Chapter 83: Mother

Zora was still reflecting on the insights she had gained today.

—For instance, that inexplicable sense of mental composure she felt after being backed by Zhou Shijin.

It didn't stem from the kind of composure brought by overwhelming power, nor from the belief that the enemy was no longer a threat. Rather, it was a serenity that arose easily from the simple realization: "She is protecting me."

Zora thought for a moment, shifted her position, and leaned toward Vane.

Vane tilted his head, watching calmly as she moved toward him bit by bit. His pupils rose with her movements until her arm brushed against his clothing.

Zora turned her head and met his gaze exactly. The youth's eyes were exceptionally dark, like a thick, moonless night, yet they were stripped of all surface aggression and sharpness, leaving only tranquility—as if he were simply waiting to hear her speak.

Like a predator masquerading as a harmless herbivore, putting on an act.

A servant had many uses: a clothes rack, a pillow, a cook, a laundryman, a hair-tier, a luggage organizer, and so on. Naturally, she could casually ask him any question that suddenly popped into her head.

Zora leaned closer: "If I say that when Master comes to save me, a sense of peace arises simply because she is my Master, why is that? Is it because she's an elder?"

Ordinary people wouldn't question or analyze such emotions; most would see it as the trust and reliance one has for family or elders—a matter needing no explanation.

But she insisted on asking clearly, on spelling it out.

Vane didn't answer immediately. He first showed a look of contemplation before saying cautiously, "Perhaps it is because you trust her. After all, in a sect, a Master is like family. It's normal to have such thoughts."

"Is it the same for you?"

"No," he paused, denying it. "I am not like that."

"Oh, I see." Zora propped her chin on her hand and went back to her own thoughts.

Family? She only had her mother and her father; she had no other relatives.

She recalled their first meeting, and the first time Zhou Shijin taught her swordplay.

The woman was always drinking; whenever her disciple returned, she was always waiting somewhere in the Falling Rock Forest. Often, Zhou Shijin was the sole audience for Zora's practice.

She seemed to enjoy watching Zora practice, tossing out a few pointers from a tree while sipping wine.

When Zora finished and accidentally fell asleep on the cool grass, the woman would lie down comfortably beside her, closing her eyes to rest. This resulted in Zora—whose body was still mortal at the beginning—sleeping through a chilly night and catching a cold. She spent the next morning sneezing; every few moves, a tiny sneeze would escape.

Zhou Shijin watched solemnly for the entire morning. By the afternoon, she finally gave her disciple a pill and laughed: "Oh dear, it's been a long time since I've seen someone suffer from a common cold. How nostalgic."

Zora had no sense of being "bullied," so she didn't react.

Zhou Shijin, lacking any self-awareness of being a bully herself, tapped Zora's red nose, finding it incredibly cute.

Zhou Shijin: "When is the next time?"

Zora: "I don't know. I'm going to practice my sword."

Zhou Shijin: "What's wrong with chatting for a bit?"

Zora fell silent. Zhou Shijin waited with a smile.

After a moment, Zora frowned: "Aren't we chatting? Why aren't you talking?"

Zhou Shijin: "..."

Zhou Shijin gave a forced smile: "Go practice your sword, my dear disciple."

Then, Zhou Shijin picked out every single one of her mistakes, being much more fastidious than usual. Zora didn't notice at all, correcting them meticulously until her movements were exceptionally standard, carrying her own unique sword wind.

As she sheathed the Jiangxue Sword, Zhou Shijin suddenly laughed, walked over, and pinched her cheek.

The woman wasn't angry at all; she was just teasing her disciple. She pinched Zora's impossibly soft cheek with a smile and said: "Well done. Keep it up next time."

In this world, Zora had spent the most time with Vane, and the second most with Zhou Shijin.

The woman was casual and free-spirited, never overly restricting her disciple. She was more inclined toward indulgence—indulging everything about Zora. Zhou Shijin knew the strange parts of her disciple's personality but saw nothing wrong with them. Over time, she even felt that people who

couldn't

accept her disciple's personality were the strange ones.

—

Look at her disciple, how could you not accept her?

As for the difficult Vane, Zhou Shijin felt he must have stumbled upon some incredible luck to have his fate entangled with her disciple's.

She could tell that the boy's inner heart was likely no better than those dark, shadowy types; he just possessed the advantages of being restrained, clever, and well-spoken.

The master-servant relationship didn't bind him; rather, it bound Zora to him.

Without that master-servant bond, Zora wouldn't care; she would continue on her own path. But Vane... no matter how you looked at it, he wouldn't manage.

Zhou Shijin considered herself a good judge of character.

That boy Vane hadn't even realized his own flaw.

—His only goals were to become stronger and stay alive. Becoming strong was for the sake of survival; he treated cultivation like a task, never truly immersing himself in it.

Zhou Shijin didn't know that if Vane were to immerse himself, he wouldn't be able to suppress his true nature.

She only thought that the boy's inner self was too hollow, yet he thought too much—shrewd and sensitive.

Too much trouble. Only her obtuse disciple could suppress him.

So, how lucky Vane was to meet Zora.

His emptiness was filled, and his goals became clear.

...

Zora didn't know her Master's evaluation of Vane. She was only recalling the fragments of their time together, only to realize in astonishment that she remembered them so clearly.

As clearly as her sword techniques.

Is this what accumulated emotion feels like?

Zora touched her chest, realizing it for the first time.

Tao County.

When Zhou Shijin arrived on her sword, she saw these two heavily injured people sitting side-by-side, as relaxed as if they were on a spring outing, as if their wounds didn't hurt at all, as if their internal injuries didn't exist, and as if they could run, jump, and fight.

Zhou Shijin was silent for a moment, deeply admiring the strange endurance and priorities of these two.

She landed before them and said casually, "We won't go back to the sect for now. We'll go to the house on the other mountain to recuperate for a few days. It just so happens that battle should break out at Drunken Lu Bay in a few days. A pity, truly a pity—if they weren't too busy to look after themselves, Drunken Lu Bay would have given you many treasures as a reward for discovering the demonic cultivators and the crisis of the external seal."

Vane looked at Zora. Seeing she could stand on her own, he withdrew his gaze and stood straight.

"Not returning to the sect? Why?"

Zhou Shijin smiled faintly: "Why do you think?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if with deep meaning.

Vane's expression remained unchanged. Just seeing that only Zhou Shijin and Turi Qi had come to the rescue was enough to tell him the sect's attitude.

Zhou Shijin was an outsider in the sect, and Turi Qi's first instinct would definitely have been to seek help from the sect's Immortals, not Zhou Shijin.

Therefore, the sect was unwilling to waste power to save them.

He went quiet for a few heartbeats and nodded gently: "I understand. Thank you, Immortal Zhou, for the rescue."

"No need."

While the two were exchanging sharp but polite words, Zora had already moved behind Zhou Shijin and stepped onto her sword.

Vane paused for a second, laughed inexplicably, and summoned his long spear.

Zhou Shijin looked at her disciple in surprise: "Can't fly your sword anymore?"

Zora stared at her: "I can."

Zhou Shijin paused, then burst into laughter. She said nothing more; the sword rose into the air and sped forward.

Vane followed behind them. He glanced at Zora's back, a faint curve at his lips.

He naturally knew what she was thinking.

Since she was happy, wanted to do it, and actually did it, he felt a sense of pleasure.

Zora was like an innocent girl who had just entered the world, learning everything—especially those emotions that touch the heartstrings, of which she knew nothing.

Every time she understood one more thing, he felt a surge of pleasure.

...But he didn't dare hope for anything, such as her developing romantic feelings for him.

He just didn't want her to be deceived.

Those who do not understand affection are the easiest to coax and lie to.

Vane deliberately ignored those delusions and the bitterness that arose on its own.

He also deliberately ignored the fact that even if he suppressed himself usually, at moments of true proximity and ambiguity, he could never help but try to entice her.

With an indulgent attitude, with his youthful body, with his obedient compliance, with his verbal guidance, and with the use of his appearance.

Everything, every part of it, was a self-taught, active attempt to draw her in.

...

Zhou Shijin glanced back and asked in confusion, "What exactly are you looking at?"

Zora, who had been staring at her the whole way, said bluntly, "I am looking at the difference between you and my mother."

"..."

Zhou Shijin, who had always been alone and had even turned her back on her family, almost lost her composure. Her natal sword wobbled in mid-air for a moment before she managed to steady it.

Zora grabbed her clothing. Once the sword steadied, she frowned: "It's dangerous. Your spiritual power fluctuated."

Zhou Shijin looked at her deeply.

"Why do you think I had a fluctuation?"

Zora looked back at her, thought for a moment, and said: "It's simple. Because I said you and my mother are very different, yet the feelings are the same."

"..."

The sword wobbled once more.

Zhou Shijin squeezed the words out through her teeth: "...That's not what you said just now, was it?"

"Close enough."

"..."