Lu Li lived on Wangxian Peak, the peak closest to the sect’s main mountain.
As the sect leader’s chief disciple, he was already capable of assisting the sect leader with sect affairs, so he received the same treatment as an elder—he could govern an entire peak on his own.
The moment Ye Ran stepped onto Wangxian Peak, she headed straight for the Wangxian Hall at the summit.
Along the way, she encountered quite a few disciples, but the closer she got to the main hall, the fewer people she saw. In the end, there was no one left in sight.
The vast Wangxian Hall stood alone on the mountaintop, giving off an air of solitude.
Ye Ran stood outside the hall with the sword in her arms, staring at the tightly closed doors in front of her. She looked hesitant and uneasy.
She had originally thought that Wangxian Hall would be like her master’s residence—filled with disciples handling sect affairs. That way, Lu Li wouldn’t dare make a move against her in public.
But now, there wasn’t a single disciple around.
What if the great villain decided to silence her?
Ye Ran waited outside the hall for a long time but still didn’t see any disciples.
She gripped the sword handle, took a deep breath, and finally walked up to the doors, raising her hand to knock.
But before her hand could fall, the doors slowly opened on their own.
It seemed the great villain already knew she was outside.
Now Ye Ran had no way out.
She cautiously peeked inside the hall but didn’t see Lu Li anywhere.
After hesitating back and forth, she still stepped inside, sword in her arms.
The hall was enormous, but the lighting inside was dim. Only a single open window let in a faint sliver of light.
The further she walked, the more oppressive it felt. Ye Ran didn’t like it at all.
She stopped and carefully scanned her surroundings, but still couldn’t find Lu Li.
Could it be that no one was here?
“Senior Brother Lu?”
Ye Ran called out softly.
But the hall remained silent, with no response.
She sighed. “Looks like he’s really not here.”
“I am here.”
A voice suddenly answered from the darkness.
Ye Ran was so startled she nearly dropped the sword.
She turned toward the direction of the voice and saw Lu Li sitting in a dim, shadowy corner. If she hadn’t looked closely, she wouldn’t have noticed anyone there at all.
Just as Ye Ran looked over, Lu Li rose and slowly walked out of the darkness.
He seemed to have just finished bathing. He was wearing a deep red sleeping robe, his belt tied loosely, and his usually half-tied silver hair was completely loose.
Ye Ran had never seen Lu Li like this before.
The Lu Li who usually appeared before everyone was always impeccably dressed—a far cry from this relaxed, lazy version.
Lu Li still wore his usual gentle expression, the corners of his lips slightly upturned. But Ye Ran felt that the Lu Li before her now was more dangerous than ever.
As Lu Li approached step by step, Ye Ran gradually felt a wave of oppressive pressure washing over her, making it hard to breathe.
Fortunately, Lu Li finally stopped two steps away from her and didn’t come any closer.
“What brings little sister here today?”
Lu Li’s eyes held a hint of scrutiny. The moment they landed on Ye Ran, her heart tightened, and her body went stiff.
Then Lu Li’s gaze slowly drifted downward, landing on the sword in her hands.
Ye Ran snapped back to her senses and quickly held the sword out to Lu Li.
“I-I came to return a sword. This sword has a Wangxian Peak wooden tag on it, but I didn’t know who the owner was, so I had no choice but to come find you, Senior Brother, and ask you to pass it along.”
“This is my sword.”
Lu Li raised his hand, and the sword in Ye Ran’s grasp flew toward him. The moment it landed in his hand, it let out a resonant hum.
“This is Senior Brother’s sword?”
Ye Ran couldn’t believe it.
The great villain was the most unparalleled genius sword cultivator in the entire sect. How could he be using such an ordinary sword?
“Whether it’s a top-grade divine sword or an ordinary one, neither can withstand the spiritual energy in my body,” Lu Li explained. “Rather than waste a good sword, I might as well use this one. Besides, this sword has been with me for a long time.”
Lu Li lowered his gaze to the sword in his hand, slowly running his fingers along the blade before stopping at the hilt.
Ye Ran’s eyes followed Lu Li’s movement to the hilt.
Although the formations on the sword kept it looking brand new, the hilt bore some markings—as if it had weathered decades or even centuries of wind and frost.
But Lu Li was only twenty-three years old.
Ye Ran faintly sensed that Lu Li harbored many secrets, but she didn’t dare dwell on them, nor did she dare ask. She simply nodded in agreement.
“So that’s how it is. I didn’t expect Senior Brother to be so sentimental.”
“It’s not sentimentality,” Lu Li said. “It just feels comfortable to use.”
Lu Li put away his sword and stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze falling once more on Ye Ran.
The dim light amplified every sensation. That faint, elusive sense of oppression became impossible to ignore, and Ye Ran’s nerves tightened.
After a moment, Lu Li finally looked away. At the same time, all the windows in the hall swung open.
Bright light flooded in, making Ye Ran instinctively squint.
Once her eyes adjusted, she saw Lu Li already seated at a table, fiddling with the tea set before him.
“It was kind of you to personally deliver the sword, little sister. How about having some tea before you leave?”
His words reminded Ye Ran of the real reason she had come.
She had been so nervous earlier that she hadn’t even begun her probing. Now that an opportunity had presented itself, she couldn’t let it slip away.
So Ye Ran quickly stepped forward and sat down across from Lu Li without the slightest pretense of politeness.
“Then thank you very much, Senior Brother.”
“You’re too kind, little sister.”
Lu Li’s gentle voice drifted over, accompanied by the sound of pouring tea. Ye Ran found herself momentarily distracted.
For a single instant, she forgot that this was all Lu Li’s disguise and unconsciously let down her guard.
It wasn’t until a slender hand handed her a tea cup that Ye Ran snapped back to reality and raised her vigilance once more.
After passing her the tea, Lu Li didn’t speak again. He didn’t pour himself any tea either—just kept fiddling with an empty cup in front of him.
Now Ye Ran understood completely.
Lu Li had already seen that her purpose wasn’t as simple as just delivering a sword. He was now waiting for her to speak up first.
Thinking of that ambiguous love letter, Ye Ran couldn’t help gripping her tea cup tighter. After a long hesitation, she finally tentatively spoke:
“Senior Brother, the truth is, I have a very tight lips. I’m excellent at keeping secrets.”
Actually, on her way here, Ye Ran had already thought things through many times.
In the end, she still believed that the love letter was meant as a warning. After all, based on the original plot, Lu Li’s only hobby was killing. It was highly unlikely that he would develop feelings for anyone.
So Ye Ran’s words were meant to hint to Lu Li that she would never reveal what she had witnessed the night before.
Ye Ran’s gaze turned earnest, hoping Lu Li would understand her meaning.
But a hint of confusion appeared on Lu Li’s face. “What secret does little sister want to know?”
Ye Ran was stunned by the question.
According to the normal progression, Lu Li should have been warning her or testing her at this point.
But Lu Li’s reaction now seemed as if he hadn’t caught her meaning at all.
Had her hint not been obvious enough?
“What I mean is, everyone has secrets. If I were to discover Senior Brother’s secret, I would absolutely keep my mouth shut and let that secret rot in my stomach.”
By now, this was practically an outright statement. She didn’t believe Lu Li still wouldn’t understand.
Sure enough, Lu Li stopped fiddling with his tea cup, and his eyes darkened.
“What, specifically, is little sister referring to?”
“It’s about last—”
But before Ye Ran could finish, a knock at the door interrupted her.
Then an unfamiliar voice came from outside:
“Senior Brother Lu, we’ve finished investigating the identities of those men from last night. They were indeed spies sent by the demon race.”
Last night?
There was a third person who knew about what happened last night?
Ye Ran looked at Lu Li in surprise, but his face betrayed no emotion. He simply spoke in a calm, indifferent tone:
“What does Master say?”
“The sect leader says to first investigate the demon race’s intentions secretly and not to act rashly.” The voice outside the hall quickly responded.
“Understood. You may go.”
“Yes.”
The disciple acknowledged the order, and after that, there was no further sound from outside the hall.
But inside Ye Ran’s heart, tumultuous waves were crashing.
So the people Lu Li killed last night really were from the demon race. And the sect leader knew about it as well.
With that, the so-called “secret” no longer existed, and Lu Li had no reason to threaten her.
That meant the love letter was a real love letter!
Thinking about the content of the letter, Ye Ran’s heart began to race uncontrollably. Her hand holding the tea cup trembled slightly, spilling some of the tea.
But in the next moment, a handkerchief appeared before her eyes.
“What’s wrong, little sister?”
Lu Li’s voice was still gentle and pleasant to the ear. Even the way he handed over the handkerchief was perfectly appropriate—within reach but without the slightest hint of overstepping.
It was as if those perverse words in the love letter had nothing to do with him.
“Th-Thank you, Senior Brother.”
Ye Ran hesitated, then took the handkerchief.
Her mind was now a tangled mess.
The outcome she had least wanted to accept had still come to pass.
She had known Lu Li was dangerous, but she never expected him to be not only dangerous but also perverted.
Ye Ran felt a wave of despair. She had thought that avoiding the plotline where she met the male lead meant smooth sailing from there. Who would have guessed that now the great villain had set his sights on her?
And of all people, the great villain was an expert at disguise—two completely different faces in public and in private. She had no idea how to deal with him.
“What is little sister thinking about?”
Lu Li’s fingertips tapped lightly against the table. The crisp sound pulled Ye Ran back from her thoughts.
She hurriedly wiped up the spilled tea, then cautiously looked at Lu Li.
“Senior Brother… do you happen to like… whips?”
“Why do you ask?”
For once, Lu Li seemed momentarily taken aback. But aside from that brief pause, his face revealed no other emotion, betraying no weakness whatsoever.
Ye Ran couldn’t believe how calmly and lightly Lu Li could pretend.
Was she supposed to just come out and say that he liked being whipped with a little leather whip?
Was that something to be proud of?
Ye Ran’s feelings grew increasingly complicated. She felt she couldn’t stay here much longer. If she did, she might actually have to reward the great villain with a little whip.
She downed the remaining tea in her cup in one gulp, then quickly stood and bowed to Lu Li.
“Thank you very much for the hospitality, Senior Brother. I just remembered that my master needs me for something, so I’ll be going now.”
“Farewell, little sister. Walk slowly.”
Even now, Lu Li remained perfectly gentle and polite.
Ye Ran felt that this was the most terrifying thing about Lu Li.
He knew exactly what was going on but didn’t call her out on it—just tortured her purely for his own amusement.
Ye Ran didn’t dare linger for a moment longer. She hurriedly turned and fled, as if a ferocious beast were chasing her from behind.
But after Ye Ran left, a tea cup appeared in Lu Li’s hand.
A fragrance still lingered on it. Even without bringing it to his nose, the scent was unmistakably strong.
Stronger than the trace left on his fingers last night. It continuously stimulated Lu Li’s nerves, tempting him to breathe it in deeply.
Lu Li’s fingers moved slightly, his thumb rubbing against the cup’s surface.
Since last month, every sword he had sent for repairs carried a faint fragrance on it. Although the scent was extremely light, to him, it held an inexplicable allure.
During that time, he had sought out many similar fragrances, but none could replace that sweet scent on the sword.
Until that night in the forest, when he smelled that fragrance again—even stronger than before.
He had discovered Ye Ran and confirmed the source of the scent.
But he never believed in coincidences.
Ye Ran showing up at his door today of her own accord was proof enough that her intentions were far from simple.
But whatever her purpose was, he would make her reveal her true colors.
A shadow of gloom deepened in Lu Li’s eyes. His fingers tightened, and the tea cup instantly crumbled into powder, along with the fragrance that vanished without a trace.
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