Facing the comfortable night breeze, Lin Huanhuan gradually fell into a deep sleep, a happy smile hanging on the corners of her mouth.
At her side, Dong Yuner, who should have been smiling along with her, found herself unable to do so.
Dong Yuner turned her head to look at the person before her. Recalling the scene of their playful frolicking just now, a thick, honey-like liquid seemed to flow through her heart. But the moment she thought about how Lin Huanhuan had sought out other women before — or might even go looking for them again tomorrow — that sweetness was somehow tainted by a bitterness that made her heart ache.
She shifted to lie on her side, making sure the hand she was holding stayed as still as possible. Her slender fingers lightly brushed over Lin Huanhuan’s beautiful face. Her moist eyes reflected an indescribable swirl of emotions as she whispered in a low voice:
“Miss, why must you go looking for other women? I truly don’t understand. What is so good about them? Isn’t it enough to have someone like me who is single-minded? I only want to be with you forever. Why is such a tiny wish so difficult to achieve?”
She muttered to herself in a low voice, as if trying to convince herself: “I know, I know… being able to stay by Miss’s side is already wonderful. Miss hasn’t grown tired of me, and I shouldn’t hinder her because she really is so good to me…”
“It should be like that… but… but I just can’t help it. I can’t help but want more. After gaining the right to stay by Miss’s side forever, I started wanting even more intimate contact. I want us to truly be inseparable, even bathing together.”
“I even want to truly be with Miss — not just as a maid, but as a partner, a cultivation partner. I even want to be Miss’s only one, to make her only like me.”
“I even want to disregard Miss’s feelings and lock her up so that she can only see me. That way, she wouldn’t see anyone else and would only love me.”
“Am I too greedy? Am I too selfish? I must be, but I just want it so badly.”
Strange emotions continuously flowed through her heart. It was a stream composed of sourness, melancholy, pain, and distress, making it impossible for her to extricate herself.
Suddenly, memories of her past sword cultivation flashed through her mind like slides in a projector. They rotated, expanded, and shrank, emitting various mysterious colors.
Within that stream of pain, a speck of golden light blossomed. It gradually expanded, slowly condensing into the shape of a sword before rapidly leaping out from the water and flying into the center of those memories.
The memories clustered toward the sword like colorful ribbons. Finally, the sword forged from pain carried all her past memories of the sword path. In an instant, an infinite aura erupted.
‘Is this…?’
Dong Yuner watched the scene in surprise. Her consciousness instinctively reached out a hand. The sword instantly retracted all its aura and landed quietly in her palm, dancing according to her will.
At this moment, the sword showed no sharpness, as if the soaring aura from before had been a mere hallucination. However, Dong Yuner knew very well that this was because the sword had reached a state of perfection. It wouldn’t reveal any aura normally, but once a battle began, this plain-looking sword could strike with enough force to sever rivers and split seas at any moment.
The moment she gripped the sword, clarity dawned in Dong Yuner’s heart: ‘This is what I have realized — my very own sword path.’
‘When not in use, this sword exists within the sea of my consciousness. When I need it, a single thought is all it takes to summon it against my enemies.’
‘This sword is named: the Emotion Response Sword. Its most unique trait is that its attack power fluctuates with my internal emotions. The more pain I feel, the stronger its power becomes — reaching a maximum of nine times its base strength.’
‘Pain…’
A hint of strangeness appeared on Dong Yuner’s face: ‘What is this? I get stronger the more I suffer? Is this sword path really suited for me?’
‘Forget it. At least my strength has truly increased, and I can continue to protect Miss. It’s just… how am I supposed to feel extreme pain? Does this count as self-harm? I don’t have those tendencies.’
—
Time rewound slightly.
You Yuelan watched the two leave, unable to snap out of it for a long time. Her heart felt as if a bottle of old vinegar had been overturned, filled with incomparable sourness.
“Hey, what are you dazing off for? They’re already far away. What are you still looking at?”
It wasn’t until her companion’s voice rang out that her eyes regained focus. She saw the leader of the men in black standing in front of her, waving his hand repeatedly.
“It’s nothing. I’m just thinking about some things,” You Yuelan said faintly. Her heart was devoid of emotion; she simply felt a bit tired and wanted to rest.
She followed her companions to a secluded area and stopped. They had scouted this place before; few people came here, so it was used as their temporary meeting spot.
Once they saw there was no one around, one of the men in black said impatiently, “I didn’t expect Lin Huanhuan to have other women. Dammit, why can’t she just cooperate with us? Let’s just finish off that woman named Dong Yuner. That way, no one will compete with You Yuelan for her favor.”
“Is there something wrong with your brain?!”
The leader of the men in black punched the man’s head and said angrily, “At our strongest, we are only at the peak of Qi Refinement. You want us to surround and kill Dong Yuner, who is in the Foundation Establishment stage? Did last night’s drinking turn your brain to mush?”
“Furthermore, this is the Lingyun Sect. We cannot just kill people as we please. We’ll be caught by the Disciplinary Hall, and then all our plans will be ruined.”
Another person said gloomily, “You Yuelan doesn’t have much of an advantage now. It seems she’ll have to be more aggressive while Lin Huanhuan is still interested in her.”
“Sigh, You Yuelan, next time you should just ask her what the biggest secrets of the Lin family and the Lingyun Sect are. Try to squeeze out as much intelligence as possible. That way—”
“Shut your mouth!”
Before he could finish, the leader kicked him over and cursed, “I told you to practice fewer trash cultivation techniques. You’ve trained your brains into nothing. Even if Lin Huanhuan is brainless, asking like that won’t yield any information. It’ll only expose us!”
“This won’t work, that won’t work… then what should we do?”
“Take it slow. What’s the rush? The sect didn’t tell us to bring the items back by tomorrow.”
The group discussed for a while longer before someone suddenly sighed. “The difference between the Lingyun Sect and our Sacred Sect is truly vast. To think that paying protection fees here actually results in being protected.”
“Yeah, shouldn’t paying protection fees mean being bullied equally? And those who don’t pay get bullied especially hard? They really have a lot of strange customs here.”
“It’s not without its benefits. At least the older disciples won’t give the new disciples cultivation techniques that turn them into medicinal ingredients just to let them live peacefully. In that regard, it’s quite a bit better than the Sacred Sect.”