Chapter 27: Feelings Are Too Hard a Question

Shen Mo didn’t know what she meant by “interesting,” and he didn’t want to know.

He just kept his head down and continued flying forward in a wobbly manner.

Lin Jingzhe had no intention of letting him off.

She slowed her sword’s speed to stay parallel to him, tilting her head to study him. Her gaze was as if she were looking at some strange, rare curiosity.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” she teased. “Did you not serve her well enough last night? Otherwise, why would she let you go so easily?”

Shen Mo’s hand on the sword hilt tightened abruptly.

His lips moved, but he said nothing.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“She intentionally left her aura on you, like a tiger marking its territory.”

“She is covered in your scent, and you are covered in hers. Anyone could guess what you two were doing in that broken-down house.”

She spoke each word slowly, as if savoring Shen Mo’s expression.

“But it’s only been a few days. She’s already willing to let you go?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Shen Mo was too tired to explain.

Lin Jingzhe looked at him and suddenly smiled.

That smile was different from before. Earlier, it was mockery, but now — he couldn’t quite name it.

“I’m saying you’re quite pitiful,” she said.

Shen Mo froze.

After speaking, her sword light suddenly accelerated, leaving him behind.

Shen Mo stood in place atop his sword, watching her figure grow distant.

The wind was strong. It made his eyes sting.

In the distance, Lin Jingzhe’s sword light abruptly stopped.

Standing in midair, she looked back.

That tiny black speck was still on the horizon, moving unsteadily.

It was slow, so slow. It was frustratingly slow.

She swore under her breath, turned her sword around, and flew back.

As Shen Mo was flying, a blur appeared before his eyes, and Lin Jingzhe was beside him once more.

“Why are you — “

“Shut up,” Lin Jingzhe said with a cold face. “You’re flying too slowly. At this rate, you won’t arrive before dark. I don’t want to explain to Honored Teacher that I lost her Husband.”

Shen Mo was stunned. Before he could speak, Lin Jingzhe grabbed his wrist.

“Hold on tight.”

A flash of green light erupted.

Shen Mo felt his body grow light as he was pulled forward at a gallop.

The speed was so great he could barely keep his eyes open.

The wind howled in his ears.

The sea of clouds retreated rapidly.

He instinctively gripped Lin Jingzhe’s wrist.

Her hand was slender but steady.

Through her sleeve, he could feel her body heat.

……

On the way back to the peak, Lin Jingzhe was unusually quiet.

She didn’t give him the cold shoulder as usual but stole occasional glances at Shen Mo.

Her heart felt blocked by something, leaving her stifled.

Thinking back on the past, her Honored Teacher had taught her to read, to cultivate, and how to live.

She had said, “Jingzhe, you are my First Disciple. In the future, you must share the peak’s responsibilities.”

She also said, “Jingzhe, you must be ambitious. Reach the Golden Core Stage and the Nascent Soul. One day, Jiaoyue Peak will be yours.”

She even said, “Jingzhe, I am taking a Husband. You must respect and protect him; do not be negligent.”

At that time, Lin Jingzhe didn’t understand what a “Husband” was; she only knew that her teacher’s eyes would turn very soft whenever she mentioned him.

Seven years later, she met him.

Shen Mo.

The Husband of Jiaoyue Peak.

He stood in front of the Medicine Hut, dressed in plain white robes, teaching the disciples how to identify spiritual herbs.

The sunlight fell upon him, making him look as gentle as jade, a smile playing in his eyes.

At first glance, it seemed her teacher had found a true treasure.

But — she smelled it.

He carried Qin Shuying’s aura.

That aura was thick, clearly intentional.

A Nascent Soul cultivator’s mark was like a brand; once applied, it wouldn’t dissipate for a long time.

And then there was that bite mark.

She had seen it.

It was on his collarbone. Although he tried to hide it with his collar, she had seen it clearly the moment she tore his collar open by the Cold Pool.

Qin Shuying had left it.

A prestigious Peak Master of Heavenly Sword Peak, the youngest Female Sovereign of Yunyin Mountain, actually acted like a wild beast, biting a mark into a man.

A strange irritation welled up in Lin Jingzhe’s heart.

It wasn’t jealousy.

It definitely wasn’t jealousy.

She just felt it wasn’t worth it for her teacher.

While her teacher was in Seclusion for seven years, was this man out flirting around?

Flirting with her Honored Teacher wasn’t enough, so he went for Qin Shuying too?

Even that silly girl Chao’er was infatuated with him?

Slut.

A fickle, unfaithful slut.

She should tell her teacher all of this.

But — her teacher was in Seclusion.

The place of Seclusion was of utmost importance, and only the Sect Leader knew the exact location.

If interrupted, the best-case scenario would be a drop in cultivation; the worst would be qi deviation.

She couldn’t.

She didn’t dare.

So she could only investigate, watch, and — verify for herself.

She humiliated him on purpose, hoping to see him slip up.

By the Cold Pool, when she called him a dog that anyone could leash, his expression changed, but he didn’t argue.

When she said Chao’er wanted to sleep with him, his eyes flickered, but he still didn’t argue.

When she tore his collar and saw that bite mark, he trembled all over, yet he still said nothing.

He just stood there, enduring everything.

Just as he had endured everything for the past seven years.

Lin Jingzhe couldn’t figure it out.

If he was a slut, why didn’t he talk back when humiliated?

If he was innocent, why did he have Qin Shuying’s scent?

If he was forced, why did he seem half-willing in that small house that night?

She didn’t understand.

She really didn’t understand.

The wind grew stronger.

Lin Jingzhe suddenly spoke up, “You and my teacher — “

She paused. She didn’t know how to phrase it.

Shen Mo looked up at her.

His eyes were as calm as a pool of stagnant water.

“Su Zhujun has been very good to me,” he said softly. “In seven years, she has never mistreated me.”

Never mistreated.

Lin Jingzhe suddenly found the words grating.

‘Is it just that she never mistreated you? Is there nothing else? Don’t you hate her? She has been gone for seven years, leaving you alone to face those jackals and tigers — don’t you feel any resentment?’

But she didn’t ask.

Because she suddenly realized she was afraid to know the answer.

She was afraid Shen Mo would say ‘I don’t hate her.’

She was even more afraid he would say ‘I do.’

“Is that all you can say?” she asked coldly.

Shen Mo was silent for a moment, and then he smiled.

That smile was flawlessly impeccable.

“What did you wish to ask, Miss Lin?”

Looking at that smile, Lin Jingzhe felt as if something had struck her chest hard.

She wanted to ask so many things.

She wanted to ask what was going on between him and Qin Shuying.

She wanted to ask if he was forced.

She wanted to ask if he was truly as gentle as he appeared.

She wanted to ask — ‘Who are you, really?’

But she didn’t ask a single thing.

Because she knew that even if she did, Shen Mo wouldn’t tell the truth.

He would just look at her with that perfect smile and say something inconsequential.

Just as he had treated everyone else for the past seven years.

Lin Jingzhe suddenly felt exhausted.

Not physically, but something else.

She looked away, no longer watching him.

“It’s nothing,” she said, her voice a bit raspy. “I’m just reminding you, don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning.”

Shen Mo said nothing.

The two of them flew forward in silence.

The sea of clouds surged beneath their feet as the wind whistled past their ears.