"Cough, cough..."
Hearing the utterly regretful thoughts of the person beside him, Xiao Jixue nearly spat out his spirit tea.
What was so interesting about an old man who hadn't bathed in three hundred years?
What sort of nonsense had his Yan learned back at the Tang Family?
Xiao Jixue gave the crestfallen young man a look that was hard to describe, sighed inwardly, and spoke gently.
"Master just sent me a message through divine sense, asking me to go to Pill Peak. Would you like to stay here and watch the matches, or come with me?"
His face flushed a little as he spoke, a brief pang of guilt pricking him over his little lie.
A brilliant light shone in Tang Yan's beautiful peach-blossom eyes. In his excitement, he grabbed Xiao Jixue's large, enticingly well-defined hand.
"Yes, yes, yes! I'll come with you."
At that cool touch, Xiao Jixue stiffened.
Where the thin calluses on Tang Yan's palms and between his thumbs and forefingers brushed against him, tiny yet impossible-to-ignore currents of tingling electricity spread.
That tingling traveled from the back of his hand through his limbs and all the way to his heart, making its very tip tremble.
Xiao Jixue quietly lowered his eyes to study Tang Yan's hands resting on the back of his own.
His raven-feather lashes fluttered, and a flicker of some inscrutable emotion flashed through his silver-black eyes.
The skin covering those slender bones was fair and smooth, the fingers long and strong, as exquisite as a painstakingly carved work of art.
A faint pink suffused that luminous fairness, making it look almost alluring.
Wait!
All... alluring?!
Realizing that something was wrong with his thoughts, Xiao Jixue hastily withdrew his gaze as though something had burned him.
He must have been corrupted by someone's nonsensical thoughts.
Yes! That was it. It had to be.
Xiao Jixue silently recited the Heart-Clearing Mantra, yet couldn't help squeezing Tang Yan's hand.
His mind seemed determined to rebel as well, flashing enticing little images beyond his control.
[Ding—Xiao Jixue's affection +20. Total affection: 50.]
“???” Tang Yan was a little bewildered by the affection notification.
Then he noticed their clasped hands, and the smile on his thin lips deepened.
[It's just a handshake between brothers. Look how excited Xiao Jixue got.]
[Maybe Huo Zeyu, Si Yu, and the others have never shaken his hand before. Is that why he's so excited?]
Xiao Jixue's expression darkened slightly, an inexplicable displeasure stirring in his heart.
Tang Yan said, "Senior Brother, didn't Master ask you to go to Pill Peak? Let's hurry. We shouldn't keep him waiting."
[Quick, quick, quick! Any later and the show will be over!]
Tang Yan rose, taking the opportunity to pull Xiao Jixue up with him.
[After hearing about all that juicy drama, I finally get to watch some unfold in person. Hehe~~]
Feng Sheng stood as well, her voice unusually excited.
"Eldest Senior Brother, Junior Brother, I'm coming too. A demonic aura has appeared at Pill Peak. What if I can help?"
Li Mo and Cui Yishu nodded in agreement, their normally gentle eyes now shining a little.
Xiao Jixue said, "...All right. Let's go together, then."
Once they flew away on their swords, the other direct disciples, especially those from Pill Peak, could no longer sit still and followed them.
"My master just sent me a message. I'm going to take a look too."
"A demonic aura, on our Pill Peak? Those Demon Clan scoundrels are getting far too bold."
"Senior Brother, wait for me! I've never seen the Demon Clan before. Take me along so I can broaden my horizons."
"..."
In mere moments, most of the various peaks' direct disciples had left.
The elders overseeing the tournament watched them go with longing and envy.
The disciples still fighting on the platforms were so envious their eyes reddened.
Aaaah! We wanted to go too!!
And so, without exchanging a word, they all sped up their attacks.
On one platform, the match had already been decided.
"The winner is..." The elder had barely begun speaking when he looked up to find both disciples already flying off on their swords.
Their frantic cries drifted down from the sky.
"Elder, I need to pee! I'll be going now!"
"I have spirit rice porridge simmering on the stove. I need to hurry back and check the fire."
The elder was speechless. ...It's just a bit of juicy drama. Is there really any need to rush like that...?
Fine! There is! I want to watch too! the elder screamed inwardly.
Meanwhile, the disciples below the Golden Core stage were utterly baffled yet again.
They glanced at the scattered few direct disciples still seated above,
then at their senior brothers and sisters on the platforms, whose matches had suddenly become fights to the death.
They stared at one another, countless faces blank with confusion.
Wut just happened?! (´⊙ω⊙`)
Outside Pill Peak's Shadow Prison.
Fu Shouci, Xu You, and the others were still in midair when they spotted a middle-aged woman below, dressed in the robes of a Ten Thousand Swords Sect inner sect elder, furtively looking around.
Was this the Demon Clan double agent Tang Yan had mentioned?
Fu Shouci's gaze sharpened slightly. Before even landing, he raised his hand and immobilized the middle-aged woman with a single attack.
Looking at the unremarkable woman before him, Xu You recognized her as one of Pill Peak's managing elders.
He released his Divine Sense and scanned her again and again, from head to toe, top to bottom, left to right, inside and out.
Yet he found nothing amiss about the woman before him.
Fu Shouci and the other Peak Masters who had come along did the same. Like Xu You, they discovered nothing.
"Gasp!"
They were all inwardly horrified!
Had they fallen behind the times? Could this Demon Clan spy really conceal her aura so thoroughly?
Or had they caught the wrong person?
Before you continue