To that question, Sang Ying had long since prepared an answer, but hearing it asked so suddenly now, she was caught off guard, her mind blank.
“Well, that is…” she hemmed, catching a glimpse of his sword, inspiration struck, “I came to see Xu Baishen.”
The youth paused slightly. He was taking out cool white medicinal salve and opening it, lowering his head with his eyes downcast, so naturally he didn’t see the young girl’s unnatural expression.
Dipping his fingertip in salve, Xie Lingyu circled the girl’s slender white ankle with one hand, raising it slightly, spreading the salve with his fingertip. After a few seconds, he spoke as if casually, his voice calm and light.
“What did you come to see him for?”
Her ankle tingled. His palm was warm, and from years of practicing sword, his fingertips and the spaces between thumb and forefinger had thin calluses.
Dry fingertips gently encircled her ankle, wiping, the tingling spreading.
Sang Ying hated tickling the most, barely suppressing this strange sensation, her fingers gripping the fabric of her dress under the cloak. She replied lightly: “Recently there are rumors in the cultivation world that Xu Baishen, son of Wuwenzong’s Grand Elder, has inherited the Elder’s true teachings. At not yet thirty years of age, he has already reached the pinnacle of Golden Core, truly a talent born of heaven.”
“Compared to the former sect master, that useless, sickly wretch who hasn’t even reached Foundation Establishment, he’s better suited to inherit the sect master position.”
Xie Lingyu suddenly raised his eyes, his quiet black gaze looking over.
Sang Ying’s brows and eyes curved in a smile, brilliant as a red rose. “But seeing him today, apparently he doesn’t live up to the rumors. You’re ten years younger than him, yet he couldn’t even beat you. How can he compete with me for the sect master position?”
Xie Lingyu softly said “Mm,” and then lowered his head, closing the medicine box. “What were you about to say earlier?”
Withdrawing her gaze from the empty sword hilt, Sang Ying withdrew her smile, turned her small face away, and looked at the dimming snowy landscape sky in the distance.
“Nothing. I was going to say I’m tired and want to go home.”
The youth’s voice was calm: “Very well.”
Pale-blue sword light flowed out. Xie Lingyu stood on the sword light and extended his hand to Sang Ying.
Sang Ying looked at the well-defined bones of the hand before her and hesitated. There was only so much space on the sword, and traveling together on it would necessarily mean standing very close.
Her ankle hurt and she couldn’t stand steadily. With Lengmian it would be fine, if she swayed, he would support her. But with Xie Lingyu… what if she swayed and fell into his arms? Would he think she did it on purpose?
“Junior sister?”
Sang Ying shook the tangled thoughts from her head. It took a quarter hour for Lengmian to bring her here, so Xie Lingyu would definitely be faster, at most a quarter hour either way. She could endure it!
Thinking this, Sang Ying placed her hand in his palm.
The youth’s fingers curled slightly. His dry, warm long fingers enclosed hers, and with a slight pull, Sang Ying was standing on the sword light.
Once she had her footing, that hand released at just the right moment. Sang Ying felt her fingertips chill, and then felt a certain emptiness.
The youth stood with his back to her. Sang Ying’s small face buried in fox fur, she lowered her head and unnaturally rubbed her fingertips.
She didn’t understand. She had held hands before, had been even closer. Why did this feel strange now?
Sang Ying trembled her eyelashes. She had been weak since childhood. To strengthen her constitution, her father had her study and train with her senior brothers.
But she was truly frail and lazy, exhausted after practicing for just a quarter hour, always falling asleep drowsy. Every day the only path she walked herself was going down the mountain, coming back up, she always needed someone to carry her.
Of her three senior brothers, the eldest had a gentle temperament but stuck to principles, and wouldn’t help her shirk. The second was a carefree, unbridled butterfly who disappeared after class to fool around outside.
So she always made Xie Lingyu carry her.
Even then, the youth was of a dull temperament, not liking to talk, and in Sang Ying’s view, easy to bully.
She would jump on his back, hook his neck, threaten him not to tell their father, and he would silently carry her up the mountain, day after day.
The fading sunlight from the sky dazzled her eyes slightly, and Sang Ying returned to herself, only then realizing this had been a long time ago.
Since marrying three years ago, they had never been like that again.
After standing for a while, her ankle ached with a dull throb. Even the salve applied hadn’t healed it that quickly. Sang Ying pressed her lips together, just about to move when the youth before her suddenly sat down.
…What kind of decent person sits while piloting a sword in flight?
Sang Ying muttered this in her heart, pulled at her skirt, and sat down as well. After all, standing alone looked too foolish.
The space was already narrow, and sitting down made it inevitable for the two of them to press together. Sang Ying turned around and sat back-to-back with him.
Unlike her, the youth’s back was very warm. The temperature came through her cloak, and Sang Ying’s icy hands and feet gradually warmed.
After rubbing her nose to life, the serene scent of white sandalwood wafted into her nostrils. Sang Ying paused slightly, it was the scent on his body.
They both fell silent.
The landscape flowed backward. Just like this, they sat quietly for two quarter hours. The sky completely darkened, and the drowsy Sang Ying only then realized something seemed off.
“Xie Lingyu, how much longer until we’re home?”
Whether it was the fault of the night, the youth’s voice sounded somewhat low and dark: “A bit longer.”
Sang Ying realized something was amiss. Lengmian only needed a quarter hour to bring her home, but he had already spent two quarter hours and still hadn’t arrived?
Thinking about how he was sitting on sword light, and the voice that had sounded somewhat hoarse just now… Sang Ying suddenly understood.
“Xie Lingyu, were you injured in today’s match?”
The air was silent for several seconds.
The youth paused: “No.”
With all this evidence laid out, Sang Ying didn’t believe his words at all. She tapped her knuckles on the sword beneath her: “Luoqing, was your master injured?”
The pale-blue sword light flickered, and a tender voice came through, sounding somewhat sorrowful, sighing softly: “Just now, Master received very serious injuries—”
Luoqing’s spirit sword’s voice was suddenly cut off ruthlessly.
The youth coldly shut his eyes, his voice cold: “Don’t listen to its nonsense.”
The unfinished words from Luoqing’s spirit sword had already given Sang Ying the idea. Xie Lingyu had indeed suffered severe injuries in the match.
But from Xie Lingyu’s meaning, it was clear he didn’t want to say more, or perhaps… he thought she had overstepped her bounds, meddling in his affairs.
Sang Ying was very familiar with this kind of speech tactic. When irrelevant people inquired about her own matters, she would also impatiently brush them off.
A wave of annoyance rose in Sang Ying’s chest, and she didn’t want to talk to him anymore. Since he said there was nothing, why should she foolishly concern herself? Why presume to care?
Burying her small face in soft white fox fur, Sang Ying angrily closed her eyes to rest.
The girl behind fell silent.
Perhaps it was the dusky evening light, or perhaps the outing today had consumed too much of her energy. Before long, her breathing became soft and gentle. The body that had been tense, deliberately not pressing against him, relaxed. She leaned softly on his back.
Asleep.
The sword light flashed, and they had arrived at the courtyard.
Xie Lingyu turned. The girl, losing her support, began to fall backward, but he raised his hand, gently catching her, and picked her up horizontally in his arms, walking into the courtyard.
Lengmian, who had already returned, stood with his sword clasped in the corner by the crabapple flowers, watching the two without expression, not making a sound.
The maidservant Jingxi was also tactful, not disturbing them, watching as Xie Lingyu carried the girl through the flowered corridor into the room.
Jingxi smiled: “How did the sword tassel giving go? By the looks of things, Young Miss and the Sword Sovereign have made up, haven’t they?”
“Oh my, the moonlight tonight is so lovely. For the two of them to come back so late, they must have been viewing the moon. As they say, flowers and moonlight, spring night so long…”
Lengmian glanced at her: “That’s underestimating the Young Miss.”
Just as the words left his mouth, the cool white-robed youth emerged from the room, closed the door, and went back to his usual quarters in the side courtyard.
Lengmian, undisturbed: “See that? The sword hilt, empty.”
Jingxi was surprised: “Young Miss didn’t give one?”
Lengmian also turned to walk to his own room, a hint of quiet pride flowing through his calm tone: “Of course.”
Jingxi: “…” How is that something to be proud of?
In the middle of the night, Sang Ying woke hazy. Her consciousness was muddled for a moment before she remembered Xie Lingyu was still beside her, and she suddenly became alert.
She suddenly opened her eyes, but saw the familiar sheer bed curtains, it was her own room.
The room was as usual, cold and empty, with only her.
Sang Ying sat quietly for a breath, then pushed back the bed curtain and sat up. She saw a jade box on the table, took it over, and opened it. Unsurprisingly, inside was a pill.
She was frail, and since childhood had never been without various medicinal broths. Even now she had to drink medicinal liquid every day.
Since marrying three years ago, Xie Lingyu often had Jingxi bring her nourishing pills to strengthen her body. Clearly, this was one such pill.
The box also contained something else. Sang Ying picked it up and looked, it was a glass mirror.
…Xie Lingyu’s glass mirror? Had he accidentally left it inside? Sang Ying found it strange and opened it, just catching sight of some odd conversations.
White Cat Swordsman: 【Songbiao has run away from home again. Fellow cultivators, has anyone seen Songbiao?】
Delivery Heavenly Worthy: 【What does it look like? When I was making a delivery at Jade Pool, I saw a white-dyed tabby cat cursing while bathing. Once I finished the delivery, it—】
White Cat Swordsman: 【It what?】
White Cat Swordsman: 【Hello? Heavenly Worthy, where are you? Songbiao hasn’t had an accident, has it?】
Lake-Filling Hermit: 【White Cat friend, don’t panic. The Delivery friend is probably running late. Once they finish delivery they’ll get back to you】
Delivery Heavenly Worthy: 【I’m back】
Delivery Heavenly Worthy: 【That cat cursed and complained for quite a while about “bastard.” An immortal saw it couldn’t reach its back, and helped it out. Once I finished the delivery and came back, it—】
White Cat Swordsman: 【It what?】
White Cat Swordsman: 【…Heavenly Worthy, don’t say pointless things next time. Just get to the point, would you?】
Lake-Filling Hermit: 【White Cat friend, don’t be impatient. Relax your mind, let it all go. It’s like fishing, the more you hurry, the less you catch】
Unobstructed Taoist: 【Sharing photo (thirty-three-catty fat spirit carp-flower fish)】
Lake-Filling Hermit: 【Fake】
Lake-Filling Hermit: 【Clearly fake. Where could there be such a fat spirit carp-flower fish】
Lake-Filling Hermit: 【Friend, delete that photo. I’m indifferent, no feelings about it, but I have a friend who’s sweating bullets. He’s uncomfortable and wants to sleep. Of course it’s not me, I just want to look after my friend’s mindset, so I’d suggest deleting it.】
Sang Ying read as these people chatted, and the more she read, the more absorbed she became. She couldn’t help but laugh out loud. These people were quite interesting.
But she also discovered something. This glass mirror wasn’t Xie Lingyu’s but belonged to someone in the group named 【Bixu Zhenren】.
Why would this Bixu Zhenren’s glass mirror be in her medicine box?
Sang Ying was about to look for his contact to ask, when she saw a new message in the group.
Xiaxia Cave Master: 【Infuriating! I accompanied a friend to catch an affair today. We got there only to find the mistress was male! And had a Daoist companion!】
One sentence left Sang Ying stunned.
She kept reading, getting fresh hot gossip.
Xiaxia Cave Master’s friend had been married two years but had never slept together. One time the friend found marks on the Daoist companion’s clothes and became suspicious. So the friend deliberately set a trap, called on Xiaxia Cave Master to catch the affair, only to discover the mistress was male.
The coincidence: the male mistress’s Daoist companion also came to catch the affair, and both groups ran into each other.
Xiaxia Cave Master: 【I’m telling you, after two years of marriage without sharing a bed, something is definitely wrong!】
The group members all agreed, banding together in righteous fury [1]sharing the same hatred, common outrage (tong chou di kai, 同仇敵愾) (Idiom), to unite in shared anger against a common target jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389866_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389866_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); at the two male cultivators.
Sang Ying rested her chin on her hand, watching, and her small face puffed up slightly.
Sharing a bed… did that mean sleeping together?
Her thoughts drifted as she fell into a daze.
Right, she had heard that after marriage, husband and wife were supposed to sleep on the same bed. But she and Xie Lingyu had been married three years. They had only slept together on the wedding night. These three years, Xie Lingyu had been staying in the side courtyard.
The glass mirror suddenly vibrated ceaselessly. Sang Ying came to herself and saw everyone in the group reacting with shock, sending messages.
White Cat Swordsman: 【Holy shit, earth-shattering gossip!】
Lake-Filling Hermit: 【Bixu old guy, when did you secretly get married?! Silent for years, and then a bombshell like this?! [2]not crying out, but once it cries out it astonishes everyone (bu ming ze yi yi ming jing ren, 不鳴則已一鳴驚人) (Idiom), said of someone who gives no sign of themselves for a long time, then … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389866_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389866_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });】
Xiaxia Cave Master: 【Wait, husband… Damn, this old man can’t judge by appearances. I didn’t know he had this kind of fetish】
Bixu Child: 【Master you…】
Sang Ying wondered what was going on, her fingers quickly scrolling up to see the cause of this storm.
Someone with Bixu Zhenren’s name had sent this message:
【Married three years, and my husband has been sleeping separately the whole time, what does that mean?】
Sang Ying: ?
Wait, what did she just send?
Point zero zero one seconds later, realizing what had happened, Sang Ying’s ears suddenly burned red. As if holding a scalding hot potato, she frantically threw the glass mirror away.
The mirror rolled across the floor twice, hitting something before stopping.
“What is junior sister doing?”
At the sound, Sang Ying froze, suddenly raising her eyes. She saw the very person she had just been thinking about standing in the doorway. Moonlight fell behind the white-robed youth, clear as jade.
How was he here?!
No, what mattered more now was—
The glass mirror had rolled right to his feet. The youth lowered his eyes and reached out to pick it up.
“Slam—!”
The door creaked shut with a soft sound.
Before her brain could react, Sang Ying’s body had already acted, rushing over to snatch the glass mirror from Xie Lingyu’s hands.
Good, good, she got it. He didn’t see.
She let out a breath of relief and raised her eyes, but found the youth’s face was right before her. She could smell the cool, serene scent of white sandalwood on his body.
At this moment, Xie Lingyu was pressed back against the door, while she sat between his legs, one hand pressing on his shoulder, the other gripping the glass mirror.
He looked at her, his usually expressionless quiet black eyes touched with some surprise.
Sang Ying only then realized in hindsight what she had done. She had apparently…
Tackled Xie Lingyu to the ground?!
References[+]