Seeing Mo Tiange staring at her with such intensity, Nie Wushang was baffled. She looked down at herself. "What's wrong?"
Mo Tiange smiled, getting straight to the point. "Did you run away?"
Nie Wushang's expression instantly darkened, her fists clenching.
Mo Tiange glanced at her hands. "Don't forget, you're within my formation."
Nie Wushang was taken aback, then relaxed. After a moment, she spoke. "That's right. I betrayed my master, stole his treasured magical treasure, and fled the Tianji Region..." At this point, she stared at Mo Tiange. "Are you happy now?"
Confirming her suspicion, a weight lifted from Mo Tiange's heart. The enmity between her and Nie Wushang stemmed entirely from Venerable Songfeng. If Nie Wushang had left him, they were no longer enemies.
She smiled slightly, looking at Nie Wushang. "Yes, I am happy. Aren't you?"
Such frankness made Nie Wushang pause. She looked at Mo Tiange, her feelings complex.
She remembered their first meeting. Mo Tiange had only been at mid-stage Foundation Establishment then, the esteemed disciple of Dao Lord Jinghe, calmly hosting female guests at Dao Lord Xuanyin's Nascent Soul formation ceremony.
Back then, knowing her master intended to cause trouble for Dao Lord Jinghe at the Xuanqing Gate, she had paid extra attention to this "esteemed disciple of Dao Lord Jinghe." She had felt that Mo Tiange, clearly a favored child of heaven, was putting on an act of being unmoved by honor or disgrace, which was irritating. She admitted she had been jealous then, and that jealousy had bred dislike.
Their next encounter was decades later, not long after she herself had formed her Core, when she followed her master to Tianmo Mountain.
By then, Perfected One Qingwei had gained some renown. While traveling in Kunwu, she occasionally heard people mention how Dao Lord Jinghe of the Xuanqing Gate had taken on another genius disciple who formed her Core before a hundred years of age, and so on.
The initial jealousy had faded over the long decades, but upon meeting again, she still couldn't control her aversion. Why, as women, was Mo Tiange so fortunate? To have a master who cherished his disciples like his own life, and a senior brother who treasured her so.
While she herself had nothing.
Seeing Mo Tiange's perfection made her resent her own flaws all the more.
But when her master sought to destroy that perfection, to make their master-disciple trio taste something as disgusting as swallowing a fly, she couldn't bear it. So she tampered with the execution of the order, even rushing back to stop it while her master was away at the Jade Spirit Palace.
Why she did it, even she couldn't fully understand. Perhaps it was because Mo Tiange's perfection gave her something to aspire to, making her reluctant to destroy it? Or perhaps, as a woman, such a thing was simply too cruel, cruel beyond even her own acceptance?
Pursuing the reason was unnecessary. By the time she realized it, she had already acted.
Then, seizing the opportunity while her master was at the Jade Spirit Palace, she fled Tianmo Mountain almost as if escaping for her life.
She was terrified, terrified of what punishment her master would inflict if he discovered what she had done. Would he be so enraged he'd kill her with a single palm strike? Or imprison her in the Origin Demon Pool to suffer torment worse than death?
Yet despite being almost paralyzed with fear, she never regretted it.
Who could have known that an upheaval would subsequently occur at Tianmo Mountain, allowing her to escape retribution instead. Though her master escaped in disarray, he was severely injured and completely unaware of her actions.
For the next dozen or so years, her master remained in seclusion healing his wounds, with no time to bother with her.
She breathed a temporary sigh of relief, but the matter always weighed on her mind. Her master would find out eventually. When he did, being killed by a single palm strike would be a lucky outcome. She didn't want to die; she wanted to live, and live better. So, her desire to flee grew stronger with each passing day.
Her master was severely injured and had no time to watch over her. Was there a better opportunity than this? She planned for a long time, finally hardened her heart, and decided to go all the way. While her master was healing, she stole his magical treasure and fled the Tianji Region.
From that moment on, she no longer had a late-stage Nascent Soul master, no more backing. But she had gained freedom, the freedom she had dreamed of.
Crossing the South Sea to flee the Tianji Region was a risky move. She understood better than anyone her master's vindictive nature. Having betrayed him, there was no turning back. If caught, she would suffer a fate where death was preferable to life. Given that, she might as well gamble. Even dying in the South Sea was better than such a future.
Fortunately, after neglecting her for over a hundred years, heaven finally granted her hope this time, allowing her to cross the South Sea and safely reach Beiji Island in Yunzhong.
But she never imagined she would encounter Perfected One Qingwei here again.
Before leaving the Tianji Region, she had learned that Mo Tiange's senior brother had successfully formed his Nascent Soul and the two had become cultivation partners. Logically, shouldn't they be inseparable, deeply attached at this time? Why were they separated by vast distances, with Mo Tiange coming alone to Yunzhong, thousands of miles away? She felt perplexed, suddenly realizing she didn't understand this "favored child of heaven" she thought she knew.
"What's wrong?" Mo Tiange raised an eyebrow, asking after Nie Wushang remained silent for a long while.
Nie Wushang withdrew her gaze, saying calmly, "Nothing. I just suddenly realized I don't seem to understand you."
Mo Tiange frowned slightly, not quite grasping the meaning of her words.
The next moment, Nie Wushang smiled. "Forget it, let's not dwell on that. Let's continue discussing our relationship."
Mo Tiange, however, waved her hand. "Since you've left your master, then we are at least not enemies, even if we're not friends. Of course, that's provided you harbor no hostility."
"..." Nie Wushang looked at her, her gaze growing complex again. "You..."
"Oh, and you saved me," Mo Tiange said with a smile. "Regardless, you were the one who ultimately stopped that incident back then. I didn't have the chance to thank you before, so thank you now."
Hearing this, Nie Wushang's eyes flickered. One could say her sitting here today was directly caused by that very event. If she hadn't saved Mo Tiange, she wouldn't have feared her master's punishment and chosen to flee, nor would she have risked crossing the South Sea to come to Beiji Island.
"Why thank me? If I hadn't brought my master there, you wouldn't have..."
Mo Tiange simply smiled. "You returned with your master not long after you left. I imagine he was nearby? With his divine sense as the Tianji Region's foremost late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he probably detected us long before. Of course, I'm not completely indifferent to it. It's just that the enmity between you and me was entirely because of your master. Since you've left him now, there's no need to bring it up again."
"..." Nie Wushang's expression was complex. After staring at Mo Tiange for a long time, she finally said, "That day... it wasn't me who led my master there. We were discovered by him as soon as we emerged from the mist..."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange wasn't surprised, merely nodding gently. "So that's how it was." Judging by Nie Wushang's attitude this time, she had already guessed Nie Wushang herself bore her no ill will. That was for the best; she didn't want to be enemies with Nie Wushang.
The two fell silent for a while. Mo Tiange asked, "Is there anything else you want to say?"
Nie Wushang first shook her head, then hesitated and nodded. "About the Tianyan Sect matter, you don't need to worry about being implicated. I doubt they can find me, even if it's a Nascent Soul cultivator."
"You're that confident?" Mo Tiange was somewhat surprised. Actually, she wasn't afraid of implication. Her unique formation was no common item; even a Nascent Soul cultivator's divine sense would be blocked.
Nie Wushang curled her lips into a proud smile. "My method of concealing my form has never failed before. Otherwise, how would I dare to steal from the Tianyan Sect?"
That was true. Without Venerable Songfeng, she was merely an early-stage Core Formation cultivator now. How could she contend with the Tianyan Sect, which had two Nascent Soul cultivators? Since she dared, she must have something to rely on.
Mo Tiange thought for a moment and asked, "Why did you steal from the Tianyan Sect?" Seeing Nie Wushang's hesitant expression, she added, "I'm just asking. If you don't want to answer, you don't have to."
"It's nothing unspeakable." Nie Wushang revealed a bitter smile, looking down at her gloved hands. Softly, she said, "You should know what kind of cultivator my master is, right?"
Mo Tiange didn't answer, unsure what she meant.
Nie Wushang sighed and continued. "The rumors in the Tianji Region are correct. He is indeed neither human nor ghost, neither orthodox nor demonic, hardly a true human at all. Although I don't cultivate his primary technique, what good could he possibly teach me? As a martial cultivator, I've reached this stage in just over a hundred years with almost no bottlenecks precisely because he used his own Origin Demonic Qi to open all my meridians..." Seeing Mo Tiange's shocked expression, her smile grew even more bitter. "That's right. From another perspective, I'm not purely human either. At regular intervals, the Origin Demonic Qi within me flares up. During those times, it's a living hell..."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange drew a sharp breath. She truly hadn't expected Venerable Songfeng to treat his disciple like this.
"You stole from the Tianyan Sect because of this?"
"Yes." Nie Wushang still stared at her hands, her expression dazed. "Since I left my master, I want to live like a human. After arriving at Beiji Island, over the past year, I've inquired everywhere about methods to dispel the Origin Demonic Qi. Finally, I heard the Tianyan Sect possesses a treasure..."
At this point, she looked up at Mo Tiange, a mocking smile on her lips. "They say cultivators in Yunzhong are more formidable than those in the Tianji Region. In my opinion, they just have peculiar combat methods. Formidable? Not really."
Mo Tiange remained silent. Nie Wushang was a martial cultivator; her combat style differed greatly from that of orthodox cultivators. The two main characteristics of Yunzhong cultivators' combat—speed and spiritual energy control—were ineffective against her. No wonder she said that.
"So what's next?" Mo Tiange asked. "How long do you plan to hide here?"
Nie Wushang said indifferently, "Not too long. Those fools won't find me. In three days, I'll disguise myself as a cultivator heading out to sea and leave Beiji Island then." She looked at Mo Tiange, her eyes glinting. "Of course, if you're still afraid I'll implicate you, I can leave."
Mo Tiange looked at her, then raised an eyebrow with a smile. "What, trying to provoke me into helping you?"
Nie Wushang was taken aback, then smiled wryly. "Alright. We may not be enemies now, but we're not friends either. I want to stay here. If you drive me away, I have no choice. But if you don't, I'm not leaving."