Senior Sister Went Mad After My Fake Death Chapter 5

Jiang Chunai watched everything unfold in a daze.
She knew she had just been framed.
But with her Dao heart damaged, it seemed she had nothing left worth protecting.
Besides telling her not to damage her Dao heart, her master’s other command was to take good care of Senior Sister Han Xiao.
When she was being accused by everyone, Jiang Chunai had even thought, if I die, maybe I can help Senior Sister keep her secret?
But the situation turned too quickly. The sanctimonious Senior Brother Zeng, who thought his plan was seamless, was dragged away.
The remaining people wouldn’t have a good end either.
…It was her senior sister who saved her.
After the dust settled, the cultivators of the Bright Snow Sect glanced at each other and, knowing better, found a chance to slip away.
Han Xiao didn’t linger either. She just retrieved her sword, Twilight Kite, and gave Jiang Chunai a faint glance over her shoulder.
Her senior sister’s face was still beautiful, like snow.
Staring at that face, Jiang Chunai would always wonder. She had been rescued from the snow, so her senior sister… perhaps she was forged from snow?
But she had never asked her master, nor had she ever asked her senior sister.
Jiang Chunai met her senior sister’s gaze, stunned, her thoughts racing.
She wasn’t good with words, loved to help others, and couldn’t refuse a request. While some praised her for it, more often than not, people like Zeng Jun would take her kindness for granted.
But among all that was taken for granted, there was an exception. A much better exception.
Jiang Chunai was better to Han Xiao than to anyone else. What she did for her fellow disciples, she would do doubly, triply for Han Xiao.
When sweeping the courtyards, she would specially collect immortal dew to water the plants at Han Xiao’s residence. During the Five Hunts Festival, the spirit herb she gave to Han Xiao was a unique specimen. She would also weave bracelets from immortal silk threads or the fur of spiritual beasts and “casually” give them to Han Xiao during sect celebrations…
Was all this because of her master’s command, or was it driven by her own heart?
Jiang Chunai first understood her own heart on the day the udumbara flower of Mount Shu bloomed.
The udumbara blooms once every three thousand years, and the places it can be grown are extremely rare. Countless cultivators in the Eastern Continent could go their entire lives without seeing one, whether due to a lack of fate or a lack of longevity.
The Bright Snow Sect, as the leader of the righteous path, naturally had one planted.
On that day, every cultivator in the sect woke up early—some hadn’t even slept the night before, waiting in eager anticipation for the next day to arrive.
Jiang Chunai was one of the latter.
She suppressed a heart full of joy and knocked on Han Xiao’s door.
Even thinking back on it now, Jiang Chunai felt it was like a dream—
In order to care for Han Xiao, Jiang Chunai would do the same things for others as well. It was just that when it was Han Xiao’s turn, she would do them doubly, triply.
Sweeping, handcrafts, so many things.
Her senior sister’s cultivation was unfathomably deep. It was basically impossible for Jiang Chunai to give her any guidance in swordsmanship. She could only do what she could. If anyone asked, she would, for once, be frank on this matter: “Do you really think I could guide Senior Sister Han Xiao?”
It didn’t matter if her senior sister never responded. They were both disciples of Immortal Lord Yang Nian. It was only natural that they take care of each other.
But on the day the udumbara flower bloomed, Jiang Chunai acted on a selfish impulse.
“Senior Sister, did you know the udumbara only blooms once every three thousand years? They say that any wish made on this day will come true.”
Her senior sister was different that day. Her usual cold, placid expression was replaced by a smile.
She agreed.
The udumbara flower bloomed in the peach blossom forest of Mount Shu. While the fragrant garden was beautiful, it was there every year, unlike the udumbara.
A rumor had started somewhere, saying that the higher you hung your wish ribbon, the more likely your wish was to come true.
So everyone rushed to snatch the highest spots. Jiang Chunai clutched two wish ribbons tightly, a writing brush held between her teeth, and urged Han Xiao to write quickly while she herself watched everyone like a small animal guarding its food, not letting them take her spot.
When Jiang Chunai wrote down her own wish, her face turned red. But then she thought, the udumbara only blooms once every three thousand years, so the wish was the most important thing. She finished writing, her face still flushed.
—“I hope to be with Senior Sister forever.”
When she finished, she looked up and saw that the high branches of the flower tree were already densely covered. She grew anxious. “Ah, there’s almost no room left! Senior Sister!”
Jiang Chunai’s excessive enthusiasm had already drawn the eyes of her fellow disciples. They all looked over with knowing smiles, wanting to see what was written on her wish ribbon.
“Senior Sister Chunai, let me hang it for you!”
“I heard it’s easier for wishes to come true if someone else hangs it for you!”
“That’s right, Senior Sister Chunai, let me help you! Didn’t you just teach me a new incantation a few days ago? It’s the perfect time to use it. I promise, I definitely won’t peek!”
A young girl’s heart is a fragile thing. How could it withstand such teasing? Jiang Chunai refused to give the wish ribbon to these busybodies. In her fluster, she remembered that Senior Sister Han Xiao also had to write one, so she went to find her, her face crimson. “Senior Sister, shall we hang each other’s?”
“Alright,” Han Xiao agreed.
Jiang Chunai nervously watched Han Xiao hang the wish ribbon on the flower tree. Only after confirming that Han Xiao hadn’t peeked did she prepare to hang hers.
But who would have known that Han Xiao would quickly look over again. Jiang Chunai was mortified and could only avert her eyes, hanging Han Xiao’s wish ribbon on the tree with a very prim and proper air.
Right next to her own.
This place was also a forest of fragrant peach blossoms, adjacent to the udumbara flower. The morning breeze stirred, and crimson and snow intermingled. Among the thousands of trees, wish ribbons of different lengths and colors fluttered in the wind, hanging down. From a distance, it was another magnificent sight.
Just as she finished, she found that Han Xiao’s gaze hadn’t moved. She met it head-on.
Across the blossoming trees, across the river of ribbons, a world of mortal dust was scattered in the space of a few steps.
At some point, Han Xiao had walked up behind Jiang Chunai.
“…Senior Sister, can you tell me what you wrote on the ribbon?” she asked.
But Han Xiao didn’t say a word. Instead, she reached out and traced something on her back with her fingertip.
Jiang Chunai was confused. “Senior Sister?”
“I didn’t write it down. I was still thinking,” Han Xiao said in a low voice. “I just figured it out.”
“Ah?” Jiang Chunai froze. When she turned around, she saw Han Xiao’s smile for the first time.
Her senior sister was beautiful. The curve of her nose was soft, her lips thin and moist. Even though her smile was small, it made her look like a spirited little animal—proud, and very cute.
“So, I wrote it on your back.”
Ah, so that’s why my back was itching?
But I didn’t commit to memory what she wrote at all!
Jiang Chunai was mortified, her face felt like it was on fire. She paid no attention to the others commenting on how red her face was.
“Chunai! What did you write on your wish ribbon?”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll stay up all night like a ghost and read every single one of these ribbons to see what made you so shy!”
That was the first time Jiang Chunai had ever raised her voice, shouting back with a childish petulance, “Then go ahead and look!”
They would never know. They could search every branch of the udumbara tree, every plaque in the peach blossom forest, and they would never find the reason for her blush.
But that side of her senior sister was rarely seen. Or rather, it was the only time Jiang Chunai had ever seen it.
But once was enough.
“Senior Sister… thank you for helping me,” Jiang Chunai said, mustering her courage just as she had on the day the udumbara bloomed, and stepped forward.
Han Xiao’s face was expressionless. “I didn’t come because of you.”
Jiang Chunai’s heart suddenly plummeted to the abyss.
“Forget what happened that day,” Han Xiao said, her tone harsh. “Otherwise… Zeng Jun’s fate will be your fate.”
A strange sense of grievance surged up again.
Jiang Chunai froze, tears welling in her eyes, but she held them back.
It would have been better if Han Xiao had never come today. But she had to pull her out of the fire, only to deliver this fatal blow.
Perhaps to Han Xiao, it was nothing, not even painful. Perhaps it was just another day.
Han Xiao left, completely and utterly.
Jiang Chunai sniffled. Suddenly, there was a rustling sound beside her. It was Yan Linglong.
She wore a vibrant, jeweled flower in her hair, which jingled as she walked.
Although the junior sister was a disciple of the neighboring Dao Lord Qiming, she was lively and cheerful, and would stick to whomever she liked. It was said that in her mortal family, she was also a doted-upon young lady.
“Hey, Senior Sister Chunai!” Yan Linglong approached with a grin, her round face cheerful. “Today’s events scared me to death!”
Jiang Chunai said, “Yes, I was almost in trouble. I never expected it to end like this.”
Yan Linglong sat down with a smile and said mysteriously, “Today wasn’t an accident, you know. Zeng Jun has done so many bad things, he was bound to get caught sooner or later!”
“Also, I was the one who secretly went to find Senior Sister Han Xiao!” she said, smiling as if asking for praise.
Hearing the name “Han Xiao,” Jiang Chunai froze. “Ah? How did you know to find Han Xiao beforehand?”
Yan Linglong continued, “It was last night. I was drinking at the tavern at the foot of the mountain and heard Zeng Jun talking behind your back. I knew something was wrong!”
“As soon as I got back, I saw the lights on at Zeng Jun’s place, so I listened in. I put two and two together and thought of finding someone to help you, Senior Sister. I knew my own strength wasn’t enough, so I sent a voice transmission to Senior Sister Han Xiao. I never thought she’d actually come!”
“It’s still early, Senior Sister Chunai. After your shift guarding the secret realm is over, you’ll still come to the sword hall to guide me, right?”
Jiang Chunai slowly nodded. “Yes, I will come and guide you.”
“Hee hee, I knew Senior Sister Chunai was the best!” Yan Linglong threw her arms around Jiang Chunai in a hug. “Senior Sister Chunai and Senior Sister Han Xiao are from the same master, so your sword techniques must have similarities! I’ll secretly learn diligently from you, Senior Sister Chunai, and next time I see Senior Sister Han Xiao, I can show her a thing or two!”
“Yes… we are from the same master,” Jiang Chunai said, forcing a smile, her mind elsewhere.
The tear that had been welling in her eye finally fell.
Why?
Han Xiao had a proud and cold personality, while she was gentle and peaceful.
This had nothing to do with her junior sister.
Her junior sister only knew that they were both disciples of Immortal Lord Yang Nian and that their sword techniques must be similar. What was wrong with her wanting to learn a move or two from her to show off to Han Xiao?
It was just that after that night, Jiang Chunai no longer had such childish wishes. That was the price of seeing those shimmering, crimson-flushed eyes.
Her junior sister didn’t know that Jiang Chunai liked Han Xiao.
Finally, Jiang Chunai remembered the last thing Han Xiao had said to her.
I didn’t come because of you.
Of course. The voice transmission talisman hadn’t been sent by her, Jiang Chunai.