Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 417 403: Taking in Shang Miaoyan's "Loyal Dog

"Are you saying... you want me to take you in from now on?"

Pei Yuhang's voice was hesitant.

His main reason for contacting Jiu in the first place was to find Fan Xuan.

But now that Jiu had been expelled from the Yin Yang Sacred Land, she could no longer help him with his search.

For him, there seemed to be no benefit in taking Jiu in.

But... if he didn't take Jiu in, the woman would be completely without protection. Hunted by Shang Miaoyan, she would be as good as dead. The only question was how long she could survive as a fugitive...

And the reason she had fallen into this tragic predicament was, ultimately, because of him.

The burning firewood cast mottled shadows on Pei Yuhang's sharply defined profile, making his expression seem even more dark and uncertain.

Jiu keenly noticed the subtle movement of his knuckles turning white, and a cold smirk formed on her lips beneath the mask.

She deliberately leaned toward the firelight, exposing her pale, jade-like arm and its ghastly, bloody marks to the glow.

"What, Sword Immortal Pei? You've ruined a weak woman like me, and now you want to just walk away and abandon me?"

Jiu shot the silent Pei Yuhang a cold glance, her voice filled with contempt.

As she spoke, she deliberately let her injured right arm hang at her side, slightly stimulating her qi and blood to make the wound split open, causing a single crimson drop of blood to drip from her fingertip onto the floor with a soft DRIP.

"To think a great Righteous Sword Immortal would be such an insidious and despicable person. I was wrong about you, COUGH COUGH...

Heh heh, I suppose it's my own fault for falling into the hands of a hypocrite like you. If I had known, I would have rather died than submit to you and betray the Holy Daughter, COUGH COUGH COUGH—"

Jiu suddenly began to cough violently, her frail body swaying like a candle flickering in the wind.

She feigned weakness, holding onto the edge of the table, but secretly used her Inner Strength to force out a cold sweat.

The warm, orange glow of the firewood made her pale skin seem almost transparent, revealing even the faint blue veins on her neck. Beads of sweat trickled down her slender neck, glistening in the dim light of the wooden cabin.

As her trembling hand reached for her mask, Pei Yuhang could finally no longer hold back. He took a half-step forward and caught her swaying body.

"Alright, stop trying to provoke me. I'll take you in for now. I won't let Shang Miaoyan capture you."

Jiu's body suddenly stiffened.

Pei Yuhang's palm was broad and warm. The heat felt like a burning coal, making her whole body tense up.

She almost instinctively pushed him away, her voice holding a barely perceptible trace of panic:

"Don't just touch me like that!"

Pei Yuhang also realized his action had been improper. Though he had only meant to help out of concern for Jiu, she was, after all, still unclothed.

He quickly withdrew his hand, his gaze instinctively averting from her bare, fair shoulders and neck.

Pei Yuhang cleared his throat and, feigning composure, pointed at the clothes on the bed.

"Then go ahead and change into the new clothes."

He turned and walked to the window, his back to Jiu.

Jiu watched his back and thought to herself:

'Hmph, he already saw everything when he was treating my wounds earlier... and now he's acting all prim and proper. What a hypocrite!'

Women were strange like that sometimes.

When Pei Yuhang accidentally touched her, she would feel shy and embarrassed.

But when Pei Yuhang acted reserved and didn't look at her, she would feel inexplicably disappointed and annoyed, as if her charm had not been acknowledged.

「A moment later.」

"I'm dressed."

Only after hearing Jiu's voice did Pei Yuhang turn around.

Looking at Jiu, who was now fully dressed, though a cherry-pink blush still colored her neck, Pei Yuhang's voice returned to its usual composure:

"No one usually comes to this cabin. I'll tidy up a bit, and you can stay here for the time being."

Pei Yuhang paused, then added:

"...Your situation is rather complicated, so I don't want my Dao Companion and disciples to know you're here.

If anyone approaches the back mountain, you should hide. As Shang Miaoyan's Black Glove, you should be well-versed in the arts of Stealth and concealment, right?"

Hearing Pei Yuhang's words, Jiu subconsciously said, "Are you saying you're going to keep me in secret, behind Ye Liyuan's back?"

The phrasing made Pei Yuhang feel strange, but her words weren't exactly wrong...

But Pei Yuhang thought for a moment, then said seriously:

"I'm not 'keeping' you, I'm sheltering you! After all, you ended up in this miserable state because you helped me.

Once the heat dies down, I'll secretly escort you out of the sect and arrange a new, safe identity for you. From now on, as long as you don't actively seek contact with people from the Yin Yang Sacred Land, you should be fine."

"Alright, that's all for now. Your aura still seems weak. Get some rest."

Jiu listened to the sound of the wooden door slowly closing, sighed softly, and then reached up to take off the mask, which was broken in one corner.

After a long while, her thin lips parted, her voice quieter than the crackling of the burning firewood.

"Pei Yuhang, you really are an honest one. Aren't you even a little bit curious what I look like without my mask?"

...

...

「At the foot of the back mountain.」

A cold wind swept up the young woman's long, silver-white hair. Qing Yueqiu strolled through the endless white snow, reaching out a hand to catch a falling snowflake. She watched it melt quickly in her palm, turning into a single, cold drop of water.

Her scarlet eyes held a hint of confusion.

Her current goal was to surpass Lin Qianyan, so a rapid increase in her Cultivation was naturally essential.

At the very least, her Cultivation had to surpass Lin Qianyan's before she could hope to contend with the Jade Pool Saintess head-on.

However, advancing from Divinity Transformation to Void Refining could no longer be achieved simply through arduous training and consuming spiritual pills and elixirs.

According to her master's guidance, it required sufficient worldly experience and comprehension.

That was why Divinity Transformation Cultivators often traveled the world in the guise of mortals, experiencing the myriad facets of life to seek that spark of inspiration for a Breakthrough Realm.

Qing Yueqiu had once asked about this. "Master, you said you found the opportunity to reach the Void Refining Realm during A Thousand Years of Great Dream in the Mirage Dragon Illusion Realm. What did you dream about?"

Pei Yuhang had faltered for a moment then, before saying with a strange expression, "I've forgotten it all. It was just a dream, after all..."

'Master definitely remembers,' Qing Yueqiu thought. 'He's just not telling me.'

At that time, Lin Qianyan had also been sealed within A Thousand Years of Great Dream. Could it be possible that the two of them had shared the same dream? Qing Yueqiu wondered.

But she would probably never learn the truth of that dream.

Later, Qing Yueqiu consulted her Ancient Spirit Sword, Luminous, asking the Sword Spirit how she should break through.

Luminous told her, "Observe more. Look at the black mountains and white waters, the white snow and the Great Desert. The more you see, the better your chance of attaining Enlightenment Dao."

This advice was even more vague and abstract.

Qing Yueqiu didn't quite understand, but she listened to Luminous's words and decided to start by observing the Cold Palace Sword Mansion where she had grown up.

And so, she had come to the foot of the back mountain of the estate, preparing to ascend it and have a look.

But just as she set foot on the path to the back mountain, she was pleasantly surprised to see a handsome figure.

"Master!"

Qing Yueqiu raised her hand to greet Pei Yuhang, then, unable to maintain her composure, she broke into a trot and ran toward him.

But as she drew close to her master, the young woman smelled a faint, chilly fragrance that didn't belong to her, her master's wife, or her junior sister.

'That scent... It's from that Female Cultivator from the Yin Yang Sacred Land that Master captured before.'

'But... didn't Master let that Female Cultivator go?'

'Could it be that she's come back?'

Qing Yueqiu's scarlet eyes instantly turned cold. She glanced over Pei Yuhang's shoulder, her gaze fixed coldly on the back mountain.

Ever since Ji Xichan had left, that Female Cultivator who had once mocked her as "a wretched disciple who would backstab her master's wife and harbor improper thoughts about her master" had successfully claimed the top spot on Qing Yueqiu's list of most-hated women.