Chapter 6

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

---

Fortunately, there is exactly one person in the harem who has such experience.

The head maid of the Azure Dragon Palace burst through the back door of the Heavenly Dragon Pavilion.

Her disheveled hair and sand-covered clothes clearly indicated that she was not an ordinary person.

The servants, who were still working late, were startled. The Heavenly Dragon Pavilion, where the Heavenly Dao Lady resided, was a place where even the emperor would come with proper decorum.

No matter how small the back door was, it was not a place where a maid from another palace could enter at will.

Moreover, she was not just any commoner but the head maid of the Azure Dragon Palace. Her appearance was as if she had been beaten several times.

The servants thought perhaps a demon had appeared, but the small servant who followed the head maid shouted, "Lan! Xuelan! Are you here?"

Fenling, an apprentice servant at the Azure Dragon Palace, was Xuelan's close friend.

Since entering the Azure Dragon Palace, Fenling had been working hard for the concubine and had not seen Xuelan, but they were still very close.

"What on earth is happening! Huiren!"

The head maid of the Heavenly Dragon Pavilion appeared from the dais.

The old head maid, a confidante of the Heavenly Dao Lady, knew the name of the head maid of the Azure Dragon Palace.

"We need help! Is there... an apprentice servant named Xuelan here...?"

One of the apprentice servants, who was mopping the floor, was startled.

*

When I was about seven or eight years old, I suffered from a fever. I was much younger than the current concubine and the illness lasted much longer.

When I fell into this world, my body was already in a state of burning pain, a condition where it would not be strange to die immediately.

Despite that, I survived. Perhaps it was because my mental strength was far greater than my young body, but that alone could not be the only reason.

Xuelan took care of me in an old, dilapidated house on the outskirts of a rural village.

She never doubted that I would survive this fever, which was said to be almost impossible to survive, and continued to take care of me.

She sold all the valuables she had brought from Huayong Xue's house and tried every medicine that was said to be effective.

And every night, she sat beside me, holding my hand, and whispered incessantly that I would surely survive.

Xuelan was not even ten years old at the time, an age where she should have been protected rather than protecting someone.

Indeed, being a palace maid is not something just anyone can do.

The environment was much worse than in the Azure Dragon Palace.

The money from selling the valuables, which were supposed to be her lifelong assets, was all spent on medicine, making it difficult to even have one meal a day.

At night, the old house was drafty, and sometimes demons would appear, searching for prey.

Despite this, every night, Xuelan would sit beside me, hold my hand tightly, and pray.

"Taiping, you must survive."

"I fed her Zhenglian Pills and Epo, and gave her Immortal Spirit Water instead of water. The fever did go down a bit, but... she seemed to be in a semi-conscious state. That was the only effective medicine."

In front of the main gate of the Azure Dragon Palace.

It was late at night, with the moon high in the sky, but Xuelan was panting as she ran.

"Is the concubine... suffering from the fever?"

"Probably."

"Good heavens... How much pain must she be in..."

Although the fact that the concubine's illness is the fever should not be casually revealed, Xuelan is trustworthy and should be fine.

"Judging by the level of the bewitching technique, the critical moment is not far off."

"Yes. It must be a very critical moment. If she takes the medicine and calms down a bit, she can endure it. However... the bewitching technique... she can't control it, can she? Even you, Taiping, found it overwhelming in the end."

Xuelan stopped speaking and swallowed hard.

The concubine's bewitching technique is at such a high level that ordinary maids can hardly approach her.

Xuelan quickly approached and lifted the hem of my sleeve.

There, numerous scars from self-inflicted wounds with a dagger were visible. They were to ward off the bewitching and maintain her sanity.

"Good heavens... Taiping...! I told you... not to hurt yourself...! Oh, this...!"

"Don't worry too much. After a bowl of rice porridge and some medicine from Elder Baixian, I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

"The physical wounds may heal, but the pain affects the mind! If you continue to be exposed to such indiscriminate bewitching..."

"It seems the maids of the Azure Dragon Palace are already at their limit."

I lowered my sleeve and gently pushed Xuelan away, saying, "I'll come and check on you after my work is done. Sister Lan."

I tried to make it sound as if it was nothing serious.

Xuelan's eyes were full of worry, but it wasn't something to be overly concerned about.

*

The maids of the Azure Dragon Palace were utterly shocked.

As they entered the concubine's bedroom, where she was increasingly unable to control her bewitching technique, Xue Taiping's injuries continued to increase.

Every time she came out of the room, the maids would rush to treat her, but it was only a temporary fix and not a fundamental solution.

I have heard much about the spirit of a warrior, but there are limits to everything.

The act of repeatedly stabbing oneself to save the concubine... how much it must have affected her mind.

However, the warrior from Baixian Palace showed no change in expression.

Instead of the maids, she entered the bedroom, cleaned the bedding soaked with vomit, swept the room, fetched water, and brought in gruel to feed the concubine.

Every morning, she would ventilate the room, and every night, she would sit beside the concubine, fighting the bewitching and whispering to her incessantly.

She repeated over and over that the concubine could survive, refusing to accept death and instilling the will to live.

When there was nothing left to say, she would talk about trivial things.

What she saw that day, what she ate, what was outside, what the weather was like, and what the maids' expressions were like.

How the world was changing and what was happening... she would talk to the unresponsive concubine without stopping.

After following Xuelan's advice and feeding her Epo and Immortal Spirit Water, the groans that used to come out as if she were dying became less frequent.

The burning pain in her body must have remained, but...

"Why..."

Finally, the concubine, who could now speak a little, asked Xue Taiping.

"Why... to this extent..."

Why to this extent.

That's what she was asking, perhaps.

In fact, even if Xue Taiping saved the concubine to this extent, there would be no benefit for her.

According to the content of the Heavenly Dragon Scroll, the concubine, Jin Qinglang, would survive even if Xue Taiping did nothing.

The fate of the maids of the Azure Dragon Palace was uncertain, but at least that much was certain.

So, what Xue Taiping should have done was obvious. Just leave it be.

If left alone, she would recover on her own. The process might be painful, and the maids who initially took care of her with all their heart might have suffered, but...

Despite this, Xue Taiping helped the concubine with all her might.

The reason was absurdly obvious.

"Damn it, when helping someone, there's no time to think about reasons."

For a young concubine who should be playing and laughing, to be struggling in such a crazy pain, it would be abnormal to consider reasons and benefits.

If someone is drowning right in front of you, who would look for reasons not to save them?

If they ask for a reward after being saved, you can beat them up then. Worrying about gains before even helping is something only weaklings do.

"Because I'm a man."

The concubine almost lost her mind at the absurdity of the answer.

This Xue Taiping. Despite thinking he was not in his right mind, I couldn't help but admire his straightforward honesty.

The burning pain in her body surged again. The fever relentlessly urged her to die.

Now, it seemed she had truly reached her limit. A dark aura emanated from her small body, forming a snake-like shape that coiled around her, flicking its tongue.

The fever, it was said, was a process of receiving divine energy.

The mysterious life form, taking the form of a snake, cast a stronger bewitching spell.

It commanded her to take out a knife and stab the girl in front of her.

However, Xue Taiping's sword showed no sign of being drawn.

Xue Taiping, the warrior of Baixian Palace, would never raise a sword against a person. She might cut objects or wild animals, but she would never casually take a human life.

Her unusually steadfast belief was something even the mysterious force could not break.

The concubine was losing consciousness again. Overwhelmed by the fever, she spat blood once more.

And the words of Xue Taiping, which she had heard countless times, continued to whisper in her ear.

In the storm of bewitching, she mechanically repeated the words, trying to resist until the end.

"Concubine, you must never stop trying to survive."

"Even if the probability is one in a hundred or one in a thousand, even if it seems futile, you must survive."

Do you understand?

People exist to live.

Xue Taiping's confident tone somehow wrapped around her heart.

For the first time, Concubine Jin Qinglang was not afraid to close her eyes.

Thus, many nights passed.

The fever showed no signs of stopping, but in her dazed gaze, the concubine faintly felt a warm sensation.

Truly, he was a unique man.

With that thought in her mind, she drifted into a deep sleep.

*

The faint moonlight from the crescent moon enveloped the gate of the harem.

When the gate creaked open and a warrior walked out, the guards of the Red Palace were startled.

They knew that a warrior from Baixian Palace had entered the harem on official business, but the white uniform of the man who came out was stained red in many places.

"Good heavens... What happened in there?"

"..."

The fever of Concubine Jin Qinglang needed to remain a secret.

"I tripped."

"That's not a plausible..."

He brushed it off and stepped out of the harem, where the vast sky of the Azure Palace came into view.

In the dark night, the sound of insects in the palace was more noticeable.

He had done everything he could. Now, he just needed to return to Baixian Palace, report to the elder, and rest.

However, perhaps due to the repeated self-harm and bewitching, his mind was heavily affected.

He stumbled and had to sit on a nearby rock. It was late at night, and no one was around, but if the Red Palace guards saw him, they would ask questions.

It seemed to be almost dawn, not just late at night.

How many days had he been in the Azure Dragon Palace? He couldn't even tell the time anymore.

Just as he was about to gather his strength to return to Baixian Palace, he heard Xuelan's voice.

"Taiping, I knew this would happen."

Had she followed him on the pretext of running an errand? Her lips were pouting, and she looked angry.

Xuelan sat beside him, grabbed his arm, and lifted his sleeve.

Most of the wounds had been treated by the maids of the Azure Dragon Palace. The ointment Xuelan brought was unnecessary.

"Still... you were treated... You didn't push them too far, did you?"

"Sister Lan, I told you not to come in and out of the harem so casually..."

"If you're so unhappy, you shouldn't have gotten hurt. Sigh."

Xuelan sighed and sat on the rock beside him.

"Seeing you suffer from the fever, you couldn't just pass by, could you?"

Xuelan sat quietly for a while, then sighed more lightly, as if her heart had softened, and shook her head.

"Just giving her medicine and keeping watch would have been enough. Why did you go through so much trouble?"

"Those who have suffered from the fever know something. I think Elder Baixian felt the same way."

Xuelan looked at him questioningly.

I brushed the wounds and said, "The more someone wants to die, the more you need to give them a reason to live."

In the burning pain, the probability of survival is so slim.

To prevent their mind from breaking, it's not enough to just clean the room and give them medicine.

"Even if a warrior came and talked at length, how much would it move her heart?"

"I don't know, Sister. But I think it was effective."

"Really?"

"When I had the fever, do you remember? Every night, you sat beside me, suffering from the fever, and talked at length about what happened that day."

Sometimes you told stories of distant lands you heard from merchants.

Sometimes you described in detail how beautiful the flowers you saw on the road were.

Sometimes you complained about how hard it was to escape the pursuit of the guards, and sometimes you talked about how bitter it was to sell the valuables at a low price.

Beside me, who couldn't even respond, you talked endlessly.

When you talked excitedly about what you had seen and heard, I was utterly amazed.

"How much did you want those flower badges the village women had? You talked about it for three days and nights, almost driving me to despair."

"Hey, hey! You still remember that! It could happen!"

"Well, that's how it is. I just talked about the trivial things I liked and told them all night."

It might seem meaningless to Xuelan, but I knew from experience.

The reasons people want to die are usually heavy and burdensome.

Physical pain, family discord, frustration, despair, distrust, sadness, grief. Just thinking about them makes the heart heavy.

But the reasons people want to live are usually not like that.

People can think about living longer for light and trivial things.

The flowers by the roadside were in full bloom, or the dessert in the evening was delicious.

The sunset you saw on your way home was beautiful.

These things, when gathered together, allow people to live on by inertia.

This is evidence that people exist to live.

So, sitting on the rock with Xuelan, we looked up at the sky with the crescent moon.

My body was tired, but I felt a strange sense of refreshment.

The moon was smiling.

Closing my eyes and listening to the sound of insects, my lips curved with the moon.

Even though I wondered if it was a pointless act, it didn't feel bad...

Thus, I sat there, entrusting my body to the cool night air for a while.

It was a long and deep autumn night.

*

The chirping of sparrows came through the window.

The girl lying on the luxurious bed suddenly opened her eyes. The cool sensation of sweat drying, which she hadn't felt in a long time, made her feel uncomfortable.

Her eyes were dazzled.

The morning sunlight came in through the window, which was opened for ventilation.

The cotton fabric added to the window fluttered in the cool morning breeze. The refreshing sensation in the breeze was a feeling she had never experienced before.

She braced her arms to endure the heat and pain that came with every movement. However, the pain that should have come did not return to the girl.

She had a bewildered expression.

Trying to get out of bed, she tried to pull her body out, but her body collapsed.

It was because she had not stood on her own for so long that her legs had not adapted. But she managed to get up by holding onto the bed, and she could walk, albeit with difficulty.

Holding onto the furniture scattered around the room, she managed to walk.

With her small hands, she struggled to open the paper door, and the busy maids moving early in the morning came into view.

The maids, who did not expect the door to be opened from the inside, all widened their eyes in surprise.

The cool morning breeze blew, and the refreshing sunlight shone in the courtyard of the Azure Dragon Palace. The sound of the maids' surprise spread. Some maids dropped the tea sets they were holding and broke them.

The girl's body no longer felt the heat. The black spots that had spread all over her skin were almost gone.

The head maid, who rushed out from among the maids, saw the concubine and knelt down, tears streaming down her face as she hugged her.

Held in the arms of the weeping maid, the concubine also felt an