Chapter 9 - Whose Favoritism?
Today, Luo He blocked eleven people for her.
But she didn't care at all, because that was what Luo He was supposed to do.
Among those eleven people, apart from the last one, Ghost Sword Shen Huai, who was somewhat troublesome and would have made her expend a bit more spiritual energy to deal with, the rest were just there to be defeated.
It was like that for her, so she knew it was also like that for Luo He, because only in the path of sword cultivation was Luo He on par with her.
Yet he actually, under circumstances where there should have been no pressure at all, drew the Autumn Maiden Sword.
He clearly knew better than anyone what the price of drawing the Autumn Maiden Sword was...
Yet he still did it so lightly, completely treating it as nothing.
Luo Hongyu's hand gripping the Lu Lan Sword tightened a few degrees more.
Does he truly have no heart? Other people's sacrifices for him like that, he could actually treat them like dirt.
He drew the Autumn Maiden Sword; presumably the Autumn Maiden Sword's true master would be arriving soon. Once she arrives, it's estimated it would again be full of words of favoritism and excuses for him.
Therefore, Luo Hongyu had to, before she arrived, properly teach Luo He a lesson.
"Although I am unwilling to admit it, and I have previously thought of evading and distancing myself, as things stand now, I don't intend to get overly entangled... Towards you, I indeed have the responsibility to discipline."
Inside Luo Hongyu's small courtyard, a cyan-white sword momentum, like an invisible giant hand, pressed down on Luo He's body, forcing him to bend his waist and lower his head.
Luo He, whose spiritual energy had already dried up during the day and hadn't recovered, was powerless to resist, and also too lazy to resist.
Around his body, wildly dancing and rampaging sword qi continuously left wounds and bloodstains on him. In no time at all, that black robe was once again dyed with blood.
Just as she had said.
Regardless of her personal opinion, Luo He was born in the Tianchen Sword Sect, raised in the Tianchen Sword Sect; he was a person of the Tianchen Sword Sect.
But look at what he's like now.
Messing around with a demoness and getting covered in demonic qi; the Autumn Maiden Sword, which rules stipulated could not be used except in critical moments, was also casually brandished...
If he could always abide by the duties of a Tianchen disciple, even if he had such a background, although Luo Hongyu loathed him, she would never have truly pointed her sword at him like now.
She didn't know if she would have... the day she would have to clean up the sect.
Even though it was highly possible that he was her brother.
"Today on the platform, were you about to die, or was I about to die, that made you draw the Autumn Maiden Sword?"
Luo Hongyu slowly walked forward, approached Luo He, and pressed the Lu Lan Sword against his chin.
Her tone was steady, revealing an unhidden distance and indifference.
"......"
"Even if you can't speak, can't you nod, shake your head, or even make a couple of 'mm-mm, ah-ah' sounds?"
Luo Hongyu's voice turned sharp; the Lu Lan Sword advanced slightly further, and fresh blood trickled onto the spine of the Lu Lan Sword.
But at this moment, she couldn't even see Luo He's usually unmoved eyes.
"...I too was foolish, to actually expect you to respond to me, when you've clearly always been like that."
Seemingly smiling with considerable self-mockery, Luo Hongyu looked at the already healed wound on Luo He's right shoulder, and her eyes flickered.
Puchi.
A sword formed of spiritual energy pierced through that spot again, pinning Luo He to the ground like a wooden stake.
His face was pressed against the cold floor, but his eyes showed not the slightest change, as if his soul did not currently exist within this shell.
"This sword strike is to repay that one strike with the Autumn Maiden Sword."
"In the future, you yourself..."
"Young Master!"
Suddenly, an anxious and shocked female voice rang out.
The newcomer was a female cultivator dressed in cyan clothes, with a graceful figure, wearing a cloud hairpin.
She came riding her sword from outside the courtyard and happened to see the scene of Luo He being stabbed and pinned to the ground.
Her gentle and pleasant pupils contracted sharply. Like a flash, she arrived between the two and, with a wave of her hand, dispersed Luo Hongyu's spiritual energy sword.
Luo Hongyu's expression did not change; she merely put away the Lu Lan Sword.
"Long time no see, Senior Sister Gu."
This woman wore her hair in a gentle and mature ponytail bun. She had a naturally dignified and delicate face.
But at this moment, she had none of that dignified temperament to speak of. She hurriedly bent down, carefully helped Luo He up from the ground, not at all minding that her cyan clothes, which she usually kept impeccably clean, were being stained with blood.
Luo He turned his head to look at her. She was taken aback for a moment and averted her gaze from Luo He's; hidden sorrow and several traces of ash-like guilt flowed in her eyes.
Is that so, Senior Sister Gu has also come.
Luo He was not surprised by her arrival.
She was Gu Jing. She was the previous master of the Autumn Maiden Sword, or rather, the true master of the Autumn Maiden Sword.
She had already joined the Tianchen Sword Sect when Luo Wenshui was not yet the Sect Master. By now, she was already several hundred years old, yet her beauty remained as fresh as ever.
She became famous in her youth, wielding the Autumn Maiden. As one of the Tianchen Seven Swords that had guarded for several hundred years, Gu Jing knew hearts and knew swords; the title "Autumn Maiden Conceals Splendor" was still talked about with great relish in the cultivation world to this day.
But it's estimated few people would see that when her hand was on Luo He's shoulder at this moment, she would reveal such a cautious, wanting to touch him yet afraid to touch him, awkward appearance.
Luo Wenshui's first wife died young; this Gu Jing, several decades ago, had taken on the responsibility of teaching the young Luo Hongyu and Luo He on Luo Wenshui's behalf.
Although she called her Senior Sister, for Luo Hongyu, Gu Jing, who taught her swordsmanship and would hit her palms with a bamboo ruler, was perhaps no different from a mother.
Luo He looked at her, not much different from how he looked at Luo Hongyu.
Gu Jing pulled Luo He into her embrace and immediately channeled spiritual energy into his body to stop his bleeding.
When her spiritual energy sensed the condition within Luo He's dantian, her expression couldn't help but become stunned for a moment. Then she immediately lowered her head, suppressing the emotions in her eyes.
"Young Master... Why are you treating Luo He like this?"
Gu Jing turned her head. In her eyes as she looked at Luo Hongyu, there was a complexity like a tangled mess.
"He, without permission, acted on his own accord and drew the Autumn Maiden Sword."
"Without permission... Whose permission does he need?"
"Senior Sister Gu, when you gave him the sword back then, it was agreed: unless it was a matter of life and death, the Autumn Maiden Sword must not be drawn."
"......"
Hearing this, a bitter smile flashed across Gu Jing's lips.
"Then how does Young Master know... that it wasn't a life-and-death moment for him then?"
"Senior Sister Gu... Blindly favoring him, what use is there in that?"
Seeing Gu Jing's appearance of intending to speak up for him to the very end, Luo Hongyu gripped the Lu Lan Sword in her hand a few degrees tighter.
From before, from childhood, it has always been like this.
Although Gu Jing had never openly shown it, she could feel it.
As long as Gu Jing was present, she wouldn't let Luo He receive any ill-treatment. Similarly, when sword practice wasn't done well, only she got her palms hit.
Similarly, when the sword manuals weren't memorized, only she was punished by copying them.
If she delayed her cultivation due to playfulness, Senior Sister Gu would grab her and put her in solitary confinement.
But Luo He, even if he didn't show his face at Gu Jing's place for several days in a row, when he reappeared, Gu Jing would never ask more than a couple of questions.
When those two (females) stood together, Gu Jing's gaze would always lean more towards Luo He.
She wasn't jealous of Luo He, nor did she crave Gu Jing's attention that much.
She just never understood, on what grounds, just because he had congenital defects, should he deserve special treatment?
Luo Hongyu felt this was not right.
If it were only this, then it could be overlooked.
But the way he was now, did it show even half a hint of consideration and gratitude towards Senior Sister Gu?
Senior Sister Gu took care of him like that, even letting him use the Autumn Maiden Sword…
Truly, it wasn't worth it.
She frowned, her tone unconsciously becoming a bit heavier.
"When it involves the Tianchen Seven Swords, how can it be a small matter? Senior Sister Gu, you yourself also know clearly, to forcibly give the Autumn Maiden Sword, which has already acknowledged a master, to someone else to use, every time it is drawn, what is consumed is your Natal Sword Essence."
"If he is allowed to abuse it wantonly, our Tianchen Sword Sect will lose a mature master of the Seven Swords; from whom then should we demand one back!"
"...He won't abuse it, Young Master. I will vouch for him. You need not worry."
It was like this again. Never opening her mouth to explain, with just one light and airy assurance, she would absolve Luo He.
Looking at Gu Jing gently supporting Luo He, Luo Hongyu gripped the scabbard of her Lu Lan Sword, not knowing what else could be said.
"My coming to the Star Moon Pavilion this time, besides feeling the Autumn Water Sword being moved, is also the Sect Master's intention. I will stay here with Young Master for a period, until the Immortal Ascension Assembly ends."
"It's getting late. Young Master, please rest early."
After speaking, Gu Jing silently supported Luo He and helped him walk out of Luo Hongyu's courtyard.
"Does it hurt?"
She asked Luo He softly.
"…Sorry, I asked a foolish question."
Luo Hongyu watched their departing figures disappear at the doorway. The night wind blew for a while, and she too walked back into her own room.
Under the hazy night sky, this long-famous Autumn Maiden Sword master followed by his side, step by step. Her movements were gentle, as if treating him like a porcelain doll.
Yet she was deliberately unwilling to look at him, especially his eyes.
She was evading, she was struggling. She didn't want to make herself suffer, so she would rather choose the self-deceiving method of "if I don't see it, it doesn't exist" to make herself feel a bit better.
Luo He understood her quite well.
He actually didn't quite like this self-pitying appearance of hers, but things had already reached this point, and Luo He wouldn't get hung up on these things anymore.
Whatever.
Luo Hongyu said that Gu Jing blindly favoring him was useless.
But what Luo Hongyu didn't know was that this Senior Sister Gu, who had watched Luo Hongyu and Luo He grow up and knew all the truth behind everything.
Actually, the one who had always been favored was her.
Because Luo Hongyu was the Young Master, and Luo He was just Luo He.
The Luo He who was destined to be sacrificed.
Gu Jing shamelessly understood this point.