Chapter 3

A fiery-red sword barred my way.

I followed its blade with my eyes and found a spirited young woman glaring at me.

“Junior Sister Mu, don’t be unreasonable.” Shen Tang stepped in front of me. “Miss Luoluo is an honored guest of the First Sword Sect.”

“Honored guest? She’s nothing but a witch!”

The girl was so upset that tears brimmed in her eyes. “Senior Brother Shen! You’re on the verge of mastering the Sword of Supreme Detachment. How can you let yourself be distracted now? I’m going to plead with the sect master!”

“Junior Sister Mu…”

“Stop!” I slipped out from behind Shen Tang and pushed her blade aside. “I think you’re right. Your senior brother is about to master the Sword of Supreme Detachment, and I shouldn’t be disturbing him at a time like this.”

“So apologize to me, then trade places with him.”

“You can keep me company. How does that sound?”

Her eyes lit up. “Do you mean it? Miss Luoluo, I was rude. Please accept my apology!”

I had to give her credit for sincerity. She put away her sword and dropped to her knees with a thump.

“Hey, wait!” Now I was the one at a loss. “There’s no need for such a grand gesture. Get up! Shen Tang, I’ll just go down the mountain with her. You can go back.”

“No.” Shen Tang frowned slightly. “Junior Sister Mu is lazy about her cultivation. She cannot keep you safe.”

I choked on my words and looked at the girl’s face, flushed with either anger or shame. “You really are a little slow…”

She looked from Shen Tang to me, stamped her foot, and ran away crying.

Shen Tang watched her retreating back, considered for a moment, then sent her a voice transmission. “Junior Sister Mu, if you intend to practice the Sword of Supreme Detachment, you must avoid such emotional fluctuations.”

“…Could you please just stop talking?” Even a witch like me felt sorry for her.

In the end, Shen Tang and I never made it down the mountain.

We had only just reached the gates when a paper crane arrived bearing a message from Xie Biliu. The head of the Dreamweaving Bureau had sent the disciple most skilled in dreamweaving to weave a dream for me.

In a dream, I might glimpse my lost memories.

But my soul would also be drawn into it with none of its defenses intact.

“Miss Luoluo.” Just before I stepped onto the lotus platform, Shen Tang called to me. “Dreamweaving is not without risk. But don’t worry. If there is danger, I will keep you safe.”

My hand loosened a little on my skirt, then slowly tightened again.

He had said this many times. Before, I had believed him.

This time, I didn’t quite.

If the demons attacked, this prodigy of the righteous sects might fight to the death to protect me.

But right now, the members of his own sect, who had suffered so much at the demons’ hands, stood all around us.

And I was the only person who might be able to stop the Demon Lord Xie Lang.

Unless my life was in danger, the dreamweaver would not stop.

Still, before I moved, I gave Shen Tang a smile as bright as a flower. “Thank you, then.”

With that, I stepped alone onto the lotus platform hanging in midair. The dreamweaver summoned spiritual power, and purple butterflies swallowed me whole.