Chapter 36

Chapter 36: That Works Too

Ling Bu Fei blinked—and slowly withdrew his hand, as if he’d suddenly remembered she had teeth.

“What, Young Sect Master Ling,” Bai Meng Jin asked lightly, “you’re not willing?”

Ling Bu Fei stared at her for a long moment, then narrowed his eyes. “Wait a second. When Ji Xing Ge told me about this, you weren’t even there.”

Bai Meng Jin’s smile didn’t change.

Ling Bu Fei leaned forward, voice sharpening. “So you had your eyes on me already, didn’t you? When did it start?”

That kid—look at how smug he was.

Trying to flip the tables.

Bai Meng Jin didn’t bite. She ignored the question and changed the subject smoothly. “Perfected Chang Ling was supposed to pick me up. He had something urgent, so Elder Yi Ming escorted me instead.”

She sighed as if truly regretful. “I heard Sect Master Cen wants to take me as his last disciple. It would be a shame to miss that chance.”

Cen Mu Liang’s last disciple.

That was worth far more than being the Young Sect Master’s Wife of the Limitless Sect.

Unless Ling Bu Fei seized the Sect Master seat—and made her the true Sect Master’s Madam—only then could it barely compare.

And even then, it would only barely count.

Right now, Cen Mu Liang’s prized disciple was Ning Yan Zhi: the Innate Sword Bone, Golden Core Stage in only twenty years, the Cinnabar Cloud Palace’s chosen next Sect Master.

If Bai Meng Jin became Cen Mu Liang’s disciple, she would at least rise to elder status in the future.

In the Limitless Sect, a Sect Master’s Madam might have an elder’s standing, but in a sect that worshiped strength, her actual authority would never match a true elder’s.

Unless…

“Of course,” Bai Meng Jin continued, voice casual, “I’d rather compete for the position of Cinnabar Cloud Palace Sect Master. But Immortal Lord Ning entered earlier than I did, and he has the Innate Sword Bone. My chances are too slim.”

She spread her hands. “And the Limitless Sect established the Young Sect Master long ago, so no one else even gets a chance.”

Her gaze returned to him, open and shameless. “So after thinking it over, if I can act as Sect Master through the role of Sect Master’s Madam… that wouldn’t be a bad plan either. Young Sect Master Ling, don’t you think?”

After that flood of words, Ling Bu Fei looked almost dizzy.

So that was it. “Sect Master’s Madam” was just a skin. What she really meant was hollowing out the Sect Master and ruling from behind the curtain.

“You’re really going to lay out your ambitions in front of me?” he asked, half disbelieving, half offended.

Where was that timid little miss from last night?

He’d known she was acting, but he hadn’t expected her appetite to be this enormous.

In her mouth, the sect masters of the Upper Three Sects sounded like cabbages—pick one, toss one, take another.

“Be honest,” Bai Meng Jin said, eyes bright. “If we’re going to be husband and wife, we should be honest with each other.”

“Hold on.” Ling Bu Fei lifted a hand like he could physically block her words. “Who said anything about husband and wife?”

“So you don’t agree?” Bai Meng Jin’s tone stayed light. “Then I’ll go to the Cinnabar Cloud Palace.”

Ling Bu Fei stared at her, jaw tightening.

After a beat, he said, “I’m not the kind of person who takes this lightly.”

Bai Meng Jin nodded solemnly, as if impressed.

Ling Bu Fei continued, “My parents didn’t give birth to me this handsome just so I could sell myself.”

Bai Meng Jin kept nodding, the picture of patience.

“Ji Xing Ge’s father—the Valley Master of Perching Phoenix Valley—once proposed a marriage,” Ling Bu Fei said. “He said he’d help me reach the Sect Master seat. I refused.”

“You’re pure of character,” Bai Meng Jin said smoothly. “Wealth and status can’t corrupt you.”

Ling Bu Fei’s mouth twitched. “Their offer was average. The Limitless Sect is the superior sect. The Ji Family’s roots are too shallow. The help they can provide is limited—hardly worth me selling myself.”

He paused, then looked at her again, the calculation returning. “But if you can truly heal my severed meridians and restore my cultivation… then selling myself isn’t completely off the table.”

Bai Meng Jin laughed softly. “Young Sect Master Ling truly knows when to bend.”

Ling Bu Fei’s face darkened. “Hey. Can you praise someone with at least a little sincerity?”

First she said wealth couldn’t corrupt him. Then she said he knew when to bend. Wasn’t that just slapping him?

Bai Meng Jin accepted the scolding with grace. “Fine, fine. Next time for sure.”

She leaned back. “So, are we in agreement?”

Ling Bu Fei nodded, then slumped against the tree wall with exaggerated guilt. “I’ve let my parents down. I’ve let my maternal grandfather down. In the end… I still sold myself…”

Bai Meng Jin’s smile sharpened. She leaned in. “What, with my looks and my talent, I’m not good enough for Young Sect Master Ling? I’m the one making you suffer?”

Ling Bu Fei met her face head-on.

They were only a palm’s width apart. He could see her eyelashes.

Slowly, his ears turned red.

“I… you…”

Bai Meng Jin leaned back, laughing to herself.

Hah. No matter how formidable Sect Master Ling would become one day, right now he was still a teenage boy with a sharp mouth and a thin skin.

With Bai Meng Jin’s help, Ling Bu Fei cycled his power through two circuits. The injuries from the earlier torment eased completely.

He stretched with a long sigh. “This is the first time I’ve realized how great it feels to be normal.”

“Wait until you can circulate on your own,” Bai Meng Jin said, eyes glinting. “That’s when it’ll really feel good. With the cultivation your mother left you, you’ll be able to move mountains and stir seas.”

Ling Bu Fei let himself dream with her words. Warmth filled his chest.

Selling himself or not… if his parents and maternal grandfather were still here, they’d approve too, right?

He stepped out of the hollow, lifted his face to the world beyond, and for the first time in a long time, everything looked beautiful.

Then he froze.

“Wait.” He stepped forward again—then back—then forward, frowning. “Where’s the barrier?”

He walked in and out several times, disbelief rising. “The barrier’s gone.”

Bai Meng Jin reached out, testing the air. “It really is.”

“So we can leave?” Ling Bu Fei asked at once.

Bai Meng Jin looked toward the endless mountains beyond the Parasol Tree. “Second Lady Hu chose to question you here. She must’ve prepared everything. But now that the truth is clear—her daughter’s death has nothing to do with our father—there’s no reason to keep you locked up.”

“Let’s go ask her to send us back.”

“All right,” Ling Bu Fei said, then muttered as they started down, “You changed your tune fast. He’s ‘our father’ already?”

Bai Meng Jin didn’t blush. “It’s respect for elders.”

They climbed for a while before their feet finally reached solid ground. The Parasol Tree was nearly mountain-tall, birds everywhere, wings flashing through branches.

Ling Bu Fei tilted his head back, clicking his tongue. “If you set this thing on fire, how many birds do you think would roast?”

The moment he said it, Bai Meng Jin yanked him back a step.

“Careful.”

A wet splat sounded as a blob of bird droppings hit exactly where he’d been standing.

Ling Bu Fei’s face turned grim.

He didn’t talk nonsense again. These birds were vindictive.

They found a narrow path leading into the valley and followed it down, deeper and deeper, until they reached a small clearing.

A grave stood there.

The stone tablet read: Tomb of Beloved Daughter Mo Chou.

A thatched hut sat beside it, quiet and closed.

“This is probably the cenotaph Second Lady Hu built,” Bai Meng Jin said softly. “Losing her daughter must hurt terribly. This is how she forces herself to remember.”

Cultivators didn’t treat funerals like mortals did. Not having a grave was normal—let alone building a cenotaph.

Seeing incense and candles set nearby, Ling Bu Fei crouched, replaced the incense with fresh sticks, and cleaned the area around the grave.

When he stood, he found Second Lady Hu had returned at some point. She was watching from the shadows of the trees.

“Are you atoning for your father?” she asked coldly.

Ling Bu Fei met her gaze without flinching. “Senior, you’ve already seen the Devil-Suppressing Cauldron’s memories. Your daughter’s death wasn’t my father’s responsibility. Why would I atone?”

He paused, then inclined his head slightly. “But she suffered because she warned my father. In that sense, she was his benefactor. I should thank her.”

Second Lady Hu stared at him, expression unreadable. At last she said, “You want me to send you out.”

“Yes,” Ling Bu Fei answered simply.

“Wait until tomorrow,” Second Lady Hu said. “I still have something to do. After I finish, I’ll send you out.”