Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 387 374: Trial of Heart Tribulation (8) Fan Xuan: "Don't... give me blind hope anymore!

"Are you done playing around?"

Pei Yuhang frowned slightly as he looked at the bite marks and the red scratches covering his back. When Shang Miaoyan offered him an Elixir, he didn't stand on ceremony and swallowed it in one gulp.

The High Tier Elixir dissolved the moment it entered his mouth. A warm current flowed through his limbs and healed his wounds.

Shang Miaoyan leaned languidly against the headboard, her black hair spilling messily over her fragrant shoulders.

She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, like a cat that had just eaten its fill. Her tongue darted out to lick the corner of her lips, as if savoring a delicious memory.

Seeing that Pei Yuhang wasn't moving, she pursed her lips impatiently. With a casual gesture, she retrieved a white robe from her Jiezhi Storage Ring and tossed it at him.

"Here, put this on."

"You did well at the end, Xiaohan. That's all for today."

Shang Miaoyan said in a lazy tone.

Pei Yuhang took the clothes but didn't put them on immediately. He stared intently at Shang Miaoyan, a complicated emotion flickering in his dark eyes.

"You promised me you'd stop targeting Fan Xuan."

Hearing this, Shang Miaoyan raised an eyebrow, her red lips curling into a smirk that wasn't quite a smile.

Looking at Shang Miaoyan's smile, Pei Yuhang instinctively felt that something was wrong.

Fortunately, Shang Miaoyan waved her hand and promised, "I said I know, so I know. Why are you being so long-winded?"

Pei Yuhang breathed a small sigh of relief upon hearing her words.

'This woman may be wicked, but she takes her promises seriously... under normal circumstances.'

Shang Miaoyan methodically straightened her dress. With a wave of her hand, the Liuli screen before her dissipated like ripples in water, revealing Fan Xuan, who was bound by chains and suspended in mid-air.

The young woman hung like a broken doll. Her once-lively eyes were now vacant and lifeless. Tears had long since dried, leaving winding tracks on her pale cheeks.

Shang Miaoyan looked at Fan Xuan's state, her pretty face hidden in shadow, her expression unreadable. She clapped her hands lightly, and the chains fell away with a CLANG.

Fan Xuan's body fell uncontrollably, but just before she hit the ground, a gentle force caught her and slowly placed her on the bed, which still reeked of the night's amorous atmosphere.

The familiar, cool fragrance from Pei Yuhang's body, mixed with a cloyingly sweet, ambiguous scent, wafted to her nose. Fan Xuan's eyelashes trembled, and her unfocused gaze finally, slowly, came into focus.

Her fingertips unconsciously clenched the bedding, her knuckles turning white. A faint whimper escaped her throat.

"Did you hear that clearly, Xiaoxuan?"

Shang Miaoyan leaned in close, her long, slender fingers pinching Fan Xuan's chin, forcing her to look up.

She smiled with exceptional gentleness. "Pei Yuhang just specifically asked me to let you go."

A lustrous Spirit Pill was placed between Fan Xuan's lips. It dissolved instantly, and a gentle Spiritual Power flowed through her limbs, dispelling her body's weakness.

But the young woman's face remained deathly pale.

...

...

「The next day.」

To Pei Yuhang's surprise, Fan Xuan didn't spend long recuperating from the whipping in the dungeon.

After just one night's rest, she was back at her post, teaching Pei Yuhang.

'Perhaps Shang Miaoyan really listened to me and gave Fan Xuan a precious Elixir to heal her wounds.'

Pei Yuhang, whose heart had been tight with worry, finally relaxed.

"Teacher Fan Xuan."

Pei Yuhang pretended not to know what had happened yesterday, greeting her as naturally as usual.

However, Fan Xuan merely glanced at him, her eyes cold. Her bloodless, thin lips showed no trace of a smile.

"Let's begin sword practice."

There were none of the usual greetings, no concerned inquiries, no playful jokes.

Like a machine, Fan Xuan began to lecture on the Sword Scripture.

Pei Yuhang had already anticipated Fan Xuan's coldness. After all, she had just endured the torment of that wicked woman, Shang Miaoyan, who was bursting with jealousy.

His gaze toward Fan Xuan softened with exceptional pity. He reached out a hand, but ultimately didn't touch her.

'It's right for Fan Xuan to distance herself from me.'

'Even though Shang Miaoyan promised she wouldn't bully Fan Xuan anymore, there's no guarantee that wicked woman won't go crazy if I do anything intimate.'

Pei Yuhang sighed inwardly and resigned himself to listening to Fan Xuan's lecture.

'With his level of knowledge, it wouldn't matter even if he didn't listen.'

'But if he could act like he was learning a great deal from her, it would be a good thing if it could comfort the girl's heart a little.'

Several days passed just like that.

Ever since his identity as a Giant Sun Saint Body was exposed, Pei Yuhang dropped the act. He began to break through his Cultivation with all his might, while also preparing to accelerate his plan to escape the Yin Yang Sacred Land.

During these days, Shang Miaoyan summoned Pei Yuhang to her chambers with increasing frequency.

Besides her carnal addiction, there was another reason: Shang Miaoyan had truly discovered the wondrous benefits of dual cultivation. By using Pei Yuhang's Primordial Yang, her Cultivation progressed at a speed of a thousand miles a day compared to her previous solitary efforts.

Pei Yuhang silently watched Shang Miaoyan grow stronger, wearing a helpless expression on his face to satisfy her desire for conquest and fuel her arrogance.

Inwardly, however, he was joyful. Everything was going according to plan.

This was the result he had intentionally orchestrated.

'By my calculations, Shang Miaoyan isn't far from Crossing the Tribulation.'

Once the Saintess begins Crossing the Tribulation, the entire Yin Yang Sacred Land will focus all its attention on her.

'That will be the perfect opportunity for me to escape.'

...

「In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.」

「In the courtyard.」

CLANG! PING!

Sparks flew as the blades clashed.

A handsome youth in a white robe brandished his sword like a roaming dragon. In the blink of an eye, he broke through all the girl's Sword Techniques and pressed the cold steel of his blade against her fair neck.

But the next moment, he lowered his sword and bowed to the girl in apology.

"I'm sorry, Teacher... Yuhang got a little too serious. Please forgive my offense."

"It's fine. So, you surpassed me long ago... In that case, there's no value in me continuing to teach you."

Fan Xuan looked down at the sword in her hand, her eyes lowered. Her grip on the hilt trembled slightly.

"Thinking about it now, everything I've taught you must have seemed so childish. You're a genius, and you had to watch someone as untalented as me lecture you."

Perhaps because she was feeling emotional, Fan Xuan was a bit more talkative today.

After all, in her eyes, Pei Yuhang no longer needed her lessons.

'Since this is the last time, it's okay to say a little more, right?'

"No."

"Fan Xuan, you've helped me a lot. You are very important to me. You always have been."

Pei Yuhang no longer called her 'Teacher', addressing her directly by name. With incredibly earnest words, he interrupted Fan Xuan's desolate mumbling.

Fan Xuan's expression froze. The cold indifference she had maintained for three months shattered in an instant, like the last stubborn sheet of winter ice melting away, becoming a shy stream under the warm spring sun.

"Fan Xuan?"

Seeing her stunned for a long moment, Pei Yuhang asked again.

"Enough!"

Fan Xuan clenched her fists, like a cat with its fur standing on end. Months of pent-up grievances burst forth like a breaking dam, no longer suppressible.

"Why? Why do you have to say such vexing things to me!"

Pei Yuhang was visibly stunned. His long fingers hovered in mid-air, wanting to touch her but not daring to step forward rashly.

His thin lips parted as if to say something, but he was cut off by Fan Xuan's sobbing cries.

"I'm just a lowly Maid! How can you be even nicer to me than you are to the Holy Daughter?"

"Don't... don't give me blind hope anymore!! It's meaningless... It will only hurt me..."

Large tears rolled down Fan Xuan's cheeks. Her shoulders trembled violently, as if she might collapse to the ground at any moment.

For the past few months, Fan Xuan had been cold and harsh toward Pei Yuhang, even targeting him deliberately.

But now, she shed all her pretenses, revealing her most vulnerable core—her eyes, filled with both despair and longing, silently spoke of her deepest conflict.

She didn't dislike Pei Yuhang; in fact, she was incredibly fond of this pure-hearted youth, even after witnessing Shang Miaoyan do those unclean things to him.

Fan Xuan still liked him.

Because this was the first time she had ever fallen for someone.

But... she had too little self-esteem.

She could feel Pei Yuhang constantly trying to use his gentleness to compensate her, like a large, warm hand holding her in its palm, trying to melt the frost on her with its warmth.

But Fan Xuan just felt that she didn't deserve any of it.

She wasn't worthy of the affection of a beautiful youth like Pei Yuhang.

To this day, she still didn't understand why she, who had done nothing, could receive the tenderness of this beautiful youth for no reason.

It came too easily, making it feel ethereal, completely unreal, and insecure.

Shang Miaoyan showing her that cruel, debauched scene had, paradoxically, made her feel more grounded.

'See, this is reality.'

'Only a woman like the Holy Daughter is worthy of enjoying such a peerless, beautiful youth.'

'As for me, I can only watch helplessly.'

'It can only be this way.'

And so, she took her heart full of lowliness and wrapped herself up like a porcupine with sharp quills.

To block out all of Pei Yuhang's kindness.

Fan Xuan knew she was pathetic and cowardly. She didn't dare to resist Shang Miaoyan's power; she only dared to show a cold face to the youth she loved most.

"I... I'm really so awful."

Fan Xuan muttered to herself.

But the next moment, a pair of strong, powerful arms pulled her into an embrace.

"Don't touch me! If the Holy Daughter sees—"

Fan Xuan pushed at Pei Yuhang, terrified. She wasn't afraid of being punished herself, but of getting him into trouble.

She didn't want Pei Yuhang to be bullied by Shang Miaoyan.

Just the thought of that scene made it hard for her to breathe.

Her older sister, Fan Ya, had even mocked her for it. As a Female Cultivator of the Yin Yang Sacred Land, she was expected to be promiscuous sooner or later, yet here she was, so infatuated. If word got out, she'd be a laughingstock to the whole world.

"She's in seclusion today. She can't see anything."

"Right now, it's just you and me here."

Pei Yuhang's voice entered the girl's ears, and her trembling body slowly calmed.

"The Holy Daughter... really can't see us right now?"

"She can't."

Pei Yuhang lovingly stroked the dark hair of the girl in his arms.

"I'm sorry. I've made you suffer again. I thought that by starting over, I could protect you, but I never expected to cause you even more pain. This is my fault."

Fan Xuan rested in Pei Yuhang's embrace, listening to the strong beat of his heart and his gentle, soft-spoken words.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that while he seemed to be talking to her, he was also... talking to someone else, someone much more distant.