Fu Jinyue was shielded behind them, peering through the gap at this possessed disciple.
The opponent threw a sidelong glance over as well. Curiously, despite having completely turbid white eyes without pupils, he could still make them feel his gaze scanning past.
Fu Jinyue heard him laugh aloud, “Ah, it’s Fellow Daoist Fu, right?”
“I am truly sorry. You arranged that garden quite nicely. But these two fellows kept clamoring about their hatred and disgust. I grew irritated from listening, so I simply egged them on a bit and let them smash the garden to vent their rage, so they could focus on working for me.”
He shook his head, “Who would have thought they would be so useless, being discovered this very day. There’s no other choice.”
What a fine ‘no other choice’.
So he just directly burned the person who was begging for mercy?
Fu Jinyue still remembered that before the disciple met his tragic end, he only even had time to utter the word ‘Tian’.
You Feichen sneered, drawing her blade, “Tianji? A traitor still dares to use the title from his time in the Sword Sect?”
The corners of the male disciple’s mouth were still pulled up high, but tears of blood streamed down from his eyes at this moment.
“I didn’t want to either, Grand Sect Master You.”
The tears of blood flowed down his increasingly deathly pale face, resembling the frightening smiling face of a paper doll.
“They insisted on calling me Elder Tianji, what could I do?”
Ruan Jiang also drew her sword, saying in a deep voice, “Wu Cheng, you murdered disciples and defected from the sect; your crime is unpardonable. To have escaped that day was already a stroke of luck, yet now you dare return to the Sword Sect—sheer audacity!”
The person shot back with a retort, “Ha, Ruan Jiang, you didn’t die from the lightning strike either, which is truly a stroke of luck!”
However, as soon as his words fell, the male disciple’s body suddenly trembled. His already rigid expression changed into something akin to grief and dread, and his skin cracked open with numerous tiny fissures.
His mouth was still opening and closing, but he said rather displeasedly, “Forget it, no more bickering. This fellow’s body is too poor; he’s about to collapse.”
His tone carried a trace of relaxed playfulness throughout.
Following that, those pupil-less, turbid white eyes rolled, cutting through the gap to lock straight onto Fu Jinyue.
Fu Jinyue frowned and looked back, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Yet that person, using a face as coldly severe as a paper doll, gave her a slight nod, his posture composed.
Though the possessed body was on the verge of breaking apart, the opponent still said leisurely, “Until we meet again if fate permits, Fellow Daoist Fu.”
Fu Jinyue didn’t even blink, “I hope fate permits no further intersection.”
Having been rebuffed, he wasn’t angry but delighted instead. His paper-doll-pale face was climbed by countless fine fire-scars, and when he laughed, he resembled a vicious ghost.
The ghost stared straight at her, splitting the corners of his mouth to say, “That won’t do. This baseline person still looks forward to… catching a smile from Fellow Daoist Fu next time.”
With a loud hong, this body ultimately couldn’t endure it, and two lines of tears of blood ignited like fire.
It exploded into a human-shaped mass of charcoal.
The scorching temperature brushed against their faces, and ashes drifted gently with the hot wind, flickering before their eyes.
Sighting the two charred skeletons that left no corpses intact, and sniffing that sickening fragrance of roasted flesh, Fu Jinyue took a step back. She felt a heavy sensation in her chest, and her stomach faintly churned.
Lu Liuru’s expression couldn’t be described as pleasant either.
Yu Ning raised his hand to summon a lush green thicket, shielding them from that tragic sight. As the crisp fragrance of vegetation washed over them, he said softly to the two of them, “It’s fine now.”
Lu Liuru asked in a hoarse voice, “Was he… Elder Tianji?”
“It ought to be him.” Ruan Jiang sheathed her sword, the gentle smile on her face tinged with a bit of sorrow. “Ah, once upon a time, Wu Cheng was also such a dazzling, chosen favorite of heaven within the Sword Sect, yet now…”
Pausing, Ruan Jiang turned and said, “I recall the sword style you practice, Little Lu, seems to be the same track as Wu Cheng’s?”
Lu Liuru replied, “Yes, after entering the sect, I have always practiced the Multi-Affection Sword.”
Ruan Jiang sighed, “A pity. In using the seven emotions and six desires to comprehend sword principles, no one possessed more talent than him. If Wu Cheng hadn’t betrayed the sect, then…”
Then I should have been able to bow under his gates. Lu Liuru didn’t know what to feel in her heart. Currently, precisely because there was no senior left in the sect who practiced the Multi-Affection Dao, she was stuck among the inner court disciples with no master to bow to, unable to ascend or descend, wasting time until now.
You Feichen, however, twisted her head, “Bullshit!”
Her blade was still held in her hand; just now, she had been inserting it between the skeletal remains to rummage and poke around, and she stood there with a dark face casting several hand seals in succession. Only when not a single fraction of residual divine sense could be found did she let the matter rest.
You Feichen said, “No matter how glorious and beautiful he was in the past, since he defected from the sect, he is merely a rat. The disciples of my sect are ten thousand times stronger than him. If there is no master to pass down the legacy, then change paths and switch methods; one can always walk out a clear and open path!”
Ruan Jiang smiled tolerantly, “True.”
Lu Liuru lowered her eyes, remaining silent. Fu Jinyue, however, recovered her senses. Recalling the events, she frowned and reminded, “He seemed to mention just now about having people work on his behalf. A matter that requires colluding with disciples to accomplish—I fear…”
As allies, she didn’t want the Sword Sect to experience a sudden blowup out of nowhere.
You Feichen took out a handkerchief to wipe her blade, saying, “Rest assured, Little Friend Fu. Since a clue has manifested, the Sword Sect will absolutely not sit idly by.”
Ruan Jiang also said in a warm voice, “This instance has also startled the snake somewhat. His hasty exposure will put people on alert, so presumably whatever conspiracy he has will have to be delayed.”
That made sense.
Hearing this, Fu Jinyue let out a sigh of relief.
Thereafter, a period of calm indeed ensued.
You Feichen took charge and compensated Fu Jinyue for the losses in the fields entirely in spiritual stones, and led her around the various mountain peaks to become a familiar face.
With a hidden sect backing her, being Ruan Jiang’s savior, and being a person personally led by the Sect Master, even if their hearts held differing thoughts, everyone gave her ample face superficially.
Fu Jinyue received meeting gifts until her hands grew soft, watching wide-eyed as the number of items in the system inventory exploded.
Spiritual stones, dharma treasures, talismans, rare and exotic spiritual plants, and all kinds of trinkets…
She sat back and reaped the rewards, wealth coming from all sides, leaving her thoroughly satisfied for a time.
Fu Jinyue: =v=
With her net worth rising, she stroked her precious spiritual stones. Because her purse was expanding, she actually felt a strong desire to spend money.
As it happened, she heard that recently, after the sermon meeting concluded, the Sword Sect was grandly going to hold the Dao Discussion Banquet again. Once the news was released, the cultivators who hadn’t traveled far were stirred up once more. When Cui Lecheng related this news, he also mentioned in passing: in the town down the mountain, it was reported that an auction house was hosting an auction. At that time, numerous merchants would flock over, making it an excellent time for purchasing.
Fu Jinyue’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, thinking to herself, Quite good, quite good. At any rate, there are no urgent matters, so it’s a perfect time to go down and browse, buy some equipment for my net worth, and then find Cui Lecheng to collect the spiritual stones and dharma treasures he owes me—killing two birds with one stone.
Her curiosity toward novel things was stirred up, and Fu Jinyue’s mind surged with excitement. Consequently, until the days drawing near her departure down the mountain, she suddenly saw Yun Heyin blocking the doorway, and only then did she hazily recall this person.
It seemed… they hadn’t crossed paths for several days, right?
Was he here to argue again this time?
Yun Heyin withdrew his divine sense that was touching the barrier, standing quietly at the doorway, his spine straight as pine and bamboo.
The person he was quietly waiting for arrived late. Encountering her again, he didn’t bring up the unpleasantness from that day, only handing over a small, square box.
Fu Jinyue: “This is…”
Yun Heyin lowered his eyes to look at her, “A meeting gift.”
“This shouldn’t count as our first meeting, right, senior?” Fu Jinyue looked at him with a half-smile, her expression not deep.
Yun Heyin merely said, “Hearing You Sect Master mention it, I recalled that I hadn’t given Little Friend Fu a gift yet.”
This man’s tone was calm and his face was detached, revealing nothing special. Only, being far too flat, it felt rigid instead, as if separated by a layer of something.
Fu Jinyue blinked, fully understanding.
His actively coming to find her meant he surely couldn’t endure the torment of the cold war. This was indeed a layer of progress, but wanting to actively seek a reconciliation yet unable to lower his pride, still putting on airs—this rigidity was his problem.
A person seeking reconciliation should possess the posture of one seeking reconciliation.
The exquisite small box fell into her hand. Fu Jinyue thanked him flatly and accepted it nonetheless.
Yun Heyin’s gaze shifted slightly, and he introduced further, “The medicinal pills were refined by me personally. They possess miraculous effects when one is heavily injured and on the verge of death, and can allow you to protect yourself at a crucial moment.”
Fu Jinyue gave a neutral response, but asked instead, “Senior excels at refining pills and practicing medicine. Have you ever heard of a medical condition where the onset of symptoms is extremely mild, yet it takes a person’s life when the time limit is reached?”
“Are you injured?” Yun Heyin furrowed his brows.
Fu Jinyue said with a beaming smile, “It isn’t me.”
“I heard that Junior Brother Xi Chuan’s family dependents contracted this strange illness. He couldn’t find a cure, so he ran to the Sword Sect intending to use an immortal’s method for treatment. If senior understands the solution, that would be wonderful.”
Xi Chuan?
Recalling the appearance of the youth crouching beneath her person and swallowing that day, and remembering the opponent’s disrespectful words, Yun Heyin’s heart already held a few fractions of displeasure.
That person couldn’t compare to him in terms of cultivation, and couldn’t compare in terms of family background. Aside from a passable appearance, what was worth remembering?
“You truly—” Yun Heyin closed his eyes, cutting his words short in a hurry. Relaxing his tone, he added, “I have heard a bit about these symptoms. If you are worried, I can gift him a few kinds of medicinal pills.”
“That is wonderful.” Fu Jinyue appeared oblivious to his gaffe, thanking him repeatedly.
Yun Heyin looked down at her pleasantly surprised expression, pursing his lips and shifting his gaze away.
“I was somewhat busy a few days ago.” He found another topic, “So I entrusted the teaching matter to Si Nian and Si Yan. Did they teach you attentively?”
Fu Jinyue smiled, “Of course they were attentive.”
Yun Heyin: “But I heard Si Nian say that your sword style still hasn’t improved. Presumably, it’s because they, as crane demons, do not excel at using a sword. Why don’t…” I teach you.
However, before his words could be finished, he saw the young girl’s face change.
Hearing this, Fu Jinyue naturally felt as if she were facing a formidable enemy. Her lack of improvement in her sword style, in the final analysis, wasn’t it because she lacked talent? She had long since planned to look for some other good weapon when she went down the mountain.
Therefore she declined immediately, “Thank you for your kind intentions, senior, but a sword style is truly not my forte. It’s better to forget it.”
Hearing this, Yun Heyin gave a flat “en,” falling into silent reflection. Gifting, teaching—the proper business that could be spoken of had already been exhausted. He had to think of what other reason he could use to remain here.
Chat about casual matters?
Thinking of this, Yun Heyin’s face grew slightly cold. Since the argument that day, he and she hadn’t interacted for several days. It was hateful that that plant demon was shameless, entangling the young girl all day long without letting go. Every time he inadvertently heard the gasps of the two engaged in dual cultivation, he felt a wave of piercing pain.
Waiting until he finally endured through that period, his relaxed heart clenched again.
He knew that what she learned was the method of dual cultivation. Yet clearly the best partner was right beside her, yet she would rather toss and turn, murmuring low upon the bed herself—the water sound toyed out by her fingertips so urgent. Clearly needing it so much, yet always unwilling to come find him.
Even when meeting normally, she merely gave a non-committal nod and a light smile, no longer retaining her past warmth.
That coy address of ‘senior’ from the past felt like an illusory dreamscape.
How laughable.
Yun Heyin felt he was simply a joke.
The regulations he had memorized and complied with for decades were entirely broken in front of her. To not be impolite was violated, to not be indecent was violated, and as for not competing or being jealous—that jealousy had long taken root deep within his heart, burning his entire being with fire.
A tiny voice deep within his heart let out a severe laugh. Laughable, right? You see, your rejection was merely because you felt favored and secure, relying on her eagerness to be self-important. You were proud, aloft, and certain she wouldn’t leave, but you never imagined she would let go so thoroughly.
Yes, neglect was harder to endure than anything.
The cold features, the unfamiliar attitude, the contact that halted at propriety—she had retreated too much, and Yun Heyin already didn’t know what to do.
She seemed to truly not want him anymore.
But how could she not want him?
Family background, talent—if these weren’t enough, he still had his cultivation. Yun Heyin knew he was willingly falling into degradation, yet he still couldn’t help but think: if he could use his cultivation to retain her, what would be wrong with acting as a furnace?
Unable to endure the thirst in his heart.
And so he came.
Unexpectedly, having sought out so many topics in succession, she didn’t show the slightest intention of wanting to continue chatting deeply. It truly was different from the past.
Yun Heyin’s eyes flickered, and he ultimately retrieved another item from his spatial pouch.
Sighting this, Fu Jinyue was startled, “Medicinal pills again?”
Yun Heyin nodded coldly, “En. I recalled that your path of cultivation is unique; perhaps you aren’t far from the Golden Core. Therefore I shall give you this Qi Condensation Pill first, to provide an extra reliance when forming your core in the future.”
Having spoken up to this point, he paused again, “If Fellow Daoist Fu encounters any difficulties during cultivation, you may come find me to discuss them together.”
The further these words went, the harder and colder they became. Yun Heyin spoke one word at a time, forcefully suppressing the shame of actively inviting pleasure himself.
Fu Jinyue, however, appeared not to understand, saying, “Ah, okay, thank you, senior.”
Her puzzled expression while tilting her head was extremely realistic.
For a moment, it left one unable to distinguish, forcing him to doubt if he was far too introverted.
Helpless, Yun Heyin handed the medicinal pills in his hand over, his four fingers supporting the bottle body as he placed it in the opponent’s palm.
The skin on the back of his hand also inadvertently brushed against the young girl’s palm.
Yun Heyin’s expression was flat and cold to an extreme, yet during his slow withdrawal, he caused his fingertips to arch slightly, scraping an ambiguous itch across her palm.
It was itchy, hooking at a person’s heart to make it sway.
It didn’t amount to crossing the line, merely serving as a tiny trial.
Fu Jinyue lowered her eyes, Sighting that the distinct-jointed hand delayed slipping away from her palm. The opponent’s attitude was ambiguous, rejecting yet welcoming, appearing to be waiting for the other party to take the initiative.
Her heart was filled with amusement, yet she still felt it wasn’t enough, and therefore ignored it out of bad fun. She lifted her eyes, revealing only a perfectly measured, candid gratitude, devoid of any enchantment.
Yun Heyin didn’t receive the expected reaction, and his face grew even colder. He was anxious due to annoyance; no matter how slow this withdrawal action was, it ultimately had to reach its end. What should he do? Was he to give up? Wait to seek another good opportunity? Or…
The withdrawing hand suddenly stopped.
Yun Heyin ultimately made up his mind. His gaze was calm and waveless, his jaw tensed, and flipping his hand to cup the young girl’s hand, he bent his body, opening his mouth to lightly hold the tip of her longest finger.
His Adam’s apple rolled.
The tip of his tongue licked upward, scraping across the back of her finger, penetrating slowly inward until half the knuckle was held inside.
From beginning to end, Yun Heyin didn’t dare lift his head. Others couldn’t see what kind of expression was on that habitually cold face; they could only see his eyelashes trembling slightly.
That earlobe hidden beneath his hair was turning a red of shame unknowingly.