Sword of Coming

Martial Artist Cao Ci and fist techniques...

Sword Cultivator Ning Yao and sword techniques...

It was as if they innately possessed a mystical might of heaven and earth.

This was different from Chen Ping’an’s first bonded flying sword, Caged Sparrow, and Qi Jinglong’s Regulation, which had supposedly manifested from his studies, with both of these bonded flying swords able to create an isolated small world.

Thus, a strange phenomenon appeared when Ning Yao stepped forward with sword in hand and prepared to slice through the demon formation.

The demon army had already ground to a halt, and it shockingly fell into an involuntary retreat at this moment, causing the front line to cluster together and appear extremely swollen.

Perhaps this was the instinct and nature of living beings nurtured by the heavens as they faced the mystical might of heaven and earth. This was akin to people experiencing the scorching heat and freezing chill of the four seasons.

In reality, Chen Ping’an was also very eager to see Ning Yao unleashing sword strikes without restraint. After all, he had never witnessed her true ability on the battlefield before.

As for Sword Immortal, which Chen Ping’an had gone through immense difficulty to tame slightly, it was behaving like an obedient little girl in Ning Yao’s hand after behaving like a grumpy old man in his possession. However, this didn’t bother Chen Ping’an in the least.

Ning Yao slowly walked forward, not in any hurry to launch the first sword strike.

Golden light flowed through Sword Immortal, and coupled with the golden Dao robe that was already eye-catching to begin with, Ning Yao appeared like a paramount deity walking through the human world.

Chen Ping’an seized this opportunity to use his mind’s lake to ask Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo about the details of their advance through the demon formation just then. For example, approximately how many demon cultivators were at the Dragon Gate Tier and Golden Core Tier and hadn’t suffered heavy wounds, what these demons looked like, what immortal techniques and mystical abilities they possessed, and what bonded items they owned.

Chen Ping’an had been more focused on trying to identify the concealed demon sword cultivators and sacrificial demons just then, so it was inevitable that he would have overlooked many of these details.

It would be pointless to ask Die Zhang or Dong Huafu, what with the way their flying swords chaotically flew around to hack demons to death. It was very likely they couldn’t even keep count of their military merit.

Chen Ping’an spoke extremely quickly using his mind’s lake, saying in reminder, ”There’s no need to worry about necessarily killing the enemies when you charge through the enemy formation in a moment, and Fan Dache and I will make sure to deliver the killing blows. There’s also no need to think about anything else apart from Ning Yao breaking open the enemy formation.

”Sanqiu and the others should focus most on launching sweeping attacks to wound more enemies and force those sacrificial demons to expose themselves. When that happens, I’ll inform everyone of their identity and location. And if the opportunity arises, you can feel free to attack and dispose of these sacrificial demons.

”Fan Dache and I will also act accordingly and clean up at the back. If there’s anything we can’t deal with, listen to my instructions, and we can formulate plans depending on the situation and work together to kill the troublesome demons.”

Fan Dache actually felt quite nervous, afraid that he would once again become baggage that dragged his friends down. However, he felt slightly more at ease after listening to Chen Ping’an’s detailed plan.

”Hey Dache...” Chen Ping’an only spoke to Fan Dache using his mind’s lake. ”Suddenly becoming hot-headed and feigning the demeanor of a hero still gives you the demeanor of a hero, does it not?”

Fan Dache took a deep breath and replied with a smile, ”You’re right.”

Dong Huafu’s appearance was bordering on that of a young boy and a young man. There were only cases of parents giving their children the wrong name, not of friends giving their companions the wrong name. Charcoal Huafu was indeed a little tanned, and he most probably wouldn’t be able to shake his nickname for the rest of his life. He was the Lavishly Spending Charcoal Huafu, and he was the Forever Free of Debt Charcoal Huafu.

He had insisted on taking Elaborate Makeup, the slender sword with the most feminine name and appearance.

Meanwhile, Shopkeeper Die Zhang held Mountain Suppressing in her hand. She was actually fairly slender and quite beautiful despite missing an arm, yet she insisted on wielding an extremely large sword with a broad blade.

Dong Huafu and Die Zhang, who possessed extremely strong killing intent, would follow closely behind Ning Yao, one to the left and one to the right. They would help to tear apart a larger opening after Ning Yao sliced through the enemy formation.

If it were said that the power of Ning Yao’s blade would determine the speed of their advance, then Die Zhang and Dong Huafu would also have very important roles. If the sword formation established by the seven of them didn’t possess a great enough destructive power, then the influence they could have on the overall battlefield would be minor even if they managed to break through the enemy ranks and charge south to the golden river overseen by the sword immortals as quickly as possible.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo would follow behind Dong Huafu and Die Zhang, and the two of them would be responsible for stabilizing the sword formation and killing the demons on the two sides.

The battle was about to begin.

Chen Ping’an composed his expression and calmed his mind, remaining just one or two meters above the ground as he flew on his sword. Perhaps his disguise wouldn’t trick some of the sacrificial demon sword cultivators, but it would definitely serve another subtle function.

If some of the demon sword cultivators yearned to stabilize the battlefield and reinforce their formation, they might use their mind’s lake to communicate with the important demon cultivators outside those sacrificial demons. If that were the case, the demon cultivators might accidentally take a few extra glances at the ”young sword cultivator,” thereby giving Chen Ping’an more opportunities to identify these important enemies.

It was necessary to haggle over every detail when engaging in large transactions.

The six sword cultivators started to advance.

Chen Ping’an, who was protecting the rear, ended up at the very back of the battlefield before he knew it. He suddenly started to chuckle.

Sure enough, the Dao robe, Golden Sweet Wine, looked best on Ning Yao.

As for feeling disdain toward Young Master Pu Yu wearing that snow-white Dao robe before? Chen Ping’an had completely forgotten about this already.

In any case, no kind of disguise would work for Ning Yao on the battlefield. Firstly, her companions were all talented sword cultivators from the same generation as her, and secondly, and most importantly, Ning Yao’s sword strikes were far too eye-catching.

It was indeed rare to come across people like Chen Ping’an, who subscribed to the notion that the more skills one learned, the better. Of course, he was also a firm believer in using overwhelming strength to kill his enemies, never restraining his power if he could avoid it. If it were necessary, he would even go as far as to wear female face masks or disguise himself as an informant for the demon tribe.

Ning Yao disappeared in a flash, instantly advancing more than one hundred meters before unleashing a sweeping sword strike.

This section of the battlefield was approximately three hundred meters wide, and all of the demons on the front line were severed at the waist by an arc of golden sword light.

A Nascent Tier demon cultivator responsible for supervising the battlefield issued a command from the rear, also launching an immortal technique to execute dozens of demons that had retreated in fear.

Ning Yao gracefully advanced in a straight line, finding it unnecessary to unleash a second sword strike. After mercilessly killing a great number of demons with her sword light, she simply relied on her boundless sword qi to break open the formation, vaguely and surprisingly appearing very similar to Zuo You, the most skilled sword immortal in the world.

Her sword qi was too abundant and overwhelming, making it feel like an indestructible sword formation, or even a small world. Not everyone had the right to challenge her and elicit a sword strike from her.

The demon cultivators were unwilling to stand idly and wait for death, nor did they dare to. Dozens of spirit tools and several bonded immortal treasures hurtled viciously toward the suffusing cloud of sword qi, with no luxury of caring whether they would wound or even kill the demons on the front line. The demon cultivators simply wanted to quash this peerlessly incisive burst of sword qi, or else they would most definitely face heavier casualties if they let Ning Yao barge through their formation. Not only that, but the demon soldiers would fall at an alarming rate.

It was true that sacrificing a huge number of soldiers could achieve positive results in a great war pertaining to the great trend, but this wasn’t necessarily true when it came to the individual sections of the battlefield.

It was even more impossible to achieve this against Ning Yao.

To put it bluntly, the demons could simply regard Ning Yao as a sword immortal. There was no need to focus on her cultivation base.

It didn’t matter at all whether she was a Golden Core Tier cultivator or a Nascent Tier cultivator.

This was a publicly acknowledged fact in the Savage World.

Another split second passed, and Ning Yao directly dashed over the broken corpses of the fallen demons, their bodies hacked into pieces and even their souls completely annihilated. The spirit tools and bonded immortal treasures of the demon cultivators were also damaged or destroyed, completely unable to obstruct Ning Yao or even slow her down. With nothing but a sword in her hand, Ning Yao rapidly arrived at the heart of the large demon army.

She gradually tightened her grip on Sword Immortal, which was enveloped in golden light, and held the index and middle fingers of her other hand together, casually forming a sword seal and instantly causing the golden light around Sword Immortal to dissipate.

Apart from the Golden Core Tier demon cultivators who had fled fast enough and the demon cultivators who had resolutely sacrificed their bonded items in a desperate act of defense, all the other demon soldiers and demon cultivators were ruthlessly killed.

As Chen Ping’an watched this scene unfold from afar, it was as if a golden lotus were blooming in his heart.

Another second went by, and Ning Yao’s figure advanced several hundred meters further, where she set her gaze on a Golden Core Tier demon cultivator and slashed down. At the same time, she looked up and glanced into the distance, commanding in a quiet voice, ”Come over here.”

The Golden Core Tier demon cultivator was currently organizing his surviving troops in a flustered manner, and he hadn’t expected to be blessed by such ”remarkable fortune,” able to face a sword strike from Ning Yao alone. He immediately summoned a bonded immortal treasure, an ancient weapon that somewhat resembled a halberd.

Golden talismanic characters were engraved on the weapon, and the Golden Core Tier demon cultivator gripped it with both hands and spun it one rotation, surprisingly creating a faint golden talismanic wheel that was similar to mountain-protection formations. Not only that, but a large number of golden cloud-patterned seal script characters also flowed in reverse from the halberd and covered the demon cultivator’s entire body, replicating the effects of those Militarian armor pellets.

The demon cultivator was using a talismanic formation as a shield, and he was also wearing something similar to a Militarian Divine Dewbearing Armor. In addition, the physiques of demons were already very powerful to begin with.

This immortal treasure possessed both offensive and defensive capabilities, and it was definitely an extremely high-grade treasure.

If this were the Majestic World, perhaps even Nascent Tier cultivators would feel tempted and fervent about such a treasure.

It was a great shame that everything was split into two by the descending arc of golden sword light — the talismanic formation, the golden armor, and the Golden Core Tier demon cultivator.

The devastating attack continued to surge forward, carving an extremely long trench into the earth.

A casual sword strike from Ning Yao had breached the talismanic formation, shattered the golden armor, and destroyed the tough physique of the demon cultivator.

When Ning Yao had appeared on the battlefield and paused for a brief moment, the demons in the surroundings had actually started to retreat in a frenzied manner already. However, things took a sudden turn after she calmly issued the command, ”Come over here.”

Four pure and primordial sword intents hovered amid heaven and earth, one on each side of Ning Yao. As if receiving a decree, the wisps of sword intent descended to the ground and seemingly gained life and sentience, not only materializing at the command of a sword cultivator from the Sword Qi Great Wall for the first time, but also absorbing the bountiful sword qi in the surroundings and continuing to grow in size, stretching from the sea of clouds all the way to the depths of the earth. The four wisps of pure sword intent were like pillars holding up the heavens.

In the end, they transformed into four pillars of sword intent that connected heaven and earth.

The next moment, these pillars released countless small wisps of sword intent that crisscrossed and covered the entire battlefield.

This time, not a single demon remained alive on the battlefield. Not only were their bodies and souls destroyed, but indeed, even their weapons and bonded items were completely obliterated.

Ning Yao dashed forward again, further increasing the distance between herself and her companions.

The four wisps of sword intent retracted from the battlefield and hovered around Ning Yao like shadows.

Thus, Ning Yao now possessed sword intent beyond her powerful formation of sword qi.

There were few places for the golden sword in her hand to shine.

Fan Dache couldn’t help but shudder in apprehension when he saw this from afar, even though he was on Ning Yao’s side.

If Lin Junbi were able to witness this scene, he would most likely tell himself that he had achieved glory despite losing to Ning Yao. He definitely wouldn’t feel aggrieved or dispirited; instead, he’d feel fairly happy.

Was it embarrassing to lose to Ning Yao on the path of the Sword Dao?

If people didn’t believe this, they were free to ask Pang Yuanji, Qi Shou, and Gao Yehou whether they even had the right to challenge Ning Yao to a sword duel.

Looking back, before Ning Yao became a Golden Core Tier sword cultivator, she had perhaps treated the battlefield as a place to kill enemies and practice sword techniques, while still protecting her friends to the best of her abilities.

After traveling through the Majestic World and returning to the Sword Qi Great Wall, however, she had seemingly only helped Die Zhang, Chen Sanqiu, and the others practice their sword techniques during the three large-scale battles.

It was as if she no longer needed to practice sword techniques.

The battlefield was empty behind Ning Yao, with Die Zhang and Dong Huafu — who gave it their all to keep up with Ning Yao — easily disposing of the weaker demon cultivators and unintelligent demon soldiers that had fallen outside the range of Ning Yao’s strike.

In fact, there were so few demons for them to kill that Dong Huafu even had the spare time to scratch his head and mumble, ”You could have at least left a few more enemies for us, Big Sister Ning.”

Die Zhang twisted her body and violently launched Mountain Suppressing into the distance, directly hacking a Sea Observation Tier demon to death. She then waved a hand, not catching the huge sword but instead jumping onto the blade and flying over to Ning Yao’s side. In reality, she and Dong Huafu were still three hundred meters away from the southernmost wisp of sword intent.

She turned around and scolded, ”What are you mumbling? Hurry up and keep up. Otherwise, we won’t even see Ning Yao’s shadow in a moment.”

Die Zhang naturally wouldn’t complain about Ning Yao, but it was obviously okay to complain about Dong Huafu.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo had even fewer demons to deal with than Die Zhang and Dong Huafu, who were slightly ahead of them.

Chen Sanqiu was innately lazy, so he had no qualms with this awkward situation of having no enemies to kill. Yan Zhuo was dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do about this.

Fan Dache continued to charge forward on his sword.

Chen Ping’an brought up the rear, and he would at most take some slight detours to wander around the battlefield, picking up a few things here and there. However, his yield was quite meager.

In reality, Chen Ping’an was feeling the most helpless right now. It seemed like it would be irrelevant whether he kept a close eye on the battlefield or not. He had discovered some clues after much observation, yet the concealed demons had either fled in terror or fallen in battle before he could even speak up and warn the others.

His observations weren’t all useless, however, but he was located too far away from Ning Yao to directly communicate with her. So he planned to use his mind’s lake to contact Chen Sanqiu first, who could then deliver the message to Dong Huafu, who could then deliver it to Ning Yao. He wanted to warn her that there was a demon cultivator underground, and it was at least at the Golden Core Tier, perhaps even at the Nascent Tier. Right now, it was unable to sit still anymore and was preparing to make a move.

Chen Ping’an was just about to deliver this warning to Chen Sanqiu.

Ning Yao continued to mow down the demon formation extremely far ahead.

However, she finally stopped again, placing the tip of Sword Immortal against the ground before lightly pushing down on the hilt. The golden sword instantly vanished into the ground without a trace.

It was clear that she had already noticed the Nascent Tier demon hiding underground.

The ground beneath Ning Yao’s feet churned and fractured as the golden sword greeted its target. The nearby sword qi thundered down like torrential rain, rapidly seeping into the earth below. Ning Yao could barely be bothered to spend more effort to accurately determine the location of the demon hiding underground.

She glanced at the demon cultivators with decent cultivation bases standing at the edge of her so-called sword formation, saying in a calm voice, ”Come again.”

Another four wisps of primordial sword intent, which had brushed past but refused to heed the call of countless sword cultivators over the past ten thousand years, materialized in the surroundings following the young woman’s command.

Eight wisps of primordial sword intent now gathered, including the previous four, and they coalesced into an even larger sword formation.

Countless demons were killed or wounded in this section of the battlefield.

However, Ning Yao still felt like this wasn’t enough.

She formed an ancient sword seal with two fingers, using her thoughts to command the eight wisps of sword intent. The surrounding sword qi surprisingly condensed into flesh and blood, while the wisps of sword intent transformed into skeletons. Eight ethereal sword immortals in white materialized on the battlefield, each measuring several meters tall and having cold and indifferent expressions.

The sword immortals made a grabbing motion, transforming the nearby sword qi into swords in their hands. They then turned around and faced away from Ning Yao, who had summoned them, dispersing into different directions and unleashing sword strikes to kill the enemies.

These primordial ”sword immortals” lacked sentience, so they naturally wouldn’t be able to recover to the peak of their power. In terms of combat power alone, they were only equivalent to sword cultivators at the Golden Core Tier. Of course, they also lacked bonded flying swords and the corresponding mystical abilities.

These sword immortals only possessed combat power at the Golden Core Tier, but they could easily gather sword qi from the battlefield and recreate themselves even if they were destroyed by demons from the colossal demon army. They could reappear again and again, free from the constraints of fatigue and death, and not needing to worry about their reserves of spiritual energy. Thus, was it not an easy task for these sword immortals to kill enemies on the battlefield?

As long as Ning Yao didn’t exhaust too much of her mental energy, and given that no demon sword cultivator at the Nascent Tier or Upper Five Tiers forcefully severed the link between Ning Yao and the eight wisps of pure sword intent, the eight so-called primordial sword immortals would continue to kill enemies on the battlefield.

”As long as she’s given time — and not very much time is needed — Little Ning can reach lofty heights in sword skills, sword intent, and Sword Dao.”

This was a comment personally made by Old Great Sword Immortal Chen Qingdu.

Why did no one at the Sword Qi Great Wall, where countless sword prodigies were produced, refer to Ning Yao as a prodigy? This was because regarding Ning Yao as a prodigy would mean demoting the status of Qi Shou, Pang Yuanji, and the other youthful sword cultivators. They could no longer be regarded as prodigies.

Ning Yao had always been in a league of her own.

From a very young age, and ever since the first day she started practicing sword techniques, not a single so-called prodigy from her generation or even the previous generation was willing to spar with her or challenge her to a sword duel.

There was no need to seek certain defeat.

The ground beneath Ning Yao’s original position was already fractured and collapsed.

Because of this, Ning Yao was now hovering in mid-air instead. She even turned her head and glanced back, most likely wanting to see if Die Zhang and Dong Huafu were keeping up.

A few seconds later, Ning Yao descended rapidly and vanished without a trace when the golden sword found the location of the Nascent Tier demon cultivator.

When Die Zhang and Dong Huafu rushed over to the perimeter of the huge pit, Ning Yao had already appeared at the southernmost edge of the pit with her sword in hand. She then continued to advance south, leaving death and destruction in her wake.

This was because Ning Yao had already found another sacrificial demon at the Unpolished Jade Tier.

However, the sacrificial demon cultivator surprisingly chose to retreat without putting up a fight.

Still facing south, Ning Yao raised a hand and ran her fingers over a cut on her cheek. This was but a scratch left behind by a Dao saber.

Die Zhang shot a glance at the bottom of the large pit, only to see a colossal ape, the true body of the Nascent Tier demon cultivator. It looked like a primordial mountain-moving ape, and it had been killed after being hacked into eight pieces. In fact, it was still possible to see the golden sword qi shimmering around the cuts on the corpse.

It was clear that the Nascent Tier demon cultivator had been killed by the celestial tool, Sword Immortal, in Ning Yao’s hand. It had lost its life so quickly that it hadn’t even had the opportunity to self-destruct its golden core and nascent soul.

Silently hovering beside the corpse at the bottom of the large pit was a glowing white saber that appeared like a tiny needle beside the colossal true body of the demon. The saber light shimmered randomly, making it especially eye-catching.

Dong Huafu was just about to enter the deep pit to collect the treasure.

However, Die Zhang glared at him and asked, ”Are you stupid?”

Dong Huafu nodded in acknowledgment before quickly flying south with Die Zhang.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo also flew around the perimeter of the large pit and continued south, with their bonded flying swords and normal swords being used to kill more demons on the two flanks to earn more military merit. Something was better than nothing, after all, and this would at least give them something to do. It was as if the two of them were collecting wheat heads from the ground, yet they were still unable to even fill the very bottom of their bowls.

Fan Dache was feeling slightly confused.

Wasn’t he supposed to be the bait?

Fan Dache glanced back when he reached the southern edge of the large pit, and what he saw was the second shopkeeper squatting down and deftly picking up trinkets and scrap. His movements were so smooth that Fan Dache almost felt like it was pleasant and pleasing to watch.

Fan Dache was located closest to Chen Ping’an, and it was also okay for him to become slightly distracted, seeing that he was the bait of the group. As such, he was well aware of how the second shopkeeper had slowly collected all kinds of scrap to gradually increase his yield. He definitely wouldn’t let slip a single spirit tool or immortal treasure, even if they were broken or smashed into pieces, so the number of items he had collected was quite impressive. After cleaning up the large pit, it was very likely that the second shopkeeper would even manage to obtain immortal treasures.

There were complicated emotions in Chen Ping’an’s mind as he flew out from the large pit. It seemed quite unconscionable for him to stay at the back and reap the rewards of everyone else’s hard work.

By the looks of it, even the sacrificial demon sword cultivators had already lost the courage to sneak over and launch surprise attacks on them.

Chen Ping’an could only use his mind’s lake to communicate with Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo, saying in warning, ”We most likely won’t be able to keep up, so let’s seize the opportunity to kill some Golden Core Tier demon cultivators that we’ve already identified. We can work together to block any Nascent Tier demon cultivators, and we can’t allow them to flee to other sections of the battlefield.”

Unexpectedly, however, Ning Yao had already instructed Sword Immortal to stop killing demons along the length of the battlefield. Instead, she started to search for Golden Core Tier and Nascent Tier demon cultivators attempting to flee from the sides of the battlefield. Once she found one, she would slow down her southward advance slightly, taking a detour to pursue and kill these demon cultivators using Sword Immortal.

The Unpolished Jade Tier demon sword cultivator appeared to be especially skilled at concealment techniques, much in the same way as Grandpa Nalan. Ning Yao didn’t think much about this, simply avoiding the demon sword cultivator as required.

Thanks to this, Die Zhang and Dong Huafu were finally able to catch up to Ning Yao.

Chen Ping’an scratched his head.

And just like that, the group of young sword cultivators continued to advance south.

The sacrificial demons had probably believed that there would eventually come a moment when Ning Yao was completely drained of mental energy. Unfortunately for them, however, Ning Yao had stayed at the apex of the formation the entire time, displaying no signs of waning mental energy or withering spiritual energy.

Two Golden Core Tier sacrificial demons and one Nascent Tier demon sword cultivator were also killed in succession, with Ning Yao personally killing the Nascent Tier demon and the two companions behind her, Die Zhang and Dong Huafu, killing the wounded Golden Core Tier sacrificial demons.

Ning Yao couldn’t even be bothered putting on a disguise anymore, finding it beneath herself to tempt the demons into attacking.

She had already found them, so it was only right that they faced death soon after.

This was Ning Yao’s way with the sword.

The contrast between the demeanor of Ning Yao and the infamous second shopkeeper couldn’t be starker on the battlefield.

They continued to advance south.

A sword immortal smiled and greeted Ning Yao as she drew closer to the long golden river.

Ning Yao nodded at the senior sword immortal in acknowledgment and respect.

She finally came to a stop, allowing the seven sword cultivators to gather together after much struggle.

Ning Yao looked at Chen Ping’an and asked, ”Let’s charge back? Die Zhang and the others can return north from another location, while you, I, and Fan Dache can return together from the same location. Is that okay?”

”That’s naturally okay,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

Die Zhang, Chen Sanqiu, Dong Huafu, and Yan Zhuo made their way to another section of the battlefield, advancing south to north to return to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

They hadn’t needed to draw their swords the entire time while trailing behind Ning Yao, and the situation had truly been a little awkward.

Ning Yao, Chen Ping’an, and Fan Dache traveled north toward the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Fan Dache felt increasingly uncomfortable as the spare.

Chen Ping’an no longer flew on his sword, returning the standard sword from the sword market to the scabbard on his back before shaking his sleeves.

Fan Dache flew ahead on his sword, but he didn’t dare to pull too far away from the two people behind him.

After Fan Dache tactfully gave some space to the young couple, Ning Yao suddenly asked, ”Is it tiring to work as the Hidden Official?”

”Even if it was tiring, I don’t feel tired anymore right now,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

Ning Yao hesitated for a moment, feeling slightly awkward as she softly spoke the words from the bottom of her heart. ”In any case, you can worry less when you’re with me.”

She then raised an eyebrow.

This was nothing but the truth.

Was there anything for her to feel embarrassed or awkward about?

Chen Ping’an turned around and raised a hand, using his thumb to gently brush the cut on Ning Yao’s cheek. He then pinched her cheeks and replied with a gentle smile, ”That goes without saying.”