Jiang Xidai held a comb, slowly brushing through her long black hair. Her thoughts were a bit of a mess, but eventually, they turned to “proper business.”
Regardless of Yan Huirou’s attitude toward her, in this dog-eat-dog cultivation world, the little girl should seize every opportunity to improve herself.
Besides, she was going out more often now.
It was rather unfortunate that while Yan Huirou’s swordplay had improved greatly and she could pass combat tests beautifully, having overcome the three major hurdles of strength, stance, and practical combat, her progress was as fast as a thousand miles a day.
There was nothing to criticize.
Jiang Xidai had thought that she wouldn’t be able to teach her for much longer.
However, her fight with Xie Minting today had given her some new ideas.
Just thinking about it was too complicated; it wasn’t easy to explain each move one by one. As Jiang Xidai thought this, she unconsciously sat on the windowsill of the second floor, looking at the brightly lit Bright Moon Pavilion in the backyard.
Wen Xianyin was walking by below. A bead fell on her shoulder, tapping her gently.
Wen Xianyin looked up. “Sect Master?”
“Find me some ink, brush, paper, and an inkstone.”
Jiang Xidai’s voice was soft as she sat in the pavilion above, giving the order flatly.
Qionghua Hall was filled with jewels and chests of gold and silver, with a plethora of things to admire, but not a single drop of ink could be found. Thus, Jiang Xidai had to order Wen Xianyin to find some.
Wen Xianyin agreed calmly, but her heart was in turmoil.
What’s going on?
When was the last time the Sect Master picked up a brush to write…
It seemed to be on the first day the sect was established. The woman had used her sword as a brush and carved the three large characters for “Shasheng Sect” on the side of Sunlit Peak, sending stone chips flying.
The outer shell had cracked and fallen away, revealing a light red mineral layer underneath.
The force had penetrated the cliff face, the characters crimson and sharp.
Well, after that one incident, Wen Xianyin had never seen the Sect Master pick up a brush to write again.
The sad thing was that this one and only “masterpiece” had been written with a sword.
After presenting the ink and brush to the Sect Master, Wen Xianyin did not move but stood to the side, ready to provide whatever the Sect Master needed.
Jiang Xidai spread out a fresh sheet of paper and, with her eyes lowered, held the brush and tentatively drew a few strokes, as if still trying to get the feel of it.
She glanced at Wen Xianyin. “Out.”
“…Yes.”
However, to her relief, Jiang Xidai’s memory was quite good. Especially her muscle memory, which had always been superior. The sword techniques Xie Minting had used, she had unintentionally memorized seventy to eighty percent of them during their duel today.
To say nothing of writing.
She drew a few light strokes and found the feeling of copying scriptures in the scripture repository from many years ago. She wrote quite smoothly, without forgetting any characters.
Jiang Xidai was immersed in her thoughts.
She just felt that Yan Huirou was an uncut gem. Although it was a bit of a hassle to carve her, with things always not quite right here and there, the results were not bad.
Then she would strive for perfection.
Xie Minting used a heavy sword, but all techniques in the world had their similarities, so there was no need to be rigid. Although the young woman was not her equal, she still had some merits.
She picked out those “merits” that were similar to Yan Huirou’s disposition and wrote them down on a piece of paper.
The tip of her brush moved nonchalantly, sketching out the momentum of the sword.
Jiang Xidai started a new page, recalling and writing down the minor flaws in Yan Huirou’s past swordplay.
Then another page, writing down the little girl’s strengths.
The brush and paper rustled softly, and the flame licked the wick of the lamp.
The silhouette of the woman holding the brush was faintly cast on the wall behind her, the shadow covering half of it, making her lone figure seem a bit lonely.
But the expression on her face was very focused, her long lashes trembling slightly.
Jiang Xidai was completely unaware that a whole night had passed.
She only knew that as she wrote, the candlelight grew dimmer and dimmer, and even after changing several lamps, it was still the same.
Only then did she look up. The dawn light from outside just happened to shine on her face.
The woman squinted slightly, her eyes feeling a bit sore.
She sighed softly and picked up the final version, browsing through it from beginning to end.
This was a complete sword manual, written almost specifically for Yan Huirou.
Compared to the Emotion Burning Art, this sword manual, created by Jiang Xidai herself, was probably what the cultivators of the world would truly vie for.
Although the woman was known as the number one demoness of the demonic path, before “demonic witch” was indeed “number one under heaven.”
And the title that came before “number one under heaven” was still illustrious, that of the founding ancestor of the Lingshan Sect… but this title, Jiang Xidai had always despised to the extreme and never allowed anyone to mention it in her presence.
In these few short pages, all the essentials of swordplay were written.
Jiang Xidai didn’t think much of it. After all, she was skilled in more than just swordplay; she had some knowledge of all kinds of weapons.
Besides that, she thought that one day she could also teach Yan Huirou how to use hidden weapons.
After all, she knew Yan Huirou’s disposition, and she didn’t like conflict. To expect her to take the initiative in a frontal attack was less realistic than hoping the enemy would be moved by the little female lead’s holy light and immediately drop their weapons and become a Buddha.
The little female lead didn’t like practicing the sword. She was usually very well-behaved, and the rare times she acted spoiled and weak with her were when she really couldn’t take the torment of cultivation anymore.
Thinking of the past, Jiang Xidai propped her chin on her hand and smiled unconsciously. The smile was extremely gentle, but unfortunately, no one saw it, and it disappeared from the wall like a shadow as the light grew brighter.
Yan Huirou woke up from her sleep in a cold sweat.
She touched her sweaty forehead, feeling sticky all over. She opened her eyes and stood up, and something hard slipped from her chest.
Yan Huirou fumbled around beside her and gripped the carved red jade, which was a bit uncomfortable to the touch. Because it had been on her skin all night, it was so warm that it was almost indistinguishable from her own body, very hard to notice.
She lifted her eyelids and looked out the window. It was already late in the day.
So she quickly sat up.
This is bad, I still have to practice the sword today.
Although she didn’t really want to be close to Jiang Xidai, she also didn’t want to make the master of the sect wait for her at the waterfall for a long time.
Yan Huirou quickly washed up and got dressed. When she turned back to make the bed, she found the carved red jade again.
Jiang Xidai had thought she would toss it into her Storage Ring to gather dust.
But in fact, Yan Huirou had slept with this jade pendant in her hand last night, she just hadn’t shown her liking for it.
Yan Huirou gently tucked it under her pillow, then got up and left.
As soon as she went out, one large and three small black-furred creatures came to welcome her, their tails wagging so fast in the cool early spring morning that they almost bloomed into flowers.
In her hurry, Yan Huirou quickly pet each of the dogs, picked up her sword, and hurried down the mountain.
But when she arrived at the waterfall by the suspended lake, Yan Huirou did not see Sect Master Jiang. She waited for a long while, until the sun was high in the sky, but there was still no sign of Jiang Xidai coming.
What… happened?
Yan Huirou had no choice but to return alone. As she returned to Bright Moon Pavilion, she couldn’t help but look up at Jiang Xidai’s pavilion.
The window was closed, and there was a faint light inside, perhaps a lamp was lit. Jiang Xidai was definitely there, she just hadn’t come.
Perhaps she had forgotten.
Yan Huirou sat in the courtyard, leaning against an osmanthus tree, her figure hidden, her expression sinking into gloom.
She had wanted to find some busy excuse for her, but she really couldn’t find any.
After all, the Sect Master’s daily life was notoriously idle.
The only possibility was that the woman just didn’t want to teach her anymore, and didn’t want to see her.
Bi Luo had been called out to help at this time and had not returned, so the only living person in Bright Moon Pavilion was Yan Huirou.
It was indeed Yan Huirou who had first pulled away, but from the very beginning, it was also Yan Huirou who had gradually approached.
Now, she was a bit unsure of Jiang Xidai. Although she had long expected that even if she retreated, Jiang Xidai would not step forward, she still felt a sense of being abandoned.
Forget it.
Don’t think too much, don’t ask for anything else. To be able to help the Sect Master with her worries is the only thing I can do now.
Yan Huirou lowered her lashes, picked up her sword again, and walked out of the Shasheng Sect to get down to business.
In a few more days, she might be able to find a way to get a look at Li Xinghe’s precious sword. She had to figure out its special function, and the other magic artifact he had mentioned.
But considering the need for long-term observation, she couldn’t just tear off all pretenses and trick him into handing over his precious sword to be destroyed.
But if she only got a general idea, would it really be helpful…
This matter was really quite difficult.
As she walked out, passing through the maple forest, Yan Huirou ran into Wen Xianyin.
The two greeted each other. Wen Xianyin seemed to be heading toward Qionghua Hall.
Yan Huirou hesitated for a moment, resisting the urge to ask what Jiang Xidai was doing, and walked down the mountain with a calm expression.
Wen Xianyin looked at her strangely, feeling that Yan Huirou had been acting weird these past few days.
Or rather, since coming out of seclusion, her relationship with Jiang Xidai was no longer as warm as before.
Wen Xianyin: “Miss Yan.”
“The person the Sect Master is wary of, I can also spend more time keeping an eye on.” Wen Xianyin reminded her, “You can pay less attention to this matter, so as not to anger the Sect Master.”
Yan Huirou smiled. “I’m not an important person. How could I anger the Sect Master?”
Yan Huirou added, “Senior Sister, don’t worry. It would be more appropriate for me to do this.”
“…”
Seeing her like this, Wen Xianyin was silent for a while, then nodded and walked toward Qionghua Hall.
But perhaps neither Yan Huirou nor Wen Xianyin had expected that the reason Jiang Xidai had not gone to teach Yan Huirou swordplay today was really quite ridiculous.
At that time, after she had finished writing the sword manual, she had exhausted her mind all night.
Seeing the dawn light, and that it was still a while before Yan Huirou would wake up.
Jiang Xidai had originally intended to rest a little by meditating, but she had underestimated her own fatigue. As soon as she closed her eyes, she had unknowingly fallen asleep, curled up in her chair.
She had slept very well, completely unaware that a certain little girl in Bright Moon Pavilion had already gone down the mountain with a broken heart.
“Sect Master?”
Jiang Xidai was still sleeping when she was disturbed by the sound of knocking on the door. She lifted her lashes wearily. “Come in.”
Wen Xianyin came in. “Sect Master, Yan Huirou has gone out.”
Jiang Xidai’s drowsiness instantly cleared. She was stunned for a moment. “Gone out?” Then her brow furrowed. “That person, how could she—”
She turned her head and saw that the sun outside was bright.
Jiang Xidai’s voice paused. “What time is it?”
Wen Xianyin: “This disciple is here to remind the Sect Master. Are you still in the mood for some afternoon pastries?”
Jiang Xidai was stunned for a long while, then lowered her gaze and coughed lightly, nonchalantly putting away the stack of papers on the table. “No need. I have no appetite.”
“Where did Yan Huirou go?”
This question was asked gently, with a hint of worry.
Wen Xianyin: “…Perhaps she went to the teahouse for tea again.”
Jiang Xidai propped her head on her hand and fell silent for a moment.
Wen Xianyin’s eyes flickered, then lowered. She said carefully, “Sect Master, did you stand her up today?”
