Chapter 5: Mishearing – Could Shen Yanting Kill Her Right Now?…

Guan Caimei still became a disciple under Feng Yingbo.

Fu Aoqing said that Feng Yingbo had not wanted to take Guan Caimei at first, but Feng Jin had suddenly lost her mind that day and injured her. Feng Yingbo felt guilty over her beloved disciple hurting someone, so she took Guan Caimei in.

Bo Xuenong was not very interested in why Feng Yingbo had taken Guan Caimei; she cared even less about why Feng Jin had hit her. What she cared about was the healing pill she had delivered from her own hands.

The Imperial Serenity Sect had four elders in total, and it was hard for them not to get too close to each other.

Shen Yanting was the strongest among them and had the most abundant cultivation resources. Normally, when other inner sect disciples were injured, she would arrange for Bo Xuenong to send them pills, and Bo Xuenong had grown used to it. But Guan Caimei was different—she coveted Shen Yanting. If that bottle of pills ended up in her hands, who knew how she would lust over Shen Yanting in her fantasies.

Because it was a task assigned by Shen Yanting, Bo Xuenong was not too willing, but she still brought the pills over.

She thought it would be nice to casually find out the male and female protagonists’ names along the way, but she had barely arrived at Phoenix Spirit Mountain when Feng Jin blocked her.

Do not judge the Imperial Serenity Sect by its small number of people—the grounds were quite vast.

Each elder occupied a mountain peak, where only the elder and their direct disciples lived.

Master and disciple who got along well lived closer together; those who did not please their master would be assigned farther away. When Bo Xuenong was little, she had lived in the same courtyard as Shen Yanting. After she grew up a bit, Shen Yanting had given her a courtyard that was neither too close nor too far. Feng Jin was different—she had been brought back to the Imperial Serenity Sect by Feng Yingbo as an infant and had lived in the same courtyard as her ever since. Now over two hundred years old, she still stayed with Feng Yingbo.

Guan Caimei had not formally apprenticed yet, so Feng Yingbo had not assigned her a place to live for the time being. Since Feng Jin was the one who had injured her, Guan Caimei now stayed with Feng Jin, under her personal care.

“Eldest Senior Sister!” Feng Jin tugged at the corner of her mouth, her expression stiff and awkward. “Little Junior Sister’s injuries are very serious. She’s not fit to see visitors.”

The inner sect disciples’ rankings were uniform: Bo Xuenong was the eldest, and Feng Jin was sixth.

Unlike the outer sect disciples who called her Senior Sister Bo one after another, Feng Jin addressed her as Eldest Senior Sister.

Feng Jin paused, then extended her hand toward Bo Xuenong. “Eldest Senior Sister, just give me the healing pill. I’ll thank Elder Shen for Little Junior Sister on her behalf.”

Bo Xuenong did not hand over the pill. She lowered her head to look at the somewhat short Feng Jin.

Feng Jin had excellent talent and had started cultivating early. Over two hundred years old, she still looked like a child around ten. With her childish face and rigid demeanor, she made Bo Xuenong want to laugh—a rare genuine smile that she seldom showed to anyone but Shen Yanting.

Suddenly, Bo Xuenong heard Feng Jin’s scream in her mind.

【Eldest Senior Sister is so beautiful! Eldest Senior Sister, don’t die!】

Hm? She had not even opened her mouth.

Bo Xuenong’s gaze gradually turned strange as she stared at the stone-faced Feng Jin, trying to probe the trigger for the inner voice. But Feng Jin’s inner voice did not ring out again.

Had she misheard?

Bo Xuenong probed by asking, “Sixth Junior Sister, why did you hurt Little Junior Sister?”

Feng Jin’s inner voice did not appear, but her mouth curled downward. “I just didn’t like the look of her, that’s all. I don’t have Eldest Senior Sister’s good temper to tolerate someone hopping around in front of me. She clearly didn’t want to apprentice under my master but put on that act like it had to be her or no one. Hitting her was going easy—next time…”

Feng Jin’s voice trailed off slowly. She hooked up a smile, her tone rising at the end. “Next time, I plan to kill her.”

What a coincidence.

They truly saw eye to eye.

It was a pity that Bo Xuenong was not Feng Jin. Feng Jin was already infamous in the sect for her brutality and cruelty, while Bo Xuenong was the gentle, kind-hearted senior sister.

Bo Xuenong laughed along with Feng Jin, her smile warm and harmless. “Sixth Junior Sister, the Imperial Serenity Sect forbids fellow disciples from harming each other the most. You’d better not say such things. This little junior sister has good talent, and her temperament seems decent too. Get along with her for a while, and you might end up liking her.”

“I don’t want to like her!” Feng Jin frowned in disgust. Suddenly, she snatched the healing pill from Bo Xuenong’s hand, opened the porcelain bottle, poured out half the pills, and put them into her own storage bag. Then she returned the bottle with the other half to Bo Xuenong. “Eldest Senior Sister, since you already know I hate her, I won’t pretend with you. This pill is for whoever finds it—you half, me half!”

“But…” Bo Xuenong’s gaze sharpened as she thought of Guan Caimei coveting Shen Yanting again. She changed what she had been about to say. “If Sixth Junior Sister likes it, you can have all of it. Master said to give the pill to Shishu Feng’s disciple, and aren’t you Shishu Feng’s disciple too?”

Feng Jin hurriedly took the healing pill back from Bo Xuenong’s palm. “Thank you, Eldest Senior Sister!”

The way her eyes lit up in that instant was completely different from her usual viciousness. Bo Xuenong bent down, lowering her head as well. She pinched Feng Jin’s chubby little face and examined her up close, wondering if the innocence she had just glimpsed was an illusion.

Feng Jin twisted her head and suddenly called out, “Elder Shen.”

“Sixth Junior Sister, lying isn’t good.”

“Xuenong.”

Bo Xuenong had thought Feng Jin wanted to trick her into letting go, but unexpectedly, a leisurely “Xuenong” really sounded from behind her.

She subconsciously released her hand, and Feng Jin slipped away from her fingertips like smoke. “Elder Shen, Eldest Senior Sister, Master is still waiting for me. I’ll head back first!”

Bo Xuenong pinched the edge of her sleeve and forced a smile as she turned around. Sure enough, there was Shen Yanting.

Today, Shen Yanting wore a moon-white long skirt. Her cool eyes resembled a deep, icy pool emitting cold mist. The unique light made it impossible to look away, and the inherent chill drew one into the abyss. Bo Xuenong fell in easily.

She looked a few extra glances before hastily lowering her head and stepping forward. “Master, why are you here?”

“Passing by.” The same answer as always.

In the past, Bo Xuenong would have believed it, but after hearing Guan Caimei’s inner voice, she realized something different.

Thinking back to how she had just pinched Feng Jin—if seen from behind, it might have looked like strangling her neck. Had Shen Yanting thought she was going to kill Feng Jin?

Yesterday, when Shen Yanting had passed by and suggested going to Warm Moon Hall together, it had also been when she harbored murderous intent toward a fellow sect disciple.

Was Shen Yanting really watching her? Wherever she went, her master followed?

Wasn’t that too tiring for her master?

The Imperial Serenity Sect lacked suitable spell arts. Did a major sect like Cloud Smoke Sect not have any long-distance scrying methods?

Bo Xuenong grew a bit angry at Cloud Smoke Sect’s uselessness. Her beautiful eyes secretly glanced at Shen Yanting’s slender, soft waist, and she began to feel dissatisfied with herself too. With her master so slim, perhaps it was from following her around. Reflecting on her five hundred years in the Imperial Serenity Sect, she realized she went out too much.

In the future, she should stay in her room more… No, it was better to go to her master’s courtyard every day to cultivate—after all, her place was still some distance from her master’s.

Guan Caimei had said that Shen Yanting had given up her position as the Cloud Smoke Sect Master’s direct disciple to come to this third-rate little sect and accompany her growth, all to fight for a path to survival for her. It was too much of a waste for such a talented disciple to be stuck in a small sect like this. She still needed to quickly kill those people who were bad for her master, then beg her master to kill her. That way, her master could return to a place befitting her status and no longer toil for her sake.

The more Bo Xuenong thought about it, the more right this plan seemed. She immediately felt an urge to turn back and find Guan Caimei.

She had just taken a step when Shen Yanting tugged her back. “Xuenong, let’s go back.”

“Master.” Bo Xuenong made up an excuse. “I’m not at ease about Little Junior Sister. I still want to go see her.”

“Xuenong.”

Shen Yanting did not respond to her words and simply called her name softly.

Bo Xuenong turned her toes and followed Shen Yanting’s wishes as they left Phoenix Spirit Mountain.

Perhaps because she had arranged a quick path to her own death for herself, Bo Xuenong—who usually sought quiet companionship with Shen Yanting—found herself talking more.

On the way back, she could not help tilting her head to look at Shen Yanting. “Master, will you blame me for giving all the pills to Sixth Junior Sister?”

“No.”

Shen Yanting always spoke in a flat tone, and her expression did not change much.

Bo Xuenong found it hard to tell from the outside whether Shen Yanting meant what she said.

She did not mind if Shen Yanting lied to her, but she would mind if her master secretly got angry at her.

If only she could hear her master’s inner voice too.

Bo Xuenong still did not understand the trigger for hearing others’ inner voices. Was it specific people? Or distance?

She subconsciously leaned closer to Shen Yanting.

No sound.

Still no sound.

“Xue… Xuenong.”

Bo Xuenong, who desperately wanted to hear her own master’s inner voice, suddenly heard Shen Yanting call her with a trembling voice—an unusual tone that left her puzzled as she lifted her head. “Master, what’s wrong?”

A faint blush floated across Shen Yanting’s snow-white face. Her breathing was slightly quicker than usual, and her voice had a subtle quiver. “Xuenong, what are you doing?”

Only then did Bo Xuenong realize that she had unknowingly leaned into Shen Yanting’s embrace, her arms tightly wrapped around her master’s waist, her ear pressed to her chest, still pressing forward… Could Shen Yanting kill her right now?