Chapter 22: To Stay or Not to Stay

Shangguan Yan had suddenly asked him, "Brother Yuan Ji, where are we going?"

Yuan Ji was startled. He did not really think of that yet. So he said, "We can go to the Orthodox Sword Sect to seek refuge?"

Shangguan Yan gently shook her head, "This won't do at all. You will only get Chengxi into trouble. She can't cope on her own already and she won't be able to cope with the added pressure from Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue."

Yuan Ji smiled weakly, "We can hide in the mountains. No one will be able to find us. But it will be hard on you."

Shangguan Yan smiled gentle, "I don't mind following my lord to the mountains but may your consort say an unpleasant word to you?"

Yuan Ji smiled bitterly, "Why are you so polite to me? I won't be upset. Please say."

Shangguan Yan inhaled softly, "We should stay here in this place."

Yuan Ji: …

"I can't cope with Xue Qianxue. She is currently too strong for me to handle." Yuan Ji said bitterly.

Shangguan Yan saw that he was not angry with her so she continued shyly, "Xue Qianxue may not be so petty to come knocking into our doors yet."

Yuan Ji was perplexed, "Why so? These cultivators are always so petty. The strong will always bully the weak."

Shangguan Yan replied, "Because this will only prove her guilt. If she is really guiltless, she won't be bothering her time with us."

Yuan Ji was startled as he muttered, "Why didn't I think of this?"

Shangguan Yan continued with her soft voice, "I may not know why Palace Mistress doesn't want to see you anymore but I know that she has left this place to you. Why don't you make yourself the new sect leader and be the Palace Master of the Emperor Hall Sect instead?"

Yuan Ji hesitated and muttered, "This…isn't such a good idea, am I right?"

"You are the only elder left now and moreover if you really like my sister Chengxi, you can use this opportunity to protect her." Then she averted her eyes shyly before adding. "We can protect her together."

Yuan Ji muttered, "We can protect her together? Meaning?"

Shangguan Yan began to flush shyly, "You are such a badass. Surely you know what I mean."

"No, I don't." Yuan Ji was growling softly. He really did not know what she meant by that.

Shangguan Yan inhaled softly before saying shyly, "Do you really want me to say it loud?"

Yuan Ji smiled weakly, "Of course." He was scratching his head now. Too many things had happened on this night and his judgment was a little clouded now.

He was thinking. "I know I can protect Fairy Ye Chengxi once I've regained my profound strength but Yan'Er is so weak. How does she protect Chengxi? But at this point, no one knows that I am actually a seventh realm cultivator. It should be Fairy Ye Chengxi protecting us and not the other way round."

Shangguan Yan looked at him blankly before she sighed softly, "No wonder Palace Mistress doesn't want to see you until you've become a romantic cultivator."

Yuan Ji smiled weakly, "These two things do not seem to be connected."

Shangguan Yan had completely given up on him as she lowered her glances with great shyness, "You can take my sister as your consort too."

Yuan Ji had finally realized what she was trying to mean, "We can protect her together."

He was cursing himself, "Why is it that my brain seems so slow lately? It must be the effect of losing my precious beard. I ought to get my beautiful beard back as soon as possible."

But he quickly said to her, "We are impossible."

Shangguan Yan could not believe what she was hearing because she could see his eyes were constantly looking lustfully at Chengxi all the time when they were together.

Actually Yuan Ji's eyes had lingered on Ye Chengxi longer than he had wanted because half of the time he was having a flashback when he was a master to her and not because he really coveted her. But to Shangguan Yan, she had misunderstood. To anyone else, they would also have misunderstood Yuan Ji's staring to mean that he was interested in her.

Shangguan Yan asked, "Why is it impossible?"

But Yuan Ji did not reply to her because he did not want Shangguan Yan to know that he had always regarded Ye Chengxi as only his disciple and nothing else, even though he had to admit that Ye Chengxi was really too stunning to look at nowadays.

He just shook his head and said quietly, "Alright then. We shall stay here. I think Yan'Er suggestion is good."

Shangguan Yan was delighted as she nodded shyly.

But very quickly she was saying shyly, "Brother Yuan Ji…my lord…shall we?"

Yuan Ji was also happy when he saw her delighted countenance. At least she was not crying anymore and she was really lovely when she was smiling. "Shall we what?"

Shangguan Yan averted her eyes shyly and her head was bowed lower than ever, "Shall we… consummate…our marriage."

All of a sudden Yuan Ji rolled his eyes and he had almost fainted on the spot.

It was like a thunderbolt had suddenly struck him.

He had completely forgotten about this.

Now he was quickly thinking how he should reject her, the faster the better.

It was because he did not mind consummating their marriage if she was really a widow.

But her chastity was still intact.

And when her chastity was still intact, he began to regard himself as her old master rather than her lord.

Although there were no rules in the Desolate Celestial Fraternity against a master taking his protégés as consorts and concubines but Yuan Ji had prided himself as a Sword Saint with the highest moral ground. At such, he did not feel good about this.

"What's wrong?" Shangguan Yan looked at him nervously and she was really afraid that Yuan Ji would think that she was a loose maiden for suggesting that they consummate their marriage.

"Nothing. It is just that I am not feeling too well today." Yuan Ji smiled weakly. "I've probably lost too much of my profound strength lately. Shall we talk about this when I've regained my profound strength?"

Shangguan Yan: …

Yuan Ji had suddenly turned away.

"Brother Yuan Ji, where are you going?" Shangguan Yan panicky called out after him in confusion. "You're leaving already?"

Yuan Ji quickly said before he left the bridal chamber, "I'm going to the meditation room to cultivate."

Shangguan Yan had burst into tears and she was trembling melancholy, "In the end, he is still looking down on me…"

She did not know that Yuan Ji had heard her and he was leaning outside the room. He was trembling hard.

"I have never looked down on you. I don't have the right to do so. I know what you have done for me. But do you know that I am actually the old master that you've hated all these years? I am the one that had heaped abuses on you all these years. One day, you may discover who I am and when that day comes, you will never forgive me or yourself because you have given your chastity to the one that you have disliked the most in your entire life."