Star-Plucking Sword
Lin Qianshuang tilted her head slightly, and Xiao Lanle buried her face in her neck. Lin Qianshuang couldn’t see her face clearly, only feeling the muffled, suppressed voice in her ear.
“Senior Brother Liang and I broke off our engagement, and my father arranged for me to marry Senior Brother Chen. I’m weak-willed and can’t even control my inner demons. I have no say in my marriage, and it ruined Senior Sister’s reputation. Now, thinking about it, I’m so weak and incompetent, how could I ever take Senior Sister away? I was too naive.”
Xiao Lanle’s self-reproach filled Lin Qianshuang with a heavy sense of frustration, like a lump of mud clogging her heart.
“Senior Sister, when I expressed my feelings for you at the Matchmaking Tree, did you look down on me in your heart…?”
The fabric on Lin Qianshuang’s shoulders was damp, and the night breeze sent a shiver through her. Xiao Lanle was overthinking again.
Lin Qianshuang turned to face Xiao Lanle, using her only movable left hand to lift Xiao Lanle’s chin. She looked into her eyes and said earnestly, “Junior Sister, I won’t allow you to belittle yourself like this. You are an important person to me, like my own sister. If you keep saying this, it will make me sad too. A pearl, even covered in dust, doesn’t lose its brilliance. A sharp sword, even broken, doesn’t lose its edge. You must believe in yourself. If there’s something you can’t achieve in this world, it’s only because you’re still ignorant and haven’t paid enough attention. It doesn’t mean you can’t do it.”
So, she was just a sister to her?
Had she gotten it all wrong?
That time in the library, who was Lin Qianshuang thinking of when she played “Phoenix Seeks its Mate”?
Under the moonlight, tears streamed down Xiao Lanle’s fair and elegant face. Her dark, beautiful eyes stared blankly at Lin Qianshuang, their color deepening slightly. A fleeting, unpredictable gloom flickered across her face before she finally spoke, “Senior sister, I understand.”
“It’s late at night. We should go to bed early,” Lin Qianshuang said, yawning as she bypassed Xiao Lanle and sat down on the spread mattress. She touched her fractured right arm. Others would need to spend two hours in the Spirit Spring to heal, but for her, a single magic core would suffice.
Lin Qianshuang sighed and took one of the few remaining cores from her storage bag. She swallowed it, lying flat on the ground and stretching out her limbs. The demonic energy flowed through her, warming her entire body.
She had been relying on these magic cores for her recovery, but even though they filled her dantian with demonic energy, her cultivation hadn’t improved.
Lin Qianshuang touched her gradually recovering right arm, thinking of the Glazed Temple Gem. Absorbing the power of this divine-level artifact would surely solidify her cultivation and push her to the next level.
However, this divine-level artifact only appeared in Xiao Lanle’s memories, and the original male protagonist only obtained it after marrying Xiao Lanle and becoming the Sect Leader.
Still, when the time came, the Glazed Temple Gem would definitely come to Xiao Lanle, a descendant of the Xiao family with pure bloodline.
Lin Qianshuang thought happily, “Heh, Xiao Lanle and I have a good relationship now. Even if I borrow the treasure of the Penglai Immortal Sect to use it, it should be fine by then.”
Suddenly, her vision blurred, and a coat covered her face. Then, one piece of clothing after another was thrown off the bed, hitting her with a crackling sound.
“What the…?”
Lin Qianshuang lifted the coat covering her face, and her eyes met Xiao Lanle’s. Xiao Lanle was lying naked on the edge of the bed, her eyebrows like willow leaves, her pupils like cut autumn water, and her watery eyes staring straight at Lin Qianshuang. Her bare back, bathed in the moonlight, seemed to be dusted with a thin layer of frost and snow.
She glanced at it, a single, astonished “Damn!” escaping her lips. Her mind, however, was flooded with images she’d desperately tried to suppress: intimate scenes, kissing, touching, embracing—all just a step away from something more.
And all those scenes were from her and Xiao Lanle before.
“Why are you… undressing?” Lin Qianshuang asked, her face burning up.
Xiao Lanle glanced at Lin Qianshuang’s flushed cheeks, knowing she was shy. Her eyes twinkled, and she extended her hand with a touch of coquetry, saying, “Senior sister, my ointment is on the windowsill. Could you please get it for me? Also, I have a scrape on my back and can’t reach it to apply the ointment. Would you mind helping me?”
The moonlight filtering through the window paper at night was hazy and ethereal. Her wrist, extended towards Lin Qianshuang, was like warm jade, radiating a soft glow. As she gazed upon it, she saw five slender fingers, delicate as jade shoots, tinged with a delicate redness.
Lin Qianshuang handed over the medicine box with a stiff face. Heaven knows why, but she felt like Junior Sister Xiao was trying to seduce her at that moment. She even thought she looked… perfect, utterly captivating.
They were both girls, so even if they bathe naked together, it wouldn’t be a problem, right?
But why, when she got close to her, her whole body felt like it couldn’t breathe properly.
It’s strange that she felt this way when she looked at a girl’s naked body…
Was she really not straight anymore?
Lin Qianshuang’s heart was in turmoil, but she never felt this way towards Du Shuang. Yixiang Tower housed many beauties, yet she never associated them with such thoughts.
Could it be that she only harbored these feelings towards Junior Sister Xiao?
The skin as smooth as gelatin moved under her fingers as she applied the medicine.
Nervous, Lin Qianshuang accidentally scratched a scar on Xiao Lanle’s back with her nails.
Xiao Lanle, holding the brocade box, pretended to gasp in pain with a delicate voice, then looked up and grabbed Lin Qianshuang’s hand, saying in a dissatisfied tone, “Senior sister, do you not know how to apply medicine? Do you need me to teach you?”
Lin Qianshuang broke free, feeling that Xiao Lanle’s soft gasps were suggestive and ambiguous, her face burning even more as she hesitantly apologized, “Junior sister, yes, I’m sorry.”
“So wooden,” Xiao Lanle chuckled to herself, “but the reaction is still so… cute.” She raised her eyebrows and patted the empty space on the bed beside her. “Lin Qianshuang, come up here. You’re so far away, how can you help me apply medicine? Didn’t you say you treat me like a sister? Are sisters so distant from each other?”
“We just cleared the air. It wouldn’t be good if any more intimate actions were misinterpreted.” Lin Qianshuang quickly refused, feeling awkward looking at Xiao Lanle’s naked body. The thought of jumping onto the bed and applying medicine to her at such close range made her feel uncomfortable.
Xiao Lanle scoffed, pulling the thin quilt up and sitting up. She leaned closer to Lin Qianshuang. “If we are truly innocent, why fear those gossips? Besides, there are just the two of us in this room. My father has set up protective barriers inside and outside, so even if we really do something, no one can hear us.”
Lin Qianshuang laughed nervously, “Really? No wonder I couldn’t even hear the wind outside the window when I came in.”
Xiao Lanle forcefully pulled Lin Qianshuang onto the bed. With a swift movement, she untied Lin Qianshuang’s clothes, pulling off her belt and throwing it on the floor.
Lin Qianshuang was stunned. A chill ran down her back as her clothes disappeared, leaving her in only a bra. Xiao Lanle’s hand, smeared with healing ointment, began to touch her exposed back.
“Junior sister, this isn’t right, I should apply the medicine myself.”
Xiao Lanle, pleased to see Lin Qianshuang shift away, pulled her back, her voice impatient. “Senior sister, can you stop saying everything is bad? You don’t know how to apply medicine, so what’s wrong with me teaching you?”
Lin Qianshuang felt Xiao Lanle’s fingertips trace down her spine, and she grabbed her arm in embarrassment, “Junior sister, there… there’s no injury there.”
“Where isn’t hurt? It’s too dark for me to see.”
Xiao Lanle maliciously pinched her sensitive waist, watching her eyelashes flutter. Then, she touched her shadowed hip and whispered against her earlobe, “Is it here, or there, senior sister? Your skin is all red. Are you shy, or are you just sensitive?”
Such blatant teasing was impossible to misinterpret.
“Xiao Lanle! Is it fun to tease others?”
Lin Qianshuang pushed Xiao Lanle away in shame, but she was pulled back by her arms and fell onto the bed, sinking into the soft quilt.
Before Lin Qianshuang could gather her thoughts, a pale blue jade bead with a faint glow floated above her. Her pupils widened slightly, recognizing it as a Shark Pearl. The pearl, radiating a soft blue light, spun an illusion, drawing her into its embrace.
Xiao Lanle asked calmly, “Is she under hypnosis now?”
The Shark Pearl, hovering in the air, returned to Xiao Lanle’s hand. “Master, rest assured, this girl will be unconscious for a while. Every word she speaks will be a truthful answer from her heart.”
Xiao Lanle gazed at Lin Qianshuang’s face, which was now serene and peaceful. Her eyes, gentle as water, seemed to be looking at her with the same warmth as when she was awake.
“Do you like me? How much do you like me? Do you still have feelings for Senior Brother Liang? Senior Sister… have you ever lied to me?”
The Shark Pearl jumped in Xiao Lanle’s palm, “Master, why are you asking so many questions at once? It would be better to ask them one by one.”
Xiao Lanle ignored the Shark Pearl, her gaze fixed on Lin Qianshuang’s slightly moving lips.
“I like you, why wouldn’t I like you?”
Lin Qianshuang’s eyes met Xiao Lanle’s, a sweet smile blooming on her face. “I remember you. You’re Xiao Lanle, the daughter of the Penglai Immortal Sect’s headmaster, the number one female character in the popularity rankings. Back then, I couldn’t stand seeing you bullied in the book. The first comment I ever wrote was about you. You’re the kind of person I find most attractive. I thought I wasn’t into girls, but when I saw you, my heart started racing.”
Lin Qianshuang spoke quickly, her words a jumble of unfamiliar pronunciations and strange language that Xiao Lanle had never heard before. But hearing Senior Sister Lin admit to liking her filled Xiao Lanle with joy.
A warm smile spread across Xiao Lanle’s lips, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Lin Qianshuang.
Lin Qianshuang clicked her tongue, continuing, “What? Do I have feelings for him? Impossible. I want to kill him. Liang Jingxuan is the person I hate the most, bar none. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been forced into this world to do these awful tasks just to stay alive.”
“As for whether I lied to you, I’m the biggest lie in this world. One day I will leave here, but not now.”
When Xiao Lanle heard Lin Qianshuang declare that Liang Jingxuan was the person she hated most, a weight lifted from her heart. She felt a sense of relief and lightness.
Xiao Lanle scoffed at Lin Qianshuang’s last statement. Leaning down, she kissed Lin Qianshuang’s lips, watching her blush and stare back in a daze. A smile bloomed on Xiao Lanle’s face. She dropped the pretense, pushing aside the sadness she had been feigning, and poked Lin Qianshuang’s cheek. “Leave here? I won’t let you leave. Now that I know we’re in love, and you’re refusing to admit it, you must feel the same way I do - that the time isn’t right yet. I won’t let you marry the second son of the Chen family. Chen Shangqing is someone I planted by my father’s side. Didn’t you realize? The person you’re going to marry is me. Sister, isn’t it fun being kept in the dark?”
Chen Shangqing had been the City Lord’s bodyguard since Xiao Lanle obtained the Shark Pearl in Tianshu City. He had been lurking in the Penglai Immortal Sect for a long time, relaying the events of her heart demon attack and amnesia through voice transmission. He had only witnessed her private interactions with Lin Qianshuang through spirit stones, but he never mentioned a word.
Xiao Lanle knew Chen Shangqing’s feelings for her, but she saw him as nothing more than a useful tool. If he ever dared to disrespect or betray her, she would have plenty of ways to punish him.
She had once loved Liang Jingxuan, going to great lengths to win his father’s favor. She even secretly bribed influential figures to support him as deputy sect leader. The depth of her love back then mirrored the intensity of her hatred now.
Xiao Lanle’s lips tightened, her eyes flashing with a dangerous glint. This foolish man, not content with having her, had gone and pursued other women. If she hadn’t witnessed it herself in the rockery, she wouldn’t have believed that the senior brother she had trusted so wholeheartedly was capable of such things. How could she have been so infatuated with him? Now Liang Jingxuan was pretending to like her, wanting to obtain the Glazed Temple Gem while pursuing other women, all while feigning affection for Lin Qianshuang.
If not for Lin Qianshuang, she would have used the power of her heart demon to kill Liang Jingxuan in the library.
The Shark Pearl’s light dimmed slightly, casting a faint shadow of a small figure against the wall.
A childish, almost ethereal voice echoed from afar.
“It seems you’ve decided on your wish. I, the City Lord, promised a complete commitment to the one who possesses the Shark Pearl. You said your wish was revenge. Have you truly made your decision? Speak now.”
Xiao Lanle gazed lovingly at Lin Qianshuang’s brow, her eyes burning with a dark fire. Tomorrow was the competition between the Penglai Immortal Sect and the Lingxiao Sword Sect. The Star-Plucking Sword, a relic of the first sect leader, could open the Penglai Immortal Sect’s sacred land—a secret even the current sect leader might not know. But she, with the Shark Pearl in her hand, had access to all the world’s secrets, including the origins of every magical weapon registered in the Ten Thousand Weapon Manual.
Such a divine object belonged to the Penglai Immortal Sect, and she would never allow it to fall into the hands of another sect.
“Are you truly willing to give me the promise I want?” Xiao Lanle asked, her gaze fixed on the shadow of the Tianshu City Lord projected on the wall.
The Tianshu City Lord’s voice, youthful yet commanding, responded, “I can give you whatever you desire. This is my promise.”
Xiao Lanle’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “I once thought Liang Jingxuan was destined for greatness. Back then, I was weak and foolish, clinging to his supposed vows of love, hoping to rely on him and help him achieve his ambitions. But my mind has changed. Regardless, my primary goal has always been revenge against the Five Sects of the Human Realm. My mother cannot die in vain.”
“Besides that, I want her.”
Xiao Lanle stroked Lin Qianshuang’s temples, watching her giggle foolishly. Her voice softened as she said, “I want the entire cultivation world to acknowledge our relationship, and bless us to become a Daoist couple.” undefined