Mei Man sparred with the wooden post, her face sullen, yet she could not shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
She glanced over and saw two male cultivators pause their fight, eyeing her from the corners of their eyes as they whispered among themselves.
“You go.”
“I don’t really dare. Her physical skills are so good—maybe she just wants to practice alone. What if she turns you down? The last two got rejected, so you go.”
“You go. That boy Chai Qun definitely isn’t coming back. Hurry! Someone else might get there first. She came first in the last physical-skills assessment. Sparring with her is worth several classes.”
“Then we’ll go together.”
“…Fine.”
Mei Man was too far away to make out what they were saying, but she could tell they kept glancing at her.
Their seemingly casual scrutiny made her feel as though thorns were pricking her back. She withdrew her gaze and stopped looking at the others, swinging her leg into the wooden post.
Unexpectedly, the two male cultivators came over.
“Fellow Daoist Mei,” the taller one said, “you’re alone?”
Mei Man had no idea whether they meant well or ill, so she simply did not answer.
The cultivator awkwardly scratched his head and looked at his companion.
His companion picked up the conversation. “Fellow Daoist Mei, this is a sparring class.”
His words reminded her that she was alone. Mei Man slammed her fist into the wooden post, nearly leaving a dent in it.
“So?” she asked. “What do you want?”
“Ah, n-nothing.” The two male cultivators stammered. “We just wanted to ask whether you’d like to find someone to practice with. If you do, we can—”
“No need,” Mei Man interrupted them, not wanting to hear anything unpleasant.
“Al-alright, then.”
The two of them left.
After that, similar incidents gradually became more frequent during physical-skills class.
The next day, Chai Qun was supposed to sit beside Mei Man in heart-cultivation class.
But he had joined another group early on, deliberately making a racket as he laughed and joked around, like a deranged bird crashing through the woods.
Once Chai Qun left, the seat to Mei Man’s left was empty.
The feeling was strange. It was only an empty seat, yet the entire left side of her body seemed to be sinking. No matter how she shifted, she could not get comfortable.
The discomfort made her increasingly irritable. When she noticed Chai Qun’s gaze on her again, she looked over askance and met his eyes from across the room.
He flashed her a grin, as though nothing had happened. But all she felt was disgust.
He was doing it on purpose.
Deliberately isolating her and humiliating her.
Mei Man dug her nails into her palm until it hurt, barely managing to keep her expression from changing.
What a despicable bastard!
Naturally, she refused to lose. She turned away with a dark expression, and her mood improved only slightly when her gaze fell upon the spray of winter jasmine on her desk.
Since Xie Xu had not wanted the spirit-nourishing tonic pill, she had kept it for herself. The pill was stored in a small box, while she had repurposed the bottle as a vase.
Just as she had imagined, the bottle looked lovely with the winter jasmine. Together, they possessed a beautiful, vibrant freshness.
Mei Man touched one of the flower’s branches and suddenly felt that getting angry over a bastard like him was not worth it at all.
She had finally obtained this opportunity. Was she really going to waste every moment on someone like that? She might as well spend her time thinking about how to enter the inner sect academy.
She had come to terms with it, but Chai Qun had no intention of letting her be.
There was a talisman class that afternoon, a subject Mei Man disliked.
During the month since she had entered the sect, she had forced herself to work hard at every other subject, such as physical training and swordsmanship. She had excelled at all of them, leaving even the second-place students far behind.
But subjects that required spiritual power, such as talisman arts and spiritual techniques, were different. No matter how hard she worked, it was all futile.
In class, Chai Qun returned to his original seat—that is, the one beside her. She was not pleased by this. Instead, she felt vaguely uneasy.
Sure enough, as soon as class began, he raised his hand and said, “Senior Brother, may I change seats?”
The senior disciple teaching them how to draw talismans had only recently reached the Foundation Establishment stage. He was young, and both his work and his manner were somewhat crude and childish.
An older, more seasoned disciple would probably have ignored Chai Qun, but this one patiently asked, “Why do you want to change seats all of a sudden?”
Chai Qun lowered his raised hand and pointed straight at the top of Mei Man’s head.
He tapped downward a few times and said in an exaggerated, cutting tone, “Senior Brother, you’re teaching us Arrow Transformation Talismans, right? I’ve already asked around. The assessment at the end of the month will have two people use Arrow Transformation Talismans and Defensive Talismans against each other. But she has no spiritual root. Any talisman she draws will be no better than wastepaper. Senior Brother, isn’t it unfair to make me partner with her?”
Mei Man’s entire body went rigid and cold.
But compared with the humiliation that made her want to disappear, what burned more fiercely in her heart was anger and unwillingness to yield.
She could feel people looking at her. She assumed most of them were mocking or looking down on her, so she did not expect the first thing she would hear to be, “Chai Qun, isn’t that going too far?”
He merely spread his hands, looking unconcerned. “I’m only stating the facts. If you don’t mind, you can switch places with me and partner with her.”
“That has nothing to do with switching seats,” the other person said. “You’re being incredibly disrespectful.”
A few scattered, jumbled voices followed—
“I’d like to, too. Who wouldn’t want to sit next to someone good at the subject? You move first.”
“Exactly.”
“What the hell is wrong with Chai Qun? He’s acting like he’s so amazing. He should take a look at who comes first in all the other subjects.”
Mei Man paid no attention to the gossip. She only watched the person arguing with Chai Qun from the corner of her eye. It seemed to be one of the two female cultivators who had asked her the day before whether she wanted a sparring partner.
The more talkative one was doing most of the arguing, while the other stood with her arms folded, looking displeased but never saying a word.
Perhaps it was because too many people were speaking at once, or perhaps she was simply too furious. Whatever the reason, Mei Man suddenly blurted out, “So you’re afraid you can’t even beat a mortal?”
She regretted it the moment the words left her mouth.
Chai Qun had been right about one thing. She did not possess even a trace of spiritual power. The talismans she drew were no better than wastepaper. How could they pose the slightest threat?
The room fell abruptly silent. Mei Man did not raise her head, but she could feel countless people looking at her.
Chai Qun included.
Perhaps he had thought of the same thing. He stared at her for a moment, then suddenly let out a contemptuous laugh. In the dead silence, it was especially clear.
That quiet laugh destroyed the shred of reason she had managed to regain.
Mei Man whipped around, seized him by the collar, and glared fiercely into his eyes. The moment she opened her mouth, she cursed, “You despicable bastard! What are you laughing at? Is it that funny?”
Chai Qun had never paid attention to what Mei Man looked like. He had only heard several cultivators say that she was clever, and ask whether he wanted to switch partners with her. In the cultivation world, where ability determined one’s standing, a sharp mind was no less valuable than spiritual power.
He knew Mei Man was intelligent, but she was still a mortal.
Besides, she seemed like a dark cloud gathered high in the sky—always gloomy, often walking with her head lowered, a few disheveled strands of hair falling over her forehead, and usually giving people only a fleeting glance.
Once they left the outer sect academy, they would have no reason to cross paths again. So he had never cared what she looked like.
But now that she had suddenly moved so close, he saw her face clearly for the first time.
Brows like distant mountains, eyes like tiny stars.
Her eyes were particularly striking, veiled in a mist the color of smoke and ash, damp and cold, easily drawing a person into their depths. Now, scorched by fury, they shone with a searing light.
For a moment, he was stunned—not by her beauty, but by the astonishing blaze of her anger. Even the taunt he had prepared caught in his throat.
Mei Man hadn’t regained her senses yet. She clenched his collar even tighter. “You bastard! You piece of trash! Keep laughing! Why did you stop?”
Chai Qun was astonished that a mere mortal could have such a fierce temper, and for a moment, he actually forgot to react.
Mei Man had no idea what he was thinking. Still fuming, she grew even angrier at the look on his face and sneered, “You thought that just because I can’t draw talismans, I can’t throw a punch either?”
With that, she slammed her fist into his right cheek.
“Ah—!”
Chai Qun was completely unprepared. The punch knocked him to the ground, where he cried out in pain.
The surrounding crowd erupted in shocked cries, and everyone scrambled to their feet.
It was only after he hit the ground that Mei Man belatedly came to her senses.
What had she done?
She stared blankly at him as he writhed and howled, her numb fist clenched at her side. Her mind was filled with the words the young lady had warned her before she came to the Immortal Manor:
“Xiaoman, you have a good head on your shoulders, but you’re too impulsive. The moment your temper flares, it destroys every bit of cleverness you have. Xiaoman, Xiaoman—when a fish gets angry and thrashes around in the water, all it does is reveal itself and get hauled onto the chopping board to be sliced apart.”
At the time, Mei Man had paid no attention. But now, those were the only words she could remember.
Her senior brother stood there dumbfounded, staring blankly at the two of them.
At last, Chai Qun recovered from the pain.
He staggered to his feet, clutching his swollen cheek. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, he cursed Mei Man as a “bastard.” Then he cracked his knuckles and raised his fist, clearly intending to hit her.
Mei Man was no longer as impulsive as she had been moments before. The sudden calm made even breathing difficult. Her face was deathly pale, without a trace of color, and her hands had turned icy cold.
When her eyes met his furious gaze, only two words remained in her mind—
I’m done for.
In terms of cultivation, she was no match for him.
Although he was only an outer disciple, he possessed a spirit root and had already begun drawing qi into his body.
As for family connections, she was even less fortunate than him. The Mei family had long since abandoned her. Not a single person had come to see her all these years. The Qiu residence might be powerful, but she ate their food and used their things. She couldn’t cause them trouble as well.
The worst that could happen was that he would beat her up, she would lose this hard-won opportunity, and she would be expelled from the Immortal Manor.
Mei Man gritted her teeth. None of this diminished her hatred for him. If anything, it only made it burn more fiercely.
But in the end, they did not fight.
The instant Chai Qun raised his fist, her senior brother finally remembered his position. He hurried forward and seized Chai Qun’s arm.
“Calm down! Fellow disciples aren’t allowed to fight among themselves.”
Chai Qun laughed angrily. Pointing at his swollen and bruised face, he said, “Senior Brother, are you blind?! I’ve been beaten this badly, and I’m not even allowed to hit her back?!”
Only then did the senior brother finally realize that there was a deeper conflict between the two of them.
“In any case, fighting is forbidden. Sit down and calm yourself. She was wrong to hit you, but the things you said were truly vile as well.” He turned to Mei Man. “Junior Sister Mei, you—you come with me.”
He led her outside and asked, somewhat awkwardly but with considerable patience, “Junior Sister Mei, do you have some grudge against Junior Brother Chai?”
Mei Man opened her mouth. The resentment had already burned its way up to her throat, scorching her insides until even her lungs hurt and her head spun.
But in the end, the words she spoke were, “No.”
Her senior brother looked suspicious. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “If something’s wrong, you can come to me at any time.”
“Okay.”
Chai Qun seemed to have calmed down as well. He no longer provoked her. He simply spent the whole day covering his swollen face and grimacing in pain while joking around with his new friends.
He looked as though he had already let the matter go.
Mei Man had not.
Her hatred was trapped in her chest, surging and colliding like a raging fire, burning her without end.
On her way back to the dormitory that evening, the emotion finally built to its limit.
By chance, Mei Man ran into Chai Qun. He merely glanced at her before turning to the companions beside him and laughing and chatting with them.
As they passed each other, he suddenly cast a Floating Light spell.
Mei Man had always thought it was a beautiful spell.
The spiritual energy gathered like tiny stars, condensing into a small silver-white orb of light—smooth, luminous, and dreamlike.
But when she saw the light Chai Qun had created, she instinctively felt like retching.
Using the same bright, carefree tone he had once used when speaking to her, he said, “It’s so dark tonight. How are we supposed to see the road? Back home, we had servants to carry lanterns. Here, we can only rely on ourselves. Luckily, I learned this spell ahead of time. Otherwise, I’d have to feel my way through the dark.”
That laughter and chatter disgusted Mei Man even more than his insults had.
The burning hatred surged up her throat. At last, she couldn’t bear it anymore. She quickened her pace until she was almost running.
Only after leaving them far behind did she suddenly veer toward the woods. Bending over, she began to dry-heave uncontrollably.
Bastard!
Bastard, bastard, bastard!
Mei Man brought up nothing. Her vision only grew blurred. She wiped at her face, and her palm immediately came away wet and cold.
But she didn’t look at her hand. She hurriedly pulled a palm-sized wooden box from her sleeve.
Inside was the Spirit-Nourishing Tonic Pill.
Mei Man had no idea what she was thinking. Her hatred had burned away her reason, to the point that she treated the pill like a lifeline. She broke it in half and stuffed one piece into her mouth.
She swallowed it after only a few chews. As she gulped it down, she began dry-heaving again, and her vision grew hazy with tears.
Mei Man forced herself to swallow the pill, then carelessly wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve before sliding down against a tree.
Of course, the pill was useless.
The Spirit-Nourishing Tonic Pill.
She didn’t even have a spirit root. Without one, she couldn’t draw spiritual energy into her body—so what spirit could she possibly nourish?
Not only that, but as a mortal, she simply couldn’t withstand the effects of such an elixir.
The instant the pill went down, overwhelming spiritual energy surged through her limbs and every inch of her body, bringing with it excruciating pain that felt as though her bones and heart were being crushed.
Her dantian in particular felt as if it were being scorched by a blazing fire. The agony was unbearable.
She collapsed face-first onto the ground, her hair quickly soaked through with cold sweat.
But she did not regret it.
The more intense the pain became, the more unwilling she was to give in—and the clearer her mind grew.
The pain in Mei Man’s stomach worsened, as though a knife were twisting inside her. Cold sweat poured from her body, and before long, her clothes were soaked through.
She wiped her forehead and struggled to her feet. In the darkness, she found the direction of the medicine hut and staggered toward it.
But she never expected to run into Xie Xu there.
He was arranging a pile of firewood in front of the medicine hut, silent as a shadow in the night.
Mei Man absolutely refused to let him see her in such a wretched state. That would be even worse than killing her. She planned to hide until he left, then go in search of medicine.
Who would have thought that he had eyes in the back of his head?
He suddenly turned his head and looked straight at her.
Mei Man hunched over and instinctively darted behind the nearby door.
In the next moment, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed her arm tightly.
Then Xie Xu’s face entered her field of vision.
“Manman,” he called.
Mei Man shook off his hand and snarled, “Get lost!”
But he seized her arm again, this time gripping it even more firmly. His brows drew together slightly.
“You’ve been poisoned by the pill.” Perhaps because he had read so many books on alchemy, he recognized the problem at a glance and quickly determined its cause. “You took that Spirit-Nourishing Tonic Pill?”
Mei Man’s vision blurred even further. She had probably broken out in too much cold sweat, which had seeped over her eyelids. It also made her realize just how pathetic she must look at that moment.
Ashamed to let anyone see her in this state, and even less willing to hear humiliating words from the man she had already kicked out of her life, she pushed and kicked at him.
“So what if I am? Let go—let go! Get lost! Get lost!”
Xie Xu said nothing. He only tightened his grip and dragged her straight into the medicine hut beside them.
Footsteps and voices sounded from behind. He glanced back, then silently shut the door.
Mei Man was in too much pain to remain standing. There were large windows on either side, making it easy for anyone outside to see them, so he pulled her into the corner.
She slid downward, but never touched the floor. Xie Xu had already sat cross-legged on the cold ground and caught her, settling her on his lap.
His arms shielded her back as he opened a cloth bundle and hurriedly rummaged through it for something.
Mei Man had no idea what he was doing. She was in agony and wanted to find some medicine, but trapped between him and the corner, she could not get away.
She struggled for a while, but eventually ran out of strength. Miserable beyond endurance, she buried her face in his shoulder, opened her mouth, and bit down hard.
A muffled groan sounded beside her ear, and Xie Xu’s breathing fell out of rhythm for an instant.
Mei Man heard it, and the hatred that had been building in her heart these past few days suddenly found an outlet, spilling out little by little.
Xie Xu cupped the back of her head, his fingers curling slightly in what almost seemed like a gesture of comfort. But after only a moment, he lowered his hand and continued searching through the bundle.
She bit down harder, as though she meant to pierce through his clothes, flesh, and bones.
His breathing grew more ragged and urgent, now and then breaking into restrained, trembling gasps.
It reminded her of the days when they were still in the Qiu Residence and met in secret. He had often breathed that way then, suppressing every sound. Whether they were kissing or intimately joined, he had always breathed as though even that was something that must not be seen by the light of day.
His ragged breathing made Mei Man’s ears tingle. She released him and cursed, “You filthy degenerate! You can still get worked up like this? Get lost! Go!”
Taking advantage of the moment she opened her mouth, Xie Xu slipped a pill inside.
She was too dazed from the torment to notice. Even after swallowing the medicine, she remained unaware of what it was. All she noticed was the finger pressed against her lips. She opened her mouth and bit down viciously, cursing him over and over with words like “degenerate” and “lecher.”
That bite drew blood. Though Xie Xu let out another muffled groan, his expression did not change. He silently listened as she cursed him.
The pain brought on by the pill’s toxicity gradually eased, and Mei Man cursed him with even greater vigor, venting all the anger she had accumulated over the past several days.
“Degenerate, degenerate…”
Xie Xu suddenly seized the back of her neck and fixed her with his dark, empty eyes. His voice was colder and flatter than a winter lake.
“When you were sleeping with this ‘degenerate,’ why didn’t you find me too lewd?”
Mei Man froze. From his calm, expressionless words, she heard the anger beneath them.
Before she could think it through, he leaned forward and bit down on her lips.
“Bite” was not quite the right word. He did not use much force, and after that first nip, he merely held her lips between his own, sucking hard.
A shiver of tingling sensation climbed along her spine. Mei Man unconsciously parted her lips, allowing him to catch her tongue and draw it into a slow, lingering kiss. Her hands fell limply against his arms, and with the slightest pressure from her fingertips, she could feel the pulse of his veins.
She liked kissing him. That cloying, intimate friction made her feel as though she were floating among the clouds, weightless, allowing her to briefly forget many of her troubles—but that had been back at the Qiu Residence.
Now she was in the Immortal Manor, and she had already made everything clear to him. How could she still become entangled with him?
The moment she realized this, she came to herself.
The excruciating pain had eased considerably, and most of her strength had returned. She suddenly pushed with all her might and shoved him away.
Moonlight pressed through the window, faintly outlining Xie Xu’s face.
A flush colored his features. His star-bright eyes were shadowed beneath sharply arched brows, his expression dark and heavy. The restrained wildness in him stood out all the more, lending him an aggressive intensity. Yet his lips, reddened and slightly swollen from her bites, added a touch of incongruous allure.
Mei Man wiped her mouth viciously and glared at him with icy malice.
“Get lost!”
