Chapter 296: What a joke, you and her did it but I can’t?
“Why?”
Facing this question, the young man did not turn around. He seemed stunned for a moment before saying, “Sister, you know everything?”
After speaking, he thought of something else and continued, “But I was actually planning to tell you today…”
Chen An turned around and saw the girl lowering her head. Most of her was hidden in the darkness, with only a black small knife held in her hand, faintly reflecting a cold light.
At the sight of the knife, Chen An was slightly stunned. After all, he and his sister had been together day and night for so many years, and he had never seen her use a knife. Whether it was during the outer sect selection competition or in their daily lives, the girl had always displayed her swordsmanship.
Chen An had a guess that this might be a fortunate encounter unique to the “female lead.”
“What… are you planning to tell me?”
After a short while, the girl’s low reply came. This time, Chen An no longer hesitated or retreated. He explained everything about him and Jiang Qiuchi to her, one by one.
The room was not lit, and silence filled the surroundings. Only his soft speaking voice could be heard.
“I believe sister must know that my first encounter with her began in the snowfall outside Yunji Town.”
Mu Sanniang’s eyes moved at the words but she remained silent.
“My second meeting with her was after I entered the Inner Sect.”
“I was very young then, and I was surprised, even frightened, that she could venture into the sect alone.”
“This is because after I reported it to Master, he did not place any restrictions on her…”
The young man spoke slowly, recounting the situation where he had no choice back then.
“I was a little scared, not that she would really attack me, but that she would target you.”
“If I had refused too strongly, given the impression she left on me, I wouldn’t have been able to rest easy.”
Perhaps it was the past events in the outer sect of Tai Xuan Sect that caused the girl’s cold expression to soften slightly. She suddenly asked, “So? You chose to submit?”
Hearing the question, Chen An shook his head. He pondered for a moment. “Actually, it wasn’t really submission. At that time, what I was thinking about more was probably just pretense.”
“As long as I could grow stronger, there would be room for resistance…”
Chen An paused at this point. He suddenly thought that without the turmoil in the Nether Prison involving Mu Sanniang, he would not have had his moment of kneeling in the snow. Naturally, his involvement with Jiang Qiuchi would not have reached such a close level as it was now.
But things are always like this, fate plays tricks on people. It was like a circle, forcing him to come back to it. Perhaps, this was what was called destiny?
As Chen An was lost in thought, he heard the girl in front of him speak again, her voice beginning to tremble slightly.
“What happened next?”
“Next…” Chen An thought for a moment, and then recounted the entanglements that occurred between him and Jiang Qiuchi after Mu Sanniang was confined. Holding an umbrella for him, washing his face, and the few things that happened in his Cave Mansion.
Upon hearing this, the girl seemed unable to control her emotions any longer. Her voice began to tremble violently, her pupils even became vacant and lost their luster.
“How could this be…”
“Little brother can only be mine…”
Her words trembled as if she were crying. She had truly cried very little. Whether it was fighting fierce beasts alone, enduring the pain while practicing the “One Yuan Soul Devouring Heart Technique,” or the trials of being alone in the Nether Prison, none of these had ever brought her to tears. Thinking back to those few times, the young man had been present in each of them.
Seeing this, Chen An moved his lips, wanting to say something to comfort her, but in the end, no sound came out. If he were in her shoes, he felt his own reaction would not be much better than Mu Sanniang’s. In the darkness, he tried to reach out, but she flinched away in a tremor, and his hand was left suspended in mid-air awkwardly.
After a period of silence, Chen An heard a question, like a murmur. “Did you… do everything?”
“…Yes.” The young man was silent for a moment and chose not to hide it, his voice carrying a hint of bitterness.
In the next moment, much to his surprise, the girl, whom he expected to get angry and leave, rushed directly towards him. The faint, pleasant scent engulfed him.
Chen An was a little stunned and even instinctively touched his abdomen. For a moment, he thought he was going to be stabbed… But clearly, that was not the case. This was truly just a hug from Mu Sanniang. Except for being exceptionally tight, it seemed no different from any of their previous hugs. In his embrace, the girl sobbed softly until her tears soaked her entire clothes. Chen An dared not move, allowing her to hold him like this.
About a few minutes later, new movement came from within his embrace. It sounded like faint, rustling sounds, as if she were tugging at his clothes. Chen An was startled and looked down, meeting those familiar light blue pupils. She had calmed down now, no longer crying, but stared at Chen An blankly, her gaze colder than ever before.
“How come? You did it with her, but I can’t?” As if sensing the young man’s thoughts, she let out a bitter smile. Chen An lowered his head, took a deep breath, and placed his hands on the girl’s slender shoulders, saying earnestly, “Sister, it’s not like that.”
“I…”
“Enough.” His carefully prepared words were interrupted by the girl’s impatient voice. Mu Sanniang gave him a cold glance. The black saber in her hand had been humming incessantly since they met. She shook off the young man’s hands from her shoulders and took several steps back, returning to the distance they had been at initially.
“I don’t want to see you right now.” Her light blue eyes stared fixedly at Chen An. The girl’s body retreated bit by bit, until finally, she completely disappeared into the silent dark night.
Seeing this, Chen An immediately took off in pursuit. He certainly wouldn’t take Mu Sanniang’s words to heart. What a joke, if a girl says she doesn’t want to see you, would you really stop chasing? Besides, he still had many things he hadn’t had time to say.
Following the direction the girl had disappeared, Chen An moved rapidly. To his surprise, the girl’s aura was moving considerably faster than his. Logically speaking, Mu Sanniang had only entered Foundation Establishment not long ago, and she had been focusing on nurturing her mind during this period, not cultivating much. She shouldn’t have this speed. Chen An couldn’t help but think of the black saber in her hand and her past practice of demonic arts, and a sense of unease flashed through his mind.
Almost at the same moment he rushed out of the pavilion, a figure appeared in another pavilion. Jiang Qiuchi, her red dress fluttering, arrived beside Chen An in the blink of an eye. Clearly, she had also been paying attention to the movements here.
Seeing the young man’s solemn expression, she comforted him, “Don’t worry, as long as she’s within Mirror Lake, I can sense her exact location…” Jiang Qiuchi suddenly changed her expression, her speech quickening. “No, she’s broken out of Mirror Lake!”
Faster than her words, the figures of the two moved simultaneously. They quickly arrived at the entrance where they had come in earlier. The usually silent night sky there was now torn open as if by a sharp long saber, forming a long, narrow gash. Residual black energy lingered around the edges of the opening. The aura was deep and cold, somewhat similar to what had emanated from the entrance of the Nether Prison back then.
Chen An frowned and chased out without a word. However, a voice from behind made him pause.
“Did you tell her?”
Chen An was taken aback. “Tell her what?” He immediately realized what Jiang Qiuchi was referring to and shook his head. “I didn’t have time yet.”
What Jiang Qiuchi was asking about was something they had discussed in the pavilion earlier. However, Chen An then thought about Mu Sanniang’s change tonight, which should have been caused by seeing them meet privately. So, did she choose to leave because she knew what he was about to do?
He was stunned for a moment and instinctively reached into his embrace, pulling out a small cloth bag folded from blue cloth. This was Mu Sanniang’s “return gift,” and also the opportunity Chen An had intended to use to start the conversation.
(End of this chapter)
