Under the moonlight, Chen Yin stroked the back of the Purple-Whiskered Thunder Mane Tiger, calming it down, while his eyes were fixed on the veiled Yu Xiang, a playful smile on his lips.
“We et again, Miss Yin.”
“Long ti no see. How have you been?”
Yu Xiang’s body trembled slightly. No one could see her expression beneath the veil.
After a long silence, her voice, forcedly calm and barely suppressing a tremor, finally ca:
“…It’s you? You’re not dead?”
“Hey, hey, that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Chen Yin said with an innocent expression. “I practically fell off a cliff because of you. Do you have to be so cold-hearted?”
“It’s because—”
Yu Xiang almost lost control of her emotions and raised her voice. She quickly caught herself and continued in a cold tone:
“I didn’t ask you to save . I didn’t know you were such a foolish person, doing sothing so reckless for a complete stranger.”
Although she tried to hide it, Chen Yin could still hear the hint of grievance in her voice.
“Ahem… You can’t say that.”
He shook his head and said eloquently, “As a cultivator, one must act according to one’s conscience. How could anyone stand by and watch a group of people bully a young woman?”
Yu Xiang said urgently, “You don’t even know , how do you know I’m not a bad person?”
“What if… I really am the demonic witch they say I am?”
As soon as she said those words, Yu Xiang regretted them.
But Chen Yin simply stroked his chin thoughtfully. After a mont, he turned to her and asked, “Well, are you, Miss Yin?”
Yu Xiang bit her lip and whispered, “Why should I tell you?”
“You have to tell so I know whether I saved a good person or a bad person.”
“Are all demonic cultivators necessarily bad people?”
Faced with Yu Xiang’s question, Chen Yin thought for a mont and said, “I don’t know if all demonic cultivators are bad people. And I don’t care.”
“I only want to know if the person I saved is a bad person.”
He suddenly spread his arms open, exposing his chest to Yu Xiang, and said loudly, “If you truly are a bad person, Miss, feel free to kill . Consider it silencing a witness.”
Yu Xiang’s voice beca urgent. “Do you really think I wouldn’t dare, with you exposing yourself like that to a stranger?”
She pointed her slender sword directly at Chen Yin.
But Chen Yin remained motionless, simply looking at her with a relaxed smile.
“If you dare, Miss… what are you waiting for?”
The aura around her sword intensified.
But in the end, like a flickering candle fla, it slowly extinguished, her sword falling limply to the ground.
After a long while, Chen Yin heard a voice filled with frustration and gritted teeth:
“You… how can soone like you even exist?”
“Thank you for the complint, Miss.” Chen Yin smiled brightly.
“Since you’re already here, why don’t we chat for a bit before you leave?”
Yu Xiang hesitated, glancing at the docile Purple-Whiskered Thunder Mane Tiger beside Chen Yin, then slowly nodded.
*
They sat side by side on a large rock by the stream, bathed in the silvery moonlight. The tiger lay beside the stream, licking its furry paws as it bathed in the water.
Although she was wearing a veil and a dark, elegant dress, completely unlike the lively and adorable Xiang’er, Yu Xiang felt nervous sitting beside Chen Yin, afraid of accidentally revealing her identity.
To distract herself and ease her anxiety, she started the conversation:
“How… how did you survive falling from such a high cliff?”
“Who knows? Maybe I’m just lucky.” Chen Yin lay back on the rock casually.
“And why did you speak up for back then? Was it really just because you couldn’t stand injustice?”
“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Or maybe I was just bored and looking for an excuse to stir up trouble.”
…Picking a fight with a bunch of Boundless Realm and Supre Clarity Realm experts because he was bored? Yu Xiang was speechless. She could only mutter angrily, “How thick-skinned can you be, a re Cloud Ascending Realm cultivator, to say such things?”
“Ah, that’s where you’re mistaken, Miss Yin.”
Chen Yin suddenly sat up and said seriously, “I may not have many talents, but I have exceptionally thick skin.”
“Not even Boundless Realm or Supre Clarity Realm experts, even Grand Clarity Realm Immortals, can pierce my skin!”
That was actually true.
Just look at his Master, that old woman. She tried to break him down ti and ti again, but had she ever succeeded in piercing his thick skin?
Seeing Chen Yin’s smug expression, Yu Xiang felt even more exasperated. “A-aren’t you afraid of getting into serious trouble one day?”
“Have you ever considered how worried the people around you would be if sothing happened to you?”
Chen Yin’s smile faded, and he asked in a calm voice:
“What about… you, Miss Yin?”
“When those elders were questioning you, weren’t you afraid of getting hurt and making the people close to you worry?”
“I…”
Yu Xiang was speechless.
Chen Yin’s gaze was unusually calm, unwavering. But Yu Xiang suddenly felt intimidated by his gaze and couldn’t help but look away.
“I… don’t have anyone close to .”
“How is that possible? What about your parents, your fellow disciples from your sect?”
Yu Xiang’s eyes dimd, and her voice lowered. “…They’re all gone.”
“Gone for over a decade.”
Chen Yin narrowed his eyes slightly.
“From what I heard, your sect is called… Changli Palace?”
Yu Xiang turned to him and asked, “Do you know this sect?”
“Uh, forgive my ignorance.”
“Heh. It’s only natural.” She lowered her eyes, a self-deprecating smile on her lips. “It’s normal that you wouldn’t know.”
“Who in the cultivation world still rembers that sect?”
Chen Yin hesitated, about to ask, “Then would you be willing to tell more—”
“Don’t ask.”
Yu Xiang’s voice suddenly turned cold. She looked at Chen Yin with a cold glare. “Knowing about it won’t do you any good.”
Chen Yin looked away, his head lowered in thought, and fell silent.
The evening breeze rustled the unknown flowers by the stream, creating gentle ripples on the water’s surface.
Yu Xiang gazed at the flowing water, her heart heavy with sadness.
…How did it co to this?
She had finally t her Senior Brother again, confird that he was safe, and she didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere.
But she had to force herself to end this conversation.
She couldn’t let Senior Brother get involved in this matter.
Just as Yu Xiang was struggling with her emotions, she heard Chen Yin’s gentle voice:
“Let’s not talk about that anymore. Do you have soone you like, Miss Yin?”
Yu Xiang froze, then turned her head away, a hint of displeasure in her voice. “Why?”
“If I said no, would you start flirting with ?”
“Ahem, is that how you see , Miss?”
“Pretty much.” Yu Xiang pouted. “You look like a fickle playboy.”
Chen Yin imdiately protested, “You can’t just accuse like that! There’s no man more devoted than in this world!”
“You?” Yu Xiang scoffed.
“Not to ntion that woman in red who was buying you clothes at the Ten Thousand Fragrance Pavilion.”
“What about Shen Shuanglian, the fairy who jumped off the cliff with you?”
Chen Yin chuckled nervously.
“Uh, well, she… she was injured protecting , and she’s still recovering.”
Yu Xiang instantly turned her head away, a murderous glint in her eyes behind the veil.
“…Recovering?”
“So you’ve been with her all this ti?”
Chen Yin felt a cold sweat break out on his back. He stamred, trying to explain:
“Ahem, well, yes, but we didn’t do anything other than heal her injuries.”
Those words… weren’t exactly a lie, right?
But Yu Xiang, as usual, felt a pang of jealousy. She snorted softly and turned her head away.
“No need to explain yourself to . We’re not close, and I don’t care who you ss around with.”
Seeing Xiang’er’s temper flare up again, Chen Yin couldn’t directly coax her this ti. He could only force a smile and say, “Miss Yin, let explain…”
“There’s no need.”
After a long silence, he heard Yu Xiang whisper, “…Thank her for .”
Thank her for risking her life to save Senior Brother.
Otherwise, with Senior Brother’s newly acquired Cloud Ascending Realm cultivation and his incomplete mastery of the “Forgotten Everlasting Heart Sutra,” he might have been in real danger.
Seeing Chen Yin’s curious gaze, Yu Xiang simply turned her head away. “It’s nothing.”
“Didn’t you say you have a Junior Sister waiting for you at ho?”
“Aren’t you afraid your Junior Sister will be jealous, seeing you so close with this Fairy Shen?”
Chen Yin choked on his words and scratched his nose. “My Junior Sister…”
“She’s silly and innocent. She wouldn’t mind.”
“You—” Yu Xiang’s eyebrows shot up in anger, but she forcefully suppressed her outburst, letting out a soft “hmph” instead.
“Hmph. She’s unlucky to have such a philandering Senior Brother.”
To her surprise, Chen Yin simply shrugged nonchalantly.
“Yeah.”
“My Junior Sister truly has the worst luck. She ended up with a good-for-nothing Senior Brother like , who’s fickle, lecherous, lazy, and useless.”
“If I were strong and capable, if I were truly devoted and worthy of her trust…”
“Maybe… she wouldn’t have to live such a difficult life.” Chen Yin’s voice softened unconsciously.
Yu Xiang stared at him, stunned. After a long while, she snapped out of her daze and quickly averted her gaze, trying to hide her reddened eyes.
“Actually… you’re not as bad as you say. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“Many people would be lucky to have a Senior Brother like you.”
“Really?”
Chen Yin burst into laughter. “So I’m not that bad after all?”
“If only my Junior Sister thought the sa…”
“…I would be very happy.”
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