Lin Zhixue walked out along the narrow path through the bamboo forest, but before she had gone far, her steps gradually slowed to a halt.
The conversation inside the courtyard echoed in her mind over and over. Hearing that blunt declaration of using her made her heart sink.
Yet scenes from the day they exited the secret realm unbiddenly surfaced in her mind.
When Xu Muhe had said goodbye to her, that emotion in the depths of her eyes had been impossible to decipher, accompanied by that fleeting, faint smile.
She could not help but feel torn.
If Xu Muhe had merely used and schemed against her from start to finish, then what did all that concern and sincerity in the secret realm amount to?
She refused to believe it was all fake.
Having thought it through, Lin Zhixue turned around and retraced her steps back toward the Xu family courtyard.
The courtyard gate was still ajar, exactly as it had been when she stopped to eavesdrop moments ago.
She raised her hand and knocked gently three times.
A faint voice answered from inside: “Come in.”
Lin Zhixue pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Xu Muhe was sitting by the table, pinching that protective talisman between her fingers, its silver patterns faintly shimmering in the dim room. She looked up at Lin Zhixue at the doorway, without the slightest surprise in her expression.
“Were you outside the gate the entire time just now?”
Her tone was calm and flat, as if she had known all along.
Lin Zhixue answered candidly, “Yes.”
Xu Muhe’s fingers tightened slightly. Looking directly into her eyes, she said bluntly, “Then you should know that I only approached you in the beginning to get close to Senior Sister Jiang.”
“I know,” Lin Zhixue said, sitting down across from her. “But I want to know what you think now.”
Xu Muhe fell silent.
In truth, she understood her own feelings well enough.
Yet she had no wish to defend herself, nor did she feel entitled to make excuses.
At the end of the day, her initial motive had been calculated approach; that fact could not be denied.
Even she found it ridiculous.
When it started as calculation and exploitation, what right did she have to expect Lin Zhixue to believe the sincerity she felt later was genuine?
Xu Muhe kept her eyes cast down and said nothing.
Lin Zhixue looked at her and pressed further, “Then why have you never once mentioned Senior Sister Jiang to me? Not even once.”
After a long silence, Xu Muhe softly said, “I don't know.”
After another stretch of silence, she slowly finished her thought, her voice so faint it was barely audible:
“...Maybe I just didn't know how to bring it up.”
“When I first met you, all I had in mind was calculation.”
“I thought that once we became close, I could use your connection to reach Senior Sister Jiang and help the Xu family out of its predicament.”
She paused for several breaths, her tone tinged with a bewilderment she couldn't explain.
“I don't even know when it started, but I found that being around you made me genuinely happy.”
“And then one day, I suddenly realized...”
“...I hadn't thought about Senior Sister Jiang in a very long time.”
Having said her piece, she looked up at Lin Zhixue, a touch of self-mockery in her eyes.
“None of that changes one thing, though.”
“My initial purpose in approaching you was indeed not pure.”
“So you really should have just walked away.”
Lin Zhixue looked at her steadily, trusting her own judgment and instincts along the way.
The emotion in Xu Muhe's eyes that day could not have been faked.
She looked at Xu Muhe and said slowly, “We're still friends, right?”
Xu Muhe snapped her head up, instinctively rushing to object: “But I—”
“I know what you want to say,” Lin Zhixue cut her off, her tone firm and sure.
“This is enough.”
Xu Muhe stared at her blankly, dazed for a long time.
Only after quite a while did she nod gently—an acquiescence, and a total release of the shackles weighing on her heart.
...
On the other side.
Gu Yanqing had long since concluded his cultivation for the day.
With the medicinal power of the Red Gold Sand completely absorbed into his muscles and bones, leaving his entire body aching and exhausted, he wiped off his sweat, changed into clean clothes, and stepped out of his courtyard.
Yet the familiar courtyard next door was completely empty.
Usually at this hour, Lin Zhixue would either be practicing her sword next door or sitting in the courtyard reading a book. Even if she had somewhere to go, she would always let him know beforehand.
Today, however, there was no sign of her at all; it was unnervingly quiet.
Gu Yanqing inexplicably felt a pang of concern.
Subconsciously, he opened his system map.
The moment his eyes swept across the screen, his brow furrowed slightly.
The red dot representing Lin Zhixue was not within the bounds of the sect. It rested in an unfamiliar location he had never visited before, completely stationary, having remained there for a long time.
How strange.
Lin Zhixue usually notified him before heading anywhere, yet this time she had run off to such an unfamiliar place without saying a word.
A faint sense of unease crept into his heart.
Then again, having a system was a secret to begin with. If he went straight to her door, she would instead wonder how he had managed to track her down.
The best approach was to go over quietly and see what she was actually up to.
Still, why did he feel so much like a stalker...
Where she wanted to go was her own freedom. Was he being a bit too meddlesome?
...
Yet he still couldn't shake his concern.
Just this once.
His mind made up, Gu Yanqing stepped out of the courtyard, mounted his sword into the sky, and flew toward the red dot on the map.
He sped through the air, and after half a shichen, a sizable city appeared below.
He landed and sheathed his sword in a secluded, deserted spot outside the city walls, entered the city, and stopped a passerby at random.
“Excuse me, which household lives in the secluded residence at the deepest end of this alley?”
The passerby glanced in that direction and replied, “That is the Xu family residence in the city. It’s a standalone courtyard, very quiet.”
“Thank you.”
After the passerby walked away...
Gu Yanqing looked up at the character “Xu” carved on the lintel, a thought striking him.
The Xu manor? Xu... as in Xu Muhe?
He instantly recalled that Senior Sister Xu who had stuck by Lin Zhixue’s side in the secret realm.
Yet the more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became.
In the original plot, this development didn't exist at all.
Why would Lin Zhixue suddenly run off to the Xu family all by herself?
He furrowed his brow, then quickly relaxed it.
However, seeing that the red dot on the map hadn't moved at all, she was certainly safe.
Since nothing was wrong, there was no need for him to pry, much less show his face.
Gu Yanqing turned around, intending to slip away unnoticed.
Right at that moment, a small face suddenly leaned down from above his head.
Emerald green eyes stared straight at him.
“Yo! What brought you here?”
Gu Yanqing’s heart leaped into his throat; he nearly failed to keep his expression steady.
When had this little creature snuck up behind him? He hadn't sensed it at all.
Stifling a grin, Xiaoyu wiggled its body. “I’m gonna go tell Zhixue!”
The moment the words left its mouth, it darted like a streak into the courtyard.
Gu Yanqing froze on the spot.
He was done for.
There was no way he could talk himself out of this now.
He had absolutely no way to explain why he had suddenly shown up here.
Rate on N.U.
