Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 121

Lan Ci and Zhong Fei had originally intended to secretly condemn Jijin Sword Sovereign’s condescending and bullying conduct, and feign misery to gain sympathy from their revered master. However, before they could even begin, they were slapped in the face by earth-shattering news, leaving them no time to make an appropriate reaction. They could only stare blankly at Xie Huaixue, their eyes utterly hurt.
Li Jin’an found the two vile creatures’ gazes highly improper. She stepped forward, blocking Xie Huaixue’s figure, and looked down from the steps, saying lightly, “You two may withdraw. Go do whatever you need to do—cultivate, find friends, anything. Just don’t be an eyesore here.”
Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Ling Qiu were so excited their faces flushed red, and they repeatedly nodded, having no objections at all. “Master, Master’s wife, we’ll go now!”
Hearing those two titles, Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue both chuckled lightly, tilting their heads to look at each other.
Their gazes met and then parted.
Li Jin’an curved her lips upwards. “You three are the cleverest.”
Tan Yanyi blinked with starry eyes in Xie Huaixue’s direction, then pushed her luck, asking, “We finally have a master’s wife, and we’re so, so, so happy! So Master, can we spend three days in the Dao Sect together, sharing this joy?”
To put it simply, she didn’t want to return to the Sword Sect’s academy to practice swordplay; she wanted to have a blast in the Dao Sect!
On such matters, Ling Qiu couldn’t possibly let her second senior sister fight alone, so she repeatedly echoed, “Such joyful news needs to be celebrated greatly! Otherwise, how can it reflect your persistence and painstaking efforts, Master?”
Qi Lingzi couldn’t say flattering words, but she nodded. “Right!”
Li Jin’an almost laughed out of exasperation. She snorted coldly with a half-smile, looking at her three pitiable disciples, then waved her hand grumpily. “Alright, I promise. Now hurry up and go.”
Silly children, she didn’t know when she might leave this timeline; the promised three days might not even last one.
The three disciples didn’t know what she was thinking, but they were moved by their understanding and responsive master, and they ran off, jumping and cheering.
As the three left elatedly, it highlighted how unsociable and unpleasant Lan Ci and Zhong Fei were. Perhaps they themselves realized how out of place they were, for they could only bid farewell to Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue dispiritedly, like stray dogs, involuntarily clenching their teeth as they uttered the four words “Jijin Sword Sovereign.”
Their completely unaggressive venting of anger only made Li Jin’an happily raise an eyebrow. When she smugly turned back, she noticed Xie Huaixue’s expression was a little off, holding a hint of an enigmatic smile.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Li Jin’an sensed something amiss but asked directly, still quite carefree.
Xie Huaixue shook her head. “I just think that like master, like disciple.”
Li Jin’an was even more puzzled. “Why bring that up suddenly?”
“I’ve noticed that both master and disciples are very stiff when changing the subject. Without any groundwork, they abruptly state their true intentions. Truly a pair of master and disciple.”
Who this referred to, and what incident, was truly hard to guess.
Li Jin’an looked up at the sky, instantly transforming from her usual lively, high-spirited self into a listless, weary, and dispirited state. Her mind held but one thought—
These damn old scores would never be settled, would they!
Li Jin’an rubbed her face, closed her eyes, and flopped stiffly onto Xie Huaixue, embracing her neck and crying out indignantly, “Put aside whether we’re ‘master and disciple’ for a moment. We’re Daoist companions! Sometimes, you need a little more tolerance and care for a foolish Daoist companion, don’t you think?”
The hand Xie Huaixue used to support Li Jin’an’s waist suddenly paused.
“I think that’s good.” A more abrupt voice suddenly sounded, continuing excitedly, “Huaixue, that’s where you’re wrong. Those are things from twelve hundred years ago; how can you still remember them so clearly? You’re not thinking about them over and over every day, are you?”
Li Jin’an’s eyes snapped open with a ‘swish.’ She stared blankly at the suddenly appeared Jingting Dao Lord, and said, unfazed, “You really are on time every single time.”
Any excitement on Yinyue Peak or Qingxiao Peak, and she would definitely arrive immediately.
Nonstop, as if afraid she wouldn’t be able to join in.
Jingting Dao Lord replied uncertainly, “Thank you for the compliment. Should this venerable one continue to make persistent efforts?”
Li Jin’an stared at her blankly, greatly puzzled and shocked. “Aren’t you working hard enough in this regard?”
When it came to watching the excitement on Yinyue Peak, Chixin Peak, Qingxiao Peak, and Jijin Peak, Jingting Dao Lord already went to any lengths. She wanted to continue working hard? What on earth was she trying to do!
“You can understand it as us being perfectly in sync with each other.”
“So were you just as perceptive when our respective masters first started falling in love?” Li Jin’an asked curiously.
Jingting Dao Lord stammered, attempting to change the subject, and then acted as if she was the victim. “We’re talking about you two right now, don’t change the subject.”
“…Just delude yourself then.” Li Jin’an pursed her lips and gave Jingting Dao Lord a thumbs up.
What else could one do with someone who pretended ignorance when they knew full well? She only hoped Jingting Dao Lord could be just as composed when facing Yinyue Primordial Monarch and Chixin Sword Lord.
Just as Li Jin’an thought this, she heard Jingting Dao Lord ask, “Oh right, does your master know about this?”
As she spoke, Jingting Dao Lord pointed at their hands, still clasped together and not yet let go.
“No.”
Jingting Dao Lord smiled mysteriously, her face full of an expression that said ‘Chixin Sword Lord is nothing special.’ It was unclear what she was comparing herself to Chixin Sword Lord across the air.
Li Jin’an found the relationships between these elders truly complex. If you said Jingting Dao Lord liked Chixin Sword Lord, then why would she be so snarky? Jingting Dao Lord wasn’t Li Jin’an, after all. If you said she detested Chixin Sword Lord, that wasn’t quite it either. Even if Chixin Sword Lord cursed and mocked her, Jingting Dao Lord could simply let the spit dry on her face, displaying an unusual level of patience and tolerance.
If anyone else dared to spout nonsense in front of Jingting Dao Lord, their soul would likely be scattered the moment the words left their mouth, utterly destroyed like Zhong Fei, leaving not even a speck of dust.
“…Don’t act like that in front of my master, or don’t blame me if she drags you into a fight.” Li Jin’an said, planning ahead, staring vigilantly at Jingting Dao Lord, afraid she might go crazy and drag everyone down to perish together.
Jingting Dao Lord smiled in a good mood. “Don’t worry about that. I won’t do something that costs me eight hundred to kill a thousand, not until the very end.”
Li Jin’an silently pulled Xie Huaixue back a step, then leaned close to her ear and loudly ‘conspired,’ “Let’s keep our distance from her. We don’t want any blood splattered on us then.”
Xie Huaixue cooperatively retreated, smiling faintly. “Okay.”
“Impolite juniors,” Jingting Dao Lord commented.
“We’re not those young people who suddenly had the whim to go to Three Realms Mountain twelve hundred years ago anymore. Our disciples are already quite old, so you shouldn’t be constantly keeping tabs on us. Have you no shame?”
“No shame.” Jingting Dao Lord was serious for a second, then smiled again, unsure if she was speaking truthfully or just joking. “I promised Yinyue I would look after you two well.”
“You can hand over the keys to your private treasury to me.” Li Jin’an said, feigning righteousness.
“…Don’t even think about it.”
“Alright.” Li Jin’an wasn’t angry. She leaned softly against Xie Huaixue’s shoulder, raising an eyebrow to smugly look at Jingting Dao Lord.
“Oh my, oh my, I never thought our Jijin Sword Sovereign would become so clingy after finding a fated partner…”
Before she could finish, Jingting Dao Lord’s expression suddenly changed. In the second before space-time stilled, she tried to reach out and stop it, but to no avail.
“Space-time flux…” Jingting Dao Lord’s tone carried a mix of surprise and understanding.
Li Jin’an’s eyes snapped open in astonishment. She thought, As expected of an old senior, truly experienced and knowledgeable.
That thought flashed through her mind. She turned her head to glance at Xie Huaixue. In that extremely limited time, nothing seemed sufficient to express her feelings. So she tugged at the corner of her lips, and called out, almost sighing, “A-Huai, ah.”
Xie Huaixue’s eyes trembled.
Immediately after, Li Jin’an lost all consciousness.
…
“Hiss.”
The sensation of her spirit and Sea of Consciousness being ripped apart made Li Jin’an stagger unsteadily, almost falling to the ground. Luckily, a hand supported her.
She had already arrived in the next timeline.
Li Jin’an smelled a comforting scent. She slightly opened her eyes, seeing Xie Huaixue, who was pursing her lips in silence but whose eyes were filled with worry. She then lowered her gaze to the sword tassel clutched in her hand and immediately understood what time it was.
It was the time when she would casually remove the sword tassel from her Blazing Radiance Sword after a fight and give it to Xie Huaixue as an apology, so that next time, she could shamelessly continue fighting.
It was precisely this moment: just after a fight, having lost, she still had to give something, so she was holding her breath in frustration.
Li Jin’an gasped. Her head was still splitting. She didn’t care about anything else, lazily collapsing onto Xie Huaixue and placing the sword tassel in Xie Huaixue’s palm.
“It’s fine if there’s a formation placed within the sword tassel; I’ll be very fond of it soon.”
She finished speaking with a smile, and without even waiting for Xie Huaixue’s reaction, Li Jin’an directly closed her eyes.
Oh no, not again?
In the time it takes to say a single word, I have to time travel again?
This damn space-time turbulence doesn’t even let people catch their breath, does it?!
“Ugh…”
Li Jin’an couldn’t bear it. Ignoring the time or place, she propped herself up with her hands on the ground, her back trembling as she retched until the corners of her eyes turned red. Only when snow fell on her did she feel slightly better. She looked up, instantly freezing in place.
Countless figures stood silently on Qingxiao Peak, with Xie Huaixue’s slender form at the very front. Snowflakes rustled, falling from the sky, dyeing Qingxiao Peak a pure white, a vast and desolate scene.
—This was after Yinyue Monarch’s demise.
This scene could only be fully encapsulated by one line: You lie buried beneath the spring, your bones dissolved to dust; I linger in the mortal world, my head covered in snow.
Li Jin’an was already feeling unwell, and seeing this scene made her immediately vomit a mouthful of stagnant blood, her eyes bloodshot as she stared.
Chixin Sword Lord glanced at her indifferently before looking away.
Li Jin’an’s vision went black, and she fainted again.
When she woke up again, it was already deep night.
Li Jin’an’s throat felt itchy, and she couldn’t help but cough violently. Out of the corner of her eye, a handkerchief suddenly appeared. She took it without thinking and muffled her coughs with it. It was a long while before the itch in her throat subsided.
Just as she was about to put away the handkerchief, that hand pulled it away again. Li Jin’an was startled, instinctively reaching out to take it back. But that hand gave her no room to react, simply unfolding the handkerchief for her to see.
It was bloodstains.
Li Jin’an didn’t even have the strength to glare at Xie Huaixue, weakly saying, “Just a small issue, I’ll be fine soon. Don’t worry about me.”
Now that Yinyue Monarch had just returned to the heavens and earth, how could she bear for Xie Huaixue to worry about her? Besides, she wasn’t wrong. Given the current frequency of time travel, she might jump to the next timeline in the very next second, and Li Jin’an would still be full of life there.
So there was no need to worry.
Li Jin’an quietly awaited Xie Huaixue’s reaction. Suddenly, a cool drop of water landed on the back of her hand.