Appreciating New Tea with an Inkstone - Chapter 79

Ye Qinming staggered slightly as if drained of strength. She forced herself to steady her mind and regain her composure. The beast, Qiongqi, had provoked her just now, likely to create a distraction and escape in the chaos. So… so his words might not be true. Gu Xiyan was intelligent, highly capable—perhaps she had escaped.

With this thought, she turned to look at Liuli, who had just recovered from her daze. Gripping her sword, Ye Qinming stepped forward, the trembling tip aimed at Liuli’s throat. She enunciated each word with cold precision, “I warned you about what would happen if you dared touch her. This is your last chance—where is Xiyan? What did you do to her?”

Liuli glanced at the sword exuding murderous intent, then at her own predicament, and suddenly laughed. But as she laughed, tears began to fall. Her voice was hoarse as she whispered, “Your Majesty, why is it always her in your eyes? She ruined you, she ruined the Demon Realm. Keeping her here has already made so many people resent you. Now that she’s dead, isn’t it better this way…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence. Ye Qinming pressed her blade down, the sword’s energy forcing Liuli into silence. Her eyes burned with rage as she roared, “Shut up!” She refused to believe it. She refused to believe it!

Blood trickled from Liuli’s neck, while tears gathered at her chin, leaving pale streaks against her skin, making her look pitiful. But Ye Qinming had no mind to care. With a forceful motion, she flung her sword aside. The blade brushed past Liuli’s hair before embedding itself into the ground with a resonant clang.

Grabbing Liuli by the collar, Ye Qinming’s voice was hoarse with fury, like a demon from the depths of hell. “Tell me where she is! My patience is not limitless—don’t push me!”

Liuli had never seen Ye Qinming so unhinged. Her face was deathly pale, her bloodshot eyes filled with a frenzied red, as if she was moments away from madness, as though even her tears would bleed.

Looking at the person she had loved for so many years up close, Liuli felt nothing but despair. And yet, jealousy burned within her, driving her to reckless defiance. Laughing and crying, she screamed, “You’ll never find her! No matter how desperate you are, no matter how much you threaten me, you will never see her again! She will die alone in that place, unable to reincarnate, lost forever! No matter how much you love her, she will never know, ha ha ha ha!”

Ye Qinming’s vision burned red, her whole body trembling. Her right hand moved on instinct, tightening around Liuli’s throat. As she watched Liuli’s laughter break into choking gasps, her face turning red from lack of air, Ye Qinming suddenly let go.

As Liuli coughed violently, Ye Qinming was struck by a memory—of the day Liuli had forcibly restored her memories. In a moment of lost control, she had strangled Gu Xiyan just like this. Xiyan had also coughed violently, her face turning red before draining of all color.

That memory sharpened like a blade, carving into Ye Qinming’s heart, dragging her back to clarity.

No one could see the silent agony and grief tearing her apart inside. Outwardly, she appeared eerily calm as she crouched before Liuli and spoke quietly, “Fine, you refuse to talk. I told you before—if you harmed her, the price would be more than you could bear. The Bird Clan… your elder sister, your mother—they are all still alive, aren’t they? Do you really think I wouldn’t dare act against them? Do you really think the Bird Clan can threaten me?”

Her words were light, almost a whisper, but to Liuli, they were chilling enough to freeze her soul. She gasped in disbelief. “Your Majesty, are you willing to let the Demon Realm fall apart at a time like this?”

Ye Qinming chuckled coldly. “Do you think you know me? I told you—I am not Zhuoqing. I have no mercy. The fate of the Demon Realm, the survival of the Three Realms—what do they have to do with me? Do you think I returned to the Demon Realm just for the Demon Emperor’s throne? If not for my mistake a thousand years ago that led to the Demon Realm’s downfall, I would have focused on recovering and gone straight to war against the Heavenly Realm! Instead, I’ve been holding back, making concessions, tolerating your provocations time and time again—for what?”

“Your Majesty, you should understand why I hate her,” Liuli cried out, her voice breaking. “If not for her, you wouldn’t have been imprisoned for a thousand years! You wouldn’t have become like this! Why can’t you see me? Why is it always her?”

Ye Qinming’s voice suddenly rose in fury. “I don’t need to understand! She betrayed me. She killed me. That is between us—what does it have to do with you? Even when I hated her the most, I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her. So who are you to dare? Who are you to kill her? If you still refuse to talk, I will take your sister’s head from the Bird Clan—and then you can decide whether or not you want to speak.”

With that, she stood, dragging Liuli with her as she took to the skies, heading for the Bird Clan’s sacred grounds.

At that moment, Mujin and Zhijin finally caught up with them. Mujin’s voice was raw with desperation. “Where is my lady? Ye Qinming, where is my lady?!”

Ye Qinming’s chest clenched, but she had no words to answer. She vanished into the sky without another word.

***

Liuli’s entire body went rigid. Only when she saw the Bird Clan’s sacred land in the distance, the barrier already triggered by Ye Qinming’s presence, did she finally break. Her voice rose in a wretched cry, “Nine Abysses of the Yellow Springs!” As Ye Qinming halted, Liuli collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably. “That man threw her into the Nine Abysses of the Yellow Springs.”

Even at this moment, she didn’t dare to tell the truth. Ye Qinming had gone mad—this wasn’t a bluff. Liuli knew now, with absolute certainty, that for Gu Xiyan’s sake, Ye Qinming would not hesitate to destroy the Bird Clan, or even abandon the Demon Realm itself.

The words echoed in Ye Qinming’s ears like a thunderclap. Her body stiffened as she turned, her voice barely above a whisper. “What did you just say?”

***

When Mujin saw Ye Qinming return, she ran up to her immediately. Her lips parted, but before she could speak, tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing Ye Qinming’s lost, hollow expression, an icy dread filled Mujin’s heart.

“You’re back,” she said, voice trembling. “Then… then where is my lady? You found Liuli, didn’t you? Where did she take her? Tell me—where is she?!”

Ye Qinming said nothing. Without a word, she tossed Liuli aside and turned to the shadow guards of Thousand Leaf Palace. “Lock her in the water prison. No one is to hear of this. No one is to visit. Anyone who disobeys—kill them.”

“Ye Qinming, say something!” Mujin rushed forward, grabbing Ye Qinming tightly, crying out.

Ye Qinming’s eyes flickered as if struggling to focus. After a moment, she whispered, “I will bring her back. I will, no matter what.” With that, she disappeared without a trace.

***

When Guiche saw Ye Qinming again, a sense of foreboding settled in his heart. He hesitated before cautiously asking, “Your Majesty, where’s Liuli?”

Ye Qinming lifted her gaze to him and said in a low voice, “Guiche, I’m going to the Nine Abysses of the Yellow Springs.”

“What?” Guiche’s eyes widened in shock, and he immediately urged, “Your Majesty, please reconsider! That place is Demon Realm’s forbidden land—there is no return from there!”

“She’s there.” Ye Qinming uttered only those four words, her eyes already bloodshot. 

Guiche felt as though his throat had been choked, unable to say anything for a long time. Finally, he stammered, “Something really happened… Who—who did this to Miss Gu? What exactly happened?”

Ye Qinming was utterly exhausted. She shook her head, offering no answer, only murmuring, “Guiche, you are the one I trust the most… and the one who understands me best. I know the Demon Realm is in crisis, but I absolutely cannot abandon her. She can’t see anything—just thinking of her being trapped in that place… how terrified she must be. No… she’s never afraid of anything. But I am. The moment I imagine her there, I feel like I’m going mad.”

Guiche watched as she spoke incoherently, pacing restlessly like a caged beast, desperately searching for a way out.

“Whatever Your Majesty needs, I will give my life to fulfill it.” Guiche did not hesitate, bowing deeply with determination.

“I don’t know how long I will be gone. The boundary of the Underworld Water formation is only one step away from completion—I will personally activate it before I leave. The fire god has lost an arm, and the Immortal Realm is greatly weakened. They won’t take any major action for the time being. However, the Demon-Slaying Array must be guarded at all costs. No one, no matter who they are, is allowed to approach. Qiongqi’s power has greatly increased. His whereabouts are elusive, and he is adept at seizing bodies. Be on guard.”

“Understood,” Guiche responded solemnly. Then, furrowing his brows, he hesitated before asking, “Your Majesty, should we inform the Immortal Realm that Qiongqi’s remnant soul has escaped?”

Ye Qinming was silent for a moment before nodding. “Tell them. Whether they believe it or not is up to them. No one wishes for another calamity like the one ten thousand years ago. If Qiongqi gains Jimie, no one knows how strong he could become. But this time, there is no Zhuoqing who will sacrifice everything to stop him.”

Just mentioning that name made Ye Qinming’s chest ache.

***

After Gu Xiyan fell into the Nine Abysses of the Yellow Springs, her spiritual energy was completely sealed, and the impact knocked her unconscious.

When she regained consciousness, she felt an unbearable chill deep into her bones. Her left arm throbbed with pain, stiff and nearly immobile. As she struggled to sit up, she began hearing strange noises around her.

Gu Xiyan instinctively leaned back, pressing against the cold cliffside, which exuded a damp, decayed aura. She was in a completely unfamiliar environment, and since she could not see, there was no way for her to assess the situation.

She could only focus on identifying the approaching sounds. Her spiritual energy was starting to gather again—it felt suppressed, but at least she was no longer completely powerless.

The creaking, grating noises grew closer, growing in number until they were suffocating. The sound was disturbingly familiar—it resembled the clattering of bones grinding against each other.

Gu Xiyan forced herself to stand, using her sword to steady herself as she cautiously retreated.

She had never set foot in this place before, but the thick layer of tangled dead grass underfoot clung to her ankles. Every step, she would occasionally crush something hard and brittle. The snapping, splintering sensation beneath her made her certain—this place was a mass grave.

Everything before her, everything beneath her feet… it was all corpses.

Suddenly, a gust of wind rose. The eerie noises intensified.

With the howling wind, Gu Xiyan twisted to avoid something—a skeleton came crashing down from above, its jaw snapping open with a ghastly creak before suddenly letting out a piercing shriek.

In the next instant, countless white bones surged forward like a flood. The skeletons strewn across the ground began assembling themselves, rising one after another. Hollow eye sockets locked onto Gu Xiyan, their clawed hands slashing toward her as they lunged.

Gu Xiyan swung her sword in a swift arc, forcing back the attacking corpses as she struggled to hold her ground.

She could no longer count how many skeletons surrounded her, but one thing was certain—if she remained here, it was only a matter of time before she became one of them.

Her toes landed on the skull of a skeleton, shattering it instantly. She leaped forward, her figure drifting through the air, pulling away from the horde. There was no time to worry about the unknown ahead—she summoned the wind beneath her feet, speeding forward. Behind her, a wave of white, ghastly skeletons howled as they surged in pursuit. The swirling black mist overhead was scattered by the rushing wind, while the eerie wails of countless bones sent chills down the spine.

It was as if Gu Xiyan’s presence had awakened these skeletal remains—their speed grew faster and faster. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t shake them off. Forced to fight as she retreated, her clothing was torn open in multiple places, deep gashes carved into her flesh, each one shocking to behold. These skeletons were relentless, their bones unnaturally tough. The only way to fight them was to strike at their joints—but for someone who could not see, aiming precisely at their weak points was nearly impossible.

Her spiritual energy was rapidly depleting, and her movements slowed. A dull ache settled in her chest—not from fear of death, but from sheer unwillingness to accept this fate.

Ye Qinming had sent Wuyin to treat her, which meant she still cared, even if just a little. Gu Xiyan didn’t dare hope they could go back to how things were before, but at the very least, she wished Ye Qinming would stop hating her. If she died here, she would never know how Ye Qinming truly felt about her, nor would she ever uncover the truth of what happened all those years ago.

With that thought, she forced her heavy right arm to move again. Enduring the sharp agony in her left arm, she continuously drew talismans to block the oncoming attacks, retreating as she fought.

Just as her strength was reaching its limit, the leading skeleton lunged toward her—only to let out a piercing shriek before abruptly collapsing into a pile of bones. The ones behind it, charging too fast to stop in time, crashed forward and shattered upon impact, forming a growing mound of skeletal remains at Gu Xiyan’s feet.

The remaining skeletons halted, shrieking but refusing to take another step forward, as if an invisible boundary separated them from her. Eventually, unable to advance, they reluctantly withdrew.

Realizing what had happened, Gu Xiyan staggered backward. Cold sweat drenched her pale face as she wobbled unsteadily before collapsing onto the ground, barely able to catch her breath.

Author’s Note:

Author: Hey, wanna play a game of “Radish Squat”?

White Lotus & Green Tea: What do you mean?

Author: Torture the White Lotus, torture the White Lotus… once the White Lotus is done, we torture the Green Tea.

White Lotus & Green Tea: Get lost!