Chapter 31: The Trembling Silence

Yun He turned around.

The moonlight fell upon her face. That cold and peerlessly beautiful visage currently held an indescribable expression.

It wasn’t anger.

It wasn’t annoyance.

Rather, it was a… strange smile.

“Shuying,” she said softly, “are you planning to raise a hand against me?”

Qin Shuying remained silent for a moment.

Then, she raised the sword in her hand.

“Today, this disciple must take him away.”

Yun He looked at her.

She watched her for a long time.

So long that a segment of the candle by the bed burned away, and the moonlight outside the window shifted by three points.

Then, she laughed.

“Fine,” she said. “Very well.”

She reached out her hand.

With just a gentle motion, the sword in Qin Shuying’s hand suddenly flew out of her grasp and into Yun He’s palm.

That was Qin Shuying’s life-bound sword — Frostchill.

It had followed her for 100 years and had never once left her hand.

Yet now, in Yun He’s grasp, it was as quiet as a dead snake.

“Between the peak of Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation,” Yun He toyed with the sword, her tone flat, “the gap is more than just a single realm.”

She looked up at Qin Shuying.

“Do you know what that gap represents?”

Qin Shuying did not speak.

“It is life and death.”

Yun He gently flicked the blade.

The sword Frostchill let out a mournful cry, and a tiny crack appeared on the blade.

Qin Shuying’s expression changed instantly.

“Honored Teacher!”

However, Yun He had already pulled back her hand.

She threw the sword back to Qin Shuying, her tone indifferent. “I damaged your sword today to tell you — there are some things you are not meant to fight for.”

Qin Shuying caught the sword and looked down at the crack.

This was her life-bound sword; a crack meant damage to her very foundation.

To repair it would require at least ten years of hard work.

She did not look up.

“But this disciple still must take him away.”

Yun He’s gaze paused slightly.

“What did you say?”

Qin Shuying finally looked up.

Her face still held that cold expression, but something was burning in the depths of her eyes.

“This disciple said,” she spoke each word deliberately, “that tonight, I must take him away.”

Yun He stared at her.

After a long silence, she asked softly, “For him, you would even throw away your life?”

Qin Shuying did not answer.

But her eyes already provided the response.

Yun He fell silent suddenly.

She looked at Qin Shuying as if she were looking at herself from many years ago.

Back then, she had also looked at someone that way.

Someone who would never turn back to look at her.

“Fine.” She suddenly laughed, her smile holding a hint of self-mockery. “You are stronger than your master.”

Qin Shuying was startled.

Yun He had already turned around and walked toward Shen Mo.

She looked down at him.

“You certainly have good fortune,” she said softly. “This disciple of mine has never moved her heart for anyone. Yet tonight, for you, she doesn’t even want her life.”

Shen Mo looked up.

Their eyes met.

Yun He saw that in those eyes, there was still that same inexplicable calm.

She suddenly felt a wave of irritability.

An irritability so strong she wanted to destroy something.

“I can let him go,” she said.

To Yun He, Shen Mo was indeed precious. A Pure Yin Constitution was rare in this world.

Using him for Dual Cultivation and Plucking would be equivalent to many years of bitter cultivation.

But no matter how precious, he was merely a toy who served others with his looks, a plaything to satisfy desires.

He could not compare to Qin Shuying.

Qin Shuying was the disciple she had raised herself. She had watched her grow from a guarded little animal into the youngest Female Sovereign of Yunyin Mountain.

Qin Shuying’s talent in the Dao of the Sword was that of a genius seen once in a century — no, not a century, she was the best seedling Yunyin Mountain had seen in 3,000 years.

Deity Transformation was within her reach.

Even…

A flicker of hidden light flashed in Yun He’s eyes.

Even that legendary Great Emperor realm might not be out of the question.

She could, of course, ignore Qin Shuying’s interference and forcibly keep Shen Mo.

But if she did that, she didn’t dare gamble on what this foolish disciple of hers would do.

So —

She could let him go.

But it wouldn’t be without a price.

Both Qin Shuying and Shen Mo were stunned simultaneously.

“However —” Yun He elongated her words, her gaze slowly moving from Qin Shuying’s face to Shen Mo’s, finally landing on the faint distance between the two.

She smiled.

It was a meaningful smile.

“Shuying, you said just now that you owe him a life.”

Qin Shuying remained silent.

“Very well.” Yun He spoke slowly and deliberately. “You may take him away tonight. But you must remember, you owe me a favor.”

Qin Shuying’s pupils shrank slightly.

She knew Yun He too well; this old fox never made a losing deal.

Yun He had already turned to Shen Mo.

“As for you,” she reached out, her fingertip pressing against the center of Shen Mo’s brow.

“I will leave a mark on you.”

Shen Mo did not move.

Qin Shuying’s face changed drastically. “Honored Teacher!”

“Don’t worry,” Yun He said without turning her head. “I’m not taking his life. It’s just a Tracking Mark. No matter if he goes to the ends of the earth, I will be able to find him.”

“And,” Yun He’s voice was as soft as a sigh, “it has another use. Whenever you get close to someone else, I will know.”

She looked into Shen Mo’s eyes.

“Are you willing?”

Shen Mo looked at her.

After a long time, he gave a soft smile.

That smile was the same as usual — obedient, virtuous, and without a single complaint.

“I am willing.”

A faint light glowed at Yun He’s fingertip.

That light seeped into the center of Shen Mo’s brow and disappeared.

There was no pain, no abnormality.

Only a very faint red mark remained between his brows, looking as if it had been touched by vermillion.

She paused, and her smile deepened.

“If someone leaves another tooth mark on you, I will sense it clearly. I’ll even know where it was left, how deep it was, and what your expression was when it happened.”

Shen Mo’s expression shifted slightly.

Qin Shuying snapped her head up. “Honored Teacher!”

“What?” Yun He looked at her with a half-smile. “You don’t want me to know? Then just don’t touch him. Can you restrain yourself?”

Qin Shuying was speechless.

Yun He looked back at Shen Mo.

“You too.”

Her gaze fell on his face, admiring the crack that had finally appeared on that visage — that perfect, annoying mask had finally developed a hole.

Interesting.

Truly interesting.

“You have always been a spineless person that anyone could bully,” Yun He said softly. “Whenever someone wants you, you give yourself to them. I wanted you, so you gave. Shuying wants you, so you give. But from now on —”

She leaned close to his ear, her breath brushing against his earlobe.

“From now on, every time you give, I will know.”

Shen Mo’s fingertips dug deep into his palms.

Yun He took a step back, looking at the blood seeping from his palms, and nodded with satisfaction.

“That’s more like it,” she said. “You look much more pleasing like this than with that dead-man’s face from before.”

She waved her hand.

“Go.”

Qin Shuying did not move.

She looked at Yun He, something surging violently in the depths of her eyes.

Meeting her gaze, Yun He suddenly sighed softly.

“Silly child,” she said, “do you hate me?”

Qin Shuying did not speak.

But her eyes had already said it for her.

Yun He smiled.

There was an indefinable sense of loneliness in that smile.

“It’s fine to hate me,” she said. “Hating me is better than fearing me.”

She turned around, putting her back to them.

“Go. Before I change my mind.”

Qin Shuying stepped forward quickly and supported Shen Mo.

She looked down at him, her eyes filled with too many complicated emotions.

Shen Mo did not look at her.

He simply bowed slightly toward Yun He.

“Thank you, Sect Leader.”

Qin Shuying shielded him behind her and looked coldly at Yun He.

“Farewell.”

She supported him as they walked out of the Great Hall, step by step.

Yun He stood where she was, watching them disappear into the moonlight.

She stood there for a very long time.

Until the wind blew the petals of the old plum blossoms onto her shoulder.

Only then did she speak softly.

“Silly child,” she said, “you can’t protect him.”

She raised her head and looked at the cold moon.

“In this world, no one can protect him.”

Yun He had once peered into the Heavenly Secrets to cast a divination for Shen Mo.

He appeared weak and fragile, but that was merely the surface. One had to understand that destroying a person didn’t only depend on strength.

This youth had an extraordinarily beautiful bone structure, and his temperament was seductive without being vulgar.

The Karmic Entanglement surrounding him was something even she could not see through.

Yun He told herself she was not someone greedy for beauty, yet watching him keep his lonely vigil on that cold Jiaoyue Peak for seven years had felt like ten thousand ants biting at her heart.

By the time she regained her senses, she had already sunk in unconsciously and could not extricate herself.

Her memories drifted back to 1,000 years ago, to that scene of Blood-stained Red Dust.

Back then, there had also been a beautiful man who brought ruin to countries and caused countless Female Cultivators to fall into madness.

She had been forced to kill him.

She stared at Shen Mo’s retreating figure.

Haze covered her heart.

Was the tragedy of that year about to repeat itself?

***

The path down the mountain was long.

Qin Shuying kept supporting Shen Mo, never letting go.

The two walked in silence, with only the crunching sound of snow beneath their feet.

Halfway down the mountain, Shen Mo suddenly stopped.

Qin Shuying turned to look at him.

Under the moonlight, his face was as white as paper, and fine beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

“What is it?”

Shen Mo did not answer.

He simply bent over slowly, bracing his hands on his knees, gasping for breath in large gulps.

Only then did Qin Shuying realize that he was shaking.

From then until now, he had been shaking the entire time.