My Demon Lord Junior Sister Is Pretending to Be Good to Seduce Me - Chapter 32

It was only then that Miss Mu was willing to get out of bed. She walked over to help up her “frail” Senior Sister, unwrapped the gauze that was bleeding through, and carefully applied ointment to the wound.

Lin Yumo looked down at her. That beautiful face held a trace of worry, which was because she was concerned about her.

She gazed out the window, feeling a bit of private joy in her heart.

A white light, like the belly of a fish, rose on the horizon. Xiao Tang walked past beneath the window and glanced at Lin Yumo.

Lin Yumo’s train of thought broke. She pursed her lips and gave a slight nod, a gesture of thanks to Xiao Tang.

Her gaze moved from the window frame back inside, falling upon Mu Xuewei’s hair, where a halo of light encircled her, giving her a hazy and ethereal beauty.

And this beauty was stolen by Lin Yumo.

Mu Xuewei, what am I to do with you?

…

Standing under the pear blossom tree, Xiao Tang suddenly turned to Wei Qingyi: “When you took her as your disciple, did you already know she was from the Demon Race?”

Wei Qingyi stood with her arms crossed, showing no intention of answering.

Xiao Tang said, “You went to the Immortal-Demon War with Xu Mo and the others. I guess you must have seen a very special person. With eyes just like that little girl’s.”

“Isn’t that right?”

“From the moment you noticed her eyes, you knew everything.”

Wei Qingyi smiled and let her crossed arms relax. “I didn’t know.”

Xiao Tang raised a hand and snapped off a dead branch of the pear blossom tree, playing with it in her hand. “Then I’ll tell you now. She is of the Demon Race. The Demon Race’s heritage flows within her body.”

Wei Qingyi stood with her hands behind her back. “I know nothing.”

She emphasized it again.

Wei Qingyi’s hand fell upon the Jade Bamboo Sword, and she spoke faintly, “That is a thousand-year-old pear blossom branch. Since you broke it, remember to compensate me.”

“Clatter,” the pear blossom branch in Xiao Tang’s hand snapped into two pieces again. “That good disciple of mine from Hundred Herbs Valley has been corrupted by you. How do you plan to compensate me?”

Shen Zhuli, who had been sitting at the table, secretly listening to the two revered masters’ conversation, suddenly felt a chill down her spine. How did…

How did the conversation, after all that, turn to her?

“She did it willingly. Does she expect me to take responsibility?” Wei Qingyi countered, “I haven’t even calculated how much rice she’s eaten for free in my Purple Bamboo Forest.”

Shen Zhuli felt a pang of sadness. Her Master said she was eating free food, boo hoo…

She, Shen Zhuli, had money, looks, and figure—how could she not catch her Master’s eye? Dammit!

Xiao Tang tapped the pear blossom tree with her fingertip. In just a moment, the tree burst into a magnificent profusion of white blossoms.

She and Wei Qingyi looked up simultaneously at the full-blooming tree, inhaling the scent of the blossoms. They smiled lightly and tacitly at each other, neither speaking.

…

In the first month of another year, a snow fell upon the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Light as willow catkins.

Lin Yumo, dressed in martial attire, stood beneath the eaves, her gaze extending from the thin snow at her feet to the distance—the white-covered walls, the bamboo branches weighed down by snow.

Mu Xuewei came out from inside, bringing a large cloak which she draped over her Senior Sister, fastening it for her.

Lin Yumo stood there without speaking, merely looking down at Mu Xuewei’s earnest expression.

She pursed her lips, unsure what to say for a moment.

This is wonderful, she thought.

If only it could stay like this forever.

Mount Xuanling remaining Mount Xuanling, and Mu Xuewei remaining Mu Xuewei.

She tilted her head slightly, catching a tear in a place where Mu Xuewei couldn’t see, then pretending nothing was amiss, she turned to face the courtyard.

She stretched out a hand to catch the falling snow outside the eaves, and quietly said, “Mu Xuewei, it’s snowing.”

In her peripheral vision, Mu Xuewei turned her head to look at her, taking a moment to react before finally placing her own hand on Lin Yumo’s cool fingertips. “Senior Sister, it’s snowing.”

We will watch many snowfalls together in the Purple Bamboo Forest, won’t we?

Lin Yumo’s gaze drifted up to the sky, a pale expanse, and her thoughts, like the falling snow, returned to dust.

She thought: If only this time could last a little longer.

This was the first time she believed in fate, and the first time she prayed to the gods.

The snow on the large gate of the Purple Bamboo Forest scattered down as Shen Zhuli pushed the door open, carrying a pile of small red boxes.

“Senior Sister Lin! Junior Sister Mu!”

She strode in, leaving a trail of footprints in the pristine courtyard.

She passed the porch where Lin Yumo stood, then suddenly stopped and asked, “I wonder, Senior Sister Lin, do you have a courtesy name?”

In the mortal world, girls would be given a courtesy name after coming of age, but cultivators didn’t adhere to that tradition.

Lin Yumo shook her head. “No one has ever given me a courtesy name.”

“But I do,” Shen Zhuli said with a mischievous smile. “I hope that from now on, Senior Sister Lin and Junior Sister Mu will not call me by my given name, but by my courtesy name.”

“My courtesy name is Shi Niang: shi from ‘poetic sentiment’ (shiqing huayi), and niang from ’empress/lady’ (niangniang).”

Mu Xuewei slightly raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly. “Sister Shen, how is it that I never knew you had such a courtesy name?”

Shen Zhuli, still smiling, narrowed her eyes at Mu Xuewei, the look meaning: You dare expose me, and you’re finished.

“Shi Niang (Poetic Lady), that is a lovely name,” Lin Yumo said. “Very well, I shall call you Shen Shi Niang from now on!”

Shen Zhuli nodded enthusiastically, then, satisfied, walked toward Wei Qingyi’s room, not forgetting to leave one red box for Lin Yumo and Mu Xuewei before she left.

Inside, wrapped in red paper, were wedding candies.

Lin Yumo watched Shen Zhuli’s eager rush toward her Master’s back, her mind still dwelling on Shen Zhuli’s name.

Shi Niang… Shi Niang…

Shiniang (Master’s Wife)!

???

My Master’s wife?

Well, I’ll be. Shen Zhuli! I treated you as a Junior Sister, but you want to be my Master’s Wife!!!

…

The cold winter passed, willow catkins drifted, and the pear blossoms in the Purple Bamboo Forest opened—this time, they bloomed naturally, without human aid.

The cold spring water flowed out to the ravine beyond the Purple Bamboo Forest, where there was a vast body of water. Lin Yumo tapped her toes upon the river surface, holding a pear blossom branch in her hand.

Mu Xuewei held the Yangshan Snow (Sword), the sunlight shining on it, and the shimmering waves on the water surface caused the sword’s blade to look as if it were covered in starlight.

“Senior Sister, be careful.” Mu Xuewei pointed her sword at Lin Yumo, the tip slightly raised, fixed on the position of Lin Yumo’s heart.

Lin Yumo held the pear blossom branch behind her back with her right hand. “Sister Xue’er, you tell me to be careful every day, but you still haven’t won once.”

Mu Xuewei tilted her head back and thrust her sword toward Lin Yumo.

Lin Yumo’s robes twirled, dodging the attack. The pear blossom branch lightly grazed the Yangshan Snow. A smile played on her lips as she distanced herself from Mu Xuewei.

She had to admit that Mu Xuewei was extraordinarily gifted. Even before her demonic lineage awakened, her swordsmanship had improved at an incredible speed, reaching the level of Mount Xuanling’s prodigies in less than half a year.

Mu Xuewei’s sword thrust toward her again. Lin Yumo raised the pear blossom branch to defend.

The sword and the flower branch met. It seemed calm, like a playful skirmish, yet the rippling water beneath their feet revealed the fierce force of their hidden competition.

Lin Yumo used a clever trick with the pear blossom branch. She shifted her body to the side, and power poured out. Two currents of water surged, colliding to create a splash three feet high.

Mu Xuewei was sent reeling by the spray, completely losing balance in mid-air. She flicked her wrist, and the Yangshan Snow sliced vertically across the water, carving a straight line through the two currents and kicking up water spray.

The spray splashed into the two torrents, surprisingly cleaving the water curtain in two. The Yangshan Snow followed the water curtain, its sharp gleam visible through the split in the water.

Mu Xuewei’s silk skirt shimmered in the sunlight, her white clothes suspended above the blue water. Her red earrings added a touch of vibrancy to her naturally pure face.

Lin Yumo was momentarily distracted. By the time she reacted, Mu Xuewei’s sword was almost upon her.

She had no time for any elaborate move; she simply arched an eyebrow, and the pear blossom branch in her hand met the attack.

Facing Mu Xuewei’s sword, she didn’t dodge.

Mu Xuewei didn’t dodge either.

☆

Just as the flower branch was about to pierce Mu Xuewei’s chest, Lin Yumo flipped the branch to hold it in her hand, stopping her two fingers an inch from Mu Xuewei’s heart.

Meanwhile, Mu Xuewei’s sword was already pressed against Lin Yumo’s neck.

Lin Yumo withdrew her hand and laughed, “Alas, I lost, I lost.”

“Senior Sister was distracted at the very end. Why?”

“Because… because…”

“Because I’m hungry. I want to eat the osmanthus cakes from down the mountain!” Lin Yumo put her hands behind her back and lied off the cuff.

…

In the Purple Bamboo Forest, Wei Qingyi sat by the table. Two books lay on the surface, both covers reading, Eighteen Swords (Volume One), but when opened, the contents of the first page were different.

The one on the left, gifted by Shen Zhuli, had pictures of sword forms on the first page.

The one on the right, which had been found recently, had the words “To be without love is to be divine” written on the first page.

Wei Qingyi stared coldly at the two books, comparing them back and forth, but apart from this one difference, there was nothing else.

Her fingertip traced the handwriting, her brow deeply furrowed.

She looked at the Jade Bamboo Sword hanging in the courtyard. The jade pendant that originally hung from the sword had been secretly replaced with a square, green Wushi (Safe-passage) charm with a red tassel.

“Jade Bamboo,” she called out.

The Jade Bamboo Sword flew in through the window and rested squarely in front of her, where she could examine it.

Was it truly replaced secretly by a certain someone?

Actually, no.

Wei Qingyi knew in her heart that she had seen Shen Zhuli when she came to replace the sword tassel that day; she had tacitly allowed it.

She lowered her gaze, lost in thought.

She reached out and touched the emerald green Wushi charm, her eyes passing through the pear blossom tree and resting on the bamboo in the distance.

Shen Zhuli.

Xiao Tang’s disciple.

She paused for a moment, then withdrew her gaze, flicked her sleeve, and put both books away.

Perhaps, it was yet another tacit allowance.

…

The pear blossoms bloomed densely. When Lin Yumo returned, Mu Xuewei was drinking wine under the pear blossom tree.

“Sister Xue’er, why are you drinking wine?” Lin Yumo asked as she walked toward her.

Only when Mu Xuewei was right in front of her did she realize that Mu Xuewei was completely drunk.

Her fair cheeks were flushed, and her delicate fingertips held the rim of the cup, lifting it to her mouth again.

“Hey!” Lin Yumo stopped her. “Don’t drink anymore, you’re already drunk.”

Mu Xuewei batted Lin Yumo’s hand away and filled the cup again. Her fingertip traced Lin Yumo’s lips, a smile playing on her own.

Her silver eyes flickered. She tilted her head slightly and drank the wine, holding it in her mouth.

The next moment, she lunged toward Lin Yumo, her lips covering Lin Yumo’s.

The pear blossom wine was clear, sweet, and flowed from her lips and teeth into Lin Yumo’s throat.

Warm… it’s warm…

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