Star-Plucking Sword (2)
“That’s out of the question.”
The shadow lingered silently before replying in a crisp, childlike tone, “By accepting the Shark Pearl, you agreed to become this City Lord’s dao companion. I permit you to keep this woman as a long-term Cauldron—but you are forbidden from entertaining thoughts of having a child with her.”
Xiao Lanle froze, the brightness in her eyes dimming. She bowed slightly. “This one is honored by the City Lord’s regard.”
The Tianshu City Lord’s support was vital to her plans; she couldn’t risk displeasing her now.
Silence swallowed the room. The shadow dissolved from the wall, its form—a projection formed by the City Lord’s true qi—spent.
The Shark Pearl drifted back into Xiao Lanle’s palm. She glanced down as Lin Qianshuang’s eyelids fluttered closed, the hypnosis broken. The woman sank into deep slumber.
“Senior Sister, I won’t let you leave me. You’ll always stay by my side.” Xiao Lanle curled inward, restless and small in Lin Qianshuang’s arms. Her head pressed against the other woman’s chest as if anchoring herself to the steady rhythm beneath, arms coiled possessively around her waist. She murmured, repeating the words like a mantra until sleep finally claimed her.
Lin Qianshuang drifted in a haze, half-aware of the Cauldron-like heat clinging to her. Xiao Lanle’s Fire Spiritual Root clashed violently with her own Water-Type Heavenly Spiritual Root, the elemental friction wrapping her in a smothering, feverish embrace.
Fingers brushed her palm—gentle but insistent, guided by a wisp of true qi. Xiao Lanle tugged Lin Qianshuang’s limp hand upward, tracing her own cheekbone, then lower. Lin Qianshuang stirred, brow furrowing as she instinctively recoiled from the invasive touch.
A soft exhale escaped. Xiao Lanle interlaced their fingers, palm flattening against Lin Qianshuang’s in a mockery of a soothing gesture.
Her gaze sharpened as she studied the sleeping woman’s face, emotions churning like storm tides. “Senior Sister,” she whispered into the hollow of Lin Qianshuang’s neck, her voice tinged with both reverence and venom. “That night…when the Lord of the Demon Realm touched you like this, you wore the same look. So perfect. So yielding. I’ve never hated anyone more—not even her. I wanted to tear her apart with my bare hands.”
“But I firmly believe you’ll choose to be with me in the end, don’t you?”
Lin Qianshuang faintly felt the breath near her ear was teasing, the person’s tone soft and playful, ending with an ambiguous chuckle, as if teasing her.
The warm breath brushed against her neck, a faint, tingling sensation on her skin. In the next moment, lips soft as water and tinged with fragrance met hers, sealing her mouth shut, as if to soothe her furrowed brow.
Lin Qianshuang dodged the other person’s actions, trying to struggle awake, but the night wind made her shiver with cold. After failing to pull up the blanket, she was forced to stay close to them.
Her affectionate closeness made the person’s eyes crinkle with amusement. They gently squeezed her slender hand, wrapping it in their palm, and laughed a few times with delight.
“If only you were awake now, how good that would be. Sadly, you don’t know anything.”
The person’s tone gradually faded, but after confirming something, their voice became clear and bright in the darkness due to surprise.
“Senior Sister, how could you… you lied to me, so you’re still… intact.”
Someone lay down beside her and gave her a cherished kiss on the cheek. All movement disappeared, and she seemed to be staring at her intently.
Someone was speaking to her, and the voice sounded familiar.
Her mind sensed something amiss and struggled to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt heavy, as if weighed down by an unseen force. She couldn’t see, as if trapped in a state of sleep paralysis.
After enduring an agonizing wait in the darkness, Lin Qianshuang finally managed to open her eyes with great difficulty. She sat up, startling the person who had been lying on her arm and waking them from their slumber.
Xiao Lanle pulled the blanket tighter, her face a mix of shame and anger, faint marks of passion visible on her skin.
“Senior Sister, didn’t you say you only saw me as a junior sister? Then why… why did you do that last night?” Xiao Lanle asked, her voice trembling with a mix of grievance and shyness. Her watery eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and her delicate body beneath the covers trembled slightly.
“Have you forgotten what you did to me?”
Lin Qianshuang stared at the disheveled bed, her mind in shock. She instinctively checked herself, finding nothing unusual except a faint warmth in her body. Xiao Lanle, however, looked utterly disheveled, her tearful eyes filled with sorrow.
In that moment, Lin Qianshuang’s thoughts ground to a halt, her brain foggy and slow, as if her mind had been muddled by some unseen force.
She only remembered seeing the Shark Pearl fly in front of her, and then she knew nothing.
“System?”
Lin Qianshuang immediately thought of the system, which should know what had happened the previous night.
[Host, I’m sorry for the voice message you’re about to hear. Yesterday, the system involuntarily witnessed the nocturnal activities between you and the target character, resulting in a large-scale video being uploaded as a benefit on the Ancient Prehistoric platform. Due to this incident, the system has been ordered by higher authorities to rectify the situation. Until the video is reviewed and deleted, the voice dialogue function will be unavailable, though the favorability task interface will remain active. Please take good care of yourself during this time, host~ mua~.]
The system’s flurry of words left Lin Qianshuang scrambling for the key points: a large-scale video of nocturnal activities involving her and the target character.
Lin Qianshuang stared at Xiao Lanle with a horrified expression. The Shark Pearl had hypnotic and bewitching effects—could it be that she had been mesmerized, her mind clouded, and had done something so outrageous to Junior Sister Xiao?
The damn system couldn’t even give her a complete explanation.
“Junior Sister Xiao,” Lin Qianshuang muttered, her cheeks burning as she looked at Xiao Lanle’s face, a mix of shame and anger. She dared not meet her eyes and stammered, “Are you still… a virgin? I… I…”
Lin Qianshuang struggled to find the words to continue, her voice trailing off. She lowered her head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Xiao Lanle’s voice was sharp with anger. “Is a single apology enough to erase what you’ve done?”
Xiao Lanle tugged at the quilt with a hint of force, her veins rising on the back of her hand. A flicker of calculation crossed her eyes as she tossed a silk handkerchief in front of Lin Qianshuang. The bloodstains on it were stark and eye-catching.
With a sorrowful smile on her elegant face, she said, “Senior Sister, I thought you were someone who acted boldly and took responsibility. Even if you weren’t going to be responsible for me, I believed you’d at least give me a promise. But now… I see I was wrong about you.”
Lin Qianshuang’s eyes trembled as she stared at the bloodstains on the handkerchief. She felt as though she’d been thrown into the depths of the ocean, suffocating and powerless to struggle. Her mind was dull and sluggish, as if filled with water. The sharp wit she once had was gone. She had made a mistake—a fatal one. She had caused a girl to lose her virginity in an era where chastity was a woman’s most prized possession.
And now she was in chaos, this situation was unexpected and she had no way of fixing it.
A knock came from outside the door. “Junior Sister Lin, Junior Sister Xiao, have you finished washing up? The Sect Master asked me to take you to breakfast.”
Lin Qianshuang’s heart raced. She quickly pulled Xiao Lanle under the blanket, fearing the disciple outside might barge in and see evidence of their intimacy. “Junior Sister, we slept late last night and may be heading downstairs soon. You don’t need to wait for us. We’ll catch up with you.”
The female disciple outside the door sounded confused and took a step forward, as if she intended to enter. “Junior Sister Xiao, why aren’t you saying anything? Are you still in the room?”
Lin Qianshuang stretched out her hand to set up a barrier, but Xiao Lanle snatched the quilt off her head, grabbed Lin Qianshuang’s hand mid-air, and said irritably to the person outside the door, “Junior Sister Qiao, I just woke up. Why are you disturbing my dreams so early? Didn’t you hear what Senior Sister Lin said? Do you need me to repeat it?”
The female disciple outside the door heard Xiao Lanle’s words, turned her head, and went downstairs. Everyone in the Penglai Immortal Sect knew that Xiao Junior Sister had a terrible temper in the mornings, and provoking her would only lead to trouble.
After the female disciple left, Xiao Lanle still held Lin Qianshuang’s hand. Her clear, dark eyes locked onto Lin Qianshuang, who, unable to avoid the intense gaze, could only meet it.
“Junior sister, I will repay everything I owe you,” Lin Qianshuang said, her face flushed with shame. She gritted her teeth and said in a determined voice, “No matter what, you… do this to me too.”
Xiao Lanle’s expression turned solemn, her earlier irritation melting away as a subtle smile played on her lips. She leaned in close to Lin Qianshuang’s ear and whispered, “Senior Sister, remember your words. I’ll find a chance to reclaim what you owe me, but until then, your body belongs to me—no one else can touch it.”
Lin Qianshuang felt a shiver run down her spine, leaving her with an inexplicable, eerie sensation. The way Xiao Lanle looked at her made her feel exposed, as if she were being seen through completely, with a hint of cunning in those piercing eyes.
Xiao Lanle dressed quickly and stepped out of bed, her movements light and graceful, exuding a refreshed energy.
On the other hand, Lin Qianshuang, seemingly cast as the aggressor from the night before, felt her body ache as if her bones were disintegrating. As she rose from bed, her vision blurred for a few seconds before clearing, and a wave of dizziness nearly sent her colliding with the bedpost.
At breakfast, Lin Qianshuang sat stiffly, sipping cup after cup of hot tea. To avoid another awkward encounter, she deliberately chose a seat two tables away from Xiao Lanle. Her mind felt foggy, like a jumbled mess, and she needed to clear her head and organize her thoughts.
The dark circles under Lin Qianshuang’s eyes caught the attention of several senior sisters and juniors at her table. Her deliberate avoidance of Xiao Lanle’s table only fueled their speculation. They assumed Xiao Lanle’s strict cleanliness standards were the reason the sect’s senior sister had slept poorly, and their sympathetic glances toward Lin Qianshuang grew more pronounced.
The sky was a pale blue, almost white, with a clarity that seemed washed clean. A gentle breeze swept through the willow trees lining the lake embankment, while carps swam gracefully in the crystal-clear water. A young woman sat on the stone steps of the lakeshore, her wooden bucket beside her, rinsing silk fabric in the water.
The Tingqiao Bridge was packed with people, a sea of mortals gathered together, all gazing out at the lake. Two elaborately painted boats, carrying disciples from the sects, moved slowly through the ripples of the blue waves and came to a stop beside the floating martial arts platform in the center of Jinshui Lake. On the competition platform, the Star-Plucking Sword from the Penglai Immortal Sect and the top-grade sword-refining stone from the Lingxiao Sword Sect were displayed as prizes.
Lin Qianshuang stood alone in a secluded corner on the second level of the painted boat. She gazed at the Star-Plucking Sword on the competition platform in the middle of the lake for a moment before beginning her search for Chen Xi, the head of the Chen family. “Chen Xi did not appear today. He is unwell. The eldest brother met with the Sect Leader on his behalf.” Someone suddenly heard a voice in their heart. The Chen family head didn’t come. Was it because the news had leaked, or was it because of his cautious nature and dislike for appearing in public?
Lin Qianshuang shifted her thoughts and turned toward the familiar voice. Xu Zheng was approaching her, accompanied by Chen Shangqing and Xiao Lanle, who followed at a distance, their expressions cold as they whispered to each other.
“Miss Lin, what are you doing here alone? Miss Xiao noticed your absence and was worried you might not have boarded the painting boat. She’s been searching for you everywhere,” Xu Zheng said, gently swaying his folding fan as he walked to Lin Qianshuang’s side, standing intimately close to her. Following her gaze, he looked out at the competition platform in the middle of Jinshui Lake and added with a hint of praise, “It’s quite nice here. There are fewer people, and you can still see the competition platform clearly. You’re really good at finding a spot, Miss Lin.”