But on second thought, the last time her senior sister had asked her to keep a close eye on Biluo Peak, her attitude had softened once. Who was it for this time???
Liu Ruyin composed herself. Taking a step aside, she broke free from that clinging hold and said solemnly, “Does Senior Sister have a favor to ask of me?”
“Junior Sister, I do not.”
Liu Ruyin did not believe a single word. Crossing her arms, she let out a cold laugh, immediately bringing up old scores. “Really? From childhood until now, Senior Sister has always kept her distance from me.
“You know very well that as long as you show me even a tiny bit of warmth, I will eagerly throw myself at you.”
At this point, her chest heaved slightly, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Why was she so spineless?
What was so good about Jinglian?
She just had a pretty face and a bit more talent in the sword dao. In terms of cultivation and family background, where did she, Liu Ruyin, fall short?
Yet she had been trapped for a thousand years, and even now, she couldn't climb her way out.
Jinglian watched her face turn from red to pale and back again, knowing that A-Yin was overthinking and driving herself into a corner.
She didn't argue further. With a twist of her wrist, she grabbed Liu Ruyin's wrist and gently pulled her into her arms.
Caught off guard, Liu Ruyin let out a soft gasp. She fell right into Jinglian's embrace, landing squarely on her lap.
“You—” Just as Liu Ruyin was about to snap, Jinglian turned her head. Her divine sense swept outside the hall, and she sent a transmission to call the on-duty miscellaneous disciples inside.
Outside, several miscellaneous disciples were crouching under the corridor counting jade slips. Hearing the Sect Master's voice transmission, they felt bewildered. Usually, once the official documents were reviewed, the Sect Master would send them directly to each peak via Cloud-Plume Cranes. Why was she suddenly calling them in to carry them today?
Not daring to ask questions, they lowered their heads and stepped over the threshold one by one. But when their peripheral vision caught the scene behind the writing desk, their footsteps ground to a sudden halt.
Peak Master Liu, wearing her silver mask, was sitting on the Sect Master's lap...
Their wrists were still locked together, and their shoulders and backs were pressed so close that there was not a single gap between them.
The miscellaneous disciples hung their heads extremely low, their eyes glued to the floor three inches in front of their toes, not daring to breathe.
Jinglian casually gestured to the mountain of jade slips on the corner of the desk. “Deliver these to the administrators of each peak. Be careful not to mix them up.”
“Yes, Sect Master.”
They complied, stepping forward to pick up the jade slips with light hands and feet, carrying them out of the hall trip after trip.
It took over a dozen trips back and forth to finally clear out the mountain of jade slips. As the last person retreated, they did not forget to gently close the hall doors behind them.
Creak...
Jinglian lowered her head, resting her chin in her junior sister's shoulder crook, her voice slightly raspy. “Liu Shisi, are you satisfied now?
“If you are not satisfied, once the Sect Master Peak is cleaned up, I can carry you over there for another stroll.”
A wave of heat washed over Liu Ruyin. She raised her hand to cover Jinglian's mouth, her ears burning a bright crimson. “Jinglian! Does the Golden Soul Essence-Tempering Liquid used to repair your Dao foundation have side effects?
“Like a personality shift, or occasional mental confusion... You are scaring me like this.”
She was truly terrified.
They had spent a thousand years with cold faces, often going years or even decades without speaking a word, and a single argument could lead to a cold war lasting decades.
This sudden initiative to draw close was far too bizarre.
She was used to her senior sister's cold words, used to throwing her warmth at a cold wall.
Now that she was suddenly passionate, her first instinct wasn't joy, but to run away.
Jinglian's chest tightened, almost giving her a heart attack.
What kind of sin had she committed to drive A-Yin to this point?
She pulled down Liu Ruyin's hand from her mouth. Keeping their hands clasped, she retrieved a storage ring from her sleeve and gently slid it onto Liu Ruyin's ring finger.
The ring was plain in design, with only a sword pattern engraved on the inside.
“A-Ci's Earth-grade cave dwelling must have completely cleaned out your savings, Junior Sister.
“Take it. Otherwise, those personal disciples of yours will be crying poverty to you in a few days.”
Liu Ruyin was stunned. She swept her divine sense into the storage ring, and her heart skipped a beat.
It was packed to the brim with mid-grade spirit stones. A rough estimation put it at equivalent to five years of Biluo Peak's entire income.
She frowned and raised her hand to take it off. “My Biluo Peak is not so poor yet. I voluntarily provided that cave dwelling for A-Ci. There is no need for you to compensate me.
“Besides, you are a sword cultivator, and you just had an Earth-grade scabbard custom-made for A-Ci not long ago. Wanjian Peak's expenses are huge in every area. Where did you get so many spirit stones?”
Jinglian averted her face, not daring to look at her. Her gaze landed on the sword manuals hanging on the wall as she said casually, “I earned them.”
“Impossible,” Liu Ruyin retorted. “Senior Sister has stayed on Wanjian Peak for the past few years without taking a single step down the mountain. Where would you find the time to earn spirit stones?”
Jinglian was silent for a moment, her tone betraying no flaws. “I exchanged them using A-Ci's tuition gift.”
“Heh.”
Liu Ruyin sneered.
A chill seeped through her words. “How could that be? Senior Sister cherishes her disciples as much as her sword dao. How could you bear to exchange A-Ci's apprenticeship tuition gift?
“Besides, after you took that tuition gift to show off to Fu Mingyuan, didn't you turn around and secretly slip it into my wine?” Her gaze pierced through her mask, locking onto Jinglian's eyes without yielding an inch. “Senior Sister, your junior sister is a high-rank illusion cultivator. If I want to pretend to be drunk, you have absolutely no way of seeing through it.”
Two years ago, she had drunk that cup of wine.
She also knew something had been added to it.
She had simply wanted to see what her senior sister, who had gone to such lengths to drug her, actually planned to do.
In the end, this person had merely watched over her for the night and left at the crack of dawn without a word.
Utterly heartless, utterly boring!!!
All of Jinglian's past pride shattered into pieces. Guilt choked her throat as she could only whisper, “I am sorry...”
“Always apologizing whenever you open your mouth.” Liu Ruyin suddenly exerted force, breaking free from her grasp. She stood up from her lap and took a step back, her voice trembling as a chill wrapped in grievance welled up. “Jinglian, you are always so self-righteous.
“You always think that arranging everything for me is for my own good. You leave whenever you want, stay whenever you want, summon me whenever you feel like seeing me, and ignore me for years when you don't.
“Am I a canary you keep? When you are happy and in the mood, you tease me a couple of times. When you are unhappy, you throw me aside on Biluo Peak, stingy with even a single glance.”
She raised her hand to press against her mask, her heart completely dead.
“Does Senior Sister know why I retained my youth?
“I wanted to keep myself forever at the age when I first started waiting for you. My best years, my most sincere feelings, all left right there...
“I... I was afraid that when you were finally willing to turn back and look at me, Liu Ruyin would no longer be the person waiting in the same spot.”
Jinglian's eyes suddenly narrowed, her fingers gripping the armrest so tightly that the veins on the back of her hand bulged.
“A-Yin, I know.”
“All you ever say is 'I know'...” Liu Ruyin's face sank into the shadow of the mask as she took another step back, completely widening the distance between them. “Since Senior Sister knows everything, why don't you spend the rest of your life with your 'knowing'!”
It felt as though a freezing stone had rolled over Jinglian's heart. Waves of dull pain surged up one after another, and her mind was saturated with an unspeakable, bitter chill.
For a thousand years, A-Yin had always been the one chasing after her.
From calling her "Senior Sister" back in the Qi Refining stage, to pursuing her to discuss the Dao after forming her Golden Core, and then onto the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation realms, she had run to Wanjian Peak day after day, year after year, for hundreds of years.
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