Page 7

Even setting aside the enormous expense of sword cases and sword ornaments, the cost of repairing and maintaining a sword was enough to eat through the private savings of a whole crowd.

For Sword Cultivators, their heads could be severed and their blood could flow, but making their swords suffer was absolutely out of the question.

To save money for their swords, abstaining from food and drink had become commonplace. Teaching themselves to sew or performing on the street was just as common.

The one who had left the deepest impression on Ning Ning was a senior brother surnamed He from the original novel.

Word had it that he'd gone to a brothel to compete for the title of top courtesan just to save money. When people discovered he was a Sword Cultivator, he even brazenly lied that he was a disciple of the Wanjian Sect, only to be exposed on the spot by the Wanjian Sect.

--The Wanjian Sect was the second-largest sect in the sword world, and its relationship with the Xuanxu Sword Sect was like that between Tsinghua and Peking University: sworn rivals who fought openly and in secret.

At last, she understood what that female cultivator in the dining hall had meant.

She also understood that the two of them would be seeing each other often from now on.

Let her see, who was it that couldn't afford to eat all day long? Oh, it was her!

This really was a horror movie, for crying out loud!

As the two fell silent, a passage appeared in her mind at just the right moment. It was a section from the original novel, brought up by the system to help her complete her task.

The title read in six bold characters: Ning Ning Lures Lin Xun by Night.

[The moon sank in the west, and the space before the door lay clear as still water, shadows flickering.

Ning Ning smiled sweetly, her slender fingers brushing Lin Xun's lapel. The young man's back stiffened, and a flush spread to the tips of his ears.

The moonlight swayed, dampening the girl's soft, cherry-red lips. She parted them gently, her breath as sweet as orchids. "The moon is so lovely tonight, and Senior Sister is in a good mood. Shall we go out and admire it together?"]

Admire the moon.

From now on she'd be eating roast goose every day, not admiring the moon.

The moon sank in the west, and the space before the door lay clear as still water, shadows flickering.

Ning Ning smiled sweetly, her slender fingers brushing the body of the Star Trace Sword. Her wife's back was straight no matter what.

The hand stroking the sword trembled slightly.

Amid billowing black qi, she parted her lips gently, the lingering aroma of roast goose on her fingertips. "Wife, I can't afford to buy you new clothes anymore. Forgive your useless mother."

Watching the scene before him, Lin Xun felt his scalp crawl.

He didn't understand why Senior Sister was asking questions when she already knew the answers, nor why Ning Ning was calling Star Trace her wife while calling herself its mother.

All he knew was that something seemed wrong with Senior Sister.

In ancient times, Fan Jin had passed the imperial examination and gone mad. In the present day, Ning Ning had blown up her cauldron.

Even long afterward, Lin Xun could still recall the terror that had possessed him that night.

Senior Sister slowly came closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Her voice sounded half-mad, her tone impossible to distinguish between laughter and sobbing. It drifted like a mountain ghost's, a perfect match for her slightly reddened almond eyes.

"The moon is lovely tonight, and Senior Sister is in a good mood. How about..."

"We go out and admire it together? What do you say? Haha."

That last "haha" was the most masterful part. It vividly captured the way joyful scenery only made sorrow sharper. The rising end of her voice was like a cold arrow loosed from its string, zipping straight into the center of his eardrum.

Lin Xun was scared half to death.

He'd thought Senior Brother He selling himself to support his sword was the Sword Sect's most outrageous case, but it turned out Senior Sister Ning Ning was even more unhinged.

The Little White Dragon, the young prince of the Dragon Palace, took a pale-faced step backward, trembling all over.

Help, help, help! Senior Sister Ning Ning—

She'd been driven mad by her own poverty!

The spot where she'd touched him seemed to burn, leaving Lin Xun ill at ease from head to toe. He instinctively tried to pull away from her hand.

But—but...

Senior Sister was just too pitiful.

She was already so poor she'd lost her mind. If he turned down her invitation, she'd only be even more heartbroken.

So the Little White Dragon endured his discomfort. His voice was low and indistinct, trembling uncontrollably as he said, "Don't be sad, Senior Sister. I...I'll go look at the moon with you."

Chapter 3

Ning Ning hadn't expected Lin Xun to agree to look at the moon with her.

After all, Lin Xun had only joined the sect not long ago. The two of them were no more than fellow disciples who'd met a few times, and they'd barely exchanged a word.

In the original novel, the moment the original owner touched his hand, he'd pulled away without hesitation. But now, not only had the Little White Dragon shown no distaste for her touch, he'd even accepted her invitation to admire the moon.

Ning Ning could understand why so many people had rushed to take part in the Chinese Misery Olympics.

"But, Senior Sister, rather than going out to admire the moon, shouldn't we..."

Lin Xun spoke, faltering for a moment. His lowered lashes hid his dark eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was as soft and sweet as a little white bun. "Tidy up your room first?"

As he spoke with his head bowed, Ning Ning could examine her junior brother to her heart's content.

The Little White Dragon was an important character in the original novel. His kind nature made him a good friend to Pei Ji, who usually kept to himself, and so his part in the story naturally grew.

Compared with Pei Ji's aura of malice and unpredictable, great-demon temperament, Lin Xun, with his little-white-lotus persona, seemed far more clean and refined.

A graceful young man, like a jade branch or tree. The Everlight Lamp's glow flowed like water, soaking his delicate, fair face drop by drop.

He was still young, and traces of childishness remained between his brows. His pair of black eyes, like glass, held the gentle hues of the night. His long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings, casting a thin shadow.

His simple white robe outlined the tall, slender shape of a young man. In the still night, he seemed like a straight, sharp sword.

Yet, judging by his deliberately evasive gaze and the tips of his ears quietly turning red, he seemed less like a once-in-a-millennium genius of the sword and more like the shy, introverted little brother next door.

Ning Ning looked at him, then at the wall of charred black behind her. Uncertainly, she asked, "You're willing to clean my room with me?"

Lin Xun didn't look up or say anything. He gave a small nod.

As it turned out, Lin Xun really didn't seem like a pampered royal son.

While Ning Ning was still battling the furnace shards scattered all over the floor, he had already swept away the table brother with its missing legs, the chair brother whose entire head had been blown off, and the scraps of books scattered across the floor by the blast.