chapter 2

It took several perfectly peeled apples, fed to her slice by slice, along with an abundance of gentle coaxing before she finally agreed to tell me the truth.

Reclining lazily against the headboard, she chewed the apple I held to her lips and scoffed.

“Fine. I admit you’re smarter than those idiot physicians.”

“They should have known someone as weak as the Demon Lord could never hurt me.”

I kept peeling and readily agreed.

“Of course. With your extraordinary power, there’s no way he could have injured you.”

“You’re amazing. Even blind and with only half your cultivation, you still beat him into the ground.”

“As expected of Qingyun Sect’s foremost disciple, the sect master’s personal student, one of the sect’s future heirs, an enforcement elder of the Immortal Alliance, the most gifted sword cultivator in recorded history, and a rising prodigy among artifact refiners…”

Good heavens. Was there room in here for all those people?

In any case, I showered her with so much praise that Ji Hanshuang practically lost her bearings.

She nodded along, delighted agreement and even a hint of smugness appearing on her face.

Once her guard had lowered, I gently changed course.

“But you mustn’t do that again. You have to tell your physician the truth so she can prescribe the right treatment and make you better as quickly as possible.”

Ji Hanshuang had still been nodding. The moment she realized what I was saying, she froze, then shook her head furiously.

“Who asked you to meddle?”

She flopped down in a huff, buried her face in the pillow, and showed me only the back of her head.

I patted her back.

“Then tell me how your eyes were injured.”

She snorted and ignored me.

I sighed helplessly and ventured a guess.

“Were you too impatient while cultivating? Did your meridians reverse and cause a backlash?”

Ji Hanshuang pushed herself upright and immediately demanded, “You weren’t satisfied with imprisoning me? You spied on me too?”

Me: “???”

In all fairness, it wasn’t hard to guess.

She found it too humiliating to admit that a cultivation mistake had blinded her, so she used her spiritual sense to perceive her surroundings and pretended she could still see. Her spiritual sense was powerful enough that no outsider could spot the deception quickly.

Then the demons invaded, giving her the perfect excuse. She could claim the Demon Lord had blinded her, conceal her mistake, and earn a legitimate vacation. Under the pretext of “recovering,” she could sleep in her cave residence every day.

It was exactly the sort of thing she would do.

I kept that thought to myself and explained earnestly, “I never spied on you. Those were only my deductions.”

While leaning close to speak, I slipped behind her and retied the silk ribbon over her eyes.

“I’ve examined you. The backlash reduced your cultivation to half its former level, but with proper rest, it should recover quickly.”

“Your eyes will be a little more difficult.”

“But don’t worry. I’m confident I can heal them within three months.”

Ji Hanshuang went quiet.

I sat beside her and waited.

This time she didn’t resist. She merely turned away, yawned, and buried her face in the pillow again.

“Do whatever you want.”

“Honestly, I won’t mind much even if you can’t cure them. I’m used to seeing with my spiritual sense.”

“But let me warn you. I dislike physicians, I especially hate you, and I very much resent being locked up for no reason. You’d better be careful. Don’t let me discover who you are.”

Her tone was casual, but bitterness twisted through my heart.

I lowered my head, tucked the covers carefully around her, and answered softly, “It’s all right if you hate me. I promised to heal you, and I will. Once you’ve completely recovered, I’ll let you go.”

“Though, now that you mention it…”

Smiling, I tugged the chain at her side and bent close, my lips near her ear. Warm breath swept over her skin as my voice dropped.

“Do you think you’re in any position to hate me right now?”

I ran my fingertips along the chain restraining her, its coldness seeping into my skin.

“I commissioned these chains from an artifact refiner. They were made specifically to suppress your spiritual power. The half you have left is completely sealed, so you’re no match for me. Do you truly think your feelings matter at the moment?”

Ji Hanshuang whipped her head toward me, furious, and accused me of deliberately provoking her.

The movement was so sudden—and she was unable to see—that the silk ribbon nearly brushed my lips.

I caught a faint fragrance and the warmth of her breath.

I inhaled deeply, forced myself to calm down, and apologized with complete sincerity.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to provoke you.”

“It’s late. You should sleep. To make up for it, I’ll read you a bedtime story.”

From the cabinet beside the bed, I took out a book I had prepared in advance: Three Years of Immortal Exams, Five Years of Practice Tests. I began reading from the first page with great feeling.

One of her junior sect sisters had told me it was her favorite book.

As expected of the cultivation world’s most relentless overachiever. Who else would enjoy studying this for fun?

I read while secretly watching her reaction. At first she merely seemed speechless at my abrupt change of subject. But after listening for a while, she snapped impatiently.

“If you insist on reading, at least choose another book. Who wants to hear that before bed?”

I blinked.

“You don’t like it? One of your junior sect sisters said you would…”

I had spent fifty spirit stones on the advanced edition.

How upsetting.

Her irritation deepened.

“What do those little brats know? Either be quiet or pick something else.”

“But this is the only book I have besides Records of Gossip Among the Great Cultivation Sects…”

That one was for my own leisure reading.

Ji Hanshuang seemed momentarily choked into silence.

Regretfully, I returned the exam guide to the cabinet, busied myself laying out my bedding on the floor, and obediently lay down. Just as I was about to extinguish the lamp, her voice drifted from above.

“That gossip book… What sort of gossip is in it?”

I counted the stories off on my fingers.

“Let’s see… The vice sect master of Hehuan Sect threw herself at a demonic cultivator and had all her cultivation sucked dry. A Hehuan Sect elder was brutally dumped by her first love because her first degree came from a second-rate sect. The Sword Sect’s real and fake heiresses are rumored to be in a pseudo-incestuous relationship—actually, I can confirm that one; they’re quite open about it. And Qingyun Sect’s senior brother entrusted his heart to the wrong person and shattered his emotionless Dao…”

Ji Hanshuang: “…”

“Fine. Read that one.”