By the time they met Xiahou Di again that evening, after accompanying Xue Qingqiu all the way there, Xue Mu's thoughts were still in a daze. Yue Xiaochan's smiling face kept drifting through his mind, throwing his thoughts into disarray and making it hard to maintain the clearheaded calm he'd had before.
He wasn't some inexperienced young man like Yue Xiaochan. On the contrary, he had a wealth of romantic experience, and he knew exactly what this was: a sign that he might be falling for her. It was extremely dangerous.
What a mess... Being attracted to someone's looks and falling for them were two completely different things, all right? Xue Mu massaged his aching head. How could he actually fall for a girl less than half his age? Never mind the values of his own world; even in this world, he'd learned that women married at sixteen, and thirteen was indisputably underage. Thankfully, this was the Demon Sect, where their ideas were already pretty twisted. If this were somewhere more normal, he'd probably be dragged off and stuffed into a pig cage.
The weird thing was, he'd never realized he might have a thing for Lolitas. Back when he used to joke around online about how three years of pleasure was worth the death penalty, he'd only been joining in for fun. He'd never taken it seriously. Going by his usual tastes, it would've made more sense for him to be bewitched by the demon queen beside him...
Xue Qingqiu walked quietly beside him, her face veiled in a light gauze scarf as they made their way along narrow alleys and busy streets. A passerby seemed to recognize her, turned pale, and hurried away in panic.
Xue Mu rarely saw Xue Qingqiu on her feet. She still looked like a young girl, slender and graceful, yet her entire figure seemed like a dream or an illusion. He felt she was walking right beside him, but at the same time, she seemed very far away, like someone in a misty landscape painting—beautiful and indistinct, but not quite real.
Xue Mu couldn't help wondering whether, if someone attacked her, they might not even be able to find where she really was.
The eerie power she wielded wasn't something she was deliberately exuding anymore. It simply existed around her, as natural as the world itself.
That was exactly why he couldn't find the same feeling he'd had when strolling through the bamboo grove with Yue Xiaochan. Everything felt so unreal. They were walking side by side, yet it felt like he was walking alone.
Damn it, why am I thinking about Yue Xiaochan again? He knew that if this went on, he really might turn into a pervert. He had to cut off the thought. So he found a topic to distract himself. "What exactly does our Star Moon Sect cultivate?"
He'd asked out of curiosity about Xue Qingqiu's ethereal presence. She assumed he meant to take up martial arts and shook her head. "The Star Moon Sect has many cultivation methods, but none are suitable for you. You've already lost your original yang, but that's not the main issue. The toxins in your body have penetrated too deeply; no matter what you cultivate, you won't be able to lay a foundation. Still, I sent Qingqing to find Young Master Zhao this afternoon. He's spent his life experimenting with poisons, so he may be able to help with your condition."
Xue Mu paused, a little disappointed, but he wasn't too bothered. "That's not what I meant. Xiaochan said there are hundreds of schools of martial arts today, each contending with the others. I want to know what makes the Star Moon Sect a path of its own."
Xue Qingqiu was surprised that he'd ask about such a subject. But since someone had asked about the Way, as Sect Master she naturally answered seriously. "The Star Moon Sect believes the human body is like the universe and its starry sky: vast and mysterious. The sea of consciousness is the night, the dantian is the moon, and the acupoints are stars. We investigate the mysterious connection between the human body and the universe. The self is a world; the universe is a world. Void-Piercing means seeing through the universe, and joining the Way means becoming one with it."
Xue Mu was stunned. That sounded incredibly lofty. No wonder he'd always sensed an ethereal, mysterious quality about them, like stars and the moon. Void-Piercing was a hundred thousand times more refined than his own vulgar understanding of the term.
But why was this considered demonic?
Xue Qingqiu easily guessed what puzzled him and smiled. "There was never any such thing as a Demon Sect. The so-called 'demonic' label was one other people gave us. The Heart-Extinguishing Path, for example, follows the Way through ruthless killing. In the eyes of the public, that makes them demonic. But they themselves believe they're simply tempering their spirit and cultivating their resolve, and they do so with complete conviction."
Xue Mu thought he understood. "So we call ourselves the Sacred Sect?"
"Where did you hear that? There's no such thing." Xue Qingqiu rolled her eyes at him. "The Star Moon Sect is the Star Moon Sect, the Joyous Union Sect is the Joyous Union Sect, and the Heart-Extinguishing Path is the Heart-Extinguishing Path. We're neither sacred nor demonic. There's no need to gild ourselves, nor to put ourselves down. But people have called us that for so long that we've started calling ourselves members of the Demon Sect too, simply because it's convenient as a collective term. The Demon Sect comprises the Three Sects and Four Paths. Each follows a very different practice; we're not one big family."
"Uh..." Xue Mu thought to himself that the wuxia novelists had really led him astray this time. This was a different world, and he couldn't just force old assumptions onto it.
Come to think of it, the Demon Sect in this world seemed rather high-minded. Each sect had its own guiding principles and followed them through. Maybe those principles were twisted and warped, but they didn't seem to be called demonic because of some cruel, sinister, antisocial defect in their character.
But the Star Moon Sect's lofty principles seemed perfectly righteous. Could the people of this world really not accept even that?
"In fact, the Righteous Path also has schools with ideas similar to ours. The Mysterious Heaven Sect is quite close. As for why we're considered demonic..." Xue Qingqiu smiled faintly, a trace of scorn in her expression. "We believe that since we're investigating the mysteries of the body, we must first cast aside all that pointless shame. Take the Bewitching Arts and dual cultivation, for instance. They concern life's most fundamental mysteries. If you won't even explore the nature of yin and yang uniting, what can you say about investigating the mysteries of the body?"
Xue Mu gaped, speechless. What the hell, that was quite a turn. How had the lofty mysteries of the human body and the universe turned into this? But when he thought it over, it didn't seem wrong. If modern human anatomy were brought back to ancient times, it would absolutely be considered the most demonic of demonic arts. It was just that their physiology lessons sounded a little more... risqué.
Seeing Xue Mu's expression shift from shock to contemplation, Xue Qingqiu asked mildly, "Didn't that scare you?"
"No." Xue Mu smiled. "There's nothing wrong with it, really. After all, it's not the same as what the Joyous Union Sect does."
"Exactly. They cultivate by absorbing yin and yang from others. In our sect's eyes, that's far too crude." Xue Qingqiu spoke with pride. "Though we study the Charm Technique, we're developing our own abilities. Though we study dual cultivation, we're merely exploring the mysteries of yin and yang. The human body itself is a treasure trove, as vast as the heavens. We've barely explored one hundredth of what our own bodies can do. Why waste time absorbing others' essence and tainting ourselves with impurities? Besides, their creed of indulging in pleasure goes against the very essence of martial arts. Being grouped with them is a disgrace to us."
The more Xue Mu listened, the more interesting he found it. This really was another world's version of the contention of a hundred schools of thought, a clash of ideas... Just based on martial principles rather than political ones. But taken further, it was a philosophical movement all the same.
"But Sect Master, haven't those Daoist sects studied the union of yin and yang? How come they aren't demonic?"
Xue Qingqiu gave him a strange look. "You haven't noticed the difference?"
Xue Mu thought it over for a long while, then shook his head. "I really haven't."
Xue Qingqiu tilted her head and studied him, her expression growing even stranger. "You and I are a man and a woman alone together, walking through a quiet alley, discussing dual cultivation and absorbing essence. You really don't think there's anything odd about that?"
Xue Mu froze. Put that way, she had a point. What reputable sect would do that? Try talking about dual cultivation alone with a Daoist nun and see if she didn't cut you down with one stroke. So, yeah, the Star Moon Sect's way of doing things was definitely demonic...
But to him, this was perfectly normal! He was a modern person... They hadn't gotten into anything particularly explicit. Wasn't this kind of thing everyday conversation? Some girls told dirty jokes that were raunchier than men's, for goodness' sake. And this was academic research!
Xue Qingqiu said casually, "We believe that exploring the mysteries of the human body is something to be done openly and seriously. Even when discussing sexual organs, we see no need to hide behind euphemisms. Those so-called righteous sects are only too happy to do it, but treat talking about it like a flood or wild beasts. They deceive themselves; they're hypocritical and laughable. Yet they're righteous, while we're demonic."
"..." Xue Mu really didn't know what to say. Your way of thinking is so progressive, so modern. Which of us is the transmigrator here, you or me? He didn't understand their lofty academic pursuits, but maybe they could discuss the eight great beauties and three legendary weapons instead?
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