Xia He and Qiu Lan served as far more than mere attendants; they functioned as the razor-sharp blades of Ye Yun's personal guard, concealed beneath the guise of obedient servants.
Although they were only twenty years of age, they had already ascended to the Dao-Seeking Realm, their slender frames hiding immense power.
In any other sect, their innate talent would have propelled them to the status of inner disciples or even future elders; they would not have been inferior to the golden children of the Great Clans.
Yet, despite their capable hands and skilled blades, they remained content in their roles as Ye Yun's two personal maidservants.
Their brows remained knitted with a persistent, lingering worry, a tension that reflected the profound concern they harbored for their young master.
Having walked beside Ye Yun since their earliest childhood, the two of them understood the weight of their existence and the exact place they occupied in his life.
Ye Yun was more than their master; he was their divine owner, the sole pivot upon which their entire lives revolved—the one individual they were destined to serve unto death.
Only a few days ago, the household had been thrown into chaos when Ye Yun had impulsively attempted to break through to the next realm, only to be consumed by the insidious bite of inner demons and plunge into the abyss of Qi deviation.
He had collapsed like a broken doll, sinking into a deep, unresponsive coma that cast the two maids into a state of frantic, suffocating panic. Their breath came in short, jagged gasps as they struggled to notify the clan head of the crisis.
The patriarch's fury had been a living tempest; he had roared with a thunderous rage that shook the foundations of the palace, raining down a severe reprimand upon the two girls. However, the rage had halted short of execution.
In his heart, the patriarch knew that these two had grown up hand-in-hand with his son; their lives belonged to Ye Yun, and only he held the authority to decide their ultimate fate.
The clan head had summoned the most renowned celestial physicians in the realm, men and women whose hands held the power to undo the most dire of maladies.
Yet the diagnosis had been bleak: the inner demons had ravaged Ye Yun's mind, leaving severe, irreparable trauma that left the physicians powerless. There was nothing to be done but wait and pray that he might awaken on his own.
With no hope of a cure, the patriarch had ordered that Ye Yun be returned to his own palace to recover in peace, free from further disturbance.
For days and nights thereafter, Xia He and Qiu Lan had remained rooted to his side. They did not leave, and they scarcely slept; they watched his chest rise and fall, counting every shallow breath.
The skin beneath their eyes was now stained a bruised, weary crimson, a testament to their desperation and the endless hours they had spent in vigil.
When the sound of the door creaking open reached their ears, Xia He and Qiu Lan spun around with a sharp, jagged, exhausted intensity. For a moment, they stood paralyzed, blinking rapidly in a daze of profound disbelief.
Their gaze met the tall, lithe figure standing at the threshold—the familiar silhouette of their master.
A collective gasp escaped them, and their eyes widened, glimmering with a mix of shock and overwhelming joy.
They had carried a crushing weight of guilt, a suffocating shame for having stood by uselessly while their young master suffered.
To see him alive and standing before them, his expression calm and composed, broke the tension of a thousand nights.
Without a word, the two girls burst forward in a desperate, sobbing torrent of relief.
"Young Master!"
They threw themselves against him, their hands clutching frantically at his arms and shoulders, as if terrified that he might vanish if they let go for even a fraction of a second.
Ye Yun caught them in his arms, his mind whirling. He recalled them from his memories—the loyal protectors—but suddenly his vision flickered and changed.
[Name]: Xia He
[Age]: 20
[Identity]: Host's Personal Maidservant
[Cultivation]: Early Stage of Dao-Seeking Realm
[Physique]: Profound Yin Body
[Techniques]: Profound Yin Technique, Severing Soul Sword Technique
[Treasure]: Soul-Turning Sword (Divine Artifact)
[Destiny Value]: 10
[Loyalty]: 100 (Will Never Betray)
...
[Name]: Qiu Lan
[Age]: 20
[Identity]: Host's Personal Maidservant
[Cultivation]: Early Stage of Dao-Seeking Realm
[Physique]: Profound Yin Body
[Techniques]: Profound Yin Technique, Severing Soul Sword Technique
[Treasure]: Soul-Quelling Sword (Divine Artifact)
[Destiny Value]: 12
[Loyalty]: 100 (Will Never Betray)
He gazed at the translucent screens and then back at the two women clinging to him. The revelation that the system could discern their attributes was exhilarating.
The Profound Yin Body was a legendary constitution, one that demanded the highest level of protection and cultivation to reach its true potential.
In most sects, a woman born with such a body would be heralded as a miracle, groomed and shielded until she could ascend to the peaks of immortality.
Yet here, in the midst of the Ye Clan, they were merely handmaidens; it was a testament to the staggering depth of resources and talent the clan possessed.
What caught his eye the most, however, was the Loyalty statistic. One hundred—a perfect score, accompanied by a promise of eternal fidelity.
A warm, quiet serenity filled Ye Yun's chest. In a world where betrayal was the standard currency, he had secured two souls who would never turn their backs on him.
He contemplated the two beauties, their desperate tears soaking his white robes. To the world, they were peerless talents, but to him, they were his servants.
An ambitious, subtle smirk touched his lips. Let the world covet them; they belonged to him, now and always.
Xia He, noticing the strange look on his face, tightened her grip on his arm. Her voice trembled with a frantic, earnest worry.
"Young Master, are you truly alright? You mustn't be up; please, for your own sake, you need to return to bed and rest!"
She feared that his sudden recovery was a facade, that the inner demons still lurked beneath the surface of his mind, waiting for the moment he grew weak.
Beside her, Qiu Lan nodded feverishly, her eyes searching his for any sign of a relapse. "Please, Young Master. We were so frightened... do not push yourself and risk your life again."
Their raw, unvarnished devotion stirred something within Ye Yun. It was a stark contrast to the sycophancy he had experienced in his previous life; this was real.
Moved by their sincerity, Ye Yun relaxed his stance and drew them both into a firm, gentle embrace, his heart softening.
"All right, all right," he murmured with a low, soothing chuckle. "Do I look sick to you? Look at me—I'm better than I've ever been. Now, stop worrying."
Xia He and Qiu Lan stiffened in his arms, their bodies locking up in sheer, wide-eyed shock. They had stood as stone walls against the world for him, but they were utterly defenseless against his sudden tenderness.
Never before had the arrogant and volatile young master shown them such openness; to them, it was as if the stars had rearranged themselves in the sky.
As he gently released them, Ye Yun recalled that his predecessor had never harbored any interest in these two. There had been another woman.
The name and image of that girl came to him, but Ye Yun felt nothing; the lingering echoes of the original Ye Yun's desires were irrelevant to him.
He watched as the two maidservants stared at him in dazed silence, their faces flushed with a mixture of confusion and adoration.
He had evidently changed the trajectory of their world in a single moment.