Chapter Forty: Kill Me! I Don’t Want to Live Anymore!

"Little Jia, where are you going again?"

In a grand manor on the eastern side of Sun Moon City, which belonged to the Sun Moon Sect, a girl dressed in a white embroidered dress was about to climb over the wall when a deep, commanding male voice drifted through the courtyard.

"Fa... Father..."

The girl stood upright, her small head bowed. Her long hair, half tied in a fawn-bun, cascaded smoothly over her shoulders like a black waterfall. Her delicate face radiated innocent purity, but the long lashes and recently drawn eyeliner added a subtle hint of allure.

Especially striking were her perfectly joined long legs—her body below the neck seemed all leg, making her the ideal platform for an Italian cannon...

"Girls always love to run outside, but none are as restless as you. Get back inside!"

"No! I don't want to stay at home—it's too boring!" The girl bravely protested.

"How long have you even been at home? You wander outside, join sect competitions, and then there's Jiang Lin—you could partner with anyone, but you insist on taking missions with him. I can't trust you with him. What if he suddenly turns wild? Thankfully, you returned safely this time, or I'd have torn down Twin Pearl Peak myself."

"What's wrong with teaming up with him? He hasn't eaten our family's rice!"

"He... he sells dudou under Twin Pearl Peak at night, did you know that?!"

"What? Selling dudou? Wait... How did you know Jiang Lin, that beast, sells dudou at night?"

Chen Jia recalled finding a peony dudou in her father's study. She had wondered why, since her mother preferred lotus designs, there would be a peony pattern.

Realizing he had let slip too much, Chen Jia's father broke into a cold sweat.

"It doesn't matter! I absolutely won't agree to you going out! Anyway, Jiang Lin has already forgotten you."

"That's exactly why I must go out!" Chen Jia pouted, squared up in a boxing stance facing her father. "Even if he's forgotten me, I still remember him as a child! That's enough! I want to help him!"

"You... you're not even married yet! And already sneaking out! You're actually going to fight your own father for some rascal!" Her father's beard quivered with rage. "Fine! I'll just stand right here! Go ahead, hit me! Beat me to death! I'm done living!"

...

Watching his motionless daughter, Chen Jia's father secretly rejoiced. Indeed, a father was more important than any outside rascal.

But just as he was distracted for a moment, Chen Jia gathered her skirt, moved into her boxing stance, and six steps later, with thunderous force, her small fist landed squarely on her father's chest.

"Ah..."

A wail echoed through the Chen family manor.

"Hmph!" Chen Jia dusted off her hands and nimbly scaled the wall as usual...

But just after landing beyond the wall, picking up her bundle and dusting herself off, she took only a few steps before a woman in palace attire, with serene beauty, blocked her way. Simply standing so gracefully, the woman's martial aura exerted a palpable pressure.

"Mother... Ma'am..."

...

Dragon Gate Sect...

"What should we do? Should we tell Senior Sister Lin about Jiang Lin being besieged?"

"We can't. Senior Sister Lin has just entered the Nascent Soul stage and is in seclusion to stabilize her realm—she can't be distracted."

"But what if something happens to Jiang Lin? Even though he's betrayed Dragon Gate Sect, he's still our junior brother."

"Why not ask Senior Brother Qin Xiao? He and Jiang Lin have always been close."

"Good idea. Let's go find him now."

"No need."

From the sky, Qin Xiao's voice floated down as he landed, sheathed his sword, and looked at his junior brothers and sisters. Thinking of recent events, he sighed lightly. "Senior Sister Lin has already left the mountain."

At the foot of Jade Maiden Mountain, Lin Qingwan, dressed in a blue long dress, bowed three times to the sect gate and turned to leave, when an elder with a dust whisk descended softly.

"Ancestor..."

Seeing him, Lin Qingwan bent low and saluted.

"Qingwan, go back."

"No! I won't return!"

"Is it because of Jiang Lin?"

Directly confronted with the name on her mind, the girl's cheeks flushed, yet she straightened her graceful figure and looked the founding ancestor in the eye.

"Yes!"

"He's a man of the Demon Sect..."

"He's my junior brother!"

"He regards you as his senior sister, but do you only see him as a junior brother?"

"As..."

"Senior Sister, I'm Jiang Lin—hehehe, Senior Sister, your clothes are so big, no, so long... Never mind."

"Senior Sister Lin, let's eat. People are iron, rice is steel, skip a meal and you'll get hungry."

"Senior Sister, don't quarrel with Master—the old man just worries you'll get so lost in cultivation you'll never marry, so he's been searching for a match for you."

"Aiya, Senior Sister, don't hit me, Senior Sister..."

"Senior Sister, here, try my freshly grilled sausage! Let me tell you, it's hard to make, not dried sausage, but smoked sausage—come, taste my big sausage."

"Senior Sister Lin, do you know? I... declare... you!"

Scenes from the past played through the girl's mind. She had already uttered "As," but could not bring herself to say the final "well."

"A sword cultivator refines both heart and blade; heart before sword. If you can't even understand your own feelings, how can you truly become a sword cultivator? How can you face the demon tribes of the wilderness in the future?"

With a wave of his whisk, the elder made her hands loosen from her sword, her consciousness fading. As she was about to collapse, a woman whose age was indiscernible yet remained youthful appeared and caught her gently.

"Hehehe, wife, how was my soul-stirring lecture just now? Did I look like a master?"

Seeing his wife, the elder's eyes squinted in a grin, like a farm dog.

"Get yourself to Sun Moon Sect right now! If anything happens to Jiang Lin, Qingwan's Dao heart will be damaged! See if you can come back! Learn a foreign language outside for a lifetime!"

...

"Sword Spirit Sister... let me out—Jiang Lin is in danger!"

"No! Xueli, you just entered the Dragon Gate realm from the Maze Secret Domain, and endured the storm of its collapse. Your realm is unstable—if you don't recuperate, you could damage your fundamental path! You cannot go!"

"But, Jiang Lin..."

"No buts! Xueli, you have your mission! Have you forgotten your vow of vengeance against your family's destruction?! Besides, do you not trust Jiang Lin?"

The girl bit her lip and lowered her head, nails digging into her palm. "Sorry, Sword Spirit Sister, but I still want to..."

Before she could finish, the Sword Spirit blocked her, and a sword flash swept across her brow. Already weak, Xiao Xueli slowly lost consciousness.

"Xueli, I'm sorry."

When she opened her eyes again, the Sword Spirit had temporarily taken control of her body.

...

Meanwhile, in the largest tavern of Sun Moon Sect, two men strode in, and atop one man's head lay a cute little dragon girl.

"Papa, what is this place?" Little Nian Nian wagged her tail, her voice soft and sweet.

"Ah, ah, ah... Children shouldn't ask too many questions."

Jiang Lin gently stroked the girl's silvery hair, and in his eyes, an enormous "$" sign appeared...