Chapter 38: Yan Chixia

“Young master, what are you doing? What wrong have I done?”

The woman in the white dress, realizing what was happening, immediately put on a fragile demeanor and collapsed to the ground, clutching her left cheek and turning her head to look at Xu Wang with a wronged expression.

By the candlelight, tears seemed to shimmer in her eyes.

Ning Caichen stood by dumbfounded, unable to understand why Xu Wang had suddenly struck someone—especially a woman.

Quickly, Ning Caichen stepped forward and grabbed Xu Wang’s arm. “Wang-ge, calm down. What are you doing?”

Xu Wang shook his aching palm and said matter-of-factly, “I’m catching a thief.”

“A thief?”

Upon hearing this, Ning Caichen instinctively let go of Xu Wang’s arm. But looking between Xu Wang and the woman in white on the ground, he felt something was amiss. “But this lady doesn’t look like a thief.”

“Doesn’t she?”

Xu Wang pointed at the woman on the ground, then at the desolate wilderness outside. “It’s late at night, and out here in the wilds, suddenly a frail woman appears. Don’t you find that suspicious?”

Ning Caichen considered this and gradually agreed. Indeed, it did seem suspicious.

Xu Wang then patted the guqin in front of the woman and gestured toward the candles on the desk, his face full of anger. “This is my home! These are my belongings!”

“She suddenly broke into my house and started touching my things. If not a thief, then what?”

“That’s right!”

Ning Caichen thought Xu Wang’s reasoning was quite sound and logical.

He looked at the woman in white with a hint of pity.

Alas… a beauty, yet forced into thievery!

“No! That’s not true!”

One accusation after another was hurled at her, leaving the woman in white utterly stunned.

Despite having been a ghost for so long, working at Lanruo Temple, Nie Xiaoqian had never encountered such a person.

“You say this is your home? But this is Lanruo Temple, an ancient monastery with no owner.”

Nie Xiaoqian hurriedly explained.

“That was before I came. Now that I’ve returned, I am the master of Lanruo Temple. I didn’t care before, but now, everything in this temple belongs to me. Taking anything without asking is theft.”

Xu Wang stood with hands on hips, speaking with righteous authority.

“Yes, miss, you might not know, but this Lanruo Temple is the ancestral home of Wang-ge. You’d better apologize quickly.”

Ning Caichen chimed in to support Xu Wang, hoping to mediate the situation. After all, ignorance is no crime.

Maybe after an apology, Wang-ge would let it go.

“Let go!”

Nie Xiaoqian wanted to curse Xu Wang for his absurd claims, but seeing Ning Caichen nearby, she swallowed the insult.

What others didn’t know, she certainly did: Lanruo Temple had no true master.

If there ever was one, it had long ago been drained dry by her grandmother centuries ago!

This oddly dressed short-haired man was nothing but a shameless fraud.

“Hmph! I’m not a thief! Believe what you want. I live in the Water Residence behind Lanruo Temple. I’m just here to enjoy the moon and play the guqin.”

Nie Xiaoqian stood up, somewhat angered, clutching her guqin and preparing to leave.

“Wait, that guqin is mine. Put it down.”

Xu Wang hurried forward, snatching the guqin from her hands, glaring fiercely. “You’re really bold, daring to snatch things in front of your master!”

Nie Xiaoqian’s eyes widened in disbelief at his blatant distortion of facts. Her chest heaved with anger.

Xu Wang glanced down with pity in his eyes.

How pitiful.

Noticing his gaze, Nie Xiaoqian felt a deep humiliation and grew even more furious.

“Hmph! If that’s the case, I won’t disturb you two any longer.”

With a flick of her long sleeves, Nie Xiaoqian turned and left.

“Hey, wait! Miss, it’s dangerous for you to go alone. Let me escort you!”

Ning Caichen grabbed his lantern and quickly followed her.

Watching the pair depart, Xu Wang turned back to the guqin on the desk and smiled with satisfaction.

Not bad.

This guqin seemed quite valuable—should fetch a good price at the pawnshop.

With the money, he could hire a martial arts master to teach him some basic fighting skills.

Xu Wang was confident in his logic.

Lanruo Temple was ownerless.

Since it had no owner, what he took was rightfully his.

Lanruo Temple was his, and naturally, everything inside it was his as well.

Perfectly airtight!

No loopholes whatsoever!

He happily stored the guqin in his pocket’s subspace.

Outside Lanruo Temple.

Ning Caichen finally escorted Nie Xiaoqian to the Water Residence by the temple’s rear lake.

Compared to the dilapidated Lanruo Temple, this place looked much more resplendent.

A two-story wooden house emitted a faint glow from its windows.

Ning Caichen bowed respectfully to her at the door. “Miss, please don’t blame Wang-ge. He may be strange, but he’s not a bad person. Lanruo Temple really is his family’s ancestral home. He has told me stories about his ancestors.”

“If there’s a chance later, and if you don’t mind, I can tell you some of those stories too.”

Nie Xiaoqian maintained her professional composure.

She smiled sweetly and softly said, “I trust the words of a young master.”

“It’s getting late. Please, young master, you should return first.”

After speaking, Nie Xiaoqian turned back into the Water Residence.

Only when her ethereal, otherworldly figure disappeared behind the door did Ning Caichen reluctantly return to Lanruo Temple.

What Ning Caichen did not know was that Nie Xiaoqian had not gone far.

She remained just behind the door.

But the smile on her face had completely vanished.

“That strange man in blue doesn’t seem to be a good person. If my grandmother wants someone, he’ll be the first target.”

She spoke fiercely but sighed softly at the end.

If not constrained by her grandmother, Nie Xiaoqian wouldn’t want to harm anyone.

But no matter what, she had already hurt many people—that was an undeniable fact.

She did not consider herself a good person.

Perhaps that was why, in the original story, she ended up with the kind-hearted Ning Caichen, who truly loved her.

Ning Caichen had been gallant escorting Nie Xiaoqian home, but when he returned to Lanruo Temple alone, his true nature showed—he was quite frightened.

The forest at night was pitch black, the lantern almost useless.

Worse still, occasional howls of wolves pierced the silence, the most terrifying sound of all.

Fortunately, the Water Residence was not too far from Lanruo Temple.

From afar, Ning Caichen saw a white light shining from within the temple.

It was the glow of the treasure in Xu Wang’s hand.

This sight reassured Ning Caichen.

But as he neared Lanruo Temple, the clash of swords rang out—a sharp “clang clang” of metal meeting metal!

Two men shouted loudly amid the din!

“Ah—!”

“Ha—!”

Leaves swirled in the wind as two figures, moving with lightness skill, raced forward while exchanging sword strikes!

Ning Caichen, seeing this, wanted to rush into the temple.

But his foot caught on a tree root, and he fell face-first onto the ground!

Beneath the moonlight, the two figures were now right before him.

Amid flashing blades and flying sparks, the duel was fierce and unyielding!

They were none other than the swordsman Xiahou and the true demon hunter, Yan Chixia—the master who cultivated both Buddhist and Daoist arts!