If the cave night had been retaliation gone extreme after being seduced and abandoned, then now that the truth had come out, Shen Nanyin considered the matter already settled between him and Cheng Xueyi.
What was done was done. They should both forget about it and return to their positions as ordinary sect siblings.
Judging by Cheng Xueyi’s demeanor right now, she clearly held a different opinion.
Shen Nanyin had faced the advances of countless female cultivators. He was far too skilled at handling this sort of thing.
His use of the words “self-respect” was delivered with real finesse — enough to fully convey his refusal without making Cheng Xueyi feel accused or humiliated.
He was so sincere about it that it almost made people think he was saying it out of respect for them.
In his heart, he approved of her ability to keep her composure, to part ways amicably.
Cheng Xueyi quietly studied the frost-wolf mask on his face. Her slender wrist loosened the cloak just as he’d wished — and just as Shen Nanyin thought she’d taken his words to heart, she instead wrapped it around his neck.
Not just wrapped — she yanked hard, pulling him down toward her.
She was lying on the blanket, dragging the man above her down with her, and however you looked at the position, it was all wrong. Shen Nanyin could not possibly comply.
He applied just a little strength, and Cheng Xueyi could no longer pull him down. She was clever too — she immediately switched to reaching for his mask instead.
He had no particular need to wear a mask around her, so Shen Nanyin didn’t resist much, and she succeeded easily.
The lifelike frost-wolf mask came off, and Cheng Xueyi saw the face beneath — like mist over green mountains.
The two of them were close, close enough that she could clearly see every mark on his face, and clearly see her own reflection in his eyes.
“Eldest Senior Brother.”
No matter how Shen Nanyin pulled at her arm, she wouldn’t release his neck. Shen Nanyin was a gentleman, unwilling to risk hurting her arm, and so for a moment he genuinely couldn’t break free.
Cheng Xueyi loved exactly this — that he clearly had the strength to break away, yet had to hold himself back for her sake.
She leaned in close to his ear and said, deeply meaningful: “And if I refuse to respect myself, what will you do?”
Shen Nanyin’s grip on her arm paused. His gaze fell on her face, taking in the anticipation written all over it.
He knew that expression well. Every female cultivator who had ever shown interest in him had worn that same hopeful look — but in the end, they all left disappointed. Some might even have shed tears.
Shen Nanyin always apologized to them, but never once left room for hope. He cut it off cleanly, decisively. · BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Novel | BlackLotusNovel
But somehow, he couldn’t quite picture these particular eyes in front of him shedding tears.
Golden light swept across both their faces, and Cheng Xueyi suddenly released his neck on her own. Shen Nanyin rose at once, opened the door, and left.
The first market session officially began. After the song and dance to liven the mood, the auction items came out.
Cheng Xueyi sat down on the cushion and lifted her sleeve to look at her wrist. Though Shen Nanyin had exercised great restraint and been extremely careful, there was still a faint bruise of blue-purple on her arm.
The pain was nothing much, but just before the door closed, Cheng Xueyi let out a soft hiss.
Shen Nanyin’s hand froze on the door.
Through the half-closed gap, he saw Cheng Xueyi frowning, gently rubbing the bruise on her wrist.
He stilled for a moment, then glanced down at his own hand, slowly and somewhat awkwardly curling it into a fist.
“Tonight’s first item.”
A ghostly figure whose face couldn’t be made out opened the sky-screen above the high platform, letting every guest in the private rooms see the treasure in full detail.
“A pair of tears formed over ten thousand years by an East Sea sea-demon. Excellent whether used for forging artifacts or crafting jewelry.”
The East Sea bordered the Central Plains, its waters vast and home to powerful sea-demons.
It was common knowledge that sea-demon tears were among the world’s greatest treasures — but sea-demons were vicious and fiercely united. Once, a cultivator had tried to imprison a sea-demon to extort its endless tears for profit, and the sea-demon clan had wiped out his entire family in response, sparing not even the children.
The one who had handled that matter was none other than the Eldest Senior Brother of Qiantian Sect — Shen Nanyin, who had now returned and sat back down beside her.
He paid no attention to the item on the platform. Today he was here only for the Moon-Mending Grass.
His gaze drifted, seemingly by chance, toward Cheng Xueyi’s arm. Unhurried, she let her sleeve fall back into place and rested her chin on her hand, meeting his eyes.
“How many sea-demons did Eldest Senior Brother kill back then?”
The tears being auctioned on stage — a pair formed over ten thousand years, rare in this world — said enough about who had won that battle between humankind and the sea-demons.
Naturally, it was Qiantian Sect. It was Shen Nanyin.
“When Eldest Senior Brother killed them, did they cry? Did their tears turn into pearls?”
Cheng Xueyi’s eyes were so pure and innocent, yet the tone of her question was strangely charged, her breathing somewhat uneven.
Her gaze burned into Shen Nanyin, as if this answer mattered a great deal to her.
She wasn’t a sea-demon herself — why did she seem to feel so much empathy for them?
Shen Nanyin studied her for a moment, then said evenly, “Human or demon, whoever bears guilt is judged according to their crime.”
Cheng Xueyi blinked. “Judged according to their crime?”
“The one who wronged that sea-demon deserved death for his sin — killing him in vengeance was justified. The rest were innocent.”
Cheng Xueyi understood. “So the sea-demons who killed other innocent humans — you killed all of them?”
Shen Nanyin frowned slightly. “Why would you think that?”
“Those who tortured and killed children, women, and the elderly — executed without mercy. Those who showed remorse, or had extenuating circumstances — imprisoned in the Demon-Suppressing Tower.”
Oh.
The Demon-Suppressing Tower.
Round and round, and back to where it all began.
The two of them looked away from each other in silent understanding. Shen Nanyin had thought to have a cup of tea, but remembering that Cheng Xueyi had used that very cup, he gave up on the idea.
The sea-demon tears were called out a few times, and the third time no one raised the bid, it would be sold. Cheng Xueyi, indifferent to it all, was growing restless waiting for the Moon-Mending Grass and hadn’t even bothered to track the final price — when suddenly she heard the person beside her change his tone and raise the bid.
“Guest in Private Room Three, one hundred thousand spirit stones.”
The ghostly figure called out the number with enthusiasm.
For the very first item to fetch one hundred thousand spirit stones was a fine start to tonight’s opening session.
After the spirit called the bid three times with no further offers, it happily announced that the tears now belonged to Shen Nanyin.
Cheng Xueyi stared at him, stunned. — Black Lotus novel Novel Chapters | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
…Wait.
The plan had changed.
One hundred thousand spirit stones??
What the hell??
Her mind raced through the calculation — how many years would she have to slave away in Taixuan Palace to earn that much?
She did have spirit stones on her right now, but no more than two hundred-odd thousand.
If a single pair of tears went for a hundred thousand, wouldn’t the Moon-Mending Grass go for a million?
She’d apparently still underestimated just how wealthy these human cultivators were.
Shen Nanyin actually had money left in his account!
The Moon-Mending Grass hadn’t even come up yet, and he’d already spent a hundred thousand on something else!
Cheng Xueyi was so furious her head throbbed. If she’d known, she would have robbed him blind earlier!
How had she not considered that prices inside the first session of the Ghost Market would be so wildly different from those outside the Crimson Tower?
In her usual life at the outer sect and Taixuan Palace, she never encountered wealthy cultivators. On the rare missions down to the mortal realm, most of the commoners she met were poor. As for Heart-Devouring Valley… not even worth mentioning — if not for the fact that cultivation let her ignore hunger, that god-forsaken place would have left her struggling just to eat.
Having been poor for so long, stumbling here of all places filled Cheng Xueyi with regret.
She’d walked the entire Ghost Market to study the prices beforehand, confident she’d been careful enough — and she’d still failed.
Cheng Xueyi broke into a cold sweat with anxiety, but there was clearly no time now to scrounge up more funds.
She thought it over, bit her lip, and decided her best option was to fleece the person sitting beside her.
“Eldest Senior Brother spends so generously — I suppose years of cultivation have let you build up quite a hoard of spirit stones?” She began by generously praising his taste. “That pair of tears Eldest Senior Brother won — used to forge an artifact, they’d surely bring it to the very top tier. Or made into a defensive piece of jewelry, they’d be stunning, truly a feast for the eyes.”
She looked over his hair crown appraisingly. “Mm, set into Eldest Senior Brother’s hair crown, they’d suit your black hair perfectly. Nothing could be more fitting.”
“You think it would look good?”
Shen Nanyin simply replied with that.
Cheng Xueyi nodded earnestly. “It would look lovely. Best suited as a hair ornament.”
She felt that anything used on him personally would come across as unbecoming — a hair crown was really the only fitting choice.
As for forging an artifact, he was already covered head to toe in top-tier magic items — what would he need tears for?
It had to be meant for some kind of jewelry. Perhaps… prepared for Fu Jinghua?
Something shifted in Cheng Xueyi’s eyes, and she murmured, as if offhandedly, “I heard from Senior Brother Li the other day that Eldest Senior Brother is to be married to the Saintess of the Desireless Heavenly Palace. If it’s meant as jewelry for the Saintess, that would make perfect sense too.”
Shen Nanyin’s gaze lifted sharply, his tone unreadable. “I’m to be married?” He turned slightly. “To the Saintess?”
“Why don’t I know about this?”
…So it really wasn’t true, then.
Cheng Xueyi put on a look of confusion. “It was the day before I came to find you — Senior Brother Li Shoudao told me.”
She poured it on shamelessly: “Senior Brother Li said it was inside information, and he sounded absolutely certain about it. Since he’s a disciple under Daoist Lord Guangwen, I believed him.”
Having believed such news, and having then been deceived emotionally by a face-changing demon — surely whatever extreme thing she’d done afterward was understandable, wasn’t it?
Cheng Xueyi put on a thoroughly heartbroken expression.
Shen Nanyin studied her for a moment, then looked away. “My junior martial brother’s disciple.”
In his mind, he matched the name to a face.
“Li Shoudao’s information is false. I am not engaged to anyone, nor do I have any intention of marrying in this life. Those rumors were likely spread by junior martial brother’s disciples on his orders, to give the people of the Desireless Heavenly Palace some pretext for entering Qiantian Sect.” — black lotus Translation | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
Fu Jinghua and her brother Fu Xiaoran had come to help repair the Demon-Suppressing Tower. Given who they were, they normally kept a low profile and stayed out of sight — so their sudden arrival at another sect needed some kind of explanation. The matter of receiving them had indeed been handed to Yu Buran, though Shen Nanyin hadn’t expected him to spread it around like this.
Cheng Xueyi listened to his explanation and understood the full picture now, though in her heart she’d already stopped caring about any of it.
She was trying to work out how to steer the conversation toward borrowing money — this had to happen before the Moon-Mending Grass came up.
Just as she opened her mouth, she heard Shen Nanyin say, “You needn’t speculate further. I bid on those tears for you.”
Cheng Xueyi thought she’d misheard and rubbed her ears hard. “What did you say?”
Shen Nanyin’s warm, handsome eyes slowly lowered, settling on her arm, now hidden again beneath her sleeve.
“Earlier I only meant to free myself — I didn’t mean to hurt you. I lost track of my strength. My apologies.”
His gaze rose again to meet her eyes, and he said seriously, “Consider those tears an apology.”
“If you think it would make a nice hair ornament, once we’re back at the sect I’ll have it made into a hairpin clasp. You can wear it in your braid.”
Cheng Xueyi’s hand drifted unconsciously, following his words, to the end of her braid, where a pair of shell hairpin clasps sat.
Sea-demon tears were, of course, far more precious and beautiful than ordinary shells.
Cheng Xueyi stared at Shen Nanyin in a daze for a long while. Item after item passed by on the stage, and it wasn’t until just before the headline Moon-Mending Grass came up that she finally gathered her wits and cooled her head again.
To Shen Nanyin, who had already taken her silence as acceptance, she said, “Eldest Senior Brother, jewelry means nothing to me — it’s just a worldly thing, not important.”
She widened her eyes, her expression brimming with tender affection, radiant and bright. “Why not — cash it out instead?”
