My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting

"I don't know," she said. "Part of me wants to turn back, but with Qing Hancheng's betrayal, Silkfloss Province is a deathtrap. Still, I didn't want to lie to you."0

"Why reveal all this?" Li Yuan chuckled. "If you'd kept it a secret, it would've remained secret for a lifetime. Look, I marriedyouto blend deeper into the Holy Tree Temple, and to walk away more cleanly when the time came. With you as my wife, the Holy Tree Temple finally lowered their guard against me, didn't they?"0

He spread his hands. "Who heredoesn'thave their own selfish interests? But if those interests put us in the same boat, why not keep rowing together? It must be a special kind of fate that herded us down one road and made us family. You want power? First you have to stay alive. This world is wild and wide, the winds of heaven never stop—"1

Snow whirled, pale against the dark gorge walls, as if the sky itself were listening.0

"Shuixiang, don't fall before the wind even starts to howl. Come with me, let's watch how this grand play ends at the edge of the world." Li Yuan raised both hands, his voice a mix of coaxing warmth and unshakable certainty.0

Jing Shuixiang stood frozen, blood-blade in hand, the single phrase offamilyechoing in her head, something she had never once pictured for herself.0

Ping'an poked his head out of the rear palanquin. "Fourth Mom, climb aboard first. We're not in the clear yet. Anything else can wait till we're rolling."0

"Mhm." She sheathed the blade and stepped inside.0

Yao Jue's curious chirp floated up at once. "Shuixiang, what on earth happened out there? You looked ready to faint!"0

"I was overpowered mentally," Jing Shuixiang said simply. "He's…stronger than I realised. I have no idea how he shattered my attack."0

Yao Jue leaned in and whispered something scandalous.1

Jing Shuixiang rolled her eyes. "Rotten girl. Why is your mind always that deep in the gutter?"2

Through the curtain she watched Li Yuan speak briefly with Cui Huayin; moments later the two of them entered as well, and the eight sixth rank puppets hoisted the palanquins into a smooth, bouncing trot.0

"Your talk over that quickly?" Yao Jue asked, giggling as she scooted to the side to make more room.0

Cui Huayin shook her head calmly. "Shuixiang and I are alike, really. I feel little for Li Yuan, or any other man. He once moved me, that's all. I acknowledge him as my husband, so I'll keep the title. Consort Yin died a long ago; there's only Third Madam Li now.0

"I understand what he's after, and I agree. Truth is, I can't go back. Better to follow my man to the Western Extremes than dive head-first into certain death at home."1

Jing Shuixiang scoffed. "The tundra is barren, nowhere to cultivate."0

"Our husband says there will be. It just needs time."0

Jing Shuixiang turned to Li Yuan and asked, "Where are we getting meat fields? We're fifth rank now; we need at least fifth rank meat fields to train, fourth rank soon enough."0

Li Yuan ambled over to sling an arm around her.0

She smacked it away. "Hold it. We haven't seen each other in, what, 15 years? Don't think you can just waltz right back into our lives like tha!"0

He tried Cui Huayin next; she replied with a languid, devastating eye-roll.0

Li Yuan sighed dramatically. "At least Yao Jue loves me."0

Yao Jue sidled across the seat to whisper with Cui Huayin. Then Jing Shuixiang joined in as well. Three feminine heads lifted in eerie synchrony, three silent glares that pushed Li Yuan back to the doorway cushion like a naughty student sent to the corner.1

Time passed until Yao Jue snickered. "Honestly, Master, afraid of your own wives? Letting us bully you like this?"0

Li Yuan yawned, stretching like a lazy cat. "If it keeps you three happy, bully away."1

The murmuring resumed, soft, conspiratorial, and oddly soothing.2

Snow-gusts lifted the side curtain; Li Yuan watched mountains wrapped in white and realised the hostile gaze dogging Ping'an had not reappeared. Shaken off, perhaps? Or was it Ping'an's own shadow all along? No matter.0

Once I drop them someplace safe,he thought,I'm free to move. They'll be in the shadows; I'll be in the shadows. My enemies, out in the open. Perfect.1

Li Yuan could stir up trouble for others, but others couldn't do the same for him. He had Mortal World Transformations while others had to rely on ghost items. He now held an overwhelming advantage.0

Still, it wasn't like he was free of weaknesses. He had strength in spades; mobility, less so. If he dropped to Ping'an's level of power, he lost out in speed and agility. Of course, the calculus changed if he tapped into his blade qi, but that was still solving something with overwhelming power.0

He filed the puzzle away, yawned again, and dozed off to the click-clack of puppet feet. Soon, gentle snoring filled the carriage.0

Jiang Shuixiang glanced over, helpless amusement on her lips. "Such a big heart, sleeping like that."0

Yao Jue giggled. "Means he truly sees us all as family."0

"Family, huh…" Cui Huayin muttered, letting the words fade. She forced back the deeply ingrained aversion to the idea and turned to the snow-blurred window, profile cut in porcelain.0

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Back in Silkfloss Province, a meeting was taking place within the White Bamboo Hanging Bell Tower.0

High in the main hall, Gu Xuejian faced Qing Hancheng, who wore an ink plum blossom robe as calm as midnight ice.0

She calmly delivered her report while the temple master listened in silence, eyes never leaving hers.0

Gu Xuejian probed for cracks, some sign that Qing Hancheng had sold out the Holy Tree Temple to the Lotus Cult. After all, she could hardly outright call him a traitor, let alone ask the other powers of the Five Elements Alliance for help.0

Without any evidence, it would simply devolve into a back-and-forthhe said, she-said.0

In the end, only the one with the bigger stick would decide whose truth survived.1

Gu Xuejian trusted Ping'an's word far more than anything Qing Hancheng said.0

The temple master, of course, played the perfect ally.0

"Keep an eye on the Lotus Cult," he said mildly. "See if they're willing to release the captives. I'll keep an eye too. If they move their higher-ups move, I'll move ours too."0

His response was smooth and measured, showing no flaw, no hint of treachery.0

Only after Gu Xuejian withdrew did a shadow of calculation pass across his eyes, hardening into resolve.Power is everything.0

If he could break into third rank, all the tangled threads of the world would become a single knot, fit to be severed with one stroke.1

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙0

The disappearance of the four elders had apparently sent Gu Xuejian into a white-hot fury. The fourth rank swordswoman tore through Silkfloss Province, dragging every secret Lotus Cult agent into the light. Brothels, gambling dens, soup kitchens…nothing was safe.0

Beneath one such pleasure house, in a cramped cellar thick with dust, several women huddled in total silence while, overhead, disciples from the Holy Tree Temple clattered up the stairs, chaining courtesans by the dozen.0

Minutes crawled. Then hours.0

At last, a whisper rang out,"Saintess, what do we do?"0

Only silence followed. No answer came.0

"Stop thinking about Bubba. For all we know he's dead in some ghost domain—"0

"Shut up."0

"But you always taught us that a woman must never lose her heart. Please, pull yourself together—"0

"Shut up. You know nothing."0

The voice, icily flat in the dark, belonged to Bai Lingshui, the enchantress who had scoured half of Silkfloss Province for Li Yuan and never found him. Ordinary men left no mark on her soul; Bubba was no ordinary man. Missing him felt like a hole punched through her chest.0

Seduction is a vine, she'd once said.To climb, it must twine around a single, iron-willed tree.0

Bubba was that tree. Without him, where would she find another tall enough?1

She exhaled, then finally murmured, "Sit tight. The more we hide, the more manpower they waste hunting shadows. Waiting is our weapon."0

The little sirens folded their legs and settled into stillness.0

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙0

A few days later.0

Two puppet-borne palanquins floated down before the gates. The manor had braced for trouble, but the puppets bore Tang Nian's crimson livery, so the guards relaxed.0

Xue Ning and Sheng'er linked arms in the courtyard, snowflakes swirling around them.0

The first curtain lifted. Ping'an all but leapt out. One look at the woman in the doorway turned his eyes red with tears; the mature, startlingly familiar beauty beside her made his heart lurch.0

"Mother! Big Sis!"0

Xue Ning's smile trembled with joy. "Ping'an, you're home."0

The mighty, swaggering lord of battle dissolved into sobs, sniffling in the snow. Determined to save face, he blurted, "I'm justexcited, not crying, all right? And Big Sis, you definitely can't beat me anymore!"0

"Mhm," Sheng'er said sweetly. "Yup, I can't beat you at all now."0

Suddenly, a tide of burly youngsters flooded out behind her. They were half children, half giant, brandishing greataxes and studded maces.0

"Who says she can't beat you?" they roared. "We'll help!"1

"Pound him flat!"0

"Hey, bean-pole, why'd you call her Big Sis? Why'd you call our Xue MamaMom?"0

"Explain yourself! Right now!"0

In an instant Sheng'er vanished beneath a living wall of Ice Folk brats, only around eight years old, yet growing like avalanche pines.1

Ping'an froze. Then his temper flared. He wouldn't beLi Ping'anif he let himself get stepped over by little brats! He rolled up his sleeves and growled, "Come on, then. I'll show youwhy!"0

Li Yuan, trailed by Ping'an's three wives, strolled to Xue Ning's side and gave her a meaningful wink. Knowing she now possessed three daughters-in-law, she hurried over; the trio of proud clan heiresses transformed into models of obedience under her gaze.0

Meanwhile, the courtyard erupted in chaos.0

Moments later, the outcome of the brawl was clear.0

Ping'an was breathing hard but triumphant, the snow trampled flat. The Ice Folk brats lay battered and bruised, glaring defiantly through swollen eyes.1

Only when Sheng'er laughed and announced that Ping'an was herbloodbrother did the youngsters climb to their feet, cup their fists, and awkwardly bow.0

"Ah, so you're Big Bro! We've heard a lot about you from Big Sis!"3

Snow kept falling, soft as feathers, while the manor filled with laughter and the warmth of a family finally knit together after many, many years.0