Chapter 64: Mu Yanran, Are You… Suspecting Me~?

“Mo Yuyan…” Mu Yanran began, tilting her head curiously as they walked side-by-side along the snowy path through the pines. The black-clad fairy glanced at her junior sister, whose icy expression seemed unusually… smug. “…I never realized before… You have quite the mean streak, don’t you~?” Heehee.

Mo Yuyan blinked slowly, a faint, cool smile touching her lips. “Since Chen Jianxin is sooo~ eager to learn… I merely pointed him towards a clear path, that’s all.” Hmph.

“Oh phhhlease~!” Mu Yanran scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully. “Give it up! You know perfectly well Chen Jianxin hates He Yimo’s guts!” She sighed, shaking her head with resigned amusement. Ever since the Mo family massacre nine years ago, Mu Yanran couldn’t remember seeing such… rich… emotion on Mo Yuyan’s face. In her memory, Mo Yuyan was always secluded on Ranmo Peak—practicing her sword, playing Go alone, or staring blankly for hours at the tattered Go manuals her father left behind before his death.

Mu Yanran knew, however, that Mo Yuyan had hated Go as a child, possessing absolutely zero talent for formations or strategy. She understood nothing, yet she’d locked herself away, obstinately studying those dusty old books for years. Unless the Sect Master assigned a crucial mission, Mo Yuyan rarely left her peak. And even when she did venture out, she was utterly aloof, barely acknowledging anyone, brushing people off whenever possible.

Forget deliberately humiliating someone like she just did with Chen Jianxin! The old Mo Yuyan, even if she had noticed flaws in Chen Jianxin’s swordsmanship, would likely have pretended not to see, too lazy to waste her breath.

“…Chen Jianxin is a once-in-a-century sword prodigy for the Wuji Sect, you know,” Mu Yanran continued softly, her tone becoming more serious. “And as you also know… the more talented someone is… the more fragile their pride…”

“Yuyan, humiliating him like that… It might just make Chen Jianxin hate He Yimo even more. You can’t guarantee he won’t do something… extreme… again, like tonight.” Mu Yanran spoke earnestly, her gentle gaze fixed on her junior sister.

Hearing this, the white-robed Kensei’s nonchalant expression flickered for a split second. Hm. After a moment’s thought, however, she crossed her arms defiantly again, letting out a soft grunt. “Hmph! If he dares attack a fellow disciple again… then I’ll have a perfectly legitimate reason to kill him…” A cold glint entered her eyes. “Which would actually be… quite convenient. Saves me the trouble of him growing stronger in a few years and challenging me day after day, just like Gu Wanglan used to.” Tch.

“Using He Yimo as bait to draw Chen Jianxin out like that…?” Mu Yanran pressed, her voice laced with concern. “He Yimo is your Junior Brother! What if Chen Jianxin gets desperate one day and actually stabs him in the back…?!”

But this time, before Mu Yanran could finish her sentence, the white-robed Kensei froze mid-stride. “Hmm?”

“What is it?” Mu Yanran paused, turning back curiously.

A sudden gust of icy night wind whipped through the pines, dishevelling Mo Yuyan’s hair. But her eyes, reflecting the cold moonlight, flashed with a sudden, sharp chill.

“…You have a point,” Mo Yuyan stated abruptly, her voice flat, utterly devoid of emotion. “Rather than risk such a tragedy… Perhaps it would be more efficient if I simply went back and killed Chen Jianxin now… Tonight.” Her tone was chillingly serious, not sounding like a joke at all.

Before Mo Yuyan could even turn back, Mu Yanran lunged forward, grabbing her arm tightly. “Aiyaaa! My little ancestor!!” she yelped, panicked. “Th-That was just a hypothetical! Besides! You’re the Sword Head now! You can’t just kill off our sect’s future genius swordsman for no reason! What would the cultivation world think?!”

“…I don’t care what the world thinks…” Mo Yuyan muttered coldly, still fixated.

“Okay, okay! Then just do it for the sect’s reputation! Please, my little ancestor, don’t kill Chen Jianxin!” Mu Yanran pleaded desperately, her gentle facade cracking under the stress. Although the ‘Organization’s’ mission was to eliminate the prophesied child… if Mo Yuyan was the one to do it, bearing the blame and condemnation… Mu Yanran would rather defy the Organization’s will.

After a tense silence, Mo Yuyan slowly, reluctantly, sheathed her Yin Frost Sword. “…But…” she began again, her brow furrowed with renewed worry, “What if Chen Jianxin really kills He Yimo one day…?” She seemed genuinely distressed by the thought.

Mu Yanran suppressed a sigh, feeling both exasperated and strangely amused. For a moment, she felt that while Mo Yuyan’s swordsmanship had surpassed her own long ago… her mindset was still that of the overly serious, single-minded little girl from their childhood. “Like I said! It was just a ‘what if’! A HYPOTHETICAL!” she stressed, trying to sound soothing, like coaxing a child.

“Besides! Setting aside the fact that you personally trained He Yimo… whether Chen Jianxin could even beat him is questionable!”

“And another thing! He Yimo still has that protective pendant you gave him, remember?! How could he possibly be killed by some mere Qi Refinement disciple right under your nose?!” Mu Yanran reasoned patiently.

After a few moments of silent contemplation, processing Mu Yanran’s reassurances, Mo Yuyan finally gave a slow, reluctant nod. Her tense shoulders relaxed slightly. “Hmph… True enough,” she conceded grudgingly. “I did teach him… And while he is lecherous and thoroughly improper… his sword skills are definitely far superior to that half-baked Chen Jianxin.”

After all… He Yimo was the first decent Go opponent Mo Yuyan had found in years. If something happened to him… Mo Yuyan shuddered at the thought of returning to those endless, boring days of playing Go against herself. That was precisely why she’d been so quick to give him the protective pendant back at the Grand Preceptor’s mansion. That pendant was important!

“Wait…” Mo Yuyan froze again, her eyes narrowing sharply, a fine sheen of cold sweat suddenly appearing on her flawless forehead. “Waaaaait a second…” Talking about the pendant… jogged a specific, discordant memory…

If she wasn’t mistaken… when she confronted He Yimo back at the hot spring camp… there was NO red cord… NO jade pendant… around his neck! Instead… Mo Yuyan’s mind flashed back… That distinctive red cord and pendant… hadn’t she seen something suspiciously similar nestled against the chest of that white-haired girl standing next to He Yimo?! Yun Jin?!

`Yimo… when you go to Northfall Snow Mountain… make sure you protect Yun Jin…` Mo Yuyan suddenly recalled her exact words to him back on Ranmo Peak.

Click. The pieces slammed together in her mind. The white-robed Kensei’s eyes flew wide open. She gasped, sucking in a sharp breath, feeling a sudden surge of disbelief mixed with simmering fury, mirroring Mu Yanran’s earlier exasperation. “Kh…!!!”

“That… That IDIOT!!” she finally hissed, practically vibrating with indignation. “I told him to protect Yun Jin when they got to Snow Village… and he… he seriously, stupidly… just GAVE HER THE PENDANT?! THE LIFE-SAVING PENDANT?! AAAAAAARGH!!!”

Hearing this completely unexpected twist, Mu Yanran stared, utterly flabbergasted. “Y-You mean… He Yimo… gave the life-saving pendant you gave him… to another girl?!” she asked carefully, barely able to comprehend the sheer absurdity.

“SEE?! I TOLD YOU HE WAS RIDICULOUS!” Mo Yuyan practically spat, half laughing in sheer disbelief, half fuming. “I tell him to protect Yun Jin, and he thinks that means just handing over my pendant?! AGH!” Her chest heaved with indignant breaths, the cloth wrapping strained slightly with each sharp inhale. Tremble tremble.

Mu Yanran wisely kept her mouth shut, simply observing the rapid-fire emotional rollercoaster Mo Yuyan was experiencing over He Yimo. Deep down, she felt a strange sense of… vindication. Ahhh~. Now she was definitely starting to understand what Jiang Jinyue had meant last night. He Yimo truly was special, in a way that defied easy description. At the very least… in just half a month on Ranmo Peak… he’d managed to elicit more emotion from the eternally icy Mo Yuyan than Mu Yanran herself had managed in ten years! That alone was a terrifying skill!

“Senior Sister Mu,” Mo Yuyan suddenly announced, her voice tight with resolve, “You go ahead and investigate the leads on the cultists infiltrating Northfall Snow Mountain. It seems… that little pervert still requires… further discipline…” Hmph! She glared back towards the camp, clutching her sword tightly, and started walking briskly in that direction.

Mu Yanran watched her retreating back, a genuine, warm smile finally touching her lips. “Yuyan~” she called out softly. “You’re the Sword Head now! Don’t be too harsh on the children~ He Yimo was just trying to protect Yun Jin, wasn’t he? His intentions were good, at least~” Hehehe~

“I KNOW!” Mo Yuyan’s sharp reply echoed back, before her figure vanished completely into the snowy darkness.

Under the dim starlight, Mu Yanran stood alone, gazing up at the moon, her beautiful eyes filled with complex emotions. “Mmmm… It’s almost dawn already…” she murmured to herself. “Just as Jiang Jinyue predicted… Tonight’s plan completely failed… again…” She sighed, recalling the night’s chaotic events. A small, satisfied smile played on her lips despite the failure—seeing Mo Yuyan act so… human… was gratifying. But the mission’s failure also brought a heavy weight of pressure back onto her shoulders.

Mu Yanran remained lost in thought amidst the swirling snow for a long while.

Finally, a figure emerged silently from the shadows of the pine forest beside her—the fox girl, Jiang Jinyue.

“Jiang Jinyue,” Mu Yanran’s voice was cold now, devoid of its earlier warmth. “You clearly had the opportunity to kill Chen Jianxin directly. Why didn’t you act?”

“Ehhh~?” Jiang Jinyue shrugged nonchalantly, waving a dismissive hand, her fluffy fox tails swishing lazily behind her. “You saw him! He got, like, super scary after he powered up! There was no way liiittle me could beat him~♡” Flick flick.

“Oh reeeeally~?” Mu Yanran drawled sarcastically, turning her icy gaze upon the fox girl. “The great Nine Heavens Cloud Fox … simultaneously the infamous Pleasure Demoness … possessor of unparalleled illusionary arts… couldn’t handle a budding, barely awakened ‘Child of Prophecy’? Hmmmm~?”

Snap! The easygoing facade on Jiang Jinyue’s face instantly vanished.

Fairy and Fox stood facing each other again, the tension crackling in the freezing air. After a beat of charged silence, crimson patterns began to swirl deep within the fox girl’s enchanting eyes.

“Mu Yaaaanraaaan…” Jiang Jinyue purred, her voice dangerously sweet, laced with hidden menace. “…are you… suspecting… meeee~?”

“Oh~?” Mu Yanran retorted coolly, unimpressed. “Using illusions again~? Feeling a little… guilty, are we~?”