48 Chapter 48

Flirting by the River◎

Pei Xueyan was lying on a boulder on the river with her legs crossed, munching on a crisp apple, when she suddenly heard a shout from afar, which startled her so much that her hand trembled.

He sprang up from the rock instantly and looked warily toward the source of the sound.

She stayed upstream, separated from the bank by several meters of water, so that ordinary people could not see her face at all.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Qiye, carrying empty buckets, took a few more steps forward than usual, his gaze fixed directly on her.

The green hills and clear waters reflected the sunlight. Her plain white dress was lifted by the wind, and her hair was adorned with only two lustrous pearl flowers. Her unadorned face shone with a pure and ethereal beauty in the morning light, making her even more eye-catching than the wildflowers just beginning to bloom in the mountains.

Jiang Qiye looked at her, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily, and a lot of things welled up in his heart.

I haven't seen her for many days, and she seems even more pure and beautiful than before.

But I didn't know how to start the conversation.

Why was she here? Was she waiting for him? But the words caught in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single one.

What if she came here to laugh at me?

Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Qiye had already reached the stream and said in a somewhat aloof tone, "What are you doing here?"

She adopted a nonchalant attitude, waving the remaining apple in her hand: "I came here to practice my skills, didn't you know?"

How would I know?

"Don't you know why you're using an accusatory tone?"

Jiang Qiye didn't know how to respond.

She flew off the large rock in the stream, stood in front of him, covered her mouth and said, "Go away quickly, I can't talk to you. If your master finds out that you came to find me on your own initiative, he will probably punish me again."

Jiang Qiye looked down at her, remained silent for a moment, and said in a flat tone that was almost indifferent: "Fine, anyway, I don't have you in my heart anymore."

Pei Xueyan turned around and looked directly into his eyes: "You've never truly cared about me, so how can you say 'not now'?"

"I used to be willing to die for you."

He spoke indifferently and calmly.

"So now you just wish I were dead."

Jiang Qiye didn't reply, but bent down to scoop water from the stream. Just as the bucket touched the water, Pei Xueyan took out an apple from her cardboard bag. It was the biggest and reddest one in the bag, and handed it to him: "You eat it."

He didn't take it, not even lifting his eyelids, and just kept filling the bucket with water before leaving.

She was furious. She threw the apple at him, snorted, and went back to practicing her skills on the rock.

He couldn't help but say, "Jiang Qiye, since you transferred your cultivation to me, you haven't given me the last half of the cultivation method yet. Don't try to renege on your promise."

Jiang Qiye remained silent, carrying the buckets full of water, and continued moving forward without stopping.

Pei Xueyan was furious. She flew over and blocked his path, kicking the water into the stream.

Looking exasperated, she said, "Fine, go ahead and hit me again!"

Jiang Qiye's face darkened, but he didn't argue with her. He simply put down the carrying pole and went to fetch water again. But as soon as he filled it, Pei Xueyan kicked it over.

"Are you hating me to death right now? Are you annoyed by me to death? Go ahead and be annoyed, go ahead and hate me."

Jiang Qiye bent down and picked up the bucket to scoop water for the third time. His movements were slower, but his voice remained calm: "I don't hate you. You can leave."

"Look, look! You only listen to your master, you never listen to me. I knew this about you, that's why I didn't want to be with you! What sincerity do you have for me? It's just a momentary curiosity, a momentary physical attraction! What about dying for me, what about unwavering devotion until death? It's all conditional! You know better than anyone that your master hates me and will separate us sooner or later, but you've never thought of a way to change his mind, you've just been waiting for him to change his mind! Now look at you, with just one sentence from him, you've easily severed ties with me!"

Jiang Qiye had heard enough of these words.

After the two dates, he calmed down his impulsiveness and saw many things more clearly. He seemed to be less crazy and obsessed than before.

"How do you expect me to answer you? Since you promised to cut off all contact in front of my master, be a person of your word."

"You!" Pei Xueyan was speechless with anger at his words and stomped her feet in frustration.

She has actually been practicing very hard these days, but her cultivation level is stuck at a bottleneck and she can't break through it no matter what she does.

It's like having a belly full of ink but not knowing how to write; no matter what, one can't speak eloquently, and one is anxiously pacing around, unable to think of a way.

Without the foundation of the elixir, even the strongest skill is like a building without a foundation, unable to be fully utilized.

Not to mention that the mental cultivation method is still missing half a scroll, and there are obstacles everywhere, so she still needs to comprehend it.

God knows, she had no interest in studying at all; she was practicing martial arts and trying to comprehend the inner workings of the techniques.

If he could guide them for a few months, they could definitely bring their cultivation to its fullest potential.

On the other hand, ever since her memories were restored, fragments of the past have been constantly swirling in her mind, making it difficult for her to distinguish between reality and dreams.

They were husband and wife before, and they are still husband and wife now; their marriage certificate hasn't been destroyed yet.

With this relationship established, whenever she met him again, her unconscious indulgence would inevitably surface.

Seeing that Jiang Qiye was unmoved by reason, Pei Xueyan had no choice but to resort to her ultimate move.

She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, her voice choked with sobs as she sobbed, "I know you don't want me anymore, and you don't want to remember the past. These days, I've been thinking about how to leave you, and at the same time, I think about how we used to hold each other, kiss, and make love. Every time I think about it, I cry for most of the night. Yes, everyone knows I'm married, but I can't be with my husband because he has to listen to his master, and I have to listen too. Otherwise, I'll be locked up in a secret room and tortured... My husband won't come to save me. I'm cowardly, I'm scared, so I could only nod in agreement... It's my fault, I'm not strong enough..."

She spoke with tears streaming down her face, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably; it was impossible for Jiang Qiye not to be moved.

He knew Pei Xueyan too well; she was a master at using words to seduce people. He couldn't tell how much of her vulnerability was genuine and how much was an act.

"I can't argue with you." He finally looked away, his voice regaining its previous calmness. "You know best what you're really thinking. I'm leaving now."

Pei Xueyan pressed herself against him, her voice softening and carrying a hint of deliberate coquettishness, "Good brother, don't you... want to have some fun with me again?"

Jiang Xiye almost immediately dodged to the side, but was still being held: "I know you're toying with me, Pei Xueyan, you should leave."

"Why did you call me by my full name, and twice? What gives you the right to call me that?"

"......"

Jiang Qiye did not answer.

He picked up the buckets again and walked forward, never looking back at her once.

Pei Xueyan stood there, watching his receding figure, her defenses crumbling. Behind him, she couldn't help but curse, "You filthy Taoist priest! Abandoning your wife and children, abandoning your wife? Fine, from now on, we're completely cut off! If I ever see you here fetching water again, I'll kill you! Kill you!"

Jiang Qiye has already gone far away.

Her face turned red with anger.

Half of her was angry, and half of her was ashamed.

She suddenly drew her long sword from her waist and began hacking wildly at the weeds on the ground. The wind from her sword sent grass clippings flying everywhere as she muttered under her breath, "You stinking Taoist priest, you stinking man! You'll never hear me speak another word to you in this lifetime!"

She sullenly hacked away for an hour or two until her arms ached. Only then did she deflate and she sheath her sword, sitting back down on the boulder.

The frustration in my heart just wouldn't go away, and I couldn't calm down to practice my skills. So I just lay there on the rock, staring blankly at the clouds drifting by. As I was thinking, I unknowingly fell asleep.

Pei Xueyan didn't sleep well. It wasn't until dawn, when she heard the splashing sound of water being scooped up from the stream, that she groggily opened her eyes.

Looking up, I saw Jiang Qiye bending over to fill a bucket with water.

I originally thought she would go to the inn, but I didn't expect her to be so diligent.

He deliberately made the sound of him carrying water louder before Pei Xueyan slightly opened her eyes and got up.

I looked up and saw his indifferent expression.

She yawned, slowly jumped down from the rock, walked straight to him, and reached into his bucket that he had just filled. First, she scooped up some water to wash her hands, then she scooped it up to wash her face, and finally she simply rinsed her mouth with the stream water.

"You!" He was momentarily speechless.

Pei Xueyan wiped the water droplets from her face, looked up at him, and a sly smile appeared on her lips: "Didn't you come here to fetch water on purpose because you missed me? This river is so long, you could have fetched water anywhere, but you chose the place where I practice martial arts, just so you could see me?"

"Shameless!"

"I'm shameless! Then pour out the water I used to wash my face. Are you going to carry it back and drink it all yourself so you can taste me?"

"..." Jiang Qiye's face darkened, and without saying a word, he poured the water in the bucket onto the stream and turned around to scoop water again.

He remained indifferent, but Pei Xueyan was truly out of money, so she simply stretched out her palm, waved it in front of him, and said matter-of-factly, "Give me money."

"?" Jiang Qiye looked at her in disbelief. "I didn't."

“You don’t have any? I understand now. You have money to give to those villagers you don’t even know, but you don’t spend it on your wife! Anyway, I’ve been practicing my skills here for the past few months. When you come back one day and see someone motionless on the rock, that means I’ve starved to death, and I’ve been starved to death by you.”

Jiang Qiye lowered his voice: "My money isn't here."

Pei Xueyan immediately pressed, "Where is it? Hurry up and get it, or I'll really starve to death."

"At the Qingzong Sect."

"Then hurry up and get it! What did you tell me? You said you'd give me the money after we got married, so I could use it and spend it however I wanted. Now that you see I'm starving, why are you going back on your word?"

That wasn't said back then.

It's about taking back the money we've saved and living together as a couple.

Now, even if they haven't divorced, they're in a cooling-off period and have already broken up. How can she still so confidently bring up past promises?

He didn't want to dwell on the topic any longer, so he simply looked up and stared directly at her: "Starting tomorrow, I won't be coming here to fetch water anymore."

"If you're not coming, then you're not coming. I won't be coming tomorrow either."

With a flick of her sleeve, she swept the remaining fruits and vegetables from the rocks into the stream. The green apples and yellow pears floated downstream, drifting further and further away.

She didn't look back once, and turned to walk down the mountain.

"Ah Zheng!"

She had already walked more than ten steps when Jiang Qiye's voice came from behind her.

They even call each other so intimately.

She turned around, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him: "Are you going to give me money, or are you going to teach me that half-scroll of mental cultivation techniques?"

Jiang Qiye stood by the stream, still carrying the empty water buckets in his hands. The morning mist swirled around him, giving him an indescribable sense of loneliness.

He looked at her, remained silent for a moment, then gently shook his head, his voice carrying a hint of inexplicable melancholy: "My master and I will be staying here for several years. You... take care of yourself from now on."