Chapter 13: Heart Fluttering Is an Outstretched Hand

After that, another two months passed, and only one month remained until the Immortal Sect Grand Competition.

Ji Wangshu still practiced Sword Practice with Mu Zhiming as before, and they occasionally chatted at night.

Yet he never took the initiative to probe anything again, nor did he ever take Mu Zhiming’s hand while the two of them were together.

He simply honestly played the role of a Childhood Sweetheart, pretending to be mischievous as he talked about old memories, occasionally telling a couple of humorous jokes to make Mu Zhiming happy.

The only thing was that whenever he did these things, the smile on his face was always exactly the same—

His eyes curved like new moons, the muscles on his face pulled taut, revealing his upper row of teeth.

It was just like the smile worn by Traveling Merchants, naturally friendly yet carrying an unmistakable sense of being a fake wooden puppet.

If there was anything different, it was that every evening, he would watch the sky.

Whenever the sun burned out like a candle and Mu Zhiming had yet to return to the Courtyard, he would fly alone to the Sect Square to pick her up.

Chen Miao would occasionally see this and tease him, “Why do you look like a husband waiting for his wife to come home?”

He would merely smile without saying anything.

Today was the same.

Ji Wangshu sat in the Plaza with an Ancient Text resting on his knees, waiting for Mu Zhiming to finish training.

He had also volunteered to read this Ancient Text for Mu Zhiming.

Mu Zhiming’s eyesight had been getting increasingly worse these past few days.

Originally, she could still see vague outlines, patches and shapes, curved and crooked colors, but now only a few lines remained.

Ji Wangshu casually flipped through the Ancient Text.

This was the seventh book he had read over the past two months, and their contents varied greatly.

Some concerned Sword Techniques, some concerned Spiritual Power, while others concerned methods of Blind Eye Treatment.

This one concerned the last kind.

However, for some unknown reason, near the end of the second-to-last page, the book clearly mentioned some heavenly treasures that could cure eye ailments.

His eyes lit up when he saw this passage, and he eagerly flipped to the next page, only to find—

Someone had torn out the page!

He cursed inwardly, ‘Good grief, isn’t this just like the web pages I used to read in my previous life?’

‘They deliberately bury a huge hook at the bottom of the page, only for you to excitedly flip to the next page and see that it is still being serialized!’

Then another thought occurred to him, ‘Wait—this book is part of the sect’s collection.’

‘Ordinary disciples can’t even access it, so who would have a reason to specifically tear out this page?’

‘Unless… someone doesn’t want anyone to see this method of treating eye ailments.’

He glanced at Mu Zhiming, who was practicing with her sword not far away.

Her gray-white eyes looked especially striking beneath the setting sun.

Mu Zhiming was constantly attacking Chen Miao, who was changing her footwork in front of her, with the Wooden Sword.

Her gray-white pupils remained fixed on Chen Miao in front of her.

She released her Spiritual Sense, constantly sensing Chen Miao’s position, then thrust, lifted, and withdrew the Wooden Sword.

Her sword moves were sharp, and her sword momentum was fierce.

Compared to the beginning, when she could only brush against the hem of Chen Miao’s clothes, after two months of training, she was hitting Chen Miao’s body more and more often.

However, after watching for a while, Ji Wangshu frowned and called out to interrupt them, “All right, that’s enough for today.”

Chen Miao turned slightly and nodded, “Okay, Junior Brother Wangshu.”

Yes, Mu Zhiming had privately given her a little warning as well, so now she only dared to address him as Junior Brother and no longer dared to call him Big Brother.

Mu Zhiming turned her head with a puzzled expression, her red lips slightly parted.

Her unfamiliar voice carried a hint of urgency, “I… can still continue.”

As she spoke, fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

They clung to her fair neck before slowly trickling down and soaking the collar of her off-shoulder robe.

Her entire body was covered in fragrant sweat, and the tightly wrapped fabric had become slightly transparent.

Under the setting sun, a faint glimpse of her snowy chest could be seen.

Ji Wangshu frowned and quickly stepped forward.

He gently took the Wooden Sword from her hand, then pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the fine beads of sweat from her forehead.

He said quietly, “Check how much Spiritual Power you have left in your body.”

“From noon until now, how much do you have left?”

“Even if you’re not tired, Chen Miao is almost unable to hold on.”

After speaking, Ji Wangshu gave Chen Miao across from them a slight nod.

Chen Miao wore a grateful smile.

Although she did not need to attack and only had to circulate her Spiritual Power and dodge with her footwork, she was still nearly exhausted after the entire afternoon.

Mu Zhiming remained silent after hearing this.

She turned her head toward Chen Miao, her gray-white pupils fixed on her.

After Chen Miao met her gaze for two moments, she turned her head away and did not dare look at her.

Actually, she had never dared tell Mu Zhiming this privately.

Ever since Senior Sister Mu became blind, no one in the sect dared look into her eyes.

Being stared at by those gray-white pupils always made them feel uneasy.

Ji Wangshu watched the two of them.

Chen Miao’s little movement of turning her head naturally escaped his notice, and he thought to himself, ‘Over the past two months in the Plaza, I’ve occasionally heard other female disciples privately discussing how frightening Mu Zhiming’s eyes look now.’

‘Looks like I have to think of a way…’

He lowered his head in thought.

Beside him, Mu Zhiming took out her Flying Sword and floated into the air.

Her nostrils subtly flared as she smelled the floral fragrance on his body.

After hesitating for a moment, she grabbed his collar and spoke, “……Not leaving?”

Ji Wangshu came back to his senses and stepped onto the Flying Sword.

However, he still kept a distance of half an arm’s length from her.

Mu Zhiming frowned slightly but said nothing.

She rose into the air with Sword Flight and shot straight into the Cloud Sea.

During the short journey, she quietly extended her right hand behind her.

She placed it against her rounded, curving hip and made two grabbing motions in the air, secretly signaling to him.

But Ji Wangshu was still thinking about her eyes and became distracted for a moment, completely failing to notice.

After a short while, the two returned to the Courtyard.

Ji Wangshu jumped down first and said, “I’ll go water your flowers.”

Mu Zhiming pursed her lips, “……Oh.”

She looked up at the sky.

The moon had just risen when it was covered by dark clouds, and the Courtyard that had still been glowing with moonlight moments ago suddenly became dim again.

She sighed and silently withdrew the right hand she had hidden behind her.

Ever since that day, although Ji Wangshu treated her with mutual respect and their relationship seemed unchanged, he had never held her hand again.

That day, when their ten fingers intertwined, how could Ji Wangshu have been the only one whose heart fluttered?

For Mu Zhiming, it was also the first time in her life that a man had taken the initiative to hold her cold hands.

It was as though a great wind had blown into a valley where no one had ever been.

The wind made the valley hum, and the echoes lingered for so long that even two months later, she was still thinking about that moment.

Mu Zhiming’s feelings were complicated.

Her nostrils subtly flared as a mixed floral fragrance drifted over.

There was the richness of roses, the delicate freshness of Daisy, and the sweetness of gardenias, intertwining into a net as the fragrance swept over from the Flower Garden with the wind.

She moved with light steps, her Cloud-Pattern Embroidered Shoes stepping along the Stone Path and making a “pat pat” sound.

She reached the edge of the Flower Garden and crouched down.

Before long, a faint and peculiar floral fragrance drifted over from beside her, causing her brows to furrow slightly.

Over these two months, she had privately asked other female cultivators in the sect who liked growing flowers what the peculiar floral fragrance on Ji Wangshu’s body was.

Those people had then come to the Plaza in the afternoon and smelled around behind him, but they had all shaken their heads, unable to tell what the scent actually was.

“Strange……” Mu Zhiming hugged her fair knees with both hands and murmured, “How could no one know?”

“Could it be……”

“Zzzzz.”

Beside her, Ji Wangshu watered the Flower Garden with practiced movements.

He looked at the flowers blooming beautifully in the Flower Garden.

He did not know if it was merely his imagination, but ever since he started watering them, they seemed to have become more lively.

They were also blooming much more luxuriantly.

‘Could it be that my Wood Spirit Three-Needle Flower not only has a peculiar floral fragrance, but also has the effect of accelerating growth?’

He smiled faintly, “If I could even treat Mu Zhiming’s eye ailment, that would truly be miraculous.”

The thought flashed through his mind and disappeared immediately.

He shook his head as if remembering something, then turned to look at Mu Zhiming.

Meeting her gray-white pupils, he hesitated for a moment before saying, “Tomorrow, Chen Miao and I are going down the mountain to buy some things at the Market Town.”

He paused, then hurriedly added, “Don’t misunderstand.”

Mu Zhiming’s eyes lifted slightly.

She looked at the Flower Garden, then looked at him.

Under the moonlight, she was like a snow lotus atop an iceberg, cold and restrained, yet somehow giving people the urge to pluck her.

The corners of her lips curved slightly, and her red lips parted with a hint of amusement in her voice, “……Okay.”