The Ice-Cold Beauty Senior Sister Keeps Falling for Her Own Theories - Chapter 25

The first to respond was the only elder among the group not wearing a Daoist robe, an elderly woman leaning on a pearwood cane carved with a dragon’s head. She wobbled her way from the back of the crowd to the front.

“Haha, it’s not quite right to say that. As a personal weapon, the Bixin Sword is indeed, as you say, a matter of individual concern. But as the sole divine artifact from ancient times, it’s far more than just someone’s personal sword. On a smaller scale, it holds immense significance for the entire cultivation world, an indispensable asset in our struggle against the demonic race, crucial to the interests of all cultivators. On a larger scale, a divine weapon like this is tied to the fate of all living beings in this realm and the delicate balance among humans, immortals, and demons. Don’t you agree, young friend?”

Feng Jie watched her smiling face and couldn’t help muttering under her breath, “You just want to seize the divine sword! Such twisted logic…”

Whether the elderly woman heard her or not, she circled the group of elders with her cane, the rhythmic tapping of her stick strangely soothing to the mind.

“How about this? The matter of the Bixin Sword is of great importance. I’ve already informed the Alliance Leader. Why don’t we all discuss this later? Blocking a junior like this is hardly appropriate.”

She turned her gaze to Dao Xuanzi. “After all, the sword’s owner is a disciple of Bixia Sect. It’s not as if she’ll vanish into thin air with the divine artifact.”

“Elder Dan speaks wisely. This is indeed the proper course of action.”

“What do the rest of you think?”

She smiled amiably at the other elders.

“Yes, the Alliance Leader hasn’t arrived yet. We were too hasty and overstepped.”

Many stepped forward to voice their agreement.

“And what about you, young friend?”

She turned her inquiring gaze to Gongsun Muhan, the owner of the Bixin Sword.

Instead of answering, Gongsun Muhan looked at Feng Jie, after all, it was her junior sister who had found the sword first.

Seeing this, Elder Dan, Hu Xinzi, smiled knowingly and addressed Feng Jie again. “What do you think, young friend?”

Feng Jie’s eyes darted shrewdly as she pondered for a moment before replying, “Fine, no problem.”

Inwardly, she thought, You’re definitely plotting something big. I know this is just a delaying tactic.

Elder Dan noticed the lingering hostility in Feng Jie’s eyes. She shook her head slightly, smiled and nodded at Gongsun Muhan, then led the group of elders back to Bixia Sect’s guest peak.

Dao Xuanzi and the others didn’t linger either. After giving a few instructions about regrouping, they also returned to their peaks.

Soon, only the younger disciples of Bixia Sect remained on the scene.

Chang Yuru, who had been assigned to assist with reorganizing the outer sect, stayed behind.

She had heard from her subordinates that Gongsun Muhan’s residence had been destroyed during the demonic cultivators’ attack. Those savage beasts, always eager for a chance to unleash their fury, had rushed in and even knocked over the thatched cottage where Gongsun Muhan lived.

She turned to Gongsun Muhan and invited, “Senior Sister, your residence hasn’t been restored yet. Why not come with me to the outer peak? There are still some empty rooms there.”

“As expected of Senior Sister Chang… She never seemed particularly close to Gongsun Muhan before. But now that she’s heard Gongsun Muhan’s cultivation has recovered and she’s bonded with the Bixin Sword, she’s quick to cozy up to her…”

As soon as she finished speaking, an elder sister disciple flicked her head lightly. “What Gongsun Muhan? That’s the head sister disciple!”

…

Most of the outer sect disciples present whispered among themselves. Sister Chang truly lived up to being their head outer sect disciple. It seemed that besides being decisive in battle, her ability to assess situations and read the atmosphere was something they all needed to learn…

Gongsun Muhan didn’t speak. She gave a slight nod in acknowledgment. Her residence had originally been at the foot of the outer peak, and as a spirit beast caretaker, she fell under the jurisdiction of the outer sect. Now that her dwelling was destroyed, staying temporarily in the outer peak wasn’t inappropriate.

But Feng Jie, standing nearby, thought this wouldn’t do at all.

She remembered how she hadn’t been allowed to live with the head sister disciple before. Although the head sister disciple didn’t live with Chang Yuru either, how could she let the head sister disciple go with Chang Yuru now!

“Head sister disciple, how can you go with her? If your house is damaged, you can stay with me!”

As she spoke, Feng Jie tried to pull Gongsun Muhan along with her.

She couldn’t move her.

Gongsun Muhan gently freed her hand. “You should go back first.”

“Huh?”

Is the head sister disciple not close with me anymore? Feng Jie suddenly felt a pang of fear.

“Why, head sister disciple? Don’t you want to stay with me?”

This time Gongsun Muhan answered quickly. “No.”

“Then-”

“It’s inconvenient.”

Seeing how Gongsun Muhan frowned and cut her off, Feng Jie felt deeply uncomfortable. What inconvenience? You just don’t want to be close with me!

For some reason, a sudden wave of bitterness welled up in Feng Jie’s heart. Feeling frustrated, she let out a soft humph and turned away.

She thought Gongsun Muhan would take back her words and decide to go with her instead.

But after waiting for a while, all she saw was the sister disciple who had been distributing elixirs with her earlier approaching. With a helpless smile, the disciple patted her head and said, “Little sister disciple, they’ve already gone far away.”

Hearing this, Feng Jie turned around indignantly and indeed only saw the retreating backs of the outer sect disciples. Particularly conspicuous was that tall, bamboo-like figure in pale green.

“Let’s go back together. There’s still much to handle in the inner sect, and you should rest early too.”

Feng Jie pursed her lips and took a deep breath, barely suppressing the urge to drag Gongsun Muhan back.

“The revolution hasn’t succeeded yet, comrade! More effort is needed!”

A voice that sounded like Shabi laughing uncontrollably reached her ears.

“Shut up!”

Feng Jie was burning with inexplicable anger at that moment. Her rationality was completely poisoned, and she forgot about her earlier intention to question Shabi about the intimate mission linked to punishment upon seeing her.

She followed silently beside Sister Wei Qing, looking as wilted as a frosted eggplant.

Wei Qing couldn’t stand it any longer and was curious.

“Little sister disciple, did you have a fight with Gongsun Muhan? Otherwise, why would she-” Didn’t you say before that you two were getting along well…

“I don’t know!”

“She’s a bad person!”

“She suddenly started ignoring me for no reason. Why won’t she stay with me? I like her so much, and I invited her twice! She still wouldn’t come!”

“Humph!”

Wei Qing coughed several times, suppressing the smile at the corner of her mouth, and seriously analyzed, “In my opinion, it might be a tactic!”

Feng Jie perked up, lifting her head. “A tactic?”

“Yes!”

“Junior sister, let me tell you,” Senior Sister Wei Qing said, “even though both are women, the template for emotional exchange remains unchanged. I’ve read plenty of such storybooks, so I’m all too familiar with this scenario. In situations like this, aren’t you thinking about her? Isn’t your heart burning with anxiety? Don’t you want to push her down and demand answers from her?”

Feng Jie carefully put herself in that position, she did feel that way. “Yes.”

“Exactly!”

“Do you want to know how to break the deadlock?”

“I do.”

Wei Qing smirked mischievously and crooked a finger at Feng Jie, signaling her to come closer.

“There’s only one way, sailing against the current!”

“Huh?”

Seeing Feng Jie’s confusion, Wei Qing shot her a look of exasperation. “Have you heard of ‘forcing oneself upon the king’?”

Feng Jie nodded blankly. “I have, but isn’t that-” Doesn’t that not apply to her and her senior sister?

Before she could finish her question, Wei Qing cut her off. “Junior sister, you’re just too young. The words may be crude, but the reasoning isn’t. Think about it, isn’t she inexplicably pushing you away? That’s just a test! She wants you to be more assertive! Right now, she’s like the river. It may seem like you’re sailing against the current, but deep down, she wants you to push forward. It’s just her nature, she seems like she’s pushing you away, but trust me, just go for it!”

Feng Jie pondered this carefully. The senior sister did have a cold demeanor, appearing aloof and distant, but perhaps she truly wanted Feng Jie to get closer and be good friends. Otherwise, why would her ears have turned red when Feng Jie hugged her back then…

The two shared a knowing smile. Feng Jie thought to herself that she now had a theoretical guide to winning over Gongsun Muhan and could build a good relationship with her. Wei Qing, on the other hand, thought gleefully that after reading so many romance novels about women and learning so many techniques to charm fairies, she finally had an experimental subject to observe.

Somehow, their wavelengths aligned perfectly.

Wei Qing was eager to impart all the relationship and “angling” techniques she knew to her junior sister, but all roads must come to an end. Before long, they had reached the inner peak.

Wei Qing escorted Feng Jie to her courtyard and, before leaving, made sure to remind her, “Little junior sister, don’t forget to give it a try!”

Feng Jie considered the feasibility of the plan, it seemed promising. With determination, she nodded. “Okay!”

“Then tomorrow, see you tomorrow! I’ll bring you the secret manual I’ve hidden in the seam of my bed!”

With that, Wei Qing left, satisfied, already looking forward to collecting her experimental results the next day.

At the same time, Gongsun Muhan had also returned to the outer peak.

However, Chang Yuru mentioned some complicated procedures, delaying her for quite a while before she could finally head back to her room.

Compared to the relaxed atmosphere on Feng Jie’s side, the mood around Gongsun Muhan was noticeably heavier.

Earlier, the elder from the Danwen Pavilion had indeed intended to help her, but it was clear he had his own considerations.

Although it seemed like all the elders had left, from that moment on, Gongsun Muhan never lost the feeling of being watched by multiple pairs of eyes.

On her way back, she overheard from the outer disciples’ conversation that Lu Hu had died, chased by demonic bees into the sect, he was devoured until only his skeleton remained. Lu Yishu, however, had narrowly escaped. It was likely that when Tan Feng used his spiritual power to expel the severed vines, some residual sap had entered Lu Yishu’s system. Later, while using elixirs to cleanse impurities from his body, he inadvertently diluted the vine sap. Since the demonic bees weren’t particularly aggressive, it was entirely possible he had survived by sheer luck.

More importantly, she heard that Tan Feng had been severely injured and was recuperating at the Fifth Elder’s Peak. Rumor had it he had just regained consciousness and was already investigating how the demonic bees had suddenly invaded the sect.

Gongsun Muhan, however, wasn’t worried about his investigation. The vine sap left no trace once it entered the body, and the fact that it held a fatal attraction for demonic bees was something she had only discovered from a small handwritten note in an ancient text, likely an accidental finding by someone else. There was no way Tan Feng would uncover it.

What truly concerned her was the depth of his hostility toward her, evident from how he had deceived her into the Demon-Sealing Array.

If she stayed with Feng Jie, it wouldn’t just mean constant surveillance and latent threats for her junior sister, it could very well implicate her as well.

That was why she had said it wasn’t convenient.

But the look of disappointment on her junior sister’s face lingered in her mind.

Gongsun Muhan closed the door, not bothering to light a candle. She opened the window and sat by the table.

The sky had darkened, the shifting clouds hiding the stars deep within their folds, leaving only a solitary full moon hanging in the vast expanse.

Did I make the wrong choice? Should I have explained everything to her? But if I had, she would have been even less willing to part ways with me, wouldn’t she?

After all, she once said she would protect me no matter what…

Moonlight streamed in, casting shadows before the window. Gongsun Muhan sat there, watching the moon slowly drift past the treetops and eaves, lost in thought.

Suddenly, the shadows at her feet shifted and overlapped, and a long, stretched-out shadow emerged from the depths of the room.

“Who’s there?”