Chapter 14: A Sword’s Startling Appearance
“Mmph—”
Ning Ruoque only dared to answer in her heart.
Perhaps you never fell for me at all.
She heard the dissatisfaction in Yin Buran’s voice but wasn’t annoyed, only adding, “If you don’t like it, then forget it. I’ll think of something else.”
Yin Buran was noncommittal.
She simply let her hair hang loose, curling up bonelessly on the chaise lounge, playing with the jade bracelet on her wrist.
“I do have a way to kill the Fei Zhi. But once it feels threatened, it will instantly drain dry the people it has parasitized.”
With only her and Qingtong, two medical cultivators, it would be difficult to save everyone in time. At that point, there would likely be countless casualties.
Yin Buran’s voice was calm. “Besides, you also know that just killing one Fei Zhi won’t solve Brightlight Pavilion’s problem.”
They had to find the source of this demonic calamity and make him pay the price.
“So the most stable method right now is to wait for people from Azurefall Creek and the Immortal Alliance to handle it.”
Ning Ruoque lowered her eyes and nodded sullenly. “I understand.”
Clearly, at the beginning, she was the one who had taken the initiative to suggest letting others take over. But after discovering the truth of the matter, she began to feel a sense of compassion.
Ning Ruoque hated her own powerlessness.
If she could kill the Fei Zhi with one sword strike and then deal with the mastermind behind the scenes, Yin Buran wouldn’t have to take the risk of staying.
Their current team was one weak, one sick, and two young ones.
Ning Ruoque was used to walking on the edge of a knife herself, but she couldn’t put others in danger as well.
Yin Buran once again covered her mouth with her sleeve and yawned, her eyes already squinting with sleepiness. “It’s good that you understand. I’m going to bathe and rest.”
She stretched out her hand, about to ask Ning Ruoque to help her up, when she saw the other person turn and walk away.
Her back was straight and silent, with a hint of an imperceptible…
Despondency.
One didn’t need to think to know that she was probably going to practice her sword again.
Yin Buran tilted her head slightly, waiting for that dark figure to completely disappear from her sight.
Only then did she sigh softly, “Fool.”
There was no moon tonight.
Still using a flower branch as a sword, Ning Ruoque practiced to her heart’s content.
The fallen plum blossom petals around her flowed down the stream, but upon closer inspection, one would find that every petal was broken.
Split in two down the middle, it was clear how clean and decisive the person’s movements were.
She quickly figured it out.
Instead of getting tangled up, it was better to practice her sword more. Improving her cultivation was the top priority.
Ning Ruoque performed a sword flourish, preparing to take this branch of plum blossoms back to Yin Buran as well.
But just as she turned around, two figures stepped into the courtyard.
Yan Lingge’s eyes instantly lit up, her face filled with undisguised joy. “Senior!”
Ning Ruoque looked her up and down. After confirming that she was not affected by the Fei Zhi, she asked softly, “Why are you here?”
Qingtong was still very cautious. She held a lantern and had already set up a barrier. “Afraid she would get into trouble again, Little Senior Sister instructed me to bring her back.”
After all, she was an unstable factor. If she got injured, who knows how many more would go crazy.
Yan Lingge obediently clutched her dress. “Thank you for the sachet, Sister Qingtong. Otherwise, today I…”
“But will I be a bother to you like this?”
It was normal for her to have such concerns. After all, when Qingtong had asked Xu Chuo for her, Xu Chuo’s expression had not been good.
It was just that for now, they were still deterred by Azurefall Creek’s power and didn’t dare to act out.
Ning Ruoque said without thinking, “No. Protecting you will avoid a lot of trouble.”
“Besides, although Yin Buran looks cold, she’s actually a very good person.”
She took out a small spirit fruit from her storage bag, stuffed it into Yan Lingge’s hand without a word, and secretly felt a pang of reluctance.
To support her words, Ning Ruoque even tried to bring up some facts.
“A long time ago, I went to Azurefall Creek to treat an injury because I was poisoned by a demon. It was Yin Buran who applied the medicine and bandaged it for me. The effect was immediate.”
It was just that it was excruciatingly painful.
“When I was leaving, it started to snow heavily. She kindly invited me to stay the night and wanted to treat me to a medicinal meal.”
She still remembered that at that time, Yin Buran’s dark hair was half-tied up, and the hem of her light green skirt was embroidered with lifelike lotuses.
Her demeanor was elegant, and her eyes were gentle.
She held a dim yellow lantern and saw her out.
But she suddenly said, “The snow is heavy tonight. Why don’t you stay and have a cup of tea with me, and try the medicinal meal I made.”
Qingtong pouted, her heart bubbling with sourness.
Not to mention that Little Senior Sister loved cleanliness and would never let a guest stay the night.
Even she herself had only tasted the medicinal meal personally cooked by Little Senior Sister when she had a high fever that wouldn’t go down.
Yan Lingge pressed, “And then?”
Ning Ruoque recalled for a moment. “Then I refused her kindness. I’m not afraid of heavy snow, and flying on a sword is very fast. I can fly hundreds of miles in an hour.”
It only took an hour to get home from Azurefall Creek.
Qingtong: …
She wasn’t surprised at all.
But Yan Lingge covered her face and exclaimed, “It’s so fast! It’s great to be a sword cultivator!”
Qingtong: ?
Wait, is being a “sword cultivator” contagious?
The little girl who had been following her on the road, worried that she would be a burden, how did she suddenly become like this!
Seeing that Ning Ruoque had already started to recount her interesting stories from back then, and Yan Lingge was also listening with great interest, Qingtong quickly interrupted.
“It’s getting late. We should rest early.”
Ning Ruoque quickly reined in her emotions and answered cheerfully, “Alright.”
Yan Lingge was still growing and had been frightened during the day, so she needed to rest.
Qingtong had treated so many people during the day and should also rest well.
Ning Ruoque watched the two of them leave, and her peripheral vision caught something. Only then did she realize that the light in Yin Buran’s room was, surprisingly, not extinguished.
She struggled for a long time between continuing her cultivation and going back to check, but in the end, she chose the latter.
There was no moon tonight.
But a gentle wind blew through the small courtyard. Even though it was still early winter, such a delicate wind was rare.
Before pushing the door open, Ning Ruoque hesitated for a moment, then turned around and went to the side room to take a cold shower.
Although there was a dust-removing spell, since Yin Buran had said she was going to bathe, it was better for her to clean up a bit more.
She entered the room with a cool, watery vapor and closed the door silently.
Then she turned past the screen and came face to face with Yin Buran.
Her white hair was half-tied up, wrapped in a rabbit-fur shawl, leaning against the couch.
She had clearly just finished bathing. The ends of her hair were still damp, and her earlobes were a faint pink from the steam.
Seeing Ning Ruoque come in, she calmly handed over a cup of tea.
And in a rare, gentle voice, she said, “Have some tea.”
A gentle wind blew past, and in a daze, Ning Ruoque felt as if she had returned to that snowy night.
Outside the house was a heavy snowfall, but Yin Buran’s Suwen Peak was like spring all year round. At midnight, the crabapple blossoms fell like rain, a beauty that did not seem of this world.
By the time she came back to her senses, she had already taken the cup of tea and downed it in one gulp—
She almost couldn’t control her expression.
What is this? It’s so bitter it makes one dizzy!
Ning Ruoque looked up, and as expected, she caught a glimpse of the slight upward curve of Yin Buran’s lips.
She suspected that Yin Buran had put coptis root in it, but she didn’t dare to ask.
She could only take one gulp after another, forcing herself to finish the entire cup of water.
Then she put down the cup and stood there reservedly again.
Yin Buran let out a sneer. “What, so happy to chat with others, but you can’t say a word to me?”
Ning Ruoque stiffened for a moment and actually began to reflect seriously.
“No… I don’t know what to talk to you about…” Most of the time, it was Yin Buran who asked the questions, and she who answered.
She quickly put the plum blossoms in the vase, then lowered her head and tried to think of a topic in silence.
But she really couldn’t think of anything. Afraid that Yin Buran would continue to bristle, she could only soften her tone to coax her. “You should sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
Yin Buran shot her a look and patted the spot beside her. “Come up.”
After a brief stalemate of a few seconds, Ning Ruoque steeled herself and sat on the edge of the couch. She only occupied a small space, the kind where she could leave with a lift of her foot.
But it still couldn’t stop Yin Buran’s “reckless behavior.”
Not only did she use her as a pillow, but she also openly grabbed a section of her sleeve.
The winter night was quiet, with only the sound of the gurgling stream.
Ning Ruoque focused her mind and regulated her breathing, listening as Yin Buran’s breathing became more and more regular.
Just as she thought she was asleep, she suddenly heard a question, “Back then, when you faced the Demon God, did you know your chances of winning?”
Ning Ruoque said with certainty, “I was ninety-nine percent sure I could kill it.”
It was to kill, not to win and retreat unscathed.
After asking, Yin Buran fell silent, leaving only a long and suppressed breath.
It was Ning Ruoque who felt a little uncomfortable, like a fish that had forgotten how to swim. It was clearly the quiet atmosphere she liked, but she couldn’t help but want to say something.
A topic came to her as if by a whim.
“Yin Buran, in your ‘memory,’ did I say anything to you before I left?”
As soon as her voice fell, Ning Ruoque’s vision went dark, and her face was smothered by a large ball of soft rabbit fur.
Her whole body fell onto the couch with a thud. “Mmph—”
