Chapter 1
Dim, flickering firelight emerged from the thick fog, gradually growing clearer.
It was a patrol of disciples dressed in the Tianyan Sect’s uniform. After making their rounds, they found nothing unusual.
Before long, the disciples on night patrol silently departed like wandering ghosts, carrying fluorite lanterns that dispersed the mist wherever they passed.
Only when the last figure had disappeared into the fog did something happen. In an instant—
“They’re gone.”
A woman’s voice, lowered to barely a whisper, sounded from somewhere within the mist.
Moments later, a faint rustling came from the shadows.
Tap.
A sound so soft it was almost imperceptible.
A figure leaped down from the eaves high above and landed steadily on the ground.
Ordinarily, someone lurking in the shadows beneath the eaves like a thief ought to have a shifty, suspicious appearance, or at the very least, an air of sinister menace.
Yet the person slowly straightening up was neither gloomy nor unsavory.
It was a woman. Or rather, an extraordinarily beautiful, dazzlingly radiant woman, whose bright eyes sparkled with life and whose face was brimming with amusement.
The hem of her moon-white robes swept across the gray bricks. Song Che brushed nonexistent dust from her fingertips, her eyes curving into crescents. “Hurry it up. We’re going outside the walls for roast chicken tonight.”
Footsteps approached.
“Are you sure nothing will go wrong tonight? My eyelid’s been twitching since this evening…”
A handsome young man emerged from the mist, his fiery red hair striking against the darkness. He stood with his arms crossed, his sharp brows slightly furrowed as he regarded Song Che with undisguised distrust. “What if Shi Cimo doubles back and catches us…”
Before he could finish, someone interrupted him.
“Xiao Yushu, since when did you become such a coward? You’ve got less courage than a needle has room in its eye!”
A petite figure dressed in peach-red darted out from behind him. She was a lively, energetic young woman.
Su Yiyao planted her hands on her hips, glaring at Xiao Yushu with her round, almond-shaped eyes. “How could Senior Sister Song’s information possibly be wrong? Besides, I saw Senior Sister Shi leading her patrol toward the back mountain with my own eyes!”
“Of course you’d take her side.” Xiao Yushu sneered, his voice dripping with contempt.
As if he didn’t know exactly what kind of person Song Che was. The moment something went wrong, she’d make herself scarce, guaranteed to run faster than anyone else.
“Last time, at the Library Pavilion…”
He left the rest unsaid, merely letting out a cold laugh.
They’d sneaked in to read cultivation techniques together, yet he’d been the only one caught and had ended up doing hard labor for an entire month!
“Rest assured, Junior Brother Xiao.”
Song Che showed not the slightest hint of guilt over having thrown her teammate under the bus.
Smiling brightly, she patted Xiao Yushu on the shoulder. “If you’re afraid of getting caught by the law enforcement patrol, just beg your senior sister nicely. I might even bring you back a roast chicken.”
Xiao Yushu snorted and ignored her. Gathering his strength, he abruptly launched himself toward the perimeter wall.
“Senior Brother Xiao’s really impatient.” Su Yiyao blinked, standing beside Song Che with an eager, excited expression.
Song Che patted her head, then turned toward a silent figure standing not far away and called, “Second Senior Brother.”
Lin Suijue stood with his sword in his arms, as silent and immovable as a mountain. Hearing her call, he turned his head slightly, about to respond when the sword sheath in his arms suddenly trembled almost imperceptibly.
When he failed to answer for some time, Song Che looked at him in confusion.
Lin Suijue kept his gaze fixed on the thick fog beyond the wall for another two seconds before finally withdrawing it and nodding.
He exchanged a glance with Song Che—
Time to move!
Like arrows released from their bowstrings, the four of them crouched low and sprinted forward at astonishing speed, carefully suppressing every sound as they approached the sect’s boundary without a whisper.
Upon reaching the wall, Xiao Yushu was the first to vault onto it.
Crouching on the broad top of the wall, he cautiously peered into the pitch-black mountain forest beyond. He couldn’t make out a thing.
Was it really that dark outside? Xiao Yushu frowned.
Although they didn’t dare use spiritual power because of the sect’s restrictions, he was already at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. His eyesight at night might not be as sharp as during the day, but he should still be able to make out vague shapes.
“Xiao Yushu!”
Song Che called out to him.
Snapping back to his senses, Xiao Yushu temporarily brushed aside the strange feeling in his heart. He turned and reached out, effortlessly catching the sword Lin Suijue tossed to him.
Immediately afterward, Lin Suijue vaulted up as well.
Seeing that both of them had made it onto the wall, Song Che glanced at Su Yiyao. “Little Yao.”
“Senior Sister, give me a boost!”
Su Yiyao giggled.
Without spiritual power, her movement skills weren’t nearly as good as those of the others. Narrowing her eyes, she gathered her strength and charged forward so quickly that the two people atop the wall felt their hearts leap into their throats.
Only when she was about to crash into the wall did Su Yiyao jump. It was obvious she wouldn’t reach the necessary height, and Song Che raised an eyebrow.
The next instant, she appeared beneath Su Yiyao’s landing point like a ghost and thrust out her hand, giving the sole of her foot a powerful boost.
“Be careful, you little menace.”
Xiao Yushu clicked his tongue. He caught Su Yiyao just in time and hauled her up onto the wall.
“It’s not like I’m as skilled as you guys!”
Having steadied herself atop the wall, Su Yiyao protested unhappily, “If using spiritual power didn’t trigger the formation, I’d have used a talisman ages ago!”
“All done!”
Below the wall, Song Che looked up just as the three people above extended their hands toward her.
“Senior Sister, hurry up!”
Su Yiyao urged her.
“What’s the rush?”
Instead of moving, Song Che casually swept her gaze around before settling on a small cluster of emerald bamboo, its outlines barely visible through the night mist not far away.
A smile tugged at her lips. “Everyone climbing over the wall? How boring.”
Before the words had even left her mouth, she had already shot toward the bamboo grove.
Xiao Yushu raised an eyebrow. “What’s she up to this time?”
Song Che darted rapidly between the thick fog and the shadows of the bamboo, finally fixing her sights on one particularly thick stalk.
She accelerated, and just as she was about to collide with it, she abruptly twisted her waist and slammed the tip of her foot into the middle of the bamboo stalk.
The tall green bamboo bent into an astonishing arc, storing up tremendous force, ready to spring back.
The three people atop the wall watched, the corners of their eyes twitching.
Song Che, however, was grinning with wild abandon. She nimbly leaped onto the upper end of the bamboo stalk and pressed down lightly once more—
Accompanied by a sharp whistle of rushing air, the three people on the wall saw only a blur before a figure soared into the sky.
Her robes billowing in the wind, Song Che landed steadily atop the wall. A few strands of dark hair brushed across her delicate features, yet her breathing remained as calm and even as ever.
Behind her, the bamboo grove shook violently, leaves rustling and scattering to the ground.
Wearing a mischievous smile, Song Che glanced at Xiao Yushu, whose face practically screamed, “What a show-off.”
Lin Suijue looked toward the bamboo grove, his gaze as calm as ever. “We need to hurry.”
“Don’t worry, Second Senior Brother. Even if the night patrol rushes over right now, it’ll already be too late.”
Song Che raised a hand and casually brushed away the loose strands of hair around her face. For once, there was a trace of smugness in her smile. “Let’s go—”
“Go?”
A cold, utterly emotionless woman’s voice suddenly rang out from the darkness below the wall.
The four, who had been so excited just a moment earlier, froze as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over their heads.
Song Che’s smile stiffened. Thoroughly shocked, she turned toward the voice, only to discover that, at some unknown point, a solitary, aloof figure had appeared a short distance beyond the wall.
The immaculate black-and-silver uniform of a senior disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall outlined the woman’s tall, slender figure.
Her long, ink-black hair cascaded down her back. Her face could only be described as pretty rather than breathtakingly beautiful, but her eyes were extraordinarily dark, almost matching the dense night surrounding her. Those eyes now regarded the four audacious troublemakers with cool indifference, utterly devoid of emotion.
Shi Cimo, a direct disciple of Qingji Peak and the final personal disciple of True Lord Shuangming of the Law Enforcement Hall.
Behind her stood a squad of disciples dressed in the same black-and-silver law enforcement uniforms. They stood as motionless as statues, long swords in hand, their cold gazes fixed firmly on the figures atop the wall, just like their leader’s.
The night breeze stirred a few fallen leaves, producing a faint rustling sound. Apart from that, everything was deathly silent.
Shi Cimo’s gaze swept impassively over Su Yiyao, whose face had gone deathly pale and who looked as though she wished she could squeeze herself into a crack in the wall; Xiao Yushu, who showed no fear whatsoever and was rolling his eyes at Song Che as if to say, “See? This again”; and Second Senior Brother Lin, whose expression remained as dull and unchanging as ever.
Finally, her gaze settled on the most flamboyant figure of them all, dressed in moon-white robes.
“Senior Brother Lin, Senior Sister Song. Good evening.”
Shi Cimo’s expression remained indifferent. Even at a moment like this, she still cupped her hands in a formal greeting, as though she had merely encountered a few fellow disciples while out for an evening stroll. Yet despite using respectful forms of address, every word she spoke was colder, harder, and more distant than ice.
“Disregarding the curfew and attempting to leave the sect without permission…”
She spoke slowly, her voice not particularly loud, but each word was perfectly clear, carrying an invisible pressure that weighed upon everyone present. “According to sect regulations, you are to be escorted to the Law Enforcement Hall and handed over to the elders for judgment.”
Shi Cimo raised her hand slightly, and the law enforcement disciples standing behind her immediately stepped forward, bringing an invisible wave of pressure with them. She lifted her head and looked directly at the four. “Everyone, this way, please—”
Xiao Yushu clicked his tongue in annoyance at the trouble. Song Che, on the other hand, seemed to have completely recovered from her earlier shock, once again wearing her usual radiant smile.
“Tsk, Junior Sister Shi…”
She folded her arms across her chest and lowered her eyes slightly, looking down at Shi Cimo with an ambiguous half-smile, a hint of deeper meaning in her expression. “Should I praise you for your uncanny foresight, or… your admirable persistence?”
“…”
The moment this teasing, suggestive question left her lips, even the air seemed to freeze.
The surroundings grew quieter still, approaching absolute silence.
Shi Cimo’s raised hand, which had been signaling the law enforcement disciples, paused in midair for the briefest instant.
She said nothing for a moment. She merely lifted her eyes, her dark gaze settling on that conspicuous figure in moon-white atop the wall.
The law enforcement disciples behind her sucked in sharp breaths. Across from them, even Xiao Yushu obediently shut his mouth.
“Just doing my duty.”
In the end, Shi Cimo offered only those four words.
Her voice, eyes, and expression showed not the slightest change or fluctuation in emotion.
“Heh.”
Song Che let out a soft chuckle, its meaning impossible to discern.
Shi Cimo tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over the other three people on the wall before returning to Song Che.
“If Senior Sister Song has any objections to the Law Enforcement Hall’s procedures, you may lodge an appeal with Senior Sister Mu or True Lord Shuangming.”
Whether intentionally or not, Shi Cimo placed slightly more emphasis on the words “True Lord Shuangming.” She then continued, “But for now, I ask that everyone cooperate.”
Although she said “everyone,” her unnervingly calm gaze remained fixed on the person standing in the middle. It was so chilling that Su Yiyao, who was still clutching the hem of Song Che’s robes beside her, almost instinctively loosened her grip.
“Cooperate, cooperate. Of course we’ll cooperate.”
Song Che suddenly smiled, though in the hazy darkness, that smile seemed inexplicably shadowed by something darker.
She was the first to leap down from the wall, landing lightly on the ground. Her moon-white robes fluttered around her, stirring a small gust of cool air.
Straightening up, she took a few nimble steps and appeared directly in front of Shi Cimo in the blink of an eye, moving so quickly that no one had time to react.
The pupils of the law enforcement disciples behind Shi Cimo contracted, and they almost instinctively drew their swords.
Shi Cimo herself remained perfectly still. Her expression did not change as she calmly met the smiling face now mere inches from her own, a face filled with curiosity, understanding, and a trace of amusement.
“You’ve worked hard, Junior Sister.” Song Che smiled brightly. She deliberately lowered her voice, adding a touch of huskiness, as though the cold wind had dried her throat, and let the final syllable rise ever so slightly.
Her tone was suggestive, but her words were plainly perfunctory. “You should get some rest early too, Junior Sister, hmm?”
Shi Cimo remained expressionless, as though she hadn’t heard this insincere display of “concern.”
Her gaze passed over Song Che and returned to the top of the wall.
Lin Suijue was the second to descend. His movements were clean and steady, and he landed without a sound.
When he passed Shi Cimo, he actually stopped.
Unlike Song Che’s superficial, insincere courtesies, Lin Suijue cupped his fists toward her in a remarkably sincere salute and said in a deep voice, “Thank you for your trouble, Junior Sister.”
Su Yiyao was still young and felt nothing but fear toward Shi Cimo. When Lin Suijue half-supported, half-guided her down from the wall, her face was deathly pale, and she didn’t even dare look at Shi Cimo.
She clung tightly to Lin Suijue’s sleeve until Song Che, looking somewhat helpless, finally pulled her away.
When Xiao Yushu jumped down and passed Shi Cimo, he made no effort to hide his eye roll, muttering a sarcastic remark under his breath. “What a pretentious act.”
Shi Cimo simply pretended not to hear.
“Take them away.”
She turned slightly and nodded to the law enforcement disciples behind her.
No chains were brought out. This was the last bit of “dignity” the Law Enforcement Hall was willing to afford these direct disciples.
The law enforcement disciples silently closed in, forming a tight circle around the four and “escorting” them toward the Law Enforcement Hall.
Song Che walked at the front. As she brushed past Shi Cimo, her footsteps seemed to falter ever so slightly. But she did not look back.
Shi Cimo remained where she stood, silently watching the four being escorted farther and farther away. She watched until that flash of moon-white was swallowed by the darkness and mist, disappearing completely into the fog.
The night breeze was faintly cool, gently lifting the strands of hair resting against her shoulders.
She slowly withdrew her gaze.
The air around her seemed to grow even more oppressive because of her silence. The law enforcement disciples who remained behind hardly dared to breathe, standing solemnly with their hands at their sides.
She took a fluorite lantern from her storage ring. Its faint glow drove away a small patch of dense fog, illuminating her expressionless profile. Without offering any explanation, she uttered just two words: “Change shifts.”
The moment the words left her lips, before the other disciples even had time to salute her, her figure flickered and vanished from the spot, leaving only the shifting shadows of the mist behind.
After several seconds of silence, the remaining law enforcement disciples exchanged glances. Only then did they seem to be released from some invisible binding spell. Their tense shoulders slumped, and someone let out a long breath of relief.
“My heavens…”
A young disciple lowered his voice, still shaken, his tone carrying the relief of someone who had narrowly escaped disaster. “I barely dared to breathe just now. Senior Sister Song really is something else. How many people in our sect would dare speak to Senior Sister Shi like that…”
“What do you know?”
A round-faced disciple beside him chimed in. He imitated Shi Cimo’s expressionless face, putting on a stern expression and lowering his voice to mimic her.
“‘Just doing my duty.’ Tsk, Senior Sister Song was practically playing with fire with that remark.”
“And the look in Senior Sister Shi’s eyes just now…”
He rubbed his arms, as though he could still feel that bone-piercing chill, and clicked his tongue. “If Senior Sister Song had provoked her one more time, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d wrapped those chains straight around her neck.”
“But the way Senior Sister Song made that grand entrance onto the wall just now was incredible.”
Another female disciple, however, had a dreamy expression on her face, clearly absorbed in an entirely different topic. “To achieve that kind of speed and power without using any spiritual energy… As expected of the Tianyan Sect’s number one genius…”
“You silly girl! Weren’t you saying just two days ago that Senior Sister Mu was the only one for you? And now you’ve already fallen for someone else?”
Someone laughingly scolded her, then seemed to remember something. Their tone turned strange. “Come to think of it, Senior Sister Song has been caught… what, at least a dozen times this month?”
“And Senior Sister Shi personally caught her at least nine of those times,” another disciple added almost instinctively.
Everyone suddenly fell silent.
An indescribable awkwardness settled over the group, accompanied by a certain unspoken suspicion that seemed to occur to all of them at once.
Beyond the wall, the leaves and branches in the bamboo grove that Song Che had disturbed were still rustling, making the sudden silence all the more conspicuous.
After a moment, it was the same female disciple who coughed and awkwardly changed the subject. “L-Let’s go. Night patrol’s over. I’m exhausted.”
“Right, right! It’s finally over. I’m dead tired!”
As though suddenly reminded of something, everyone immediately began chiming in, some stretching while others yawned.
They put away their swords and headed back in groups of two or three, walking with their arms draped over one another’s shoulders. Their hurried figures soon disappeared into the depths of the narrow path leading toward the disciples’ residences. By tacit agreement, they left that unfinished conversation unspoken, burying it in the darkness along with the increasingly inscrutable undercurrents that had been raging between the two senior sisters over the years.
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