Lu Ning’s voice was cool and even. “What if I join her?”
All three of them were at Foundation Establishment, though Shan Hu was approaching the Third Layer.
In a one-on-one fight, it would indeed be difficult, but if the two of them teamed up against Shan Hu, they might just pull it off.
There was clearly no real danger here, yet their vigilant stance felt strangely reassuring amid an undercurrent of unease.
Jiang Ruan coughed lightly and stepped forward, placing one hand on each of their shoulders.
“Don’t be hasty. We’re here for a peaceful exchange this time.”
Shan Hu glanced at her. “This… Sister Jiang Ruan.” She flashed Jiang Ruan a sweet smile. “So, tell me what it’s about. Then I can take you to investigate.”
Jiang Ruan returned a gentle smile. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you—the matter is simply too important. I need to speak with the person in charge first.”
It wasn’t anything earth-shattering, really. She just wanted to ask which Hehuan Sect disciple had lost the hairpin and why, as well as whether anyone knew the Peach Tree Spirit’s identity. If she could learn the antidote for that strange affliction along the way, all the better.
But since it involved demons and evil entities, Jiang Ruan had no intention of divulging details lightly.
Besides, a little caution never hurt.
Shan Hu grew visibly annoyed. “Fine, then you can wait right here!”
With that, she turned to dash off.
Jiang Ruan was quicker. Her hand shot out, seizing Shan Hu’s wrist. She silently recited an incantation, her fingers twitching as she bound the other woman in place.
Shan Hu’s eyes flew wide. “What are you doing?”
Jiang Ruan replied, “Please stay a little longer…”
Her gaze shifted. “Let’s bask in the sun together.”
Shan Hu’s face paled slightly.
Han Lin strolled over to pile on. “Yeah! We might as well tie her to a tree. She’ll turn into a big lump of charcoal soon enough.”
Shan Hu’s expression crumpled into one of pure grievance.
At that moment, a Hehuan Sect disciple arrived on a flying sword and landed before them.
Jiang Ruan released her hold.
Shan Hu bolted over at once. “Sister Yun, save me!”
The woman she called Sister Yun shot her a glare. “You don’t look like you need saving. This is all on you.”
Shan Hu pouted.
Jiang Ruan remained on her guard.
After all, she had just “bullied” one of their fellow sect disciples. An apology was probably in order.
With that thought, Jiang Ruan prepared to make amends.
But Sister Yun offered a soft smile instead. “Shan Hu must have caused you trouble. You’re from the Mirror Moon Sect, yes? Please, follow me. I’m the one assigned to receive you this time.”
She carried herself with gentle poise, though the subtle charm at the corners of her eyes and brows likely stemmed from her Hehuan Sect cultivation arts.
Shan Hu latched onto her arm. “What’s going on? I want to listen in too, Sister Yun. Pretty please?”
Jiang Yun gave her head a light push. “You can come, but no asking questions or blabbing.”
Shan Hu clapped a hand over her mouth and nodded vigorously.
Jiang Yun turned to the group with a smile. “Everyone, this way, please.”
Jiang Ruan and Han Lin exchanged a glance before following Jiang Yun.
Along the way, she introduced herself by name and explained the delayed welcome.
“You must have noticed at the gate. Our Hehuan Sect doesn’t station disciples there. We simply leave a Scrying Formation in place and monitor it from the hall.”
“I was on my way down to greet you when I saw you arrive, but my junior sister beat me to it. I figured she could bring you over just fine. I never imagined…”
At this point, Jiang Yun prodded Shan Hu’s forehead.
“Sister Yun, why do they have a Hehuan Sect disciple’s hairpin?”
Every Hehuan Sect disciple received one upon joining the sect. It served as a minor artifact, inscribed with spells that enhanced their beauty and allure. Quite useful, in fact.
Jiang Yun replied, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Jiang Yun led them to sit in a pavilion.
Water surrounded it on three sides, dotted with plenty of water lilies and lotuses.
Yet Jiang Ruan caught no whiff of lotus fragrance—only the sweet, warm scent of spices.
Jiang Yun said, “Please let me take a look at the hairpin.”
Jiang Ruan handed it over without hesitation.
Jiang Yun took it, lowering her gaze as her fingers brushed lightly over the hairpin.
“This must be Meng Yuan’s.”
Jiang Ruan didn’t ask how she could tell. She simply said, “Are you certain?”
Jiang Yun nodded.
“I’ve heard the basics about the hairpin incident. Could you tell me more details?”
She propped her head on one hand while pinching the hairpin with the other, smiling over at Jiang Ruan. Her fragrant shoulder was half-exposed, her lips a vivid red.
Jiang Ruan froze for a moment, then quickly looked away.
…Help. No wonder some people couldn’t resist the temptations of Hehuan Sect disciples. Natural beauty combined with cultivated techniques—it was impossible to guard against completely.
If her self-control had been any weaker, she might have pounced right then and there.
Jiang Ruan did have an eye for beauty, but only if that beauty didn’t come with such strong intent.
Otherwise, with those deadly hooks in the other’s eyes pulling at her, Jiang Ruan found it a little frightening.
She didn’t feel that way about Shan Hu, of course. The girl was weaker than her, so even if Shan Hu tried something, as long as Jiang Ruan didn’t give in mentally, there was nothing she could do.
But the Jiang Yun sitting before her now was a Golden Core cultivator just like her. If she deliberately tried to seduce, even Jiang Ruan—a fellow woman—couldn’t help but feel her mind sway.
With that thought, Jiang Ruan grew worried about Nan Qingyun, Lu Ning, and Chen Xu.
She glanced first at Nan Qingyun and Lu Ning, only to find them both utterly composed, showing no sign of disturbance.
Jiang Ruan blinked in surprise. Was she the only one so easily bewitched?
Then she looked at Chen Xu…
Ah, that balanced things out.
Both Chen Xu and Han Lin had been dazed, but Han Lin snapped out of it quickly. He grabbed the back of Chen Xu’s head and smacked his palm over half his face.
The slap jolted Chen Xu back to his senses. “Master, Master, let go of me!”
His words came out muffled with his mouth covered.
Jiang Ruan cleared her throat lightly. “Fellow Cultivator Jiang Yun… let’s talk this out properly.”
Jiang Yun gave a soft, charming smile. “But I am talking to you properly, aren’t I?”
As she deliberately radiated her allure, it even affected Shan Hu beside her.
Shan Hu’s face flushed red. She threw herself onto Jiang Yun, nuzzling against her like a clingy little kitten.
Jiang Yun withdrew one hand to stroke her cheek, a half-smile playing on her lips.
Jiang Ruan felt her own body heating up.
Just then, she sensed someone drawing close. The next moment, darkness fell over her eyes.
Jiang Ruan blinked.
Nan Qingyun’s voice sounded in her ear. “Shizun, forgive this disciple’s offense.”
They were so close that Jiang Ruan could even faintly feel the other’s breath.
With her eyes squeezed shut, Jiang Ruan’s shoulders trembled slightly.
It wouldn’t have been so bad under normal circumstances… but in this moment, it only made her feel more uncomfortable, her earlobes turning even redder.
Nan Qingyun naturally noticed Jiang Ruan’s reaction. Her gaze lingered on those delicate, pale earlobes, her fingertips twitching with the urge to pinch them.
But now was not the time.
Besides, she wouldn’t let her Shizun lose composure in front of others.
So Nan Qingyun quietly cooled her palm further, hoping to ease Jiang Ruan’s discomfort.
Jiang Ruan felt both touched and a bit embarrassed.
Help—her disciple was fine, but she had been the first to succumb. How humiliating.
Nan Qingyun’s palm was nice and cool, perfectly tempering the heat for Jiang Ruan.
Jiang Ruan obediently kept her hands at her sides, making no move to push the palm away.
As her eyelashes brushed lightly against Nan Qingyun’s palm, a faint itch spread through it. Nan Qingyun pressed her lips together, feeling that itch creep all the way to her heart.
But at the same time…
She raised her eyes, sweeping a cold, warning gaze over Jiang Yun.
Jiang Yun wasn’t afraid—of course not. They were just Foundation Establishment juniors.
But she was curious. Fellow cultivators of the same realm were all affected, so why weren’t these two?
Lu Ning gripped Jiang Ruan’s wrist, sensing her slight struggle. She gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
The hand over her eyes belonged to Nan Qingyun, and the other person at her side had to be Lu Ning.
Jiang Ruan let down her guard.
She let Lu Ning guide her hand, which soon touched something soft and fluffy.
It was Guai Guai.
Jiang Ruan relaxed, her attention shifting away.
The darkness before her eyes, combined with the spirit pet’s fur under her palm, successfully pulled her out of her earlier daze.
Jiang Yun had been smiling deliberately at Jiang Ruan, but now that her attention was diverted, there was no point smiling at a “blind” person. Her interest had shifted to these two instead.
“You two don’t seem to have been affected at all. Why is that?”
Though she hadn’t truly unleashed her real abilities—the so-called seduction moments ago was merely the instinctive charm of a Hehuan Sect disciple—these two were merely Foundation Establishment cultivators. How could they have resisted her allure?
Even reciting the Pure Heart Incantation might not have been enough to fend it off.
Yet neither of them answered her question.
Jiang Yun let out a soft hum.
She dropped her earlier coquettish demeanor, waved her hand to disperse the lingering fragrance, then pinched Shan Hu’s cheek.
“Stop spacing out. Wake up.”
Shan Hu blinked, her eyes still glazed with infatuation, before slowly rising.
“Sister Yun, you’re so naughty.”
Jiang Yun smiled.
Jiang Ruan sensed the atmosphere around them return to normal and let out a breath of relief.
If she had to say she was angry… well, not really. After all, she had only felt a mild fascination with the woman’s beauty—no overwhelming urge to strip bare and throw herself at her. Jiang Ruan knew full well that this wasn’t the Hehuan Sect’s true technique. It was simply that years of cultivating such arts had unconsciously woven a subtle allure into their everyday gestures.
Still, she had to point it out. “Sister Yun, you’re wasting everyone’s time with this.”
Jiang Yun was mildly surprised by the address but didn’t argue.
Jiang Ruan gave Nan Qingyun’s wrist a gentle squeeze. “Alright, you can let go now.”
Nan Qingyun’s gaze settled on Jiang Ruan.
With her eyes blindfolded, only the lower half of Jiang Ruan’s exquisite face was visible—strikingly beautiful, and carrying an inexplicable hint of…
Nan Qingyun yanked her hand back, her heart pounding wildly.
How could she entertain such thoughts about Shizun?
Jiang Yun noticed the odd reaction and arched a brow with deep meaning.
Jiang Ruan withdrew the hand that had been petting her spirit pet and turned to the main topic.
She gave a somewhat detailed account of the Peach Tree Spirit incident.
Jiang Yun pondered for a moment. “Peach Tree Spirit… At least, there’s no such thing within the Hehuan Sect proper.”
