Chapter 51: Bathing Together Part 2

Shen Yanting could not fathom Bo Xuenong’s thoughts, but Gui Nian’an immediately chimed in. “Miss Bo, you’re stunning. If you think you can make it, I’ll buy a single-list heavenly splendor catalogue in the city tomorrow and vote for you.”

“Thank you!” Bo Xuenong’s gaze toward Gui Nian’an burned sincere and fervent. “Could you buy several?”

Gui Nian’an agreed without hesitation. “Of course!”

Bo Xuenong’s lips curved happily. “Gui Nian’an, you’re a pretty great person.”

Now Shen Yanting understood: Bo Xuenong was not just interested in the list; she desperately wanted on it.

Shen Yanting felt puzzled. “Xuenong, this ranking is useless and invites trouble.”

She had agonized over it for ages and did not want Bo Xuenong dragged in. But Bo Xuenong’s motives were far simpler. She held up the white porcelain doll higher, pointing below Shen Yanting’s gleaming golden name. “Master, I want to rank here—my name next to yours.”

…

Shen Yanting realized she had overcomplicated it. This little girl seemed to orbit only her.

Bo Xuenong cared nothing for temples or incense, nor rivalry. She just wanted to be next to her.

The sheer simplicity stunned Shen Yanting for a long moment.

When she finally snapped back, she followed Bo Xuenong’s finger to the ranking. Her own name topped it; Bo Xuenong’s sat at the pending list’s end. Thirty names separated them—each like an immovable thorny path, every shift drawing blood.

The list was short compared to other hundred-person rankings.

Yet… Shen Yanting felt it too distant.

Bo Xuenong’s climb was arduous; her own descent equally so.

Why descend?

Perhaps because she disdained such vanity irrelevant to cultivators. Or… perhaps to fulfill Bo Xuenong’s wish.

Shen Yanting’s fingers curled slightly, her gaze softly settling on Bo Xuenong’s name. “I’ve never taken a youth preservation pill. My looks will age one day and drop me. Why fixate on… this list?”

She meant to hint she could fall to join her.

But she swallowed the second-place reference, voicing something else.

Her heart, meant to return to its true path, still strayed, filling her with unprecedented panic.

Shen Yanting felt roasted over flames, trapped without escape, shame and heat enveloping her. She stole a breath.

The air froze for an instant.

Bo Xuenong had no idea that Shen Yanting harbored such complex emotions. Most of the time, she simply followed her heart. She gently tapped the back of the Porcelain Doll and lowered her voice to a soft whisper. “Master won’t fall. I’ll climb up to keep Master company. Not just this ranking—every single ranking Master has topped, I want to stand right beside her.”

Shen Yanting scrutinized Bo Xuenong’s sincerity. “Is this that important to you?”

“Very important.” Bo Xuenong’s eyes quietly flicked to the ranking again. “It’d be perfect if Master took first on every ranking and I took second.”

That way, she could stay right next to Shen Yanting and qualify to be her blade.

Anyone who wanted to drag down the number one spot would have to get past the number two first. She would handle the threats, while Shen Yanting hung high above it all.

Bo Xuenong was very satisfied with this vision of the future, but Shen Yanting had different ideas. “Xuenong, the student should outdo even her master. You shouldn’t always aim to stay just a step behind me. Aren’t you trying to protect me? How can you protect me if you’re not stronger than I am?”

Bo Xuenong looked at Shen Yanting with a conflicted expression. “But no matter how strong I get, Master would never fight me.”

Another long silence followed.

The trembling in her heart rang out all too clearly. Shen Yanting pressed her lips together, at a loss for words.

She had never realized how easily she could be moved before. Every time Bo Xuenong revealed her pure, sincere desires, Shen Yanting couldn’t stop her heart from fluttering.

It was probably because she knew all too well how bloodthirsty and mad the real Bo Xuenong could be that she cherished this sincerity all the more. Shen Yanting finally believed completely that Bo Xuenong would truly restrain her ferocious beast bloodline just to cater to her likes and dislikes. When she had spoken those words to Wu Qingshu, there had still been some gambling involved, but now she was certain.

Just as Wu Qingshu had said, Bo Xuenong was extremely filial.

She treated her as more important than anything else.

Shen Yanting closed her eyes, her lashes trembling faintly as a trace of guilt crept into her heart. “Xuenong, what if I hurt someone very important to you? Would you still not fight me?”

Blood-drinking, flesh-eating ferocious beasts didn’t die innocently, but thinking of them as Bo Xuenong’s family still filled her with guilt.

Not guilt toward them.

It was guilt over being unable to bear how well Bo Xuenong treated her.

Bo Xuenong tapped the Porcelain Doll again, signaling her to turn around.

The Porcelain Doll’s back stiffened slightly, but she shifted anyway.

Bo Xuenong finally had Shen Yanting right in front of her eyes. Her blazing gaze instantly engulfed Shen Yanting. “Master is the most important person to me. Whoever fights Master is in the wrong. Master, even if you just injured them, killing them would be justified.”

Bo Xuenong probably wouldn’t say that if she knew those people were her family.

Shen Yanting’s head dipped unconsciously. “What if I struck first?”

“Then they’d still be wrong.” Bo Xuenong was still grinning foolishly. “Master is so wonderful—there must be a good reason if they forced her to strike first.”

No one could have two sets of rules.

The soft words hovering on Shen Yanting’s lips never made it out.

She pointed toward the village. “Xuenong, let’s head back.”

Gui Nian’an was remarkably perceptive. She hadn’t interjected once while they talked, keeping even her movements minimal so as not to disturb them.

As soon as Shen Yanting mentioned going back, Gui Nian’an hurried toward the village end.

She had finally returned to Mistlongevity Village, and even being apart from the villagers for a moment made her heart race with panic.

—

Some villagers from Mistlongevity Village had gone to their deaths willingly, some had died of heartbreak over their children’s betrayal, and some had even taken their own lives upon seeing their children’s corpses. Even including the newly recovered Fu Aoqing and Gui Nian’an, only sixty-seven remained. Many were still unconscious, and those awake weren’t in good spirits. Arrangements for the future would have to wait until the next day.

Gui Nianqin still arranged for Bo Xuenong and Shen Yanting to stay in that small courtyard.

But this time, Fu Aoqing didn’t stay with them.

Fu Aoqing followed Gui Nianqin back home, settling into the Gui Residence just like in her childhood.

The Otherworld soul possessing Fu Aoqing had already been quietly dealt with by Bo Xuenong. With no more threat to her life and her lifespan issue soon to be resolved, Bo Xuenong and the others no longer needed to keep a constant watch on her. They let her go with peace of mind.

Besides, their paths would diverge soon enough.

They needed to get used to life without Fu Aoqing chattering nonstop by their side.

Xiang Yu hadn’t sustained any injuries, but it was her first time seeing so many dead bodies. Exhausted, she returned to the courtyard and went straight to her room to rest.

Bo Xuenong didn’t rest. At Shen Yanting’s request, she first went to the room assigned to Feng Jin and Feng Yingbo to check on the unconscious Feng Yingbo.

The comatose Feng Yingbo looked like a completely different person from her usual self—pale-faced and pallid-lipped.

Cold sweat beaded continuously on her forehead, and she murmured in her sleep now and then, seemingly calling for her mother. Each cry sounded more helpless and pitiful than the last, a far cry from her usual bright, smiling demeanor.

Only now did Bo Xuenong realize just how badly Feng Yingbo’s foundation had been damaged.

Even a minor injury had left her like this.

A more serious wound might have killed her on the spot.

Feng Jin, who usually seemed indifferent toward Feng Yingbo, now sat by the bed without even closing her eyes.

Despite her own exhaustion and shock from the day.

When Feng Jin saw Bo Xuenong and the others arrive, she lifted her eyes slightly. “Elder Shen, Eldest Senior Sister.”

Bo Xuenong casually patted her head and softened her voice to a gentle murmur. “Don’t worry too much. Shishu Feng will be fine.”

Feng Jin leaned against the bed and drew a trace of warmth from Bo Xuenong, like a drifting boat finding an anchor—the very water around it seemed to surge louder. “Eldest Senior Sister, if not for me, Feng Yingbo wouldn’t have…”

The words were already out when she realized Shen Yanting was still there.

Feng Jin hurriedly swallowed the rest and sent a transmission to Bo Xuenong’s ear. “If she hadn’t given me so much blood energy and ruined her foundation, she wouldn’t have been hurt this badly.”

Bo Xuenong lightened her touch on Feng Jin’s small head and transmitted back. “Little Jin, without you, she would have died long ago.”

This wasn’t her imagination.

The Original Book had no plot involving Feng Yingbo at all.