Protected by the restriction, Ji Caiyan was untouchable, so Ye Zhiyao severed He Xin’s head as a warning. In a fit of rage, Ji Caiyan broke through the restriction and advanced to golden core peak as well. Just as she prepared to avenge He Xin, Ye Zhiyao suddenly feigned extreme shock, claiming complete ignorance of He Xin’s death.
Ji Caiyan was furious and pursued her relentlessly.
Unfortunately, their cultivations were evenly matched, and their methods similar, so neither could quickly overpower the other.
Ji Caiyan had chased Ye Zhiyao all the way here, leading to the scene they had just witnessed.
At this point in her account, Ye Zhiyao glared indignantly at Ji Caiyan. “I didn’t feign it. I truly don’t know how little Xin’er died. I brought you two out of the Imperial Serenity Sect and then passed out. I have no memory of anything after.”
Ji Caiyan had always been known in the Imperial Serenity Sect for her steady and gentle nature, with a temper far better than that of her fake-gentle senior sister Bo Xuenong. At this moment, however, her face was frighteningly cold, and her gaze was so fierce that it seemed she wanted to devour Ye Zhiyao alive. “Ye Zhiyao, for the things you’ve done yourself, don’t you even have the courage to admit them?”
Feng Jin was startled by Ji Caiyan’s icy outburst. She subconsciously grabbed Bo Xuenong’s sleeve.
Bo Xuenong was also startled, but not by Ji Caiyan’s angry shout. It was the story Ji Caiyan had told.
The usually dignified and composed Ye Zhiyao had forced her disciple into dual cultivation?
And even killed her most beloved little disciple?
Something was off.
Bo Xuenong thought seriously for a good while before noticing Feng Jin tugging at her sleeve.
Seeing Feng Jin made her suddenly realize the key point. Ji Caiyan had said she was severely injured and unconscious, but Ji Caiyan claimed she was awake and had forced her and He Xin, ultimately killing He Xin—behaving in a way completely unlike her usual self. So, was it possible that the one controlling Ye Zhiyao’s body at the time wasn’t Ye Zhiyao at all?
But rather… an otherworld soul.
Severe injury and near-death perfectly matched the conditions for otherworld soul possession.
The two forbidden techniques Ji Caiyan mentioned were also very similar to two of those in the beginner’s life-saving gift package from the System.
Bo Xuenong perked up her ears and tried to lean closer toward Ye Zhiyao.
She heard no inner voice.
Bo Xuenong’s expression grew solemn.
She moved her sleeve to get Feng Jin’s attention, then sent a transmission: “Feng Jin, do you think those otherworld souls might hide their inner voices?”
Feng Jin was stunned at first, but she quickly realized what Bo Xuenong meant. Her gaze fell on Ye Zhiyao. “It’s possible, sure. If she doesn’t speak in her heart, Senior Sister, you naturally won’t hear anything. But… it shouldn’t be like that.”
Bo Xuenong understood what Feng Jin meant by “shouldn’t.”
If Ye Zhiyao had truly been possessed by an otherworld soul, after all this time, that soul should have eliminated Ye Zhiyao and fully taken over the body. It was impossible for her to stand here so calmly confronting them now, especially right after meeting two strategy targets—her heart should not be so undisturbed.
Unless she hadn’t eliminated Ye Zhiyao, and the soul was in a dormant state right now.
That was possible. After all, Ye Zhiyao’s identity was different from Guan Caimei’s; she had no entanglements with the strategy targets. Ye Zhiyao had lived together with Shen Yanting and Bo Xuenong for five hundred years. If that departed soul learned of Ye Zhiyao’s identity, it might fear being exposed in front of Shen Yanting and Bo Xuenong. Before fully mastering Ye Zhiyao’s every mannerism, it was possible it had deliberately kept Ye Zhiyao around to deal with them.
If it really was an otherworld soul, then Ye Zhiyao was truly wronged. But it couldn’t be said that Ji Caiyan was wrongly accusing her either.
…
This was tricky.
Bo Xuenong subconsciously turned to look at Shen Yanting and suddenly noticed that Shen Yanting seemed a bit absent-minded at the moment.
Shen Yanting was looking down, unconsciously clenching her fist.
Bo Xuenong still couldn’t determine if Ye Zhiyao was innocent or guilty. She decided to observe for a couple of days first. If she heard an inner voice, it would prove Ye Zhiyao hadn’t done it. If not, it would prove she had. There would still be time to punish Ye Zhiyao then.
With a plan in mind, Bo Xuenong immediately said, “Since you each stick to your own side, give me some time to investigate the truth.”
Without giving them a chance to refuse, she pulled out rope from the carriage and bound both of them, even forcibly sealing their lifebound swords.
Shen Yanting watched Bo Xuenong tie them up, wanting to say something but stopping herself.
In the end, she only stuffed a healing pill into each of their mouths and said nothing more.
Seeing that both were covered in blood, Bo Xuenong gave up the impulse to put them in the carriage. She pressed one hand on Ji Caiyan and grabbed Ye Zhiyao with the other, tossing them onto the backs of two separate horses. Ji Caiyan and Ye Zhiyao were extremely displeased with the slaps she gave each upon facing her, their eyes full of watery resentment.
Bo Xuenong pretended not to see. She had Shen Yanting and Xiang Yu enter the carriage, while she and Feng Jin sat in the driver’s seat, keeping an eye on the two.
Feng Jin’s eyes darted around, and she suddenly called out to Ji Caiyan. “Senior Sister Ji.”
Feng Jin had always put on a fierce front in the Imperial Serenity Sect and rarely called Ji Caiyan so intimately.
Ji Caiyan was still fuming, but she turned her head to look at Feng Jin.
Bo Xuenong looked at Feng Jin in surprise. Feeling her gaze, Feng Jin realized she was pointing toward the carriage. Bo Xuenong followed her finger and saw only Feng Yingbo’s head poking out.
It wasn’t Feng Jin who wanted to call Ji Caiyan—it was Feng Yingbo.
Bo Xuenong had a bad premonition, and it quickly came true.
When Ji Caiyan turned her head, Feng Yingbo hesitated for a moment before asking, “Caiyan, did you and Senior Sister Ye really dual cultivate… did you…”
Feng Jin covered the rest of her words with her hand.
Before Bo Xuenong could shove Feng Yingbo back into the carriage, the silent Ye Zhiyao on horseback suddenly turned her head and glared fiercely at Feng Yingbo. “Junior Sister Feng, please shut your mouth.”
Ji Caiyan had felt embarrassed, but seeing Ye Zhiyao’s reaction ignited her fury completely.
She couldn’t help but mock Ye Zhiyao coldly. “Ye Zhiyao, forcing your disciple is a fact. You dare to do it but not admit it! Or are you saying I’m slandering you!”
Ye Zhiyao’s lips moved. “Absurd!”
“You know it’s absurd!” Ji Caiyan was bound and her cultivation sealed, so her hands and feet could barely move. Her mouth was the freest. “Why didn’t you think it was absurd then? I thought you couldn’t tell disciple from human cauldron!”
Ji Caiyan now looked nothing like her former gentle and steady image as the Imperial Serenity Sect’s Second Senior Sister.
She was like a hysterical madwoman, seeming ready to lunge and bite through Ye Zhiyao’s neck at any moment. Her shouts and gaze were filled with resentment.
Ye Zhiyao’s gaze trembled. She turned her head away and finally muttered, “Absurd.”
The more she said that, the angrier Ji Caiyan became.
Ji Caiyan suddenly turned her head, her gaze shifting between Feng Jin and Bo Xuenong. “Ye Zhiyao, you’re utterly absurd. Other masters wouldn’t do such things! Shishu Shen and Shishu Feng wouldn’t forcibly kiss their disciples or rip off their clothes!”
…
Was she showing off?
Bo Xuenong pointed at Ji Caiyan, about to speak, when Feng Jin pulled her hand down.
Feng Jin covered Feng Yingbo’s mouth with one hand and tugged Bo Xuenong with the other, sweating profusely in panic.
Bo Xuenong’s eyes met Feng Yingbo’s. She could almost hear Feng Yingbo’s inner voice: Xuenong, did they or didn’t they!
Though she didn’t want to admit it, from Ji Caiyan’s reaction, even if the restriction had prevented full dual cultivation success, they had probably come close.
Restriction.
Bo Xuenong pried off Feng Jin’s hand and asked Ji Caiyan, “Junior Sister, what’s with the restriction on you?”
Ji Caiyan glanced ahead and barely regained some rationality. She suddenly asked Bo Xuenong, “Sect… Sect Master, Divine Moon City is almost here. If I explain the restriction, can I sit inside the carriage?”
She seemed very afraid of entering Divine Moon City.
No, more like afraid of being recognized by someone there.
Bo Xuenong asked, “Do you have acquaintances in Divine Moon City?”
Ji Caiyan was thirty years younger than Bo Xuenong but had joined thirty-five years later. Bo Xuenong had entered the Imperial Serenity Sect with Shen Yanting at age four, while Ji Caiyan had climbed Imperial Peak Mountain alone at thirty-one to formally join. Even so, she had been in the sect for over four hundred sixty years. If Divine Moon City had once been her home, by mortal lifespans, her old acquaintances should all be long dead.
Ji Caiyan didn’t answer Bo Xuenong but turned her head and asked again, “Sect Master, can I go into the carriage?”
Bo Xuenong suddenly didn’t want to ask anymore.
She didn’t want Ji Caiyan’s blood to stain Shen Yanting’s moon-white dress.
Just as Bo Xuenong was about to refuse, a strand of spiritual power suddenly floated out from the carriage, wrapping around Ji Caiyan’s waist and yanking her inside. Ye Zhiyao was also pulled off the horse, leaving Bo Xuenong and Feng Jin to sit outside. Bo Xuenong knew that spiritual power belonged to Shen Yanting, so she could only suppress her resentment about Ji Caiyan’s blood possibly dirtying Shen Yanting’s dress.
Feng Jin released Feng Yingbo, who climbed back inside contentedly to wait for Ji Caiyan to speak.
Bo Xuenong subconsciously scooted closer to the more familiar Feng Jin, putting some distance from Ye Zhiyao.
This scene fell into the eyes of the currently sensitive and fragile Ye Zhiyao, tugging at a sensitive heartstring. Her whole body emanated an aura of despair and pain. “Sect Master, I’m no ferocious beast. I didn’t do those things.”
In Bo Xuenong’s impression, Ye Zhiyao was steady and dignified enough.
Though she coveted the sect master position like Cui Huaizhou, she wasn’t as loathsome as him. She hadn’t openly opposed Fu Aoqing, nor been ungrateful like Cui Huaizhou, targeting Shen Yanting who provided their cultivation resources. Most of the time, she was silent.
There were times when Bo Xuenong wouldn’t hear Ye Zhiyao’s voice for a whole year, partly because they didn’t interact much, and partly due to Ye Zhiyao’s taciturn nature.
Today was the most Ye Zhiyao had spoken since Bo Xuenong had known her.
But… she’d be better off staying silent.
As soon as Ye Zhiyao opened her mouth, Ji Caiyan went mad.
Ji Caiyan poked her head out from the carriage and, without warning, bit Ye Zhiyao’s shoulder. Even with her lifebound sword sealed and unable to use spiritual power, she bit through the fabric with brute force, causing fresh blood to surge from Ye Zhiyao’s wound that had just stopped bleeding. Her body trembled lightly. “Ji Caiyan, why won’t you believe me?”
Ye Zhiyao turned her head to look at Ji Caiyan, a tear rolling down her cheek and landing on Ji Caiyan’s face.
Ji Caiyan released Ye Zhiyao and forced down the mouthful of blood in her mouth. “Ye Zhiyao, you coveted your disciple—may you die a horrible death!”
“Cough.” A faint cough sounded softly, but Bo Xuenong still recognized it as Shen Yanting’s voice.
Hearing it snapped her back. Ever since listening to Ji Caiyan and Ye Zhiyao recount what had happened between master and disciple these past days, Shen Yanting—the one Bo Xuenong always saw as her pillar—hadn’t spoken again. Out of concern, Bo Xuenong followed the carriage curtain Ji Caiyan had pushed aside and entered the carriage.
She immediately saw Shen Yanting with pale lips. “Master, what’s wrong?”
“I…” Shen Yanting had been looking down but lifted her head upon hearing Bo Xuenong. The instant she saw her, two unusual flushes crept onto her face, and a hint of guilt flickered in her eyes. She pursed her lips. “It’s nothing.”
Shen Yanting’s gaze slid away from Bo Xuenong and landed on Ji Caiyan, whose lips still bore traces of Ye Zhiyao’s blood.
Bo Xuenong thought Shen Yanting was frightened by Ji Caiyan and quickly said, “Master, don’t worry. I don’t bite.”
“…” The flush on Shen Yanting’s face deepened, more complex emotions appearing in her eyes.
She didn’t respond to Bo Xuenong, instead using spiritual power to pull Ji Caiyan back into the carriage fully. She circled back to the topic. “What’s with the restriction on you?”
