Drama is everlasting, and gossip never dies.
Su Luowei never expected that even after being dead for 180 years, she could still hear her name being mentioned by others.
Of course, it would have been better if her name hadn't been associated with terms like "flirtations" and "secret affairs."
She could barely recognize the part about her and Meng Shuying, but what was this about "junior sisters from Yanmo Peak" and "senior brothers from East Pole Sect"?
Fact and fiction blurred together, and after hearing so much, even Su Luowei couldn't help but wonder if she really had that many romantic entanglements back then.
If she could hear those conversations, so could Yuchi Shao. She tilted her head, looking thoughtful, and set down her chicken leg, leaning closer to Su Luowei to whisper, "Ah lin, it turns out that cultivators aren't that different from ordinary people… They're just as messy in private."
Su Luowei: I'm not, I didn't, don't make things up!
"It's probably just rumors… Cultivators are usually too focused on their training to indulge in love affairs…"
"But I don't think it's all rumors… There's no smoke without fire…"
While they were whispering, the conversation around them shifted.
Originally, Meng Shuying was seen as deeply devoted, but once a different perspective was introduced, a new version of events emerged.
"Yeah… I heard that Meng Shuying is actually the one who's fickle. Not long after her Dao companion passed, she had a new lover. And do you know, it's said that Su Luowei died because of her…"
"What do you mean?"
"It seems that Meng Shuying fell in love with someone else while traveling, and Su Luowei was heartbroken. On the day Meng Shuying was forming her Nascent Soul, Su Luowei shattered her own Golden Core…"
"All these years, her deep affection has been an act to show Zhan Xuehan and the Su family. Besides that female cultivator who accompanies her here, she has several other close female friends! One of them is even from the Demon Clan, someone named something Ling…"
The dining hall buzzed with heated discussion, but Su Luowei suddenly lost her appetite. She quickly finished her food and asked Yuchi Shao, "Are you done eating? If so, let's go."
Yuchi Shao, who had been engrossed in the gossip and hadn't finished her meal, shook her head, "I'm not done yet."
"Then I'll wait for you outside," Su Luowei said, not waiting for her response as she cleared her tray and left.
Standing outside the dining hall, feeling the cool mountain breeze on her face, Su Luowei couldn't help but find her sudden bout of jealousy a little ridiculous.
She had been dead for 180 years—how could she expect Meng Shuying to remain faithful to her memory?
There was no reason for that.
Of all the people from back then, she had been most worried about Meng Shuying. Meng Shuying was stubborn and liked to keep things to herself. Su Luowei had even thought it would be good for Meng Shuying to move on and find a new Dao companion.
But hearing the news about her now, Su Luowei realized she wasn't as magnanimous as she had thought.
However, most of the rumors were baseless. The part about her supposed romantic entanglements was clearly fabricated, so why take any of it seriously?
Comforting herself with this thought, Su Luowei felt a little better.
But… she couldn't help but think that, while the other rumors might be false, the part about Meng Shuying coming to Kunlun Sect was likely true.
But why would Meng Shuying travel so far to visit Kunlun Sect?
Was her original body really placed in the Cold Palace?
What secrets lay hidden within?
No one could answer these questions for her, and she would have to wait for time to reveal them.
Over the next few days, Su Luowei looked for opportunities to ask Senior Sister Muchen about the Cold Palace, hoping to at least find out what was kept there. But Muchen seemed very busy, and despite several attempts, Su Luowei couldn't catch her.
Just as she was about to give up and think of another plan, Muchen suddenly sought her out.
It was during class when Muchen called her out, asking, "I heard that before coming up the mountain, you were a maid in the Yutian City Lord's mansion?"
Not sure why this was being brought up, Su Luowei lowered her gaze and replied, "Yes."
Muchen looked her up and down, noting her calm demeanor with satisfaction, and said, "Good. Come with me. The Master has something for you."
The Master wanted to see her?
Su Luowei hadn't met this Master, who was her nominal teacher, since coming up the mountain. So she had no idea why she was being summoned.
Could it be that the Master had discovered her true identity?
Su Luowei's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly dismissed the thought. Since coming to the sect, she had shown no signs of anything unusual, and if anyone had recognized her as Su Luowei, it wouldn't be Muchen who came for her.
Could it be related to Yuchi Shao?
That didn't make sense either. The Master had never shown any concern for that junior relative, so why call for her now?
As various thoughts raced through her mind, Su Luowei sped up to catch up with Muchen and asked, "Senior Sister, can you tell me what the Master wants with me?"
Muchen hesitated, unsure whether to reveal anything in advance. After a moment of thought, she said, "You'll find out soon."
When they arrived, instead of seeing Master Le Ping, Su Luowei found herself in a room with several people already present.
At the head of the group was an elder with a youthful face and an aura of immortality—Kunlun Sect's leader, Master Quanyang.
Seeing her, Master Quanyang stroked his beard and gave Le Ping, seated below him, a questioning look.
"Is this the disciple you mentioned?"
"Yes. She's a new disciple I've taken in, but I haven't had time to awaken her spiritual roots yet due to the recent busy schedule. It's quite a coincidence."
Master Quanyang turned his gaze to Su Luowei, stroking his beard thoughtfully before asking, "Before you came up the mountain, did you serve others?"
He quickly clarified, "I mean, serving tea and such."
Su Luowei didn't understand the purpose of the question, but she answered dutifully, "Before coming here, I was a maid in the Yutian City Lord's mansion, where I served the lady of the house and her daughter."
Master Quanyang nodded and said to Le Ping, "Then let it be her."
Su Luowei: What are you talking about?
With the leader's approval, Le Ping spoke gently, "Su Li, there's a very important task that needs to be done. If you do it well, regardless of your spiritual roots, I will take you as my personal disciple afterward. Are you willing?"
Although Su Luowei still didn't fully understand what was happening, she could guess that the task was unlikely to be dangerous—otherwise, they wouldn't use her, a mortal who hadn't started cultivating yet, instead of one of the many senior disciples.
Judging by the question about her experience serving others, it seemed they needed someone who had experience in tending to others. The usual disciples couldn't handle it, so they needed her expertise.
So this is the advantage of having work experience?
Su Luowei could almost laugh.
But since Le Ping had already made the offer, Su Luowei had no reason to refuse. So, it was settled.
"Muchen will take you to the Cold Palace. She'll explain the rules to you."
As Le Ping spoke, she drew a symbol in the air, sending it flying into Su Luowei's mouth.
The moment it entered, Su Luowei felt her throat constrict, rendering her unable to speak.
Le Ping explained, "This is a silence charm. It will expire after seven days." She paused, noticing that Su Luowei showed no signs of panic, and nodded approvingly. "Good, you're steady. I gave you this charm for your own good."
The Cold Palace was located in a valley of Kunlun Mountain, buried under layers of snow for eleven months of the year. Only in midsummer, when the snow melted, would the palace be revealed.
The path to the valley was wide but long, winding downwards with no end in sight.
Both sides of the path were lined with snow pines. Since it was summer, the snow on the branches had melted, leaving drops of pine-scented water dripping down.
Following behind Muchen, Su Luowei listened as she repeatedly cautioned, "When you enter the Cold Palace, don't speak of what you see or hear. If you handle this well, there will be rewards for you.
There was another junior sister before you who served that person, but she talked too much and was punished by the leader."
By now, Su Luowei could guess where she was being sent and who she would meet.
This realization made her feel excited, and her steps grew lighter.
It had been over a century since they last met—she wondered what Meng Shuying was like now. And would she be able to recognize her?
Probably not. After all, her current body had no resemblance to her old one.
Even Xiaoba had said that if her old acquaintances saw her now, they wouldn't recognize her.
Yet, despite this, Su Luowei couldn't help but feel a spark of anticipation. What if Meng Shuying did recognize her and realize that she was the senior sister who had passed away long ago...
If they could reunite, wouldn't Meng Shuying be overjoyed?
Su Luowei couldn't help but smile.
She wondered how much Meng Shuying had changed over the years.
And what about the leader, Xie Hanzhu, Wen Miaomiao—were they all doing well?
As they reached the valley floor, they saw a palace as white as snow, its roof covered in white-glazed tiles reflecting the sunlight.
Muchen stopped at the entrance of the Cold Palace, leaving Su Luowei to enter alone.
Before leaving, Muchen handed her a porcelain bottle, "This contains fasting pills, one of which lasts seven days. You... be careful."
Pushing open the door to the Cold Palace, Su Luowei immediately noticed a woman in red.
It wasn't Meng Shuying.
It must be the female cultivator her "predecessor" had mentioned, the one who accompanied Meng Shuying before.
The woman was sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, cracking sunflower seeds.
Seeing someone enter, she casually flicked a flame, burning the shells into ashes before lazily glancing over with her phoenix eyes, raising an eyebrow, "So, you're the new one they sent from Kunlun?"
Su Luowei nodded.
The woman looked her up and down with a critical eye, "Seems like you haven't started cultivating yet. Good, you'll do."
She made a casual gesture in the air, sending a charm towards Su Luowei. "This is a silence charm. It won't harm you."
She winked at Su Luowei and added, "As long as you don't try to speak about what happens here, it won't harm you."
Su Luowei nodded again.
The woman in red asked, "Why aren't you talking? Are you mute?"
Su Luowei shook her head and pointed to her mouth.
"Oh, you were silenced by a charm. That's fine. She doesn't like noise anyway."
The woman led Su Luowei into the outer hall, where the temperature was much lower than outside. Even with the firestone, Su Luowei felt a shiver run through her.
"Cold, huh? Here, take this—"
The woman pulled a fiery red feather from her sleeve and tossed it to the shivering girl.
The moment the feather touched her, a warm aura enveloped Su Luowei, driving away the cold.
She looked up and smiled gratefully at the woman.
Red Bean waved dismissively, "It's nothing."
But inwardly, she thought, Kunlun Sect is really stingy. They know this little girl hasn't started cultivating yet and can't resist the cold here, yet they only gave her a tiny bit of firestone.
Then she immediately regretted it: That was my prettiest feather—why did I give it away so easily?
Seeing the little girl smile sweetly at her, Red Bean thought, Oh, well, it's done now. I can't exactly ask for it back.
Su Luowei had no idea about Red Bean's internal struggle, only feeling relieved: I was right, this woman is Red Bean.
From the moment she saw the woman in red, Su Luowei had a gut feeling that she was the little phoenix from back then.
Seeing that Red Bean hadn't recognized her, Su Luowei smiled at her again.
There was another door in the room, leading to the inner hall. Red Bean walked to the door and knocked three times, ignoring the puzzled look from the little girl as she called out loudly, "Master, I'm coming in!"
The door opened just a crack, and Red Bean slipped inside, quickly shutting the door behind her. Su Luowei stood quietly outside, straining to catch snippets of the conversation inside.
"...Here...No cultivation...Love poison...Suppression..."
Through the door, with Red Bean deliberately lowering her voice, Su Luowei couldn't make out much.
After a while, the door opened again, and Red Bean stepped out, pulling out various items from her storage bag and piling them on the ground.
Su Luowei glanced over them briefly—there were basins, towels, buckets...
She suddenly recalled what the "predecessor" in the dining hall had said about Meng Shuying asking for water several times when she was in the Cold Palace.
"Normally, you'd stay in the courtyard waiting for orders and not go inside. But I have some urgent matters to attend to, so you'll be here from now on."
Red Bean pointed to the door, "If that door opens, it means the person inside needs something. Keep your head down when you go in, don't look around, and don't ask questions."
After giving Su Luowei a few more instructions, Red Bean asked, "Did you understand?"
Su Luowei nodded, indicating she understood.
"Alright, I'm leaving now. Oh, one more thing—you might have to stay here for five or six days, so don't wander off.
The entire Cold Palace is warded; unless she lets you out, you won't be able to leave."
Su Luowei nodded and gestured an "okay."
Red Bean looked at her with a complicated expression for a moment, then solemnly handed her two cotton balls from her sleeve, "...Here, keep these—you might need them."
Su Luowei nodded and watched Red Bean leave. After tidying up the items Red Bean had left, she found a chair and sat down, staring blankly at the door to the inner hall.
Since the door hadn't opened, she didn't dare enter.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but just as she began to doze off, she suddenly heard a faint sound coming from the other side of the door.
It sounded like someone was murmuring softly.
It's not the senior sister making the noise—she's still a corpse.
So, the person making the noise is...
Xiaomeng isn't doing anything to the senior sister...
She's just... dealing with a love poison...