Phoenix's Requiem

Yun Ruoyan looked at the golden-yellow pill in her grandfather’s palm before slowly stretching her hand out. Although she was forcefully curbing her excitement, her fingertips were trembling almost imperceptibly as she did so.

As she touched the pill, she could fill its surface ripple with spiritual energy, giving off a mystical appearance.

It was cool to the touch, and it made her feel an indescribable sense of comfort, spreading from her fingertips to the rest of her body.

Lin Qingchen and Lin Qingxue both looked on in a daze, but slowly their expressions morphed into shock and astonishment. “Is that a high-grade spiritual pill?!”

And then all three girls excitedly turned to Lin Zainan. “Grandfather, congratulations on your breakthrough!”

Just like spiritual weapons, spiritual pills and powders were commonly divided into low-, mid-, and high-grade.

Low-grade pills could be made by first- to third-rank pillmasters, mid-grade by fourth- to sixth-rank, and high-grade by seventh-rank and up. Lin Zainan was only a fifth-rank pillmaster, and he’d remained at that level for many years. This was why the Lins could only produce mid-grade pills. Combined with the fact that there were only a few members of the family left, the Lins were actually in decline.

They’d barely managed to stay afloat because of the reputation that had been developed over centuries, and because of Lin Zainan’s renown and acclaim from when he was young.

If Lin Zainan could now make high-grade spiritual pills, then the Lins would certainly be far more prosperous than before!

All three girls looked excitedly at Lin Zainan, but he only shook his head bitterly. “It’s not that easy to make breakthroughs. I doubt I’ll ever be able to make high-grade pills again.”

“Then, how did you make this pill?” Yun Ruoyan asked. The three girls looked questioningly at Lin Zainan as they waited for his response.

Lin Zainan slowly sipped at the tea that Lin Qingchen had brewed for him. “I sacrificed my cultivation for it.”

What?! The three girls’ sudden excitement turned into shock. Concocting pills with spiritual energy was wholly different from doing so by sacrificing spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy exhausted by the regular concoction process could be replenished by cultivation, but that wasn’t the case for a sacrifice. Not only would a pillmaster’s cultivation decrease after a sacrifice, the pillmaster would also become unable to improve via cultivation.

Yun Ruoyan looked toward the pill in her hands once more, feeling as though it carried an inscrutable weight.

“Grandfather, I…” She attempted to speak again, but her emotions were in such turmoil that she found herself at a loss for words once more.

Lin Zainan put down his teacup. Serenely, with bright eyes and snow-white hair, he said to Yun Ruoyan, “As my granddaughter, my blood, I would be willing to do anything for you. Not having been able to save your mother was my lifelong regret, and all I’m doing now is to try to make amends.”

He turned toward Lin Qingchen. “Pour your sister a cup of alcohol and get her to consume the pill quickly.”

Lin Qingchen immediately followed her grandfather’s orders and poured Yun Ruoyan a large cup of the fifty-year-old alcohol.

Repressing her emotions for the moment, Yun Ruoyan placed the golden pill in her mouth and took a large gulp of alcohol.

The pill seemed to melt as soon as it touched the alcohol, and the combined fragrance of the pill and alcohol filled the room as she breathed out. The thick, condensed spiritual energy flowed down Yun Ruoyan’s throat with a refreshing coolness.

“Quick, finish the alcohol. A phoenix bezoar is a potent antidote for poisons, but it might give you a chill on its own. Combining it with alcohol will ameliorate this chill and enhance its potency, so drain your cup fully.”

Yun Ruoyan did as her grandfather instructed. A sudden burst of fiery vigor merged with and dissipated the coolness of the pill as it flowed through her organs, bones and blood, skin and pores.

“Look at Sister Ruoyan’s face!” Lin Qingxue exclaimed, her gaze unflinching.

Her face turned blue, then red, then a deep purple. Slowly, the purple color concentrated around the right side of her face where her birthmark was.

Purplish-black blood split the scab that had just formed over the birthmark and dripped down her face.

“The source of the poison’s finally been forced out!” Lin Zainan’s tone was ebullient as he turned toward Lin Qingchen, who was watching the process with rapt attention. “Qingchen, quick, collect the poisonous blood on Ruoyan’s face!”

Lin Qingchen quickly rushed to find a small porcelain container to collect the blood that dripped off Yun Ruoyan’s face, before handing it to Lin Zainan.

Lin Zainan hmphed as he looked at the bottle in his hands, muttering to himself, “Just wait until I figure out what sort of poison has harmed my granddaughter for so many years!”

Yun Ruoyan felt as if she were floating on a cloud, her whole body more relaxed than it had ever been.

“Qiu, qiu.” In her intoxicated stupor, Yun Ruoyan seemed to hear Qiuqiu’s voice. But she didn’t open her eyes, didn’t want to pay attention; at the moment, all she wanted to do was sleep in sublime comfort.

“Congratulations on clearing your body of poison, Mistress,” Qiuqiu chirped happily. “Take a good rest, Mistress, you’ll feel even better once you get up.”

Yun Ruoyan stood still in the middle of the room. Long moments later, when Lin Qingxue tried to wake her up, she found that Yun Ruoyan had fallen asleep standing up, right then and there.

She slept so soundly that she didn’t react even when Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen carried her to bed.

Lin Qingchen brought over a basin of warm water, added in some anti-inflammation powder, and then wiped off the remaining blood on the right side of her face with a towel. She rubbed the stains gently and softly, cleaning off the blood and grime a little at a time, until finally white skin was revealed underneath.

Seeing Yun Ruoyan’s true appearance, Lin Qingchen’s eyes slowly opened wide. 

After helping bring her grandfather to his rooms to rest, Lin Qingxue walked towards Yun Ruoyan’s room. At the door, she heard Lin Qingchen’s soft gasp, and she hurriedly walked in. When she saw Yun Ruoyan’s face, she too gasped and opened her eyes wide.

“Yan’er, Yan’er.” In her dreams, Yun Ruoyan heard someone call out to her, a nickname that she only remembered being used when she was very little.

Who was calling her? Yun Ruoyan finally opened her eyes.

What she saw was a grove of sakura trees, and a person’s voice calling out to her from deep within the grove.

“Yan’er, Yan’er, come over here.”

“Who? Who’s calling for me?” Yun Ruoyan followed the voice into the grove.

Eventually, she found the woman who had been summoning her. She wore a pink gown, exactly the same color as the sakura flowers, and she was dancing amidst a flurry of petals. When she saw Yun Ruoyan, she turned toward her and smiled.

“Yan’er, do you like Mother’s dancing?”

“Mother? You’re my mother?” As Yun Ruoyan asked this question, she walked toward the woman, finally seeing her appearance.

She was a beauty, her skin snowy, her hair like ink, her brows fine, her gaze like stars.

Yun Ruoyan was suddenly certain that this was her mother.

When she was small, Yun Ruoyan had seen her mother’s portrait in her father’s study. Later, when Madam An took over her mother’s position in the household, her portrait had disappeared, but her mother’s features had been deeply engraved in her mind.

“Mother…” Yun Ruoyan called out to her mother, teary-eyed, as she walked ever closer.

Suddenly, the woman stopped dancing. She clutched her chest, her expression pained, and then she suddenly vomited out a big mouthful of blood.

The blood dyed her pink dress red. With twin expressions of yearning and reluctance on her face, she slowly collapsed amidst the falling flowers.

“Mother!”

Yun Ruoyan woke up from her slumber as she jolted upright and shouted, but only when she inspected her familiar surroundings did she realize that the whole thing had been a dream.

She was in a lady’s room, spotless and seemingly in perfect condition.

Yun Ruoyan remembered that this was her mother’s room before her marriage, and in her past life, she would stay in this room whenever she came to visit. Behind the house was a grove of sakura trees, a dreamy and ethereal sight whenever the sakura flowers blossomed.

Yun Ruoyao shook her head, trying to dislodge her dream from her thoughts.

“Qiu, qiu, Mistress, you’ve woken up!”

“Yes, I’ve never had such a comfortable rest.” Yun Ruoyan got up from bed and found that she was wearing close-fitting pajamas. Her original clothes didn’t seem to be around; they’d likely been thrown away on account of being so dirty.

She walked toward the wardrobe by a corner of the room and opened it, looking for something suitable to wear.

“Mistress, you’ve slept for three days and nights, and the poison’s completely gone from your body now. I’m so happy for you!” Qiuqiu’s voice was indeed quite cheerful.

Yun Ruoyan had just pulled out a pink dress from the dresser when she processed what Qiuqiu had said. Disbelievingly, she asked, “I slept for three days and nights?!”

“That’s right!”

She frowned, muttering to herself, “I wonder how Grandfather is? I hope losing so much of his cultivation won’t affect his body. And, as for the Yuns, I wonder if they’ll think me dead after not showing up for so long…”

“Sister Ruoyan, you’re awake!” Lin Qingxue’s voice came from behind, and Yun Ruoyan turned around to see her. For some reason, however, Lin Qingxue had suddenly frozen.

“Qingxue, what’s wrong?” Yun Ruoyan looked curiously at Lin Qingxue.

Lin Qingxue shuddered and broke out of her stupor, slapping herself on her cheeks as she continued muttering to herself, “My goodness! Haven’t I been around so much these last few days? I can’t believe I’m still enraptured!”

“Qingxue, what’s wrong?”

“She’s been struck dumb by your beauty.” Lin Qingchen walked in with a tray. “This girl’s been stopping by your room every day just to look at your sleeping form.”

“No, I haven’t!” Lin Qingxue rubbed her face as she said in a small voice, “Just half a day each day…”

Yun Ruoyan blinked a few times.

In the end, Lin Qingchen walked to her side, pulled her by the wrists, and said, “Sister, let me help you brush your hair.” She brought her over to the dressing table and motioned to the mirror. “Look.”

Yun Ruoyan turned to the mirror and suddenly saw a beauty appear in front of her eyes. Her skin was snowy, her hair like ink, her brows fine, her gaze like stars.

Yun Ruoyan clutched the right side of her face, her skin white, shiny, and tender, just like that of a newborn baby. It was as if the birthmark that had plagued her both her lives had never existed.

“Is this really me?” She looked at her reflection disbelievingly.