The morning in Qingshui Town was startled awake by a fine, drizzling spring rain.
The raindrops were extremely fine, falling on the bluestone-paved roads like a thin layer of mist.
Lin Yue pushed open the window and took a deep breath of the air, fragrant with the scent of earth and greenery.
He felt the third hidden meridian within his body relax with an unusual eagerness.
The Karmic Ledger within his sea of consciousness was also uncharacteristically quiet, not acting up for once.
It simply floated there peacefully, the “Ledger” character on its cover exuding an indescribable laziness in the morning light.
“Lin Yue! Are you still not dead in your blanket?”
Outside in the corridor, Mo Feng’s signature raspy voice rang out right on schedule.
Judging by the vigor in his tone, he must have either taken a lot of tonics last night or completely burned that “auspicious” brocade robe as an offering.
Lin Yue rubbed his hair and replied nonchalantly, “Manager Mo, so early in the morning, your voice is more punctual than the rooster in the east end of town. Why not quit being a manager and take up the business of heralding the dawn?”
“Bastard!”
Mo Feng kicked the door open, ready to explode, but saw that Lin Yue had already deftly slung that iron pillar onto his back.
“Manager Mo, whose rent are we collecting today? If it’s another tough nut like Boss Liu, I suggest we just bring a shovel and scrape the land itself off to turn in.”
Mo Feng suppressed the fire in his heart, looked disdainfully at Lin Yue’s crumpled gray clothes, and snorted coldly.
“No rent collection today. The sect sent word; last night, there were some abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations near Qingshui Town. The inner sect is sending someone to inspect. We need to go wait at the ‘Welcome Pavilion.’ Don’t embarrass the outer sect.”
Lin Yue raised an eyebrow.
“Inner sect? Which immortal this time?”
“Shut up! You’ll know when we get there!”
The Welcome Pavilion was located at the north entrance of the town.
Under the curtain of rain, the pavilion looked somewhat desolate.
Mo Feng stood straight with a group of outer sect disciples, like a few rain-soaked javelins.
Only Lin Yue leaned casually against a pavilion pillar, his heavy sword planted on the ground.
He had somehow procured a bag of fried broad beans and was munching away with loud crunches.
“Lin Yue, can’t you act a bit more proper? What if it’s an elder who comes? Your iron pillar will be confiscated!”
“What’s there to fear? This is my ‘spare weapon for martial friendship,'” Lin Yue spat out a bean shell and replied offhandedly.
Just then, a white figure slowly emerged from deep within the rain.
The person wasn’t holding an umbrella, but the fine raindrops seemed to encounter an invisible barrier about three feet around her body, sliding off to either side.
Clothes whiter than snow, a sword cold as ice.
When Mo Feng saw who it was, his whole body gave a violent shudder.
He quickly jogged forward to meet her, the wrinkles on his face smiling like a chrysanthemum.
“Outer Sect Manager Mo Feng, greets Senior Sister Chu! I didn’t know Senior Sister Chu was coming personally. My failure to welcome you properly is a capital offense, a capital offense!”
The newcomer was indeed Chu Wanning.
She still had that same aloof, peerless appearance, but when her gaze fell on Mo Feng, it carried a palpable weariness and impatience.
“Skip it,” Chu Wanning replied faintly, her eyes quickly sweeping over the crowd.
Finally, her gaze settled on the youth who was tossing broad beans into his mouth.
Lin Yue froze for a moment.
A bean got stuck in his throat, neither going up nor down, turning his face red.
“Cough… cough! Senior Sister Chu, hello. We meet again.”
Lin Yue finally managed to swallow the bean, waving his hand with a dry laugh.
Mo Feng’s face darkened beside him.
He wished he could kick Lin Yue into the nearby sewage ditch.
“Lin Yue! You’re too insolent! How dare you be so disrespectful to Senior Sister Chu!”
“It’s fine,” Chu Wanning actually didn’t get angry.
Instead, she stepped into the pavilion.
She walked up to Lin Yue, her gaze lingering on the black iron heavy sword for a moment before looking into Lin Yue’s eyes.
“You… come with me. I have questions for you.”
After saying that, she turned and left, her steps light and without the slightest hesitation.
She left Mo Feng and the others bewildered in the wind.
Mo Feng gritted his teeth, staring at Lin Yue’s back, squeezing out a few words from between his teeth.
“Lin Yue, if you dare speak nonsense in front of Senior Sister Chu, I’ll make sure you don’t see tomorrow’s sun!”
Lin Yue ignored him, picked up his heavy sword, and leisurely followed.
The long street stretched on, the light rain pattering.
Chu Wanning walked in front, Lin Yue dragged his iron pillar behind.
One in front, one behind, maintaining a distance of about five steps.
Neither spoke.
Vendors along the street were already setting up their stalls.
The aroma of fried dough sticks, the steam from freshly steamed buns, diffused in the rainy mist, adding a touch of worldly warmth to the cold street.
“Um… Senior Sister, where are we going? If we’re checking for demonic aura, I think that blacksmith shop at the west end of town is pretty suspicious,” Lin Yue tentatively broke the silence.
Chu Wanning stopped, turned around, and stared intently at Lin Yue with her clear eyes.
“That last thing you said in the previous lesson… what did it mean?”
Her voice was very soft, carrying a faint tremor she herself didn’t notice.
Lin Yue inwardly cursed.
This girl really was still fixated on that “snow from three years ago” line.
“Uh, Senior Sister, I was just talking nonsense. Look at me, muddling through every day. How could I understand any profound sword principles?”
Lin Yue began to evade.
Chu Wanning took a step closer.
An extremely pure sword intent washed over him.
It wasn’t an attack, more like a pressure born of an urgent desire for the truth.
“You do understand,” Chu Wanning’s tone was certain.
“Not only do you understand, you also know the flaw in my sword. I went back and tried it. That variation… indeed has a problem. Tell me, where did you see it?”
Lin Yue looked at that peerlessly beautiful face so close he could even smell the faint, cedar-like fragrance on her.
“Mission Issued: Alleviate Chu Wanning’s Obsession.”
“Mission Requirement: Do not answer her question directly. Use the mundane ‘worldly atmosphere’ to dilute her sword intent. And give her a ‘worthless but interesting’ gift.”
“Mission Reward: Heavy Sword Sharpness +2%. Obtain ‘Mortal Sword Sense.’ Failure Penalty: Chu Wanning will spar with you here until she chops your iron pillar into twists.”
Lin Yue mentally cursed the ledger’s ancestors for eighteen generations.
“Senior Sister, you… you’re good in every way. It’s just that you live too hard.”
Lin Yue suddenly reached out and pointed to a small stall by the street.
“Look, what’s that?”
Chu Wanning followed his finger.
It was an old man selling sugar-coated haws.
A straw bundle was stuck with strings of bright red, glistening candied fruit.
Under the rain’s reflection, the sugar coating looked like it was wrapped around translucent rubies.
Chu Wanning frowned.
“What does this have to do with the sword?”
“Everything to do with it.”
Lin Yue strode over, fished out two copper coins, and under the old man’s cheerful greeting, pulled out two of the largest, roundest strings of sugar-coated haws.
He walked back to Chu Wanning and unceremoniously shoved one into her hand.
“Take it.”
Chu Wanning held the long bamboo skewer, her whole person seeming to freeze in place.
As the top talent of the inner sect, what she dealt with daily were spirit stones, flying swords, secret manuals.
Occasionally descending the mountain to inspect, mortals would see her and tremble, kneeling in worship.
Giving her sugar-coated haws?
Such a thing had never happened, not even in her dreams.
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