Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 123

Li Jin’an had thought she would quickly leave this timeline, just like her previous two rapid jumps through time, but that wasn’t the case. She stayed on Qingxiao Peak for a full three days!
Three days!
During this time, Chixin Sword Lord even came by, wanting to take her back to the Sword Sect, but Li Jin’an sternly refused. She felt Qingxiao Peak was very good and definitely didn’t want to return to the Sword Sect. She was happy to stay on Qingxiao Peak, but Chixin Sword Lord was not. Too lazy to bother with her inexplicable disciple, she returned to Chixin Peak alone.
It was still early dawn, just before daybreak, when Li Jin’an watched Chixin Sword Lord’s solitary figure slowly walk out of Qingxiao Peak in the wind and snow. The mournful feeling she hadn’t understood in her youth, she now finally comprehended.
The reason Chixin Sword Lord was unwilling to linger on Qingxiao Peak was simple—even if Lunar Peak was renamed Qingxiao Peak, it still retained its old scenery. Every blade of grass and tree remained unchanged. A single glance could evoke countless memories, and the chilling aura felt as if the departed stood beside her, gently smiling and watching her, as if they had never left. To be in such a place would only drive one mad. Thus, Chixin Sword Lord dared not stay long on Qingxiao Peak. Even an extra glance could give rise to countless delusive thoughts and confusion, and even a normally unyielding sword cultivator could become entangled by inner demons. If her unlucky disciple didn’t want to leave, then she would just leave herself.
Xie Huaixue walked out, stood beside Li Jin’an, and watched Chixin Sword Lord depart with her.
“For tens of thousands of years to come, my master will never walk out of this snowy night,” Li Jin’an said, standing under the eaves, her expression profound. She raised her hand to catch a snowflake.
From then on, no heart for a good night, let the bright moon set beyond the western tower.
No matter how earth-shattering or passionate the past between Chixin Sword Lord and Yinyue Monarch had been, it all culminated in one sentence: In the 68,467th year of the Immortal Calendar, in the Wuchen year, Chixin Sword Lord completely lost her Dao companion, her wife. It was like a storybook beloved by many, eagerly followed, and never wanted to end; even the longest tale finally reached its conclusion.
“If it were in the past, I wouldn’t have thought so much,” Li Jin’an said, unusually serious and contemplative. She turned her head to look at Xie Huaixue, curving her lips with difficulty, and finished her sentence, “Now, I can truly empathize.”
Without waiting for Xie Huaixue to speak, Li Jin’an retracted her gaze, quietly watching the sky slowly brighten. Suddenly, she asked an unrelated question.
“If I were severely injured during an escape, and a great demon beast was lurking outside the only cave I could hide in, what would you do?”
This was a question whose answer was known the moment it was asked. Thus, when Li Jin’an looked at Xie Huaixue again, her gaze inevitably carried a hint of sadness and worry.
Li Jin’an, having thoroughly experienced the power of the space-time turbulence, could understand Chixin Sword Lord’s feeling of helplessness just by imagining the pressure Qingxiao Immortal Venerable had to face—blaming heaven and earth, hating heaven and earth, and ultimately blaming her own powerlessness. What could change an unruly sword cultivator, besides love, was the hatred of knowing her Dao companion was in danger yet being powerless to do anything.
In the timeline before the last, she shouldn’t have been soft-hearted. She should have stabbed that vile creature Lan Ci to death on the spot!
Lan Ci, Futu Valley, Ming Xuan…
Li Jin’an had never hated those names so much. Suddenly, her throat tasted sweet with blood. To prevent Xie Huaixue from worrying, she forcefully calmed herself, stopping herself from thinking about these matters further.
Xie Huaixue answered without hesitation, “I would lure away that great demon beast.”
“I see.” Li Jin’an sighed softly, continuing to press, “And what if, at the same time, the cave is unstable, crumbling, and about to collapse at any moment? What would you do then?”
“Stabilize the cave.” Xie Huaixue’s voice was flat, without any fluctuation. This was her usual demeanor. No matter what she did, or how turbulent her emotions were internally, her outward appearance was always one of calm depth and composure. Those four words sounded light and airy, but Li Jin’an knew that when this person acted, she would leave no room for error.
“Having to lure away the great demon beast AND stabilize the cave, that’s so troublesome and dangerous,” Li Jin’an said, her emotions too complex, all her worries coalescing into a bitter laugh. It turned out that Jijin Sword Sovereign and Qingxiao Immortal Venerable were not omnipotent. They were merely mortals in the secular world. Even losing to Xie Huaixue a thousand times, never being able to win, and becoming known as the ‘second best for a thousand years’ by the common folk, hadn’t given Li Jin’an such a feeling of despair.
The reason she was so uncharacteristically vulnerable was that she had figured out why she was able to stay in this timeline for three days—Qingxiao Immortal Venerable had been helping her stabilize the “cave” from outside this timeline. What other reason could there be besides that? Li Jin’an, no matter how confident and arrogant, didn’t believe she was universally adored. Besides Xie Huaixue, who else would treat her like this?
If there were other possibilities, of course there were. In such a situation, either the Heavenly Dao intervened, or a mighty immortal from the immortal realm, at the Tribulation Transcendence Completion stage or above, casually shifted the timeline while roaming through the space-time turbulence… However, the Heavenly Dao was sneaky; it never did anything a human would do, certainly not like someone doing good deeds anonymously. And it had been a very long time since a mighty cultivator had ascended in the cultivation world; the last ascender was ten thousand years ago. Her previous two time travels had almost cost Li Jin’an half her life, yet she was now able to recover safely. Someone must have put in enormous effort behind the scenes. Clearly, only her own Dao companion would be so dedicated and painstaking for Li Jin’an.
“It’s not troublesome.” Xie Huaixue smiled elegantly, her brows relaxing slightly for some reason. “It is where my heart belongs.”
Whoosh, Li Jin’an’s face instantly flushed red. To exaggerate not at all, her cheeks, ears, neck… every exposed patch of skin was red, looking inexplicably alluring and dewy, and her originally pale complexion began to glow. How did this person do it? Just a few words could have an earth-shattering effect, making one’s heart melt into a puddle, and instantly dispelling all worries. She was so busy being shy, she couldn’t think of anything else.
“…You’re too much of a rule-breaker,” Li Jin’an mumbled, rubbing her burning ears. “You made me forget what I was going to say in an instant.”
Just now, she had been wallowing in self-pity, utterly miserable, her whole self crumpled. Now, though still a bit awkward, she truly seemed to have recovered her former demeanor.
“Although I don’t know what happened, I hope you can wait for her patiently. She will arrive soon to pick you up.”
“You’re unusually generous this time,” Li Jin’an said, glancing lightly at Xie Huaixue, huffing. “You don’t know what happened? Do you think I’d believe that?”
To put it nicely, Qingxiao Immortal Venerable was well-read and exceptionally intelligent. To put it plainly, Qingxiao Immortal Venerable was as cunning as a demon, and calling her a master of divine foresight wouldn’t be an exaggeration. In the mortal world, there were old Daoists who read palms and told fortunes based on birth dates; some were accurate, others had their stalls overturned. Xie Huaixue, however, was different. She didn’t need to perform calculations; she guessed everything accurately, as if she had been present herself.
Xie Huaixue lowered her gaze and smiled, then gently raised her eyes, looking directly into Li Jin’an’s. After a moment of thought, she said seriously, “I guess you won’t believe me.”
Li Jin’an had been wondering what Xie Huaixue would say, especially with her solemn demeanor, which had made her nervous. Who knew she would just say that?
“…You’re teasing me.”
Xie Huaixue did not deny it; instead, she straightforwardly admitted, “Yes, I am teasing you to make you happy. This way, both I and she can put our minds at ease.”
Li Jin’an’s mouth twitched. She earnestly advised, “A family doesn’t need to speak with two voices. We don’t need to make things complicated and cause widespread panic between us, okay? Okay!” She quickly answered her own question, setting the tone for the matter by herself.
Otherwise, she really couldn’t take it anymore! She was clearly very devoted, having found only one Dao companion. But the result? Could Qingxiao Peak really accommodate so many Xie Huaixue’s? Once was a little fun, two or three times… soon it would truly be no different from having an affair. Where did such intense jealousy even come from?!
Xie Huaixue gave a soft “mm,” with a hint of a smile, as if both mocking and teasing. Li Jin’an also smiled. The two stood side by side, admiring the snow under the eaves, watching the sun slowly climb up.
It wasn’t until the sunlight fell on her eyes that Li Jin’an came back to her senses. She raised a hand, wanting to grasp a ray of sunlight. “The sky has cleared.”
“I am already on my way to pick you up. You must wait patiently,” Xie Huaixue said softly to Li Jin’an, standing within the halo of light.
“Okay.”
No one would believe this more, or trust Xie Huaixue more, than Li Jin’an.
…
And this wait lasted for more than ten days.
During this time, Li Jin’an did not see Chixin Sword Lord, Jingting Daoist, her noisy disciples, or friends like Jiang Fengmian. There was only Xie Huaixue, and no one else. The previous timelines she had visited were incredibly lively, but this one suddenly became quiet and slow. The only sounds echoing were their own heartbeats.
Serene and peaceful.
Li Jin’an quite liked these days, if only Xie Huaixue didn’t restrict her from practicing swordsmanship. Whether it was the infant who couldn’t even speak, or the accomplished Jijin Sword Sovereign, their commonalities weren’t just their domineering personalities, but also their consistent dislike for reading. Meanwhile, recreational activities on Qingxiao Peak were pitifully few. After a heavy snowfall, Qingxiao Peak was covered in silver, and no birds or beasts were in sight. Li Jin’an couldn’t even find prey to hunt.
She was actually quite willing to accompany Xie Huaixue in reading, mainly because she was infatuated with her beauty, staring blankly at Xie Huaixue’s profile. But after a while, it inevitably became boring, and she’d think about stretching her limbs or practicing sword moves. At such times, Xie Huaixue would put down her book, looking at her with extreme disapproval. Her cool eyes were utterly serious, and her thin lips parted slightly. “No.”
People, it seemed, always wanted to do something more the more they were forbidden from it. Li Jin’an had never felt such a profound love for the Way of the Sword. It was as if she had returned to the first time she touched a sword hilt, her interest in swordsmanship burning like a raging fire. She constantly wanted to sneak away from Xie Huaixue’s sight, draw her Blazing Radiance Sword, and heartily perform a set of sword arts, even if it was just a basic one! Unfortunately, Xie Huaixue understood her body and injuries better than Li Jin’an herself. If she said no, it was no, no matter how much Li Jin’an cajoled.
Li Jin’an, with wide eyes, accused, “Xie Huaixue, your heart is as cold as iron!”
Unable to resist Li Jin’an’s various ploys, Xie Huaixue chose a compromise. “How about I perform swordsmanship for you?”
“That’s excellent!” Li Jin’an clapped her hands and laughed loudly.
The Immortal Venerable, with an aura as chilling as autumn frost and a commanding presence, wielded her sword under the night sky, like the lonely, cold moon hanging high above the firmament, or like cold jade shining brightly. The tip of the sword thrust forward, and then Xie Huaixue’s cold eyes lifted. As those eyes met Li Jin’an’s blank stare, they seemed to curve slightly at the corners. The immortal crossed the celestial river and walked before the bewildered mortal.
Li Jin’an instinctively approached Xie Huaixue, took her hand, and danced the sword with her.
Suddenly, the sky and earth collapsed, and the entire world shook and crumbled. Li Jin’an looked up at the rapidly blurring world, hearing the frantic beating of her heart.