As he spoke, the scoundrel twisted his palm and interlocked his fingers with mine, tightening his grip. With a tug, he pulled me forward, causing me to stumble and nearly fall into his arms.
Pushing against his chest to steady myself, I looked up at him. His gaze met mine, his face so close that I could feel his breath brushing against my eyelashes.
His slightly raspy voice sounded above my head. “Do you dislike being apart from your master so much?”
The tone was both teasing and dangerous.
His words sent heat rushing to my face, leaving me red with embarrassment. But beneath the shyness, anger bubbled up, sharp and relentless, until my teeth trembled with rage. “Xiao Yi Han! You’re getting more shameless by the day!”
Xiao Yi Han feigned a startled gasp. “Well, well! My disciple knows how to curse now!”
“And I know how to kill, too!” I snapped, raising my sword with my free hand and swinging it at his neck.
To my dismay, Xiao Yi Han didn’t even flinch. Instead, he tugged the hand still bound to his, spinning me in a quick circle. Before I could react, my back was pressed firmly against his chest, and he easily restrained my other arm.
He held me tightly, his grip firm but not painful, and made no further moves. It was as if… all he intended to do was hold me.
“Xiao Yi Han,” I demanded coldly, giving up my futile struggle. “What are you trying to do?”
“Little disciple,” he replied, his tone light and teasing. “Your master has been away from the mountain for so many years. Isn’t it reasonable for me to show a little affection upon our reunion?”
Reasonable? Absolutely not!
Setting aside the awkwardness of our master-disciple relationship, no master embraced their disciple in such an improper manner!
And if he truly missed me, why hadn’t he visited all these years? If he really cared, how could he have left so easily back then—ignoring my tearful pleas, never even looking back?
The memory of that day stirred a storm of anger and bitterness within me. My whole body trembled with suppressed fury.
Xiao Yi Han, sensing my rage, laughed softly near my ear. “Alright, alright. I won’t tease you anymore. If I push you too far, you might really try to kill me.”
I froze at his words, and true to his promise, he released me. However, his left hand remained stuck to mine.
Seeing the murderous glare in my eyes, Xiao Yi Han chuckled. “Now, now. The seal’s breach is trapped between our palms. If you kill me, you’ll only doom yourself. The seal will collapse, and the demonic energy will flood the world. The sect won’t have time to contain it, and the Demon Clan will return to wreak havoc. Do you really want that?”
I silently repeated the mantra ‘the world must come first’ a thousand times, forcing myself to quell the urge to kill him. Gritting my teeth, I asked, “What is going on here? Did you tear this breach open? What are you trying to do?”
“I did plan to open a path to the Demon Realm,” Xiao Yi Han admitted. “But not here. Eight hundred miles west lies Jade Spring Mountain. Its waters are pure and pristine, capable of suppressing all foul energy. I intended to open the breach at the bottom of the spring. But the seal between the realms is unpredictable. It ruptured here instead.” He looked at me with a faint smile. “Lucky for me, my little disciple showed up just in time. Otherwise, I’d be in real trouble now.”
His tone was so casual, but the implications of his words were terrifying.
If I hadn’t arrived, if I hadn’t helped suppress the seal, Xiao Yi Han might have been consumed by the breach, leaving it wide open. The Demon Clan would have returned to the world unchecked!
I glared at him, my voice sharp. “You’d better have a reason—one good enough to justify risking the lives of countless people. Otherwise, I’ll drag you back to Xian Ling Mountain, even if it costs me my life.”
Betraying the sect and consorting with demons was one thing. But Xiao Yi Han was now on the brink of doing something no sect—or even most monsters—could tolerate. The return of the Demon Clan would bring nothing but destruction and suffering. No one wanted to relive the horrors of a century ago.
Xiao Yi Han didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he looked at me, a faint smile on his lips. But there was something strange about his expression—a tinge of sadness, almost pity.
“Don’t play coy!” I snapped. “Stop pretending to be profound and just explain yourself!”
He sighed, shaking his head. “Ah, I pity you, my foolish disciple. What do you hope to achieve by dragging me back to Xian Ling Mountain? The seal’s breach is in our hands. Do you want it to open on the mountain instead? Most of the old masters have left, haven’t they? How many still know how to seal demons? This thing has bonded us together. You can’t handle it, and no one else can either. What choice do you have but to listen to me?”
His words, infuriating as they were, rang true.
“Poor little disciple,” Xiao Yi Han teased. “You’ve lived so many years, yet you still haven’t learned to be cunning.”
“…”
“Come with me. We’ll go to Jade Spring Mountain first. Once the breach is placed at the spring’s bottom, we can figure out what to do next.”
Though reluctant, I glanced at our tightly joined hands. For now, there seemed to be no other option.
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Let’s go.”
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