The Black Lotus Stole the White Moonlight (GL) - Chapter 18
Bai An’an glanced at her, then looked away, whispering, “Who is she? So arrogant…”
Ah Huang looked over enviously, lowering her voice, “Don’t you know? She’s from the Mu family sect, the eldest young lady of the direct line!”
“I heard that this time, City Lord Mu intends to take her as a disciple!”
“Oh?” Bai An’an raised an eyebrow, intrigued, “Really?”
She suddenly remembered who the Mu family’s eldest young lady’s attire resembled, it was practically a living Mu Tianyin!
Wen Jingxian stood aside, disdainfully saying to them, “Just putting on airs, who is City Lord Mu? Would she take a disciple casually? I think she’s just daydreaming.”
Among the crowd, Wen Jingxian wasn’t the only one grumbling, but no one dared to say it out loud.
As soon as she finished speaking, a sharp sword suddenly flew towards her, pointing directly at her face with unmatched sharpness.
Wen Jingxian’s eyes widened, staring at the blade less than half a foot in front of her. Cold sweat dripped down her face, and she staggered backward.
The girl in white walked towards her leisurely, narrowed her eyes, looked down at her condescendingly, and said coldly, “Dare to say it again?”
Wen Jingxian’s face turned pale, and she stammered, “I… I just mentioned it casually.”
At this moment, a gentle male voice sounded from the front, calling the girl’s name, “Lan’er, don’t delay the main business.”
The girl in white’s eyes flickered, she snorted coldly, put away her sword, and raised her chin, “Dare to talk nonsense again, and I’ll cut off your tongue!”
After speaking, she turned and left.
Everyone present kept silent, stealing glances at the girl in white’s back, but no one dared to provoke her.
This was the cultivation world, where strength was everything.
Ah Huang stood aside, patting Wen Jingxian’s back, and couldn’t help but earnestly persuade, “Young lady, please, can we talk behind closed doors in the future?”
Wen Jingxian was still in shock. Now that she had regained her senses, she couldn’t help but feel scared. She muttered, “How did I know that guy had such a temper?”
Ah Huang quickly covered her mouth, worried, “Young lady, please stop talking!”
Wen Jingxian rolled her eyes at her, regained her arrogant look, stood up straight, and put her hands on her hips, “I, Wen Jingxian, will definitely stand at the top of the cultivation world!”
People kept walking past her, and when they heard this, they couldn’t help but look sideways, as if looking at a fool.
Ah Huang covered her face in shame.
Bai An’an suddenly spoke up, “That…”
Wen Jingxian was so startled that she jumped in place, turning her head in panic. Seeing that it was Bai An’an, she coughed and said, “Oh, it’s you. What’s the matter?”
Bai An’an glanced towards Hongmeng Valley and reminded softly, “Shouldn’t we go in?”
Wen Jingxian nodded seriously, “I was about to say that. By the way…”
She glanced at Bai An’an and Ah Huang sternly, “Don’t worry, as a young lady, I will naturally take care of you. But you can’t hold me back, understand?”
Bai An’an glanced at her, paused, and smiled, “Then thank you, young lady sister.”
Who was holding whom back?
Bai An’an followed Wen Jingxian and the others into Hongmeng Valley, looking around while listening to Wen Jingxian’s chatter.
“I’m telling you, you can’t take it lightly. From the moment we stepped into Hongmeng Valley, the trial has already begun.” Wen Jingxian imparted her experience to Bai An’an like a seasoned veteran.
“Those who can enter the valley prove that they have spiritual roots. Cultivation depends on spiritual roots, and then on character.” She said, looking back at the entrance, “Look, there are still many people wandering at the entrance, all of them are mortals without any spiritual roots.”
After surveying the area, Bai An’an smiled, “Young lady sister, how do you know so much?”
Wen Jingxian’s face flushed, her eyes wandering, “It’s just… experience.”
Her eyes wandered around, and she suddenly pointed to the road ahead, surprised, “Look, what’s that?”
Bai An’an looked over casually and saw a snow-white animal lying under the green leaves ahead.
The animal looked a bit like a cat, with pointed ears and a round face, lying quietly in the grass, seemingly resting.
Wen Jingxian took a closer look and couldn’t help but feel disappointed, “What is it? Just a cat.”
Hearing the noise, the cat twitched its ears, turned its big face over, and its clear orange eyes showed a cold beastly nature.
Bai An’an glanced at it, slightly startled.
But she didn’t want to cause any trouble, so she didn’t say anything.
As night approached, the three of them decided to find a place to rest, and their first choice was naturally by the stream.
Wen Jingxian ran to the stream happily, scooped up some water to wash her face, and before she could talk to Bai An’an and the others, she heard a familiar but cold female voice, “We’ve taken over this place, please leave.”
Although she used the word “please,” her attitude was very arrogant.
Wen Jingxian turned her head angrily, and when she saw the other person’s face, the anger in her heart died down.
It was Mu Lan.
Mu Lan wasn’t alone, she was accompanied by a white-clothed youth a head taller than her.
Mu Lan saw Wen Jingxian’s face, raised an eyebrow, and snorted, “It’s you.”
Wen Jingxian’s face was tense, she didn’t really want to change places, and she braced herself, “We found this place first…” Her tone wasn’t very firm, given the other person’s cultivation.
To be honest, Bai An’an didn’t want to change places after walking all day. So she silently found a rock to sit on and beckoned Ah Huang over to start a fire.
The white-clothed youth glanced at Bai An’an, who was calm and collected, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
Bai An’an turned her face, her watery eyes looking at him, and said softly, “We’re all disciples in the same trial, we might be brothers and sisters in the future, fellow cultivator, can you give us a favor?”
The tall youth was moved slightly by her gaze.
Seeing the girl’s face illuminated by the firelight, he paused and said to Mu Lan, “Lan’er, don’t make trouble.”
Mu Lan snorted coldly and returned to the white-clothed youth’s side with her sword.
With the crisis averted, Wen Jingxian ran to Bai An’an quickly and whispered in her ear, “So unlucky, to run into this guy again…”
Ah Huang hurriedly covered her young lady’s mouth, her face pale with fear, and she said tearfully, “Young lady, didn’t we agree not to mention it?”
Wen Jingxian smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of her head, “I couldn’t help it.”
The three of them sat around the fire, toasting dry food.
Although Bai An’an still ate mortal food, the dry food was hard and unpalatable, making it difficult to swallow. She pretended to have a small appetite and only ate a few bites before stopping.
Although Wen Jingxian’s name had the character “quiet,” she was completely restless.
Ah Huang, fearing that she would cause trouble again, quickly pulled her into conversation.
Wen Jingxian saw Bai An’an fiddling with the fire and suddenly asked curiously, “An’an, why do you want to cultivate immortality?”
Hearing this, Bai An’an stopped her movements, raised her face, and smiled, “To live forever, I guess.”
Wen Jingxian shook her head, “Even cultivation can’t make you immortal. Nowadays, with the scarcity of spiritual energy, there are basically no more immortals.”
She put her hands behind her head and looked up at the starry sky, “I’m curious, what’s the difference between cultivators and mortals? If possible, I want to form a core…”
The core Wen Jingxian mentioned was the golden core.
It was already difficult to enter the threshold of cultivation. The distance between each realms was like a chasm.
To go from foundation building to golden core, such talent was one in a million.
The two Mu family disciples sitting opposite were startled. Mu Lan sneered, “Form a core, with you?!”
The tall youth, Mu Chong, was also silent for a moment, “Fellow cultivator, you’re joking.”
Wen Jingxian rolled her eyes unhappily.
Ah Huang, afraid that Wen Jingxian would anger the two opposite, changed the subject stiffly,”Ah! That… An’an, speaking of which, if you pass, who do you plan to take as your master?”
Bai An’an cupped her cheeks, tilted her head, as if oblivious to the tense atmosphere, and said casually, “Who to take as my master? Of course, City Lord Mu!”
Ah Huang didn’t expect Bai An’an to be even more unreliable than her young lady, offending Mu Lan across from them with a single sentence.
Although Mu Lan was a direct descendant of the Mu family, she had never actually met their ancestor, Mu Tianyin.
She had grown up listening to Mu Tianyin’s stories, earnestly hoping that Mu Tianyin would take her as a disciple.
However, Mu Tianyin’s last disciple was taken hundreds of years ago.
In recent years, she had cultivated day and night, hoping that the Mu Tianyin she admired would take her as a disciple.
She not only thought so, but had always acted accordingly.
But the two people opposite were both arrogant.
The mortal named Bai An’an even coveted Mu Tianyin’s disciple position.
She glared over, narrowing her eyes dangerously, “Such big words, I wonder if you can survive to the end.”
Bai An’an was completely unaware, smiling innocently, “Thank you for the reminder, senior sister. An’er will definitely survive to the end. But senior sister…” she changed her tone, lowering her voice, “Aren’t you afraid of City Lord Mu punishing you for spreading rumors like this?”
“You!” Mu Lan stood up abruptly, drawing her sword, pointing it at her, and said angrily, “I advise you not to speak nonsense!”
Wen Jingxian and Ah Huang looked left and right, hugging each other, trembling.
Bai An’an narrowed her eyes, suddenly turning her head, her gaze freezing.
Seeing that she was silent, Mu Lan followed her gaze and saw a pair of red eyes in the grass, her body stiffening, blocking her sword in front of her, on guard.
Seeing her posture, the others followed her gaze.
Then they saw a huge furry animal forelimb step out of the grass.
Wen Jingxian and Ah Huang, seeing the cat, couldn’t help but exclaim softly.
“Young lady, isn’t that the cat from the daytime?”
Wen Jingxian nodded, her face pale.
But the cat’s current appearance was completely different from its docile demeanor during the day.
It was ten times larger, its eyes glowing with a strange red light, like copper bells. Every step it took seemed to shake the ground. It looked terrifying.
Cold sweat seeped from Mu Lan’s forehead, and she stared intently at the huge, strangely white cat. A thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
Was it demonized?
As the daughter of the Mu family sect, she naturally knew information that ordinary people didn’t.
A thought flashed through her mind, and she held her sword in front of her, ready to rush over.
Mu Chong beside her quickly grabbed her, scolding, “Are you crazy?! Notifying the City Lord is the priority!”
Bai An’an, hearing a few words, rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow.
Mu Lan’s mind was only on solving the obviously demonized white cat, hoping to impress Mu Tianyin, and she didn’t listen to Mu Chong’s advice, rushing straight over.
Mu Chong had no choice but to use the communication device to notify the sect elders, asking them to bring people over to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Mu Lan was eager to win, using a life-risking fighting style, quickly angering the white cat.
The white cat, tired of playing with the little insect, swiped its paw, knocking Mu Lan aside.
The huge white cat moved, turning to Bai An’an and the others.
Wen Jingxian and Ah Huang were terrified, their faces pale, and Bai An’an also pretended to be pale.
Actually, although the cat was big, its face and eyes were round, and Bai An’an found it quite cute.
But this was clearly not the time to pet a cat. She had to draw the short sword Mu Tianyin gave her, blocking it in front of Wen Jingxian and the others.
Bai An’an had no intention of revealing her strength, so she just barely dodged the white cat’s attacks.
Seeing that the white cat was getting impatient, it prepared to repeat its previous move, swinging a paw at Bai An’an.
Bai An’an was about to dodge when her waist was suddenly grabbed, and a soft but cold body pressed against her back. Smelling a pleasant cold fragrance, she quickly suppressed her urge to attack, looking back in surprise, “Senior sister!”
Mu Tianyin looked down at her, frowning. She was about to say something when she sensed the movement behind her. Just as she was about to act, she was suddenly pushed away by Bai An’an.
She was immediately stunned, turning to see Bai An’an lying on the ground, spitting bl00d.
Bai An’an looked at the white cat with satisfaction. Not bad, the timing of sacrificing herself to save someone was perfect.
Seeing Mu Tianyin’s gaze, she tried to open her eyes, weakly saying, “Senior sister, it’s good that you’re alright…”
After speaking, she passed out contentedly.
After Mu Tianyin dealt with the demonized white cat, she turned and walked to Bai An’an, holding the unconscious girl in her arms.
Everyone present was surprised and uncertain. With Mu Lan’s cultivation, she could only barely hold on for a moment against the white cat. But the seemingly unremarkable disciple in front of them had defeated the white cat with just a few moves, her cultivation must be unfathomable.
Wen Jingxian and Ah Huang exchanged glances, their eyes shining.
Wen Jingxian coughed, bowing respectfully, “Thank you, senior sister, for saving us. May I ask which elder you are a disciple of? After the trial, I will prepare a generous gift to thank you.”
Mu Tianyin didn’t even raise her head, pointing her finger at Bai An’an’s brow, brushing away her long bangs, revealing her delicate face. After checking her up and down, finding that she had only suffered minor injuries, she relaxed her cold expression.
Wen Jingxian’s words were completely ignored.
Mu Lan climbed up from the ground, leaning on her sword, seeing Wen Jingxian’s behavior, she smiled sarcastically, “Flatterer!”
Wen Jingxian’s smile froze, angry but dared not speak.
Ah Huang quickly grabbed Wen Jingxian’s arm, shaking her head with a bitter face.
Mu Tianyin didn’t care about the expressions of the people present. Finding that Bai An’an was fine, she got up to leave.
Bai An’an woke up at the right time, grabbing Mu Tianyin’s arm accurately.
She lay on the clean rock, revealing her overly delicate face, looking at her pitifully, her voice soft, “Senior sister, don’t go!”
Mu Tianyin looked down at her, her eyes slightly moving.
This was a disciple trial, her presence was clearly against the rules.
Seeing her hesitation, Bai An’an’s eyes flickered, and she propped herself up with her other hand, barely sitting up, but suddenly vomited a mouthful of bl00d.
“Careful!” Mu Tianyin couldn’t help but lean over, holding the thin girl in her arms.
Bai An’an gasped weakly. She repeated, “Senior sister, don’t go…”
Knowing what Mu Tianyin was hesitating about, she quickly said, “An’er just wants to watch senior sister. Senior sister doesn’t need to do anything later, An’er will handle it myself. That wouldn’t break the rules, right?”
She had lost too much bl00d, her little face was snow-white, her black and white eyes staring at her intently.
Mu Tianyin glanced at her, noticing the slightly trembling fingers on her arm, she sighed softly, “Alright. I’ll stay until you recover.”
Hearing this, Bai An’an’s little face bloomed with a bright smile. She leaned her head into her arms, leaning her whole body weight on Mu Tianyin.
She had vomited some bl00d, and some bl00d stains were on her green lapel. She rubbed against Mu Tianyin, smearing the bl00d stains onto her as well.
Mu Tianyin’s white clothes were inevitably stained with some color.
Bai An’an narrowed her eyes, strangely feeling a sense of satisfaction.
With her cultivation, she had to be very careful to pull Mu Tianyin into the demonic path.
She felt like she was walking on a tightrope, with nothing to rely on, and if she wasn’t careful, she would fall into a deep abyss.
But wasn’t that what made it interesting?
She buried her head in Mu Tianyin’s cold-fragrant embrace, her smile becoming more and more unrestrained.
Wen Jingxian stood aside, watching the interaction between Mu Tianyin and Bai An’an, scratching the back of her head in confusion.
Why did she feel that the atmosphere between this senior sister and Bai An’an was weird? Was she overthinking it?
After resting for a while, Mu Lan stood up straight, ignoring Mu Chong’s warning, and walked over gracefully.
Because of the woman in front of her, all her plans had fallen through. Now that she had regained her strength, she couldn’t help but feel resentful.
Mu Lan said coldly, “Who asked you to meddle?”
Wen Jingxian knew that Mu Lan was arrogant, but she didn’t expect her to dare to confront even a senior sister from Mingxin City. She didn’t know whether to admire her boldness or laugh at her lack of brains.
Mu Chong, knowing that his cousin had always been arrogant, worried that she would offend someone, so he stepped forward to apologize, “Senior sister, we are from the Mu family sect.” He stated their identity first, and then said, “Thank you, senior sister, for saving us…”
He talked on and on, but Mu Tianyin didn’t even raise an eyebrow, her face expressionless, as if at this moment, there was no one else but Bai An’an in her arms.
Mu Chong’s expression turned ugly. This was the first time he had been so blatantly ignored.
Mu Lan simply drew her sword, pointing the tip directly at Mu Tianyin, and said coldly, “Even if you’re a mountain guard disciple of Mingxin City, you’re still too arrogant!”
Bai An’an, with her little face raised, lying in Mu Tianyin’s arms, exclaimed in surprise, “Senior sister, be careful!”
Mu Lan followed the sound and saw Bai An’an’s face, pausing when she saw it.
She frowned, her expression changing several times, finally turning to disdain, “No wonder, even as a mountain guard disciple, you’re so solicitous towards this mortal. So she’s your kept woman?”
Hearing this, Mu Tianyin’s eyelashes trembled, and her dark eyes immediately turned cold.