INE Chapter 119: Silken Garment

When Gu Baiyi heard Sanhua speak those words, she fell silent for a long time.

Only then did she lift her head and smile faintly.

“If you wish to take my life." she said calmly, “you may do so now.”

The woman leapt down from the tree branch and looked at Gu Baiyi. After a moment, she slowly replied,

“But I’m hesitating.”

“Why hesitate?”

The woman gazed at Gu Baiyi’s face and answered honestly,

“I should kill you, but now... I don’t really want to.”

Gu Baiyi couldn’t help but laugh. “Why don’t you want to kill me?”

“I don’t know." the woman said simply. “But that’s what my instincts are telling me.”

Gu Baiyi gave a low chuckle at that.

Then she looked up, meeting the woman’s eyes.

“When do you plan to take my life? I’ll be waiting whenever you choose.”

The woman studied Gu Baiyi and gave a casual answer,

“Tomorrow, then.”

“Alright.”

Gu Baiyi smiled gently. “Then it’s settled. I’ll be waiting.”

Although her smile was warm, the woman couldn’t shake the sense that beneath it lay a hint of sadness.

She didn’t know where Gu Baiyi’s sorrow came from, nor did she feel the need to find out.

The woman turned, ready to leave.

But just then, a soft voice came from behind her:

“Since you’ll be coming for my life tomorrow, could you tell me your name before I die?”

Her steps paused. She hadn’t intended to respond.

But something about that gentle voice, its tone, perhaps, struck her as unexpectedly pleasant.

Without turning back, she said,

“I don’t have a name, only a code name. If I must give you something to call me… people in this world call me Sanhua.”

After a moment’s thought, she added,

“So you can call me Sanhua too.”

After Sanhua left, Gu Baiyi returned to her room.

Strangely, knowing she would die tomorrow didn’t fill her with fear. On the contrary, she felt a faint joy.

Because the moment she laid eyes on Sanhua, she had the feeling that this woman was her Senior Sister. That face and bearing, unique and unmatched in the world.

If she were to die by her Senior Sister’s hand, then perhaps… there would be no regrets.

But before she died, Gu Baiyi wanted to do something for her, even if it were just a small, insignificant gesture.

So she found Feng Lan and borrowed the warehouse key. From storage, she retrieved a bolt of silk, then measured and cut several feet from it.

Once it was trimmed, she held up the thin piece of silk.

Through the translucent fabric, she could almost see that cold and elegant figure standing silently in the room.

That night, Gu Baiyi didn’t sleep.

She wanted to use those few feet of silk to sew an outer garment.

The night wind was chilly, flickering the candlelight.

Silver needles and thread passed back and forth through the fabric as cold rain began to fall outside the window.

Raindrops pattered against the petals of peach blossoms, and the entire mountain was steeped in the scent of damp wood.

By the time the night rain ceased, Gu Baiyi had finished stitching the silken robe.

She reached out and gently stroked the fabric with her fingers.

Candlelight shimmered across the surface of the jiao xiao, gleaming like ripples on a white lake.

Touch, it must be said, carries memory.

The cool, smooth texture brought her back to that night long ago at the inn, with Ji Rong.

They had spared on the rooftop, tiles flying and laughter echoing.

She had wrapped an arm around her Senior Sister’s waist, and even through the damp, icy silk, the skin beneath her fingertips had felt as smooth and soft as the finest satin.

Gu Baiyi stood there for a long time, lost in memory, the garment in her hands.

Eventually, she blinked back to the present, lowered her head, and began searching for the thread she had misplaced.

Once she found it, she drew out several strands of red silk and threaded the needle once more.

Holding the sleeve of the robe, she embroidered a large spray of thousand-petaled vermilion plum blossoms along the edge.

Each blossom was distinct, its petals unfolding with their own elegance, so similar to the patterns on Ji Rong’s robe, they could have been sisters.

Only when the wide sleeves were completely adorned with plum blossoms did Gu Baiyi look it over again and finally set the silken garment down, satisfied.

When she finished, she glanced out the window.

The sky had turned from silver-gray to a pale fish-belly white.

Lacking spiritual energy to sustain her, Gu Baiyi now felt a wave of fatigue.

She folded the robe neatly, then rested her head on her arm and fell into a deep sleep.

When she awoke, sunlight was already streaming through the window.

Her elbow ached from having used it as a pillow, and she frowned slightly.

She had intended to stretch and loosen her limbs, but as she lifted her head, she saw Sanhua standing before her.

Sanhua, in her Daoist robes, was a vision of unparalleled beauty.

She leaned casually against the edge of the table, eyes lowered, staring at Gu Baiyi without a word. Simply watching her, making no move to speak.

Gu Baiyi blinked in surprise, wondering how Sanhua had known where she lived.

Her eyes drifted to the wide-open window.

She found herself briefly dazed by the thought of a true immortal searching room by room, then silently climbing in through a window.

The silence dragged on.

At last, it was Sanhua who broke it.

She stepped closer, pulled out a chair without hesitation, and sat down beside Gu Baiyi.

She looked her in the eyes and, with the calmest tone imaginable, asked the most inexplicable question:

“Why is it," she said, “that I don’t want to kill you?”

Gu Baiyi said nothing.

If even Sanhua didn’t know the answer, how could she?

Then a thought occurred to her:

If killing her was Sanhua’s mission, then one day… Sanhua would carry it out.

And with that, Gu Baiyi rose from her seat.

She picked up the folded silk robe from the table and handed it to Sanhua with a gentle smile.

"True Immortal, if you truly must kill me... then, before my death, would you accept this gift?"

Sanhua's expression shifted slightly in confusion at such a strange request.

She had traveled across countless worlds, her years uncountable. For millennia, she had maintained the order of time and space, what kind of bug hadn’t she fixed before?

But never had she encountered one that, on the brink of death, offered her a gift.

Sanhua was puzzled. When her gaze fell upon the robe Gu Baiyi was holding, her confusion deepened.

"Why are you giving me this robe?"

Gu Baiyi looked into her eyes and said softly, “Because I think this robe suits you very well, True Immortal.”

“……”

Sanhua was speechless.

Even bugs these days have learned to flatter?

Their eyes met, and Sanhua felt a flicker of uncertainty.

It was as if this person wasn’t looking at her, but through her, yet strangely, the sincerity in Gu Baiyi’s eyes didn’t seem like a lie.

What was stranger still was that, by instinct, Sanhua should have erased this anomaly from the future already, completed her assignment, and moved on to patch the next timeline.

Yet right now, she didn’t feel like doing that.

Why?

To be honest, she didn’t quite understand herself.

That aside, being confused was one thing, but looking at the robe in Gu Baiyi’s hands and feeling no desire to wear it was another.

Sanhua meant to refuse, but when she looked up and met Gu Baiyi’s clear, luminous eyes, like freshly fallen snow, pure and striking, 

She looked for just a moment, and the refusal that had formed on her lips came out instead as: “...Alright.”

By the time Sanhua realized what she’d just said, Gu Baiyi was already smiling as she handed the robe to her.

Sanhua accepted it with a composed face, though her heart protested. But she still reached out and took it.

The moment she did, the whole situation struck her as absurd.

The robe felt like a merman’s scales, cool and smooth to the touch.

She stared at the plum blossom embroidery on the sleeve for a long time. Then she looked away and said calmly to Gu Baiyi.

 "I’ll come back to kill you tomorrow."

With that, she vanished, robe in hand.

From that day on, Sanhua often appeared at Divine Sect.

Sometimes she’d reveal herself and stand before Gu Baiyi, coldly threatening her again and again with, "Tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow."

Other times, she’d cast an invisibility spell and lean against the peach tree, quietly watching Gu Baiyi.

She watched her read, write, and pick peach blossoms.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

Yet Sanhua still couldn’t understand, why didn’t she want to kill this person?

One day, Sanhua finally put on the robe Gu Baiyi had given her and stood before her.

Just as she’d expected, Gu Baiyi’s fingers trembled as she held the page, she didn’t turn to the next one.

Sanhua’s expression remained indifferent, but a trace of irritation stirred in her heart.

Who did this woman think she was?

Gu Baiyi snapped out of her daze and smiled at her. “True Immortal, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

Expressionless, Sanhua said out of nowhere, “Your name.”

Gu Baiyi blinked, confused. She repeated, “Name?”

“Yes, your name.”
Sanhua said coolly, “Since you already know mine, it’s only fair you return the courtesy and tell me yours.”

Gu Baiyi was startled for a moment, then smiled. “True Immortal, my surname is Gu. Gu Baiyi.”

Sanhua gave a small nod. “Good. Gu Baiyi, when the day comes that you die, I’ll come take your soul.”

...

From that day on, Sanhua didn’t step foot in Divine Sect again for three years.

Gu Baiyi still spent her days reading and writing. Though her spiritual power was gone, she sometimes still practiced her sword.

It was just after she sliced down a peach blossom and sheathed her blade that Sanhua appeared once more.

She was wearing the embroidered silk robe, her hand catching a drifting petal mid-air.

Then she turned, looked seriously at Gu Baiyi, and said,

“In the past three years, I’ve traveled to every famous mountain and river in the cultivation world.”

Gu Baiyi held her sword and smiled. “It seems the True Immortal has quite the refined taste for scenery.”

“That’s not it.”  Sanhua shook her head. “I’ve roamed far and wide, but still, I find the peach blossoms here the most beautiful.”

There was a deeper glint of laughter in Gu Baiyi’s eyes.

After a moment, she gently asked, “True Immortal, in all your travels to these famed mountains and rivers, have you ever set foot in the mortal world?”

Sanhua looked puzzled. “Aren’t I in the mortal world right now?”

Gu Baiyi shook her head. “No, this isn’t the mortal world. A place with fireworks, bustling streets, grown-ups and children, that is the mortal world.”

Sanhua frowned slightly. “Then why have I never been to this ‘mortal world’ you speak of?”

“Because your Dao heart is unwavering, untouched by the mundane. Naturally, you wouldn’t know it.”

Sanhua looked calmly at Gu Baiyi and said,

“Then take me into the world. I’ll go with you.”