Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5: She Caught Up
Just as Ye Liuyun thought she had finally stepped onto the path of cultivation, a voice suddenly rang out beside her ear—one that made her hair stand on end.
“Ye Liuyun! Ye Liuyun! Where are you? Come out! I know you came here!”
Ye Liuyun’s entire body stiffened. She slowly turned her head and looked behind her.
There she saw a spirited young girl in a fiery red dress riding a reddish-brown horse, arriving at the registration area.
“No way… she still managed to catch up to me? Damn it. That horse dealer claimed it was a thousand-li horse. If I ever see him again, I will settle the score,” Ye Liuyun muttered.
She now believed that the horse Lin Aoxue was riding was the true thousand-li horse.
The girl in red was indeed Lin Aoxue.
Her sharp gaze swept across the surroundings.
Very quickly, she noticed someone on the steps wearing the uniform of a Ye family maid.
She hesitated for a moment, then shouted loudly.
“Ye Liuyun! I see you! Stop right there!”
Lin Aoxue locked onto Ye Liuyun on the staircase. She immediately jumped off her horse and rushed toward the steps.
“Damn it! Brother Xiao, hurry,” Ye Liuyun whispered urgently.
She began climbing the steps faster, pretending she had not seen Lin Aoxue.
“Huh? Miss Ye, what is wrong? Do you know that girl in red?” Xiao Hansheng asked in confusion.
There was no way Ye Liuyun would admit she knew Lin Aoxue.
“No, I do not. We do not have much time. Let us hurry,” Ye Liuyun said as she quickened her pace.
“Ye Liuyun, stop right there!” Lin Aoxue continued shouting.
However, just as she was about to step onto the staircase, she was stopped by a Yunxia Sect disciple.
“Miss, mounts are not allowed on the trial staircase. We must also check your bone age,” the disciple said sternly.
Lin Aoxue grew increasingly anxious.
Seeing Ye Liuyun disappear from her sight, she had no choice but to tie her horse nearby and quickly register for the Yunxia Sect trial.
Once her age was verified, she rushed up the steps at remarkable speed.
Before long, she spotted Ye Liuyun again.
“Stop! Ye Liuyun, stop right there! You cannot escape!” Lin Aoxue shouted angrily.
When Ye Liuyun saw Lin Aoxue chasing her up the steps as well, she felt completely helpless.
She even forgot that she was technically a woman now. If she disguised herself properly, Lin Aoxue might not recognize her at all.
It was not that she lacked composure.
Rather, some instinct deep within her soul prevented her from remaining calm when facing Lin Aoxue.
But none of that mattered now.
“Brother Xiao, I will go ahead. I wish you success in the examination. Farewell.”
After leaving those words behind, Ye Liuyun lifted her skirt and ran as fast as she could, disappearing from Xiao Hansheng’s sight in an instant.
“Huh? Miss Ye, you…?” Xiao Hansheng was completely bewildered.
Seeing Ye Liuyun accelerate, Lin Aoxue’s face flushed with anger.
She sped up as well, chasing after her until both figures vanished at the end of the staircase.
“Strange… do those two know each other?” Xiao Hansheng muttered to himself.
Lin Aoxue soon caught sight of Ye Liuyun again.
However, she was somewhat confused.
The figure ahead did not quite resemble Ye Liuyun.
The back looked completely different.
If not for recognizing the maid uniform—which had been specially made for the Ye household—and knowing that Ye Liuyun had disguised himself as a maid to escape, she would never have shouted earlier.
If the person ahead truly were not Ye Liuyun, then there should have been no reaction.
So why did that person run the moment they saw her?
“Kid, you are acting like an idiot. You are a woman now. Why are you running? Even if she catches you, the moment she sees you are a woman, she will let you go. By running like this, you are basically admitting your identity,” Lin Qingyou said, rolling her eyes.
Ye Liuyun had already realized she had made a fatal mistake.
However, she could not properly explain it to Lin Qingyou.
Besides, this was not the time to think about such things.
No matter what, she absolutely could not be caught by Lin Aoxue.
If Lin Aoxue caught her, she would definitely drag her down the mountain.
And if Lin Aoxue discovered the truth about her identity, things would become utterly ridiculous.
As long as Ye Liuyun successfully passed the examination, everything would be fine.
Even if Lin Aoxue later discovered her identity, it would not matter anymore.
However, as the two of them climbed higher and higher, their speeds gradually slowed.
The staircase seemed to carry an invisible weight.
Their bodies grew heavier with every step.
Floating Cloud Mountain stood nearly nine thousand meters tall.
Even with stairs, climbing to such a height was extremely difficult.
Moreover, the staircase was likely enchanted with some kind of spell.
Three hours later, it was already noon.
Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue had reached the middle of the mountain.
Both possessed exceptional stamina.
They were far ahead of the other participants taking the test.
“Pant… pant… damn it… my body feels heavier and heavier,” Ye Liuyun muttered between breaths.
Her clothes were soaked with sweat.
Yet from the corner of her eye, she kept watching Lin Aoxue behind her.
The distance between them was less than three zhang.
“Ye Liuyun, stop running. Come back with me!” Lin Aoxue shouted with difficulty.
Hearing this, Ye Liuyun let out a heavy sigh.
“I cannot go back,” she replied.
Lin Aoxue became even angrier.
“Damn it, Ye Liuyun, what is wrong with you? We only asked you to come to our family. Even though the title is live-in son-in-law, in reality you would become the next head of our family. We are not actually humiliating you,” Lin Aoxue said.
She believed Ye Liuyun ran away because of the live-in son-in-law arrangement.
In fact, she had even told her family earlier that if Ye Liuyun disliked the idea, it would not matter.
When they had children in the future, one of them could simply take the surname Ye.
Hearing this, Ye Liuyun immediately replied,
“Aoxue… truly, I have my reasons.”
Lin Aoxue was not about to give up over such a vague explanation.
This was a determination she had held across two lifetimes.
In this life, their marriage was even officially arranged.
From the moment her past-life memories awakened, she had known she would marry Ye Liuyun when she grew up.
And she genuinely liked him.
She was completely willing.
What she could not understand was why Ye Liuyun seemed so resistant after being reborn.
He appeared strangely opposed to their childhood betrothal.
“Do you dislike me because of our past life? Or do you think I am not pretty enough in this life?” Lin Aoxue’s emotions began spiraling out of control.
Ye Liuyun rolled her eyes.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with whether you are beautiful or not,” she said helplessly.
The more Lin Aoxue listened, the angrier she became.
Her pace gradually increased as she slowly shortened the distance between them.
“Kid, your little wife is secretly speeding up,” Lin Qingyou reminded her.
Hearing this, Ye Liuyun glanced behind her.
Sure enough, at some point Lin Aoxue had closed the gap to less than two zhang.
“You… you actually sped up while talking to distract me. That is underhanded!” Ye Liuyun glared at Lin Aoxue before accelerating again.
Seeing that her tactic had been exposed, Lin Aoxue angrily sped up as well.
For Ye Liuyun, it now felt like being chased by a fierce tiger from behind.
She did not dare slow down for even a moment.
“Damn it. Old hag, I already reached the Spirit Stream Realm. Why is my stamina still worse than Lin Aoxue’s?” Ye Liuyun asked in confusion.
But Lin Qingyou’s next sentence stunned her.
“Because that girl is also in the Spirit Stream Realm. And her constitution is special. You, on the other hand, merely have an ordinary body.”
“What? She has already begun cultivating too? How is that possible? Since when? Why did I never know?” Ye Liuyun asked in bewilderment.
Lin Qingyou shook her head.