Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 53

The air fell into complete silence, with only two soft breaths echoing against each other.
Li Jin’an didn’t respond, and Xie Huaixue didn’t speak again. Everything became still.
The spacious hall didn’t become silent; instead, it felt as if it were filled with something invisible.
Li Jin’an profoundly crossed her arms, staring up at the ceiling. This beam is truly beamy, this wood is truly woody, and my ears are truly hot…
Hiss!
Don’t make noise, she’s thinking.
“…”
Couldn’t think at all!
Xie Huaixue said please, Sword Sovereign!
Xie Huaixue was begging her!
Begging her to forgive Xie Huaixue!
Aaaah!
Li Jin’an continued staring at the ceiling, trying to stare a flower into existence. Her mind was like mush, a chaotic mess, just about ready to be served hot.
Her original intention for bringing up the disciple-acceptance ceremony was to accuse Xie Huaixue of her immoral act of casually shirking responsibility. But she had accused Xie Huaixue to her face at least a thousand, if not ten thousand, times before. Who knew why this time was different?
Perhaps it was because her previous accusations were all unreasonable, just looking for trouble…
From the moment Xie Huaixue’s words landed until now, she hadn’t fully recovered. She only felt that her occasionally erratic mind was like the bell a little monk in a temple rings daily, dong-dong-dong, shaking ceaselessly, with echoes.
Sword Sovereign didn’t know, Sword Sovereign was numb, Sword Sovereign’s soul was floating…
After she nonchalantly maintained this posture for a quarter of an hour, the person beside her cast a gaze her way and softly asked, perplexed, “It seems Sword Sovereign is unwilling to forgive me. What should I do then?”
Li Jin’an, whose entire face had changed color, slowly turned her head. There was no hiding it now; her whole body was simply one color—red, crimson, fair skin flushed with red.
Her clothes were crimson brocade, her hair ribbon red, her chest-pressing jade pendant was tied with a red cord, and her sword tassel was also woven from red cord. Her cheeks, ears, neck… any exposed skin was red. One unaware might think she had just emerged from a swim in lava.
Extremely festive.
Only children dressed as red envelopes by their parents during Chinese New Year could compare with her, barely putting up a fight.
Out of the corner of her eye, Li Jin’an saw the puzzled, slightly melancholic expression on Xie Huaixue’s face. She knew, with high probability, that this person was deliberately teasing her, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh. She coughed, and in a seemingly nonchalant manner, said, “This Venerable, in her great mercy, will give you a chance to atone.”
Xie Huaixue raised her gaze to look at her, her eyes gentle.
She said nothing, yet it was as if she had said everything.
Immortal Venerable remained cool and stern in appearance, only her occasional glances, when they touched Sword Sovereign’s flushed face, softened.
Li Jin’an wanted to fan her hot cheeks to cool them down, but it wouldn’t be proper to do so directly. So, using the excuse of giving Xie Huaixue a chance to atone, she took hold of Xie Huaixue’s fair wrist, which she had coveted for a long time. “This Venerable’s cultivation is perfected, and my inner fire is abundant. I have so much spiritual energy I don’t know what to do with it. You can help me share some of it.”
Xie Huaixue nodded, playing along with her words. “All right, I’ll help you.”
Sometimes, Li Jin’an truly admired her own quick wit.
This way, she could help Xie Huaixue clear her meridians, her own burning cheeks could cool down, and Xie Huaixue wouldn’t need to tease her anymore. Three benefits with one action!
However, she had still overestimated herself. When she set off, she thought she was fully prepared and came over with a fierce aura. Who knew Xie Huaixue would reduce her to her original state with just a few words…
It wasn’t that she disliked Xie Huaixue speaking to her like this. It was simply that for the past thousand years, she had known Immortal Venerable Qingxiao as aloof and unyielding, someone she could never defeat. That original impression was deeply ingrained, and Xie Huaixue acting like this now was truly unfair!
It was like a beggar, who often didn’t know where their next meal would come from, suddenly being recognized by a wealthy noble family and indulging freely in delicacies. They would surely eat until their belly was round and they were utterly stuffed.
Li Jin’an was likely in this state now. Before coming, she had truly intended to be more reserved…
After all, Xie Huaixue liked her, not the other way around. She had planned to take a firm stance, but who knew, who knew!
If the smile on her face wasn’t so cheap, it might have been a bit more convincing.
Li Jin’an tried with twelve parts of effort to suppress the corners of her mouth, but it was in vain. She puffed out her cheeks again, attempting to look serious.
Xie Huaixue raised her other hand and caressed Li Jin’an’s puffed-out cheek, gently tapping it and pressing down her bulging lips before turning her head to chuckle softly.
Li Jin’an gazed blankly at Xie Huaixue’s exquisitely refined profile. Her cheeks, which had just cooled down, suddenly began to heat up again.
She vaguely felt that Xie Huaixue had discovered some extraordinary switch and was enthusiastically experimenting with it on her, pressing it again and again, utterly disregarding her plight!
Li Jin’an, returning to her senses, looked at Xie Huaixue in disbelief. Was she a donkey turning a millstone? Constantly tightening and loosening, wasn’t she afraid of breaking her?
Xie Huaixue sensed her gaze, turned her face back, and tilted her head, as if puzzled, yet smiled gently at her.
“What’s wrong?”
Nothing much, just feel like my soul is leaving my body, as if my three souls and seven spirits have abandoned me.
Li Jin’an swallowed. Her gaze started to unfocus again, and her entire being felt light and airy. In a daze, when circulating her spiritual energy, her meridians nearly went astray, so she quickly stopped transmitting spiritual energy to Xie Huaixue.
This was no joke. If her meridians went astray and spiritual energy ran wild, not only would Li Jin’an suffer misfortune, but since she was transmitting spiritual energy to Xie Huaixue, they might even achieve the feat of a Sword Sovereign and an Immortal Venerable both suffering qi deviation simultaneously.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Li Jin’an said fiercely, her expression somewhat menacing, yet her tone was a little soft. “It’s just… it’s just that you should be serious! Don’t… don’t tease me…”
As she spoke, Li Jin’an’s voice trailed off. She froze, suddenly realizing something—in the past, when Xie Huaixue didn’t like her, she could yell and be incredibly tough in front of Xie Huaixue. Why was it that now Xie Huaixue liked her, her treatment had worsened instead of improving?
Xie Huaixue wasn’t even speaking harshly to her, so why did she unconsciously start acting subservient?
Jijin Sword Sovereign, who had been tempestuous for over a thousand years, was utterly bewildered.
Xie Huaixue withdrew her wrist, slowly smoothing her sleeve. Her gaze was earnest as she said, “I wasn’t teasing you. I was getting close to you.”
“…”
Unsolvable, utterly unsolvable.
Li Jin’an heard the sound of her heart swelling like a tide, overwhelming everything. What had been brewing before began to stir restlessly, fermenting and surging, as if to engulf her.
Her heart at this moment no longer belonged to her; it was completely engraved with the three characters: Xie Huaixue.
This time, she didn’t freeze. Instead, she firmly raised a hand to cover Xie Huaixue’s lips. After they stared at each other, she thought for a moment, then used her other hand to cover Xie Huaixue’s eyes as well.
Only then did she dare to breathe.
Otherwise, she truly would have lost her composure.
The lips pressed against Li Jin’an’s palm moved slightly, and warm, moist air followed, spraying onto her palm.
A surge of vibrant itchiness spontaneously arose, continuously spreading from the depths of her heart.
Li Jin’an was startled, and repeatedly said, “Don’t speak yet! I beg you, don’t speak!”
Spare her and her little heart!
She didn’t want to be the first Sword Sovereign in the cultivation world to die of embarrassment from a few words spoken by her rival Immortal Venerable. That would be too disgraceful!
She had thought too little earlier; she wasn’t prepared at all to face Xie Huaixue!
She had still underestimated Xie Huaixue and overestimated herself.
Couldn’t handle it, truly couldn’t handle it!
The eyelashes beneath her palm trembled.
Li Jin’an took her trembling as agreement. Only after taking a few deep breaths did she have the strength to exclaim, “Xie Huaixue, if you had been like this before, I absolutely wouldn’t have sought you out for fights every day. I would have run as far as I possibly could!”
These were words from the bottom of her heart, utterly sincere.
If Xie Huaixue had treated her so “maliciously” when she was younger, never mind becoming the Sword Dao’s champion, gaining the title Jijin Sword Sovereign, and fighting Xie Huaixue every day… she feared she wouldn’t have even lived to this age.
Li Jin’an appraised Xie Huaixue with new eyes, feeling for the first time that Xie Huaixue had been so benevolent to her, not pursuing her to Jijin!
She would never again call Immortal Venerable Qingxiao cold and heartless. This was clearly an unparalleled, benevolent person who saved people from suffering.
Could there possibly be anyone more gentle, kind, and pure than Xie Huaixue?
There wouldn’t be!
Xie Huaixue said nothing.
Li Jin’an was about to ask why she wasn’t speaking, then saw the hands covering Xie Huaixue’s face. She gave an embarrassed smile and lowered her hands.
Xie Huaixue blinked, adapting to the light, then looked steadily at Li Jin’an and asked, “What about now?”
“Huh?” Li Jin’an looked at her, baffled.
“Will you still run now?”
“…”
Li Jin’an leaned against the table, feeling she couldn’t let this continue. Being led by the nose by Xie Huaixue wasn’t good; she needed to turn the passive into the active.
That earlier display was too pathetic. She wasn’t like the old and young back home; she bore the mission of bringing glory to Jijin Peak!
“Tsk, hard to say.”
A fleeting smile flashed in Xie Huaixue’s eyes. She then clearly asked, “Why is it hard to say?”
Li Jin’an found it tiresome. Xie Huaixue had seen through her intentions yet chose to cooperate, making her seem childish.
“You know, there are so many grudges and entanglements between famous Sword Sovereigns and Immortal Venerables in the cultivation world, too many to count. If one isn’t careful and someone runs off, it’s quite normal, isn’t it?”
Of course, that wasn’t the real reason.
As soon as a certain Sword Sovereign thought that the most pure and radiant, deep-running Immortal Venerable in the cultivation world couldn’t escape her charm and was deeply in love with her, she couldn’t help but want to make strange cackling noises. Not being overly joyful was already a good thing.
The fundamental reason was that the Immortal Venerable always spoke ambiguously, saying things that made the Sword Sovereign misunderstand, but never clearly expressed her feelings.
Surely, Li Jin’an’s understanding of Xie Huaixue couldn’t be the sole basis for believing Xie Huaixue liked her, could it!
What if she guessed wrong?
Wait!
No, no, something was twelve parts off, out of ten!
She felt she had been foolish.
Li Jin’an suddenly leaned closer to Xie Huaixue, her eyes fixed intently on the other’s face. She was wondering if Xie Huaixue was also waiting for her to confess first?
She had been losing for over a thousand years; it was about time she gained the upper hand in this matter.
From now on, she should be the one in charge. Hehehe, it should be fine for them to throw a match as a family then, right? As for whether outsiders would realize they were faking it, it didn’t matter…
“Then could you please help Qingxiao convey to that Sword Sovereign, don’t run, wait for Qingxiao,” Xie Huaixue replied, betraying no emotion.
Li Jin’an’s eyes, already blazing like fire, now held three parts of aggressive intensity. She hooked a strand of Xie Huaixue’s long hair that had fallen onto her shoulder, wrapped it around her hand, and smirked. “I will certainly deliver the message to that Sword Sovereign for Qingxiao.”