Double Defiance - Chapter 3

And just like that, I acquired a perverted junior sister.

Since our first meeting had been less than pleasant, I found it difficult to like Shi Mengyu at first.

But she was simply too good at ingratiating herself.

Unlike that sour-faced Shen Lingshuang, who was so strong that he considered everything else weak, Shi Mengyu loved praising me—and every compliment struck the mighty Celestial Demon right where it pleased me most.

Once she learned that I had a sweet tooth, she even began cooking for me every few days, making all sorts of beautiful sugar cakes to feed me.

If I absolutely had to name a flaw, it would be that she was far too clingy. Whenever she got the chance, she tried to press herself against me.

I hadn’t spent much time with people my own age, so I didn’t know whether everyone else’s junior sisters were always trying to crawl into their senior sisters’ beds too.

Still, that wasn’t a serious problem.

“You can sleep in my room,” I whispered, laying down a condition, “but you have to give me something in return.”

Shi Mengyu lowered her voice to match mine. “What would Senior Sister like? Sugar cakes?”

I wagged a finger mysteriously. “I want you to answer a few questions.”

“You came from below the mountain, so you must know the outside world well, right? And when you arrived, did you see how Shen Lingshuang opened the barrier?”

Yes, I still hadn’t abandoned my plan to run away from home.

After my brief sulk, I had quickly realized that Shi Mengyu’s arrival might be my perfect chance to escape.

Shen Lingshuang seemed to care about her. Once his attention was divided, wouldn’t I be able to slip away?

“Does Senior Sister want to leave Sword Peak that badly?”

Shi Mengyu brushed a finger over the corner of her mouth, her lips curving in an inscrutable smile. “Then you’ve come to the right person. Of course I’m willing to help you, as long as you kiss—”

Before she could finish, the markings around her wrist abruptly deepened in color, as though in warning, until they looked ready to bite into her flesh.

Before I could see what the markings were, an extremely familiar slender sword plunged down from the sky. It pierced Shi Mengyu’s collar and “yanked” her away from me.

It was Shen Lingshuang’s sword.

The next instant, Shen Lingshuang himself appeared silently behind me.

Frowning, he picked me up. “Xie Yingyu, I told you to stay away from him.”

I smacked his hand repeatedly. “Let go, let go! What’s wrong with us girls sharing a few secrets? Don’t you think you’re meddling too much?”

“No.” Shen Lingshuang was as terse as ever. “Mengyu is not like you.”

I considered those words carefully.

Oh. Shi Mengyu was an ordinary person, while I was a naturally vicious demon. Of course we weren’t the same.

Shen Lingshuang must have been so intent on keeping us apart because he feared I would hurt Shi Mengyu.

The realization ignited a nameless anger in my chest.

And over the days that followed, that fire only burned hotter.

Shen Lingshuang really did seem hopelessly besotted with his new disciple.

Every day, he guarded against me as though I were a ravenous wolf. He wouldn’t even let Shi Mengyu and me spend time alone.

Then, after I secretly approached Shi Mengyu yet again and tried to coax a route down the mountain out of her, the ever-vigilant Shen Lingshuang caught me in the act.

He actually beat me black and blue right in front of Shi Mengyu.

Did I have no dignity?!

I trembled with righteous outrage. “Just you remember this: that which does not kill me will ultimately—”

Shen Lingshuang brought his ruler down again. “That which does not kill you will keep beating you.”

…Despicable!

I was angry. This time, I was truly angry.

Did he understand whose dignity he had trampled?

The dignity of a Celestial Demon!

With rage burning away what little reason I possessed to begin with, only one thought remained in my mind.

Shen Lingshuang was far too disobedient. He wasn’t remotely qualified to be a master.

But waiting for him to change of his own accord was obviously hopeless.

And so, that very night, I dug the Dreambell from the bottom of the chest where I had hidden it.

…

Shen Lingshuang’s cultivation had long since reached the pinnacle, and he was accustomed to meditating in place of sleep.

Thus, the instant I cracked open his door, he looked toward the sound.

He seemed surprised to see me. “Yingyu? You came to see me of your own accord. Are you no longer angry?”

Ha. Of course I had come because I was angry.

“How could I possibly be angry with Master?” I hid my hands behind my back, arranged my face into an obedient, innocent expression, and hurried over to him.

A trace of helplessness flickered almost imperceptibly across Shen Lingshuang’s features. “What a childish temper. You…”

I didn’t know whether he intended to lecture me again or say something else.

It no longer mattered.

The moment I stopped in front of him, I whipped the Dreambell from my sleeve with the fastest hands I had ever managed in my life.

Shen Lingshuang’s expression changed as soon as he recognized it.

But before he could act, I lunged forward, already prepared. I raised one leg to pin down his resistance and rang the bell.

Its strange chime lingered through the room. Shen Lingshuang struggled for a moment.

But soon, his gaze turned hazy and unfocused.

It worked.