After standing frozen for a long while, Shui Linbo called out hoarsely, "Aunt..."
Mo Tiange spoke slowly, "Your identity had no flaws whatsoever. No matter how one investigated, nothing suspicious could be found. If we hadn't accidentally discovered Loose Immortal Baiyu's personal notes, we probably would never have known that you were once his most trusted maidservant."
"..." Shui Linbo remained silent, saying nothing.
Mo Tiange also said nothing more, lowering her head to look at the teacup in her hand.
A long time later, Shui Linbo slowly knelt down. "Linbo has nothing to say in her defense. Please punish me, Aunt."
"How would you have me punish you?" Mo Tiange still did not glance at her.
Shui Linbo closed her eyes. "Even if Aunt were to expel me, or even cripple my cultivation... I would... I would..." The remaining words stuck in her throat.
"Truly nothing to say?" Mo Tiange said. "Nothing to say even when facing Zhenji?"
Shui Linbo froze, tears silently streaming down her face.
Mo Tiange looked at her. "I'll give you one more chance. If you still wish to stay, speak the truth."
Shui Linbo stared at her blankly. After a long pause, she stopped her tears and began to speak in a low voice. "After the great chaos in Linhai, I drifted to Kunwu. To survive, I did everything—worked as a servant maid, a shop assistant, gathered herbs deep in the forests, hunted beasts... Whatever could earn money, I did it. But even so, the money I earned couldn't sustain my cultivation needs. Forget Foundation Establishment, even reaching the high levels of Qi Refining was difficult..."
"Later, I heard that Kunzhong City had many loose cultivators and was very prosperous, so I went there. Kunzhong City indeed had many opportunities; if you wanted to earn money, there was work. Moreover, Foundation Establishment cultivators were everywhere. If one could gain even a little guidance from them, for us low-level Qi Refining cultivators, it would be a tremendous blessing."
"However, Kunzhong City wasn't easy to survive in. If your cultivation was low, you'd be bullied by others. Once, when I went to the southern forests to gather herbs, I accidentally found several hundred-year-old Purple Jade Ganoderma. I was ecstatic, thinking Foundation Establishment was finally within reach, but... I was careless and the shopkeeper discovered them. The ganoderma was snatched away from me."
Shui Linbo paused for a moment, calming her emotions before continuing. "I was just a minor Qi Refining cultivator, without background or backing. Who would stand up for me? I even had to thank that shopkeeper for only stealing my things and not killing me. Apart from accepting my fate, I had no other choice... Later, the Loose Cultivator Alliance posted a notice: Loose Immortal Baiyu was recruiting maidservants. I hardened my heart and went to apply..."
Mo Tiange stared at her. "Did you know what kind of person Loose Immortal Baiyu was?"
"I knew." Tears rolled from her eyes, but Shui Linbo's expression remained calm. "Everyone in Kunzhong City knew that Loose Immortal Baiyu practiced the art of plundering cultivation. He often used various methods to find suitable women, seize their Origin Yin, and aid his own cultivation. The so-called maidservants were actually just cauldrons."
She lifted her head, only to see Mo Tiange sitting in the seat of honor, looking at her indifferently, without any expression.
Shui Linbo gave a bitter laugh. "I know you look down on this kind of behavior. But that feeling of having no one to rely on, no hope at all... it had tortured me to the brink of collapse. I wanted revenge, but with my poor aptitude and having nothing, I couldn't possibly take revenge on that shopkeeper. If I became a Golden Core cultivator's maidservant, perhaps there was a sliver of a chance..."
"...I successfully became Loose Immortal Baiyu's maidservant and entered his cave abode. However, he considered my cultivation too low and my aptitude too poor, so he never touched me. But with so many concubines and maidservants around Loose Immortal Baiyu, how could life be good? At first, I was bullied terribly. After being bullied too much, anger rose up, and with that anger, my heart also came back to life. But I had no medicine for regret. There, on the surface it seemed glamorous, but in truth, every person who survived had stepped over countless corpses. Besides, what did it matter even if you won against everyone? With just a single thought from Loose Immortal Baiyu, you had to offer yourself..."
The tears on her face dried. Shui Linbo took a deep breath and continued her steady narration. "I couldn't escape such a fate. In Loose Immortal Baiyu's eyes, I was but a speck of dust. He could do as he pleased. So I thought, if I couldn't change my own weakness, then I would turn this speck of dust into a shining pearl. I would prove to him that I had greater usefulness. Perhaps he would be willing to respect me."
"I am not stupid; in fact, I'm cleverer than most. I worked hard to learn from those around me—learned to gauge people's hearts, learned to scheme and contend... I spent ten years doing many things I originally didn't want to do, and finally became the most trusted maidservant by his side. Loose Immortal Baiyu was not a good man. He killed innocents indiscriminately, abducted women—there was hardly any evil he didn't commit. But he treated me well. If not for him, I never could have achieved Foundation Establishment. At that time, I thought, living like this for a lifetime wouldn't be bad. He gave me a place to settle down, and I would serve him for life."
At this point, Shui Linbo paused before saying, "If not for later, when he wanted me to be his cauldron..."
Cauldron. Those two words again. Mo Tiange sighed inwardly. Was this the fate that female loose cultivators could hardly escape?
Shui Linbo lowered her head. "After I established my Foundation, Loose Immortal Baiyu began to harbor intentions. I begged him, said I would serve him like an ox or a horse for this lifetime, only asking for a little respect from him. But it was useless. He warned me that no matter how much he favored me, I was still just a pet. A pet has no right to demand respect from its master..."
"So you ran away?"
"Yes," Shui Linbo hung her head low, but her fists were clenched tight. "I followed him for decades, did so many things for him, yet couldn't even preserve myself... I couldn't accept it, so I ran."
"And Zhenji? Why was Zhenji dragged into it?"
Shui Linbo hesitated for a moment before saying softly, "I originally had a chance to escape, but Zhenji, muddle-headed, cried out and exposed my hiding place, causing me to lose that opportunity. I... in a moment of anger, deliberately made Loose Immortal Baiyu think that Zhenji had helped me escape."
For a long while, Mo Tiange said nothing.
Having already spoken this much, Shui Linbo simply let it all out. "I thought to myself, even if I die this time, at least someone will accompany me; it won't be lonely descending into the Yellow Springs. Only... I never expected that Zhenji, captured because of me, would actually still protect me..."
"He started following me when he was ten, never having seen the dangers and evils of the world, so he treats people with utmost sincerity and kindness. That is his shortcoming, but also his virtue."
"Yes... Who would have thought that I, who had done every wicked deed, would encounter such a pure-hearted person." Shui Linbo smiled, tears mingling in her laughter.
"To Loose Immortal Baiyu, daring to run away was betrayal. Towards betrayers, he never showed mercy. Zhenji's background was too great; he didn't dare kill him, so he simply locked us up together. When he had time, he would bring us over to torment us."
"So," Mo Tiange said, "all that talk about concealing Origin Yin was false."
Shui Linbo gave a bitter smile. "Yes. Otherwise, how could I explain why he didn't value Origin Yin yet harbored such deep hatred for a captured cauldron?"
"Zhenji being able to kill Loose Immortal Baiyu was also due to your planning, correct?"
Shui Linbo nodded in admission. "Correct."
Mo Tiange lightly tapped the rim of her cup. "Kill Loose Immortal Baiyu, kill most of the those who know in the cave abode, then have Zhenji incite the sect's anger to wipe out the Loose Cultivator Alliance, and no one would ever know about your past. And you, through Zhenji, obtained a clean identity, shedding your dark past."
Shui Linbo smiled bitterly, not denying it.
"Then, Linbo," Mo Tiange gazed at her, her eyes neither sad nor joyful, "after all your scheming, are you satisfied with this kind of life?"
"..." Shui Linbo kept her head bowed. "Back when I wandered through Tianji, I often wondered, why wasn't my spiritual root a little better? If it were better, I could have followed that fairy maiden away. Later, when I came to the Xuanqing Sect with Zhenji and saw you, Aunt, I thought, after one cycle of reincarnation, I still ended up here."
She kept her head lowered the entire time. "What I've always asked for has never been much—just a place where I can perch is enough. I schemed with all my heart, and this kind of life is what I willingly accept."
"And Zhenji? Do you accept him willingly too?"
She lifted her head, her gaze calm. "Aunt, apart from this past, I have never spoken a single lie."
Mo Tiange recalled that when she first met her, she had asked a question: Do you like Zhenji? Her answer was: Yes.
Perhaps someone like her, who had to use every trick to survive, would instead fall in love with someone so innocent they didn't understand what scheming was. She would always remember those dozen-plus years when he had single-mindedly, without asking anything, protected her and shared life and death with her.
"In the near future, we will require Zhenji to go into seclusion for Core Formation. You also can no longer be bogged down by trivial matters. Once the people sent by Fengxue arrive, you too will go into seclusion until you form your Core."
Shui Linbo abruptly lifted her head, looking at her. "Aunt..."
Mo Tiange's expression did not change. "Go."
Finding not a trace of displeasure in her demeanor, Shui Linbo understood. She deeply kowtowed, speaking with sincere gratitude, "Linbo thanks Aunt for the grace of rebirth."
After Shui Linbo left, Qin Xi emerged from the cultivation chamber. Seeing her still lost in thought, he asked, "What is it? Is there still a problem?"
Mo Tiange snapped back to attention and shook her head. "Let it be like this."
Qin Xi flipped through the book in his hand. "This time it really was a coincidence. Back then, after wiping out the Loose Cultivator Alliance, we brought back a pile of classics, but no one read them. If we hadn't happened to be looking for something, how would we have discovered it? Linbo... she truly is deep and scheming. Is it safe to keep such a person by our side?"
Mo Tiange said, "You were the one who just said that if there's anything, we should call Linbo."
"..." Qin Xi said, "I saw that she's been very proper these years. Even if she hid something, there's no need to pursue it too thoroughly."
"I've been thinking before," Mo Tiange said, "if she has feelings for Zhenji and genuinely manages the cave abode for us, then I wouldn't pursue anything. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise she has no reason to exist." Qin Xi finished her sentence, then changed the subject. "With both Zhenji and Linbo going into seclusion, you should quickly call Feifei back too. Let's have a full-family seclusion—from the old to the young, from human to beast, whether it's your spirit beast or mine."
This sentence successfully made Mo Tiange laugh. "Nonsense."