“Open your eyes wide and look carefully, is my Young Miss a demon-ghost?”
Lengmian’s expression was stern as he reproached the youth in front of him who was scratching the back of his head. He had been squeezed away by the crowd, and just as he found Sang Ying, he saw her being attacked by the youth thinking she was a demon-ghost. His heart had been in his throat.
Sang Ying’s body was weak, her cultivation level low, and she couldn’t even endure the weak cold qi of Ten-Thousand-Ice Valley for long. If she had been hit by that magical artifact, he didn’t dare think of the consequences.
The youth bowed his head in embarrassment, his twin topknots even more upright, thinking to himself: don’t you dare look at her twice either?
He absolutely didn’t dare raise his eyelids to look at Sang Ying beside him, only kept apologizing: “I’m terribly sorry, friend. I didn’t expect your Young Miss to be so… uh, distinctive.”
To avoid a disturbance, the three of them had already moved far from the venue, standing in a remote, deserted corner of Ten-Thousand-Ice Valley.
Sang Ying hadn’t heard the two of them talking at all. She sat on a stone nearby, eyes lowered as she looked at the pale-blue sword sheath in her lap, lost in thought.
Had Xie Lingyu recognized her, or hadn’t he?
That couldn’t be right. They were so far apart, with mist in between, and she had disguised herself. She could only see a small figure at that distance, let alone from his perspective, she had been standing in a sea of people, to his eyes she was probably just a black speck.
But he had certainly taken action. He was in the middle of fighting someone, yet divided his attention to help her.
Actually, no. Sang Ying’s thoughts wandered. He was Qingyu Sword Sovereign, who the world spoke of as having an immortal bearing and upright character. Seeing injustice and acting righteously, wasn’t that completely normal? It was far too normal! If he saw an old grandmother fall over, he would definitely help her up too!
…Never mind. Fleeing was the best option.
Whether he had recognized her or not, staying here much longer would be discovered eventually.
Having made her decision, Sang Ying picked up the sword sheath in her lap: “Twin topknots, I won’t pursue this matter with you today. We two have important business. Please return this to Qingyu Sword—”
A long, jade-like hand reached out and took the sheath, clearly holding the hilt end with delicate fingers.
The word “Sovereign” caught in her throat. Sang Ying looked at the refined, bamboo-like white-robed youth before her and suddenly widened her eyes.
Wasn’t he still in the match? In such a serious, formal match, the outcome wouldn’t be decided for several days. How had he come out?!
The topknotted youth beside them scratched his head and stammered: “Well… then I don’t need to help return it, right? I’ll be going then?”
Lengmian grabbed him by the back of the neck without expression and dragged him away: “You want to leave? You won’t leave until you learn how to properly distinguish demon-ghosts.”
Lengmian disappeared with the youth, and in a heartbeat only two people remained.
Sang Ying was tense, her mind racing at high speed.
Her first instinct was to run, but her ankle from before was throbbing with pain and she couldn’t stand. She could only look resentfully in the direction Lengmian had disappeared, annoyed that he had snuck off, when they got back, she’d dock his monthly stipend!
The white-robed youth, however, was calm. He flicked his fingers, already slipping the sheath back onto the sword.
Sang Ying stole glances at him, but unfortunately that cold face revealed nothing of his emotions.
Damn it. When he was younger his emotions were written all over his face. She could glimpse whether he was angry or sad. But at some point, he became more and more silent and withdrawn, and she increasingly could not see through him.
After thinking for two seconds, Sang Ying clutched her powder handkerchief and made a gesture of gratitude, testing: “Thank you for your help just now, Sword Sovereign.”
The youth seemed to pause slightly. His dark eyes looked at her, and after several seconds he slowly spoke, his voice clear and cold: “No thanks necessary.”
He really hadn’t recognized her.
Sang Ying let out a breath of relief. “Weren’t you still in the match, Sword Sovereign? How did you come out?”
A light, cheerful female voice suddenly rang out: “Naturally the match has already ended.”
Sang Ying looked toward the source. Two figures, a man and a woman, dispersed their sword light and landed.
The young female cultivator in pink robes smiled brightly: “Congratulations, Qingyu Sword Sovereign, on taking first place! That final move just now swallowed mountains and rivers [1]swallow mountains and rivers (qi tun shan he, 氣吞山河) (Idiom), a move executed with such overwhelming, world-conquering force that nothing could stand against it jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389221_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389221_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, truly spectacular, striking your opponent with no ability to parry!”
The male cultivator beside her gave her a rueful look, then turned to Xie Lingyu with a warm smile: “Congratulations, Xie.”
Sang Ying recognized him, he had been Xie Lingyu’s opponent. She hadn’t paid much attention before, but seeing this face now she remembered seeing him once. Since Wuwenzong’s sect master, his father, had passed away three years ago, Grand Elder Xu Bin had temporarily taken the sect master’s position, managing all the sect’s affairs. This man was Grand Elder Xu’s son, Xu Baishen. The female cultivator beside him seemed close to him, obviously his sister Xu Xuan.
Sang Ying looked at the two of them, her fingers slightly tightening on her handkerchief.
“So this is the woman the Sword Sovereign saved on the arena just now, the one mistaken for a demon-ghost?”
Xu Xuan only swept a glance at Sang Ying sitting on the stone and looked away, unbothered. In her mind, a woman like this could never have any connection with the Sword Sovereign, so naturally she didn’t need to pay attention.
She elbowed Xu Baishen with a smile: “Brother, look, during the match the Sword Sovereign could still be distracted enough to save someone. How come you can’t?”
Xu Baishen also smiled, unbothered by his sister’s teasing, his voice gentle: “Little Xuan, didn’t you say you had something to tell Xie?”
Xu Xuan’s cheeks suddenly flushed, tinged with youthful shyness.
Xu Baishen was also very accommodating, taking the initiative to step back, leaving space for the two of them.
…More precisely, space for three people.
Sang Ying’s foot was injured and she couldn’t leave, still sitting on the stone.
Sang Ying was silent.
In this situation, this atmosphere, looking at Xu Xuan’s flushed cheeks, it made such a beautiful picture of a young girl confessing to her beloved.
Hmm… if she weren’t the legal wife.
But evidently Xu Xuan didn’t care whether Sang Ying existed or not. She treated her completely as air, her back to her, her gaze fixed on Xie Lingyu.
“Xie, Xie senior brother,” she took out an exquisite, delicate sword tassel, drew a deep breath, gathered her courage, “I see that senior brother Xie’s sword has no tassel, hanging empty. This is what I made for senior brother Xie. If senior brother Xie wouldn’t disdain it…”
Sang Ying pressed her lips tight, staring at that sword tassel. One look showed it was made with care, the craftsmanship was exquisite, the materials rare and precious.
She couldn’t help muttering under her breath, hmph, quite the ladies’ man [2]picking flowers and flirting with grass (zhan hua re cao, 沾花惹草) (Idiom), to flirt or dally with women indiscriminately jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389221_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389221_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
Sang Ying turned her eyes toward the silent youth, wanting to see his reaction, when unexpectedly she met his deep, quiet gaze, and froze.
…Why was he looking at her?
Could it be that someone was too embarrassed to accept?
The moment this thought appeared, a wave of stuffy feeling surged in her chest, burning at the tip of her heart.
Sang Ying unconsciously bit her lip hard, abruptly turned her head away, and with strength from nowhere, forgetting the pain in her ankle, she stood up and turned to leave.
“…”
The youth watched her figure disappear into the snowy valley, slowly lowering his eyelashes, dense shadow obscuring the expression in his eyes.
“Senior brother Xie?”
Xu Xuan bowed her head, and after a long time without hearing a response, confused, she raised her head to ask, but heard the youth’s cold voice.
“I don’t remember having a junior sister.”
With that, without even looking at her, he stepped away.
Xu Xuan was startled, gripping the sword tassel as she was about to follow when a pale-blue sword flew out and blocked her path.
The sword had a spirit. A tender voice came from within.
“Don’t you know my boss already has a Daoist companion?”
Xu Xuan stopped, her brow furrowing: “I know, but everyone knows senior brother Xie married her only to repay her father’s debt of saving his life in youth. He has no real feelings for her! Senior brother Xie values relationships and righteousness, but shouldn’t be trapped like this. I can help senior brother repay this debt in another way…”
The sword spirit wouldn’t hear it and suddenly exploded: “You know that and still send him a sword tassel? What do you mean? This behavior is being a mistress, you know! A mistress who knows the situation and acts anyway! How shameless!”
Xu Xuan was scolded into a daze, stammering in protest: “I’m not a mistress…”
The sword spirit coldly sneered: “A vixen destroying someone’s marriage! How could I possibly wear your tassel? Not in your next lifetime!”
Xu Xuan’s face flushed anxiously: “I’m not… and besides, the tassel was for senior brother…”
After running out in a fit of anger, Sang Ying soon regretted it.
She didn’t know the roads here at all. Everywhere was ice and snow, the paths slippery and hard to walk, and her ankle ached terribly.
She felt her pocket, she had been in too much of a hurry when leaving and hadn’t brought the glass mirror. She couldn’t contact Lengmian.
…Why had she been so considerate as to leave them two alone? She should have made sure Xie Lingyu was unhappy.
Sighing, Sang Ying found a low stone to sit on, waiting for Lengmian to discover her missing later and come looking.
From her pocket she pulled out a jade-green sword tassel and looked at it with her head down. She only knew how to draw talismans and wasn’t good with handicrafts. Compared to that one, her jade carving was less skilled, the tassels a bit crooked, you could tell at a glance it was very ordinary.
Sang Ying gripped the sword tassel tightly in her palm, kicked at a stone, her mood heavy, her voice muffled.
“Xie Lingyu, you irritating thing.”
A barely perceptible sigh came from above her head.
Sang Ying heard the faint sound of footsteps in the snow, and suddenly raised her head just as the cool, cold white-robed youth crouched before her, his long, pale fingers lifting the hem of her skirt.
She was startled and instinctively pressed down on her skirt, blurting out: “Shameless lecher, don’t lift my skirt!”
“…”
Xie Lingyu raised his eyes, his gaze serene, his voice calm: “If simply checking an ankle injury makes me a philanderer, what would you call it when you saw me bathing?”
Sang Ying’s ears immediately flushed red. “That was how many years ago! I didn’t know you were bathing then, I wandered in by mistake, and besides, I didn’t see anything… wait, when did you recognize me?”
Sang Ying tore off her disguise talisman, revealing her pale white face. The sickly pallor from earlier had intensified somewhat, her nose tip reddened, her small face nestled in fox fur.
“I disguised myself so thoroughly, how could you still recognize me? It doesn’t make sense. Lengmian saw me like this and didn’t dare look twice, so how could you… what exactly are you?”
A warm sensation came from her ankle bone. Sang Ying paused, realizing it was his fingers, and looked away, her eyelashes fluttering like a small fan.
She mumbled indistinctly: “And who asked you to help anyway? That fool was so dumb, I could have handled him alone.”
Warm fingers massaged the swollen ankle bone, channeling spiritual power to disperse the bruising. Her icy ankle became warm and cozy, and her body slowly warmed up too.
The youth said nothing, and Sang Ying gradually fell silent as well.
After a while, Sang Ying turned her head to peek.
Looking at the youth lowering his eyes before her, staring for two seconds, her gaze moved to the sword at his waist, the sword hilt hung empty.
…He hadn’t accepted Xu Xuan’s sword tassel?
She pressed her lips together, and Sang Ying opened her mouth.
“Xie Lingyu, you…”
“Why did you come here today?”
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