My Senior Sister Says She Will Marry No One But Me - Chapter 22.1

Du Yunge was burning with curiosity: “So, you’re saying my Senior Sister Xue also has such a token?”

“Of course,” Feng Chengchun replied, reaching out to pull the book from under Du Yunge’s elbow and carefully putting it away before smiling. “If the Sect Leader truly wishes to know, why not ask Shuyan herself? She has never kept anything from you.”

Du Yunge immediately decided she would ask Xue Shuyan that very night whether she too possessed such a token. Given Xue Shuyan’s upright and self-disciplined nature, it was impossible for her to treat something as serious as marriage lightly. This meant that if what He Zhenzhen had said in her previous life that “Xue Shuyan married the Saintess of the Wuzhaka tribe” was true, then this token had likely already been given to that Saintess. All that remained was to find the right moment to leave Miaoyin Sect and live or die together with her. If He Zhenzhen had been lying, then simply seeing the token still safely in Xue Shuyan’s possession would put Du Yunge’s mind at ease!

At the moment, Xue Shuyan was probably still practicing swordplay with Yun Anxue or handling matters that required her imposing presence and meticulous mind. Although Du Yunge knew that if she insisted on seeing her, Xue Shuyan would undoubtedly drop everything to meet her junior sister and sect leader, Du Yunge was not the type to selfishly inconvenience others for her own desires. So, she decided to wait patiently until evening, when there would be no interruptions, to ask Xue Shuyan, who slept in the outer chamber whether she truly had such a token and if it had already been given away.

However, that night, despite her firm resolve to “see that token, whatever animal tooth it might be,” Du Yunge completely failed to carry out her plan for a simple reason:

She couldn’t resist the onslaught of sleepiness and dozed off early.

Truly, man proposes, but heaven disposes.

Yet, perhaps because “thoughts by day become dreams by night,” Du Yunge’s dreams that evening were particularly restless. What unsettled her even more was that, despite having been reborn and fully accepting this fact, her dreams.

Still revolved around her previous life.

It might have been because Du Yunge had already died in that world, but the perspective of tonight’s dream was different from all her previous ones. In the past, whether her dreams were joyful or nightmares, they had always unfolded from her own point of view. This allowed her to wake up still feeling the lingering emotions from the dream. Her maids would occasionally tease her, saying things like, “Sect Leader, you laughed in your sleep last night must have been a good dream!” But tonight’s dream was clearly different:

She was floating above everyone.

Du Yunge thought this was exactly like the ghosts described in those storybooks. However, after carefully assessing her current situation, she felt a chill run down her spine, and her hairs stood on end. If ghosts and deities truly existed in this world, then her present circumstances might very well resemble those of a legendary ghost.

She realized that her hands, her legs every part of her body could pass through houses, trees, flowers, and even the people in her dream. She could go wherever she wished, yet no one could see her. Not only that, but no matter what she said or what expressions she made, no one gave her even the slightest reaction, let alone acknowledged her. In other words, the people in her dream simply could not perceive her.

Moreover, with her consciousness scattered, she could simultaneously sense the situation in He Manor, where her dream-self resided, perceive the events unfolding a thousand miles away on Mount Wangyou, and even spare a thought to observe the scenery of the grasslands beyond the frontier. She was acutely aware of two profound truths: “I have already died once” and “I am currently in a dream” realizations that should have been impossible to grasp while dreaming.

If this wasn’t the state of a ghost, then what was it? And compared to the usual fleeting and elusive dreams that are forgotten upon waking, this dream felt far too real as if it were an actual world where Du Yunge had truly died.

Suppressing her overwhelming curiosity and calming her panic, Du Yunge tried to reassure herself: It’s alright, you’re already dead. He Zhenzhen can no longer harm you. Besides, this is just a dream! Even if it were real and not a dream, an event as significant as “the sect leader of Miaoyin Sect being murdered” would surely bring Xue Shuyan back from the distant frontier!

At this point, Xue Shuyan still held a near-perfect image in Du Yunge’s mind, for she simply couldn’t imagine anything that Xue Shuyan was incapable of accomplishing.

Du Yunge had never witnessed Xue Shuyan lose control. In her presence, Xue Shuyan was always restrained and composed. No matter what happened, it never altered the perpetually indifferent expression on her face. At most, it might cause a tiny crack in her icy exterior, and only through that crack could a hint of warmth occasionally seep out, barely proving that Xue Shuyan wasn’t some puppet or mechanical doll from the Tang Sect, but a living, breathing “person.”

This Xue Shuyan, who had persevered day after day for decades in the arduous and monotonous practice of martial arts, never looked down on others despite her exceptional talent, and maintained extreme control over her emotions, remaining unshakable with a will as firm as eternal ice or celestial iron in Du Yunge’s heart, only four words could describe her:

Capable of anything.

However, it wasn’t until Xue Shuyan, clad in dark attire and drenched in blood, fought her way into Du Yunge’s mourning hall, gripping a gleaming long blade Du Yunge had never seen before, knelt before the memorial tablet inscribed with the words “Du Yunge, Sect Leader of Miaoyin Sect,” her eyes red yet unable to utter a single word, that Du Yunge truly grasped this realization:

So there really were things in this world that even the esteemed Xue Shuyan of Miaoyin Sect could not accomplish.

She looked more closely and noticed that Xue Shuyan’s dark attire wasn’t originally dark, it was the deep cyan she usually wore, now completely soaked in blood. No, wait! Blood-soaked clothing would at most turn brownish; how could it dye deep cyan fabric black?

Du Yunge suddenly gasped sharply as the only, and most horrifying, possibility dawned on her:

Unless Xue Shuyan hadn’t merely walked in she had fought her way through countless people blocking her path outside.

Only by slaughtering her way through could so much splattered blood layer upon layer dye the deep cyan garment nearly black, and only then would even someone of Xue Shuyan’s caliber show the faintest signs of exhaustion.

As if to confirm Du Yunge’s speculation, a faint clapping sound suddenly echoed through the hall that should have been empty.

Under normal circumstances, even if Du Yunge and He Zhenzhen hadn’t adopted a child from another family or taken in a suitable orphan from Futian Garden as an heir, and even if the mourning descendants weren’t present, there should still have been people from He Manor and Miaoyin Sect keeping vigil. This was to ensure that the departed sect leader wouldn’t be too lonely on her journey to the underworld.

But now, the vast mourning hall was eerily empty. If Du Yunge focused, she could even hear Xue Shuyan’s slightly ragged and hurried breathing clear evidence of the fierce battle she had just endured. Otherwise, Xue Shuyan, renowned as a “once-in-a-generation martial arts genius,” would never have been in such a disheveled state. The voice that followed the clapping further confirmed Du Yunge’s suspicions:

“What an impressive Xue Shuyan. What a loyal and highly skilled deputy sect leader of Miaoyin Sect!”

He Zhenzhen, dressed in vibrant red martial attire, her long hair styled intricately and adorned with twelve golden hairpins, emerged from behind the plain white curtains. Clapping her hands, she smiled and said:

“I underestimated you.”

Her smile was enchantingly charming, yet the cold gleam in her eyes was venomous, like a beautiful serpent that had taken human form, a highly poisonous one at that. Even though Du Yunge knew He Zhenzhen couldn’t see her or harm her now, she couldn’t help but shudder at the sheer malice in those eyes.

Xue Shuyan slowly sheathed her blade, her cold gaze fixed on He Zhenzhen, not uttering a single word as if she were looking at a corpse on the verge of its last breath.

To be fair, Xue Shuyan’s glare was clearly more terrifying, yet Du Yunge still felt her senior sister was reliable, the pressure she exerted not even half of what He Zhenzhen brought. Whether it was because they had been together for so long that Xue Shuyan had lost all intimidation in Du Yunge’s eyes, or because Du Yunge’s death at He Zhenzhen’s hands had left a lingering shadow, the fear remained.

Under Xue Shuyan’s icy gaze, He Zhenzhen couldn’t help but shiver. But He Zhenzhen was no ordinary person merely excessively cunning and ruthless. The fact that she hadn’t fled in panic under such a stare spoke volumes about her thick skin, quick composure, and exceptional acting skills:

“I truly never imagined that when this news reached you, you should have been in the frontier, enjoying newlywed bliss with your wife. Yet here you are, having rushed back without rest, galloping through day and night, and still having the strength to fight through the nearly three thousand elite soldiers I stationed outside He Manor. Vice Sect Leader Xue, your skills are truly remarkable. You must have cut your way through without holding back, didn’t you?”

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