This Sleep Might Last a Lifetime

At noon on the sixth day of the New Year.

In the courtyard of Shiqiao Village, two sisters sat down to eat.

Perhaps because Xiao Mo had left and only the two sisters remained, the meal felt a little lonely.

In the past, Bai Ruxue had often come up with new dishes, mindful that Xiao Mo was tired from studying.

But after Xiao Mo left, the sisters ate more simply, usually just one meat dish and one vegetable dish.

"Big sister, let me wash the dishes," Xiao Qing said after lunch.

"It's all right. I'll do it. It's not like I have anything else to do." Bai Ruxue smiled and shook her head, then carried the bowls into the kitchen.

Before long, the sound of a bowl breaking came from inside.

Xiao Qing hurried in.

The earthen bowl lay shattered across the floor, and her big sister was braced against the counter, looking ready to collapse at any moment.

"Big sister, are you all right?" Xiao Qing asked, supporting her, her eyes full of worry.

"I'm fine." Bai Ruxue shook her head.

"Big sister, you don't look fine at all." Xiao Qing sighed. "Let me handle this. Go sit down for a while."

Bai Ruxue tried to clean up the broken bowl herself, but Xiao Qing led her outside and made her sit in the courtyard.

When Xiao Qing finished cleaning and came out of the kitchen, she saw her big sister sitting in the courtyard, staring down the path leading to the gate.

Lately, whenever her big sister had a spare moment, she would sit on the courtyard's stone bench and gaze into the distance, just as she had last time.

But back then, Big Brother Xiao had only been gone for two or three days.

This time, he wouldn't be back until April at the earliest.

Xiao Qing watched her big sister's head nodding, her eyelids already halfway shut, as if she might fall asleep at any moment.

But whenever her big sister began to drift off, she would jolt awake, shake her head, and keep staring down the path.

Xiao Qing walked over, crouched beside her, and took her little hand. "Big sister, go get some sleep. Big Brother Xiao won't be back until spring. You'll be awake by then."

Bai Ruxue smiled. "Xiao Qing, I want to wait a little longer. Besides, I feel like this winter hibernation might be different."

"How would it be different?" Xiao Qing asked, puzzled.

Bai Ruxue shook her head. "I'm not sure either. I just feel like I'll sleep for a very, very long time this winter. I don't know when I'll wake up."

"Oh, big sister, you're overthinking it. How long can we snakes sleep? You'll be up by May at the latest." Xiao Qing tried to reassure her.

But Bai Ruxue only smiled gently. "It's fine. I can manage one winter without sleeping. But Xiao Qing, you should hibernate. You've been awfully sleepy lately too."

"But you haven't slept, big sister—"

"I'm waiting for him to come back."

"Big sister!" Xiao Qing had nothing more to say.

Over the next few days, Bai Ruxue sat in the courtyard every day after finishing the housework.

Xiao Qing could see that her big sister was getting sleepier and sleepier.

But she still refused to hibernate.

By the tenth day of the month, her big sister was so afraid that she would fall asleep and begin hibernating that she simply stopped sleeping at night.

Bai Ruxue wouldn't sleep, and Xiao Qing couldn't bear to leave her alone, so she forced herself to stay awake too.

One day, while Bai Ruxue was out washing clothes, a woman dressed in Daoist robes appeared outside the courtyard.

"May I ask who you're looking for, Daoist Priest?" Xiao Qing watched the woman warily, afraid that their identities would be exposed and that she had come to exterminate demons.

Fuchen smiled. "There's no need to be so nervous, young lady. I know Miss Bai and Young Master Xiao. I've come to see her about something. Is Miss Bai here? And since it's already deep winter, you still haven't hibernated?"

"!"

As Fuchen finished speaking, Xiao Qing's heart jolted. Her eyes instantly turned green and slit-pupiled as she prepared to strike first!

Fuchen merely raised a fingertip. A wisp of Spiritual Energy shot into Xiao Qing's brow.

In an instant, Xiao Qing found she couldn't move.

"What are you trying to do?" Fear rose in Xiao Qing's heart, but she didn't back down in the slightest.

"This humble Daoist is Fuchen, from Tian Xuan Sect. I mean no harm. I came once before, hoping to take Miss Bai as my disciple, but she refused. I knew the fated time hadn't come and didn't press her. If you don't believe me, you can ask Miss Bai yourself when she returns."

As she spoke, Fuchen flicked her jade-white finger again, sending another flash of light into Xiao Qing's brow.

The immobilization spell lifted.

Xiao Qing still looked wary as she studied the Daoist Priest before her, but she thought the woman likely meant no harm. With her cultivation, she could do whatever she wanted to Xiao Qing and her big sister. There was no need for her to waste time explaining herself.

"What do you want with my big sister?" Xiao Qing asked.

"A few days ago, I felt a sudden stirring in my heart and happened to cast a divination. I learned that Miss Bai's cultivation had reached the necessary level. She needs to enter closed-door cultivation and transform from a python into a serpent. Once she emerges, she can enter the water and begin her flood-dragon trial.

"But Miss Bai's Life Fire is strange. It seems she's been reluctant to hibernate for a long time. I came to ask why. Is there something troubling her?" Fuchen asked.

Xiao Qing glanced at the Daoist Priest and bit her lip. "Big Brother Xiao went to the capital. He can't come back until after the Metropolitan Examination and the Imperial Examination. My big sister is waiting for him. She says if she hibernates, she might never wake up, so she keeps refusing to do it."

"I see." Fuchen nodded. "Then this is Miss Bai's tribulation."

"Daoist Priest, what do you mean by tribulation?" Xiao Qing asked anxiously.

How could her big sister be facing a tribulation?

Fuchen explained, "Once a snake's cultivation reaches the right level, it transforms from a python into a serpent and undergoes a metamorphosis. Its body grows larger and tougher in preparation for becoming a flood dragon. The entire process takes several years.

"If your big sister doesn't sleep, she can't shed her skin and transform. Her body can no longer withstand the bloodline within her gradually returning to its ancestral form, let alone her current cultivation.

"So if she still refuses to hibernate, she won't just damage the foundation of her Dao. Her life may even be in danger."

Hearing this, Xiao Qing snapped angrily, "You Daoist Priest, you're talking nonsense!"

Fuchen wasn't offended. "I'm not. Tell me, has Miss Bai's complexion been growing paler lately, like a thin sheet of paper?"

Thinking of her big sister's appearance these past few days, Xiao Qing's mouth fell open and her eyes trembled. She lowered her head and murmured to herself, "Th-then what should we do?"

"It is fate. It is destiny."

Fuchen sighed and took out a pill.

"If you trust me, have your big sister take this pill. She'll fall asleep and transform into a serpent."

"But Xiao Qing, you surely understand your big sister's fixation."

"Because this sleep might last a lifetime."

"Your big sister may never see him again..."