That shift in emotion, however, flowed with his state of mind without him even realizing it, something utterly natural. No matter how sharp Ming Ji was, she never expected that the disciple she got along with best would have such complicated feelings inside.

She only thought Li Xun was touched and a little embarrassed, which made him seem so awkward.

She herself wasn’t used to this so-called “deeply emotional” atmosphere. So she gave a small laugh and changed the subject.

“I heard news about Ox Warrior while I was in the northwest, so I rushed back, wanting to settle things with that monster. In the end it all came to nothing. I wasted my time there for no reason. In a few days I’ll have to leave again. By the way, how long will you, ‘little lightning spirit,’ be staying on the mountain?”

That nickname, “little lightning spirit,” was one the elders of the sect had given Li Xun, meant to point out how similar his temperament was to Ming Ji’s.

Ming Ji had just tossed it out casually to ease the mood, but as soon as she said it she realized it wasn’t very appropriate, and her cheeks warmed.

Luckily, night had already fallen, and Li Xun didn’t dare raise his eyes to look at her, so the moment passed without notice.

She had shifted the topic, and Li Xun, relieved, repeated the response he had given Qingming earlier.

Hearing that, Ming Ji couldn’t help but feel a little down. “So it won’t work this time. Light a stick of incense for me before Senior Brother… Heh, the demon phoenix is top-notch and they are fighting among themselves. Another chance will come soon enough. When it does, you and I will avenge your master together.”

At that moment, Ming Ji’s old straightforwardness returned, and Li Xun naturally nodded again and again.

But after those words, the two of them found it hard to steer the conversation elsewhere, and silence fell between them.

Fortunately, a flying-sword message arrived just in time, sparing them from the awkwardness.

“Matters to discuss?? Why the rush?”

The message Ming Ji received was an order from the sect leader at the foot of the peak, instructing all cultivators of the second generation and above to gather at Undawned Clarity Hall. for a discussion.

Li Xun chuckled beside her. “Most likely the sect leader saw that everyone happened to be here for once, so he figured he might as well call a meeting.”

It was obvious who his remark was aimed at. And of course Ming Ji could tell. She shot Li Xun a glance, but didn’t really mind his cheeky tone.

Given her pace, it would still take until the next night to reach the foot of the peak. The timing was tight, and she couldn’t afford to linger any longer.

Just before leaving, Ming Ji seemed to remember something and told him, “It’s been years since I’ve seen Qi Bi. Give her my regards. Tell her not to worry so much about cultivation. If her state of mind isn’t right, then even powers that can move mountains and overturn seas won’t amount to much.”

Was that meant as comfort? Or stirring the pot? Li Xun was just about to laugh when he heard her add, “Bi’er has the best temperament, but she thinks a little too simply. As her junior brother, you should look out for her more, not make trouble for her.”

Huh? That didn’t sound like Ming Ji at all. For her to say something like this, the reason must have been something hard to put into words.

Li Xun thought for a moment, then slowly nodded, showing he had understood.

Ming Ji appreciated his sharpness, but soon pursed her lips into a smile. “If you put more of that cleverness into examining yourself, no one else would need to worry. One more thing: right now your cultivation is at a crucial stage. Some matters are best not to dwell on too much… You understand?”

As her gaze drifted, intentionally or not, past the bamboo hut, Li Xun’s heart gave a jolt. He couldn’t tell just how much she really knew.

And bringing up the subject in front of her only made him feel all the more guilty. He could only nod again, though this time there was much more pretense in it.

Ming Ji gave him a long, deep look, but said nothing more. With a wave of her hand, her figure flickered and she flew down the peak.

Watching her disappear, Li Xun vaguely recalled how, back when he first began seeing Qingyin, Ming Ji’s attitude had already struck him as strange.

Only later did he realize that Ming Ji had sensed it early on: Qingyin’s interest in him probably had more to do with his face, so strikingly similar to Jade Wanderer’s, than with anything else.

And in the end, things turned out exactly as she had predicted.

But there is no medicine for regret in this world. Even if he had known the outcome back then, would he really have been able to step away? That was far from certain.

With a bleak smile, he carefully fastened the ornament at his waist, then turned toward the bamboo hut.

By now, Qi Bi should be on her way back. He wondered what the fruit she went to pick would taste like… Hm?

All of a sudden, a feeling stirred in his heart. His thoughts shifted, and he turned his head. Just a few feet away, Yin Wanderer appeared out of thin air. She was still wearing the same female Daoist robes from days before, looking both graceful and ethereal.

The traces of Li Xun’s “mischief” from before had long since vanished without a sign. She held a scented letter in her hand and, without expression, handed it to him.

Seeing her expression, Li Xun almost thought her spiritual sense had been extinguished again.

But the moment he caught her eyes, he relaxed. How could a puppet stripped of spiritual sense ever show such a cold, brooding gaze as Yin Wanderer’s?

Casting her a glance as if by chance, Li Xun straightened his posture, raising himself up ever so slightly.

The air seemed to give off a faint, creaking sound. Yin Wanderer’s Daoist robes stirred though there was no wind. In the end, however, she lowered her eyes and placed the scented letter into Li Xun’s hand.

The silence was so heavy it made the skin crawl. Li Xun let out a breath so soft it was barely audible, his taut nerves finally easing.

Once again, he had confirmed it: the Soul-Driving, Spirit-Refining, Mind-Binding Great Technique had refine its powerful chains of law tightly enough to bind even this defiant, untamable puppet.

Was she unwilling? Good. That was exactly what he wanted.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, his mood improving at once. As for the scented letter just delivered by a secret technique, he hardly cared. What puzzled him was that they had parted only four days ago; why was there already another letter? But with just one glance at its contents, his face sank.

The letter itself didn’t sound unpleasant at all. On the contrary, the excitement practically leapt off the page. In short, it said that Qin Wanru had learned her mother was traveling with just a few subordinates and would soon return north. With so few skilled guards around, this was the perfect chance to strike and capture her.

Anyone else might have been completely baffled, but Li Xun knew the whole story inside and out, so he understood immediately.

“Madam Yu?”

He’d seen her just last month, when she had given him the task of “looking after” Xiao Zhongzi. He hadn’t expected that a month later she would still be lingering outside.

Normally that would be fine, but now that Yin Wanderer had resurfaced after her success, if she decided to strike against someone unprepared, with her ability, it would be an easy win.

No wonder Qin Wanru was so concerned about such an opportunity.

As far as Li Xun was concerned, the plan itself was sound. The timing, however, couldn’t have been worse.

Just a few days ago, and again just now, he had promised Qingming and Ming Ji that he would remain at the sect for three months, staying until after the Lin Ge ceremony before leaving. And yet here came Qin Wanru’s letter asking for help. Even if she wanted Yin Wanderer’s aid, how could he not get involved?

At that moment, Yin Wanderer’s gaze turned toward him. Remembering what was written in the letter, Li Xun raised an eyebrow and met her eyes with a cold look.

But to his surprise, when the light flickered in Yin Wanderer’s bright eyes, there was little trace of hostility or venom.

Their eyes met only briefly before she shifted her gaze away, scanning the surroundings. Her eyes darkened and brightened as if in thought, and then she let out a soft sigh. “So this is Zuowang Peak?”

Her tone was a world apart from what it had been just four days earlier.

Li Xun was puzzled by her attitude, but judging from the bond he felt with the puppet, it was true. Yin Wanderer harbored no malice at the moment. So he responded in kind, smiling a little. “That’s right. Zuowang Peak. You’ve been here before?”

“Yes. Or, as you would put it, I snuck here once.”

Her tone was calm, almost casual, as though they were making small talk. Her eyes fell on the bamboo lodge, and she smiled faintly. “Back then I saw Qingyin and knew at once she was no ordinary thinker. If I’d succeeded at the time, you probably wouldn’t have nearly as many troubles now. But alas, Zhong Yin struck me down the mountain with a single sword… Ha! What a man, that Zhong Yin.”

Li Xun couldn’t help but laugh in spite of himself.

Anyone could guess, even without thinking, that Yin Wanderer had tried to use Qingyin as leverage against Zhongyin. She had failed, and failed miserably.

Hearing about those old events carried a strange taste, but what puzzled him was: what had gotten into Yin Wanderer now?

As he wondered, she turned her face toward him with a bitter smile. “Back then, with Zhong Yin’s might pressing me to the ends of heaven and earth, I was battered and desperate, but at least I managed to escape with my life. Who would have thought, after all that, I’d end up defeated by you instead… Ha. You outsmarted me. What else can I say?”

Now that was the kind of talk Li Xun enjoyed hearing.

Seeing the faint sadness and desolation in her expression only made his sense of triumph swell all the more.

He had never been completely sure he could make a grandmaster of her level, someone who had fully regained her awareness and wisdom, bow her head and follow orders.

But thanks to the Soul-Driving, Spirit-Refining, Mind-Binding technique, he could block off anything that might work against him.

Which meant that even if Yin Wanderer regained all her memories and her full intellect, even if that stirred up hatred and resentment toward him, she would have no way to act on it.

Revenge? The instant she so much as thought about it, the link between puppet and master would flare on its own, and the backlash that followed was unbearable. Even for someone like Yin Wanderer, the most feared torture master in the Tongxuan Realm, there was no way to withstand that weakness and agony. Pain that pierced straight into the soul and drove one to madness.

For someone once so noble, proud, cunning, and ruthless, to be reduced so suddenly into an absolute servant. Used at another’s whim, without even the strength to fight back...

That plunge from heaven to hell was worth a million times more than any torture of the flesh.

And while people say death is the hardest thing to face, for someone like Yin Wanderer, who was already a half-dead existence, to hope for release through death was nothing but a fool’s dream.

Unless Li Xun died, her soul would remain bound under his control, alive forever, no matter what she had to endure.

From Li Xun’s perspective, it was only a matter of time before Yin Wanderer completely submitted.

Still, he hadn’t expected her to adapt so quickly.

It felt to him like throwing a heavy punch only to land on cotton. That jarring sense of wasted effort, so frustrating it almost outweighed the thrill of victory. The stifled feeling left him sick enough to spit blood.

Could this, he wondered, be the measure of Yin Wanderer’s intelligence?

Even so, Li Xun’s state of mind was not what it once had been. He quickly adjusted.

From a practical standpoint, the sooner he could put Yin Wanderer’s formidable strength and sharp mind to use, the better it would serve his future.

Looking at how things stood now, it might not be long before she truly bowed her head to him.

Li Xun realized, with a flicker of amusement, that he was easily satisfied.

So he stepped to her side, standing shoulder to shoulder with her, and smiled quietly. “Aunt-Master,” he said, “you’re a clever woman. You should know what kind of arrangement will keep us both from losing out.

“Don’t give me that look. I know it isn’t fair. But back then in Songjing, did you ever give me fairness?”

He slipped an arm gently around her slender waist.

The gesture was gentle. Yin Wanderer didn’t resist, but she didn’t look at him either. Only a trace of bitterest curved across her lips.

“…Tell me. What do you want me to do?”

Li Xun’s heart leapt with delight. He lifted the letter, ready to speak when suddenly he caught a shift in Yin Wanderer’s expression, and in the next instant, she vanished of her own initiative.

Li Xun froze for a moment, then caught a sudden flash of light in the distance. It was the unmistakable glow of the Stone of Forgetting.

His heart tightened. He clenched his hand, crushing the letter into dust and scattering it over the lake to erase all trace. Just then, under that glow, Qi Bi’s figure became clearly visible.

“Junior Brother Xun, why are you out here?” Qi Bi called, holding the Sitting Forgetfulness Stone of in one hand while using her true qi to gather a bunch of wild fruits, pulling them through the air.

The ease in her movements made it obvious this was something she often did.

Li Xun smiled, but before he could reply, Qi Bi’s next words jolted him: “Junior Brother Xun, while you were here just now, did anyone else come by?”

In an instant, Li Xun’s gaze turned as cold and sharp as frost. But when he saw the unfeigned confusion on Qi Bi’s face, his eyes softened again, and all he said was a faint, “Ah.”

As he expected, that brief pause was enough. Qi Bi laughed. “Over there, I thought I heard the sound of someone riding their qi...”

Li Xun let out a silent breath, finally relaxing. Qi Bi didn’t notice his expression, only shook her head with a smile. “Never mind, it’s nothing. Let’s go inside and eat these fruits. I should’ve left the Sitting Forgetfulness Stone back here. It must have been really dark without it.”

“Uh, no… it was Fourth Martial Aunt who just came by.”

Eager to change the subject, Li Xun quickly brought up Ming Ji, and at the same time took out the “Sea-Swallowing Rhinoceros” he had just obtained, using it as a chance to show off.

Sure enough, Qi Bi’s attention was caught by the legendary treasure, and she didn’t notice that Li Xun’s reaction had been a little slower than usual. She took the item and examined it carefully in her hands.

Unfortunately, the treasure’s appearance wasn’t much to a woman’s taste. Once her curiosity wore off, Qi Bi lost interest and handed it back.

“Fourth Martial Aunt really dotes on you. First she gave you that azure jade sword, and now something like this. And considering she’s gone from the mountain for years at a time, disappearing for who knows how long, the bond you two share isn’t just master and disciple. It’s more than that.”

Li Xun smiled. “All I can say is I’ve never been able to settle down in one place. My mind wanders too easily.

“But Fourth Martial Aunt... she’s the truly busy one. She just got back from the main peak and hadn’t even rested before the sect leader summoned her again. It’s fortunate she’s here. If the message had come to us, we’d have wasted three or four days just getting there.”

Before he could finish speaking, another streak of sword-light came flying in. It locked onto Li Xun’s aura and landed neatly in his hand.

“.....”

At last, Li Xun truly understood what it meant to be caught between laughter and tears.

Was tonight destined to be a night of receiving summons? Luckily, this time it was an official sect message, so he could accept it without any guilt.

On the blade was Qingming’s order: “Descend the mountain at once. We have matters to discuss.”

When he passed the flying sword to Qi Bi, she suddenly burst out laughing. Without a doubt, this was the happiest she’d been all night.

Watching the genuine joy on her face, Li Xun found himself, for a brief moment, utterly spellbound.