One Sword Freezes Fourteen Provinces, Part 3

“Mu Hanyuan, are you insane?!”

In a mental transmission, Mu Hanyuan, kneeling low, heard Yun Yao’s voice teetering on the edge of explosion.
Amid the hall’s incredulous murmurs, he straightened, responding via transmission.
“Master taught me to embrace the world. In doing so, I realized one thing.”

“What?”

“The world is chaotic—fame, wealth, and desires are fleeting clouds, ensnaring the heart, leaving one at fate’s mercy. To break free from destiny’s chains, one must do one thing—”
Mu Hanyuan lowered his gaze.
“Never conceal one’s true heart.”

“…”

“If I hide my heart for the sake of circumstance today, tomorrow I’ll drift with the tide, a mere pawn in fate’s game.”

“…”

Yun Yao wanted to curse his sophistry, but her mind drifted unbidden to her past life, veiled in clouds.
Though she hated to admit it, her own concealment had sown bitter fruit.

Centuries earlier, as a young girl new to the sect, she’d caused trouble and wept before her master. Old Taiyi comforted her, chuckling as he patted her head.
[Little Yun Yao, how can the world control you? If you don’t control your heart, how can your body be your own?]

The memory dissolved like mist.

In the present, Mingde Hall buzzed with undercurrents, shocked glances darting between Yun Yao and Mu Hanyuan.

Even Chu Tianchen was stunned, never expecting Mu Hanyuan’s resolute admission.
Regaining himself, he roared, “Such… such a traitorous, master-defying, ethics-violating disciple! How can Qianmen tolerate you? If I don’t expel you today, where does that leave Qianmen’s honor?!”
He turned, glaring at the shocked elders and disciples. “Where are the Enforcement Hall disciples?!”

“…Here.”
After hesitant replies, two Enforcement Hall disciples exchanged glances, slowly stepping forward from the crowd.

“What are you dawdling for?” Chu Tianchen pointed furiously at Mu Hanyuan. “Expel him—”

“Elder Chu.”
Mu Hanyuan finally broke his mental link with Yun Yao, his voice cold and calm.
“You have no authority to expel me from Qianmen.”

Chu Tianchen’s anger surged. “Oh, you think—”

“Qianmen’s rules, Chapter Thirteen, Article Twelve: True disciples can only be punished or expelled by their master.”
Mu Hanyuan rose, facing Chu Tianchen. “Before my title, I was a true disciple for over a hundred and eighty years.”

“…”
Chu Tianchen’s flushed face froze.

From a corner, a disciple flipped through a thick Qianmen rulebook, pages rustling, before excited voices rang out:
“It’s true!”
“Word for word!”
“As expected of Lord Hanyuan…”
“Shh.”

More disciples’ gazes fell on Chu Tianchen, his face darkening, voice hoarse. “Even so, with such treachery, I don’t believe anyone can shield you—”

“Pray tell, Elder Chu, which rule have I violated?”

“You!”
Chu Tianchen’s shout caught in his throat. He summoned the heavy rulebook from the corner.
But before his divine sense could scan it, Mu Hanyuan’s clear voice made the pages tremble:

“Qianmen’s rules, thirty-three chapters, one thousand eight hundred ninety-two articles—I’ve violated none.”

With a wave of his sleeve, the rulebook slipped from Chu Tianchen’s grasp, landing in Mu Hanyuan’s outstretched palm.
His slender fingers brushed the closed book.
Golden pages burst forth, swirling through the hall, displaying countless golden tadpole-like rules and articles.

“If the elders doubt me,” Mu Hanyuan spread his sleeve, expression serene, “please verify each one.”

Faced with one thousand eight hundred ninety-two rules, Chu Tianchen: “…”
The elders: “…”
The silent disciples: “…”

After a deathly quiet, murmurs arose from the hall’s corners.

“Clothes must be spotless upon entering the sect?”
“What? Even in our cave abodes, we must dress formally?”
“No drinking in the sect?!”
“Heavens, who wrote these perverse rules?”
“Shh! Don’t speak carelessly. They were set by Fourth Martial Uncle Ancestor of the Seven Prodigies.”
“Oh… that explains it.”
“I’m doomed—I’ve broken seven already.”
“Forget you, my master and martial uncle broke several—ow! Who hit me?”

An elder silenced the last speaker with a swift strike.

The frozen elders stirred. One spoke, “Lord Hanyuan… Mu Hanyuan is correct. He hasn’t…”
But further scrutiny was unnecessary.

Chu Tianchen’s voice rose, trembling over their heads. “…That’s because Fourth Martial Uncle Ancestor, when setting these rules, never imagined a disciple would dare harbor improper feelings for their master!”

Yun Yao, expressionless, gripped her teacup to steady herself.
She thought, True enough.
Her Fourth Senior Brother, who crafted these one thousand eight hundred ninety-two rules, never foresaw his troublemaking little junior sister taking a disciple even more troublesome.

As she mused, Mu Hanyuan’s voice, clear as jade, drowned the hall’s murmurs. “Hanyuan knows his transgression and has failed Master’s teachings. I request three hundred lashes of the Soul-Chilling Whip, to warn the world and set an example.”

“—!”

The hall fell silent.

The two Enforcement Hall disciples shuddered, staring at Mu Hanyuan as if he were a monster.

The Soul-Chilling Whip, Qianmen’s harshest punishment, stripped a century’s cultivation per lash, piercing heart and bone, a fate worse than death. Used only for master-defying traitors, it hadn’t appeared in a hundred eighty years.
The last time, a disciple who nearly killed a peer for a treasure endured ten lashes, losing all cultivation, becoming a crippled wreck, half-dead when expelled.

“Three… hundred?”

Chu Tianchen’s beard twitched, instinctively glancing at Yun Yao on the main seat.

The red-robed woman stared down expressionlessly, her hand empty—the teacup now a pile of dust on the table.

The hall was silent for moments, then erupted in chaos—chairs scraping, voices clamoring.

“Elder Chu, this mustn’t be!”
“The Sect Leader isn’t back! This can’t be decided!”
“Lord Hanyuan, reconsider your words!”
“Brother Mu!”

But no voices stopped it. The Enforcement Hall’s doors opened, the Soul-Chilling Whip was summoned, slicing through clouds and entering the hall.

The whip, radiating icy light, hovered in the hall’s center, dropping the temperature sharply.

Chu Tianchen, suppressing rage, transmitted to the Enforcement Hall elder. “Who told you to actually summon it?!”

“It wasn’t me!” The elder protested.
“If not you, then who—”

Before he finished, the whip’s spiritual glow faded, falling into Mu Hanyuan’s raised palms.

It passed countless shocked or pained gazes, stopping before the silent, fist-clenched, red-robed woman.
Mu Hanyuan knelt a丈 (about 3.3 meters) from her red skirt, raising the whip to brow level.

“I beg Master to administer justice.”

“…”

Yun Yao’s knuckles trembled, her body rigid. Turning back, her faintly reddened eyes—whether from anger or something else—glared fiercely at him.
Her mental transmission was sharp as shattered ice. “Are you seeking death?!”

“If I don’t die,” Mu Hanyuan looked up, “please allow me to remain by your side.”

“—!”

After a tense pause, Yun Yao rose slowly.
Her mental transmission turned to a public declaration.

“Fine,” she loosened her clenched jaw, taking the whip, its coldness chilling her heart. “Today, I’ll beat this rebellious disciple to death, sparing myself endless worry!”

“Martial Uncle Ancestor!”
“No!”
“Quick, send word to the Sect Leader!”
“Martial… Martial Uncle!”

Even Ding Xiao, watching from a corner, couldn’t hold back, frantically transmitting, “Martial Uncle, that whip is deadly! Below Soul Transformation, ten lashes are unbearable. Three hundred would kill a god! You can’t listen to Lord Hanyuan!”

“Stop blabbering,” Yun Yao cut her off. “Stand close to me during the punishment.”

Ding Xiao: “…”
“?”

An incense stick later.

Qianmen, Fengtian Peak, Enforcement Hall.
The punishment arena.

Spirit-binding chains, like thorny iron, restrained Mu Hanyuan’s wrists and ankles. Stripped of his outer robe, clad only in white inner robes, he knelt at the arena’s center.

Golden runes surged on the chains, thicker than three arms combined. An Enforcement Hall disciple checked them, nodding to an elder outside, then glanced pityingly at the arena—after removing his lotus crown, Mu Hanyuan’s hair, bound by a golden lotus jade pin, cascaded like a waterfall, his expression solitary.
Before him, a丈 away, a red-robed woman stood against the wind, gripping the icy Soul-Chilling Whip, its tail freezing the ground with frost.

Below the arena, Chu Tianchen stepped forward, standing beside the Enforcement Hall elder.

The elder hesitated. “The chains are active. Lord Hanyuan can’t use spiritual energy to shield himself.”

“?” Chu Tianchen turned, glaring. “Who ordered the chains?”

The elder was helpless. “With all the elders and disciples watching, has anyone ever faced the punishment arena without chains?”

Chu Tianchen turned back, fuming.
His brows twitched, voice low. “Has the Sect Leader responded?”

“He has.”
“Then why not relay his order—”

“The Sect Leader said Little Martial Uncle Ancestor has the highest seniority and cultivation. Hanyuan is her disciple. Since she agreed, he can’t intervene.”
“—?”

Chu Tianchen glared again.

The elder sighed. “Elder Chu, you demanded the crime and punishment. Why am I the one in trouble?”

“I meant to expel him! He tarnished Qianmen’s name and defied ethics! When did I say to ruin his cultivation or take his life?!”
Chu Tianchen turned to the arena—

At the disciple’s command, the red-robed woman raised the whip coldly.

Crack!

The merciless lash struck Mu Hanyuan’s back.
He shuddered, lurching forward, only to be yanked back by the chains.

The vast punishment arena fell deathly silent, not a sound heard.

If not for the blood staining his white robes, they’d have thought Yun Yao held back!

“…”
Chu Tianchen’s eyes nearly split, muttering through gritted teeth, “That ruthless woman.”

Crack!

The second lash.

“—”
Mu Hanyuan gripped the chains, tightening them. His pale fingers bulged with veins, like ridges in a field.

Ding Xiao, standing close to Yun Yao, flinched, barely resisting covering her eyes. She turned away, transmitting, “Martial Uncle, you—”

Crack!

The third lash.

Blood sprayed, flesh torn.
His white robes were now crimson.

Mu Hanyuan bowed his head, gripping the chains, not uttering a sound.

Ding Xiao’s transmission grew frantic. “Martial Uncle, lighter, lighter! You’ll kill Lord Hanyuan!!”

She expected no reply, as before.

But Yun Yao’s voice came, hoarse.
“…I should beat this stubborn fool to death.”
“Why can’t I do it?”

Ding Xiao froze, looking up.

Yun Yao ordered, “Come hold me. Don’t let anyone else interfere.”

“…Huh?” Ding Xiao was stunned.

As Yun Yao raised the whip for the fourth lash, Ding Xiao instinctively averted her eyes.

But no crack came. Instead, the red-robed figure froze, then, like a falling leaf, collapsed onto the cold arena.

Thud.

The arena was stunned silent.

Ding Xiao snapped back, shrieking as she rushed up. “Martial Uncle! What’s wrong?!”

Clutched in Ding Xiao’s arms, nearly smothered, Yun Yao cracked open an eye, signaling, “Stop wailing. Get me back to the peak before they notice—”

Her transmission was cut off by the sound of snapping chains.

Before Ding Xiao could react, a bloodied hand, still dragging broken chains, covered Yun Yao’s waist.
Mu Hanyuan pulled her close, his voice low and trembling. “Master?”

Ding Xiao stared, dumbstruck.

It was the first time she’d seen panic in Mu Hanyuan’s usually cold demeanor.

“…?”

Yun Yao, panicking while feigning unconsciousness, transmitted to Ding Xiao, “I told you to hold me and keep others away!!”

Ding Xiao, near tears: “How could I compete with him?”

Below the arena, staring at the four broken chains, Chu Tianchen, both relieved and furious, glared at the Enforcement Hall elder. “Is your hall made of paper?”

The elder was baffled. “Impossible… He must have a treasure countering the spiritual seal—”

Before he finished, on the arena, the golden lotus on Mu Hanyuan’s jade pin flashed.

The next moment, before Qianmen’s elders and disciples, a bald child with a golden lotus mark on his forehead appeared, diving at Yun Yao’s legs. “Mother! What’s wrong, Mother?”

Yun Yao: “…?”
The crowd: “?????”

After two breaths of shock, Yun Yao’s head tilted, and she fully “fainted.”