◎The Bloodless Blade of Tenderness◎
"P-please don’t be scared! Let me explain—someone’s chasing me..."
The girl gestured frantically, her words tumbling out in a jumbled mess, choked by fear. If not for Bai Li’s knowledge of the plot, she wouldn’t have understood a word.
Ling Yanyan was the textbook female lead of a sweet, fluffy romance novel—kind-hearted, gentle, the type who could melt even the most hardened straight man into putty in her hands. On their journey, Jiang Biehan handled the fighting while she specialized in being pampered by the male lead... and running away.
So expecting her to knock out enemies with a single punch? Not a chance.
After gasping out her explanation, Ling Yanyan stared at Bai Li with wide, pleading eyes, a bead of sweat glistening on her delicate nose. "My junior brother was captured too. I escaped alone to find help. Do you know where the nearest messenger station is?"
Great question. Bai Li would love to know too.
Two helpless fugitives exchanged a look, united in silent despair.
Ling Yanyan blinked. "Fellow cultivator?"
"I’m in the same boat as you—escaped and on the run." Bai Li sighed. "I had a companion, but he left and never came back."
"What?" Ling Yanyan clutched her cheeks in horror. "It’s so dangerous out there... Could he have—"
"No, he’s strong," Bai Li cut in firmly. "He wouldn’t just die like that."
Ling Yanyan wisely dropped the subject and tugged her down to crouch against the wall. "We should keep quiet. I’m afraid they’ll track us here."
Her skittishness struck Bai Li as oddly endearing.
In the short time since transmigrating, every character Bai Li had encountered was either like Xue Yu—capable of snapping necks with one hand—or like those ill-fated Wen Clan disciples, reduced to cannon fodder.
Ling Yanyan’s terrified, rabbit-like demeanor? That was practically her own reflection!
Two noobs huddled together, shivering in fear.
"Fellow cultivator... when you escaped here, no one saw you, right?"
"I-I don’t know..."
"..."
Given the female lead’s uncanny resemblance to Conan’s murder-magnet luck, Bai Li made a prescient suggestion: "We can’t stay here. We should leave some deliberate clues to mislead them into thinking we passed through."
"Brilliant idea!" Ling Yanyan nodded eagerly.
With their plan set, Bai Li patted herself down, considering what traces to leave—enough to seem natural, not so obvious as to arouse suspicion.
Ling Yanyan pressed close, then suddenly gripped Bai Li’s arm, curling her legs in fear. "Something just touched my leg... cold and slimy. So gross."
Pale moonlight pooled at their feet, revealing a small snake raising its head tremulously, half its body still hidden in a hole in the wall. Clearly, it had slithered in from outside.
Both girls leapt up like startled birds.
Ling Yanyan’s face turned whiter than the moon. "Th-this isn’t an ordinary snake..."
Bai Li’s voice shook. "Then... what is it?"
Before Ling Yanyan could answer, a languid, amused voice drifted through the window: "It’s a tracker snake."
A man stood by the window, clad in dark robes, his hair bound high. His pallid face bore an unhealthy sheen, shadows carving sharp angles under the moonlight, lending him a sinister air.
His gaze skimmed past Ling Yanyan, lingering instead on Bai Li. A slow grin spread across his lips. "How fortuitous. I lost one rabbit, only to gain another."
Ling Yanyan shielded Bai Li protectively, pressing them both against the wall.
The man took a step forward—somehow phasing through the wall—and closed in on Bai Li. He pinched her chin, scrutinizing her face as if trying to peel off a mask.
"Veiling spell?"
Bai Li’s heart lurched. Exposed?!
He waved a hand before her face. A ripple shimmered in the air, and the plain-looking girl transformed like a weathered fruit shedding its skin, revealing a radiant core—luminous as spring blossoms, pure as autumn moonlight.
His eyes flashed with awe and something darker. "Take them both."
Bai Li’s shoulders were pinned, helpless as two black-robed disciples materialized, bowing deeply. "Elder Grandmaster," they intoned before approaching, faces blank with routine indifference.
And just like that, they were captured again.
Bai Li: "..."
She really was the sacrificial lamb of the tutorial zone.
Ling Yanyan, ever the optimist, marveled at Bai Li’s true appearance. "So this is what you really look like! I never would’ve guessed—no, wait, that sounds rude! I mean stunning! Absolutely breathtaking!"
Bai Li: "..."
Now is NOT the time for this, sis!
This "Elder Grandmaster" was a notorious patron of pleasure houses and the host of the Moon-Concealing Banquet. His claim to fame? This very tracker snake.
Once, he’d let it slither into a vat of ice-wine, getting it thoroughly drunk before releasing it into the woods. Coincidentally, a group of female disciples from a prominent sect happened to be picnicking there. The intoxicated snake bit several of them—each a peerless beauty in her own right. Since then, this breed had been repurposed for... less savory pursuits.
The Wen Clan wore this infamy as a badge of honor. Under new leadership, the Moon-Concealing Pavilion had devolved into a den of debauchery.
Like-minded revelers flocked there nightly, while righteous sects seethed, itching to raze this den of vice to the ground.
Ling Yanyan’s presence here? She’d come representing her sect, accompanying Jiang Biehan to "cleanse" the Wen Clan.
But due to her inexperience and carelessness, she’d been caught red-handed—throwing good money after bad.
Ling Yanyan recounted the whole ordeal, sighing miserably. "It’s my fault for being reckless. I’ve only burdened Senior Brother Jiang."
Bai Li: "..."
"Senior Sister, stop defending that Jiang guy!" Another captive, Xia Xuan—Ling Yanyan’s junior brother—croaked in his adolescent voice. "He hasn’t come to rescue us yet! Probably too busy enjoying the brothels!"
Bound back-to-back in the carriage, the three prisoners had cycled through despair before resigning themselves to fate, swapping tales of their misfortunes.
Bai Li mused that if Jiang Biehan showed up now, they’d have enough players for mahjong.
Playing naive, she asked, "What’s so bad about the Giant’s Key Sword Sect’s disciples?"
Xia Xuan, carried away by his emotions, grew even more disdainful and rolled his eyes. "Fellow cultivator, you must have never seen their men's dormitory—they actually store their underwear and socks together! And you haven't seen them sleep either, snoring like thunder while hugging their swords! That so-called 'senior brother' from Tianxiao Peak even declared to the world that he’d never marry in this lifetime, treating his Biyou Sword as his wife."
"...Senior Brother Jiang isn’t like that," Ling Yanyan weakly defended, though her words lacked conviction.
"Birds of a feather flock together. I don’t think he’s any good. We’ve been tied up for so long, and he hasn’t even shown his face. Men are all terrible, hmph!"
Bai Li: "..." Have you forgotten you’re also a man?
Xia Xuan appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old—a tender youth with rosy cheeks, plump with baby fat, and as delicate as carved jade, making one itch to pinch them.
The Jade Floating Palace belonged to the Daoist tradition, and their robes were a pale duck-egg blue, fading lighter toward the hem, like the first light of dawn brushing the clouds. The ethereal elegance of their attire carried a hint of immortal grace.
On this young boy, however, it made him look like a fresh, crisp little cabbage.
Xia Xuan had been sulking at Ling Yanyan over the matter of Jiang Biehan, but unable to suppress his chatterbox nature, he now struck up a conversation with Bai Li. "Fellow cultivator, did you escape alone?"
Bai Li shook her head vigorously. "No, no, someone helped me get out."
"Then where are they now?"
"...I don’t know."
"Hmph, just as I thought!"
Bai Li: "?"
"Men are all terrible!"
Tonight, the young boy had reached a profound understanding of the nature of men, delivering his verdict with absolute certainty.
Bai Li: "..."
She let out a long, long sigh, lamenting her ill fortune and troubled fate, while also worrying about Xue Yu’s current predicament.
Leaning closer, Bai Li whispered, "Do you know of the Xue Clan of Bozhou?"
"The Xue Clan of Bozhou?" Xia Xuan blinked, then shook his head with an air of superiority. "Of course I know. They fell into decline three hundred years ago. Their five-hundred-year-old patriarch is only at the sixth realm of Cave Void, with not many years left. The younger generations are all disappointments—instead of cultivating properly, they dabble in unorthodox shortcuts. Now they’re practically cut off from the world, lacking the standing to interact with major sects."
Bai Li looked up at the sky.
That didn’t seem to match.
Could it be that person, like her, was also hiding their true identity?
Assuming alternate identities wasn’t uncommon—like a rabbit with multiple burrows. This was especially true for lone wanderers, many of whom had two or three aliases.
Those who dared to openly reveal their real names either had reputations so formidable that no one dared challenge them, or they had untouchable backing—no one would dare provoke the favored child of a powerful figure.
Sitting in the jolting carriage, Bai Li began piecing things together.
Then, like a spark igniting, a thought burst in her mind.
Wait, something doesn’t add up.
She glanced sideways at Xia Xuan’s robes, then recalled the uniforms of the Wen Clan disciples. The idea in her mind grew clearer.
Xia Xuan, noticing her staring, asked suspiciously, "W-what are you looking at me for?"
Bai Li slowly asked, "Do you know which sect’s disciples wear yellow robes with green trim and headpieces with flowing ribbons?"
"Eh? You’ve met Elder Chen and the others?"
Ling Yanyan, who had been silent until now, chimed in eagerly. "Those are the senior brothers and sisters brought by Elder Chen... Ah, you don’t know who Elder Chen is, do you? He’s the sect master of the Shouyang Sect and a close friend of my master. This time, he’s joined forces with our Jade Floating Palace and Senior Brother Jiang’s Giant Key Sword Sect to personally lead the charge against the Moon Veil Manor."
"That’s strange. If you met the seniors from the Shouyang Sect, why didn’t you ask for their help? They’re very powerful—they’d never turn a blind eye to someone in danger."
"N-no, I didn’t meet them," Bai Li stammered, feeling cold sweat trickle down her back. "I just heard about them and thought I’d ask."
"Oh." Ling Yanyan deflated. "Elder Chen is determined to eradicate the Wen Clan’s Moon Veil Manor this time. He’s investigated them thoroughly—even a single sword can reveal its owner’s identity."
Even a single sword can reveal its owner’s identity...
Bai Li was drenched in cold sweat.
The Shouyang Sect and the Jade Floating Palace both belonged to the Daoist tradition, specializing in talisman arts.
The Wen Clan, on the other hand, were sword cultivators—none of them went anywhere without their blades.
A terrifying thought struck her: the three cultivators who had tried to kill her without question earlier weren’t Wen Clan disciples—they were from the Shouyang Sect.
And she, holding a Wen Clan disciple’s sword without any identifying tokens, had naturally been mistaken for a Wen remnant.
At the time, both swords had been left behind, which was why they’d said, "We thought there were two."
Moreover, from their conversation, it was clear they had a "senior brother" with them, responsible for escorting hostages.
Having read the original novel, Bai Li could deduce that these hostages were likely the two innocent siblings from the Wen Clan. Chen Li, the Shouyang Sect master, sought to publicly execute them before the Wen Clan leader to settle an old grudge.
And if she dug deeper—after the Wen Clan’s extermination, who had taken in the remaining survivors?
The Golden Scale Xue Clan.
The original novel had focused on Jiang Biehan’s heroic rescue, dazzling the world, while glossing over the siblings’ fate—only for them to reappear abruptly later.
At the time, Bai Li had found it confusing, as if a crucial piece of the story was missing. Now she realized: what hadn’t been explained in the novel had quietly happened off-screen, unfolding among the antagonists. The author had omitted the details to preserve the mystery, setting up a grand twist.
This was both a grand deception and a diversionary tactic. The three who chased Bai Li had been lured away, leaving only their senior brother guarding the siblings.
Even a flock of sheep could put up a fight, but a lone straggler was helpless prey.
So when the young man returned, the old wound on his arm had reopened—evidence of a fierce battle.
He hadn’t saved her out of kindness. She had merely been bait to draw the others away.
As for his earlier capture, that too had been an act—a performance so thorough that he’d even allowed himself to be tied up, hiding a small blade in his sleeve as a precaution. His nonchalance had been calculated all along.
Bai Li, blinded by fear, had foolishly believed it was coincidence, thinking she could avoid this plotline. In truth, she’d been part of the game without realizing it.
She’d even asked Xue Qionglou if he knew Xue Qionglou.
Damn it, that must have been the closest she’d ever come to death.
And now, reflecting on his words sent chills down her spine.
"Don’t cry. You did well."
—"You helped me distract three people and lasted until I returned. You really did do well."
"I just don’t like owing favors. You helped me, so I have to return the favor."
—‘I saved you from the jaws of death, and you helped me divert the disaster. Now we’re even.’
"You’ll only meet your end if you don’t run when you should."
—‘Since we’re even now, I won’t bother with you anymore. Run for your life—or don’t. Your choice.’
"Leave once the fire burns out."
—‘I’ve said it twice already—don’t wait for me. Go when the fire dies. If you still don’t get it, don’t blame me for the consequences.’
There. That tone perfectly suits the two-faced, honey-tongued, black-hearted villain.
A smile as warm as spring breeze, yet laced with hidden daggers—drawing you willingly into the illusion of his radiant charm, only to drown in its deadly allure.
Truly... a gentle blade that kills without shedding blood.
