Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 55: Ah Han Is Back

Bai Jingjing seemed particularly resilient today, enduring a full seven slaps before she finally started whimpering and begging for mercy.

Only after this little demoness finally quieted down did Pei Yuhang stop the punishment.

However, judging by the hints of anticipation and unsated desire in Bai Jingjing's teary, glistening eyes, Pei Yuhang felt that for her—

these slaps of Yang Qi were probably not a punishment at all, but a reward!

Pei Yuhang glanced at the blade of the Silent Sword in his hand, which was sopping wet and dripping with dew, a look of profound helplessness on his face.

"Bai Jingjing, you're truly invincible."

"I wanted to make you a proper sword through strict discipline, but I never expected you to become more and more outrageous. You're a lost cause now."

Bai Jingjing, inside the Silent Sword, didn't respond. Perhaps the searing Pure Yang Qi had left her with no strength to speak.

Pei Yuhang once again lamented his poor luck in finding a sword. He had been too careless when choosing a Sword Spirit back then. He should have looked at a few more...

Perhaps sensing her master's disdain through their "Unity" connection, Bai Jingjing, despite her exhaustion, had to protest from within the Silent Sword.

[Pei Yuhang! You ungrateful jerk! I've fought by your side for so many years, and now you're thinking of casting me aside like a useless tool! You want to replace me!]

[Aren't you afraid I'll defect to the enemy the next time we face one?!]

"If you defect, I'll ask that enemy, after they kill me, to make sure they reforge you into a big, black iron wok!"

As he spoke, Pei Yuhang gathered Spiritual Qi at his fingertips and drew several runes in the air with swift, fluid strokes, striking them onto the body of the Silent Sword.

These were Runes capable of blocking the Sound of Divine Sense. After striking them onto the Silent Sword and "muting" Bai Jingjing's "mic," Pei Yuhang's Sea of Consciousness was finally quiet.

With Bai Jingjing no longer bothering him, Pei Yuhang focused on his journey and soon saw the silhouette of the Cold Palace Sword Mansion ahead.

In front of the mansion, his diligent head disciple, Qing Yueqiu, was earnestly practicing her sword forms. The silver-haired Fairy seemed to dance and leap through the snowy mist like a spiritual butterfly. Flashes of her sword crisscrossed the air, and within her graceful sword dance lay a grim, murderous Sword Intent.

Pei Yuhang stood in the sky, watching until Qing Yueqiu finished her set before slowly descending.

"Master, you're back!"

Upon seeing Pei Yuhang, Qing Yueqiu hurried to greet him, ignoring her own slight breathlessness.

"Yueqiu, your Sword Skill is becoming more and more refined."

Hearing her master's praise, the silver-haired girl's ruby-like eyes sparkled, revealing an unconcealable joy.

However, Qing Yueqiu was a modest girl. She smiled and said:

"It's only because Master is a good teacher... Besides, Yueqiu still has many shortcomings. Some seniors of the Sword Dao have pointed out that my sword is too flashy..."

Pei Yuhang shook his head and said dismissively, "Yueqiu, don't listen to those old fossils of the Sword Dao. The best Swordsmanship is the one that suits you."

"But Master... I've heard seniors say during their lectures that the true Dao is about simplifying the complex. The plainer and more unadorned, the more powerful."

"They think 'plain and unadorned' is powerful because they can't handle the flashy stuff. In the end, they can only rely on their high Cultivation Realm and brute force their way through."

Pei Yuhang mocked the old fossils' point of view, then said to Qing Yueqiu in a heartfelt tone:

"Yueqiu, Swordsmanship that masters the strengths of a hundred schools, refined to the peak of complexity, can't possibly be weaker than a straightforward, clumsy sword. You are my, Pei Yuhang's, disciple. You must be confident."

"I am looking forward to the day you distinguish yourself at the Sect competition."

THUMP-THUMP—

The sound of a rapidly beating heart, the quickening breath—it was all clearly audible.

Listening to Pei Yuhang's encouragement, Qing Yueqiu subconsciously tightened her grip on her sword's hilt.

'So... Master has been looking forward to this for me all along?'

For some reason, the silver-haired girl felt her heart calm down. 'Since Master has such high hopes for me, then I must live up to his expectations!'

Qing Yueqiu's crimson pupils looked earnestly at the White-clothed Sword Immortal before her, the man she had always admired.

"Master, Yueqiu will definitely take first place in the Sect competition!"

"Mm, your master and your mistress have always believed in you."

Pei Yuhang smiled and patted her shoulder. He found this side of Qing Yueqiu unexpectedly cute. She was already at the Golden Core Stage, yet she was still as amusing as when he had first taken her in—a single word of praise could make her happy for half the day.

Qing Yueqiu felt her master's trust in her, basking in the bliss of being enveloped by joy.

It was only when she heard Pei Yuhang mention her "mistress" that she snapped back to her senses, realizing she had been so happy to see her master that she had completely forgotten to tell him something so important.

"Master, Yueqiu was a bit muddle-headed just now and forgot to tell you something important."

"It's fine, go ahead and tell me."

Pei Yuhang waved his hand with a smile. In his opinion, his head disciple always made a big deal out of nothing. 'What could possibly be so important?'

Seeing that Pei Yuhang wasn't blaming her for the delayed report, Qing Yueqiu breathed a small sigh of relief and said directly:

"Master, that senior, Shui'Er, the disciple from the Yin Yang Dao Sect on the next peak over, came to visit our mistress just a while ago."

"..."

The composed smile on Pei Yuhang's face gradually vanished.

In its place was a solemn expression and a hint of panic he couldn't hide in his eyes.

"When... when did she come to see your mistress?"

"Half an hour ago."

Qing Yueqiu wondered if she had misheard. How could her master, who had always been omnipotent in her eyes, have a voice tinged with such nervousness and distress?

She looked up, wanting to say more to her master, but found only the lonely, heavy snow before her. The figure of the White-clothed Sword Immortal was gone.

The silver-haired girl's eyelashes trembled, and she murmured with a hint of disappointment:

"Master... is gone?"

...

Pei Yuhang arrived outside Ye Liyuan's room but hesitated to enter.

His brow was furrowed, his fingers digging deep into his white robes. He raised his right hand, wanting to push open the wooden door to Liyuan's room, but his fingertips trembled, and ultimately, he didn't dare to exert any force, letting his hand fall limply.

'That Shang Miaoyan actually dared to come see Liyuan while I was away from the mansion...'

'She clearly promised me on Guoxin Island.'

'No, this isn't the time to be thinking about Shang Miaoyan... Worst-case scenario, what if Liyuan finds out about my past?'

'How... how am I supposed to face her?'

A bitter lump formed in Pei Yuhang's throat. He felt as if the door to his Dao Companion's room was as heavy as a mountain, impossible for him to push open.

CREAK—

Unexpectedly, before Pei Yuhang could push it, the door in front of him was pulled open from the inside.

Before him was the face of an unfamiliar Female Cultivator.

The woman blinked at him, her eyes lively and alluringly flirtatious, both familiar and strange.

Just then, his Dao Companion's cheerful voice came from deeper within the room.

"Is that Ah Han? Honestly, why didn't you come in when you got back? Fellow Daoist Shui'Er, let me introduce you. This is my Dao Companion—Pei Yuhang."