Chapter 57

This story needs to be told from the beginning.

With Xie Qianjing's help, Sheng Ningyu and he quickly reached the edge of the Ghost Market and found a place to stay.

It's no exaggeration to say that these spirit stones could crush a junior cultivator to death.

What did Yang Xiuzhu say back then?

“It’s still far from ‘a house full of gold and jade’,” Yang Xiuzhu said slowly. When she saw Sheng Ningyu’s gaze, she pursed her lips and raised them slightly. “If Senior Sister likes it, there’s even more.”

At this moment, Yang Xiuzhu did not resemble the renowned elder of the Sword Pavilion; instead, he seemed more like a young man waiting for praise from his elders.

Even during her years as Sword Master, Sheng Ningyu had never been this extravagant. With spirit stones came confidence, and upon entering the Ghost Market, she couldn't wait to wander around the area.

The people in the Ghost Market all hid their faces, and there were so many like her who concealed their identities that Sheng Ningyu blended in without attracting any attention.

However, the situation inside the Ghost Market was complicated, and Sheng Ningyu did not want to cause trouble before even entering the Ghost Cang Tower. Therefore, after wandering around casually, she habitually bought a few pastries and returned to the place where she had just stayed.

I never expected to overhear such a conversation.

To be honest, when Sheng Ningyu first woke up, she never thought of destroying that damn "marriage contract". Compared to this broken stone, she hated the "Daoist contract" that prevented her and Chu Chang'an from hurting each other.

But to my surprise, Xie Qianjing seemed to care quite a bit?

Xie Qianjing lowered his eyes and looked at it for a while. Just when Sheng Ningyu thought he didn't want to eat the pastry and was about to take her hand back, he suddenly grabbed her wrist, lowered his head, and gently took the pastry into his mouth.

It's her right wrist.

After all, one reason why Feng Xiaosheng reacted so strongly when she was in the Phoenix Clan was that she never allowed anyone to walk behind her, let alone let anyone touch her right hand.

Including Feng Xiaosheng.

Everyone.

Sheng Ningyu knew that Feng Xiaosheng must have figured it out.

Given their tacit understanding, they would easily notice even the slightest change, let alone this point, which Sheng Ningyu never concealed from Feng Xiaosheng.

Feng Xiaosheng had already discovered it, but he didn't expose it.

The two of them tacitly understood this.

But Sheng Ningyu didn't expect that her first reaction would be completely different from what she had anticipated or what she had expected.

The hands that held her were like the shattering ice on a lake after winter.

He was trembling.

Looking back now, it seems that from the very first time he met her, he always felt a slight tremor in his heart.

At first, Sheng Ningyu's spiritual bones were incomplete, so she couldn't notice these details. In addition, she didn't care much about Xie Qianjing and only regarded him as a passerby she met by chance. Perhaps there was some entanglement, but those love and hate should be very shallow, so she naturally didn't care.

But that's not the case now.

Sheng Ningyu didn't understand what kind of emotion this was, but Xie Qianjing was different from others in her heart.

Sheng Ningyu felt increasingly uneasy. Instead of pulling her hand away, she squatted down and looked up to observe the expression on the person's face with suspicion.

"Xie Qianjing, are you in a lot of pain?"

"...It doesn't hurt."

Xie Qianjing smiled, slowly released her hand, took the pastries, and said, "You just said that the marriage contract with the Chu family is fake. What's going on?"

He recovered quickly; that trembling lasted only a blink of an eye.

That was definitely not just a matter of emotions; it was more like an uncontrollable physical reaction.

Sheng Ningyu took Xie Qianjing's reaction to heart, casually looked away, took a piece of pear blossom cake and stuffed it into her mouth, and said nonchalantly, "It's just like I said, I played a little trick back then, the blood on that marriage contract wasn't mine."

"Why?"

Where do all these questions come from?

She met his eyes.

It was pitch black, devoid of any smile, and chillingly eerie, like the legendary Boundless Sea hidden deep within the Great Wilderness Mountains.

But there seems to be some emotion hidden within this.

Just as the legend says that at the end of the Boundless Sea there is the "Meng Po Light" that can break all the shackles of the Heavenly Dao, Xie Qianjing also sees such a thing in his eyes at this moment.

Thin, cold... fragile and vulnerable.

Is this really the look a demon would have?

Sheng Ningyu paused, then retracted her original words and said succinctly, "I've always been willful. If I don't want to, I just don't want to. There's no reason why."

Xie Qianjing gazed at her silently.

His eyes were devoid of any emotion; his long eyelashes covered his lifeless pupils, making him appear even more otherworldly and aloof, as if he were about to ascend to immortality.

But Xie Qianjing is a demon, and an extremely powerful one at that, known as "Your Excellency".

Anyone who knows this point keeps it firmly in mind, remaining constantly on guard, fearing that a single word might provoke the Demon Lord's wrath, resulting in millions of corpses and rivers of blood.

But Sheng Ningyu saw a hint of pity in him.

Her tone softened again: "Something must have happened back then..." After a pause, Sheng Ningyu looked at that jade-like face and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"It's related to you."

Xie Qianjing paused, his fingers stroking the broken part of the wooden sword, but a faint smile appeared on his face.

She is the most skilled manipulator of words in the world.

Even without her memories, she could still easily outwit him with just a few words.

"It has something to do with me." Xie Qianjing repeated softly, but the corners of his mouth curled up with sarcasm.

He gripped the broken hilt of the sword tightly, wisps of demonic energy swirling around it, and his voice was light and thin, almost hoarse.

"Why does the Sword Master need to toy with me?"

Xie Qianjing thought this was probably just another one of Sheng Ningyu's casual jokes, and not worth mentioning.

He vaguely knew what he was hoping for, but that hope was too distant, like something out of the clouds, something he could look at but never reach.

He is no longer the gentle man he once was, nor is he the little immortal she once loved.

The voice of the inner demon was bewitching him.

[Xie Qianjing, if you don't act soon, you will surely face utter destruction!]

Sheng Ningyu didn't quite understand Xie Qianjing's expression at that moment, but she guessed that he probably didn't believe her.

But just as this thought flashed through her mind, Sheng Ningyu suddenly remembered that there was a reason why Xie Qianjing didn't believe her.

Under the light and shadow, the red mark between his brows resembled a cinnabar dot.

For some inexplicable reason, Sheng Ningyu suddenly wondered if Xie Qianjing would have a red mark on his brow if he were to enter into a marriage contract with someone else in the future, and he were to hold that red stone tightly.

...At that time, was her sword wound deeper, or was the light of the marriage contract brighter?

Such a mischievous thought flashed through Sheng Ningyu's mind. She realized that she was indeed no righteous immortal lord from beginning to end.

Let me say it again: for someone like her to become the Sword Master is truly a sign of a time without heroes, and heaven is blind.

Thinking back on the past, Sheng Ningyu found herself somewhat amused.

She picked up the pastries that had been tossed onto the teacup and began to nibble on them, saying, "I really didn't lie to you this time, Xie Qianjing."

Sheng Ningyu munched on a pastry, slowly organizing and carefully considering her words, but no matter how she thought about it, it all seemed very strange.

"Although I don't know the reason, I have a general idea of ​​who tampered with my memories... The memories I lost are more or less related to you."

So I decided to just give up and do whatever I wanted.

Xie Qianjing's body suddenly tensed up, then slowly relaxed.

He looked at Sheng Ningyu, who was still eating pastries: "There's no need for this when no one else is present."

Sheng Ningyu knew she had been seen through long ago, and smiled indifferently: "At first it was to cover it up, but now that I've been eating it, I've gotten used to it."

While eating the pastries, she could occasionally pretend that she was still the same as before.

There were no arguments, no bloodshed or tears. She was not yet the Sword Master, but simply Sheng Ningyu, who was always jumping around, thinking herself extraordinary, and calling herself "Ninefold".

Xie Qianjing responded softly, then inexplicably uttered a completely unrelated remark: "The Xie family's Bodhi Osmanthus Cake is even better."

Sheng Ningyu was taken aback.

Before she could ask, Xie Qianjing put down the wood he was carving and said, "The news about your natal sword seems to have come from 'Mountain and Sea Never Sleeps City'."

Sheng Ningyu chuckled, accurately grasping the key point: "Seems?"

Xie Qianjing: "There were others who fueled this matter."

That person was so cautious that even the demons couldn't see through his unpredictable actions.

But in other words, can someone with such wicked tricks truly be considered a "righteous cultivator"?

"Gui Cang Tower is about to open. I wonder what your relationship is with that Master Yan?"

Sheng Ningyu's body stiffened slightly. She coughed lightly and said somewhat awkwardly, "My relationship with him... is known throughout the world by the red ghost rune plaque erected at the entrance of Gui Cang Lou."

Upon hearing this, Xie Qianjing smiled slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

He put down what he was holding and looked up: "Then we'll go out in the next few days to find you a good sword..."

Sheng Ningyu channeled her spiritual power, raised her hand, and deftly caught the wooden sword that Xie Qianjing had placed on the table in her arms.

This object was as cold to the touch as snow, unlike the black iron swords that people stereotyped as being made of. Instead, it was entirely white, with intricate patterns on its belly, including the sun and moon, and cranes dancing in the snow. As Sheng Ningyu raised her hand and swung the sword, she felt a crane's cry and imagined cranes dancing gracefully in the snow. Her mind became clear.

This sword seems to suit her even better than the Phoenix Cry Sword.

"No."

Almost immediately after Xie Qianjing spoke, Sheng Ningyu's mind went blank. It was as if countless snowflakes flashed through her mind, and all the figures appeared and disappeared like a revolving lantern, so fast that even their faces were blurred. Only a clear and aloof voice lingered in her mind.

-----------------------

The author's note: The "unusual" in "Unusual Sword" doesn't refer to the "invisible" aspect of *Ninefold Sword*, nor to the idea held by the Nine Heavens Pavilion Master and other cultivators that it signifies "doing all the things impossible in the world and slaying all the people impossible to slay," but rather... _____________________

Hehe! There will be another chapter around midnight, and both of these chapters will include red envelopes (cash gifts) within 24 hours!