A human life is a human life—its worth should never be measured by its length.
Bai Roushuang felt a tremor in her heart upon hearing these words.
Xu Shulou entered the cave and destroyed the formation used to refine the Soul-Summoning Banner, which still trapped several living souls yet to be fully forged. From a distance, Bai Roushuang watched as her senior sister murmured something under her breath. The trapped souls seemed to exchange a few words with her before bowing deeply, their forms growing transparent until they dissipated entirely.
Then Bai Roushuang could only stare as Xu Shulou recited an incantation to seal away the Soul-Summoning Banner—a weapon of unspeakable evil—knocked the woman unconscious with a swift strike, slung her over one shoulder, and hoisted the corpse of the old man with her other hand. Still, she found a way to gesture casually at Bai Roushuang with her free hand. "We’ll need to return to the sect first. If you still want to explore, I’ll take you out another time."
Bai Roushuang, thoroughly shaken, could hardly think of sightseeing now. She shook her head frantically.
"Did it scare you?" Xu Shulou took a moment to check on her junior sister’s state of mind.
"No, it’s just…" Bai Roushuang forced herself to sound composed. "This is my first time hearing of something like the Soul-Summoning Banner. I never knew mortal souls could be used to forge such a powerful artifact."
"Don’t be fooled by its might," Xu Shulou shook her head. "Those two resorted to such vile methods—they’ll never survive their Heavenly Tribulation. The stronger their cultivation becomes through the banner, the sooner they’ll meet their end."
Bai Roushuang gasped. "Is that really how it works?"
"Cultivation isn’t just about mastering techniques—it’s also about refining one’s heart," Xu Shulou sighed softly, gazing at her. "There are no true shortcuts on this path."
Bai Roushuang stiffened. She had indeed been currying favor with Lu Beichen, secretly hoping that if she failed to reach Foundation Establishment, she could rely on him for elixirs to forcibly advance her cultivation. She couldn’t tell whether Xu Shulou’s words were merely a casual remark or a pointed warning disguised as wisdom.
Dustless Island lay far out at sea, untouched by mortal affairs—a perfect retreat for reclusive cultivators.
And so, Xu Shulou returned to the sect with two bloodied figures and her junior sister in tow, heading straight for the Discipline Hall. As she stepped inside, the unconscious woman’s head thudded against the doorframe. Li Qi, on duty at the time, looked up and nearly choked at the sight of her makeshift entourage.
"Senior Sister Xu, I thought… you were taking your junior sister out for leisure," Li Qi remarked, equal parts horrified and impressed. He knew Xu Shulou had a penchant for violence, but he never imagined that in her mind, sightseeing and bloodshed were interchangeable activities.
"It was incidental. Where should I put this?" Xu Shulou gestured with the blood-stained figure in her grip.
Li Qi hastily called for other disciples to help carry the prisoners. Xu Shulou followed them inside—she needed to report the matter of the Soul-Summoning Banner to the sect for further investigation.
Li Qi glanced sympathetically at Bai Roushuang, about to sigh and say, *Junior Sister, you’ve suffered.*
But before he could, Bai Roushuang spoke first. "You were right, Senior Brother. Senior Sister Xu is… very approachable."
Li Qi stared at the still-wet bloodstains on the floor and forced a dry chuckle. "Is that so?"
How had she reached that conclusion? Was it—*Look! Senior Sister Xu is so down-to-earth, even her violence is hands-on!*
Bai Roushuang seemed lost in thought and didn’t respond.
After settling matters at the Discipline Hall, Xu Shulou brought her junior sister back to Bright Moon Peak.
Bright Moon Peak on Dustless Island rose so high it seemed one could pluck the moon and stars from its summit.
Elder Changyu, the peak’s master, claimed to value solitude. There were no servants or outer disciples on Bright Moon Peak—only the perpetually secluded elder and his handful of disciples.
Now, hearing of Xu Shulou’s return, her fellow disciples gathered around.
They were the same faces that haunted her dreams—Second Brother Song Ping, Fourth Brother Shan Yu, Fifth Brother Jiang Yan, and Sixth Brother Ji Ci.
All except Third Brother, who was traveling abroad, were present.
They took in Xu Shulou’s bloodied state and gasped. "Senior Sister, what happened?"
"It’s not my blood."
The moment they confirmed the blood wasn’t hers, they immediately brightened and crowded around, greeting their long-absent senior sister with delight. Not a single one bothered to ask whose blood it *was*, leaving Bai Roushuang’s lips twitching in disbelief.
Watching Xu Shulou chat cheerfully with her martial brothers, discussing topics Bai Roushuang couldn’t quite follow, she would normally have tried to steer the conversation toward herself. But her mind was in turmoil.
She glanced at Xu Shulou. She had feared that the senior sister had only agreed to take her to the mortal realm because she’d noticed her closeness with Lu Beichen—he hadn’t exactly been subtle.
She’d assumed Xu Shulou meant to intimidate her into backing off. But now she realized how petty that suspicion had been.
Xu Shulou had gone to the mortal realm to save lives.
Honestly, during the fight with the Soul-Summoning Banner’s creators, Xu Shulou could have easily let her be struck by stray spiritual energy—just enough to teach her a lesson—and no one would have blamed her.
Not even Lu Beichen could protest. Spells were unpredictable, and Bai Roushuang had chosen to tag along.
But from the very first clash, Xu Shulou had shielded her without hesitation, even taking the old man’s full-force strike in her stead.
Bai Roushuang lowered her gaze. This was what it meant to be someone with a clear conscience—someone who acted with unwavering integrity.
"Junior Sister, what’s on your mind?" Ji Ci, the sixth disciple of Bright Moon Peak, nudged her out of her thoughts. "We’ve been too unreliable in the past, but now that Senior Sister is back, her guidance will surely take your swordsmanship to new heights."
Xu Shulou smiled and shook her head. "No need for false modesty. Junior Sister’s foundation is solid—you’ve all taught her well."
Flattered, Ji Ci grinned sheepishly and scratched his head, a far cry from the cold disdain he’d shown in Xu Shulou’s dreams.
Jiang Yan, the fifth disciple, playfully kicked Ji Ci. "Speak for yourself, don’t lump us in with you! By the way, Senior Sister, how long will you stay this time?"
In her dreams, Jiang Yan had once confronted her: *I know you were the one who found the Silkgrass, but Junior Sister needs rare treasures to strengthen her cultivation more than you do. Why couldn’t you yield to her?*
Even the usually reserved Shan Yu nodded eagerly. "Yes, Senior Sister, we’ve missed you."
In her dreams, Shan Yu had pointed his sword at her and declared, *Xu Shulou, from this day forth, I no longer acknowledge you as my senior sister!*
The echoes of those harsh accusations still lingered, but Xu Shulou remained unshaken. She smiled faintly. "I’ll stay a few days, then return to the mortal realm. I promised to take Junior Sister sightseeing."
Jiang Yan immediately pouted. "Why does Junior Sister get all the attention? That’s favoritism!"
Xu Shulou flicked his forehead. "When you were the youngest and couldn’t even fly on your sword yet, who do you think carried you everywhere?"
Jiang Yan rubbed his head nostalgically. "I miss being Bright Moon Peak’s youngest disciple."
Ji Ci rolled his eyes. "Face reality—that was centuries ago. *I* am the junior brother Senior Sister has doted on the longest."
"Like hell you are!"
And just like that, the two were at each other’s throats again.
Bai Roushuang’s heart was a tangle of mixed emotions—her senior martial brothers were so warm and familiar with their elder sister.
Since joining the sect, these senior brothers had always treated her kindly, but seeing how effortlessly they bonded with Xu Shulou, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of something unnameable.
They treated each other with such sincerity, joking freely without anyone having to force camaraderie or flattery…
Bai Roushuang sighed softly.
Because of Lu Beichen, she had harbored some wariness and even faint hostility toward Xu Shulou. Seeing her senior brothers so close with their elder sister, she should have felt a bitter sting of envy.
But as she watched Xu Shulou, recalling how the elder sister had once carried her through the night wind, she suddenly found herself unsure whom she envied more.
The only reliable one among them, the second disciple Song Ping, laughed and cut in, “Alright, enough fooling around. Let elder sister go change her robes. By the way, since you’re back this time, you’ll be here for Elder Changyu’s emergence from seclusion. He must have missed you dearly.”
Song Ping of Bright Moon Peak had earned some renown in the cultivation world, known as the “Setting Sun Sword,” a figure of fairness and kindness.
In Xu Shulou’s dream, however, this same Song Ping had once admonished her with grave sincerity: *“Little junior sister cried until her eyes were swollen. As her elder sister, so much older than her, why bother holding a grudge?”*
Xu Shulou thought that this version of Bright Moon Peak, as described in the storybooks, must be a rather wisdom-deficient one.
Glancing at the fifth and sixth disciples currently squabbling like children, she concluded that the real versions weren’t much brighter either.
She chuckled and replied to Song Ping, “I’ve missed him too.”
Song Ping then turned to Bai Roushuang. “Junior sister, you should join us in welcoming Elder Changyu when he emerges.”
Naturally, Bai Roushuang nodded in agreement.
That evening, preoccupied with the matter, she grew nervous. She had only just entered the sect when her master went into seclusion.
Her impression of Elder Changyu remained frozen in that night when he had taken her from the brothel—like a deity descending from the heavens, draped in pristine white robes, his very presence ethereal. He had praised her spiritual roots and asked if she wished to cultivate immortality with him.
Unlike Lu Beichen, who had once stirred ambitions of climbing the social ladder within her, Elder Changyu was like the clouds above the heavens or snow atop a distant peak—untouchable, revered, admired, yet impossible to approach with familiarity.
Turning the matter over in her mind, she sought out Xu Shulou for advice. As the longest-standing disciple, surely the elder sister understood their master best.
Xu Shulou had changed into a white brocade robe embroidered with golden threads, cradling her gold-edged folding fan as she basked in the moonlight in the courtyard.
Nearby, a few junior brothers were laughing and digging up a jar of peach blossom wine she had brewed many years ago beneath a blossoming peach tree.
Bai Roushuang paused at the sight of their merry gathering.
But Xu Shulou spotted her and beckoned her over, accepting the freshly unearthed wine jar from the sixth disciple and pouring Bai Roushuang a cup. “I was just about to send for you. I brewed this myself—care to try?”
Jiang Yan immediately feigned a sigh. "See how biased she is? Now that she has a little junior sister, she’s forgotten all about us."
“Ignore him,” Xu Shulou said with a smile to Bai Roushuang. “For every disciple who joins Bright Moon Peak, I open a jar of wine. Consider this your belated welcome.”
Bai Roushuang lifted the cup and drank. The cool liquor carried a faint spiritual energy that soothed the restless heat in her chest.
Her eyes brightened. “It’s delicious.”
The group shared the jar until little remained, at which point the fifth and sixth disciples began eyeing the dregs greedily. Xu Shulou rapped each on the forehead with her fan. “The rest is for little junior sister. No fighting.”
Amid the theatrical wails of "Bias!", Bai Roushuang couldn’t help but laugh softly. Ordinarily, she would have maintained her gentle, considerate facade and generously offered the remaining wine to her senior brothers. But the peach blossom wine was truly exquisite, and…
Cradling her cheeks, she thought—*perhaps being the elder sister’s favored little junior sister isn’t so bad after all.*
After the wine, Xu Shulou asked why Bai Roushuang had sought her out.
True to her reputation as the most reliable senior disciple, Xu Shulou listened to her junior sister’s worries and, after a moment’s thought, offered sound advice: “If you want Elder Changyu to like you, don’t fight him for the roast chicken during meals.”
“What?” Bai Roushuang wondered if she had misheard. How could such an exalted, untouchable figure possibly be associated with something as mundane as roast chicken?
“You like roast chicken too?” Xu Shulou misinterpreted her bewildered expression as reluctance. “If you do, just fight him for it. No need to indulge him.”
“……”
