The morning sun was warm and gentle. The snow had stopped and the clouds scattered, leaving the world pristine and clear, with a thick layer blanketing the ground, leaving a footprint with every step.
After emerging from seclusion, Wu Bei became a formal outer disciple of Chongxiang Sword Sect . Every day she cultivated with the other disciples, occasionally skipping practice. Yun Lingyue doted on her, turning a blind eye to her behavior, allowing her to spend her days playing happily.
Such a big snow fell last night. Opening the door, you could feel the fresh air blowing in. Her roommate, Feng Ruiyan, sighed and complained it wasn’t fair: “Why does Xiao Bei get away with not cultivating, but I get scolded!”
“There’s nothing I can do about it. Who can blame me for being born cute?” Wu Bei said shamelessly, then lay back in the snow. Her white hair blended with the snow, only her light blue disciple robes standing out conspicuously.
“Am I not cute?”
Feng Ruiyan thought hesitantly. She pondered for a while, still unable to figure it out, and as a result, she nearly forgot her cultivation time. Panicked, she grabbed her sword and flew away.
But after only a moment, she flew back again.
Wu Bei raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s wrong? Not afraid of getting punished anymore? Did you decide to come play with me?”
“I just ran into some senior sisters on the way,” Feng Ruiyan put her sword away, looking very innocent. “They said we don’t need to cultivate today because Sister Yun hasn’t woken up yet.”
Wu Bei was slightly surprised. Yun Lingyue usually woke up earlier than a chicken and never missed a day of cultivation. How could she have slept in today?
“I also heard them say they’re going down the mountain to buy the cultivation tabloid,” Feng Ruiyan said. “Last night, the cultivation tabloid printed an extra edition overnight with new gossip. I heard Yaoguang Pavilion invested a large amount of spirit stones, and if you buy it, you even get a free automatic weeding magic artifact.”
Feng Ruiyan squatted on the ground and poked the person lying in the snow. “Xiao Bei, let’s go down the mountain and buy one too! I really want that automatic weeding artifact.”
“You don’t even plant spiritual plants, what do you need it for?” Wu Bei rolled over and jumped up, snapping her fingers to easily remove the snow from her clothes. “Besides helping Sister Lingyi tidy up her garden occasionally, have you ever touched them again? Just wait for others to buy it and then borrow theirs. You can save some money that way.”
“Come with me, Xiao Bei! It’s rare we don’t have to cultivate today. Besides, everyone else is going to buy one, so I have to have one too!”
Wu Bei found it troublesome. She didn’t want to go down the mountain and just wanted to leisurely watch the snow. Her eyes darted around, and she came up with an excuse. “You find someone else. I need to go check on Sister Yun. If she suddenly didn’t show up, something must be wrong with her. I need to go show her some concern.”
“Ah…” Feng Ruiyan was relatively simple-minded and believed whatever she was told. “No wonder Sister Yun is so good to you! I wouldn’t have thought of that. Alright, you go quickly. I’ll wait for you here, and we can go down the mountain together when you get back.”
Wu Bei tried to persuade her for a long time, but it was useless. Reluctantly, she was essentially escorted to the main peak by Feng Ruiyan, heading toward where Yun Lingyue was.
During such a lovely first snowfall, she actually had to do something so boring…
A large group of disciples were asleep in the main peak’s designated storage room, leaning on each other, slumped in various directions, some even snoring. It looked like none of them had slept well last night.
Wu Bei walked inside, carefully stepping over the sleeping figures, and pushed open the door to the inner room.
On the floor of the inner room lay several more young disciples holding pens, seeming to have fallen asleep halfway through writing. Walking further in, behind a screen, there was only a single couch-bed.
A hand hung down from the couch-bed. A red safety thread was wrapped around it, intricately embroidered. It was clear the hand belonged to someone who had been cherished and protected since childhood, with their family pouring their best wishes upon them.
The loop at the sleeve cuff was knotted, jingling crisply.
There were faint dark circles under Yun Lingyue’s eyes. Even with her eyes closed, her brow was furrowed, and her breathing wasn’t smooth. She seemed to be sleeping very restlessly.
Wu Bei looked up from the wrist, gazing past her scattered hair to her slender neck, and then further down to where her collar covered the depths beyond…
She unconsciously swallowed.
This Yun Lingyue, she really was quite to her aesthetic.
Wu Bei stood up, tilted her head, and glanced outside the screen, confirming no one was watching. She secretly extended her “guilty” hand and placed it on the sleeping person’s shoulder.
To help pull her collar up.
She decided to silently suppress this impulse and absolutely not take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state. But just as she withdrew her hand, it was suddenly grabbed.
“Mmm… Xiao Bei?”
Yun Lingyue was half-asleep. Subconsciously, she pulled the hand that was disturbing her sleep and asked, squinting, “Is that you? What are you doing here?”
Wu Bei lowered her head. She gripped Yun Lingyue’s hand back, climbed onto the empty space on the couch-bed, and said, “Sister, the senior sisters said you didn’t wake up. I was afraid you were sick, so I came to check on you…”
Outwardly worried, inwardly secretly delighted.
This wasn’t her intentionally taking advantage; it was practically delivered to her doorstep.
The two were very close, their breaths mingling. Sleepiness returned to Yun Lingyue. She gently closed her eyes and said, “I’m fine. I just stayed up late last night finishing some tasks and I’m a bit tired. I really can’t lead you in cultivation today.”
Wu Bei stared at her slightly trembling eyelashes and pursed her lips. “That’s good. Sister, I was worried about you.”
“You’re the most well-behaved,” Yun Lingyue chuckled softly, her eyes still closed. She reached out her other hand and stroked Wu Bei’s face. “Sister Lingyi just lost her temper. She found an excuse to make me say a few less words, that’s all. My matter is small; those two are the ones with the difficult situation.”
“Those two? Who are they?”
“Sister Lingyi and her cultivation partner. They must have encountered some trouble at Yaoguang Pavilion, otherwise they wouldn’t have argued so fiercely.”
Yue Jin came back?
Wu Bei listened carefully. “Then was the extra issue of the cultivation tabloid that Feng Ruiyan mentioned earlier about this matter?”
“What?”
Yun Lingyue’s eyes snapped open. Her gaze immediately focused, and she asked eagerly, “The cultivation tabloid?”
“Yes,” Wu Bei said, suspecting she might have said something wrong. “I heard Yaoguang Pavilion invested heavily in it. I thought it was related to this matter…”
“That’s bad news.” Yun Lingyue said, getting off the couch-bed as she spoke. Their clasped hands released, making Wu Bei feel a slight sense of emptiness.
“Xiao Bei, you should go back now. It’s cold in the snow. Wear more clothes so you don’t freeze.”
Yun Lingyue’s voice faded as she dropped that sentence and ran off in a hurry.
Wu Bei wasn’t very happy. She went out, wanting to figure out the reason. She waited by the path, found a disciple who had just come up the mountain, snatched the cultivation tabloid they’d bought, and started reading.
As she read, her eyes widened little by little.
《Chongxiang Sword Sect ‘s Senior Disciple Betrays the Cultivation World, Protects One Involved with the Demonic Path》
The title was particularly prominent. That small square paper suddenly transformed, revealing an image.
A person holding a blade stood among the crowd, their expression one of disdain. It was unmistakably Yue Jin.
She’s insane.
Wu Bei’s hand holding the tabloid was shaking. She felt Yue Jin had finally gone mad, actually exposing her identity before her cultivation had even recovered.
At this moment, she didn’t care about anything else. She hurried to the side peak. She had to find Yue Jin and figure out a plan. If something happened to her, Wu Bei had to rescue her first.
Sister Lingyi’s courtyard was quiet, without a sound. Wu Bei slowly felt her way inside. The bamboo house was empty except for Yue Jin, who was lying on the bed, fast asleep.
She was lying on her side, covered by the quilt, curled up small. There was still a faint blush on her face that hadn’t faded.
Wu Bei shook her, calling out softly, determined to wake her up: “Yue Jin! Yue Jin!”
Yue Jin mumbled something and rolled over, turning her back.
“Wake up! Stop sleeping! How can you even sleep? I’m practically dying of worry!”
“Hmm? Mmm…” Shaken slightly, she opened her eyes a crack and glanced at Wu Bei. She probably still thought she was in Qingyuan Palace, and sounded annoyed. “Don’t be noisy, Wu Bei. Let me sleep a little longer. I’ll get up to cultivate in a bit…”
Seeing that Yue Jin simply wouldn’t wake up, Wu Bei felt helpless. She leaned close to her ear and roared, “GET UP!”
“Ah!”
Yue Jin startled. She suddenly sat up, looking around blankly. “What happened? Did the righteous sects break in?”
“What year are you dreaming about?” Wu Bei was utterly speechless. She crossed her arms. “Snap out of it! They don’t need to break in; you’re already in their den.”
Yue Jin was stunned. It took her a long time to react, and only then did some memories return. “I… I had a really long dream. I dreamed about when we were in Qingyuan Palace, dreamed you and I were fighting over some new gadgets Wu Ju brought from down the mountain, and then Wuhen picked us both up, one in each hand, to stop us fighting, while Yue Yuanqiu watched from the side, smiling.”
Wu Bei looked at her face. “That was a long time ago. All of that was from a very long time ago.”
Yue Jin said in a low voice, “Mm, I know.”
“Let’s not talk about that,” Yue Jin said, breaking the somber atmosphere. She looked around, only then remembering her current predicament. “Wu Bei, how did I get here? Did you save me?”
Wu Bei didn’t understand what she was talking about. “Save what? Of course I came to save you! You have no idea how things are spreading outside! The cultivation tabloid’s headline is all about you! Are you trying to die? Exposing yourself now, are you deliberately seeking death?”
Yue Jin shook her head. “You’ve got it wrong. I didn’t do it intentionally. I was framed.”
She told Wu Bei how the culprit had tricked her using a paper kite to get the murder weapon, framing her and making her take the blame.
“According to my guess, that culprit must be inside Chongxiang Sword Sect , at least for now. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to send messages from Qingyuan Palace to me and know the fact that I hadn’t lost my memory.”
Wu Bei’s expression wasn’t good. She fell silent for a moment. “Is that so? Wu Xi… she’s dead…”
“The culprit’s aim was to frame Qingyuan Palace for the crime,” Yue Jin said, unwilling to dwell on the sad topic and quickly moving on. “Perhaps Wu Xi discovered her midway, and the culprit took her life. I strongly suspect this person is the same one who was responsible for the rampant slaughter back when Yue Yuanqiu was leading Qingyuan Palace.”
When Yue Yuanqiu served as the twelfth Palace Master of Qingyuan Palace, there was someone who constantly placed the blame for crimes onto them. Furthermore, the very day Yue Jin was saved by Yue Yuanqiu, she had almost been killed by this person.
That person had vanished without a trace for many years. They probably wouldn’t recognize Yue Jin anymore, after all, she was no longer the malnourished, skinny eleven-year-old girl from back then, but the current Demon Lord with refined martial arts prowess.
“The culprit is definitely an extremely confident person. She firmly believes she successfully used me, leaving me unable to defend myself. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have specifically pointed out what she was wearing in the paper kite—dark purple-blue patterned robes.”
Yue Jin said, “Wu Bei, go and investigate thoroughly. Find out who would wear similar robes while entering and exiting Yaoguang Pavilion and Chongxiang Sword Sect . I must catch this person.”
Wu Bei nodded. Yue Jin added, “You definitely can’t do this alone. Call Shan Shi and Eyin to come help you. They should be on their way back after finishing their tasks.”
Wu Bei let out a small chuckle. She was just about to tell Yue Jin that Shan Shi and Eyin had already returned long ago, but they had been stopped by Wu Ju and were prevented from showing themselves.
A sound of footsteps came from outside the door.
This scene felt all too familiar.
The Demon Lord didn’t know it was her senior sister who carried her to the bed. What a big misunderstanding.
Thanks for the chapter