Yun Jinghe was a light sleeper, and the slightest movement from the person in her arms caused her to open her eyes.
Shi Ying was practically curled up entirely in her embrace, her hair slightly disheveled, her sleeping features appearing gentle and harmless.
A faint, sweet fragrance lingered on her body, and the skin Yun Jinghe touched through the fabric was soft and warm.
She encircled the exposed wrist with her fingers, gently stroking it with a soothing touch.
Shi Ying shifted slightly in response, her eyes still closed, but a faint crease appeared between her brows as she let out a soft, groggy whimper.
Then, she drowsily opened her eyes and stared at the canopy above the bed. “My waist…”
Seeing this, Yun Jinghe reached over to massage her lower back. Shi Ying turned her head and stared blankly at her, as if her consciousness hadn’t fully awakened yet.
Yun Jinghe watched as those beautiful eyes gradually cleared from their dazed confusion only to be replaced by boundless fury.
Shi Ying pushed her away, propping herself up on her arms, her expression shifting slightly at the unfamiliar soreness in her waist and the numbness in her legs.
“What did you do to me?!”
“What partners ought to do,” Yun Jinghe replied, slowly sitting up as well.
“But I don’t want to be your partner anymore,” Shi Ying snapped at her, displeased.
Yun Jinghe’s expression remained unchanged at her words. She simply gazed at her quietly before suddenly smiling softly. Reaching out, she pulled Shi Ying closer into a half-embrace.
Ignoring Shi Ying’s resistance and struggles, her fingers brushed aside the loose collar of her robe, finally settling on the spot below her collarbone where the covenant mark lay. “But yesterday, we completed the rites and formed the Daoist partner bond.”
“Even if we married, we can still divorce! And you forced me with that puppet talisman!” Shi Ying’s face flushed from her futile attempts to break free from Yun Jinghe’s hold.
Yun Jinghe’s eyes cooled slightly at her words. “Don’t say such things lightly. There is no such thing as separation between us.”
Shi Ying didn’t want to continue this conversation for now. “Then this thing on my neck hurry up and undo it!”
It was this thing that had made her so powerless.
Yun Jinghe’s hand caressed her neck as she whispered by her ear, “Yingying, I just don’t want you to keep thinking about leaving my side.”
She knew her actions were morally questionable, but she couldn’t help it.
Shi Ying gritted her teeth in frustration. “I’m a demon in the eyes of you cultivators, I’m an unforgivable existence.”
As if afraid Yun Jinghe wouldn’t believe her, she even put on a fierce expression. “Have you forgotten that I once wanted your golden core?”
Yun Jinghe, of course, remembered. “I don’t care.”
As long as Shi Ying stayed by her side, she could let go of everything that had happened before.
Besides, she was still perfectly fine now, wasn’t she?
Shi Ying turned her face away angrily, then suddenly thought of something. “Didn’t you say before that marriage wasn’t something you could decide alone? What about your elders? So right now, our relationship is neither proper nor legitimate!”
Yun Jinghe lifted her gaze slightly. “I lied to you.”
The ones who could control her weren’t here and even if they were, they couldn’t control her now.
“You said I deceived you before, but now you’ve deceived me too. We’re even!” Shi Ying retorted, following her logic.
“How can we call it even? How?” Yun Jinghe lowered her lashes, cradling the other’s face in her hands, her nose lightly brushing against the cheek. “Yingying, you’re already my Dao companion. We’ve shared the most intimate bond.”
In the eyes of Yun Jinghe, who had always adhered to propriety, this was the most outrageous thing she had ever done in her life. Between them, they were now inextricably intertwined.
“Wasn’t it just a one-time affair?” Shi Ying’s words were startling, as if she didn’t notice Yun Jinghe’s face gradually turning ashen. “Let’s just treat it as… a fleeting romance.”
Though she was angry about what had happened the night before, she didn’t consider it a matter of grave importance. Having grown up beside Wu Feng, where the custom of “walking marriages” prevailed, she had witnessed countless couples who came together by fate and parted just as easily.
Wu Feng had told her that separation and union should follow the heart, and warned her not to inherit her mother’s stubborn nature otherwise, there might be one more person lying around waiting to be rescued.
Yet, whenever she recalled what Yun Jinghe had done to her last night, her body would still tense up uncomfortably, as if remembering those moments of pleasure.
But to Yun Jinghe, this reaction seemed like resistance. She pressed down on Shi Ying’s legs, preventing her from moving, her dark eyes now carrying a chilling coldness. “Shi Ying, I don’t care how others do things, but for me, this is a lifetime commitment.”
Each word was spoken calmly, yet they carried an icy edge.
Shi Ying found herself missing the Yun Jinghe of the past, this version was far too difficult to reason with.
The silence in the air lingered for a long time before Yun Jinghe finally released her grip, speaking gently, “Do you want to rest a little longer?”
The image of Shi Ying utterly exhausted from the night before was still vivid in her mind, they hadn’t settled down until dawn, and now it was barely mid-morning.
Shi Ying immediately turned over, presenting only her back to Yun Jinghe.
Yun Jinghe sat quietly for a moment before reaching out to gently stroke her head. “Rest well.”
With that, she rose from the bed, dressed, and walked out the door.
Outside, the sky was already bright, the warm sunlight dispelling the morning chill and falling upon Yun Jinghe’s somewhat pale face.
She slowed her steps, a trace of pain flickering across her expression.
A piercing ache spread from her chest, numbing her senses and body.
The spiritual energy within her ebbed and flowed like turbulent waves, crashing against her meridians.
It was as if she could hear a voice whispering incessantly in her ear.
“Yun Jinghe, you’re nothing but a sanctimonious hypocrite. The only way to steady your Dao heart is by forcing her. How pathetic you are.”
“Do you think she hates you now? Is that why you didn’t dare meet her eyes earlier?”
“From now on, every time she defies your will, you’ll suffer a backlash.”
“Yun Jinghe, is this the great Dao you pursue?”
The world before her suddenly blurred and distorted, the mocking voices overlapping until she could no longer distinguish illusion from reality.
Before she knew it, she had half-collapsed to her knees, her palms scraping harshly against the gravel-strewn ground.
Yun Jinghe lowered her gaze, struggling to raise a hand and seal her acupoints, forcefully suppressing the surging energy and blood within her.
Only after a long while did she manage to exhale shakily, wiping away the blood that had trickled from the corner of her lips.
Her previously unfocused gaze gradually sharpened, her expression regaining its calm and resolve, as if everything that had just transpired was nothing more than an illusion.
Whether a petty person or a villain, since she had chosen this path, she would never turn back.
At that moment, the crowd gathered at Taicang Mountain due to the changes in Yun Jinghe’s longevity tablet was staring in bewilderment at the red thread entwined around the jade tablet floating in mid-air.
“…Has the iron tree of our Taicang Mountain finally bloomed?” someone hesitantly ventured.
“How come there’s no word sent back? Is it a good match?”
“Would you dare to interfere?”
At these words, everyone fell silent, eyes lowered, noses and mouths motionless. After all, no one on Taicang Mountain dared to meddle in her affairs now.
Her grandmaster was the founder of Taicang Mountain, and her master had once been the sect leader. If not for his unwillingness to continue, it was uncertain who would be leading Taicang Mountain today.
Just as the silence lingered, Yun Jinghe’s longevity tablet suddenly trembled faintly. A fine crack began to spread from within, like ice crystals forming, and the glow emanating from the tablet dimmed slightly.
This sight sent shockwaves through the crowd.
The longevity tablet was intimately connected to its owner, the crack meant Yun Jinghe’s cultivation had regressed!
“How could forming a bond lead to a regression in cultivation?”
“Shouldn’t we find her quickly and see what’s going on?”
For cultivators, the higher the realm, the harder it was to progress. Regression was a grave taboo, indicating a severe flaw in one’s foundation something not to be taken lightly.
The current sect leader, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke. “Have all disciples out on training or missions keep an eye out. If they discover the whereabouts of Immortal Venerable Jinghe, report it immediately.”
After Yun Jinghe left, Shi Ying immediately sat up. Without hesitation, she rushed to the door, but the moment her hand touched it, she was repelled by the spell seal embedded in the wood.
No need to guess, this was undoubtedly Yun Jinghe’s doing.
Her sword, placed inside the room, flew over on its own, positioning itself between Shi Ying and the door.
The sentient sword, Chongxue, possessed its own consciousness. After Yun Jinghe’s fierce battle with the demonic flood dragon left her severely injured, Chongxue, too, had been affected, remaining dormant within the sword to recuperate. That was why Shi Ying had been able to take her away so easily.
Unfortunately, the moment Chongxue awoke, it witnessed Shi Ying attempting to kill Yun Jinghe. Naturally, it held no fondness for her. Yet now, it had no choice but to obey its master’s will and remain in the room to guard her.
So when Yun Jinghe pushed the door open, she found the two human and sword locked in a standoff, each glaring at the other with mutual disdain.
“I don’t like it. I don’t want to see it,” Shi Ying said, looking at Yun Jinghe.
Yun Jinghe took two steps forward and flicked the blade lightly with her finger. “Go back.”
Chongxue immediately drooped, its glow dimming slightly as if sulking, before retreating to a corner and turning its back in protest.
Only then did a faint smile appear on Shi Ying’s face. Her gaze shifted to the open door behind Yun Jinghe, and with a quick glance, she darted past her toward the exit before Yun Jinghe could react.
Yun Jinghe’s outstretched hand paused mid-air, her brow furrowing slightly before she slowly lowered it, waiting for the wave of pain to subside.
However, the jubilant Shi Ying, who had dashed out excitedly, soon returned on her own, her expression sullen.
“Are you planning to keep me locked up here for the rest of my life?” Shi Ying demanded, her voice sharp and clear.
Yun Jinghe remained silent. The entire courtyard was surrounded by a barrier she had set up, and Shi Ying couldn’t leave on her own.
“Where do you want to go? I can accompany you.”
“Who needs your company?” Shi Ying wore all her emotions plainly on her face.
The standoff naturally yielded no good outcome. In the end, Shi Ying ran to the bed and buried herself under the covers, determined to keep her eyes shut for peace of mind.
Meanwhile, Yun Jinghe sat quietly beside her, meditating. She had suffered too much depletion recently and needed time to recover.
Time passed swiftly during cultivation. By evening, Yun Jinghe’s spiritual energy had gradually stabilized.
As she exhaled a long, steady breath, she suddenly felt a sudden weight pressing against her.
Her eyes snapped open to find Shi Ying nearly draped over her upper body, the corners of her eyes flushed crimson, just like the night before when desire had overtaken her.
Shi Ying’s eyes were half-lidded, her scorching lips brushing against Yun Jinghe’s neck, lightly grazing her skin.
“Elder Sister, I feel so unwell.”
“Help me, won’t you?”