Even If You're My Senior, It's Still Forbidden - Chapter 39

The surroundings shifted rapidly. Ji Weining took Su Jin’an’s hand, and they arrived inside a thatched cottage, which then transformed into an elegant wooden house.

“You, how did you take human form?” A panicked voice escaped Xu Huan’s lips as she stood up from the bed, elbows slightly spread, knees bent as she stared at the figure on the floor.

“Mas… Master.”

From their perspective, they could only see a naked back, curled up and crawling at Xu Huan’s feet, looking up at her.

Xu Huan swiftly grabbed the quilt behind her and wrapped it around the figure, then lifted her by the waist and placed her on the bed.

The next moment, Tan Yan tried to throw off the quilt, but Ji Weining quickly turned around to block Su Jin’an’s view.

Su Jin’an also fumbled to cover Ji Weining’s eyes.

“Are you afraid I’ll see something, Senior Sister?” Su Jin’an leaned in closer.

Tan Yan’s voice continued, “Master, don’t you like me like this?”

“Stop! I’ll go find you some clothes.” The sound of tearing fabric followed, and Xu Huan’s voice was clearly flustered.

Ji Weining became even more determined not to let go of Su Jin’an’s eyes, retorting confidently, “I’m not. I just think we should give them some space.”

“Tan Yan isn’t afraid to let us see, but Senior Sister is?” Su Jin’an laughed, completely unfazed, her warm breath brushing against Ji Weining’s face.

A damp sensation spread across her neck as she felt Su Jin’an nuzzle against it. She released her hold on Su Jin’an’s eyes and embraced her instead.

The surroundings brightened as the environment shifted once more, and only then did Ji Weining let go of her eyes.

She clearly realized, she had corrupted Su Jin’an.

“I’ve corrupted you,” Ji Weining said helplessly.

Su Jin’an posed a soul-searching question, “Is this considered corruption?”

A good question, one she didn’t know how to answer. After thinking for a while, she replied, “Well, not really?”

“Then it must be good,” Su Jin’an tilted her head slightly to meet Ji Weining’s gaze and asked again, “Doesn’t Senior Sister like good things?”

“I suppose, I do.” Su Jin’an’s words seemed to jolt Ji Weining awake. She bent down and pressed a restrained kiss to Su Jin’an’s lips, then cupped her face and said dejectedly, “But not now.”

“Mm.” Su Jin’an released her and looked around.

“Master, there are so many people here,” Tan Yan exclaimed, running in barefoot and throwing herself at Xu Huan’s feet.

Xu Huan had no temper left to deal with her. “I’ve told you, you don’t need to call me Master. You’re a mature cat now.”

“Master, Master, Master.” Tan Yan clearly paid no attention to her words and continued to chant.

Having lost count of how many times she’d tried to correct her, Xu Huan finally gave up and let her be.

“Put on your shoes,” Xu Huan pointed to the shoes on the floor, signaling Tan Yan to wear them.

“No.”

Xu Huan had long since seen through her nature and pulled another pair of shoes from her sleeve.

“I embroidered them,” she said awkwardly.

Tan Yan’s eyes lit up at the words.

“Wear them.”

“They’re a bit ugly,” Su Jin’an couldn’t help but comment upon seeing the shoes. The garish colors made it hard to tell they were even shoes at best, they could be described as shoe covers.

“True,” Ji Weining agreed, then asked, “Do you want some? I’ll make you a prettier pair.”

Su Jin’an flatly refused, “I think it’s better to just buy it.”

Ji Weining swallowed back what she was about to say. It was true she had never made such things before and couldn’t guarantee whether they would be comfortable to wear. If they turned out like Xu Huan’s creations, that would be quite bad, it would mean losing face in front of her junior sister.

“Tan Yan said many people have come here,” Su Jin’an remarked, not dwelling on the previous matter but noting what Tan Yan had mentioned earlier.

“Mm,” Ji Weining agreed, having heard it as well. She speculated softly, “With so many people around, it’s likely this is where the descent into demonic ways begins?”

They still didn’t know enough about Xu Huan and could only infer from their conversations.

“But how exactly did Tan Yan take human form?” Su Jin’an couldn’t figure this out.

“Through the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and also because Xu Huan possesses a magical artifact.”

Given the abundant spiritual energy here, it wasn’t impossible to absorb it into one’s body. However, Su Jin’an currently had little understanding of magical artifacts.

“Can you tell what kind of artifact it is?”

“No, I can only confirm it’s related to Tan Yan’s transformation.”

In an instant, everything around them vanished.

They had no idea where they were now surrounded by pitch black, without a single glimmer of light.

“I heard she’s that immortal’s servant,” a voice said, likely belonging to a man.

Another voice nearby sounded skeptical, “Is that so?”

“Of course, I even heard her call that immortal ‘Master.'”

“Was Tan Yan kidnapped?” Trapped in her illusion, they had no way to rescue her, and this was all in the past.

“It seems so,” Ji Weining said, tightening her grip on Su Jin’an’s hand slightly.

Though they couldn’t see their surroundings, the sounds around them amplified endlessly. If they were truly ordinary mortals, their ears would be aching from the noise.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

A whip cracked against the ground.

“She’s being disobedient.”

They clearly heard Tan Yan’s muffled sobs she was struggling, trying to break free. The whip probably hadn’t struck her yet.

“Aren’t you afraid of angering that immortal?”

“Anyway, they’ll all be ours soon.”

“Do you think refining them into elixirs would grant us immortality?”

“You certainly have big ambitions,” Xu Huan’s voice cut in.

The next voice carried a soothing tone, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

“You, who are you?” Panicked retreats followed, the whip clattering to the floor as they became helpless lambs.

“Ah!”

A sharp scream, the last sound from those two.

Gradually, their vision cleared, and Xu Huan’s face came into view. “Master.”

“I told you not to call me that. Now do you understand why?” Xu Huan’s eyes were red, dark energy swirling around her.

Tan Yan tried to throw herself into her arms but was harshly pushed away.

“You’re dirty.”

“Xiao Yan, I practice the Asura Path.”

Su Jin’an asked, “What is the Asura Path?”

Ji Weining replied, “The path of bloodlust that is the Asura.”

“I’ve killed many people,” Xu Huan said, watching as Tan Yan’s eyes widened and she backed away, not wanting her to see her in this state.

“Only then did I gain this spiritual power,” she continued, trying to make Tan Yan afraid.

Ji Weining added, “The Asura Path is also the easiest path to demonic cultivation.”

Now I understand how she fell into demonic cultivation. The Path of Asura eliminates worldly evils, but her dao heart was in chaos she no longer saw those evils as evils.

“Then the people you killed must have all been bad, right?” Tan Yan didn’t understand these complexities; all she knew was that she had saved her.

A bitter smile touched Xu Huan’s lips. She didn’t even know how to respond to her question. “Yes and no.”

Because good and evil are often not absolute. In the end, she could no longer distinguish whether those she killed were good or evil. After each kill, she had Arou ferry their souls. When her cultivation stagnated, she created this peach blossom forest.

“You’re so hot, do you have a fever?” Tan Yan rushed toward her again, this time making contact.

“It’s the demonic energy inside me. I can no longer suppress it.” Black energy erupted in an instant.

Tan Yan held her helplessly. “It won’t happen, it won’t happen.”

“Master has always been powerful this time is no different.”

A tear fell from the corner of Xu Huan’s eye. “Xiao Yan, may I kiss you?”

Ah, so this was what Tan Yan didn’t want them to see.

The illusion shattered, and the array on the ground began to manifest.

The core of the secret realm.

A single strike would shatter the realm.

They could leave, but the question Tan Yan posed to them was: did they want Xu Huan to live?

Had Xu Huan done anything wrong?

“Junior Sister, Hua Rong is also in danger.” She couldn’t explain why, but her intuition told her that Hua Rong wouldn’t be able to outwit someone as ancient as Tan Yan.

“Hmm?”

“Does Junior Sister think Xu Huan was wrong?”

Su Jin’an shook her head.

It wasn’t exactly wrong. In these memories, she hadn’t seen Xu Huan kill anyone unjustly. On the contrary, she had provided a place of peace for the people of Taoyuan Town only to attract arrogant fools one day.

“Senior Sister, the spirit pearl.”

A spirit pearl descended from above another array. Everything was connected to the array tied to Xu Huan’s life. To touch it was to gamble with Xu Huan’s fate. What a gambler and yet, she had won. They wouldn’t kill her.

“And Junior Sister’s answer.”

“Does Senior Sister want to know?” Su Jin’an’s heart was calm.

“Of course I want to know. I want to see what little secrets you’ve been hiding from me.”

The scroll and the spirit pearl quickly fell into their hands.

Su Jin’an opened the scroll. Inside was the life story of that artifact forger, though it was only a brief line.

Leng Qiudie, originally a disciple of Qingheng Mountain, later joined Mingnan Sect to forge artifacts. After the fall of Mingnan Sect, she was taken in by the Su family as a guest elder.

That one line carried immense weight. She hadn’t expected so many connections to Qingheng Mountain.

“Does Senior Sister remember her?” Regarding Qingheng Mountain, Su Jin’an could only think to ask Ji Weining.

Ji Weining shrugged. “No.”

Qingheng Mountain had countless disciples, it was impossible to remember them all.

She comforted, “But if that’s the case, it makes sense that a sword forged by her would remain at Qingheng Mountain. At least we have some direction now. After all, we know her name now.”

Having a direction was better than wandering aimlessly.

“Enough, let’s refine this spirit pearl first.” Su Jin’an knew clearly that the matter of Leng Qiudie couldn’t be rushed. She had never felt so clear-headed before.

As she spoke, Ji Weining began to control the spirit pearl, releasing Su Jin’an’s hand that she had been gripping tightly.

“Let’s begin.”

Su Jin’an also formed hand seals. Over the past few days, she had seen this in books, and Ji Weining had also taught her how to refine the spirit pearl. Now that she saw the spirit pearl, she understood even more clearly how to refine it, it shouldn’t be too different from alchemy. The flame in her mind reappeared.

As the incantation began, Su Jin’an swiftly drew the spirit pearl into her body, then levitated in mid-air, sitting cross-legged in meditation.

Ji Weining clapped her hands lightly; her task was now complete.

All that remained was to wait for Su Jin’an to refine the spirit pearl on her own.

With nothing else to do, Ji Weining rummaged through her Qiankun pouch for some snacks. When she opened it, she found a note inside?

Left by Hua Rong?

“After bidding farewell, I trouble Immortal Ji to keep the promise as agreed.”

It seemed so.

What promise? Ji Weining casually crumpled the note into a ball and tossed it back into the Qiankun pouch.

Watching the spirit pearl gradually merge within her junior sister’s body, Ji Weining realized that ten days had unknowingly passed. The spirit pearl had fused, and the secret realm was about to open.

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