After having dinner with Qi Qiqi, Xue Qilin returned to Heyun Dorm .

  After crossing the long hallway and walking into the courtyard where her room is located, she saw the girl who disappeared throughout the afternoon .

  Reflecting silver-white light, a bright sword blade whistles through the air rhythmically, as if a beautiful music composition .

  Immersed in silver-white moonlight, dancing lightly, Shui Yuner draws one beautiful flower in the air after another with the practice sword in her hand .

  She is practicing swordsmanship, the Merak Swordsmanship to boot .

  Although she isn’t proficient in martial arts, but Xue Qilin’s memory isn’t bad .

  After a short look, she realized that the girl is practicing the unique swordsmanship of the Merak Temple .

  In order not to disturb the other party, Xue Qilin watched from the side .

  The lass’s expression gradually turned into surprise .

  The moves of the introduction to Merak Swordsmanship reproduced by Shui Yuner flow naturally .

  Even though she is still a distance away from Situ Mutou, and her execution of the sword moves is somewhat reserved, but Shui Yuner’s is indeed performing the basic sword moves of Merak Swordsmanship . This is a testament to the girl’s learning ability .

  After a while, the girl sheathed the sword and exhaled a long breath .

  Xue Qilin immediately clapped her hands in praise and approached Shui Yuner .

  “Little Yun you’re doing really well, your performance of Merak Swordsmanship is so vivid and colorful!”


  Shui Yuner smiled back, silent .

  The smile is slightly strained, but Xue Qilin didn’t notice it .

  At this time, Xue Qilin suddenly recalled the earlier events .

  “Little Yun, where did you go in the the afternoon? I looked for you . ”


  After quarreling with Liu Chengzong, in order to determine whether the eavesdropper was Shui Yuner, she looked around for the girl . She searched for the whole afternoon, almost traversed the entire outer temple, and even asked Nangong Mingming . But in the end, her efforts were in vain .

  “Um…… I had something to do . ”


  “Oh, so ah……”


  She doesn’t know if it is a misconception or not, but Xue Qilin feels like Shui Yuner appears a bit strange, like she she doesn’t want to talk .

  “By the way, you didn’t come back to the courtyard house all day?”


  Shui Yuner trembled gently .

  “.…… I didn’t . ” She answered .

  She really didn’t? Xue Qilin wondered . Although she often lacks manners and looks foolish, but that doesn’t mean she is stupid . Many times, she is just too lazy to think – no, she just isn’t used to suspect others .

  However, if she delves deeper into it, it will make Shui Yuner feel distrusted .

  Therefore, Xue Qilin asked no more, and chose to believe her .

  The conversation stopped, and a silence between the two ensued .

  “.…… If there’s nothing, then I’d like to practice some more . ”


  It was this sentence that broke the silence .

  “Oh…… okay, okay . ”


  Unable to adapt to Shui Yuner’s indifference, Xue Qilin doesn’t know how to react momentarily .

  What happened to her?

  “Little Yun, are you…… in a bad mood?”


  Feeling that Shui Yuner is dispirited, Xue Qilin asked, hesitant .

  Shui Yuner shook her head, “No, just tired . ”


  Xue Qilin glanced at the sky . It’s already the hour of the rat [1] .

  Surprise welled up inside her . She didn’t know that she spent the whole evening enjoying Qi Qiqi’s “hospitality” .

  “It’s late already . Little Yuner, you should go rest…… Besides, you said you’re tired . ”


  Shui Yuner shook her head again, “No, I still want to practice . ”


  “Hey, don’t overdo it…… Rest is also important . ” Xue Qilin continued to persuade . She didn’t want to see Shui Yuner fall ill because of fatigue .

  Shui Yuner shook her head, “I’ll practice some more . ”


  Why is she so …… desperate? Before Xue Qilin got angry with the other party because of her words falling on death ears, she pondered this question .

  There is a reason why Shui Yuner practices martial arts . She wants to get formidable personal strength, and as such, chose to practice martial arts .

  Moreover, she seems eager and determined .

  Xue Qilin knows this much .

  But…… why does she want to practice with the sword this hard? Does she think that magic has a requirement of the physique? If this is the case, then it’s not difficult to understand why Shui Yuner would be this hardworking .

  “Little Yun, in fact, magic doesn’t have much requirements on the physique . So……”


  The lass’s words were interrupted by a loud shout .

  “I know!”


  Startled, Xue Qilin shoulders jerked . She has never heard Shui Yuner shout like this .

  “When have you ever taught me magic?” She asked in an interrogative tone .

  Not expecting to be questioned by Shui Yuner, Xue Qilin was taken aback for a moment, and overlooked the other party refer to her as “you” instead of “little Senior Disciple Sister” [2] .

  Yes, she used “you” .

  “.…… It’ll take some time . Some things have to be prepared first . ” Xue Qilin explained a little .

  Suddenly she felt that her words are too lackluster . Is it because she isn’t telling the truth from the beginning?

  Perhaps yes, perhaps not .

  If yes, then should she tell her everything?

  But where should I start? Xue Qilin feels distressed about this .

  She is sometimes too clumsy, especially so when dealing with people she cares about .

  People in fact are unexpectedly incompetent . The more important a thing is, the more they care about it . But they often fail to grasp the main point, and are even at a loss about what to do, and lose themselves . They often forget what is most important .

  More importantly, sometimes, hesitation is fatal .

  “.…… You said it’ll take time . How long will it take?”


  The girl suddenly smiled .

  A bright and pure smile suddenly burst into bloom, and its brilliance dispelled everything……

  But there is nothing, no emotion in Shui Yuner’s eyes .

  They are empty, like dark night skies devoid of stars and clouds .

  That’s an expression that can only be described with the word strange .

  The smile and the eyes form a gap, a strong sense of incongruity that seems to transform into some kind unknown coldness giving off the creeps .

  Her thoughts stagnant, Xue Qilin couldn’t respond . There is only the girl’s face in her eyes . As if the expression has some kind of evil power, she cannot avert her eyes .

  “.…… Little Yun?”


  The voice sounded unexpectedly hoarse, almost like a cry that was squeezed out from the throat .

  It was like a bubble bursting . Although the voice was weak, but it unexpectedly succeeded in erasing the strange expression on the girl’s face .

  With Shui Yuner back to normal, everything just now disappeared like a lie .

  All that remains is just a picture engraved in her mind .

  A picture that seems to be impossible to get rid off .

  “Sorry, I’m tired . ”


  Shui Yuner showed a feeble smile that looks like it will disappear at any time .

  Suddenly, Xue Qilin was afraid a little .

  She doesn’t know what she was afraid of, she just has this feeling .

  Is she afraid that Shui Yuner will disappear in front of her eyes? Perhaps .

  I must say something . Xue Qilin thought deep inside .

  “I have something to tell you……”


  “I’m tired!”


  Shui Yun’er interrupted the lass’s words .

  As if proclaiming her existence amid a crowd, she shouted at the top of her lungs, emotional .

  “I……”
……

  I’m really tired . Can I have a rest?

  Keeping this sentence to herself, Shui Yuner turned around and walked to her room rapidly .

  Without even taking her scabbard, she disappeared from Xue Qilin’s field of view .

  Unable to adapt to Shui Yuner’s abnormal behavior, Xue Qilin could only watch the girl leave .

  The lass missed the opportunity, the opportunity to call the figure to stop .

  [1] – Hour of the dragon – 11 pm to 1 am

  [2] – Take this sentence as example: ‘When have you ever taught me magic’ . In general, Shui Yuner would have said in Chinese: ‘When has little Senior Disciple Sister ever taught me magic’ . Which I in turn would have translated as: ‘When have you ever taught me magic, little Senior Disciple Sister’