Chapter 013

Chapter 13: Black Book

Night. Heavy rain poured down.

Fang He An stood in the rain curtain, his body covered in knife wounds. Rain washed over the cuts and blood ran everywhere. His eyes were open, looking in Ye Wan Wan’s direction with a faint sense of relief: “As long as you’re fine… that’s good…”

Ye Wan Wan’s pupils tightened. She watched his breath fade bit by bit, yet he still gazed at her gently. A chill climbed up from the soles of her feet. She had never seen such a scene, but the sudden pain and despair that seized her heart made fear flood her whole body.

Back in the kitchen, Fang He An froze. He had only given her a flatbread, yet Ye Wan Wan’s face had gone white in an instant. Even powder wouldn’t work that fast.

“Junior Sister, are you okay?” he asked.

Bai Jian and Li Wan Zhi also looked over curiously. Seeing Ye Wan Wan pale as if struck, Li Wan Zhi frowned: “Fang He An, did you poison the food again?”

“…I did not,” Fang He An said, deflating. “My medicine pouch isn’t allowed in the kitchen, so how could I poison anything? Besides, this flatbread is a leftover from Senior Sister. She didn’t get sick from it. How would Junior Sister get sick?”

What bothered him more was that Ye Wan Wan hadn’t even eaten yet. Even if it were poison, it would need to be eaten to work.

Ye Wan Wan held the table edge and came back to herself after a long moment. She looked at the flatbread in her hand. Both strange episodes had happened right after they gave her something. What was this? Why could she see their deaths?

[Is that the future?]

Fang He An quickly took the flatbread back and tossed it out: “Don’t eat that. Junior Sister, wait for hot porridge.”

He washed rice and started a pot of porridge without hesitation, then had Bai Jian take Ye Wan Wan out of the kitchen to drink hot tea while they waited.

When the porridge and buns were ready, Fang He An carried all five tiers by himself. Li Wan Zhi was used to the sight. They ate in silence. Bai Jian ate fast.

After the meal, there were small sect tasks to do. Fang He An assigned one to each of them. Ye Wan Wan would organize ancient books. Li Wan Zhi would go with Fang He An to Senior Uncle Xun Yin’s place to plant spirit herbs. Bai Jian would go to reinforce the Mountain Guarding Grand Array. That was her daily task, using the array to train herself and also help the grand array evolve.

When he finished dividing the tasks, Fang He An glanced at Ye Wan Wan’s face: “Junior Sister, feeling better? If not, go rest in your room. You can skip today’s task.”

“I’m fine,” Ye Wan Wan said, her color restored. “But Senior Brother, can you really trust me with organizing ancient books? That’s important.”

Even an outsider knew ancient books were precious. She had been brought here without a formal entry ceremony and without a master. Putting her in charge of ancient texts felt wrong. Was Heavenly One Sect really that casual?

“Of course it’s fine,” Fang He An said. “It’s the Sect Master’s order. Do it with a calm heart. Since you’ve entered Heavenly One Sect, you can’t run. We’re not worried.”

Li Wan Zhi at the side was the example. Anyone who dared run would be caught and brought back.

“Right,” Ye Wan Wan thought.

Once outside, Fang He An pointed her the way, and Ye Wan Wan walked there on foot. The Archive Pavilion stood at the highest point of the main peak.

She climbed for more than half an hour and entered the Archive Pavilion. No one else was there. Ancient books lay scattered everywhere.

“It’s clear no one has organized this in a long time,” she said.

She began to check, sort, and shelve. Even so, she kept thinking about the scene from earlier. Why could she see their fates? If those were the fates of Fang He An and Bai Jian in her last life, how could she see them now? In that life she should have had no connection to them. Only in this life, because of Li Wan Zhi, had she been brought to Heavenly One Sect and met them.

[Is it fate? Or some trigger?]

She tapped the book in her hands. The common point in both visions was a gift. Maybe next time she should watch for that again.

She quickly finished one cabinet, but there were too many books and they were too scattered. Even after half a day, she had only organized a small part.

She stretched. A nameless black covered book wedged in a cabinet crack caught her eye. From this angle, something like gold seemed to flash across it.

She walked over and pulled the book from the crack. When she opened the first page, she saw Array Blueprints and Talisman Arts, but there were no detailed explanations.

One torn page drew her attention: “Eye of Rebirth.”

Her gaze tightened. She turned to the next page, but it had been ripped out. The page was blank. Nothing there.

Puzzled, Ye Wan Wan flipped through the whole book. She still couldn’t find more. She searched the cabinet for the missing pages and found nothing.

“Was it already incomplete?” she murmured.

She looked back at the front page. Only four words were written there, along with half a torn Array Blueprint. Nothing else.

A strange feeling prickled her. She lifted her head and met a pair of eyes staring down from the beam. The eyes were black, like a deep pool, watching her every move.

Ye Wan Wan reacted fast and gathered a fire spell in her palm. Before she could cast, the thing spread its wings, swooped to the window lattice, and flew out.

“Bird?” Ye Wan Wan’s eyes went cold.

Why was there a bird inside the Archive Pavilion? She looked toward the direction it flew and saw a window pushed halfway open. That must be the way it came in.

She pushed the window wider. Sunlight fell across the Eye of Rebirth page. Her expression was hard to read.

The next day, Ye Wan Wan went to morning class as usual. This time Bai Jian was more careful, but Ye Wan Wan wasn’t satisfied: “Second Senior Sister, don’t hold back.”

“Your hands…” Bai Jian hesitated.

“They’re already healed,” Ye Wan Wan said as she punched forward. The punch split the air, and her fists were fine. “Yesterday Third Senior Brother brought me medicine. It worked great.”

“Good,” Bai Jian said, relaxing and opening up her offense.

Bai Jian was a powerful body cultivator. Her defense and attacks could train a person’s body to the limit. After her Golden Core was dug out, Ye Wan Wan had wanted to strengthen her body. She didn’t need to match Bai Jian, but at least without spiritual power she would be able to last a few moves. If the Supreme Sect discovered her fake death later, she would still be able to run.

Bai Jian and the others never used spiritual power when sparring.

Mornings were for fists and footwork. Afternoons for sorting books. Evenings for quiet cultivation of the heart.

Ye Wan Wan lived in Heavenly One Sect for a month and got used to the rhythm. After a month, Fang He An looked like he had words stuck in his throat.

During dinner, Ye Wan Wan put down her chopsticks: “What is it, Third Senior Brother?”

Fang He An opened his mouth several times before he forced the words out: “The Sect Master wants you to go to Sword Mountain.”

At that, both Bai Jian and Li Wan Zhi fell silent for a moment. Even the sound of eating grew soft.