Chapter Four: Without Emotion!
Jiang Lin made up his mind. In order to make it to the Sect Grand Competition, he could persuade this Chen Jia to become his teammate.
Though the lad’s appearance was exceedingly delicate and pretty—no, not a girl, just a remarkably refined young man—who liked to wrestle bears in winter and exchanged blows with others at the risk of his life, he possessed formidable combat strength. What’s more, his mind was consumed only by practicing his fists, making him simple and honest. If any misunderstandings arose, Jiang Lin could reason with him, and on major matters, there shouldn’t be any significant problems.
“I refuse!”
“Hm?”
“I am a lone wolf! No feelings! No teammates!” Chen Jia turned his small head, and if he’d kept quiet, his adorable, spoiled demeanor would have tempted anyone to ruffle his hair bald.
“That’s even better!” Jiang Lin clapped his hands in delight.
“Better? In what way?” Chen Jia’s silken eyes regarded Jiang Lin as if he were a muggle.
“In truth, friend, I also have my own plans for this Grand Competition and really don’t want to form a team. Since you prefer acting alone, why not form a team in name only, and then act independently? What does this masculine, broad-shouldered, robustly built man think of the idea?”
“Masculine?” Chen Jia pointed at himself with slender fingers, his naive and charming expression almost unbearably cute—if only he weren’t a man…
“Yes!”
“Broad-shouldered?”
“Yes!”
“A grown man?!”
“Yes!”
“Don’t you think I’m rather effeminate?”
“Ha! If you were a woman, then wouldn’t I, Jiang Lin, be less than a woman myself? Chen Jia, are you really trying to insult me? Since you’re unwilling to team up, then let it be!”
With a flourish of his sleeve, Jiang Lin turned to leave.
“Wait… wait…” Chen Jia grabbed the hem of Jiang Lin’s robe, lowering his head, long lashes fluttering like snow brushes, his fair little face flushed, and his eyes like autumn waters almost shattered Jiang Lin’s composure.
“That’s not what I meant… Sorry, let’s… team up…”
The moment Chen Jia lifted his eyes, Jiang Lin’s nose quietly began to bleed…
awsl…
“Master, I just accepted a mission and will be leaving soon. Please take care of yourself, and remember not to fight with the black bear monsters on the mountain for honey anymore.
Remember to air out the quilts more often. If you have time, you can also take out the books in my room to air them. Don’t just eat meat—eat more vegetables to keep your nutrition balanced.”
“Don’t! Linlin, don’t leave… You’ve only just come back, stay a few more days… Master hasn’t even slept with Linlin yet…”
In the shabby little attic on Twin Pearl Peak, Jiang Lin carried a small bundle, speaking words of farewell while trying to pry his master’s arms from around his waist, but to no avail—she held him far too tightly…
“Master… be good. When I return, I’ll bring you candied hawthorn.”
“No!”
“I’ll make you a mousse cake when I come back!”
“No! I just want Linlin!”
“Master, look! A shooting star!”
“Eh? Where?”
The moment Jiang Yun Ni relaxed her vigilance, Jiang Lin slipped free from her lotus-root arms, summoned his aura horse, and galloped away in one smooth motion!
“You actually tricked your master! Master doesn’t like Linlin so much anymore!”
Hearing the soft, sticky voice coming from Twin Pearl Peak, Jiang Lin wiped his face… The demon cultivators on the surrounding peaks all looked up, knowing that once again, that pair of master and disciple were causing the kind of scene that made others envious enough to want to burn them both.
“All right, all right, stop shouting. You sound like a resentful wife—aren’t you ashamed?”
Just as Jiang Lin had left, a graceful woman with a lovely face ascended Twin Pearl Peak.
“Ashamed?”
Jiang Yun Ni’s form began to change, transforming from a petite girl of one and a half meters tall into a stately lady of one meter seventy…
A coquettish smile appeared at her lips, her once silly eyes suddenly cold and queenly, as she loosened her hair.
Her black eyes, cherry-pink lips, and alluring figure became more prominent beneath her small robe, while her long hair danced on the breeze.
“Your subordinate greets you, Leader…”
Fang Ruo smiled and gave a curtsey.
The master of Twin Pearl Peak, Jiang Yun Ni—also known as Jiang Yu Ni—was the hidden powerhouse of the Sun and Moon Sect, as well as a rare genius. She inherited the position of Sect Leader at twenty, reached the Jade Pupil Realm at thirty, the upper fifth boundary, but unfortunately had stagnated for twenty years, so she secluded herself on Twin Pearl Peak, leaving sect affairs to others and focusing on cultivation.
Only a very few knew her true identity.
“Leader, did you follow Jiang Lin again this time?”
Whenever Jiang Lin went down the mountain to train, this beautiful sect leader would secretly follow him, worried for his safety. The only exception was last time, when she was in seclusion and didn’t know Jiang Lin had gone to Dragon Gate Sect…
“Last time, because I was in seclusion, I only learned after little Lin came back that he’d gone to Dragon Gate Sect. Little Lin said those four dragon veins were picked up! Hmph! He must have stolen them from Dragon Gate Sect. This time, since Lin Qingwan’s Dao heart was damaged at Dragon Gate Sect, I suspect it’s related to little Lin.
Dragon Gate Sect will surely send Lin Qingwan to the Grand Competition to temper her Dao heart, and little Lin is now on a mission! Surely it’s for Lin Qingwan! Little Lin is so kind-hearted, he must feel guilty and want to make amends. If feelings develop between them, what then?
If I don’t act, my little Lin will be snatched away by that enchantress!”
Fang Ruo sighed softly. “So what will the Leader do this time?”
Jiang Yun Ni gave a flirtatious smile, spun around, her skirt fluttering, and in an instant transformed into a cute little girl of about ten years old.
…
“Friend Jiang, why are you in such a hurry?” Outside the Demon Sect, seeing Jiang Lin galloping as if eloping with his sister-in-law, Chen Jia, who had come to meet him, asked in surprise.
“It’s a long story…”
Jiang Lin recalled his master clinging to him with tears and snot, and then imagined her alone in the empty nest of Twin Pearl Peak. For a moment, Jiang Lin felt deeply guilty.
After this mission, he must spend more time with his master…
“It’s getting late, Brother Chen, let’s set off now.”
“Very well.”
Since pure martial artists couldn’t fly on their own until reaching the seventh boundary, Jiang Lin wanted to bring him onto his aura horse so they could ride together.
But Chen Jia stubbornly refused, insisting he needed to train his physique…
So Jiang Lin flew in the sky, while Chen Jia ran on the ground… By dusk of the fifth day, the two arrived at the site of the Grand Competition—a cave a thousand miles from Xuanwu Mountain, spending the night there before heading into the mountain at dawn.
As they roasted fish, the sound of a little girl’s crying drifted from just outside the cave…