I'll Send You Off

Meng Lan respectfully handed the manuscript to Xue Qingqiu and then bolted as if she were flying; she truly dared not gamble on whether the Sect Master would tear her limb from limb once she finished reading it.

No matter how high Xue Qingqiu's cultivation was, she could not see text from that far away. Since Meng Lan had delivered it, she didn't mind, spreading it out on the table with great interest to read alongside her junior sister and disciple.

Initially, the three women were reading with great relish, even making appreciative noises when they reached the bed scenes. However, the moment they saw the ending, Xue Qingqiu froze, her face turning ashen in an instant as she snatched the manuscript away with lightning speed.

Yin Ye looked up, bewildered. "I haven't finished reading yet..."

"What are you looking at, you child?" Xue Qingqiu snapped, her face still pale. "Get lost!"

Yin Ye lunged forward. "I want to read it! I've never seen such a good story before..."

"Bang!" With a kick from her stepmother-like senior sister, the little girl was sent flying, crashing through the bamboo wall to leave a human-shaped hole before landing face-down on the ground.

Yin Ye felt no pain at all; she sprang up instantly and charged back into the room to snatch the manuscript.

She was promptly knocked unconscious by a palm strike from her senior sister and tossed into the corner of the bed.

Yue Xiaochan sat to the side, propping her chin on her hand, watching her master's tantrum with a mischievous smile. She paused to think for a moment, a meaningful glint appearing in her eyes, before her figure flickered and vanished.

Master is actually... just unable to let go of her pride. If I leave her alone, she'll be fine...

"This Xue Mu! His audacity knows no bounds! Does he really think This Seat wouldn't dare kill him?" Xue Qingqiu's aura erupted, turning everything in her path to ash. "What a scoundrel! A total scoundrel!"

Just as she was pacing back and forth, tearing the room apart, she stopped short near the table.

Xiaochan had been sitting right there, but she was gone.

Uh... Xiaochan isn't here, Yin Ye is unconscious, and no one is watching... For some reason, Xue Qingqiu's anger suddenly dissipated.

Did Xiaochan realize this and leave on purpose?

Xue Qingqiu sighed, sitting down on the only chair her disciple had occupied that hadn't been demolished, rubbing her temples in deep thought.

Back then, when Xue Mu's defenses were shattered, he had thought of his parents, his friends, and the world he longed for. When she had been similarly broken, she, too, had felt a sense of melancholy.

When she was fifteen, a great upheaval had struck the sect. Her master had died from a cultivation deviation, the elders had splintered, and all the male disciples had defected to form a new sect. Her senior sister had gone missing, and Yin Ye had been only eleven. In such a time of existential crisis, she had shouldered the burden of the entire sect at the tender age of fifteen. It was easy for others to call her talent brilliant, but how could they understand the treachery of the martial world through mere stories? How could they know the hardship and danger of breaking through in martial arts? For over a decade, she had fought across tens of thousands of miles of the Divine Continent, surviving countless brushes with death, walking step by step through the abyss to forge the legend she was today.

Her worshippers knelt before her, and the entire sect viewed her as a god, but who could understand her exhaustion? Except for Xiaochan... she was her only comfort.

But she could not be tired, could not be fragile, and could not show even a hint of weakness. She had to make everyone believe she was the strongest in the world, that her jade hands alone were enough to reshape heaven and earth.

It wasn't until Yin Ye entered her heart that her defenses suddenly crumbled, and that boundless fragility and loneliness began to grow unchecked. She longed for nothing more than a broad shoulder to lean on, to let her sleep soundly, to stop thinking, and to entrust everything to someone else...

It seemed... there had been such a man before her at that moment, one who could help her, one who was helping her. She knew he had feelings for her, and she had been tempting him.

Then let's be a little more invested. Hold him, let him comfort me, let him cherish me, truly surrender to him...

And so, she had thrown herself into his arms.

Then, the knocking on the door shattered the night sky. He woke up, and so did she. He remained merely a Xue Mu with no cultivation, and she remained the invincible Demon Sect Sect Master.

She had thought it was just a game, at most a little mutual attraction, but this time, she had played herself into a trap.

He still had a thread of affection tied to Xiaochan. As a master, she could forbid it, but the purpose of that prohibition must never be to compete! Could it be that she was using the excuse of her disciple's cultivation limitations to steal a man from her own student?

What a joke...

Therefore, she could only be the older sister, and he could only be the younger brother. Especially after Yin Ye had judged his intentions to be pure and kind, Xue Qingqiu had made a firm decision: if Xue Mu was content with the role of a brother, she would wholeheartedly act as a good sister, transferring all her expectations for a man onto him.

She could even help her "brother" find women—Meng Lan or whoever else—if he wanted them, she would give them to him.

But this story of his was a blatant mockery of her self-deceiving decision.

His implication was that, let alone a non-blood-related sister, he would even go after a biological one!

This aggressive, boundary-crossing advance infuriated her. Wasn't this just causing trouble?

Yet, recalling Yin Ye's judgment that "he wants to dual cultivate with you," she felt a flicker of doubt. Perhaps Xue Mu thought Xiaochan was too young and had always favored her from the start? If his intentions had never changed, how could this be her competing with her disciple?

It didn't seem to be a problem... The relationship between her and Xue Mu was, in fact, none of her disciple's business, so how could it be considered "yielding"?

Her thoughts were a tangled mess, and feeling even more chaotic, Xue Qingqiu finally sighed. "Someone, come and repair the room."

"Yes, Sect Master. But what about Junior Uncle Yin Ye..."

"Why bother with her? Throw her on the trash heap!"

"..."

"Wait, have you seen Chan'er?"

"The Young Sect Master has packed her bags and is currently bidding farewell to Young Master Xue."

Xue Qingqiu fell silent, standing quietly by the window, her gaze drifting toward the swaying bamboo leaves, her expression unreadable for a long time.

"Leaving so soon?" Xue Mu looked at Yue Xiaochan in surprise. She had said she was coming to say goodbye with her luggage, yet he saw no bags or bundles. The only difference was an embroidered pouch tucked into her waist and a crystal-clear jade flute tucked into her belt.

This was all her luggage.

He didn't know if this world had storage bags, but perhaps that pouch had a significant interior space? As for the jade flute... was it just a favorite instrument she carried, or was it her true weapon?

He suddenly remembered Yue Xiaochan saying that when it came to music, she was a top-tier expert, ranked among the best in the entire world.

He had never heard of it.

They had spent too little time together; truthfully, he hadn't gained much deep insight into them, only catching a fleeting glimpse. And now she was leaving, like a startled swan in flight.

"There's no rush, I already gave you a heads-up long ago, didn't I?" Yue Xiaochan smiled slightly. "If I drag my feet and don't leave, you might start grumbling about why this girl is still hanging around."

Xue Mu shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

Yue Xiaochan laughed. "Can't bear to see me go?"

Xue Mu found it hard to answer, merely letting out an "mm."

"A wanderer of the pugilistic world grows old in the pugilistic world; lingering too long in the prosperity of the Capital City will only erode one's spirit," Yue Xiaochan said nonchalantly. "If you truly care for Xiaochan, Uncle, then don't act like a lovesick child. Wishing me a smooth journey would be the real thing to do."

Xue Mu remained silent for a long time. He always felt he had a belly full of words he wanted to say to her, yet he didn't know how to express them.

Regardless of whether there were restrictions from the cultivation techniques, at their respective ages, no matter who felt a stirring of affection, neither could get past the hurdle in their own hearts. People could talk about waiting for her to grow up, but that was just the idle chatter of a man's lust; rationally, choosing not to entertain such thoughts was the only correct path.

He didn't even know how much of his death-defying flirtation with a great demoness like Xue Qingqiu had been genuine admiration for her peerless grace, and how much had been a way to divert his focus from Yue Xiaochan.

Perhaps it was a bit of both.

Now that he had decided to pursue the master, he shouldn't keep dragging the disciple along. Cutting off this complex, undefined relationship cleanly and decisively would be for the best for everyone.

He finally spoke in a low voice, though the words that came out were only: "...I'll see you off."