Chapter 22 Part 1

It was only then, with that remark, that the youth had a chance to notice the woman standing beside Lu Shiyuan. “Junior Sister Lu, who is this young lady?”

“She’s the Ye Capital Female Sovereign you just accused of coveting others’ beauty and charms, isn’t she, Shang Girl?” Spotting the gathering excitement, Lin Xiao shook off the cluster of Kunlun Sect elders and bounded over in a few quick strides. He flashed a roguish grin at the disciple—some generation down the line—from before him. “Kid, whose disciple are you? How could you be so dense as to badmouth someone right to their face? Who taught you manners like that?”

As he spoke, he slung a casual arm over the youth’s shoulder and leaned in with a voice pitched just loud enough to carry, “whispering,” “Don’t say your ancestor didn’t warn you. The women of the Shang Family all have hairpin-sized hearts. If you’ve got designs on the little girl standing right here, I’m telling you—keep it under wraps tight as a drum and whatever you do, don’t let it…”

Everyone present, with their keen ears and sharp eyes, heard Lin Xiao’s words as clear as day, rendering his attempt at secrecy laughably transparent.

The Kunlun Sect members flushed with embarrassment, but there was nothing they could do. This man’s seniority was simply too exalted for them to even raise their voices in reprimand.

Once Lin Xiao finished his little “lecture,” he caught sight of the chill settling on Shang Si’s face. He promptly backed away to a safer distance, looking for all the world like he feared she might silence him on the spot.

It had been ages since the Kunlun Sect had seen such a stir—not since that Dao Discussion Assembly held on their grounds a century ago.

Prominent figures from every major sect and faction had met with trouble right on their home turf, Demon Realm visitors included. They always preached that humans and demons could never coexist, yet here were the heirs of demon clans nearly wiped out by the Extermination Grand Array at the sect’s very doorstep, dragging a whole mess of fallout in their wake.

The current sect leader, Yun Qing, and his elders had been run ragged trying to manage it all. Fortunately, the mountain had plenty of spare rooms; these guests could rest and recover for ten days or half a month without issue.

What left them truly at a loss, however, was Lin Xiao’s attitude.

“Ancestor, even if you did make off with that Ten-Thousand-Year He Shou Wu from our Treasure Pavilion, that’s one thing. But if that spiritual medicine hadn’t suddenly awakened sentience, none of this chaos would have erupted. By all rights—emotionally and logically—you ought to step forward and explain things to the folks from both realms.” Kunlun Sect’s leader cut an imposing figure in public, his white hair and beard marking his advanced years. Yet here he was, trailing after a young man who looked scarcely out of his teens, pleading with wide-eyed earnestness and addressing him as “Ancestor” at every turn.

The sight was utterly absurd.

Lin Xiao, however, wasn’t having any of it. He flicked his sleeve dismissively, clearly irked by the junior. “I’m not going. You want to handle it? Be my guest.”

He took two steps forward, then wheeled around, hands planted on his hips as he loudly chewed out Yun Qing, who was still dogging his heels. “Don’t think I don’t see through you, Little Yun Daozi. You just want me to step out and take the fall! And for the record—taking what belongs to my own family isn’t stealing. Is it? Hell no. It’s just taking!”

The spiritual energy spilling from the Kunlun Mountains had seemed like the birth of some world-shaking treasure. In truth, it was this Kunlun Ancestor messing around with alchemy on his home ground, drawing crowds from both realms who then blundered straight into triggering the Extermination Grand Array.

The misunderstanding was colossal. Without someone of sufficient stature to step in and clarify matters properly, the Kunlun Sect had no way to defuse the situation.

Lin Xiao, of course, was utterly unmoved by reason.

Having finished dressing down his own people, he turned to the pair who had been waiting silently off to the side. “Shang Girl, no point just standing around. If you’ve got time on your hands, go heal those wounds of yours. That Ten-Thousand-Year He Shou Wu? Not a chance I’m handing it over. Sure, you’re the Ye Lord, but your reach doesn’t extend into my Kunlun Sect yet, does it?”

With that, he jabbed a finger toward Yun Qing behind him, blunt as ever. “I don’t give a damn what deal you struck with this old codger. While I’m here, his word means nothing.”

Yun Qing’s face flushed with embarrassment the instant the words landed.

Shang Si, by contrast, appeared to have expected exactly this response. She shot a sidelong glance at Lu Shiyuan beside her and quirked her lips. “Lin Xiao, I haven’t even laid out my terms yet, and you’re already shooing people off?”

“What terms? Doesn’t matter what they are—I won’t agree. I don’t need a thing.” Lin Xiao waved her off with a firm shake of his hand, his posture screaming “end of discussion.”

“What if I trade a drop of my essence blood for it?” Shang Si called after him as he started to turn away, her voice clear and resonant.

In the vast main hall, where tendrils of incense smoke curled lazily through the air, the other three reacted in distinctly different ways.

Lin Xiao’s bright black eyes darted this way and that. He let out two mischievous chuckles, then leaped right up to Shang Si’s side, blurting out boldly, “You’re really willing to swap a drop of your essence blood for that He Shou Wu?”

“Ancestor!”

“A Si!”

Yun Qing and Lu Shiyuan cried out almost in unison. The former’s exclamation brimmed with flustered disbelief, while the latter’s held nothing but heartfelt concern.

For someone like Shang Si, essence blood not only represented strength and cultivation, but also the bloodline identity of the Yedu imperial clan. For a person like her, who had detached herself from beyond the Three Realms, such a thing held extraordinary significance.

Naturally, for others, the value of this essence blood far surpassed even that of a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure like the Ten-Thousand-Year He Shou Wu.

After all, it was something that could boost cultivation and save a life in a critical moment, not to mention its other wonderful uses—and on top of that, Lin Xiao was an alchemist.

Just a second ago, Lin Xiao had claimed he “lacked for nothing,” but upon hearing this condition, he clearly wavered with interest. As early as a millennium ago, when the Ye Lord was still Shang Si’s older sister, he had harbored this very idea, though he had lacked any means to act on it. Now, Shang Si was delivering it right to him.

He ignored the two who had spoken up and fixed his gaze solely on Shang Si’s bright and beautiful face, asking again, “One drop of essence blood for a stalk of Ten-Thousand-Year He Shou Wu—just for this little girl by your side?”

The smile on Shang Si’s face faded slightly, as if she were dissatisfied with the Kunlun Ancestor’s wording.

What did he mean by “just for”?

“She is my wife.” She enunciated each word deliberately, her gaze deepening.

The cool tone fell into Lu Shiyuan’s ears, but those two words—”my wife”—carried a scorching heat that could burn a person.

She bit her vermilion lips lightly, struggle and hesitation flashing in her eyes. Finally, at this moment, she made her decision as well: “Senior, we don’t want this Ten-Thousand-Year He Shou Wu anymore.”

After speaking, Lu Shiyuan didn’t even glance at Shang Si’s expression or look on her face. Instead, she reached out and grabbed the other’s wrist, her attitude reversing from her usual dominance: “We’ve intruded upon your sect by coming up the mountain this time. Once A Si’s injuries have fully healed, we will leave and descend the mountain.”

Her words were directed at Yun Qing, but they were clearly meant for Lin Xiao to hear.

A playful expression appeared on his face. At this moment, the way he looked at Shang Si and Lu Shiyuan was just like watching two little lovers quarreling and bickering over a disagreement.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lin Xiao said lazily with a yawn. He stretched out both arms and casually pulled Yun Qing to his side, his handsome brows arching slightly. “Come find me whenever you two have sorted things out. I’ll be waiting anytime.”

With that, he tugged at Yun Qing’s robe with one hand, leading the man away from the place while muttering something under his breath, though no one could make out what it was.

Once the two of them left, the main hall of Lingxiao Palace was left with only Shang Si and Lu Shiyuan once more.

Shang Si finally couldn’t hold back and withdrew her hand, calling out the other’s name with clear displeasure on her face: “Lu. Shi. Yuan.”

“Who gave you permission to make decisions for me?” As her smile vanished, the innate aura that naturally emanated from Shang Si unconsciously released once more.

However, this time, Lu Shiyuan wasn’t intimidated by Shang Si’s forceful attitude. She stuck to her decision, turning her body halfway to meet the other’s gaze: “A Si, you know I don’t want to be a burden to you. I’m already grateful to have recovered most of my cultivation. If it means you have to trade your essence blood for spiritual medicine again, I’d rather my cultivation stop here forever and never advance another inch.”

Shang Si hadn’t expected Lu Shiyuan’s reaction to be so intense. She paused in a daze for a moment before speaking stiffly: “Whether I’m willing to offer my essence blood is my own decision—it has nothing to do with you. Besides, giving away one drop of essence blood is just a minor loss of cultivation at most.”

Shang Si’s long lashes fluttered as she carelessly lowered her gaze, feigning indifference.

The “minor loss” she spoke of was hundreds of years of time.

Enough for dynasties to rise and fall in the Mortal Realm, for seas to turn to mulberry fields.

But in her eyes, a mere few hundred years of lifespan was utterly insignificant compared to giving Lu Shiyuan a chance at a fresh start in life.

Not to mention that Lu Shiyuan was the wife she had formally wed in a ceremony, publicly announced to the Three Realms. Even if she weren’t, based solely on their three years together and that subtle, indefinable bond that had always lingered between them, she would still do it.

For no other reason than that Shang Si knew better than anyone how desperately Lu Shiyuan wanted to return to normal.

But…

“If you’re saying that, then whether I accept your good intentions is also my own decision. Even if you trade with Senior Lin for the spiritual medicine and refine the pills, I won’t take them.” Lu Shiyuan tightened her fingers, her attitude unyielding in the slightest.

Shang Si didn’t lift her eyes to look at her. She could only vaguely sense a hint of temper in the other’s words, though she wasn’t sure if it was directed at herself or at Shang Si.

It wasn’t until the sound of gradually receding footsteps came from behind her that Shang Si lightly rotated her right wrist again. She turned back to gaze at Lu Shiyuan’s figure storming off in a huff, a smile unconsciously tugging at the corners of her mouth: “Mm… it seems her temper has grown.”

If this were Lu Shiyuan from three years ago, she absolutely would never have acted this way.

But so what?

For the next half month, the relationship between Lu Shiyuan and Shang Si remained in a half-thawed state. They still conversed as usual, but their topics were neither cold nor warm, revolving entirely around matters unrelated to the purpose of their trip.

The meetings between them grew less frequent, not out of any deliberate avoidance, but because Shang Si had previously mobilized the Ye Capital Great Seal to break the formation. Now she was busy tending to her hidden injuries, holing up in her room for most of the time to heal.

With Lu Shiyuan suddenly finding herself with ample free time, she let Yun Feng—who had spotted her briefly in the crowd that day but hadn’t yet had a chance to catch up properly—lead her on a thorough tour of Kunlun’s various sights.

She had a favorable impression of him to begin with, and as old acquaintances, it didn’t take long for them to fall back into their easy familiarity.

That day, Yun Feng stepped into the courtyard where Lu Shiyuan was staying, just as he always did. His voice reached her before he did: “Junior Sister Lu, I’ve been looking for you. If you’ve got time today, why don’t you come down the mountain with me to check out that village at the base?”

A small village at the foot of the mountain had been plagued by eerie cries every midnight. An outer disciple had reported it last month, but the initial investigation turned up nothing unusual. After being passed around several times, the task had finally landed in Yun Feng’s lap.