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CHAPTER 2: Inspection
"Sister, have you had a good look?"
It was only at the sound of the boy's timid voice that Chu Li realized her index finger was still tilted up beneath his chin.
She'd meant to be checking him for injuries. How had she managed to lose track of that halfway through...
Chu Li withdrew her fingertip and cleared her throat softly to cover her embarrassment.
There was a smudge of mud on the boy's cheek. She brushed it away with her sleeve, then carefully lifted the hair from his forehead to look underneath.
Not only was there no bleeding wound, she couldn't find so much as a bruise.
His face, in fact, was entirely without blemish.
"I've looked carefully, and there's no visible injury on your face," Chu Li said, a little puzzled. "Still, if it hurts, something must be wrong. Once we're back at the sect, I'll have someone examine you properly."
"Back at the sect?" The boy looked utterly lost. "Back where?"
Only then did Chu Li realize she'd never actually introduced herself. "The Bliss Sect, on Mount Qiyi," she added quickly.
The boy drew out the syllables, clearly confused. "The... Bliss Sect?"
"You've never heard of the Bliss Sect?" Chu Li blinked in surprise.
The Bliss Sect's name carried across the entire cultivation world. Even a three-year-old would have heard it mentioned once or twice. Yet this boy knew nothing about it at all.
He was far too innocent for his own good.
If he'd run into someone with worse intentions today instead of her, he'd likely have been picked clean, bones and all.
Chu Li cleared her throat and began, in her most earnest tone, "The Bliss Sect is a well-known cultivation sect in the southwestern territories. Most of its disciples are women, and our specialty in cultivation is..."
Dual cultivation.
But faced with the boy's innocent, upturned gaze, the words caught in her throat, and she found she simply couldn't say "dual cultivation" out loud.
As if the moment she spoke the truth, whatever image she'd built up in his eyes would crumble to nothing.
She wasn't even sure why she felt so oddly bashful about it. Without quite meaning to, she rubbed her knuckle against her lips, thought for a moment, then cleared her throat again. "The Bliss Sect has always done things its own way. From the top down, every disciple cultivates through the harmonizing of yin and yang."
"Harmonizing of yin and yang" sounded so much more refined than "dual cultivation," didn't it?
The boy nodded silently, appearing to accept the explanation with perfect calm. But a moment later, his eyes widened slightly. "Sister, are you feeling unwell?"
"Me?" Chu Li had been patting her chest to steady herself, and the question caught her completely off guard. "I'm not unwell. I'm perfectly fine."
The boy lowered his gaze, choosing his words with care. "But I noticed you've been clearing your throat ever since we started talking."
Chu Li froze for a second, then scrambled for an excuse with great solemnity. "That wasn't me clearing my throat. That was... I was simply so pleased to see you that the energy rose to my throat for a moment, and I couldn't help it."
"You're pleased to see me?" The boy's lips parted slightly, his eyes clouded with an emotion too faint to read clearly. "But everyone else hates me. I thought you would too, Sister."
"Nonsense, who would dare hate you!" Terrified that the prize she'd all but secured might slip away, Chu Li crouched down without hesitation, meeting his eyes directly, and told him with the utmost seriousness, "In my opinion, your bone structure is exceptional, your foundation for cultivation outstanding. If you cultivate alongside me, who knows, perhaps one day we might ascend together."
"You're so kind to me, Sister, but I don't understand cultivation at all." The boy lowered his head and wrapped his arms slowly around himself, his slender, pale fingers plucking at the torn blue fabric on his shoulder again and again, looking altogether fragile. "If I go back to the Bliss Sect with you, I'm afraid I'll only be a burden."
Three "Sisters" in a row left Chu Li's head spinning slightly. She pinched her fingertips hard, forcing herself to focus. "How could you possibly be a burden to me? If you don't come back with me and end up running into danger somewhere in this treacherous cultivation world, I truly won't be able to eat or sleep in peace."
Only then did he lift his eyes, his lashes fluttering like tiny fans, as if searching for something. "Really?"
"As real as it gets." Chu Li tucked a damp strand of hair behind his ear and studied, with quiet satisfaction, the faint blush creeping up the tips of his ears. "Besides, the Bliss Sect doesn't need you to know how to do anything. As long as you come back with me, there's nothing else for you to worry about."
After all, a partner was a partner. His entire purpose was to serve someone else's cultivation, and the more innocent and unaware he was, the less trouble he'd cause.
Rescuing him from his miserable circumstances and giving him a roof over his head and food to eat was already an act of pure compassion on her part.
The rain had begun to ease around them. Chu Li closed her paper umbrella and cast a spell to dry the moisture off both their clothes. "So, will you come with me?"
The boy's cheeks reddened slightly as he nodded firmly. "I... will do whatever you say, Sister."
Chu Li's face broke into a bright smile. "In that case, let's activate the teleportation array."
The moment the teleportation array settled, the breathtaking summit of Mount Qiyi filled Chu Li's vision.
Sunset stretched across the horizon for miles, and a line of cranes soared past through a sea of clouds scorched red by the fading light.
When her attention returned, the vermillion gate stood right before her, the characters for "Bliss Sect" inscribed across it, flanked on either side by gauze-robed disciples standing guard.
Chu Li raised her arms and stretched, easing off the slight dizziness that came with teleportation, then pointed ahead and turned to the boy. "Past that gate is the Bliss Sect's territory."
The boy was still sitting on the ground, looking around at his surroundings.
The unfamiliar environment had clearly deepened his unease. He braced his hands behind him as if trying to stand, but the moment he pushed, his fingers clenched tight and his brow furrowed sharply.
Chu Li hurried to his side, bending down to drape one of his arms over her shoulder. "Can you still walk a little further?"
"...Yes." The boy bit down on his lip hard enough to draw a faint trace of blood before letting Chu Li help him to his feet.
Even hunched slightly forward, he stood half a head taller than her, but leaning against her like this, she could feel just how thin his frame really was.
He trembled the entire way, as though every step landed on the edge of a blade, yet he stubbornly said nothing about it.
Not until they neared the sect gates did he finally seem to give out. His footing twisted, and he stumbled hard against her, one hand flailing up to grab her shoulder in the panic, tearing loose the gauze draped there.
The boy stammered out an apology, words tumbling over each other. "Sister, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but it really does hurt so much..."
Chu Li was far too busy feeling sorry for him to think of blaming him for anything.
She patted his back awkwardly, trying to soothe him, when a voice nearby cut through the moment, dripping with sarcasm.
"Well, well, if it isn't Senior Sister Chu. What foul wind blew you back here?"
Chu Li glanced over, frowning. The disciple before her wore a rose-colored robe layered beneath a jujube-red gauze overlay, the attire reserved for disciples in the early stages of foundation establishment.
Noting the small red mole at the corner of the woman's mouth, Chu Li guessed this was likely Qin Yuxi, the disciple who'd never approved of the original body's behavior.
Qin Yuxi had joined the Bliss Sect less than a year ago and had already gone through ten different partners in her rush to establish her foundation early. The original owner of this body had once mocked her publicly as a woman who "turned no one away," and the two of them had been at odds ever since.
Seeing that Qin Yuxi hadn't come in friendship, Chu Li offered a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Junior Sister Qin, dressed so beautifully today. Have you come especially to welcome me back?"
Qin Yuxi waved a red-and-gold fan, circling slowly around Chu Li and the boy. "Didn't Senior Sister Chu keep boasting about going out to hook a big fish? It's only been a few days, and yet you've come back with some beggar in tow?"
"Who I choose to bring back is my business, not something for anyone else to criticize." Chu Li rolled her eyes at Qin Yuxi. "Besides, why would you call him a beggar? His clothes are a little torn and he looks a bit worn out, that's all. A change of clothes and a bit of tidying up, and he'll be fine."
Chu Li moved to support the boy and head through the gate, only to be stopped by two threads of spiritual energy that shot out from the gate guards on either side, blocking her path.
"I knew Senior Sister Chu would say something like that." Qin Yuxi tilted her head, eyeing the spiritual thread now wound around Chu Li's ankle with lazy amusement. "But Senior Sister Chu, have you forgotten the sect's rules? Bringing back an outsider on a whim without so much as a word of notice, as if the Bliss Sect were your own private backyard."
Chu Li suspected Qin Yuxi was deliberately manufacturing trouble for her. "Since when has the Bliss Sect had such a rule? Do I need your permission before bringing someone back to the sect?"
"That's not up to me to decide." Qin Yuxi tapped the fan lightly against her palm. "Senior Sister Chu, you've been away from the sect these past few days. I suppose you haven't kept up with the sect's recent notices?"
Chu Li thought back to the contents of her storage bracelet. There had been no message jade slip among them; it must have been left behind by the original owner of this body, somewhere outside.
A sense of foreboding crept over her, though she kept her expression carefully composed. "Then why don't you tell me, Junior Sister Qin, what notices the sect has sent out these past few days?"
Qin Yuxi traced the pattern on her fan with exaggerated leisure, then sighed theatrically. "Nothing much, only that strange omens have appeared over the Demon Realm, and unrest is expected. Every major sect has heightened its defenses. Not only are outsiders of unknown origin barred, even disciples of our own sect need to be thoroughly inspected before they're allowed back in."
"Inspected?" Chu Li couldn't recall any such plot development from the novel at all. "How do I know you're not just settling a personal grudge under the guise of sect rules?"
"It's not like I made this up. Go ask any disciple from another righteous sect, they all know perfectly well." Qin Yuxi scoffed. "Or is Senior Sister Chu simply choosing to break the rules with her eyes wide open?"
The words had barely left her mouth when something flashed in Qin Yuxi's hand. Her red-and-gold fan shot toward the boy, trailing a visible edge of killing intent.
The fan stopped less than an inch from the boy's face, yet he only leaned against Chu Li in a daze, not even a lash fluttering, utterly unguarded.
Without thinking, Chu Li's hand shot out and knocked the fan aside. "How dare you attack someone under my protection without any warning!"
Qin Yuxi stumbled back a step, blinking rapidly, clear shock flashing across her face. She clearly hadn't expected Chu Li to block her fan bare-handed.
"So what if I tested him a little?" Qin Yuxi raised the fan, pointing it at the boy. "This beggar's been keeping his head down this whole time, and no one's even gotten a clear look at his face. Who's to say he doesn't have something to hide, like being too afraid someone will discover he's a spy sent from the Demon Realm!"
Before Chu Li could draw her paper umbrella and teach Qin Yuxi a lesson, another voice rang out from beyond the gate, quiet yet carrying an unmistakable authority.
"Yuxi. That's enough."
Qin Yuxi's arrogant expression vanished instantly. She lowered the fan and stepped aside, bowing respectfully to the newcomer. "Greetings, Elder Wen."
Chu Li, still supporting the boy, couldn't manage a proper bow, so she simply turned toward the voice.
Elder Wen had an unmistakably elegant, noble face, yet she wore plain white robes with no adornment at all.
According to the novel, once Elder Wen reached the Nascent Soul stage, she'd withdrawn from public life almost entirely, rarely bothering even with disciples of her own sect. For her to appear at the sect gates now, without precedent...
It seemed whatever Qin Yuxi had said wasn't baseless after all.
"Xiao Li, Yuxi was wrong to act without cause. But given the current situation, you can't simply bring an outsider into the sect on your own authority." Elder Wen raised a hand and dissolved the spiritual thread wound around Chu Li's ankle, then pointed toward the boy. "He must pass inspection before he may enter the gates of our Bliss Sect."
As she spoke, Elder Wen had already come to stand directly in front of Chu Li. Her gaze deepened slightly as she addressed the boy in Chu Li's arms, her tone stern. "Raise your head. Let me see you."
The boy only curled further into Chu Li's embrace, his soft hair pressing against her chest and tickling her skin.
Under Elder Wen's gaze, which seemed to see through everything, Chu Li didn't dare laugh, though she wanted to. She swallowed it down and instead stroked the top of the boy's head. "Be good now, just let Elder Wen have a look. I'm right here. She won't do anything to you."
Only then did the boy turn his head toward Elder Wen, though he kept his lips pressed together, his gaze deliberately averted, unwillingness written all over his face.
After studying him for a long moment, Elder Wen asked, "Where does he come from?"
"This disciple was passing through the eastern riverlands and noticed his exceptional aptitude, so I took him in." Chu Li deliberately kept the location vague, since the original owner's path had crossed with Bai Lingyu's at the Immortal's Rest Inn, and she had no interest in inviting trouble.
"Is that all?" Elder Wen pressed further. "What about his background, his past?"
Chu Li nearly faltered at the question. "This disciple assumed that since he's chosen to follow me, and will sever his ties to the mortal world once he enters the sect, his background and past no longer matter."
"Judging by this boy's appearance, his aptitude is indeed impressive. But Xiao Li, you've acted far too recklessly." Elder Wen's tone sharpened. "I could overlook the fact that you left the mountain without permission. But how could you bring him back to the sect without even knowing who he truly is?"
Beside her, Qin Yuxi couldn't help chiming in. "This disciple did say Senior Sister Chu was disregarding the sect's safety entirely, and yet she still tried to argue her way out of it!"
"This doesn't concern you." Without even turning her head, Elder Wen addressed Qin Yuxi coldly. "Step back."
Qin Yuxi's grip tightened on her fan handle, her lips twitching for a moment before she huffed indignantly at Chu Li and stalked off in a temper.
Elder Wen turned back to the boy, her expression composed. "Xiao Li may not understand your situation, but surely you know it yourself."
"I don't remember anything..." The boy pressed his head into Chu Li's shoulder like a frightened animal, and it was a long moment before he continued in a mumble. "All I know is that I ran from somewhere terrible, and then I met Sister."
Chu Li stroked the top of his head and explained to Elder Wen, "This disciple happened to pass by a rogue cultivator's territory while traveling through the eastern riverlands. He must have been badly frightened escaping from there, which is why he's like this now."
"If the rogue cultivators truly meant to kill him, how could he have escaped alive?" Elder Wen clearly wasn't convinced. "Did you witness this yourself, or did he tell you?"
Chu Li trusted her instincts. "It must be because he hasn't cultivated at all, and has no spiritual power to speak of. He wasn't a prime target for their hunt, which is why he was spared."
"In other words, you still have no proof." A flicker of movement passed through Elder Wen's palm, and an invisible force seemed to wrap around the boy's waist, wrenching him from Chu Li's arms without further discussion.
"Where are you taking him?" Seeing Elder Wen about to forcibly remove the boy, Chu Li rushed after them.
In the next instant, the scenery around her shifted entirely.
When Chu Li's vision cleared, the mountains and waters around her looked as though painted in ink wash, utterly different from the Mount Qiyi she'd just left. This was clearly some kind of illusion realm.
The boy's hands and feet were bound by threads of condensed spiritual power, leaving him unable to move, his eyes fixed on her, full of panic and helplessness.
"Please let him go!" Unable to break spiritual bindings cast by someone at the Nascent Soul stage, far beyond her own level, Chu Li could only hold onto the boy and plead with Elder Wen. "He's in pain right now. Doing this will only hurt him more!"
"Did he tell you that as well?" Elder Wen's gaze turned cold, and she summoned a glowing white stone out of thin air. "Do you recognize this?"
"The Verification Stone?" Chu Li recalled the novel's description of the object. "Isn't that the sacred item the Bliss Sect uses to screen new disciples?"
"Correct. Every disciple of the Bliss Sect must pass three trials of the Verification Stone before formally joining the sect." Elder Wen's tone shifted. "But today, I intend to use this stone to determine his true identity."
Chu Li thought Elder Wen was being unusually persistent about this. "You're still suspicious of him?"
"How could I not be?" Elder Wen said gravely. "The Demon Realm has recently been struck by a sudden heavenly tribulation, and the demon lord has vanished without a trace at exactly this moment. He's worn a mask for years, and no one has ever seen his true face. The entire cultivation world has come to the same conclusion, that he's infiltrated our ranks and means to destroy the great sects from within."
The words burst out of Chu Li before she could stop them. "That's impossible!"
According to the novel, the story's great villain was, at this very point in the plot, still perfectly settled in the Demon Realm.
Even if the plot had shifted somehow, and he wanted to strike preemptively at a handful of major sects, the Bliss Sect had never once been counted among them!
Besides, would the villain really have lost his mind enough to disguise himself as a pitiful stray and follow her all the way back to the Bliss Sect, just to be squeezed dry as her partner?
As a reader of the original novel, Chu Li was willing to swear on the spot: if this boy turned out to have even the faintest connection to the great villain Ji Wuyan, she'd eat the book right then and there.
【Author's Note】
【Bonus scene】
Ji Wuyan: Here's the book. Eat up.
Chu Li: Where's my umbrella?! Where's my umbrella?!!
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1 Comments
(insert girl biting finger meme) mueheheheheh ahem i mean nice
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