21 - The Cannon Fodder is Prepared to Divorce

Yue Bai stumbled her way back to the Qinglin Hall, swallowing a pill to suppress her injuries. Releasing her body onto the bed, her spirit detached once more. Nine One was deeply worried. "Yue Bai! Where are you going again??" Yue Bai remained silent, the pain in her body and the stability of her spirit affecting each other. Her chest felt oppressed and uncomfortable, but she was determined to see it through. Before reaching her destination, she sensed a wave of violent energy. Spirit energy, sword energy, demonic energy, and the scent of alcohol swirled like a tornado around the area. Newly sprouted buds were severed, an already low tree stump was cut even shorter, and the crisscrossing marks on the ground were disturbed again. Even the rock wall seemed to be chopped deeper. Ji Wu Nian's eyes were red as she swayed, drinking more as alcohol spilled over her lips. It was unclear if she was actually drinking any of it. The scattered droplets initially sparkled with a faint glow, quickly being absorbed into the white aura of spirit energy, then devoured by the black demonic energy, and finally shattered into nothingness by the sword energy. Yue Bai's chest tightened with pain as she observed Ji Wu Nian's effort to restrain herself, focusing her rampage on a small area. But with the seed of dark thoughts planted in her heart, how long could she maintain control? “Ugh..." Nine One gulped despite not having a throat. "Your master... has she gone dark...?" A moment ago, the task was just about a dark plot; now, it seemed the entire person had turned dark. Yue Bai ignored him, her spirit dissipating and re-condensing, forming into a solid body at the outer edge of the sword energy sweep. Ji Wu Nian’s bloodshot eyes reflected Yue Bai's image, and with a desperate expression, she swung a wave of sword energy in her direction. The combined spiritual energy seemed eager to sever and explode. Yue Bai stepped forward, and the violent strike landed exactly where she had just stood. Eyes red, cheeks flushed, Ji Wu Nian was both drunk and ferocious, as if she herself were the blood-stained blade, each swing sending out bright red arcs. Yue Bai approached step by step, Ji Wu Nian's sword strikes becoming shorter with each step. Finally stopping within reach of the sword's point, Yue Bai's belt was slashed off, the small knot falling and dispersing into light midway. Ji Wu Nian knelt half to the ground, exhausted like a storm wind dissipating, propping herself up with her sword and snarling, "Leave." Yue Bai stood before her, her expression aloof yet confused. She glanced around, "Your aura is quite interesting." The person bowed her head, snorting in what seemed like self-mockery and sarcasm at Yue Bai. "Miss Yue Bai is interested again?" Yue Bai knelt beside her, lifting Ji Wu Nian's chin to make her look up. This person's face was a mix of drunken redness and hatred, her eyes filled with anger, lips stained by wine, enticingly red. See, even the master has times of stubbornness. "Yes," Yue Bai suddenly smiled, pressing one hand on the one gripping Ji Wu Nian's sword and the other exploring her dantian. In her dantian was a dazzling golden core, around which spirit energy and demonic energy intertwined like two clouds around a round sun. Yue Bai extended her soul's power, but the black cloud shyly dissipated without a trace. Looking up, she saw some redness fade from Ji Wu Nian's eyes, her expression complex. "This demonic energy," Yue Bai pointed to Ji Wu Nian's abdomen, "where did it come from?" Ji Wu Nian straightened, retracting her sword from the ground. Her expression was blank, tired. "Harbor dark thoughts, and demonic energy is born." "This demonic energy is quite unique." Yue Bai sat back, seemingly chatting casually, "I haven't seen it in you usually." "It is special," Ji Wu Nian leaned back, arms stretched out, eyes gazing at an unknown point in the night sky. Yue Bai asked, "When does it appear?" "When harboring dark thoughts." "What were you thinking today?" Ji Wu Nian glanced at her, remaining silent. Yue Bai waited, but seeing Ji Wu Nian wouldn't speak, she continued, "Your spirit and demonic energy are concentrated in your dantian, easily noticed by others," Yue Bai now understood why Ji Wu Nian avoided cultivating her powers, "Even if your demonic energy is special and doesn't easily reveal itself, when forming a Nascent Soul, it will certainly be noticed." During the formation of a Nascent Soul, all the body's spiritual energy converges into a physical form, drawing out the demonic energy. Ji Wu Nian was stunned, finally turning her head. But the girl was mimicking her, gazing at the sky too. Ji Wu Nian could only see her raised profile, especially the delicate curve of her jaw, a swath of smooth skin leading to a graceful neck. "I can teach you how to avoid the Nascent Soul formation while enhancing your cultivation." Yue Bai said, "I can also teach you how to enhance your demonic energy, even switching between spirit and demon energies." Each of these is not something an ordinary person could accomplish. Raising herself, Ji Wu Nian looked at her. "Why help me?" Ji Wu Nian's question was earnest, her eyes grasping Yue Bai, not letting go. Yue Bai felt herself drawn to Ji Wu Nian’s eyes, especially when she was serious. Eyes filled with a sea of stars. "Because I want to." Yue Bai turned to gaze at the real sea of stars, imagining the worlds within each small one. Ji Wu Nian paused, then laughed, her brows arching, transforming the starry sea into a sea of flowers. "Yue Bai..." That soft call was sweet and helpless, like bitter medicine sweetened with sugar, bitter but with a sweet aftertaste, yet unable to conceal the sadness. Yue Bai slightly turned to the side, only to be met by Ji Wu Nian’s face, coming closer, her smile like a flower, as if she hadn't been angry and cold a moment before. Watching eyes turned serious, seemingly understanding everything, yet Dao because of it all: coldly watching the world’s jokes. Ji Wu Nian thought of that flute tune, thinking of the north wind’s harsh whispers as the plum blossoms stood firm. A hand covered her eyes, and Ji Wu Nian leaned over to press her lips to the other's. As expected, she felt a frown form and release under her palm, and the lips against hers pursed slightly. Ji Wu Nian pulled away. The person who had remained still now looked at her with cold eyes, unmoved. Ji Wu Nian chuckled, "A thank you gift, given in advance." Stubbornly unchanging, always teasing. Yue Bai glanced at her, propped herself up, and stood, feeling the dull pain from the prolonged injury becoming more apparent. It's time to take more medicine. "Don't come tomorrow, I'm tired." With one step out, Yue Bai's body transformed into blue specks, dissipating into stardust. From head to toe, she turned into the night sky. Ji Wu Nian looked down, bitterly smiling. She hadn't planned to come tomorrow anyway. She wondered if Yue Bai felt tired drifting about, following her every time. Ji Wu Nian glanced at her disciple’s room before entering her own quarters. Since she's tired, let her sleep in tomorrow. *** Not only did Yue Bai not sleep in, but she also went to the Hundred Herbs Peak early in the morning, gathering some disciples to search for spirit beasts in the mountains. On their way to the mountain’s protective barrier, they encountered a bear and tiger fighting. It turned out the panda was protecting its two cubs from a tiger. The group observed quietly, but somehow the animals noticed them. The tiger abandoned the panda cubs and charged at them. None of the disciples were powerful enough to guard against such a fierce tiger, and they struggled in the battle. In the chaos, the panda grabbed a cub and fled, leaving one behind, wailing and drawing the tiger’s attention. Just as the tiger was about to strike, Leaf Two sprang out from nowhere, saving the cub. In doing so, she received a blow to her back, leaving claw marks, and the tiger’s spiritual power forced her to cough up blood. Luckily, a patrolling senior found them outside the protective barrier, arriving on his sword. Seeing the increasing number of people, the tiger let go of Leaf Two and disappeared into the woods. The disciples hurriedly took Leaf Two back to the Hundred Herbs Peak for treatment. “Self-destructive...” Nine One would have shaken his head off if he had one. Yue Bai lay on the bed, pale but seemingly relaxed, one hand dangling over the edge to play with the panda cub she had just rescued. Of course, she wasn't really fond of getting herself hurt. The injuries she sustained last night were severe, and the medicine she took wasn’t strong enough to heal her quickly. She wanted to use better medicine but found she couldn't. Nine One said it was because the higher-level cheat was blocked. With the medicine restricted, a bath with Ji Wu Nian would reveal her injuries. Therefore, she concocted this "narrow escape from the tiger’s jaws" story. Initially, Yue Bai intended to fake an injury from the tiger, but the summoned tiger hadn’t blunted its claws, slashing her back. Once wounded, there was no turning back, especially with so many witnesses. Yue Bai urged the tiger to flee out of Deer City. Ji Wu Nian couldn’t leave Deer City’s territory, so she wouldn't find it. The generous payment she gave the tiger ensured it left gratefully, leaving Yue Bai to face Ji Wu Nian’s wrath alone. Ji Wu Nian went to the headmaster early that morning. Upon hearing Leaf Two was injured, she rushed over, her Arrival Wind Sword already in sight as she gracefully descended amidst the disciples’ admiring gazes, pushing open Leaf Two’s resting chamber. "Master..." The girl, holding her chest, struggled to sit up a slide quickly bowed her head to Ji Wu Nian. Her exposed back had strips of herbal patches, covering the two harrowing claw marks. Wen Zheng Elder approached and commented that though the wounds looked fierce, they were easier to heal than the previous self-inflicted ones. Although the fierce tiger was a spirit beast, it only caused superficial injuries. Cultivators were unlike ordinary people, and Leaf Two had been given good medicine, so it didn’t need bandaging; just lying down for a couple of days would suffice for healing. Cultivators could mend wounds with spiritual energy, effectively and scar-free, but Ji Wu Nian refused, saying it should serve as a lesson for Leaf Two. "You won't be applying any scar-removal medicine to her either," Ji Wu Nian's face was ashen, a rare anger ignited by the person before her. "Make sure she remembers this for the rest of her life." Despite Ji Wu Nian's usually jovial and playful demeanor, her fury was enough to make the disciples of Hundred Herbs Peak shiver, looking at Yeon Woo with sympathy. "Nasty..." Nine One was a hundred percent displeased with Ji Wu Nian. Yesterday she kissed their host, and today she's scolding her. When Yue Bai was kissed yesterday, she heard Nine One incessantly shouting about “orange vibes,” “yuri end,” and “please bend please bend,” which she truly didn't understand. But Yue Bai didn't really mind, lowering her head, coughing twice. Lying down had its drawbacks, her chest hurt. Her thin shoulders and back trembled slightly with the coughs, causing the herbal patches on her back to shift, revealing the pointed tip of a long scar. Though it wasn’t a mangled mess of flesh and blood, it was still a gruesome sight. The other day, Ji Wu Nian had stopped the rain, freezing the entire Five Peaks Plaza; today, without drawing her sword, the cold around her seemed poised to freeze the whole Hundred Herbs Peak. Wen Zheng Elder stepped forward, "Wu Nian, your disciple is still injured." Taking a deep breath, Ji Wu Nian finally sat gently next to Yeon Woo's bed, pressing her shoulder to keep her lying down. As her spiritual energy flowed into Yeon Woo's body, Ji Wu Nian sensed something was wrong. Not only was there an external pressure rupturing her blood vessels, but also an internal explosion pushing outwards. "What happened?" Yeon Woo's heart was heavy, "When the tiger's paw came down, I reflexively used all my spiritual energy to resist... It might have..." At first, it sounded plausible, and the sensations in her hand seemed to confirm it, but Ji Wu Nian didn't believe it. "Ji Xianzhang," a disciple handed over medicine for Yeon Woo, "this?" "I'll feed her." Ji Wu Nian took the medicine bowl, a wave of bitterness wafting. "Master," Yue Bai tried to prop herself up, "I can do it myself..." "No." Ji Wu Nian pushed her back down, sitting on the floor beside the bed for convenience, she brought a spoonful of the bitter medicine to Yue Bai's lips, "I'll feed you." Helpless, Yue Bai took a sip, the bitterness numbing her tongue. Wen Zheng Elder couldn't stand it, "If you do it like this, it’s too bitter for her, how about..." "Remember the bitterness to savor the sweetness," Ji Wu Nian offered another spoonful to Yeon Woo, "to teach her a lesson." Nine One sympathized with Yue Bai, "What kind of person have you provoked..." Yue Bai kept her expression calm, although her mouth was entirely numbed by bitterness, "Who caused me to provoke them?" Nine One: "..." Yue Bai, I'm sorry. Wen Zheng Elder watching from the side also felt the bitterness. The little disciple was already injured, now holding back tears as the bitterness shone in her eyes. She intervened, "Wu Nian, let her finish it quickly; it’s getting cold." Ji Wu Nian was about to retort when someone called from outside, "Ji Xianzhang, the headmaster requests your presence immediately." Still half a bowl of dark liquid left, Ji Wu Nian sighed, "Drink it yourself." Yue Bai downed it in one gulp, her face stiffening slightly. "Rest well." Ji Wu Nian patted her head, following the messenger out. Wen Zheng Elder gave a few more instructions, then also let Yue Bai rest. Yue Bai propped a pillow under her chin and resumed playing with the panda cub. When Ji Wu Nian had been here, the atmosphere had been so oppressive that the little guy dared not move. Now it followed her hand in circles, occasionally slipping off the bed’s edge, cutely. The panda cub, a rare sight, drew everyone's interest, but only Zhao Qi dared to join Yue Bai in playing with it, given her current disheveled state. After lunch, Yue Bai lay resting on her couch, faintly sensing snowfall outside with its soft pattering sound. Nine One spoke suddenly, "Mission progress update: Main mission 'Aid Ji Wu Nian in achieving her wish,' progress at eighteen percent." Hah, six away from twenty. Yue Bai turned her head to the side, resuming her sleep.