Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Moonlight, like a silver veil, streamed through the carved window lattice and across the bed, making Little Yueqiu's silver hair sparkle where it lay spread out.

Little Yueqiu was curled into a small ball, her slender shoulders trembling ceaselessly. Crystalline teardrops rolled from the reddened corners of her eyes, sliding down her porcelain-white cheeks. Her pale, bitten lips quivered slightly, letting out a few whimpers like a small animal.

"You awful Master, you rotten Master! ...Do you really have to love that disgusting, twisted Qing Yueqiu so much?!"

"Why can't you... just give up on that woman! You have me now, that should be enough!"

She suddenly lifted her tear-streaked face, her amber pupils swirling with indignation and resentment.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!"

She suddenly grabbed an embroidered pillow and beat it furiously. Strands of her hair stuck messily to her damp cheeks.

As she continued to strike it, her movements gradually slowed, eventually turning into feeble scratches. Her fingertips left several faint marks on the brocade.

As she buried her burning cheeks in the pillow, her whole body suddenly shuddered.

Her half-closed eyes shot wide open. A demonic red glint flashed in the depths of her pupils, like a blood moon suddenly appearing in the dark night—

It was an ominous sign that Qing Yueqiu's memories were awakening further.

It seemed that intense emotional fluctuations were the best catalyst. Little Yueqiu's tangled feelings of love and hate for Pei Yuhang were furiously stimulating that slumbering soul.

"Ngh..."

In agony, Little Yueqiu curled her fingers, her nails digging deep into her palms.

But in an instant, that horrifying red glint faded as if washed away, and her eyes reverted to their tear-drenched scarlet hue.

Little Yueqiu blinked rapidly, tiny teardrops still clinging to her long lashes. She had just forcibly suppressed that strange fluctuation, pushing it back into the darkest corner of her heart.

"You awful Master, you rotten Pei Yuhang... Did you see that? If I don't move to crush that woman's awakening, she'll turn around and devour me, overwrite me completely!

And you still think she's some kind of wonderful woman..."

Little Yueqiu muttered curses, her tear-filled scarlet eyes brimming with a child's sense of grievance.

If this were the old Little Yueqiu, she might have chosen to leave the moment she realized Pei Yuhang wanted her to awaken another woman's personality.

She would have left Pei Yuhang forever, never letting him find her again.

'Are you kidding me? Making me awaken to another woman's identity? I don't care if it's awakening past-life memories, solving the mystery of my birth, or something else—there's no way I can accept it!'

'Becoming a vessel for another soul? The very thought makes me want to retch.'

But now, she was like a butterfly caught in a spider's web. The more she struggled, the tighter the threads of "attachment" wound around her.

To her despair, Little Yueqiu found that she was beginning to crave the warmth of Pei Yuhang's fingertips, had grown accustomed to the cool scent of pine on his robes, and even... even secretly looked forward to every glance he cast her way.

Whether it was the influence of Qing Yueqiu's memory fragments, or if she had simply grown completely dependent on him during their time together, Little Yueqiu felt she could no longer leave him... like a fish out of water.

And the more time she spent with Pei Yuhang, the more Little Yueqiu could feel the stirring of the real "Qing Yueqiu" within her body.

There was no doubt about it. Even if she gave up the sword, even if she abandoned the Sword Dao completely, as long as she stayed by Pei Yuhang's side—near the people and things familiar to Qing Yueqiu—Qing Yueqiu's awakening was inevitable, influencing her own perception and judgment.

But even so, she was willing to endure it all, just to be by Pei Yuhang's side.

"I'm really... a lost cause." She fell back onto the bed in self-abandon, letting her silver hair cascade around her like a waterfall.

Outside the door.

Pei Yuhang stood silently under the corridor eaves, dressed in white. The watery moonlight outlined his cold, solitary figure.

The girl's suppressed sobs from inside the room reached his ears, each one pricking his heart like a fine needle.

He raised his hand, then let it fall, not pushing open the wooden door to face Little Yueqiu.

"I'm sorry..."

Pei Yuhang murmured, and just as he was about to turn back, he froze mid-step—

SCRAPE.

A faint scraping sound came from outside the window lattice. Pei Yuhang's gaze sharpened, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He reached back to grasp his sword hilt, the pad of his thumb brushing over the cool wrappings. His entire body went taut like a drawn bowstring.

'Something is outside the window!'

CREAK—

The window opened gently, and a snow-white pigeon fluttered onto the sill.

Only then did Pei Yuhang let out a breath of relief.

He saw a small, rolled-up slip of paper tied to the pigeon's leg. Pei Yuhang unrolled the note and its contents came into view.

[Young Master Pei, please meet me at the bridge outside of town. Rest assured, I have come alone. —Su Ziheng.]

'He's come here... Is this Ji Shenyun's doing, or someone else's?'

After releasing the pigeon, Pei Yuhang's eyes flickered for a moment before he finally threw on an outer cloak and walked out the door.

He wasn't worried about it being a ploy to lure him away. The Array he had branded onto the house had not yet dissipated, making it impossible for anyone to abduct Little Yueqiu.

...

...

「At the small bridge before the town.」

This time, Su Ziheng wasn't pretending to be a master by fishing here. Instead, he stood respectfully in place, waiting for the Swordsman in white to arrive.

But no matter how eagerly he craned his neck, he couldn't see that white-robed Swordsman—the one who still haunted his nightmares—at the end of the street.

Suddenly—

"What business do you have with me?"

The cold voice exploded behind his neck like a phantom's whisper. Su Ziheng trembled violently and nearly missed a step on the bridge as he whipped around.

Under the moonlight, Pei Yuhang stood just three paces away, having appeared from who knows where. His robes were perfectly still, as if he had coalesced from the night itself.

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