137 It was embarrassing

In the north, the cultivators have finally broken through Xinlie's wall for good.

With the majority of the She-Wolf General's troops finally slain and her city doused with poisonous fumes, she was driven into a corner. Her beloved demons have fought to their dying breath and honorably laid down their lives in the heat of battle.

Even as they rode through the gaping holes in the city walls, she smiled. Pride was about her visage with dark laughter. "I hope you're happy, Dage. I bought you all the time I could."

They circled around her with their tall white steeds. Not a flicker of fear was present in her golden eyes. She met them with her back straight and chin held high. Though she was cornered now and only death awaited her, Hui Siran couldn't help but feel she had won.

The row of white horses parted, making way for a tall white-robed young master. He was almost matched with her in height but was just a little shorter.

"She-Wolf General," he addressed her. His eyes spoke of exhaustion and yet the smile on his lips was easy. If Hui Siran was to die at least she could die by the hands of someone handsome.

Not too bad, she thought with a smirk. "That is I."

"I am-"

"Huamian-jun. I know."

"And you are a very commendable general," the cultivator said as he stepped closer.

Hui Siran could laugh at the tense expressions on the faces of the men and women that surrounded him. She shrugged casually but pride was brimming upon her expression.

"Thanks. But you have won now. My life ends here, my schemes have been exhausted and my men and women are dead." She chuckled, kneeling down before him.

Liu Suye scratched the back of his neck, his casual expression finally pulling down into a frown, "I don't really feel like the victor here. You led us around in circles by the nose." Though he was looking down on her now, he felt nothing but admiration for this woman. It was hard to raise his sword and level it against the curve of her neck.

Privately, he wondered if there was yet another trap lying in wait. In the end, their victory was barely a victory at all. Led into a trap and caught up in skirmishes against an army of only a fraction of the demon's forces, how could anyone celebrate this victory with pride?

Liu Suye understood this well and readily admitted that he had lost to this woman's leadership, her cunning and even her courage. His wrist stiffened, unwilling to deliver the finishing blow. He knew that he had to.

Hui Siran's shining golden eyes slowly fluttered closed. There was no tension in her shoulders so anxiety or fear to be scented upon her person. She was satisfied with her life and accomplishments.

"Go on, Huamian-jun! Let's get it over with and you can get on with your celebrations."

Liu Suye drew in a deep breath, his sword raised, but it did not come back down.

A large thundering boom was heard overhead, a shock wave that shook the ground below and ruptured their eardrums. Hui Siran's eyes flew open as she looked up.

A shadow descended from the sky, wedging itself between Hui Siran and Liu Suye.

Huamian-jun startled, his sword caught between the claws of a tiger demon. The cultivators all drew their swords at the same time, surrounding the strange newcomer that fell down from the heavens.

Chu Mirong grinned widely, unafraid. "Hold your horses you damned fools!" She laughed with her head tilted back, "I'm not here to make war."

"Chu Mirong," Hui Siran's voice was raised in surprise.

It'd been year since she last cause sight of her friend! But such as it was, with the Chu Clan traveling between continents and refusing to join forces with Hui Ziwang's cause.

"Why are you here? Did you come to die with me?" Siran's voice was light, casual, even, but the question was asked in seriousness. Alone, Chu Mirong was only going to be slain by the cultivator's swords.

The tiger girl rolled her eyes, "Who do you take me for?" She laughed and held out her arms. "Back up, everyone! My darling is going to make an appearance soon!"

No one understood what she was talking about but another loud boom sounded overhead. The horses reared up, neighing in complaint. There was another shadow that appeared above and tumbled downward without Chu Mirong's grace.

A rogue cultivator plopped right down into the tigress's arms. He- no she, groaned from dizziness. Though the woman was clothed in men's garbs her voice was definitely feminine, "I really can't stand those weird portals."

"Don't complain, we have work to do here," the tigress giggled and pressed a kiss against the rogue cultivator's temple before unceremoniously dropping her on the floor like she was nothing better than a useless piece of junk.

The masculine rogue cultivator whined, something about domestic abuse before finally rising to her feet.

Liu Suye thought there was something strikingly familiar about her features but he couldn't quite pinpoint what. At this point, he could only raise his brow up in interest and confusion. The other cultivators were stiff from alarm but he put up a hand, telling them to lower their swords. The development was a weird one, for sure, but two people plopping out of the sky wasn't going to change the tides.

"What is this all about?" Huamian-jun asked, head tilting.

"I would like to know as well," Hui Siran admitted, her hands settling on her hips. Chu Mirong was always the type to get herself into trouble. And who was this sleazy looking woman that she called her darling? Again, her taste in lovers was also just as horrid.

Chu Mirong's eyes glittered with mirth. There was laughter in her voice, brazen and absurd, "We're here to propose a treaty, obviously!"

How was that supposed to be obvious?!

But wait, what was she even saying?

"Are you insane?" Hui Siran's brows furrowed, her voice raised in concern.

Apparently, Huamian-jun was equally as insane because he readily replied, "Alright. I'm listening."

Hui Siran's expression flinched, her mouth gaped open and then snapped closed. It seemed that she had underestimated him after all!

…

Victory at Reling was one celebrated somberly. Sect Leader Chen Gaoyong had departed, leaving the Ascending Dawn Sect in the hands of Chen Leike. A gloomy mood circled overhead, clouds gathering with the weather turning chilled.

Days had passed, funerals held. Brave warriors sent off with beating drums and Chen Anyue had yet to wake from her injuries. Liu Sumeng was bed-bound as well, despite his complaints. He felt fine, fine enough to wander the hall and tend to minor chores.

Yuan Xuelan trusted Liu Sumeng with a lot of things, but he didn't trust him not to overwork himself. But the Ivory Sword Saint grew more irritated by the day, even if it didn't show in his still expressions, he was often found pacing his room or doing paperwork that he should have been ignoring.

"Sumeng," Yuan Xuelan frowned, biting his lips when he entered Liu Sumeng's room and saw that he was at his desk instead of his bed.

A strange nervousness was abound in his heart because Yuan Xuelan was caught with both uncertainty and confusion. Was it too soon to call him beloved? Was the kiss just a conjuring of his imagination? Yuan Xuelan's mind was still dizzy and he didn't wish to overstep his bounds.

'Ridiculous!' Huo Tang screeched. But Yuan Xuelan was getting better at filtering her screaming out of his thoughts. So he did just that and ignored her.

The Ivory Sword Saint took his time to straighten his back. He looked up and Yuan Xuelan and sighed. "Just because--"

He heard this enough to be able to finish Liu Sumeng's sentence, "Just because we won this time around doesn't mean that we can relax." Yuan Xuelan hummed and set the lunch box on Liu Sumeng's desk and began unpacking it.

Over the past few days he'd taken it upon himself to make sure Sumeng was being fed properly and not staring too long at reports coming in from scouts and whatever other mercenaries he had working for him.

Liu Sumeng had been impatient.

He had reason to be, even if no one else understood the urgency. Their enemies were clearly after the three Forbidden Treasures. Though he still couldn't understand what parting the heavens was supposed to mean, Liu Sumeng knew that he had to stop them from getting their hands on all three. And they had almost lost the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead! Right under their noses too.

Liu Sumeng wanted to accomplish two things before facing their enemies again. First, he needed more information about the Celestial Sun Scroll. And also try to find out where in the world Yuan Xuelan from his previous life found that God Slaying Sword…

"Even if you glare at it, nothing will happen." Yuan Xuelan dipped his head, curiously looking between Liu Sumeng and the report he was looking at. It was in Hui Moxiang's writing and was honestly gibberish under his eyes. He didn't know how his Sumeng could read any of this.

"Of course," Liu Sumeng reached and brushed a loose strand of hair out of his eyes before looking at the small array of food set out on the table. "I am not hungry," he said.

Yuan Xuelan tilted his head and blinked at this childish Liu Sumeng. He licked his lips, feeling giddy and warm. "Won't Sumeng eat with me? Even if you're not hungry I am, so…"

Another sigh. "Alright."

And that was all it took to get the Ivory Sword Saint to set away the papers and turned his attention to the food. And though Yuan Xuelan understood that Sumeng might feel impatient about the situation, he didn't understand why he had been so irritable of late.

'I do hope you are aware that you can just ask him,' Huo Tang scoffed at him, 'isn't that what the Ivory Sword Saint told you before?'

"..." She kind of had a point, but Yuan Xuelan hated listening to the words of the phoenix and decided to just focus on watching Liu Sumeng poke at the food and eat small bites. How is it possible for a person to look both delicate and powerful? His Sumeng was everything.

But what he didn't know was that Liu Sumeng was growing in impatience not only over the Celestial Sun Scroll and state of affairs in Reling, but also because of the current state of their relationship.

In his past life, Yuan Xuelan had not a sliver of shame, and took what he pleased whenever he pleased. Whether it was touching, kissing or anything else. And if there was something on his mind, apprehension or anything else he would let Liu Sumeng know without even considering the weight behind his words.

How did this Yuan Xuelan end up so docile? Was Liu Sumeng supposed to grab him by the shoulder again and yell at him again? 'If you want to kiss me, just do it!'

Alas, not only was it embarrassing, Liu Sumeng was still struggling to come to terms with his feelings. Was this really okay? He still wasn't sure. But he could no longer deny his own desires.

Truly, it was embarrassing.