Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 103

Li Jin’an didn’t know her secrets were almost seen through by Yinyue Monarch. She only knew her mood was incredibly joyful, so happy she even wanted to perform a set of sword techniques on the spot—
She was going to see her Dao Companion from her youth! Could there be anything happier than this?
Li Jin’an joyfully rushed into Yinyue Peak’s back mountain. The array formation accepted her without any obstruction, as if warmly welcoming another master every time she entered.
Why she knew Xie Huaixue was in the back mountain was because Xie Huaixue’s movements in her youth were very simple: accompanying Yinyue Monarch to read, fighting with Li Jin’an, and cultivating in meditation. Besides these three things, she would occasionally disappear.
In the past, Li Jin’an thought Xie Huaixue found her annoying. Every time she was about to get angry and complain, Yinyue Monarch would soothe her, so she never delved deeper into the matter. Now, as the Jijin Sword Sovereign from a thousand years later, she naturally knew why Xie Huaixue occasionally disappeared.
—That damned chilling poison.
Li Jin’an passed through one cave after another. Upon reaching the cold pond, she couldn’t help but sneeze repeatedly, her nose tip red from the cold, shivering.
The originally proud sword cultivator, after traversing the back mountain caves, immediately looked wilted.
How careless! The current Jijin Sword Sovereign, not yet at the Nascent Soul stage, couldn’t withstand the cold pond’s power at all.
She squinted to look. Xie Huaixue, clad in white robes, was meditating in mid-air above the cold pond, absorbing its chilling energy. Her eyes were closed, her face calm and unruffled. She bore the immense pain of ‘fighting poison with poison’ remarkably well, reserved, self-possessed, and profoundly deep.
A thousand years ago and a thousand years later, Xie Huaixue always had the demeanor of chilly spring, graceful and composed. She had never changed.
In her youth, the Immortal Venerable’s features were cool and aloof, her posture straight, her eyes always tempered with icy mist, unapproachable, like a true immortal undergoing tribulation in the mortal realm. But Li Jin’an was different. She was a mischievous mortal monkey. A corner of her robes was always singed by fire, because her control over power was insufficient, and she pursued rapid breakthroughs. She either burned others or herself, getting scolded by her master every day, yet she remained unruly and arrogant.
Li Jin’an watched in fascination. She simply swept aside her robes, sat cross-legged by the shore, and propped her chin on her hand, gazing at the young Immortal Venerable Xie.
Was her supreme, enlightened, dearest, most beloved Dao Companion a bit too thin? Her figure seemed a little too slender.
It wasn’t until Xie Huaixue opened her eyes and looked with slight surprise at the person who shouldn’t have been there, that Li Jin’an snapped back to reality.
She quickly stood up, her eyes crinkling with a smile, waved at Xie Huaixue, her voice unconsciously carrying a hint of coaxing. “Come here.”
Xie Huaixue looked at Li Jin’an, who had two different faces compared to the day before yesterday. She pursed her lips and took a few steps forward.
The next second, she was enveloped in a warm and ardent embrace.
A joyful voice rang in her ear, “Xie Huaixue, you’re so well-behaved!”
On her way to the back mountain, Li Jin’an had been thinking about what her first words would be if she met the young Xie Huaixue. She had thought of many things, but the moment she saw the person, all her plans were tossed aside—she wanted to give Xie Huaixue a big hug!
To hug the Dao Companion who had endured all losses alone in her youth, and to exert herself to comfort Xie Huaixue, who had walked many paths alone, trudging on by herself, and still had to wait for her foolish childhood sweetheart to come to her senses.
Xie Huaixue froze and looked up at her blankly.
Li Jin’an released the embrace. Seeing Xie Huaixue still dazed, she couldn’t resist pinching her cheeks, pinching and rubbing, still using her familiar dough-kneading method.
She could no longer hold back and burst into wild laughter.
Hahahahahaha!
Still the best touch in the world. Like cold jade, warm, cool, and clear.
It was her turn to declare her feelings first and give Xie Huaixue a fright!
Just thinking about the earth-shattering, ghost-wailing things she was about to do, Li Jin’an was incredibly excited.
“Why aren’t you speaking?” Li Jin’an puffed out her cheeks, raised an eyebrow, and immediately, skillfully turned the tables. “Do you have nothing left to say to me?”
“No.” Xie Huaixue paused, still having her face pinched, but she still truthfully said, “I haven’t thought of what to say.”
Li Jin’an reluctantly withdrew her mischievous hands, instead taking Xie Huaixue’s cold hand, warming it with spiritual power, and said magnanimously, “It’s fine, I have a lot to say. You listen carefully later.”
“Oh right, what time is it now?”
“Late Youshi, almost night.”
Li Jin’an subconsciously interlocked her fingers with Xie Huaixue’s and waved her free hand. “I was asking what year this is. Never mind, just tell me how old you are this year.”
Xie Huaixue lowered her gaze, her eyes lingering on their clasped hands, then uncomfortably shifted her gaze away. “Twenty-one.”
Twenty-one is twenty-one, what’s the big deal… Wait, hold on! No way, no way! Could such a cruel and inhuman thing really happen?! Before, it was always digging up old debts. Now, great, she’s back at the scene of the old debts? Heheheheheh. Ancestral Master above! How could you be so cruel to your beloved grand-disciple?! This is going to kill her!
For some reason, Xie Huaixue’s voice sounded inexplicably low to Li Jin’an. “Mm.”
Li Jin’an couldn’t laugh anymore.
She slumped her face, her arm rigid, truly not knowing if she could continue holding Xie Huaixue’s hand.
The two fell silent and walked out of the cave together, neither speaking anymore.
Li Jin’an couldn’t bear such a strange atmosphere, feeling prickly all over, and had to quietly plead for mercy. “Let’s not talk about this matter for now. I will deeply realize my mistake in the future and make significant amends.”
—The kind where she’d offer her whole self.
She could feel Xie Huaixue’s clear gaze sweep over her face, and then she responded with a faint “Mm.”
Thank goodness, the future Qingxiao Immortal Venerable was still very reasonable.
Emerging from the back mountain, Li Jin’an paused, suddenly remembering something, and instantly grimaced. “Jingting Dao Lord conspired with my master to corrupt your master, followed us to Three Realms Mountain, and secretly watched me confess to you!!”
Xie Huaixue was silent for a moment, then softly gave an “Mm.”
“Come on, let’s go accuse these disrespectful, unscrupulous elders!”
The two, holding hands, walked into the cave abode and immediately met three pairs of gleaming eyes.
Indeed, Jingting Dao Lord, who was always at the forefront of amusement, arrived as expected and was not absent.
Meeting the gazes of the three elders, Li Jin’an sat down with her head held high and chest puffed out, her hand still not releasing Xie Huaixue’s.
“I have a very important announcement to make!”
This was a matter that would shake the entire cultivation world to its core!
Jingting Dao Lord enthusiastically raised a hand in an inviting gesture. “Please speak.”
“Xie Huaixue and I will become Dao Companions in one thousand two hundred and fifteen years.” Li Jin’an said with immense pride. She even raised their clasped hands and waved them in front of the three elders, her expression could only be described as supremely smug.
However, everyone’s reaction was quite peculiar, not as excited as Li Jin’an had imagined. Instead, they looked at her with strange expressions, their gazes quite impolite.
Li Jin’an pouted in great dissatisfaction and protested, “What are those expressions for? Aren’t you shocked?”
Chixin Sword Lord clicked her tongue and directly retorted, “One thousand two hundred years! Why don’t you wait ten thousand years to form a pact?! How big of an idiot are you to delay for so long? You didn’t spend a thousand years fighting with Huaixue, did you?!”
Although Chixin Sword Lord had poor eyesight and didn’t notice her disciple’s obvious abnormality, she undoubtedly understood her very well, guessing accurately every time.
Yinyue Monarch glanced lightly at her. Didn’t she know to save the child some face? Truth could be so hurtful.
“An’an, don’t listen to your master’s nonsense. An’an is the most unique An’an. There’s no need to walk another’s path; being yourself is wonderful.” Yinyue Monarch said with a peaceful and inclusive demeanor, very gently. “An’an and Huaixue have lives they must experience. Only they can decide which path to walk.”
Even they, as elders, couldn’t comment on or interfere with the lives of the younger generation.
What if good things arrived a little later?
Li Jin’an was moved to tears, and glared at her own birth master, who truly lacked tact.
Chixin Sword Lord quieted down and perfunctorily responded, “Mm-hmm, Sovereign is right.”
Jingting Dao Lord also added, “Golden rules and jade laws! A word from you is worth ten years of study. Little Jin’an, you must remember this well.”
Li Jin’an couldn’t be bothered with these two. She turned to look at Xie Huaixue as if realizing a blind spot, straining her head closer, her face full of doubt. “Why aren’t you shocked? I’m your future Dao Companion!”
Everyone’s reactions confused her too. The people in the cultivation world were utterly shocked when they learned of this, so why were things different with her close ones?
She had planned to give them a big scare! Why was it completely different from what she imagined!
Xie Huaixue turned her head away and smiled slightly shyly. “Shocked, but also happy.”
Li Jin’an’s face uncontrollably flushed red, her gaze darting. She tried not to look at the person beside her, and could only transfer the excessive heat with her hand.
How could young Xie Huaixue’s words also be so overwhelming…?
Meanwhile, Chixin Sword Lord on the main seat and Jingting Dao Lord opposite her were already groaning in dismay.
Xie Huaixue gently finished her sentence. “Happy for the future Xie Huaixue.”
Jingting Dao Lord agreed profoundly. “Indeed, having such a future Dao Companion, Huaixue has truly suffered.”
Li Jin’an didn’t want to blame Xie Huaixue, so she could only glare resentfully at the talkative Jingting Dao Lord, swaying her head strangely. “Oh yes, in the future, you and my master will also suffer, still playing that ‘kings never meet’ game. Is it love unspoken? Hmph!”
She also grimaced in extreme disdain.
The moment the flames of war were about to blaze, Yinyue Monarch urgently called a halt to an impending war and asked softly, “An’an, did you get some treasure of foresight? Can you tell Sovereign about it?”
Li Jin’an also quieted down, her entire being becoming very still. She gripped Xie Huaixue’s hand tightly and looked at Yinyue Monarch with an extremely sorrowful gaze.
Xie Huaixue seemed to sense something. She lowered her eyes and remained silent, her expression merely becoming even more distant.
Yinyue Monarch gleaned something from her expression and smiled even more calmly and gently. “An’an, don’t be afraid. Sovereign also has her own path to walk.”
Chixin Sword Lord’s expression suddenly changed. She quickly turned her head to look at Yinyue Monarch.
Jingting Dao Lord suddenly understood why she and the foolish Chixin Sword Lord would become completely estranged in the future.
“I know,” Li Jin’an said, ungraciously wiping away her tears and sobbing an explanation. “I didn’t obtain a foresight artifact. I am Li Jin’an from twelve hundred years in the future, having traveled to this point in time through the space-time turbulence.”