“Sword Sovereign?”
Looking at Bai Luoshuang, whose lips inexplicably curled into a smile, Jun Ziyi asked in confusion.
At Jun Ziyi’s call, Bai Luoshuang finally realized that her mouth had lifted into a curve it shouldn’t have.
She immediately forced it down and put on a serious face, trying to say something to ease the awkwardness, but Jun Ziyi spoke up again.
She said, “Sword Sovereign, forgive my bluntness, but the look on your face just now wasn’t at all like that of an emotionless Sword Sovereign. In fact, it was more like…”
Jun Ziyi paused, seeming to ponder her words.
“More like a young maiden in love!”
“A young maiden in love…?”
Bai Luoshuang murmured as she looked at her.
That expression made Jun Ziyi even more certain of her guess.
Recalling Bai Luoshuang’s appearance just now, Jun Ziyi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
She never expected that the Sword Sovereign of the Tianyi Sword Sect would actually have someone in her heart.
Unfortunately, that someone was not herself…
Jun Ziyi’s expression dimmed slightly.
As a junior who once secretly admired this senior sister before her, she had never dared to confess her feelings, afraid it would hinder her senior sister’s cultivation path.
She just never thought that before she could confess, her senior sister had already fallen for someone else…
Let it be.
After all, it was just a youthful crush.
Jun Ziyi pulled herself from past memories, looked back at Bai Luoshuang, and solemnly asked, “I’m still curious. So, Sword Sovereign, can you tell me who it is that’s in your heart?”
The one in her heart.
Bai Luoshuang glanced at Jun Ziyi’s thirst for knowledge, and chose not to hide it.
Or perhaps, deep down, she was desperate to tell the whole world about her love for Shen Qingyi.
Thus, with the mood of a maiden telling her love story, she slowly recounted how she and Shen Qingyi came to know, understand, and fall for each other.
The Sword Sovereign’s account was straightforward, but Jun Ziyi could see from her expression and the look in her eyes just who it was that filled the Sword Sovereign’s thoughts.
It was a woman—an ordinary mortal woman.
Jun Ziyi was stunned.
When Bai Luoshuang finally spoke of bringing that woman back to Lingtian Cliff, Jun Ziyi couldn’t help but ask, “Wait a minute, Senior Sister? All these years, when did you ever linger in the mortal world so long? And the timeline doesn’t add up, either! After the Recruitment Conference—well, right now is after the Recruitment Conference, meaning you should only now be descending to the mortal world to meet this Miss Shen Qingyi you always talk about, right? None of this fits!”
At her words, Bai Luoshuang finally realized she had never explained this matter to her.
After some thought, she was about to reveal that she had lived her life anew.
But just then, a letter flew into the Sect Master’s Hall and landed in Jun Ziyi’s hand.
“A letter from the Alliance!”
Seeing the golden characters on the envelope, Jun Ziyi quickly opened it and read its contents carefully.
The more she read, the more shocked and uncertain she became.
By the end, her pupils trembled, and she looked up at Bai Luoshuang, at a loss for words.
“What is it? What happened?”
Bai Luoshuang, noticing her expression, sensed something was wrong.
She withdrew from her warm memories with Shen Qingyi, her demeanor becoming grave.
Jun Ziyi looked around cautiously, then said, “Luoshuang, listen to me, and promise you’ll stay calm, all right?”
“I’m listening. Go ahead,” Bai Luoshuang replied.
But just hearing Jun Ziyi’s tone, Bai Luoshuang braced herself for the worst.
It couldn’t be that something happened to her beloved Qingyi, could it?
That couldn’t be.
The Alliance would never report a mortal’s life or death, and at this point in time, Qingyi should still be safe and sound.
How could something have happened?
Yet Jun Ziyi’s next words left her completely stunned.
“According to the Alliance’s report, several days ago, two disciples from the Qin Shui Sword Sect were attacked by Demonic Sect members while on a mission in a small town in Qinzhou. The Demonic Sect had set up an enormous Array in that town, one that absorbed the evil thoughts of its inhabitants, and it’s been running for ten years.”
“A few days ago, not long after the two disciples entered the town, the Demonic Sect triggered the second phase of the Array, attempting to slaughter every living being inside. According to the disciples, there was also a Great Fox Demon in the Array at the time. With this great demon’s help, they managed to escape, and the townspeople survived the Demonic Sect’s massacre…”
Here, Jun Ziyi paused to watch Bai Luoshuang’s reaction.
“Demonic Sect? The ancient Demonic Sect? Weren’t they wiped out long ago? Why would they suddenly appear now, and set up a ten-year Array in a small town… Great Fox Demon… Are the disciples certain? Did Qin Shui Sword Sect verify this?”
Bai Luoshuang asked, but then noticed Jun Ziyi’s gaze was still somewhat off.
Growing uneasy, she pressed, “Which town was it? Jun Ziyi, tell me!”
“It was… Hao Ren Town!”
“Boom!”
It was as if a bolt of lightning struck Bai Luoshuang’s mind, leaving her soul pale and dazed, unable to respond for a long time.
“What did you say? Which town?”
“Hao Ren Town…”
“Swish!”
As soon as Jun Ziyi finished speaking, Bai Luoshuang had already transformed into a sword light, shooting into the sky.
Her words, left behind, only then reached Jun Ziyi’s ears.
“Jun Ziyi, to hell with staying calm!”
Every disciple active in the Tianyi Sword Sect saw it: a sword light burst from the Sect Master’s Hall and soared into the sky, turning into a rainbow streak that shot toward Qinzhou.
Even Chen Xiner, who was making her way up Lingtian Cliff to seek her master’s guidance on sword intent, saw it.
She wore her hair in a ponytail, spirit sword in one hand and a jade slip in the other, standing at the edge of the cliff, gazing after the departing rainbow as she murmured, “It’s Master. Where is she going in such a hurry? That direction…”
Suddenly, Chen Xiner’s head throbbed, as if something were trying to burst from her mind, bringing sharp, stabbing pain.
She fell to one knee, her sword planted beside her, clutching her forehead, her face twisted in agony.
“I… feel like I’ve forgotten something… it hurts so much…”
She murmured, searching her memory, but nothing came to mind.
***
On the main road to Yuzhou, a carriage rumbled along.
Inside were Su Qiulian and Shen Qingyi.
At that moment, Shen Qingyi was still asking Su Qiulian about cultivation matters, completely unaware of the storm brewing in some far-off place outside this carriage.
She pouted, aggrieved, “Why is the Youling Shield you taught me so useless? It didn’t protect me even once! If it had, I wouldn’t have been afflicted with evil thoughts, and now I wouldn’t be forced to take this long journey to Yushenzong just to find a solution!”
“Besides, aren’t you the Demon Emperor? How could you not be able to handle a Demonic Sect member?”