"I'm back."
Chu Yunyun's voice was clear as an oriole's, her skin so pale it held no trace of blood. Seemingly sensitive to light as well, she raised a hand to shield herself and slowly stepped out of the sunlight into the room.
The girl was about Chu Xisheng's age, with a classic oval face and willow-leaf brows. She looked extremely frail, yet a hint of keen valor lay in her features. Her black hair was simply tied behind her with a red cord, and even the plainest white cloth dress could not conceal her unworldly grace.
As Chu Xisheng looked at the girl before him, his gaze grew somewhat distant.
His experience of transmigration had to be the strangest of them all.
Even now, whenever he thought back on it, it felt absurd beyond belief, as though he were dreaming.
Three months ago, when Chu Xisheng had awakened in this world, he had been buried together with this girl in a lavish mausoleum fit for royalty or nobility.
Through a strange curse art, the two had returned from the dead to the world of the living, concealed their identities together, and temporarily settled in Xiushui City.
Neither wanted to acknowledge that absurd ghost marriage someone had orchestrated, but the curse art bound their lives and deaths together, so they temporarily called each other brother and sister.
The whole process had been even more fantastical than a tale from the Arabian Nights.
After entering, Chu Yunyun first adjusted the door curtain, blocking all the sunlight seeping through the gaps before turning around.
Seeing Chu Xisheng leaning against the kitchen doorway, staring fixedly her way, she flushed slightly. Her lashes fluttered, and she looked away in some discomfort. "Are you steaming fish? I could smell it from far away. You're being so generous today-did you get a place in the academy's inner sect?"
"I didn't let you down." Coming back to himself, Chu Xisheng looked a little embarrassed too. He took his newly acquired inner sect token from his pocket and casually tossed it over.
The token was wooden, with Chu Xisheng's name written on it, copper edging, and several distinctive runes carved into its surface.
He gave a faint, wry smile and fed the chopped firewood into the stove. "We worked ourselves to the bone for three whole months for that thing, and we still ended up owing a favor."
A trace of pleasure appeared in Chu Yunyun's eyes, though her tone remained calm. "There was no other way. This was your fastest route into the inner sect. Your comprehension is only a little better than an ordinary person's. Under normal circumstances, you'd need at least half a year to master the entire Wind-Chasing Blade. Whether you'd pass after that would still depend on the examining instructor's mood."
She glanced at the token, then paused in surprise. "Why is there a silver leaf on this?"
Just below Chu Xisheng's name was a silver bamboo leaf.
This was one of Zhengyang Martial Academy's markings, indicating an inner sect disciple's standing.
The academy's inner sect disciples ranged from leafless to three-leaf.
The more leaves they had, the higher their standing and the closer they were to true inheritance.
They could receive better instruction, better treatment, and better resources within the academy.
Disciples who had just passed the martial examination were generally leafless. Only youths under fourteen whose examination results and talent both ranked among the best could become one-leaf disciples.
"It's a long story. Go wash your hands first." Chu Xisheng lifted the pot lid, and amid a rising cloud of white steam, a rich, fresh fragrance instantly filled the room.
Chu Yunyun's gaze was drawn over as well. At the sight of the steaming perch in the pot, her throat bobbed involuntarily as she swallowed.
A quarter of an hour later, the brother and sister sat facing each other at a square table. Two dishes stood on it: one of perch and one of boiled water spinach.
Chu Yunyun sat like a javelin, her back perfectly straight. Holding her bowl, she moved her chopsticks and raised her hands with measured precision, orderly and composed.
Chu Xisheng paid no heed to rules about keeping silent while eating or sleeping. He ate while recounting his experiences that morning.
Once nothing but bones remained of the perch, Chu Yunyun raised her eyes.
"Your bloodline awakened just before battle? That does happen often. But the Long Household's second young master also practices a swift saber. For you to counter speed with speed and cut his hand before he could draw-that bloodline talent is no ordinary thing. Unless I'm mistaken, you awakened the Wind-Chasing, Lightning-Pursuing Hands, the talent best suited to practicing the Wind-Chasing Blade!"
Interest appeared in her eyes, and she put down her bowl and chopsticks. "Try slashing at me now."
Chu Xisheng felt somewhat helpless, but he still drew the saber at his waist without hesitation.
Once again, he used the Wind-Chasing Saber Technique's drawing stance, Empty Cave Brings Wind. The saber's gleam swept toward Chu Yunyun's throat like a strip of white silk.
Having switched to a Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber, he felt his blade was twenty percent faster than it had been that morning.
But next, he saw Chu Yunyun reach out with two fingers and lightly pinch his blade between them.
Her fingers were tender as young scallions, yet their strength was like an iron clamp, holding his saber utterly motionless.
Chu Xisheng was not surprised in the least, for the woman across from him had an extraordinary background.
Were Chu Yunyun not grievously wounded, plagued by a poison curse, her true essence sealed and nearly all her martial abilities crippled, she would still have been one of the foremost figures in the entire Great Ning Dynasty.
"It really is fast!"
A gleam shone in Chu Yunyun's eyes. "I'm even more confident now! With your current talent and the things hidden inside Zhengyang Martial Academy, you can enter the Formless Divine Sect in the shortest possible time."
Her pale blue eyes were calm and clear, holding an indescribable brilliance that seemed as though ten thousand ages could never wear it away.
Chu Xisheng listened thoughtfully. He had always known that becoming an "inner sect disciple" was only the beginning.
Chu Yunyun intended to start with Zhengyang Martial Academy and reclaim everything that was hers, step by step.
His aim was to survive-to live freely and unfettered in this world.
"Tomorrow is crucial. According to Zhengyang Martial Academy's custom, all newly admitted inner sect disciples must spend two days in the academy's Sutra Repository, studying martial dao classics and choosing the martial art inheritances they will cultivate.
"After you enter, first memorize the Origin-Nourishing Art's visualization diagram and secret medicines. Then go to the eastern corner of the Sutra Repository's sixth floor, find the totem depicting the fierce beast Yazi, and commit it to memory by rote. Remember as much as you can."
Chu Yunyun's expression was grave. "This is your only chance before your cultivation reaches seventh rank. Your academy's inner sect disciples normally aren't qualified to enter the Sutra Repository's sixth floor. The rules are different only on the first day of admission. The Formless Divine Sect has always maintained a tradition of testing its disciples' fated opportunities, so it will open the first through sixth floors to you on that first day. You must seize this chance."
Chu Xisheng could not help asking curiously, "Why do I have to memorize this Yazi Diagram? What's so unusual about it?"
"I'll explain the reasons another time."
Chu Yunyun looked utterly serious. "Remember, you must memorize that diagram. It's crucial to both of us-a matter of life and death! Don't bother with any of the other martial art inheritances in the repository. I know all of the Formless Divine Sect's External Ten Arts and can teach you."
Chu Xisheng could only suppress his questions.
In martial arts, Chu Yunyun was the authority. He could not go wrong listening to her.
Their relationship was unequal to begin with. Whatever Chu Yunyun said, he could only listen.
But he trusted Chu Yunyun.
If she wanted to harm him, she had at least a thousand ways to do it. He could not guard against her even if he tried.
At least for now, they were in the same boat, their lives and deaths intertwined. They were closer than even blood siblings-after all, they had shared a coffin and a pillow.
Chu Yunyun wanted to say more, but noticed that Chu Xisheng had also put down his chopsticks.
She hurriedly rose to clear the bowls and chopsticks. "I'll wash the dishes today."
Her gaze was solemn, her movements exceedingly careful, as though she were holding some peerless treasure.
Yet just as she carried the dishes into the kitchen, one of the earthenware bowls in her hands broke with a crack, scattering fragments across the floor.
Chu Xisheng watched the scene speechlessly.
His sister in name had once possessed martial attainments unrivaled throughout the seven provinces of Great Ning's Northern Borderlands, but owing to her injuries and the poison curse inside her, only her physical strength remained.
Whenever she grew nervous, she lost control of her strength. Every time she did housework, she left a mess all over the floor.
Chu Xisheng sighed and went to the corner for a broom. "Let me do it. Sit down and don't move. Pottery prices have gone up lately. One bowl costs sixty copper coins."
Chu Yunyun was somewhat vexed, her eyes holding reluctance as well, but she had no choice except to step aside as instructed.
Feeling she ought not simply stand there watching and should at least help somehow, she turned to fetch her luggage.
"You want to wash clothes?" Chu Xisheng seemed startled. He raised his head and stared warily at Chu Yunyun. "In these three months, you've washed clothes three times and torn nine garments to pieces. Go put the clothes you brought back for washing in the wooden bucket, and leave it at that. Once we move to the academy later, I'll wash them for you."
He swept the floor and lamented.
Who could have imagined it? He, Chu Xisheng, a department manager at a publicly listed company, had now been reduced to a househusband.
"I want to try again." Chu Yunyun bit her lip with her pearly teeth and clasped her hands in utter embarrassment, the blush on her face spreading all the way to the back of her neck.
Among those clothes were her intimate undergarments.
Then her expression shifted slightly as she caught his last remark. "Move to the academy? Why move? It's quite nice here."
"The rent here is five taels of demon silver a month. That's enough to buy two bottles of Yanghe Powder."
Chu Xisheng shook his head. "Ye Zhiqiu gave us the key to the Storage Yard in the East Court. She said there are two empty rooms there. There's also an open space in the backyard where I can practice martial arts. Once we're there, help me adjust my saber-drawing posture. When I drew my saber this morning, it felt a little awkward."
Ye Zhiqiu had always believed his comprehension was excellent, far beyond that of ordinary people.
She had no idea that a martial dao grandmaster was teaching him, instructing him in the most profound martial dao mysteries and the most fundamental essentials of saber technique.
Chu Yunyun's eyes brightened slightly. She felt she was not so useless after all.