Jiang Xingxuan turned her gaze toward Gu Tianque, her lips slowly curving into a smile. “Dog… eating… dog?”
Looking solely at that face, anyone would have to marvel at its devastating, world tilting beauty. Yet the sudden swirling night mist in the surroundings signaled that although the Golden Core Dao Lord was currently smiling with breathtaking splendor, she likely harbored a sliver of intent to kill.
Yet the other side refused to yield even half a step, and the ores surrounding the weapon tomb vibrated along with her words. “Feigning ignorance? I don’t even want to start with you!”
“What’s going on here?”
A cattail palm fan interposed itself right between the two.
Rong Zhen pressed one hand against Gu Tianque’s waist, pushing her back slightly, and naturally stepped directly across from Jiang Xingxuan, sheltering the contentious woman behind her:
“I have long heard that you two Dao Lords grew up together and frequently bicker. Seeing it now, even after Dao Lord Wangshu’s twenty-year secluded cultivation, this friendship remains unchanged and unestranged. It is truly touching.”
As she spoke in a soft voice, slender vines sprouted from the mineral soil, binding the trembling ores tightly. The lush, leaf-laden big tree also swayed without wind, dispersing the surging dense mist.
Jiang Xingxuan’s smile remained unchanged as her gaze shifted from Rong Zhen to Gu Tianque: “Do not compare me to her.”
“Just a joke, just a joke.” Seeing that Gu Tianque still wanted to argue, Rong Zhen kept her left hand still, pinning her in place. “Dao Lord Wangshu, please do not take it to heart.”
Before she could finish smoothing things over, Gu Tianque let out another gasp: “You!”
For a second, Elder Rong wanted to stuff the cattail fan into her mouth.
Yet as she turned, she saw a high, curling long tail and Gu Tianque’s robes, which had been clawed into a cluster of fine golden threads.
The assassin instantly transformed into a white tiger, swiftly scooping Cong Jinyue onto its back, and sped off with a booming laugh.
“We’re off.” As if having coordinated with the civet cat thousands of times, the cold, exquisite Dao Lord, who just a moment ago had been radiating volatile spiritual energy, left behind a conversational remark and vanished into the wind. “It was only a joke, Dao Lord Lifeng, please do not take it to heart.”
Thus, only two intertwined voices lingered in the night: one loud and sharp, seemingly hurling curses, the other low and gentle, seemingly offering persuasion.
However, both sounds were quickly swallowed by the tiger’s breath and the howling wind.
The white tiger ran at swift speed, breaking through layers of dark fragrance. Arriving only a moment later than Jiang Xingxuan, it brought Cong Jinyue to a halt inside the courtyard.
Dismounting the tiger for the third time, Cong Jinyue’s movements were considerably more adept.
The moment her feet touched the ground securely, Mantou pushed her toward Jiang Xingxuan with its broad forehead for a few steps before turning around reassured, charging into the deep forest of the back mountain.
“Master.” Cong Jinyue naturally walked up to Jiang Xingxuan’s side. “Where is Mantou going?”
Tonight’s moonlight floated alongside the floral scent. Standing in their midst, Jiang Xingxuan looked as gorgeous as a demon, yet because her brows held a faint, underlying sorrow, she also appeared as cold and desolate as snow.
Her gaze shifted from the blooming flower trees to Cong Jinyue, softening slightly on account of the person before her: “Perhaps… off to rendezvous with some shady friends?”
Perhaps literal foxes and dogs.
“A-Yue need not worry, she is the only one who bosses other spirit beasts around.” Jiang Xingxuan turned her palm upward, producing a neatly folded set of clothing, its crimson glow flowing like mountain wildfire.
She tilted her head, indicating the small west gate of the courtyard: “Are you tired today? Go bathe in the back courtyard first.”
Beyond the side gate lay a exquisite small courtyard. Four luxuriant magnolia trees guarded its four corners, their dense, overflowing blossoms isolating the space from the outside world with absolute privacy.
A pool of hot spring water billowed with misty vapor, wide open at the end of a white-jade paved stone path.
On the surrounding grass stood large and small luminous pearls, arranged in refined disarray, vying to emit a soft glow, stabler than candlelight, warmer than moonlight.
Every arrangement matched Cong Jinyue’s aesthetic taste perfectly.
She set the clothes by the pool, tested the water temperature with her hand, and only then removed her garments and stepped into the water.
The spring water was warm without being scalding, perfectly comfortable. The fresh moisture carried a hint of sweetness, indicating that this living spring was no ordinary body of water.
Submerging herself entirely, Cong Jinyue relaxed her limbs, diving underwater and opening her eyes.
What met her vision was a sky full of stars cleansed by the clear spring, flickering faintly, resembling a corner of Jiang Xingxuan’s night-patterned brocade robes tonight.
She could not help but recall how back in the weapon tomb, Jiang Xingxuan stood atop the heavenly bow with her hem floating gracefully, her spiritual energy splashing like dark ink poured into water, dense up close and soft from afar.
Like a landscape scroll weaving reality and illusion, hazy yet wild.
Yet when the ink was withdrawn and the red flames erupted, her face, blending pristine elegance and vivid passion, was illuminated by the firelight, and that hint of pleasure in portraying all creation was forged into an unbridled freedom that crushed past and present alike.
She was so magnificent, so dangerous, captivating one’s gaze so completely that it was impossible to look away.
And it was this very person who held a sword and stood before her, so resolute and steadfast, rescuing her from peril.
As the spring water trickled softly, Cong Jinyue’s fatigue from recent days vanished completely, and even her heart seemed to beat with greater vigor.
Looking up at the distant stars, she instinctively felt that only with the firmament as silk and the stars and moon as embroidery could anything be worthy of this astonishing Dao Lord.
Amid her thoughts, Cong Jinyue raised her right hand. Her fingertips brushed across her chest, climbed onto her left wrist, and slid down to her palm, rubbing the cinnabar lines that felt even warmer than the pool water.
That was the mark Jiang Xingxuan had left on her, a certain connection between them.
Feeling slightly breathless, Cong Jinyue surfaced to catch her breath, then dipped back into the water with her eyes closed, her lips curving upward.
She felt a nameless joy.
Perhaps it was simply the natural filial affection a disciple held toward her master.
As she drifted between sinking and floating, a series of measured footsteps approached from the end of the small path, growing clearer until they stopped by the edge of the spring.
A gentle, amused voice drifted down: “Bathing like this, aren’t you afraid of choking yourself?”
Cong Jinyue was startled and poked her head above the water’s surface, only to realize that the person in her thoughts had already walked to her side while her mind was wandering.
She instinctively opened her mouth to call out “Master,” but in her haste, she inhaled a few drops of spring water instead and broke into a heavy fit of coughing.
The warm spring rose slightly as a hand reached over, gently wiping away the water droplet on the tip of her nose: “Look at you, being so careless.”
As the itch in her throat subsided, Cong Jinyue forced her eyes open, only to behold Jiang Xingxuan’s helpless, flower-like smiling face.
She had already entered the spring, seemingly having been too rushed to remove her thin, pure-white gauze robes.
At this moment, the light, soft fabric had absorbed the water, floating lazily in the pool like a translucent white lotus blooming in the stream.
Only at Jiang Xingxuan’s heart did a small patch of crimson blush show through, making this lotus appear all the more real and extraordinary.
“Sit properly.” Resting her hand upon the red talisman she had personally drawn, she guided Cong Jinyue against the pool wall, smiling playfully as if teasing her: “A-Yue causes such worry. It seems I will have to bathe with you every day from now on.”
As if intentionally designed, the pool was neither too big nor too small. When the two adults of similar stature sat facing each other, their legs inevitably brushed together.
Cong Jinyue did not dislike physical contact with Jiang Xingxuan, and she had heard from fellow cultivator Yue about the northern custom of adults bathing together. Still, being completely unclothed herself, she could not help feeling a bit shy.
She lowered her head, crossing her arms over her chest and tucking her legs together, softly replying: “Master, I was just careless earlier.”
Above the undulating water’s surface, a lovely, smiling face swayed in reflection, but those naturally red lips did not open again.
She did not say that Jiang Xingxuan wouldn’t need to bathe with her then.
As the warm steam rose, it dispersed the barely perceptible melancholia from Jiang Xingxuan’s eyes tonight, leaving the corners of her slightly upturned eyes tinted with the color of peach blossoms, stirred into endless romance and charm.
Cong Jinyue noticed through the veil of water that this gaze, steeped in layered tenderness, happened to be focused entirely on her face.
Though it merely lingered around her eyes and features without wandering, it still made the spring water feel gradually hotter.
Cong Jinyue stared down at the brilliant reflection in the water, deciding to break the suffocating silence: “Master, is it true that you and Elder Gu grew up together?”
“It is true,” the person in the water replied, still gazing at her and explaining, “Elder Gu is older than me, she was my mother’s sole disciple.”
“A single-element Gold Earth Spirit Root, with a Golden Core late-stage cultivation. Her natal magic treasure is the Test-Gold Sword, known to the world as Dao Lord Lifeng. She currently governs Wenjian Peak, and has the largest number of disciples in the sect across the five branches.”
Jiang Xingxuan paused before continuing her introductions: “Rong Zhen, Elder Rong, originates from Changsheng Mountain. Twenty-some years ago… she had a falling out with her main clan.”
She spoke concisely: “In short, she is now an elder of our Guiyuan Sect. A master of the medical path, presiding over Rongku Valley, single-element Wood Heavenly Spirit Root, Golden Core late-stage, Dao title Minjie, and her natal magic treasure is the Seventy-Two Needle of Resurrection.”
“Yu Weizhou.” Thinking of that person’s hurried back view tonight, Jiang Xingxuan sighed softly, “An elder of Fuyu Pavilion. She was originally an unaffiliated rogue cultivator without a sect, so to protect herself in her early years, she dabbled widely in various fields.”
“After joining our Guiyuan Sect, she specialized in talismans and arrays. Primary Water Dark Spirit Root, Golden Core early-stage, Dao Lord Tian’an, her natal magic treasure is the Mountain-Sea Pen.”
She curved her eyes into a smile: “The examiner He Sihai under the mountain gate today is her disciple. As for that stack of talismans, it was likely a favor she arranged for her beloved student.”
Having covered all three elders who had shown up tonight, Jiang Xingxuan tilted her head slightly, actually averting her gaze from Cong Jinyue, showing no intention of speaking further.
Cong Jinyue asked: “Master said earlier that there are five branches in the sect, but one branch seems to have gone unmentioned?”
Since she was here, she wanted to adapt and learn more about the sect’s situation.
Hearing this, Jiang Xingxuan turned her gaze back. The eyes that had just softened under the warm currents now showed signs of freezing over, chilling the pool water in an instant.
Cong Jinyue could tell that although her expression hadn’t changed visibly, Jiang Xingxuan truly disliked this elder.
Jiang Xingxuan touched the green pendant beneath her ear. A crisp bell chime echoed within this small domain, rolling back and forth a few times before she finally said warmly:
“It’s not that I’m unwilling, but rather that I haven’t made up my mind on how to explain this elder to you.”
“Yun Zhideng, residing in Longyan Terrace within the sect. Single-element Fire Earth Spirit Root, Golden Core mid-stage, adept in the art of artifact forging.”
As if that cold gaze earlier had merely been Cong Jinyue’s hallucination, Jiang Xingxuan’s face softened with a hint of a smile, appearing gentle and affectionate.
Yet the words she uttered sent a chill down Cong Jinyue’s spine: “The flying needle that ambushed us should have come from her hand. It was very strange, unlike ordinary flying needle artifacts.”
“However, Elder Yun did not make an appearance tonight. This is merely my speculation, so A-Yue, do not spread this around, and do not overthink it.”
Jiang Xingxuan stared at the once-envied prodigy before her, turning the bell chimes into a cage to suppress the black mist that suddenly surged through her consciousness.
“I will naturally protect you,” she said with a slow, gentle smile, like a dark, exquisite poppy blooming quietly in the night. “However, for A-Yue’s safety… it would be better if you stayed far away from her.”
Preferably, never to see her again.