Chapter 1447: Shi Xue and Liuli

The island at the heart of the lake.

Inside one of the bamboo lodges, a puppet attendant kept watch quietly outside the door while two women sat in bamboo chairs within.

One of them wore a silver half mask with her hair pinned up high. Below the mask showed the straight bridge of her nose and red lips that seemed almost glazed, the corners of her mouth carrying a faint smile.

She wore a long gown of emerald mist green, her shoulders as though carved and her waist as though bound with white silk, and she leaned back a little in her chair with an air of indolence about her. Her hands rested loosely on the arms of the chair, her wrists pale, and against them the string of ice crystal beads she wore looked all the more limpid.[1]

Her round eyes rested on the darkness beyond the room with some curiosity. Then she raised a finger and tapped idly at her chin, visibly itching to try something, as though she wanted to break the barrier and see what lay outside, and what trick the Myriad Devil Assembly was playing.

Across from her sat a woman whose white robes were whiter than snow.

She wore a veil, her legs together, sitting straight in her chair, giving off a cold, clear aura, the whole of her like a carving in ice.

She wore a similar bracelet at her wrist and, apart from it, not a single unnecessary ornament. Beneath the veil her features were exquisite to the point of perfection, her lips lightly pressed together and only faintly touched with color. Her eyes were closed, and a faint cold light seemed to enclose her, cutting her off from the world and setting her apart from it.

The two women were the Shi Xue and Liuli the Mystic Heaven Palace's elders had spoken of.

Shi Xue studied the darkness outside a while longer, then gave up the idea of testing it. Her gaze came back to Liuli, sitting motionless, and one corner of her mouth curved as she teased her out of habit. "Junior Sister, I told you to change into that gown but you just wouldn't. Anyone with eyes who sees you dressed like that will start guessing at our connection to Mystic Heaven Palace. That Daoist robe is far too stuffy. It's a waste of your looks! Well, perhaps it's for the best. We wouldn't want the old devil discovering there's a beauty like this in the world and carrying you off to be the lady of his stronghold. Then I'd have nothing left to look at."

Liuli opened her eyes slowly. They were deep, with what looked like a knot of dark-blue light gathering within them, her gaze ethereal and touched with solitude.

Displeased, it seemed, by what Shi Xue had said, her gaze rippled slightly and her dark brows drew together a fraction.

"Alright, alright." Shi Xue hurried to soothe her. "As if I'd bear to let our great beauty fall into the hands of those devilish monsters. If Master's soul in heaven knew of it, I'd never be forgiven!"

"Master..." Liuli went still and repeated the word almost under her breath.

Knowing she had misspoken, Shi Xue changed the subject at once. "Junior Sister, if we can buy the right treasures at the assembly, we'll stop at Earth Tung Island on the way back and find some way to get hold of a few Earth Tung Fruits. Then you can make an attempt at the bottleneck. With luck you'll bring the Ice Soul Divine Light to the advanced stage in a single push, and that would satisfy the conditions for the Sacred Ground."

Seeing her junior sister give a nod almost too small to catch, Shi Xue quietly relaxed.

She knew Liuli was cold by nature and was a woman of few words, so she carried on alone. "Have you noticed anything odd these past couple of days? I think I spotted people from the Hall of Discipline in the city, and perhaps an elder as well."

Liuli seemed distracted. It took her a moment to realize her senior sister had asked her something. Her eyes moved, and her tone was flat. "Possibly."

Content with any answer at all, Shi Xue turned the bracelet on her wrist and went on, "When the Hall of Discipline moves, we shouldn't be able to catch them so easily. I'd guess it's because we aren't the target, so they didn't bother concealing themselves from us. Is something big about to happen at the assembly? I don't know why, but I can't settle. And now the island holds not only a great devil but a great saint of the demon race. If we run into trouble, we call on the elders at once and—"

Before she finished, the bracelet lit with a faint glow.

Shi Xue's mouth fell slightly open. She sprang up, swept her spiritual consciousness over the bracelet, and met Liuli's eyes with a look of surprise, mouthing silently, "It's Elder Mei."

She carefully laid a barrier around them and tapped a crystal on the bracelet, and Elder Mei's familiar voice came out of it. "Shi Xue, are you and Liuli on the island at the heart of the lake?"

"Yes!" Shi Xue's voice dropped. "Elder Mei, what happened?"

While Shi Xue spoke with Elder Mei in low tones, Liuli braced her hands on her knees and rose from her chair as well, turning her gaze to the darkness beyond the lodge. Little by little her brow furrowed deeper, her lips pressed tight, and a trace of doubt surfaced in her eyes.

Elder Mei laid out the whole course of events briefly.

Shi Xue's face filled with shock. She pressed several questions in a row before she dared believe it was true. Mystic Heaven Palace's sacred relic had been stolen by a traitor!

"Keep yourselves hidden and don't let the Chaotic Devil Elder's claws spot you. Elder Lan and I will be waiting for you off the island."

Elder Mei broke the connection, and the light on the bracelet went out.

Shi Xue's expression turned grave and somewhat urgent. "Elder Mei orders us to leave Chaotic Devil Island now and help recover the relic. What do we do?"

"We go!" Liuli drew her gaze back, her expression returning to normal, and turned for the door.

***

In another bamboo lodge, Qin Sang knew nothing of the currents moving outside.

He appeared to be resting with his eyes shut, but his attention had been on the mysterious ice box the whole time. So far it had shown not the slightest irregularity, which left him unable to judge whether Mystic Heaven Palace could sense it at all. He would have to watch his surroundings when he left.

Time passed slowly.

The mist over the lake parted again and again as Spiritual Infant grandmasters came ashore one after another, each led to a lodge by a puppet attendant. Shut inside his own, Qin Sang could see nothing of it and had no way of knowing how many had come.

Dong! A bell rang out.

Then the barrier at the door stirred. Qin Sang called for her to enter, and the puppet attendant came in bearing a jade token. Already familiar with the assembly's rules, he took it and looked it over.

Once the trade fair began, each participant would take a turn stating the treasures he wished to acquire and to sell. When the token lit, it was his turn.

Naturally, many had no definite objective, and they could activate the barrier on the token to pass. The token also served as another layer of concealment, since it rendered every voice identical.

Dong! Dong! Two more strokes followed in quick succession.

Three bells, and the trade fair had begun.

"The hour has come. Nearly all the Daoists we expected have arrived. The trade fair now begins," a deep, aged voice sounded outside the lodges.

It was Venerable Zhongtai!

The name flashed through Qin Sang's mind. He had presided over the last two assemblies, and his cultivation was said to be formidable, a single step short of a great cultivator.

"You have all heard the attendants explain how the trade fair will proceed, so I don't need to waste breath on it. The rules are as they have always been. I trust that none of you will disappoint us!"

The old man's voice carried on and on, at once a reminder and a warning to everyone on the island.

1. TL note: "shoulders as though carved and her waist as though bound with white silk" is a phrase taken from Cao Zhi's Rhapsody on the Luo River Goddess. ☜

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