Gazing at the silver-haired figure standing quietly outside his door, Chen Yang's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.
Bathed in moonlight, Shen Hongmei carried an air of cool, otherworldly grace — yet deep within her calm gaze, there seemed to lurk a faint, barely perceptible meaning.
He quickly stepped aside and said in a slightly flustered, hushed voice:
"Senior… what brings you here? Please, come in."
Shen Hongmei gave a slight nod and stepped into the second floor of the loft with unhurried ease.
Her gaze swept casually around the room.
The furnishings were extremely sparse — a bed, a meditation cushion, a small table by the window, and nothing else.
Only then did Chen Yang suddenly realize something!
His loft didn't even have a table and chairs for receiving guests!
On ordinary days, Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua would come up and chat while sitting on the edge of the bed, and he himself had grown accustomed to sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushion.
But now Elder Shen Hongmei had come in person — surely he couldn't ask a Senior to sit on the floor alongside him.
Should he go back downstairs to fetch something?
This was truly a terrible oversight and breach of courtesy!
Chen Yang's face flushed with embarrassment as he said awkwardly:
"Please forgive me, Senior — up here… I haven't prepared any table or chairs. It's really…"
Before he could finish, he saw that Shen Hongmei had already walked straight to the edge of the bed and sat down quite naturally on its side. She pressed the mattress lightly with her hand, then looked up at him, her tone perfectly even:
"It's fine, this will do. Your bed… is quite firm. Do you find it uncomfortable to sleep on?"
Chen Yang blinked, and replied instinctively:
"It's… it's alright. I've gotten used to a hard bed — no discomfort at all."
Inwardly, though, he couldn't help but mutter to himself: why did both the Senior and Xiaochunhua comment on how hard this bed was?
Xiaochunhua was a girl who preferred a soft chaise longue — that was understandable.
But a figure of the Senior's stature… did she also find it uncomfortable?
Or perhaps…
Sleeping too long on a hard bed was detrimental to cultivation, easily causing poor circulation of qi and blood?
He quietly filed this away in his mind, resolving that someday soon he would not only add a table and chairs, but also replace this bed with something more comfortable — better for cultivation.
Unaware of his thoughts, Shen Hongmei continued:
"I heard that two days ago, during the demon beast rampage in the back mountains, you fought through injuries to rescue your fellow disciples. I came to see how you are."
Chen Yang was taken aback again. He hadn't expected that even someone of Shen Hongmei's standing would have heard about the incident. He could only respond humbly:
"You flatter me, Senior. We are all fellow disciples — lending a hand is simply what one ought to do."
Shen Hongmei nodded, her gaze settling on Chen Yang's still-pallid face:
"I have already learned the details from several inner disciples. The thirty-meter crocodile you encountered was no ordinary third-rank demon beast — it was already brushing against the threshold of the fourth rank. Strictly speaking, it was never something your current cultivation could have handled. In a sense… this matter is also somewhat connected to me."
"Connected to you, Senior?" Chen Yang was puzzled.
"Yes."
Shen Hongmei's tone remained flat, yet it carried a faint, barely concealed note of self-reproach:
"The Formation at the entrance to the back mountains was being guarded by two of my Personal Disciples. Unfortunately, the two of them focused only on warding off demon beasts on the surface and neglected what lay underground. That thirty-meter crocodile was cunning — it bored through the earth veins, bypassed the Formation, and slipped out, which is what caused the disaster. You were injured because of this, and as their teacher, I bear responsibility for failing to oversee them properly."
She paused, then looked at Chen Yang, her eyes seeming to soften slightly:
"The demon beast rampage has subsided these past two days, and things have settled somewhat — yet I could not put my mind at ease, so I came to see you."
Hearing this, a wave of warmth surged through Chen Yang's heart.
He had experienced the full spectrum of human warmth and coldness within the Verdant Wood Sect.
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The humiliation of being a laborer. The scheming and jostling among fellow disciples.
Never had he imagined that a Foundation Establishment Elder would come personally in the dead of night — because of a minor oversight by her disciples — to check on a newly promoted inner disciple like him.
This feeling of being noticed, of being cared for, was something precious beyond measure to him.
Especially because, in that moment of life and death against the thirty-meter crocodile, the image that had instinctively surfaced in his mind was none other than this silver-haired Senior before him.
Though the two of them had only met for the first time before, Shen Hongmei had given Chen Yang an inexplicable feeling.
It was different from his relationship with Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua.
It was a deeper, more familiar sense of warmth…
Chen Yang had lost his parents at a young age. That kind of warmth had only ever been given to him by Zhao Yanran.
But later, after Zhao Yanran went up the mountain to cultivate, when they met again three years later, even that one remaining warmth had vanished.
It was only upon meeting the Silver-Haired Senior that this feeling had returned.
"I see… thank you for thinking of me, Senior." Chen Yang's voice was a little low.
Shen Hongmei said no more. She turned her hand over and produced a Small White Jade Vial, holding it out to him:
"Inside are ten Minor Vitality Cultivation Pills. They are remarkably effective at nourishing the meridians. I will first help regulate your injuries, and then you are to take one pill each day — you should make a full recovery in no time."
Chen Yang stared at the familiar jade vial and murmured almost involuntarily, "Why… Minor Vitality Cultivation Pills again…"
Though his voice was soft, how could it escape Shen Hongmei's ears?
The hand she had been extending paused ever so slightly, and her delicate brows furrowed:
"Again? What do you mean?"
Even as she spoke, her fingers shot out like lightning and pressed against Chen Yang's wrist. A gentle yet irresistible surge of spiritual energy instantly probed into his body.
After a brief examination, Shen Hongmei froze.
She could clearly sense that within Chen Yang's fractured meridians, a stream of pure and gentle medicinal energy was slowly flowing, repairing — and its properties were unmistakably those of a Minor Vitality Cultivation Pill!
Moreover, judging by how far the medicinal energy had already dispersed, it must have been taken some time ago!
She withdrew her hand, her gaze scrutinizing Chen Yang as her tone grew slightly stern:
"There is already Minor Vitality Cultivation Pill energy circulating within your body. What — has some woman already given you Pills?"
Chen Yang's heart tightened, and he hastily explained:
"It… it was earlier today. Senior Sister Zhuxiu from Crimson Glow Peak and Senior Brother Zhou Shan came to visit. Senior Sister Zhuxiu was grateful for what I did yesterday and gave me three pills."
He instinctively left out the matter of Lin Yang giving him medicine.
Shen Hongmei's expression eased slightly at this, and she nodded:
"Zhuxiu… that makes sense. This Pill is not easy to refine, and ordinary inner disciples can rarely obtain it. She is a clan relative of Elder Zhu Dayou of Crimson Glow Peak — it's perfectly normal for her to have some in stock."
Chen Yang took the opportunity to ask:
"Senior, are Minor Vitality Cultivation Pills… very precious?"
"Not priceless, but they are quite laborious to refine, with a low success rate, so they circulate very rarely." Shen Hongmei explained.
Chen Yang understood at once. So that was it.
He thought further: for Lin Yang to have produced Pills so readily, he must have some connections. Could it be that he had ties to Crimson Glow Peak as well?
Now knowing the Pill was precious, he tried to decline:
"Senior, since I already have the pills given by Senior Sister Zhuxiu, this vial of yours…"
"Once I give something away, why would I ever take it back?"
Shen Hongmei cut him off, her gaze fixed directly on Chen Yang's eyes with an air that brooked no argument:
"Have I not already said this to you before? I am your benefactor… and a sect elder besides. These few Pills — just accept them without worry."
Meeting her earnest and penetrating gaze, Chen Yang felt a tremor in his heart. The words of refusal died on his lips. He could only receive the jade vial with both hands and say solemnly:
"Then… thank you, Senior."
However.
He had only just taken the jade vial and hadn't yet put it away.
Shen Hongmei's tone shifted abruptly, and a barely concealed thin edge of anger crept into her voice:
"If you acknowledge me as your benefactor, then let me ask you this! I clearly told you back then — if you ever needed anything, you could come find me at Spirit Sword Peak! Why is it that all this time has passed and you have not come even once?!"
Caught off guard by this sudden interrogation, Chen Yang looked up to meet Shen Hongmei's eyes, which held a barely restrained anger, and his heart lurched with alarm.
He had a vague feeling that this Senior was genuinely angry.
He hurriedly explained:
"Please calm your anger, Senior! I… after I was promoted to inner disciple, I was constantly busy consolidating my cultivation, comprehending the new cultivation technique I had obtained, and tangled up in various matters — I… I simply let it slip from my mind. And besides… Spirit Sword Peak… I… I couldn't find the way there."
"Couldn't find the way?"
Shen Hongmei's brow furrowed even deeper:
"The sect has Four Peaks and Two Valleys. Spirit Sword Peak stands right beside the main peak, next to the market — it's such a massive mountain. How could you not know of it?"
"The market?"
Chen Yang looked completely blank:
"I… I've never been to the market."
Shen Hongmei paused, seeming somewhat surprised, then continued:
"Even if you haven't been to the market, there is a mid-sized spirit stone vein at the foot of Spirit Sword Peak, and steward disciples patrol it constantly — surely you must have seen it?"
Chen Yang shook his head honestly again:
"A spirit stone vein? I… don't know where that is."
Shen Hongmei drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her irritation:
"Then surely you've been to Crimson Glow Peak? Spirit Sword Peak is right behind Crimson Glow Peak!"
This time Chen Yang nodded:
"Crimson Glow Peak… yes, I've been there. When I was a laborer, I went to the pill hall at the foot of the mountain a few times to deliver medicinal herbs. But… I only made exchanges at the medicine hall outside the mountain gate and never entered Crimson Glow Peak itself, let alone knew there was a Spirit Sword Peak behind it."
Hearing this, Shen Hongmei finally could no longer hold herself back.
She abruptly stood up and took a few steps toward Chen Yang.
The two of them were extremely close now — Chen Yang could even feel the faint cool aura drifting from her, their faces nearly touching.
She stared into Chen Yang's eyes and asked, word by word:
"Very well. Even if you knew none of that. Butterfly Valley — surely you're familiar with that?! Spirit Sword Peak lies to the south of Butterfly Valley! All you had to do was ride qi to fly, cross over Butterfly Valley, and Spirit Sword Peak would be right there before your eyes! How could you possibly not know even that?!"
Intimidated by her presence, Chen Yang nonetheless looked back at her with an expression of complete sincerity and helplessness, and answered honestly:
"Senior… I… I don't know how to ride qi to fly yet."
"……"
All of Shen Hongmei's prepared accusations and anger came to an abrupt halt the instant she heard that answer.
She stared blankly at Chen Yang's clear eyes — eyes that held a trace of innocence and earnestness.
For a moment, she had no idea how to respond.
Inside the loft, a strange silence fell.
Only the faint sound of the wind outside the window remained, along with the soft sound of two people breathing, close enough to feel.