Chapter 3

【Xie Qianjing, do you really believe it?】

Xie Qianjing was unsure.

Just like he was unsure about many things.

Years have passed since we parted, and my old friend has not kept in touch.

Xie Qianjing could hear the mocking laughter of his inner demons. He stared at the person in front of him, unsure whether Sheng Ningyu was lying to him again, just like many times before.

Even the strips of cloth were just torn off the corpse.

He didn't want to kill her anymore.

I don't want to right now, at least not right now.

Xie Qianjing lowered his eyes and turned his head, his cheek gently brushing against her right wrist, which was resting behind his head.

"good."

It seems that ever since that encounter, he has been using this word repeatedly.

Sheng Ningyu's right hand, which she had been hiding, was suddenly touched by a stranger, and her right hand tightened instantly.

Even when she was bored lying in the coffin, Sheng Ningyu rarely touched or recalled the injury on her right hand.

Aside from the pain, it's mostly absurd.

The dignified Sword Master had his sword-wielding hand's spiritual bone extracted; even Sheng Ningyu herself found it utterly absurd and laughable.

This was a wound she didn't want to dwell on, and now even the sight of someone walking behind her or getting close to her right hand sent chills down Sheng Ningyu's spine.

Strangely, when Xie Qianjing touched her, she was only a little nervous and didn't really feel defensive.

Sheng Ningyu stared at Xie Qianjing for a few seconds.

Yes, that face is truly etched in her heart.

She loosened the black hair that was tightly wrapped in her palm.

"I'm sorry," Sheng Ningyu said softly.

"It's alright." Xie Qianjing silently curved the corners of his lips. "We should leave this place as soon as possible."

Everything went smoothly from then on.

The two pretended to be fellow wandering cultivators and, with Xie Qianjing's guidance, successfully infiltrated an inn in a nearby town before dawn.

I remember the route clearly. If my identity is correct, I can make friends with me.

Sheng Ningyu pondered for a moment, then smoothly took out money and booked two low-grade guest rooms. While the waiter was staring blankly at their faces, she took the lamp from his hand and naturally pointed to the nearest room on the second floor to Xie Qianjing, "Alright, you can stay in this room and get some rest."

Xie Qianjing obediently agreed.

Just before stepping into the room, he turned back to look at Sheng Ningyu: "See you tomorrow."

They were quite polite, though.

Sheng Ningyu tilted her head, leaned against the pillar, and waved to him: "See you tomorrow."

After Xie Qianjing closed the door, the waiter finally couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Sir, do you need to treat that gentleman's injuries?"

His pale clothes were covered in blood. Good heavens, just standing at that doorway, he was almost scared out of his wits!

If it weren't for that ethereal appearance, he would have almost thought that a corpse demon had appeared in the city!

Sheng Ningyu followed the waiter inside and casually said, "No need, he's used to it. It's just scary to look at, he'll be fine soon."

"Habit?" the waiter stammered.

"Remember, there's no need for elaborate embroidery; simple is fine."

Such insistence clearly indicates that he is short of money.

The waiter readily agreed, but then asked with some curiosity, "In that case, why don't you book a room together, sir? The two of you can squeeze in and get through the night."

Sheng Ningyu thought to herself, "Of course it's because I'm not familiar with him."

But Sheng Ningyu sighed and said, "He needs to rest well. If I'm here, I'll only disturb him."

It's unclear what the waiter was thinking, but he seemed dazed the whole way. Only when they reached the innermost room did he give Sheng Ningyu a thumbs up and say with great admiration, "It has to be you, Immortal Lord."

So the bloodstains on his clothes weren't from being chased or from fighting demons, but rather...

As the waiter gestured to the guest rooms ahead to Sheng Ningyu, he muttered to himself, "This is the world of cultivation."

They can't even afford a decent apartment, yet they're spending so extravagantly!

Sheng Ningyu: "..."

To be honest, Sheng Ningyu originally intended to create a story of "poor rogue cultivators making money in a miserable way," but clearly, the waiter's thought process had gone from the other side of the mountain to the other side of the sea.

However, this current setup doesn't seem to be so bad.

In just a moment, Sheng Ningyu put on a lazy smile and readily agreed.

"yes."

She opened the door, glanced around the room, and walked into the back without changing her expression, saying, "Life is only worthwhile when one is under the peony blossoms."

Looking at Sheng Ningyu's ethereal face, the waiter's admiration grew even stronger: "You're absolutely right!"

Thinking of the two men, who were quite different in style but both possessed extraordinary beauty, he approached them mysteriously and said, "Please rest well, sirs. You two may have a bright future ahead of you!"

As he spoke, the waiter reached for the lantern that Sheng Ningyu had placed on the table.

"Please." Pale, snow-white fingers pressed against the lamp, ignoring the scorching heat of the lamp's bulb on the glazed tile. "Leave this lamp here."

Ouch! Isn't this female customer afraid of getting burned?

The waiter gasped in pain and hesitated, saying, "Sir, this will cost extra spirit stones."

"Um?"

Sheng Ningyu gave a puzzled hum. She tilted her head, and the dim yellow light in the room shone on her face, softening her features.

Like a celestial guest under the moon, like a fleeting glimpse of beauty in a dream.

The waiter stared in disbelief.

At this moment, Sheng Ningyu had already looked away. She sat down at the table and said casually, "Then add it."

The waiter stammered, "Okay, okay."

But when it comes to looks, very few can compare to these two guests today.

It's not just the physical appearance, but also the indescribable aura surrounding it.

It's as if no matter how muddy the ground is, it becomes elegant and refined when she stands or sits there.

Seeing the waiter standing there dumbfounded, Sheng Ningyu chuckled: "Aren't you going to put the lamp down?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter seemed to snap out of his daze, hurriedly placed the lamp on the table, and waved his hand, saying, "Then we won't charge you spirit stones, sir!" After saying that, he ran off in a flash.

Sheng Ningyu held the lantern in her hand. After the waiter left, she slowly shed all her pretense, and her expression became blank.

She unconsciously gestured on the table with her right hand, her mind filled with many thoughts.

One moment she was thinking about her sudden awakening today, the next she was thinking about those hazy memories, then she was thinking about Xie Qianjing's sudden appearance, and then she was thinking about the information he had revealed to her during their conversation along the way...

Sixty years have passed.

Sheng Ningyu thought to herself, "A full sixty years have passed."

During these sixty years, Sheng Ningyu was not always unconscious. She would occasionally wake up from the hazy darkness of the night and stare blankly at the oppressive black coffin wall in front of her.

At first, Sheng Ningyu's heart was filled with emotions.

Those emotions are hard to summarize in simple terms. Saying "resentment" is too mild, saying "grief" is too shallow, and saying "despair" seems to be more than that.

Because Sheng Ningyu had no idea who had harmed her.

All she knew was that the person who promised to return had not come back, leaving her alone to face mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and towering demonic energy.

But it doesn't matter. Since she has become the Sword Master, this is what she should do.

Just as Sheng Ningyu was exhausted from her battle against the demon, she was pushed into a pre-arranged formation by a pair of hands. Then, a vast sea of ​​light rose up, and the surging, suffocating mist instantly buried her. Before Sheng Ningyu could see the figure clearly, her spiritual bones were stripped away, and she was completely sealed in the coffin.

Who exactly is it?

As Sheng Ningyu lay in the coffin, she began to speculate.

Her best friend, her fiancé, her teacher, her junior, her senior...

It seems that anyone could be a potential candidate.

So, who exactly wants to harm her?

In the beginning, whenever Sheng Ningyu was awake, she would think about this question every single day. Each time she thought about it, Sheng Ningyu would unconsciously write the names of her deceased loved ones on the inner wall of the coffin.

But later, she stopped thinking about it.

Time loses its meaning in the long night, and each awakening is a brief blessing.

Those loves and hates are kept outside the mortal world in the coffin, while the person inside the coffin only needs to remember one thing.

Sheng Ningyu

In that maddening silence, she wrote her name in the coffin again and again, covering all her love, hate, and grudges, until her fingertips were bloody and fleshy, and splinters were embedded in her nails, but she never stopped.

[Sheng Ningyu.]

Before I knew it, my right hand started writing and drawing on the table again.

The hand that had its spiritual bones forcibly removed was naturally extremely painful, but it was precisely this pain that allowed Sheng Ningyu to feel that she was still alive.

Sheng Ningyu touched the lantern again, staring at it as if she couldn't get enough of it, even though her eyes were sore and about to shed tears, she didn't want to look away.

A painful right hand, bright lights, and a room where she can move around.

There is also 'Sheng Ningyu'.

The complete 'Sheng Ningyu'.

This was all that Sheng Ningyu, who was awakening sporadically in the dim light, wanted.

...

Sheng Ningyu quietly watched the bright lantern for a while, then shook her head and chuckled.

I had been thinking about getting rid of my habit of daydreaming, but now it's started again.

To distract herself, Sheng Ningyu tried to absorb the stored spiritual energy again, but as expected, she failed again.

Having lost her spiritual bone, she could no longer store a large amount of powerful spiritual energy. Her body was now like a container with several holes punched in it, and the remaining half of her spiritual bone could only allow her to wield a shallow amount of spiritual energy at most.

Sheng Ningyu carried the lantern and slowly walked around the room, recalling everything that had happened since she woke up.

He was also a mysterious figure, and Sheng Ningyu was not without suspicions about him.

Along the way, she had tried to check, but Xie Qianjing had a pulse and a heartbeat. She even checked his pupils to make sure they were black and there wasn't a trace of crimson blood.

This is completely inconsistent with the characteristics of the demon race.

"..."

Sheng Ningyu was lost in thought when she walked to the window.

Outside the window, the cool moon hangs like a hook.

For thousands of years, the bright moon has remained as radiant as ever.

Sheng Ningyu looked up at the moon, which she hadn't seen for a long time, and after a long silence, she suddenly smiled.

That's all.

She whispered.

Sheng Ningyu closed the window, leaned back on the bed, and awkwardly wrapped herself in the blanket, but her expression was one of utter openness and contentment.

Since things have come to this, there's no use dwelling on it; it's better to get a good night's sleep.

Sheng Ningyu closed her eyes and said to herself.

Now, I can take a nap like a normal person.

...

The next day.

Sheng Ningyu changed into the clothes that the waiter had left at the door the night before, and then smeared the herbs she had picked while examining the corpse the night before on her face, making the lower half of her face red. Finally, she tied on a homemade veil.

Sheng Ningyu carried Xie Qianjing's clothes out the door and encountered the waiter from last night on the way.

The waiter was clearly taken aback by her attire and asked in surprise, "What's wrong with your face, sir?"

Sheng Ningyu calmly replied, "It's still too fancy."

The waiter gasped, his face filled with shock and realization, and indeed he didn't ask any more questions.

And so, Sheng Ningyu carried the clothes unimpeded to Xie Qianjing's door.

"Squeak"

Before Sheng Ningyu could knock, the door had already opened inwards.

"Fellow Daoist Ning."

Xie Qianjing stood inside the door and greeted her.

He did not leave.

Sheng Ningyu wasn't sure whether she should breathe a sigh of relief or feel a sense of unease, as it seemed she had encountered yet another problem as soon as she woke up.

She looked at Xie Qianjing.

From top to bottom, very carefully.

Despite the disguise, the young man's face was still handsome, especially the noble air that emanated from his bones. Even though his hair was simply tied up with a silver hairpin, he still had a touch of aloofness and coldness that made him seem detached from the world.

He didn't seem as mild-mannered and good-tempered as he had been last night.

Sheng Ningyu unconsciously took another step forward.

As she got closer and the sunlight shone through, she suddenly realized that what appeared to be a wound between the young man's brows was not actually a scar.

Instead, it was a small red line, like cinnabar spreading out.

A slight ripple stirred in Sheng Ningyu's heart.

"This morning, the waiter came in to add hot water for me. I noticed that he seemed a bit off, glancing at me frequently. I felt something was off. I wonder if you have any thoughts on this?"

Sheng Ningyu's thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

She didn't dare to look any longer, and when she met Xie Qianjing's clear eyes, she paused for a moment and said, "...Don't worry about him."

The young man didn't press further, but smiled good-naturedly, his eyes brimming with a gentle, spring-like smile: "Mm."

Sheng Ningyu: "..."

I take back what I said before.

Xie Qianjing's temper is indeed exceptionally good.

Sheng Ningyu closed the door, stuffed the clothes into Xie Qianjing's arms, and whispered, "If anyone asks you anything, especially questions you don't know how to answer, just tell them to come to me."

Xie Qianjing, holding the clothes, nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to Fellow Daoist Ning."

However, just as he was about to turn around, his clothes were pulled back.

"Xie Qianjing."

The fabric that Sheng Ningyu was holding was stiff and dark in color, clearly soaked in blood.

Even stiffer than the fabric was her right hand, which she used to grab Xie Qianjing's clothes.

"I won't ask about your background or your grudges. I'll only ask you: before this, have you ever harmed or killed any innocent people?"

Xie Qianjing paused, looked up, and the smile on his lips faded slightly.

He looked up.

This was the first time since their encounter that he had so proactively and openly looked into Sheng Ningyu's eyes.

His dark eyes seemed to conceal a desolate and silent sea.

“Never,” he said.

"OK."

Sheng Ningyu nodded, turned around deftly, and her cheerful voice drifted into the room.

"Then change your clothes, I'm going downstairs to get some free breakfast!"

Xie Qianjing: "..."

She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was that made her so happy.

After the figure disappeared, Xie Qianjing looked at the clothes in his hand, and after a long while, he slightly curved his lips.

But the next second, that tiny bit of smile vanished.

An ominous aura filled the air.

...

Eating breakfast is really good.

Free breakfast is especially good.

Sheng Ningyu, holding a bowl, politely and elegantly lifted her veil, successfully eliciting gasps from the surrounding guests.

"Yes, yes, it's a problem from the womb."

"It's fine on normal days, but it's like this when there's a little stimulation."

"Luckily, I had a friend with me."

With her fabricated yet remarkably natural performance, Sheng Ningyu effortlessly won over the sympathy of the guests downstairs and quickly became one of them.

During this time, she didn't forget to exchange a "help me cover it up" look with the waiter.

Not just the waiter, but everyone felt they had received a hint when that look appeared. Some looked at him with sympathy, some returned his gaze with affirmation, and some nodded emphatically.

Sheng Ningyu has the ability to make everyone like her and feel that she is their confidante.

Xie Qianjing, who was observing the entire scene from the second floor: "..."

Absolutely breathtaking.

No.

There's no need for that anymore.

Xie Qianjing lowered his eyes, collected his thoughts, suppressed the crimson glint in his eyes, gave a soft chuckle, and slowly walked downstairs.

A gentleman as fine as jade, unparalleled on the road.

His appearance clearly caused a momentary tremor downstairs. Even ordinary clothes could not conceal his extraordinary charisma. For a moment, the once noisy hall fell silent as countless eyes fell on Xie Qianjing, watching him walk step by step to sit down next to Sheng Ningyu.

As soon as Xie Qianjing sat down, someone gasped, followed by a chorus of whispers.

"Whose young master is this?!"

"With such beauty, we are probably going to be relegated to the background again today."

"Sigh, I never expected to find such a person in this remote little inn! If only I had known..."

Countless envious and jealous glances turned to Sheng Ningyu, and even those who had been chatting with her earlier couldn't help but ask, "Fellow Daoist Ning, who is this?"

Sheng Ningyu blinked and said, "It just so happens to be a friend who was traveling with me."

Xie Qianjing glanced at her for a moment, and before Sheng Ningyu could raise her hand, he filled the teapot with water for her. Facing the many inquiring gazes, he obediently said, "Whatever Fellow Daoist Ning says is fine."

Upon hearing this, the people present exchanged glances, and their gazes toward Sheng Ningyu became increasingly meaningful.

Sheng Ningyu: "..."

That's true, but the way Xie Qianjing said it just felt a bit off.

"Such a beauty, such grace, is probably no less than the acting leader of the Sword Pavilion, is she?"

"Ha! Nonsense! That man is known as the 'Number One Young Master'! He is truly a celestial being with jade-like beauty, and his music can astound the world. How can any ordinary cultivator in the wilderness compare to him?"

"What you say makes sense. Ah, I really want to catch a glimpse of the 'Number One Young Master' Rong Que!"

The topic was steered away, and amidst the noise, Xie Qianjing quietly ate his porridge.

The next second, a shadow fell in front of them.

Turning his head, he saw Sheng Ningyu leaning closer to him, whispering, "Don't listen to their nonsense. Trust me, you're no worse than Rong Que."

Sheng Ningyu spoke from the heart.

Although she couldn't quite remember Rong Que's appearance, her remaining memories told her that Xie Qianjing, aside from anything else, was absolutely comparable in looks.

nice.

Even a disguise can't hide her beauty.

She has always been eloquent, able to make even lies sound so sincere that it's impossible to discern how much of it is genuine.

Xie Qianjing closed his eyes slightly and said softly, "Yes, I believe you."

The lingering tone, like condensed milk syrup on a table, instantly lifts one's spirits.

Upon seeing this, Sheng Ningyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She hadn't noticed it before, but ever since Xie Qianjing sat down next to her, Sheng Ningyu felt that something was off.

Even though her expression and aura remained unchanged, Sheng Ningyu could tell that Xie Qianjing was angry.

That's true.

Sheng Ningyu thought, "Who could stand such a close-range attack?"

Like her, wasn't she so angry that she broke out of her coffin?

"It's not like there's no chance."

"I heard that the relics of the Mingyue Sword Master have surfaced and are about to be auctioned by the Ghost Canglou. Given how much this person cares about the Mingyue Sword Master, if you could also get a ticket, you might actually be able to see him!"

Sheng Ningyu paused.

Um?

A note from the author:

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