Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 296: The Art of Swordflight

“I didn’t want to, but… my wife, my children, I, I couldn’t just watch them die!” Physician Ceng sobbed. “From then on, I only focused on women’s ills, never dealing with poisons or maladies of any sort. Even after an entire decade, my heart has never found peace. I know you must be the relatives of Young Madam Yun, here to find me for revenge. I don’t mind dying, but please spare my wife and children—they had no knowledge of any of this!”

By this point, Yun Ruoyan, Yun Moxiao, and Lin Zainan were all filled with a heady mix of sorrow, fury, and indignation. Lin Zainan stumbled, and Yun Ruoyan and Yun Moxiao hurriedly helped him to one of the stone benches.

“Grandfather, didn’t you mention that Mother could still be alive? Don’t be too upset,” Yun Ruoyan whispered to him.

Only then did Lin Zainan recover from his sudden, acute grief. Hearing how someone had personally poisoned his precious daughter had dug up old wounds he had thought long since healed.

Yun Ruoyan broke the pregnant silence. She slowly stooped by Physician Ceng’s side. “I certainly wouldn’t mind your death, but there’s someone who deserves to die more. Do you know the identity of the woman who gave you the poison?”

“I—no, I don’t.” Physician Ceng finally stopped sobbing. His voice hoarse, he replied, “She wore a hat with a white, translucent veil, one that trailed down her entire body. Not only did it cover her face, but even her figure as well.”

Yun Ruoyan’s forehead scrunched up. “In that case, even if you were to see that woman again, you wouldn’t be able to identify her?”

“No, I couldn’t.” Physician Ceng buried his head in his chest. If he were able to do so, he would still have some value alive. However, Physician Ceng didn’t want to sully his conscience any further. Even if he had lied, he didn’t think he would be able to trick the four people in front of him. Instead, he would only bring trouble to his family.

As Physician Ceng prepared to die, he suddenly remembered a minor detail during his conversation with the woman.

“I remember something!” he suddenly shouted, standing up.

“What did you remember?” Everyone turned to him.

“Her smell.” Physician Ceng spoke rapidly, as though he was worried that he would quickly forget the impression in his mind. “She smelled very strange.”

“In what sense?” Yun Ruoyan pressed.

“As a physician, I have to deal with all sorts of herbs, so my sense of smell is particularly sensitive. I’m sure I’d be able to recognize the woman’s smell, even after all these years.” He frowned and thought back carefully to his memory. “It was a very strong sandalwood fragrance, as though her body had been steeped in it after years of incense and prayer. The fragrance was so strangely strong as to be almost overwhelming.”

“A sandalwood smell, steeped in incense, curiously intense…”

“Yan’er, have you thought of something?” Li Mo asked, upon hearing her mumbling.

“Ruoyan, do you know something?” Yun Moxiao had also discovered something amiss with his sister.

Yun Ruoyan shook her head, then slowly nodded. “This description does remind me of a person, but I hardly think it possible…”

“Who?!” Yun Moxiao shouted.

“Madam Qin, Qin Jianmei!”

“Madam Qin?!” Yun Moxiao sounded immensely disbelieving. “Ruoyan, could you be mistaken? How could Madam Qin be the one who had poisoned Mother?”

Li Mo and Lin Zainan were both unfamiliar with Qin Jianmei, so they didn’t react. Instead, they listened carefully to Yun Ruoyan and Yun Moxiao’s analysis.

“I also hope she isn’t the culprit—after all, she did take care of me in the past,” Yun Ruoyan said. “However, she’s the only one I could think of who could possibly have such a fragrance about her. I’ve only ever smelled that sandalwood fragrance from Madam Qin, but it’s not something you can easily detect unless you’re close by.”

“Ruoyan, I don’t think it’s enough to judge based on the sandalwood fragrance alone,” Yun Moxiao replied. He had a very good impression of Madam Qin, a woman who seemed at times almost divorced from the mortal world. Could she really have been their mother’s killer? Yun Moxiao really couldn’t imagine the thought.

“Not only that,” Yun Ruoyan continued, “I feel like she’s changed significantly after assuming Madam An’s responsibilities, and even Yun Ruoyu seems to have changed dramatically.”

In the past, Qin Jianmei had almost never stepped out of her cottage, let alone take the initiative to head into the great hall to discuss matters with a guest. However, the Qin Jianmei of the present frequently walked around the manor and had taken over the management of the household.

Yun Ruoyu had changed equally dramatically. She had been bossy and rambunctious, but now she was a demure lady! Anyone who hadn’t known her before her transformation would have thought that that was her original personality.

Actually, Qin Jianmei and Yun Ruoyu’s transformations were clear to all in the Yun household. In the past, Qin Jianmei had been so isolated and distant that no one could get close to her. Now, she smiled at one and all, and was both thoughtful and attentive. Yun Ruoyu often picked on the servants for even minor faults, but now she had become understanding and generous.

Everyone had accepted the welcome changes, even Yun Moxiao.

“It certainly does feel like Madam Qin and Ruoyu are both easier to get along with, but that isn’t anything unusual, is it?” Yun Moxiao replied.

Yun Ruoyan clearly didn’t think so: as someone who had been reborn, she knew full well how difficult it was to change one’s personality so abruptly and completely. Unless the same fate had befallen them, what could have caused such drastic change?

What could have happened to Qin Jianmei and Yun Ruoyu?

“Yan’er, since you suspect her, why not investigate her? If she really was the woman who poisoned your mother a decade ago, she would surely have left traces of her involvement behind,” Li Mo suggested. “I’ll also have my guards start an investigation.”

Physician Ceng thought himself marked for death, but unexpectedly, Yun Ruoyan and the others showed no such intention.

“Before we find the woman who poisoned you, we can’t let you go,” Yun Ruoyan said. “I’ll send someone to let your family know that you’re safe, and the Farsighted King will take good care of them. Wait here patiently until we find that woman.”

The four of them had a simple meal in the Lin manor before leaving at dusk.

“Ruoyan, won’t you return home with me?” Yun Moxiao asked, seeing Li Mo dragging her away toward his carriage.

“Yan’er’s returning to my manor,” Li Mo interrupted before she could reply.

Li Mo’s response had been so natural that Yun Moxiao couldn’t refute his words. He naturally knew that Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo were spending a considerable amount of time together. If Li Mo weren’t a gentleman, he would already have had plenty of opportunity to strike.

Nevertheless, to see a man bring his underage sister away so casually in the dark of the night…

“Brother, I acquired a spirit sword yesterday, and Li Mo’s going to teach me how to resonate with it,” Yun Ruoyan explained. “Don’t worry about me! I can take good care of myself.”

Yun Ruoyan took Li Mo’s hand and stepped into the carriage with him, which left for the Farsighted King’s manor.

Yun Moxiao sighed.

Once they were back in Li Mo’s manor, Li Mo immediately summoned Su Nan to have him start an investigation on Qin Jianmei. After he left, Yun Ruoyan excitedly took out the Scarlet Eye, ready for Li Mo’s instruction.

“To learn the art of swordflight, you first have to learn how to interact with this sword,” Li Mo explained. The first half of the technique he would impart to her would allow for mental, nonverbal communication between her and her sword, allowing her to resize it at will. The extent of these modifications was dependent on her cultivation. “Once you’re able to enlarge and shrink your sword at will, I’ll teach you the second half of the technique: how to soar on your sword.”

Li Mo touched Yun Ruoyan’s forehead with a finger, transmitting a skein of spiritual energy into her mind and filling it with the contents of the first half of the technique.

“Ask me if you have any questions.”

Yun Ruoyan closed her eyes and carefully unwrapped the mental transmission. Then, she opened her eyes and began performing the technique on the Scarlet Eye, transmitting her fire-attuned spiritual energy into the sword, then reclaiming it and sending it into her spiritual vortex.

Initially, Yun Ruoyan could feel a mild resistance from the sword toward her spiritual energy. After a few cycles, however, the fire-attuned spiritual energy from her body could easily circulate between her spiritual vortex and the Scarlet Eye, without any resistance at all.

“I’ve learned the first stage of the technique!” Yun Ruoyan retracted her spiritual energy and called out to Li Mo happily.

Li Mo was a little shocked by the rate of her progress: she hadn’t taken more than two hours to do so! Li Mo himself had spent over a day, and other cultivators took months, years, even decades.

“If you’re not yet tired, we can start the second half of the technique immediately,” he began. “At this rate, you’ll be able to soar on your sword within ten days.”

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