Li Guanyu finished reporting about Fengdu City and sat alone under the moonlight to meditate. When she sensed someone approaching, she gripped her sword, only relaxing when she saw it was Xing Shuishui.
Xing Shuishui had run all the way there, panting as she crouched down to catch her breath. Her face was pale.
Li Guanyu worried: “Shuishui, what’s wrong? Is something chasing you? Did something happen?”
Xing Shuishui gathered her thoughts: “He Liansheng…”
“What about He Liansheng? Did he bully you again?”
Xing Shuishui said: “He hurt his arm in Fengdu City, so I thought I’d bring him some medicine. Maybe then he wouldn’t oppose me following Sister Guanyu…”
Li Guanyu stroked her head sympathetically: “I’ll talk to He Lian myself. His temperament isn’t good – it’s best not to provoke him.”
At those words, Xing Shuishui recalled what had just happened and nodded repeatedly like a pecking chick: “His temper is beyond bad. I accidentally touched his headband earlier and he nearly tore me to pieces.”
Li Guanyu paused: “What did you just say?”
Hearing her odd tone, Xing Shuishui pointed at her own forehead, not daring to admit she’d pulled it off completely.
“That red headband on his forehead… I just touched it… and he got really angry.”
Could it have some special meaning?
Li Guanyu stared at her for a long while before sighing: “That headband was given to him by his master. I don’t know the exact reason, but the Mountain Lord said no one except him can remove it.”
Xing Shuishui looked down at the hand that had pulled his headband, feeling complicated. So that thing was given by his charlatan master.
Seeing her troubled expression, Li Guanyu comforted her: “Don’t think too much about it, Shuishui. Maybe He Lian just doesn’t like people getting close. He’s always been like this during his training at Lingshan. The Mountain Lord also wants him to make some friends…”
Li Guanxing came looking for his sister, and seeing Xing Shuishui there made him unhappy. Xing Shuishui rolled her eyes at him.
She hoped the headband wasn’t anything serious.
Standing up, she smiled: “I’ll head back first, Sister Guanyu!”
The night was peaceful. Opening the window revealed a stark white moon, ancient and quiet. Birds hopped between the gaps in the pitch-black tree shadows, moonlight illuminating rarely seen cold features.
It was very late, but He Liansheng gripped the Taoyuan sword, unable to sleep.
The scene from earlier still played in his mind. He was very confused.
Why could Xing Shuishui so easily pull off the headband that no one else but him could remove? Why her specifically – someone so weak, without any spiritual cultivation?
Perhaps he should have killed her earlier…
He gripped his sword tightly. Suddenly, a talisman flew out from his sleeve, burning automatically in front of him and transforming into his master’s ethereal form. The apparition bathed in moonlight, white hair floating, eyes half-closed.
He Liansheng said: “Master.”
The Mountain Lord nodded slightly: “I just heard from Guanyu that you encountered Li Shixu in Fengdu? How was it? Did you get hurt?”
He Liansheng said disdainfully: “No one in this world can hurt me.”
The Mountain Lord laughed: “Oh? Then what about your arm?”
He Liansheng said coldly: “Just carelessness during the tower explosion. Nothing serious.”
The Mountain Lord sighed: “You’re so grown up but still the same – stubborn and detached. How have you been getting along with the Li siblings these past days?”
He Liansheng remained silent.
The Mountain Lord said: “Well, let nature take its course.”
He suddenly remembered something and asked He Liansheng: “During your time away from the mountain, have you met the person who can remove your headband?”
He Liansheng’s eyes grew cold. The Mountain Lord stared at him.
After a long silence, He Liansheng said: “No.”
He paused: “If I meet her—”
The young man played with his sword tassel, his tone turning cold: “I’ll kill her.”
The tassel fluttered, sword intent sharp enough to dim the moonlight filling the room.
His master was the world’s strongest spirit medium. Over the years, countless heroes and princes had traveled far to Lingshan, hoping the master would divine their fortunes. The master had ignored them all.
Only years ago, when He Liansheng became his disciple, did the master divine for him.
He said: “Little Lian, your boundless future comes from enduring too much suffering in the cycle of reincarnation. Fate has destined you to face a great tribulation.”
“I glimpsed a trace of heaven’s will. You will be killed by someone whose very purpose for coming into this world is to kill you. Unfortunately, even with all my life’s learning, I cannot divine if they are male or female.”
Young He Liansheng looked up, very disdainful: “She can’t possibly hurt me. If it’s true, I’ll just kill her and make her regret coming into this world.”
The Mountain Lord smiled and took out a headband from his treasure pavilion, consecrating it with cinnabar and a drop of his own heart’s blood before tying it on He Liansheng’s forehead.
“Don’t underestimate your enemy.”
Young He Liansheng felt slightly uncomfortable.
“Only you can remove this headband. If a second person appears who can remove it, that is the destined one.”
A flash of killing intent crossed the Mountain Lord’s face as he said softly: “If you meet them one day, don’t hesitate – kill them immediately.”
He Liansheng had always scorned talk of destiny, but he took his master’s words to heart.
He had imagined this person might be some hidden master in the world, or someone practicing evil arts like the Yinshan Patriarch.
Until that cultivationless mortal girl appeared, flowers in her hair, face full of panic, reaching out to easily pull off his headband.
Fate silently shifted.
How could it be her… He Liansheng felt troubled and confused.
The talisman fire burnt out, his master’s image vanishing. The Mountain Lord gave his usual reminders, and the room returned to how it was when Xing Shuishui left.
He Liansheng took up his Taoyuan sword and pushed open the door.
Xing Shuishui was determined to follow them tomorrow, so she went to bed earlier than usual and slept more soundly than anyone, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She slept so deeply that she naturally didn’t know when He Liansheng came in.
Like a ghost, without making a sound.
He Liansheng entered, first mocking her for sleeping with the door open, then saw her lying in bed and sneered, wondering how someone could sleep so strangely.
Xing Shuishui curled up in her blankets, hugging half the quilt, only her head visible, like a little cat. Even with the Taoyuan sword at her throat, she remained oblivious, constantly mumbling something.
“Don’t fight me for the pancake… you’re done for…”
“Don’t cover my mouth… what’s wrong with you!”
“You’re so mean… I hate mean men like you the most.”
In the cool night, the young man laughed coldly.
Something must be wrong – how could someone like her possibly kill him?
No rush to kill her. He Liansheng walked around her room, then saw a drawing on her table, the ink not yet dry. The picture was simple – just a crude turtle.
Next to it were three characters: He Liansheng.
Below was a fire roasting the turtle.
He Liansheng coldly looked at the sleeping girl on the bed, wanting to chop her up right now.
With a wave of his hand, the drawing paper flew into the air, burning to ash in talisman fire.
Xing Shuishui vaguely sensed something wrong in her drowsy state but comforted herself that it was just the wind blowing through the window. With He Liansheng the harbinger of death keeping watch, surely no fool would dare wander around. She turned over and went back to sleep.
He Liansheng stood by her bed.
His shadow fell over her, the Taoyuan sword across her throat. The slightest movement would leave a bright red line on her neck. But for some reason, he didn’t want to kill her.
Maybe because she was too weak, the whole thing was absurd.
Danger lurked.
Xing Shuishui was woken by Qitong’s intense killing intent. She opened her eyes.
Before her was a gleaming white sword.
Xing Shuishui: ??
Her eyes widened, sleep vanishing completely, especially seeing the sword’s owner was the murderous He Liansheng.
“What are you doing?”
This person must be sick, not sleeping in the middle of the night but coming to assassinate her in bed. When did he come in? Xing Shuishui’s mind raced, thinking the only offense was the headband incident. Could it really have some special meaning?
Just as Xing Shuishui was about to call for Li Guanyu, He Liansheng quickly sealed her mouth with a talisman. She sat in bed, unable to speak, only able to grip Qitong, ready to strike him at any moment.
Was this necessary? If he wanted to kill her, couldn’t he do it openly?
She really regretted pulling his headband! It’s not like she ruined his virtue!
He Liansheng didn’t lower his sword, leisurely bending down to say sarcastically: “With such slow reactions, if I really wanted to kill you, you’d have died a thousand times already.”
His face got closer and closer, becoming more handsome – if you ignored the killing intent…
Xing Shuishui couldn’t speak, could only watch him slowly approach, her eyelashes trembling. So this person couldn’t give a reason for not sleeping in the middle of the night and coming to her room to assassinate her?
He Liansheng seemed to read her thoughts, moving the sword from her neck to point at the table.
Xing Shuishui’s goldfish memory didn’t understand at first, until she saw the scattered ashes and belatedly remembered – before sleeping she had drawn a picture, a turtle.
And written his name on it.
Hahaha.
“…”
She wanted to explain, but her mouth was sealed.
This person was doing it on purpose…
The talisman clearly wasn’t something she could just tear off.
Xing Shuishui could only blink innocently. He Liansheng sneered: “I never knew you could draw before?”
Xing Shuishui pointed at her mouth.
He Liansheng said fiercely: “Be good.”
Finally the sealing talisman disappeared. Xing Shuishui caught her breath and didn’t beat around the bush: “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… I just… drew a few casual strokes…”
She deliberately avoided mentioning the drawing and asked He Liansheng directly: “But why are you appearing by my bed in the middle of the night? This is my private chamber, men and women should keep their distance.”
He Liansheng said coldly: “Keep their distance? You didn’t say that when you came into my room.”
Xing Shuishui: “That was because I was cold. Are you cold too? I remember you cultivators can use your powers to resist cold. Or can’t you sleep? Are you still angry about me grabbing your headband?”
He Liansheng’s expression instantly turned cold. Looking at her ignorant appearance, the more he looked the more absurd it seemed. How could Xing Shuishui possibly have the ability to kill him?
“You dare bring that up?”
The young man sheathed his Taoyuan sword, but his killing intent hadn’t decreased: “If you can’t control your hands again, it won’t be so simple.”
What a bizarre person.
So what did it mean exactly? Xing Shuishui was very confused.
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