Lin Hui took a half-step back, smoothly sidestepping the lean.
"Excellency Tuyue—I've heard a great deal about you. What could this junior possibly have done to rit such a journey?"
"You carry so interesting secrets." Moving closer, Tuyue sensed his peculiarity imdiately.
Her mind-spirit seduction was entirely without effect.
Lin Hui's presence was like a black hole. No matter how much mind-spirit power she directed his way, it slid past him—flowing around him as though he simply did not exist in its path.
Having lived as long as she had, she had thought the world held nothing left to surprise her. Yet sensing sothing this singular, she felt the old itch stir—curiosity and possessiveness, rising together from wherever they had been buried.
This is a genius who should have been cultivated in my city. How did I let him wander into that bitter woman's territory? That ten-thousand-year-old prude has no instinct for winning hearts—without her two elder brothers propping her up, she would have died in so forgotten corner long ago. And yet here she sits, reaping a fruit that was mine by right.
The thought only sharpened Tuyue's appetite.
No. I'll find a way. The mont he steps outside Black Cloud's range, I'll take the opportunity and run.
Lin Hui didn't know her exact train of thought, but he could read the broad shape of it. He was already working through how to untangle this.
Fighting her directly was the simplest solution. The problem was that he had no clear asure of her strength. If he won, fine—but if he couldn't finish the fight decisively…
Why had he co all the way to Black Cloud if not to use it as his buffer?
To guarantee victory, I first need to understand where a Mistborn's true strength actually lies. Gongsun Xinlian—who despises her—might be my way in.
Tuyue's sudden arrival had thrown off his plans entirely. This problem had to be resolved, and the fact that it had landed in his lap left him faintly irritated. He should have been deepening his cultivation research on the Star Breath Sword Canon. For now, though, he couldn't think of a natural way to approach Gongsun Xinlian.
Seeing him step away, Tuyue didn't press. She smiled, noted lightly that he'd be less distant once they'd spent a little more ti together, and drifted back into her courtyard.
Her patience was exceptional. For a being who had lived nearly ten thousand years, ti was the one thing she had in absolute abundance. She would simply wait until the perfect mont to close her fingers.
Lin Hui watched her go, then turned and walked back into the Dao Academy.
He did not abandon his routine on Tuyue's account. He refined pills, cultivated, practiced the sword, and attended classes with the sa regularity as before—as though nothing had changed at all. For certain sensitive matters, he now communicated exclusively through Wind Chi, and so the Clear Wind Dao quietly withdrew from public sight altogether.
Half a month passed. Tuyue watched him daily without making a move, seemingly content to settle in as a neighbor.
Lin Hui paid her little attention and kept to his schedule, continuing his salvation efforts to acquire the pulsation of life. This ti, his subject was a large old tree.
With her mind-spirit power, monitoring his every move required no effort on Tuyue's part. Yet after more than two weeks of continuous observation, she found nothing unusual. He looked, in every respect, like any other martial arts academy teacher.
His swordsmanship was sowhat interesting—but only sowhat. Nothing that reached past her indifference.
She remained patient, waiting for the occasion when Lin Hui would leave Black Cloud. Even once outside its borders, even for a mont, she could—
Another two weeks slipped by.
Lin Hui had still not left.
Tuyue could afford to wait. Ning Qianzhi could not. Back in Tuyue City, he had a mountain of affairs to manage, and with both himself and his mother—the city's two highest combat powers—absent at once, the situation was becoming genuinely precarious.
His request to return was approved without hesitation. From then on, Tuyue occupied the newly built manor alone.
She behaved like an entirely ordinary neighbor. Her schedule matched Lin Hui's; she greeted him cheerfully whenever their paths crossed; and every day she wore the sa wide, easy smile—a flower in full bloom.
The coercion Lin Hui had anticipated—the kidnappings, the direct threats—never ca. This, paradoxically, made him more uneasy than overt violence would have. He was accustod to blunt force. This slow, patient sawing—a blade dragged rather than swung—was far harder to answer.
The most troubleso developnt arrived about a week later, when Lin Hui ca ho to find Tuyue standing beside his older sister, Liu Xiao.
"This is Big Sister Yueyue—she's also from our area," Liu Xiao said brightly, by way of introduction.
Lin Hui looked at Tuyue's smile and felt a dull wave of helplessness. A Mistborn of her stature, resorting to this. Starting with his family.
"Since she lives right next door, I figured I'd bring her by, Ah-Hui. We're practically neighbors—might as well get acquainted, look out for each other." Liu Xiao spoke of Tuyue with the easy warmth of a lifelong friend. She had clearly already been chard.
"Oh—Yueyue also knows Big Brother. She ntioned they t at a ceremony in the Rain Palace once."
Those words landed like a stone.
Tuyue had mapped his entire background. For a creature who had lived nearly ten thousand years, this kind of maneuvering ca as naturally as breathing, and it left him no angle to refuse.
When force failed, she simply used warmth.
"Yes—my family also lives near the Rain Palace. We did cross paths at one of their ceremonies, so years ago. I believe it was High Divine Officer Liu Wujun." Dressed in a modest white skirt that revealed nothing, Tuyue looked precisely like an unassuming girl next door.
Excellency Tuyue—what are you doing? Lin Hui transmitted directly.
Don't be so guarded, Tuyue replied. We aren't enemies. You're a child who grew up in my city. I'd sooner protect you than harm you. A brief pause, and then her voice softened in his mind. Besides—I want to help you. Your sister clearly cares about you, but that stubborn streak of hers keeps her from showing it. I can fix that. Make her completely yielding, so she gives you no more trouble. What do you say? She smiled, casting him a aningful look.
…Why go to such lengths, Excellency? Geniuses are hardly rare in this world. Why fixate on
alone? Lin Hui sighed.
You misunderstand—this truly cos from concern. Tuyue pressed on. Your elder brother is still in Tuyue City. When I return, I'll have him placed in a position of real importance, naturally. I had originally considered having your father father more children—testing whether the talent is heritable. But after reflection, I set that plan aside. Having children directly with you would produce a much stronger probability of yielding another genius, so… Her fingers drifted to the bow of Liu Xiao's sash at the small of her back. Her eyes stayed fixed on Lin Hui—the implication unmistakable. One gentle pull, and the dress would fall.
Liu Xiao noticed nothing.
What a ss. Lin Hui had mapped out every likely scenario in advance, and this one had always been the thorniest.
His options were simple: cut Tuyue down here, then march into Tuyue City and eradicate her subordinates and disciples down to the root—or find another lever entirely. The first option demanded a decisive, complete victory. If he lost or failed to finish her quickly enough and she escaped, the consequences would be catastrophic. Beyond the practical risk, it would place him formally in violation of the Federation's laws. He'd beco a wanted man—and almost certainly lose his foothold in Black Cloud.
"Take your ti thinking it over." Sensing the conflict behind his silence, Tuyue smiled, looped an arm around Liu Xiao's shoulders, and steered her toward her own courtyard.
"Wait," Lin Hui said.
"Don't worry." Tuyue's laugh was soft and unhurried. "With that old prude staring at
constantly, I wouldn't dare do anything improper. I'm only having a chat with your sister."
A cold, sharp snort cut through the air from nowhere in particular. Gongsun Xinlian was, clearly, watching every mont.
Lin Hui exhaled slowly, and his mind snapped to a decision.
Tuyue could not be allowed to linger—she had to be dealt with, and quickly. With her mind-spirit power, the people around him had no ability to resist her influence indefinitely. He resolved to activate the contingency he had laid out weeks ago.
He watched Tuyue and Liu Xiao pass through the gate of the neighboring courtyard, then turned and walked back into his own Dao Academy.
"Senior Xinlian—can we speak?"
"About what?" Gongsun Xinlian replied, confirming that her surveillance had never wavered.
"I still have family in Tuyue City. They could be threatened at any mont. I want to ask you sothing: does Tuyue have anyone she genuinely cares about?" Lin Hui kept his voice level.
"Yes. Her eldest son, Ning Qianzhi—the only child she had with Ning Yue." Gongsun Xinlian's tone carried the faint edge of sothing old and unresolved.
"If I were to use Ning Qianzhi as leverage against her, would it work?"
"You? Leverage Ning Qianzhi?" A pause, and Gongsun Xinlian's surprise was audible.
"I an—if I threatened to kill him as a condition of a deal, would she negotiate?" Lin Hui enunciated each word with care.
"It would… yes. Ning Qianzhi is the last of the bloodline she and Ning Yue share. But understand—you may not realize the scale of investnt she has poured into him. His strength far exceeds that of a typical Blood Ancestor. He is nothing like the civil official you defeated." Gongsun Xinlian's voice dropped a register in warning.
"I know. But this can't wait any longer." Lin Hui let out a breath. "I need to go back to Tuyue City—now. Could I ask Senior to keep watch over my family while I'm gone? In return, I have sothing to offer."
He reached out gently. A small, grayish-white booklet appeared in his palm.
It held his personal insights on the Wild Wind Sword Technique—distilled from his analysis of the divergent paths walked by Xia Si and Tao Xuehai, from which he had traced a seed-like foundational quality latent in the art itself.
"To speak plainly: this junior ca into a mysterious inheritance so ti ago. Anyone who cultivates its thod and accepts themselves as its successor gains a profound amplification of their base strength."
His tone was entirely earnest.
"I've confird that it functions regardless of cultivation realm—and that it strengthens the constitution by fifty percent across the board. In truth, that is very likely why Tuyue crossed so much distance to find ."
"An inheritance of that kind…? You aren't lying?!" The shock in Gongsun Xinlian's voice was real. Mistborn were immune to virtually every toxin and coercive technique—but that very immunity also ant that almost no standard cultivation thod could benefit them in return. Such amplification was nearly unheard of.
She didn't entirely believe it. But she also could not ignore the fact that an ancient entity like Tuyue had crossed a sea to verify it personally.
"Senior is welco to test it. If it proves effective, there are three advanced follow-up layers—each considerably more powerful."
"Interesting… If what you say is true—"
Before Gongsun Xinlian could finish, a soft moan drifted over the wall from the neighboring courtyard.
It was low and languorous—the sound of soone surfacing from a very pleasant dream.
"Bastard!" Gongsun Xinlian's fury cracked through the air like a whip, and the sound cut off instantly.
A beat later—
Swish. Liu Xiao materialized in the air before Lin Hui and dropped. He caught her cleanly.
She was naked, her cheeks flushed a deep, warm pink. Lin Hui pulled her close and imdiately stripped off his outer robe, draping it around her. A quick check: no lasting harm. Her body had simply been pushed past its threshold, leaving her dazed and pliant.
"Hui…" Liu Xiao murmured against his shoulder, shifting in his arms.
"It's alright. I'm here." Sighing inwardly, Lin Hui called for Li Yuanyuan and transferred Liu Xiao to her care.
He already understood the shape of the problem. Short of standing guard twenty-four hours a day, there was no clean defense against Tuyue's mind-spirit pollution. Incidents like this would keep coming. She wouldn't inflict genuine physical harm—not with Black Cloud watching—but there was no wall against that insidious ntal influence. If he ever left Black Cloud for any extended stretch, he could return to find everyone he cared about reshaped into her instrunts.
Relying solely on Gongsun Xinlian had just been proven insufficient.
Lin Hui quietly closed his hand around the hilt of Ruyi at his waist.
Senior Tuyue—let's settle this properly. Na a place.
The surrounding air went still.
The wind died. The insect-song vanished. The loose flock of birds circling overhead disappeared all at once—as though wiped clean from the sky.
The world held its breath.
"Did you say…" Tuyue's voice ca from directly behind him, laced for the first ti with sothing that sounded genuinely like surprise. "…you want to fight ?"
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