Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 68

Jie Yunjin was perhaps the first person, aside from elders, to notice Xie Huaixue’s extremely strong possessiveness towards Li Jin’an.
Although she had only been a pure-blooded human for merely twenty-odd years, and only had a subtle fondness for Li Jin’an, it was even more impossible for her to find a female snake for a wife after returning to her ancestral form as a snake. Her emotional experience was quite lacking. However, as a debauchee who had frequented pleasure dens, she easily saw Xie Huaixue’s abnormality.
In this regard, Jie Yunjin was a hundred times more perceptive than Li Jin’an.
Early on, during the days she spent with Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue after reverting to her ancestral snake form, Jie Yunjin noticed that Xie Huaixue was extremely wary of anyone who approached Li Jin’an. Xie Huaixue would subtly scrutinize everyone, and only if she deemed them harmless would they be allowed to interact with Li Jin’an.
If Xie Huaixue deemed someone harmful… Li Jin’an wouldn’t even get the chance to meet them.
From then on, Jie Yunjin developed immense reverence for Xie Huaixue. By Xie Huaixue’s standards, Jie Yunjin shouldn’t even be on the Lancang Continent. After all, she had dragged Li Jin’an through every possible amusement in the outer city!
While drinking tea and listening to storytellers, one might find pipa players to accompany them with songs…
That would have been fine, but what was truly peculiar was this:
Li Jin’an detected absolutely nothing, and Xie Huaixue also believed her actions were perfectly normal. In short, both of them were completely oblivious, yet they both thought their own and each other’s behavior was fine and entirely acceptable.
One was an ice block, pure as untouched snow and aloof, yet explosively possessive. The other was an easily agitated, cursing blockhead.
One rarely spoke, the other rarely spoke sense.
One cultivated the Emotionless Path, the other had a brain as thick as a rusted iron sword.
Amidst constant skirmishes, they maintained a precarious relationship that, no matter what, never broke.
What a remarkably eccentric pair!
Thus, Jie Yunjin not only revered Xie Huaixue but also began to revere the entire mysterious group of cultivators. This led to her feeling no sense of belonging to the human, demon, or demonic races. It was clear how profoundly these two had influenced her, leaving an indelible mark on her snake life.
Had Li Jin’an not threatened her relentlessly, she would never have voluntarily approached either of them.
Jie Yunjin sat on the second floor of the tea house, gazing up at the sky with profound weariness. If developing even a slight fondness for Li Jin’an was a monstrous crime she had committed, then she now deeply recognized her transgression, regretted it bitterly, and was willing to actively reform!
“Why are you sighing again? Is some little snake going to lay eggs for you?”
Jie Yunjin didn’t respond to Li Jin’an right away. Instead, she looked behind her, then left, right, up, and down, but saw no one. She turned her bewildered gaze back to Li Jin’an.
Li Jin’an was even more confused than she was. “What are you looking for? Is a snake demon chasing you?”
Approximately, Jie Yunjin thought, they’re all troublesome fiends who won’t let me live in peace.
“No, I was checking if Xie Huaixue came with you.”
“She didn’t come.” Li Jin’an still eyed her suspiciously. “What, you’re not afraid of Xie Huaixue anymore?”
Before coming to see Jie Yunjin, Li Jin’an had been racking her brains trying to figure out how to mislead Xie Huaixue. After all, what she was discussing with Jie Yunjin wasn’t exactly friendly to the Dao Sect. But then, Xie Huaixue’s cold poison showed signs of acting up again, and Li Jin’an immediately wanted to ditch Jie Yunjin and stay to transfer spiritual energy to Xie Huaixue.
Xie Huaixue stopped her, saying that thanks to Li Jin’an’s previous help, this cold poison flare-up wasn’t serious, and she even praised her.
Before Li Jin’an could even react, she found herself groggily in the town at the foot of the Dao Sect mountain. Upon arriving, she saw Jie Yunjin looking around like an idiot, even trying to peer into her hair part. Could she really hide someone in her hair?
Jie Yunjin looked at Li Jin’an with a hint of profundity. “The ‘fear’ you imagine and my ‘fear’ are probably not the same kind of fear.”
Ever since she transformed into a snake, she had been avoiding Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue. Not only had these two brought about earth-shattering changes, making her realize she wasn’t human but a little white snake, but also because she felt both their minds were quite abnormal.
Although she was no longer human, she felt that, in terms of sanity, compared to those two, she was extremely normal.
Li Jin’an also thought Jie Yunjin was insane, speaking gibberish. She probably was scared by the endless stream of snakes seeking refuge with her. Li Jin’an looked at her several times with pity.
After acquiring a dao companion, one tended to pay attention to their friends who were still single. Li Jin’an then realized that her few friends were destined never to find romantic dao companions.
Jiang Fengmian, needless to say, her secret crush on Xie Huaixue was destined to come to a fruitless end. Luckily, she wasn’t sad or upset at all. She was currently troubled by Qi Lingzi and the other two who had sought refuge on Mount Xuanyu. As for Shang Dangge, she looked down on living people and only cared about their spiritual stones, unless she could find a spiritual stone spirit. The former two at least had preferences, but Jie Yunjin was even worse off. Humans, demons, and demonic races were all outside her scope for a partner, and she didn’t like inanimate objects like spiritual stones.
So, Li Jin’an’s gaze towards Jie Yunjin became even more benevolent.
“…” Jie Yunjin stared at her expressionlessly. “Though I don’t know what you’re thinking, I’m sure it’s impolite, so please don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
Li Jin’an sighed regretfully. She had actually planned to tell Jie Yunjin her discovery.
These old friends truly know her too well.
“Alright, out with it. Why did you summon me as if my life depended on it?” Jie Yunjin suddenly thought of something and sat up straight. “Let me make this clear first: if you’re asking me to help you fight Xie Huaixue, I’m powerless. I’m afraid I’d be captured before I even set foot in the Dao Sect!”
As a self-aware little snake, even with her ancestor’s demon core, she didn’t believe she could stir up trouble in the Dao Sect’s territory. Currently, she had no plans to add another achievement to the renowned Jingting Dao Lord’s list of merits.
She was genuinely afraid that the thick-headed Li Jin’an would ask her to secretly infiltrate the Dao Sect and ambush Xie Huaixue — Li Jin’an had told Jie Yunjin this more than once when Xie Huaixue made her stomp her feet in anger.
But Jie Yunjin never took Li Jin’an’s words to heart. After all, what sane person would be sworn enemies and still stick together? Only these two eccentrics.
“You should see me in a new light after three days apart. You’re still seeing me with old eyes. I didn’t call you for that.” Li Jin’an looked a little sheepish as she said, “Xie Huaixue is my dao companion now. I definitely can’t deal with her like that anymore.”
“Oh.”
Wow, she finally got enlightened. What wonderfully great news.
“Aren’t you shocked?” Li Jin’an widened her eyes.
Jie Yunjin thought for a moment, then retorted, “Did you defeat your dao companion? If you did, then I’ll be absolutely shocked.”
Always saying unpleasant things.
“…Alright, alright, let’s get back to business,” Li Jin’an said. “We’re going to deal with Xie Huaixue’s second disciple!”
In Jie Yunjin’s eyes, Li Jin’an was talking utter nonsense with a straight face. She forced a strained smile. “What’s the difference? Do you two have to drag me into your flirting?!”
Is this a bit too hospitable? Why share everything?
This made Jie Yunjin feel as if Li Jin’an was trying to drag her into a private affair whenever Xie Huaixue wasn’t around.
Xie Huaixue wouldn’t get angry with Li Jin’an, but wouldn’t she get angry with her?
“Look, you’re rushing again. Just let me finish speaking.”
Jie Yunjin gave her a deadpan stare, waiting for Li Jin’an to spout some earth-shattering drivel.
Li Jin’an was concise: “Xie Huaixue’s second disciple is a half-yao.”
Jie Yunjin’s eyes, which had been narrowed to slits, instantly widened. She grabbed a handful of peanuts and melon seeds from the table, cracking them open and popping them into her mouth. She was intrigued. “What’s going on? Tell me!”
She thought she was already well-traveled and knowledgeable, but she had truly never encountered a case where an Immortal Venerable’s disciple was a half-yao.
Don’t be fooled by the Dao Sect’s extreme tolerance for Li Jin’an and Jijin Peak; that was entirely due to Xie Huaixue and Jingting Dao Lord. In its normal state, the Dao Sect could be said to gather the most stubborn old fogeys in the cultivation world. In other aspects, the Dao Sect always upheld the principle of “Not of our race, their hearts must be different” and “Better to kill mistakenly than to let one slip.” They never entertained the idea of humans and demons coexisting peacefully.
Had Li Jin’an not repeatedly urged and begged, Jie Yunjin would never have set foot in the Huanlang Domain, which showed the Dao Sect’s formidable reputation.
“Her situation is largely similar to yours. She carries the complete inherited legacy of a great demon. So I thought, since you’re so experienced, exposing her shouldn’t be a problem.”
“…Could you explain in more detail? Like, how did you discover this? I’m genuinely curious.”
Jie Yunjin felt deep doubts about Li Jin’an’s intelligence. Her eyes clearly spelled it out: This isn’t something Li Jin’an could possibly discover.
“Don’t concern yourself with that,” Li Jin’an’s expression twisted for a moment.
How else could she have known? The deranged Heavenly Tome, of course.
Jie Yunjin, however, misunderstood. She thought Li Jin’an was influenced by her environment, learning from Xie Huaixue’s ways, covertly scrutinizing everyone around Xie Huaixue.
So Jie Yunjin winked and made faces at Li Jin’an, making strange noises with her mouth. “Yo-yo-yo.”
Li Jin’an fell silent for a moment, then genuinely asked, “Is your eye twitching? Is the air very hot, or why can’t your mouth stay still? Did you manage to stir-fry two dishes in your mouth? If you want to eat, eat it yourself, don’t entertain me.”
Excellent. Talking past each other.
In this rather stream-of-consciousness conversation, they simply couldn’t communicate effectively. Both thought it unwise to avoid seeking medical help and that the other person really ought to see a medical cultivator about their brain.
There’s a reason some people become friends.
Jie Yunjin pretended not to hear her barrage of questions. “Let’s get back to how we’re going to expose Xie Huaixue’s second disciple.”
She absolutely did not want to know how Li Jin’an discovered that Xie Huaixue’s second disciple was a half-yao. It was simply too likely to shatter their friendship beyond repair.
“Alright then.”
The two of them reached a difficult consensus.
“Do we need to expose this in public? Won’t that lower Xie Huaixue’s prestige? She’s such a prominent Immortal Venerable, and she’s been deceived by her own disciple for so long. It wouldn’t sound good if word got out.”
Li Jin’an recalled the peculiar fate of those three troublesome brats and how the Heavenly Dao had stopped them so many times. She gritted her teeth. “Yes, we’ll expose her in public. There’s a perfect opportunity coming up: the day the top thirty disciples from the Two Sect Grand Competition enter the Secret Realm.”
It had to be firmly established for all to see. Otherwise, Li Jin’an worried Zhong Fei might rise again and cause more trouble. It wasn’t fear, but annoyance, like a flea that couldn’t be crushed, utterly vexing.
Li Jin’an had a strong sense of foreboding. If those three troublesome brats died, she’d still check if it was a false death, if they’d rise from the ashes.
It wasn’t that she was overly cautious; sometimes, the Child of Destiny could be so illogical.
Being disgusted once was enough; she wouldn’t let those three troublesome brats repeatedly disgust her and Xie Huaixue.
“Hiss!” Jie Yunjin gasped, looking at Li Jin’an in utter shock. She leaned forward, asking conspiratorially, “You’re not trying to defeat and destroy Xie Huaixue by indirectly saving the nation through becoming her dao companion, are you?”
Li Jin’an: “…Can’t you wish me well for once? I’m not, I didn’t!”
Jie Yunjin remained suspicious.
“We have a proper dao companion relationship! I just feel it’s unfair to Xie Huaixue. Aside from occasionally annoying me, she has been worthy of the sect, worthy of humanity, worthy of everyone. There shouldn’t be such cunning people approaching her with ulterior motives!”
“Moreover, it’s not Xie Huaixue who harbors ill intentions. Even if she isn’t warm enough, she has fulfilled her duty to instruct, teach, and clarify for her disciples. She’s not the one in the wrong, so how could her prestige be damaged?”
Li Jin’an said in a cold, indifferent tone, “If there truly is some muddle-headed person who dares to spout baseless accusations in front of Xie Huaixue, I’ll make them retract every word they uttered.”
Jie Yunjin said doubtfully, “Then if anything goes wrong, don’t you two blame me. I don’t want to be caught in the middle.”
Finally, she sighed with emotion. “It’s been hundreds of years, and you’ve finally learned to care for Xie Huaixue.”
She had harbored immense possessiveness for this person for a very long time. After an extended period, she finally persuaded them to realize their feelings, and at last, they saw the light of day. And now, her dao companion’s disciple was discovered to be a half-yao.
Anyone who witnessed this would have to say that Immortal Venerable Qingxiao’s otherwise smooth life had only one pitfall: Jijin Sword Sovereign.
And that pitfall was so deep that once she dove in, she couldn’t climb back out.
Thinking this, Jie Yunjin looked at Li Jin’an with reverence and made a promise. “Don’t worry, as long as you don’t make me revert to my original form or put snakes in front of me, I will do my utmost in everything else. After all, I’m your friend and I’m very experienced.”
Before Li Jin’an could feel relieved.
“Oh, right, the Dao Sect won’t hunt me down, will they? Is my life in danger?”
“No, none at all. Rest assured!”
Jie Yunjin still wasn’t entirely at ease, but she was already involved too deeply. She could only continue to discuss with Li Jin’an how to expose Xie Huaixue’s second disciple’s true identity and completely deter anyone with ill intentions from approaching Xie Huaixue again.