Someone Will Always Treasure You

At Xie Lingchuan's words, Zhu Lianqing first felt gratified, then came back to her senses-back when he never so much as stepped outside Evergreen Peak, Xie Lingchuan had hardly met anyone at all, had he?

But joking aside, Zhu Lianqing quickly suppressed her urge to put on a performance.

She had come here to change Xie Lingchuan's fate of being tricked into becoming a sword sacrifice and falling into demonhood.

So completing the mission was enough. Whether her little disciple thought well of her was not particularly important.

As long as he did not think she was bad, all would be well.

Several cries came from the room, and they all looked inside at once.

Miss A Man had just woken up. Still terrified, she kept muttering, "Don't eat me."

"Miss A Man, the demons have all fled. You're safe now."

Shen Ji's gentle voice soon calmed A Man, but a moment later, she seemed to remember something even more frightening. Her pupils contracted sharply, and her whole body began to tremble.

"Save Mingchi! Dao Lord, please save Mingchi!"

"Dao Lord, I'll kowtow to you! Please save Mingchi!"

Kneeling on the bed, A Man made to slam her forehead against its edge.

Xie Lingchuan reacted swiftly and stopped her.

"There's no need for that."

A trace of distress and hesitation flashed through Shen Ji's eyes. "Yes, miss. We... cannot accept such a bow from you."

Tears rolled down from A Man's eyes like pearls from a broken string. Her head drooped limply as she choked out, "Where is Mingchi? I want to see him. I want to go see him!"

Shen Ji knew that Wei Mingchi was dead, and that there was no hiding it. But A Man had suffered such a fright last night and had only just woken up. They absolutely could not let her see Wei Mingchi's body, which no longer bore any resemblance to his original appearance, or she might go mad on the spot.

"Please accept our condolences, miss. Young Master Wei..."

At those words, A Man understood everything.

And so she rapidly wilted, going from her earlier near-hysterical state to an extraordinary stillness.

"Why... why was he the one who died?"

"Why? Why did he push me away? It should have..."

"It should have been me who died... me..."

A Man covered herself as she sobbed in grief, her voice so choked it was almost inaudible.

"He was such a fool. Ever since I was little, everyone said I brought about my parents' deaths, that I was a baleful star descended into the world. But he just wouldn't believe it. I treated him so badly. Why couldn't he keep his distance from me...?"

"Why didn't he leave me sooner? Why did he promise to go see the flowers in the Northern Territory with me...?"

"I should have been the one to die."

Her desolate voice sank the atmosphere in the room to its lowest point.

Zhu Lianqing stood behind the others, watching. As A Man's voice grew calmer and calmer, she watched her even more closely.

If someone still had the strength to vent, it meant she still had hope of living on.

If she was as quiet as A Man, her will to live had likely already snapped.

This was Zhu Lianqing's keen intuition and experience as a mission taker.

When her whimpers grew too faint to hear, A Man, huddled on the bed, suddenly sprang up and hurled herself with all her strength toward the dull gray wall behind her.

Before the others could react, Zhu Lianqing had already reached out, caught A Man around the waist, and hauled her back.

"Let me die! Why won't you let me die?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't do anything rash! You're still so young."

"That's right. You haven't even seen us avenge you yet."

Jiang Tingxue and Song Wensheng crowded around, taking turns trying to persuade her.

"Dao Lords, let me die. Let me die, or just kill me, sob, sob..."

Zhu Lianqing immediately said, "You're mistaken, miss. Dao Lords only save people, not take lives, much less kill the innocent."

"But I'm a baleful star who brings death to others. Letting me die would count as ridding the people of a scourge. I'm probably the one who drew the Ghoul here. If I don't die, the entire village will suffer because of me."

Zhu Lianqing's brows drew sharply together, and she shook her head.

"If mortals must kill themselves to avert disaster, then not only the Dao Lords before you, but all cultivators under heaven ought to die of shame."

"Miss, if Wei Mingchi's spirit were here to see you belittle and demean yourself like this, he would be so heartbroken that he'd pace in circles rather than leave to be reincarnated."

A Man froze, tears glimmering in her eyes.

Seeing that she was still listening, Zhu Lianqing continued, "Last night, the Ghoul and that moth woman attacked together, yet I haven't seen a single injury on you. Wei Mingchi must have protected you with his life. He wanted you to live. Why are you trying to die the moment you wake up?"

"If you want to die for love of him, I won't stop you. Everyone has their own choices to make. But I cannot let you die with such a demeaning view of yourself."

Zhu Lianqing looked at A Man, each word ringing with weight. "You think you're a baleful star, yet someone risked his life to keep you safe. Do you know what Wei Mingchi told us that day?"

A Man looked at Zhu Lianqing and slowly shook her head. "Mingchi... what did he say?"

"He said that after seeing the Falling Mountain Snow, he would return to his hometown and ask for your hand. So even if everyone under heaven calls you a baleful star, someone will always treasure you like a precious jewel. Never belittle or demean yourself again."

As her words fell, Xie Lingchuan, standing behind Zhu Lianqing, froze, his gaze settling on her profile.

A Man finally regained her reason. A glimmer of light finally returned to her ashen eyes, and tears spilled out. But instead of the stifled, quiet whimpering from before, she wept aloud, as though years of grievances had burst forth in that instant.

Only when her voice had grown hoarse from crying did A Man begin to stop.

"Dao Lords, may I go see Mingchi?"

Knowing that A Man had calmed down somewhat, Shen Ji said, "Rest assured, miss. My senior brother has sealed Young Master Wei's body with spiritual power, which will keep it from decaying for now. But I'm afraid it is still best that you not see him just yet."

A Man knew perfectly well why she should not see him.

She had witnessed such a horrifying scene with her own eyes last night. Mingchi probably did not even have an intact corpse left. She knew she could not bear much, so she did not keep insisting on seeing him.

"Whether you wish to take Young Master Wei's remains back to his hometown to be laid to rest, or cremate him here and keep his ashes with you, we will do everything we can to help. There is no need to worry about his funeral arrangements."

A Man slowly drew a pendant from inside her robes.

The pendant was cube-shaped, with holes on all six faces and a red bean inside.

An intricate die.

"I want to put Mingchi's ashes in here, together with this red bean, then seal these little holes and keep it with me."

Zhu Lianqing thought for a moment, then said, "That works out perfectly. You can avenge Young Master Wei."

At those words, A Man immediately raised her head to look at Zhu Lianqing. "Dao Lord, do you mean I can avenge Mingchi? What should I do?"

"The full-moon night in a few days will be just when the demons stir up trouble. That moth demon is certain to come back then. We'll cremate Young Master Wei in this little courtyard, setting up an array beforehand. We'll lure the moth demon here with the firelight, then kill her with the array."

A Man's eyes brightened, but then she asked worriedly, "But will those demons damage Mingchi's body?"

Shen Ji said, "You can rest easy about that, miss. Senior Brother Xie is proficient in arrays. He certainly won't give the moth demon a chance to approach the body."

A Man looked at Xie Lingchuan, and he nodded to reassure her.

"In that case, please accept my thanks in advance, Dao Lords." A Man overlapped her hands before her forehead and bowed down. "I truly have no way to repay your kindness. I am deeply ashamed."

"You're too kind, miss. This is simply what we cultivators ought to do."

After soothing A Man, they all left the room, giving her space to rest properly.