Yun Hao felt somewhat numb inside. He stopped struggling against his senior sister and allowed his hands to remain restrained.
He calmed down slightly. His anger gradually faded, replaced mostly by sadness. He knew his place. He was merely a small Qi Refining stage cultivator, while Senior Sister had already reached the Dao Integration Realm. The gap between their cultivation levels was like that between a firefly and the bright moon. No matter how hard he struggled, it was all in vain.
His head drooped, and the strength drained from his body. He went limp once more, sinking back into bitterness.
“…I was wrong… I shouldn’t have been so disrespectful. I hope Senior Sister can forgive me.”
Yun Hao yielded. He no longer wanted to argue with Luo Shuiling, whether with words or physically. As for the Clear Mist Flower, if it was given away, then so be it. He didn’t want to pursue or think about it anymore.
Everything… could just be forgotten.
Luo Shuiling silently released Yun Hao’s wrists. A complicated expression mixed with a trace of confusion appeared on her face. She had wanted Yun Hao to submit, but not in this kind of self-abandoning way.
What she wanted was to hold an unparalleled position in the youth’s heart, one of admiration and reverence. But Yun Hao’s current attitude left her at a loss. It felt like punching into cotton—her force had nowhere to land.
Should she go along with it and accept? Or continue pressing him?
Luo Shuiling’s beautiful eyes looked at Yun Hao, whose head was hanging low. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say and simply put some distance between them.
Silence spread between the two.
Feeling this awkward, stifling silence, a sour feeling rushed into Yun Hao’s nose. His head buzzed. Yes, what had he been deluding himself about? The gap between him and Senior Sister was so vast. It seemed like he was working hard to catch up, but he had never truly been pulled any closer.
He was nothing more than an orphan Senior Sister had casually picked up. The heavens had taken pity on him and allowed him to become a cultivator by some stroke of luck. But at his core, he was still a slave… a slave that Senior Sister had bought.
And Senior Sister? Her immortal aptitude was the best in the entire history of Proud Sword Sect. She was the Eldest Senior Sister of all the disciples, a heaven’s chosen daughter born to stand at the very peak.
What did he have to catch up to her…?
Self-abasement and dejection kept surging forth. Yun Hao suddenly felt that everything he had done was laughable. To outsiders, it probably looked incredibly presumptuous.
The bright moon would never care about the light of a firefly. On the contrary, it might bestow some of its own light upon the firefly—not for any special reason, but simply because it felt the firefly was too pitiful.
Yun Hao felt dazed and muddled. He didn’t want to think anymore. His body trembling slightly, he took one step after another toward the wooden house. Right now, only the wooden house felt like a place he could take shelter. Only inside there could he put down all his burdens…
Luo Shuiling watched Yun Hao’s unsteady steps. Her heart filled with bitterness. She wanted to speak, but didn’t know what to say.
…………
Just as the two remained in silence, a streak of yellow-green spiritual energy shot over rapidly from afar. Along with it came a deliberately polite loud laugh.
“Luo Shuiling, junior sister, this is Zhou Yuan. I’ve come to pay a visit.”
Before the echo of the voice had even faded, a few breaths later, a man wearing a hemp-colored long robe descended slowly on his spirit sword. Upon closer inspection, one could notice that the man’s steps were somewhat unsteady, and for some reason, his hair also looked rather thin.
Zhou Yuan was in a rather good mood today. A few days ago, he had completed his master Wang E’s test. Using his early Dao Integration stage cultivation, he had slain a mid Dao Integration stage demon beast and brought back its demon core.
Wang E was very satisfied. Even though the sect grand competition would begin in two years, she still granted him half a month of rest.
During this half month, Zhou Yuan had even gone to Pill Peak and obtained several Youth-Preserving Pills from Peak Master Mu Nan, thinking of using it as an excuse to visit Sect Master Peak and see Luo Shuiling, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Today, feeling that the timing was right, he flew his sword over to Sect Master Peak. Zhou Yuan landed gently. After confirming there were no wrinkles on his robe, he took out a carefully prepared folding fan.
Completely disregarding whether the season and his own temperament matched, he put on an elegant act and spoke to Luo Shuiling.
“It’s been over ten days since we last met. Is Junior Sister doing well?”
After speaking, and without waiting for Luo Shuiling to reply, his pretentious demeanor quickly slipped. His eyes once again revealed an infatuated look as he gazed at her.
He was somewhat entranced. Looking at Senior Sister’s curvaceous figure and exquisite face, he nearly drooled. He really liked beautiful women like Senior Sister.
Seeing the disgusted look Luo Shuiling shot him, Zhou Yuan immediately restrained that repulsive expression. It was still too early. He should remain polite and refined for now.
He was just about to state the purpose of his visit when his peripheral vision caught sight of another person on Sect Master Peak. He had been too focused on Senior Sister earlier and hadn’t noticed right away.
(It couldn’t be that bitch An Rui again, could it?)
With some doubt, Zhou Yuan looked carefully at the figure. The person was wearing white robes, appeared somewhat frail, and was probably no taller than one meter six. It shouldn’t be An Rui… then who was it?
While he was still puzzled, the figure slowly turned around. Zhou Yuan’s shock and fury instantly exploded. The person who turned around was a man! The impact was thousands of times stronger than if it had been An Rui.
He was both shocked and enraged. He observed the white-robed person carefully. The youth was not tall and had a slender build. His face still carried some youthful innocence, but his handsome features were already beginning to show.
Jealousy burned fiercely in Zhou Yuan. A wave of stifling anger shot straight to the top of his head. Sect Master Peak was Luo Shuiling’s private residence. Over the years, besides An Rui and the elders, he had never seen any other disciples come here—especially not a male disciple! Without caring about anything else, he demanded with intense questioning,
“Who are you? How dare you trespass on Sect Master Peak! Do you not want your worthless life anymore?”
……………
Yun Hao had been lost in his thoughts, walking weakly toward the wooden house. Before he could reach it, his awareness was dragged back by an extremely nauseating voice.
He recognized it as a man’s voice, and it was clear the speaker had feelings for Senior Sister.
Yun Hao’s heart filled with even greater self-abasement and dejection. He mocked himself. Senior Sister was the Eldest Senior Sister of Proud Sword Sect, peerless in talent and beauty. Of course she would have admirers.
Compared to those people, he was just an insignificant disciple. He had no strength, and even his identity had only been granted out of Senior Sister’s pity… yet he still dared to fantasize about earning her favor… How ridiculous.
Tears welled up in his eyes. He had originally planned to go straight back into the wooden house and avoid all this. Seeing Senior Sister interact with this man would only make him feel worse. Yet a voice deep in his heart refused to accept it.
He hesitated, wavered, and ultimately lost to that inner voice. He turned his head. Just in time to see the man staring at him as well.
And for some inexplicable reason, the man had cursed at him.
A sour feeling mixed with anger surged forth. If it had been ordinary scolding, it might have been one thing. But he had done nothing to provoke this man. He had lived on Sect Master Peak since joining the sect. This place was like his second home. What right did this person have to curse him?
Yun Hao could no longer hold back. Filled with rage, he retorted coldly,
“I’ve lived here ever since I joined the sect. What does it have to do with you!?”
Hearing the youth’s matter-of-fact tone, the jealousy in Zhou Yuan’s chest burned even hotter. He was convinced the youth was lying. No one was allowed to reside on Sect Master Peak except the Sect Master and her personal disciples. Even ordinary disciples needed to apply for permission to enter the peak.
He laughed sinisterly.
“Little beast, you still dare to lie? Get on your knees and kowtow to me right now. If you kowtow loud enough, this seat might spare your worthless dog life.”
Beast…!
Yun Hao’s pupils contracted violently. His face flushed bright red, and his fingers twitched unnaturally. The man could insult him, but he could not drag his mother into it. His mother was the person who had loved him the most in this world. He could not tolerate anyone insulting her.
“You are the beast. You haven’t even been properly educated. You don’t even understand basic etiquette. You’re worse than pigs and dogs.”
Yun Hao used the most vulgar words he had ever spoken in his life to strike back at the man. He was furious and disgusted beyond measure.
“Hehehe… you damned thing. I gave you a chance but you didn’t take it. This seat will take your dog life right now!”
Zhou Yuan was also enraged by Yun Hao’s words. He summoned a spirit sword and charged straight at Yun Hao, intending to cut off his head with one slash.
Yun Hao drew the Cloud Abyss Sword as well. Cyan-white light flashed. He knew this man was far stronger than him—stronger by who knows how many times. But he was not afraid. If someone insulted his loved ones and he did nothing, then he would truly be a coward!
Yun Hao would rather die standing than live on his knees.
Just as Zhou Yuan and Yun Hao were only a few zhang apart, a streak of ice-blue sword light carrying extreme killing intent shot toward Zhou Yuan’s vital point. At the same time, Yun Hao—who had clearly been standing in the same spot just moments ago—had somehow moved to a different position.
Zhou Yuan was shocked and furious. Sensing mortal danger, he hurriedly turned to block the ice-blue sword light. However, the spiritual power in the strike was too strong, and he had acted in panic. He failed to block it fully and was slashed across his entire body, leaving a long bloody wound.
He took the hit and felt lingering fear. After catching his breath, he looked up at Luo Shuiling. There were only three people on Sect Master Peak, and that sword strike had carried an extremely cold aura. It could only have been Luo Shuiling.
Zhou Yuan asked with confusion and burning jealousy toward Yun Hao,
“Junior Sister, why did you do that?”
Luo Shuiling’s response was only one word, bone-chillingly cold.
“Scram!”
“You!”
Zhou Yuan was shocked and furious. Luo Shuiling had never been this rude to him before. He looked at Luo Shuiling, then at Yun Hao, who was now being held in her arms at some point. He felt both sour and insanely jealous.
Suddenly, he seemed to understand something. A man and a woman alone together… Zhou Yuan’s eyes filled with disbelief, then he spat out viciously,
“You adulterous pair. How disgusting.”
With that, without waiting for Luo Shuiling’s response, he hurriedly fled from Sect Master Peak. The sword strike earlier had injured his primordial spirit. He needed to repair it immediately.
………..
Yun Hao watched Zhou Yuan leave. A feeling of powerlessness filled his entire body… Without strength, he couldn’t even protect the people he cared about.
Depressed, he didn’t notice the warm, soft body pressed against his back or their extremely ambiguous position. He kept his head lowered, refusing to look at his senior sister, and softly said,
“…Thank you…”
With that, he tried to stand up and leave.
Luo Shuiling felt bitter inside. She had protected him so much, yet he still didn’t appreciate it. He wouldn’t even look at her, and he had stopped calling her “Senior Sister.”
She no longer suppressed the restlessness of her Ice Jade Physique and released that surge of desire. Yun Hao’s scent seemed even stronger now. She felt intoxicated by it and wanted to hold him a little longer. She didn’t want the youth to leave just like that.
But before she could exert more force, a light purple color entered her slightly dazed beautiful eyes. She instantly sobered up.
The surrounding temperature dropped lower and lower. Luo Shuiling’s expression turned ice-cold, devoid of any emotion. Her beautiful eyes seemed capable of freezing the Great Dao itself. She reached out with her jade-like hand at lightning speed and brushed it across Yun Hao’s waist. A brocade pouch appeared in her fair palm.
“This brocade pouch… who gave it to you?”
Luo Shuiling narrowed her eyes slightly, her voice carrying no emotion.
“Brocade pouch…?”
Yun Hao was startled. He instinctively reached for his waist. This was the pouch his junior sister had given him.
Now that he and his junior sister were already betrothed, he understood the meaning behind this brocade pouch. It was her heartfelt gift. He could not lose it!
He searched frantically but couldn’t find it after looking for a while. He slowly turned his head to look at his senior sister, whose face was ice-cold. The brocade pouch was clearly in her hand.
Yun Hao’s expression stiffened awkwardly. He spoke with difficulty.
“…Give it back to me…”
Luo Shuiling’s face darkened instantly, turning terrifyingly cold.
“I’m asking you—who gave you this brocade pouch?!”
Yun Hao felt that his senior sister was somewhat frightening right now, but the brocade pouch was a token of affection from his junior sister. It was… the symbol that she liked him. He could not lose it…
Gathering his courage, though he still didn’t dare meet Senior Sister’s gaze directly, he stared fixedly at the brocade pouch in Luo Shuiling’s hand.
“…It was given to me by my junior sister… It’s very important and cannot be lost. Give it back.”
“Tch!”
A powerful wave of jealousy surged from the depths of her heart. Luo Shuiling trembled all over with anger. She felt as if her pet had been defiled by someone else. Not just physically, but even spiritually.
The stinging pain that had just subsided flared up again, even stronger and more unbearable than before.
Without any more hesitation, she grabbed Yun Hao’s wrist again, gripping it hard so he couldn’t move.
“It hurts… Let go! What are you doing!”
Yun Hao cried out in pain from Luo Shuiling’s merciless grip. He questioned what exactly she wanted to do.
“Dual cultivation!”
Luo Shuiling’s tone was icy. One hand tightly held Yun Hao’s wrist while the other clenched the brocade pouch. She could tolerate many things, but this—she could not tolerate.
Her pet had returned from outside carrying someone else’s scent. As his owner, what she needed to do was teach him a proper lesson and make him behave. Then she would reapply her own scent all over him, covering every single inch!
She wanted that little slut to know—Yun Hao belonged to her!
“…Dual cultivation? I don’t want that. Let me go!”
Yun Hao struggled. He felt that Senior Sister was being completely unreasonable, and it made him afraid.
Moreover, he had no intention of dual cultivating right now. What he cared about most was whether the brocade pouch had been damaged by Senior Sister. That was… something his future wife had given him. It could not be damaged!
Luo Shuiling completely ignored Yun Hao’s refusal. Right now, she only wanted to do one thing: teach him a lesson!
She dragged the struggling Yun Hao toward the wooden house.
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