Chapter 589 513: Encountering Yueqiu Again, Does Junior Martial Uncle Nangong Also Want to Spend the Night in Master's Room?

"Let's go. We'll talk once we're out of here."

"I can sense a few guards coming over."

...

...

「In the inn.」

Nangong Jin lay alone on Pei Yuhang's bed. The brocade quilt was a tangled mess, half-covering her, but she felt no warmth from it.

She stared blankly at the ceiling, her gaze unfocused, her expression vacant.

Nangong Jin felt as if she had no strength left in her body, like a brocade carp washed ashore, about to suffocate, utterly lost.

'...So cold.'

She slowly curled into a ball, her fingertips clutching the corner of the quilt, knuckles turning white from the force.

["Junior Sister, the seven passions and six desires you once severed are being summoned back by Ji Shenyun through heretical means."]

["Your feelings for me aren't genuine. They are the result of Ji Shenyun's deliberate manipulation."]

["We are family... and we can only be family."]

Pei Yuhang's voice echoed in her mind again, low and clear, repeating endlessly in her ears like a Spell.

Nangong Jin's eyelashes trembled slightly. A single, clear tear slid silently down and disappeared into her temple.

She slowly closed her eyes, a bitter smile touching her lips.

'Back then, I competed with Ye Liyuan for Brother Pei... and I lost. Since he chose her, and I myself stepped onto the path of the Supreme Forgetfulness Dao...

'Since I've already made my choice, I shouldn't have any regrets.'

After a long moment, Nangong Jin closed her beautiful eyes. She placed a hand over her heart and murmured softly:

'Brother Pei... maybe he's right. I can't keep being this childish.

'He's clearly helping me with my Crossing the Tribulation. And yet, I tried to drag him into an immoral situation that would make him a target of public scorn. I wanted him to betray his own morals to be with me...

'How absurd. Brother Pei is such a pure and noble person. How could I let him be tarnished because of me?'

Nangong Jin patted her own cheeks, and a hint of clarity returned to her dazed, beautiful eyes.

'Starting today, I will strictly follow Brother Pei's teachings. I can't keep thinking about love and romance!

'I must achieve complete Forgetfulness, transcend the mortal world. Only by reaching the Mahayana realm can I better protect Brother Pei!'

With a surge of effort from her slender frame, she pushed herself into a sitting position.

'Starting tomorrow, I will present a whole new me to Brother Pei!'

Nangong Jin clenched her fists, giving herself a silent pep talk.

Just then, she heard the sound of voices from outside the door.

'One man, two women... The man is Brother Pei.'

'Are the other two women reinforcements?'

Nangong Jin got up and subconsciously smoothed the wrinkles on her clothes.

CREAK—

The door was pushed open gently, and Pei Yuhang, dressed in white robes, was the first to step inside.

However, Nangong Jin's gaze shot past him, fixing on the figure standing behind him—

Silver hair like snow, shimmering with a cold luster in the candlelight.

'Ji Shenyun?!'

Her pupils constricted. Her body went rigid in an instant, and a sharp wave of Suppression burst from her uncontrollably. The candle flames in the room swayed violently, almost extinguished by the overwhelming aura!

Pei Yuhang's brow furrowed. With a flick of his sleeve, a gentle pulse of Spiritual Power rippled out, instantly dissolving her Suppression.

"Junior Sister Nangong, don't be alarmed. This is my first disciple, Qing Yueqiu."

'Brother Pei's... first disciple?'

Nangong Jin's brow furrowed slightly as she eyed the silver-haired girl before her with suspicion.

Only upon closer inspection did she confirm that this beautiful, silver-haired, red-eyed girl was indeed not Ji Shenyun.

Qing Yueqiu noticed her gaze, and the corners of her lips lifted into a gentle, graceful smile.

She took a step forward and bowed respectfully, her voice sweet yet steady:

"Junior Martial Uncle Nangong, I am Master's first disciple, Qing Yueqiu."

She looked up, her crimson eyes filled with sincere admiration. "Yueqiu has admired you for a long time... When I first set upon the Sword Dao, Master often spoke of you. He said your Sword Intent was as clear as ice, and your heart as resilient as a pine."

"He also said... he hoped I would take Junior Martial Uncle Nangong as my role model."

"Is that so... My apologies, Yueqiu. I was a bit on edge just now."

Nangong Jin pressed her lips together in embarrassment, not expecting to have made a fool of herself in front of Brother Pei's disciple.

Then, another question surfaced in her mind.

'How could Brother Pei's disciple be helping Ji Shenyun?'

Qing Yueqiu seemed to read the confusion in Nangong Jin's gaze and said softly:

"It's a complicated matter. When we have time tomorrow, I will have Master explain it to you, Junior Martial Uncle."

"Oh, alright..."

Nangong Jin wasn't good at socializing. After the simple pleasantries, she just sat dazedly in a chair, unsure of what to talk about with Brother Pei's disciple.

Her gaze subconsciously drifted to Qing Yueqiu's plump Dao Fruit, and her thoughts began to wander. 'This junior has quite the figure... and her Yin Yang Qi is in perfect balance. She must have a Dao Companion by now, right...?'

'But... why have I never heard Brother Pei mention his disciple having a Dao Companion?'

Beside them, Pei Yuhang judged the hour and said to everyone, "It's getting late. Everyone should get some rest."

The moment he finished speaking, Bei Lingyin left the room.

Everyone else in the room was connected to Pei Yuhang in some way. She had felt quite out of place and had been wanting to leave for a while.

After Bei Lingyin left, Nangong Jin subconsciously looked at Qing Yueqiu.

And Qing Yueqiu was also looking at her.

A silence suddenly fell between them.

After a moment, Qing Yueqiu said softly, "Junior Martial Uncle Nangong, is there anything else you need to say to Master?"

Nangong Jin was taken aback by her words, her red lips parting slightly before closing again.

She nervously clutched the hem of her skirt, her voice softer than usual as she asked without thinking:

"Yueqiu, are you... staying in the same room as Brother Pei?"

Qing Yueqiu nodded without any hesitation, her smile perfectly composed.

"I've been apart from Master for a long time. There are many things I want to tell him."

As she spoke, she suddenly took half a step forward, her crimson eyes looking directly at Nangong Jin, her tone tinged with a hint of innocent curiosity.

"Junior Martial Uncle Nangong, don't tell me you were also planning to stay in the same room as Master?"

"That wouldn't be very appropriate, would it..."

"..."

Nangong Jin felt the tips of her ears suddenly burn, a faint pink blush spreading to her neck. She hurriedly turned her face away, her long lashes trembling and casting a shadow beneath her eyes.

'She's right. Qing Yueqiu and Brother Pei are master and disciple. After being apart for so long, they would naturally have a lot to discuss at night after their reunion.

'But Brother Pei and I are just senior and junior martial siblings. Spending the night in the same room... that really wouldn't be appropriate, would it...?'

Nangong Jin was silent for a moment, then slowly rose to her feet as if admitting defeat. The hem of her skirt, embroidered with silver koi, fell like water, glimmering softly in the candlelight.

"Well then, Brother Pei, Yueqiu, good night."

She spoke softly, forcing a faint smile to her lips, but it couldn't hide the gloom in her eyes.

"Mmm. Good night to you as well, Junior Martial Uncle Nangong."

Qing Yueqiu politely bid her farewell.

Pei Yuhang wanted to see her out, but Nangong Jin said that the room she'd booked before was just next door, so there was no need to trouble him.

After her polite refusal, Nangong Jin turned and left, her steps a little slower than usual.

She gently pulled the door closed for the master and disciple, her fingertips lingering on the wood for a moment before she slowly pulled her hand back.

The candlelight in the hallway was dim, making Nangong Jin's slender figure seem even more solitary.

She raised a hand to her heart, her long lashes lowered, casting a faint shadow beneath her eyes. A very soft murmur escaped her lips: "So I've been kicked out, huh..."

Nangong Jin's voice was almost inaudible, yet it was filled with an indescribable loneliness.

Before she reached her own door, she couldn't help but look back.

The candle in Brother Pei's room was already out, leaving it in pitch darkness, as if silently proclaiming a possibility she was unwilling to contemplate.

She bit her lower lip sharply, her fingertips clenching the corner of her robes.

'It shouldn't be... They're master and disciple. And Brother Pei is so upright and noble, he treasures his reputation.

'Yueqiu seems like a good kid, too. She doesn't seem like the type to act recklessly... How could anything happen between them?'

The night wind brushed past, scattering the stray strands of dark hair by Nangong Jin's ear.

She suddenly raised a hand to cover her burning cheeks, shaking her head in frustration.

'And you, Nangong Jin... What on earth are you thinking? This is just awful!

'To think I would tarnish Brother Pei's image like this in my own mind!

'Maybe Brother Pei was right. My emotions are being too severely disrupted. I must stabilize my Dao Heart as quickly as possible!'

Nangong Jin took a deep breath and finally turned to leave.