The Wronged Yu Zhiwen

As emotion swelled to its deepest point, Rao Yuexi had only just opened her mouth. Her fox-like eyes brimmed with sorrow as she gazed at Pei Yuhan expectantly, wearing the aggrieved expression of a kitten casually abandoned by its owner—sitting foolishly by the door, longing to be carried back into the warmth of home.

Just then, the pressure of the Nascent Soul Realm swept in. A female cultivator clad in a moon-white palace gown sped toward the island at the lake's center. Purple spiritual power curled around her, and a pair of deep, starry eyes gleamed with an uncanny radiance. The black veil over her face only made her more mysterious.

"True Lord Rao, this Saintess was delayed by certain matters earlier. I haven't disturbed everyone's enjoyment of the banquet, have I?"

Yu Zhiwen's voice was cold and detached, yet beneath that clear, icy tone, one could tell that the face beneath her veil was surely no less beautiful than the fairy maidens in the eyes of those Sword Sect disciples.

Yet as fellow Nascent Soul True Lords, Rao Yuexi could sense the turbulent spiritual power within the Nascent Soul True Lord before her. She had clearly been angered by something, and the source of that hostility was none other than herself.

Though she did not know why, Rao Yuexi naturally could not allow this little girl before her to overpower her in bearing. The gentle, faintly aggrieved tone she had used when speaking with Pei Yuhan abruptly became solemn and dignified.

The presence and majesty of Xuanyuan Sword Sect's new generation of Nascent Soul grand cultivators could not be violated.

"Saintess Yu has come from afar and is an honored guest of my Xuanyuan Sword Sect. How could this possibly be called a disturbance?"

Yu Zhiwen did not hear Rao Yuexi's words clearly. At first, she truly had intended to properly contend with this True Monarch Crimson Sleeve. She was nothing more than an old woman over a hundred years old, yet she dared make Xiao Han accompany her in drinking.

But when Yu Zhiwen saw the figure below Rao Yuexi, she lost all interest in bickering with her. Boundless vital energy swirled around that white-clad figure. Yu Zhiwen knew that he was her...

Xiao Han... her younger brother...

The instant she saw that white-clad figure, Yu Zhiwen unconsciously held her breath and looked up at Pei Yuhan's face.

That mature, handsome face continuously overlapped with the face of the little boy in her memories. The more carefully Yu Zhiwen compared them, the more familiar he became...

The contours... the features... the brows and eyes...

And that familiar vital energy she sensed within those starry eyes.

That was her Xiao Han, her younger brother...

At that thought, Yu Zhiwen's eyes reddened involuntarily, though no one noticed beneath the cover of her starry gaze. Her lips parted slightly beneath the black veil, as though countless words were about to pour forth all at once.

Yu Zhiwen had the urge to rush forward and hold Xiao Han tightly in her arms, never to be separated from him again for the rest of their lives.

She wanted to bury herself in Xiao Han's embrace and tell him why she had vanished all those years ago, tell him of the longing she had carried for over thirty years, and acknowledge each other as sister and brother at once.

But in the end, reason triumphed over impulse. Yu Zhiwen's tone lost its earlier pressure as she calmly looked toward Rao Yuexi.

"Since True Monarch Crimson Sleeve has said so, then let us begin today's banquet."

With that, Yu Zhiwen took her seat on the other side of the hall. Xuanyuan Sword Sect's maidservants brought forth spiritual wine and spiritual delicacies, and everyone once more returned to the lively atmosphere from before.

Unlike the others, Jiang Chenfeng, seated in a corner, could not calm the excitement in his heart after witnessing that scene.

Jiang Chenfeng knew that the Sect's Saintess had advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm, but this was where the difference between hearing of something and seeing it with one's own eyes became clear.

The sight of that moon-white figure confronting Xuanyuan Sword Sect's True Monarch Crimson Sleeve was like a beam of light shining into Jiang Chenfeng's heart. He was utterly captivated as he watched the Saintess's valiant bearing.

Those Senior Sisters from Qingyou Dao Sect's various peaks were merely female cultivators with somewhat decent talent. They were nowhere near comparable to this Saintess, who had formed her Nascent Soul in just thirty years. This was the fairy maiden he should admire!

At the same time, a thought arose in Jiang Chenfeng's heart. His Innate Demonic Body had been taken from him in childhood, yet through a twist of fate, he had obtained the legacy of a Spirit Transformation mighty expert. In a mere dozen or so years, he had become a True Disciple of Qingyou Dao Sect.

Moreover, unlike the others, he was a cultivator personally named by the Saintess to take part in this mission. Quite a few of his fellow disciples had teased that he might be the heaven's favored son chosen by the Saintess.

Jiang Chenfeng himself also believed that, given the dramatic twists and turns of his life and his rise to prominence within Qingyou Dao Sect, he and the Saintess could indeed be called a match of talent and beauty.

At that thought, Jiang Chenfeng could no longer keep his heart calm. He imagined himself forming a Nascent Soul in the future, taking revenge on Jiang Huai'an and the Jiang family, and ascending to the pinnacle of life...

Jiang Chenfeng looked confidently at the silent Jiang Huai'an, then turned his gaze to Pei Yuhan, who sat in a side seat with his head lowered as he warmed wine.

Hehe... Jiang Huai'an, tomorrow I'll defeat that pretty boy first, then make a request to the Sword Sect to challenge you.

And finally, I'll expose how you stripped away a Demonic Body and cultivated demonic arts, so that your Jiang family can experience the pain I suffered back then!

Cups clinked throughout the banquet, and the atmosphere was bustling beyond measure. Seeing that Rao Yuexi had not spoken to her, Yu Zhiwen focused all her attention on observing Pei Yuhan's every movement.

Yu Zhiwen filled her wine cup, raised her arm to conceal her face, lifted her veil, and took a gentle sip. Her starry eyes remained fixed upon the white-clad figure directly ahead, but her heart was far from tranquil.

Xiao Han... my younger brother...

The familiar brows, the familiar back—even the way he warmed the wine was the very method she had taught Xiao Han in the palace...

Yu Zhiwen only felt that the person before her was exceedingly familiar, yet that mature face made her hesitate to approach. In her memories, Xiao Han had only been a younger brother a head shorter than herself. He usually dressed as a maidservant too, disguising himself as the little mute by her side.

The world was unpredictable. When she saw Xiao Han again, he was already a mature adult. That familiar childishness had long faded away, replaced by a man's broad shoulders.

As Yu Zhiwen watched the younger brother she had raised, her heart filled with ever greater comfort. Her younger brother had grown up too. He could protect his Sister now...

Yu Zhiwen suppressed the urge to seize her younger brother and pull him into her embrace. Silently, she watched the movements of that white-clad figure. There were several scars across his broad palms; they looked like the hands of a diligent sword cultivator.

Yet at this moment, those hands that killed were carefully warming wine, their movements gentle.

Yu Zhiwen watched helplessly as her younger brother used the technique she had painstakingly taught him in the palace as a child to hand the warmed wine to that old woman sitting across from him...

Rao Yuexi had originally felt saddened and irritated after her progress in winning over Xiao Han had been interrupted. But when she saw the wine cup offered to her, it felt as though all the wounds in her heart had been smoothed away.

Suppressing the joy in her heart, she calmly drank the spiritual wine her martial nephew had warmed for her.

Wine Xiao Han warmed for me with his own hands... it's filled with Xiao Han's scent...

Perhaps I, Rao Yuexi, won't rinse my mouth for the rest of this month?

How wonderful would it be if Xiao Han could warm another cup for his Martial Uncle~

Beneath Rao Yuexi's voluminous red Daoist robe, her toes curled involuntarily. Her crystal-clear toes swayed, concealing the excitement in her heart...

Crack!

Seeing the relieved smile on the woman opposite her, Yu Zhiwen accidentally crushed the armrest of her chair.

In Yu Zhiwen's eyes, that smile was as false as crocodile tears. The next second, the woman would reveal her true nature and devour her Xiao Han.

And she herself was the tragic victim in some melodramatic play, forced to watch the Xiao Han she loved be deceived away by an old woman.

What was worse, Xiao Han was even using the techniques she had taught him to win another old woman's favor...

Rao Yuexi... you old woman, you deserve to die!

Tomorrow will be interesting. It hasn't been easy—if the results improve, I'll try my best to release extra chapters for an entire month?