Taohua walked a couple of steps, then couldn’t help looking back.
She hadn’t expected Xiaoyuan to actually follow her all the way to the practice field.
“You followed me here for what?”
Xiaoyuan didn’t answer her directly. Instead, she walked over to the willow tree and carefully examined the marks on its trunk, as if she had noticed them the moment she walked in.
Taohua was completely baffled by her behavior.
“What are you looking at?”
Xiaoyuan pointed at the scar on the willow’s bark.
“Did the Protector do this?”
Taohua’s heart jolted. Could it be… this willow tree had some special meaning to her, and she wanted to use it as an excuse to make another attempt on her life?!
After thinking for a moment, Taohua picked a very suitable scapegoat.
“That was Senior Sister,” she said.
“…”
Taohua blinked her pretty eyes and deliberately put on a pure, innocent expression.
After a long moment, Xiaoyuan finally tore her gaze away and said coldly, “Protector, please begin your practice.”
Taohua gave an awkward little cough, then walked to the center of the practice ground, drew her longsword, and focused on her training.
Xiaoyuan stood beneath the nearby eaves, watching Taohua’s figure without looking away.
Under the vicious noonday sun, Taohua swung her longsword again and again. Before long her forehead was drenched with sweat, and she couldn’t help sitting down to rest.
“Have some cold water.”
A bamboo flask appeared in front of her. Following the line of it up, she met Xiaoyuan’s still-icy face.
Taohua accepted the flask, feeling a bit torn. Who knew if she had poisoned it…
As if seeing right through her, Xiaoyuan said flatly, “If you’re afraid I poisoned it, then don’t drink.”
“…”
Taohua peered inside. The water was clear and transparent, perfectly normal to the eye. Her mind wrestled with itself for a moment, then she tilted back her head and gulped it down.
She wiped the water from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. Downing a big mouthful of chilled water in one go left her whole body relaxed and refreshed.
Seeing this, Xiaoyuan gave a chilly snort, laced with a hint of disdain.
“Protector was just afraid this servant would poison you, wasn’t she?”
Taohua deliberately copied her tone and snorted back, smug.
“We’re this close to the alchemy room. Even if I were poisoned, Senior Sister would rush over to save me right away.”
On the surface, Xiaoyuan showed no reaction, but inwardly she was surprised Taohua actually knew the way to the alchemy room. That place was one of the sect’s most guarded areas. Not just anyone could enter.
Xiaoyuan didn’t speak to her again. After resting a while, Taohua resumed her training.
She had only practiced a short time when Xiaoyuan’s voice suddenly rang out from the shade of the eaves.
“Lower your center of gravity. Raise the sword a bit higher. Move faster. Bring your presence up—be ruthless.”
Taohua froze for a beat before realizing Xiaoyuan was actually instructing her, offering corrections. After thinking it over slightly, she followed Xiaoyuan’s advice—and sure enough, her movements immediately flowed more smoothly.
But last time, Xiaoyuan had clearly intended to kill her. Why was she now guiding her sword practice?
Could this be the real reason Guan Fusha had transferred her to Taohua’s side?
“Focus. Don’t think about anything else.”
Sensing Taohua’s distraction, Xiaoyuan spoke up to remind her.
Hearing that, Taohua hurriedly reined in her thoughts, stopped letting her mind wander, and devoted herself to the sword.
On the training ground she drilled the opening moves of the Flying Dragon Sword Technique again and again. Only when the sky at the horizon had dimmed did she finally sheath her sword, pack up, and get ready to return to the Peach Garden.
They had just left the practice field when they ran into Ah Tian.
Taohua’s heart leapt, her eyes instantly lighting up. She greeted Ah Tian with enthusiasm.
“Ah Tian, what brings you here? Did Senior Sister ask me to come to Furong Court and have dinner with her?”
“This servant greets the Protector.”
Ah Tian was smiling, but there was a faint trace of pity in her expression.
“It is indeed Right Protector who ordered this servant to come. However… Right Protector asked this servant to inform Xiaoyuan to go see her immediately.”
Taohua’s face fell at once.
Ever since last night, Guan Fusha hadn’t come to see her for an entire day. Could it be… she really was angry over that confession?
Xiaoyuan also looked a little surprised, but her expression quickly returned to its usual cold indifference.
“Understood. I’ll go right away.”
With that, she gathered her qi, leapt lightly, and landed on the roof. In just a few breaths she had vanished from Taohua’s sight.
Watching Xiaoyuan’s departing figure, Taohua felt nothing but envy.
If her lightness skill ever reached that level, she could come and go freely through the sect, and even sneak off to stroll around Furong Court whenever she wanted.
Thinking of this, Taohua couldn’t help letting out a silent sigh.
Ah Tian also sighed inwardly. She honestly couldn’t bear to watch Right Protector go on suffering like this in lovesickness. But she was only a lowly servant; she had no power to change anything the Protector decided.
Ah Tian shook her head, pushed those thoughts aside, and smiled at Taohua.
“Protector, allow this servant to escort you back to the Peach Garden.”
“Mm.”
Taohua’s reply was listless.
After seeing Taohua safely back to the Peach Garden, Ah Tian turned to head back to Furong Court—only to run straight into the one person she least wanted to see.
Almost on reflex, Ah Tian immediately turned her back to Yan Hong, intending to slip away unnoticed.
She had barely taken a step when Yan Hong’s lazy voice sounded behind her.
“Ah Tian, why do you turn tail and run the moment you see me, without even saying hello?”
A Tian’s body went rigid. Forced to stop, she put on her usual harmless smile and turned around to greet Yan Hong.
“This servant greets the Hall Master.”
“Mmm~”
Yan Hong smiled in satisfaction, drawing the last syllable out in a pleased purr.
“In that case, this servant will take her leave.”
Ah Tian was just about to slip away when Yan Hong suddenly wrapped an arm around her slender waist and gave a tug, pulling her flush against her chest.
“Hall Master…”
A deep sense of helpless frustration filled Ah Tian. Why did this woman always like to make things difficult for her?
Yan Hong traced a fingertip lightly along A Tian’s cheek, smiling bewitchingly.
“Why do you always run when you see me? Don’t you want to have a heart-to-heart with me?”
She deliberately put extra weight on the words “heart-to-heart.” A Tian’s face flushed red at once, instantly recalling that night in the Punishment Hall—and the red marks that had appeared on her neck the next day.
“Ah Tian, you look so adorable when you blush.”
Yan Hong gazed at her with a hint of obsession. Her fingertip slowly slid down from A Tian’s cheek to the snowy white of her neck, and then continued lower…
“Don’t!”
Ah Tian turned her face away and started struggling in Yan Hong’s arms.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Yan Hong’s fingertip halted. She leaned down to murmur roguishly in A Tian’s ear.
“Ah Tian is remembering that night of such intimate closeness, isn’t she?”
Ah Tian let out a muffled grunt and used all her strength to try to break free. At first, Yan Hong let her struggle as she pleased. Then, without warning, she released her hold.
Completely unprepared, Ah Tian pitched forward and fell hard to the ground, a cry of pain escaping her lips.
“How pitiful…”
Yan Hong squatted down and brushed A Tian’s disheveled hair back behind her ear.
“See? If you’d just stayed obediently in my arms, you wouldn’t have fallen.”
Grinding her teeth, Ah Tian ignored her. Bracing her hands on the ground, she slowly pushed herself back to her feet.
“If Hall Master has no other orders, this servant will take her leave.”
“Oh, I do have orders for you. If I didn’t, why would I stand here like an idiot waiting for you to come out?”
Yan Hong crossed her arms over her chest and batted her beautiful eyes at her.
“Then may I ask what Hall Master wishes to instruct this servant to do?”
Ah Tian forced down the anger in her heart. She had no choice—she was only a servant.
“I’m asking you this: why did the Protector suddenly release Xiaoyuan from the Punishment Hall, assign her to serve at Cui Taohua’s side, and then transfer Xiaozhu away?”
Though Yan Hong’s face still wore its usual careless smile, her questions were razor-sharp.
Ah Tian was taken aback as well. She had thought Yan Hong was only here to toy with her again, and hadn’t expected her to ask about this.
Lowering her gaze, Ah Tian answered respectfully.
“This servant does not know. This servant only follows the Protector’s orders.”
“Oh?”
A questioning note crept into Yan Hong’s voice as she stepped closer.
“Other than those, what else has your Protector ordered you to do?”
“So far, those are the only orders Protector has given. This servant knows nothing else.”
Ah Tian still did not meet Yan Hong’s eyes.
“Know nothing? Fine.”
Yan Hong suddenly burst out laughing, then her expression shifted. She seized A Tian’s arm and shoved her back against the wall.
The big tree beside the pavilion perfectly hid their figures from view. Yan Hong’s face carried a faint trace of anger as she demanded harshly,
“Tell me—do you really like Guan Fusha that much? So much you’re willing to do anything for her, willing to sacrifice everything, willing to be a loyal dog that will never betray her!”
A Tian’s face went deathly pale in an instant.
So Yan Hong had known all along that she liked the Protector. Then everything she had done to her before… had it all been deliberate, just to humiliate her in front of the Protector?
In that moment she felt as if she were standing completely bare, utterly exposed, while still foolishly believing she was clothed.
Ah Tian was both angry and flustered. She bit down hard on her lip until the faint taste of blood filled her mouth, using the pain to keep herself calm.
She was a servant. She was not allowed to be angry, not allowed to be rude to a Hall Master. Otherwise, she would only be giving Yan Hong exactly what she wanted.
Ah Tian took a slow breath and deliberately lowered her voice so Yan Hong wouldn’t hear the turmoil in it.
“Even for Hall Master, calling the Protector by name so directly is far too disrespectful.”
“You—”
Yan Hong nearly spat blood from sheer fury. Enraged, she actually laughed.
“Good. Good… Since you care about Guan Fusha so much, I’ll grant your wish and let you be with her!”
She stared at Ah Tian fixedly, as if trying to see straight through her. Then, all of a sudden, she stepped back a few paces, flicked her sleeves, and turned to leave.
In her eyes, there seemed to be a trace of loss, a trace of pain, a trace of unwilling infatuation… That gaze held far too many tangled emotions, and somehow, it ended up looking rather desolate.
Ah Tian froze because of that look. It was far too familiar.
Every time Guan Fusha bared her feelings for Taohua, wasn’t that exactly the same gaze Ah Tian wore while hiding in a corner, watching them in silence?
Unfortunately, by the time Ah Tian came back to herself, Yan Hong was already far away.
