Six Feathers of Nirvana

Qing Yin always felt that the lady could hear her. After all, she was not human.

Luo Kui, feeling drowsy, urged her to finish washing quickly. Qing Yin hurriedly climbed out, dried herself, and changed into an inner garment Luo Kui had given her. Luo Kui was a few years older, so her clothes were large; Qing Yin had to tuck and gather them to keep them from dragging on the floor. After a day of exhaustion, Luo Kui fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Qing Yin’s hair was still damp, so she sat by the window to let it dry.

A bright moon hung high in the sky. Suddenly, she noticed a faint shimmer floating in the air outside the window. Perplexed, she leaned out for a better look, only to see the starlike, misty radiance spilling from the neighboring window.

She drew back, searching the wooden partition for a hole, and finally found one. Peering through, she was so startled she nearly cried out, hastily covering her mouth. She saw Madam Zhu crouched on the windowsill in a strange posture, her large tail raised high behind her, her neck stretched toward the moon, inhaling and exhaling, absorbing the moon’s radiance.

Was this the legendary cultivation of spirits, absorbing the essence of sun and moon? Terrified, Qing Yin slipped back to bed, huddling next to Luo Kui, trembling. She wanted to flee, but dreaded the monster’s keen senses. She decided to wait for a chance when the lady’s vigilance waned.

*

High above the Nine Heavens, in the realm of immortals, there stood palatial towers of jade.

Outside the divine temple, a young man in black stood silently. He looked seventeen or eighteen, his robe and hair pitch-black, accentuating his porcelain-white skin. Beneath lowered lashes, his eyes held a faint golden glow, as if starlight had settled there. The immortal realm’s winds whipped his robe fiercely.

A celestial attendant emerged and called, “Mo Tu, why aren’t you coming in?”

This boy in black was Mo Tu, the three-tailed Xie Cat in human form. He had lingered outside the Immortal Lord’s temple for a long time, not daring to enter.

He kept his head down, silent. The attendant hesitated, then asked, “Did something go wrong?”

Mo Tu hesitated, then finally summoned his courage and slowly stepped inside.

The Immortal Lord wore flowing white robes, a cascade of silver hair draped over his shoulders; even when standing still, mist curled around his feet. Hearing footsteps, he turned. Seeing Mo Tu's dejected look, frost gathered in his gaze.

There was no need for questions. The Immortal Lord could read the whole affair from Mo Tu’s trembling eyes. “How could you do such a foolish thing?”

Mo Tu was bewildered, his eyes full of confusion. His loyalty to the Immortal Lord was unwavering, not easily swayed by softness. He himself could not understand why he had committed such a transgressive act. It was as if some external force had controlled him for a moment. But he knew any excuse now would be mere sophistry. He knelt silently on one knee, his trembling hands betraying his intense anxiety.

The Immortal Lord’s gaze fell upon him, cold and ruthless.

The boy in black shivered, kneeling at the enraged Immortal Lord’s feet, pleading for mercy. The Immortal Lord said nothing, conjured a steel whip in his hand, and lashed it brutally across Mo Tu’s back. Skin split, flesh tore, spine cracked, and his organs were wounded by immense divine power; blood sprayed from his mouth.

The boy groaned, instantly reverting to his true form—a giant three-tailed Xie Cat. His back split open, his whole body shaking.

Stealing immortal fungus was a capital offense.

The Immortal Lord put away the steel whip and said to the attendant, “Drag this wretch away and throw him into the fire cauldron for dissolution.”

The Immortal Lord had an alchemy chamber with several large cauldrons and furnaces burning with the true three-flame fire. Any divine beast or spirit burned by this fire would have their soul destroyed, never to reincarnate.

Turning away, the Immortal Lord ordered his subordinates to go to the mortal world and find the girl who had eaten the immortal fungus, to apprehend her swiftly. He spared not a single glance at the divine beast he had raised for centuries.

Mo Tu’s heart twisted painfully, the agony far exceeding the wounds. He knew he was guilty of a capital crime, yet still harbored a sliver of hope. He had served the Immortal Lord for centuries, always treated as a pet, allowed to linger at the Lord’s side, believing he held some weight in the Lord’s heart.

He was unprepared for the Immortal Lord’s fury, in which there was no trace of mercy. The cold gaze was like ice and snow. Mo Tu felt his world collapse. The feeling of abandonment terrified him more than death. He was a divine beast; he needed belonging. The Immortal Lord was his sole reliance. Without the Lord’s affection, he no longer knew who he was.

So now, if he were not too wounded to speak, he would beg—not for “spare me,” but for “don’t cast me away.”

*

That night in her dreams, Qing Yin again encountered those golden eyes deep within the dreamscape. She felt an inexplicable closeness, wanting to approach and see them clearly, but a thick mist separated her, preventing her from getting near. The golden eyes glanced at her coldly, clearly uninterested in her. She could vaguely make out its silhouette.

It resembled a giant beast.

Suddenly, a towering figure appeared behind the beast, surrounded by dazzling silver light so bright that his face could not be seen. He raised a whip with gleaming metal joints and lashed it fiercely onto the beast’s back!

Qing Yin heard the sounds of flesh splitting, bones cracking, the beast’s suppressed cry of pain muffled. She jolted awake, sitting up in bed, her face wet with cold tears, clutching the blanket, her breathing rapid, her heart aching and curled in agony, unable to recover for a long time.

After a moment in a daze, she put on her clothes, got out of bed, opened the window, and gazed into the vast starry sky. Was that beast truly only a dream? Why did a nightmare wrench her heart so?

It was only a dream; she had no time to dwell on it, her thoughts quickly shifting to the neighboring lady spirit. Immediately, she frowned in distress.

Qing Yin had been confined by this lady spirit for four or five days of travel, never finding a chance to escape. Compared to Luo Kui, Madam Zhu preferred Qing Yin’s service. Though Qing Yin was somewhat clumsy, Madam Zhu was not bothered. Luo Kui, on the other hand, was scolded for even minor mistakes.

Luo Kui felt deeply wronged by this obvious favoritism, increasing her anger toward the newcomer Qing Yin. Qing Yin, uneasy about being favored, was grateful that, from her observations, Madam Zhu seemed unaware of her ability to see the lady’s true form. The preference was purely out of dislike for Luo Kui.

Luo Kui was sharp with others but devoted to Madam Zhu; why was the lady so cold to her?

Neither Luo Kui nor Qing Yin could figure it out.

As the journey grew longer, Qing Yin observed that aside from absorbing moonlight at night, Madam Zhu behaved much like an ordinary person, showing no inclination to eat flesh or drink blood. She gradually became accustomed to the swaying of the large tail in her presence.

A child’s heart is most open to new things. Having recently survived the massacre of her family, witnessing humanity’s darkest side, she believed nothing could be more terrifying than humans. Those who slaughtered her family—one hundred and thirteen souls—were far more dreadful than any demon. Her resistance to “the lady is an outsider” faded unconsciously.

Thus, following them to Youdu and entering the Lin Manor, her plans for escape were postponed again and again. She knew that if she ran, she would return to wandering, hungry and cold, with the shadow of pursuit ever overhead. Though Madam Zhu was a spirit, she seemed harmless and treated Qing Yin well enough; staying for now, having a roof overhead, seemed wise.

With that thought, Qing Yin stepped through the gates of the Lin Manor.

In the days that followed, she would regret this decision bitterly.

Monsters, after all, are never vegetarians.

*

The Lin Manor stood on South Avenue in Youdu, surrounded by the residences of high officials and nobles—the aristocratic quarter. They arrived at dusk. Luo Kui had described the manor’s grandeur as rivaling a palace, and though exaggerated, it was indeed splendid. There were over a dozen courtyards, with carved beams and painted eaves, pavilions and towers, picturesque as a painting. Yet, despite its beauty, the place seemed sparsely populated; several courtyards they passed had locked gates, as if uninhabited. The servants, however, were numerous; upon learning Madam Zhu had returned, they bustled about, making the previously quiet mansion lively.

Yet the master did not appear to greet them. Madam Zhu asked idly, “Where is the master?” A maid replied cautiously, “The master is in the study preparing prescriptions for urgent use tomorrow, so he cannot come to greet the lady.”

Madam Zhu nodded indifferently, not particularly concerned.

Luo Kui and the other maids breathed a sigh of relief. Usually, Madam Zhu would vent her anger on the servants in such situations, but this time she didn’t seem to mind. Had her heart softened?

Madam Zhu proceeded to her own courtyard, whose gate bore a plaque reading “Purple Pearl Garden.” Two maids had already prepared tea and hot water for washing. Qing Yin, born into a family of herbal merchants, knew “Purple Pearl” was a medicinal herb, as was Luo Kui’s name. The Lin family was a household of physicians; it seemed they named their courtyards and servants after herbs, lending a unique charm.

While Madam Zhu sat and drank tea, a nurse brought in a baby, about a year old. The nurse smiled, “Lady, you’ve been away for so many days—surely you missed the young master? He’s missed his mother too, come and hold him.”

Madam Zhu lowered her lashes, sipped her tea, set the cup down, and did not reach for the baby, but instead studied his face quietly, showing none of the maternal tenderness expected after a long separation.

The nurse was embarrassed and puzzled, just about to scrutinize Madam Zhu’s expression when a smile appeared on her face. She reached out, took the baby, weighed him in her arms, and said with a smile, “Yunier has put on weight.”

Qing Yin watched curiously. Since the child was Madam Zhu’s, he must have spirit blood—had he grown a tail yet?

Madam Zhu cradled the baby named Yunier on her arm, looking down at his face with a gentle smile, her fingers lightly stroking his delicate cheek.

Qing Yin was small, able to see Madam Zhu’s expression clearly. In that instant, she noticed a strange green light flash in Madam Zhu’s eyes, cold and vicious.

Qing Yin shivered. Madam Zhu was a spirit, but the child was her own—why such malice in her gaze? Were spirits born cold-blooded?

Suddenly, the baby in Madam Zhu’s arms began to cry for no reason. Madam Zhu stroked him, smiling, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, mother will love you dearly.”

To others, her words sounded tender, but to Qing Yin, having seen that cruel look, they were chilling.

Yunier did not calm down; his cries only intensified. The nurse hurriedly took him, soothing and smiling at Madam Zhu, “The young master hasn’t seen his mother for so long, he must be shy. He’ll warm up in a few days.” She spoke anxiously, afraid to anger Madam Zhu.

Madam Zhu showed no anger or sadness, only impatience, waving her hand, “Take him away and comfort him.”

The nurse quickly retreated with Yunier.

Once the nurse left, only Madam Zhu and Qing Yin remained in the room. Qing Yin saw Madam Zhu sitting upright, fur bristling on her big tail, her slender fingers clenched tightly on the table, her face twisted with deep hatred, her eyes glowing green and sinister. Qing Yin was frightened by the malice radiating from her, lowering her head and not daring to look again. At that moment, she bitterly regretted entering the Lin Manor. Madam Zhu was by no means the gentle spirit she had imagined.

Qing Yin’s family had also been a prominent household; she knew that once you became a maid in such a manor, you were essentially sold, and escaping would not be easy.

Half-Immortal Seal 6—Half-Immortal Seal full free reading—6 Yunier updated!