As time passed, several disciples sat cross-legged in meditation. Gongsun Lin did the same, though she rested her head against Su Yi’s shoulder.
Yet this tranquility was soon shattered.
High above, the crisp cry of a luan bird pierced the skies. A magnificent, extraordinary beast whose wings shimmered with sunset radiance glided gracefully through the clouds, pulling up alongside the flying boat.
Astride the bird, Ming Xi stood dressed in white, braving the wind with her raven hair dancing behind her. A faint yet dazzling smile graced her peerless face as her gaze locked directly onto Su Yi on the deck.
“What a coincidence, everyone,” she said in a clear, melodious voice tinged with a touch of languid charm. “The scenery of Ancient Sword Mountain is supposedly peerless, and I fancy a look myself. Why not let me join you?”
Her eyes swept over Su Yi before landing on Gongsun Lin, who was nestled closely against him. A barely perceptible flicker of displeasure flitted through her golden eyes.
Seeing this, the disciple steering the vessel dared not make a decision alone, hastily looking toward Murong Yue, one of the leaders of the journey.
Murong Yue wore a cool expression. After a brief hesitation, she gave a slight nod, signaling to let her aboard.
Given Ming Xi’s status, someone of Murong Yue’s standing was hardly in a position to refuse her request to travel together.
The luan bird touched down lightly upon the spacious deck, and Ming Xi leaped down with effortless grace.
At this, Qiu Ning took a few steps forward and asked, “Young Pavilion Master Ming, what brings you here this time?” She did not believe for a moment that this was a mere coincidence.
Ming Xi offered Qiu Ning an impeccably respectful bow. Yet when she raised her head, an exceptionally radiant, almost innocent smile blossomed across her face as she uttered words that dropped like a bombshell: “Elder Qiu, I’m here to look for my husband.”
“H-Husband?!”
The words exploded like a thunderclap, plunging the entire deck into dead silence.
Every disciple within earshot—whether from Divine Might Manor or Ancient Sword Mountain—was struck dumb, freezing in their tracks.
The male disciples exchanged glances, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
“Young Pavilion Master Ming has a husband? And he’s on our flying boat?!”
“Why are you asking me? How should I know?!”
For a time, the male disciples eyed one another, wondering just which unfathomably lucky bastard could be called “husband” by the future master of Perching Phoenix Pavilion, the noble and exceptionally gifted Young Pavilion Master Ming Xi!
Gongsun Lin’s reaction, however, was entirely different from the rest.
Rather than curiosity, she bristled with immediate hostility like a young beast whose territory had been invaded. Almost instinctively, she tightened her grip on Su Yi’s arm as a heavy sense of foreboding gripped her.
Right then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Ming Xi made her move. Taking long, slender strides, she walked forward with an elegant yet unmistakably purposeful gait, heading straight in one direction.
She came to a stop before the pair. Her eyes first lingered on Gongsun Lin’s hands clutching Su Yi’s arm so tightly before she finally looked up. A smile remained on her face, but it was now tainted with an icy chill.
“Miss Gongsun,” she said softly, yet every word rang out with crystal clarity. “Why are you holding onto my husband and refusing to let go?”
“!!!” Like a startled cat whose fur had puffed up, Gongsun Lin’s pupils shrank violently as fine arcs of blue lightning crackled and burst around her.
“??!” In the distance, Tantai Yunzhi whipped her head around, her usually aloof face cracking with shattered astonishment for the very first time.
Qiu Ning and Murong Yue both widened their eyes at the same time, staring at this sudden spectacle in sheer disbelief.
“Wh-What do you mean by that?!” Gongsun Lin sprang to her feet, her voice trembling slightly with fury as the lightning arcs dancing around her grew even more agitated.
Ming Xi narrowed her eyes slightly, her innate arrogance that placed her far above her peers on full display.
In her eyes, neither Murong Yue, Shang Shuqing, nor Gongsun Lin before her had ever been genuine rivals.
Others assumed she was participating in the affairs of the four sects on behalf of Perching Phoenix Pavilion, unaware that the only thing she had ever truly cared about was whatever concerned Su Yi.
Perhaps she had never examined the deeper meaning behind this obsession before, but things were different now. She could clearly feel that what she felt toward Su Yi was far more than mere curiosity—it was a fierce, unyielding possessiveness that tolerated no rivals.
“The meaning is simple,” Ming Xi parted her red lips, her words cutting like icicles. “It means I’m here to catch a thieving cat.”
“Young Mistress Ming!” Su Yi, who had stayed silent until now, finally spoke up, his voice low and laced with suppressed anger. “Please stop making such absurd jokes. There is nothing between you and me.”
Ming Xi’s eyelid twitched violently as a frigid glare flickered in her eyes, yet she did not rush to dispute him in front of the crowd.
Instead, she sent a secret voice transmission to Su Yi, her tone aggrieved yet spiked with thorns: 【Are you protecting your junior sister? Su Yi, if you treat her like that... I might get jealous of her.】 A veiled threat hung beneath her words.
With a furrowed brow, Su Yi transmitted back without giving an inch, his tone unyielding: 【I haven’t even settled yesterday’s score with you! Ming Xi, don’t give an inch and take a mile!】
He had always responded to persuasion rather than coercion; the more Ming Xi threatened him, the less willing he was to back down.
Ming Xi seemed to understand something from his rigid demeanor, yet the annoyance in her heart only flared hotter. Her transmission took on an overbearing edge: 【Yesterday’s matter? I hardly tasted anything—I merely had a sample and didn’t even take off my skirt, so why should I let it go?!】
【Give an inch and take a mile? At least give me the inch first, wouldn’t you say?】
“!!!” Su Yi’s eyelid twitched frantically, the muscles in his cheek twitching. This woman was truly... shameless enough to utter the most outrageous, predatory things imaginable!
Perhaps seeing Su Yi’s face turning livid, Ming Xi realized she had crossed the line.
She suddenly broke into a bright smile, like the first thaw of spring, instantly dispelling the knife-edge tension as she smoothed things over for the crowd:
“Ahaha, Young Manor Lord Su is quite right!” She waved her hand dismissively, acting as though she had merely been teasing all along.
“There really isn’t anything between us right now. I was just joking earlier, so please don't take it to heart, everyone.”
Brushing the subject aside with effortless ease, she walked over to Qiu Ning, who was still wearing a dazed expression. Her smile was as radiant as ever as she offered a different explanation: “Elder Qiu, the truth is, I just suddenly felt like seeing Su Yi. With no other reason than that, I chased after you.”
Looking at Ming Xi smiling brilliantly before her—whose temperament shifted as unpredictably as midsummer storms—Qiu Ning felt a throbbing headache. An inward cry tore through her mind: ‘Su Yi alone is enough of a troublemaker, and now an even more unhinged, even crazier Ming Xi shows up?! Can this journey to Ancient Sword Mountain stay peaceful at all?!’
Rate on N.U.
