Chapter 89: A Master’s Revelation

Xiu Qingcheng lowered her hand from her face, looking at Meng Yingxing, who was flushed and averted his gaze, pretending nothing was amiss.

‘Ah, she noticed too late.’

It was her presence that made Meng Yingxing feel so inferior; a child like him would always have a crush on the prettiest older sister he saw.

Then, whenever another girl appeared, he’d compare her to the prettiest older sister.

Now that she was his point of comparison, it was clear that very few girls would catch Meng Yingxing’s eye!

‘What a sin! Her, Xiu Qingcheng, had no such intention!’

Xiu Qingcheng decided that from now on, if she were to find a partner for Meng Yingxing, they just needed to be prettier than her! Sword techniques or anything else didn’t matter at all!

Xiu Qingcheng smiled slightly, reached out, and ruffled Meng Yingxing’s hair, trying to make him shorter.

“Oh, little brother.”

With that, she lightly stepped past Meng Yingxing and walked towards the bow of the ship.

“I’m not little anymore! Master!”

Seeing Xiu Qingcheng still treating him like a child, Meng Yingxing seemed a bit displeased and trotted a few steps to follow behind her.

As evening descended, the sunset faded in the west, and the shadows of all things on heaven and earth stretched long. The temperature dropped abruptly.

Meng Yingxing, following Xiu Qingcheng at the bow, suddenly felt the disciple token he carried with him vibrate.

He pulled out the disciple token and casually channeled some spiritual energy into it.

With a noisy sound, a voice extremely familiar to Xiu Qingcheng came from the disciple token.

–Junior Brother Meng, can you hear me? This is Lin Yunchuan.–

‘So it was the loyal dog Senior Brother.’

Xiu Qingcheng, hiding nearby, nodded.

The Tianfeng Sect’s disciple tokens integrated the function of a thousand-mile sound transmission spell, used for communication between disciples. Now, it seemed quite useful.

Like the mobile phones Xiu Qingcheng was familiar with.

“Senior Brother Lin.” Meng Yingxing responded calmly to Lin Yunchuan on the other end of the thousand-mile sound transmission.

–Have you arrived at the Xu family in Zhongyang Town, Qizhou, yet?–

“I’m currently on a boat, about to reach Fenggui Ferry.”

–Good. This is your first mission. If you encounter any trouble, you can tell me immediately, and Mo Kaiming and I will rush over from Fengyu City at once.–

“Okay, thank you, loyal… cough, Senior Brother Lin.”

Meng Yingxing, almost led astray by Xiu Qingcheng, quickly corrected himself in his thousand-mile sound transmission.

‘Your loyal dog Senior Brother is quite serious and responsible. Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on him.’

Xiu Qingcheng somewhat acknowledged Lin Yunchuan’s character.

But acknowledgment was acknowledgment; she wouldn’t change her address for Lin Yunchuan, mainly because she was used to it.

Night began to fall, darkness enveloping the sky, with a sliver of red sunset still lingering on the horizon.

At this time, the boat Xiu Qingcheng and Meng Yingxing were on was approaching Fenggui Ferry near Zhongyang Town.

Ripples spread across the water, and the boat slowly docked, lowering the gangplank.

Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng disembarked side by side. He looked around, taking in the scenery of Fenggui Ferry.

Scattered goods were displayed at the ferry, sporadic workers came and went, and various sized boats were moored sparsely.

Even the willow trees, unbudded in winter, stood fragilely along the riverside, few and far between.

Winter’s Fenggui Ferry was such a desolate scene.

“Let’s go, Disciple.”

Xiu Qingcheng called out to Meng Yingxing.

As the master and disciple walked further in, Xiu Qingcheng suddenly noticed a person at the ferry.

It was a woman dressed in a simple white skirt, appearing to be in her thirties.

She sat quietly on a stool at the ferry, her gentle gaze, like water, cast towards the distance—

That was the river Xiu Qingcheng and Meng Yingxing had traveled.

The river surface shimmered under the last trace of red sunset, looking ordinary, yet seemingly carrying countless stories from the passage of time.

The woman seemed to have been sitting there for a long time without moving. Today, a light snow had fallen for a while, and the snow clung to her head, almost covering her eyebrows.

As night completely fell, the woman slowly stood up, preparing to leave.

She waved her long sleeve, shaking off the stray snowflakes from her head.

Meng Yingxing noticed Xiu Qingcheng looking at the enigmatic woman and asked, “Master, are you looking at that woman?”

“Mm.”

Xiu Qingcheng mused, frowning at someone else for a rare moment.

“I just feel… this woman emits an aura that I don’t quite like.”

Hearing this, Meng Yingxing’s ears perked up.

‘An aura Master doesn’t quite like? What exactly is it?’

He felt this was an excellent opportunity to deeply understand his master’s preferences.

However, the answer Meng Yingcheng received from Xiu Qingcheng was:

“I don’t know either, but… it just makes me very uncomfortable, Disciple. What do you think?”

Xiu Qingcheng blinked, wanting to see what Meng Yingxing thought.

Meng Yingxing concentrated, carefully examining the woman’s departing back.

A few seconds later, Meng Yingxing shook his head.

“There’s nothing special; she’s just an ordinary woman with no spiritual power.”

“Is that so…”

Xiu Qingcheng pondered, also feeling it might be her own illusion.

After all, probing was not her area of expertise.

‘Forget it,’ Xiu Qingcheng scratched her head, calling to Meng Yingxing to continue their journey.

“Let’s go, we should be able to reach the Xu family before it gets completely dark.”

The night deepened, with stars and moon as their companions.

Though she said they needed to reach the Xu family, Xiu Qingcheng pulled Meng Yingxing into an inn at the ferry crossing, claiming Meng Yingxing was too tired from beating up bad guys today and needed to rest well, without such haste.

Meng Yingxing thought Xiu Qingcheng just wanted to be lazy.

But a master was a master, and she needed to be pampered.

“Hey, two esteemed guests, seeking a meal or a room?” The waiter enthusipped, upon seeing them enter the inn.

“A room.”

Xiu Qingcheng immediately replied.

The waiter, under Meng Yingxing’s murderous gaze, shifted his eyes away from Xiu Qingcheng’s legs and continued to ask, feigning calmness, “Our inn has three types of rooms—Heaven, Earth, and Human. Which type would the two esteemed guests like, and how many rooms?”

“One Heaven-grade room. My disciple has money!”

Meng Yingxing had accumulated several months of considerable Tianfeng Sect disciple stipends, and Xiu Qingcheng spent it without a hint of distress.

‘Anyway, it’s the Tianfeng Sect’s money; Tianfeng Sect’s money should be spent lavishly!’

Meng Yingxing didn’t care how much money his master spent; he was more concerned that his master only requested one room.

He had thought that with his master traveling in human form, they would need two rooms when staying at an inn, but now it seemed it wasn’t as he had thought.

‘Master is truly good.’

After hearing Xiu Qingcheng’s request, the waiter paused, his gaze suspiciously circling between Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng a few times.

A man and a woman, master and disciple, yet only one room?

‘These cultivators sure play rough.’

‘Is it even legal for a master and disciple to become dual cultivation partners?’

But the waiter, having seen all sorts of things, maintained a smile on his face and naturally agreed without a second thought.

Their relationship might be muddled, but the money still needed to be earned.

“Alright! Heaven-grade Room number one, just go up to the third floor and it’s the first room on your right!”

The waiter handed them a key and asked, “Two esteemed guests, would you like something to eat? It’s so cold out, would you like some wine to warm yourselves up?”

Meng Yingxing was about to refuse the waiter’s flattering sales pitch.

But Xiu Qingcheng was quicker than him and immediately decided: “Bring up all your signature dishes and a pot of your best wine. Put it all on my disciple’s tab!”

Previously, Meng Yingxing was said to be a spendthrift disciple; now, it seemed Xiu Qingcheng was a spendthrift master.

The two arrived at their room, and Meng Yingxing became displeased.

“Master, what about the food I was going to make for you?”

He was a little jealous, jealous of these bad dishes that were about to steal his master’s appetite.

Xiu Qingcheng patted Meng Yingxing’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Because those dishes taste better only if eaten hot. And I want to eat them now.”

With Xiu Qingcheng’s clever words, Meng Yingxing immediately stopped fussing.

He was, as it were, super easy to please.

Soon, the waiter brought several dishes and a pot of wine into the room, quickly retreating after wishing them a pleasant meal.

Seeing the table full of delicacies, Xiu Qingcheng’s eyes sparkled.

She eagerly grabbed her chopsticks and, with the familiar intensity Meng Yingxing knew, devoured the food like a whirlwind.

This time, Meng Yingxing said nothing, but kept a close eye on Xiu Qingcheng. He thought, ‘Perhaps Xiu Qingcheng will also make more for her in the future.’

After eating, Xiu Qingcheng finally unsealed the wine the waiter had brought.

The rich aroma of wine diffused into the air, making Xiu Qingcheng’s eyes light up again.

“This wine… it’s really good.”

“Disciple, do you want to drink some?”

Xiu Qingcheng held the wine jug, shaking it towards Meng Yingxing.

Meng Yingxing shook his head. He didn’t drink alcohol, but he knew his master loved to drink; it was just that she hadn’t had the opportunity before.

Xiu Qingcheng shook her head, “Alas, those who don’t understand wine are in for a hard time. One drink dispels a thousand sorrows~”

With that, Xiu Qingcheng grabbed the wine jug and drank it in one gulp.

Although Meng Yingxing knew Xiu Qingcheng drank, he hadn’t expected her to drink so wildly!

Startled, he rose to stop Xiu Qingcheng’s behavior.

But just as Meng Yingxing stood up, Xiu Qingcheng took a big gulp and put down the wine jug.

Xiu Qingcheng let out a burp. Meng Yingxing tried to snatch the wine jug from her hand, but she held onto it tightly, so he had to give up.

“Master, I have a question.”

Meng Yingxing looked at Xiu Qingcheng, who was holding the wine jug and drinking sip by sip.

“Disciple, ask away,” Xiu Qingcheng narrowed her eyes.

“Can a sword spirit get drunk?”

Xiu Qingcheng was silent for a while before slowly replying:

“Probably~ not~ right~”

“They’re all~ spirit bodies~ how~ could they get drunk?”

“True.”

Xiu Qingcheng took a few more gulps, and the large wine jug was more than half empty.

She burped again, and Meng Yingxing smelled the strong scent of alcohol.

“Disciple, do you know~ the move I use~ after I drink~?”

Xiu Qingcheng seemed a bit slurred, her voice sounding soft and sticky, like a cat scratching at Meng Yingxing’s heart.

“What is it?”

“It’s~ Fire Kill!”

“Sword is for killing, add wine, and it becomes Fire Kill!”

Meng Yingxing: ‘…’

“Isn’t it funny? It’s very funny, hahahaha~”

Xiu Qingcheng laughed heartily.

It turns out that if spiritual energy is completely filled with alcohol, sword spirits can also get drunk.