The reason why Zhang Shuyue had done nothing apart from making an appearance from time to time to make her existence known was because of her master"s instructions.Xiang Guqing was already heading back with an entourage of reinforcements, and her latest instructions were for Zhang Shuyue to keep the Heavenly Peak disciples where they were, as well as to refrain from alerting them to the potential dangers that were headed straight towards them.Thus, she did as her master had instructed. Besides, there was simply no way Zhang Shuyue would be able to deal with the entire group of Heavenly Peak disciples with just her own abilities. If she made a move and inadvertently alerted them to the fact that something was up, there was no doubt that she would be the one suffering the most.The Heavenly Peak disciples had begun to treat Zhang Shuyue extremely well over the last few days, ever since she earned herself the t.i.tle of Ye Xiuwen and Zhou Zilong"s benefactor. In fact, as long as Zhang Shuyue said the word, they would do it with the utmost diligence, no matter what the task was.This was a form of recompense to Zhang Shuyue as well. After all, now that Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen were already officially together, they knew that it would be improper for Ye Xiuwen to overstep his boundaries and be too caring or concerned for her.At the same time, Zhang Shuyue was particularly adept at tapping on her advantages. She was conscious of the fact that she had to act in moderation if she were not to attract the disdain and hatred of the Heavenly Peak disciples. Therefore, she had refrained from troubling the Heavenly Peak disciples over every little thing, only stepping out of her room from time to time and displaying her weak, feeble state for all to see. She knew that such seemingly insignificant actions on her part would slowly whittle away at the hearts of the Heavenly Peak disciples and invoke their pity and sympathy for her. In turn, this would ensure that they would never leave the valley until she had fully recovered from her injuries.Yet, despite all of this, the person that she desired to see the most was still Ye Xiuwen.It is Man"s innate desire to want more. Even though the Heavenly Peak disciples had been fawning over her and treating her especially well during this period of time, she still felt that something was missing. As she pursued this train of thoughts and eliminated the various possibilities, she began to conclude that the only other thing she lacked right now was Ye Xiuwen.Perhaps it was due to Ye Xiuwen"s consideration for Jun Xiaomo"s feelings, but Ye Xiuwen"s att.i.tude towards Zhang Shuyue during this period of time had been cold and distant, to say the least. In fact, it wouldn"t be inaccurate to say that their relations.h.i.+p during this period of time was even colder than it had been before Jun Xiaomo had regained consciousness.After all, before Jun Xiaomo awakened from her comatose state, Ye Xiuwen would still politely exchange a few words with her out of courtesy whenever they crossed paths. But now, whenever she crossed paths with Ye Xiuwen, and quite apart from the fact that Jun Xiaomo was always hovering about Ye Xiuwen"s side, Ye Xiuwen would keep his distance and only nod to her, or at best acknowledge her existence by addressing her coldly, “Miss Zhang”.This caused Zhang Shuyue"s heart to feel incredibly stifled, as though it were being grilled slowly over an intense flame. She sincerely desired for Ye Xiuwen to understand that she could be far more courteous, caring and even soft and warm than Jun Xiaomo could ever be!But in the end, she was not even granted the opportunity to draw near to Ye Xiuwen. How was she going to display her soft and caring side to Ye Xiuwen like that?In contrast, Jun Xiaomo hovered by Ye Xiuwen"s side almost all the time. Whenever she desired to link arms, they would link arms; whenever she desired to be piggy-backed by Ye Xiuwen, she would hop on his back without restraint; and whenever she raised even the slightest of requests to Ye Xiuwen, he would a.s.sent without hesitation, and his eyes would even be filled with indescribable warmth and indulgence towards her.Whenever Zhang Shuyue saw Ye Xiuwen display such uncharacteristically warm expressions on his charming, chiseled face, a glimmer of hope would invariably surface on her heart that Ye Xiuwen"s indulgent and warm att.i.tude would be directed towards her one day.However, this remained nothing more than a mere sliver of hope, and she knew that it would remain so as long as Jun Xiaomo was still around.In her heart, Zhang Shuyue had already cursed, sworn and even torn Jun Xiaomo to pieces countless times. Yet on the surface, Zhang Shuyue still had to present herself as a magnanimous, kindhearted lady. This vexed and frustrated her immensely.This morning, Zhang Shuyue received her master"s missive and learnt that her master and her entourage were already halfway towards the valley, and they would arrive in approximately two days" time. Her master had checked in with Zhang Shuyue and encouraged her to hang in there in this final stretch and continue to hold the Heavenly Peak disciples where they were. All their efforts would have been in vain if Zhang Shuyue slipped up right now.Zhang Shuyue agreed with renewed vigor. That said, the reluctance in her heart had also continued to burgeon.She could hardly care less if the Heavenly Peak disciples perished right here and right now. After all, they hardly fell into the ambit of her consideration. However, as the prospects of Ye Xiuwen peris.h.i.+ng grew more and more real to her, she began to find it a pity if such a rare find were to disappear from the world just like that.Truth be told, if Ye Xiuwen were willing to spend the rest of his life with her, she was more than willing to beg her master for mercy on his behalf. Unfortunately, Ye Xiuwen"s heart was completely fixated on Jun Xiaomo right now.What"s so good about Jun Xiaomo? She"s neither warm nor caring, and she even habitually leverages on her status as the little martial sister to do anything she desires. If not for the fact that Ye Xiuwen had watched her grow up, how could he possibly have fallen for her?Zhang Shuyue could tell that Ye Xiuwen was a responsible man. Without extreme measures and the right impetus, and unless Jun Xiaomo had a change of heart, Zhang Shuyue knew that she would have no chance with Ye Xiuwen even if Ye Xiuwen remained at the valley for years on end.Thus, hundreds and even thousands of schemes and ploys began to flicker through Zhang Shuyue"s mind until she finally gritted her teeth and decided on one of the more extreme measures.She wasn"t willing to wait idly and pa.s.sively without doing anything to get what she wanted. Instead, she was determined to give it her all. If she failed in this attempt, then she would accept her fate and allow her master to deal with the Heavenly Peak disciples as she wished. There was no loss to her either ways.Steeling her resolve, Zhang Shuyue finally calmed down and collected her thoughts. A vicious sparkle gleamed in the depths of her eyes.---------------------------------------------------Jun Xiaomo sat at the table in her room. With a talisman brush in one hand, and her head bent low, she focused all her attention and energy on the talisman paper set neatly on the table in front of her.Finally, as she finished the last stroke of the brush, Jun Xiaomo heaved a sigh of relief. She released her the brush from her slightly tense and stiffened hand as she gently ma.s.saged each of her fingers.She could also hear sounds of metal slicing through the air echo gently from outside her window. As the dancing sword intent flourished about a particular epicenter, leaves began to descend from height gracefully as though confetti celebrating the brilliant swordplay.Jun Xiaomo walked to her windowsill and sat on it. Propping her chin on her hand, she looked out of her room with a slightly vacant stare in her eyes.As Ye Xiuwen finished the final movements of his swordplay, he sheathed his sword and walked towards Jun Xiaomo and waved his hand in front of her vacant eyes. Then, he rapped her gently on the head.“What are you thinking about? Why do you look so lost in thought?”Jun Xiaomo rubbed her head as she murmured with some measure of frustration, “What else could it be? I"m just thinking of when we"ll finally be able to leave this d.a.m.ned place. Don"t you think that Zhang Shuyue has been injured for an inordinately long time? The extent of her injuries doesn"t mean much to cultivators to begin with. And besides, we"re not mortals, so why does she still appear as though she"s just as weak and feeble after such a long time?”“Martial Brother Zhou feels bad for Miss Zhang, and we"ll naturally have to wait till Miss Zhang is fully recovered before we can leave. Have some patience, we"ll wait a little while longer.” Ye Xiuwen patted Jun Xiaomo"s head as he rea.s.sured her.Jun Xiaomo furrowed her brows in distress, “But the longer we wait, the more variables we"ll have to deal with. Furthermore, I"ve recently been developing a bad hunch about all these waiting for some strange reason.”“Don"t worry so much about these things. If you keep furrowing your brows like that, the wrinkles on your face are going to make you look like an old granny soon.” Ye Xiuwen chuckled lightly.Jun Xiaomo glared at Ye Xiuwen, “Even if I become an old granny, you"re not allowed to despise me!”Ye Xiuwen raised an eyebrow curiously and smirked back at Jun Xiaomo, reserving any comments that he had. That said, it was only at this point in time that it dawned on Jun Xiaomo the implications of what she had just said, and she rubbed her nose bashfully.Even though they had already confessed and confirmed their feelings for each other, their interactions had still remained the same as it always had been. Jun Xiaomo still felt incredibly awkward talking about their future together. Thus, as soon as she realized what she had just said, she was so embarra.s.sed that she could no longer properly keep her eye affixed on Ye Xiuwen, and her gaze drifted away slowly.Ye Xiuwen sighed slightly. He knew that there was still some way to go in his relations.h.i.+p with Jun Xiaomo. After all, he had not forgotten the fact that there were still other love rivals laying outside the valley awaiting Jun Xiaomo"s emergence, including Rong Ruihan and the little packrat from the Chi Clan.Just as Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo were both deeply immersed in their own thoughts, Zhou Zilong suddenly burst into the courtyard, “So Martial Brother Ye and Little Martial Sister are here. I"ve been looking for you two for a long time now.”Jun Xiaomo looked back up and blinked her eyes curiously as she quipped, “Martial Brother Zhou, what"s the matter?”Even though Zhou Zilong had stormed off as a result of Zhang Shuyue the last time they met each other, Jun Xiaomo was never one to harbour any grudges against her martial brothers from the Heavenly Peak. Overnight, the anger in Jun Xiaomo"s heart had already dissipated substantially.Thus, she was able to speak calmly to Zhou Zilong once more.Zhou Zilong scratched his head as he explained, “Martial Brother Zhuo and some other martial brothers were looking for Martial Brother Ye earlier, and I vaguely recall them mentioning something about the matter being quite urgent. They"re currently at the woods just outside the main courtyard. Would Martial Brother Ye care to take a look there?”Ye Xiuwen furrowed his brows, “If there"s something urgent, why didn"t they use the Transmittance Talisman?”Zhou Zilong shrugged, “I don"t know either. All I know is that they appeared rather anxious as they headed eastwards. I"m not even sure if they"re still there right now.”Jun Xiaomo furrowed her brows, “Perhaps Martial Brother Zhuo and the rest have met with some mishap. Martial Brother Ye, let"s go take a look.”“Alright. Let"s go take a look then.” Ye Xiuwen responded decisively, and he turned around and left immediately.Jun Xiaomo had also walked out of the room behind Ye Xiuwen. Just as she was about to follow after him, Zhou Zilong stepped in front of her and cut her off, “Martial Sister Xiaomo, there"s something that I wanted to talk to you about. Let"s leave the matter in the woods to Martial Brother Ye.”Jun Xiaomo looked back at Zhou Zilong with a peculiar gaze, “Something you want to talk to me about? What is it?”“Uh…it"s got to do with formation arrays. There"s some things that I wanted to consult Martial Sister about.” Zhou Zilong scratched his head again as he elaborated.Jun Xiaomo was slightly astounded as she glared back at Zhou Zilong, “Martial Brother Zhou, can"t this wait till we resolve the emergency that Martial Brother Zhuo and the rest are facing right now? Is there really a need to resolve your query pertaining to the formation arrays right now?”Zhou Zilong was slightly taken aback by Jun Xiaomo"s reasoning. Moments later, with some measure of s.h.i.+ftiness in his gaze, he maintained his point, “Actually, there"s nothing much to worry about. With Martial Brother Ye there, I"m sure the emergency that Martial Brother Zhuo and the rest are facing will be resolved in no time.”A realization suddenly washed over Jun Xiaomo, and she sighed profoundly, “Martial Brother Zhou, do you know you"re really bad at telling lies? Your a.s.sertions are full of loopholes. And do you know that the more nervous you get, the more you like to scratch your head? Tell me truthfully, what"s your true motive for sending Martial Brother Ye out and holding me back here?”“This…” Zhou Zilong was lost for words. He had never expected to be exposed by Jun Xiaomo so quickly. Now that the cat was out of the bag, what else could he say?Jun Xiaomo furrowed her brows as she probed further, “Martial Brother Zhou, you wouldn"t be here on Miss Zhang"s behalf, would you?”“Not at all, not at all!” Zhou Zilong immediately waved his hands, rejecting that notion.However, Jun Xiaomo simply squinted her eyes as she remarked, “Do you know that such an overreaction makes things all the more suspicious? I"m pretty sure you"ve never been looking to discuss anything proper with me. Are you luring Martial Brother Ye to the woods on purpose? Is Miss Zhang waiting for him in the woods outside?”“I…” Zhou Zilong could no longer find the words to refute Jun Xiaomo"s conjectures because she was spot on with every single one of her guesses. As Jun Xiaomo had earlier mentioned, he had never been good at telling lies to begin with.Jun Xiaomo glared at Zhou Zilong and barked, “I wonder whose martial brother you really are! Do you know that you"re only going to get Martial Brother Ye in deep trouble like this?!” As she finished speaking, she motioned to run after Ye Xiuwen, only to be obstructed by Zhou Zilong once more.“Xiaomo, don"t be too anxious. Miss Zhang doesn"t have ill intentions. She only wants to clear the air with Martial Brother Ye.” Zhou Zilong hurriedly attempted to appease Jun Xiaomo in the hope that she would dispel any thoughts of going after Ye Xiuwen.“Are you kidding right now?! If her intention was truly to clear the air, does she really need to use you to separate Martial Brother Ye and I? That"s far too contrived, even for a lie, isn"t it?!” Jun Xiaomo bellowed.Zhou Zilong was completely taken aback, and his face flushed purple at this moment.
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