The late-spring breeze carried the fragrance of flowers through the pavilion. Mo Yuzhu leaned against the railing, her fingertips lightly toying with a branch of weeping crabapple blossoms.
She wore a pale-red riding outfit that day, with only a white jade hairpin in her hair. She looked a little less valiant than usual, and a little more serene.
"Why are you so quiet today, Eldest Sister?" Mo Caihuan burst into the pavilion with a sword in her arms. A thin sheen of sweat still covered the fourteen-year-old girl's forehead; she had clearly just finished practicing.
She deliberately set her scabbard down hard on the stone table, making the teacups clatter.
The crabapple branch trembled with it, and a few petals drifted down.
Mo Yuzhu instinctively reached out to catch them-and the petals landed squarely in her palm, without a single one going astray.
"Caihuan, how many times has Second Mother told you? A young lady should be more composed." Mo Feng Wu approached gracefully, carrying a tea tray.
At fifteen, she wore a pale mauve silk skirt and moved like a slender willow swaying in the breeze, utterly unlike her two sisters.
Mo Yuzhu chuckled and placed the petals on the stone table. "Feng Wu is too quiet. That's why those lechers keep pestering her."
"I could hardly compare to you, Eldest Sister." Mo Feng Wu smiled with pursed lips, the beauty mark beside her eye adding to her charm. "I heard Young Master Wu waited outside our residence all day again the day before yesterday?"
Mo Yuzhu shook her head, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the rim of her teacup.
Since she had begun cultivating, her senses had become much sharper. She could clearly see the tiny downy hairs floating in the tea, and could even tell from its fragrance that it was freshly picked Longjing from this year's harvest.
"Let him wait," she said evenly. "I have more important things to do now."
Mo Caihuan's eyes lit up. "Do you mean that cultivation art, Eldest Sister?"
She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Have you really mastered it?"
Sunlight filtered through the flowering branches, casting dappled light and shadow across Mo Yuzhu's face.
The corners of her lips lifted, but instead of answering immediately, she took a brocade pouch from her sleeve. "I brought you presents."
Mo Feng Wu took the pouch and gently tipped it, letting two exquisite jade pendants fall into her palm.
The pendants were green all over, carved into lifelike orchids with a dot of cinnabar at the heart of each flower.
"I saw them at a jade shop in the south of the city a few days ago and thought they would suit you perfectly." Mo Yuzhu helped Mo Feng Wu put hers on.
"Feng Wu is gentle and graceful as an orchid, and Caihuan..." She turned toward her youngest sister. "Though she's a little rambunctious, she's still an ink orchid."
Mo Caihuan stroked her pendant, her eyes suddenly reddening. "Eldest Sister..."
"Don't get misty-eyed just yet." Mo Yuzhu pinched the tip of her nose.
"I really have made some progress," she said, lowering her voice.
"According to the cultivation art, I've reached the first Qi refining layer."
The teacup in Mo Feng Wu's hand gave a soft clink. "Really? Do you have any... supernatural powers?"
"What supernatural powers?" Mo Yuzhu laughed. "My hearing and eyesight are just sharper, and I'm a little stronger."
She pointed to her ears. "I can hear the maids whispering in the rear courtyard now. Even Tang Er's burps when he secretly drinks can't escape me."
Mo Caihuan burst out laughing, then her face fell again. "Why are you the only one who can do it? Sister Feng Wu and I have tried for so long, but we can't sense even a trace of spiritual qi."
The pavilion fell quiet for a moment.
The distant calls of a hwamei only made the silence here feel deeper.
Seeing her younger sisters' dejected expressions, Mo Yuzhu's heart softened.
She reached out and took Mo Caihuan's hand. "Immortal cultivation depends on your spiritual root aptitude. Perhaps... I just happen to have a talent for it."
Then she looked at Mo Feng Wu. "Don't be impatient. Mother said that anyone who can sense spiritual qi within a year has a spiritual root."
"A year..." Mo Caihuan bit her lip. "You only took three days, Eldest Sister."
Mo Feng Wu gently stirred her tea. "Yuzhu, this cultivation art... did Father give it to you?"
Mo Yuzhu's fingertips paused.
Remembering her mother's repeated warnings to keep it secret, she answered vaguely, "More or less. But Father only gave me the first layer of the cultivation art. As for the rest..."
Her brows drew together slightly. This had been her greatest worry lately.
After reaching the first Qi refining layer, she had found it difficult to advance even an inch, no matter how hard she worked.
"The first layer?" Mo Caihuan immediately seized on the key point.
"You mean there's a second layer, and a third?"
"Of course." Mo Yuzhu nodded. "I've heard a complete immortal cultivation art has as many as thirteen layers. Once you master it, you can soar through the heavens, burrow through the earth, and live forever without aging."
Mo Feng Wu drew in a sharp breath and suddenly clasped Mo Yuzhu's hand. "Yuzhu, you must be careful... I've heard the path of immortal cultivation is fraught with dangers. One careless step, and you could..."
"I know." Warmth filled Mo Yuzhu's heart, and she clasped her younger sister's hand in return.
"I'm only doing this to strengthen my body. Don't worry."
Mo Caihuan suddenly stood up. "I'm going to try again!" She drew her sword.
"Since you've already crossed the threshold, Eldest Sister, why don't you see whether my swordsmanship can help my cultivation?"
Without waiting for an answer, she began practicing her swordplay in the open space.
The girl moved with nimble strength, her sword gleaming like flowing water. Though each move was still somewhat unpolished, her form was already beginning to take shape.
Mo Yuzhu saw it all clearly-she could follow every arc traced by the blade, and even predict where the next move would go.
"Watch out!" she suddenly called.
Mo Caihuan spun into a backward slash, only to trip over a pebble and pitch forward.
Mo Yuzhu darted up and caught her younger sister firmly before the sword tip struck the ground. Even she was startled by the speed of her own reaction.
"Are you all right?" She carefully checked her sister's hands and feet.
Mo Caihuan shook her head, then suddenly threw her arms around her. "You're amazing, Eldest Sister!"
Mo Yuzhu laughed and rubbed the top of her head. "Silly girl."
She turned toward Mo Feng Wu. "Would you like to try too, Feng Wu?"
Mo Feng Wu waved her hands repeatedly. "I'm nowhere near as nimble as Caihuan."
She hesitated, then lowered her voice. "Yuzhu, about Young Master Wu... are you really going to ignore him?"
Mo Yuzhu gazed toward the distant perimeter wall, her eyes seeming to pierce the rows of buildings and see the figure waiting outside the residence.
"I used to find them annoying, but now..." She shook her head. "It's like watching ants move their nest. I feel neither dislike nor interest."
Mo Feng Wu looked thoughtful. "Immortal cultivation... really does change a person."
"I'm still me." Mo Yuzhu took both her younger sisters' hands.
"I'll always be your eldest sister."
Their three pairs of hands clasped tightly together, and their three jade pendants shone with a soft luster in the sunlight.
Mo Caihuan suddenly remembered something. "Eldest Sister, if we never manage to cultivate, will you... drift farther and farther away from us?"
Mo Yuzhu's heart jolted. She thought of how her perceptions had grown clearer over the past few days, and her thoughts sharper. She truly did feel as though she were gradually drawing away from the mortal world.
"Nonsense." She gathered both her younger sisters into her arms.
"Even if that day really comes, I'll find a way for you to stay by my side forever."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she herself froze for a moment.
Without knowing when it had happened, she had become certain that she could follow the path of immortal cultivation to its end, and had even begun thinking about the distant future.
A maid's call came from afar. It must have been time for the evening meal.
The three sisters reluctantly parted, agreeing to meet again the next day.
As she left the pavilion, Mo Yuzhu glanced back at her younger sisters walking side by side. Her heart felt warm, yet inexplicably ached.
She touched the cultivation formula tucked inside her robes. For the first time, the words "immortal cultivation" stirred complicated feelings within her.