The big tabby cat followed behind Yue Liangze, walking and crying.

Chu Yi raised his hand, pointing at Ling Luo: “That skin spirit has brought someone to seek revenge on you.”

Ling Luo nodded and looked.

Just that silhouette was enough to evoke all her memories.

Back then, she couldn’t recognize the youth under the Tong blossom tree, but she would certainly recognize Yue Liangze as a young man.

Their first meeting should have been at the Golden Luan Pool Banquet sword-pulling event, but in this life, it had happened much earlier.

So Ling Luo walked forward, her voice crisp: “Hey.”

“That scam inn-running cat—”

The big cat cried out angrily, turning its head: “I’m not a scam inn! You’re slandering a cat!”

But a fierce wind whistled past, startling the cat’s fur on end. The white figure had already appeared before their eyes. A sharp sword energy startled fallen leaves from the ground, sending them swirling into the air. Yue Liangze suddenly turned back, blocking this move with the sword in his hand.

The sword was thin and slender, with a long black cloth wrapped tightly around the blade. When the swords clashed, the two sword energies collided, and one coil of black cloth near the hilt came undone, revealing a glossy, cold-looking black blade.

Ling Luo held an ordinary sword but wrapped it in powerful spiritual energy to contend with his. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to unfurl that coil of black cloth, and after unfurling, her blade would not have remained intact. Had anything else struck that black blade, it would have shattered completely.

Two powerful sword intents suddenly collided at the mountain gate, and the sweeping sword wind made passersby involuntarily resist with their energy.

The flowering trees, though some distance from the two, were unfortunately affected, losing several branches. The girls admiring flowers under the tree ran away in fright, leaving only the men with flower branches all over their heads looking bewildered.

Another group of people a little further away also looked curiously toward the source of the sword energy.

Among them, a handsome young man dressed in gold clothes and adorned with precious gold ornaments raised an eyebrow and said: “Who’s doing this? Who’s more arrogant than this young master? Starting fights before tomorrow’s banquet, so eager to show off?”

A Western Sea Primordial person said proudly: “Hah, it’s probably our Junior Brother Cong Xiu practicing his sword. Recently, there have been several instances of people being frightened by his sweeping sword energy. We’re used to it now.”

A person from Northern Court Moon Palace rolled his eyes: “Did you feed your perception training to the dogs? How could this be Western Sea Primordial’s sword energy?”

“This domineering force should belong to our South Mountain Snow River people, right?”

“Oh, regardless of whose sword energy it is, it seems like none of you can defeat them anyway. Let’s hurry along! If we don’t reach the cherry forest soon, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow due to the curfew!”

The gold-adorned young man raised his angry eyebrows and said: “You’re the one who can’t win! This young master will go meet them right now!”

The person quickly said: “Oh, young master, please don’t go. I misspoke. You’re the strongest, especially powerful. For this year’s banquet championship, I’ve only bet on you, okay? Young master, don’t be angry. Let’s go to the cherry forest to drink wine, watch the moon, relax, and rest well so you can battle the heroes tomorrow!”

These compliments pleased the gold-adorned young man, his face turning from gloomy to cheerful, and he left with the crowd.

“Hey, why are you running that way when you told the others to leave?”

The person said: “Chu Yi is over there!”

Chu Yi and the big cat were closest to these two.

Suddenly hit by a face full of sword wind, his clothes and hair flying in disarray, Chu Yi was so angry he wanted to go over and give each of them a kick.

The big cat hid behind Yue Liangze, hugging his leg tightly, which prevented it from being blown away.

The two long swords, one vertical and one horizontal, pressed against each other. Just as they were about to erupt into a second round of sword energy, Chu Yi spoke: “That’s enough.”

“If you continue fighting, Western Sea Primordial people will come asking what’s going on. If you’re dragged to speak with the Sect Master, you two might not find it troublesome, but I do.”

The big cat, clutching Yue Liangze’s pant leg, trembled: “Little Uncle, if we keep fighting, my master will discover us…”

The coil of black cloth reattached itself to the long sword, concealing the blade’s edge.

Both of them sheathed their swords simultaneously.

Ling Luo fumed inwardly. Was this still the same person who once let her do as she pleased with a wooden sword? No! He had changed! How infuriating!

That seemingly insignificant spirit vein of his had now become unfathomably deep.

Ling Luo regretted it now, deeply regretted it.

Regretted not cutting him a few more times back then.

As she was about to sheathe her sword, she noticed a notch in the blade.

Ling Luo lowered her gaze to look at this notch. From it, cracks extended across half the blade.

Even though she had controlled her spiritual energy expertly, an ordinary sword was fundamentally different from a divine weapon.

Not to mention his black sword—

Ling Luo raised her sword again, pointing it at Yue Liangze, saying bluntly: “Compensate me for the sword!”

Yue Liangze stood holding his sword. Even with her blade at his throat, he didn’t blink once.

In that instant, he recalled how years ago, she had held her sword against the sunlight and said crisply to him: “Draw your sword.”

It seemed to be the first thing she ever said to him.

So it turned out that after a real sword duel, compensation for the sword would follow.

He smiled inwardly and, meeting Ling Luo’s beautiful eyes, said: “Name your price, I’ll pay.”

Ling Luo: “…”

Price? Was it money she wanted? She wanted the one in his hand!

Besides them, Chu Yi thought Ling Luo was about to demand one billion gold.

The big cat spoke first: “Why should we compensate? You were the one who wrecked the inn and hit the cat first!”

“A scam in operator dares to speak?” Ling Luo narrowed her eyes. “Low-priced rooms but high-priced meals, forcing services that weren’t ordered—not reporting you to the authorities is already showing mercy.”

The big cat’s eyes widened, with a trace of confusion in them.

Yue Liangze looked down at it, “You run a scam inn?”

“Little Uncle, don’t listen to her nonsense! How could I possibly run a scam inn? The receptionist I hired assured me there was no problem!” The big cat clung to him, shaking its head frantically. “Low-priced rooms are to attract customers, and high-priced meals are just normal prices! The vegetables, sauces, oil, salt, vinegar, and rice all cost money!”

Having just come up the mountain gate and hearing this, Song Yuanyuan and Xu Shen covered the newly arrived Chang Fei’s mouth and pulled him away.

Chang Fei: “?”

Song Yuanyuan: “Brother, listen to me. You’d better not go up there now, or you’re dead for sure.”

Ling Luo said with an unchanged expression: “I didn’t order any food.”

The big cat: “The receptionist said that staying at the inn includes meals!”

Yue Liangze: “…”

He understood now.

Yue Liangze asked: “How much did you scam from people?”

The big cat was about to cry to death: “Little Uncle, I didn’t! I didn’t scam a single coin from her before she beat me!”

Chu Yi said: “The fifteen silver coins for the room weren’t returned.”

The big cat’s eyes widened again: “You want the fifteen silver coins too? You two shared one room, I thought you were being stingy, but now you even want the fifteen silver coins back!”

Yue Liangze, upon hearing this, glanced at Chu Yi.

Chu Yi smiled without humor: “Haven’t received it yet, have we?”

Yue Liangze took out some silver and gave it to Chu Yi, then looked at Ling Luo.

Ling Luo raised an eyebrow slightly, “I don’t want money, just compensate me with a sword.”

Yue Liangze: “Alright, I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”

Ling Luo couldn’t help but think, agreeing so readily, did he want to sever ties with her that badly?

Not even writing one letter was already—no, that was unacceptable!

Ling Luo was so angry that she completely shattered the sword in her hand.

Yue Liangze: “…”

The big cat hid behind him, trembling.

Ling Luo pointed at Chu Yi and said: “My senior brother is the head disciple of Third Breath. If you break my sword and don’t compensate, my senior brother will make you pay!”

Chu Yi: “?”

What are you talking about? What does this have to do with me?

Yue Liangze lowered his eyebrows and eyes, catching in his peripheral vision the moment she brushed past him.

Ling Luo stormed off angrily.

Halfway through, she calmed down.

She thought that Yue Liangze had probably detected her ulterior motives when sparring with him back then—taking advantage of his weak spirit vein to torment him mercilessly.

Now he was a disciple of the Sacred Sword Sect, with unfathomable spiritual power, no longer the weakling who could be bullied and trampled into the mud without the strength to resist.

As a lofty disciple of the Sacred Sword Sect, of course, he would disdain to associate with someone who had witnessed his weak and helpless side, especially someone who had repeatedly defeated him.

It was his dark history.

A youthful humiliation.

Thinking this way, Ling Luo felt better.

What’s so great about being a Sacred Sword Sect disciple? He was still knocked down by my Tong blossom branch.

Remembering these embarrassing past events, it would be strange if Yue Liangze could treat her with equanimity.

Ling Luo felt that she was very understanding, having comprehended Yue Liangze’s embarrassment.

Chu Yi, afraid that Ling Luo might clash with others in her anger and cause trouble, followed her.

He watched Ling Luo return to the west courtyard and asked lazily: “What’s going on with you?”

Ling Luo didn’t answer.

Chu Yi continued: “You asked him to compensate for the sword, but does he know where you live? Do you know where he lives? What if he doesn’t return, how will you handle it?”

This junior sister was so foolish, not even asking for collateral.

Ling Luo said: “Then what does Senior Brother think should be done?”

“Require collateral,” Chu Yi patiently instructed. “Sword for sword.”

Ling Luo smiled: “Senior Brother, you should be able to tell that the sword in his hand is extraordinary, right?”

Chu Yi: “They’re all swords, what’s the difference in status or value.”

Ling Luo said: “Trading an ordinary sword for a divine weapon? That’s shameless any way you look at it.”

Chu Yi looked at her: “Didn’t you say you didn’t want it?”

Ling Luo: “I want it, you don’t.”

Chu Yi narrowed his eyes, spiritual energy flickering in his hand. Ling Luo reacted swiftly, her toes touching the ground as she instantly created distance between them.

The two essentially fought their way back to the west courtyard.

During this time, Chu Yi’s friend called out to him: “Are you coming to view the cherry blossoms or not?”

Only then did Chu Yi stop pursuing Ling Luo and leave with his friend.

His friend said: “Invite your junior sister too!”

Chu Yi: “If she goes, I won’t.”

So his friend poked his head toward the west courtyard and called: “Junior Sister Ling! Want to go see the cherry blossoms?”

“She has Yingxi, what cherry blossoms does she need to see?”

Chu Yi raised his hand, grabbed his friend by the neck, and dragged him away.

The moon rose to the treetops, stars scattered sparsely.

Green Bamboo Residence housed all the guests for this Golden Luan Pool Banquet.

The big cat lived in Western Sea Primordial’s inner courtyard, quite far from Green Bamboo Residence.

As Yue Liangze walked back, stone lanterns lit up one after another, dispelling the darkness, with flowers and plants harmoniously arranged in the courtyard.

From the window of the room where the big cat’s true form lived, one could see vast stretches of Weak Waters and the Golden Luan Pool Banquet stage.

Inside the room, a young man rose from the bed, revealing pointed ears under his black hair. He pulled on a cloaked hood and swiftly went to open the door and run outside.

“Little Uncle!” Ah Fu said angrily, “Why do we have to compensate for the sword? She broke it herself!”

Yue Liangze stood in the courtyard and asked: “Where’s Senior Brother?”

“He went to see the Sect Master and won’t be back for a while,” Ah Fu said. “He told you to cook something to eat, saying Primordial’s people are suspicious and the food isn’t clean.”

Yue Liangze gave a sound of acknowledgment and stepped toward the kitchen in the courtyard.

Ah Fu followed behind him, muttering: “Little Uncle, can you not defeat that person?”

Yue Liangze said quietly: “Can’t beat her.”

He rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands. “Send a message to your master, asking him to find a sword.”

Ah Fu’s tone was gloomy: “Do we have to compensate?”

Yue Liangze paused momentarily, then said: “Never mind, I’ll go look for one.”

Ah Fu rolled his eyes in anger, “Little Uncle, she’s doing this on purpose!”

Yue Liangze continued washing his hands carefully.

Of course, he could tell that Ling Luo was doing it on purpose, which was exactly why he wanted to give her the sword.

Yue Liangze had thought that someone who never replied to even one of his letters would not speak half a word to him when they met again.