Since her master said she was the best, she would never disappoint her. From now on, she would smile more sincerely every day and be gentler to the good people in her master’s eyes.
Shen Yanting had no idea how much Feng Jin and Bo Xuenong had thought in that brief moment. She merely noticed Bo Xuenong listening especially intently. Suddenly considering their journey together, with all its potential mishaps, she worried about Bo Xuenong’s temper. Feng Yingbo and the others were not exactly even-tempered either, and she feared Bo Xuenong might suddenly hold a grudge against them.
Shen Yanting did not expect Bo Xuenong to fully grasp her intent not to kill any of them. She only hoped she would remember her words and not act on killing impulses so easily.
She believed her words carried some weight with Bo Xuenong.
It was just a whim on Shen Yanting’s part, but she never imagined it would bring such a massive change to Bo Xuenong later on—or that the change would happen immediately. She even thought of soothing the worried little Feng Jin nearby.
—
When Bo Xuenong leaned over, Feng Jin was immersed in joy, giggling uncontrollably.
Her peripheral vision suddenly caught Bo Xuenong sitting much closer, making her heart leap again. She swallowed nervously. “E-Eldest Senior Sister, what’s wrong?”
A gentle smile hung on Bo Xuenong’s face, her gaze toward Feng Jin warmer than before. She reached out to pat her head, deliberately muffling her voice. “Feng Jin, I don’t want to kill you.”
She meant it truly, but it terrified Feng Jin.
“E-Eldest Senior Sister.” Feng Jin had no idea how to respond. Hearing Bo Xuenong suddenly say she did not want to kill her sounded, to her, like she really wanted to. Her voice trembled as she called out, her slender frame swaying. If Bo Xuenong had not grabbed her wrist, she might have tumbled off the carriage.
Bo Xuenong truly wanted to reassure Feng Jin and ease her fear, but it had backfired. Her hand on Feng Jin’s wrist hesitated awkwardly. She softened her voice even more. “Sixth Junior Sister, I’m not that scary. Master said not to kill good people, and she just… just called you a good person.”
Feng Jin heard it.
Without Shen Yanting’s recent words to soothe her, she might have already leaped from the carriage in fright.
The more Bo Xuenong insisted she meant no harm, the more Feng Jin felt threatened.
Far from being calmed, her earlier fear surged back, noisy inner voice and all. Her eyes instinctively drifted toward Feng Yingbo in the carriage, seeking comfort from her.
Feng Yingbo had been chatting with Shen Yanting and missed what the two outside were saying. Seeing Feng Jin look back at her, she slid down from her seat at once. Kneeling on the central rug, she reached out to touch Feng Jin’s face, her expression turning serious. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Feng Jin was on the verge of tears but stubbornly held her tongue.
Feng Yingbo was no fool; she saw the trembling tears in Feng Jin’s eyes. But unable to get the truth from her, she turned to Bo Xuenong, who sat outside with her.
Bo Xuenong could hardly admit she had scared Feng Jin. She played dumb, her black-feather-crow-like lashes fluttering as moisture gathered in her eyes. “S-Something just flashed by. Its aura was really strong.”
She made up an excuse on the spot. Feng Jin, unable to say she had been frightened by Bo Xuenong, nodded along. This immediately tensed up Fu Aoqing in the carriage. “Could it be a top-tier demon beast?”
Bo Xuenong was at golden core peak, Feng Jin at golden core early stage. Something that could scare them made not just Fu Aoqing afraid—Feng Yingbo panicked too. “I didn’t even sense its aura. Is it that powerful?”
Bo Xuenong just wanted to gloss over it and let them discuss. She regretted opening her mouth.
Even Shen Yanting, one of the only two who knew she was lying, had to admit Bo Xuenong’s reputation for menace over the years was impeccable. Her casual fabrication convinced Feng Yingbo and Fu Aoqing completely.
Shen Yanting sensed no demon beast aura at all. Having kept watch on Bo Xuenong, she had not only seen her circulate spiritual qi to muffle her voice while speaking to Feng Jin but had eavesdropped on every word.
Knowing exactly what was said made it all the more baffling.
Bo Xuenong had said nothing excessive—why was Feng Jin so terrified?
Shen Yanting disliked lies, but Bo Xuenong willing to play the gentle good girl was ideal. Years of habit made her poor at exposing Bo Xuenong and expert at covering for her.
She gave the unresponsive Bo Xuenong a deep look and sighed softly. “Probably just passing by. No need to worry too much.”
“That’s a relief.” Shen Yanting’s own reputation soothed Feng Yingbo instantly. She pinched Feng Jin’s cheek. “Don’t be scared. Even a powerful demon beast would have to get through me first.”
Feng Jin sniffled. “I don’t want to die. And you absolutely can’t die either.”
“Alright, alright, I won’t die.” Though Feng Yingbo’s personality was flighty, her eyes seductive when she smiled, her gaze toward Feng Jin always held an extra maternal tenderness. At moments like this, Bo Xuenong really thought she had the look of a mother.
Truthfully, Bo Xuenong had no idea what a mother should look like. The Imperial Serenity Sect had no mother-daughter pairs cultivating together, and she had long forgotten her birth mother’s appearance. From the time she could remember, her life seemed to hold only Shen Yanting—and she only wanted Shen Yanting in it.
She could not imagine what a mother should be like, but it was probably Feng Yingbo—after all, she had never thought Feng Yingbo had the look of a master.
Bo Xuenong stared at Feng Yingbo too long. That gaze startled Feng Jin and puzzled Feng Yingbo, who touched her face. “Xuenong, is there something on my face?”
“No, I just thought of my mom.”
An eerie silence fell in the carriage. Feng Jin hastily averted her eyes from Feng Yingbo, her gaze complex as she looked at her. Xiang Yu and Fu Aoqing thought of their own long-dead mothers, sorrow touching their expressions.
Shen Yanting reacted the strongest, because Bo Xuenong had said it.
Her heart clenched hard. She bit through her lip, crimson blood beading at the corner and dripping down as she stared blankly at Bo Xuenong.
Shen Yanting never expected Bo Xuenong to have memories tied to her mother. Did that mean she had been old enough during the sect’s extermination to remember clearly? Did she know she was one of those who wiped out her sect? Did she know her parents died at their hands? Was Bo Xuenong secretly hating her?
Shen Yanting had pondered this before, but time and Bo Xuenong’s persistent role as the obedient disciple had numbed her to it. Standing in Bo Xuenong’s shoes, she herself was the villain in that purge of evil—having killed many of Bo Xuenong’s blood-related sect kin.
It was an indelible blood feud.
Shen Yanting did not regret killing Bo Xuenong’s sect blood kin; those people were worse than demonic cultivators, not just eating people but their own kin too. She was merely confused by Bo Xuenong’s attitude toward her. She had always thought Bo Xuenong forgot the past, but now she suddenly mentioned thinking of her mom.
Shen Yanting suddenly doubted how genuine Bo Xuenong’s respect for her was.
Should she explain? How?
Tell Bo Xuenong their bloodline was flawed, that if her parents lived they would not love her but devour her?
Would Bo Xuenong believe it?
Shen Yanting had never felt so panicked and lost. She could not even convince herself to calm down. She had to admit she feared Bo Xuenong resenting her.
She had raised Bo Xuenong with feigned detachment but never slacked or mistreated her in the slightest.
She had invested five hundred years of time and effort into Bo Xuenong—not demanding love in return, but unable to bear hatred.
“Master! Master!”
Before Shen Yanting could decide, a hand cupped her face. Bo Xuenong’s anxious voice rang out. Shen Yanting’s lashes trembled slowly as awareness returned bit by bit. She first saw a pair of frantic, helpless eyes. Confirming they belonged to Bo Xuenong eased her heart somewhat.
How had she forgotten?
Bo Xuenong was not good at hiding.
She could not even maintain a fake smile well, let alone play the obedient disciple for five hundred years.
The instant she noticed Shen Yanting’s off expression, Feng Jin dragged Feng Yingbo outside. Bo Xuenong naturally slid back to her side. Her fingertip pressed to Shen Yanting’s lips, trying to pry her teeth apart without too much force, nearly in tears from worry. “Master, what’s wrong?”
Shen Yanting unclenched her teeth, but her abraded lips still dripped blood.
Bo Xuenong hurriedly pulled out a healing pill from her storage jade bracelet and held it to Shen Yanting’s lips, her eyes full of unease. “Master, take the pill quickly.”
She usually forgot to use healing pills even when she was injured herself, but now, because Shen Yanting’s lips were broken, she suddenly remembered the many high-quality pills stored in her storage jade bracelet.
Shen Yanting looked at the healing pill, not particularly happy. She pushed away Bo Xuenong’s hand. “No need.”
