Chapter 19: A Dream of Swords and a Taste of Reality

Above the Nine Heavens, two figures, one clad in white and the other in red, clashed fiercely with their swords.

Sword qi surged, scattering the clouds and mist, as powerful waves of spiritual energy swept through the surroundings.

Blades and shadows intertwined in an instant. A cunning sword light suddenly burst forth from the red figure’s hand, instantly shattering the white figure’s defense.

With a thunderous crash, the white figure was sent flying backward, plummeting toward the earth and kicking up a vast cloud of dust.

“Yun Xueshang, you’ve lost.”

Hua Yan drifted slowly down from the sky, landing just beyond the swirling dust. A trace of disdain curved her lips.

“So many years have passed, yet you’ve made no progress. You truly disappoint me.”

“Even avenging my shame has become this simple.”

She let out a dismissive huff, sheathing her sword.

“Now that it’s come to this, what more do you have to say?”

Yet, before the dust could fully settle, a white figure suddenly lunged out from within it, crashing directly into Hua Yan’s embrace.

“Do you truly… have the heart to wound me?”

Yun Xueshang pressed her entire body against Hua Yan’s chest, tilting her face upward. She was so close that Hua Yan could discern every trembling eyelash and catch the faint, elusive fragrance emanating from her.

“You know full well that I adore you, so why… are you still so cruel?”

Hua Yan’s arms wrapped around Yun Xueshang’s neck. Her usually aloof face was now glistening with tears, on the verge of weeping.

‘This… what is happening?!’

‘I know you like me, but we were just sparring!’

Hua Yan’s cheeks flushed, a mix of embarrassment and indignation. She watched as the white-haired girl’s slightly parted red lips drew closer and closer.

Her breath hitched, and the tip of her nose suddenly felt warm, as if a hot liquid was about to gush forth…

‘No—’

‘That wasn’t nosebleed, but…’

“Achoo!”

Hua Yan suddenly sneezed, her eyes snapping open. She looked down and, sure enough, saw a familiar small pink head pressed against her chest. It must have been Hua Xiangrong’s hair tickling her nose just now.

“Hua, Xiang, Rong!”

She unceremoniously lifted the little one who was sprawled across her.

“How did you sleep last night? Are you trying to suffocate me?”

“Hmm… huh?”

Hua Xiangrong, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly felt her body lighten. She groggily opened her eyes, meeting Hua Yan’s inverted willow-like brows.

“Honestly, why are you sleeping so restlessly today?”

Hua Yan grumbled, placing her back on the bed and smoothing down her own nightgown.

‘If my cultivation hadn’t reached the Nascent Soul stage, I probably wouldn’t have just sneezed. I would have been suffocated unconscious by this little rascal!’

‘Really…’

She raised a hand, retrieving their clothes from her storage ring. As always, she leaned down to dress her daughter first.

‘Speaking of which, with my cultivator’s physique, I should rarely dream. Yet, last night, I unexpectedly had a dream, and I even dreamt of that woman, Yun Xueshang…’

‘Wait, Yun Xueshang?’

Hua Yan’s hand, which was tying Hua Xiangrong’s sash, suddenly paused. She abruptly remembered:

‘Didn’t Yun Xueshang come knocking yesterday with Rongrong? We even slept together! Where is Yun Xueshang?!’

In the exquisite but not particularly spacious bedroom, there was no longer any sign of that white figure, only the mother and daughter nestled together on the bed.

Hua Yan immediately extended her divine sense outward. Soon, she detected that familiar white presence in the courtyard.

‘Phew, so she’s just practicing her sword in the courtyard…’

A slight sense of relief washed over her heart.

‘Wait, practicing sword?”

“Yun Xueshang! Didn’t we agree last night that you weren’t allowed to leave?”

Hua Yan, still in her nightgown, stormed out of the bedroom.

“Why did you still run off to the courtyard to practice your sword?”

Yun Xueshang, who had just drawn her sword from its sheath, paused slightly and turned around.

She saw the girl with slightly tousled red hair, cheeks puffed out from annoyance, still wearing a silk nightgown, and couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.

“That’s not it.”

She lowered the raised sword, explaining gently, “Waking up early to practice sword forms is a long-standing habit of mine. I did indeed sleep with you both last night; I never left.”

“If this caused you to misunderstand… I apologize, Fellow Daoist Hua.”

“Ah? Oh, oh…”

Looking into her clear red eyes and listening to her calm explanation, the small knot of irritation in Hua Yan’s heart somehow dissipated. She raised a hand and scratched her head.

“Wait! I haven’t even changed yet!”

Watching the red-haired girl turn and run back into the house, Yun Xueshang blinked, then tilted her head in thought for a moment. She eventually raised her sword again and began her daily morning practice.

Thus, when Hua Yan emerged from the room, fully dressed and leading Hua Xiangrong, this was the scene that greeted them:

In the courtyard, where the morning light was just breaking through, a white-robed, white-haired immortal held a long sword.

Her form was as graceful as flowing water beneath the moon, or falling blossoms in the wind. As the sword light swirled, both her person and her shadow moved with the light.

A gentle breeze swept through, stirring up fallen leaves on the steps. Yet, the leaves did not plummet; instead, they gracefully spun and drifted with the momentum of her sword.

The sword light abruptly ceased, and the leaves fell silently.

The white-haired immortal, whose hair was like snow, sheathed her sword and turned to face them, her gaze clear, her robes gently swaying.

“Wow! Mommy is so amazing!”

Hua Yan was still staring in a daze, but Hua Xiangrong had already begun clapping enthusiastically.

Yun Xueshang approached, still holding her sword, and gently ruffled the girl’s hair with her free hand.

“Rongrong, go wash up with your mother first. I’ll go prepare breakfast.”

“You can cook too?”

Hua Yan was even more astonished. She found it incredibly difficult to associate the smoke and fire of a kitchen with the ethereal Yun Xueshang, who had just seemed to exist beyond the mortal realm.

“I learned from some chefs in the sect, and also when I traveled down the mountain.”

Yun Xueshang nodded.

“?”

“I learned because I felt that a chef’s exquisite knife skills might be beneficial for improving my swordsmanship,” Yun Xueshang added softly, seeing Hua Yan’s continued confusion.

“Whether it’s a imperial chef who can slice tofu into fine threads, or a street noodle master who can cut beef as thin as cicada wings, they are all incredibly skilled. I learned a great deal from them.”

“Then I shall go first.”

With that, she turned and headed towards the kitchen, leaving Hua Yan with only the elegant, white-robed figure walking away.

***

“This is… the dish you ‘learned a great deal’ from?”

Hua Yan tasted a mouthful of the knife-cut noodles in her bowl, then looked up at Yun Xueshang seated opposite her.

Undoubtedly, the creator of this bowl of noodles possessed exceptional knife skills. The noodles were each like willow leaves, uniformly thin and perfectly cooked, distinct from one another. But…

The broth was bland, almost like plain water. Paired with the slippery yet chewy noodles, it created an indescribably awkward taste.

“Did you forget to add salt?”

Hua Yan couldn’t help but ask.

“My apologies… I didn’t get the seasoning right again.”

Yun Xueshang lowered her gaze.

“This is actually an old habit of mine when cooking. In the past, when I learned from various chefs, they would always say ‘an appropriate amount’ or ‘a little’ when it came to seasoning. When I pressed for specific measurements, I never received a precise answer.”

“So, every time I cook, I can only rely on my own intuition for adding ingredients. It seems today… I added too little again.”

Looking at her expressionless face, which somehow conveyed a hint of shame, Hua Yan was momentarily at a loss for how to even begin to complain.

“It’s okay! I really like the food Mommy makes.”

Hua Xiangrong, sitting beside them, was heartily slurping her noodles from a large bowl.

“The taste is different every time, it’s like opening a present! How fun!”

These words were a comfort to Yun Xueshang, warming her heart. But to Hua Yan, they took on a different meaning—

‘No way? Did this girl grow up eating Yun Xueshang’s peculiar cooking? And she got used to it?’

“Alright, stop eating for now.”

She snatched the noodle bowl from Hua Xiangrong’s hands.

“I’ll go add some soy sauce and chopped green onions to season it for you both.”

“Really… such good noodles, it would be a waste to let them go like this.”

Under the watchful eyes of the mother and daughter, the red-haired girl, using spiritual energy to levitate their noodle bowls, grumbled to herself as she walked towards the kitchen.

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