Chapter 507 – The Twin Calamities of Yin and Yang, Prologue to an Epic - Part 2

Not far away, Xie Yu’s irritation was growing by the step. Even the osmanthus tea in her hand had lost its flavor. She stomped along and muttered under her breath, “My sister is—”

Li Yuan reached over and gently covered her mouth, laughing. “What are you getting so angry for?”

Xie Yu stomped harder. “Bunch of fools judging by appearances!”

“But it’s not like they let anyone else in either,” Li Yuan said calmly.

“I—” she paused, unable to retort, then huffed, “You’re siding with them. You’re bullying me!”

He reached out to hold her hand.

She pulled away with a sharp shake. “Don’t touch me! I’m mad!”

It took a while...coaxing, sweet-talking, even pretending to beg...before Li Yuan finally managed to make her smile again.

Once her anger melted, she spotted something in the distance.

Amid the lantern-lit crowds, performers in colorful demon masks danced joyfully among the people. One wore a boar-head mask, part of the annual festival in honor of Yan Yu.

Guards of the temple split their duties between standing watch and patrolling the area. Those on patrol wore the signature boar masks—a symbol of the infamous ghost boar that had once cursed and devoured the shadows of Gemhill County’s people.

That grotesque creature had since become a symbol of peace for the southern lands. Its terrifying image had, over the years, transformed into something quaint and beloved.

Xie Yu grabbed Li Yuan’s arm and dashed toward the dancing crowd.

She never got tired of the sights and sounds of a festive night.

Suddenly, laughter and whispers began to ripple through the crowd ahead.

Xie Yu, always drawn to drama, perked up immediately. Her cheeks flushed with excitement as she pulled Li Yuan toward the commotion. “Let’s go see!”

But as they got closer, both their expressions grew strange.

Bits of conversation drifted over:

“Just a few days ago, the King of Chu himself came to visit Yan Yu. Left his youngest daughter here, said she wanted to serve at Her Grace’s side.”

“Even if she’s the King of Chu’s daughter, she’s still not qualified to be one of Yan Yu’s personal attendants.”

“King of Chu? He’s just the provincial governor of Hidden River Province. All the way over in Mount Ying Prefecture. He’s never cared about this region, only came now ‘cause he wants Yan Yu’s support.”

“But that girl’s got some backbone, I’ll give her that. She’s been kneeling there for seven days and seven nights. Not a single twitch. Won’t eat, won’t drink. Like a statue.”

Someone in the crowd called out, “Go home, girl! No one’s taking you in here!”

Xie Yu and Li Yuan pushed through the gawkers for a closer look.

There, beneath a flurry of falling snow, a young girl knelt in the center of the path.

She wore a noble’s long robe, black silk embroidered with a blazing fire phoenix. Her hands were pressed firmly to the ground in a formal kowtow. She hadn’t moved an inch. She was bowing toward the great stone gates of Yan Yu’s temple.

Snow had settled over her head, turning her once-elegant hairdo a ghostly white.

Li Yuan’s eyes flicked up, and he immediately saw the data above her, 8~9.

In other words, she was just an ordinary human.

A normal person, kneeling in the dead of winter for seven days and nights without food or water, she was teetering on the edge of death.

Xie Yu was furious. She leaned in close and whispered in Li Yuan’s ear, “That King of Chu, making moves against my sister. What a treacherous bastard!”

Li Yuan said nothing. He simply took her by the hand and wandered with her a while longer through the festival, before quietly heading home.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Night fell. The cold deepened.

Snow continued drifting from the sky.

By the early hours, the crowds had vanished.

The temple grounds had gone still.

And yet the young daughter of the King of Chu remained there, still kneeling before the mountain gates of Yan Yu’s temple. Her body had gone numb long ago. Her eyes, hollow and unblinking, stared at the cold stone in front of her.

Suddenly, she felt something land on her shoulder.

Still, she didn’t move.

Then came a voice, rasping, not quite human, more like the croak of an old hinge or the creak of a door.

“Is she dead?”

“No.”

“What’s her name?”

“Xiang Yan.”

A small black crow stood perched on her shoulder. It cawed again. “Get up.”

When she didn’t react, it added, “If you die here, you’ll only anger Her Grace. And when Yan Yu gets angry, her wrath won’t fall on you; it’ll fall on your father, the King of Chu. Is that what you want?”

Pop! Pop!

A mechanical, brittle sound came from her joints.

Xiang Yan tried to rise, but her body refused to obey. Like an old rusted clock being wound too tightly, her limbs made the painful noises of something on the verge of breaking.

“So eager to die for your papa, huh?” the little crow chirped, half-mocking.

“...” Xiang Yan said nothing.

“Hmph,” the crow said slyly. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

Still, she offered no defense.

“If you truly want to meet Yan Yu, then heal up. I’ll take you.”

The crow paused, then continued, “But know this. When you stand before Her Grace,

nothing

will stay hidden. Every intention you carry, every trick and secret buried in your heart, she’ll see it all.”

It gave her another moment, then said coldly, “So? Do you still want to meet her? Even if you pass her test... Even if you’re allowed to serve at her side, you must understand... Her Grace will

never

get involved in your family’s squabbles.

“At most, she’ll let you stay here, far from war, far from danger. And when the Kingdom of Chu falls—because it

will

—you’ll survive. But that’s all.”

“...” Xiang Yan said nothing. Then came her voice—hoarse, raw, like wind scraping over stone, “I want to see Her Grace.”

She remained in her kneeling position, stiff as ever.

The little crow tilted its head, then reached out its beak and plucked a single leaf from the air, a leaf drifting in on the wind from some distant old locust tree. It dropped the leaf gently onto the girl’s body.

To her, the leaf didn’t feel like a leaf. It felt like fire. A soft, warm fire that began to melt the ice in her limbs, unfreezing her body, restoring her movement.

Her knees buckled as she collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard. Slowly, she turned her head and finally saw what had been speaking to her, just a little black crow.

And yet, she bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Lady Divine Crow.”

Lady?

The crow blinked, startled. Then, with a flap of its ink-dark wings, it shot into the sky and vanished into the snow-filled night.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Several days later.

In a quiet valley not far from Ghost Prison.

Four gentle-looking young girls stood in the snow, tilting their heads and glancing about curiously.

As a man stepped into the valley through the narrow pass, the four girls immediately ran toward him, calling out in chorus.

“Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa!”

Li Yuan looked at the four identical daughters surrounding him.

Above each of their heads floated 16k~104k..

That meant that Sheng’er was now strong enough to wipe out the former Five Elements Alliance on her own.

It also meant they had reached the level of the imperial elites, the feared personal army of the Empress Dowager, the Flying Bear Army.

Li Yuan gently stroked his daughters’ hair, a warm sense of pride welling up inside him. But...his expression was a little odd.

His daughters, his precious bundles of joy, were incredibly perceptive. The moment they noticed the shift in their father’s face, they understood exactly what he was thinking.

So, with a ripple of light, the four girls transformed. They were no longer delicate maidens, but four identical locust trees, lining up behind Li Yuan in a neat little row.

Despite their whimsical appearance, they were capable of only three forms, human, tree, and crow.

The locust trees began chattering in turns, their voices crisp and sweet.

“Papa, that girl you asked me to watch, she’s actually pretty pitiful.”

“She didn’t come here willingly. If she hadn’t come, her mother would’ve died.”

“So now, the only way her mother can survive in the Chu royal household is if she kneels her way into the temple and earns a place. That’s the only way her mother gets status...and safety.”

“But I already told her. Once you’re at the temple, none of that outside stuff matters anymore. Mama doesn’t interfere with worldly affairs.”

The Sheng’ers—no, Tree’ers were absolutely adorable.

Li Yuan sat down beneath one of them.

She extended a slender branch, handing him a cup of tea. Seeing that it had gone cold, she gently wrapped the branch around it, and within seconds, steam rose from the cup. She handed it over again with a proud smile. “Papa, drink some tea!”

Another Tree’er produced a peeled apple from who-knew-where. “Papa, have an apple!”

The other two followed suit, offering fruits, nuts, and little snacks they’d prepared.

“So why’d you change back into this form again?” Li Yuan chuckled.

“Because if we all look the same, you’ll get confused. In Papa’s heart, there’s only

one

real Sheng’er,” one replied seriously,

“Yeah, yeah! And She’s in the Deathless Tomb!” another chimed in.

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow. “So...what exactly

are

you now? Are you the same person? Or different souls?”

“Papa’s daughter in the Deathless Tomb is the trunk. We’re the branches!”

“We’re all part of the same tree,” another added, “but we’re different parts. Of course the one in the Deathless Tomb is more important. But we’re still your daughters too!”

“And what about the crows?” Li Yuan asked.

“The crows are like little buds that haven’t fully grown into a branch yet. But because it’s on the tree, it also belongs to the Sheng’er in the Deathless Tomb.”

“We’ve just absorbed some Yang energy,” another said, “so we’ve developed some independence.”

Then one Tree’er added firmly, “But we’re

still

Papa’s daughters.”

The other three quickly agreed, their branches rustling in excited unison.