At the mountain gate of the Liuyun Sect.
The disciple guarding the gate let out a bored yawn.
Not far below the mountain sat a small mortal town. However, the Liuyun Sect was full of “cultivation maniacs” who focused solely on their practice; almost no one ever went down the mountain.
This was especially true after the disciples of the Qingshan Sword Sect arrived a few days ago.
The sword duel between Yan Zhao and Ning Shuang had been the talk of the sect for days, and the disciples never seemed to tire of discussing it.
Everyone’s eyes sparkled with the ambition to make Yan Zhao their goal. Furthermore, with the Liuyun Sect’s grand competition approaching, the atmosphere had become even more competitive.
The gate-guarding disciple wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and blinked. He saw a slender figure walking toward him.
He froze for a moment.
Is someone actually going down the mountain?
He rubbed his eyes as the figure drew closer.
Under the bright sunlight, an excessively brilliant red skirt billowed, tracing a graceful arc in the air.
His eyes widened involuntarily.
That is… Senior Sister Yan Zhao?!
There were not many female disciples in the Liuyun Sect, and only Yan Zhao was known for wearing her signature red dress.
Before long, the traveler raised a beautiful face. With hair like a silken waterfall and deep, dark eyes, who could it be if not Yan Zhao?
The disciple was so startled that he immediately stood up from his seat, stammering, “Se—Senior Sister?”
Yan Zhao nodded and showed him her disciple jade token. “I am going down the mountain.”
“No problem!” The disciple enthusiastically scribbled the registration with a few quick strokes, looking at Yan Zhao with pure adoration. “It’s all set, Senior Sister!”
“Thank you,” Yan Zhao acknowledged with a nod.
The disciple stared blankly at her retreating back for a long time before finally snapping out of it.
Senior Sister Yan Zhao is truly extraordinary!
While everyone else is buried in training, she chooses to go down the mountain. What do they call that? That’s called “returning to one’s true self”!
Wait, was Senior Sister holding something in her arms?
He strained his eyes to look, but could only catch a glimpse of pure white peeking out from between the folds of her red clothes.
Once they had left the perimeter of the Liuyun Sect, Hua Ying let out a comfortable “meow.”
Yan Zhao looked down at her. “Are you still not coming down?”
To be honest, Senior Sister’s embrace was too comfortable warm and soft, lingering with a faint fragrance. Moreover, Yan Zhao would occasionally run her long fingers from the cat’s head to the tip of its tail, making Hua Ying’s tailbone tingle. She didn’t really want to change back.
Unfortunately, since they were going to a mortal town, it was naturally more convenient to be in human form.
Taking advantage of the lack of people around, Hua Ying used her spiritual power to transform back, carefully tucking away her ears.
Yan Zhao watched her movements the entire time before suddenly asking, “Will there be a tail?”
Hua Ying was dazed for a moment. “Huh?”
Yan Zhao turned her face away, avoiding Hua Ying’s gaze, and said softly, “…I’ve only seen you show your cat ears. Can you not hide your tail?”
While “Cat Hua Ying” was in her arms just now, Yan Zhao hadn’t been able to resist stroking her fur.
The kitten’s coat of sleek white fur felt wonderful to the touch especially when she touched the tail, the cat would squint its eyes and let out a thin cry, sounding like a mix of acting spoiled and feigning a complaint.
That sensation felt both relaxing and strangely intoxicating.
Hua Ying tilted her head in confusion, saying uncertainly, “I… guess so?”
She didn’t often have unstable spiritual power that revealed her cat demon traits; on the rare occasions it happened, only her cat ears would show.
As for a tail, it really had never appeared before.
But logically speaking, it should be possible… Wait!
Hua Ying suddenly reacted to this strange question. She leaned closer to Yan Zhao and asked with a smile, “Senior Sister, why are you interested in that?”
Yan Zhao didn’t answer, but the tips of her ears gradually turned a faint red.
Hua Ying asked again with a look of pure innocence, “Then, Senior Sister, do you like touching my tail?”
This time Yan Zhao glanced at her, her red lips curving slightly as she uttered those familiar three words: “I don’t dislike it.”
On the way to the town, Hua Ying kept wondering exactly what level of “liking” Yan Zhao’s “I don’t dislike it” actually meant.
It sounded like she didn’t like it that much?
Perhaps, other than cultivation, Senior Sister simply had no interest in other things.
Hua Ying was easily satisfied; “not disliking it” was fine as long as she didn’t dislike it, that was enough.
“Where are we going?” Yan Zhao asked.
Hua Ying asked back, “Has Senior Sister never been down the mountain?”
Yan Zhao shook her head blankly.
Like Hua Ying, she had never left the sect since entering the Liuyun Sect.
She had no memories of her time as a mortal; from the moment she could remember things, she had already been taken in as a disciple by the Sect Leader.
Her daily life consisted of practicing the sword and studying the Dao. Her only companions were the perennial pear tree outside her courtyard and the spotless white jade sword at her side.
According to her Master, she had been brought to the gates of the Liuyun Sect by her family while still in her swaddling clothes.
At that time, fierce wars had broken out between several countries in the mortal realm, resulting in unspeakable suffering and fields of displacement.
In such a chaotic world, how could a tiny infant survive?
Thus, Yan Zhao’s mother heard that there was an immortal sect on this Green Mountain. She climbed up step by step, carrying the baby on her back with great difficulty.
To this day, no one knows how a mere mortal managed to break through the Liuyun Sect’s seals and meet the Sect Leader while kowtowing at every step.
The Sect Leader felt it was fate. After checking little Yan Zhao’s bone structure, he took her as his disciple.
Regrettably, Yan Zhao’s mother was riddled with severe illness; once she let out that final breath of relief, she passed away.
Her remains were buried beneath that pear tree.
As little Yan Zhao grew up and became more sensible, she once asked the Sect Leader: “Master, Junior Brother Wei says everyone has relatives, but why have I never seen mine?”
The Sect Leader pointed at the blooming white pear blossoms and told her, “Zhao’er, every year when the flowers bloom, that is your mother coming to see you.”
This was the first time Hua Ying had heard these things. She suddenly understood why, when she was under the influence of Wei Jun’s “Entwined Love” Gu and said she was scared and wanted to follow Yan Zhao, Yan Zhao hadn’t refused.
Perhaps at that moment, Senior Sister saw herself in Hua Ying.
In some ways, they were the same kind of person.