The Black Lotus Stole the White Moonlight (GL) - Chapter 30
Bai An’an suppressed the discomfort and still raised her snow-white little face, smiling innocently at Mu Tianyin, “Master, did you come to save An’er because you found out I was in danger?”
Wen Jingxian and Ah Huang obediently huddled aside. Seeing Mu Tianyin’s face, they admired Bai An’an’s thick skin. Didn’t she realize that the city lord was angry?
Mu Lan stared at Mu Tianyin, her face full of excitement, her sword almost slipping from her hand, looking like a little fan seeing her idol, excitedly saying, “City Lord!”
Mu Tianyin paused, not looking up, but her furrowed brows slowly relaxed. Her expression was still cold, and she said lightly, “Why did you come to the dense forest at this time?”
Bai An’an immediately said, “This, we wanted to find…”
Wen Jingxian was shocked, disregarding whether this would offend Mu Tianyin, and quickly interrupted Bai An’an, “We… no, the disciples came to the dense forest to cultivate.” As she spoke, she was sweating profusely, turning to tug at Mu Lan’s sleeve, “Isn’t that right?”
Damn it, Bai An’an is so unreliable. If the city lord found out they went to such lengths just to find materials for the Spring-Seeking Pill, would they be kicked out?
Mu Lan unceremoniously shook off Wen Jingxian’s hand, but also didn’t want to leave Mu Tianyin with the impression of being idle, pausing and nodding, “Elder Zhijian went to the secret realm, instructing the disciples not to slack off. So the disciples wanted to see if they could train in the dense forest.”
Mu Tianyin glanced at them lightly, finally looking at Bai An’an’s face, not looking angry, “It’s my fault, I didn’t teach you that you shouldn’t put yourself in danger.”
Bai An’an blinked quickly, her fingers still gripping Mu Tianyin’s sleeve. Mu Tianyin didn’t seem to notice, letting her hold on.
“Alright, you can go back first. Don’t spread a word about today’s events. Also…” she paused for a moment, her voice slightly stern, “Don’t come to the dense forest again. Did you hear that?”
Under the pressure of a Out-of-body cultivator, they hurriedly bowed in agreement, their faces pale.
Mu Tianyin and several elders handled this incident together, and Bai An’an and the others returned first.
On the way, Wen Jingxian was still chattering, exaggeratingly patting her chest, “I was really scared to death just now. Did you see that? The city lord’s face was terrifying.”
At that moment, she was worried that she would be killed by the city lord. But the city lord just kindly told them a few words and let them go.
“It seems the rumors are false. The city lord is still very kind!”
Bai An’an asked curiously, “What rumors?”
Wen Jingxian was about to answer when she heard Mu Lan beside her say expressionlessly, “I heard that when the city lord first started cultivating, she was as fierce as fire. She challenged several demon lords of the demon realm with just a Wuxin Sword. In that battle, it’s said that the sun and moon were dark, and bl00d flowed like rivers. The famous long river in the demon realm was filled with the corpses of cultivators from both the righteous and demonic paths. That battle was a draw, and the Supreme Elder thought the city lord was too murderous, so she was punished to face the wall for 300 years.”
As she spoke, her eyes were shining with excitement, “After that battle, the city lord’s name became feared by everyone. The city lord became famous.”
In the legends of cultivators, Mu Tianyin’s murderousness and her beauty were equally well-known.
Bai An’an raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. She didn’t expect Mu Tianyin, who always looked so calm, to have been so glorious in her youth. Bai An’an tried to recall those years in the demon realm, and it seemed there was such a rumor.
The righteous path had a very arrogant human cultivator, very wild and unrestrained. But she was busy cultivating those years and didn’t participate in these things much. So she hadn’t seen Mu Tianyin’s arrogant appearance.
She thought of Mu Tianyin’s cold and indifferent look, and couldn’t imagine her challenging someone in a fit of rage.
Could the Path of Emotionlessness have a side effect of changing one’s personality?
Bai An’an shook her head, chatting with Wen Jingxian and the others, and parted ways at the fork in the road.
When she slowly returned to her courtyard, just stepping over the threshold, she saw Mu Tianyin’s figure under the big locust tree in the courtyard.
At dusk, the time of yin and yang transition.
Mu Tianyin, dressed in white, standing under the dense locust tree, gave a ghostly feeling. Especially the way she looked at Bai An’an made her feel uneasy.
Bai An’an belatedly realized that Mu Tianyin, though looking easy to talk to, actually liked to settle accounts later.
She hadn’t made trouble immediately because she had to deal with the demonic wolf. Now that the matter was settled, she was probably here to deal with her.
Bai An’an pursed her lips and slowly revealed a flattering smile, “Master, why did you come back first?”
Mu Tianyin glanced at her, her white clothes fluttering in the wind, like a celestial maiden about to fly into the sky.
“Why did you come back so late?”
Bai An’an’s expression stiffened, thinking she was here to settle accounts. She forced a smile and explained, “I was delayed on the way.”
Mu Tianyin stared at her for a long time, then sighed.
“An’er, how is your swordsmanship?”
Bai An’an was confused. Instead of questioning her, she asked about her swordsmanship? Bai An’an rolled her eyes and said hesitantly, “An’er asked Master for leave yesterday…”
Mu Tianyin didn’t answer, walking a few steps to stand in front of her, looking down at her, and said coldly, “Draw your sword.”
Bai An’an was confused, but still obediently drew the short sword from behind her.
Then she was mercilessly defeated by Mu Tianyin.
After knocking her down, Mu Tianyin said coldly, “Your sword hand isn’t steady yet, but you’re thinking about blocking a sword for someone else.”
Bai An’an lay on the ground, aggrieved, looking at the short sword that had been knocked away, and said sullenly, “An’er was wrong.”
Mu Tianyin said, “Then how should I punish you?”
Bai An’an: “…”
She knew it!
Bai An’an braced herself and said, “Whatever Master decides.”
Mu Tianyin’s thick eyelashes drooped, staring at the girl’s fluffy hair for a long time before saying, “I’ll punish you with a month of house arrest, do you object?”
Bai An’an lowered her head, rolling her eyes, “This disciple is convinced.”
On the first day of house arrest, Bai An’an felt that although life was a bit boring, she could manage.
On the second day of house arrest, she began to stare blankly, having nothing to do.
On the third day of house arrest, she took out the clay figurines she bought at the foot of the mountain and planned to make some small mechanisms for them.
••••
On the fifteenth day of house arrest, Bai An’an couldn’t take it anymore.
In the past, when she was in the demon realm, Bai An’an was also a homebody, but at that time, a few years would pass in the blink of an eye. Unlike now, she couldn’t cultivate or find fun, and time was infinitely stretched.
Bai An’an was so bored that she was about to grow mushrooms. She knew that although Mu Tianyin didn’t come to see her, she was next door, and any disturbance here would alarm Mu Tianyin, so she had to hold back and not dare to be presumptuous.
A few days later, Zhai Anyi actually came back. He came back specifically to tell Bai An’an the good news of passing the secret realm trial.
Zhai Anyi didn’t expect Bai An’an to be under house arrest, so he could only shout loudly to Bai An’an inside the door through the door, “An’an! Did you miss your senior brother? Look what I brought you?”
Bai An’an lay on the bed, looking at the window indifferently.
She was just under house arrest, not in prison. Mu Tianyin wouldn’t be so cruel as to forbid others from talking to her, would she?
Bai An’an immediately jumped out of bed and walked to the window.
The window was paper, but after Mu Tianyin stabilized it with magic, it couldn’t be easily broken or opened.
Bai An’an could only say to the other side through the tall shadow projected on the window, “Senior Brother Zhai?”
Zhai Anyi shook the thing in his hand, shouting to Bai An’an in the room, “Senior brother brought you candied haws, are you happy?”
Bai An’an immediately didn’t want to bother with him. So she went back to lie on the bed, bored, and said, “Senior brother, Master is next door. You can speak a little louder.”
The shadow projected on the window suddenly stiffened.
After a while, Zhai Anyi whispered, “Junior sister, then senior brother will come to play with you after your house arrest is over!”
As he spoke, the shadow on the window gradually disappeared.
Bai An’an rolled over and pursed her lips.
On the last day of her house arrest, a small mosquito flew into Bai An’an’s room through a crack. Bai An’an looked at the mosquito with a strange expression. Mingxin City was built on a mountaintop, where did the mosquito come from?
Then she heard Wen Jingxian’s excited voice coming from the mosquito, “An’an! I’m telling you good news! We’ve gathered all the materials for the Spring-Seeking Pill, we’re just waiting for your house arrest to end, and then…”
Bai An’an’s face suddenly changed. Her hands were as swift as lightning, and she slapped the mosquito to death with a “smack.”
On the other side, Wen Jingxian, who was suddenly interrupted, rubbed her head in confusion.
The door opened in front of her, revealing Mu Tianyin’s slender figure.
Bai An’an naturally put her hands behind her back, looking back innocently and happily, “Master, is An’er’s confinement over?”
Mu Tianyin tilted her head slightly, silent for a moment, then suddenly said something shocking, “Spring-Seeking Pill?”
Bai An’an’s smile froze. After a long time, she regained her senses and asked, “Does Master have any advice?”
Mu Tianyin’s tea-colored eyes swept over her, a cold light flashing, “What do you want to do by refining the Spring-Seeking Pill?”
Bai An’an glanced at her uneasily, lowered her eyes to stare at her toes, and remained silent.
Light footsteps sounded in front of her. Bai An’an lowered her eyes, watching Mu Tianyin’s spotless hem. The next second, her chin was gently lifted.
Mu Tianyin bent her index finger, lightly tapping her chin with her knuckle, and repeated with a stern face, “What do you want to do by refining the Spring-Seeking Pill?”
Bai An’an was forced to raise her head, making close contact with Mu Tianyin’s stunning face. Looking at the enlarged close-up in front of her, she was slightly stunned, then turned her gaze away, “An’er didn’t want to do anything…”
Mu Tianyin turned her chin, her gaze moving from her forehead, inch by inch to her willow eyebrows, almond eyes, nose, and finally stopping on her delicate lips. Her eyelashes trembled, and she turned her gaze away, murmuring softly, “Lying…”
These one word were almost a murmur, like a cat’s paw scratching Bai An’an’s heart, making her heart tremble.
She calmed herself and, seeing Mu Tianyin’s current appearance, thought it was an opportunity, and her heart moved slightly.