The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"So... this counts as insubordination?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Xixue was not intimidated by the cold tone; instead, she found it somewhat amusing.

She tilted her head slightly, a hint of cunning in her eyes, as she carefully examined the person in front of her.

The way he deliberately put on a stern face to reprimand her was just like the way he was when they first met, when he didn't know how to get along with her and could only wrap himself in a cold shell.

but……

She looked at him from left to right, from top to bottom, and apart from that slightly deliberate aloofness, she couldn't find a single flaw.

These two brothers are truly the most miraculous replicas of the Creator.

Not only is her appearance and figure identical to his, but even her aloof and moon-like temperament, and the subtle expressions when she furrows her brow.

Even the cold tone and word choice he uses when scolding people now seem to be cut from the same mold, perfectly natural, without any need for deliberate acting.

If Yun Boyan truly wanted to impersonate his elder brother Xie Jinlian, there would probably be no one in this world who could see through his disguise.

Over the long years, the identities of "Lord of Clouds" and "White-Haired Sword Immortal" have often been quietly interchanged by them in tacit understanding.

While one person sits in the shadows manipulating the world, another may be traveling the Nine Provinces under the name of a sword immortal.

They took turns playing each other's roles, yet no one ever noticed anything amiss.

Many times, even blood relatives can be confused when facing them.

Is the person before me the elder brother or the younger brother?

"Master, you have never seen... how your disciple truly defies authority."

Tang Xixue suddenly took a half step forward, her voice soft and gentle, but a hint of probing flashed in her eyes.

Before she finished speaking, she reached out her hand very naturally, as if it were just a habitual way of wanting to hold the hand that always showed her boundless tolerance.

"Stop fooling around!"

Yun Boyan's five senses were incredibly sharp. Just as her fingertips were about to touch her, he moved like a snowflake blown by the wind, subtly taking half a step back to avoid her.

His silver-gray eyes held a genuine frosty intent, and his tone was utterly unquestionable.

"Zhizhi, you've grown up."

He wasn't her older brother; he couldn't, and would never, indulge her like that.

"You can't do this, you can't do that..."

Tang Xixue's long eyelashes suddenly drooped, casting a small shadow of grievance beneath her eyes.

When she looked up, her star-studded eyes were already veiled with a thin layer of mist, shimmering with light, and her voice lowered.

"Master... have you grown distant from Zhizhi?"

"no."

Yun Boyan practically forced those two words out of his throat, feeling a dull ache in his temples.

This little apprentice... how can she be so... spoiled and clingy!

How does my elder brother usually deal with things?

I don't believe it.

Tang Xixue suddenly raised her face, and the look of grievance faded away like the tide, replaced by a clear and scrutinizing expression.

She extended her slender fingers and touched the silver-white longsword at his waist, which shimmered with moonlight—Butterfly's Departure.

"I want my master—to fly me back on his sword, just like before."

As she spoke, a seed of doubt quietly sprouted and quickly took root deep within the cool, lively light in her eyes.

This person...

Is he really her master?

She had doubts.

Therefore, the probing begins now.

"Want to fly...where to?"

Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, Yun Boyan knew that if his brother were alive, he would never have allowed his little disciple to suffer such injustice.

Having already made the promise, he was unwilling to mess things up, so he had to suppress his unfamiliarity and impatience and asked in a softer voice.

He knew nothing about the girl in front of him.

We don't know her name, we don't know her background, and we don't know... where the place she mentioned going back to is.

If he knew, he would know that this girl was the Mirror Princess who infuriated and disgusted him to the extreme.

She was the audacious female protagonist of an adult novel who dared to "debate with him on paper" across the pages of a book.

He would probably immediately fling his sleeves and throw her into Mirror Moon Lake below without hesitation, to give her a good wake-up call.

"The Unspeakable One Thousand and One Nights of Princess Mirror and Holy Son of Moon Brahma" is the biggest black mark on his life.

"East of the lake, Mirror Night Snow Cottage."

Tang Xixue's eyes flashed, and she suddenly moved closer, her breath almost brushing against his cold clothes.

"My and Master's new home!"

She was so close, exuding the sweet scent unique to young girls.

Yun Boyan felt a slight panic and almost instinctively took two steps back, widening the distance that had left him feeling helpless.

Just as he stepped back, Tang Xixue's eyes darkened almost imperceptibly.

Deep within his eyes, a chilling aura quietly rose, like a whirlpool suddenly appearing in a deep pool.

Her fingertips, hidden behind her back, gently stroked the cool handle of the Frost Jade Snow Soul Fan. In that subtle caress, a faint yet undeniably real killing intent silently lingered.

if only--

He's a fake.

Daring to impersonate the moonlight in her heart that no one can desecrate, the most important person in her life...

Then he deserves to die.

However, when she raised her eyes again, the smile on her lips was still clear and bright, as if the fleeting chill just now was merely an illusion cast by the moonlight.

"The sword rises."

Yun Boyan said no more, and with a sudden flick of his wide sleeves, he lightly made a hand seal.

The Butterfly Sword at his waist emitted a clear, melodious hum, then was drawn from its sheath and hung in mid-air, shimmering with a cool, moon-like radiance.

He lightly touched the air with his toes and gracefully landed on the sword.

At the same time, she slightly raised her palm, and a gentle yet irresistible spiritual power quietly surged out, like invisible clouds, steadily lifting Tang Xixue up.

He didn't touch her at all, but simply guided her to land safely on the back of the flying sword.

The sword technique was completed, and the sword light pierced the sky.

The flying sword carried the two of them, streaking across the night sky like a shooting star, and went straight through the vast expanse of Mirror Moon Lake.

The night wind howled, causing their clothes to flutter, their white robes and silver hair intertwining and flowing in the moonlight.

The lake below shimmered, reflecting the lone moon and the sword's shadow in the sky, shattering into countless shimmering silver scales.

The sword light pointed directly at the newly renovated residence on the east side of the lake—Mirror Night Snow Lodge.

Standing on the sword, Tang Xixue felt her confusion spreading like ripples on a lake.

Flying on a sword was the hallmark of her master, Xie Jinlian, who was unparalleled in the world.

That is not only a manifestation of cultivation level, but also the highest realm of sword heart clarity and sword spirit unity.

Of all the countless sword cultivators in the world, only he has reached this level of mastery; this is a fact universally acknowledged throughout the Nine Provinces.

But this person in front of me... can also wield a sword?

Moreover, the slight curve of his fingertips, the flow of spiritual energy, and even the fleeting focused expression between his brows when he made the sword incantation...

They were exactly the same as her master in her memory!

Is this... really Master?

Tang Xixue frowned slightly, her gaze falling once more on his tall but somewhat stiff back, on his silver hair that fluttered lightly in the wind, untouched by dust, and on the Snow Soul Beads on his wrist that exuded a Buddhist aura...

wrong.

It's not right.

That mysterious, profound connection from the depths of the soul, that unspoken understanding and closeness, did not emerge at this moment.

The sword light was genuine, the sword technique was flawless, and even the aloof and icy demeanor imbued with moonlight and frost was perfectly appropriate.

But her heart, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, rippled with silent yet clear waves, uttering questions that only she could hear:

The person before me...

Is it really the moonlight that she has waited for five years, longed for countless dawns and dusks, and that haunts her soul and dreams—the moonlight that belongs only to her?

That light that pierced through the clouds when she fell into the abyss, that warmth that silently accompanied her through ten years of her dream world, that faith that sustained her as she crawled back from the flames of hell...

Why do we feel so far apart even though we're so close?

A strange sense of unease, like a crack quietly spreading beneath the ice in early spring, suddenly crept into my heart.

Her moonlight...

Could it be that something has happened?

As soon as this thought arose, my heart tightened suddenly, as if I were being gripped by an invisible hand and sinking into a bottomless abyss.

"Master..."