Chapter 30: Yujing City in the Sky-Part 8

In the library pavilion, Shen Xingchuan was just about to share his thoughts with Shen Yushu.

Among the five great elders, his sister was the one he needed to guard against the least.

He had only just begun speaking when he stopped.

Shen Yushu, puzzled, asked, “Brother?”

A wisp of light, as faint as smoke, drifted out from behind the rows of bookshelves. This light was extremely faint, and Shen Xingchuan clasped his hands behind his back and pursued it. Shen Yushu, after a moment, sensed the fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Shen Yushu was surprised, then realized what was happening.

The library pavilion prohibited the use of spiritual energy. However, since the sect had never given a formal explanation, disciples often tried to be cunning and used spiritual energy in the library. The mechanisms within the pavilion would activate and punish these disciples if they detected sufficient spiritual energy fluctuations.

But this was known to the older disciples of the Yujing Sect. Thus, those who fell into the library traps would likely be the newly initiated disciples this year.

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“We should still save them.”

Shen Xingchuan stood tall, ignoring her.

But he did not leave. His deep and silent eyes stared at Shen Yushu.

Shen Yushu, after a moment, looked at her brother and realized that, while he wouldn’t save the disciple himself, he wouldn’t stop her if she took action.

Understanding this, Shen Yushu found it both amusing and frustrating.

Shaking her head, she chanted an incantation with lowered eyes and formed a spell. A ray of spiritual light floated towards the skylight, activating the array once more.

A crack opened in the ground, and a torrent surged up.

Below, Jiang Xuehe was adding an extra talisman to his sleeve to conceal the aura of the kitten within and prevent it from wandering around his body.

He heard an urgent female voice from above: “Now, pull—”

Two streams of spiritual energy descended simultaneously. One suppressed the surging water and prevented the crack from closing, while the other wrapped around Jiang Xuehe, lifting him quickly out of the water.

Splash.

Jiang Xuehe controlled all his spiritual energy and did not resist the force binding him.

In the next moment, it was still dark, but he had left that secret place and was thrown onto the ground.

Jiang Xuehe looked up quickly, adopting the demeanor of a proper disciple, and expressed his gratitude to the two elders: “This disciple and a junior sister were copying books here. After she left, I grew tired of copying and attempted to use spell.

“I overestimated my abilities and triggered the mechanism, causing the two elders to rescue me. I am deeply grateful.”

Shen Yushu: “…”

She felt something was off.

She looked down at the young man.

Like most in the Yujing Sect, this was her first time seeing the boy without his hood.

His robes were drenched, revealing a clear and delicate youth.

In the dim light of the library pavilion, the boy knelt, his black hair half-tied, with a few strands sticking to his cheek. Such a clean and beautiful young man, made even more striking after being soaked.

She noticed some injuries on his neck but didn’t think much of them. After all, she had heard from the steward that Jiang Xuehe and Ti Ying had fought a fierce battle in the Five Poison Forest. The injuries on Jiang Xuehe were likely from the deceased demon.

Shen Yushu had once secretly wondered: how could two novices kill a powerful demon?

But then again…

She had done it herself when she was young.

So if they killed it, they killed it.

What puzzled Shen Yushu was Jiang Xuehe’s attitude—

His tone carried the right amount of gratitude and fear. He looked up at her and her brother with a mix of anxiety and respect, explaining the situation clearly without needing further questioning.

He was respectful, humble, polite, and appropriately uneasy.

But Shen Yushu remembered his eyes when he first emerged from the water—

They were calm.

Those calm eyes only showed confusion after seeing her and her brother, followed by timely gratitude and fear.

Shen Yushu frowned and looked at Shen Xingchuan.

Shen Xingchuan gazed at Jiang Xuehe, his eyes turning darker.

He always felt Jiang Xuehe resembled an old acquaintance.

He had never tested this suspicion.

The high-spirited and cold-hearted youth from his memory and the gentle, serene Jiang Xuehe before him were completely different people.

Moreover, the injuries on Jiang Xuehe… Shen Xingchuan were vaguely suspected they were unusual.

Shen Xingchuan asked in a low voice, “Are you here alone?”

Jiang Xuehe: “Yes.”

He kneeled properly, feeling the light nudges and prods of the small animal in his sleeve, occasionally brushing his palm.

His fingers in his sleeve trembled slightly, curling up.

He soothed the kitten in his sleeve, hoping she wouldn’t move.

Jiang Xuehe lowered his eyes and replied, “Yes.”

Shen Xingchuan was silent for a long time.

This silence puzzled Shen Yushu.

She glanced at Shen Xingchuan and heard him ask, “Do you find the inner sect’s lessons too easy?”

Shen Yushu: “Brother?”

Jiang Xuehe looked up, his wet eyes showing confusion and a bit of nervousness due to the elder’s question.

He answered, “How could they be easy? I struggle to keep up. I am unlearned and still haven’t mastered even the simplest wind technique.”

In truth, it was Ti Ying who couldn’t learn it well.

Jiang Xuehe accompanied her. When his junior sister couldn’t master it, he pretended not to either. In class, when the teacher tested them, he always got scolded along with his junior sister.

Shen Xingchuan was surprised.

“You can’t master a simple wind technique?”

Jiang Xuehe hesitated and asked, “…Should I find it easy?”

Shen Xingchuan fell into another strange silence.

Jiang Xuehe felt a bit tormented.

Half his attention was on dealing with the Shen siblings without letting them notice Ti Ying, while the other half was foggy, like a tangled mess of threads.

In truth, Ti Ying had understood that her senior brother didn’t want her to come out and was quietly lying beside his hand, not moving.

But for Jiang Xuehe—

Her shallow breaths on the back of his hand made his palm sweat.

Shen Xingchuan’s questions were erratic.

He asked about the difficulty of lessons, then about where Jiang Xuehe had learned spell before joining the sect, and then about his recent performance in competitions.

Jiang Xuehe believed he handled these questions well and wouldn’t raise suspicion.

He was somewhat confident.

The assassin of Duansheng Dao at fourteen and Jiang Xuehe at eighteen were undoubtedly different people.

Appearance, personality, skills, preferences… everything had changed.

Even if Shen Xingchuan had suspicions, he couldn’t be certain.

And amid this questioning, Jiang Xuehe noticed the kitten in his sleeve standing up and trying to crawl out.

Thinking she was impatient, Jiang Xuehe covered the kitten with his palm, soothingly stroking her.

In reality, Ti Ying understood and lay quietly beside his hand.

But Jiang Xuehe’s mind was in a haze.

He asked in a confused tone, “May I leave now, elders?”

Shen Xingchuan remained silent.

Shen Yushu smiled and said, “It’s fine now. You may leave. But tomorrow, you must report this incident to the library elder and have the mechanism reset… The punishment still stands.”

Jiang Xuehe responded with a “yes.”

He was truly a person devoid of curiosity.

He would comply with whatever instructions were given to him.

He heard Shen Yushu murmuring in confusion, “I don’t understand why the library pavilion forbids the use of spell. Would using a spell here affect something?”

She looked at Shen Xingchuan—Shen Xingchuan had been at the Yujing Sect for a long time and should know more than she did.

Shen Xingchuan replied indifferently, “Apparently, long ago, an outsider broke into the pavilion and injured some Yujing Sect disciples. That’s why the sect takes such precautions now.”

Shen Yushu asked, “Really? When did that happen?”

Shen Xingchuan, unwilling to elaborate, said, “It’s an old story passed down in the family. I don’t know the details.”

Jiang Xuehe left the library pavilion and walked a considerable distance.

Only after confirming that Shen Xingchuan’s gaze had shifted away from him did he find a spot by the green bamboo at the base of a wall and release Ti Ying.

As his sleeve opened, a soft, snow-white bundle rolled out of him.

When the bundle landed on the ground, Jiang Xuehe cast a spell over her, and Ti Ying returned to her human form.

She was dripping with water, kneeling on the ground, and looking up at her senior brother with a slightly dazed expression. Covering her mouth with the back of her hand, she yawned.

Jiang Xuehe’s heart skipped a beat.

Without a word, he shifted his gaze away from her lips and focused on something else.

In the dark, her eyes shimmered like jade stones filled with water.

In the next moment, under another spell—a dust-repelling spell—her clothes dried.

Jiang Xuehe squatted down to check on her.

Ti Ying grabbed his hand and demanded, “Why was Elder Shen Xingchuan asking you so many questions?”

Jiang Xuehe was momentarily stunned.

Ti Ying looked at him with suspicion. “Why does he care so much about you? He’s concerned about your living conditions, your studies, and even how you perform in competitions. What does he mean by that?”

—Does he fancy my senior brother?

—Does he want to choose my senior brother as a disciple?

Ti Ying’s eyes were filled with vigilance, her gaze piercing as she looked at Jiang Xuehe.

Jiang Xuehe’s arm, scratched by her cat claws, was starting to hurt.

He lowered his eyes and said softly, “Is that all you care about?”

Ti Ying was momentarily stunned.

After a while, she said, “You didn’t get hurt, did you? The library pavilion’s mechanisms are formidable.”

Jiang Xuehe shook his head.

In Ti Ying’s assessment, her senior brother seemed a bit aloof.

She didn’t understand why. He merely took out a cloak and draped it over her.

He glanced at her face, reaching out as if to do something. His hand paused in midair, and Ti Ying looked at him with puzzled eyes.

He withdrew his hand.

He avoided Ti Ying’s gaze.

Jiang Xuehe said, “It’s late. I’ll escort you back.”

Ti Ying was pleasantly surprised, “Oh, no more training with you tonight?”

Jiang Xuehe smiled slightly.

“After everything that happened tonight, your mind is unsettled. You probably won’t be able to concentrate on training. It’s better for you to go back, rest well, and prepare for tomorrow’s competition.”

Ti Ying found this very reasonable.

She stood up from the ground, wrapping herself in the cloak given to her by her senior brother.

As the night wind blew from behind, lifting the cloak slightly, Ti Ying lowered her head and caught a whiff of her senior brother’s scent on the clothes.

She shivered slightly.

Jiang Xuehe, behind her, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ti Ying turned around.

In the darkness, she looked at her senior brother, whose eyes were slightly lowered, radiating warmth.

She couldn’t see clearly.

She couldn’t understand.

She could only shake her head, confused.

Before leaving, Ti Ying thought for a moment and still had to say, “Even if Elder Shen likes you more, I won’t give up!

“I will defeat you.”

Jiang Xuehe remained silent.

After saying this, Ti Ying seemed to fear he might speak, worried she would lose her temper. She hurriedly ran into the night.

Her cloak flew up, and her now-dry black hair brushed against her eyes as she glanced back at him.

The pink hem of her skirt lifted under the black cloak.

It was almost like…

Despite his desperate attempts to hide and protect her, she still shone brightly, not belonging solely to him.

Jiang Xuehe felt turmoil in his heart.

Without using any spell, Jiang Xuehe walked back to his courtyard slowly after Ti Ying, with her clumsy wind-riding spell, had left and her presence was no longer in the air.

The courtyard was meant for inner disciples.

But Chen Zichun was new here, and he refused to leave him. Jiang Xuehe persuaded the steward with his eloquence to let Chen Zichun, an outer disciple, live with him. 

Outer disciples had more demanding coursework compared to inner disciples, as they had much more to learn from scratch.

At this hour, Chen Zichun should already be asleep, and Jiang Xuehe refrained from using spell to avoid waking him.

Jiang Xuehe walked while thinking about the events of the night, feeling the cold wind.

His junior sister, transformed into a soft little cat, had nestled against his neck.

In her human form, she had been closely pressed against him in a narrow space.

In her cat form, she had nervously nudged his lips to remind him of her predicament.

Her breath had brushed against his palm, adding a touch of moisture over time.

In the silent, confined water flow, Jiang Xuehe, floating in the water, had used his withered, old hands to grasp Ti Ying’s cat form, bringing her close to transfer spiritual energy to her.

Every act was out of necessity.

Jiang Xuehe was certain he had no intention of doing these things.

He had not intentionally triggered the mechanism, nor had he meant to hold Ti Ying or induce her to kiss him. Even while transferring spiritual energy to her, he had maintained propriety without offending her.

But Jiang Xuehe knew that everything tonight had crossed a line.

He closed his eyes, recalling Ti Ying’s moist, clear eyes, her soft breath, and sweet smile.

And her first stern question upon regaining her human form—

Regarding Shen Xingchuan,.

At that moment, the usually calm Jiang Xuehe felt a surge of anger.

Anger at Ti Ying, at Shen Xingchuan, and at himself.

Although he quickly controlled his emotions and understood that Ti Ying’s concern with Shen Xingchuan’s words and actions was normal, the killing intent he felt in that moment left Jiang Xuehe feeling cold inside.

Had he developed killing intent just because Ti Ying didn’t concern herself with him first?

Would all his efforts to bury everything about Ye Sha be in vain?

Despite his long efforts, would he ultimately—

Fail to become the noble person his master hoped he would be, to live a good life, and to protect what he cared about?

In the darkness, the wooden door creaked softly.

Jiang Xuehe pushed open the door and heard Chen Zichun’s voice: “Senior brother, you’re finally back?”

Jiang Xuehe, covered in night frost, looked up to see Chen Zichun’s sleepy face.

This boy, who had experienced so much, was clearly exhausted yet insisted on waiting for him. Only when Jiang Xuehe returned did Chen Zichun smile and relax.

Jiang Xuehe quietly watched Chen Zichun.

This was someone he had nurtured.

He was so adept at silently controlling people.

But this wasn’t considered vile.

Jiang Xuehe looked at Chen Zichun and, through Chen Zichun’s eyes, saw another pair of clear, always displeased eyes—

Ti Ying, pouting with puffed cheeks, always scolding him.

Those eyes were so pure.

Jiang Xuehe realized his true baseness—

She understood nothing.

He hadn’t crossed the line.

But he had allowed her to.

Yet she understood nothing.

Chen Zichun, astonished that Jiang Xuehe had returned so late and didn’t intend to rest, saw him sit on the bed and begin to meditate.

“Senior brother?” Chen Zichun called out.

Jiang Xuehe was already in meditation, ignoring him.

Chen Zichun realized that if an inner disciple like his senior brother worked so hard, feeling uneasy even for a day without training, how could he, an outer disciple, sleep so early?

Though it was already past midnight, this was prime training time.

Chen Zichun, oh Chen Zichun, how could you idle away the days staying by your senior brother’s side?

Thus, Chen Zichun, energized as if injected with adrenaline, washed his face and began training as well.

Jiang Xuehe, of course, didn’t know what Chen Zichun was thinking.

He entered meditation to reflect on himself, examine his actions, and apologize to his master.

Over and over in his mind, Jiang Xuehe controlled himself, starting to write a letter to his master: I will make sure to return Ti Ying safely to the second senior brother.

Far away, in the already sealed-off thousand mountains, Lin Qingyang inexplicably received a letter from his eldest disciple.

Not knowing what his disciple was up to, Lin Qingyang only knew that Jiang Xuehe was probably about to leave again, to wander the world alone.

Ah, that boy…

In the thousands of years, Lin Qingyang had met Jiang Xuehe’s reincarnations time and again, witnessing Jiang Xuehe’s life entangled with sins, never truly content.

But Lin Qingyang couldn’t do anything about it.

It was a decree from the immortals. His strength was weak, unable to resist fate. Beyond the Qianshan, he could go nowhere.

A thousand years ago, Lin Qingyang received only one command from the immortals—protect Ti Ying.

Time and again, he searched for Ti Ying.

Time and again, he brought her back.

In the countless cycles of reincarnation and endings, it was only in this life that Jiang Xuehe and Ti Ying met.

Was this the end?

Or a beginning?

In the dormitory of the inner disciples of Yujing Sect, Ti Ying tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

She hugged her newly replaced, warm quilt, smelling her senior brother’s scent on it.

She felt restless and increasingly agitated.

The quilt was fine; the problem must be with her senior brother.

With a stern face, she got out of bed barefoot, haphazardly stuffed the quilt into the wardrobe, and brought out her own slightly disliked quilt.

Covered in her own quilt, without her senior brother’s scent, Ti Ying felt even more upset.

She sprang up from the bed.

From the neighboring bed, Nan Yuan’s clear voice asked, “Ti Ying?”

Ti Ying, sulking, said, “I’m going to stay up and practice.”

Nan Yuan was surprised.

“Are you that diligent?”

Ti Ying, holding back tears, responded, “Yes. I’m extremely diligent. It must be because I didn’t practice tonight that I can’t sleep. I love practicing so much.”

Nan Yuan heard sobbing.

Nan Yuan: “…”

Nan Yuan got up from her bed.

With a cloth covering her eyes, she couldn’t see Ti Ying. She thought about removing the cloth but hesitated and ultimately didn’t.

Nan Yuan asked in confusion, “Are you crying?”

—Crying about what?

Crying because you haven’t practiced enough?

Ti Ying was shedding little pearls of tears.

She was angry at her own state.

The angrier she got, the more she cried.

But she refused to admit defeat.

Ti Ying said coldly, “No! Practicing makes me happy; I love practicing!”

Wiping away her tears, the diligent Ti Ying sat cross-legged, recalling the spells taught by the elder in class today and began to practice.

Nan Yuan in the same room: “…”

She got pulled into it.

She also silently got up and started practicing alongside her.

That night.

At least four people practiced tirelessly through the night.

The next day, Jiang Xuehe was in his room, sorting through Ti Ying’s scrolls, patiently organizing them.

At the same time, he sat at the table, updating his “Ti Ying Care Manual.”

After a night of meditation, Jiang Xuehe felt that he could now be a good senior brother.

As he pondered how to properly take care of his junior sister without spoiling her, he received a paper crane at the window.

He wondered: He hadn’t yet sent his letter to his master, so how had his master already replied?

The Yujing sect is so strictly guarded; wasn’t his master worried about the communication being discovered?

Jiang Xuehe checked to make sure the letter hadn’t been tampered with before opening it.

After opening it, he was silent for a long time.

The letter wasn’t from his master, Lin Qingyang.

The sender was someone named Bai Luye.

Bai Luye was his second junior brother, whom he had never met.

This second junior brother wrote in a wildly illegible, abstract script.

Amid the messy writing, Jiang Xuehe barely made out a few key words:

Senior brother, I have arrived, just below Yujing Sect.

Please wait a moment; I will soon ascend to become a disciple and take care of our little junior sister.

Don’t worry, senior brother, I am especially close to our junior sister; she won’t reject me.

Master said you have other matters to attend to and can’t stay with us for long. Now that I’m here, you can leave at ease if you have urgent business.

Jiang Xuehe looked at his “Ti Ying Care Manual,” speechless and at a loss.

A drop of ink fell on the yellowed talisman paper.

He had just been thinking about parting ways.

He hadn’t expected the parting to come so quickly.