Chapter 3

Heh.

The system could talk all it liked. I had no intention of listening.

There was no chance I would stop making small adjustments.

Because my precious girl was imprisoned in the Cold Prison, she suffered from a chronic chill even after her cultivation later soared.

It did not matter to the plot.

It was only one scar among the countless wounds she collected on her path to greatness.

But I could never stop thinking that even a little less suffering would be worth it.

The system sulked and refused to speak to me.

I gave the cloak I had sewn from the Dawn Brocade and several bottles of pills to the disciple guarding the Cold Prison.

“Could I trouble you to give these to Junior Sister?” I asked with a foolish grin.

He scratched his head.

“Little Sister Qiu Ci, you truly are kind. Junior Sister hurt you, yet you bear her no grudge.”

I smiled. “When you give them to her, don’t say they came from me. Tell her… tell her…”

“Tell her they’re from Little Junior Brother!”

Yan Ye, I was doing you a favor. He had better treat my precious girl well in the future.

The disciple nodded.

The instant the prison door opened, a violent gale born from ten-thousand-year ice rushed out.

Most of its power had faded by the time it reached me, yet it still left several fine cuts across my face.

I backed away.

Through the narrow opening, I glimpsed a skeletal figure deep inside.

As if sensing something, she stirred.

I turned and hurried away.

Amid the gale howling behind me, I thought I heard someone whisper.

Senior…

Sister…

I hastened toward my own peak.

When I passed through the bamboo forest, the wind screamed around me.

Someone seemed to be watching.

The rustle of bamboo merged with the wind until the forest fell into an eerie stillness.

The hairs rose on the back of my neck.

One step.

Two.

Three.

“Run!” the system shouted.

I bolted.

An explosion thundered behind me. The place where I had been standing was now a deep crater.

Yan Ye laughed softly.

“Qiu Ci. Your instincts aren’t bad.”

Oh no. Oh no.

I had just done him a favor, and he had immediately come to kill me.

I sprinted through the forest, cursing that little bastard in my head.

Sword light rained down and sliced several strands of hair from my head.

A chill touched the back of my neck.

“The teleportation talisman!” the system yelled. “Use it!”

“But they’re precious! I only have three.”

“You’re about to die, and you’re still trying to save them? You only need one for the next plot against the heroine!”

“If you die before your exit scene, you can never go home!”

Don’t say that!

In a panic, I pulled out a talisman and slapped it onto myself.

Weightlessness seized me. My vision went black.

All I heard was Yan Ye’s faintly regretful sigh.

“Next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

That settled it.

I no longer dared to leave my quarters.

Afraid Yan Ye might charge straight onto my peak in a murderous frenzy, I moved into Chen Yuan’s residence that very night.

The most important thing was surviving until my precious girl left the Cold Prison.

I hugged myself, shivering.

Someone knocked on the door.

By reflex, I dove beneath the blankets.

“How impressive,” the system mocked.

“Ci,” Chen Yuan called softly.

I straightened my clothes. “Come in.”

He entered in a cultivator’s spotless ivory robes.

Leaving his character aside, no one could deny Senior Brother’s beauty.

Unfortunately, once I remembered everything he had done, even that handsome face lost much of its appeal.

He sat beside my bed. “How is your shoulder?”

Nearly healed. Even the scar had almost faded.

I avoided the question and threw myself into his arms with a terrified expression.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed myself against his chest.

“Chen Yuan,” I sobbed. “I was so afraid.”

“When it happened, I was terrified that Junior Sister would kill me.”

“I thought I would never see you again.”

I wiped my tears and snot all over his robe.

His body stiffened.

It probably took every ounce of restraint he had not to shove me away.

Chen Yuan stroked my hair.

“When demonic energy first enters a cultivator’s body, a person with a strong will can suppress it. Junior Sister’s cultivation is especially high.”

“Without an outside force pushing her, she might have slowly driven it from her body.”

“But the amount of demonic energy around her that day could not possibly have accumulated in a mere dozen days.”

“Ci, when you went to see her that day… did you…”

“Did you notice anything unusual about Junior Sister?”

Low emotional intelligence: What did you do to drive her into demonic deviation?

High emotional intelligence: Did you notice anything unusual?

I suspect you, but I won’t say it aloud.

I pretended to think.

After three seconds, I began trembling violently.

“I don’t know. I – I don’t know!”

“Junior Sister was terrifying that day. There was so much killing intent…”

“She tried to kill me. She tried to kill me!”

Tears and mucus streamed down my face.

Chen Yuan lowered his eyes and patted my back soothingly.

“It’s over. I’m here.”

“You don’t need to be afraid.”

Before I could answer, he rose abruptly.

“Rest well. I have business to attend to.”

“I’ll visit you tomorrow.”

The door creaked shut.

I buried my face in the quilt.

Men.

He could not even pretend to be tender for a few minutes.

“How much longer?” I asked the system.

“About half a month.”

It continued, “In a few days, Yan Ye will find the poisoned medicine dregs you buried.”

I shuddered, close to tears.

“My precious girl had better come out soon.”

“If she doesn’t, I’ll be forced into an early exit.”

Whether the person in the Cold Prison heard my earnest prayer, I did not know.

I stayed on Chen Yuan’s peak like a turtle hiding in its shell.

One sweltering afternoon, as I tossed and turned on the couch, thunder suddenly rolled outside.

The sky had been clear for thousands of miles. In an instant, the wind changed and immense black clouds pressed down over the mountains.

“It’s here,” the system said.

I hurriedly threw on an outer robe and rushed outside.

Disciples gathered in groups along the path, staring up at the clouds.

“Whose heavenly tribulation is that? Who’s advancing?”

“Can anyone survive clouds that large? How powerful would they have to be?”

I hurried past them.

“The Cold Prison!”

“The clouds are moving toward the Cold Prison!”

“No. You don’t mean… could it be -”

The disciples stared at one another.

“That’s terrifying. She can advance with demonic energy in her body? What kind of willpower does that take?”

Lightning flashed.

The first bolt shattered the sky.

Heaven and earth changed color. Sand and stones whipped through the air, nearly knocking me off my feet.

“Stop!” the system cried. “Find shelter!”

“If the heroine’s tribulation kills you, it’ll all be for nothing. You only have one plot event left. Finish it, and you can leave.”

A flying pebble cut my cheek.

Half crawling, half tumbling, I took shelter beneath the nearest building.

Many disciples had gathered under the eaves, whispering about the tribulation.

The second bolt fell.

The Cold Prison split open.

The third.

The fourth.

One bolt after another.

An entire mountain collapsed.

Sand, gravel, and torn leaves rose into a roaring curtain.

Then the clouds abruptly dispersed.

“Is it over?”

“Whose tribulation was it? Did they survive?”

“Was it really Xu Youchan? Is she still alive?”

“How could anyone endure so many bolts while corrupted by demonic energy?”

I raised my head in silence.

The dust slowly settled.

One woman.

One sword.

They stood atop the ruined peak.

The young woman was tall and straight, her black hair streaming in the wind.

The Dawn Brocade reflected a riot of gorgeous colors, the only bright thing between heaven and earth.

Frostfall gave a long cry.

Every sword in the surrounding mountains began to tremble in answer.

“Damn! She’s commanding ten thousand swords!”

“The last person to reach that realm died a million years ago!”

The disciples around me erupted into fervent praise.

“Junior Sister has become the greatest cultivator alive at such a young age!”

“Senior Sister Xu is my inspiration!”

“The pride of our sect!”

“The foremost cultivator in the world!”

I stared at the figure on the peak until my neck grew stiff.

Still, I could not look away.

A girl’s youthful dreams were never limited to love stories promising devotion unto death.

There was also the dream of one sword freezing fourteen provinces.

To lift one’s eyes and behold a boundless world, then climb past the sun, moon, and stars.

That reckless courage hidden between the lines of heroic tales had once comforted my ordinary youth.

Back then, I had believed I could become as extraordinary as the protagonist.

Yet my life had remained painfully ordinary.

An ordinary family. An ordinary school. An ordinary company.

An ordinary life.

At least in this moment, it was no longer ordinary.

I had thought years as an office drone had ground away every trace of spirit in me.

But the youthful desire to challenge even heaven itself still flowed in my blood.

Warm.

Alive.

The cultivation world revered strength.

For someone as terrifyingly powerful as Xu Youchan, reverence came even faster.

In a single day, public opinion reversed.

Once again, Xu Youchan became the genius praised by everyone.

A junior disciple came to deliver something and spoke endlessly of her achievements.

He called her a heavenly prodigy, a phoenix among mortals, utterly without equal.

The original Qiu Ci would probably have ground her teeth to dust.

I merely looked at him with approval.

At least someone here had taste.

Faint voices drifted from the front courtyard.

I dismissed the junior disciple, bent low, and crept toward Chen Yuan’s study.

Two figures stood inside.

I stole a glance.

Xu Youchan stood behind Chen Yuan.

Her features were calm. Black hair framed skin as luminous and pale as polished jade.

The torment of the Cold Prison had not left a trace of fear in her.

She was like a flower split open by the point of a blade.

Sharp.

Cold and beautiful.

The sight struck me with the force of a blow.

I immediately ducked out of view.

The system had seen this so often that it no longer bothered to mock me.

Clutching my heart, I whispered, “If beauty could kill, my precious girl would get a life sentence.”

“I couldn’t bear to see her executed.”

“That was painfully corny,” the system said.

The pair inside discussed matters that had little to do with my scenes, so I did not listen closely.

Then Chen Yuan suddenly asked, “Youchan, that day… when Second Senior Sister came to see you… did she say anything?”

I pricked up my ears.

The room fell silent.

“Tell me the truth. Youchan, I know something was suspi -”

“No.”

Her voice was light and crisp, like ice striking jade.

“Youchan! I know you value your bonds, but this matter -”

Xu Youchan shook her head. Her expression remained calm and sincere.

“Senior Sister said nothing.”

Chen Yuan frowned and sighed, looking at her as if she were an obstinate child.

At last he said, “If you refuse to speak, I won’t pursue it.”

“A new secret realm has recently appeared. The sect intends to send a team to investigate.”

“Youchan, I secured a place for you…”

Chen Yuan continued at length, but I stopped listening.

When enough time had passed, I raised my hand and knocked.

The people inside started.

“Who is it?” Chen Yuan called.

I let out a coquettish laugh and sweetened my voice.

“It’s me, Chen Yuan. I heard Junior Sister had come.”

Without waiting, I pushed the door open.

Xu Youchan did not look at me.

She lowered her eyes and murmured, “Senior Sister.”

I waved a hand. “What were you discussing?”

Chen Yuan smiled. “Noth -”

“Senior Brother was telling me about the secret realm.”

He clearly had not expected Xu Youchan to be so direct. His smile stiffened.

I laughed loudly inside while my face lit up.

“Really? Another secret realm has appeared? Chen Yuan, may I go explore it too?”

“Perhaps I’ll encounter some miracle that can heal the meridians in my right arm.”

Chen Yuan coughed twice.

“Ci, with your current cultivation… I’m afraid that inside -”

“Junior Sister can protect me!”

I spoke as if it were obvious.

“She just advanced, and no disciple in the sect can match her. If it’s Junior Sister, she will certainly keep me safe.”

That was a lie.

If one frame-up had failed, there was always another.

I caught Chen Yuan’s hand, swung it back and forth, and pouted.

“Please, Chen Yuan?”

Displaying my intimacy with Senior Brother in front of the vicious supporting woman’s rival in love –

I had even thought of that.

I truly was brilliant.

Chen Yuan looked troubled. He wanted to pull his hand away but could not; he wanted to refuse but did not know how.

He was sick of me by now. He simply had not found enough evidence to crush me.

He probably despised me, and still I insisted on making his skin crawl.

I was about to kiss him just to disgust him further when Xu Youchan spoke.

“I can do it.”

Chen Yuan frowned in concern.

“Youchan, you’ve only just advanced. Your demonic energy remains unstable.”

“Never mind. I should take Ci -”

“I can do it.”

For once, the young woman cut him off.

Her expression stayed calm when she raised her eyes, but her gaze was a sword aimed straight at Chen Yuan.

As if competing with him over something, she said each word distinctly.

“Anything Senior Brother can do…”

“I can do too.”