Chapter 282 - A Worried Elder and a Mountain of Robes

Chapter 282: Chapter 282 - A Worried Elder and a Mountain of Robes

The next morning, Su Bai left Clear Cloud Peak and headed toward Verdant Peak.

He had not forgotten what Yao Ding told him before leaving Heavenly Forge Peak.

The old man had been vague enough that Su Bai spent part of the journey wondering what could have happened. Verdant Peak was responsible for much of the sect’s alchemy, and with the situation outside becoming increasingly unsettled, there were plenty of possibilities.

Still, if it had been an emergency affecting the entire sect, Yao Ding would not have left the explanation until today.

That only made Su Bai more curious.

His flying sword descended near the entrance to Verdant Peak.

The guarding disciples recognized him almost immediately.

"Senior Brother Su!"

Su Bai returned their greetings and had barely stepped onto the path when one of them hurried farther into the peak.

Apparently, there was no need for him to ask for Elder Qin.

The old man arrived not long afterward.

Su Bai almost failed to recognize his usual demeanor.

Elder Qin’s face visibly brightened the instant he saw him, but the relief did little to hide the dark circles beneath his eyes. His robes were neat as always, yet there was a restless quality to him that Su Bai had never associated with the elder before.

"Martial Nephew!"

Elder Qin quickened his steps.

"I am glad you returned safely. Truly glad."

The emotion in his voice caught Su Bai slightly off guard.

He clasped his hands.

"Disciple Su greets Elder Qin."

"There is no need for that right now."

Elder Qin gently caught his arm and pulled him farther up the path, as though afraid Su Bai might suddenly remember another forbidden land and disappear again.

Su Bai allowed himself to be dragged for several steps before looking at the old man’s exhausted face.

Yao Ding’s warning returned to him.

Whatever had happened apparently involved Elder Qin personally.

"Elder Qin, Peak Master Yao asked me to come here today. He said there was some trouble while I was away."

Elder Qin’s steps slowed.

The urgency in his expression faded into something heavier.

Su Bai noticed immediately.

"May I ask what happened?"

Elder Qin remained silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

"It concerns Meng’er."

Su Bai’s expression changed.

Liu Meng was among the people in Radiant Sky Sect he was closest to. She had accompanied him through enough strange situations that hearing her name attached to the word trouble immediately pushed aside his earlier curiosity.

"What happened to her?"

Elder Qin looked toward the upper parts of Verdant Peak.

"She is unharmed, so do not worry about that."

Some of the tension left Su Bai’s shoulders.

Elder Qin noticed and sighed again.

"The problem is more difficult to explain."

They continued walking.

For several moments, Elder Qin seemed to be organizing his thoughts.

"After the disciples left Fallen-Star Sanctuary and realized you were still trapped inside, Meng’er took it badly."

Su Bai remained quiet.

He had expected the people around him to worry, but hearing it directly still felt different.

"After returning to the sect, she spent the first few days restless. She could do nothing about the Sanctuary, and waiting without being able to help only made things worse."

Elder Qin’s expression became complicated.

"Eventually, she decided she needed something to occupy herself."

He paused.

"She began learning tailoring."

Su Bai blinked.

Of all the possibilities he had considered on the way here, that had not been among them.

"Tailoring?"

Elder Qin nodded.

"She said that when you returned, you would need robes. A lot of them."

Su Bai opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Considering how often his robes ended up ruined, he could hardly argue with that.

Elder Qin’s lips twitched faintly, but the trace of amusement quickly disappeared.

"At first, we thought it would simply give her something to occupy her mind. Meng’er has always been stubborn once she decides on something, but tailoring was completely outside what she had practiced before."

The old man looked ahead.

"She was raised in royalty before entering the cultivation world. She had people to prepare such things for her. Sewing a robe herself was hardly something she had ever needed to learn."

That made what followed easier for Su Bai to understand.

Liu Meng had not simply picked up an old skill.

She had started from almost nothing.

"She practiced every day," Elder Qin continued. "When the stitches were poor, she removed them and started again. When the cloth tore, she learned why. When the measurements were wrong, she made another one."

His brows slowly tightened.

"She eventually became good at it."

Su Bai could already guess there was another half to the story.

Elder Qin confirmed it.

"The problem is that she did not stop after becoming good at it."

They had reached a quieter path leading deeper into Verdant Peak.

"Her time in the alchemy chambers became shorter. At first it was only a few hours. Then she began refining pills only when there were important orders, emergencies, or something that truly required her."

Su Bai frowned.

"And the rest of her time?"

"Tailoring."

Elder Qin rubbed his forehead.

"She has more than earned the right to rest. Nobody here would deny that. What she contributed before and what she brought back from Fallen-Star Sanctuary were already enough for the sect to leave her alone for years if she wanted."

His expression became troubled again.

"But this is not rest."

Su Bai understood the difference.

If Liu Meng had simply become tired of alchemy and wanted time away from it, that would have been one thing.

This sounded more like she had thrown herself into something else so completely that everything she had spent years building was being pushed aside.

Elder Qin continued in a quieter voice.

"Meng’er has extraordinary talent in alchemy. More importantly, she once loved it."

That was what worried him.

Talent could be recovered after periods of inactivity.

A shaken Dao Heart was more troublesome.

If Liu Meng had begun associating alchemy with the period when Su Bai disappeared, or if some deeper fear had displaced the path she had originally chosen, forcing her back into an alchemy chamber would solve nothing.

"She still refines when Verdant Peak needs her," Elder Qin said. "Her skill has not vanished. But unless someone calls for her specifically, she spends almost every waking hour making robes."

Su Bai was silent for a few breaths.

"Has Peak Master Yao already spoken with her about this?"

Elder Qin sighed.

"More than once."

Su Bai hesitated briefly before asking, "And has Elder Qin tried speaking with her as well?"

Elder Qin gave him a tired look.

Su Bai immediately understood the answer.

The old man sighed.

"She listens respectfully, agrees that we make excellent points, and returns to sewing as soon as we leave."

Su Bai almost smiled.

That sounded much more like Liu Meng.

Elder Qin noticed.

"This is not funny, Martial Nephew."

"I apologize."

Su Bai’s expression became serious again, although suppressing the smile took some effort.

Elder Qin looked increasingly aggrieved.

"I have tried speaking with her more times than I can count, and she still refuses to listen. Even Peak Master Yao eventually stopped lecturing her because she started preparing tea whenever she saw him approaching."

Su Bai’s mouth twitched again.

This time, Elder Qin pretended not to notice.

Finally, the old man looked directly at him.

"She will listen to you."

Su Bai paused.

"Me?"

"You are the reason she learned tailoring in the first place."

That was difficult to argue with.

Elder Qin let out another breath.

"I am not asking you to force her back into alchemy. If she genuinely wants another path, that decision belongs to her."

His voice became quieter.

"But I want to know that she is choosing it with a clear heart, not because she spent months believing you might never return."

Su Bai’s expression softened.

That was a much more reasonable concern.

"I understand, Elder."

Relief immediately appeared on Elder Qin’s face.

"Then please speak to her."

Su Bai nodded.

"Please lead the way."

The old man did not need to be told twice.

They headed farther into Verdant Peak.

As they walked, Su Bai found himself thinking about what he had just heard.

Liu Meng had spent months learning an entirely new skill because she believed he would need it when he returned.

The thought settled somewhere strangely warm.

His previous life had not contained much of that.

There had been colleagues who remembered him when work needed finishing, acquaintances who remembered him when they wanted something, and relationships that had been pleasant while they lasted.

But someone spending months learning how to make something simply because they expected him to come home eventually...

That was different.

Su Bai looked ahead without speaking.

He had known Liu Meng cared about him.

Apparently, knowing something and hearing exactly what someone had done because of it were not the same thing.

And there was another, considerably more practical realization.

He actually needed robes.

Su Bai’s mood improved immediately.

His emergency robe had survived longer than expected, but considering his history, trusting a single set of clothing was simply asking the heavens for entertainment.

Meng really was his lucky charm.

A short while later, Elder Qin led him toward Liu Meng’s private alchemy chamber.

Su Bai expected to smell medicinal fragrance long before reaching it.

Instead, he noticed cloth.

A great deal of cloth!

His steps gradually slowed.

There were folded robes placed neatly beside the entrance, then another stack, then several more.

By the time the entire area came into view, Su Bai stopped walking.

Elder Qin also stopped beside him.

Neither spoke immediately.

The old man had described Liu Meng as spending most of her time tailoring.

He had not adequately communicated the scale.

Robes occupied one side of the courtyard in carefully arranged stacks. Some were finished, others seemed to have been discarded after minor imperfections, and several bundles of fabric were waiting nearby.

Su Bai stared.

There were enough robes to make him question whether Liu Meng expected him to destroy one every day for the next several years.

His mind briefly went blank.

Elder Qin watched him from the side.

Now Su Bai finally understood the dark circles beneath the old man’s eyes.

After several breaths, he slowly looked across the small mountain of clothing again.

"Meng is really formidable..."