Just as Nan Sinning tightened her grip, thrusting the dagger toward Luo Qingyao’s back, the ground suddenly shook violently. Caught off guard, she lost her balance and landed hard on her backside.
Fortunately, she withdrew quickly—otherwise that dagger would have stabbed into herself.
“What’s going on?!” Zhou Lixing barely managed to stabilize himself, but when he saw Nan Sinning fall to the ground, he rushed over immediately.
Nan Sinning pressed her hands against the ground, realizing the entire earth was trembling. A bad premonition rose in her heart, and she said urgently, “Something big must have happened inside the secret realm—we need to retreat, now!”
Zhou Lixing glanced at Luo Qingyao, who was still twisting on the ground, unwilling to leave her behind. But he knew his little junior sister wouldn’t have pulled back without good reason. With a few quick strides, he ignored Luo Qingyao and grabbed Nan Sinning, pulling her up to flee with him.
Nan Sinning had just steadied herself when a wave of dizziness hit. Within moments she realized what was happening. With a single thought, she dispelled her disguise.
The next second, she wasn’t standing on solid ground anymore—instead, she was sitting on something soft.
Nan Sinning: ?
Did the secret realm transmission malfunction?
She looked down to see a pink figure beneath her. After a couple of seconds, she realized she had landed right on top of someone, knocking the person flat. Quickly she jumped up and apologized, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t expect the secret realm to teleport me onto you!”
The pink-clad figure coughed a few times, swaying like a drunk as she struggled to stand. Her tone was sharp as she snapped, “You’re really not light, you know! My bones are about to shatter from your weight!”
Nan Sinning gave a wry smile. Wasn’t that the truth? The effects of the Strength Pill hadn’t worn off yet—over two hundred pounds crashing down. That this pink-robed woman could still stand was nothing short of a miracle.
But…
Seeing the woman still muttering complaints with her back turned, Nan Sinning cleared her throat in embarrassment. “Fellow Daoist, I’m behind you.”
The woman froze, then turned around in a fluster, “I don’t need you to remind me! I know you… little… little junior sister?!”
Nan Sinning: “Ah?!”
The woman’s exquisitely painted face stunned Nan Sinning for a moment—only for her to be called “little junior sister”?
Noticing Nan Sinning’s confused look, the woman smacked her own forehead. “Ah, I almost forgot. Senior Sister said after you regained your intelligence, you’d forgotten everything from before. Of course you don’t remember me. Little junior sister, I’m your Seventh Senior Sister!”
“Seventh Senior Sister?”
That phrase triggered Nan Sinning’s memory. The one from Cijian Peak who liked Fourth Senior Brother, but because he became Luo Qingyao’s sycophant, she ended up harming her little junior sister and betraying the sect, eventually consumed by her heart demon—that was Seventh Senior Sister, Hua Shengqing!
In the novel, it was written that Hua Shengqing always wore pink because Fourth Senior Brother Liang Xiao had once praised Luo Qingyao for looking good in pink.
Once she confirmed Nan Sinning was indeed her junior sister, Hua Shengqing’s attitude turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees. “Little junior sister, are you alright? First time being transported out of a secret realm—do you feel unwell anywhere? Was your landing soft enough?”
As she spoke, she fussed over Nan Sinning, checking her up and down for injuries.
Nan Sinning quickly said, “Seventh Senior Sister, I’m fine, really. You should check yourself instead!”
While Hua Shengqing was still fussing over her, Zhou Lixing appeared.
Seeing him back in his original form, Nan Sinning let out a sigh of relief. She had worried her slow-to-react third senior brother might come out of the realm still disguised—that would have been a disaster.
After a few words of greeting, a blue-robed Qin Sangyue arrived as well, bringing along Fourth Senior Brother Liang Xiao.
Nan Sinning recognized him instantly: that lazy, languid demeanor, the half-smile in his peach blossom eyes—his presence was far too unique. He really did match the novel’s description of a charming and flirtatious man.
Just as the siblings and fellow disciples were beginning to reconnect, a commotion sounded not far away.
Nan Sinning immediately understood, giving Zhou Lixing a quick glance. “Come on! Let’s take a look!”
That was her and Third Senior Brother’s handiwork—how could she miss the show?
But Zhou Lixing clearly hadn’t made the connection, not realizing the ruckus was the result of what they had done inside the secret realm.
Nan Sinning darted forward first, with the others following out of concern for her.
In no time, they came upon more than ten nearly naked male cultivators, surrounded by onlookers, their faces flushed with shame and fury.
Nan Sinning feigned shock. “What’s this? Can the secret realm strip people’s clothes now?”
Hearing her tone, which betrayed no guilt, Zhou Lixing’s mouth twitched. He quickly lowered his head to hide his distorted expression.
Nearby, someone noticed she looked only fifteen or sixteen, with an innocent, clueless air. They kindly explained, “Don’t worry, little friend. The secret realm wouldn’t do such a thing. These people must’ve taken off their clothes themselves while inside.”
Nan Sinning gave a dramatic sigh of relief, face full of gratitude. “That’s good, that’s good. Thank you for clearing up my doubts! This is my first time in a secret realm, so there are many things I don’t know!”
With her youthful appearance and naturally sweet tone, she perfectly sold the role of a naive newcomer. The surrounding crowd, unaware of the truth, truly believed she was innocent and even reassured her that while the secret realm was dangerous, it wouldn’t commit such lewd acts.
“Then why would a bunch of men strip down together?” Nan Sinning asked curiously.
“Uh…” The nearby cultivators fell silent. That kind of thing was too awkward to explain to such a seemingly naive girl.
From behind, Qin Sangyue coughed lightly, offering a vague cover. “Little junior sister, maybe they encountered some kind of opportunity.”
Opportunities like that weren’t things one casually explained to others.
Nan Sinning put on an enlightened look, then pointed toward Luo Qingyao, who was being shielded in the middle by the near-naked men. With innocent curiosity, she added, “I wonder what kind of opportunity requires both men and women to strip?”
At once, the crowd’s expressions turned ambiguous and strange.
A group of men in nothing but underclothes, and one woman left in only her inner garments—it was hard not to let the imagination run wild.
Luo Qingyao clearly noticed the onlookers’ suggestive gazes and muttered comments. She wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and disappear.
One of the male cultivators nearest to them heard Nan Sinning’s remark and exploded in anger. “Don’t talk nonsense! We were robbed of our belongings!”
Robbery and murder weren’t unusual in the cultivation world. On the surface, it was a plausible excuse. But the looks on the bystanders’ faces seemed to say: Do you think we believe that?
Nan Sinning was satisfied with stirring things up this far and was about to slip away. But Hua Shengqing, protective of her beloved little junior sister, couldn’t stand hearing her contradicted. Her voice boomed, “Who are you trying to fool? Robbery is common enough, sure, but I’ve never heard of robbers stripping people this clean! If they could take your clothes, why not just kill you outright and eliminate witnesses?!”
The crowd’s chatter grew louder, many nodding in agreement.
Nan Sinning flushed with embarrassment. The reason she hadn’t killed those men was because several of them had powerful backgrounds. If she had taken their lives, their backers would surely investigate to the end. A simple transformation pill wouldn’t protect her and Zhou Lixing.
For her own safety—and for the future of her sect—she hadn’t dared strike that hard.
As for Luo Qingyao… she was just too difficult to kill!
Nan Sinning seriously suspected that Luo Qingyao, as the protagonist, was being protected by some kind of invisible rule.
That was probably also why, in the original novel, Luo Qingyao hadn’t killed the original body right away.
Judging by how she had provoked the Kui Snake incident, Luo Qingyao’s killing intent toward her was clear. But perhaps she too was restricted by those rules—unable to kill outright, so she instead robbed opportunities and treasures, harming Cijian Peak until, once the original host’s luck was exhausted, death came “naturally.”
As Nan Sinning was lost in thought, movement behind her caught her attention. Turning her head, she saw Fourth Senior Brother Liang Xiao stepping toward the circle—only to be stopped by the senior sister.
“Fourth Junior Brother, where are you going?”
Liang Xiao’s usual lazy demeanor was gone, replaced by a look of urgency. “Senior Sister, with Luo Junior Sister in such an embarrassing state, how can we, as fellow disciples, just stand here and watch?”