She always seemed to be exactly two days behind Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.
When she arrived at Qinghe, a charlatan spoke of "two masters, one dressed in black and the other in Gusu Lan's white, asking about the Xinglu Ridge, two days ago."
When she ran into a fuming Jiang Wanyin, the man looked at her quite disdainfully (assuming she was just Wangji's companion), then left in a huff, muttering "Wei Wuxian, that prick- I've been looking for him for two days!"
When she found Jin Rulan, the boy had been grumbling "Mo Xuanyu, was it really necessary to trick me? I can't even find you, and I've been going around the city for two days."
When she went to the ridge in question and found the Nie ancestral hall the next day, Nie Huaisang lamented that "Wei-xiong had to destroy the wall, just when I repaired it, two days ago!"
Thankfully, Nie Huaisang (somehow) knew where the pair was headed to next, and pointed her in the direction of Yueyang.
Xuemi briefly froze, remembering what happened the last time.
The door was open, the steps tainted with blood.
Xuemi ran into the house, ignoring all propriety. The pond of lotuses had long since wilted, the water dyed red. Bodies littered the doors and bridges. The Min clan's emblem, once proud, was in pieces on the ground.
Abruptly, Lengyue had flown out of its sheath, nearly impaling Nie Huaisang, who let out a terrified shriek. The sword came to hover beside her feet, and she took off at full speed, leaving the Nie sect, and Qinghe, in the dust.
Then, she detected something suspicious.
Wait… That resentful energy. Is it coming from Xinglu Ridge? But Nie Huaisang is there, with some of the other disciples. Even if Sect Leader Nie is incapable of wielding a saber properly, his entourage can. Why aren't they dealing with it?
It's not that simple… he fixed the wall twice, implying that it had been broken twice. But the dirt that covered it is still quite loose… it shouldn't have just been twice.
Perhaps someone else broke the wall and then fixed it again? But there is no point. Unless there is something in these walls.
But if there were, then there isn't enough dirt to fill the wall, implying that whoever broke the wall did not take anything. Then why did they break the wall? In addition, breaking the wall would most likely cause whatever is in there to fall out and possibly shatter. The area is quite old.
That means that something had to replace the position.
The resentful energy can only come from corpses…
Did someone seal themselves in there?
She stopped, and flew back, landing right in front of the Headshaker.
"What is in there?" Xuemi demanded.
"I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know!" Nie Huaisang squeaked, eyes darting around.
Xuemi narrowed her eyes at the trembling liar, and suddenly the temperature dropped a few degrees.
Nie Huaisang started to sweat profusely. "T-The secrets of the Nie clan have to be preserved, da-sao-"
"Da-sao?!"
"Sorry! Not the time! I know!" Nie Huaisang all but screamed. His heart was pounding in his ears, even though he knew that the Lady of White wouldn't dare to kill a sect leader.
Probably.
"But I really can't tell you this, because this is definitely confidential information that Da-ge made me swear to secrecy about!"
Xuemi stepped closer.
Nie Huaisang stepped back.
Xuemi took another step, and Nie Huaisang was backed against the ridge. He nervously glanced to see her eyes looking very insistent on finding the truth.
Aiya, discretion be damned, I told Wei-xiong and Lan-xiong already, anyway. Da-sao won't tell anyone else.
"Okay, okay, I'll say it!" Nie Huaisang hushed in a panic. "It's the Nie ancestral hall!"
Xuemi glared.
"It's where masterless sabers are!"
Xuemi blinked. She wasn't expecting that.
It was mildly common knowledge that the Nie sect only wielded sabers and not swords. With the exception of Nie Huaisang, who had a fan.
(Don't think I don't know about those compartments in your fans, Nie Huaisang. Needles are easy to hide, but when infused with spiritual energy, they emit a pulse just like a golden core.)
It was less common knowledge that the sabers used the resentful energy of beasts, which meant that their masters were much more prone to Qi deviation than the others. Baxia had been the cause of Nie Mingjue's sudden death, all those years ago.
But this information was new.
"Explain." She bit out.
"Okay, I'm guessing that you know that the sabers wield the resentful energy of beasts, right? So, these sabers all have killing intent. After their masters died, however, the sabers kept going around, killing more people. So the sixth leader of the Nie sect built these stone castles to house the sabers, and purchased corpses with resentful energy, to balance the energies out."
For a person dubbed the Headshaker, Nie Huaisang is much too knowledgeable.
Xuemi nodded and chose her next words carefully. "Nie Huaisang, you seem to be much more capable than the rumours say."
In that brief moment, Nie Huaisang's mask slipped into one with real panic. Then the mask was back in place. "D-Da-ge just drilled it into me when-"
Nie Huaisang stopped.
He seemed to realize the hole in his logic as well.
Xuemi didn't raise an eyebrow, but she came close. "When?" she prodded.
No response.
"Nie Mingjue was unaware that he would die that early, Nie Huaisang. Next time, I suggest you…" she leaned in close to whisper the next words. "Choose a better mask to hide yourself behind."
The Headshaker's eyes widened as the Lady of White stepped onto her sword and flew off.
Suddenly, Nie Huaisang began to feel the slightest doubt about his plan.
As Xuemi flew to Yueyang, she finally had time to think.
Her memory was a peculiar thing. When things were deemed for later, they would be put away for later, and wouldn't plague her until she decided that "later" had arrived. So when she decided that that "later" was now, her mind immediately started processing what she heard that night.
"The slut. She barricaded her door."
"Your Excellency, with all due respect," a voice drawled, "you couldn't have expected that she was not smart."
Jin Guangshan scoffed. "Women shouldn't think as much as she did. They're just there to give the world sons."
The other voice cackled. "An interesting way to think, Your Excellency. If we may move on to more pressing matters?"
She could nearly hear the dismissing wave. "Yes, yes, the Stygian Tiger Seal. How is the reforging going?"
"We can only reforge half, Your Excellency. But since the Yiling Patriarch is no longer alive, no one else will have the same amount of power that we do now."
"Perfect."
Xuemi had never cursed her memory until now. This was critical information.
The other voice that she heard was undoubtedly Xue Yang. She remembered that voice, taunting her, as he revealed the fate of her clan.
Unwittingly, her hand clenched Lengyue's sheath so hard that one might think it would shatter.
She pushed herself harder than ever. Belatedly, she realized that she forgot to send a message butterfly to Wangji.
The moment she touched down in Pingyang to rest for the night, she sent a message informing Wangji of her escape from Carp Tower, and her heading for Yueyang at the very moment.
Almost immediately, Wangji's messenger came fluttering back, telling her to come to Shudong instead. More specifically, Yi City.
Sadly, rumours flew faster than swords. By the time their "conversation" (oh, how she missed texting and the internet) had ended, the local sect, Yao, had heard of a lady dressed in vibrant red, with a Gusu Lan ribbon on her forehead.
Courtesy required the sect to receive their guests, and as a consequence, Sect Leader Yao was most eager to show his hospitality.
Xuemi had (not so) politely turned down the request and stayed at a local inn instead.
It wasn't as luxurious, but at least there, she wouldn't have to worry about Sect Leader Yao trying to build connections with the four main sects.
Not.
One word. Politics.
Ugh.
Xuemi was appalled at herself for thinking in such an unseemly manner, as she sat down for tea with Sect Leader Yao, after dinner.
Sect Leader Yao was as pompous as always. He flattered, at the beginning, but Xuemi became as monosyllabic as possible and barely reacted to any compliments. He then started trying to engage in conversation with her, but she only ever replied curtly. If she replied at all.
Then, Sect Leader Yao said something that caught her attention.
"It's been sixteen years since he died, but the Yiling Patriarch's influence is still around, yes?"
Xuemi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Why, Xue-guniang! (an alias she used) You didn't know? They say that the Yiling Patriarch is reincarnated, and has been reforging the Tiger Seal! Why, there have been spikes in the amount of resentful energy around here, as well!"
Xuemi gave a non-committal hum.
In the end, she managed to wear Sect Leader Yao down, so when she stiffly mentioned her curfew, Sect Leader Yao let her off without a complaint.
The next morning, she paid the innkeeper at five, bought herself a vegetarian breakfast, and flew to Shudong. Not before knocking on Sect Leader's Yao's house at mao shi, under the pretense of saying a farewell, because she disliked Sect Leader Yao.
She would copy virtue a couple of times later.
Right now, she was speeding towards Yi City, where she had a sense of growing dread that many things would change.
She was being proven right, so far.
Eventually, the sword spirit had started to leave traces that Xuemi could follow as she got closer and closer to Wangji and Wuxian. The resentful energy became more and more prominent.
She was only about a shichen away from them, if she kept on going like this, but her spiritual power was drained at this point, from flying for days without much rest.
The most obvious trace left behind was staring at her in the face, at the moment.
Engraved on a pole in the middle of a chicken coop, were the characters "Wangji was here."
That wasn't the worst part.
On the side, there were also the characters "Wei Wuxian was here."
The only conclusion she could come to was that Wangji was drunk.
Of course. Wei Wuxian is the only person who can persuade Wangji to drink. Without using his cultivation to burn off the alcohol.
She shook her head in fond exasperation and kept going.
Outside an inn, she found two long Skull-Piercing Nails, stained with blood, rusted.
Upon further examination, she realized that the blood emitted the same energy as Wen Ning, even though he was a corpse and he should be dead.
She also realized that these nails were most likely the work of Xue Yang.
It makes sense.
Chang Ping was forced to withdraw his complaint about Xue Yang massacring the Chang Clan, because Jin Guangshan pressured him, according to Xichen. That can only mean one thing. Jin Guangshan is sheltering Xue Yang.
Jin Guangshan only shelters people when he needs them. That means that Xue Yang is definitely working for Jin Guangshan, and his Stygian Tiger Seal that he forged of the last piece of Yin Iron is made for Jin Guangshan.
It's quite typical of him. Even though Wei Wuxian is dead (as far as he knows), he still needs to convince himself that he is the most powerful person in this world.
The cultivation world has most definitely dropped its standards. What a disappointing Chief Cultivator they have.
With that thought, Xuemi went into that exact same inn she was sure Wangji had been in and fell asleep, just on time, at hai shi.