Were none of these the key, Mother? she thought quietly, gazing at the rafters, and gradually, at some point, drifted into sleep.
In the morning, after Qu Xin cleaned his wounds and removed the stitches, Pei Ye sat up and put on his clothes. Qu Xin tossed the bloodstained gauze into water and tidied her instruments beside him.
Although his foundations had not been damaged, there were indeed still problems with his muscles and bones. For cultivators of the Upper Second Realm, only extraordinarily grievous injuries were difficult to recover from. Pei Ye repeatedly wandered within that range of injuries, then used Endowed Fortune or divine objects like Goddess of the Luo River Wood Peach to restore himself completely. But repairs that came too quickly could leave the muscles and meridians without time to settle into order. A cultivator who repeatedly suffered severe injuries and recovered at lightning speed would inevitably retain some hidden problems. Thus Qu Xin put Pei Ye's body back into proper order, as intimately familiar with it as an old farmer with the little plot of land he tilled.
Although the freshly cut wounds hurt somewhat, his muscles and bones did feel much easier. Pei Ye ate breakfast, told no one, and did not even bring Little Cat. Alone, he took a token, carried a sword, and left Vermilion Mirror Hall, heading west.
Bright Moon Palace, tangled branches and old snow.
Pei Ye pushed a path open with his scabbard and reached the end with some difficulty. He raised his head. The old palace's wooden doors were still ajar. He had cut the lock that day, but the maid with the broken leg who had thanked him for it would probably never come again.
From a certain perspective, he had never truly entered this legendary