Su Linghuang felt extremely guilty under his gaze and hurriedly turned her head away, not wanting Mo Xiaonian to notice the unusual expression on her face.
At this moment, Su Linghuang’s complexion was like fiery crimson, breathtakingly beautiful. Her delicate cheeks blushed deeply as if bubbling with heat, and her starry eyes shyly half-closed, as if recalling the reckless events of last night.
Whether it was her panting breaths or her constant pleas for mercy, she naturally did not want others to know about these things, so she could only continue to avoid and deceive.
But the more she did so, the deeper Mo Xiaonian’s suspicions grew.
“Senior Sister is so shy she doesn’t even dare look at me. Could it be that little Junior Sister has guessed something?” The girl in the blue robes teased, her mouth curling into a mischievous smile full of amusement.
“That’s not true at all. Between Gu Shenzhi and me, everything is perfectly pure. We’ve never shared a bed, nor was I forced to say any annoying words.”
“What kind of annoying words?”
Mo Xiaonian pretended to be puzzled, her clear eyes filled with curiosity, innocence shining on her face.
“Words like, ‘Husband, I really can’t take it anymore,’ ‘Please cherish me, this is my first time,’ ‘Master, does this posture feel comfortable for you?’—all those lewd, lowly phrases.”
The Red Lotus Saintess smoothed the snowy white hair that had fallen over her fragrant shoulders with her pale delicate fingers while answering Mo Xiaonian’s questions.
Due to her lack of experience in such matters, she didn’t realize anything was amiss.
“Where did Senior Sister Linghuang hear those words?”
“Gu Shenzhi taught me those… no, no, he just said them to tease me when he was free,” Su Linghuang hurriedly corrected herself, secretly relieved she hadn’t revealed the most critical parts, unaware she had already fallen into a trap.
“I didn’t expect Brother Gu to have this side. Next time we meet, let’s say those things right in front of him to embarrass him, alright?” Mo Xiaonian smiled, her lips lifting with a mischievous glint.
“That’s… not very appropriate. After all, those were private words between him and me. It just feels a little immoral.” Su Linghuang whispered, her snowy cheeks flushed with shame, just like the scarlet roses scattered on the jade bed last night.
“If we’re talking about morality, then Brother Gu is the one who wronged you. I heard back at the Mo Mansion that he once had a close relationship with Nangong, the Saintess of the Baiyu Sect. Also, there’s a lover named Bai Ling in the Lingjian Sect.”
At this point, Mo Xiaonian paused, ultimately choosing not to mention the story of that night at the inn in Wuan City between Brother Gu and Senior Sister Yuexi.
“Oh right, there’s also that junior sister Tao Tian from Qingying Peak. They say she’s a peerless beauty, a marvel of the mortal world, and she used to be Brother Gu’s maid. It’s possible that the two of them might have had feelings for each other…”
“Stop, don’t say anymore!”
Su Linghuang painfully pleaded with the girl in blue, her tender hand covering her heaving chest, forcibly restraining the desire to tear Gu Shenzhi to pieces and then piece him back together to keep him forever.
Could she not be aware of these things?
Some matters were better left unexamined. The more she dwelled on them, the more painful they became. It was best to write them off as a muddled mess.
Looking at Senior Sister Linghuang’s somewhat haggard fairy face, Mo Xiaonian couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. She shouldn’t have pierced the painful part of her sister’s heart out of mere curiosity.
Thinking this, she quickly changed the subject, trying to make up for the mistake she had made: “Senior Sister Linghuang, how about we go visit Senior Sister Yuexi? Since returning from Wuan City, I haven’t had a chance to properly thank her.”
Upon hearing this, the Red Lotus Saintess nodded, “Sure, I haven’t seen Sister Yuexi in quite some time either.”
At the foot of Qingying Peak, in front of the Yuexi cave abode.
Qingying Peak disciples usually shared rooms in pairs, except for the senior sister—she was allowed to live alone in this secluded courtyard. Although the surroundings were quiet, the scenery was elegant and pleasing to the eye.
A black-clad youth bowed with clasped hands and respectfully said, “Junior Brother Gu Shenzhi has come to pay respects to Senior Sister Yuexi. I have urgent matters to discuss and humbly ask Senior Sister to open the door.”
However, after waiting for a long time, he received no response.
After considering for a moment, Gu Shenzhi repeated his request and added, “If Senior Sister Yuexi insists on not seeing me, don’t blame me for forcing my way in today.”
Without opening his heavy eyes, relying solely on spiritual perception, he could tell Yuexi was hiding inside and had already broken through to the Possession Spirit stage.
Suddenly, a black shadow shot through the nearby dense forest and lunged fiercely at the black-clad youth.
Gu Shenzhi sidestepped just in time and saw that it was a Hidden Wood Phantom Wolf, about ten feet tall, with dark green pupils. Its body was wrapped in vines, and the wood grain patterns on its flesh were clearly visible.
The Hidden Wood Phantom Wolf was one of the elite third-rank demon beasts, extremely skilled at hiding its tracks and fond of preying on cultivators with spiritual roots. This explained why it could lurk for so long within the Qingying Sect’s territory and why it had launched an attack on him.
However, the Hidden Wood Phantom Wolf was innately wood-attributed and lacked the ability to manipulate the murderous energy that the Ghost Dragon wielded. The matter of Tao Tian being possessed by murderous energy remained unresolved. The beast before him seemed merely a minor incident.
At the next moment, Gu Shenzhi drew out the [Flowing Rainbow] spirit sword. Twisting his wrist, he infused it with spiritual energy and casually slashed. The vast sword energy surged like a tidal wave, sweeping across the sky.
The Hidden Wood Phantom Wolf had no time to dodge and was cleaved in two by the rainbow-like sword energy, falling like split logs, motionless.
No matter how strong a third-rank demon beast was, facing Gu Shenzhi’s casual slash was like an ant trying to stop a cart—it could only accept the fate of being torn apart by the sweeping sword energy.
Just as Gu Shenzhi prepared to sheath his sword, the eyes of the wolf’s corpse suddenly snapped open. Then, an eerie black mist spread from every inch of its flesh, which was pure murderous energy.
After the black mist dissipated, the beast’s body had fully restored itself without any trace of having been split by the sword energy. It was essentially dead and resurrected.
Seeing this, Gu Shenzhi furrowed his brow, puzzled. Even with his experience, he could not comprehend the scene before him.
Except for a few powerful demon beasts that could manipulate murderous energy, to most others, murderous energy was highly toxic. Although not instantly fatal upon contact, it would damage the foundation of the demon core.
Therefore, it was unthinkable for demon beasts to willingly absorb murderous energy or even sense its presence from miles away; they would avoid it at all costs.
While the black-clad youth pondered, the Hidden Wood Phantom Wolf launched another sneak attack, creating two illusory duplicates, revealing fangs and attacking from three different directions.
Although slightly surprised, Gu Shenzhi was far from afraid of the demon beast. Such cheap illusion techniques were beneath his scrutiny.
He casually wiped the blade of [Falling Plum], then spread his legs, pointing the sword tip behind him. With a sudden flick of his right hand, he drew an arc in the air like a crescent moon. The sweeping arc covered a wide range, destroying both the illusions and the real beast.
Spirit Sword Sect sword technique, Mysterious-grade supreme: Crescent Moon Lone Blade!