(18) Her Senior Brother

Slash!

Slash!

Three silver lights flashed in the dark. Five trees fell.

Slash!

Another one fell, with its trunk slashed to hundreds of pieces.

Slash! Slash!

A female figure in violet robes could be seen swinging a silver sword around inside a forest.

Slash! Slash!

What was she doing while QiaoHua was suffering? No, who dared to do this in the first place?

Multiple thoughts passed through Wu LiJing's mind, but in the end, only one remained: why does she always fail to protect those precious to her?

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Wu LiJing stopped and dropped to the ground, laying on her back as her chest moved up and down with heavy breaths. The thousands of trees surrounding her were toppled to the ground and a large clearing could be seen for miles. The leaves of the trees surrounding her shone a silver light as the moon's rays touched them, not losing to the heavenly scene of the starry sky as the cold grass embraced her burning body.

She gripped the silver sword in her hand as it lay beside her. She must hurry. Hurry and get stronger.

With the vast sky of stars reflected in her pupils, she remembered those words long ago spoken by a deep voice, "Look up." They were so simple, but it filled her heart. After a moment of marveling at the stars, the great turmoil in her heart calmed. Wu LiJing clasped her sword and propped herself up with clear eyes.

Ready to bathe and rest, Wu LiJing already entered her manor when she suddenly heard quick footsteps from a distance in the middle of the night and halted.

Her eyes narrowed. Someone was trying to enter her master's manor. She jumped and flew towards the sound of the steps that were barely audible.

Wu LiJing spotted a man, dressed in dark robes, skillfully using qing qong to jump into Sect Master Wang's manor. (a/n: qing qong is a lightness skill of quickly moving/running/jumping with light steps using chi to make one's body lighter)

Without warning, she released an attack of chi from her sword.

"Who?!" The man had a very unique and deep tone, not the usual voice of a man. He quickly evaded and turned around to face his attacker.

He frowned. "A girl?" She wore dark robes that were shadowed by the moonlight behind her and her face wasn't completely visible, but it was obvious that she had attractive features, with eyes that emitted a cold light as she stared back while holding a silver sword in her hand. The moon was behind her, acting like a halo over her head.

"I should be asking you that," Wu LiJing said. Her sword was steadily raised in front of her. "Who are you to dare and enter the Moon Sect, and even break into the sect leader's manor?"

She observed his features, illuminated by the moonlight. He had a mature and handsome face, containing a masculine jaw and a straight long nose, with full lips and a distinct small scar running through his left eyebrow. His dark hair was lazilly let down and flowed behind his neck, cutting off just below his shoulders as the wind blew. She didn't recognize him.

She frowned. How did he get through the barrier?

"Oh? Me? Do I need to answer to you?" he answered with a slightly unpleasant tone as his deeper than normal voice echoed in the dark like a calming echo of a drum. His eyes looked lazy and calm, but his figure was tense, ready to go into battle since she arrived.

"No," Wu LiJing said, raising her sword with intimidating pressure.

The two fought and Wu LiJing eventually felt the intense power of his sword push her back. But she refused to be at a disadvantage and evaded his swift attacks by a hair's breadth each time, taking him by surprise.

The spiritual energy he released had a violent force that she was not used to as her form started to break. His qing qong was also impressively delicate, meaning his movements were like running water, smooth and most likely to go wherever the water ran without misdirection.

She could tell - he was stronger than her. But that didn't mean she would just let him be.

She agilely spun her body and drew out her inner power as she swung to the left. He side-stepped and stabbed towards her, but she bent her body backwards in time and kicked his sword away, flipping in mid-air.

After having to dodge Wu LiJing's ruthless attacks and being hit once, the man regained his grip on his sword and released an attack that was two times stronger than before.

He decided - he shouldn't go easy on her.

Within the night, both of their sword chi created a whirlwind as they clashed against each other, with their bodies moving in swift motions.

Clink!

Clink!

Clack!

Crash!

Wang WeiYue awoke from the noise. An attack?! He quickly put on an outer robe and rushed outside, sword in hand. He rubbed his eyes. What? … WHAT?!

"Stop! STOP RIGHT NOW!"

But the two did not hear him and continued to fight.

"I SAID STOP, YOU IDIOTS! YOU'RE BREAKING MY PRECIOUS POTTERY AND ART! AH! MY TABLE!"

Finally, Wu LiJing felt a kick and flew backwards, with her feet sliding on the ground. She looked up and finally noticed her master on the side, yelling some gibberish.

She frowned. What? Her master wasn't attacking the intruder… Then she focused her gaze on the man's robes and blinked. Was she color-blind or were they also of a darker shade of purple?

"You stupid idiots! You're both my stupid disciples! Look at your robes! Ha!" Wang WeiYue threw his hands in the air. "How dare you both fight in my courtyard and break all my precious things? Even my tea table! If I don't punish you tonight, I'm not your master!" He pointed at them angrily.

"Hah?! Why should I be punished? It was her who attacked me first!" the man said with wide eyes, pointing at Wu LiJing. "If she paid better attention to my clothes, then we wouldn't be here!" He shrugged.

Wu LiJing stared at him and then turned to her master, "Master, Senior Brother looked suspicious when he sneaked into your manor… like he was up to something bad. I've never seen him before, so I attacked when he refused to tell me who he was. I'm sorry." She bowed towards her master.

"Hey! Are you trying to make me take the blame? Master, it's clearly this woman's fault! How did you find such a weak and careless disciple while I was gone? Look at how easily I beat her." His tone and gaze was arrogant, looking at her like she was beneath him, showing a small smirk in triumph.

"I guess I should just let anyone suspicious enter Master's manor in the future then…" She sighed and looked down on the ground.

"Hey!"

"Master… I can help clean up the courtyard. Please go back to sleep."

"At least you know your place." Her Senior Brother smiled haughtily as he got ready to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going, Lai RongYi?" Wang WeiYue asked with gritted teeth.

Lai RongYi froze and turned around, grinning and scratching his head. "Master, I'm tired since I just returned."

"And you think I'm not tired, being woken up in the middle of my sleep?" The calm tone without emotion was used and LiJing knew, her Senior brother f***ed up.

"Ahaha! Of course not master!"

"What were you doing in the middle of night, sneaking into my manor?" Her master's tone stayed the same without ripple, but it was obviously the calm before the storm.

Lai RongYi took a step back and replied calmly, "Accident! It was an accident! Master, I'll go now, please have a proper rest!"

"You think I don't know you wanted to sneak and steal my stash of brewed alcohol?!" In a speck of a moment, their master was holding Lai RongYi's ear and dragging him over.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Master! It hurts! I know I'm wrong!"

"You better not leave until my courtyard has not a speck of dust or else we'll see what happens tomorrow!"

Thus, Wu LiJing quietly returned to her room and took a nice bath before she slept.

Too bad, she wasn't able to sleep as well as she had hoped.

…

"You just saw me yesterday. What happened?" Jin RuiYing asked, sitting down on the seat across from Wu LiJing. He wore an expensive light-blue robe with golden designs and had half of his blond hair tied up into a bun, clipped in place by a jade hairpin.

He observed his friend's stern face and noticed the dark eyebags. "Did you get any sleep?" Perhaps he should have let her destroy the rest of those two bases? Maybe she was unable to sleep because she wanted to see more blood? He shivered and quickly shook his head. No. No. That probably wasn't it. He stared at her, who seemed to be lost in thought. She wouldn't take it out on him, would she? He looked away and cleared his throat.

"So… what's wrong?" She never called to meet unless it was important.

Wu LiJing tightly gripped her cup and it cracked, making Jin RuiYing jump a little, quickly opening his fan to fan himself. He glanced at the door and then the window of the private room they rented on the third floor of a library. Even if he was one whole tier weaker than Wu LiJing… he still has a chance of jumping off the window and escaping, right?

"Investigate whether they tried to sneak someone into the Moon Sect."

"Huh?" Jin RuiYing froze. "So… this is what you wanted to talk about?"

Wu LiJing turned to him and frowned. "Is there anything else?"

Jin RuiYing quickly shook his hand and let out a small laugh, sighing in relief inside. "No, no! Of course, I can!"

"QiaoHua… she's been poisoned," Wu LiJing's voice sounded slightly strained when she said so quietly.

Jin RuiYing blinked and then nodded. "So, you found out. I thought you already knew when we met yesterday…"

Wu LiJing looked at Jin RuiYing who smiled back. He had his ways of obtaining news of the happenings inside various sects, even the major ones. Since Wu LiJing was working with him, then he obviously was checking for information from the Moon Sect as well.

Wu LiJing took out something in her sleeve, a neatly folded handkerchief. Wu LiJing opened it and Jin RuiYing noticed a blood stain on it.

"This is QiaoHua's blood. I need to know what she was poisoned with. The doctors in our sect aren't knowledgeable enough to figure it out."

Jin RuiYing nodded and carefully took the handkerchief.

Wu LiJing lifted up two fingers. "There are two possibilities: one, someone from the sect aimed for QiaoHua on purpose and put the blame on me to escape; and two, someone sneaked into the sect to poison QiaoHua for some reason." She frowned. "If it is the second option, then the most likely suspects are them. But they couldn't have found out that we moved inside the Moon Sect…" She thoroughly erased their traces with her master's help back then. They should believe that both of them were dead.

With a smooth hand on his chin, Jin RuiYing contemplated, "We'll have to see… If it's not them, then it is most likely someone from the Moon Sect." He sighed. "Actually… there are many who are jealous of Wu QiaoHua. So it's possible one of the Moon Sect disciples did it. After all, you were gone for two years so it wouldn't be a surprise if others have come to believe that your relationship with your cousin have diminished."

The cup in Wu LiJing's hands cracked further. "I know," she said. "Just concentrate on keeping tabs on them."

"Are you planning to attack the rest of their two bases today?" Jin RuiYing sat up straight as he waited for an answer. He already has his people picked out since she was likely to move out again.

Wu LiJing looked down at her hand gripping the cup and let go. The tea inside was leaking out from the cracks like the emotions she was trying to keep in check.

Jin RuiYing gulped. Why was she always so serious?

Wu LiJing waved her hand and a box appeared on the table. "This is your payment. No need to call your people. I have other things to do." She stood up but Jin RuiYing quickly stood up with her.

"But if you don't attack today… they will probably move their bases elsewhere."

"I know," she said casually. "But does that mean you won't be able to find out after?" She raised an eyebrow.

Jin RuiYing blinked and smirked. He patted his chest with his fan as he raised his chin. "Of course not! Who do you think I am?"

"Then there should be no problem." Wu LiJing walked out of the door and the formation she put up vanished.

Jin RuiYing sighed and sat back down, staring at the cold tea in front of him. He grabbed the box on the table and opened the lid, blinking as he saw about five-hundred silver taels inside. "How does she always get this much money?" he muttered. Wu LiJing usually never paid for any of the services she used from his business, however when she asked him to do something else that may be extra work or was outside of her revenge business, then she paid upfront.

As Wu LiJing walked out of the library, she followed the large road where many others were walking while chatting or where carriages would go to and from different places. She walked until she reached a narrow alleyway and turned left into it. Not many people were there, only a few beggars and one or two others walking quietly by themselves. Turning a few more times, Wu LiJing kept to herself and finally stopped in front of what looked like an entrance to a large black and red building, looking very new and expensive. It looked very out of place from the rest of the older buildings.

She walked up the steps to the large door and knocked.

Creak!

The person who opened the door looked like a typical male servant and looked to be around his late teens while wearing a plain grey uniform. "How may I help you, miss?" he asked politely with a smile.

"I'm here to rent," she said.

"For how long?" he asked.

"One year."

The servant smiled wider and opened the door for her as he bowed politely towards a new customer. "Please, come in."

Wu LiJing nodded and stepped into this odd shop that usually had its door closed, looking uninviting. Most people would wonder if they even received any customers.

"Welcome!"

Wu LiJing looked towards the middle of the large hall, where a middle-aged man with a beard was sitting. He wore green robes and had a jade pin his hair into a bun. There was a big smile on his face as he stood up from his chair where he had been enjoying his tea quietly. Wu LiJing couldn't make out his cultivation level and knew he was probably someone important here from the way he held himself confidently.

She saluted and greeted him.

"No need to be so polite, I am simply our store clerk, Song Tao." He returned the salute. "What business does the miss have with the Silent Chrysanthemum Hall today?"

"I want to rent a person. Someone strong, at least of the Fourth Tier."

"For what? And how long?"

"To guard someone, my cousin. For one year."

"How much is the miss willing to pay?" the man asked after he thought for a moment.

"Two-hundred silvers as a deposit. After the service is over, another hundred silvers." She knew that should be plenty of money.

Song Tao nodded, knowing she was telling the truth. Part of it was the fact that she didn't even try to hide her identity, walking here with her sect uniform on. He could guess where she was from since most of the uniforms of the major sects were well-known. "There are two who are available with that price range." Since she was being so honest, he decided to give her two great options.

"I want a person who can hide themselves skillfully without being caught. Female if possible."

Song Tao smiled and turned to the servant from before. "Go and call Wan Ting."

After a moment, a woman dressed in black and gray robes appeared. She had a plain face, thick straight eyebrows, a pronounced cheek-bone, and thin slit eyes. Her body emitted a friendly feeling. She smiled when he saw Wu LiJing, causing her eyes to look even smaller, and bowed.

"Nice to meet you, Miss can call me Wan Ting."

Wu LiJing nodded and scanned Wan Ting's body. She couldn't read her level, meaning Wan Ting was probably already in the Immortal Realm like she requested. She also noticed the small daggers that were hidden in her clothes. "What weapon do you use?" Wu LiJing asked.

Wan Ting smiled and summoned her sword. "I am an expert at throwing daggers and rocks, and know a few deadly skills with my swordsmanship."

Wu LiJing nodded. She turned to Song Tao and took out the two-hundred silvers from her ring and it appeared in her hand.

Wan Ting's eyes brightened when she saw the flashing of the silvers once Song Tao opened the box to confirm. Ah! The rest of the other hundred silvers would be hers when she finishes this mission! She can't believe she hit jackpot!

Song Tao put the box on the table and said, "Wan Ting, properly serve Miss Wu for one year. You are now hers to use."

With a bow, "Yes, Master Song."

"Wan Ting."

"Yes, Miss Wu!"

They were already walking back towards the Moon Sect.

"Wan Ting, your main task is to protect my cousin, Wu QiaoHua, in the shadows. Your second task is to report to me any suspicious activity surrounding my cousin."

Wan Ting nodded, with a bright tone, "For one year, I shall do my best!"

When Wu LiJing returned to the sect, she took Wan Ting to see who she was to protect and then she went straight to their library on the second floor to visit the sections full of books about poisonous herbs.

The Moon Sect library was four stories tall, containing various information. Most of the literature on the first floor covered the history of different sects, of the cultivation world, and of different concepts or terms. The second floor had literature that mainly focused on beasts, special herbs, resources, or artifacts that exists. The third and fourth floor was only accessible to the masters and the sect master, so not many people know what is stored up there; probably similar topics that had important information, including: important manuals, artifacts, or secrets regarding the Moon Sect.

The disciples who saw her only dared to peek at her quietly before quickly dispersing, letting her have the second floor to herself.

Wu LiJing stood as she used one finger to pull out the first book. She couldn't just stay and wait. In case the testing for the poison came out unknown, she should read all she could about what could have possibly been used or how she can cure QiaoHua.

"What are you looking at so seriously?"

Wu LiJing heard a deep voice next to her and flipped to the next page with her gaze unperturbed. This was already her fifth book.

"It appears Master's new disciple is not only weak, but also deaf?"

The sound of a flipped page could be heard again following silence, and Lai RongYi grumbled, "Hey! You dare ignore your senior brother?"

Wu LiJing paused and her lashes fluttered upwards. She reluctantly closed the book and placed it on the shelf. She saluted to greet her senior brother. "Senior Brother, I apologize. I was too immersed and thought Senior Brother was talking to someone else."

"Who else is here besides you?!"

Wu LiJing looked around the empty corridor. "Perhaps… to yourself?"

Lai RongYi felt a vein bulging out of his forehead. He took a deep breath to calm himself and smirked. "You think I'll just let last night go? I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for what happened yesterday."

Wu LiJing blinked and seemed to ponder for a moment, as if what happened was not important so it did not stay in her mind. Then she said, "Oh, that? Did Master not like how you cleaned his courtyard?"

"You attacked your own senior brother when he had just returned. Yet, you haven't even apologized?"

Wu LiJing nodded. "I see."

Lai RongYi stared at her as she stared back.

"That's all?"

Wu LiJing nodded. "If this is all Senior Brother wanted to discuss, then please excuse me." She grabbed the book she put down earlier and flipped to the page she was reading. She was quite busy and didn't have time for other things.

Lai RongYi stared at her with a twitching eyebrow. "I was going to make it easy for you if you apologized. But I won't accept you as Master's disciple! And you're not my junior sister!" Then he turned around with a disdainful attitude and vanished.

Wu LiJing sighed in relief once he was gone. It was unexpected, really, that her senior brother was someone like that… so childish and self-absorbed. She has only heard many describe her senior brother as someone mysterious, strong, and handsome. She can see why now her master always praised her for her calm attitude and curse his first disciple for being unruly.

She doesn't know much about her senior brother besides the fact that he was born with a blue core and was accepted as her master's disciple about twenty years ago and has already reached the Fourth Tier - which explains his still youthful face, looking to be only a bit older than her. With her thoughts wandering off, she quickly brought her attention back onto the book in her hands.

What could have caused QiaoHua to lose her cultivation?