Chapter 364: Blue Waves Without End

The sun hung high in the sky, already leaning slightly westward. The ship was still cruising back and forth through the same stretch of sea, and Niu Youdao still stood at the rail with his sword planted before him.

"Master Dao! Look!"

Gongsun Bu suddenly cried out from the deck and pointed toward the sea. Niu Youdao had already seen them. His pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the overlapping figures racing across the water toward the ship.

Once they drew closer and Gongsun Bu could make out Duan Hu carrying someone on his back, his expression changed. He immediately shot from the ship to meet them.

Guan Fangyi turned her head and glanced at the motionless Niu Youdao. She noticed the muscles along his cheek had drawn taut. The hand resting on the hilt of his sword was gripping so hard that his knuckles had gone white. Even so, Niu Youdao's gaze continued sweeping the coastline, remaining vigilant.

He was obviously beside himself with emotion, yet he could still maintain that degree of composure. Guan Fangyi could not help cursing inwardly. What a damned monster.

Duan Hu was exhausted. His spiritual power was almost completely spent. Gritting his teeth, he had forced himself onward at the fastest speed he could manage and finally made it back. He saw the ship still there. He saw Gongsun Bu coming to meet him. He saw Niu Youdao standing at the rail. Eldest Sister had been right. The ship had not left. Master Dao truly was still waiting for them. At this hour, Duan Hu had already abandoned hope.

Yet Master Dao really was still waiting. He knew people were hunting him, yet he had remained here. That meant taking an enormous risk.

Hot tears burst from Duan Hu's eyes. His mouth pulled wide, his chin trembling. The surge of emotion was almost more than he could bear.

Carrying Black Peony on his back, he no longer had the strength to fly properly. The distance of each leap grew shorter and shorter until, toward the end, he was almost running across the surface of the sea.

Gongsun Bu flashed over and caught him by the arm. One glance at Black Peony's deathly pale face and unconscious form made his expression turn grave. He immediately supported both of them and rushed them back to the ship.

The moment the three landed on deck, Gongsun Bu helped lower the unconscious Black Peony and laid her flat.

Duan Hu was almost completely spent. The instant the support beneath him disappeared, he dropped heavily onto his backside. Tears covered his face as he broke down sobbing. "Master Dao, save her! Master Dao, save her..."

He did not need to say it. Almost at the same moment, several hands reached toward Black Peony to examine her injuries. Even Guan Fangyi could not stop herself.

"On guard! Set sail!" Niu Youdao suddenly looked up and barked at Gongsun Bu.

Gongsun Bu immediately pulled his hand back and stood, keeping watch on the surroundings. He understood Niu Youdao's concern. The two of them had returned like this; it would have been all too easy for someone to have shadowed them back.

At the same time, he gestured to Lu Lijun, who was watching from nearby, signaling that they were leaving. Lu Lijun turned and entered the cabin. Soon the ship changed course, gathered speed, and cut away through wind and waves.

Guan Fangyi's expression was grave. The hand she had placed on Black Peony slowly withdrew. She rose to her feet and stared down at the unconscious woman, sighing inwardly. This woman could not be saved.

Niu Youdao's face was extremely ugly. Suddenly he raised his head and shouted, "Who has a life-preserving spirit pill? Who has one?"

No one answered. Only Duan Hu's broken sobs and self-reproach could be heard.

Niu Youdao abruptly turned on Guan Fangyi. "You spent years in the Qi capital looking after yourself, brokering deals and making introductions for people buying and selling all kinds of things. Whenever something good came your way and you could afford it, you would never have passed it up. You must have excellent wound medicine on you, don't you?"

Guan Fangyi sighed. "That's right. I have a Heavenly Succor Pill. Ordinarily, it should be effective even for injuries like hers. But her wounds have been left too long. The vitality of her body is almost exhausted. On top of that, her meridians are severed throughout and all her internal organs are damaged. The medicinal effect can't travel normally through her meridians, so it can't spread through her body and do what it needs to do. Do you think her body can hold on until the Heavenly Succor Pill repairs her meridians and only then begins restoring everything else? Her injuries have been delayed too long. She can't be saved. She's holding on now by nothing more than one breath of true qi. There's no need to make her suffer the pain of the medicine on top of that."

"If you don't try, how do you know she can't be saved?" Niu Youdao demanded. Half crouching, half kneeling beside Black Peony, he thrust out a hand. "Give it to me!"

Guan Fangyi's eyes widened. "I paid a fortune for that thing. Whether I give it to you is my choice. What are you shouting at me for? I'm thinking of her, and I'm doing it out of kindness. Are you blind?"

Niu Youdao extended his hand again. "Whatever it cost, I'll pay you double. Give it to me. Now!"

"Damn it, you're acting like I owe you!" Guan Fangyi grumbled angrily, but she still pulled down the bundle slung diagonally across her back. She took out a small porcelain bottle, tipped a wax-sealed pellet from it, and was just extending it when her gaze happened to fall on Black Peony's face.

She froze.

Niu Youdao immediately looked down as well. Perhaps his shouting had woken her. Black Peony's eyes looked weak and fragile, dim and unfocused as they rested on him. Yet there was the faintest hint of a smile in them. After so long, she had finally seen him again. She had known he would not abandon her.

When Duan Hu had brought her up from underwater, she had seen the position of the sun and known that the appointed time for the ship to depart had long since passed.

Yet she also knew that as long as Master Dao had returned safely to the ship, once he learned she was missing, he would wait for her.

She had not misjudged him.

He really had waited.

She had seen Niu Youdao's anxiety and fury on her behalf just now. She had heard it all.

"Master Dao..." Black Peony smiled weakly, her face bloodless. "I didn't follow the wrong man."

At those words, Guan Fangyi pressed her lips together hard. She shot Niu Youdao a sidelong glance, then slapped the wax-sealed pellet into his palm. As Black Peony spoke, another trace of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

Niu Youdao immediately crushed the wax shell. Inside was a vivid red pill, and a faint, penetrating fragrance drifted out.

Without another word, he placed the Heavenly Succor Pill into Black Peony's mouth, used spiritual power to help her swallow, then immediately helped her refine it. The medicinal effect rapidly began to spread. Her body was wounded everywhere within. Wherever the medicine touched those injuries, pain tightened Black Peony's features.

"Bear with it. It'll pass soon," Niu Youdao said softly.

Guan Fangyi rolled her eyes. It was the first time she had ever heard this man speak to someone so gently.

Hearing the familiar sound of crying nearby, Black Peony's eyelids fluttered weakly. "Duan Hu... don't cry..."

Duan Hu quickly crawled over. Choking on his words, he said, "Eldest Sister, I'm sorry. I'm useless."

"Don't cry. I'm very happy. Truly. I've never been this happy before."

Duan Hu lowered his forehead to the deck and wept into the boards.

"Master Dao..."

"Don't talk. Don't waste your strength. Rest properly. You'll be better soon."

"If I don't say it now... I won't have another chance."

Inside his sleeves, Niu Youdao's hands clenched hard. However badly he wanted to save her, however forcefully he had made Guan Fangyi hand over the Heavenly Succor Pill, he already knew in his heart what the final outcome would be.

"Has the ship sailed?" Black Peony asked. She seemed to want to lift her head and look.

Niu Youdao reached down with both arms and lifted her from the deck. He carried her to the bow, sat there with her in his arms, and let her watch the ship cut forward through the wind and waves.

Wind came steadily toward them.

Blue waves rolled on without end. Duan Hu remained crouched on the deck behind them, sobbing. As Gongsun Bu kept watch on the surroundings, he repeatedly glanced back at the two figures at the bow, their clothes snapping in the wind.

Lu Lijun stood half-hidden in the shadow of the cabin doorway, arms folded as he leaned against the wall, watching them too.

Guan Fangyi wandered about with her bundle in hand, looking from one side to another as though bored. Finally she bent down, picked up the sword Niu Youdao had abandoned on the deck, and slowly walked to the bow. She sat on the rail as if admiring the scenery, though every so often she stole a glance at Niu Youdao and Black Peony.

Looking out across the sea, Black Peony's gaze gradually lost focus. She murmured, "After drifting over the sea for so long, only now do I know how beautiful it is. Master Dao... have you ever liked me?"

The last words were almost soundless. Niu Youdao looked down at her once. Then he slowly raised his head and calmly stared ahead, his expression unmoved.

After waiting a while, Guan Fangyi shifted left and right where she sat, then gave a deliberate cough. "Are you deaf? She asked whether you've ever liked her."

Niu Youdao still said nothing.

He continued looking calmly ahead.

Black Peony no longer reacted.

Something suddenly tightened in Guan Fangyi's chest. She sprang to her feet and leaned forward to look. Only then did she discover that Black Peony's eyes had closed forever. Guan Fangyi clapped a hand over her own mouth and turned her face toward the distant sea.

Her eyes reddened.

At the bow stood three people: one holding, one held, and one standing beside them. They remained that way until the sun sank westward.

Then Niu Youdao suddenly called in a firm, ringing voice, "Duan Hu!"

Duan Hu came over, eyes red. "Master Dao!"

Niu Youdao remained seated, holding Black Peony without moving. His back to Duan Hu, he asked calmly, "Tell me. What happened?"

"It started when we received the message you sent here..." Duan Hu recounted everything from beginning to end, including every detail of what had happened.

When he finished, Niu Youdao stared out over the vast sea. "So they really were from Xiaoyue Pavilion."

"I'm not certain," Duan Hu said, "but Eldest Sister said they probably were."

"Xiaoyue Pavilion truly lives up to its reputation," Niu Youdao said, praising them without the slightest ripple in his voice.

Guan Fangyi glanced at him and found his calm almost unbelievable... A bright moon hung high in the night sky.

Deep within Fufang Garden, the low sound of a qin drifted through the darkness, broad and weathered in its resonance.

Mr. Yucang sat alone at the qin platform, his ten fingers rising and falling over the strings. He was not looking at the instrument. His gaze remained fixed ahead, as though he were pondering something even while he played. His disciple Dugu Jing hurried over and bent to whisper a few words into his ear.

Twang!

A string snapped with a crisp sound. Mr. Yucang lowered his gaze to the qin. Dugu Jing glanced outward. His expression immediately sobered, and he quickly stepped aside and bowed his head.

Mr. Yucang looked up.

Two elderly maidservants carrying lanterns were accompanying a beautiful noblewoman along the bamboo-lined path.

Mr. Yucang immediately rose from the qin platform as well. He cupped his hands and bowed with deep respect. "Your Highness."

The noblewoman's bright eyes swept across the qin with its broken string. She sighed softly. "National Preceptor, is something troubling you?"

Mr. Yucang inclined himself slightly. "A small matter of no consequence."

The noblewoman gestured. One of the maidservants placed the food box she had brought on the platform.

"The National Preceptor works tirelessly," the noblewoman said. "I made some soup myself. I hope you won't disdain it."

"I wouldn't dare."

The noblewoman turned and looked up at the bright moon in the night sky. Her voice was quiet.

"The bright moon of Qin—whose realm does it shine upon tonight?"

Mr. Yucang replied, "Where hearts gather, there is a realm of our own."

"Aren't you tired?"

"I shall devote myself to the utmost, until death and only then cease."

"I am tired."

Leaving those words behind, the noblewoman turned and walked away. Mr. Yucang clasped his hands behind his back and paced to the railing. Dugu Jing slowly came to stand beside him. Master and disciple watched her departing figure together...

[End of Chapter 364]