Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 453 439: Shang Miaoyan's Gift, "Fan Xuan, You're on Your Own.

"Xiaoxuan... I'm sorry."

Fan Xuan's furious gaze suddenly faltered.

She hadn't expected Pei Yuhang to suddenly back down, much less apologize in such a sincere tone.

Fan Xuan had thought Pei Yuhang would just continue to be stubborn and play dumb.

This sudden gentleness left her flustered, feeling as if her punch had sunk into a ball of cotton.

Her eyes widened slightly, and her red lips parted, but no words came out immediately.

BZZZ—

Just then, Fan Xuan felt the damaged Red Lotus Mask in her Jiezhi Storage Ring suddenly send out a signal.

It was the Holy Daughter!

Fan Xuan's mind instantly went blank.

Spending so much time alone with Pei Yuhang on the ship had left her feeling intoxicated, and in her daze, she had almost forgotten her mission from the Holy Daughter.

Now, jolted by the mission signal from the Holy Daughter, she was abruptly reminded that she had approached Pei Yuhang with a mission in the first place!

In an instant, Fan Xuan, who had still been nursing a grudge against Pei Yuhang, found her feelings becoming much more complicated.

She turned her head to avoid his gaze, pressed her thin lips together, and said:

"I'm going to get some fresh air."

Pei Yuhang nodded.

He didn't know about Fan Xuan's inner turmoil; he just thought she needed some time alone to calm down.

...

...

Her mind heavy with thoughts, Fan Xuan left the room filled with Pei Yuhang's scent. The agitated, hormone-filled air seemed to still linger around her.

She stumbled onto the Spirit Wheel's deck, practically falling into the inky blackness of the night.

The cool night wind rushed to meet her. Fan Xuan took a deep breath, the cold air filling her lungs and finally cooling her burning skin.

She raised a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her fingertips still trembling slightly.

Away from Pei Yuhang, the intoxicating madness—that crazed desire to possess him—finally seemed to lessen.

The thought that she had actually tried to slash at Pei Yuhang's bed curtains with the Demon Blade made Fan Xuan flush with shame.

'What was I doing just now? Why was I suddenly acting like a lunatic!'

'No! This isn't how I normally am!

I must have been bewitched by Pei Yuhang... It's all Pei Yuhang's fault! If he had just taken responsibility after seducing me, I never would have gotten so worked up!'

Muttering to herself, Fan Xuan composed herself before taking out the Red Lotus Mask from her Jiezhi Storage Ring—the one that had been shattered in the battle against Vortex Daoist.

Although it was broken in half, this mask—a Magical Treasure from Shang Miaoyan—was clearly of superior quality, as it could still be used to contact the Holy Daughter.

BZZZ—

The Red Lotus Pattern on the mask flickered.

A voice came from within it, making Fan Xuan's eyes narrow.

"Jiu, what took you so long to answer?"

'The Holy Daughter is speaking to me personally?!'

Fan Xuan, who had expected a routine check-in with an ordinary Red Lotus Guard, tensed up, her body going rigid with nervousness.

"My apologies, Holy Daughter... Pei Yuhang was fast asleep, and I had to be careful leaving."

"Are you sleeping in the same room as my Xiaohan again?"

The cool female voice from the Red Lotus Mask carried the familiar, oppressive air of a superior. Even without seeing Shang Miaoyan in person, it filled Fan Xuan with a sense of dread.

"Your Highness, the room belonging to the woman I was impersonating was destroyed during the enemy attack, so I had no choice but to move back in with Pei Yuhang."

She had already reported the attack on the Spirit Wheel to the Yin Yang Sacred Land at the first opportunity.

However, Fan Xuan didn't know about the Dragon Corpse or the Chosen Organization, so she could only provide a general account.

Shang Miaoyan was aware of this. Fan Xuan was only mentioning it again to show the Holy Daughter that she wasn't deliberately sharing a room with her personal property...

In response to Fan Xuan's attempt to prove her "innocence," Shang Miaoyan said nothing, only asking coolly:

"How are things going between you and my Xiaohan?"

Fan Xuan pursed her lips and said softly, "Your Highness, Pei Yuhang has already guessed my true identity. He should... trust me a great deal now."

Shang Miaoyan's low, soft voice came from the other side of the mask, yet the end of her words carried a subtle tremor.

Fan Xuan could even hear a faint, breathy sound, as if she were suppressing some kind of excitement, making her own fingertips curl involuntarily.

'Is the Holy Daughter this eager?'

She thought of how Shang Miaoyan, utterly despised by Pei Yuhang and with no hope of ever getting close to him again, had to resort to using her identity... Fan Xuan's long lashes lowered, a flicker of gloom in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

But Shang Miaoyan detected even that slight hesitation.

"Jiu, why have you gone quiet?"

The voice from the mask suddenly turned cold. "Could it be... that you are dissatisfied with my arrangements?"

The icy tone made Fan Xuan freeze. Years of obedience, ingrained in her very bones, made her kneel almost instinctively, her knees hitting the cold deck hard.

Her head bowed, her fingertips digging into the hem of her clothes, she spoke in a voice so soft it was nearly torn apart by the night wind:

"I wouldn't dare..."

"Hmph. You'd better not."

Shang Miaoyan sneered. "Don't forget, you were the one who let Pei Yuhang escape when the Sect hunted him down, allowing him to become the Cold Sun Sword Immortal who dominates the battlefield today. What a monumental act of treason against the Sect that was!"

Fan Xuan's breath hitched, and the color drained slightly from her lips.

"By law, you should have been executed by a thousand cuts, your entire clan exterminated!" Shang Miaoyan's voice grew colder and colder.

"And personally..." She paused, then let out a soft laugh that was more chilling than any rebuke. "You know how important Xiaohan is to me, don't you?"

Fan Xuan's fingertips dug deep into her palms. Even though Shang Miaoyan wasn't there, and it was only a mask speaking to her, she still didn't dare to raise her head.

"How much I've suffered since he left..."

Shang Miaoyan's voice suddenly became soft and low, yet it was laced with a twisted obsession.

"If not for the fact that you and Fan Ya have been by my side since childhood, for your crime alone, I would have ripped out your soul and refined it into a candle flame to burn day and night for a hundred years!"

"Do you have any idea what a great mercy I showed you by letting you live?!"

"Every single second of this wretched life you're clinging to is a gift from me. The rest of your life belongs completely to me—and that includes your identity."

"Now... do you have any objections to me using your identity to get Pei Yuhang?"

"...None."

Kneeling on the deck, Fan Xuan was drenched in cold sweat. A sudden gust of night wind washed over her, making her shiver.

'That's right.'

'I'm just a puppet, barely surviving on the Holy Daughter's mercy.'

'What right do I have to pursue my own love?'

Fan Xuan clenched her fists as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

It was unclear whether Shang Miaoyan heard Fan Xuan's silent sobs. Her voice remained cold as she mercilessly issued her command.

"Fan Xuan, don't forget who you have to thank for being able to see him again. Remember my benevolence. You'd best conduct yourself accordingly."

With that, the Spiritual Light on the Red Lotus Mask faded completely.

Shang Miaoyan had ended the call.