When Su Yi returned to his private courtyard in the inner sect disciple area, moonlight already blanketed the bluestone ground.
Pushing open the door, a faint, familiar aroma of food drifted toward him, giving him a slight start.
A few delicate side dishes were neatly arranged on the wooden table in the center of the room, alongside a white porcelain wine flagon and a set of bowls and chopsticks.
Most conspicuous was a small, warm jade bottle resting beside the dishes.
“This is...” Su Yi picked up the jade bottle, opened it, and peered inside.
“Golden sore ointment.”
This was by no means the ordinary stuff handed out by the law enforcement disciples at Repentance Cliff; its medicinal fragrance was restrained and its quality exceptionally high. Who could have left it?
As he wondered, a faint rumble of thunder drifted from outside the window—not a natural phenomenon, but the subtle resonance produced when pure lightning spiritual energy was restrained to its absolute limit.
Immediately after, a voice clear, cold, and distinctly displeased sounded from behind him, seemingly carrying the chill of the night wind outside:
“As I recall, your confinement should have ended at sundown.”
Su Yi whipped around to find Gongsun Lin standing silently in the courtyard, though he had no idea when she had arrived. The moonlight traced her graceful silhouette, her purple robes accentuating her pure, delicate features. Yet those eyes, normally sharp to begin with, now gleamed with a piercing chill as they stared unblinkingly at him.
She had her arms crossed, faint arcs of lightning flickering across her fingertips, clearly in a foul mood.
“Foundation Establishment late stage. Congratulations, Junior Sister.” Although Su Yi was currently only at Qi Condensation great perfection, he had once reached Foundation Establishment late stage himself; seeing the electric arcs around Gongsun Lin, it was evident she had broken through not long ago.
“Hmph.” Gongsun Lin twitched her lips, but then seemed to catch the scent of medicinal herbs on Su Yi... and rouge?
“Where did you go? Where did that fragrance come from?” Gongsun Lin knitted her brows.
The inner sect disciples were not like the outer sect; there were far fewer female disciples angling to climb the social ladder through Su Yi. Where did that scent come from?
Fidgeting under Gongsun Lin’s piercing gaze, Su Yi confessed honestly, “I just went to Junior Sister Tantai’s newly opened clinic. This scent... is probably from the ointment she prepared.”
Hearing that, Gongsun Lin grumbled in displeasure, “Aren't you quite the patron for other people’s business?”
She walked over to the table, picked up the bottle of golden sore ointment she had brought, and stepped behind Su Yi. “Lie down. Your injuries aren’t just internal, after all. No matter how effective Junior Sister Tantai’s prescription is, it can't treat external wounds. I'll apply the ointment for you so you heal faster.”
“No need for that. Junior Sister Tantai already applied ointment for me.” Su Yi picked up his chopsticks and tossed a peanut into his mouth.
BOOM!!
Thunder suddenly roared outside the house, nearly choking Su Yi on the peanut.
‘Well played, Tantai Yunzhi. Treating people differently depending on who they are? Didn't you say you only treat female cultivators? Where is your shame?’
‘And what do you mean she already put it on? I haven't even put it on yet!’ Gongsun Lin felt a surge of indignation, but unable to vent it openly, she could only feign calm and ask:
“Doesn't her clinic only receive female cultivators?”
“That's the rule, but perhaps she wanted to express her gratitude. It wouldn't be right to refuse her good intentions, would it?” Su Yi popped another peanut into his mouth.
BOOM!!!
Another bolt of lightning cracked, and Su Yi was nearly taken out by a peanut once more.
“How strange. Is the weather bad today?”
...
That night, thunder crashed relentlessly across Divine Might Manor. Rumors later circulated that perhaps some scumbag in the manor had broken an innocent maiden’s heart, triggering the retribution of a broken vow—the kind of man who would get cold water stuck in his teeth and choke to death on a peanut.
Over the next few days, Su Yi’s injuries mostly healed under the effects of Tantai Yunzhi’s medicine and his own recuperation, so he prepared to head out and take a look around the sect.
Walking along the path, Su Yi checked his quest log. According to the original plot, the flaws of Tantai Yunzhi’s constitution should have been exposed early on, leading to a cascade of trouble. Now that he had prevented her condition from being revealed, that part of the storyline was indeed locked.
‘This is fine too. It's not like I'm lacking the paltry rewards from that quest anyway,’ Su Yi mused. As the Young Manor Lord, other than a few special, crucial resources tied to the plot that were out of reach, most other resources were easily within his grasp.
“Hey, have you heard? Over at the market just now, that new champion disciple, Tantai Yunzhi, got into a fight!”
Thump!
The sudden words brought Su Yi’s steps to a halt, his heart skipping a beat.
“Huh? Really? Doesn't she run a clinic? She seemed so gentle.”
“It's absolutely true! Her opponent was Elder Zhao’s granddaughter, Zhao Qian! Word has it a conflict broke out because the clinic was stealing business.”
“And the result? Who won? Zhao Qian is at Foundation Establishment early stage, after all.”
“Heh, that's the strange part! Junior Sister Tantai is indeed formidable. Even though her cultivation seemed lower than Zhao Qian’s, she was remarkably skilled at wielding her spiritual energy’s elemental attributes in combat.”
“Still, she could barely hold her own at first. But as the fight dragged on, an eerie, bone-chilling aura suddenly erupted from her body—downright terrifying! Zhao Qian shrieked on the spot, claiming her spiritual energy was sinister and toxic!”
Another disciple chimed in, “I knew it! People felt something was off long ago! She was the champion with a Five Elements Dao Physique! With that kind of talent, all the Elders should have fought tooth and nail over her. Why didn't a single one take her in? They must have known something was wrong with her all along!”
Listening to their chatter, Su Yi’s heart sank.
Sure enough, in his quest log, the clinic conflict quest had already appeared.
“Damn it!”
Su Yi sprang into motion, darting toward the clinic at full speed.
...
Before even reaching the clinic, Su Yi sensed chaotic fluctuations of spiritual energy and the clamor of voices.
Quite a few disciples had gathered around the small courtyard outside the clinic to watch the spectacle, pointing and gossiping.
Su Yi parted the crowd and squeezed inside. In the courtyard, Tantai Yunzhi stood pale as paper, a smudge of blood still staining the corner of her lips. The spiritual energy fluctuations around her were severely weakened and disordered. Having clearly just endured a brutal clash, she was forcing herself to stay on her feet.
Her azure eyes were dim and lusterless, yet she still stared forward stubbornly.
Opposite her stood a young woman in lavish robes, her haughty face betraying lingering fright—none other than Elder Zhao’s granddaughter, Zhao Qian.
With one hand on her hip and a finger pointed at Tantai Yunzhi, Zhao Qian screeched loudly, intentionally making sure everyone around could hear: “Everyone saw it clearly, right?! This Tantai Yunzhi is nothing but a monster! She harbors such sinister, filthy spiritual energy inside her!”
Growing more agitated, her expression morphed into disgust and lingering dread. “When I fought her just now, that cold, deathly aura nearly invaded my meridians! How can such a demonic heretic be permitted to stay in the manor?! She must be driven out!”
Hearing this, the surrounding disciples looked at Tantai Yunzhi with eyes filled with fear, suspicion, and revulsion, their murmurs growing louder.
“I knew something felt off about her clinic...” “Sinister and toxic spiritual energy? Could it be contagious?” “How could the manor take someone like this in? It’s far too dangerous!”
Tantai Yunzhi stood there all alone, bearing the brunt of public condemnation. Biting her lower lip, her body trembled slightly, unable to utter a single word.
With the facts laid bare, any explanation seemed pale and powerless. She felt cold all over as that familiar feeling of being loathed and discarded washed over her once more.
Right then, an icy voice cracked across the courtyard like thunder, drowning out all the clamor: “Zhao Qian! Did you just say you fought against a fellow disciple?”
The crowd turned toward the sound to see Su Yi striding forward from behind the throng.
He did not check Tantai Yunzhi’s injuries first. Going up right now to ask ‘Are you alright?’ would be equivalent to announcing to everyone that he was here to shield her.
Instead, he needed to focus on Zhao Qian to find an opening. Divine Might Manor forbade disciples from turning against one another; if Zhao Qian struck first, she was in the wrong. He needed to divert the topic, as drawing attention to Tantai Yunzhi would inevitably give people ammunition to use against her.
‘Fortunately, the inner sect disciples don’t know I’m close with Tantai Yunzhi,’ Su Yi breathed an internal sigh of relief. This gave him firmer footing.
The moment Tantai Yunzhi heard Su Yi’s voice, her delicate frame shuddered violently. Instinctively wanting to hide, she quickly turned her head away, using her disheveled hair to obscure the wretched state of half her face.
Within those azure eyes that had been so dim, his appearance stirred a faint ripple—grievance, embarrassment, but also a hint of relief.
It was a sense of security that even she found herself craving.
Rate on N.U.
