Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 397 383: Qing Yueqiu's Desire and Fury

Pei Yuhang noticed Qianqian didn't believe him about Fan Xuan still being alive, but he wasn't annoyed.

He knew this was just Lin Qianyan's way of showing she cared. She wasn't about to cast her logic aside and act foolishly just because of something he said.

In fact, this stubbornness revealed the sincerity of her feelings for him.

And so, Pei Yuhang would, in turn, use his own sincerity to earn Qianqian's trust.

Pei Yuhang lowered his gaze, his long, slender fingers gently stroking the rim of his teacup. His voice was low and firm. "Qianqian, I've spent this time reading many ancient texts..."

"The probability is minuscule, but I've discovered that for some people, the Trial of Heart Tribulation can indeed act as a premonition, much like a High Tier Cultivator foreseeing a 'Destined Death.'"

"The fortunes of the Celestial Dao move in mysterious ways. What one sees in dreams is not always nonsense."

Pei Yuhang looked up at Lin Qianyan, his eyes blazing with a searing light.

"So I'm willing to believe—just this once. I believe Xiaoxuan is still alive, waiting somewhere for us to find each other and reunite."

Lin Qianyan looked at the incredibly earnest Pei Yuhang, pursed her lips, and asked softly,

"Brother Pei, do you want to add her to your Crystal Palace as well?"

"Crystal Palace? What nonsense is this?!"

Though Pei Yuhang had never heard the term, he could guess what it meant.

His expression darkened, and he tapped Lin Qianyan once on her smooth forehead.

"Qianqian, is that really the kind of person you think I am? I just want to see Xiaoxuan one more time!

She helped me back then. No matter what, I have to find out where she is."

"..."

'So what? You, a peerlessly handsome Sword Immortal, meet her, and you two are just going to say hello and leave it at that?'

'Something is bound to spark between you two, and it won't be good!'

'Brother Pei, you don't want to make Sister Liyuan have to share you with one more person, do you?'

Lin Qianyan inwardly grumbled as she looked at Pei Yuhang's righteous expression.

In the end, however, she still agreed to Pei Yuhang's request.

What else could she do? She just had a soft spot for her Brother Pei.

...

...

「Meanwhile」

Qing Yueqiu returned to her room and let out a faint sigh.

The young woman tilted her head back, revealing the elegant line of her neck. Her almond-shaped eyes, which usually glistened with a watery allure, were now veiled in mist as she stared blankly at the carved ceiling.

'Ever since we returned to the Cold Palace Sword Mansion... Master hasn't touched me.'

'I miss those early days when it was just me and Master alone on the Spiritual Ship. His wife wasn't there, Sister Lin wasn't there, and neither was that annoying Ji Xichan.'

'When will I get to be alone with Master again?'

Her soft lips trembled, the last syllable of her whisper drifting away like a kite with a broken string.

Her fingertips unconsciously toyed with her sash, twisting the plain white silk into messy creases.

She slowly pulled a thin silk blanket over her body...

After a long moment, the silver-haired girl lifted her flushed face and grasped at the air twice, as if trying to seize an uncertain future.

All at once, a bold and crazed idea surfaced in her mind.

'What if I locked Master up? Then he wouldn't be able to interact with any woman but me!'

The next moment, as if scalded by the thought, she recoiled and curled into a ball.

Her long silver hair cascaded down like a waterfall, hiding her unnaturally flushed cheeks.

'Aaah—what am I thinking?'

'The whole reason Master despises Ji Xichan and Shang Miaoyan is because they did such despicable things to him!'

'If I did that... Master would surely abandon me.'

Qing Yueqiu buried her face in her hands, tossing and turning on the bed before finally stopping, completely dejected.

In the end, she could only place a hand on her lower abdomen and silently close her eyes.

For inside lay her only comfort, her only source of confidence. It seemed as long as she had the baby, Master would never abandon her.

'But—why, after all this time... is my stomach still flat? There's no change at all. Don't tell me... I'm not pregnant?!'

Qing Yueqiu's crimson eyes shot wide open, and she clutched the bedsheets beneath her in a panic.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and silently probed her body with her Divine Sense. She focused on her lower abdomen, and upon confirming that there was indeed an unusual presence—the reaction of another life taking form—she finally let out a small sigh of relief.

'It's okay, it's okay... the baby will be born safely...'

Qing Yueqiu swallowed hard, raising a hand to brush away the silver strands of hair stuck to her forehead by a film of cold sweat.

BUZZ—

Just then, the Transmission Token beside her buzzed.

Qing Yueqiu glanced down and saw the transmission was from Pei Xiaohan. She stroked the Token twice with her fingertip before infusing it with Spiritual Power to accept the call.

"Sister Yueqiu, is my master at your estate right now?"

The girl's crisp voice emerged from the Transmission Token, carrying a subtle note of urgency.

Qing Yueqiu hummed in affirmation. "Sister Lin is in my master's room right now, discussing important Sect business. Is there a message you'd like me to pass along?"

"What? You're saying my master is alone with Elder Pei?!"

"Yes..."

Qing Yueqiu frowned slightly as she heard the girl's frantic voice on the other end.

'As Sister Lin's disciple, shouldn't Pei Xiaohan know that her master came here specifically to see my master?'

"Sister Yueqiu."

The voice on the other end of the Transmission Token suddenly turned serious.

Qing Yueqiu's heart tightened for some reason, and she sat up straighter without realizing it. "What is it?"

"You can't let them be alone. It's too dangerous... My master and Elder Pei..."

Pei Xiaohan began to explain the gravity of the situation, even embellishing the details to convince Qing Yueqiu to join forces with her.

In short, she had to make Qing Yueqiu understand that Lin Qianyan being with Pei Yuhang would bring shame upon both the Jade Pool Sacred Land and the Xuanyuan Dao Sect, and that things would absolutely not end well for them!

Halfway through the explanation, the silver-haired girl's fingers went slack, and the Transmission Token fell to her side.

A blood-red fury began to smolder in her beautiful crimson eyes, and her suppressed Spiritual Qi made the entire wooden cabin begin to tremble.

She had been deceived.

Deceived by that pure Saintess who was always smiling, who had her call her "sister," who put on the perfect act of a good woman.

'So Lin Qianyan and Master already had that kind of relationship!'

"So much for 'Brother Pei'... it was 'Brother Qing' all along..."

No wonder she, the Saintess of her Sect, was willing to follow Master on an adventure into the Northern Desert.

It looked like she was working tirelessly for no reward, but in reality, she had her sights set on Master himself!

Qing Yueqiu sneered. She was furious, yet somehow not surprised.

After all, she had long been aware of the unusual relationship between Lin Qianyan and her master and was mentally prepared for it.

She had even asked her master back then if he was going to take the Jade Pool Saintess for himself...

Looking back, she realized how narrow-minded she'd been. The two of them were already in love—they were each other's first love. Of course he would take her.

But now, Pei Xiaohan wanted to join forces with her to break up Lin Qianyan and her master.

And Qing Yueqiu was more than willing!

Especially after hearing what Pei Xiaohan had to say. She felt that with the celibacy-advocating Jade Pool Sacred Land behind Lin Qianyan, her master would surely be dragged into trouble.

'Any destabilizing factor that threatens Master must be eliminated!'

Besides, she had her own selfish reasons.

Desire was an ever-expanding thing. At first, Qing Yueqiu thought it would be enough just to be with her master. She'd told herself she wouldn't mind sharing him with other women, or even taking a humble, lowly position, as long as he spared a thought for her now and then.

But she had been wrong.

After getting together with him, she discovered that she wanted more of his attention, more of his affection.

But there were too many women around her master, and they all just carved up the love that should have been hers alone.

The taste of jealousy was more searing than she could ever have imagined.

Qing Yueqiu couldn't bear this scorching loneliness. She had to fight.

Because she had discovered that love... is selfish.

It was not something one could compromise on.

"Pei Xiaohan, I'll help you."

Qing Yueqiu gave her reply.

"Really? That's wonderful! If we work together, we can surely make our masters see the error of their ways and save them from sinking into an abyss of immoral depravity!"

Pei Xiaohan was ecstatic. In her excitement, she failed to guard her tongue and blurted out,

"Oh, right, Yueqiu, you have to be careful of that Shang Miaoyan. She imprisoned Elder Pei for decades and treated him as her personal Cauldron Slave.

Now she's chased him all the way to the Xuanyuan Dao Sect, so she definitely hasn't given up on him."

As Qing Yueqiu listened, something Pei Xiaohan said made a vague memory click into place, and her mind went blank with a sudden ROAR.

"What... what did you just say?"

Her voice was hoarse, like the suppressed growl of a she-beast.

"Ah, I..."

Pei Xiaohan's voice immediately became hesitant.

Qing Yueqiu stared daggers at the Transmission Token in front of her, enunciating every single word.

"Back then, your master said it herself. She was going to the Yin Yang Sacred Land to find her husband, who had been abducted and made into a Cauldron Slave. Right?"

"Yes..."

Pei Xiaohan's weak voice emitted from the Transmission Token.

Her master had specifically warned her not to speak carelessly about Elder Pei's past, but now, thanks to her slip of the tongue...

Qing Yueqiu's crimson eyes narrowed, then slowly closed.

'Lin Qianyan, Shang Miaoyan...'

'So when he was young, my master was the very same husband Lin Qianyan mentioned—the one abducted by the Yin Yang Sacred Land to be a Cauldron Slave.'

'It all connected.'

In that moment, Qing Yueqiu felt like she understood her master's entire past.

'No wonder. No wonder Shang Miaoyan had chased him all the way to the Xuanyuan Dao Sect.'

'No wonder her master, who was supposed to be staying at the Cold Palace Sword Mansion, was so hopelessly entangled with the Saintess of the Yin Yang Sacred Land.'

Although Qing Yueqiu had been mentally prepared, learning the truth of her master's unbearable, dark past—a past where his lips were tasted by thousands—still made her chest ache with a terrible pain.

Her nails dug deep into her palms, and blood trickled down her wrist to drip onto the floor.

But that physical pain was nothing compared to the tumultuous, wrenching agony in her chest.

Qing Yueqiu was overcome with a wave of nausea. She leaned against the wall and gagged twice, her eyes shimmering with tears.

She finally understood why her master had rejected her again and again.

It wasn't just his loyalty to his wife. A bigger reason was that he felt... he was dirty.

His past was so tragic.

The intense emotions made the silver-haired girl's blood boil. The killing intent that Pei Yuhang's Golden Sun Divine Seal had suppressed came roaring back to life.

"Bastards—! Those scumbags from the Yin Yang Sacred Land, and that useless waste Lin Qianyan, who couldn't protect her master and let him be stolen away and turned into a Cauldron Slave!"

"Master... you've suffered so much."

Qing Yueqiu suddenly collapsed to her knees, pressing her forehead to the cold floor and letting out a whimper like a wounded animal cub.

But an instant later, she snapped her head up, a blood-red light flaring in her eyes. "I'll kill them! I'll kill every woman who ever hurt you!"

'Lin Qianyan has to go...'

'Shang Miaoyan must die!'

"Hello? Sister Yueqiu, are you still there?"

The Transmission Token vibrated slightly, as if Pei Xiaohan on the other end had grown uneasy with Qing Yueqiu's long silence.