"P-P-P...Senior?"
The old man before her grinned foolishly, showing a gap where his two front teeth should have been. Shangguan Hongyue's expression turned awkward, and she quickly pulled her hands back.
No man outside her family had ever touched her hands before!
And the fact that this senior was an old man with hardly any teeth made her even more uncomfortable.
"Oh... Oh! Sorry. I got too excited and overstepped, young lady. I hope you won't hold it against me."
Chen Xian awkwardly drew back his hand, which had still been hovering in midair, then straightened his expression and sincerely apologized to the young woman.
"It... It's all right, Senior. You just mentioned the Xuanyun Sword Sect?"
She picked up the thread of their earlier conversation.
The senior had actually apologized to her of his own accord, and his expression seemed genuine. Most of the displeasure in Shangguan Hongyue's heart immediately faded.
"Right! Aren't you from the Xuanyun Sword Sect?"
Chen Xian nodded. He had only heard from a centenarian that there was a sect nearby, and since the young woman before him was a sword cultivator, he had simply assumed she was a disciple of the Xuanyun Sword Sect.
Could there be another sect nearby?
"Well, yes... But it's the Xuanyun Sword Sect. Senior, don't you know the Sword Gate passed its power assessment thirty years ago and was promoted to a Sword Sect?"
Shangguan Hongyue blinked her lively eyes, looking at Chen Xian in confusion.
"What? Hahaha, the Sword Gate was promoted? I retired and went into seclusion here decades ago. I haven't kept up with the outside world in a long time!"
Chen Xian laughed it off and told a lie.
He could tell that the young woman seemed to think he was one of her own.
"Senior, you were around back when it was still the Sword Gate?"
Shangguan Hongyue regarded him with newfound respect. She had only joined the Xuanyun Sword Sect in recent years, but she had studied its history.
A hundred years ago, the sect had not yet grown to its current size, and the world was far from peaceful.
The Sword Gate had often clashed with the surrounding forces, and its location in the Xiongguan Mountain Range meant it was constantly beset by Blood Beasts. Many elders and disciples had fought for years, suffered injuries, and eventually retired.
The sect now had many such elders and disciples serving as Attendants.
Without exception, they were all seniors who had made great contributions to the sect's development!
But those seniors now lived permanently in Hidden Dragon Valley, within the sect. She had never heard of anyone like this senior, living in seclusion among ordinary villagers.
Still, Shangguan Hongyue didn't dwell on it. She simply assumed Chen Xian had retired here and had long since stopped concerning himself with the cultivation world.
Perhaps this senior simply enjoyed the simple, unadorned life of ordinary people?
Chen Xian didn't deny it. Instead, he smiled and asked an unrelated question. "How strong are you now? I imagine you're one of the best in the sect?"
"This junior has only just broken through to the first level of the Sword Master Realm. I'm not ranked particularly high in the Inner Sect."
When a senior asked about her cultivation, Shangguan Hongyue answered modestly.
The senior could have seen through her cultivation with a mere sweep of his spiritual sense, yet he had only asked her about it. He was showing her the utmost respect.
Sword Master? It seemed the cultivation realms in this world weren't quite like those in the immortal cultivation worlds he'd imagined.
Chen Xian nodded with feigned satisfaction. "It seems the sect is thriving. With outstanding and humble juniors like you, I can rest easy."
Shangguan Hongyue blushed, a little embarrassed by the praise.
Chen Xian stroked his grizzled beard, looking every bit like a respected senior of the Sword Path.
"Alas..." He glanced at Shangguan Hongyue's faintly flushed cheeks and suddenly let out a long, melancholy sigh.
Shangguan Hongyue hurriedly asked, "Why are you sighing, Senior? Is there anything this junior can do to ease your troubles?"
Looking into her clear eyes, Chen Xian knew Shangguan Hongyue had taken the bait.
So he sighed deeply again. "Alas... I'm nearing the end of my days. I want to return to the sect and see it once more, to have my fallen leaves return to their roots."
Chen Xian gazed skyward, looking wistful and homesick. He paused. "Unfortunately..."
Shangguan Hongyue pressed him at once. "Unfortunately, what?"
"Unfortunately, I've been away from the sect for so long that I've forgotten the way back."
Chen Xian turned to look at Shangguan Hongyue. Tears welled in his cloudy eyes, and his acting reached its peak.
Shangguan Hongyue felt her nose sting. So, after all these years, the senior hadn't returned because he'd lost his way?
Living alone in the world of mortals for decades—how homesick he must have been!
She immediately patted her proud chest. "This junior will take you back to the sect and show you the way!"
The next moment, her hands were clasped once more in those rough, withered palms.
"It's a deal! When are we leaving? What about now? Let's go right away! I don't have any luggage to pack."
The tears vanished from Chen Xian's eyes in an instant, replaced by an excited gleam.
After his barrage of words, Shangguan Hongyue was left reeling.
But this time she didn't pull her hands away. She knew the senior had missed the sect so terribly that he'd gotten carried away for a moment.
"The sun has already set. I'm afraid we can't leave today."
Shangguan Hongyue glanced at the sky, her tone slightly apologetic.
Before Chen Xian could ask why, she explained, "This gathering place for ordinary people is protected by an array. Usually, no one can enter or leave. It only shuts down for fifteen minutes at noon each day."
"I can only take you out tomorrow at the third quarter past noon."
Then she pointed to the Six-Winged White Tiger's corpse on the ground. "This Blood Beast slipped in when the array shut down. I received a sect mission to hunt it down and tracked it here to keep it from harming the villagers."
"Look at my memory."
Chen Xian released the little hands he had warmed in his grasp and smacked himself hard on the head.
"You're advanced in years, Senior. It's only natural that your memory isn't what it used to be."
Shangguan Hongyue smiled faintly.
"Then why don't you stay in the village tonight? You can try some mortal food, too."
Although he was eager to enter the world of immortal cultivation and improve his strength, there was no way to leave for the moment, so Chen Xian naturally played the host and invited her to stay for dinner.
"Then this junior thanks you, Senior."
Cultivators often slept under the open sky, but since there was a place to stay and a meal to eat, she naturally wouldn't refuse.
She glanced at the villagers still watching from afar, wondering how she should act around them.
The senior had clearly lived here in seclusion, interacting with them as an ordinary person. These people might never have seen a cultivator in their lives, so she had to be careful not to frighten them!
"The villagers are all ordinary people. They don't know my true identity, and I don't want to reveal it. You'll have to be discreet."
Chen Xian reminded her. He didn't want to expose the fact that he wasn't a cultivator, much less a member of the Sword Sect, before even reaching the Xuanyun Sword Sect.
This little girl, Shangguan Hongyue, looked honest and easy to fool, and inexperienced in the ways of the world. With her to cover for him once they reached the Sword Sect, he'd have a lot less trouble.
"This junior understands." Shangguan Hongyue nodded.
"What about the tiger? Can you take it with you tomorrow?"
Chen Xian looked at the Six-Winged White Tiger's corpse, feeling rather pleased with himself. He had killed such a huge tiger in a single instant.
He still had no cultivation, yet the [Mystic Jade Sword Bone (Mystic)] was genuinely powerful!
"The Six-Winged White Tiger was killed by you, Senior, so it belongs to you. If you don't mind, could you give me its blood core? I need to take it back to the sect and complete my mission."
Shangguan Hongyue shook her head and asked Chen Xian somewhat sheepishly.
The most precious part of a Blood Beast was its blood core, but she had accepted a sect mission and needed to report back. She didn't want to have made the trip for nothing.
"If you want it, it's yours. It's no use to me anyway."
Chen Xian waved a hand generously. He wasn't lying; he really had no idea what that blood core was for.
He might as well earn Shangguan Hongyue's goodwill.
"Thank you so much, Senior!"
Shangguan Hongyue's face lit up. A senior was a senior—so generous!
A moment later, Chen Xian watched curiously as Shangguan Hongyue dug the blood-colored crystal out of the Six-Winged White Tiger's head.
It was like an octahedral crystal ball, glowing crimson. Even after being removed, it gave off a faint tiger's roar.
"The Six-Winged White Tiger's meat is edible. It probably won't help you much, Senior, but ordinary people can strengthen their blood and vitality and prolong their lives by eating it."
With a delighted smile, Shangguan Hongyue tucked the blood core into the Mustard Seed Bag at her waist.
What she really meant was that if Senior didn't want the tiger meat, they shouldn't let it go to waste.
Since she'd put it that way, Chen Xian nodded and waved to the villagers in the distance. "Tie Zhu! Gouwa! You old coots, come over and get your share of the tiger meat!"
The villagers, who had been watching the two of them "making eyes at each other" from afar for quite some time, came running over.
"See? I told you that young woman was Old Chen's sweetheart. He just gave everyone a share of that huge tiger without a second thought."
Seventy-year-old Wang Tie Zhu carried the tiger's head on his shoulder pole. He nudged his wife beside him and whispered.
"Old Chen's dead wood has sprouted in spring! Tsk, tsk, he's in for a good life from now on!"
The other old fellows carrying tiger meat looked at Chen Xian and Shangguan Hongyue walking at the front and chuckled among themselves.