Fu Yunmo picked up the small vial Ye Xihan had tossed in and examined it. Her mind, however, was elsewhere; the encounter with the cockroach had frightened the soul right out of her, and her arm was still throbbing with pain.
She uncorked the vial, and the scent of medicinal balm wafted out. It smelled like standard wound-healing ointment, yet it possessed a unique fragrance she couldn’t quite place—was it a hint of wine?
Without a second thought, she dipped her finger into the balm and applied it to her wounds. Without water, she couldn’t wash the injuries; she had to settle for simply stopping the bleeding.
“Hiss—!”
As the cool ointment touched the jagged cuts on her arm, a piercing, bone-deep pain flared up.
“Sister Mo, are you alright?” From the adjacent cell, Nan Kunlun gripped the iron bars, desperately trying to see her, but his view was blocked. He could only hear her sharp, pained intakes of breath.
“I’m fine… I’m not dead yet,” Fu Yunmo replied, though she winced and gritted her teeth. This was unbearable! Not dead yet? She felt like she was standing at death’s door! “Ow, ow, ow, ow…”
Even though she moved with extreme care, she had always been sensitive to pain. This was pure agony.
“Sister Mo…” Nan Kunlun’s voice sounded dejected. Hearing her pain while being unable to help left him feeling utterly frustrated.
“Hey! Don’t get discouraged. I’m the one who’s hurt, not you.” Fu Yunmo managed a weak chuckle. Her tear tracks hadn’t even dried yet; surely she was the one who should be feeling down, yet here was Nan Kunlun moping first.
“I just feel useless, like I can’t do anything for you,” Nan Kunlun admitted. He felt a wave of helplessness wash over him like a rising tide.
“…Nan Kunlun…” Fu Yunmo’s voice softened, but her hands didn’t stop. As she applied the milky-white ointment, she watched it mix with the red blood, gradually causing the vivid stains to fade.
“Do you regret it? You didn’t have to come here and suffer like this.”
Fu Yunmo felt a heavy sense of debt. She hadn’t done anything for him; in fact, she had only approached him in the beginning to “cling to his greatness.” Now that they were true friends who had faced death together, guilt coiled around her heart like a venomous snake.
“What are you saying? We’re friends—we’re siblings. We share the blessings, so of course we share the burdens.” Nan Kunlun spoke with firm conviction. Though she couldn’t see his face, Fu Yunmo could easily picture his sunny expression and wide grin.
If it weren’t for me, Mo Lixi probably would have fallen for him, she thought. Nan Kunlun was indeed a good man. He was fiercely loyal as a friend, though she wasn’t sure what he’d be like as a lover.
“Nan Kunlun, you really are a fool. You knew following me would lead to trouble, yet you insisted on it. Wouldn’t it have been better to go to the Cangyun Sect? You’d have a soft bed, warm blankets, and your beloved Ning Min’er.”
Fu Yunmo could tell he had taken a liking to Ning Min’er back at the Martial Arts Assembly—the role she was originally supposed to play. Now that Ning Min’er and Nan Kunlun liked each other, perhaps the “villainous transformation” plotline wouldn’t happen!
“Sister Mo…! How did you know…!”
Was it that obvious?
“Oh, please! Do you think I’m blind?” Fu Yunmo laughed softly. Nan Kunlun couldn’t hide his feelings to save his life; he blushed and stuttered every time he saw Ning Min’er. If she hadn’t noticed, she really would be blind. She just hadn’t expected Mo Lixi to like her—mostly because she never considered the possibility of a same-sex romance.
The medicine was applied. Fortunately, the efficacy was incredible; as soon as it touched the skin, it formed a jelly-like layer and the bleeding stopped completely. She wasn’t worried about poison; she could tell Ye Xihan had given her the vial on a whim. If the woman wanted her dead, she could have finished it with her sword earlier without resorting to poisoned medicine.
“Sigh, but she’s the daughter of the Cangyun Sect Leader, and I’m just a waiter.” Nan Kunlun sighed. No matter how much he liked her, the gap in their status was vast.
“Gender and age aren’t issues, so why is status? Practice your martial arts well, and one day you can go to the Cangyun Sect and propose with pride. If I’m still alive, I’ll be your witness!”
“Wait,” Nan Kunlun blinked. “Gender and age aren’t issues either?”
This was the first time he had heard such a thing. He wasn’t well-read, but didn’t romance only exist between a man and a woman?
“You brat, you don’t even care if I live or die? You only heard the first half of my sentence and ignored the rest?” Fu Yunmo teased. By chatting with him, her attention shifted, and the pain in her arm began to fade.
“That’s not it, Sister Mo—”
Before he could finish, the iron door to the dungeon creaked open. Fu Yunmo’s entire body jolted, and she began to tremble involuntarily. The wounds on her arm throbbed again. Despite her shaking legs, she immediately scrambled to the farthest corner of the cell.
The footsteps were steady, but it wasn’t Ye Xihan. A man wearing a Shura mask entered. He carried trays of food, placing one before Nan Kunlun’s cell with a sharp clink.
When the man reached Fu Yunmo’s cell, he set down a bowl of rice and a cup of water. His dark eyes, hidden behind the mask, seemed to give her a cold, lingering look before he turned to leave.
Fu Yunmo didn’t dare move until the iron door slammed shut and the footsteps vanished. Only then did she creep forward to take the food; she had been starving for far too long.
“Sister Mo, do you think the she-devil poisoned it?” Nan Kunlun asked from the other side. He was hungry too, but looking at the fragrant bowl of rice topped with greens and chicken, he hesitated.
“Eat. Being poisoned to death is better than starving to death.” Fu Yunmo figured that while the “Villainess” was cruel, she wouldn’t let them die before getting her hands on the Fengyun Manual.
If it was poisoned… would it be the kind that makes you wish for death? She doubted it; Ye Xihan wouldn’t want her to kill herself out of agony before talking.
Fu Yunmo imagined a dozen dark possibilities, but as her stomach growled, she began to eat happily. The warmth of the food made her feel human again.
Indeed… much better than starving.
It was then she noticed the man had left behind another small medicinal vial, identical to the one Ye Xihan had given her. She quickly tucked it into her robes, thinking to herself: That she-devil actually has a bit of a conscience.
The Ye Yue Sect was located within the treacherous Valley of the Dead, housed in a palace that was once the abandoned ruins of a fallen royal family.
Inside her private chambers, Ye Xihan lit a single candle. The small flame couldn’t illuminate the vast hall, only serving to highlight her ethereal beauty and the mystery she projected in the shadows.
“Sect Leader, the task you ordered is complete.” The man from the dungeon stood outside the hall, not daring to take a single step inside.
“Mmh. You may leave.”
Ye Xihan gave a soft acknowledgment, but the man didn’t move.
“Is there something else?” Ye Xihan looked up at him. He was her longest-serving follower and her most capable assistant. Before she became the Leader of the Ye Yue Sect and the “Villainess,” he had been a loyal servant in her family home.
“Sect Leader, why keep those two alive? They truly seem to know nothing.” The man didn’t understand. Ye Xihan was never one for mercy—at least, not since she took command of the sect.
“The last of the Shen family is dead, and the Fengyun Manual has vanished. The last person Shen Lan saw was that female waiter. I have to suspect the manual is in her hands. I have tracked the Shen family for two years; I will not settle for the trail going cold now.”
Ye Xihan’s eyes turned cold, as if the candle flame before her might freeze into ice.
“…I understand, Sect Leader.”
The man finally departed. Ye Xihan lowered her gaze, her brow furrowing as she wondered if she had missed something. She had searched them and even sneaked into Fu Yunmo’s room previously, yet found nothing.
As she pondered, she found herself remembering Fu Yunmo’s sobbing voice and those streaming tears…
And that final, panicked scream over a cockroach.
An unconscious smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She hadn’t even realized it, but she was becoming genuinely curious about this interesting person.
Meanwhile, Mo Lixi had arrived at the foot of the mountain where the Tianyuan Sect resided, escorted by Chu Hongfei. They were at a small village, but Chu Hongfei couldn’t go any further; the Tianyuan Sect consisted entirely of women, and it wouldn’t be proper for a man to ascend.
“Brother Chu, we part here.”
Mo Lixi bowed with formal etiquette. Their interaction was so polite it gave no hint that they were actually betrothed. Despite Chu Hongfei’s attentive care on the journey, he hadn’t managed to open her heart.
“Mmh… take care, Miss Mo.”
Chu Hongfei looked visibly dejected. Even if Mo Lixi noticed, she couldn’t offer a response. She simply gave a gentle smile and turned to head up the mountain with Wen Ruoxian and Zhuge Tian’er.
Mo Lixi felt a pang of bitterness. If that person showed me such a look… I think my heart would break for her.
She hadn’t forgotten the kiss from that night. she kept it buried in the deepest part of her heart as her most precious memory. She still didn’t think alcohol was a good thing, but in that fleeting moment, she was grateful for it. It had given her the courage to do something she might never have dared to do in her entire life.
“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”
A commotion came from behind. The three women stopped and saw a disciple from the Shenren Sect sprinting toward Chu Hongfei, panting for breath. “Senior Brother! We encountered members of the Ye Yue Sect outside Heavenly Mystery City. Our brothers were wounded, and the Villainess herself seemed to be there. Master wants you back immediately!”
“How can this be? What are they doing outside the city?”
“The wounded brothers said… they captured two people. A female waiter with golden hair—Senior Brother, do you remember her?”
Hearing this, Mo Lixi’s mind went blank. The unease in her heart surged like a crashing wave.