Nan Qingyun’s face drained of color, yet she had no way to refute it. She could only murmur softly, “Yes… it was this disciple’s failing.”
Jiang Ruan replied, “No, actually, it wasn’t a matter of your ability. It was your own conditions holding you back.”
Nan Qingyun’s eyelashes quivered slightly.
Jiang Ruan smiled. “If not for the hindrance of that half Devil Cultivator Bloodline, I believe you never would have lost to Lu Ning.”
A flicker of struggle and complex emotions surfaced in Nan Qingyun’s eyes. Moments later, she lowered her head.
She dug her nails tightly into her palm.
Yes, she was no match for Lu Ning. She had lost to her again and again.
First on the Questioning Heart Ladder, then when selecting swords.
Always one step behind.
Jiang Ruan’s hand remained on her cheek, stroking it gently.
“But the world has no ‘ifs.’ This is the reality you’re dealing with.”
Nan Qingyun silently accepted it.
She was even persuaded by the words.
Jiang Ruan parted her lips slightly. “But what if you chose a different path?”
Nan Qingyun looked up. “What?”
Jiang Ruan explained, “Since the Righteous Path is impassable—no matter how hard you try, the Devil Heart will plague you, you’ll never surpass Lu Ning, and achieving the Great Dao will be out of reach—why not switch to another road?”
Nan Qingyun pursed her lips. “You mean…”
Jiang Ruan said, “Why not simply abandon the Righteous Path and cultivate as a Devil Cultivator?”
Nan Qingyun shook her head on instinct. “No.”
Jiang Ruan pressed, “Why not? There’s no rule saying you can’t seek revenge if you cultivate devils, is there?”
Nan Qingyun bit the inside of her lip. Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble, leaving her unable to make any further judgments. All her mind could focus on were Jiang Ruan’s words.
Vaguely, Nan Qingyun sensed something was off, but in her current state, she had no spare capacity to dwell on it.
Jiang Ruan’s voice was soft and gentle, like a murmur whispered directly into her ear, carrying an intimate closeness.
“Besides, you could cultivate both the Righteous Path and the Devil Path at the same time.”
Nan Qingyun hesitated. “Can… you do that?”
Jiang Ruan nodded. “Of course. Others might not manage it, but you can. I believe in you.”
She lowered her head until their foreheads touched, her eyes curving in a smile that seemed to hold a subtle hook.
“You’re always the most special one. Once you master this dual cultivation method, you’ll see tremendous progress. I believe you can surpass Lu Ning with ease.”
She drew extremely close, their breaths intertwining.
Jiang Ruan whispered softly, “Besides, I’ll be right here with you, won’t I? So, why not give the other path a try?”
Nan Qingyun’s gaze grew slightly unfocused.
But in that instant, she shoved Jiang Ruan away with force.
A flash of surprise crossed Jiang Ruan’s face.
Nan Qingyun clutched her head, her expression one of evident pain.
This time, Jiang Ruan did not lean in closer.
Nan Qingyun bit down hard on her lip, stifling her pained groans.
“No, I won’t agree.”
“Why?”
“Because I promised Shizun that I would choose the Righteous Path. The two of us, together, staying on this side.”
“Jiang Ruan”‘s eyes flickered with complex emotions before her figure dissipated. At the same time, the surroundings shifted and changed.
Nan Qingyun hung her head, panting as she eased the pain. Memories flooded back into her mind, and she pieced together exactly what had just transpired.
Someone had used Shizun’s appearance to deceive her.
And due to her physical condition, she had been all too susceptible to straying from the path. Fortunately… she had managed to hold herself back.
Nan Qingyun possessed her own anchor.
Before Nan Qingyun could fully calm down, the surrounding environment shifted once more. The scenes that had just flooded back into her mind vanished in an instant.
This time, she found herself in the Hehuan Sect.
Nan Qingyun glanced around and immediately recalled that she was in one of the sect’s guest rooms.
Their group had come to the Hehuan Sect to investigate the hairpin. Since preparing the Soul-Gathering Array would take some time, they had decided to stay and wait.
Nan Qingyun stepped out of her room.
She remembered that Shizun’s quarters were…
Nan Qingyun headed there but halted at the doorway.
Someone was inside Shizun’s room.
Nan Qingyun’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. She quietly extended her spiritual sense and discovered that the intruder was Lu Ning.
Nan Qingyun’s fist clenched abruptly.
In that moment, she nearly burst through the door to demand answers, but reason restrained her.
Shizun was free to discuss matters with anyone she chose. As her disciple, Nan Qingyun had no right to interfere recklessly.
Yet even as she told herself this, it did nothing to ease the discomfort churning inside her.
By all logic, she should leave. But some unnamed emotion held Nan Qingyun in place, and she lingered, eavesdropping quietly.
Then the conversation inside took an unexpected turn.
It seemed Lu Ning had mistakenly drunk the tea in the room and was now feeling unwell.
Tea.
From the Hehuan Sect.
Unwell.
Nan Qingyun was no stranger to the ways of the world. She might not know the precise mechanics, but she understood the gist well enough.
The Hehuan Sect’s tea was undoubtedly laced with something potent—their sect’s proclivities were infamous for a reason.
The thought alone made Nan Qingyun’s expression darken.
After all, only Jiang Ruan and Lu Ning were in the room, and Lu Ning was still clinging to her.
Without a second thought, Nan Qingyun shoved the door open.
Both women inside froze in surprise.
Nan Qingyun’s grip tightened on her fist as she took in the scene, her nails biting deep into her palm.
Lu Ning was draped shamelessly over Jiang Ruan, her arms looped around the woman’s neck. Those usually pale eyes were hazy and unfocused, brimming with a rare vulnerability.
Jiang Ruan looked utterly flustered, unsure how to fend her off.
The thin thread of reason in Nan Qingyun’s mind snapped.
She whipped out her sword and pressed the blade to Lu Ning’s throat.
“Let her go.”
Her voice dripped with undisguised chill and killing intent. Were it not for their shared sect ties—and Lu Ning’s likely muddled state—she might have struck without hesitation.
Jiang Ruan snapped out of her daze. “Hold on, Qingyun—”
Nan Qingyun’s lips pressed into a thin line, her face drained of color from sheer fury. Even the hand gripping her sword trembled faintly.
Lu Ning tilted her head up, her gaze locking with Nan Qingyun’s.
One pair of eyes black as ink, blazing with raw anger and rejection.
The other pale and dreamy, laced with lingering haze and something indefinable… almost like provocation.
“Let go of my Shizun,” Nan Qingyun repeated.
Jiang Ruan seized the moment to explain. “She drank the Hehuan Sect’s tea by accident. It’s a misunderstanding.”
Nan Qingyun’s lips compressed further. She wanted to argue but managed only, “Shizun, push her away.”
Jiang Ruan hesitated.
The chaotic tussle before her was proving impossible to manage, and just then, Lu Ning grew even more restless.
Or perhaps she simply couldn’t help herself amid her discomfort.
She leaned in closer to Jiang Ruan, nuzzling into the crook of her neck. Her feverish lips grazed the sensitive skin there.
Jiang Ruan jolted in shock.
She shoved Lu Ning away on pure instinct—no prompting from Nan Qingyun required.
But Nan Qingyun had seen every bit of it. Her pupils contracted sharply, that final thread of restraint shattered, and she lashed out without thinking.
Just as Jiang Ruan pushed Lu Ning back, the razor-sharp black blade whistled past her throat, carving a thin red line of blood.
Jiang Ruan gasped as realization hit, lunging to seize Nan Qingyun’s wrist. She feared her disciple might truly lose control and harm a fellow sect member.
“Qingyun!”
Nan Qingyun’s eyes burned red at the edges. She stared down Lu Ning coldly, utterly unrepentant.
If given the chance again, she would do the exact same thing.
Nan Qingyun positioned herself squarely in front of Jiang Ruan, her expression frosty as winter rime.
Cold water ought to do the trick, she recalled.
“Shizun,” Nan Qingyun said, “Water Drawing Incantation.”
Jiang Ruan caught on immediately. “You mean douse her with cold water to snap her out of it?”
Nan Qingyun gave a slight nod.
Jiang Ruan suggested, “Or we could just toss her in a cold bath.”
Nan Qingyun considered it briefly. “That works too.”
However, just as Jiang Ruan reached out to pick up Lu Ning, Nan Qingyun stepped in to act on her behalf.
But Nan Qingyun was far less gentle about it.
She struck Lu Ning directly with her flying sword, then used the momentum from the blade to send the other woman flying.
Afterward, Nan Qingyun turned to Jiang Ruan. “Shizun, shall we go look for it as well?”
Jiang Ruan: ……
Wasn’t something off here?
The two of them—who were still mobile—were sharing a single sword, while she, who had nearly lost all ability to move, was supposed to ride her own flying sword?
Yet before Jiang Ruan could voice her objection, she watched as Nan Qingyun deftly maneuvered the flying sword to carry Lu Ning aloft. With that, she quietly closed her mouth.
Fine. This would work too.
And so the trio finally located a river.
Jiang Ruan watched as Nan Qingyun unceremoniously hurled Lu Ning into the water.
“…”
When Lu Ning surfaced, Nan Qingyun immediately positioned herself in front of Jiang Ruan.
Jiang Ruan gave a helpless smile. “What are you doing?”
Nan Qingyun replied, “Keeping her away from Shizun.”
“…”
Even after Lu Ning shook off the drug’s effects and stood, it was Nan Qingyun who pulled out a spare set of clothes and tossed them at her. Jiang Ruan merely stood by the entire time, contributing nothing.
At last, they escorted Lu Ning back to her room, bringing the embarrassing mishap to a close.
Jiang Ruan let out a sigh of relief and turned her attention to her disciple’s troubles.
She began with the simplest question. “Did you come looking for me for some specific reason?”
Nan Qingyun hesitated.
There had been a reason, originally—or rather, she had simply wanted an excuse for casual conversation with her Shizun, a way to steal a little more time in her company.
But everything had been ruined.
Besides, Nan Qingyun was in no mood for mere talk anymore.
Her mind replayed the earlier scene in vivid detail.
Lu Ning’s advances… her brazen provocations…
At the thought, a scorching heat flared in Nan Qingyun’s chest, as if her heart itself were aflame.
In a low voice, she said, “Shizun, this disciple has an unreasonable request.”
Jiang Ruan looked puzzled. “What is it?”
Because it was unreasonable, she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud.
A shadow darkened Nan Qingyun’s eyes.
She stepped directly to Jiang Ruan’s side, lowered her gaze, and gently took her hand.
Jiang Ruan, still baffled, made no move to pull away.
In the next instant, Nan Qingyun leaned in without hesitation and pressed her lips to Jiang Ruan’s neck—as if determined to scour away every lingering trace.
