Marriage By Fire: All Hands On Deck - Chapter 32

Jin Caihe vehemently shook his head as though wanting to block the voice that was making his body quiver from an unquenchable thirst.

With a flick of his finger, both sleeves of Jin Caihe was torn to shreds, from the force of the aura that was coming from Jin Tieguai. Fearful of what the other would do to him, the head teacher of the GuBaiJin sect broke free from the grasp of his student, running to the far end of the room, not that it would have mattered in any way, because there wasn’t any corners to hide.

A boar shaped incense burner was burning by a small wooden table almost to the center of the room, there wasn’t much in terms of personal items in the DianShu.

Jin Tieguai kept watching as his head teacher was running to increase as much distance between them, in no hurry whatsoever, he gazes continued to trail the other cultivator like a lion that had meat dangling in its front. He allowed Jin Caihe to do as he pleased for quite sometime before lifting his hand in a sweeping fashion to wards him. Suddenly the fully clothed cultivator no longer had a single piece of cloth on him, standing as nȧkėd as the day he was born with his buŧŧȯċks facing the direction of Jin Tieguai, whose eyes feasted on the sumptuous meal that was right in front of him.

Jin Caihe swung to face the one that caused him so much shame, for a moment he forgot that the front part of his body was in full display to the other cultivator, when he noticed the blunder, he quickly covered the embarrassing part with both hands placing them on top of the other.

“You Lunatic! Pestilence! Good for nothing…You Bastard! H..How dare you do this to me?!”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Y..You!”

At a loss for what else to say, Jin Caihe angrily pointed at his student, red faced and heaving with indignation.

Unable to take the lure of the delectable toned physique of Jin Caihe, he rapidly made his way to where the other was, who in a state of panic tried to ward off Jin Tieguai by using his spiritual energy to counter those of his student, but it was to no avail, as Jin Tieguai sensing his intent put forth a wall to deflect those of Jin Caihe.

In one swift motion he pulled Jin Caihe and threw him on the soft quilted bedding of green, following soon after him.

“Have you lost your mind? What do you think you are doing Jin Tieguai?!”

It took but a second for Jin Caihe to regain a portion of his reasoning, before opening his mouth to speak to the other cultivator. The head teacher was lying on his back with his whole frontal in plain view of Jin Tieguai.

“Do you have to ask? We all need to go with Senior Fu to get our Young Miss back!”

Yan Hairong looked at the man she just saved from the depth of the water, he was very calm while speaking to her as though they were acquainted with each other for a long time.

“Do you want me to shout now?”

“Are you seriously asking me if you should call for help?”

“Alright, I’ll shout now.”

“Don’t!”

Mou Yaxin was about to open his mouth wide and shout at the top of his lungs when he heard Yan Hairong ask him not to, he smiled back at her, while leaning closer as the two finally landed on dry land.

“Ha!”

Yan Hairong winced in pain from the backlash that came from stepping into a large body of water. She didn’t have affinity for water like some of the fox immortals from her clan. Not long after, the fox princess fell to the ground by the side of the human she just rescued.

“I didn’t even get to ask her name.”

Mou Yaxin placed the unconscious Yan Hairong on his back, as the two made their way into his hut not too far from the river.

Day and night the human kept watch over his savior until finally on the ninth day, she began showing signing up recovering.

Thirteenth night Princess Yan Hairong was already on her feet, as her spiritual energy was already restored from recuperating in the mortal realm, while unconsciously feeding from the emotion of the human that kept watch on her.

Mou Yaxin dozed off and suddenly realized the the bed was empty, all this while, he slept on the floor while Yan Hairong took the bed.

“Where is she?!”

“Were you going to leave without telling me your name?!”

Yan Hairong turned to face the human that had saved her life while in the mortal realm, the water had drained a portion of her spiritual energy, causing her to succumb to a deep sleep.

“Fox Princess Yan Hairong.”

“Are you as legend says? Would I bewitched by you after spending many days together?”

“Why would I take to a miserly human like you?!”

The fox princess looked down her nose at the human, whom she considered beneath her, she couldn’t believe he dared to think that she would entice him and make him her mate.

“Even if he is the last man in the entire universe! There is no way that. I, Yan Hairong of the fox clan would take such a man to be my mate!”

Just as the thought filtered through her mind, she heard the man laugh out.

“Why did you laugh?!”

“You look angry that I said you would lure me with your powers. I’m Mou Yaxin, thank you for rescuing me at the river.”

The fox princess looked at the human in front of her, he was neither good looking nor came from a good family, she couldn’t stop from looking at him for one last time, before taking off to the air far from the reach of any human eye.

“She really is a fox.”

Mou Yaxin smiled sadly as he looked at the midnight sky until he could no longer make out the shape of the white robes of Yan Hairong.

“You stole my heart! At least come back and see me at least before I die, Princess Yan Hairong!”

Mou Yaxin shouted the words to the night, not knowing that the sharp ears of the fox princess had picked up on what he said, “Silly human! It is not my fault that you foolishly opened your heart to me!”

Shrugging her shoulders to dismiss Mou Yaxin’s declaration to her, Yan Hairong used her aura to open the gateway to the fox clan, putting away her experience in the mortal realm. But fate had a something planned for the fox princess, in as much as she didn’t want to see the human anymore.

Yan Hairong will use her green flames to see what was happening in the mortal realm, “It’s not because I want to see him. I only want to know if anyone is in trouble!”

That was what she used to justify her action, but when she saw him shiver from not having enough firewood to keep the night cold from entering his hut. The fox princess abandoned rational thought and left her room in the fox kingdom to the mortal realm.

“You fool! Why didn’t you get more firewood?!”

“You came back!”

She went straight for the fire, adding her spiritual energy which made the flame gain strength and burn brighter. Taking off the cloak whose collar had white fur to drape across the body of Mou Yaxin.

“Come closer.”

Mou Yaxin begged the proud fox princess with his eyes, who after a while succumbed to the pull of his gaze. He made way for her, as the two laid side by side on the narrow bed. It wasn’t long before Yan Hairong yield to the warmth of Mou Yaxin, as she snuggled against his ċhėst in sleep, soon after Mou Yaxin was fast asleep. This marked the beginning of how a fox princess from the fox clan became the wife of a human.

The voices of his fellow disciples called out to him, as they saw how he treated his junior sister disciple with respect even in death. With eyes filled with admiration, they watched him stand on his feet and head back to where they were after he had paid his respect to Xu Hui. This made them fall to their knees too and bow in respect to Xu Hui.

“Junior sister disciple Xu Hui, may your soul find peace!”

The only person that didn’t pay respect to Xu Hui was sect leader Xu Zijun who thought that it was best not to make anything of her death.

The female servants that were in the bedchambers of Li Jiao, ran after her to see where she was heading to, but when they saw her levitate and take to the sky, this made them stumble as a sense of incredulity overtook their mind from seeing the young mistress they knew flap the sleeves of her robe as though she was a bird.

They stared with their mouths wide open, not once had they seen the daughter of their sect leader execute an action that was only seen among those that had spent ample time cultivating, even her cultivation base was almost none existent! How could she fly! That was really an head shaker for the maids.

“Young Miss Li!”

“Where are you going?!”

“Please come back!”

The lone figure kept moving through the air until not a speck of her form was seen by the servants.

Trail of tears followed Xu Hui while soaring through the sunny skies, the sound of chirping birds from nearby trees rang in her ears, while floating in the air. Bypassing the marketplace which led to a nearby sect for the deep woods that led into the treacherous terrains of the BaoXu sect. Heading further from the bright skies into the blanket of thick forestry ahead. Within her, Xu Hui wished for the safe keeping of the sect from her past life.

“Please! Let them still be alive!”

Not too long since she awakened in a new body, Xu Hui kept pushing off the time to seek out her former sect, only to leave the protection of the YuanLi sect on hearing that they had fallen into the hands of the demon lord. With nothing to light her way, Xu Hui relied on the “sense” ability from her previous life to guide her out of the canopies of greenery to the path that led to BaoXu sect.

YuanLi sect and BaoXu sect was divided by a wide expanse of thick forest, known to harbor many creatures that could either prove harmful or otherwise depending on the cultivator’s rank.

Xu Hui heard strange noises, but chose to ignored them as she jumped from one tree branch to the other while moving within the forest. The aura surrounding her oozed with killing intent, from the moment she changed the nature of her aura, not a single sound was heard after that.

“RRRRRIP!!!!!!!”

Xu Hui turned around only to see that it was the right sleeve of her robe that had caught on one of the tree branches, causing a tear.

A long time after, Xu Hui was starting to see glimpses of daylight ahead, that seemed to renew her strength, until she flew out of the forest into the charred destruction that laid ahead.

“Young Miss Li! Young Miss Li! Are you awake?”

Several maids that attended

Fu Zian threw himself at Xu Hui, with the aim of going at her with his fists, but she twisted to the side to avoid his fists from landing on her, but that was not the only thing that caught Fu Zian off guard, although he knew that Li Jiao was never trained in combat nor cultivation, just a single flick of her finger caused the senior disciple to freeze where he was, before folding her hand into a fist.

Xu Hui stopped dead on her track, dazed by the devastation that hit her in the face. Ashen bodies with dried up blood sprawled across the soft earth, gone were the magnificent building she once knew, which was now razed to the ground. Xu Hui fell to her knees and wept with abandon, as though a dam that dwelt within her was released, the ground on which she knelt took in the tears that continued to flow from her eyes. Regret, anger, disappointment and an overwhelming feeling of loss resonated in the heart of Xu Hui.

“HAAHHAAAAAAAHAAAA!!!!!!”

Xu Hui kept crying and laughing at the same time, such that anyone who passed by would have taken her for a madwoman.

“Even if I have to become the very thing I detest, I must avenge my sect or die trying!”

There was absolute resolve in the tone of Xu Hui, reflected in her eyes was an arching pain that came with coming to face with a loss. She eventually dragged herself to a sit in the lotus position with her feet crossed and did the unexpected. It was almost as if the heavens knew what she was about to do, as suddenly the sky that was once radiant with the sun shining through turn to an ominous dark cloud. A soul that was not supposed to exist in the world was about to perform an act that would cause foreseeable unrest in the heavens.

During her time at BaoXu sect, Xu Hui was severely punished on numerous occasion for stealing into the library’s where the forbidden manuscripts with ancient practices were stored. Not once did she have the chance to put them into action until today.

Locking her fingers all together with the left thumb placed at the center of her right palm, Xu Hui circulated the spiritual energy within her in preparation for what was to come. Afterwards, she placed both palm on the ground releasing her spiritual energy which flowed out of her palm as tendrils of purple. Absorbing the blood essence of the dead, during this she could see and hear the cries of horror from the members of her sect, some did not get the chance to make a sound as their death was instantaneous.

The price to pay for practicing the blood flail technique was that the cultivator would exchange their life for using the varying reserve of spiritual energy that came from the cultivators that were sacrificed and the body would vanish away. When the last fragment of spirit essence was taken into the body of Xu Hui, the bodies began to disappear one after the other in a whiff of smoke.

When Fu Zian descended at what used to be the entrance to the BaoXu sect, he saw what looked to be the daughter of his sect leader who was gazing downcast at the ground.

“Li Jiao!”

Fu Zian called out to her, while running to where she stood, the senior disciple came to a stop when he saw the eyes that gazed at him, there was no sparkly midnight in them instead he was looking at eyes that blazed with crimson glare.

Xu Hui now walked the path of infernal cultivation, bearing the whole sect on her shoulders and the divine punishment that awaited her in the days ahead.

The maids looked visibly distraught from seeing the daughter of their sect leader rush off from the courtyard of the YuanLi sect.

“What are we to do now?! Sect leader is not here and Young Miss Li is also missing!”

“Isn’t Young Miss Li acting a little different than usual?”

“Be quiet! Hush! The walls have ears! Someone could be listening!”

“Let her be! What is it to our sect if another sect is under attack? I don’t understand why Young Miss Li took off the way she did!”

“Did you hear her ask of that sect…What is the name again?”

“It is the one so faraway from us, the BaoXu sect.”

“Our YuanLi sect is up there with the GuBaiJin clan, a lower cultivation sect can never match up to our greatness!”

“They used to be in the same rank as the ShenJiangShi clan, but still…that was many years back. There is no need for our Young Miss to save them some face.”

“We haven’t seen or heard anything from their side in many years, it truly is strange that at the mention of their name she ran off not telling any of us where she was going.”

“Our Young Miss is a maiden! To think YuanLi sect would lose face because of her!”

How about Senior Fu? He is the only one left to talk to about getting Young Miss Li back before Sect leader Li gets wind of it.”

“Which of us will follow Senior Fu to look for Young Miss Li?”

“Do you have to ask? We all need to go with Senior Fu to get our Young Miss back!”

“He should be at morning lesson.”

The female servants ran in the direction of the south courtyard where they expected to see Fu Zian.

A male disciple stood outside the entrance to the courtyard staring straight ahead. The maids curtesied, before one of them spoke of the reason for their presence there.

“Greetings. We are Young Miss Li’s attendants, will it be possible for us to have a word with Senior Fu?”

“If you could wait here, I will let Senior disciple Fu Zian know who is waiting for him.”

A moment later the disciple that kept watch on the south courtyard came back with the cultivator that the female servants had requested.

Greeting was exchanged once again, but this time it was with a different disciple of the YuanLi sect.

“Senior Fu Zian. Young Miss Li ran away when we told her that a BaoXu sect was part of the sects affected by demon invasion…”

“…”

Fu Zian was robbed of speech when he heard that the young mistress of his sect was nowhere to be found. He no longer paid heed to the words of the maid, in a series of fast hand motion he formed a seal with his finger tips, before taking to the air, leaving the female servants and the rest of the YuanLi sect behind in search of the lost child of his sect leader.

———-

Xu Hui made it to the front entrance of BaoXu sect, gone was the iron clad gates as they lay uselessly on the ground caked in dried blood. The young maiden landed forcefully on the soft dirt, walking into what was left of the once impressive structure.

Forming a seal with both thumbs facing up and the other fingers intertwined in a fist, this caused Xu Hui to sail through the air in no time, the hand motion lifted her feet from the ground, as she kicked upwards to propel herself high in the air.

“He should be at morning lesson.”

Xu Hui made it to the front entrance of BaoXu sect, gone was the iron clad gates as they lay uselessly on the ground caked in dried blood. The young maiden landed forcefully on the soft dirt, walking into what was left of the once impressive structure.

Forming a seal with both thumbs facing up and the other fingers intertwined in a fist, this caused Xu Hui to sail through the air in no time, the hand motion lifted her feet from the ground, as she kicked upwards to propel herself high in the air.

The female servants that were in the bedchambers of Li Jiao, ran after her to see where she was heading to, but when they saw her levitate and take to the sky, this made them stumble as a sense of incredulity overtook their mind from seeing the young mistress they knew flap the sleeves of her robe as though she was a bird.

They stared with their mouths wide open, not once had they seen the daughter of their sect leader execute an action that was only seen among those that had spent ample time cultivating, even her cultivation base was almost none existent! How could she fly! That was really an head shaker for the maids.

When they finally overcame their shock from seeing such an unbelievable move, the maids called out to her, but the cries seemingly fell on deaf ears.

“Young Miss Li!”

“Where are you going?!”

“Please come back!”

The lone figure kept moving through the air until not a speck of her form was seen by the servants.

Trail of tears followed Xu Hui while soaring through the sunny skies, the sound of chirping birds from nearby trees rang in her ears, while floating in the air. Bypassing the marketplace which led to a nearby sect for the deep woods that led into the treacherous terrains of the BaoXu sect. Heading further from the bright skies into the blanket of thick forestry ahead. Within her, Xu Hui wished for the safe keeping of the sect from her past life.

“Please! Let them still be alive!”

Not too long since she awakened in a new body, Xu Hui kept pushing off the time to seek out her former sect, only to leave the protection of the YuanLi sect on hearing that they had fallen into the hands of the demon lord. With nothing to light her way, Xu Hui relied on the “sense” ability from her previous life to guide her out of the canopies of greenery to the path that led to BaoXu sect.

YuanLi sect and BaoXu sect was divided by a wide expanse of thick forest, known to harbor many creatures that could either prove harmful or otherwise depending on the cultivator’s rank.

The disciple bowed once again to his sect leader and his wife, awaiting their decision on what to report back to the ShenJiangShi sect. Jin Huiyan’s gaze lingered on those of her husband as she also awaited his decision.

The sect leader of the GuBaiJin sect did not want to lose his position as the most respected cultivator, he had spies in all the other sects and knew of the demon invasion. His wife, Lady Jin on the other hand was in the dark about what had happened to the other sects. Jin Ruimin knew that if he had told her of his spies, she would never have supported him in his decision, therefore he never told her of what he knew about the other sects being under attack.

“The best way to find out if it is really true that demons are now attacking other cultivation sects is to do a spirit travel.”

“No! Don’t do it! It is too dangerous!”

“What other option is there, but this! ShenJiangShi sect and the YuanLi sect need answers, if I don’t provide them any, the GuBaiJin sect would end up losing face!”

“But Jin Ruimin! What if someone with evil intentions attack your spirit while you are away?! Please! Reconsider!”

“…”

Lady Jin pleaded with her husband to look for a different solution to the problem they had on their hand, tears streamed down the face of the mistress of the GuBaiJin sect as she shamelessly begged her husband in the presence of one of their disciples. Sect leader Jin left his seat and sat on the ground, taking a lotus position with his hands held together in preparation for his spirit to leave his body and travel out to the other sects. Not that he was going to actually go through with it, but Jin Ruimin had to make a show of going through with the act in order to continue earning his wife’s trust.

The young master of ShenJiangShi sect bowed to greet the sect leader of the YuanLi sect.

“Young master Shi?”

Li Guoliang was surprised to see the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect rather than the sect leader himself, allowing the disappointment to show on his face.

“Sect Leader Li, please don’t let me keep you on your feet. I’m sorry, but my father is unable to see you that is why I am here in his place.”

Shi Yunxu smiled amicably to the annoyed leader of the YuanLi sect. He waited for the older cultivator to sit, before joining him afterwards.

In order not to draw the suspicion of the YuanLi sect leader, Shen Chunqiu had to remain in the bedchambers of the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect, until the other had concluded his meeting with Li Guoliang.

“Sect Leader Li, please explain t me the reason for your visit.”

Shi Yunxu continued to smile pleasantly at the other cultivator, while gritting his teeth silently in pain. Li Guoliang took a moment to gather himself before emptying his thought to the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect.

“There is a hearsay going around in my sect that some of the other sects are under act by demons! Does the ShenJiangShi sect know of this?!”

Shi Yunxu took a moment to ponder on what Li Guoliang told him, from the way the sect leader was acting, he seems to have taken the word of whoever may have carried the news to him. If he told the YuanLi sect leader that he was not acquainted with that piece of news going around, then this could make his sect to lose face with the YuanLi sect if it was actually true, but if it was the other way around and the rumor was found to be true then YuanLi sect would end up losing face to ShenJiangShi sect. Either way one of them would be embarrassed by the aftermath.

“Sect leader Li, this may actually be true. The GuBaiJin sect and the ShenJiangShi sect have maintained a cordial relationship together, I will send a messenger bird to them to confirm what the both of us already know.”

Li Guoliang looked at the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect as though what he said was entirely absurd.

“The ShenJiangShi sect knew?! Then why did you keep quiet and wait for me to show up! Why wasn’t a meeting of sect leaders called?! If the GuBaiJin sect was already in the know, then that is just plain irresponsible!”

Shi Yunxu kept the smile on his face, as the YuanLi sect leader was boiling with indignation at what he saw to be a dereliction of duty.

“The ShenJiangShi sect meant no wrongdoings, we didn’t want to act rashly by not taking the situation seriously.”

“At least, I as the YuanLi sect leader should have been told of what was going on, why did I have to hear such a thing from a male servant?!”

The young master of the ShenJiangShi sect bowed his head in humility to the YuanLi sect leader, going along with the other cultivator until he hears back from the GuBaiJin sect regarding whether the allegation was true or otherwise.

Fu Zian kept looking at the female cultivator that flew ahead of him, his mind was in disarray. He didn’t know what to think of the preposterous words that she suggested to him. Looking at her made him want to pull out his hair in frustration, he didn’t know if he could put of the pretense of her being the daughter of his sect leader.

“Who would belive me, if I told them that she was not Li Jiao?!”

He could already see the faces of the disciples at his sect laughter at him, there was no way he would ever be able to lift his head again around them and his sect leader. Depending on how the YuanLi sect leader took it, he could have his senior disciple caned to death or even sent of the sect to never return.

“Which sect would ever take me? Definitely not GuBaiJin or ShenJiangShi! WuYangChen would be my last resort, but would they even think of taking someone that was discarded by a sect like the YuanLi sect? I don’t know anymore!”

The senior disciple of the YuanLi sect shook his head as the last thought filtered through his mind, to dispel the dismal notion of becoming a reject by the other prominent sects.

Fu Zian could not think of allying himself with any sect that was below those three, even if he wanted to lower his standards a little, the BaoXu sect that he would have probably joined was no more.

Meanwhile, Xu Hui could sense the turmoil coming from the cultivator that was behind her, she kept moving through the air unconcerned by what could have been troubling the senior disciple of the YuanLi sect.

The two were drawing closer to where the sect was, before Xu Hui motioned with her hand for them to cease flying and instead walk the rest of the way back to the sect.

“Senior Fu Zian don’t you think we should walk rather than fly into the courtyard?! Surely you don’t want my father knowing that I came back with one of his male disciples and alone for that matter with none of my maids with us.”

Fu Zian looked at the innocent eyes that stared back at him, still reeling from the shock of the secret she would have withheld from him had he not stumbled upon it by chance. He blamed himself for being a coward and not mustering the courage to expose her deceit to the sect leader.

“As you wish lady Li, but isn’t it too late for that, since we already flew by the market place.”

“Is that so?”

Fu Zian changed to a more formal tone, watching as Xu Hui descended on the soft grass, while following soon after, they both began walking towards the purple gate of the YuanLi sect, which during the day was left open which several cultivators guarding the entrance, but at night the gate was kept locked and heavily protected.

“Good day!”

Fu Zian gave a salute to the disciples that stood at the gate, walking past them, but neither turned to return back his greeting. This unnerved the senior disciple, as he turned to face Xu Hui to see if she encountered a similar experience. Xu Hui waited until Fu Zian was already inside, before unveiling her presence to the cultivators at the gate.

“Greetings Lady Li! We didn’t see you when you walked by, please forgive us!”

All eight disciples gave a deep bow to the young mistress of the YuanLi sect.

“It is I that should ask for your forgiveness for sneaking out and not telling any of you, please do not let my father know about this.”

They all nodded solemnly at Xu Hui, watching as she walked into the courtyard of the YuanLi sect.

“What did you do? Why were they able to see you and not me?!”

Fu Zian eyes narrowed with deep distrust at the maiden masquerading as the sect leader’s daughter. Rather than responding to his question, Xu Hui shrugged her shoulders, unwilling to let him know that she had shielding his presence on purpose in order to protect his reputation from being destroyed. With an apathetic smile on her face, she walked past him, heading in the direction of her bedchambers.

A disciple ran into the Hall of forbearance where the sect leader of the GuBaiJin sect was having tea with his wife, Lady Jin.

“Greetings Sect leader Jin! Greetings Lady Jin!”

Jin Ruimin the sect leader of the GuBaiJin sect had an air of severity which bordered on being oppressive, but Jin Huiyan the mistress of the GuBaiJin sect was a stark contrast to her husband. She had a delicate and gentle air of refinement. They both set the tea down on the table before giving the disciple their full attention. After the disciple gave a salute to his sect leader and his wife, did he raise his head to face the both of them.

“Speak! What brings you to the hall of forbearance?!”

“A message was just delivered from the ShenJiangShi sect.”

The disciple hurried over to where his sect leader sat, to hand him the piece of paper that came from the messenger bird. Jin Ruimin opened the sealed letter to read what the other sect sent. After a while, he turned to face his wife, “Young master Shi wants to know if we at GuBaiJin sect know of other sects being invaded by demons.”

Lady Jin fair jade skin paled when she heard what her husband said, her lips trembled from the possibility of a war breaking out, if truly the demon realm had broken the peace treaty and began attacking other sects in secret.

Reverently the female servants at the middle pushed off the bed cover to the far end of the bed, almost at the same time, they bent to wrap their arms underneath the back of Xu Hui to raise her up. The four at the foot of the bed slid their hands under her legs, gently placing feet covered in quilted stocking of purple to the floor. They bowed to their young mistress again before leaving her side to return to their previous position.

“You said you feared for my father’s life, in what way?”

When they heard the voice that was supposedly Li Jiao’s they all dropped down to their knees with their head lowered.

“Young Miss Li, Jiyi ask permission to speak freely.”

“I am listening, speak!”

None of them saw the irritation that had stolen across the face of Xu Hui, she just wanted the servant to spill out what she had to say without taking all the time in the world.

“Young Miss Li, Sect leader Li flew out in rage from hearing that other sects were under attack by demons. He didn’t take any of the disciples with him when leaving for ShenJiangShi sect, I fear he may not be able to protect himself, should he have the misfortune of encountering them on the way back.”

“When did father leave?”

“Sect leader Li has been away for two hours.”

“He probably has many things to discuss with the other sect, is that why you woke me up?!”

“I beg of you Young Miss Li, please do not be offended by the words of your ignorant servants.”

The biting tone from Xu Hui made the female servants to trembled from where they knelt.

“Which of the sects did you say was under attack by demons?”

” Young Miss Li, it was ZaoQiang sect, KuShun sect, BaoXu sect, MoXing sect and GongKua sect.”

“BaoXu sect?! Are you sure it was BaoXu sect?! Raise your head, so that I can see if you are telling me the truth!”

“Y..Young Miss Li..I speak no untruth, BaoXu sect was part of them.”

“BaoXu….”

The color drained from the face of Xu Hui when she heard the sect which trained her to become a cultivator was no more. Without a single weapon in hand, Xu Hui fled out of YuanLi sect in search of the sect from her previous life, wishing that there would be remnants from the invasion by demons.

Shi Yixing a senior disciple of the ShenJiangShi sect stood in front of the door to the bedchamber belonging to the sect leader’s son, waiting to be calling in by his servants. He waited outside for some time before the door slid back and instead of being shown in by a servant, he was met at the door by the sect’s physician, whom he curtsied in greeting to.

“You have come to see young master Shi?”

“Greetings Physician Shen Chunqiu. Shi Yixing has a message from Sect leader Shi for young master Shi.”

The young physician stretched his head as his eyes roamed round the courtyard to see if anyone other than the senior disciple was at the courtyard of Shi Yunxu. After a while, he stepped back for the disciple to come in, noiselessly sliding the door close behind them. Before this time, Shi Yunxu had been suffering from agonizing pain from the deep cut to his abdomen, after making the disciples that went on the night hunt with him to swear to secrecy, he had them get Physician Shen Chunqiu to sew his abdomen with golden invisible thread, who then applied medicinal herbs to the sutured skin, but all these came with a lot of pain and tears. On getting in, Shi Yixing gave a formal bow to the young master of the ShenJiang Shi sect.

“Greetings young master Shi.”

Shi Yixing wasn’t too surprised to see the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect lie in bed, after all he had to waste his energy to go to where he usually had morning lessons only to be told that the disciple he was looking for was in his bedchambers. His first thought was that he was skipping morning lessons, it wasn’t until Shi Yunxu pulled aside the yellow quilt, did he see the bandage of white wrapped around his abdomen. His fair jade skin looked somewhat pale, a slight grimace appeared on his face, as though he was biting back from any outward show of pain.

“Young master Shi why do you have something around her waist?”

“Shi Yixing, promise me that this would not reach the ears of my father!”

“I promise to keep my mouth shut and not let out what I saw in your chambers to Sect leader Shi.”

“Why did he send you to me?”

“Young master Shi, your father wants you to speak on his behalf to sect leader Li.”

“Did Sect leader Li tell you the reason for being here?”

“No young master Shi, he refused to talk about the nature of his visit in details, only saying that it is of great importance.”

“If not because his sect is still one of the leading sects, I would have sent you back to him to have myself excused. He is so pompous! Even taking our best Physician to his sect, leaving us with the son instead, as if the two of them could compare! Let just me get this over with!”

The female servants ran in the direction of the  south courtyard where they expected to see Fu Zian.

A male disciple stood outside the entrance to the courtyard staring straight ahead. The maids curtesied, before one of them spoke of the reason for their presence there.

“Greetings. We are Young Miss Li’s attendants, will it be possible for us to have a word with Senior Fu?”

“If you could wait here, I will let Senior disciple Fu Zian know who is waiting for him.”

A moment later the disciple that kept watch on the south courtyard came back with the cultivator that the female servants had requested.

Greeting was exchanged once again, but this time it was with a different disciple of the YuanLi sect.

“Senior Fu Zian. Young Miss Li ran away when we told her that a BaoXu sect was part of the sects affected by demon invasion…”

“…”

Fu Zian was robbed of speech when he heard that the young mistress of his sect was nowhere to be found. He no longer paid heed to the words of the maid, in a series of fast hand motion he formed a seal with his finger tips, before taking to the air, leaving the female servants and the rest of the YuanLi sect behind in search of the lost child of his sect leader.

———-

Xu Hui made it to the front entrance of BaoXu sect, gone was the iron clad gates as they lay uselessly on the ground caked in dried blood. The young maiden landed forcefully on the soft dirt, walking into what was left of the once impressive structure.

Forming a seal with both thumbs facing up and the other fingers intertwined in a fist, this caused Xu Hui to sail through the air in no time, the hand motion lifted her feet from the ground, as she kicked upwards to propel herself high in the air.

The female servants that were in the bedchambers of Li Jiao, ran after her to see where she was heading to, but when they saw her levitate and take to the sky, this made them stumble as a sense of incredulity overtook their mind from seeing the young mistress they knew flap the sleeves of her robe as though she was a bird.

They stared with their mouths wide open, not once had they seen the daughter of their sect leader execute an action that was only seen among those that had spent ample time cultivating, even her cultivation base was almost none existent! How could she fly! That was really an head shaker for the maids.

When they finally overcame their shock from seeing such an unbelievable move, the maids called out to her, but the cries seemingly fell on deaf ears.

“Young Miss Li!”

“Where are you going?!”

“Please come back!”

The lone figure kept moving through the air until not a speck of her form was seen by the servants.

Trail of tears followed Xu Hui while soaring through the sunny skies, the sound of chirping birds from nearby trees rang in her ears, while floating in the air. Bypassing the marketplace which led to a nearby sect for the deep woods that led into the treacherous terrains of the BaoXu sect. Heading further from the bright skies into the blanket of thick forestry ahead. Within her, Xu Hui wished for the safe keeping of the sect from her past life.

“Please! Let them still be alive!”

Not too long since she awakened in a new body, Xu Hui kept pushing off the time to seek out her former sect, only to leave the protection of the YuanLi sect on hearing that they had fallen into the hands of the demon lord. With nothing to light her way, Xu Hui relied on the “sense” ability from her previous life to guide her out of the canopies of greenery to the path that led to BaoXu sect.

YuanLi sect and BaoXu sect was divided by a wide expanse of thick forest, known to harbor many creatures that could either prove harmful or otherwise depending on the cultivator’s rank.

Xu Hui heard strange noises, but chose to ignored them as she jumped from one tree branch to the other while moving within the forest. The aura surrounding her oozed with killing intent, from the moment she changed the nature of her aura, not a single sound was heard after that.

“RRRRRIP!!!!!!!”

Xu Hui turned around only to see that it was the right sleeve of her robe that had caught on one of the tree branches, causing a tear.

A long time after, Xu Hui was starting to see glimpses of daylight ahead, that seemed to renew her strength, until she flew out of the forest into the charred destruction that laid ahead.

“Young Miss Li! Young Miss Li! Are you awake?”

Several maids that attended to the sect leader’s daughter kept pounding on the door for her to open up for them to come in, the sound pulled Xu Hui from her sleep.

“What is it?”

“Young Miss Li! We fear for Sect leader Li’s life! ”

“Come in!”

The door slowly slid to the side as ten female servants dressed in the purple robes of the YuanLi sect walked into the bedchambers of Li Jiao. They bowed in greeting to their sect leader’s daughter.

“Greeting Young Miss Li!”

“You can now raise your head up.”

“Thank you Young Miss Li!”

Xu Hui was still stretched out under the purple floral bed cover, when the servants saw their young mistress had not sat up in bed yet after their greeting, they offered to lift her up from the bed.

“Young Miss Li, would you like us to help you up?”

Xu Hui in her past life did everything by herself with no servant to hold her by the hand. Now that she was Li Jiao, the young mistress of YuanLi sect, she knew in her heart that there was no way they would let her do as she pleased without reporting to the sect leader what they thought of his daughter. With a sweet smile, Xu Hui stretched out her hands to be lifted from the bed.

“Do I scare you?! Is that why you thought I could not be Li Jiao?!”

Xu Hui did not know why she wanted to know what Fu Zian thought about her current state.

“Answer me! Are you Li Jiao?”

“And if I tell you I am not her, what are you going to do?”

“That can’t be? I have only read of soul transmigration from ancient writings at the sect’s library. There is no way I am looking at one!”

“What if I tell you that I am not her, but Xu Hui a female disciple of the BaoXu sect.”

Fu Zian dreaded hearing the truth from the mouth of the maiden who had the face of his sect leader’s daughter, in truth he had his suspicions about her when she fought with him at the banquet held in her honor and also when she could make animate objects appear. The Li Jiao he knew did not possess any of these abilities, even if she tried for a million years there was no way she could reach that level of cultivation, the only explanation to this absurdity was that he was speaking to someone other than Li Jiao, a cultivator that called herself Xu Hui.

****Green tea: A bad person who pretends to be kind and friendly

Xu Hui felt the exhaustion beginning to creep into her body from the blood flail technique she had just performed.

“Ah! To think that I would one day use the blood flail.”

The thought ran through her mind, while staring at the ground, lost in thought, but a voice that called out the name she was now being referred to could be heard from within the roaring sound that echoed in her ears.

“Li Jiao!”

The somewhat familiar voice made her snap back to reality, as she stared at the youthful fair jade skin of the good-looking cultivator.

“What are you doing here?! Hey!”

Fu Zian called out to her, while trying not to look shocked by the drastic change in her appearance, the purple robe she wore now had dirt on them, the hair that was once held in a bejeweled hair stick now lay disheveled and unrestrained.

He saw the moment when the bodies disappeared like smoke and carried into the air. His gaze met those of Hu Xui and what he saw in them caused a shiver of fear to run through his spine. Fu Zian did not know when the words fell out of his mouth, as he kept looking whom he presumed to be the daughter of his sect leader.

“Who are you?”

“Who do you think I am?”

Xu Hui answered his question with a question, not replying directly to what Fu Zian.

“I know that the one standing in front of me is Li Jiao, but the aura that I sense around you is nothing like hers!”

Fu Zian raised his voice in exasperation not knowing what to make of what he saw, while he spoke a smug smile graced her lips, almost as though she was mocking his deduction.

“I asked you, who do you think I am?”

The senior disciple looked at her closely, not wanting to let his fears take away the rational thought in his mind.

“If you know nothing, then stay out of my mind! Don’t try to put your nose into things that have nothing to do with you.”

Xu Hui spoke gently, while giving Fu Zian a pointed look. On the other hand, Fu Zian looked disoriented, what his eyes saw was different from what his instinct was telling him, which was that the person right in front of him could not be the young mistress of the YuanLi sect.

“There is only one way to find out just who you are!”

Not willing to give up on knowing if in truth his instinct was right or not, Fu Zian made the decision to launch an attack on Xu Hui who stood where she was unfazed by what she heard.

“I still have a bone to pick from the other night at the banquet. Come at me if you are confident in your fighting skill, but don’t think for once that I’m the same as before.”

Fu Zian threw himself at Xu Hui, with the aim of going at her with his fists, but she twisted to the side to avoid his fists from landing on her, but that was not the only thing that caught Fu Zian off guard, although he knew that Li Jiao was never trained in combat nor cultivation, just a single flick of her finger caused the senior disciple to freeze where he was, before folding her hand into a fist.

Xu Hui stopped dead on her track, dazed by the devastation that hit her in the face. Ashen bodies with dried up blood sprawled across the soft earth, gone were the magnificent building she once knew, which was now razed to the ground. Xu Hui fell to her knees and wept with abandon, as though a dam that dwelt within her was released, the ground on which she knelt took in the tears that continued to flow from her eyes. Regret, anger, disappointment and an overwhelming feeling of loss resonated in the heart of Xu Hui.

“HAAHHAAAAAAAHAAAA!!!!!!”

Xu Hui kept crying and laughing at the same time, such that anyone who passed by would have taken her for a madwoman.

“Even if I have to become the very thing I detest, I must avenge my sect or die trying!”

There was absolute resolve in the tone of Xu Hui, reflected in her eyes was an arching pain that came with coming to face with a loss. She eventually dragged herself to a sit in the lotus position with her feet crossed and did the unexpected. It was almost as if the heavens knew what she was about to do, as suddenly the sky that was once radiant with the sun shining through turn to an ominous dark cloud. A soul that was not supposed to exist in the world was about to perform an act that would cause foreseeable unrest in the heavens.

During her time at BaoXu sect, Xu Hui was severely punished on numerous occasion for stealing into the library’s where the forbidden manuscripts with ancient practices were stored. Not once did she have the chance to put them into action until today.

Locking her fingers all together with the left thumb placed at the center of her right palm, Xu Hui circulated the spiritual energy within her in preparation for what was to come. Afterwards, she placed both palm on the ground releasing her spiritual energy which flowed out of her palm as tendrils of purple. Absorbing the blood essence of the dead, during this she could see and hear the cries of horror from the members of her sect, some did not get the chance to make a sound as their death was instantaneous.

The price to pay for practicing the blood flail technique was that the cultivator would exchange their life for using the varying reserve of spiritual energy that came from the cultivators that were sacrificed and the body would vanish away. When the last fragment of spirit essence was taken into the body of Xu Hui, the bodies began to disappear one after the other in a whiff of smoke.

When Fu Zian descended at what used to be the entrance to the BaoXu sect, he saw what looked to be the daughter of his sect leader who was gazing downcast at the ground.

“Li Jiao!”

Fu Zian called out to her, while running to where she stood, the senior disciple came to a stop when he saw the eyes that gazed at him, there was no sparkly midnight in them instead he was looking at eyes that blazed with crimson glare.

Xu Hui now walked the path of infernal cultivation, bearing the whole sect on her shoulders and the divine punishment that awaited her in the days ahead.

The maids looked visibly distraught from seeing the daughter of their sect leader rush off from the courtyard of the YuanLi sect.

“What are we to do now?! Sect leader is not here and Young Miss Li is also missing!”

“Isn’t Young Miss Li acting a little different than usual?”

“Be quiet! Hush! The walls have ears! Someone could be listening!”

“Let her be! What is it to our sect if another sect is under attack? I don’t understand why Young Miss Li took off the way she did!”

“Did you hear her ask of that sect…What is the name again?”

“It is the one so faraway from us, the BaoXu sect.”

“Our YuanLi sect is up there with the GuBaiJin clan, a lower cultivation sect can never match up to our greatness!”

“They used to be in the same rank as the ShenJiangShi clan, but still…that was many years back. There is no need for our Young Miss to save them some face.”

“We haven’t seen or heard anything from their side in many years, it truly is strange that at the mention of their name she ran off not telling any of us where she was going.”

“Our Young Miss is a maiden! To think YuanLi sect would lose face because of her!”

How about Senior Fu? He is the only one left to talk to about getting Young Miss Li back before Sect leader Li gets wind of it.”

“Which of us will follow Senior Fu to look for Young Miss Li?”

“Jin Caihe…”

“That would be head teacher Jin for you, do well to remember that!”

“You still think that you can put up airs in the position that we are both in?”

To make Jin Caihe understand the gravity of the situation they were in, Jin Tieguai grabbed his rod in one hand, bending his head to lick from the base slowly and working his way to the tip.

They were now in the direction of the east courtyard which was around where the quarters of the senior disciples and teachers was located. They leapt through many rooftops, cutting through many paths to where Jin Caihe was presumably heading towards.

The DianShu was the private quarters of Jin Caihe and off limits to anyone, but the head teacher was so flustered by the unusual sensation growing within him, he could hear hissing as though it were from a snake over and again. Dread like dark murky water took over his mind, because of what he had read from the ancient writing at the library of gaiety.

According to the ancient scroll, whoever heard the whisper of hissing wind which was likened to the hiss of a snake, the cultivator with the affliction, is said to have a strong Yang in them and would need the essence of the divine falcon beast to tame the overwhelming reserves of spiritual energy from consuming its host and causing instant death by bleeding from various orifice of the body. In the cultivation world, this is known to be a very horrible way to die.

Jin Caihe flung the door open, turning back only to shut it behind him, but Jin Tieguai was having none of it, his hand held the door back from shutting close.

“Go away!”

“You keep telling to leave, but I know there is something wrong with you, please head teacher Jin what is happening to you.”

“It is no concern of yours, leave me alone!”

“But you don’t sound as if you are okay.”

“How I sound is none of your business, just go, go!”

The veins of Jin Caihe was standing from the strain of talking to his student, while fighting the terrible pain inside of him. The head teacher screamed at him; his eyes looked as though they were driven mad by what was attacking his body. Meanwhile, Jin Tieguai was really concerned about the way his teacher was acting so out of character.

“Head teacher Jin, if you are sick just tell me, so that I can get help for you.”

“You don’t understand! It is not something that you can handle. Run away before you get hurt!”

Jin Tieguai kept looking as though he didn’t understand what the other cultivator said, whose brows was now dripping with sweat and shaking from what could be said to be pain. One of his eyes had become the same shape as those of a green-eyed snake.

“I said, stay away from me!”

In a bid to push Jin Tieguai away from him, his hand met with those of his student, which caused a chain of event to take place. The falcon beast that was sealed within Jin Tieguai was let loose taking over the body of his host and wrapping him in an aura of azure blue.

The two contrasting eyes of Jin Caihe widened when he saw the form of the beast overshadow those of Jin Tieguai, the shock made him stagger, as he was about to fall flat to the floor, his movement was halted by the searing touch of the one who could either save or destroy him. Eyes consumed by ŀust stared at those of Jin Caihe, like a predator looking at his prey.

****Pair cultivation: Using sėx to increase or improve spiritual energy to attain godhood or long life.

Hiss of the wind…

“I didn’t do anything wrong! They were making fun of me for no reason especially young master Jin!”

“Did you look for me to let me know what they were doing to you?!”

There was no mistaking the tone of anger in the voice of the head teacher, which showed he was not amused by the antics of his student.

“Follow me, now!”

“Is it only me that would be punished? How about the rest of them?”

Jin Caihe was filled with rage at the way that Jin Tinguai chose to challenge him in front of his classmates.

“Head teacher Jin, if you want to punish anyone, let it be me, I spoke without thinking to Jin Tieguai

and I’m very sorry for not treating him with respect.”

The young master of the GuBaiJin sect gave a deep bow to Jin Tieguai, before offering the head teacher a bow to show repentance for the action that was committed.

“Young master Jin is too kind, see him give way for that Jin Tieguai every time! I just hate him so much! Making everyone feel sorry towards him when he is always the one causing trouble for others!”

“Young master Jin, there is no need to be punished with Jin Tieguai, clearly he doesn’t see what he did as wrong. I want you to be care of him in the future to prevent such occurrences from happening too often, as for the rest of you watch what you say and avoid speaking to him if possible. Now! Come with me to the hall of destitute.”

None of them uttered another word, as they saw Jin Tieguai walk behind their head teacher in the direction of the inner courtyard.

Jin Caihe briskly walked in the direction of the hall of destitute with Jin Tieguai following behind, he had only taken many steps away such that his back and those of Jin Tieguai were no longer visible by the junior disciples that was when he felt a strange sensation crawling through his body. That caused him to stop in his stride, to clutch at his belly.

“Head teacher Jin! What is the matter? Is something wrong?!”

Concerned by the way the head teacher of the GuBaiJin sect was acting, Jin Tieguai drew closer to where he was bending as though he was in pain, he could see the aura of green that flowed rampantly around Jin Caihe.

“N..Not..hing, Let’s…ke…keep going.”

The weak voice of Jin Caihe didn’t sound convincing to his student, who took it upon himself to place a hand on his arm and back to hold him up.

“Get away from me!”

As though possessed, Jin Caihe took off, running as though he was chased by some invisible fiend. Startled by the way his teacher was behaving, Jin Tieguai being who he was, began chasing after him.

“Head teacher Jin! Wait! Where are you going?!

The call to the other cultivator fell on deaf ears, as the cultivator known to be one of GuBaiJin sect’s best, continued to run as though he was a little child playing a game of hide and seek, that seem to bring out the naughtiness in Jin Tieguai who kept on with his pursuit of his head teacher.

The residence of the GuBaiJin sect was in a remote hill far from the Gu town, lush trees and blooming flowers grew within the lime green walls and dark rooftops, there was also a lotus pond some distance from the courtyard where morning lesson took place.

Jin Tieguai admired the sword that was held in front of him, the Xicong. Swinging the blade from side to side as the soft wind carried his robes. The dark of his eyes moved with mischief, while racking his brain for what form of devilry he could unleash.

“Why isn’t there anything to do! I’m so bored!”

He continued to walk within the outer courtyard, as he saw some of disciples from the same class stare at the pond that grew pink lotus flowers.

“If only one of us could be so brave as to go in and pick one of them.”

“It doesn’t look too deep, how about we all go in together.”

“I’m too scared of water.”

“You are scared of anything Jing An! Stop being a chicken and follow us into the pond.”

The young master of the GuBaiJin sect chided his fellow classmate, not wanting to lose face with the rest of them. When Jin Tieguai them, he took it as a golden opportunity to cause some mischief.

“Are you all going to keep staring at the water or not?”

When they heard the voice of Jin Tieguai, they all turned to look at him, as their eyes widened with dread.

“Oh no! It is Jin Tieguai! What do we do now!”

“Good of you to be here at such a great time, why don’t you help us a little and get each of us a lotus flower from the pond.”

The young master of GuBaiJin sect smiled amicably with the number one troublemaker of the sect, waiting on the other to reply to his request.

“And why should I? Are we supposed to be friends?”

The good looking youthful disciple had his lips curved in an insolent smile while looking at Jin Dongbin, the young master of the GuBaiJin sect.

“Leave him alone, he is a good for nothing who knows nothing about helping others!”

“Young master Jin is way beyond his league, that’s why he wants to rub mud on his face.”

“What do you mean by rub mud on whose face?!”

Jin Tieguai could no longer stand the insulting remarks of his classmates, while the young master of the GuBaiJin sect stood idly by as they made fun of him. Something within him let loose, as he ran towards his classmates, aiming for the son of their sect leader, pushing Jin Dongbin straight into the green pond. Water splashed on the robes of the disciples that stood by the edge of the pond. Three out of the four disciples reached for the hand of Jin Dongbin to pull him out of the water, who looked like a wet seaweed, after much tugging they were able to get him to dry land.

Right around that time was when the head teacher of the GuBaiJin sect happened to pass by and saw what was going on, a stern look came over the face that was once like those of calm waters.

“What is happening here?”

When the junior disciples heard the voice of Jin Caihe, they ran to where their head teacher was, which was a few feet from them.

“Head teacher Jin! Jin Tieguai pushed young master Jin into the pond!”

“Is that true Jin Tieguai?”

Jin Caihe gave the disciple that was accused a look full of distrust, while waiting on the other to answer him.

“Let’s say I believe you, how do you plan on fooling your father, no..that’s wrong of me, how do you plan on fooling sect leader Li?!”

“I have been able to pass off as his daughter all this time, haven’t I?”

Fu Zian looked at Xu Hui not knowing what to say about the dubious character that he was faced with, not long after the thought crossed his mind, the sky opened and it rained down upon the two, soaking their robes.

“When the time comes, it is only right to let him know that you are not his daughter.”

“Only when I have finished what I was brought back to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“…”

Xu Hui looked at him one last time, without any further words she rose to the air, soon followed behind by Fu Zian as the two flew back to the YuanLi sect, leaving behind the remains of a forgotten sect which was washed away by the rain.

During her flight in the air, Xu Hui was circulating her spiritual energy to suppress the growing darkness that came with the use of a forbidden technique like those of the blood Flail. Using sheer will power to suppress the lure of darkness that was spreading like a disease within her body. Fu Zian sensed the change that came over the cultivator that flew in front of him, hardly able to pick the aura of evil.

“Did you do something to yourself just now?”

“What did you think I did?”

“Answer me!”

“Do I have to?”

“Xu Hui or whatever your name may be! You better tell me before I expose your secret to Sect leader Li!”

“Why don’t you go ahead if you dare.”

Xu Hui voice challenged Fu Zian to go with what he knew about her to the YuanLi sect leader, not in the least bit intimidated by his threat.

“It seems that you have no face anymore! Shameless! Absolutely shameless of you to deceive your father…I..I mean, the father of Li Jiao!”

“It is true that I have no shame okay?! But if you were in my place and faced what I went through then you would understand, not that I care if you do.”

The last word was said in defiance, because in truth Xu Hui in a way cared about what Fu Zian thought about the things she had revealed about herself to him.

“Just tell me and stop beating around the bush! What is your level? If I could guess you are a little above me?”

“Oh! You noticed?”

Xu Hui turned to look at the senior disciple, who saw that her eyes no longer had the glare of crimson in them, instead they were now the midnight gems that he was accustomed to, the thought made Fu Zian feel funny on the inside while looking into her eyes.

“..”

When Xu Hui saw that he chose not to reply her, as his disposition was a sour one when suddenly faced with the harsh reality that he was now a level lower than the maiden he once saw as one who would never cultivate even if she were to have a change in her fortune. Xu Hui turned her head back, keeping her gaze centered on the journey ahead of them.

Fu Zian noticed that the moment she had her right hand in a fist was when he felt as though something was squeezing his heart, not longer after, he began to cough out blood from the constant pressure that was aimed at his heart.

“What..what did you do to me?!”

Xu Hui kept looking at him in a lazy manner, watching as he continued to throw up blood on the soft earth.

“Senior Fu Zian, don’t be like that, how are you certain that it was I that did that to you?”

The soft melodious voice form Xu Hui belied the cruelty that she dealt to the other cultivator.

“If not you! Who else could it be? A Ghost? A Demon? An evil spirit?!”

“It seems you really have an active imagination, I have never cultivated once in my entire life, how then could I have done that to you? How?”

“Li Jiao! You two faced green tea! How could you? How could you look me in the eyes and lie?!”

“Aiya! Senior Fu Zian! You hold me in high esteem! I am but a feeble maiden doomed to spend my last remaining years in isolation, waiting for the god of death to free my wounded soul from the useless body I was born with. I speak no manner of lie to you.”

“Ha! That’s what you say, but have you stopped to look at your face? Especially your eyes?!”

“What happened to my face?!”

Xu Hui was so eager to know what could have changed in her appearance, that she held her thumb with the index finger and ring finger up with the rest curled to release a portion of her spiritual energy, while she closed her eyes with the image of a mirror formed in her head.

A moment later, a sparkling jade clear mirror appeared on the palm of her left hand, as she looked down to see what Fu Zian meant by her face. Staring back at her in the mirror’s reflection was a pale faced woman who looked hauntingly beautiful with crimson eyes that reflected like red flames.

After looking for a while at her reflection, Xu Hui raised her head up to look at Fu Zian who had a fearful look in his eyes.

“Yan Xuequi! Where did you run off to?!”

The princess of the fox clan ran straight into the arms of her Aunt, a woman dressed in simple yellow robes with a plain hair pin of brown wood on her hair.

“Aunt Hairong! I missed you so much! The food at the fox clan don’t taste as good after you left.”

When the twins half fox and half human saw their cousin from the fox clan, they tossed the bamboo dragon fly that they were playing with on the floor to latch onto the feet of their cousin.

“Quiqui!!!!!”

The twin toddlers called out to the fox princess, while playfully tugging on the hem of her robes. After a while the two women finally broke from the embrace, as Mou Hairong gazed into the eyes of her niece. It was then that the twin took off to continue playing around the room.

“Did you bring anything from the market on your way back?”

Yan Xuequi could not meet the eyes of her aunt, for she had been distracted on her way to visit the Mou family.

“Yan Xuequi, what are you hiding from your aunt?”

The daughter of the Fox king, Princess Mou Hairong began tickling the stomach of her niece.

“N..N..othing!..Stop..I’ll…tell you!”

That was when Mou Hairong let go of the fox princess to here what the other had to say.

“You won’t believe this! But I actually saw a male cultivator from a BaoXu sect!”

The look on Mou Hairong mirrored the same wariness her niece had when she first encountered Lin Cheng in the woods.

“Stay away from their kind! They are trouble! I’ll try to keep it away from father! But please, do not go near any of them! They only know how to use others like us! While going about parading themselves as the paragon of virtue!”

Yan Xuequi could see the distaste that her aunt had for any one that came from any of the cultivation sects, she had heard her grandfather say on numerous times not to go near anyone that came from there, “What could they have done to warrant such hatred from my clan?!”

Almost as if she knew what her niece was thinking, Mou Hairong said, “Don’t even think of trying to understand them or making friends with any of them! They are not worth it! They are all pretenders, every single one of them!”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You don’t need to say a thing! I can see it written all over your face! You want to believe that they are not who your grandfather and I say they are, if that’s what you want to do, take off your title as princess of the fox clan! Only then can you do as you please without dragging the fox kingdom with you!”

While the two were in a heated discussion, the twin boys were floating around the room, each had a green flame surrounding the simple blue robes that they wore.

“Aunt Hairong! The twins can now use fox fire?! That took me a hundred years to form a tiny flame from the palm of my hand!Look! Their’s is covering their whole body! ”

One thing about half fox children was that they didn’t share the pointed ears as seen in children from the fox clan, their growth was slower than those of a child with full fox blood in them.

“Mou Yidan! Mou Zimu! Stop fooling around and get down from there!”

The little boys kept on flying around with their fox fire, angry that they were not listening to her, their mother whipped out her own green fire from the tip of her fingers to drag them from where they were, as the two fell to the floor.

“Don’t even think about crying! Do you want to follow your cousin to back to the fox fortress?!”

The twins stifled their cry, recalling the time their mother had taken them to see their grandfather on his birthday, the fox clan was a cold, dark place to the children. In as much as they loved to have their cousin around, they never wanted to visit her home since that day. They saw the eyes of their mother switch for a moment from black to slate blue. They didn’t need anyone to tell them that she was already fed up with the way they were acting.

“Who is making my baby boys cry.”

When they heard the sound of their father’s voice from outside the door of the room. The twins ran out to meet him. Holding each toddler in his arms, Mou Yaxin gazed with his eyes full of love on the face of sons who were like mirror image of the other.

“Ma wants us to go to grandpa’s house!”

Although they looked like they were four years of age, the half fox half human children were very advanced in their manner of speech.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to your mother about going to see your grandfather. No one can take you there unless I say so!”

The twins so the look of anger on their father’s face in defense of them, thinking he was really going to rebuke their mother harshly for wanting to take them to the fox clan.

“And Pa! Mom is so scary!”

“How so?”

That was when the both of them buried their head into the shoulders of their father, not wanting to reveal what their mother did, because doing so would also uncover what they also did, which was using their fox powers when they were in the mortal realm. Although, Mou Yaxin knew of his wife’s family in the other world unseen to human eyes, he hadn’t been there since his body didn’t possess any of their powers for him to cross through. He couldn’t see the fox powers in action because he lacked spiritual sense, but when someone floats in front of him, he knew without been told that they were definitely not human like him!

He and Yan hairong met when he was drowning, due his boat that turned upside down from the force of the current was rapidly approaching those of the fishing boat. Although, it is said that foxes have an aversion to water, yet the fox princess drove into the raging water and rescued the local fisherman from being swept away by the current of water.

“You can fly?”

Mou Yaxin asked the woman that rescued him out of the water, while carried in her arms.

“What a strange thing for a human to say. Shouldn’t you be screaming or shouting for someone to save you?”

Yan Hairong looked at the man she just saved from the depth of the water, he was very calm while speaking to her as though they were acquainted with each other for a long time.

“Do you want me to shout now?”

“Are you seriously asking me if you should call for help?”

“Alright, I’ll shout now.”

“Don’t!”

Mou Yaxin was about to open his mouth wide and shout at the top of his lungs when he heard Yan Hairong ask him not to, he smiled back at her, while leaning closer as the two finally landed on dry land.

“Ha!”

Yan Hairong winced in pain from the backlash that came from stepping into a large body of water. She didn’t have affinity for water like some of the fox immortals from her clan. Not long after, the fox princess fell to the ground by the side of the human she just rescued.

“I didn’t even get to ask her name.”

Mou Yaxin placed the unconscious Yan Hairong on his back, as the two made their way into his hut not too far from the river.

Day and night the human kept watch over his savior until finally on the ninth day, she began showing signing up recovering.

Thirteenth night Princess Yan Hairong was already on her feet, as her spiritual energy was already restored from recuperating in the mortal realm, while unconsciously feeding from the emotion of the human that kept watch on her.

Mou Yaxin dozed off and suddenly realized the the bed was empty, all this while, he slept on the floor while Yan Hairong took the bed.

“Where is she?!”

He frantically searched within the hut for her, it was only when he stepped out did he see her about to take to the air.

“Were you going to leave without telling me your name?!”

Yan Hairong turned to face the human that had saved her life while in the mortal realm, the water had drained a portion of her spiritual energy, causing her to succumb to a deep sleep.

“Fox Princess Yan Hairong.”

“Are you as legend says? Would I bewitched by you after spending many days together?”

“Why would I take to a miserly human like you?!”

The fox princess looked down her nose at the human, whom she considered beneath her, she couldn’t believe he dared to think that she would entice him and make him her mate.

“Even if he is the last man in the entire universe! There is no way that. I, Yan Hairong of the fox clan would take such a man to be my mate!”

Just as the thought filtered through her mind, she heard the man laugh out.

“Why did you laugh?!”

“You look angry that I said you would lure me with your powers. I’m Mou Yaxin, thank you for rescuing me at the river.”

The fox princess looked at the human in front of her, he was neither good looking nor came from a good family, she couldn’t stop from looking at him for one last time, before taking off to the air far from the reach of any human eye.

“She really is a fox.”

Mou Yaxin smiled sadly as he looked at the midnight sky until he could no longer make out the shape of the white robes of Yan Hairong.

“You stole my heart! At least come back and see me at least before I die, Princess Yan Hairong!”

Mou Yaxin shouted the words to the night, not knowing that the sharp ears of the fox princess had picked up on what he said, “Silly human! It is not my fault that you foolishly opened your heart to me!”

Shrugging her shoulders to dismiss Mou Yaxin’s declaration to her, Yan Hairong used her aura to open the gateway to the fox clan, putting away her experience in the mortal realm. But fate had a something planned for the fox princess, in as much as she didn’t want to see the human anymore.

Yan Hairong will use her green flames to see what was happening in the mortal realm, “It’s not because I want to see him. I only want to know if anyone is in trouble!”

That was what she used to justify her action, but when she saw him shiver from not having enough firewood to keep the night cold from entering his hut. The fox princess abandoned rational thought and left her room in the fox kingdom to the mortal realm.

“You fool! Why didn’t you get more firewood?!”

Yan Hairong sent the door flying from the fury that dwelt within her.

“You came back!”

She went straight for the fire, adding her spiritual energy which made the flame gain strength and burn brighter. Taking off the cloak whose collar had white fur to drape across the body of Mou Yaxin.

“Come closer.”

Mou Yaxin begged the proud fox princess with his eyes, who after a while succumbed to the pull of his gaze. He made way for her, as the two laid side by side on the narrow bed. It wasn’t long before Yan Hairong yield to the warmth of Mou Yaxin, as she snuggled against his ċhėst in sleep, soon after Mou Yaxin was fast asleep. This marked the beginning of how a fox princess from the fox clan became the wife of a human.

The voices of his fellow disciples called out to him, as they saw how he treated his junior sister disciple with respect even in death. With eyes filled with admiration, they watched him stand on his feet and head back to where they were after he had paid his respect to Xu Hui. This made them fall to their knees too and bow in respect to Xu Hui.

“Junior sister disciple Xu Hui, may your soul find peace!”

The only person that didn’t pay respect to Xu Hui was sect leader Xu Zijun who thought that it was best not to make anything of her death.

“Lin Cheng! After Xu Hui has been buried, I want you to leave for the mortal realm and return only after your inner demons have been put to rest! Use this period to find enlightenment and put to rest your troubled spirit! I fear that you would continue to search for the cause of Xu Hui’s death which would only bring unrest to the BaoXu sect! Leave and only return when your mind and soul is at peace! I will allow you to be present as she is laid to rest, but you must leave immediately after! Your duties will be shared among your brothers until the day you return back to the sect!”

The white haired man who looked as though he was seventy years of age, with long white beards and mustache had a look of severity as he spoke to Lin Cheng. Xu Zijun robes of purple had a sword by its side and a tassel on the other side. His white hair was regally held in a hair pin of silver that sparkled from the light coming from the paper lamps held by several of the disciples.

When they heard what their sect leader said, their eyes widened in shock, to them that was as good as being exiled from the sect. It wasn’t an heavenly trial, so why was sect leader Xu telling Lin Cheng not to step foot into the BaoXu sect?

Some of the disciples looked in confusion at their sect leader not knowing what to make of the decree. They also turned to face the disciple whom their leader gave the order to leave the sect after the burial of Xu Hui.

“If that is what you wish for sect leader. I, Lin Cheng would leave for the mortal realm and return after gaining new experiences in the mortal realm and overcoming my negative emotions.”

Lin Cheng humbly accepted the punishment that his sect leader had handed him in front of the other disciples. This was his way of keeping everyone in line, while maintaining the semblance of peace that he strove for in his sect.

Xu Hui felt her sleeve being yanked suddenly from behind, surprise colored the face of the femal cultivator.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Fu Zian was beyond angry by the way the “daughter” of his sect leader was acting towards him, he couldn’t stand being led by the nose, which was what Xu Hui did when they arrived at the gate of the YuanLi sect.

“Explain to me! What did you do to me!”

The senior disciple could not trust himself being around her, his eyes had distrust for Xu Hui. While hers mirrored one of mirth.

“Is that why you drew the sleeves of my robe?!”

“Answer me! What was the thing you did, while we came in through the gate?!”

The smile of indulgence slowly withered away, as it was replaced by one of contempt. It all happened in a blink of an eye, taking the senior disciple by surprise.

“Alright Fu Zian, since you want to know how I did it, how about I show you!”

No sooner had the words left the mouth of Xu Hui, her eyes reverted back to the crimson color from when she used the blood flail technique. When Fu Zian saw the change in the color of her eyes, he knew what was coming next.

“No! Don’t even think of doing it! Are you lost your mind?! What if the other disciples saw what you are about to do?! Even if you don’t care about your reputation! How about those of the YuanLi sect?!”

On hearing what he said, Xu Hui threw her head back in laughter, for it was clear to her that the other cultivator was muddled headed.

“Why are you laughing?! What is so funny?!!!”

Ignoring the words of the senior disciple, Xu Hui stood where she was, as she dug her fingernail into the palm of her hand. She pressed on the soft jade skin of her palm, watching as blood began flowing out of the wound. With her index and middle finger pointed with the other fingers facing down, she brought the palm which the blood was flowing out from closer to the hand that was held up, which she began moving speedily in a circular motion, forming tiny beads of ball from them.

“This is my first time trying this, I hope it don’t hit your vital organ.”

Xu Hui smiled coldly at Fu Zian, who no longer felt as confidence as he was, moments ago before challenging her.

Closing her eye while savoring the breath of crisp air, Xu Hui allowed her spiritual energy to circulate within her, while release a portion of it that fed the blood beads floating in front of her. When Fu Zian saw the thing she had formed begin to grow in size, the fear almost made him fall to the ground. Not longer after Xu Hui opened her eyes and that was when she sent the corrosive blood beads towards Fu Zian, whose intent was to dissolve anything they touch and suck up spiritual energy.

Jin Caihe struggled against the wave of pŀėȧsurė that came from his “dragon” being taken by the mouth of Jin Tieguai. The result of suppressing what his flesh craved, made him suffer from the backlash of the unstable storm of spiritual energy that was on the verge of shattering him to fragments of spirit energy. He squeezed his eyes shut to minimize the ȧssault to his senses, which Jin Tieguai was deliberately doing to him, whose robes was also torn to shreds by the force of the falcon beast aura.

Jin Caihe clenched the soft covering of the bed tightly as though holding on to his dear life. By the time his student had worked his way to the tip, he began suċkɨnġ with much force on the head of his “dragon” so much that Jin Caihe could no longer hold it in anymore, releasing loads upon loads of his seed into the back of Jin Tieguai’s throat, who fought to maintain control by not giving in to the urge to cough up the warm milky thick sap that tasted somewhat salty.

Tears slid down the closed lids of Jin Caihe, feeling humiliated that he had to depend on a disciple that was fourteen years younger than him. The thought that all the twenty seven years of keeping his Chasity to attain godhood was now all for nothing, because of his Yang being out of balance. It just had to be the most unreliable disciple in the GuBaiJin sect that had to come to his rescue!’

“I’m so happy! I finally got to see how you look when crying.”

“Go away you animal!”

Stubborn to the bone, Jin Caihe refused to surrender to him, despite the demands of his body. Undeterred by this, Jin Tieguai switched tactics, letting his teacher’s rod fall out from his mouth. His eyes glimmered with renewed mischief, using the same hand he lifted one leg of Jin Caihe high up, to expose the pink bud that dwelt between the two rounded buŧŧ cheeks, lowering his head once again for his tongue to light touch it. Instantly, Jin Caihe violently fought against his hold, but the “god of mischief was not having any of that, he blew on it and began lick and suċkɨnġ the pink bud in a circular motion, watching as milky sap from Jin Caihe’s “dragon” shot high like a fountain of water. When he saw that Ji Caihe had released again, before lifting his head up.

All this while, the body of Jin Tieguai was almost going wild with the fire that was burning inside of him. Trickles of his seed slid down from the head of his “dragon” which was quivering in between his pale legs. Using the other hand, Jin Tieguai pushed the tip of his “dragon” which was smeared with his Yang essence, teasing the pink bud of Jin Caihe. The moment the other cultivator realized what his student was about to do, his eyes shot open, as he struggled to break free from his grasp.

“No! This is forbidden! We are both men! Stop!”

“You want me to stop when we are both like this?”

Jin Caihe pleaded with his student not to join their bodies in an immoral act that would unleash the wrath of the heavens and also spurned by their sect.

“..”

Jin Tieguai waited on him to rebuff him, but he kept looking at the face of his student, confused as to whether he should go along. Taking that mean that he agreed, Jin Tieguai slowly pushed through the resistance with sweat covering his body from exercising great restrain when entering the body of Jin Caihe.

“It hurts, don’t put it in anymore!”

“I’m sorry Jin Caihe.”

“Don’t be so disrespectful!”

That was when Jin Tieguai lost control, as he began moving in and out of the unused entrance with much vigor, the force caused Jin Caihe to bleed and firmly press onto the rod of Jin Tieguai.

“Ahhhh!!!”

The aura of the falcon beast had taken over, completely suppressing those of the winged serpent beast, the aura of the two danced like plum petals being carried by the wind. They went at it for several rounds until eventide.

****Dragon: Penis

****Pink bud: Anus

****Milky sap: Semen

“Come.”

The voice had a sensual cadence to it, which made the other cultivator tremble in terror.

“No! Stay away from me!”

“Brother Lin Cheng, please do not let it reach the ears of Sect leader Xu, I promise not to go out at night again.”

Lin Cheng watched as the delicate beauty bowed to her waist, pleading with her fellow disciple not to inform their sect leader of her impropriety, knowing the punishment for break a sect rule was to knee in the ancestral hall for five days straight with no food or water served during those time.

“You promise not to walk alone from now on?”

“Yes Brother Lin Cheng, I give you my solemn word that I would not go out at night anymore, as long as you don’t tell sect leader of my indiscretion.”

“Alright! Junior sister Xu Hui you can raise your head up, let me walk you back.”

“Okay Brother Lin Cheng.”

The two cultivators from the BaoXu sect begun heading back in the direction of the lodging reserved for female cultivators, when Lin Cheng saw they had gotten close to the place, he stopped to bid his fellow disciple farewell.

“This is where I leave you, since I can’t go any further. I’ll watch from here to see that you have safely gone inside.”

“Thank you Brother Lin Cheng, I bid you farewell!”

“I bid you the same Junior sister disciple.”

Lin Cheng and Xu Hui gave each other a salute, before parting ways, while the senior disciple watched as his junior sister disciple waved for one last time, before heading to the purple wooden lodging. The male cultivators were strictly prohibited from venturing towards where the female cultivators resided, this was to maintain the dignity and morality of the sect.

The image from the last time he saw her alive sent the cultivator into a sea of sorrow. He had only gone out for several days on a mission at dawn to a neighboring sect the ZaoQiang sect and returned late at night on the day she died. All the senior disciples including him were called as witness to her death, as everyone stood in a circle with their sect leader standing at the center where the body of his junior sister disciple was found.

“Sect leader! We need to find out how junior sister disciple Xu died! If not her spirit would know no peace!”

“Yes! We need to find her killer!”

“What are you saying?! That one of the disciples from BaoXu sect killed my second cousin! If word got out that there disciples from the BaoXu sect are now killing one another! How would I ever raise my head up high among other sect leaders! BaoXu sect has fallen in pugilistic rank! Rather than exposing what happened this night! We need to get back to in rank as number 2 even if we can’t be number 1!”

The sect leader of the BaoXu sect never alluded to his relationship with junior disciple Xu Hui, everyone knew they were related since they bore the same family name, because no one in the sect shared the “Xu” family name except those two, it was forbidden to speak about it since, the sect leader never had a child of his own.

“Forgive us Sect leader Xu! We only want retribution for our junior sister disciple, if she died unjustly.”

Sect leader Xu gave a cold look at each of the senior disciples gathered, he specially asked that none of the female senior disciples be called to witness the death of their fellow disciple.

“Sect leader Xu, I know moving up in ranks is very important in order to remain command the respect of other sects, isn’t it wrong to leave her death unresolved. How can any of us find peace in our heart knowing that we turned a blind eye in uncovering junior sister disciple Xu Hui’s death?! Wouldn’t the heavens rain down punishment for allowing such an evil act to be swept away?”

Lin Cheng had been quiet all this time, when other disciples spoke in discontent of what the sect leader was doing regarding the death of one of his disciples. Deep within him, Lin Cheng wondered what could have led to her death, he remembered that she promised not to step out at night after he caught her walking very late at night alone.

“Did she break her word?! Or did someone from the sect lure her out to her death?!” That’s right! Feng Yueming! He must know something about junior sister disciple!”

The moment Lin Cheng thought about the other disciple, he turned to face him, “Feng Yueming, you and junior sister disciple Xu have a good relationship with each other, do you know of her tendencies to go out at night?”

Feng Yueming looked at Lin Cheng as he tried not to let his eyes waver from those of the other disciple, it was true he knew of Xu Hui’s nightly walks, but if he said anything regarding that, not only would the others look at him with suspicion, but he would also be punished for breaking the sect rule and possibly ostracized by his fellow disciples until his name was clear of any suspicion.

“Brother Lin Cheng, I do not know what you speak of, Sister Xu was a maiden that conducted herself in a manner befitting a disciple from the BaoXu sect. Please do not stain her honor by saying she steals out of her room at night!”

Feng Yueming spoke with so much vigor while standing up to the disciple that he was being questioned about. When the other disciples heard Lin Cheng question him, their eyes suddenly narrowed in wariness, but after they heard the way Feng Yueming spoke about Xu Hui that was when the wariness in their eyes was replaced with one of ȧssurance.

Lin Cheng for some reason could not bring himself to trust what the other disciple said, probably because his cultivation base and knowledge was higher than those of Feng Yueming, but regardless of the reason, his eyes faltered with deceit. He knew when the other disciples were taken in by his words, but Lin Cheng refused to believe a word that came out of Feng Yueming’s mouth.

The thought kept going through the mind of the senior disciple as to whether he should pursue with uncovering the matter in secret or not, he felt pity for the way she laid on the ground pale and lifeless face down, her hair pin lay precariously atop her head. When Lin Cheng saw this, he left the circle of cultivators and went to where she was, walking by his sect leader as he bent on his knee to straighten the silver hairpin with purple stones on them on the head of Xu Hui.

“Brother Lin Cheng!”

“Lin Cheng! After Xu Hui has been buried, I want you to leave for the mortal realm and return only after your inner demons have been put to rest! Use this period to find enlightenment and put to rest your troubled spirit! I fear that you would continue to search for the cause of Xu Hui’s death which would only bring unrest to the BaoXu sect! Leave and only return when your mind and soul is at peace! I will allow you to be present as she is laid to rest, but you must leave immediately after! Your duties will be shared among your brothers until the day you return back to the sect!”

The white haired man who looked as though he was seventy years of age, with long white beards and mustache had a look of severity as he spoke to Lin Cheng. Xu Zijun robes of purple had a sword by its side and a tassel on the other side. His white hair was regally held in a hair pin of silver that sparkled from the light coming from the paper lamps held by several of the disciples.

When they heard what their sect leader said, their eyes widened in shock, to them that was as good as being exiled from the sect. It wasn’t an heavenly trial, so why was sect leader Xu telling Lin Cheng not to step foot into the BaoXu sect?

Some of the disciples looked in confusion at their sect leader not knowing what to make of the decree. They also turned to face the disciple whom their leader gave the order to leave the sect after the burial of Xu Hui.

“If that is what you wish for sect leader. I, Lin Cheng would leave for the mortal realm and return after gaining new experiences in the mortal realm and overcoming my negative emotions.”

Lin Cheng humbly accepted the punishment that his sect leader had handed him in front of the other disciples. This was his way of keeping everyone in line, while maintaining the semblance of peace that he strove for in his sect.

Xu Hui felt her sleeve being yanked suddenly from behind, surprise colored the face of the femal cultivator.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Fu Zian was beyond angry by the way the “daughter” of his sect leader was acting towards him, he couldn’t stand being led by the nose, which was what Xu Hui did when they arrived at the gate of the YuanLi sect.

“Explain to me! What did you do to me!”

The senior disciple could not trust himself being around her, his eyes had distrust for Xu Hui. While hers mirrored one of mirth.

“Is that why you drew the sleeves of my robe?!”

“Answer me! What was the thing you did, while we came in through the gate?!”

The smile of indulgence slowly withered away, as it was replaced by one of contempt. It all happened in a blink of an eye, taking the senior disciple by surprise.