The Beauty and the Swordsman

On the other side, when Pei Lingyou left Wanxiang Mountain and returned to Tongchen Sect, it was nearly 1:00 AM.

She used her light-footed skills to scale the mountain gate and tiptoed back to her courtyard like a thief.

The courtyard was pitch black, without any lights.

She walked to the eaves, turned on the night light, and a pale, ghostly figure suddenly appeared in the courtyard, scaring her so much that she screamed and jumped up, throwing a series of punches at the air.

"Where did you go?" the ghostly figure asked eerily.

Pei Lingyou was still in shock, clutching her pounding heart. It took her a long time to calm down and see who it was:

"Kuang Ye?"

He was still dressed in white, his black hair half-up and half-down, his long eyelashes covering his eyes, emitting a faint glow under the night lights.

In daylight, he would be incredibly handsome, dashing, and distinguished.

But it's a bit scary to do at night.

In particular, his martial arts skills were on par with Pei Lingyou's, and his breathing was so light that it was almost imperceptible.

Pei Lingyou didn't notice his presence at all from the moment she entered the courtyard until the lamps were lit.

She clutched her heart, which was pounding in her throat, and leaned against the door, kicking it for a while before calming down.

Thinking about the series of events that had happened since last night, she didn't know how to explain the priest and the scriptures, let alone how to explain that she hadn't been sleeping in her room in the middle of the night and had climbed in from the outside.

Her mind raced, and she smiled ingratiatingly:

"Hehe, the moon is so beautiful tonight. Would you believe me if I told you I snuck out to admire it?"

"Oh, I see." Kuang Ye waved his sleeve lightly, and with a "poof," he extinguished the night light with something in his hand that he couldn't tell was a pebble or something else.

The courtyard was plunged into darkness.

Pei Lingyou looked up and then noticed that it was a cloudy night.

Thick clouds covered the moon, so there was no moonlight at all. Even Chang'e would have to light a lamp if she came.

Pei Lingyou gave an awkward laugh, and was about to make up another lie when Kuang Ye said:

I believe you.

Pei Lingyou immediately turned on the night light again, and said with a rather obsequious smile:

"Thank you for your forgiveness, Sect Leader! Since you've forgiven me once, how about you forgive me a second time? Well, I accidentally released my acupoints while climbing to admire the moon, could you reseal them for me?"

"Oh. Okay." Kuang Ye nodded and got up to walk towards Pei Lingyou.

His wide sleeves stirred up a gust of wind as he walked, suddenly extinguishing the nightlight once more.

Pei Lingyou had no choice but to go and light the lamp a third time, casually asking:

"By the way, does the Tongchen Sect's library have that Taiyi Life-Saving Scripture? Could I borrow a copy?"

"Okay," Kuang Ye replied calmly, still walking towards Pei Lingyou.

I don't know if it was his sinister aura today, or if he did it on purpose.

In short, with each step he took, the flame of the nightlight went out once.

Pei Lingyou went to light the lamps again and again.

Each time she lit it up, she noticed that Kuang Ye's stark white clothes were getting closer to her.

He walked over without saying a word, and with each step he took, the light went out.

After several attempts, Pei Lingyou couldn't take it anymore. She shielded the flickering flame with both hands, looked at Kuang Ye who was now almost within reach, and said nervously:

"Hey Kuang Ye, can we talk with the lights on? Or at least make some noise. Or go back and change into something else, and we can talk all night long! Let's talk in my room!"

"Heh. Miss Pei is joking again." Kuang Ye chuckled lightly, his face remaining calm. "I always thought Miss Pei was a person of her word, but I didn't expect Miss Pei to always 'say things offhand,' which makes me a little confused."

"What did I say offhand? Like which sentence?" Pei Lingyou glanced at Huomiao with concern, then looked up at Kuang Ye, not understanding what he wanted to say.

Kuang Ye did not answer, his expression unreadable. He leaned forward slightly and slowly approached Pei Lingyou.

As she watched the handsome face looming larger before her and felt the warm breath of Kongshan Zhulu drawing ever closer, she sensed that he seemed somewhat different from usual.

He exuded an indescribable, strange, and dangerous aura, making him even more alluring than usual.

Pei Lingyou couldn't help but swallow.

Just as she instinctively felt that Kuang Ye was about to say something to her, he suddenly raised his hand and flicked his sleeve, turning off the night light again, leaving behind the words, "Not returning home at night, deduct fifty points!" Then, with a flick of his robe, he disappeared.

When Pei Lingyou lit the night lamp again, the white-clad woman was no longer in the courtyard; only she herself remained.

She stood there for a while, trying to figure out what Kuang Ye was up to so late at night. She couldn't help but shake her head and click her tongue in amazement.

"As expected of the man I've chosen, he even deducted points from my score. So ruthless! I like him even more now!"

Pei Lingyou thought that the matter was over and done with.

But starting the next day, everything around them began to subtly change.

The continuing education courses continued as usual, and Kuang Ye, still like a quiet scholar, came to teach with an air of nonchalance.

But today he wasn't wearing his usual snow-white robe; instead, he was wearing a dark brown outer garment.

He sat at the front, holding a book and lecturing, his voice gentle and calm, every word he uttered was:

"Listen carefully, 'At that time, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable was above the Mysterious Landscape...' Don't forget, 'At that time, the Supreme Lord Laozi left his jade throne and stepped on a lotus flower...' And remember, 'The Heavenly Venerable replied...' Did everyone hear clearly? Do you like this book? If you do, I'll read it a few more times. I don't mind being tired, really."

After the class, all the representatives from various schools felt as if they had been stabbed by some kind of sarcastic, subtle knife.

Ren Wofei rubbed the goosebumps on his body:

"Why is it so gloomy today? Is it because winter is approaching?"

Zhao Xingxing shook her head to indicate she didn't know, and while sitting in her seat, she shifted her body like a large snake.

"Isn't what the sect leader was chanting today the same sutra that the priest recited at the birth ceremony? I didn't find it this irritating when I heard it then!"

Only Pei Lingyou didn't feel anything.

As the old saying goes, a storyteller is a wise man, but when it comes to real matters, he's a fool.

She sat in the front row as usual, propping her head up with her chin and looking at Kuang Ye, thinking to herself that this guy was really good-looking, and he had a unique charm in dark clothes.

She habitually tore the Xuan paper into small strips and crumpled it into balls, then kept throwing them at Kuang Ye.

The soft paper ball hit his strong shoulders and back, sliding down the soft fabric of his clothes.

Normally at this time, he would remain motionless at first.

After she had hit him so many times that the ground was almost covered with a layer of "snowflakes," he would call out "Miss Pei" with a helpless yet slightly resentful tone, then with a smile on his lips, he would bend down and pick up the crumpled paper pieces one by one.

Pei Lingyou loved watching him gently pinch the paper ball between his long, slender fingers, just like a gentleman fiddling with chess pieces.

After all the crumpled papers were picked up, Pei Lingyou would often deliberately say:

"Oh dear, one's missing! There it is!"

Kuang Yeshun looked down at his chest and saw a crumpled piece of paper tucked between his clothes and the skin of his chest.

His cheeks flushed slightly as he took out the crumpled paper.

Sometimes, if he wasn't careful, the crumpled paper would fall even deeper into his collar, and his face would turn even redder.

Pei Lingyou found her innocent, easily teased appearance amusing and laughed so hard she collapsed onto her desk.

But today, Pei Lingyou threw a crumpled piece of paper at him.

He kept throwing away almost a whole basketful of paper balls, nearly drowning him, but Kuang Ye remained completely silent throughout.

After the lecture, he stood up and left, pointing to the crumpled papers scattered on the floor, and said only to Pei Lingyou:

"Miss Pei, please clean it up, thank you."

Then he left on his own.

For the entire afternoon, Kuang Ye did not come to supervise and patrol the field as usual while other teachers were giving lessons.

He never showed up.

But the courtyard, which you don't know is quite lively.

The guqin played a mournful tune, "Xiangfei's Lament," for several hours.

Many people noticed Kuang Ye's subtle change, their eyes darting back and forth across Pei Lingyou.

Their intuition told them that Kuang Ye was in a bad mood, which was somewhat related to Hun Shi Pei.

She must have gotten into some terrible mess again, finally making Kuang Ye lose his patience.

Some curious fellows wanted to ask Pei Lingyou during lunch, but after taking a bite, their facial features all contorted as if they were in a meeting.

Let's take a look at today's lunch:

Sweet and sour zongzi, sour soup tofu pudding, stir-fried eggs with tomatoes and pickled cabbage, and glutinous rice balls with jujube and sesame filling.

There's also braised pork with vinegar disguised as soy sauce, and ten dumplings served with a jar of vinegar.

Faced with such a "sumptuous" feast, everyone was at a loss for where to start, reaching out with their chopsticks several times only to put them back down.

After lunch, when it was time to practice horse stance in the afternoon class, everyone was like a vinegar jar, spewing out sour water as soon as they opened their mouths.

Since they were all seasoned veterans with deep knowledge of martial arts, Kuang Ye usually had them skip over these basic lessons and just finish them.

But that's obviously not possible today. Kuang Ye, holding a ruler, patrolled the entire area.

If anyone's stance wasn't low enough, their arms weren't level enough, or their legs weren't spread wide enough, Kuang Ye would immediately give them a sharp whack with the ruler while smiling.

After an hour, not only were none of the people in the training still capable of internal energy, but even if they were, they wouldn't be able to withstand such training.

Lying in bed at night, my arms ached more than my legs, and my legs ached less than my stomach; my whole body ached terribly, inside and out.

After just a few days, everyone couldn't take it anymore.

Ren Wofei grabbed a bag of alkaline powder he had stolen from the kitchen and ate it like it was rice, foaming at the mouth as he pleaded:

"Boss Pei, I don't care what you did, can you go and apologize to Sect Leader Kuang?"

"Why?" Pei Lingyou was completely unaware that something had gone wrong these past two days and didn't think it had anything to do with her.

She carefully recalled how Kuang Ye had clearly distanced himself from her and been cold towards her these past two days, smacked her lips, and said beautifully:

"That kid's really something lately, I love him!"