Chapter Thirty-Six: A Familiar Stranger

“Junior sister? Hong Jian?”
Hong Jian’s face grew increasingly pale, and Jian Hui sensed something was wrong, quickly speaking up to stop her.
Hong Jian opened her eyes, still somewhat dazed. She looked straight at Jian Hui, whose face was full of concern, and felt as though her heart was being squeezed so tightly she could hardly breathe.
She had never seen that necklace before, but the snowy-white sea pearls threaded onto it were deeply familiar. After Senior Sister Yao Zhen disappeared, she had visited her residence. On Yao Zhen’s dressing table was a jewelry box containing a pair of earrings adorned with the same pearls.
If she wasn’t mistaken, the necklace and the earrings were clearly a matching set—they belonged to Senior Sister Yao.
Jian Hui asked in surprise, “Why do you look so unwell? Did something happen? Or did you find my instructions unsuitable?”
As Hong Jian looked at Jian Hui, his gentle and amiable face suddenly felt utterly strange to her. The realization came so abruptly that her mind was thrown into chaos; she had no idea how to react. Instinctively, she pressed her lips together and shook her head.
Jian Hui noticed Hong Jian’s sudden oddness, smiled thoughtfully, and said, “What’s this now? You little thing, so mysterious! Is there anything we can’t talk about?”
Hong Jian silently cursed; this was bad. She had no time to ponder how Senior Sister Yao’s jewelry could have appeared in this room—her only thought was to escape as quickly as possible. Seeing Jian Hui’s suspicion, she forced a smile and tried to cover up, “I understand what you taught me, but just now, I don’t know why—my sea of consciousness suddenly felt like it was being stabbed by needles.”
In her haste, Hong Jian couldn’t think of a better excuse. Jian Hui knew her spiritual sense was unusual, so she hoped this explanation would suffice and he would stop questioning her.
Sure enough, Jian Hui only looked puzzled, his long brows furrowing with apparent concern. “How could that be? Is your spiritual sense not only powerful, but also harboring some hidden danger?”
Hong Jian widened her eyes and studied him carefully. His concerned expression seemed open and honest, as if he hadn’t considered anything else. He was always kind to her, never holding anything back when teaching her. Thinking this way, Hong Jian almost convinced herself that he had nothing to do with Yao Zhen’s disappearance, and replied, awkward and flustered, “I don’t… think so.”
Her uncertain tone sounded suspicious to Jian Hui, who scolded her, “You shouldn’t practice anymore for now—be careful not to harm your spiritual sense. You silly girl, haven’t you learned enough from my mistakes?”

These few words gave Hong Jian enough time to compose herself. She lowered her head and admitted fault, obediently agreeing to pause her cultivation, then took her leave from Jian Hui’s residence.
The sun blazed overhead as Hong Jian walked back like a wandering soul. How could such a thing happen? At that moment, she realized helplessly that, aside from Fang Zheng, whom she cared for, there was not a single person in the vast Dan Cliff Sect whom she could truly trust or confide in.
What kind of person was Senior Brother Jian Hui, really?
Hong Jian suddenly stopped. It didn’t seem difficult to find out more about him.
She extended her spiritual sense, confirming there was no one nearby. She was standing at least a hundred yards from Jian Hui’s residence; according to him, a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s spiritual sense only covered a few dozen yards. As long as he stayed inside, he couldn’t detect her from such a distance. Hong Jian turned around, took out the “Fortunate Border” she’d kept hidden, activated her true energy, and quietly retraced her steps.
There was no point in trying to observe Jian Hui from afar with her spiritual sense—she remembered clearly that Jian Hui had once said she’d be detected instantly if she tried to probe him that way. If the artifact “Fortunate Border” was as effective as the mysterious figure had claimed, she could conceal her presence completely and approach unseen, to find out what Senior Brother Jian Hui was doing after she left.
Her cultivation had improved considerably since she first acquired “Fortunate Border”; subtracting the energy spent on the journey, she estimated she could maintain the artifact’s power for at least a quarter of an hour.
It was the first time she put “Fortunate Border” to such important use, and her excitement outweighed her anxiety. She approached Jian Hui’s residence, using the flowering trees for cover, thinking, “Maybe I handled things well earlier, and Senior Brother didn’t notice anything.”
She’d already noted the half-open window. The “Fortunate Border” in her hand was indeed miraculous. She managed to get within a wall’s width of Jian Hui, able to spy through the window’s gap and see everything he did inside, yet he—at Foundation Establishment—remained completely unaware.
Jian Hui sat with his eyes lowered, meditating in the room.
After a while, he stirred, opened his eyes, and stood up from his round stool.
Hong Jian realized her earlier hope was in vain, because Jian Hui’s next action was to walk to the stone couch, bend down, and suddenly pull it outward. Then she heard him sigh softly, “So that’s how it is.”
Hong Jian peered in, seeing him holding the necklace in his hand.

Hong Jian scarcely dared to breathe, wishing Jian Hui would turn around so she could observe his expression clearly.
Jian Hui stood with head bowed, his long fingers fiddling with the pearls on the necklace, as though pondering how to handle the matter before him.
After a moment, he raised his head—Hong Jian could still only see most of the back of his head—then his fingers suddenly clenched, and the necklace instantly disintegrated into powder. Like dust, it fell through his fingers onto the floor, and with a sweep of his sleeve, the last trace vanished, scattered to some unknown corner.
He then restored the stone couch to its original position, finally turning his face—now expressionless.
That was enough. Hong Jian didn’t dare linger, quietly leaving Jian Hui’s residence.
Estimating that she was beyond the range of his spiritual sense, Hong Jian put away “Fortunate Border,” trudging back with heavy steps, her brief excitement from the risk already faded, replaced by deep worry and exhaustion.
Jian Hui had been surprised to see the necklace, but hadn’t shown much alarm at its appearance by his bedside. Besides, Hong Jian couldn’t convince herself that Yao Zhen had nothing to do with him.
She sighed, cursing her own stupidity. Even if Yao Zhen knew the person who gave her the “Fortunate Border,” she couldn’t have obtained the “Moonlight Pill” on her own. There must have been another cultivator of at least Foundation Establishment level from Dan Cliff Sect involved. How could she have overlooked such an obvious truth? And now, it was clearly Jian Hui.
The person in the Endless Sea was likely doomed, and as for Senior Sister Yao Zhen’s disappearance—how much was her third senior brother Jian Hui entangled in it? Worst of all, today she had failed to act as if nothing had happened; now, both she and Jian Hui knew something was amiss between them. What would Jian Hui do next?