Chapter 5
The hidden realm wasn’t very large. Half a month later, we met that handsome bad man again.
We were laboring to break a restriction that protected a rather interesting pill formula.
That was when Yunji appeared.
He broke the restriction effortlessly and made no attempt to fight us for the formula.
He simply smiled. “Consider it repayment for the lady’s help last time.”
Who’d said this man was bad? He was absolutely wonderful…
From that day on, Yunji traveled with us.
Jiguang still disliked him. But after accepting his help, he was in no position to complain, so he kept quiet.
Yunji and I grew closer by the day.
Jiguang kept saying Yunji was warm on the surface but cold inside, a man without feeling.
I didn’t mind.
A warm surface was already plenty!
Yunji simply never mentioned his own sect.
Meanwhile, I recited all my sect’s branches as readily as items on a menu.
Sometimes, when I really got going, I nearly told him my birth date and hour as well.
Then I discovered I’d forgotten those too.
Jiguang breathed a sigh of relief.
Only in private did he solemnly warn me to be wary of others.
Be wary of Yunji?
He should be wary of me…
One day my lust might get the better of me, and I’d go berserk and kiss everyone to death.
In any case, apart from Jiguang’s sour face,
traveling with Yunji was delightful.
Whatever went wrong, one look at Yunji’s face made it delightful again.
Buying sent voice transmissions every day to ask if we were safe.
And each time, Jiguang answered like a cold, unfeeling machine.
—We’re fine.
Poor Buying missed me so much. Even after I’d left the mountain, he checked on me daily.
Perhaps all that could still be called a master’s concern for his disciple.
But once I peeked at a message Buying sent Jiguang, and it gave me incontrovertible proof of his love.
He said,
—Jiguang, keep a close eye on Manxi. Don’t let her fall for anyone else. Someone won’t be able to bear it.
Who could that someone be? Such a difficult guess.
Jiguang’s answer was still very cold.
—Of course.
Yunji and I grew more and more familiar.
Jiguang’s expression grew uglier and uglier.
One day, keeping out of Yunji’s hearing, Jiguang asked me,
“You like him?”
I gasped. “How did you know?”
He fell silent for a moment. “It’s difficult not to.”
His expression suddenly became grave. “Manxi, you cannot like him.”
I paused, then asked why.
His lips parted and closed again.
Suddenly, his large hand closed around my wrist, and he turned and dragged me away.
“We’re no longer traveling with him. We part ways today.”
I was utterly bewildered. His strides were long and hurried, and his grip hurt my wrist. Irritation crept into my voice.
“Jiguang, you can’t make my decisions for me. You’re only my senior brother. I can’t stop liking someone just because you forbid it!”
He stopped abruptly.
Turning, he stared at me for a long time, then said coldly, “Like him? Do you know his background or his character?”
“He’s a personal disciple of the leader of the Hehuan Sect. He practices techniques that lure women into dual cultivation. Liking him is no different from degrading yourself.”
So he belonged to the Hehuan Sect. No wonder those cool, distant eyes could be so bewitching.
I thought for a moment.
“Senior Brother Jiguang, what does it matter if he’s from the Hehuan Sect? How many people have mocked us alchemists as useless weaklings propped up by pills? But heaven knows, earth knows, and we both know how difficult our cultivation is. I’ve never thought being an alchemist made us inferior. Likewise, I don’t think their methods are inferior. They’re all paths of cultivation. Why rank one above another? Isn’t judging someone’s character by their sect arrogant and narrow-minded?”
Jiguang froze, slowly pressing his lips together. “Regardless, you cannot like him.”
I didn’t understand. “Why?”
Surely it couldn’t be because of Buying.
Suddenly, another voice joined in. “Exactly. Why?”
I had no idea when Yunji had arrived, or how much he’d heard. Smiling lazily, he looked straight at Jiguang.
“Why can’t Manxi like me?”
Jiguang only watched him coldly, the knuckles of his hand stark where he gripped my wrist.
“Because I say she can’t.”
I sighed and said softly, “When it comes to feelings, never mind you having no say—even I have no say. There’s nothing anyone can do.”
“In that case.”
Yunji suddenly moved to my side and took my other hand.
“I’m very fond of you too, Manxi. Why don’t you come cultivate with me at the Hehuan Sect?”
What a wickedly good idea.
My memories were a jumble anyway. I barely remembered the sect, let alone felt attached to it. And Buying, the only person I did feel attached to, avoided me like a plague.
I was about to agree when Jiguang spoke urgently. “No.”
“You cannot leave with him!”
Yunji asked the same question.
“Why?”
“Manxi is willing. In what capacity are you stopping her?”
Jiguang fell silent for a moment, visibly struggling. At last, he looked at me and said, “Manxi, you have a husband.”
“You’ve simply forgotten him.”
“That’s why you cannot like Yunji.”
I was stunned. It took a long time to recover. “I have a husband? Who is he?”
Jiguang lowered his lashes. “I cannot tell you.”
I clicked my tongue. “Then you’re lying. Senior Brother, you can’t make up whatever you like just because I’ve lost my memory.”
“Even if you dislike Yunji and don’t want me to be with him, you can’t use something like that as an excuse.”
Secretly, I hooked my fingers around Yunji’s. “Senior Brother, I’m only going to have a look at the Hehuan Sect. Let me go.”
Jiguang’s eyes dropped to our interlaced fingers. He paused, then seemed to make up his mind. With solemn resolve, he spoke.
“It’s me.”
“Manxi, I am your husband.”