couldn't be broken in any complex way.

"Let's go, let's find some bamboo. I'll fix it for you in half a quarter of an hour." Pei Ye stood up, holding her.

"Then, then can we go fishing?" Li Wuyan whispered into his neck.

"..." Pei Ye paused. "Sure, in a while I'll take mine, and we can fish in any pond we find."

"Hmm, okay." However, the little girl didn't have the wide-eyed excitement she had before, only responding with a small sound.

Pei Ye took her to choose a small bamboo she liked, roasted it into a beautiful arc, and then replaced the fishing line. After finishing this, when he let Li Wuyan hold the little fishing rod in her arms again, the sporadic sobbing finally stopped.

The two returned to Zhu Chi. When Pei Ye chiseled open the ice and lowered the two fishing lines again, the little face the size of a palm finally broke into a giggle again.

"Did you break the fishing rod because you were fishing every day these past few days? Did you catch anything?"

"Yesterday... the day before yesterday I caught a little fish. I wanted to show you, but you weren't there."

"That's amazing!"

"Hmm."

A child cannot hide things on her face. She looked at the fishing line and swung her little boots happily for a while, but not knowing what she remembered, her brows drooped again. She turned her head and whispered to Pei Ye: "Brother Pei, do you think I can not participate in the Qilin blood test?"

"... Why? Why don't you want to?"

"Because, because..." Li Wuyan lowered her head, unable to say why for a long time, and finally said aggrievedly, "Anyway, the instructor told my mother that after the Qilin blood test, they are going to, going to take away my little fishing rod..."

At this point, she was very sad and raised her hand to wipe her tears again.

"And, and I thought you had left..."

Pei Ye hurriedly helped her wipe away the tear stains and comforted her: "It's okay, you can discuss it with the instructor. As long as you finish your lessons well, they will definitely allow you to fish."

Li Wuyan just shook her head: "No, they just won't allow it. Also, also Sister Bijun told me that if I don't do well in the Qilin blood test... many people won't talk to me anymore."

"..."

"Actually, actually, no one talked to me in the first place, but I'm afraid you won't talk to me either... And I can't find you, and Sister Chang..."

"How could I not talk to you?" Pei Ye butted his head against hers like an old ox until she giggled again, then straightened up and said, "And I've already taught you how to fish, so you can fish by yourself in the future."

"..." Li Wuyan looked blank for a moment, but just lowered her head and shook it.

After a long while, she looked at the line and said: "Brother Pei, I feel my line is really too short. I really want to catch a big fish."

"It's not short."

Li Wuyan puffed out her cheeks and watched the fishing line quietly again.

Perhaps it was still too difficult for a six-year-old child to understand the changes beyond herself. Fishing with Brother Pei these past few days was probably the happiest thing, so saying goodbye to this happiness after the Qilin blood test in a few days was the most painful thing.