Chapter 49: Deliberation

"Master, is this how it's arranged?"
"Otherwise?" Wen Jingge felt a headache coming on. "Ask your senior master."
"Oh, alright..."
Thus, Qiao Yu began to ask and answer himself.
"What are you doing?" Shan Hongxing listened alertly, thinking Wen Jingge had come, but unexpectedly that sword apprentice with a demon sealed inside also arrived.
He couldn't see clearly, but Wen Jingge was always shameless; earlier she had stripped him, and now...
"Don't be so anxious, senior brother." He leaned against Wen Jingge, feeling a jolt of discomfort as if struck by lightning.
"I'm just a cripple now, what do you want..."
"If senior brother is a cripple, then I'm even worse off. Right now, I'm just a mortal who hasn't reached even the ninth rank..."
He coughed, blood sputtering from his lips, and Wen Jingge, considerate as ever, wiped his mouth. "Senior brother, do you know what it's like to watch the self-respecting fall, the self-pitying destroy themselves, and the proud be defiled?"
Shan Hongxing shuddered.
"Senior brother, your Storm and Thunder technique has been gathering dust for a hundred years, unused. You knew I had the habit of sealing myself away for cultivation, so you assumed I wouldn't suddenly drop by for a visit?"
Shan Hongxing had nothing to say.
"Senior brother, though I've lost my memory, I can still see your hostility."
Shan Hongxing continued to feign death.
"Your hostility isn't directed at me; you seem to see me as a fool, frustrated at my lack of progress, even enjoying exposing my shortcomings to others so they might belittle or exalt me."
Shan Hongxing snorted coldly.
Wen Jingge found it amusing. "You're different from our eldest senior brother, though I can't quite say how. All seven peaks, all of you are master's direct disciples, you treat me well, but that kindness makes me anxious, like treading on thin ice, prickling all over, utterly ill at ease.
I've always felt you were hiding something from me. Perhaps the only one truly clueless is Song, who is genuinely dull and spends his years on the mountain studying formations.
You, with your aloofness, surely know something, but perhaps you refuse to report it, or when you do, you find yourself a joke."
Shan Hongxing shifted, but Wen Jingge held him fast in her arms. "Don't move. I'm not asking you, I'll wait for you to speak on your own."
Shan Hongxing was silent for a long moment. "So, now, what do you want me to do?"
"Help you gather your energy, and today's events stay buried in our stomachs." Wen Jingge saw his face grow stiff, hesitating, knowing he didn't trust her, and sighed, "Once we're out of here, we're mortal enemies again."
"You didn't come here to cultivate," Shan Hongxing said slowly.
If it were for cultivation, there'd be no need to bring Qiao Yu.
And if it wasn't Qiao Yu, but that demon himself, it made even less sense.
Because Qiao Yu had been summoned by Wen Jingge later, and when he arrived he was reciting Buddhist verses, as if memorizing them.
If she came for her own sake, it made even less sense.
Wen Jingge had suffered a severe injury half a year ago; waking from it, not only had her cultivation vanished, but much in her mind was gone as well.
She and he, when they met, were enemies from the start—why would she specifically come to Red Maple Valley in the depth of night to seek him out? Who would believe she wasn't plotting murder from the very beginning?
"How much of master's divination did you learn?"
"None," Wen Jingge said honestly. She had found a book in the library, and though she could barely understand the diagrams, verifying them revealed many errors—her own random questioning produced better results.
"None?" Lu Wei was skeptical.
"I'm gifted, can't I suddenly become enlightened? Self-taught, you know?" Wen Jingge glared at him resentfully.
Previously, between Qiao Yu and Lu Wei, she found Lu Wei's demeanor pleasing and Qiao Yu irritating. Now it was reversed, as Lu Wei had become more talkative.
"Was that demon in the illusion just now?"
"The real one."
Wen Jingge picked up a stone and hurled it his way. "How much do you weigh now? Sit tight! The real one? Real, my foot!"
"...," Lu Wei's demonic dignity was once again trampled by Wen Jingge. "If you keep this up, no one will marry you—lazy, sharp-tongued, stinky, low cultivation, barely able to fight..."
"I'm nearly three hundred years old!"
"Well, well," Lu Wei clapped his hands, teasing, "How impressive!"
Wen Jingge: ...
Shan Hongxing: ...
"Mas-master..." Qiao Yu's eyes brimmed with tears, on the verge of crying. His original intent was to have the senior master check the formation for errors, but now, master seemed angry.
"Not your concern."
"But the words... came from my mouth."
"Have you memorized the formation?"
Qiao Yu stole a glance at Shan Hongxing, whose complexion was worsening. Thinking of the unfinished formation, he grew angry at himself. "There’s still a bit left—I need senior master's help."
"Alright, make use of him more often, vent for me."
Wen Jingge had spoken offhandedly, but unexpectedly, Qiao Yu's eyes lit up. "Alright, I can do that."

"What formation?" Shan Hongxing gave up resisting; Wen Jingge's hand pressed on his pulse, and whatever method she used, he felt his lungs and heart much relieved.
"Seven-Star Nail Suppression," Wen Jingge lied casually. "Corpse-Nourishing Array, a formation that uses living beings or the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nourish the dead."
"Living beings?" Shan Hongxing bit his lip, clearly misunderstanding. "You say living?"
"I've only used demons, never living people." Wen Jingge looked outside, where the qi in Red Maple Valley was thickest outside the illusion. Why had she spent fifty years at Thousand-Fathom Peak instead of Red Maple Valley, working on formations?
"Demons?" His empty gaze shifted to Qiao Yu. "You sealed him for this? Kept him to help you..."
"Help me kill you?" Wen Jingge scoffed, flicking his forehead. She’d already been far more improper earlier, so she paid it no mind. "No need for his help. I will kill you, but not now. You're not strong enough yet."
She paused, unconsciously glancing at Qiao Yu.
That last line wasn’t hers.
"Don’t look at me!" Lu Wei had switched in at some point. "If I were you, I'd just go smash myself against a wall. Always meddling, it's infuriating."
Wen Jingge: ...
"One goes, another comes. You're just as annoying!"
"...," if she weren't still holding Shan Hongxing, she’d have gone up and smacked him.
Those two in her mind—did they think she wanted this?
If not for the balancing method, she wouldn't have fed Qiao Yu that bowl of medicinal soup. Now Qiao Yu was balanced. She drank it herself, but why didn't it work?
Shan Hongxing had meant to mock her, but was left baffled by these two. "What do you mean, one goes, another comes?"
"Stop talking, focus, gather your energy, the formation’s ready." Wen Jingge interrupted, helping him sit upright.
Shan Hongxing wasn't one to dally—being held by Wen Jingge was humiliating, but there was no one more suitable here. If there was any chance for an early end, he wished for it.
"Remember, you owe me a favor. If you ever catch a demon, secretly send it to me."
"For what?"
"To study."
Shan Hongxing: ...