Jian Wushuang, a once-in-a-generation prodigy.
A named character in the story.
No one else knew her true nature, but how could I, Ye Xiaoyao, not know?
Otherwise, how could I stay in the same room with her without the slightest qualm?
Peach Blossom Forest.
Jian Wushuang considered herself more handsome than Pan An, graceful and dashing.
Her white robes were whiter than snow.
Her cool beauty was like the moon.
Even a single hazy silhouette of hers was enough to bewitch all living souls and leave countless female cultivators hopelessly infatuated.
She had been through this countless times before.
Today,
she found herself growing nervous instead.
Suddenly, she caught a captivating fragrance.
Sweet but never cloying, it was like a pure white gardenia blooming beneath spring's first light.
One encounter was enough to be remembered for a lifetime.
"Senior Brother, today..."
I hadn't even arrived yet.
My sweet voice had already carried across the entire Peach Blossom Forest.
Jian Wushuang didn't turn around. She wanted to leave behind the perfect view of her back.
"Junior Sister, is something the matter?"
I gazed at her back, though inwardly I rolled my eyes.
Damn, she's even more of a poser than I am.
Outwardly, I kept my tone unchanged and continued, "Lately..."
Once someone chose to confide in another, the floodgates opened, and the distance between them drew ever smaller.
Behind them,
Ye Qingxian, concealing every trace of her aura, hid behind a towering tree. She watched the two figures ahead draw closer and closer. Their indistinct conversation drifted in and out on the breeze, and it seemed that in the next instant they would be pressed together.
Beneath a peach tree,
pale pink blossoms fluttered down in a soft shower.
The little girl gazed up at her with adoration. Her long, pale-pink waterfall of hair blended into the scenery, while her light-blue Immortal Skirt swayed in the breeze around the bend of her knees. The half-sleeved skirt hid part of her fair wrists, and her flawless, jade-white shoulders looked delicate and petite.
The next moment, the girl seemed to be acting coquettishly as she wrapped her arms around the slender figure beside her.
"Senior Brother, Senior Brother."
"Are you sure we're going to your cave mansion?"
"You... know how I've been lately. I really can't do anything strenuous."
Jian Wushuang replied brightly, "It's fine. Your Senior Brother knows how to keep things under control. I promise nothing will happen to you." What sort of cultivator was she? She could only ride a flying sword. How could she possibly crash?
Ye Qingxian clenched her fists until they crackled.
What a scumbag.
Her Junior Sister was already pregnant, and she was still coaxing the girl, telling her it was fine and she'd be careful.
Was she treating her Junior Sister like some kind of alien?
Ye Qingxian stared at the white-robed figure ahead. The more she looked, the more familiar it seemed. But she was too furious to think straight, and she didn't dare use her divine sense to alert them. For a moment, she couldn't figure out who it was.
The two figures stood a head apart. Things seemed poised to grow even more indecent. Ye Qingxian could no longer hold back. Even the moon-bright Female Protagonist blurted out a curse.
"You beast!"
She cursed under her breath and abruptly drew her sword.
Enough was enough!
She feared that if she waited another moment, the two would end up rolling right into the cave mansion.
This was outrageous.
"Beneath the bright sun and the boundless sky,"
"what yellow-haired thief dares sneak onto my Heavenly Sword Peak to carry on an affair?"
"Die!"
Hearing Ye Qingxian's voice behind her, Jian Wushuang was so startled that her ethereal white robes instantly became a mess.
She was clearly panicking. She didn't even have time to grab her flying sword. In a hurry, she used the long sleeves of her high-grade Magic Robe to hide her face, then fled in a flash.
This is bad, bad, bad.
Ye Qingxian despised evil. If she found out Jian Wushuang had lured her Junior Sister away...
She'd break both her legs on the spot. Maybe even leave her owing more than that.
Magic Robes could block divine sense.
Ye Qingxian had already unleashed her divine sense completely, pursuing the flustered figure ahead.
Sneaking around and hiding her face.
She was obviously up to no good.
"Sword Slashes Heaven and Earth!"
The Female Protagonist was furious and unleashed her power. A thunderclap split the clear sky as dark clouds gathered.
A ten-thousand-zhang sword shadow came slashing down.
Jian Wushuang was scared out of her wits.
Was all that really necessary? She'd opened with one of her ultimate moves.
She clearly didn't want Jian Wushuang to live.
Jian Wushuang was still the Second Senior Brother, after all, and had cultivated longer. Gritting her teeth, she transformed into a cloud of black mist.
She couldn't let anyone recognize her. She couldn't even use her signature techniques.
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The strike landed.
Heavenly Sword Peak seemed to shudder three times.
Countless people stared blankly at the sky, baffled by Ye Qingxian's sudden outburst.
"Ugh!"
Jian Wushuang was no match for her and spat out a huge mouthful of blood.
Then she crushed a talisman.
Her bloodied white-robed figure vanished from the spot.
I was still holding the flying sword Jian Wushuang had just dropped. I called after her, "Senior Brother, you dropped your Ghost Fire Flying Sword! Didn't you just say you were taking me to your cave mansion?"
Hearing that, Jian Wushuang, who hadn't yet escaped the spatial rift, seemed to finally break. Her figure stumbled, and she spat out another huge mouthful of black blood.
That wasn't concern for her.
It was pouring oil on the fire.
Hadn't she seen how Ye Qingxian's eyes were practically spitting flames?
Never mind. The Junior Sister must simply be naturally clueless. Surely she wasn't a black-hearted sesame dumpling.
Just as expected, Ye Qingxian grew even angrier when she heard that.
She formed a spell with her fingers. "Karma Sword."
"Today, I'll cut you down!"
Countless sword shadows blotted out the sky, seeming to grow eyes as they chased after the spatial rift ahead.
Jian Wushuang had very nearly been slain on the spot.
It took every ounce of effort she had to erase her trail and make it back to her cave mansion.
In theory,
even if she lost, she shouldn't have been beaten this badly.
The truth was, she hadn't dared reveal her identity.
Knowing she hadn't managed to kill her, Ye Qingxian snorted. "Red Flower Sword Shadow has seeped into your body. In a month, it'll fully take hold. Let's see how you hide your identity then."
"I told you—you're as good as dead."
I stood there dumbstruck. Then my eyes flew wide, and I shouted furiously at Ye Qingxian, "How could you attack Senior Brother?"
"Don't you know who she is?"
"Oh?" Ye Qingxian narrowed her eyes and deliberately drew out her words. "So that means I know who that person is?"
Realizing I'd let something slip, I simply fell silent.
Ye Qingxian sneered. "When danger struck, he left you behind. Can't you see what kind of person he is?"
"He only left me because he didn't realize I'd been left behind." My voice weakened, as though I didn't believe my own excuse, but I stubbornly kept arguing.
"Tell me." Ye Qingxian casually lowered her sword. "Who was that person?"
"Or should I say, who's the father of the child in your belly?"
I rolled my eyes. "Some man from outside."
"Someone you don't know, and none of your business."
"To this day, you're still covering for him. He must have quite the gift, to leave my only Junior Sister so besotted. I'm curious who on Heavenly Sword Peak is that talented. I never heard a word about him." Ye Qingxian spoke as casually as if she were discussing some trivial matter. "I deliberately opened the mountain-protecting formation today. Not a single outsider could have slipped in."
"Among everyone on Heavenly Sword Peak, only a handful of my peers could withstand two moves from me. And of those who've cultivated for thousands of years longer than I have, there are only a few hundred."
"Junior Sister, do you really think I can't find out who it was?"
Hearing this, I simply stopped talking.
But my eyes had reddened badly, and it seemed I might burst into tears the next second.
I bit my lip hard, my voice already trembling with tears. "Senior Sister, why do you have to hound him to the bitter end? What did I do wrong?"
Ye Qingxian froze. Suddenly, her heart softened.
The fact that she could soften only proved what a beast that person was.
Her Junior Sister was so lovable and pitiful. How could any beast bring himself to do such a thing?
Therefore, he had to die.
The air fell silent. The other blood relative of the child in my belly stood a hair's breadth away from me, gently reaching out to wipe the tears from my eyes.
A flash of tenderness crossed Ye Qingxian's eyes.
She could never have guessed.
The child in her Junior Sister's belly had another relative who was now close enough to be almost skin to skin with her.
Suddenly, the baby seemed to sense a certain smell.
I dropped to a crouch, unable to stop myself from retching.
Only Ye Qingxian frowned. She stared at her pale fingertip, a puzzled look in her eyes.
Personal Disciple's Cave Mansion.
Jian Wushuang swallowed two pills, and at least outwardly she no longer looked weak.
She was afraid Ye Qingxian might come after her,
but after piecing together what had happened, she finally let out a long breath of relief.
Jian Wushuang knew she was a scumbag.
She deserved every bit of the hatred people showed her.
She'd even long been prepared to be beaten to death one day.
Cultivation was a process of constantly striving against others.
But this time, she hadn't actually succeeded yet, had she?
She'd only planned to lure her Junior Sister away. Even if her identity as the second direct disciple was exposed, at worst she'd be sentenced to a decade or two of confinement. That would pass in the blink of an eye. It wasn't some earth-shattering disaster.
A decade or two was no different from a blink of an eye.
Just like her return to Heavenly Sword Peak this time: in the blink of an eye, there was a Junior Sister she'd never met. After a brief spell of restless pacing, Jian Wushuang finally calmed down completely and began to reflect on the bitter lesson of her failed attempt.
No matter how she looked at it, she could only sum it up in one sentence.
Ye Qingxian was truly ruthless.
Her sweet, obedient Junior Sister, on the other hand, had done nothing wrong. Her eyes were as innocent as a little white rabbit, and she was so kind she was afraid of stepping on an ant.
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