Chapter 13: Murong Huaping and Ming Jingqiu

Bai Xiaoxiao learned that Rong Qingqing had already gone down the mountain on the morning of the next day, right before her swordsmanship class.

Still, the girl hadn’t traveled alone. She’d gone with one of the Sect Master’s personal disciples and an inner-sect senior sister.

Bai Xiaoxiao wasn’t the least bit surprised. After all, Rong Qingqing was only at Foundation Establishment. She was certainly carrying some life-saving items that Shen Zhiyue had given her, but it was completely reasonable for someone making her first trip down the mountain to be nervous and want companions.

The question was, which personal disciple of the Sect Master had gone with her…

She remembered that Sect Master Yan had four disciples. The eldest disciple, Qi Yinxue, had been raised almost like an heir, so she usually helped Sect Master Yan handle internal sect affairs.

The youngest disciple, Ye Xingtong, was out of the question too. Her cultivation had barely reached Foundation Establishment, and on top of that, she clashed with Rong Qingqing’s role. Both of them were “little junior sisters,” and since they’d joined the Sword Sect in the same year, they’d never gotten along.

That left only the second disciple, Bai Suwei, and the third disciple, Murong Huaping.

Information about the important figures on the Main Peak quickly flashed through her mind, and Bai Xiaoxiao felt a twinge of regret.

This part wasn’t in the original novel. Rong Qingqing had indeed gone down the mountain to train, but in the story, she’d teamed up with a few inner-sect senior sisters. Apart from Ye Xingtong, Rong Qingqing seemed to maintain good relationships with all the senior sisters of the Main Peak.

So either of those two was possible.

Just as the thought settled, Bai Xiaoxiao felt a sting on the back of her hand. She hastily snapped back to reality, only to find herself pinned under the Tenth Elder’s death glare.

It turned out she’d been so lost in thought that her sword strikes had lagged several beats behind, and her absent-minded, half-hearted demeanor had been caught red-handed.

A cold snort came from beside her ear. Bai Xiaoxiao’s heart lurched. She knew it was coming.

Sure enough—the scolding arrived late, but it arrived.

“Bai Xiaoxiao! This is class time! Do you know how far you’ve fallen behind everyone else?! If I catch you again, you’ll train for an extra shichen!”

Bai Xiaoxiao shuddered so hard she nearly dropped her sword. She hurriedly straightened her expression and didn’t dare think any more.

After all, one shichen was two whole hours…

After being scolded, Bai Xiaoxiao immediately behaved herself. Her expression turned serious, and even her sword swings carried noticeably more force.

Unfortunately, she remained the Tenth Elder’s primary target for the rest of the session. Bai Xiaoxiao didn’t dare slack off for even a moment, keeping her face taut and practicing without pause.

It wasn’t until today’s swordsmanship class finally ended that Bai Xiaoxiao’s heart began to relax. But when she happened to glance up, her peripheral vision caught a razor-sharp gaze from the Tenth Elder, and her whole body stiffened.

“Sister, looks like you’ve been marked by the Tenth Elder.”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s face went rigid, and she wanted to cry but had no tears. “I can tell.”

Being marked by an elder was an absolutely terrifying thing. The little sprouts all knew full well how fearsome the Tenth Elder was, and now they looked at Bai Xiaoxiao with expressions full of sympathy.

Cold sweat poured down Bai Xiaoxiao’s forehead. She ran her laps with extreme care and, at last, managed not to give the elder any excuse to find fault.

She just wasn’t sure if it was her imagination—when the elder left, the look she shot Bai Xiaoxiao seemed to have “I’ll be watching you” written all over it in huge letters.

Bai Xiaoxiao smoothly slid her gaze away, wiped the cold sweat from her brow as if she’d seen nothing, and when Ming Jingqiu came to find her, she hurriedly left Knowledge-Seeking Peak with her as if ghosts were chasing them.

The only consolation was that her study of Flying on a Sword had finally borne some fruit. After constant practice, she’d managed to grasp a bit of technique, and now she could fly in a crooked, wobbly fashion. The catch was that she couldn’t fly too high, or she’d grow dizzy and panicky inside.

Ming Jingqiu, having suddenly learned this reason, was deeply puzzled. “What did you say? Fear of… heights? Truly unheard of. How could a cultivator be afraid of heights?”

Bai Xiaoxiao laughed sheepishly, not knowing how to explain that she was a cultivator who’d taken up the path halfway. In the end, she managed to squeeze out one sentence: “Maybe it’s because I’m a spirit beast that lives on the ground.”

Ming Jingqiu’s pupils trembled, and then her expression turned doubtful.

Spirit beasts… actually had such a thing?

As the two chatted, a streak of spiritual light flashed across the sky. In the blink of an eye, it abruptly turned around and landed on the ground.

Before Bai Xiaoxiao could see who it was, a hearty laugh reached her ears first.

“Hahaha, oh Jingqiu, so you’re here! I had the hardest time finding you.”

Ming Jingqiu visibly paused, and a strange expression suddenly crossed her face.

Bai Xiaoxiao soon understood why.

The woman who’d arrived was wildly enthusiastic. She zipped right in front of Ming Jingqiu, giving her no time to react, and threw her arms around her in a hug. At the same time, two palms slammed against Ming Jingqiu’s back with a bang-bang-bang.

Bai Xiaoxiao watched in shock and uncertainty, genuinely wondering whether Ming Jingqiu’s bones would be broken by those pats.

“Senior Sister Murong. It’s been a while—your grip has gotten stronger again.”

A muffled voice laced with helplessness sounded out.

Ming Jingqiu struggled to lift her head and barely managed to rescue her breathing. The expression on her face had turned strange—half helpless, half nostalgic.

Bai Xiaoxiao watched the two, and her gaze gradually turned hungry for gossip. She quietly crouched down, resting her chin in her hands as she watched the exchange.

But that surname was familiar. The other party had the compound surname Murong… could she be Murong Huaping?

What a coincidence.

In the novel, Murong Huaping was Sect Master Yan Sui’s third disciple, but what she practiced was the heavy sword.

Actually, Murong Huaping should originally have become Elder Fengwu’s disciple. After all, Elder Fengwu also used a heavy sword. Unfortunately, Fengwu didn’t want to take on disciples.

Even though Murong Huaping’s aptitude was excellent, she was born with monstrous strength, and she’d come specifically because of Elder Fengwu’s reputation—they were practically a match made in heaven as master and disciple.

But because Fengwu absolutely refused to budge, in the end, it was Sect Master Yan who couldn’t bear to let a good seedling be buried and accepted the apprentice on behalf of her unhelpful junior sister.

As for Murong Huaping’s actual instruction, however, Sect Master Yan insisted that Elder Fengwu handle it.

Elder Fengwu argued with all her might, but she’d always been outwitted by this Eldest Senior Sister of hers, so in the end, she agreed.

Thus, on the surface, Murong Huaping’s Shizun was the Sect Master, but in truth, it was Elder Fengwu who taught her.

And Murong Huaping truly was suited to the heavy sword. She was stubborn to the bone and ruthless with herself. Sometimes even Fengwu would repeatedly praise her, saying that this girl had her own flair from back in the day.

Now, Murong Huaping’s cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul stage. Among her peers, she had few rivals—worthy of being called a favored daughter of heaven.

As for why she and Ming Jingqiu were so familiar with each other, the reason was simple.

When Elder Fengwu had brought Ming Jingqiu back, the girl was only in her teens. At that time, Murong Huaping was a single step away from Nascent Soul, and naturally much older than Ming Jingqiu.

Because Murong Huaping often cultivated with Elder Fengwu, she had her own residence here as well.

When she saw Elder Fengwu bring back a child, and then learned that the little girl had suffered a sudden tragedy at such a young age, Murong Huaping felt deep sympathy. She couldn’t help but take an interest in the child. After every cultivation session, she would come by to see her and tease her.

That sort of relationship continued until Ming Jingqiu formally became Shen Zhiyue’s disciple.

But the friendship between the two remained. Whenever Ming Jingqiu went out training and saw something fun, she would bring a gift back for Murong Huaping.

When reading the novel, Bai Xiaoxiao had always thought the dynamic between these two senior and junior sisters was oddly easy to ship. It was just that Ming Jingqiu had died young, and Murong Huaping, due to her sudden turn to darkness in the later period and her crazed targeting of the protagonist, hadn’t come to a good end either.

Bai Xiaoxiao guessed that Murong Huaping must have learned some truth, which was why she’d crazily targeted Rong Qingqing.

But none of that had happened yet. Both sisters were still alive and well.

While Bai Xiaoxiao was lost in these reflections, Murong Huaping had already released Ming Jingqiu. “You even noticed that? I’ve been practicing a new cultivation method recently, and I’ve made real progress—my strength has grown a bit, hahaha. I didn’t hurt you with those pats, did I?”

Ming Jingqiu shook her head and, without changing expression, circulated her spiritual power to wipe away the bruises on her back.

Murong Huaping didn’t notice. As she was speaking, her peripheral vision caught what seemed to be a shadow nearby. She turned her head and only then realized it was a person crouching there.

“Oh? Who is this junior sister? How come I’ve never seen you before? Jingqiu, is she a new friend of yours?”

Ming Jingqiu froze for a second, a hint of hesitation on her face. She didn’t know how to introduce Bai Xiaoxiao.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaoxiao stood up and said with a smile, “Greetings, Fellow Daoist Murong. My name is Bai Xiaoxiao—the Sword Venerable’s spirit pet. That little snake.”

Murong Huaping walked over with a surprised expression, circled around Bai Xiaoxiao to examine her carefully, and gaped. “You’re that little snake?! Wait—weren’t you the dim-witted one?”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s smile remained unchanged. “Mm… I was a bit dim-witted before. I’m better now.”

Murong Huaping was startled again. “How remarkable! You can even shapeshift!”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s gaze drifted. “I simply chanced upon an opportunity. I suppose my luck was rather good.”

Murong Huaping didn’t overthink it and said openly and cheerfully, “Then your snake luck really is something, hahaha—”

Seeing that no new questions were coming, Bai Xiaoxiao relaxed and let out a couple of agreeing chuckles.

Ming Jingqiu found it a little amusing. She stepped forward and asked, “Senior Sister Murong, what did you come looking for me for?”

Murong Huaping clapped her hands. “Ah, right—I almost forgot. It’s like this. I heard from Master that the Flowing Light Spirit Cave Secret Realm is about to open. This secret realm restricts cultivation to below the Golden Core stage.

It won’t be difficult for you, but the important thing is that there are plenty of spirit herbs and spirit medicines inside. Maybe you’ll find exactly what you need.”

A warmth rose in Ming Jingqiu’s heart. Then she thought of something, and her expression suddenly froze. “Senior Sister Murong came all this way specifically just to tell me this?”

Murong Huaping guiltily rubbed the tip of her nose. “I… of course not—”

But when she felt the gaze on her turn sharp, her words veered. “Alright, fine. There really is something I wanted to ask your help with. My little junior sister is making a fuss about going into the secret realm to train. I thought, if you happened to be going, you could help look after her a bit.

Xingtong’s cultivation has already broken through to Foundation Establishment, but I’m still a little uneasy about her going alone. Isn’t that why I thought of you?”

A flash of understanding passed over Ming Jingqiu’s face. “So Senior Sister came not to see me, but only to ask for my help.”

Murong Huaping was greatly alarmed. “Jingqiu, how could you think that? Of course I mainly came to see you, and just mentioned this along the way. If you don’t want to, I won’t force you! How can you think of your Senior Sister as so scheming?”

Ming Jingqiu’s eyes darkened for a moment, but she quickly looked away. “Understood. Whatever Senior Sister says, then.”

“Then you agree?”

Ming Jingqiu nodded.

Murong Huaping immediately sighed in relief and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Xingtong’s cultivation is low, but Shizun treats her quite well—she even gave her a Sword Intent.

Besides that, she’s carrying plenty of life-saving spirit artifacts on her. If you ever run into a crisis you can’t solve, just throw her out and make a run for it.”

Ming Jingqiu: “…”

Bai Xiaoxiao was shocked: “?”

…Is that right?

Does Ye Xingtong know she has a senior sister who’d set her up like this?

Bai Xiaoxiao quietly shuffled a few steps away from this woman who spoke such wild nonsense.

Having said her piece, Murong Huaping patted Ming Jingqiu’s head, then left with a hearty laugh, leaving the two of them staring at each other.

[Side quest triggered: Host, proceed to the Flowing Light Spirit Cave Secret Realm and seize the Female Lead’s opportunity.]

“…”

Bai Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and put on a polite smile.

“Fellow Daoist Ming, would you mind one more person? Since I took human form, I’ve never gone down the mountain, and I’m quite curious about the secret realm.”

Ming Jingqiu’s expression hesitated. She kept feeling that Bai Xiaoxiao wasn’t genuinely curious—otherwise, why would those words sound as though they’d been squeezed out from between her teeth?

“Fellow Daoist Bai, if you’d like to go, it’s best to ask Shizun first, isn’t it?”

Ming Jingqiu neither refused nor agreed, but tactfully reminded her.

Bai Xiaoxiao was stunned. Only then did she remember a serious problem.

If she went to the secret realm, what about the Gu Poison?!