The air was still.
Three meters away, Pei Yuan observed the young lady, whose slender figure carved a graceful silhouette against the moonlit sky. Every outline was beautifully created, and in the dark, her small, delicate chin appeared especially lustrous. All of a sudden, Pei Yuan felt unsettled.
She had been fond of Senior Brother Yan for the longest time. While no one was aware of the love affair between him and Meng Fuyao, she had her suspicions. Nevertheless, she simply couldn't justify it. Why would he take a liking to such an ugly and useless girl? Pei Yuan had never been bothered by Fuyao since she had beauty, talent, status, and intelligence. Who in the world could surpass her?
Senior Brother Yan was a smart man. There was no way he could be ignorant of the benefits of marriage with her. Plus, who else if not her, was worthy of him and his excellence?
The Yan family had indeed proposed for marriage, and Senior Brother Yan had indeed chosen her.
When given more choices, why wouldn't he choose the better one?
Only… that girl wasn't a fool and had such beauty. She was an obstacle to Pei Yuan's path to happiness and success.
Pei Yuan wasn't going to take chances.
In contrast to her unreadable eyes, a slight curl made its way down to her lips.
"Leave, Meng Fuyao. Leave and don't ever come back," Pei Yuan looked askance at her and spoke in a haughty manner.
Meng Fuyao was startled and raised her head.
"You probably already know of Jingchen and my engagement. If not for our code of ethics, I would've followed him back to Yanjing that day. Meng Fuyao, Jingchen is my soon-to-be husband. I don't want you to appear before him ever again."
Meng Fuyao kept her head up and smiled. "Great, the feeling is mutual."
Pei Yuan's lips formed a disdainful arc as she responded. "I hope you're not actually saying it to avoid humiliation. Since you don't wish to see him, move as far away as you can and don't pester him anymore."
She bent down to unlock the chains, but her fingers stealthily reached out to a protruding mountain rock nearby.
"Junior Sister!"
A low voice called out from behind, causing Pei Yuan to loosen her grip. She turned her head to the side and saw Fourth Senior Brother, who was in charge of guarding Meng Fuyao, striding over.
Sssss!
While unlocking the chains, Pei Yuan's diamond bracelet had somehow gotten tangled with Meng Fuyao's sleeve. Shocked by her senior brother's presence, she had whipped her body around to face him, causing Fuyao's sleeve to rip and her forearm to be exposed.
"Ah!" Pei Yuan exclaimed urgently. "Don't come over, Fourth Senior Brother, it's improper."
Fourth Senior Brother cast a quick side glance before stopping in his tracks. "An important guest's about to arrive, Junior Sister. Master wants you there."
Pei Yuan answered happily, "Is Wuji's imperial advisor here already? It's such an honor to meet the teacher of the exceptionally classy Crown Prince."
After some thought, she added, "Junior Sister's clothes are torn. She'll catch a cold." At that, she took off her red cloak.
As she squatted down, her red cloak swayed along with the breeze before landing onto Meng Fuyao's bare forearm.
Pei Yuan removed her hand from the edge of her cloak and quietly slid it underneath.
Meng Fuyao felt Pei Yuan's ice-cold fingertip on her skin and looked up at her. There was no more cheer on her face, only menace.
Pei Yuan gave Meng Fuyao a meaningful look. Then, she questioned in a low voice, "You have the nerve to steal my man?"
Meng Fuyao jolted, and before she could answer, she felt Pei Yuan's finger consecutively jabbing her major pressure points. The right side of her body turned stiff, and she was unable to speak.
Immediately after, Pei Yuan cried out in alarm, "Junior Sister, what are you trying to do? Why is there a dagger hidden within your sleeve? Ah!"
She orchestrated a show, vigorously moving her hand beneath the cloak and causing it to shake violently as if two fighters were exchanging blows.
Fourth Senior Brother moved forward apprehensively, but couldn't see anything.
Satisfied with her acting, Pei Yuan threw a deadly glance at Meng Fuyao. The former jolted her finger, and a mountain rock behind Meng Fuyao shifted, revealing a secret cliff. Following that, Pei Yuan unhesitatingly jerked both hands and threw Meng Fuyao off.
Before the victim could even shout, her body was already plunging down.
Tumbling sounds bounced off the cliff for a good while before stopping.
Above, the air was still.
From a distance away, Fourth Senior Brother stared at Pei Yuan's back, his eyes losing focus.
However, Pei Yuan turned around with utmost elegance, allowing her red cloak to flow freely in the air like a brightly colored cloud. She covered her mouth with a hand and opened her eyes wide before emitting a delayed cry.
"Oh my, it's all my fault for not holding on properly. Junior Sister, fell off," Pei Yuan informed in an unsurprised tone.
A split second later, she frowned and lamented. "Alas, to think I was kind enough to lend her my cloak. How could she take the chance to plot against me? This… Where's justice!?"
"Oh yeah…" Fourth Senior Brother gazed steadily at Pei Yuan while replying, "She only has herself to blame." He extended his head to look down the cliff. There was no scenery; only a sheet of black. He shook his head, mumbling, "What a pity. This cliff is so high…"
Pei Yuan kept silent and looked at him with what seemed like a smile.
"I'm more worried about you. Are you hurt?" Fourth Senior Brother added.
"I'm not." Pei Yuan assured him. Then, she turned toward the cliff, her gleeful face blossoming like a spring flower before the dull night sky.
"How regretful," her voice, light and melodious, scattered with the wind.
The darkness grew denser, as though this long night would never pass.
The cliff remained noiseless, save for occasional sounds of impact. The final crash happened only after a long time, uncovering the significant depth of the cliff.
The wild grass by the cliff rustled suddenly.
Following which, a black figure rose from the utter darkness.
As if being held up by an invisible object and defying gravity, the dangling figure moved in an arc, in midair, before stabilizing itself on the slopes.
That slender figure raised its head, welcoming the moonlight with cold eyes.
It was Meng Fuyao. A smileless smile surfaced as Meng Fuyao waved her wrist. An indistinguishable black light brushed across the sky before withdrawing into her sleeve.
"Trying to kill me? Not so easy."
Meng Fuyao gently stroked a fine, black whip. It was a soft whip that doubled as her belt. Pei Yuan had been acting strangely earlier. Right from the start, she had had her hand on this whip. It was no wonder that she had torn her sleeve. While making all sorts of gestures under her red cloak, Pei Yuan had been coiling the whip around the mountain rock.
As Meng Fuyao had been vigilant against Pei Yuan, she had engaged the leftover power from Cleaving Nine Heavens to guard her pressure points. Fortunately, Pei Yuan lacked precision and force, which had allowed her to undo the blockage on the way down the cliff.
Also, her whip had caught her body as she was being pushed off the cliff. Only when the two were far enough, did she start to climb up.
Upon reaching the top, Meng Fuyao stared into the darkness before her. On its far end stood what she imagined to be the lofty manor house that had once provided her with shelter and protection, and that youth who had once given her warmth.
A strong gust of wind surged up against the pale-faced girl, who kept her body resiliently straight. The joy that used to emerge on her face whenever she thought about him was now obliterated from her face.
The days of being troubled over love were nothing but a digression from her life journey. It was a lush forest that she had explored, and from which she had learned the beauty of love. She had mistakenly believed that it was the Garden of Eden and was naturally banished in no time.
But it was alright. In this world, there are endless losses and debts to be dealt with.
Meng Fuyao lashed her whip, creating a whoosh that echoed throughout the valley like a bugle call. She retrieved a few blades of grass from her clothes with a smile. They were deep green in color but had white tips that appeared to be accumulated morning frost.
She scrutinized them in satisfaction, feeling grateful for her lucky encounter. Who would've known that One-Fingered Frost grew on these slopes? This herb was highly effective in treating internal injuries and even possessed the ability to cultivate fundamental energy. What a big blessing in disguise!
She carefully separated one blade of grass and was about to put it into her mouth, but paused and slowly opened her eyes wide.
'That's not right…'
She had counted six blades earlier, so why were there only five now?
The blades had been in her hand all along, and there was no one around. How could it have disappeared?
'Teleportation? A time-travel glitch? Ghost?'
Fuyao's last guess made her quiver, as horror films that she had watched started replaying in her mind. Her mind was now taken over by a mix of extremely frightening sounds and special effects.
It has been a few years since Fuyao had arrived in this time and space. Such an unusual fate had resulted in her developing a resilient willpower as well. However, at this point, on this empty cliff, it was all quiet and lonely for her.
The wind was howling, and the trees all around were dancing like ghostly shadows. On top of this already eerie scene, a blade of grass had vanished for no reason. Unable to come up with a logical explanation, Fuyao shuddered. The word ghost left her lips a few times too.
She suddenly recalled the words of that old fellow, "There are no ghosts on Earth. Ghosts are created when people start making guesses."
Keeping his words in mind, Fuyao mustered up some courage. She pulled her whip and whipped up a loud crunch. "Who is it!"
Apart from the whistling of the wind, there was no response.
After some time of inaction, Fuyao could only withdraw her whip. As she was about to keep the blades of grass, her body turned stiff once more.
Another blade had gone missing!
She stared at the remaining four blades. She couldn't help but pin this on a paranormal being. What was it trying to do by stealing her grass instead of hurting her?
Fuyao clenched her teeth in resentment, before stuffing all four blades into her mouth in one movement. "Come and steal them! I dare you!" she growled.
Faint laughter drifted across the sky.