Jinshui Lake Competition (7)

Liang Jingxuan was about to catch up with Xiao Lanle and ask for an explanation, but Chen Shangyun, standing beside him, held him back.

This woman, in terms of appearance and charm, couldn’t hold a candle to Senior Sister Xiao. And in terms of thoughtfulness and gentleness, she couldn’t compare to Senior Sister Lin, the one he truly cherished.

Liang Jingxuan compared Chen Shangyun, who spoke softly and timidly, to the beautiful women he had encountered in his life. The more he looked at her, the more he felt reluctant. He truly desired marriage, but he couldn’t bring himself to marry this woman who was of no use to him and whom he didn’t genuinely like.

Rather than marrying her, he would be rather marry his beloved Senior Sister Lin.

Liang Jingxuan’s heart stirred, and he searched for Lin Qianshuang among the Penglai Immortal Sect disciples. It took him a while, but he finally spotted her at the back of the crowd.

Senior Sister Lin was engaged in a lively conversation with an unfamiliar young man dressed in the uniform of a Lingxiao Sword Sect inner disciple. Her cheeks were flushed with shyness, and she lowered her head slightly. The young man’s right arm, gentle and supportive, rested around her, and his hand gently held her right side. The distance between them was just right, neither too close nor too distant.

Their relationship, at a glance, seemed extraordinary, and they appeared to share a deep bond.

Liang Jingxuan glared at the young man with hostility, his gaze lingering on Lin Qianshuang’s smiling face with a touch of anger.

When did Senior Sister Lin meet this disciple of the Lingxiao Sword Sect, and why hadn’t she told him?

Liang Jingxuan had always been confident in his ability to attract women, but now he felt like he had stumbled. He didn’t care if any of the women he had pursued left him.

Only Senior Sister Lin. If she truly had feelings for someone else, it would be like losing something precious. He couldn’t bear it, and he couldn’t let go.

The Tianzi rooms in the inn each had only a single bed.

To avoid suspicion, Lin Qianshuang wanted to find another female disciple to switch rooms with, or return to her original Zhongxuan room. But to her surprise, every female cultivator she asked refused.

As soon as she mentioned needing to share the Tianzi room with Xiao Lanle, they all stammered and made excuses.

A female cultivator from the room across the hall, seemingly annoyed by Lin Qianshuang’s persistent inquiries, pushed open her door and said, “Senior Sister Lin, Junior Sister Xiao is a big clean freak. How could we possibly live with her? If anything happens, we’d be tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep. Please don’t make things difficult for us.”

“Yes, Senior Sister Lin, please don’t make things difficult for us.”

“We need to go to bed early tomorrow because we have a competition with the Lingxiao Sword Sect.”

The other female cultivators echoed this sentiment, closing their doors in unison.

Lin Qianshuang was stunned to see her fellow disciples avoiding her. Xiao Lanle was a clean freak? How could she have missed that?

She clearly remembered covering Xiao Lanle with a used blanket in the library. Xiao Lanle hadn’t said a word.

Lin Qianshuang’s face became thoughtful. Junior Sister Xiao was willing to share something with her. It seemed that Xiao Lanle had already developed feelings for her at that time.

One by one, the doors slammed shut in front of her.

Lin Qianshuang’s hand remained poised to push open the door, but she was forced to withdraw it. She had no choice but to return to her original room and stay with Xiao Lanle.

She wanted to switch rooms with her fellow female disciples. Besides wanting to avoid suspicion, she also had some personal reasons for doing so.

Lin Qianshuang sighed quietly. She had spoken harshly to Xiao Lanle, and Xiao Lanle had confessed her feelings under the Matchmaking Tree. She felt uncomfortable sharing a room with her now.

“Senior Sister Lin, what are you doing standing outside? It’s cold and dewy out here. Why don’t you come inside?”

Through the paper window, Lin Qianshuang could see Xiao Lanle’s silhouette sitting at the table opposite the door. Was she waiting for her to return?

Lin Qianshuang pushed open the door and saw Xiao Lanle sitting motionless, lost in thought. She didn’t even look at her when she came in. She seemed to be thinking to herself.

Relieved, Lin Qianshuang laid out the bedding she had collected from the innkeeper. As she spread the quilt, she felt a gust of cold wind. Looking up, she saw the wooden window was open, revealing the bright moon.

Fearing she would catch a cold, Lin Qianshuang reached out to close the window. As she did, she felt a cool sensation on her right arm, where the ointment had been applied.

Xiao Lanle gently held Lin Qianshuang’s fractured right hand, pulling up her sleeve. She meticulously applied the ointment from the brocade box to Lin Qianshuang’s pale skin, then leaned down and blew on it. Her clear eyes gazed deeply at Lin Qianshuang as she said slowly and with a hint of sadness, “Senior sister, with your injured hand, how can you participate in tomorrow’s competition with the Lingxiao Sword Sect? In previous years, you always led the charge.”

Lin Qianshuang smiled nonchalantly. Sensing Xiao Lanle’s disappointment, she tried to lighten the mood with a playful remark, “Cough, cough, a true master doesn’t care about such things as left and right hands. Even without using my hands, I could make those Lingxiao Sword Sect disciples kneel and beg for mercy.”

It was the truth. If she truly unleashed her demonic power, not even the leaders of the two sects could withstand it.

But Lin Qianshuang’s attempt at humor backfired. Xiao Lanle stopped applying the ointment, her lips trembling. Her elegant face seemed to be etched with the word “guilt,” her eyes clouded with an unsettling cold mist. Her whole face was contorted with distress.

“Senior sister, do you have a pendant around your neck?”

Xiao Lanle’s sharp eyes were fixed on a rope that had fallen from Lin Qianshuang’s collar.

The Spirit Conversion Stone given to her by Fairy Jinghua was absolutely reliable. Xiao Lanle wouldn’t be able to see any clues in it, but why was she suddenly so interested in the chain around Lin Qianshuang’s neck?

Lin Qianshuang’s heart pounded with alarm, but she maintained a calm expression. She pulled the rope out of her collar, revealing a black Spirit Conversion Stone that swayed in the air before settling on her chest. She spoke warmly to Xiao Lanle, “This is the Spirit Conversion Stone my master gave me. My body is naturally cold, so he asked me to wear this to ward off the chill.”

Xiao Lanle reached out, her slender fingers gently pinching the Spirit Conversion Stone on Lin Qianshuang’s chest, scrutinizing it closely. This Spirit Conversion Stone mirrored the one worn by the woman she had been forced to be intimate with countless times in her hazy memories.

A chilling premonition settled deep within her.

Xiao Lanle suddenly recalled the time she fainted in the dining hall. Upon waking, she had found Senior Sister Lin bathing by the pool, her back turned. Xiao Lanle noticed bruises on Lin Qianshuang’s waist and back. Another time, while unconscious on the back of a frenzied spirit leopard, Xiao Lanle woke to find Lin Qianshuang sitting nearby, disheveled and blushing, her gaze directed at Xiao Lanle with a hint of anger.

The time periods when Lin Qianshuang was present coincided with the blank periods Xiao Lanle experienced when she was possessed by her inner demon, aligning with potential triggers.

The pendant Lin Qianshuang wore resembled the one worn by the woman in Xiao Lanle’s hazy memories, the woman she had harmed while possessed.

Could it be that the woman she had treated so roughly in her mind, the one she had violated while possessed, was Lin Qianshuang?

Xiao Lanle’s heart plummeted, overwhelmed by regret and self-reproach. Every corner of her being was frozen by the realization.

During their time at the Xiaoyao Cave pool, Xiao Lanle had assumed Lin Qianshuang was behaving promiscuously with another man. She had secretly condemned Lin Qianshuang and her supposed lover for their supposed lack of morals. Now, Xiao Lanle realized she had been unconsciously condemning herself. She, in her possessed state, was the “wild man” she had judged so harshly.

When she awoke beside the spirit leopard in the forest, she was also destined to notice the unusual look in Senior Sister Lin’s eyes. She thought Senior Sister Lin was simply excited to see Senior Brother Liang, and since Xiao Lanle was Senior Brother Liang’s betrothed, she assumed Lin’s gaze was hostile. Now, thinking back, it’s more likely that Senior Sister Lin was scolding her for being rude and angry at her forgetfulness.

Xiao Lanle’s hand trembled as she put the pendant down. She remembered the surprise in Lin Qianshuang’s eyes and the calm expression on her face when she confessed her feelings.

To be forced to endure something against your will twice, with the perpetrator completely oblivious, would be unbearable.

If it were her, faced with such a confession from someone who had hurt her, no matter how much she liked them, she would feel disgusted. She’d slap them twice and tell them to get out.

Senior Sister Lin had already shown her incredible grace by not humiliating heron the spot. Perhaps, in her heart, she already sees her as a shameless scoundrel who plays with people’s emotions.

Lin Qianshuang watched Xiao Lanle’s face, her heart pounding nervously as she witnessed the intense emotional shifts.

“Could it be that my Spirit Conversion Stone had been recognized, or that Xiao Lanle had begun to suspect my identity as a demon cultivator?”

Lin Qianshuang’s hand stretched out under her sleeve, her fingers tightly clenched. If Xiao Lanle questioned me, I would knock her unconscious and forcibly erase the memory of seeing the Spirit Conversion Stone on my chest.

“Senior Sister, you don’t need to hide it from me anymore. Did the demon in my heart… do that… thing to you while I was unconscious?”

“Ah?”

These completely unexpected words, not on the same channel at all, twisted Lin Qianshuang’s normally straight nerves into a knot. She could only manage a bewildered “huh?” in response. Xiao Lanle’s bright, clear eyes, like moonlight, were fixed on her, as if trying to see right through her.

Under the weight of that gaze, Lin Qianshuang felt inexplicably nervous. Her face flushed uncomfortably, and she couldn’t help but swallow.

What was going on? Just a moment ago, Xiao Lanle had been looking at my Spirit Conversion Stone. How did the conversation jump to this embarrassing topic?

Xiao Lanle struggled to get the words out. Seeing Lin Qianshuang’s face stiffen and flush with embarrassment, she understood the terrible truth.

The woman the demon had tormented was none other than Senior Sister Lin, the woman she now loved with all her heart.

Before they had even fallen in love, she had done something unspeakable to the woman she loved, and she had no memory of it.

Xiao Lanle pulled Lin Qianshuang’s left hand against her chest, pressing their bodies close. Her voice was low and husky, “Why didn’t you tell me that all the marks on your body are from me? Why didn’t you beat me and scold me then? Instead, you tolerated me, letting me misunderstand you, mock you, and hurt you again and again.”

Lin Qianshuang was still confused, her eyes blinking involuntarily. Xiao Lanle, with tears in her eyes, threw herself into Lin Qianshuang’s arms, resting her head on her shoulder. She sobbed, clutching Lin Qianshuang’s sleeve, “Senior Sister, please don’t look at me with such gentle eyes. It makes me feel so uncomfortable, so painful, because I hurt you. I’ve let my out-of-control self hurt you more than once.”