604. Sword, Come!

Luo Yuheng stared blankly at the ceiling, her pupils seemingly unfocused.

It was that sensation of waking from a deep sleep, thought muddled, unable to tell where she was.

The last time she felt this way, she had still been a young girl.

Luo Yuheng let out a breath, gathered her spirit, stabilised her primordial soul, then began to look inward, accepting the memories of the past seven days.

Seven personalities, representing herself when she was consumed by karmic fire, one could call them her “heart demons”.

Now that the karmic fire had calmed, the memories of the seven personalities began to surface one by one.

Luo Yuheng felt that, whatever may have happened between her and Xu Qi’an over these days, she could accept it.

Firstly, she did, without a doubt, feel some fondness for Xu Qi’an. There was no possibility of rejection.

Secondly, so as not to leave herself any way out, she had spent the first night of dual cultivation with Xu Qi’an as her main personality.

There would be no situation of waking up to find she had spent seven days with a strange man.

Finally, as she had already given herself to him, the past seven days could only have been repeated dual cultivation sessions.

“The first time I cultivated with him, I was mostly resistant. After I accept the memories of these seven days, perhaps I’ll truly be able to accept him, and no longer feel awkward or embarrassed…”

As Luo Yuheng thought this, fragments of memory began to parade through her mind.

The first that she “remembered” was the “anger” personality.

Scenes flashed by: in them, she glared fiercely at Xu Qi’an, frequently flew into tempers, her domineering attitude even making herself frown.

“Still the same, violent temperament. She represents my last bit of stubbornness, unwilling to yield to karmic fire for the sake of a man who lacks emotion. She even chose to suppress her anger alone, refusing to cultivate, quite irrational…”

“Hmm, his attitude wasn’t bad, though. He didn’t show much dissatisfaction at ‘my’ temper.”

Luo Yuheng nodded to herself, thinking the “anger” personality too emotional, too lacking in reason. At the same time, she felt quietly pleased by Xu Qi’an’s decent attitude.

Just then, a scene flashed: late at night, Xu Qi’an broke into the bedroom, “seducing” the anger personality. The two wrestled on the bed, then her clothes were torn off piece by piece, her fair and full body exposed completely.

Luo Yuheng raised her eyebrow, a little peeved.

“But what he said did make sense. The anger personality refused dual cultivation, and if the other personalities did the same, I’d be doomed. Not knowing the other personalities, he forced his way in for my sake, after all…”

Luo Yuheng forcibly convinced herself.

Thus, the day with the anger personality had passed. While there were some bumps, Luo Yuheng found it overall acceptable.

What’s the next personality… she muttered inwardly without much confidence.

The appearance of the seven personalities was random and unpredictable.

Soon, another scene flashed by, telling Luo Yuheng which personality came second.

Desire!

In the scene, she woke early, proactively draping her leg over Xu Qi’an’s waist, her ample breasts pressing arcs out of his chest.

The desire personality clung to Xu Qi’an, constantly crying “I want you,” refusing to let him leave the bed. For a whole day and night, the two tangled together.

Shameless, utterly shameless… Luo Yuheng’s face flushed crimson, blood rushing to her cheeks, wanting to dig a hole and hide in it. Her toes curled tightly, her whole body tense with embarrassment.

She had known the desire personality might be a little wanton, but never expected such unabashed shamelessness.

Luo Yuheng would never admit this was herself.

Following desire was the fear personality. As soon as the fear personality appeared, she clung to Xu Qi’an, who had already been exhausted for a whole day and night, for more dual cultivation.

Luo Yuheng “clearly saw” Xu Qi’an sneak out of the room after finishing, his face pale.

Seeing him like that, the National Teacher felt complicated, and even had a feeling that she’d put him through an ordeal.

Yet this feeling was soon crushed by the next wave of memories. She saw Xu Qi’an torment the fear personality, insisting on dual cultivation in the hot spring, saw herself with legs wrapped around his waist, back pressed to the pool wall.

… Luo Yuheng’s mouth twitched, barely managing to hold herself together.

Next, the sorrow personality surfaced.

“At my age, I could be your mother…”

“It wasn’t in vain, all those twenty bitter years, not compromising with Emperor Yuanjing. Once your journey in the jianghu ends, we’ll officially become Daoist partners.”

“Say you love me.”

“Troublesome.”

“Call me Xu Lang.”

“Xu, Xu Lang…”

Xu Lang?!

Luo Yuheng’s body trembled, staring dumbfounded, lips trembling as well.

What have I done? How can I ever face him again?

But it wasn’t over yet, the sorrow personality wallowed in self-pity, pouring out her heart to him, saying how she’d wanted to get close to him from the start, but always held back, torn with inner struggle.

Later, when he reached out to her, she’d wept with joy.

This is slander! Luo Yuheng burned with anger.

She vaguely sensed her former image collapsing completely, never to return.

The shame was only just beginning: where the sorrow personality was full of tender emotion for that Xu, the love personality was utterly devoted to him.

Luo Yuheng “saw” herself sprawled weakly on the bed in a small inn, her legs splayed to the limits, reclining on the dressing table, gripping the edge of the bed, teeth clenched…

None of these were ancient esoteric dual cultivation techniques, they were simply that Xu using her however he pleased.

Intolerable, utterly intolerable… Luo Yuheng felt her vision go dark in waves.

Whew!

She took a deep breath to settle her emotions, stared vacantly at a spot in the room, and muttered:

“Since we decided to dual cultivate, I already viewed him as my future Daoist partner. Calling him ‘Xu Lang’ is not outrageous.

“Between Daoist partners, such pleasure is only natural, there’s no need to mind it, no need at all…

“At least, at least this is just between him and me, no one else knows any of this.”

Suddenly, a memory surfaced. In a room, seated at a table, were Lin’an, Huaiqing, Li Miaozhen, and the Jianzheng’s two female disciples.

“I know among you, some like Xu Lang, some have feelings for him, some secretly admire him. But after tonight, I hope you’ll put away thoughts you ought not to have.”

“Xu Lang, say something.”

Luo Yuheng sat like a stone statue, weathered away inch by inch by the wind.

She sat motionless, void of joy or sorrow, for a long, long time. At last, she reached out her right hand and said without a trace of emotion:

“Sword, come!”

The rusty iron sword flew from the pool into her hand.

The National Teacher, wreathed in golden light, burst out of Lingbao Monastery with all the decisiveness and drama of a general striding onto the battlefield, prepared to die with courage and resolve.

…

At the Xu residence, Auntie yawned as she scolded Little Pea, who was bursting with excess energy, causing a racket early in the morning and waking her up.

“Can’t you be a bit more considerate? The sun hasn’t even risen, and you’re making a fuss. I feed and clothe you, is it so you can disturb people’s morning dreams at the crack of dawn?”

Auntie put her hands on her waists, scolding her fluently.

Little Pea stood in front of her with her head bowed, humbly admitting her mistake.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“I know now.”

“Will you dare to do it again next time?”

“I won’t.”

“Tell me, what did you do wrong?”

“Mum, what did I do wrong?” asked Little Pea, puzzled.

Auntie nearly lost her breath in exasperation, slumped down weakly, put a hand to her forehead, and said in exhaustion:

“Out, out, I don’t want to see you.”

“Okay!” Xu Lingyin bounded out happily.

“Mum, there’s an immortal!”

She stopped at the hall entrance and shouted, “A really beautiful immortal!”

Auntie walked over in bewilderment, only to see a woman in feathered robes, holding a rusty iron sword, and of breathtaking beauty, standing in the small courtyard.

Auntie herself considered herself a little fairy, so upon seeing this woman, she felt a sense of kinship.

“Where is Xu Qi’an?”

The woman spoke each word clearly.

Her face was expressionless, but her voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth.

Auntie did not recognise this woman, though she had certainly heard of the National Teacher’s reputation.

“Ningyan left before dawn. Miss, who are you, and why are you looking for him?” Auntie answered cautiously.

“Did he say where he was going?” Luo Yuheng’s expression was terrifyingly cold.

“No.”

As soon as Auntie finished speaking, golden light flashed in her pupils, and the woman flew off on that golden light.

…

Far northwest of the capital, on the official road, Mu Nanzhi sat astride her mare, supporting herself with both hands on the saddle, wrapped in a fox-fur cloak, squinting into the distance.

There were two others on horseback: Miao Youfang and Li Lingsu.

The former was Xu Qi’an’s follower, so he followed him everywhere. As for the latter, the Holy Son, the ultimate destination of his travels in the jianghu had always been the capital.

In the capital were the Human Sect Daoist Leader Luo Yuheng, the Great Feng’s most beautiful woman, the princess consort to Zhenbei King, the Jiaofangsi’s many oiran, and so on.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans, and the capital was now but a place of heartbreak for him.

Since that was the case, he could only resume his journey through the jianghu, on the road to forgetting worldly emotions.

However, now that the Heaven Sect wanted to capture and confine him back at the mountain, even worse may happen.

Li Lingsu felt he had been pushed to the edge, and to survive his sect’s tribulations, he must distance himself from all emotions.

Yet, before utterly cutting himself off, it was obviously safer to follow Xu Qi’an for now, as it would help him resolve the pressure from both his female confidantes and his sect.

As for his junior sister Li Miaozhen, wishing to prove she did not secretly hold feelings for Xu Qi’an, she decided to keep far away from that scoundrel.

But Li Lingsu sensed something off with her character. If she and Xu Qi’an were truly innocent, she would travel with him instead.

Damn Xu Qi’an!

Brother Yang, I’ll keep an eye on him and relate everything he does to you in great detail.

In the morning light, Li Lingsu turned to look towards the capital.

The last reason he followed Xu Qi’an was actually at the request of his sworn brother, Yang Qianhuan, to secretly keep tabs on him.

Seeing them both gazing at the capital, Miao Youfang asked curiously:

“Why does Senior Xu not travel with us?”

Outside, for safety’s sake, they called him Xu Qian.

Mu Nanzhi answered, “He said he needed to meet someone.”

“Who?”

“Someone he owes a great debt to.”

“Oh.”

Li Lingsu seized the chance to interject, “Madam Xu, where’s that little fox yao?”

He remained infatuated with the Great Feng’s most beautiful woman. But as she was already taken, the Holy Son could only bury his feelings deep down.

Of course, his newfound awareness was partly due to Mu Nanzhi’s current plain appearance.

If the princess consort showed her true face, no man could resist her charm. Even if her man was Xu Qi’an, countless would-be heroes would still step up fearlessly.

Mu Nanzhi smirked, “I sent her to deliver a message to a few little whores.”

During someone’s ordeal of karmic fire, the “seven emotions” would torment her, making her act out of character.

Mu Nanzhi had agreed to keep her secret and reveal nothing to any man or woman.

After all, Baiji was not a man nor a woman…

And if Baiji ran her mouth, what had that to do with Mu Nanzhi?

…

Luo Yuheng searched the capital area but found no trace of the bandit Xu. Concentrating on sensing his amulet, she realised that their connection was broken.

In other words, she would never find Xu Qi’an again.

“We’ll settle this next month!”

Luo Yuheng ground her teeth.

She rode the golden light back to Lingbao Temple.

No sooner had she arrived than a disciple came to the courtyard and called out loudly:

“Daoist Leader, Princess Lin’an, Princess Huaiqing, and Li Miaozhen of the Heaven Sect have sent you three letters.”

Letters?

Luo Yuheng frowned slightly and said, “Bring them here.”

The Daoist disciple stepped into the courtyard, took three letters from his robe, respectfully handed them over, and left.

Luo Yuheng flicked her fingers, and the three letters soared out of their envelopes and unfolded in the air.

From left to right, the letters read:

“May you grow old happy together!”

“May your hearts be forever united!”

“May you bear children soon!”

Luo Yuheng’s breath stopped. She felt as if she had been publicly shamed, ridiculed and implicated, an overwhelming sense of humiliation engulfing her.

The arrival of these three letters was so timely, it was as if they had been sent solely to rub salt into the wound.

…

In the Sitianjian, the door to a secret chamber was pushed open.

Xu Qi’an came in quietly, carrying a wine jug, and shut the door behind him.

Morning light filtered through the lattice window, the secret room was spacious but simply furnished, with a square table and a plain wooden bed.

It all looked rather bare.

Xu Qi’an walked slowly to the bedside, silently watching the sleeping man.

He wore a finely made azure robe, had elegant features, grey at the temples, and the fine crow’s feet at his eyes spoke of his age.

He really looks the same, exactly the same. It’s just a pity there’s no qi flow, only an ordinary body.

Xu Qi’an grinned and said, “Sir Wei, I’ve come to visit you and brought you wine. I’ll soon be leaving the capital to keep gathering Dragon Qi. Before I go, let’s talk for a while.”

604. Sword, Come!

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