The wind on Mount Ziyang was bitterly cold and fierce. Qi Yuan stayed there for the night.
The next morning when she awoke, Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang was already practicing martial arts at the mountain peak. Though he was advanced in age, his tai chi movements were full of power and precision, each gesture full of spirit and strength.
When he saw her awake, Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang finished his routine and smiled at her. “You’re awake, Miss?”
Qi Yuan stood silently, gazing at the swirling clouds beneath the mountain. After a moment, she finally said, “Last night I had a dream.”
Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang smiled, walked to the railing, and looked out at the drifting sea of clouds. With the morning sun rising on the horizon, he asked her leisurely, “What kind of dream?”
“I dreamed I was in a splendid palace, where the light shimmered and wine flowed from luminous cups. Everyone present was someone I had once known. I called out to them, but none responded.”
The scene from the dream still lingered vividly in her mind.
Qi Yuan’s expression darkened with pain. She closed her eyes. “When they finally turned to face me, I realized—they were all skeletons. All of them… had become evil spirits.”
Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang quietly watched her.
“Then, someone suddenly grabbed me and started running, dragging me away in escape, until we reached a well. And then… he pushed me in.”
That person had a safety charm hanging on his chest.
It was the one she had prayed for with her own hands at the temple.
It was Xiao Yunting.
“Miss, you’re someone who defied fate,” Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang sighed softly. “According to your previous life’s fate, you should have died young. But now you’re alive and well.”
“There truly are many foolishly devoted people in this world.”
Yes. She was supposed to be long dead—consigned to endless torment, or else reincarnated into another life.
But instead, she was reborn into the very beginning.
She had once thanked the heavens countless times in her heart, thinking she was given a second chance.
But now she knew—it wasn’t heaven’s kindness.
It was Xiao Yunting who had dragged her out of h*ll, forcibly tearing her from the grip of fate.
Her voice was hoarse as she asked, “Then… what kind of price did the person who changed my fate have to pay?”
“You’ve already seen the price, haven’t you?” Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang smiled faintly. “He pushed you out. Of course it meant he had to take your place.”
He said slowly, “Karma in this world is unerring. The cycle never misses.”
Qi Yuan shivered slightly in the mountain wind, her face pale. “Are you saying… he will now live out my previous life’s fate?”
Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang shook his head calmly. “I don’t know. I don’t practice the forbidden method of fate exchange, so I can’t say what exactly the person who changed your destiny gave up in sacrifice.”
He paused. “Miss… maybe you should accept fate…”
“I never accept fate!” Qi Yuan slowly turned her head toward him. Though she seemed to be speaking to him, it also sounded like she was reminding herself: “If the heavens stand in my way—I’ll pierce the sky open!”
…
What bold words!
Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang coughed lightly. “Blessings and misfortunes come from our own making. The retribution for good and evil follows like a shadow.”
“Exactly. Which is why Li Changqing is dead.” Qi Yuan said this expressionlessly and turned to leave.
If it wasn’t Heaven that gave her mercy, but rather Xiao Yunting who paid a heavy price to save her—
Then she owed Heaven nothing.
Karma? Retribution?
She believed only in herself.
A young Daoist watched her hurried departure and said to Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang, “Master, she’s really rude!”
But Daoist Spiritual Master Ziyang just laughed heartily, stroking his beard. “What’s the thing I’ve told you the most?”
The boy scratched his head. “‘The Dao lies in going with the flow’…?”
“Yes. Or to say it more bluntly: our cultivation? Believe it or not, makes no difference. Don’t believe? Whatever.” He glanced toward the girl’s red silhouette fading into the woods and smiled, “And also—‘None of your d*mn business. None of my d*mn business.’”
From that perspective… This girl was the one who was truly suited for immortality.
At this moment, Qi Yuan had never more desperately wanted to see Xiao Yunting.
When you truly want to see someone—you run.
She descended the mountain, found her horse, and galloped straight toward the capital.
Meanwhile in the capital—
Feng Yuzhang stood before Empress Feng, face deathly pale. “Your Majesty, this matter…”
Her face looked no better—but more than anything, she was furious with the Feng family.
She asked bluntly: “I told you to raise your children well. Raise Caiwei properly. Is this what you call teaching?!”
Feng Caiwei had truly gone too far.
She had no patience, no basic judgment.
What kind of brain did it take to think cooperating with Qi Wang was a good idea?
Was she in a hurry to get herself—and the entire Feng family—killed?
Feng Yuzhang’s face was bitter. He couldn’t say a word.
After a long silence, he finally knelt down. “Your Majesty, I will handle it when I return.”
He looked deeply troubled. “Caiwei’s always had ambitions above the sky. You don’t know—she truly is… unique.”
She was gifted from childhood.
Embroidery, cooking, the four arts—she excelled at all of them.
Naturally, the Feng family spoiled her. But in the end—they’d spoiled her in the wrong direction.
Now Feng Yuzhang was in total chaos.
They already had few surviving heirs. Feng Jun had just died upon returning to the capital. And now, Feng Caiwei couldn’t be saved either…
He sighed. “It’s our fault. We’ve dragged down both Your Majesty and His Highness.”
“There’s no need to say more,” Empress Feng rubbed her brows. “Yunting is a boy who values relationships more than anyone. He’s already given you a way out—don’t make him regret it.”
Feng Yuzhang quickly acknowledged.
After a while, he took his leave.
The Empress Dowager nodded and told the attendants, “Bring Feng Caiwei out.”
But moments later, a palace maid came running in, panicked. “Your Majesty! Miss Feng—she’s not in the side hall!”
What?!
Empress Feng was stunned. Then disbelief filled her voice. “Where did she go?!”
This was the palace! Had Feng Caiwei lost her mind?!
A little maidservant from the side hall had just been revived with a bucket of water. She sobbed as she explained: “Miss Feng gave me a cup of tea as a reward. I didn’t want to drink it, but she said if I didn’t, she’d be angry… I drank it, and then… I blacked out!”
Empress Feng laughed from sheer rage.
Feng Yuzhang was just as dumbfounded.
He knew his granddaughter caused trouble—but he hadn’t expected her to be this bold.
Was she insane?!
Did she not know what kind of situation they were in?
The Feng family was already neck-deep in danger, and she had the nerve to drug a maid in the Empress Dowager’s palace.
He remembered how she had begged him again and again to bring her to the palace so she could plead with the Empress Dowager and Xiao Yunting.
His heart sank.
He had a bad feeling now.
Feng Caiwei probably never intended to plead at all.
