Yin Luoling jolted awake, sitting up and quickly scanning her surroundings.
In an instant, her posture shifted, dropping to one knee so she could retreat or defend herself at any moment.
Only after confirming it was her own room did her vigilance ease.
Her mind raced through her last memories.
She must have fainted under Jiang Yue’s oppressive pressure, and in the end… it seemed… Ling Huan had caught her unconscious body?
She immediately checked her clothes and storage pouch—there were no signs that anything had been tampered with.
This life’s Ling Huan really has remarkable self-control…
But… what puzzled Yin Luoling was, why did she anger Jiang Yue in the first place?
Everything she’d said had been perfectly fine—she’d even considered Jiang Yue’s position at every turn.
Isn’t the art of conversation about seeing things from the other person’s perspective?
She had done exactly that, hadn’t she?
Unless… this life’s Ling Huan had bullied Jiang Yue too harshly…?
To the point it had changed her temperament?
That did make sense, but somehow it still felt a bit far-fetched.
She’d spoken with reason and logic, and even brought hope—there was no reason for Jiang Yue to lose her temper.
Or… was there another possibility?
Was it because she knew Ling Huan was coming, so she acted that way on purpose to protect me?
That’s not impossible.
Ling Huan was brutal by nature and liked to vent his anger on others—everyone who’d had even a slightly good relationship with her in her past life had become Ling Huan’s targets.
She didn’t even have friends; no one dared speak to her.
The more she thought about it, the more Yin Luoling felt this was likely.
After all, she had handled everything perfectly!
She could save Jiang Yue’s life and preserve her strength—there was no reason for anger!
It was all for appearances!?
The more she thought, the more reasonable it seemed!
Jiang Yue had acted angry because Ling Huan was there, to protect her!
Yin Luoling carefully recalled how long Jiang Yue had suppressed her with that pressure before she passed out.
It had been a full three seconds… Was she supposed to seek her out again three hours later?
Otherwise, with her mere first-level Qi Refining cultivation, how could she possibly withstand Nascent Soul pressure for so long?
Jiang Yue had let her hold on for three seconds—there had to be a deeper meaning!
That’s right—she’d once read in an ancient record about a sect disciple with extraordinary talent who sought to become an inner disciple, but had no connections and was passed over.
He’d raged and cursed, and even when faced with the testing elder’s pressure and threats, he’d rather die than give in!
That indomitable spirit moved one of the nearby elders so much that the elder spoke up to shield him, then took action!
Three consecutive strikes, but the blows sounded fierce while causing no serious injury, leaving behind a hidden message instead.
Fortunately, the disciple was clever enough to understand the signal—he feigned serious injury and unconsciousness, then snuck to the elder’s residence at midnight to accept a secret inheritance, beginning a legendary life.
As for why they hadn’t used voice transmission, back then, voice transmission hadn’t been invented.
Now, it all made sense.
Jiang Yue was deeply poisoned, her life hanging by a thread.
Most of her spiritual power had to be used to resist the poison’s corrosion, and while acting angry to protect Yin Luoling, she’d have no energy left for voice transmission.
Jiang Yue was widely read—she must have known this story and mimicked it on purpose.
Yin Luoling nodded firmly.
Teacher, you’ve gone to such lengths… Luoling is endlessly grateful.
But rest assured, Teacher—when this matter is settled, I’ll see you safely ascend to the Immortal Realm and protect you for a lifetime!
Those old fogies in the Immortal Realm always say I know nothing of worldly ways, and people say I don’t know how to converse.
Right now, Yin Luoling just wanted to say to them, “You call drawing swords talking? Is that even conversation?”
If even one of them had put down their sword and talked to her properly, would they not see her ability to communicate?
They’ve already trampled all over me, and you want to talk?
They say I have low emotional intelligence, can’t talk, and only know how to fight!
I really wish those old fogies could see how I, with mere Qi Refining stage strength, could win over a Nascent Soul cultivator—standing together, becoming the firmest support!
Thinking this, Yin Luoling slowly closed her eyes, sat cross-legged, and entered meditation, waiting for the blazing sun to sink behind the western mountains, to draw away the curtain of daylight and drape the sky with countless stars.
Waiting is always agonizing.
For Ling Huan, the wait was unbearable.
Forget cultivating—he couldn’t even sit still.
He hadn’t expected Jiang Yue’s injuries to be so severe.
Once, he’d just been a mortal.
Whether he could cultivate at all was uncertain, so he’d only tried to convince himself to accept things and cherish every day with Jiang Yue.
But now, with the system and a talent for cultivation, he’d surely find a way to heal Jiang Yue.
But… he didn’t want Jiang Yue to disappear into a grave before he made any real progress or found some miraculous elixir—never to acknowledge him again.
He was restless, repeatedly opening the system interface to check if there was a feature to skip the waiting time.
No matter how he searched, though, the system only had a few set functions.
Ling Huan lost his appetite and went to check his possessions.
Five hundred spirit stones and Tranquil Mind Incense… that was all he had.
Right, maybe he could pick something up from Flowing Cloud Pavilion?
Teacher is a cultivator—he didn’t know her exact realm, but to endure such potent poison for so long, she was likely at least a legendary Foundation Establishment cultivator, right?
To sneak in and use his Poison Devouring Spirit Physique to detoxify her, there would definitely be some physical contact.
But what if Jiang Yue suddenly woke up… and refused treatment no matter what?
Should he buy something to help her sleep?
Maybe something like a sleeping incense to make her sleep deeper?
Did this Tranquil Mind Incense have a sleep-inducing effect?
Ling Huan checked his storage space for an item description.
Hey, what do you know—there it was!
Tranquil Mind Incense.
Stabilizes the mind, increases cultivation and meditation efficiency, reduces the risk of going astray during breakthroughs.
It can also aid sleep—if not resisted with cultivation, it will induce deep slumber.
Just what he needed, right when he needed it.
Perfect.
Tonight, he’d use this to put Jiang Yue into a deeper sleep!
Having decided, Ling Huan figured he should go out to the market and buy some props.
A few handy gadgets, like night-walking clothes, masks, and the like.
After all, if anyone saw him and told his parents he’d snuck into Teacher’s house in the middle of the night, his backside would be in serious trouble.
No sooner said than done—Ling Huan grabbed his silver notes and went out to shop.
But he knew, buying only those things would just arouse suspicion—after all, in ancient times, buying night-walking clothes was asking for trouble.
It was like stamping “I’m about to commit a crime” on your own forehead—idiotic.
Ling Huan set off, and on the other side, Jiang Yue was on the move as well.
She needed to hunt some demon beasts; after all, she didn’t have the materials required for low-grade poison pills—those didn’t even deserve a spot in her storage ring.
No help for it—a Nascent Soul cultivator would naturally look down on such trash.
She’d probably make it back in the second half of the night, since there were few traces of demon beasts around Green Wood City—she’d have to travel a thousand miles out.
Add to that her frail body and vastly diminished spiritual sense—finding low-level demon beasts would be even harder.
But what could she do?
For the sake of her little one, she’d give it her all.
And so, the three members of the Ling family began their preparations for the coming night.