Chapter 227: Last Moment

For years, Bai Yunxian had lived as a woman to survive the internal politics of his family and the sect.

He had been lusted after, hunted, and underestimated. He had always been the one to strike, the one to kill, the one to endure the cold.

But now, someone was standing in front of him. Someone was getting “jealous” on his behalf. Someone was cleaning up the “perverts” so he wouldn’t have to soil his hands.

He looked at her back, straight, strong, and unyielding. As she finished off the last of the rogue leaders by literally burying him neck-deep in the dirt with a single kick, Bai Yunxian felt a strange, rhythmic thumping in his chest. It wasn’t the surge of Qi or the thrill of battle.

It was a flutter. A warm, terrifyingly unfamiliar sensation that radiated from his heart to his fingertips.

’She… she really thinks I’m hers?’ he thought, his usual icy detachment melting just a fraction.

Yun Shu turned back, brushing a stray hair from her face. The murderous aura vanished instantly, replaced by her usual cheeky grin. She skipped back to him, ignoring the groaning heaps of men behind her.

“Palace Lord! Did you see? I was so brave!” she chirped, grabbing his sleeve and looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Those mean men were saying such scary things. I hope I didn’t overdo it. I’m just a weak girl, after all.”

The Azure Sect disciples, who were currently busy tying up the survivors, almost tripped over their own feet.

Weak girl? She had just dismantled two cultivation groups while lecturing them on the proper way to dig a grave!

Bai Yunxian looked down at her. He could see the lingering spark of fire in her eyes, the secret power she was trying so hard to hide behind this “lovestruck” persona.

He knew she was lying. He knew she was probably more dangerous than half the elders in his sect.

And yet, he didn’t pull his sleeve away.

“You are a nuisance,” he murmured, his voice lacking its usual bite.

“But I’m your nuisance,” Yun Shu retorted, leaning in closer. “Right? Since we have a contract and all. I can’t let people look at my ’wife’ like that. It’s bad for the reputation!”

Bai Yunxian’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t look away. The fox on his shoulder let out a long, weary sigh, as if accepting its fate in this madhouse.

***

The Azure Sect disciples approached, bowing deeply to both Yun Shu and Bai Yunxian.

“Thank you, Senior Sister! Thank you, Palace Lord!” A-Zheng said, his face flushed with the adrenaline of his first real victory. “We’ve collected all the tokens and the loot from these thieves. Since you did most of the work, Senior Sister, it’s all yours!”

Yun Shu waved her hand dismissively. “Keep it. Consider it your tuition fee. But if I hear you’ve been bragging about this, I’ll come back and make you do ten thousand squats on a bed of needles. Got it?”

“Yes, Senior Sister!” they shouted in unison, though their eyes were full of worship.

As the sun began to set, casting a golden-orange glow over the clearing, the group prepared to make camp.

The “terrifying team” of Yun Shu and Bai Yunxian sat by the fire, the silence between them no longer heavy, but humming with a new, unspoken understanding.

Yun Shu leaned her head back, looking at the stars. She knew the plot was deviating. She knew the “Female Lead” was looking at her more and more like a predator looks at a mystery it wants to devour.

But as she felt Bai Yunxian’s gaze on her, no longer suspicious, but lingering, she couldn’t help but smirk.

’Let him look,’ she thought. ’Let him flutter. After all, in this game, I’m the one holding the controller.’

[Ding~ Male Lead’s Favorability: +10.

Total Favorability: 45%.

Warning: Host, you are technically flirting with the ’Female Lead’ while dressed as a woman. This is getting very complicated.]

’Complicated is my middle name, System. Now, let’s see if I can get him to share his blanket tonight.’

Across the fire, Bai Yunxian watched her, his fingers tracing the hilt of his sword. He didn’t know who she was or why she was here. But for the first time in his life, he didn’t mind being “protected.”

In the shadows of the forest, the hidden guards shifted, their presence blending into the night. Their master was safe, and he also seemed to be in a good mood. And their master was, quite clearly, the most terrifying woman in the world.

.

.

.

The fourth day dawned with a crisp, biting clarity that signaled the end of the hunt. As the dense, suffocating canopy of the Myriad Beast Forest finally gave way to the manicured paths and soaring white-stone arches of the Azure Sky Academy, the atmosphere shifted.

The primal survivalism of the woods was replaced by the rigid, suffocating air of hierarchy and competition.

For Yun Shu, this was the moment she had to drop the curtain on her “Senior Sister Li” performance.

She stood at the boundary line, the invisible threshold between the lawless forest and the governed academy grounds.

Beside her, the Azure Sect disciples were bustling, adjusting their robes and trying to look presentable for the Elders. But her focus was entirely on the tall, ethereal figure standing a few paces away.

Bai Yunxian looked as if he hadn’t spent four days wading through blood and mud.

His white robes, though slightly frayed at the hem, seemed to repel the very concept of filth. His expression was once again that of a distant, untouchable deity.

Yun Shu, however, wasn’t about to let him leave without one last show.

“Nine Hall Palace Lord…” she began, her voice dropping into a pitch of pure, unadulterated sorrow. She stepped closer, her shoulders drooping, her lower lip trembling just enough to be noticeable.

Bai Yunxian couldn’t help but be amused by her change of expressions.

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