Chapter 89
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Chapter 89: Title
Suiyin scarcely registered the apology, every sense fixated on their joined lips.
Xia Shi… was kissing her.
A faint sting mingled with tingling warmth on her lower lip.
The raw reality of it threatened to sweep Suiyin away—Xia Shi was truly kissing her.
When she finally blinked back to awareness, disbelief still lingered in her eyes.
The woman’s fluttering lashes betrayed matching turmoil beneath the calm surface.
Darkness fell abruptly as a palm covered Suiyin’s eyes.
Teeth grazed her mouth in playful reprimand.
“Silly.”
Xia Shi soothed the bite with a kiss, murmuring, “Must I teach you this too?”
Where was the boldness from before their identities were known? Now Suiyin stiffened like carved wood.
A tug at her wrist pulled Suiyin’s hand down. She met Xia Shi’s gaze, shyness still glimmering in her eyes.
They hovered breathlessly close. A slight tilt of Suiyin’s head brought her exhales to brush Xia Shi’s mouth.
Heat shimmered between them.
“You’re my Master,” Suiyin whispered. “Shouldn’t you teach me?”
Amusement bloomed across Xia Shi’s lips, springtime warmth lighting her eyes. Her fingers drifted to cradle Suiyin’s neck, applying gentle pressure as she—
A warm, damp kiss landed on her chin, brushing upward until it found her soft lips and pressed firmly.
The hand caressing Suiyin’s nape suddenly gripped harder, making her gasp. The gentle spring breeze of a kiss abruptly turned fierce.
Pressed against cold jade steps with Xia Shi’s warmth enveloping her, Suiyin noted the fading bitterness of medicinal herbs on her teacher’s breath. Xia Shi’s movements felt stronger now, her breathing steadier than before.
Suiyin’s thoughts tangled like fireworks bursting midair – her numb tongue, ragged breaths, the overwhelming heat.
"Did you learn?" Xia Shi’s cool fingertip touched Suiyin’s swollen lower lip. The girl’s tender skin showed visible redness from their kissing.
As Xia Shi sighed and tried to rise, a hand anchored her hips. "Master, see my progress."
This time Suiyin initiated the kiss. Xia Shi yielded patiently, guiding until the eager novice overstepped boundaries. Beyond the Palace walls, clouds began churning.
Winds howled across Endless Sea as dark clouds swallowed the sun. A sword sliced toward the entangled pair on the jade steps.
Xia Shi turned too late – sword energy gashed her shoulder.
"You’re hurt!" Suiyin stared at the gruesome but bloodless wound.
"Puppet flesh doesn’t bleed." Xia Shi shoved the girl behind her as rubble exploded where they’d lain.
"Ah Yin." The emerging woman’s voice froze the air. "You forget yourself."
Suiyin paled. She’d been too thrilled by Xia Shi’s return to remember they stood in Aunt Yan’s domain.
"Run!" she begged Xia Shi, hearing true murderous intent in that sword strike.
"Run?" Yan Ge materialized before them, Wugui sword biting Xia Shi’s neck. The blade dented flesh but drew no blood.
"Not afraid of death?" Yan Ge leaned into the blade.
"Aunt Yan! My fault! Please!" Suiyin beat uselessly against the soundless barrier enclosing her.
Xia Shi met Yan Ge’s glare. "You won’t kill me."
Yan Ge stared impassively at the daring woman before her, then abruptly laughed. With a twist of her wrist, her sword blade took on black energy.
Demonic energy.
"You think you understand me?" Her voice chilled. "So certain I wouldn’t kill a puppet vessel? Should I erase this shred of consciousness, you know what follows."
"I do." Xia Shi met her gaze. "But you won’t."
"A manifestation of Heavenly Dao’s virtue doesn’t kill for personal gain."
Yan Ge’s head snapped up. She closed in step by step. "Repeat that."
The sword lowered. Her hand shot up to clamp around the puppet shell’s throat, fingers piercing through to seize the consciousness within.
This wasn’t physical suffocation – consciousness experienced torment beyond flesh.
Xia Shi’s brows twitched faintly, lips pressed into pale silence.
"Stubborn." Yan Ge’s eyes flicked to Suiyin frantically pounding the barrier wall. Her grip slackened.
"So the golden seal’s with you. I’d wagered Pei Jiu had it."
Xia Shi coughed twice, turning to calm Suiyin with a look. Her hidden hand made a subtle waving gesture behind her back.
They stood close enough for Suiyin to touch – one outstretched hand away. When her fingertips brushed the barrier, needle-sharp pain stabbed through.
Suiyin jerked back, meeting Yan Ge’s glacial stare. The warning glance held until Yan Ge refocused on Xia Shi, sensing that familiar trace within the puppet’s consciousness.
Heavenly Dao’s breath.
"So it sent you." Yan Ge’s voice thickened like gathering stormclouds. "To persuade me to vanish with Pei Jiu?"
Silence answered. The Heavenly Dao’s intent stood clear.
With Tiansui’s previous failure, this was their opportunity.
"Hmph."
"Another path exists." Yan Ge’s tone shifted, gaze sliding to Suiyin with serpentine cunning. "The Heavenly Dao must’ve told you. Ah Yin carries Tiansui’s Divine Bone. Extract it to complete the demon suppression array…"
"No." Xia Shi cut through the words.
"Why refuse?" Yan Ge’s smile turned knife-edged. "She’s but a sword spirit. That bone isn’t hers. Let her return to being the Heartless Sword’s spirit – no more lifeless blade. You’d regain your Nine Realms sword techniques supremacy. Ideal, no?"
"…No."
"Why not?" Yan Ge flicked fingers, dissolving Suiyin’s barrier. "You dread her reverting. Want her human-shaped, breathing beside you. Because you love her."
Silence hung between two women – one stunned, one wordless.
Yan Ge faced emotions as she did enemies – directly. When she’d realized her feelings for Tiansui, she’d cornered the deity at Tingfeng Pavilion to confess.
Before Tiansui could react, she’d claimed the kiss.
Although Tiansui had sulked for half a month afterward, the sky’s sun never darkened with clouds whenever Yan Ge visited.
The thought of Tiansui brought Yan Ge a twinge of sorrow, though her face stayed impassive.
"Your Majesty." Hongling arrived hastily, noticing Suiyin’s gritted teeth.
They’d vowed not to stir trouble before leaving, yet here they were – rage strong enough to topple roofs.
Yan Ge gestured dismissively. "Take her to the Heavenly Pool."
Hongling hesitated. "Alone, or…?"
Yan Ge’s icy glare silenced her.
Bowing her head, Hongling muttered, "Understood!"
She mentally cursed her own foolish question. Obviously just one person.
"Nevermind. Escort Ah Yin to Cold Moon Palace instead."
The Heavenly Pool and Cold Moon Palace stood at polar ends of the Endless Sea, its most distant palaces.
Having just exposed Xia Shi’s feelings for Suiyin, Yan Ge now banished her across the realm.
Satisfaction flickered in Yan Ge’s eyes as she personally led Xia Shi to the Heavenly Pool.
Within lay the Marrow-Cleansing Pool – its purpose etched in its name.
This treasure originally belonged to the Immortal Capital’s Heavenly Pool. When reconstructing the capital in Endless Sea, Yan Ge had scoured the Nine Realms to gather its required Spiritual Plants.
Though lacking the Immortal Capital’s unique spiritual energy, its effects proved comparable.
Yan Ge shoved Xia Shi into the waters.
Sputtering, Xia Shi surfaced to find the shore deserted. Yet the miraculous pool already mended her spirit’s fractures.
"Does she mean to birth another immortal for the Nine Realms?" The Heavenly Dao’s voice rippled through the air.
Xia Shi closed herself off, repairing memory-wounds inflicted by Pei Jiu’s tampering.
Meanwhile in Sanqing Realm,
Pei Jiu watched Sect Leader Xia Wuwei manage affairs, suspicion coiling in her gut.
For days, Wuwei had played the perfect amnesiac, embracing her role as sect leader. Yet…
Xia Wuwei glanced up from scrolls. "You’re pale. Unwell?"
Pei Jiu smiled, leaning closer. "Xia Shi… dreamed anything lately?"
"Xia Shi?" Wuwei’s brow furrowed. "Why that name?"
"Wuwei," Pei Jiu backpedaled, "my tongue slipped. You misheard."
“Is that so?” Xia Wuwei didn’t press further, answering her question: “Dreams breed nightmares. If I were to dream, I’d likely develop heart’s demons.”
“Do I look like someone about to spawn heart’s demons?” Xia Wuwei smiled at her, eyes clear and bright like the young man sword cultivator of the past.
Pei Jiu temporarily relaxed her vigilance.
She kept strict watch, never letting Xia Wuwei leave her sight except during nighttime sleep.
Nothing should go wrong.
Yet being as cautious as Pei Jiu was, she still summoned the Lord of Shura City.
The Lord of Shura City had originally planned to eliminate Xia Wuwei discreetly, but Pei Jiu’s excessive wariness left him no opening.
Already irritated, he grew murderously impatient upon hearing she sought him.
“Return to the Thirteen Ghost Domains? Why?”
“I still haven’t retrieved that half golden seal from Xia Shi. I suspect it’s awakened.”
“It?” The Lord of Shura City frowned at her wording.
Pei Jiu’s gaze hardened: “Heavenly Dao.”
The Lord of Shura City’s expression darkened. Should the Heavenly Dao interfere, he might be imprisoned beneath Qinghu Region again.
“Fine.”
