47. Nagatomo (Part 5)

"Who says this hairpin is dull? This hairpin is wonderful!"

Lou Tinglan felt a burning sensation on his forehead, as if the Dao Heart Tribulation Mark between his brows was causing trouble. He hurriedly lowered his head.

"That's not what I meant. This wooden hairpin is actually..."

Ran Qinghe deliberately met his lowered face, stood on tiptoe, trying to see his evasive expression, and pressed on, "What is it actually?"

She carefully examined the patterns on the wooden hairpin. It was made of black wood with a peach-colored hue and cloud patterns. Although it was not adorned with jade, it had its own spiritual energy. The texture and patterns made it seem as if someone had poured their heart and soul into carving it by hand.

Lou Tinglan's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. After a moment, she raised her head again and said, "It's nothing. This wooden hairpin is actually... not a rare treasure. If you don't like it, you can just keep it with you."

She held the hairpin in her hand and handed it to him, saying, "The design is quite nice; I like it very much."

Lou Tinglan was stunned. He took the hairpin from her hand. If she liked it, why did she return it to him? So... was liking it just a polite way of saying it?

Puzzled, she urged, "What are you standing there for? Just put it on for me."

Lou Tinglan's sadness faded, and he took half a step forward, the two of them so close that they could feel each other's breath.

He raised his hand, his movements somewhat hesitant, and gently pulled the jade hairpin from her hair.

Her jet-black hair cascaded down in an instant, carrying a faint fragrance, brushing against his fingertips. He picked up the wooden hairpin, his fingers tracing the smooth, cool strands of her hair, carefully searching for the perfect spot.

His movements were slow, as if he were performing an extremely important ritual. Finally, he firmly inserted the wooden hairpin into his hair, securing the bun.

He withdrew his hand, his fingertips gently gliding over the remaining strands of hair at her temple. "All done," he whispered, his voice a few decibels higher than usual.

Ran Qinghe drew the Tranquility Sword from his waist, looked it over in the reflection of the blade, and stubbornly commented, "It's... alright."

Lou Tinglan took another step back, restoring the usual distance between the two, but the air was still filled with an ambiguous atmosphere that had not yet dissipated.

"Tomorrow at 7 PM, the Trial Tower, I'll be waiting for you." After leaving these words, he turned and left in a hurry. However, his back seemed to have less of a cold and hard look than when he came, and more of an indescribable ease.

Ran Qinghe raised her hand and gently touched the wooden hairpin in her hair. Even though Lou Tinglan didn't say it explicitly, she could feel the gentle power that nourished her spirit within the hairpin seeping into her hair.

Moonlight filtered through a few wisps of clouds, casting dappled patterns of light on the wooden hairpin in her hair, all in serene silence.

*

At the very back of Yunya Academy are the dormitories for newly admitted disciples. The dormitories are small, with only soft couches for cultivators to use for daily meditation and inner rooms for rest. The furnishings are simple but clean.

When Ran Qinghe returned to the dormitory, it was already late at night. The curtains on the bed in the inner room had already fallen, and in the candlelight by the bedside, one could vaguely see someone rolling around under the covers.

Ran Qinghe suspected that she had gone to the wrong room on her first day of check-in, so she went back to check the nameplate hanging on the side of the door. It was indeed her room.

Who is that person in the bed?

She flung aside the layers of bed curtains, and after seeing who was on the bed, she said with a helpless expression, "Shui Rong'er, do you know you've come to the wrong place?"

Shui Rong'er poked her head out from under the covers, her hair disheveled and her bright eyes looking at her innocently, saying, "I didn't come to the wrong place. This is your room, and this is your bed."

Shui Rong'er spoke as if it were perfectly reasonable, as if she was entitled to sleep in Ran Qinghe's room.

Seeing that she had taken over the place, Ran Qinghe turned to leave: "If you want it, you can have this place."

Shui Rong'er hurriedly climbed out of bed and grabbed her wrist, saying, "Oh, don't go! I came here because I wanted to sleep with you."

Ran Qinghe was even more confused: "Why are you sleeping with me?"

Shui Rong'er's eyes darted around, and she changed the subject, saying, "I originally wanted to give you a heads-up, but seeing you having a secret rendezvous with the chief disciple of the Discipline Hall under the moon, I didn't have the heart to disturb you."

As she spoke, she winked mischievously, "Besides, I'm so tired today that's why I'm resting here."

Ran Qinghe corrected, "We're not having a secret rendezvous, it's just... mutual guidance and exchange of ideas, understand?"

Shui Rong'er glanced at the new hairpin in her hair and said "oh" teasingly, drawing out the last syllable.

Ran Qinghe felt uncomfortable under her gaze and changed the subject: "So, what does this have to do with you lying in my bed?"

Pressing her for answers, Shui Rong'er couldn't help but throw up her spoiled princess attitude: "I can't sleep peacefully by myself, of course I need to find someone to sleep with."

"Oh dear, it's getting late. You should rest. The Second Elder has his morning lesson tomorrow at 7 AM."

Ran Qinghe remained unmoved, frowning as she asked, "So how did you sleep before? Did you always need someone to sleep with you?"

Seeing that she couldn't fool her, Shui Rong'er could only ruffle her hair in a defeated manner and tell the truth: "Okay, okay, actually Fu Ji insisted on resting on the soft couch in my room, and I couldn't get rid of him no matter what I did. I get annoyed just looking at his dead fish face, so I came to find you."

Ran Qinghe understood: "He insisted on resting in your room... Could it be that you were injured?"

Shui Rong'er looked surprised for a moment, then waved her hand to cover it up, saying, "Oh, no, no, he's just that stubborn. Let's not talk about him anymore, he's so annoying."

She lay on the bed, propped her chin up with her hands, rolled around in the blanket, and then asked gossipily, "Has that chief disciple confessed his feelings to you yet?"

Ran Qinghe took off her outer garment and casually hung it on the screen. She pulled the quilt over and lay down, saying, "He and I are just ordinary friends, nothing more. You're overthinking it."

She turned over, her back to Shui Rong'er, and casually extinguished the candle on the bedside table: "Didn't we say we were going to rest early?"

Darkness always amplifies thoughts, and she couldn't help but touch the hairpin she had just taken off by her pillow, her fingertips gently tracing the cloud patterns on it.

After a long while, Shui Rong'er suddenly called out to her solemnly, "Ran Qinghe."

She replied, "Is there anything else?"

Shui Rong'er buried her head in the blanket and said in a muffled voice, "Then are we friends?" Her tone seemed to carry a hint of pitifulness.

Ran Qinghe answered each question in turn: "Of course."

Shui Rong'er pressed further, "So you only consider me a friend because I healed you in the Mirror Realm?"

Ran Qinghe knew she was referring to the time when Lou Tinglan's superimposed body pierced her palm. Her palm was almost pierced through by the longsword, and even the bones were torn apart.

She truly hadn't expected that Shui Rong'er's medical skills were so remarkable, that she could completely heal her hand in such a short time without leaving a single scar.

Even Mingyu, although the sword that covered his body did not hurt his vital organs, should not have recovered so quickly.

On that day, when Shui Rong'er used her spiritual power to reconnect the meridians in her hand, Fu Ji's expression was already quite unpleasant. He hesitated several times, as if he wanted to dissuade her.

The more Ran Qinghe thought about it, the more likely a guess emerged in her mind.

Shui Rong'er, not hearing Ran Qinghe's reply for a long time, became petulant again, poking Ran Qinghe's back through the blanket and saying, "Why don't you deny it? Tell me quickly, tell me it's because of my kindness and beauty that you want to be friends with me."

Ran Qinghe: ...

After thinking it over and over, she finally voiced her suspicions and asked, "Shui Rong'er, you are at the Foundation Establishment stage, right?"

Shui Rong'er stopped poking her and said, "That's right, all of us Bai Xu medical cultivators are like this. Although our cultivation level advances slowly, our medical skills are still incredibly advanced."

Ran Qinghe turned around, gazing at Shui Rong'er's blurry silhouette in the darkness, and asked softly, "So, Foundation Establishment Realm medical cultivators can already revive the dead and heal flesh and bones?" She didn't know about other Foundation Establishment Realm medical cultivators, but she had indeed seen Shui Rong'er do it, so she guessed, "When you save people, will you injure yourself?"

Otherwise, why would Fu Ji be so resistant to Shui Rong'er's treatment and saving lives, yet stay by her side for a moment after she performs her medical skills?

Shui Rong'er turned over, her back to her, and sneered twice: "Do I look like a kind-hearted person? Saving others only hurts myself, I'm not that selfless."

Her voice suddenly lowered, carrying a hint of barely perceptible fatigue.

"Besides, I am naturally intelligent, kind, and gifted. What is this talk of bringing the dead back to life or healing flesh and bones? It's just treating superficial wounds. It's a piece of cake for me."

"Okay, okay, go to sleep, I'm tired."

Ran Qinghe didn't press the matter further, but her doubts remained. As the night deepened, she vaguely heard a suppressed cough beside her, as if someone was trying their best to hold it in. But when she listened closely, all she could hear was the sound of even breathing, as if it were just her imagination.

The next morning, as dawn broke, Ran Qinghe woke up first. Shui Rong'er beside her seemed to be sleeping soundly, her breathing long and even, but her face was almost transparently pale in the morning light.

Ran Qinghe got up quietly, afraid of disturbing the other person.

Her gaze fell upon the black wooden hairpin with a peach-colored hue beside her pillow. The morning light filtered through the window lattice, casting a soft golden edge upon it. As if possessed, she put away her usual red jade hairpin and picked up the wooden hairpin again, placing it in her hair.

At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), as soon as she entered the lecture hall, Ming Yu noticed the difference in her appearance that day.

He said bluntly, "Junior Sister Ran, why are you wearing this hairpin today? It looks rough and isn't as pretty as the one you usually wear."

Hua Jin also noticed the two's movements and disagreed, saying, "In my opinion, the black wooden hairpin suits your skin tone better, Qing He."

Shui Rong'er stretched leisurely and replied, "It's because this black wooden hairpin was a gift from an important person, so I must wear it in my hair every day."

Upon hearing this, Hua Jin realized that Shui Rong'er's words had a hidden meaning. Her face stiffened for a moment, but she smiled and changed her words, saying, "This black color is indeed somber. I suppose the person who gave you the hairpin is someone who doesn't understand romance, and it doesn't quite match your lively personality, Qing He."

Mingyu belatedly realized who had given her the hairpin, and immediately contradicted Huajin: "Who said this hairpin is dull? This hairpin is wonderful. You can tell at a glance that the person who gave it must have racked their brains and put in a lot of effort."

What do you think?

The two of them turned their gazes to Ran Qinghe.