Qiu Yingling came looking for her while Mei Man was discussing how to prepare the Calming Powder with Chai Qun.
At first, he had been praising her. “Xiaoman, how are you so clever? I never would have thought of using dragon-bone powder to enhance the medicine’s effects.”
She couldn’t help feeling a little pleased with herself.
Of course she was clever. It had taken her three whole nights to come up with this method.
But she didn’t let it show. She merely said, “It’s nothing special. It wasn’t that difficult to think of. As long as it gets past the immortal master, that’s all that matters.”
But the moment Qiu Yingling arrived, Chai Qun’s attention was drawn away.
Her little bit of cleverness instantly became insignificant. Qiu Yingling hadn’t even done anything, yet he had already earned Chai Qun’s admiring gaze.
“Senior Brother Qiu!” Chai Qun hurriedly rose to his feet. “What brings you to the outer sect courtyard? Are you looking for the immortal master? He’s gone out and probably won’t be back until this afternoon. Please, sit down. I’ll fetch some tea.”
Mei Man watched as the friend who had been diligently studying with her only moments ago turned around and began fawning over someone with his head bowed and a servile smile. She felt deeply uncomfortable.
Still, the person he was flattering was Qiu Yingling—the Qiu family’s Eldest Young Master, the Sword Venerable of the Tianyan Immortal Estate’s personal disciple.
He was also, in a way, one of her employers, and often paid her handsomely.
So she could only suppress her displeasure and, like Chai Qun, call out, “Senior Brother Qiu.”
Qiu Yingling said first, “No need. I don’t drink tea.”
He didn’t even look at Chai Qun, yet the boy acted as though he had just received the most precious gift in the world. He nearly began dancing for joy, his face practically glowing red with excitement.
What a loser.
Mei Man grumbled inwardly, and her mood worsened.
They were both human beings, so why did Chai Qun have to curry favor with him like that?
She couldn’t explain where that unpleasant feeling had come from. In the end, she couldn’t stop herself from letting her face fall—not because her friend had ignored her, but because of his inexplicable eagerness to please.
“Manman.” Qiu Yingling suddenly called out to her.
The sound made Chai Qun freeze. He looked at Qiu Yingling, then at Mei Man, seemingly trying to figure out how this insignificant mortal from the outer sect courtyard had managed to have any connection with an impressive senior brother whom he normally couldn’t even hope to meet.
But in Mei Man’s eyes, Chai Qun’s behavior just now had already amounted to weakness and groveling.
So she had no intention of paying attention to him, much less explaining anything.
Keeping her head lowered, she said, “What can I do for you, Senior Brother Qiu?”
Qiu Yingling’s soft laugh drifted down from above her head. “When did you make a new friend? Why didn’t you tell us?”
Mei Man found that amusing. If she had to tell them everything, wouldn’t they turn into walking diaries?
She said, “Not long ago. We happened to sit together.”
“I see.” Qiu Yingling then asked Chai Qun, “I haven’t met this junior brother before. You are…”
Chai Qun, who had been standing there in a daze, came back to life once more. Perhaps he was thinking that this senior brother really was as gentle and considerate as the rumors claimed, even taking the time to care about an unknown nobody like him.
He immediately answered excitedly, “Senior Brother Qiu, my name is Chai Qun. I’m from the Chai family of the Eastern Region!”
“Mm.” Qiu Yingling smiled as he asked, “How did you end up in the outer sect courtyard?”
“Ah, well, it’s because… because my spiritual root isn’t very good, so I failed to enter the inner sect.” Chai Qun rubbed the back of his head and gave an awkward laugh. “I’ve made a fool of myself before you, Senior Brother.”
Mei Man curled her lip disdainfully.
He was actually explaining himself. He didn’t even realize he was being looked down on.
Qiu Yingling let out a quiet sigh. “A poor spiritual root and dull talent. It truly can’t be helped.”
That fool still failed to realize that Qiu Yingling was mocking him. Instead, he took it as a sincere and reassuring consolation and hurriedly promised, “I’ll work harder at cultivation!”
But Qiu Yingling had already turned his gaze toward Mei Man. “Manman, let’s go.”
Mei Man lifted her head to look at him.
His face really was beautiful—elegant and refined, with a tall, graceful figure.
His foxlike eyes held a smile, his vermilion lips curved ever so slightly, and his brows and features were relaxed. His teeth were as white as carved silver.
With a sword hanging at his waist, he possessed an unmistakably otherworldly air.
She knew that he was far from as refined and graceful as he appeared. Unlike Chai Qun, she did not worship him. Instead, she asked directly, “Could you wait a little longer? I haven’t finished preparing the medicine.”
Qiu Yingling glanced at the medicinal ingredients on the table. His expression was casual, but his gaze was so empty that it was as though he were looking at a pile of useless, obstructive ash.
“I have something important to do,” he said, leaving no room for further discussion.
Sigh. This was what it was like to work for money. Fortunately, the Qiu household paid her generously. You got what you paid for, after all.
“I understand.” She lowered her head and walked outside.
“Wait.”
Qiu Yingling stopped her and took something out of his sleeve. “As it happens, I obtained a piece of dragon bone a few days ago. Since you’re preparing medicine, you ought to put some real effort into it.”
Chai Qun was the first to cry out in astonishment. Stammering, he said, “Senior Brother, this—this, this, this! Isn’t it too precious?”
Mei Man stopped and glanced at the dragon bone.
Even someone who knew nothing about such things could tell how valuable it was.
Its material resembled jade, polished until it was crystal clear and smooth. A faint auspicious glow even seemed to linger over its surface.
And not long ago, she had been smugly congratulating herself for finding a small amount of dragon-bone powder mixed with ordinary beast-bone powder at a bargain price in the old market.
She had no desire to look at it any longer and said, “Thank you, Senior Brother, but this Calming Powder is meant to be given to the immortal master. We don’t need to use something this fine.”
“Take it,” Qiu Yingling said. “It’s merely something I have lying around. There’s no use in keeping it.”
Mei Man stared at the dragon bone, her heart sour with envy.
It must be wonderful to have more money than you could ever spend. A treasure like this could simply be left unused. When would she ever be able to live like that?
Unlike her, no matter how many treasures she received from the Qiu household, she had to sell every one of them for money. She couldn’t even bear to let a speck of gold dust fall away.
That fool Chai Qun looked as if he had just seen some earth-shattering treasure. His eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets.
He was so excited that he kept repeating, “Good heavens! This is far too precious, Senior Brother! It must be worth a fortune, right? You can’t even buy something like this in the spirit market, and you’re just giving it to us? If we use this dragon bone, we can definitely make the finest Calming Powder. Good heavens, I can’t even imagine what the immortal master will say. Thank you, Senior Brother! Thank you, thank you!”
Mei Man shot him a sidelong glance.
“…”
Qiu Yingling was giving them a piece of dragon bone, not saving his life. Did he really have to exaggerate so much? Besides, no matter how good this dragon bone was, it might not even be needed.
Qiu Yingling ignored him and simply called, “Manman.”
He only said her name, without any unnecessary words, still wearing that same gentle, smiling expression.
But Mei Man knew that his patience was nearly exhausted.
She had always been conscientious about her work, so she said no more and followed him out.
As for Chai Qun, she was somewhat annoyed with him at the moment. She was irritated by his pathetic flattery, and she certainly had no interest in caring about his reaction or expression. She only felt that the silence behind her was unusually profound.
Qiu Yingling had come looking for her because he wanted her to deliver something for him.
“This is a Spirit-Nourishing Great Supplement Pill. Help me deliver it to someone.” Qiu Yingling handed her a bottle.
Mei Man had no idea what a Spirit-Nourishing Great Supplement Pill was. She only thought the bottle was beautiful—spotlessly white and smooth to the touch, with a stopper made from fine wood.
She ran her fingers over it, unable to part with it.
Spring had only just arrived, and little flowers were beginning to bloom one after another on the mountain. They were small and delicate. This bottle would be perfect for holding a few of them.
She could already picture how lovely it would look filled with spring flowers, and she couldn’t help asking, “If that person takes the medicine but doesn’t want the bottle, do I have to bring it back?”
Qiu Yingling clearly hadn’t expected her to ask that. He paused for a moment, then smiled. “No need.”
That made her a little less resistant to the errand. She asked him, “Eldest Young Master, who is it for?”
Eldest Young Master.
She had called him that ever since she was ten.
Mei Man was born into the Mei family, an obscure little clan where those gifted with spiritual roots were few and far between.
She had no spiritual roots and was merely an ordinary mortal, so no one paid her much attention. She simply endured each day as it came.
The Eldest Young Master, however, belonged to the Qiu clan, a lineage renowned throughout the cultivation world. Geniuses were a dime a dozen among them.
By rights, neither she nor the entire Mei family had any connection whatsoever with a clan like that. Even the oldest and most powerful ancestor of the Mei family would never have been allowed through the Qiu clan’s gates.
Yet when she was ten, she rescued the Qiu family’s Second Young Master from drowning.
Even after losing consciousness, the Second Young Master refused to let go of her hand. From then on, she was sent to the Qiu family to serve as a companion to the three young masters and young miss.
The Mei family regarded the position as a great honor. On the day she left, even their old ancestor, already half in the grave, had forced himself to come and see her off.
But she had not been happy.
At the time, Mei Man’s mind was still muddled and hopelessly childish. She saw the sky as merely the sky and water as merely water. She knew only that she felt terrible, though she could not explain why.
That feeling tormented her for years before she gradually came to understand it: this so-called honor was, to her, a humiliation.
A tremendous humiliation.
It was as though the Mei family did not regard her as one of their own, but as an object that could be exchanged for benefits—something to be kicked away once it had served its purpose.
Thus, no matter how well she was treated in the Qiu household, it was difficult to ease that feeling.
The emotion persisted until this year, when the Young Miss was accepted into Tianyan Immortal Academy.
Tianyan Immortal Academy was the greatest institution of cultivation in the entire cultivation world. She had heard that only the most outstanding cultivators had any chance of being admitted.
The two young masters had come to the academy years ago. The Young Miss was younger and in poor health, which was why she had arrived several years later.
Once she left, Mei Man would no longer have an employer, and by rights, she should have returned home.
Unexpectedly, however, the Young Miss wanted to bring her along to the academy.
That was when Mei Man learned that even an ordinary mortal like her could cultivate at the Outer Academy alongside wealthy cultivators of mediocre aptitude—so long as someone recommended her and she paid the required fees.
She had been at the academy for only a month, and during that time, the Young Miss and the two young masters had barely had any free time to attend to her.
For one thing, the Young Miss had too much to learn as a new arrival, while the two young masters often went down the mountain, sometimes for several days at a time. For another, the rules were strict: a barrier separated the Outer Academy from the Inner Academy, and disciples were not permitted to travel freely between them.
This had made her life much more peaceful. Even the dark emotions that had tormented her for so long seemed to have eased.
But recently, they had begun looking for her again, reminding her of the Mei family—people she had not had contact with in years.
Little by little, she realized that those feelings had never truly disappeared. They had merely numbed her, waiting until she lowered her guard before surging back with even greater force.
Now, Mei Man was irritated once more. She only hoped that Qiu Yingling would not make things too difficult for her at a time like this, forcing her to cross mountains merely to deliver a single pill.
And the person Qiu Yingling wanted her to give the gift to was someone she had never expected.
He said, “Among this batch of new disciples, there is a cultivator named Xie Xu. Give this pill to him.”
Xie Xu?
Mei Man was stunned. Her heart sank, and what leapt into her mind was not a face, but a pair of eyes.
Dark and somber, they had watched her in silence all that time.
“Which Xie Xu?” she asked urgently. “There isn’t a disciple named Xie Xu among the twenty-odd people who have newly entered the sect.”
Qiu Yingling said, “He is currently working in the Servants’ Court, so he cannot yet be considered a true disciple of the academy.”
“What is his background?” she pressed.
That single question was enough for Qiu Yingling to notice something odd.
He smiled. “You’re interrogating me rather closely. Could it be that someone you know also happens to share his name?”
“No,” Mei Man said. “I was merely curious. Why would the Eldest Young Master give medicine to a servant from the Servants’ Court?”
She denied it so quickly that she seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with the name Xie Xu.
But the truth was precisely the opposite.
The Old Flame she had kicked out of her life several months ago was also named Xie Xu.
