Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 293 291: Pei Yuhang's Concern for Yueqiu

When Ji Xichan heard Pei Yuhang call out her name, she blinked gently and finally released his earlobe from her bite.

Her tongue darted out to lightly lick the corner of her lips, as if savoring her recent mischief.

"It seems that if I don't speak, Pei Sword Immortal can't recognize me. After all this time together, I thought you knew me inside and out—that you could even identify my unique fragrance."

"This just goes to show... we're still not close enough, Pei Sword Immortal~"

Ji Xichan leaned close to Pei Yuhang's ear, her warm breath a soft caress. Her voice was bewitching, laced with a hint of provocation—like a spring breeze whispering by his ear, carrying a flirtatious promise.

But Pei Yuhang was completely immune to the beauty's charms.

Without the slightest hesitation, he swatted away the young woman's hands covering his eyes. He spun around warily and saw Ji Xichan standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his young disciple, both of them looking at him.

"You two… Since when are you so close?"

Pei Yuhang's gaze darted between the two of them.

His eyes lingered on Yu Xiaoyan, trying to warn his young disciple with a look to stay far away from the little she-devil at her side.

"What, does Pei Sword Immortal dislike me that much? You're not even happy that I'm getting along with Xiaoxiao?"

Ji Xichan's voice was full of grievance, but Pei Yuhang couldn't be bothered with her. He kept his focus on his young disciple.

In his mind, Yu Xiaoyan was completely oblivious to Ji Xichan's true nature.

Ji Xichan had originally blackmailed Yu Gu Nan, using despicable means to force him into an immoral relationship. Yu Xiaoyan, who was also a victim in that affair, knew nothing about it.

'Why didn't Gu Nan warn Xiaoxiao to stay away from this little she-devil?' Pei Yuhang wondered.

But even if Yu Gu Nan wouldn't say anything, Pei Yuhang had to fulfill his duty as her master. He absolutely could not let his young disciple associate with that wicked woman!

'Although, his own young disciple doesn't seem to be some virtuous maiden either…'

'She even threatened her own master into doing improper things. It's utterly outrageous, an act of supreme disrespect. You'd be hard-pressed to find another disciple in the entire world who would do such a thing.'

But at the very least, Pei Yuhang was trying to guide Xiaoxiao onto the right path.

'He couldn't just stand by and watch his young disciple go down the path of a wicked woman and never turn back!'

'Xiaoxiao was already a sapling growing crooked. If she started hanging around with Ji Xichan, she'd be warped beyond saving!'

A protective urge swelled within him. He instinctively reached out, gently took Yu Xiaoyan's wrist, and pulled her to his side.

Pei Yuhang secretly sent a transmission, his voice tinged with a faint warning and concern.

"Xiaoxiao, you really shouldn't get too close to Ji Xichan."

"Why not, Master? Sister Ji is very nice," Yu Xiaoyan replied telepathically, a cunning glint flashing in her beautiful eyes as she feigned innocence. "These days, Master is always busy helping Elder Lu and the Business Saintess. You haven't had any time to teach me. Whenever I have questions about my cultivation, she's the one who's been guiding me, you know~"

"I'm sorry, Xiaoxiao, but she… she's not as kind as you think," Pei Yuhang's voice, low and laced with a hint of resignation, reached her through the transmission.

"Your senior sister never liked Ji Xichan, and for good reason. Sometimes you can know a person's face, but not what's in their heart."

Pei Yuhang advised her patiently, hoping his young disciple would see the error of her ways and turn back.

But how could he have known that the reason Ji Xichan was with Yu Xiaoyan was because Yu Xiaoyan herself had sought out Ji Xichan to form an alliance…

His heart was filled with worry, little did he know he was being played like a fiddle by two little vixens.

"Pei Sword Immortal, are you really sending telepathic messages right in front of my face?"

Seeing the unconcealed disdain on Pei Yuhang's face, Ji Xichan could no longer hide the grievance in her voice.

With Ji Xichan there to interfere, Pei Yuhang couldn't very well continue his lecture to his young disciple.

He turned to look at Ji Xichan, his eyes filled with cool appraisal and detachment.

"What do you want from me?"

"Can't I come see you just because? The way you say that, it's as if I must have some ulterior motive every time~"

Her tone was tinged with a faint grievance, yet it also held a hint of playfulness.

Perhaps Ji Xichan herself hadn't realized that she no longer held back when speaking to Pei Yuhang, her coquettish, girlish charms becoming more and more apparent.

It was a far cry from the ruthless, aloof bearing she'd displayed when she publicly humiliated the Great Elder's grandson during the Sect's grand tournament.

But Pei Yuhang's expression remained impassive.

"Get to the point."

"Yu Xiaoyan and I want to ask for your help with something next month."

"What is it?"

"Demon Beast hunting," Ji Xichan said, her expression turning serious.

"Traces of a Mirage Dragon have appeared in the Northern Desert. Xiaoxiao and I aren't confident we can take it down on our own, so we need your help, Pei Sword Immortal."

"I need to refine its Demon Spirit. Xiaoxiao has a unique Divine Soul, and with the Mirage Dragon's blood, she might be able to break through directly to the Nascent Soul realm. As for the Mirage Dragon's most precious asset, its Inner Core, as well as all other materials from its body—they can all be yours."

"A Mirage Dragon… Are you certain it's not a full-grown adult?"

Pei Yuhang's eyes narrowed, a rare look of gravity on his face.

The Mirage Dragon was a legendary Ancient Demon Beast. Its body was as massive as a mountain, its scales were as translucent as crystal, and its eyes were as deep as the Abyss. It could create Illusion Realms powerful enough to ensnare all living things, causing them to become lost within, unable to break free.

Once an Ancient Demon Beast with such a potent bloodline reached maturity, its Physique alone would possess strength surpassing that of a Divinity Transformation Cultivator. If it were to unleash its reality-bending Illusionary Divine Abilities, even a Void Refining Cultivator would have to beat a hasty retreat!

"According to our intelligence, it is most likely an adult," Ji Xichan said, pressing her lips together.

Hearing this, Pei Yuhang's frown deepened.

"'Most likely?' Do you have any idea how many Cultivators have died because of inaccurate intelligence?"

His voice was sharp and cold. "I won't agree to this."

"If you're trying to use Xiaoxiao's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm as an excuse to get me to hunt a Mirage Dragon with you, you can forget it."

"With Xiaoxiao's talent, she'll reach the bottleneck for the Nascent Soul realm within two years of normal cultivation. Even if she were in a rush, I have safer, more reliable ways to help her break through."

"Ji Xichan, if you truly want this Mirage Dragon's Demon Soul, go ask Chen Tiansheng. You're his disciple. He would have no reason to refuse you."

After he spoke, Pei Yuhang looked at Yu Xiaoyan, motioning for her to leave with him.

Yu Xiaoyan could only give Ji Xichan a helpless look, as if to say, 'See? I told you Master would never agree to something so risky.'

Ji Xichan watched Pei Yuhang's retreating figure, her gaze downcast and her expression forlorn.

'She couldn't ask Chen Tiansheng for help with this. Her goal wasn't actually to hunt and kill the Mirage Dragon. She needed Pei Yuhang to come with her and face the beast…'

'This might be her only chance to make Pei Yuhang see her in a different light.'

…

…

「Night.」

The bed curtains were drawn, the candles long extinguished. Only a sliver of cold moonlight filtered through the sheer drapes, illuminating his slightly furrowed brow.

Pei Yuhang lay on his side, embracing his Dao Companion, who was fast asleep from exhaustion. His fingertips gently brushed away the strands of dark hair scattered across her shoulder as he felt her steady, shallow breaths.

For some reason, his thoughts drifted to Ji Xichan's proposal from earlier that day.

He had harshly rejected the little she-devil's proposal, but if she had come to him a few months earlier—before Shang Miaoyan's latest visit to the Dao Sect—he might very well have agreed.

The reason was simple. Back then, Pei Yuhang had been searching for a way to deal with the Seed Demon Seal that Shang Miaoyan had planted on him.

Following a suggestion from Elder Xiao, he'd had the idea of creating a new Demon Seal based on the Yang Emperor Heart Scripture and placing it over his own body to interfere with the one left by Shang Miaoyan.

As it turned out, his line of thinking had been correct.

Although Shang Miaoyan had still outsmarted him in the end, trapping him once more… that was only because his own Demon-Planting Mark couldn't suppress hers for very long.

'If I could find more powerful materials to forge the Golden Sun Divine Seal from the Yang Emperor Heart Scripture, I could definitely and completely suppress the Tripod Slave Mark from the Yin Yang Sacred Land!'

And one of the core materials for the Golden Sun Divine Seal came from a Mirage Dragon's Dragon Horn…

But now, he no longer had any need to forge it.

He had already made a contract with Shang Miaoyan. Until his Dao Companion's… functions returned to normal, he had to go and "attend" to her every day.

With the Divine Soul Contract in place, Shang Miaoyan had no need to activate the Demon-Planting Mark on him.

And as Pei Yuhang moved back and forth between the beds of various beauties day after day, he had slowly forgotten all about it.

He'd only remembered it now that Ji Xichan had brought it up.

But that was all it was—a memory.

Pei Yuhang no longer had the motivation to hunt a Mirage Dragon.

'If Ji Xichan wants someone to go Demon Beast hunting, she can go ask that bastard Chen Tiansheng.'

Pei Yuhang grew angry just thinking about how Chen Tiansheng had inexplicably dumped his own disciple at his residence in the bamboo forest.

'If it weren't for that man's irresponsible actions, I wouldn't have this secret lover I can't even tell my Dao Companion about.'

'Ji Xichan had better hurry back to her own immortal's abode and never return!'

Far more than that little she-devil who coveted his body, Pei Yuhang was worried about his own disciple.

His first disciple, Qing Yueqiu.

When he had taken Pei Xiaohan home that afternoon, she had relayed Yueqiu's message to him.

'So… Yueqiu doesn't resent me?'

For days now, that thought had been circling in his mind, like a fine thread winding around his thoughts, pulling tighter and tighter.

Only after hearing Yueqiu's words from Pei Xiaohan's own lips did he finally feel a sense of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.

'I rejected her so cruelly, and even lectured her with so many self-righteous, condescending words.'

'It's hard to imagine how highly she must think of me. After all that, that silly girl… still loves me.'

A flash of self-recrimination and heartache crossed Pei Yuhang's eyes, and a helpless smile touched his lips.

He looked up at the bright moon hanging high outside the window, an inexpressible longing in his eyes.

'So, Yueqiu… since you don't hate your master…'

'…why are you still avoiding me?'

'You said you had some things to take care of… But what could possibly be so important that you can't tell me, your master, and let me help you resolve it?'

Pei Yuhang seemed to be questioning the distant, pale moonlight, and perhaps, he was also questioning himself.