Phoenix's Requiem

Everyone, welcome to 2021!  2020 has been an absolutely horrid year for many people on many levels, and I think many (most? all?) of us are glad to leave it behind.  With that said, I wanted to give everyone a preview for some of the things that are coming up in the coming few months for Wuxiaworld.

Front-End Site Redesign - This one has been a long time coming!  Historically, we've focused more on incremental changes and feature build-out rather than overhauling the site itself, but for quite a few months now...

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Lin Bo was the housekeeper of the Lin family, who had watched the Lin sisters grow up. He hadn’t been able to send them off because he was back home visiting his family, but as soon as he returned, he hurriedly went up the mountain to await their successful departure.

“Ah, what’s happened to you, second miss?” Lin Bo saw Lin Qingxue being carried on Zhuo Yifeng’s back and hurriedly asked.

“I’m fine, Lin Bo, I just had a little injury,” Lin Qingxue responded with a smile. Her face had regained its usual liveliness, but her legs would still go soft at times if she tried to walk.

“Ah, then—”

“Lin Bo, is Grandfather alright?” Lin Bo wanted to ask more questions about the injury, but Yun Ruoyan broke him off.

“He’s doing well. He was simply so worried about all of you that he dispatched me here early. Let’s hurry back home---I’m sure Master Lin will be happy to know that you’ve all passed the trial.”

“Grandfather’s a patient man; Lin Bo, isn’t it you who’s been worried about us all this time?” Lin Qingxue joked.

“Ah, I can’t hide anything from you, second miss!”

Yun Ruoyan glanced all around her, noticing that the Yun family carriage wasn’t present. There weren’t that many carriages out there, and she was sure that she hadn’t simply overlooked it. “Lin Bo, have you seen my sisters?”

“Yes, they arrived two days earlier than your group did, and they’ve already gone back to the Yun household. I even asked them where you girls were!”

“Oh?” Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. “What did they say?”

“They said that they were originally with you, but a chance encounter with some beasts split up your party, so they also don’t know what happened to your group. It worried me so!”

“Don’t worry, aren’t we all back now?” Lin Qingxue smiled. “Let’s go back home, Lin Bo!”

Lin Qingxue pulled on Yun Ruoyan’s wrist. “Sister Ruoyan, why don’t you go back with us?”

Yun Ruoyan nodded, and the whole party walked toward the Lin family carriage.

Zhuo Yifeng sent Lin Qingxue up the carriage before picking up Zhuo Lin’er once again.

“Brother Zhuo, are you heading home?” Yun Ruoyan poked her head out the carriage and looked towards Zhuo Yifeng.

Zhuo Yifeng nodded, his gaze sweeping over the crowd before stopping momentarily on Yun Ruoyan. “Take care, I’ll see you at Kongming Academy.”

No one had expected Zhuo Yifeng to leave so briskly, and Lin Qingchen shouted from behind, “What about the treasure?!”

But Zhuo Yifeng had already gone far into the distance. He turned around and waved to the girls, “Take care of it for me.” And then he vanished into the distance.

Lin Qingxue was a little openmouthed—leaving them with such precious herbs, medicine, and cores? Wasn’t that treating their wealth a bit too carelessly?

“It’s probably inconvenient for them to have such valuables on their person,” Yun Ruoyan commented.

When the carriage finally arrived at the Lin manor, Lin Qingxue jumped off the carriage before it had fully stopped and shouted, “Grandfather, I’m home!”

Before Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingchen’s amazed eyes, she ran into the manor.

Her legs seemed completely fine! Was she just pretending to have weak legs so she could be carried by Zhuo Yifeng?! Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingchen glanced at each other before shaking their heads helplessly.

Seeing that all three of his granddaughters were safe and sound, and that they had all passed the trial, Lin Zainan was naturally very happy.

The three girls couldn’t wait to show off their treasures.

Lin Qingchen removed everything from the bag of holding one by one, and their amassed gains actually filled the entire floor of a guest chamber.

“Grandfather, aren’t we amazing?” Lin Qingxue pulled on Lin Zainan’s wrist.

“Of course! How can my granddaughters not be amazing?” Lin Zainan stroked his white beard, his eyes curved into two crescents.

“That’s right, you’re the amazing one,” Lin Qingchen couldn’t help but add. “If not for Sister Ruoyan and I going down there to save you, you’d have been an amazing companion for the wild vine spirit.”

“That… that…” Reprimanded by her sister, Lin Qingxue stuttered a little as she defended herself. “If not for me, would you have been able to get all this treasure?” She pointed at the bottles of pills and powders that they’d retrieved from the chamber where the wild vine spirit had resided. “If I hadn’t fallen down that hole, you wouldn’t have gone to rescue me, and you wouldn’t have killed the wild vine spirit and gotten all this treasure!”

Her logic left Lin Qingchen at a loss for words.

Yun Ruoyan’s gaze landed on the black porcelain bottle, and she picked it up and handed it to Lin Zainan. “Grandfather, do you know what this is? None of us were able to identify it.”

Lin Zainan took the bottle, uncorked it, and wafted the vapors toward him. As he sniffed lightly, his expression immediately turned radiant.  

“Grandfather, is this something good?” Yun Ruoyan inquired upon seeing his face.

“Yes, it’s wonderful!” Lin Zainan stood up in excitement and said to Yun Ruoyan, “We can finally purge the poison from your body, once and for all.”

Yun Ruoyan stilled for a moment before asking, somewhat incredulously, “Really, a full antidote?”

The Lin sisters quickly crowded around him and repeated the same question.

“Yes, definitely,” Lin Zainan affirmed. “Lin Bo, bring me that vat of alcohol that’s been aged for fifty years. We’ll also have to go to my pillmaking chambers later, so wait here and refuse any guests that might show up.”

Lin Bo nodded and left for the wine cellar. Armed with the alcohol, Lin Zainan brought the three girls into his chambers.

Upon his request, Lin Qingxue unsealed the alcohol that Lin Bo had brought before pouring out a full cup into a celadon bowl. 

“Grandfather, is this for Sister Ruoyan to drink?” Lin Qingxue asked curiously.

But Lin Zainan didn’t respond. Instead, he smiled and shook his head. Amidst the others’ curious gaze, he poured the contents of the bottle into the alcohol.

They only saw a little mud-yellow grain, about the size of a fingernail, sink to the bottom of the bowl, before starting to fizz and produce a large number of small bubbles.

“What’s this?” Yun Ruoyan asked.

Lin Zainan looked adoringly at the mud-yellow object before revealing its identity. “A phoenix bezoar!”

“A phoenix bezoar?!” Lin Qingchen exclaimed in surprise, becoming even more agitated than her grandfather.

“A phoenix bezoar? What’s that?” Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingxue were completely befuddled.

“A bezoar’s a small stone-like object that forms in the stomachs of various animals, like cows and dogs, which can have rare and valuable medicinal properties,” Lin Qingchen recited, before pointing at the bowl. “And, naturally, a phoenix bezoar is a far rarer bezoar that came from a phoenix’s body.”

“Far rarer? You’d hardly find one in a thousand years!” Lin Zainan’s mustache and beard were twitching visibly. “A phoenix is a mystical beast, and it’s hard enough to ever encounter one, let alone get ahold of its bezoar. Using it as the base for medicine and including a few herbs to cure poison will surely cure your body completely.” Lin Zainan’s confident tone finally gave Yun Ruoyan some hope that she would truly be free from the poison that had plagued her.

Everyone stared wonderingly at the phoenix bezoar currently immersed in alcohol.

That deceivingly plain appearance actually hid a priceless treasure. As its mud-yellow membrane slowly dissolved in the alcohol, it finally turned a gleaming gold.

A sudden fragrant scent spread throughout the room, growing stronger and stronger.

“I’m going to concoct the pill right away! Wait for me here.” Lin Zainan lifted the cup of alcohol and walked to his inner chambers.

As soon as Lin Zainan left, Lin Qingxue began to run around in circles excitedly. “Sister Ruoyan, you’ll finally be cured!”

“Ruoyan, that’s wonderful! Once your poison’s cured, the birthmark on your face will surely go away.” Lin Qingchen was no less excited than Lin Qingxue. “I’m so excited to see what your face will look like afterwards.”

Yun Ruoyan sat quietly on her chair, her face cool, her breathing calm, as if she weren’t excited at all.

The poison had invaded her entire body, restricting her cultivation and destroying her appearance. Although Lin Zainan had provided her with some pills in the past, they could only treat her poison on a superficial level. She wasn’t as insensitive about her appearance as it might seem: having to walk around with a pus-filled birthmark on her face would take a toll on anyone. But she had spent two lives carrying that odious birthmark around, and time had gotten her used to others’ stares.

Now that a hope for curing the poison completely was right in front of her, how could she not be excited? It was simply that she’d grown used to hiding her emotions and acting calm.

Four hours later, Lin Zainan was still in his chambers. Impatient, Lin Qingxue wanted to sneak in to have a look, but Lin Qingchen quickly dragged her back.

“You know that Grandfather needs absolute concentration while making pills, and if you make a disturbance, you won’t be able to bear the consequences,” Lin Qingchen rebuked her severely.

Lin Qingxue recognized the importance of the matter and sat back down obediently after sticking out her tongue. Her gaze landed on Yun Ruoyan sitting silently on the other side of the table with her eyes closed, as if this wasn’t a matter of fundamental importance to her, and she tilted her head uncomprehendingly.

On the other hand, Lin Qingchen was particularly impressed by Yun Ruoyan’s cool demeanor, and she wondered when she would be able to be as collected as her cousin.

Four hours later, as the sun gradually set among the hills to the west, Lin Zainan finally walked out of his chambers.

Everyone was startled when they saw him: his graying hair had turned completely white. His slender frame, dressed in an ink-black robe and accompanied by his stark white hair and beard, made him look like a Daoist immortal.

“Grandfather!” The three girls stood up and called out as one, their eyes turning wet.

“Grandfather.” Lin Qingxue wiped away her tears and walked forward, pulling his hand and smiling. “I thought you were an immortal when I first saw you.”

“You’ve got a silver tongue, haven’t you?” Lin Zainan laughed and clasped her hand.

Lin Qingchen and Yun Ruoyan also walked over.

“Grandfather, I…” Yun Ruoyan felt a sudden overwhelming urge to cry, and she couldn’t continue her sentence.

Lin Zainan waved his hands forcefully. “You’re my granddaughter, my bone and flesh and blood, and I’m happy to do anything for you, Ruoyan.”

He extended a palm out to her, revealing a golden-yellow pill. “Quick, consume it with alcohol.”

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