The hairs on the back of Luoyun Huan's neck stood on end, and she couldn't help feeling a wave of inward grievance. Oh no... Could Eldest Senior Sister still be dwelling on the fact that she bit her lip just now?
Yet she hadn't done it on purpose; if things had continued down that path, neither of them would have been able to stop themselves.
Fear gnawed at Luoyun Huan, but her feet hesitated very little because she was afraid that lingering too long would displease the person before her.
In the book, although Qin Yiqiu was a good person, she was extremely strict with the male and female protagonists who violated the sect's strict rules and commandments by tasting the forbidden fruit.
Once, when she caught the two of them in the bushes, she actually ordered them straight to the ancestral hall to kneel as punishment—and they had to kneel there for months.
Though purely because the author wanted to write a scene set in the ancestral hall...
"There's no broken skin."
Luoyun Huan approached the side of the bed and braced herself to speak the truth, preparing to beg Eldest Senior Sister to forgive her rashness, when she felt her chin lifted by a pair of chilling fingertips.
The sensation of cool pads of fingers brushing against the skin of her chin was indescribable. In all her years, no one had ever dared to manhandle Luoyun Huan like this.
Sure enough, taking advantage of Eldest Senior Sister the other day came with a price.
Luoyun Huan couldn't help thinking to herself. The next instant, Qin Yiqiu's fingertip traced across her lips, then tentatively parted the inner side of her lip to inspect it.
Luoyun Huan: !
Her entire body trembled.
She couldn't help feeling that such an action crossed far too many lines.
"Eldest... Eldest Senior Sister..."
Luoyun Huan tentatively called out to Qin Yiqiu. Even though Qin Yiqiu's character design was that of an aloof beauty, nothing could change the fundamental nature of this novel.
If anything were to happen, she wouldn't be able to handle it—especially since Senior Sister's affection meter was still abysmally low. What if the master of Spring Breeze Hall or the sect leader decided to swat her, this little vixen, to death? Wouldn't that be a matter of seconds?
"Good thing. When I lost control just now, I wasn't sure if I had bitten you, which is why I checked so thoroughly. Looking at it now, I didn't."
Qin Yiqiu breathed a sigh of relief. Her constitution was different from ordinary people; possessing the Ice Spiritual Root and practicing the Heartless Formula, her body remained at a low temperature year-round. Furthermore, her unique spiritual root had even given birth to a bizarre poison.
Anyone injured by elemental ice Qi and magic—other than by her own sword—ran the risk of contracting this poison.
That was precisely why, despite possessing a top-tier mutated Ice Spiritual Root, Qin Yiqiu rarely used it.
A strange stir of emotion fluttered deep within Luoyun Huan's heart. *Wuwuwu... Eldest Senior Sister is truly so kind.* Someone like her, who had approached with the ulterior motive of conquering the other person, was utterly despicable to the extreme.
"Thank you for saving me."
Qin Yiqiu withdrew her hand, every word carrying a sense of genuine earnestness.
Still, she had gone too far after all, so Qin Yiqiu intended to make amends.
"But I forced a kiss on you. What compensation would you like?"
Hearing such words come from the mouth of someone usually so cold and detached, Luoyun Huan took a moment to wrap her head around it.
"There's no need. Senior Sister saved me, and I saved Senior Sister. That's fair, isn't it?"
Luoyun Huan kept her hands behind her back and flashed a dazzling smile. Qin Yiqiu stared at her, and for reasons unknown, her heartbeat skipped a beat once more.
Yet it was only the lightest flutter, and Qin Yiqiu almost failed to notice it.
[Congratulations, Host! Affection meter increased by another 0.2!]
The System's voice rang out in Luoyun Huan's mind. She couldn't figure out what she had just done to earn two whole points of affection.
"That may be what you say, but I forced you nonetheless."
Qin Yiqiu pondered carefully. Those ice-blue eyes of hers were breathtakingly beautiful; after all, in this novel, the author either spent time writing smut or was on the way to writing smut, and whenever they stopped, it was only to describe the appearances of the supporting characters and the protagonists.
Her crisp voice fell like pearls landing on a jade plate. Even though she didn't speak loudly, every word could be heard clearly throughout the entire room.
"Really, it's fine."
Luoyun Huan shook her head.
"Then Eldest Senior Sister, get some good rest. I'm heading back to my room. If you need anything, just call for me."
Luoyun Huan practically fled in a panic. Even though she had raised Eldest Senior Sister's affection meter, it came hand in hand with her own downfall.
Pressing her palm against her chest, Luoyun Huan couldn't understand why this feeling of palpitation was so intense.
...
The Yunjian Mountain Sect, atop the mountain peak.
There was a small courtyard here. While the courtyard wasn't particularly large, every single detail within it was refined and elegant.
"Senior Brother."
The head of Spring Breeze Hall pushed open the courtyard gate with hurried steps and saw a man in green robes sitting inside the courtyard. Before his pavilion lay a clear pond where koi fish swam to and fro, every single one of them exceptionally plump.
If Luoyun Huan had been present, she surely would have complained that every last one of them looked like stuffed chicken wings brought back to life.
"Junior Brother, what has you in such a rush?"
The man looked up.
He still maintained the appearance of his middle-aged years, a picture of a fresh breeze and a bright moon. Yet unlike Qin Yiqiu's chilling aura, although the sect leader possessed an elegant demeanor, he was a textbook example of a smiling tiger.
"Yiqiu's cultivation has run into a snag."
The man's eyes widened, and the fish food in his hand spilled entirely into the pond, sending the koi into a frenzy of competition.
"Now that is a troublesome matter."
"That's not the most urgent part. When I went over, the way she looked at a certain woman was completely wrong."
The man crossed his arms and straightened his posture. He had known this day would come for his disciple.
He simply hadn't expected it to arrive so soon. Qin Yiqiu was not even a hundred years old yet; in the eyes of old fellows like them who were thousands or even nearing ten thousand years old, she was still a young woman beyond compare.
"It's a Love Tribulation..."
The man propped his cheek on one hand and fell into troubled thought. Practicing the Heartless Dao meant encountering countless tribulations throughout one's lifetime.
For instance, familial affection; for instance, the karmic ties binding one to this mortal world.
Yet a Love Tribulation was a trial that could be either simple or complex. For someone whose ties of affection ran shallow, cutting away one's red thread of fate took nothing more than a single thought.
But for someone deeply attached and devoted to a romantic bond? That, perhaps, was the most difficult shackle of all.
"Senior Brother, why don't I strike first and eliminate that woman?"
Seeing that the sect leader remained silent for a long time, the Spring Breeze Hall master spoke up anxiously.
"Yiqiu is your successor; nothing can be allowed to go wrong."
If other disciples in the sect violated the commandments slightly, they violated them; at most, they would just receive a harsh punishment. But absolutely nothing could be allowed to happen to Qin Yiqiu.
The Yunjian Mountain Sect was founded upon the Heartless Formula, but because the technique was exceptionally perilous, only one or two disciples could be chosen each year to practice it.
Moreover, many would stagnate when their cultivation reached the third or fourth stages, running into their own tribulations or Inner Demons.
"I know. But if an outsider interferes, karmic entanglement will follow."
The sect leader slowly raised his head.
"Junior Brother, leave this matter alone for now. I want to see just how far Yiqiu can go on her own."
If possible, as her master, he still hoped his disciple could endure it through her own strength rather than having him step in to resolve this tribulation.
Incurring too much karma was detrimental to the cultivation of the Heartless Formula.