“Oh... (´ཫ`)”
Shen Qingci grit her teeth, retied her hair bun, straightened her lapels, and formally performed a parting salute.
Her posture was so proper and precise, it was even more rigid and standard than on the day she had officially joined the sect.
The corner of Jinglian's lips curved up slightly, though she deliberately hid the smile to keep her youngest disciple from seeing it.
The hall doors slowly shut. The secret guards lurking in the night all looked up in unison.
“Boss, the moon is really round tonight,” the secret guards said.
“Yeah, it is,” Shadow One replied.
Shen Qingci returned to her cave dwelling. Before she even reached the main room, Jinglei suddenly shot off its sword rack and rushed to her side.
Lightning continuously crackled across the blade as it circled its master several times. The hazy sword spirit could not speak, but its sword hum carried a distinct, petty grievance.
It had caught the scent of a foreign lightning aura on its master.
Could there be some other sword-dog out there?
Did its status as a Mystic-grade High-rank weapon mean it was no longer worthy of its master, and was about to be replaced?
Sigh, it was time to step aside~
Seeing Jinglei acting out its green tea act, Shen Qingci more or less guessed its thoughts. She reached out and lightly patted the hilt.
“Don't overthink things. Master got you an Earth-grade scabbard.”
An Earth-grade scabbard???
Shen Qingci took out the sword box and guided Jinglei into its new scabbard.
The scabbard fit the blade perfectly without a single gap. The Thunder-Gathering Rune and Spirit-Nourishing Rune both lit up for a brief moment, and the lightning patterns rippled with a faint light.
Jinglei's hum shifted from aggrieved to thoroughly satisfied. Snugly wrapped in its scabbard, it went back to nestle on the sword rack.
Just then, Chi Yuan emerged from the main room with an outer robe draped over her shoulders. The commotion of Jinglei darting out had been quite loud, so she knew her junior sister had returned.
“A-Ci, why aren't you coming inside?”
Shen Qingci looked up. Although she had retied her hair bun, it was still slightly askew. She stared at Chi Yuan for a couple of breaths before speaking. “Senior Sister, I got beaten.”
Chi Yuan's brow twitched.
“And she smacked my backside!!!”
Chi Yuan's expression cracked.
In an instant, several thoughts flashed through her mind.
Was the sect attacked? No. Had an enemy invaded Wanjian Peak? Or had A-Ci's secret guards rebelled?
Only in the face of some cataclysmic disaster would her junior sister be beaten, let alone in such an awkward place.
She knew Shen Qingci's personality; she wouldn't make reckless jokes about something like this.
“Who did it?” Chi Yuan's voice turned cold.
“It was Master. She whipped me with a bamboo stick condensed from spiritual energy.”
Chi Yuan's expression froze again.
“Master???”
She stared at her junior sister for a moment.
“A-Ci, did you snap Master's natal sword, or did you say something out of line?”
“No.”
“Really?”
It wasn't that Chi Yuan didn't believe her junior sister.
She and her eldest senior sister had trained under their master for many years. Forget physical punishment, their master had rarely even spoken harshly to them.
For their master to actually lay hands on her, she couldn't help but suspect that A-Ci had caused some catastrophic disaster: like blowing up the Sword Tomb, or using the sword prototype Master nurtured for a thousand years as firewood.
But on second thought, her junior sister was the successor of a hidden family after all, and her secret guards were still stationed outside. Master would surely leave her with some dignity.
Chi Yuan took half a step forward. Coming closer, her gaze fell upon Shen Qingci's face. “Look at me. Really none?”
Shen Qingci hemmed and hawed.
She couldn't very well admit that she had confessed to Master her desire to lock up her senior sister, which was what earned her this beating.
The words rolled around on the tip of her tongue before she swallowed them back, changing her story. “I made a few lighthearted jokes at Master's expense... about Martial Aunt Liu.”
Chi Yuan instinctively raised her hand to pinch her ear.
She actually dared to make jokes about their elders' past? Her courage has truly been bloated by my spoiling!!!
But she withdrew her hand halfway.
Thinking of how A-Ci had just been beaten, she couldn't bear to do it.
What if her backside really is hurt?
“Go lie down in the main room. Let me check the injury.”
Shen Qingci's cheeks warmed up. Standing in place, she hesitated for a moment but didn't dare refuse, obediently following her senior sister into the main room.
Once they reached the couch, she awkwardly lay face down on the bed, letting her senior sister slide her outer robe down to her waist, burying her face in the crook of her elbow.
Chi Yuan parted the edge of her inner trousers, revealing the small patch of skin below her waistline.
Fortunately, the skin isn't torn or bleeding.
It was merely slightly red, with a few raised welts, looking as though she had been struck with a ruler with moderate force.
She dabbed some salve onto her fingers and pressed her pads against the burning skin, slowly spreading it along the edges of the swelling.
Muffled in the crook of her arm, Shen Qingci's ears quietly turned red.
Her senior sister's fingers had the thin calluses characteristic of a sword cultivator. Dabbed with the cool salve... pressing against her burning skin...
Chi Yuan lowered her eyes, her expression focused.
The salve melted under the influence of spiritual energy, rubbing into the skin.
“Why didn't you dodge?”
Shen Qingci's voice sounded rather depressed from where it was buried in her arm. “The bamboo stick Master condensed from spiritual energy chases after you~”
Chi Yuan shifted positions, her fingers landing on a small swollen patch just above the tailbone.
The mark here was deeper than elsewhere; the bamboo stick had struck this same spot at least three times.
Her fingertips paused there, not rushing to rub in the salve, but simply resting gently over it.
“A-Ci, does it hurt?”
The redness on Shen Qingci's ears spread all the way down to her nape. “...It doesn't hurt!!!”
Chi Yuan didn't ask further, her fingertips resuming their movement~
The salve melted, rubbed in, and she dabbed on more.
As the fingertips occasionally brushed against her lower back dimples, Shen Qingci's back arched slightly.
Chi Yuan noticed this and slowed her fingers, but she did not withdraw them.
Once she finished applying the medicine, she gathered Shen Qingci's clothes back together and flipped her over.
The blush on Shen Qingci's face had not fully faded, and the corners of her eyes were slightly damp, though whether from being muffled or something else was unclear.
Chi Yuan reached out, undoing the hair bun that was askew by half an inch to retie it.
Her fingers ran through the strands, gathering them, twisting them into a bun, and inserting the hairpin. Her movements were deft, finishing in just a few strokes.
“You little troublemaker, will you dare to do it again next time?”
Shen Qingci blinked.
Chi Yuan understood.
She definitely dares!!!
Having absolutely no way to deal with this troublemaker, she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the crown of her head.
“Go to sleep.”
“No need to meditate tonight. You have injuries, so get a good night's rest.”
“I'll head out first.”
Shen Qingci watched her senior sister's back as she turned to leave, instantly sensing a faint trace of coldness.
Her survival instinct shot straight to her head.
Shen Qingci grabbed Chi Yuan's sleeve, her eyes turning red in an instant. “Senior Sister, Master said she's sending you into the Sword Tomb next month. You have to stay there for five years, and you aren't allowed out until you break through to the Nascent Soul realm.”
Chi Yuan's steps came to a sudden halt.
“Five years.” Shen Qingci lowered her eyelashes, her fingers sliding down from the sleeve to hook around her senior sister's index finger, holding it in a loose, lingering touch.
“More than one thousand eight hundred days. From the day I joined Master's lineage until now, counting every single day, it has only been nine months.”
“Once Senior Sister goes into seclusion in the Sword Tomb, who will practice swordsmanship with me? Who will apply medicine for me? Who will watch over me by the tub when I take my medicinal baths? Who else will...”
“A-Ci, I am only going into seclusion, not leaving forever,” Chi Yuan said helplessly.
“But I can't bear to part with you. For the remaining time, I want to cherish every moment. Senior Sister, stay and sleep with me tonight, okay? I'm craving brown sugar buns.”
Rate on N.U.
