Star Moon Without Color

Yue Xiaochan really was eavesdropping outside.

"She's too young"... Those four words reached her ears, and she let out a quiet sigh. It was hard to explain how she felt. She was a little disappointed, a little sad, yet also seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. All in all, she was beset by conflicting emotions that she couldn't put into words.

She was too young, and the sect was full of women. She'd seen far too few men, and knew so little about love that she didn't even know whether she could say she liked Xue Mu.

Maybe not really? It was just that Xue Mu always had countless strange and wonderful ideas, unlike anyone she'd ever met, even in the way he carried himself. He could always pique a young girl's curiosity. On top of that, Xue Mu was rather handsome. Yue Xiaochan knew she really liked being with him, and had even begun to depend on him. That was probably a rather dangerous sign, so it was only natural that her master was worried.

But she had always known, with perfect clarity, that she couldn't fall in love lightly. Her identity, her cultivation technique, her path of cultivation—if she fell in love at a time like this, any of them could lead to disastrous consequences. If she really let him take her while she was still muddleheaded, then by that point, forget her master—she herself would never allow Xue Mu to live.

Xue Mu's words had also set the tone for their relationship, which would make things much easier for everyone, no matter which side they were on.

But what a pity... Did this count as a young girl's first, innocent love?

It had withered before it could even bloom...

Yue Xiaochan raised her head slightly and looked toward the window lattice, as if she could see the wisps of smoke drifting through it. As she watched, her gaze slowly lost focus. Then, suddenly, she smiled. If Xue Mu could have seen her, he would have realized that her smile was breathtakingly beautiful. The air of youthful innocence about her seemed to mature in an instant, taking on a bewitching allure born of storms weathered.

Xue Qingqiu's calm voice still drifted from inside the building. "Since you have no such intentions, why say such sweet words to her as that you'd be willing to become a demon?"

Xue Mu pressed his lips together, feeling a little embarrassed. Yue Xiaochan's girlish charm in that moment really had stirred him so much that he hadn't been able to hold back. He could only say that he was a lecher at heart. But then again, he'd only said she was too young—when had he ever said he wasn't interested?

"Uh... Sect Master, have you misunderstood something? She may be young, but people do grow up..."

Yue Xiaochan froze outside. The state of mind she'd nearly attained enlightenment in shattered completely, and her smile turned rueful. Inside, Xue Qingqiu nearly choked on her own breath. It took her a good while to recover before she laughed. "You really are a demon's seed by nature."

Xue Mu spoke with perfect frankness. "Maybe. All I know is, with Xiaochan's charm, anyone who can look at her and feel nothing is either a saint or a eunuch. I'm a perfectly normal man."

Xue Qingqiu chuckled. "Meng Lan isn't too young. How can you ignore her?"

Xue Mu was even more frank. "In a secret Demon Sect sanctuary, when a beauty suddenly falls into my arms, she must have an ulterior motive. I felt nothing but wariness."

Xue Qingqiu nodded, accepting that explanation. The Demon Sect's perspective was very different from that of ordinary people. Seducing all who crossed their path was nothing unusual. Xue Mu admitted he lacked self-control and hadn't resisted Yue Xiaochan's charm; that was perfectly normal. If an ordinary man with no cultivation really could look at Yue Xiaochan's charm and feel nothing, Xue Qingqiu would have suspected he had ulterior motives.

Deep down, Xue Qingqiu still thought like someone who valued martial arts over literature. She felt that her disciple couldn't possibly fall for an ordinary man without a shred of cultivation. Whatever little interest she seemed to have developed was probably just because she was too young and inexperienced. A few years of wandering the martial world would sort it out. From that point of view, weakling Xue Mu was actually a rather suitable first experience with romance. Xiaochan would be less likely to fall into the throes of love when she ventured into the martial world later.

"Whatever your feelings for Xiaochan may be, they're perfectly ordinary by the standards of our sect. Having selfish desires isn't a sin; being incapable is the original sin." Xue Qingqiu began to dangle a tempting promise. "If you truly make yourself indispensable to me, I could even decide to betroth Xiaochan to you in a few years. What would be wrong with that?"

Yue Xiaochan's heart gave a thump outside. She knew her master was only testing Xue Mu, but her heart still began to race.

Xue Mu's expression, by contrast, grew serious. After a moment of silence, he said slowly, "That's not something a good master should say. After spending these days together, I'm no unfeeling plant or tree. I like Xiaochan very much, and I don't want her to become a tool for you, Sect Master, to tempt and recruit talent, whether that talent is me or someone else."

Yue Xiaochan's eyes shone brightly, and she pressed her lips together. She could no longer remember how she'd felt just moments ago. A much more complicated feeling now weighed on her heart, one she was far too young to untangle.

She didn't want to keep listening, or she truly might fall into the abyss. So she took a deep breath, turned decisively, and drifted away.

No matter what, she was Yue Xiaochan, the Star Moon Sect's sole pillar of the next generation. She shouldn't keep getting caught up in such girlish feelings.

A hint of surprise also flashed in Xue Qingqiu's eyes. They had their own ways of discerning the truth of someone's words from the tiniest details. They might not be able to judge accurately if the other person were a master, but Xue Mu had no cultivation at all. There was no way he could fool her. To Xue Mu, she was a lie detector with no blind spots. From the very first sentence he'd spoken when they met today, Xue Qingqiu had known that every word was true.

The other truths were one thing, but this one really carried some weight.

After several seconds of silence, Xue Qingqiu finally spoke. "Do you know that those words just saved your life?"

Xue Mu said nothing.

"Xiaochan bears the weight of the sect. She can make men dance in the palm of her hand, but she absolutely cannot be bewitched by a man herself." Xue Qingqiu's voice was calm. "If she really fell for you, I'd kill you and put an end to it once and for all. I wouldn't care even if Xiaochan resented me."

Xue Mu smiled. "In my opinion, Sect Master, you command awe throughout the land. Why do you always make an issue of relations between men and women? For a generation of the Demon Sect's disciples to go out into the martial world thinking only about playing with men's feelings and such—isn't that a little lowbrow?"

Xue Qingqiu wasn't annoyed. Her beautiful eyes gazed at the sandalwood incense smoke as she spoke slowly. "For more than a thousand years, our sect has struggled to survive through countless purges. If we didn't make use of certain advantages, we'd have been wiped out long ago. How could some bystander's empty talk ever let him understand?"

Xue Mu was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I understand. But that doesn't mean you can't fall in love yourself."

Xue Qingqiu said calmly, "History has shown countless times that for our sect, love often spells disaster."

Xue Mu nodded. It was probably related to the techniques and cultivation. Having read countless novels, he could easily understand—both righteous and demonic paths had their own trials of love... Perhaps something tragic had happened in their sect, leaving them once bitten, twice shy. He couldn't guess at that, though he was a little curious. "So, Sect Master, you've never been in love either?"

Xue Qingqiu glanced at him. "Never."

"Tsk..." Xue Mu murmured almost inaudibly. "What a pity, when you're so beautiful."

Though he'd spoken softly, Xue Qingqiu still heard him loud and clear. She wasn't angry; instead, she laughed. "You really are bold. No wonder Xiaochan keeps saying you're different from everyone else."

Her smile took on a more playful charm, and her expression resembled Yue Xiaochan's when she was being coquettish. The Demon Sect, accustomed to captivating the world with its charms, certainly wouldn't take offense at such a remark. When Xue Qingqiu had first entered the martial world at fifteen or sixteen, she hadn't been the stern and severe Sect Master she was now. She, too, had been a bewitching demoness, and she'd used the Charm Technique to flirt with men more than a few times. Countless men had been enthralled by her, and she'd brought down countless righteous young heroes. But ever since her martial arts had reached their peak, and she'd spent years roaming the world, killing until rivers ran red, she'd naturally lost the coquettish mannerisms of her youth.

"Star Moon without color, Blood Hand Washes the Clear Autumn." The first half had originally described her peerless beauty, while the second referred to her unrivaled demonic arts. Time had passed, and the first half had long since become another name for the Star Moon Sect, because few people could see her purely as a woman anymore. It was truly refreshing to hear Xue Mu's words.

She vaguely recalled how she'd once captivated the masses... Really, aside from Xiaochan, it had been a long time since anyone had called her beautiful. For a moment, she wondered if she'd already become one of those middle-aged women with stern expressions. Yet she was only twenty-eight, still in the full bloom of youth... It really was a pity.

Xue Mu shrugged. "Maybe I am different from everyone else. Others might only revere Sect Master for your peerless martial strength, but I know next to nothing about martial arts. The first thing I see is a peerless beauty, the most beautiful I've ever seen in my life."

Xue Qingqiu's smile grew broader. She gave Xue Mu a long, amused look, then suddenly laughed. "You say Xiaochan is too young... Could it be that I'm the one you're interested in?"