Qiu Ling, still standing where he was, felt dizzy and lightheaded, cold sweat soaking through the back of his clothes, clinging sticky to his skin, chilling him to the bone.
They… they really know the resurrection technique?
That’s a legendary top-tier secret art! He’d been in the business for years, but he’d only heard the elders in his sect mention it occasionally—he’d never actually seen it. If he could get his hands on this technique, even just the basics, he could atone for his sins when he went back, offsetting the mistake of failing to break into Yiyun Palace. Who knows, he might even get praised by his sect!
Besides, before entering Yiyun Palace, he’d specifically asked around. Palace Master Jieyou was a total free spirit, a little girl who couldn’t keep a secret to save her life—she’d even show off a new dress the second she put it on. With such a childish personality, how could she hide such a powerful secret art? She definitely couldn’t. Chances were, she’d slip up and reveal it sooner or later.
Thinking this, a glimmer of hope ignited in Qiu Ling’s heart, his dull eyes lighting up instantly. He pulled himself together, struggled to get up from the cold ground, stumbled a few steps to steady himself, and hurried toward Yiyun Palace’s water source—truly, he’d brought this on himself! He’d been so arrogant to poison the water earlier, and now he had to go to all the trouble of detoxifying it. Just thinking about it made him feel wronged.
On the other side, Palace Master Jieyou held the soft Miss Jiu in her arms, walking slowly while swinging her legs, tugging at the National Teacher’s sleeve with curiosity all over her face: "That Life Tree thing you mentioned? The resurrection secret art—Is it really reliable? What’s the principle behind it? Spill the beans, don’t keep me waiting!"
The two walked along the bluestone path, passing through the intricately carved corridor, and finally reached the main hall of the harem. The courtyard in front of the hall was open and flat, with warm sunlight spilling over the ground, chasing away the slight chill in the mountain air.
Palace Master Jieyou carefully placed Miss Jiu on the white jade slide in front of the hall. Miss Jiu chirped unhappily a few times, as if complaining about being put down suddenly and separated from the warm embrace. She shook her fluffy down, tilted her round little head, looked up at the sky with one eye and down at the ground with the other, her tiny little head filled with who-knows-what weird thoughts, looking cute yet arrogant.
Palace Master Jieyou had always been curious about what Miss Jiu and Xiao Bai (who hadn’t appeared yet but was always in her heart) were thinking. But at this moment, all her curiosity was firmly attracted by the resurrection secret art, and she only glanced briefly at Miss Jiu’s little movements.
At this time, Palace Master Jieyou still didn’t know how great a taboo resurrection was, or what kind of heavenly laws and hidden dangers lay behind this secret art. She only thought it was novel and interesting, filled with an urgent desire to find out more.
But one day, she would understand—if there was no boundary between life and death, what taboos would there be in the world? What would there be to fear? Or rather, what would be the meaning of living?
Is the meaning of life in death?
No, absolutely not.
But it is precisely the existence of death that makes people cherish every minute and second of the present, and cherish the people and things around them. It is because of this cherishing that life becomes extremely beautiful, flesh and blood, and has true meaning.
Then, what about immortality?
Immortality is just another form of existence. The form changes, but the essence of life never does. Where there is immortality, there is eternal silence. And this "eternal" is just a theory of relativity on the time scale—there is short only because there is long; there is eternal only because there is a moment. Isn’t that right?
She subconsciously looked at the National Teacher beside her, wanting to get an answer from her, but the National Teacher remained silent, not responding. Instead, she herself unknowingly fell into deep thought, her breathing becoming gentle.
The greatest truths are the simplest. Often, the more simple the truth, the more complex mysteries it contains. In fact, simplicity and complexity are one and the same, with no absolute boundaries—everything depends on a single thought of the human heart.
Right and wrong, yes and no, beauty and ugliness, good and evil, and even life and death—all follow the same principle. They are originally two sides of the same thing. Why bother overcomplicating things and insisting on drawing a clear line? Or rather, originally there is nothing, where can dust gather? All the entanglements and troubles in the world are nothing but self-inflicted by the human heart.
Palace Master Jieyou simply sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, entered meditation, followed the mental method, focused on her eyes, then her nose, and finally her heart, trying to calm herself down and comprehend the truth in this.
But unfortunately, the flesh corresponding to the heart in her chest was really troublesome—the curve of her chest was too eye-catching and full, making it impossible for her to wear those sexy and hot, novel-style clothes, wasting her snow-white, smooth and delicate skin!
Thinking of this, Palace Master Jieyou couldn’t help but sigh softly, a hint of slight melancholy clouding her brows, and the meditative state she had just entered was instantly shattered completely.
Standing aside, the National Teacher saw her suddenly sigh, and thought she was worrying about the country and the people, fearing that someone in the palace might accidentally take the poisoned water and get into trouble. Her heart warmed instantly, and she stepped forward, whispering comfort: "Your Highness, don’t worry. Every word I said just now is true. Everything about the palace’s water source is under control, and no one will get hurt."
Palace Master Jieyou slowly opened her eyes, let out a soft "Hmm", and for some reason, the slight melancholy in her heart finally dissipated, and her face returned to its usual vividness.
Before long, perhaps because the meditation had exhausted her energy, or because the warm sun was too comfortable, she actually fell asleep while sitting cross-legged, and even snored loudly. Her snoring was thunderous, forming a huge contrast with her usual delicate and lively appearance.
The National Teacher frowned helplessly, then turned to look at Miss Jiu on the slide—Miss Jiu was tilting her head, staring at the sleeping Palace Master Jieyou with a look of disdain, her little head nodding repeatedly, as if silently complaining "How can she sleep so soundly and snore", looking cute and funny.
The National Teacher muttered to herself: I’ve never heard her snore before? Could it be that sleeping sitting up makes it easier to snore? Or maybe I slept too soundly before and never noticed?
"My dear Highness, your snoring is so loud. If you travel the rivers and lakes in the future, staying at inns, I’m afraid no villain will dare to mess with you—they’ll probably mistake you for a burly man!"
The National Teacher shook her head, amused and helpless, her tone full of doting: "If that’s the case, we’ll lose a lot of opportunities to ‘uphold justice’ and ‘punish evildoers’ that come our way."
Listening to the National Teacher’s words, Miss Jiu fluttered her little wings, seemingly infected by the thunderous snoring, feeling sleepy, her eyelids gradually becoming heavy, and her head tilting even more.
No matter how beautiful the mountains and rivers are, if you see them too much and for too long, you will lose the initial interest and novelty.
So, living too long can sometimes be really boring, even the beautiful scenery around you will become dull.
After all, this seemingly fluffy, soft and cute Miss Jiu was actually a red-crowned phoenix with colorful feathers soaring in the sky. The memories of the phoenix clan are passed down from generation to generation. Under this tender little appearance, there is a heart that has been precipitated by years and is full of old-fashioned maturity.
As Miss Jiu thought, she couldn’t help but let out a big yawn, her little body swaying, as if she was about to fall off the slide.
The National Teacher was completely convinced.
Truly convinced.
These two masters and servants—one sleeping soundly with thunderous snoring, the other so sleepy that she was staggering—were really exasperating and funny, completely speechless.
He shook his head helplessly, gently stepped aside, and quietly retreated to the corridor nearby, leaving only the two of them—one person and one bird—sleeping soundly in the warm sun in front of the hall, enjoying a peaceful time.
On the other side, Qiu Ling wore the hollow-carved soul-locking cuffs, which was like carrying a special pass, allowing him to walk freely in Yiyun Palace without any obstruction. But wherever he went, he was followed by a group of onlookers—after all, this soul-locking cuff had an exquisite and novel design with hollow patterns. It was both a curious gadget and a symbol of his shame as a prisoner of war, which inevitably aroused people’s curiosity.
But Qiu Ling did not feel ashamed at all; on the contrary, he was quite proud of it. He greeted the onlooking maids with a big smile, bowing politely, and repeatedly reminded them: "Hello, sisters! Please don’t drink water or make tea today. I’m sorry for causing you trouble—I apologize to all of you here!"
