Chapter 13: Blazing Fire Burns the Melody (Part 2): So What Can You Do About It?

She spat out the second half of her words with clearly emphasized enunciation, as if stressing and issuing a warning.

At the same time, the two girls behind her timidly bowed and said, “Greetings, Yao’e Immortal.”

Both girls wore the standard Tianyu Sect disciple uniform of white robes with crane patterns. One had long hair cascading down and wore half a black mask, with heavy dark circles around her eyes. The other had lily-of-the-valley hair buns on both sides of her head, a round face, and a small pear dimple by her lips, which made her especially cute.

Mu Qian Tan felt the two looked somewhat familiar. Then she remembered that a few days earlier in the Assembly Grand Hall, when she had struck Shang Shan, a few disciples had stood up, including these two. At this moment, both had uneasy expressions, as if they were afraid of her.

‘Who are these again? Let me check,’ Li Biyuan flipped open her book. ‘The one with dark circles is Dong Yuan, and the one with lily-of-the-valley buns is Xia Ju. They don’t seem like frequent characters. Just remember them.’

“Mm.” Mu Qian Tan nodded to the two girls.

Looking at the bag of mung bean cakes in her palm, Shang Shan hadn’t expected such good fortune and asked repeatedly, “You’re treating me? Really? Really?”

Qin He said, “Take it.”

“Wow! A heaven-sent fairy gives me treats.” Shang Shan tore open the paper bag and stuffed one into her mouth. She chewed and nodded in great satisfaction. “This is the taste! Sister, you’re so nice. I’ll help you catch rats from now on.”

Qin He seemed puzzled about why they needed to catch rats but didn’t ask. She just shook her head gently. “No need. It’s fine.”

Even as she spoke to Shang Shan, her gaze remained fixed on Mu Qian Tan.

Young people were always like this, unreserved in showing their emotions. Even knowing she was no match in strength, she dared to put her killing intent right out in the open. Every movement and expression said, I want to kill you. I will kill you. Just wait.

The subtle feeling in Mu Qian Tan’s heart grew stronger. Li Biyuan half-jokingly said, ‘Sister Tan, don’t act impulsively. She’s not a bad kid. Her background is pretty tragic, and she’s not as tough as the Female Protagonist. Let her go.’

‘…’ Mu Qian Tan: ‘What are you thinking? Of course I won’t hit her.’

She wouldn’t strike, not out of consideration for Qin He’s young age, but because this seemingly polite little girl was only so furious with her because of her already deceased sister, Qin Shuang.

As someone with a younger sister herself, she couldn’t bring herself to speak harshly to such a child.

Mu Qian Tan shifted her gaze and said to Shang Shan, “You still call her sister? She’s younger than you.”

Shang Shan choked, pounded her chest to swallow the mung bean cake, and sized up Qin He again. She couldn’t believe this girl, who looked much more mature than herself, was actually younger.

Qin He placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist and tugged the corner of her lips into a smile. “Yao’e Immortal actually remembers my age. I thought after my sister died, you’d completely forgotten about me.”

The two girls behind her exchanged a glance and broke out in cold sweat.

Xia Ju took half a step forward, tugged at her clothes, and said with an apologetic smile, “Qin He, don’t we still need to go check the body? It’ll be too late if we don’t go soon, and the Immortal surely has things to attend to.”

Qin He furrowed her brows. “Yeah, so busy. It’s not easy to even see her on normal days.”

There were too many people around, and it was too crowded, so the group stood not far apart. Mu Qian Tan could clearly see the hand Qin He had on her sword hilt gripping tightly, even trembling, obviously suppressing her rage.

Mu Qian Tan had a slight headache and changed the subject. “You took the bounty task from Prosperous Joy Workshop?”

In the early part of the original story, before Yao’e Immortal learned of the Female Protagonist’s Dragon Clan identity, she paid no attention to the Female Protagonist’s cultivation and only occasionally tossed her some miscellaneous books with little substance. Over time, the Female Protagonist learned nothing useful and realized this wouldn’t work, so she built a small boat and rowed out of the Narrow Sea by herself.

After hanging around the sect for a while, following her previous experience taking jobs to exterminate rats, she found the bounty task office and slowly figured out cultivation methods through real combat.

The first task she took part in was the Prosperous Joy City artifact demon murder case. At the same time, three other disciples took the same task and teamed up with her, one of whom was Qin He.

As one of the capable assistants by the Female Protagonist’s side later on, they met and became friends during this task.

Qin He pressed her lips tightly and didn’t respond. Xia Ju stepped in front of her, sweating on her forehead as she smiled. “Yes, Immortal. We came here for the task.”

The artifact demon causing trouble in Prosperous Joy Workshop was very powerful, and Tianyu Sect had only sent three juniors. Clearly, the one assigning tasks had underestimated the demon’s strength—an irresponsible move. Mu Qian Tan frowned, her voice slightly cold. “Focus when facing enemies. Don’t underestimate foes that seem weak.”

She had never imagined receiving advice from this cold-faced King of Hell, though it sounded more like a threat. Xia Ju’s mouth fell open, and it took her a while to say, “Understood. Thank you, Immortal.”

Staying longer might lead to some conflict, so Mu Qian Tan prepared to leave. But at that moment, Shang Shan finished her mung bean cakes, and her slow brain finally caught up. “Qin He, do you hate Yao’e?”

Dong Yuan and Xia Ju were just about to drag Qin He away. Hearing this, their faces turned green.

“Take a look,” Shang Shan suddenly grabbed Mu Qian Tan’s wrist and displayed her injured hand. “This is my bite mark. Impressive, right?”

The two opposite them were numb-faced, shocked at the same time by the secret that Yao’e Immortal had been bitten. Qin He was stunned for a moment and saw the crisscrossing bandages on that hand. For a time, she didn’t know what to say.

“…” Mu Qian Tan pulled her hand back and smacked Shang Shan on the back of the head with one palm. “Something wrong with your brain.”

After the smack, she said no more and directly grabbed Shang Shan by the back of her collar and dragged her away. Dong Yuan and Xia Ju saw this and assumed Shang Shan was in for big trouble, both showing pity in their eyes.

Qin He gritted her teeth and was about to rush out but was held back tightly by the two. So she shouted, “I live in an inn in the west of the city. If you need anything, you can come find me. I can protect you!”

Shang Shan was already used to being dragged and was greatly moved upon hearing this. “Okay, I’ll come play with you!”

They ran to several more inns and finally found one with a vacancy, but it was only a single room—the smallest kind, and the conditions weren’t great.

It had a bed to sleep on at least, and Mu Qian Tan wasn’t picky, so she accepted it. As she paid and went upstairs, Shang Shan followed behind and asked, “Are we sleeping on the same bed?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “In your dreams. You sleep on the floor.”

Shang Shan said, “Why is it always like this?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “You can sleep on the street too. Your choice.”

She deliberately stomped her footsteps louder. Shang Shan grumbled, “Ever since I acknowledged you as my master, I haven’t slept in a bed once.”

“Cultivation is inherently austere.”

They went up the stairs, through the corridor, to the end. Mu Qian Tan used the key to unlock the door and pushed it open. The room was cramped and cluttered, with a faint sour smell lingering. There was only a single candle on the table, which didn’t light up the whole room, leaving it dim and murky.

She walked to the table, rolled up her sleeve, and carefully adjusted the wick to make it burn brighter. The warm light fell on her face, softening her sharp features considerably.

Shang Shan sat on the floor, testing if it was comfortable to sleep on, and muttered upon seeing this, “They say you can’t judge by appearances. Looks like it’s true. If your heart was half as beautiful as you, you’d be called a great philanthropist.”

Mu Qian Tan sat sideways at the table’s edge. In the hazy glow, she picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea. “What do I get for being called a great philanthropist?”

Shang Shan said, “At least a great philanthropist wouldn’t make me sleep on the floor every day.”

Mu Qian Tan lifted the teacup. “You have money but won’t use it. Who’s to blame?”

Shang Shan said, “I’ve seen martial artists before. Masters treat disciples like their own son or daughter. You’re the exception.”

The tea leaves floated in the cup. Mu Qian Tan took a sip to moisten her throat. “If everyone in the world was the same, what then?”

Shang Shan patted the dust off herself. “Everyone else is nice. You’re the worst.”

The Crane-Gazing Orchid Step-Shake swayed gently, scattering bits of light on Mu Qian Tan’s eye corner. She set down the cup, smiled faintly—just a nasal sound. “So what can you do about it?”

The waiter arrived at the room door and asked, “Guest, do you need hot water for a bath now?”

Mu Qian Tan looked up. “Yes.”

“Right away.”

He and another worker carried in a bath barrel. They bustled back and forth, filling it with hot water, handed over some soap and towels, and then left.

Mu Qian Tan stood. “You go out. Come back after I’m done bathing.”

Shang Shan got up from the floor, glanced at her, then again, and said, “If you don’t cherish me like this, I’ll go out to play and not come back.”

Mu Qian Tan lowered her gaze to undo her sash. “Suit yourself.”

Her satin-like black hair flowed in the warm yellow light, almost like a warm river cascading down her slender back. Shang Shan swallowed, hummed, and left the room.

The door closed with a click, and the room fell quiet.

Her fingers paused at the sash. Mu Qian Tan turned her head slightly, confirmed she was gone, and then said, “Miss Li, you won’t be watching while I bathe, right?”

Li Biyuan said, ‘Ah? No. Like I said before, during private moments like this, I leave the monitor and just do voice chat. Don’t worry.’

Mu Qian Tan said, “Is it like that now too?”

Li Biyuan said, ‘You’re just about to bathe, so I’m shutting it off now.’

“Okay…” Mu Qian Tan let go of the sash and asked again, “There won’t be any recordings either, right? I’m particular about that. Even though I know you wouldn’t bother editing them, just thinking there’s footage makes me uncomfortable.”

Li Biyuan sighed and patted her chest. ‘To be honest, our monitors do record, but with at least a hundred Small Worlds running simultaneously every day, the video output is hundreds or thousands of gigabytes. Unless something goes wrong, no one reviews it. Sister Tan, put your mind at ease. Strip and do whatever—just don’t streak naked.’

Mu Qian Tan feigned curiosity. “You generate that much video every day? Storing all that data must be tough.”

Li Biyuan said, ‘Yeah, but there’s no need to keep it all. Most is useless, so the storage auto-clears once a month, like outside surveillance cams. No big deal.’

Mu Qian Tan hummed, sat at the table’s edge, dipped her fingertip in the tea, and wrote “Li Biyuan is an idiot” on the tabletop. Casually, she asked, “Have you eaten?”

Li Biyuan said, ‘Just opened a pack of instant noodles, about to brew it.’

“Oh.”

Her fingertip dried, dipped in tea again, and below that line, she wrote “Shang Shan.” Then she drew a big X over that name and boldly wrote “Mu Qian Tan” beside it.

After finishing, she waited quietly. From the other side came the rustling sounds of the noodle cup, but nothing else.

Mu Qian Tan’s gaze narrowed slightly. She wiped away all the names with her hand.

It seemed that during times like this, Li Biyuan really did leave the monitor and couldn’t see the image. And as she said, the massive video volume from hundreds of Small Worlds meant no one reviewed it unless there was an incident.

That meant during this period, no matter what she did, those outside the monitor couldn’t know—as long as she cleaned up well, it would be hard to investigate later. And after a month, the evidence would vanish.

So, if she timed it right, she could make moves against the Female Protagonist right under Li Biyuan’s nose.