Refining the Transverse Throat Bone

Since Chu Zhe had fallen into a tribulation of love, Yu Rong and Sect Master Li Xiangyan decided to resolve it as soon as possible. The original plan of waiting until Bai Yujun refined her transverse throat bone and could speak before descending the mountain was changed. Chu Zhe would lead Qingxu Palace's three little brats to Chang'an to celebrate the Tang Emperor's birthday. Chunyang Palace was the Nation-Guarding Divine Sect of the Li Tang Imperial Family, so it was only proper to offer birthday congratulations to the Tang Emperor. Sending the next sect master in person gave the imperial court plenty of face.

The two great powers considered that this would give Chu Zhe and Xu Ling a chance to interact, so they specifically ordered them to travel all the way there rather than fly on swords. Chu Zhe found the assignment hard to understand.

Xu Ling was so happy her eyes glittered with little stars. Yang Mu remained as aloof and expressionless as ever. The White Snake really did not want to go. How nice it was staying in the sect—there were Failed Pills and Medicinal Dregs to eat, and she could secretly learn from others. But... Chang'an was surely more fun.

The four of them swayed their way out through the gates of Chunyang Mountain.

Xu Ling chattered away beside Chu Zhe. Yang Mu had somehow gotten hold of a book written by some disciple and was reading it. Bai Yujun glanced sideways and clearly saw the title: On Matters Requiring Attention When Traveling Down the Mountain.

When they passed through a town, Bai Yujun copied Yang Mu and bought several books as well, reading while refining her transverse throat bone.

The four ambled along the road. Three wore Chunyang Daoist Robes and carried Sword Boxes on their backs, while Bai Yujun wore a white dress. Along the way, countless people cast sidelong glances at them and respectfully stepped aside. It was clear just how lofty Chunyang Palace's status was in the Tang Kingdom. There had once been people who impersonated Chunyang Disciples to swindle others and commit all manner of evil, but their endings had been miserable. Chunyang Palace swept them away with thunderous methods, like autumn wind scattering fallen leaves. As Chunyang Disciples traveled the world, common folk gradually came to understand Chunyang's sect rules: anyone who acted recklessly and committed evil would be treated as an impersonator.

Chu Zhe was delighted to be traveling with Bai Yujun. Yet the beauty neither spoke nor paid attention to anything but her books. He wanted to go over and strike up a conversation, but felt somewhat embarrassed, so he could only chat idly with Xu Ling.

"Why had I never seen Junior Sister Bai before?"

"Junior Sister Bai? Oh, you mean Big White. You rarely come to Qingxu Palace and spend every day in secluded cultivation, so of course you haven't seen her. My master brought her back from the mountains."

Xu Ling was the type to answer every question asked by the man of her dreams.

"Was her home very far away?"

"Very far. In the Hundred Thousand Mountains. It's been more than five years already."

Chu Zhe was puzzled. Five years was enough time for him to get to know everyone in Chunyang Palace, yet he had never once seen Bai Yujun.

"Why hadn't Martial Aunt Yu accepted her as a disciple?"

"That's perfectly normal. Yujun is a demon, so naturally my master wouldn't violate the sect rules by accepting a demon as her disciple, even though she really wanted to. Still, I think it doesn't really matter. A good demon can certainly be accepted. Who can say that humans are necessarily good? There are plenty of Chunyang Palace disciples who betrayed the sect."

Xu Ling was still rambling on when she turned around and discovered that her senior brother had vanished. Looking back, she saw him standing there in a daze, completely motionless for some reason.

"Senior Brother?"

Chu Zhe's eyes were vacant, as though he had been struck by lightning.

"A demon?"

"Yes. Yujun is Big White. Oh, right, you don't know who Big White is. Big White is the White Snake my master brought back from the Hundred Thousand Mountains. She only successfully took human form not long ago. It was only on the day she transformed that I learned Big White was actually a girl."

"Taking human form... a snake demon..."

In an instant, the image of that pure and lovely girl began swaying unsteadily in Chu Zhe's heart. One moment she was a beauty, the next a White Snake. It felt as though the entire sky had collapsed.

He turned his head just as Bai Yujun and Yang Mu passed by.

Bai Yujun tilted her head, curiously watching the senior brother whose face had gone deathly pale. Could he regret giving away that treasured sword and want it back? It did not matter. If he wanted it, she would return it. Wrapping it in white cloth and carrying it on her back was terribly inconvenient.

Yang Mu, seriously flipping through the travel handbook, gave his senior brother a puzzled look. He did not understand why Chu Zhe kept staring at Big White. Her waist-length hair was indeed beautiful, but there was no need to stare at it nonstop.

"Senior Brother?" Xu Ling waved a hand before Chu Zhe's eyes.

"I'm fine."

Chu Zhe lowered his head and continued on, his face pale and his eyes vacant, his mind filled entirely with the word demon...

Bai Yujun had been busy refining the transverse throat bone. The method was to circulate the demon spirit within her body and continuously strike the bone, grinding it away bit by bit until it vanished. It was not difficult, but it was terribly tedious. She could not use too much force, or she might injure her throat. Too little force had no effect at all. She had not stopped for the past two days, and reckoned she was nearly done.

Night fell.

They found an old Mountain God Temple in the mountains to spend the night. A bonfire was lit in the middle of the room, driving away the dampness and making the Dilapidated Temple much drier.

Yang Mu took out several flatbreads, warmed them over the fire, and handed them to Xu Ling and Chu Zhe. Bai Yujun did not eat that sort of thing. She sat alone in a dark corner of the Dilapidated Temple beyond the reach of the firelight, constantly refining her transverse throat bone. A snake could eat once and go ten days or half a month without food. The reason she sat so far away was that snakes disliked flames; wild beasts in the mountains all disliked flames.

They had deliberately scattered some realgar powder to ward off insects. Snakes disliked realgar, so she could only sit farther away.

The expenditure of spiritual power left her somewhat tired. She took out two Failed Pills and tossed them into her mouth like Candy Beans, swallowing them. Croaks drifted from the ditch outside. Bai Yujun worked hard to restrain herself from going to the ditch and eating those frogs, but the thought of how frogs tasted still made her drool.

With nothing else to do, she could only stare blankly at the moon. Being nearsighted, she could not see it clearly and could only make out its rough outline. The moon in this world was very large.

Sitting at the doorway, she hugged her knees with both arms, rested her chin on them, listened to the frogs croak, and gazed at the moon.

Inside the Dilapidated Temple.

Chu Zhe watched the slender, lonely figure at the door, his heart aching in waves. Especially when he recalled that she was only a snake demon, eating unwanted Failed Pills and sitting far away from the crowd, she seemed so pitiful...

Xu Ling and Yang Mu lay on blankets, sleeping soundly and snoring away. To them, this journey was more like a sightseeing trip. Before long, they had fallen into deep, peaceful sleep.

The bonfire gradually died down until only glowing embers remained. Mountain wind swept through, making the crimson coals flicker bright and dim, illuminating Chu Zhe's cheeks as he sat by the fire in a daze.

The night passed without incident.

At dawn, Bai Yujun went into the mountains and caught four pheasants. Yang Mu plucked and gutted them, then skewered them on Wooden Sticks and roasted them over the fire.

The fragrance spread through the air, making Xu Ling drool.

After breakfast, they set out. As Chu Zhe, walking behind, passed Bai Yujun, he slipped a jade bottle into her hand. Then he walked ahead without a word or a backward glance.

Pills? Bai Yujun gave Chu Zhe a strange look. The jade bottle contained five fine Condensing Spirit Pills. They were not especially high-grade pills, but to Bai Yujun, who had spent years eating Medicinal Dregs and Failed Pills, they were practically abalone and bird's nest soup. She sighed inwardly. As expected of Chunyang Palace's senior brother—anything he casually tossed out was so extraordinary.

She poured out one pill and swallowed it. Her powerful digestive system rapidly digested and absorbed it...

The speed at which she refined the transverse throat bone increased.

With the help of several fine pills, the transverse throat bone grew smaller and smaller. Finally, her throat loosened, as though something that had been lodged in it all along had vanished. The transverse throat bone had finally been refined!

Excited, Bai Yujun immediately opened her mouth to speak.

"Ah... oh... mmph mmph..."

The three people walking ahead turned back, staring in bafflement as Bai Yujun kept clutching at her throat and making muffled sounds, as though she had something to say but could not get the words out.

"Big White, what's wrong?" Xu Ling asked anxiously.

"Mmph mmph... ah..."

Bai Yujun pointed at her throat, making incoherent noises. The transverse throat bone had clearly been refined, so why could she still not speak human words? Could she have used too much power and ruined her throat? That should not be possible. Even if her throat had been injured, spiritual power would heal it. How could she possibly have become mute?