Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 291: Demoness

Hearing the voice from the east wing room, Ding Songyan could only feel glad that the Jade Bloom Body-Nourishing Pill and that Jade Maiden mask were already in his senior sister’s hands.

Neither was one of a kind, and the Jade Maiden mask in particular was the one he’d bought after coming to the Flame Capital, but what mattered wasn’t the things themselves. It was the intent attached to them.

The door of the east wing room slowly opened, and Ji Hanyi’s figure entered Ding Songyan’s eyes.

Today she wore a pale white jacket with yellow flecks and a crossed collar, paired with a thick apricot skirt with white flowers, and her hair was in the double spiral buns that only young girls liked. Lovely and refined, with brows and eyes like a painting, she was both bewitchingly charming and fresh and clean, like a transparent ice crystal dancing on a field of pure white snow.

"You really dared to show up," said Ding Songyan with a smile, holding a black piece.

"Why wouldn’t I dare?" Ji Hanyi smiled lightly. "I watched her leave, and only after seeing her come back once did I decide to come take a look. With her temperament, she wouldn’t come back a second time. Even if she were setting a trap, she wouldn’t be so roundabout about it."

The stunning young woman, who looked barely past twenty, sat down leisurely across from Ding Songyan, picked up a white piece, and casually placed it on the board.

"What if I specifically asked Twelfth Madam Luo to come back twice?" Ding Songyan asked with a smile.

Ji Hanyi burst out laughing.

"So what?

"I can’t beat her, and she can’t keep me here, and neither of us wants to cause an uproar in the whole city."

Before Ding Songyan could say more, Ji Hanyi looked at him and said with a lazy smile, "Second Brother, you’re pretty bold yourself, taking your Senior Sister Zheng sightseeing around the Flame Capital. Aren’t you really afraid I’ll sever your worldly ties?"

"It’s not about being bold, it’s about brains." Ding Songyan pointed at his head. "Since He Jin and Hou Yang became your ’subordinates,’ you’ve clearly been watching the streets around the Prince’s estate in secret. There was no way you wouldn’t notice my senior sister’s arrival. If you really wanted to do something to her, you would have done it whether or not I took her sightseeing. And if you didn’t plan to act, then as long as I didn’t get too intimate with her, you still wouldn’t.

"Whether I took her sightseeing or not, or for half a day, or even two days or seven, it makes no difference.

"On the other side, Tan Guanchan doesn’t know my secret, so while sightseeing, my only worry was that some hidden danger in the Flame Capital would go off early and catch me and my senior sister in the blast."

In that long stretch of words, Ding Songyan had quietly slipped in one lie: "Tan Guanchan doesn’t know my secret."

Deceiving her directly would be easily seen through by the leader of the Sage-Severing Way, so he used the method of mentioning it in passing while talking about something else.

Still, it wasn’t exactly a lie. That morning, Ding Songyan had truly believed it, until he and Zheng Zhuxi remembered Feng Zhengning at the same time.

Ding Songyan looked into Ji Hanyi’s clear, lively eyes, with their sharp contrast of black and white, and added with a hint of self-mockery, "Besides, my judgment all along has been that you wouldn’t really hurt me or the people around me, at least not for now. Maybe you truly have some sibling affection and, as long as I don’t cross boundaries, you’ll keep indulging me. Or maybe you’re saving me to use at some critical point later.

"I’ve been avoiding you mainly because I didn’t want to get caught and forced to use your true qi to refine the last external aperture.

"So when you suddenly attacked my senior sister this time, I was honestly very surprised. It completely overturned my judgment, but the final outcome seems to confirm it after all. It was more like a show of force, or a warning."

As he spoke, he placed a black piece next to the white one Ji Hanyi had just put down.

Ji Hanyi picked up a new white piece and said to Ding Songyan with a smile, "Second Brother, your judgment would be fine for anyone else. But every so often, I pick something at random and do it in a way that completely goes against my own wishes, forcing what I don’t want to do into action.

"As the leader of the Sage-Severing Way, my thinking must never be guessed or pinned down by fellow disciples.

"That’s the third thing Master taught me."

"Good thing Master Yan died early, or who knows how many more people he would have corrupted." Ding Songyan couldn’t tell whether what his little sister had just said was true or a lie, but it made him tense up all the same.

Ji Hanyi smiled brightly at that.

For a moment, winter seemed to have color.

She spoke again with a hint of laughter in her voice, "Second Brother, after today, hasn’t your bond with your Senior Sister Zheng grown a lot deeper?

"Aren’t you going to thank me, your little sister?"

Thank you? Ding Songyan, who had stayed fairly composed until then, froze.

"Thank me for creating a chance for you to be the hero who saves the beauty," Ji Hanyi explained with a bright smile.

"..." Ding Songyan felt his brain was struggling to keep up.

What on earth is going on?

Ji Hanyi set the white piece in her hand on the board and puffed her cheeks slightly.

"I don’t fancy having a sister-in-law pop out of nowhere, but I really can’t bear to leave you alone, Second Brother, to live your whole life and die a virgin when your lifespan runs out. It’s a pity we’re brother and sister and can’t do anything improper, or it would be enough for just the two of us to depend on each other.

"Your Senior Sister Zheng is pretty, cheerful, warm, and bright, and she’s a decent match for you. I can grudgingly accept her as my sister-in-law."

Ding Songyan opened his mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say.

Did Twelfth Madam beat my dear little sister’s brain loose?

Seeing Ding Songyan silent, Ji Hanyi looked troubled.

"One sister-in-law isn’t enough?

"I think Su Qingli looks pretty good too. If you really like her, I can help think of a way."

Wait, Little Sister, you make it sound like the Sage-Severing Way’s brother and sister have teamed up to deceive a righteous heroine’s heart, one playing the bad cop to push her into a corner, the other playing the good cop to rescue her from danger... Ding Songyan couldn’t help asking, "Aren’t you supposed to be severing my worldly ties?"

Ji Hanyi looked at Ding Songyan for two breaths before the corners of her mouth gradually curled upward.

"I became a Heaven-Man through Chaos methods. What does the Sutra of Celestial Heart Wisdom’s severing of worldly ties have to do with me?"

Her smile was sly, like a fox that had stolen a hen.

The corners of Ding Songyan’s mouth twitched, and he fell silent for a moment.

Damn it, she got me going in circles!

As expected of the leader of the Sage-Severing Way...

Or maybe worry really does cloud judgment...

From this angle, severing worldly ties does have some logic to it. Without people you care about, you have no weak points...

Ji Hanyi put away her smile and said,

"Whether it’s Zheng Zhuxi, Su Qingli, or even Jiang Lanting, I can accept any of them as my sister-in-law.

"But..."

The girl put on a stern face.

"Feng Yining won’t do."

Wow... Ding Songyan was taken aback.

"Feng Yining? What does Feng Yining have to do with me? I don’t even know her!"

Ji Hanyi burst out laughing in spite of herself.

"Second Brother, you really know how to play dumb. Fine, let me put it another way.

"But Twelfth Madam Luo won’t do."

Ding Songyan said in amusement, "Twelfth Madam Luo? I only feel respect and affection for Twelfth Madam Luo. She’s half a friend, half a mentor to me."

Ji Hanyi tilted her head slightly and asked, puzzled, "Is that more exciting?"

Ding Songyan was only glad he wasn’t drinking tea, or he really would have sprayed his little sister’s face.

He put down the black piece in his hand and scolded in a low voice, "Your mind is full of filth!"

Ji Hanyi didn’t mind, grinning.

"I just love badmouthing her.

"After the attack, I saw you and your Senior Sister Zheng holding hands and gazing at each other, so Twelfth Madam Luo definitely has no chance."

You were really there... Ding Songyan couldn’t help grumbling inwardly, Hou Yang, He Jin, you died so unjustly! More unjustly than dying from Ji Hanyi and Ding Songyan "flirting"!

Ding Songyan couldn’t tell which of what his sister had just said was true and which was false, which was meant to tease him and which was to lay a trap for later. He could only be sure of two things.

One, Ji Hanyi, who had become a Heaven-Man through Chaos methods, truly no longer needed to sever worldly ties.

Two, being scared off by Twelfth Madam Luo had brought some changes to the leader of the Sage-Severing Way.

Ji Hanyi seemed to be playing Go with her second brother, and she followed up by placing a piece.

"Twelfth Madam Luo’s parents had several quarrels over taking concubines, and she’s extremely proud. It could only be one partner for life, so you can forget about it."

"I never thought about it," Ding Songyan tried to defend himself.

Ji Hanyi gave him a look that was half a smile, half not, and dropped the subject.

Ding Songyan placed a black piece and, after some deliberation, said, "Little Sister, give me a strand of true qi."

"Hm?" Ji Hanyi, who had been looking at the board, raised her eyes to the other side and made a nasal sound.

Ding Songyan said calmly, "Your Chaos true qi. Help me in refining the last external aperture."

Ji Hanyi asked with a light smile, "Second Brother, why the sudden change of heart?"

Ding Songyan sighed with a smile.

"Whatever your real thoughts are, today you didn’t harm my senior sister, and you didn’t take the opportunity to move against me. I’ll always owe you for that.

"And among the things that don’t go against righteousness and can help you, this seems to be about the only one."

Ji Hanyi’s smile didn’t change.

"Anything else?"

Ding Songyan smiled wryly.

"If I’m targeted by the Demon Sovereign or Jiang Weichen in the future, I hope you, Sister Qingyan, will lend me a hand."

Ji Hanyi’s eyes glimmered, and she laughed softly.

"I want to hear what’s really on your mind."

Ding Songyan was silent for a moment. The expression drained from his face, and in a steady voice without the slightest hesitation, he said, "Before becoming a player, what matters most for a piece?"

"What is it?" Ji Hanyi asked, cooperating nicely.

Ding Songyan straightened slightly and raised his chin a little, saying gently and calmly, without a trace of emotion, "Its usefulness."

The higher a piece’s usefulness, the more it was valued before it was actually put to use, and the more people hesitated to take extreme action against it.

Before being placed on the board, being useless was a good thing. No one gave you a second glance, and all you had to do was stay far away. But once you were already on the board, being useless only got you captured.

Ji Hanyi studied Ding Songyan for a few breaths and smiled a little.

"Second Brother, back in Dingjiang Prefecture, I already thought you were someone capable of great things.

"It seems you’ve guessed something?"

"It can’t be anything other than something to do with the Celestial Thearch’s palace and the heaven-earth severance," Ding Songyan answered breezily, trying to fish for information from his little sister.

Ji Hanyi looked at the board with a smile and said, "Second Brother, the truth is, I can’t play Go."

With that, she reached out a hand as pale as milk and scrambled the black and white pieces all at once, leaving no trace of the earlier game.

Then she lifted her head and looked at Ding Songyan with a smile.

"If I can’t play, then nobody plays."