Chapter 271: Who Is It?

She picked up the jade talisman again, and did not immediately reply to Jing Liu.

Instead, she opened another communication channel and contacted Black Curtain Lady.

After a brief wait, the connection was established.

Bai Hang lowered her voice, carrying an unmistakable fatigue and a hint of pleading:

"Master… that, Jing Liu… has already spoken plainly."

As soon as her words fell, a few leaves on the dense qiong flower tree in the courtyard corner trembled unnaturally, emitting an almost inaudible "rustle."

Yet the agitated Bai Hang paid no attention at all.

On the other end of the communication, Heimu, who was walking along a secluded street in Xianzhou, paused slightly.

She was silent for a moment, then responded via Spiritual Link, voice Calm, revealing no emotion:

"She laid her cards outright? What do you think?"

Bai Hang clenched the jade talisman, her fingertips turning slightly pale.

She stared at Jing Liu's line on the screen, "You are Bai Hang, right?" and recalled those words, recalling everything Jing Liu had endured alone…

"I…"

Bai Hang's voice was a bit hoarse, "I don't want to keep lying any longer. To her… I can't."

Heimu on the other side fell silent again for a moment, then a sigh was heard.

"I understand."

Heimu's voice remained steady, "This is a matter between you and her. My suggestion is… handle it yourself."

After a pause, she added another sentence, her tone carrying a hint of gentleness:

"Follow your true heart, Bai Hang. But remember, you are not alone now. Whatever choice you make, the consequences… we will bear together."

The communication was hung up.

Bai Hang held the slightly warm jade talisman, standing still, unmoving for a long time.

Black Curtain Lady's final words were like a warm current, pouring into her cold and chaotic thoughts, calming her a little.

(Follow… one's true heart?)

She looked again at the screen of the jade talisman, at Jing Liu's brief yet weighty question.

In her azure eyes, struggle, guilt, nostalgia, resolve…

Past events, emotions intertwined, finally settling slowly into a light bearing relief and a certain determination.

She lifted her finger and began typing on the screen.

Each character was struck slowly, with great force.

【Bai Xing (about to disappear): Yes.】

【Bai Xing: I am Bai Hang.】

Click, send.

The moment the message turned to "Read" status, Bai Hang seemed to have exhausted all her strength, gently closing her eyes.

What is meant to come, will always come.

Yet the new message notification sound on the jade talisman, which she was waiting for, did not sound.

Instead came a voice so cold it seemed able to freeze the air, familiar enough to make her soul shudder, clearly coming from behind her—toward the qiong flower tree:

"…I understand."

The voice paused, each word squeezed out of its teeth, carrying a storm suppressed to the extreme:

"Then can you explain…"

Bai Hang's body instantly stiffened!

Her blood seemed to solidify at that moment!

She turned her head bit by bit in disbelief.

Under the shadow of the qiong flower tree, a silhouette wearing a black Eye Mask stood there, having been there for an unknown amount of time.

The wind fluttered her garment hem and hair strands, yet could not disperse the icy chill surrounding her that was nearly tangible.

Jing Liu looked toward Bai Hang's direction; the black Eye Mask covered her eyes, yet made that icy stare even more imposing.

She slowly raised her hand, pointing at the still-lit jade talisman in Bai Hang's hand, her voice sharper than the winter night wind:

"…'Master', who is it?"

Bai Hang's pupils suddenly contracted.

The jade talisman in her hand went "clack", falling onto the icy stone table.

The air solidified as if it could hammer out ice shards.

Bai Hang's mind went blank, the only thought being "What to do".

Why is Jing Liu here? Didn't she say she would leave for a while?

Could it be that she never left, having been lurking nearby all along?!

The conversation she just had with Black Curtain Lady… was heard in full?!

A massive wave of panic and shame instantly engulfed her, making it hard to breathe.

She instinctively tried to change the subject, her voice hoarse and strained:

"Um, Jing, Jing Liu, didn't you say… you'd disappear for a while? How…"

"That 'Master', who is it?"

Jing Liu's voice was colder than the chill surrounding her, mercilessly cutting off her pale defense.

The black Eye Mask precisely locked onto Bai Hang's direction, each word like an Ice Cone, chiseled into Bai Hang's heart.

The atmosphere once again fell into a deeper ice cellar.

Bai Hang's complexion flickered unpredictably, white one moment, red the next, and the anxiety made the whites of Bai Hang's eyes start to feel sour.

(Help... how do I explain this? That the master is the Black Curtain Lady who pulled me back from the brink of death? That I am now working for the master? Doesn't that sound more like being forced and controlled by an evil force?!)

Seeing Bai Hang's complicated, frantic expression, which clearly hid something unspeakable, Jing Liu's heart sank straight down, and Jing Liu's face turned dreadfully gloomy.

Jing Liu dared not think too deeply, fearing that if Jing Liu thought further, the barely suppressed demonic Yin body agitation would erupt uncontrollably on the spot.

Jing Liu needed an explanation, immediately, right now!

Bai Hang felt as if she were about to be crushed by Jing Liu's invisible yet mountain‑heavy aura, and her mind screamed wildly: Anyone! Anyone will do! Come save me!

As if answering the call from her heart—

"Ah~ we're back! Ah Bai, the new Taninu candy shop at the alley entrance tastes pretty good! I even brought you a bit... uh?"

A light, brisk footstep and Sai Fei Er's lively voice came from the courtyard gate.

The silver‑haired cat‑girl carried a small bag of snacks, hopped in, and was followed by a calmly‑faced Xi Tong.

Sai Fei Er, halfway through her sentence, sharply sensed the atmosphere in the courtyard had become extremely eerie.

Sai Fei Er's gaze swept over the pallid, on‑the‑verge‑of‑crying Bai Hang, then landed on Jing Liu, whose whole body exuded a forbidding chill that said "no strangers allowed (even closer acquaintances forbidden)"; Sai Fei Er's cat ears perked up alertly, and Tail also stopped its leisurely swing.

(Wow... this atmosphere... is ten times scarier than a teahouse!)

Although Sai Fei Er loves to play and make mischief, intuition tells Sai Fei Er that now is not the time for jokes.

Sai Fei Er blinked her blue eyes, strained to pull out a relatively natural smile, trying to smooth things over:

"Eh hey~ Jing Liu Miss is also here? What a coincidence! So... want to try the newly released candy? It tastes really good..."

However, before she could finish speaking—

"Clang!"

A clear, chilling sword sound rang out!

Jing Liu didn't even turn around, and with a reverse hand an Ice Sword emitting icy blossoms materialized!

Although it was made only of ice, at this moment in Jing Liu's hand it radiated a chilling killing intent no less than any divine weapon!

The sword tip pointed straight at the Sai Fei Er who had just entered.

The cold air instantly spread like a substance, and the air in the direction the sword tip pointed condensed into fine ice crystals!

"Meow!"

Sai Fei Er's whole fur sparked, her blue eyes widened, and she instinctively stepped back half a pace.

"Jing Liu!"

Bai Hang shouted in surprise, trying to move forward, but the icy sword intent and Jing Liu's terrifying low pressure pinned her firmly to the spot.

Jing Liu's hand was steady, and the sword tip did not tremble at all.

Jing Liu's gaze still pierced through the black Eye Mask, locking onto Bai Hang with a dead‑eye stare, as if to see through her entirely and pin her to the ground, but the words that slipped from Jing Liu's mouth were addressed to Sai Fei Er, cold to the point of having no warmth:

"This is none of your business. Step back."

Sai Fei Er swallowed, wisely deciding to temporarily Shut Up (Cocktail Technique), and quietly slipped a little further behind Xi Tong.

Sai Fei Er could feel that at this moment Jing Liu truly would draw a sword without hesitation.

At the same time, a stream of data silently flashed across Xi Tong's eyes.

Xi Tong quickly used an internal link to send an urgent message to the Black Curtain Lady, who was elsewhere on Xianzhou:

【Lady, a sudden emergency has occurred at Bai Hang's location. Jing Liu's emotions are extremely unstable, and she has drawn her sword. Requesting instructions.】