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Shu Yanyan felt that something was off. Although Qiu Congxue frequently went to go practice with that white lotus immortal, there was no way she'd managed to improve this much since the last time they'd fought together. Admittedly, that had been six months ago, before Zhongli Qian had dumped all the sect responsibilities on her - it was always the prettiest men who were most dangerous; looking virtuous but ensnaring innocent demonic cultivators in their traps.
It's not that she was worried about that no-brain taking over the sect - brawn could only count for so much - but as a responsible leader, she should look into these things, right? It seemed like the thing to do. And she could admit that while Qiu Congxue definitely couldn't run the sect, their relationship had for so long been built on striving for control, relatively even matched in power if not in looks or brains (where Yanyan was obviously far superior in both). But if Congxue managed to make a major breakthrough soon, what use would she have for Yanyan? It was fine if she wanted to be with that disciple of hers sometimes, Baili Qingmiao was good at taking care of her, but…if she never came back? Xuanyuan would be empty.
Shu Yanyan had to investigate.
—
The teahouse was bustling with activity when Shu Yanyan slipped in. Located right next to the Shangqing sect, it was the ideal place for her to gather information. She scanned the room, looking for a potential target.
There. A man, alone, dressed like a Shangqing sect disciple, but obviously upset. Perfect. Checking herself one last time to ensure that there was nothing that would give away her identity, she went up to him.
“Gege, are you a Shangqing cultivator? Can you help me?”
“Ah- just a disciple, miss. I’m afraid your problem might be beyond me.” The man stubbornly refused to look up so that she could enchant him properly.
Shu Yanyan quickly brightened, putting on her best white lotus smile - just because he wasn’t looking now didn’t mean he wouldn’t start at any moment. “That’s fine too! You can escort me up!”
Still slumped down, he replied, “No. I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything either - no one has been able to get within five li of the sect in days!”
Hm. Now that was interesting. If someone had set a trap… Congxue was too dull-brained to figure it out. It would be up to Yanyan to do the work, as usual.
—
Qiu Congxue thought something might be very wrong. She had been dueling Baili Qingmiao as usual - or was it as usual? She couldn’t tell. She had come to the Shangqing sect this morning, and as usual, had decided to test that disciple of hers. So they had fought, and as usual, Qingmiao had beaten her, and as usual, she had gone to teach that brat Su Huai a lesson afterwards.
But they were still fighting. In fact, she felt like she’d been fighting for days, but that couldn’t possibly be the case. It had been so boring at Xuanyuan lately, nothing to fight, and Yanyan had been too busy with sect matters to indulge her. That was why she’d come to the Shangqing sect in the first place!
So then, why was she so tired?
Finally, Su Huai collapsed, defeated by exhaustion as much as Congxue’s “teaching.” For a moment, she wanted to do the same, but instead decided to find Qingmiao for some quality bonding time with her disciple. She’d learned some things from Yanyan lately and wanted to put them to good use.
Then, everything went black for a moment.
—
Qiu Congxue stood at the entrance to Shangqing, ready to challenge Baili Qingmiao - she was only she seemed to be out of breath for some reason.
—
Baili Qingmiao first noticed that there was something badly wrong with the Shangqing sect the fifth time Qiu Congxue had shown up to duel her. Each time, she would come, be defeated by Baili Qingmiao, find Su Huai, crush him, and then somehow - like nothing had happened at all - she would reappear at the sect gates and do it all over again.
By now, it had been countless more repeats of the same. Congxue and Su Huai, being who they were, had yet to notice - so it was up to Qingmiao to find out what was wrong with them, and also her Sect.
The first thing she tried was leaving. When that didn’t work, she sent disciples. Some of them were able to leave, but none had returned. So now, in the stolen moments while Congxue and Su Huai threw themselves against each other, she attempted to find out why it had worked. But she was so tired… Every time Congxue reappeared at the gates, she seemed to be compelled to take up her challenge, even though all she wanted to do was tell Congxue what was wrong and go back to her investigations.
—-
Shu Yanyan had been searching for clues outside the Shangqing sect for what seemed like an eternity. She couldn’t dual cultivate, she couldn’t fight, she could just wander aimlessly asking questions to morons who knew nothing.
The only reliable information was that five li from the sect entrance, there was some kind of barrier preventing her from going forwards and finding her Congxue. So here she was now, reduced to throwing all of her considerable powers of charm and cultivation at a literal wall.
Many hours after sunset, there was finally a change. The barrier seemed to break down all at once, and flying out of it…
“Baili Qingmiao?”
Baili Qingmiao lay groaning where the invisible barrier had been seconds earlier.
Shu Yanyan strode up to her and pinned her down. “Where is Congxue? Baili Qingmiao, I don’t have anything against you, but you can’t kidnap a member of my Xuanyuan sect whenever you like!”
Baili Qingmiao coughed weakly. “Kidnapped? We were all trapped! Wait - how can you be here? What happened?”
“Hah! Disciple, I’ve finally been able to teach you a lesson!” A familiar voice rang out in reply.
Shu Yanyan let go of Baili Qingmiao in shock. “Did Congxue… win?”
Qiu Congxue strode forward, collapsing onto her. “Yanyan, you’re always saying that I’m useless, but haven’t I done our sect far greater honor with this duel than you ever have, throwing yourself at anything that moves.”
Yanyan felt her face, frozen in shock, finally begin to thaw into a smile.
“I suppose you aren’t completely useless.” She pressed her lips briefly to Congxue’s. “Let’s go home.”