Chapter 59: I’m Still Worried About That Little Pervert

While the younger disciples were still bored out of their minds back on the Sky-Ferry, Mo Yuyan had already arrived at the peak of Northfall Snow Mountain via sword flight much earlier.

Before leaving the sect, she’d changed into a simple white skirt, more practical for movement, though she hadn’t removed the black pantyhose clinging sensuously to her jade-like legs. Accompanying her was another stunningly beautiful fairy—this one dressed in black, her hair stark white.

This fairy’s figure was easily comparable to Mo Yuyan’s curves, but her aura lacked that distinct, aloof arrogance of a top-tier sword Kensei. Her attire was also much more conservative, a long black robe covering her from neck to toe, unlike Mo Yuyan who confidently braved the frigid weather in just a thin skirt and a single layer of black silk on her legs, seemingly impervious to the cold.

Her name was Mu Yanran, daughter of the current Wuji Sect Master, Mu Hongwen. In Mo Yuyan’s memories, she was the kind neighborhood older sister who had first taught her the ways of the sword. As for the white hair… it wasn’t entirely natural. Streaks of black were still visible beneath the white, suggesting it had gradually turned over time rather than being white from birth.

“Thinking back… It’s been so many years since we last just… relaxed like this, admiring flowers and chatting, hasn’t it?” Mu Yanran murmured wistfully, pausing beneath a grove of plum blossom trees in the rear mountains of Snow Village. She gently plucked a snow-dusted red blossom from a branch and tucked it tenderly into the silky black hair of the white-skirted fairy beside her.

Mo Yuyan simply watched her, silent and still. She drew her Yin Frost Sword, catching the moonlight on its polished surface. In the faint reflection, she could see the delicate red plum blossom nestled near her temple.

“Senior Sister,” Mo Yuyan finally spoke, her voice low, her gaze fixed on the distant mountain peaks. “I didn’t come to Snow Village to admire flowers.”

“Sigh… Yuyan, cultivation isn’t just about reaching higher realms,” Mu Yanran said softly, noticing her junior sister’s distraction throughout the evening. “Cultivating the heart and mind is just as crucial…” She lowered her gaze sadly. “Sister just feels… you should relax sometimes. Don’t keep yourself constantly coiled so tightly, always on edge… Ever since… that incident ten years ago… I can hardly remember what your smile looks like anymore.”

“I worry… If you keep suppressing yourself, pushing yourself like this… sooner or later, you’ll risk Qi Deviation.” Reaching the end, Mu Yanran earnestly took Mo Yuyan’s hand.

Mo Yuyan looked down at their joined hands, her cold expression flickering with hesitation. After a moment’s thought, she spoke abruptly, her voice tight. “…What if… What if you teach me to play Go again, Senior Sister? Maybe then… my mood will improve… We’re far from the sect anyway. Master won’t know.”

“…” The gentle smile instantly froze on Mu Yanran’s face. She slowly released Mo Yuyan’s hand. An awkward silence fell between the two fairies, both lost in their own troubled thoughts, neither smiling now.

“Playing Go is… out of the question,” Mu Yanran managed after a long pause, her voice strained. “…But I can spar with you, if you like.”

Mo Yuyan’s eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly. She didn’t say anything, but the slight turn of her head, the subtle lift of her chin, radiated the quiet pride of the Wuji Sect’s current Sword Head, the chosen Daughter of Destiny. Years ago, ever since claiming the title, she hadn’t sought out Mu Yanran for sparring. There was simply… a generational gap in their skills now. No point.

“Mo Yuyan! Honestly! Spending all that time playing Go has made you dull! You have less warmth than ever!” Mu Yanran pouted slightly, feeling the unspoken dismissal, pressing her lips together awkwardly. She followed Mo Yuyan’s gaze towards the distant peaks of Northfall, her own beautiful eyes clouding over with hidden worries.

Side-by-side beneath the plum blossoms they stood, silent, yet their eyes spoke volumes of unspoken thoughts and concerns.

Suddenly, Mo Yuyan’s cold gaze sharpened. “Hn!” Her eye twitched. “Senior Sister,” she said abruptly, “I… I think I need to go back and check.”

“Go back?” Mu Yanran snapped back to attention, a flicker of barely concealed anxiety crossing her gentle features.

“I’m still worried about that… that little pervert Master entrusted to me,” Mo Yuyan confessed, unable to hold back her unease.

“He Yimo…” Hearing that familiar name, Mu Yanran’s expression shifted noticeably. Was this really just a coincidence? First Jiang Jinyue brings him up tonight, and now, not even half an hour later, Mo Yuyan is mentioning him too? Their attitudes were wildly different, sure, but both clearly paid an unusual amount of attention to him.

“But didn’t you give him the communication pendant? Has it activated? Did something happen?” Mu Yanran asked quickly, grabbing Mo Yuyan’s arm, trying to dissuade her. Right now, the Miyue cultists should be slaughtering everyone at the hot spring! Her task tonight was to keep Mo Yuyan away! If Mo Yuyan went back now, the plan to eliminate Chen Jianxin would be completely ruined!

Mo Yuyan, however, stared intently at the distant mountain, her expression growing increasingly distant and troubled. “The pendant hasn’t activated… but my eyelid won’t stop twitching… and I’ve had this… bad feeling… since just now…”

“But if the pendant is silent, that means he’s not in danger!” Mu Yanran insisted.

“Who knows with him?!” Mo Yuyan retorted, frustrated. “Maybe the idiot was soaking in the hot spring, took off his clothes, and just… tossed the pendant I gave him aside somewhere?!” As she spoke, her hand clenched the matching pendant she wore, her mind conjuring increasingly bizarre scenarios.

Mu Yanran listened, her expression moving beyond mere confusion into bafflement. “Yuyan… are you joking?” She forced a strained smile, waving a hand dismissively. “Okay, yes, He Yimo is a VIP guest from the Grand Preceptor’s mansion, but… aren’t you being a little overly concerned? A normal Senior Sister wouldn’t fuss over a Junior Brother she’s known for less than half a month like this… This is borderline mother-hen territory, isn’t it?”

“Besides!” Mu Yanran added, starting to find the idea genuinely funny, “What normal person takes a communication pendant given by their Senior Sister for safety and just… casually throws it away while taking a bath?!”

She trailed off, waiting for a laugh, but the atmosphere remained awkwardly tense. Mu Yanran’s smile faltered as she realized Mo Yuyan’s tightly furrowed brow and deeply worried eyes were not joking.

“Sigh… Senior Sister, you don’t understand him…” Mo Yuyan mumbled, still thinking about the distant mountain. Her fingers touched her lips; she seemed embarrassed but continued with dead seriousness, “If it’s He Yimo… he absolutely could do something like that. Like… casually gifting my pendant to Yun Jin… Or! Or getting completely swindled, losing both himself and his valuables, just because some flashy, ill-intentioned girl waved a pair of silk stockings at him!”

“…Wait. How can you possibly imagine something that specific?” Mu Yanran stared, feeling increasingly unnerved. Mo Yuyan’s level of concern—or rather, obsession—with He Yimo was way beyond normal. Earlier, whenever she’d mentioned him, it was always ‘little pervert this,’ ‘little pervert that,’ her cold eyes filled with annoyance and suppressed anger. Mu Yanran had assumed she thoroughly disliked the boy. But now? After badmouthing him just hours ago, her expression was suddenly filled with intense worry? Her mood swings were giving Jiang Jinyue a run for her money.

“It’s not my imagination! He really IS that unreliable!” Mo Yuyan insisted, her anxiety growing palpable, her words tumbling out faster. “You have NO idea how lecherous and utterly reckless he can be!” She wrung her hands anxiously, trying to explain, but as she searched for words… she realized every single incident involving He Yimo lately was completely inappropriate to share with Mu Yanran. Night-time bathroom intrusion… Forbidden Go games… Moonlit dancing… Constant peeking at black silk stockings and… large chests… How could she possibly explain any of that?! Just thinking about formulating the words made her cold cheeks flush faintly pink.

“Wait— Sniff sniff- !” Suddenly, Mo Yuyan froze, her head snapping up. Her cold eyes flashed with unprecedented seriousness. “I smell… blood! A lot of it!”

Mu Yanran stiffened. After a long pause, her lips twitched into an awkward grimace. “…Really? Do you?”

“Something’s wrong. I have to go check.” This time, there was no hesitation in Mo Yuyan’s voice. Before Mu Yanran could reply, Mo Yuyan raised her hand, summoned her sword—SHIIIING!—and instantly transformed into a silver streak of light, flashing towards the distant snowy peak.

For a moment, Mu Yanran stood frozen beneath the plum blossoms, her hands clenching tightly at her sides. “Hmph… That should have been enough time…” she muttered under her breath. “Jiang Jinyue’s side should have succeeded by now…”

(Back at the hot spring base camp…)

The one-sided slaughter of the Wuji Sect disciples continued unabated.

Although He Yimo’s sudden intervention had startled and intimidated many of the Miyue cultists, once he disappeared back into the pine forest, the remaining killers quickly reverted to their ‘enjoy the moment’ mentality and resumed the original plan.

The battle had split into two main pockets. Chen Jianxin, the most talented disciple, was completely surrounded and overwhelmed. Meanwhile, the remaining Wuji Sect disciples, led by Yun Jin, had gathered together, forming a defensive huddle against the cultists’ siege.

It was painfully obvious who the easier targets were.

Ignoring the desperate, pleading eyes of the other disciples, the small, shifty Miyue cultist who’d been taunting Chen Jianxin darted behind him again and landed a vicious uppercut to his side—WHUMP!

“PUAH!!!” Chen Jianxin gasped, doubling over and collapsing to his knees, coughing up dark blood. Instantly, several other cultists swarmed him, grabbing his collar and hauling him roughly to his feet.

“Hey! Looky here, everyone!” the small cultist sneered, holding Chen Jianxin up. “See?! This is what happens when you like showing off!”

“Thought you were hot stuff ’cause you got a little sword talent, huh kid?”

“Weren’t you so tough earlier? Taking on three of us at once? Look at you now, groveling on your knees! Pathetic!” The small cultist punctuated his taunt with another brutal kick to Chen Jianxin’s ribs. THWACK!

Grinning cruelly, he grabbed Chen Jianxin’s hair, forcing his head up, making him look towards the group of huddled disciples, where the white-haired girl stood defensively at the front. The cultist’s eyes, visible beneath his mask, narrowed into malicious slits.

“I see you kinda like that white-haired chick, huh? Too bad for you… she hasn’t lifted a finger to save you this whole time!” he hissed maliciously. “Oh, right! You probably didn’t know, did ya?” he continued, twisting the knife. “While you were getting your ass beat by us… that little chick didn’t even look your way! Her eyes were glued to that other guy, worrying about him, helping him fight!”

Hearing this, the surrounding cultists chuckled darkly, eager to see Chen Jianxin’s face twist in despair. But the boy’s consciousness was already fading, battered into numbness, his eyes dim and vacant.

“Tch. Boring…” Seeing no dramatic reaction, the small cultist shrugged, casually shoving Chen Jianxin’s face away.

But just then, shouts erupted from the group of surviving Wuji Sect disciples huddled nearby:

“Young Master He! Everyone, look! It’s Young Master He! He’s back!”

“Wait! He’s with Senior Sister Jiang!”

“Thank goodness! If Young Master He is here, we’ll definitely be saved!”

As a figure in black robes, carrying a battered Profound Iron Sword on his shoulder, emerged from the forest edge, the desperate disciples erupted in cheers, looking at him like a savior had descended. Not only them, but even the previously arrogant cultists instinctively took a few steps back, warily creating distance from the youth whose left arm was now stained crimson.

In an instant, all eyes—disciple and cultist alike—were fixed on the sword-wielding youth.

“Th-That… He… guy…?” The cheers roused Chen Jianxin slightly. He forced his heavy eyelids open, trying to focus. Through his blurry vision, he saw He Yimo being welcomed like a returning hero. Even Senior Sister Yun Jin, who should have been worried about him, was now ignoring his plight entirely, her face flushed with obvious relief and admiration as she gazed at He Yimo.

It felt… like something inside Chen Jianxin shattered.

Betrayal. Raw, naked betrayal washed over him.

All this time… he’d fought so hard to protect everyone. He had taken the brunt of the cultists’ attacks. He had diligently protected Senior Sister Yun Jin when He Yimo was off… wherever he’d been messing around! He had sacrificed everything for them! And in the end? Some mysterious pretty boy shows up out of nowhere and steals all the credit! Picks the damn peaches! Now Chen Jianxin was the captive one, the burden, the one holding everyone back!

`Chen Jianxin… Oh, Chen Jianxin… You’re supposed to be the Wuji Sect’s greatest sword genius! Since when do you need rescue from a useless rich boy like He Yimo…?!`

“Bastards… You bunch of ungrateful… TRAITORS!”

“I won’t accept this… I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS…!”

As oblivion threatened to claim him, the sounds of the outside world faded away. Chen Jianxin’s vision dimmed, plunging into an endless darkness. He saw nothing, felt nothing… except the festering embers of past humiliations… the mockery… the massacre of his clan… A burning, uncontrollable rage surged within his chest.

FWOOOOOSH—!!!

Pitch-black blazing flames erupted violently from the boy’s back!

“I possess the Innate Sacred Sword Body! I AM THE GENIUS FAVORED BY DESTINY!” his voice roared, distorted by fury and newfound power.

“These demonic scum destroying the world… They don’t need some ‘He Yimo’! I, CHEN JIANXIN, WILL KILL THEM ALL MYSELF—!!!”