8
What if I told Lục Trầm Mặc that I was the real Đồng Đồng?
This was clearly the best opportunity.
But I hesitated.
The mere existence of that bell was enough to make him disbelieve me.
If I claimed that identity too hastily, I might not get the chance to finish speaking.
After thinking it over and over…
“I’m an orphan from Lâm Dương Village. My name is Lý Miên Ý.”
Lý Miên Ý had been my real name all along.
Lâm Dương Village was a place Lục Trầm Mặc and I had once passed through.
We had even “spent our wedding night” there.
At the time, Lục Trầm Mặc had just reached Foundation Establishment. He accepted a sect mission to go to Lâm Dương Village and slay demons.
A monster that preyed on newlyweds had eaten five couples in the span of just two months.
The monster was cunning, and Lục Trầm Mặc still hadn’t managed to catch it, so he had no choice but to use himself as bait…
He wore a groom’s robe, all in brilliant red, which set off his jade-like features and made him look incredibly handsome.
But when he couldn’t find a suitable bride, he finally had to ask me.
I took on a spiritual form, left the jade pendant, and went through the wedding ceremony with him.
Fortunately, I brimmed with vitality, so to the monster I looked no different from an ordinary mortal girl.
That was also the first time I’d ever worn a bright red wedding dress.
After the demon was vanquished, Lục Trầm Mặc’s face was even redder than his wedding robes:
“Đồng Đồng, I want you to stay by my side forever.”
…
Clearly, Lục Trầm Mặc still remembered Lâm Dương Village.
A hint of nostalgia showed in his eyes, and he decided to let my story about him at the teahouse slide.
“Lý Miên Ý.” He repeated the name I’d just given him.
Really, I should have told him sooner.
A faint smile appeared on his face:
“I have some history with Lâm Dương Village. Since Master has entrusted you to me to deal with, let’s put this matter behind us.”
I looked at “Miss Đồng Đồng” standing beside Lục Trầm Mặc and thought to myself: How could he let this go so easily?
9
I offered to stay at Lục Xuất Peak for a year and do odd jobs to make amends.
If my offense hadn’t been so minor, I might have asked to stay for eight or ten years.
But before I’d even finished speaking, “Miss Đồng Đồng” spoke up before Lục Trầm Mặc could react:
“One spell is enough to take care of chores. Why bother sweeping? Besides, Lục Xuất Peak is bitterly cold, with wind and snow. You’re only a mortal girl—aren’t you cold?”
The young cultivator had said that “Miss Đồng Đồng” had come here as a baby in swaddling clothes.
But the hostility in her eyes made me want to explode.
“If I’m not mistaken, Miss Đồng Đồng is a mortal too, isn’t she?”
I might not have spiritual power, but my eyes still worked. The girl in front of me had not a trace of a cultivator’s aura. She was clearly a mortal.
If we were both mortals, why could she stay here while I couldn’t?
So I immediately said to Lục Trầm Mặc:
“So making up stories about the Immortal Venerable doesn’t get you punished? Why didn’t the Immortal Venerable say so sooner? If I’d known, I would’ve made money telling stories about him.”
“Miss Đồng Đồng” fell silent and said no more.
Lục Trầm Mặc sighed, tacitly agreeing to let me stay.
The young cultivator who had brought me here secretly gave me a thumbs-up.
I was assigned a room in the side hall of the main hall on Lục Xuất Peak.
There weren’t many halls on Lục Xuất Peak, and the side hall had only two rooms, usually reserved for guests.
“Miss Đồng Đồng” got one room, and I got the other.
But according to “Miss Đồng Đồng,” I was nothing but a punished servant. How could I deserve to stay somewhere like this?
So when I saw the bare bed, with no blankets or mattress, I wasn’t surprised.
This body of mine was still that of a young girl. After spending the whole day climbing the mountain, I was soon too tired to keep my eyes open.
Fortunately, the cloak I was wearing would do for now.
The cloak was enormous. I wrapped it around myself several times and lay down on the bed.
Outside the window, the wind and snow howled.
The cloak was just enough to keep me from freezing to death, but even half-asleep, I was still unbearably cold.
Tomorrow, I’d have to go to the sect’s Provision Hall and get a new set of bedding.
…
For the first half of the night, I drifted in and out of sleep. Around midnight, I began to feel strangely warm all over.
Drowsily opening my eyes, I saw a small formation glowing brightly on the floor near the side of the bed.
The formation’s design was peculiar, unmistakably the unique handiwork of a certain someone.
I couldn’t help laughing, then drifted right back to sleep.
When I woke the next morning, the formation had vanished as if it had never existed.
If not for the tiny fragments of spirit stones left on the floor, I might have thought I’d dreamed it.
I carefully swept up the spirit-stone fragments. As soon as I stepped outside, I saw Miss Đồng Đồng waiting for me.
“Lý Miên Ý,” Đồng Đồng called my name with a mocking smile. “Today, you’re going to clean the great hall at the summit thoroughly.”
Just as Đồng Đồng had said, for a cultivator, cleaning this place took only a single spell.
But I was only a mortal. I had no idea how long it would take me to clean the whole place.
She wanted me to get discouraged and give up.
But I didn’t.
—
By the time I finished cleaning the great hall, it was almost sunset.
The Provision Hall closed at nightfall, and I didn’t dare dawdle. I hurried down the mountain.
Luckily, I arrived just before closing time.
I’d disturbed the Provision Hall disciple during his break, and he looked annoyed as he swept an abacus off the table and asked:
“Are you here to accept a task or collect your monthly stipend?”
“Neither.”
I showed him my Lục Xuất Peak token. “I’m here to exchange for bedding and a Như Xuân formation disk.”
Unlike a formation, a formation disk can be used for a long time and carried around. It’s also much more convenient and economical.
“Oh, Lục Xuất Peak,” the disciple said with a laugh. “Exchanging for a Như Xuân formation disk? That’s a rare sight.”
“What’s so special about Lục Xuất Peak’s Như Xuân formation disk?” I asked.
“Of course it’s special. Who doesn’t know that fifty years ago, the Venerable damaged his Dao body retrieving fire from beneath ten-thousand-year-old ice? His body carries fire poison and can’t withstand even the slightest heat, so he has to use ice and snow to suppress it.”
“Lục Xuất Peak doesn’t even have immortal attendants, let alone regular disciples. They’re all afraid of troubling the Immortal Venerable… And yet Lục Xuất Peak lets a mortal like you stay on the mountain—and you even dare use a Như Xuân formation disk.”
I asked the disciple again about Lục Trầm Mặc’s fire poison:
“It’s famous,” the disciple said, tossing the bedding and formation disk over to me. “You really don’t know? The Immortal Venerable’s beloved had been reduced to a shattered soul, so he went to seek the fire beneath ten-thousand-year-old ice in the far South to refine their soul. It took ninety-nine days before he could barely send it into reincarnation.”
My hands tightened around the formation disk and bedding. I couldn’t say a word.
So this was why I had come back to life?
—
That night, I returned to Lục Xuất Peak, my thoughts in turmoil.
By the time I reached the summit, it was completely dark.
Lục Trầm Mặc stood on the summit in white, looking toward the path I had come up.
Đồng Đồng was nowhere to be seen, and the bell at his side was strangely quiet, not making a sound.
What was he looking at? Had he seen me climbing the mountain?
But when I reached him, Lục Trầm Mặc simply stood there and looked at me. He said nothing and did nothing.
I wanted to go closer and see whether the fire beneath the ice had harmed his body.
But after taking just one step, I remembered that he couldn’t endure even a trace of heat, so I backed farther away.
After hesitating for a long while, all I could finally manage was, “Does it hurt?”
There were so many other things I wanted to ask:
You were always afraid of the cold. Getting fire poison doesn’t mean your body will be any warmer. Are you cold?
How have you lived these past hundred years?
Have you grown tired of waiting?
But those words only circled through my mind. In the end, I didn’t say them.
Lục Trầm Mặc showed little emotion, but his gaze was gentler than ever:
“I’m not cold.”
He knew what I was asking.
I understood what he was answering, too.
It was all just an unspoken understanding between us.
—
Back in my room, I hesitated for a while, but in the end, I still didn’t activate the formation disk.
I just wrapped myself tightly in the blankets, pulled a robe over them, and got ready for bed.
I couldn’t use the Như Xuân formation disk.
Even a little warmth would only make Lục Trầm Mặc suffer more.
But in the middle of the night, half-awake and half-asleep, I felt warmth all over.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the Như Xuân formation disk on the floor glowing.
I couldn’t get back to sleep.
I lay awake like that until the fourth watch.
Just then, I heard a noise outside the door.
It was the crunch of footsteps in the snow.
I went to the window and quietly opened it a crack to look outside.
A petite figure in yellow robes could be glimpsed.
It was Đồng Đồng.
I saw her sneak out of the main hall, chant an incantation, then fly down the mountain on her sword.
So Đồng Đồng had cultivation.
I’d clearly seen her as nothing more than a mortal.
Lục Trầm Mặc and the disciples of Thiên Kiếm Mountain had also thought she didn’t have a trace of spiritual energy.
That night, I couldn’t get back to sleep.
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, a disciple knocked on my door.
When I opened the door, a huge crowd stood before me.
Đồng Đồng and Lục Trầm Mặc were there, too.
When I stepped outside, an elder spoke:
“The sect leader met with misfortune last night. Come with us.”