The Xiaoyao Sword Sect’s compound was located in the eastern part of the city, a collection of scattered small courtyards, each housing a few people—this layout was clearly designed to give the sword cultivators space to practice.
The family of three, Hua Xiangrong, was naturally assigned a courtyard of their own.
“Yan’er, I plan to study the secret manual I obtained from Miss Su next. What about you?”
“Then I’ll take Rongrong to Elder Ji’s place later to play with Little Pomegranate. The two girls haven’t seen each other for days, they must miss each other terribly.”
Hua Yan took the spirit stones from Yun Xuechang’s hand and put them into her storage pouch—of course, she had lied about the amount, making Yun Xuechang pay much less—and said with a smile:
“I know Su Feiyao didn’t want me to see this manual. I’ll take a stroll around Yuxin City first, see what interesting places there are. You study it thoroughly as soon as possible, and another day I’ll take you and Rongrong out for a proper tour.”
“Alright.”
Seeing her gentle nod, Hua Yan felt a surge of joy in her heart:
‘Hehe, why didn’t I realize before how useful Rongrong is? Using Rongrong as an excuse, I can always find a way to ask Xuechang out. Then, I just need to find a reason for Rongrong to go play by herself, and it’ll be just me and Xuechang strolling alone again!’
Thinking this, she couldn’t help but smile and ruffle Hua Xiangrong’s fluffy pink head, feeling she should reward her:
“Come on, Rongrong, Mother will take you to play with Little Pomegranate! Is there anything you want to eat or anything you want? Mother will buy it for you!”
“Mhm! Then I want to eat tanghulu!”
“Okay, Mother will make some for you~”
Hua Yan chuckled happily, already planning to make a few extra sticks for Yun Xuechang as well.
Hua Xiangrong tilted her head up, looking at Hua Yan, whose face was now lit up with a dreamy smile, and muttered in her heart:
‘099, look at my mother. Has she completely fallen for my other mother? What’s the difference between how she looks now and a girl head over heels in love?’
“Indeed. Not only has she fallen for Yun Xuechang, she’s now using you, Host, as an excuse to ask Yun Xuechang out for strolls.”
099’s voice sounded in her mind, carrying a hint of helplessness.
“Of course, Mother should thank me!”
Hua Xiangrong replied gleefully, then added:
“But then, she can’t always use me as an excuse to ask my other mother out or do other things. This trick can’t be overused, otherwise I’m afraid my straightforward other mother might misunderstand and think Mother is only doing these things with her because of me—I need to think of a way to remind Mother.”
“099, study this well, watch closely. These are all the subtle details of a master’s technique!”
“What use would I have learning this?!”
……
Once Hua Yan took Hua Xiangrong out, Yun Xuechang took out the secret manual and the magic treasure from her robes and began to study them.
Soon, she had quickly skimmed through the entire manual.
‘Yin-Yang Twin Coins Art’—that was the name of the technique.
According to its description, the Meridian-Mandarin Duck Axes were originally designed as assassination tools, compact and powerful, with bizarre and ever-changing moves.
Paired with the Hehuan Sect’s Yin-Yang cultivation method, they could be used with complete freedom and infinite variation.
It seemed studying it wouldn’t be simple; the difference between sword techniques and these axes was quite significant.
However, the usage logic of these axes—”seeking change within movement,” with one for attack and one for defense—seemed to share remarkable similarities with the principles of “leading” and “twisting” found in her Xiaoyao Sword Arts.
Perhaps she could gain some insights from this.
Thinking this, Yun Xuechang’s eyes, which had been slightly troubled and frowning, suddenly lit up.
She grasped the handles of the twin axes with both hands and, following the manual’s method, began to circulate her spiritual power in the courtyard, focusing intently on her practice.
The sky gradually darkened as the sun set in the west, painting the horizon with a magnificent display of sunset clouds.
The sunset over the South Sea was completely different from inland ones. It was fluid, dazzling, rising slowly from the sea, layers of fiery red and warm gold soaking the sky all the way to the horizon.
The humid, salty scent of the sea tide drifted into the city with the warm, moist South Sea breeze of early spring, lifting the hem of the practicing girl’s robes and her white hair.
Yun Xuechang put away the Meridian-Mandarin Duck Axes in her hands and looked towards the sunset on the horizon.
That fiery red glow made her think of Hua Yan’s fiery red hair.
The corner of her mouth lifted into a faint, gentle smile.
‘I’ll stop here for today. Looking at the time, it should be about right—any later, and Yan’er will be back with Rongrong.’
‘I should also take a look at the sample books Miss Su gave me before they return—after all, Miss Su specifically instructed that these books haven’t been published yet, they are for my eyes only and must not be passed on.’
She turned around, took out a stack of books with simple covers, her gaze sweeping over the strange titles.
Finally, she chose the one with the most words on the cover: ‘After Being Imprisoned in the Dungeon by the Paranoid Female Demon Lord.’
The reason was simple: she felt that books with fewer words on the cover might be more difficult to understand, like the ‘Analects’ taught by the academy teachers.
Being not good at reading, she naturally chose the title that seemed easier to comprehend first.
‘Hmm… Judging by the name, this is probably a story about a righteous path disciple being imprisoned in a dungeon by a hostile female demon lord and then trying to escape.’
Yun Xuechang sat upright on the stone stool in the courtyard, holding the book, her slender, jade-like hands turning to the first page as she began to read earnestly.
Anyone seeing this scene might have thought she was reading some classic masterpiece.
She read neither quickly nor slowly. Because she had to write her impressions afterward, she read with extra care.
The first few chapters were largely as she imagined: Su Nian, a righteous path fairy, fell into a demonic cultivator’s trap and was imprisoned in a dungeon by the hostile female demon lord, Lin Chaoge.
Su Nian naturally tried to escape—only to be discovered by the highly skilled Lin Chaoge and captured again.
‘I knew it. As a demon lord, Lin Chaoge wouldn’t make such a basic mistake. Su Nian also didn’t use any magic treasures or techniques to conceal her tracks, so being recaptured was inevitable. But how could Su Nian, a rising star of the righteous path, lack such experience and make this mistake? The logic doesn’t hold up.’
‘I can note this down and tell Miss Su about this flaw later.’
Reading to this point, Yun Xuechang gave a slight nod, took out a blank jade slip, and carefully recorded the issue.
But as she read further, things started to become strange.
The demon lord Lin Chaoge should have been angry with Su Nian, but instead, she pulled on the chain binding Su Nian’s neck and kissed her fiercely.
‘This… why is this? Could it be Demon Lord Lin Chaoge wants to have a child with Su Nian?’
Puzzled, Yun Xuechang continued reading. What followed was a long passage of ornate, yet extremely explicit description—the demon lord Lin Chaoge, in the dim dungeon, removed her own clothes and began kissing Su Nian elsewhere…
The white-haired fairy seemed to be seeing something strange. Logically, such ornate prose shouldn’t make one feel peculiar, yet she distinctly felt her heartbeat beginning to accelerate, and the fingers holding the book felt slightly warm.
She was just about to turn the page to continue reading the intimate description—
A familiar, energetic female voice suddenly came from the distance:
“Xuechang! Rongrong and I are back!”